Post by Thaddeus Duke on Jun 17, 2023 14:21:01 GMT -5
He was never great at leaving much alone. Here lately, he'd seemingly lost an astonishing amount of interest in self preservation, signing up for every mysterious, ambiguous, zany event from the defunct Styx Corp to Arcadia.
So it only stood to reason his name would be one of the first thrown into the undoubtedly tricorner'd hat of this Triad business. He sat back, drink in hand as he contemplated the state of the world. Not the world entire, no, those matters were best left to men who didn’t think fighting was work.
Oh what a wonderful dream…
No, he was more honed in on the world of his profession. Well off egomaniacs who got better off by beating the shit out of each other. When they weren’t trying to fuck one another, that is. A chuckle as he took a sip off the neat brandy he’d prepared himself. Prepared, as if it were anymore than emptying some liquid from a bottle into a glass.
Pretentious prick. No matter everyone wanted a piece of him.
That thought permeated. No doubt, there’d be plenty to sign up for this opportunity who would also enjoy the opportunity to be the one to end his incessant trash talk, to be the one to stop him from inserting himself into business that wasn’t his looking for that great fight to put him out of his misery.
He’d need allies, to make it interesting.
Thankfully, he knew of one who’s entire prerequisite for bothering with work anymore was that it had to be just that.
Interesting.
Head first. That's how I jump into things that interest me. While I may keep my offices at the trade center in Manhattan, more often than not, I'm working from home. When I'm not handling business with Lion's Guard or the Pride, I'm outside making a ridiculous mess of our 30 acres of Long Island real estate.
Lauren wants horses. With horses comes stables and fencing. The land was dug out and leveled as of this week and the stables are in process. Now, I've been spending my free time with this big tractor digging holes for fence posts.
Sat inside the machine, my phone vibrates in the pocket of my jeans. For the moment, I ignored it. You know what it's like when you got a rhythm going. I have about a thousand more holes to dig and…
It's vibrating again.
Dammit.
"Knox?" I asked aloud to myself after retrieval. "The fuck you want Mike? I'm a little busy," I greeted him with lighthearted aggressiveness.
His real name is Matthew, obviously. It's just been one of those 'things.' He calls me Todd, I call him Mike.
"You're really going all in on this farm shit aren't you?" He replied quickly and rhetorically.
"What’s up man?" I asked him.
"Why'd you quit?" He asked as I killed the engine on the loud equipment.
"I didn't quit exactly," I stated matter-of-factly. "I just haven't found a viable reason to pack up and leave my family for a few days at a time. There's a hundred different promotions out there man. All of them have varying degrees of the same purpose.
"Fight this guy, chase that title, win this one, eventually lose it…
"Wash, rinse, repeat. I've been there, I've done that. Holding titles in order to prove how good I am, holds no interest to me whatsoever. I don't need them. I don't need validation from anyone or anything."
"I get it," Knox agreed. "Have you checked your personal email lately?"
"Nah," I answered honestly. "I hate checking it right now," I laughed. "Some promoter is always reachin' out tryin' to get me to sign.
"I feel bad turnin' 'em down. They always think I'm big timin' 'em when in reality I'm just not interested in whatever they're offering."
"Maybe you should check your email," Knox strongly suggested. "Someone is building something and… I don't know man. It's a little different. Interesting.
"It could be right up your alley," Knox concludes.
"I'll check it in awhile," I relented easily. "If you don't hear back then… I guess you were wrong."
"I'll be expecting your call then," Knox says confidently before we hung up.
Confidence is curious. Since my return to the business almost three years ago, I oozed confidence. That rubbed some people the wrong way, but at the same time, it's been absolutely unshakable. That's not to say that I've had a perfect record in those three years, because I haven't. There was a time where a loss would devastate me. I've come to learn over the years that, even if I lost a match it wasn't because I wasn't as good as I said I was, but because my opponent upped and changed their game in order to compete with me.
They won.
They earned it.
There's something incredibly fulfilling to be so good that people have to change what they do and step outside their little box, to stroll outside of their comfort zone… in an effort to beat me.
It's incredibly humbling.
Pushing those thoughts out of my mind for just a bit, I crank the engine on the tractor to resume my post hole digging. One… then the next… Stop…
"God dammit Knox," I muttered under my breath as I killed the engine and pulled out my phone again. "You piqued my interest."
Scrolling through my email, I found what Matt was alluding to. Something or someone called 'The Triad.'
Closing the email, I leaned back in the seat of the tractor, considering what it is I just saw.
Bravery.
Wit.
Strength.
Uniting the Triad.
So on and so forth.
Finally, I dialed up Knox.
"Todd?" He greeted me. "This was a little quicker than I expected."
"God damn you Knox," I said to him in faux outrage. "Fuck, that sounds interesting."
"Interesting enough to get you to stop digging holes?" Asked Knox.
"Yeah I think so," I replied honestly. "Man, I was getting married this summer. I was…"
"You and Lauren are already married," he interrupted. "Besides, it's not like you can't do it before Triad begins… whenever that is."
"Yeah I know, but we never had the big wedding she deserves," I replied. "Or the one I deserve, to be honest."
"They hooked you?" He asked with a triumphant tone.
"I mean," I began with a pause. "Swallowed it whole. Hook, line, sinker…"
"So what's next?" Knox asked.
"Get your ass out here and help me get back in ring shape," I demanded of one of my closest friends. "Besides, those flabs you got are embarrassing. We can work on those too."
"Fuck you Todd."
Click.
So it only stood to reason his name would be one of the first thrown into the undoubtedly tricorner'd hat of this Triad business. He sat back, drink in hand as he contemplated the state of the world. Not the world entire, no, those matters were best left to men who didn’t think fighting was work.
Oh what a wonderful dream…
No, he was more honed in on the world of his profession. Well off egomaniacs who got better off by beating the shit out of each other. When they weren’t trying to fuck one another, that is. A chuckle as he took a sip off the neat brandy he’d prepared himself. Prepared, as if it were anymore than emptying some liquid from a bottle into a glass.
Pretentious prick. No matter everyone wanted a piece of him.
That thought permeated. No doubt, there’d be plenty to sign up for this opportunity who would also enjoy the opportunity to be the one to end his incessant trash talk, to be the one to stop him from inserting himself into business that wasn’t his looking for that great fight to put him out of his misery.
He’d need allies, to make it interesting.
Thankfully, he knew of one who’s entire prerequisite for bothering with work anymore was that it had to be just that.
Interesting.
Head first. That's how I jump into things that interest me. While I may keep my offices at the trade center in Manhattan, more often than not, I'm working from home. When I'm not handling business with Lion's Guard or the Pride, I'm outside making a ridiculous mess of our 30 acres of Long Island real estate.
Lauren wants horses. With horses comes stables and fencing. The land was dug out and leveled as of this week and the stables are in process. Now, I've been spending my free time with this big tractor digging holes for fence posts.
Sat inside the machine, my phone vibrates in the pocket of my jeans. For the moment, I ignored it. You know what it's like when you got a rhythm going. I have about a thousand more holes to dig and…
It's vibrating again.
Dammit.
"Knox?" I asked aloud to myself after retrieval. "The fuck you want Mike? I'm a little busy," I greeted him with lighthearted aggressiveness.
His real name is Matthew, obviously. It's just been one of those 'things.' He calls me Todd, I call him Mike.
"You're really going all in on this farm shit aren't you?" He replied quickly and rhetorically.
"What’s up man?" I asked him.
"Why'd you quit?" He asked as I killed the engine on the loud equipment.
"I didn't quit exactly," I stated matter-of-factly. "I just haven't found a viable reason to pack up and leave my family for a few days at a time. There's a hundred different promotions out there man. All of them have varying degrees of the same purpose.
"Fight this guy, chase that title, win this one, eventually lose it…
"Wash, rinse, repeat. I've been there, I've done that. Holding titles in order to prove how good I am, holds no interest to me whatsoever. I don't need them. I don't need validation from anyone or anything."
"I get it," Knox agreed. "Have you checked your personal email lately?"
"Nah," I answered honestly. "I hate checking it right now," I laughed. "Some promoter is always reachin' out tryin' to get me to sign.
"I feel bad turnin' 'em down. They always think I'm big timin' 'em when in reality I'm just not interested in whatever they're offering."
"Maybe you should check your email," Knox strongly suggested. "Someone is building something and… I don't know man. It's a little different. Interesting.
"It could be right up your alley," Knox concludes.
"I'll check it in awhile," I relented easily. "If you don't hear back then… I guess you were wrong."
"I'll be expecting your call then," Knox says confidently before we hung up.
Confidence is curious. Since my return to the business almost three years ago, I oozed confidence. That rubbed some people the wrong way, but at the same time, it's been absolutely unshakable. That's not to say that I've had a perfect record in those three years, because I haven't. There was a time where a loss would devastate me. I've come to learn over the years that, even if I lost a match it wasn't because I wasn't as good as I said I was, but because my opponent upped and changed their game in order to compete with me.
They won.
They earned it.
There's something incredibly fulfilling to be so good that people have to change what they do and step outside their little box, to stroll outside of their comfort zone… in an effort to beat me.
It's incredibly humbling.
Pushing those thoughts out of my mind for just a bit, I crank the engine on the tractor to resume my post hole digging. One… then the next… Stop…
"God dammit Knox," I muttered under my breath as I killed the engine and pulled out my phone again. "You piqued my interest."
Scrolling through my email, I found what Matt was alluding to. Something or someone called 'The Triad.'
Closing the email, I leaned back in the seat of the tractor, considering what it is I just saw.
Bravery.
Wit.
Strength.
Uniting the Triad.
So on and so forth.
Finally, I dialed up Knox.
"Todd?" He greeted me. "This was a little quicker than I expected."
"God damn you Knox," I said to him in faux outrage. "Fuck, that sounds interesting."
"Interesting enough to get you to stop digging holes?" Asked Knox.
"Yeah I think so," I replied honestly. "Man, I was getting married this summer. I was…"
"You and Lauren are already married," he interrupted. "Besides, it's not like you can't do it before Triad begins… whenever that is."
"Yeah I know, but we never had the big wedding she deserves," I replied. "Or the one I deserve, to be honest."
"They hooked you?" He asked with a triumphant tone.
"I mean," I began with a pause. "Swallowed it whole. Hook, line, sinker…"
"So what's next?" Knox asked.
"Get your ass out here and help me get back in ring shape," I demanded of one of my closest friends. "Besides, those flabs you got are embarrassing. We can work on those too."
"Fuck you Todd."
Click.