What was I to think? The night before, I had caught my best friend with my girl. To say that was unexpected would be an understatement. Debbie dumping me just days before the prom for some other guy was already a hard situation to deal with. Things had seemed to be going great between us, and need I remind you that it was her that had approached me about us going out just a couple of weeks before that. I was already having a rough time understanding what I did so wrong, or what this other guy did so right to send her running away from me, and into his arms. Going to the prom, and finding out that her date was CJ somehow hurt worse. Suddenly I didn’t really care about Debbie. It’s like I instantly came to terms with her dumping me, but in a single moment, I was also crushed far worse. It’s one thing to have a girl reject you without so much as a second thought, or to have a girl suddenly dump you as though she changes her mind with the wind, but to have a best friend betray you. That’s probably the worst feeling in the world.
CJ and I had been friends for years. We pretty much did everything together, a couple of delinquent outcasts that just seemed to get one another. Over the years we had become close. We used to hang out at every possible opportunity, and if he couldn’t hang out, we would sit around talking on the phone like a couple of schoolgirls. Some of the kids that we went to school with actually used to tease of because of how attached to the hip we seemed. Let’s just say that my friendship with Cadryn isn’t the first time that I’ve had to listen to a group of assholes toss insults like my way. The truth was, neither CJ nor I were gay, but we did rely on each other a lot. We were all that each of us had at the time.
Now, this isn’t the first time that some friendship somewhere has been put to the test over members of the opposite sex. Just watch an episode of the classic Saved by the Bell, and look at the friendly feud between A.C. and Zack over the lovable Kelly, but this is our senior year and up to this point, we had never had any problems with girls coming between us. Besides, this situation is more that a friendly rivalry to earn the affection of a girl that we both like. This is dirty warfare. CJ had gone behind my back, and he stole my girl. Maybe if he would have had the balls to tell me his intentions things wouldn’t be so bad, but he didn’t. I had no idea that he was the other guy, and for the two days between Debbie breaking up with me, and my catching them together at the prom, we had gotten along, as usual.
The more that I thought about how things had played out, how I was truly being betrayed, the more that I realized that CJ had an ass beating owed to him, and I was ready to payout. Later that day I confronted CJ outside of the school. He had been trying to avoid me the entire day. I could tell that he was ashamed of himself. It didn’t matter to me, though. I was pissed off and I wanted to fight.
”You’re a real piece of shit, you know that!”
”CJ through his hands up in defense before I ever through the first punch.
”Man listen, it’s not what you think!”
”I didn’t care, I didn’t want to hear it. This was no longer about a girl, it was about a friend stabbing the other in the back. I was angry and out of control. I shoved CJ, but he didn’t fight back, so I shoved him again.
”Listen, It just happened! We like… like each other man!”
I shove him again, this time so hard that he falls backward to the ground.
”You should have told me!”
If things were as innocent as he was claiming, why would they hide it from me? As close of friends as we were, why not come to me? Yes, it still would have hurt, and it still may have caused the end of our friendship. I can’t really say for sure, but he still should have been straight up with me.
”CJ?”
**********
03-06-2017- Somewhere in Kentucky
BANG - BANG - BANG!
”DUDE, LET ME OUTTA HERE!”
This is ridiculous! Random has had me locked in the trunk for almost an hour now. I know damn well that we’ve escaped the cops. They were looking for Cadryn and Graves, not the Betty White that he morphed into. I can’t believe that I fell for Randoms act, to begin with. Am I really so desperate for Cadryn to come back that I can’t see though Randoms lame attempt at mimicking my friend? I mean, the guy has had a weird stalker-like relationship with Cadryn lately, now I’m beginning to wonder if his plan all along was to take Cadryn’s spot. Seriously, why would Random pretend to be Cadryn? I need the answer, but first I need to get out of this trunk!
”RANDOM, PULL OVER AND LET ME OUT!”
BANG - BANG - BANG -BANG -BANG
Suddenly the tires screech to a halt, the g-force slams me up against luggage. I can hear Random get out of the car, and fiddle with the keys before opening the trunk. The light beams in from the sun, blinding me. I rub my eyes, trying to adjust to the sudden change when a familiar voice calls out.
”Gravy, we’re safe!
Just the sound of Random Cadryn voice infuriates me. I had thought that my attempts to talk some sense into Cadryn had worked. I thought that I got my friend back and that he was making an honest attempt to stay away from meth, but no. It was just this jackass the entire time.
”What are you doing?”
”I’m letting you out of the trunk buuuud-dy!”
My eyes hadn’t adjusted to the light yet, otherwise, I would have seen the disturbing sight of Randoms face and hair momentarily changing into Pauly Shore just for that last word.
”No, why are you pretending to be Cadryn you asshat!?”
”Oh that’s simple, I’m just giving you the friend that you want so bad!”
”No offense, but you're not the friend that I want.”
”Well it sucks to be you because I’m the only friend that you’ve got right now!
Random Cadryn storms away from the trunk to the front of the car. With my eyes finally adjusted enough to see, I climb out of the trunk. Random is leaned against the hood of the car, staring down at his cell phone. I have to admit, I kinda feel bad having upset him, so I decide to try and make nice.
”I didn’t mean it like that, dude.”
He doesn’t respond. He just continues to sit there and fumble through screen after screen on his phone. I continue towards him, until I’m in reaching distance and he throws his cell phone at me. I catch it as he walks away.
”Watch that!”
Confused, I look down at the phone's screen. It seems that it is a video from the XWF website. It’s titled cleaning the gutters with muck. What I see breaks my heart. It’s Cadryn, coming down off of his high, and looking for more meth. What he finds instead is Buronan, and they scariest thing that I have seen in a skirt since Devine graced theater screens in Pink Flamingos. I continue to watch as I find out that Buronan actually killed the meth dealer. I think to myself, maybe he isn’t such a bad guy after all. Or maybe he’s just trying to clean up Cadryn so that he has a better chance of moving on to the nex… WHAT THE FUCK! I watch horrified as Buronan injects some kind of drug into Cadryn’s arm. As if things weren't bad enough already, Buronan just made everything worse. I slam the phone to the pavement in a fit of rage. It shatters into about 7 pieces. Random isn’t going to be happy that I just broke his phone, but now isn’t the time for him to speak up. With Random’s phone busted, and my battery being dead from the ride in the trunk. I look around for a sign of a camera anywhere nearby. Vinnie has all of us injected with GPS trackers or something, because no matter where we go, or what we’re doing, an XWF camera isn’t too far behind. This instance is no different, as off into the distance I see an XWF camera drone flying towards me.
”Buronan, what in the fuck was that!? I had been hoping against hope that my negative remarks against your character would motivate you to prove me wrong and help Cadryn get off the junk. I was hoping that you would realize that a clean partner would give you a better chance to move on to the next round. For a moment, I thought that you had a brain. I thought that maybe you had a shred of decency in you and that you understood that I would have lost a lot of my motivation to kick your asses. The fact of the matter is, you’ve made things worse!
When you pulled that heroine needle out and jabbed it into his arm, I didn’t know what to think. You completely caught me off guard! I will admit that I’m not aware of what heroine is, but it can’t be good. I imagine that the serum in that needle will somehow transform my little buddy into a brave little woman and that she will dash off to fight injustice in the XWF. All in all that doesn’t sound so bad, but chances are, you actually meant Heroin. If you, in fact, did mean Heroin, then you’ve effectively taken Cadryn from bad to worse!
The addiction to meth is all mental and heroin is all physical. Getting clean from meth is a cake-walk next to getting clean from heroin. So thanks, Buronan, you’ve just made my job a shit ton harder. You’ve also guaranteed that I kick the living piss out of you, dumbass! Also, how fucking stupid are you that you would dose him up with a downer anyway? You claim that you want to win Lethal Lottery, but there you are, doping up your own partner with some shit that’s guaranteed to turn him into a walking zombie come Wednesday. That is unless you really did mean heroine…
I feel sorry for you, both of you actually. Because all of this is forcing me to go to a place that I don’t want to go. I know that I need to kick your asses and pin your team for the victory. I need to do it not only to move on to the next round of Lethal Lottery, but I need to do it as a first step to getting my friend back from the clutches of addiction. Cadryn is a lot tougher than he looks, and he does possess the ability to beat anyone here, including me. Buronan, in an attempt to try and cause more friction between the two of us, tried to say that I have never appreciated him. Well Buronan, you couldn’t be more wrong if you tried. I always stand behind Cadryn, motivating him, telling him how high his worth is, how he can beat ANY MAN in this company if he just puts forth the effort. You try to paint me as the bad guy, but you’re the one pumping him full of drugs and having that nasty fucking she-beast sit on his face!
You think that my concern for Cadryn is going to distract me in this match? Well, you’re probably right. There’s also the fact that I’m pretty sure that I won’t be able to bring myself to actually hit the little guy. You see, a long time ago, A friend and I got into a fight. The details don’t matter, but what does is the fact that for years, I have carried the guilt and I have felt responsible for what happened to him. Ever since I first saw Cadryn booked on the opposite side of the ring, I haven’t been able to get my friend CJ, and how I killed him out of my mind.
There is silence as tears begin to gather in my eyes. My emotions are getting the best of me, and I don’t know what to say next. I know what I need to do, but I also doubt that I have the strength to do it. The last time that I fought a friend, I accidentally took his life. I have carried that event with me for many years, and now that I am forced to face a friend in the ring, that night keeps playing over and over. It’s not just that we have to have a wrestling match. It’s the fact that I am going to have to go full tilt in order to win. I need to pull all restraints and to do that, I risk going too far. I’m not sure that I’m up to the task, not with CJ weighing on my mind.
The drone assuming that I’m done flies away. It’s for the best, I need to get back home anyway.
The following 3 users Like "Dark Warrior" Micheal Graves's post:3 users Like "Dark Warrior" Micheal Graves's post JimCaedus (03-11-2017), Peter Fn Gilmour (03-08-2017), The Monster of Htaed (03-08-2017)
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The following 3 users Like "Dark Warrior" Micheal Graves's post:
my way. The truth was, neither CJ nor I were gay, but we did rely on each other a lot. We were all that each of us had at the time.
