- A Man With No Existence -
True Friendship: Something That Never Changes
-[ An hour has passed since The Butcher and Zo� left the heartbreaking scene back at Cody�s home. The Butcher is obviously crushed after seeing his girl for the first time in many months, only to find her with one of his best friends and pregnant with Cody�s child. The thought of Nikki sleeping with Cody made The Butcher sick to his stomach, so sick that he could only hold down his lunch for a few minutes. The nauseating thought consumed his mind and he felt like he was beginning to lose control. What was once his is now in another man�s possession and getting her back would be hard to do. He needed to talk to somebody, somebody he trusts and has known for a while. Zo� was there for him, but she couldn�t answer any of the questions he had. He needed someone that had the answers. And that someone is Tomorrow Man. As they drive down a busy street just outside of downtown San Francisco in search of West Avenue, Zo� finally speaks up after nearly an hour�s worth of silence between the two. ]-
Zo�: Are you, ok?
-[ The Butcher doesn�t respond to her question. He doesn�t even flinch from the hunched position he�s sitting in. Zo� takes that as the answer and resumes to drive down the busy street, continuing to look for West Avenue. She has been so San Francisco many times in her life and the placement of streets and locations were quickly coming back to her memory. ]-
Zo�: Ah, now I remember! Dover changes into Clover and then on the left, West Ave. begins!
-[ The Butcher still doesn�t move a muscle even though Zo� now knows where she�s going. As they continue to drive down the road a little more, sure enough Dover Street changes into Clover Street at the Stone Road intersection. Then a few large blocks down Clover, and West Avenue appears on the left. Zo� turns onto the street and looks for any place that appears to have apartments as they cruise by. Then in plain view, on the right, there is a private road that leads into a small block of apartments. ]-
Zo�: West Avenue Apartments. I guess this is the place.
-[ They turn onto the private road and drive through the parking lot. ]-
Zo�: Man, all of these apartments look exactly alike. We�ll never find him.
-[ The Butcher finally moves out of his transfixed position as they drive by a Jeep. ]-
The Butcher: You passed his Jeep.
Zo�: Where?
The Butcher: Back there. See it?
-[ Zo� backs up a little and stops at two Jeeps. ]-
Zo�: Which one is his? The green or the yellow one?
The Butcher: It�s the red one right there.
-[ The Butcher points over her shoulder at the red Jeep she didn�t notice. Lucky for them, there is a place to park right next to it. Zo� drives her car up next to Tomorrow Man�s vehicle and parks. They both get out and assume his apartment is in the building they are parked in front of. ]-
Zo�: Jesus. One person has a Jeep in the neighborhood and everybody else has to have one.
-[ The Butcher doesn�t say anything and starts to walk down the small path in the front yard and towards the apartment house. Zo� then jogs up behind him to catch up. When they reach the front door, The Butcher opens it up and allows Zo� to walk in first, then he follows. They stand inside, near the door, looking at the insides of the apartment house. There are a few stairs leading up to two apartments and there are some stairs that lead down to two more apartments. ]-
Zo�: All right, should we knock on each door until we find him?
The Butcher: No. We look for his name by the mail boxes.
-[ The Butcher walks over to the small compartments on the wall on the right. He finds Tomorrow Man�s real name under one of the mail boxes labeled #3. ]-
The Butcher: Apartment 3.
Zo�: Good call.
-[ They both walk up the stairs and stop at the door on the left on the second floor. The Butcher pushes the buzzer which is placed near the center of the door, hoping he opens the door. As they wait, Zo� prays that this doesn�t turn out half as bad as it did when they went to see Cody but The Butcher already knows it won�t be anywhere near as bad as that incident was. Finally the door opens and Tomorrow Man bounces back a little after seeing that his good friend isn�t dead. ]-
Tomorrow Man: Damn, you never cease to amaze me, Butch!
-[ The Butcher and Tomorrow Man hug for a moment. ]-
The Butcher: How are you?
Tomorrow Man: I�m good! Come on in, bro!
-[ The Butcher walks past Tomorrow Man and goes inside the apartment. Zo� looks at Tomorrow Man and smiles and he smiles back. He allows her in even though he doesn�t know her, but if she�s a friend of The Butcher then she�s welcome. Tomorrow Man leads them into his small living room and turns off the television which is running an old episode of Jerry Springer. ]-
Tomorrow Man: Sit down, guys. Want anything to drink? I�ve got some Coke and beer in the fridge.
-[ Zo� and The Butcher take a seat on a nice red sofa while Tomorrow Man remains standing. ]-
The Butcher: I haven�t had a beer in three years but I�m in the mood for one now.
Tomorrow Man: Yeah, AA can�t tell you what to do!
The Butcher: Damn right.
Tomorrow Man: What will the lady have?
Zo�: I�ll take a beer too.
The Butcher: You�re only 17.
Zo�: Give me a break!
Tomorrow Man: Butch, you know better that to argue with a girl. Two beers comin� up!
-[ Tomorrow Man leaves the room and walks into the kitchen while The Butcher shakes his head at Zo�, trying not to laugh. Tomorrow Man comes back with three Budweiser�s and hands Zo� and The Butcher theirs. Then he sits down in his chair. ]-
Tomorrow Man: So, who�s the little lady?
The Butcher: She�s Zo�. I met her back in New York. She�s originally from Oakland so she drove me all the way out here. Watch out though, she has a set of teeth and she isn�t afraid to use them.
-[ The Butcher looks at Zo� and laughs with Tomorrow Man. Zo� just looks back at him with a gratified grin. She then opens up her can of beer and takes a nice gulp. ]-
Tomorrow Man: Don�t they all, Butch, don�t they all. Well, nice to meet you, Zo�.
Zo�: I�ll tell you it�s nice to meet you tomorrow.
-[ Zo� winks at Tomorrow Man but he doesn�t exactly find what she said as being funny, so he gives her a sympathy grin. ]-
Tomorrow Man: Well, Butch, you�re here so that probably means you�ve all ready seen Cody and Nik�
The Butcher: Yeah, we�ve been there all ready.
Tomorrow Man: I�m sorry.
The Butcher: So am I.
-[ The Butcher pops open his can of beer and starts to drink it while he re-lives one of the worst moments in his life. Tomorrow Man is disappointed with all of this as well. ]-
The Butcher: How did it get this way? How�d it all change so fast?
Tomorrow Man: Well you know Cody always had a thing for Nikki. She might have had a little crush on him too. I mean, there was no way they could get together so perfectly without the thought of something possibly happening between them crossing their minds. I always told Cody to tell her how he really felt, not to break you two up or anything, just so he could hear her tell him they could never be. And when you were buried, it took a good while for Nikki to get back to normal. She was devastated, man. But Cody helped her. He helped her want to live again and that�s when they started spending more time with each other. I swear to you she couldn�t help it. She wanted to stay true to you, man, but you know how it gets when you�re young and the love of your life is gone.
The Butcher: No, I don�t understand but I�ll trust you on that.
Tomorrow Man: Yeah, well I told Cody he should lay off her a bit, you know? She was vulnerable and I didn�t want him taking advantage but he figured he wasn�t doing anything wrong. And then when the gfwa OMEGA closed and we were out of jobs, the shit hit the fan. Cody always seemed to be with her while I was stuck here on the west coast managing our two gyms. It got frustrating after awhile and I told him I couldn�t do it alone anymore. Then he told me he�d take care of it and you know what he did?
The Butcher: What?
Tomorrow Man: He shoved lawyers down my throat to try to break the partnership of the business. He said his new benefactor wanted to run the show in return for what he was giving Cody.
The Butcher: Benefactor? Who�s he?
-[ Tomorrow Man takes a sip of his beer and stares out into space, trying to remember and getting angry at the same time. ]-
Tomorrow Man: I don�t know. I never really had the chance to meet the guy, much less ask who he was. I was out the freakin� door and out of a few million dollars that I saved up. The lawyers were brutal, man. They took everything from me and what was mine became Cody�s.
Zo�: What an asshole.
Tomorrow Man: I know. I never saw it in him, but as soon as he met that new guy, he changed and we were through. Now I�m scrapping off the bottom of the barrel and doing independent bookings because no one wants to hire only half of A Tendency 2 Start Fires.
The Butcher: So what does Cody do now?
Tomorrow Man: He works for his benefactor, whatever job that may be. It�s some underground hardcore shit where the stakes are higher and there are more zeros in your paycheck. You know Cody, he�s always lived in the fast lane in life�always pushing the envelope. And that�s what made us successful. I swear, Butch, that benefactor guy screwed him up. Fed him a bunch of lies and made his eyes a little bigger. If it wasn�t for him, we would probably still be together kicking ass and winning titles. Now it�s all about him and how much money he can make.
The Butcher: What about Nikki? Is she in on this too?
Tomorrow Man: No, Cody purposely keeps her out of it to protect her. Sounds like a promising job, eh?
Zo�: Yeah, just wonderful.
Tomorrow Man: Last I heard, Nikki landed a topnotch job at the San Francisco Herald as one of their lead photographers. She hasn�t changed one bit, Butch. I know she still loves you, bro, but she�s engaged to Cody�
The Butcher: �and pregnant with his kid.
-[ The Butcher sinks down into the cushions and drinks some more of his beer. Those words really hurt. ]-
Tomorrow Man: She�s pregnant?
The Butcher: Yeah. She�s been for two weeks supposedly.
Tomorrow Man: Damn. I don�t know what to say.
The Butcher: I don�t either.
-[ After a few moments of silence Tomorrow Man finally speaks up. ]-
Tomorrow Man: So where are you staying?
The Butcher: I don�t know. A dead man can�t spend money he doesn�t have.
Zo�: You can stay with me!
The Butcher: No, Zo�. You�ve got to go back to your parents and I�m pretty sure they won�t like a scary guy like me hanging around with you.
Zo�: Well fuck them!
Tomorrow Man: You can stay with me for awhile, Butch. No one seems to come around here anyway.
The Butcher: You sure?
Tomorrow Man: Positive. I�ll sleep on the couch and you can take my bed.
The Butcher: I�ll sleep on the couch because I still pee the bed.
-[ Tomorrow Man laughs hard as he was drinking and some of the beer comes out of his nose. All three laugh for a while and finish their beer. ]-
Tomorrow Man: Damn, man, it�s great to have you back.
The Butcher: It�s great to be back even though I never really left. Hey, got any playing cards? I�m up for a game of poker.
Zo�: Me too! Strip poker! I�ll beat both your asses!
Tomorrow Man: How about just regular poker? With my luck, the cops will break in here and bust me for endangering the welfare of a child or something.
Zo�: You take the fun out of everything! Damn, Jimmy, you were right. He is one prude mother fucker.
-[ The Butcher can�t help but laugh again as Tomorrow Man acts like he�s going to punch him but can�t help but laugh as well. ]-
Warfare 2002. What an insane match I�m in. When was the last time in the history of wrestling when this many big names got in the ring at one time just for the sake of being crowned a Tag Team Champion with a guy you probably despise? Never happened before. It should prove to be an interesting match because anybody can win. Adam King is as awesome as his name says. Griever is as deadly as anybody comes. Casey is a world class athlete with many credentials to his name. Jackson is out to prove his loss last week was a fluke. Fate wants to become a contender. Kane is underrated. And FroZtie is out to put me away for good.
With these many men in the ring, something is bound to happen. King and Casey may team up and take us all out. FroZtie�s head could blow up. Griever can start preaching. Anything can happen.
So what are my intentions? They�re very simple. Get my hands on FroZtie. The Tag Team Titles don�t mean a single thing to me. Why? Because I�ve only won one title in my long career and nothing can be better than winning a World Title. I�ve already stated when I came in here that wins, loses, money, and titles don�t mean a damn thing to me. That still stands. FroZtie is the only thing I want because it�s a personal.
The rest of these men may become casualties of war and I really don�t want that to happen. I don�t want to make friends. I don�t want to make enemies. I just want to put FroZtie down. Odds on favorites to win? Casey and King. Any guarantees? FroZtie will bleed. Other than that, I don�t give a rat�s ass.
