Post by Hayleigh Blake on Jul 5, 2023 0:42:36 GMT
{ We open our shot on a solemn image of Frank Black. It’s the fourth of July weekend before his birthday and he’s spending the afternoon at his brothers house. Somewhere in the background you can hear the sound of two kids running around, a mother yelling at them to be careful as they reenact their favorite Star Wars fight scene with sparklers. Frank is seated just inside a sliding door window at the breakfast bar, nursing an ice cold glass of whiskey. }
Frank: Happy birthday…
{ He mutters to himself as he takes a sip of his drink. }
?: Are you seriously going to sit inside and drink alone on your birthday?
{ Frank looks over his shoulder at the widow of his brother, Sara Black. She gives him a small smile and he returns it in kind. }
Frank: Just hard ta get in da mood.
Sara: I know.
{ She places a hand on his shoulder and squeezes lightly. }
Frank: It’s mah first birthday without him.
Sara: It’s our first fourth of July without him too. Come outside.
Frank: Maybe ina minute.
{ Sara slides the glass away from Frank. }
Sara: I got Roman candles.
{ Frank looks up with a devilish grin. }
Frank: Oh yeah?
Sara: Yeah and Dad says you’re too chicken shit to face him in a duel.
{ Frank suddenly stands up. }
Frank: Where dat old ass man at. I’m a show him who’s chicken shit round here!
Sara: That’a boy.
{ Frank marches toward the sliding door before stopping. He looks back at Sara. }
Frank: Thanks.
Sara: You’re welcome.
{ And with that Frank heads out into the backyard to take his old man on in a Roman candle duel. }
Frank: Happy birthday…
{ He mutters to himself as he takes a sip of his drink. }
?: Are you seriously going to sit inside and drink alone on your birthday?
{ Frank looks over his shoulder at the widow of his brother, Sara Black. She gives him a small smile and he returns it in kind. }
Frank: Just hard ta get in da mood.
Sara: I know.
{ She places a hand on his shoulder and squeezes lightly. }
Frank: It’s mah first birthday without him.
Sara: It’s our first fourth of July without him too. Come outside.
Frank: Maybe ina minute.
{ Sara slides the glass away from Frank. }
Sara: I got Roman candles.
{ Frank looks up with a devilish grin. }
Frank: Oh yeah?
Sara: Yeah and Dad says you’re too chicken shit to face him in a duel.
{ Frank suddenly stands up. }
Frank: Where dat old ass man at. I’m a show him who’s chicken shit round here!
Sara: That’a boy.
{ Frank marches toward the sliding door before stopping. He looks back at Sara. }
Frank: Thanks.
Sara: You’re welcome.
{ And with that Frank heads out into the backyard to take his old man on in a Roman candle duel. }
”What up baby!? It’s me, ya boy, Frank Black! I bet ya’ll never thought you’d see dis handsome mug back on yo screen but here I am! An’ I mean business, baby!”
“Last time I came through these parts I didn’t have the best go of it. Sure, my brother, Eddie and I won the tag team titles. We shared a car with God but by da end of that shit we was rode harder than a hooker in Vegas!”
{ Frank nods his head. }
”But da goal was always to get back here. Ya see tha IWF is the pinnacle of our profession, baby! There wadn’t no other place my brother and I wanted to be. Forget all that shit with Angel Blake and his brothel of bitches! We wanted ta be where tha best pro wrestling on tha planet was happening!”
“And that’s right here in tha Imperial Wrestling Federation.”
“I know that’s a hard look in this day an age. Everybody and their mama got a promotion now and they all claim their’s is the best. But there’s a reason some of the best talent in the world recently signed their name to da doted line here in IWF. An there’s a reason Eddie and I busted our gosh damn tails ta get back here!”
“If ya want ta make history, if ya want to be legendary, if ya want ya name ta be synonymous with professional wrestling!? Ya fight for the IWF.”
{ Frank nods again. }
”An that’s why despite all tha bullshit that went down. Tha betrayal, tha backstabbing, that straight up horror movie bullshit!? We fought like rabid dogs to get back here! We fought all across this great nation of ours! We fought in Canada! We fought in tha Caribbean! We fought in Mexico, Japan an Australia!”
“We fought everywhere an anywhere!”
“An wouldn’t luck have it. IWF threw out a feeler just before my brother kicked it. They wanted us to come in, have a try out against the current Tag Team Champions. One of those men I know really damn well. But God works in mysterious ways an that shit just wasn’t meant to be.”
{ Frank looks down for a second before looking back up into the camera. }
”Afterward? Bertie Verona sent me a contract. A one year deal. He said he was always planning on bringing us back no matter how that try out went. I don’t know if he meant it. I don’t know if he was just tickling my balls. What I do know? I got twelve damn months to prove I belong here!”
“Yusumi Mitsu!”
“You gonna be my first opponent back in an IWF ring. Now my mama, god rest her soul, she always told me ta never hit a women. But this is pro wrestling baby! Ya signed that contract just like I did! Ya knew what ya was getting into just like I did! So when we in that ring together, I don’t care if you’s a man, woman, they/them or otherwise! You my opponent!”
“You’re standing in between me an turning that one year deal into a five year deal! You’re standing in between me an showing the whole gosh damn world just how good the Blacks were! You’re standing in between me an my brother’s memory.”
{ Frank looks away solemnly for a moment. }
”All Eddie ever talked about was holding IWF gold again. Tha feeling of those belts in your hand ain’t like anything else on tha planet. It’s special. It means somethin’. And when you hear those fans chant your name? It’s absolutely euphoric. We lived for that shit. Now I’m living for that shit.”
“I don’t have no wife. I don’t have no kids. I ain’t got anyone looking to carry this legacy on. But I got Eddie’s wife. Eddie’s kids. I gotta show them what it is their father an their uncle did in that ring. I gotta show them how good we was. I gotta show them that no matta’ how hard life kicks you in between the legs ya gotta keep on going!”
“Ya gotta keep fighting!”
“An that’s what I’m here doing. Yusumi, ya seem like a good kid. Good moral compass. After tha match I’d like to buy ya a drink an learn ya story. See where ya came from. But between bells? I’m gonna have to go ta work!}
{ Frank’s excitement peaks again. }
”An I hope ya ready ta take on the Redneck Suplek Machine! Because I ain’t the same hillbilly I was tha last time I came round here! I’ve got a whole new style a offense! I got a whole new bag a moves! I’ve been training! I’ve been working! I’ve been learning ta get better at doing what it is we are here ta do!”
“Winning, baby!”
“Ya may think I’m out of my element in singles action, ya may be right. But that ain’t gonna stop me from getting in that ring an giving ya hell! I ain’t fighting for just me! I ain’t fighting ta just be a champion! I ain’t fighting just so I can post about it on social media! I’m fighting ta keep tha memory of my brother alive!”
“An I’m fighting so his kids still have someone to look up to. I’m their role model. Their father figure. I’m the one who’s stepping in ta help guide them into adulthood. An they need to know, they need ta see, they need to feel in their bones that no matter how hard this life gets? Ya can always fight back.”
“I fought back to get here. I’m a fight to stay here. An god help anyone who gets in my way.”
{ We rejoin Frank and his father in the barkyard of Sara’s home. The sun is down and the two of them are in the middle of a Roman candle war. Both men have their pockets stuffed with Roman candles, using the old one to light the new one in between firing shots at each other. Sara and the kids are watching from a safe distance, laughing and enjoying the spectacle of the mini war. }
Frank: Ya gotta move quick, old man!
Grandpa Black: I don’t need to move to hit your sorry ass!
{ The two men continue to fire at each other as the kids laugh hysterically, they are absolutely loving it. Frank notices the laughter and takes a brief moment to look over to see Sara with a smiling nod. Just as he looks Grandpa Black fires a Roman candle shot directly into the nether regions of Frank! }
Frank: Oof!!!!
Grandpa Black: Gotcha!
{ Frank drops to his knees as the kids rush in to protect him. }
Grandpa Black: Looks like ya gettin’ off easy dis time.
{ Frank looks up from the two children hugging him. }
Frank: Always next year, old man.
Grandpa Black: Happy birthday.
{ Frank just smiles and nods, hugging the children back as our scene comes to an end. }
Frank: Ya gotta move quick, old man!
Grandpa Black: I don’t need to move to hit your sorry ass!
{ The two men continue to fire at each other as the kids laugh hysterically, they are absolutely loving it. Frank notices the laughter and takes a brief moment to look over to see Sara with a smiling nod. Just as he looks Grandpa Black fires a Roman candle shot directly into the nether regions of Frank! }
Frank: Oof!!!!
Grandpa Black: Gotcha!
{ Frank drops to his knees as the kids rush in to protect him. }
Grandpa Black: Looks like ya gettin’ off easy dis time.
{ Frank looks up from the two children hugging him. }
Frank: Always next year, old man.
Grandpa Black: Happy birthday.
{ Frank just smiles and nods, hugging the children back as our scene comes to an end. }
Well howdy there pardner.