L'aumento della Fenice (The Rise of The Phoenix/My Life II)

[Xavier Cross]

Chapter Four: The Search

The scene opens, where the last one has left off, Xavier is sitting on the sidewalk, his hand now bleeding from the punch to the ground. His hands clenching the top of his head, he was about to go into full pity mode, before lifting himself up, turning his head to Doug who had just gotten off the phone with Detective Thompson.

“Look Doug, I need you to run in and get every file we have on Drew, any contact info, or family, anything at this point..”

Cross shakes the distraction, as his eyes and mind focus on the situation at hand, he knows that they are racing against a dangerous clock, and that Drew’s life could possibly be on the line. But Doug stands there for a moment, looking at Xavier.

Doug: “He…he has a family. He’s a run away…From Von-Darwin family…you remember that big indy star that got killed a few years back, Jon Von-Dawrin. That’s his son, he ran away a few months ago.”

Cross’s eyes are fixated on Doug, trying to process the entirely, a young boy, from a rich family, running away to live on the streets. Xavier knew the goose bumps running up his spine were cliché, and at the same time, terrifying.

“Get inside, contact his family, get all the kids inside. Get ‘em to play video games, or in the gym, no one is in and out, get the staff, find Tommy, have him stay in my office….”

Xavier is about to turn and head towards his car, but a voice catches him by surprise.

“Xavier! Xavier!”

The voice is a male, deep, and for once in the last month, sober. It was Xavier’s navy brother, Jaqwan. Following him, is a thin woman, with dark hair, a simple shade of makeup covering her face. Her eyes were tired, dark, and at the same time piercing, but full of sadness. It reminded Cross of his own eyes, the sorrow of losing. Immediately he realized who it was, the face was in the news papers roughly six years ago, she was the Von-Dawrin widow.

“Jaqwan, what are you doing here?!”

“Well, there was a call at the apartment looking for you, when you did the newspaper articles for the charity a couple of weeks ago, a picture of some kid named Andrew was in the background, this is his mom…you know you have something in common…”

“Yeah, rich kid runs away and gets involved with the wrong people. Look Miss Von-Dawrin, if you follow Doug inside he’ll catch you up to speed.”

“No thank you Mr. Cross, I’d like to get my son and leave. Now.”

“Er…”

Cross looks down at his bloodied hand, before taking his pride, shoving it away into the pits of his stomach.

“That’s the problem, I kicked your son out about thirty minutes ago, and it’s just come to my attention he may have crossed a local gang…”

“HE WHAT!”

Most women would have freaked out, this one, her fists balled up immediately. The sorrow in her eyes were replaced with fury, almost a motivated sense.

“Jaqwan and I will go look for him, but please, Ma’am stay here with Doug.”

“I will do no such thing. Your brother can stay with Doug, I am going to find my son!”

Xavier is a little taken aback by this, but his eyes notice something else, in her purse is the very newspaper article Jaqwan had mentioned earlier. Knowing there would be a picture of Drew in there, they were one more step ahead of the game.

“Well then we’re wasting time, I’ll pull the car around. Doug, lock the place down, no one in and out. If Drew comes back, or anything happens, you call me.”

Xavier jogs around the corner, to his car., Jaqwan is standing awkwardly near Mrs. Von-Darwin. Before perking up his voice.

“It’ll be easier for me take my own car, and drive. If you’ll give me that newspaper, I can show the picture around and try to find him.”

The widow looks up at Jaqwan, almost annoyed, but she sighs realizing he is only trying to help, she hands over the newspaper.

“Please, he’s the only thing I have left…”

Jaqwan nods his head, before heading off in the direction they came, the woman stands there for a moment, as the sound of squealing tires, as a 1967 chevy impala, a royal blue color with chrome sidings whips around the corner. The view shows Xavier Cross is behind the wheel, pulling up to the curb popping the door open for her.

“Are you sure you should be driving…”

“We don’t have time to argue about semantics. You want to find Drew or not.”

She immediately gets in the car, as though Xavier was challenging her dedication to her son.

“His name…is Andrew!”

She slams the door, throwing her seat belt on as Xavier peels off down the street.

******

I’ve talked, and talked. This kid, he shouldn’t have been prosecuted the way I did him. I’m so stressed out, getting this charity off the ground, trying to turn things around, and then Jaqwan goes and knocks someone out at a bar, catches a drunk in public. It’s all a huge headache, hell; maybe I’m too impatient to be running this place. Maybe I should just be the man behind the curtain, allow Doug to run this place while I keep the money pumping in. 

But I just can’t walk away, these kids have had people walking out of their lives entirely too much. I refuse to be that man. I started this, and I will see it through. So I stand here, looking out to you, looking out to everyone, to Andrew Jacobsen, to Seth Evans, to Jake Conway or the Ace, and especially to Mike Laszlo. I’ve said what I’ve had to say about you, I’ve done enough ‘trash talk’. But there is another twist to this match.

Xander.

The monster himself, as many NCW alumni’s remember, before Verona and Jacobsen were champion, there was a monster that held the belt. Vicious, with a disgusting mean streak. He was ruthless to the core where you’d question the man’s heart. I’ve come to believe in second chances, in redemption of a man’s soul. But, is Xander capable of such emotions, of such abilities, of humanity?

Regardless, he enters this match holding all the cards. A heavyweight just bursting on the scene, has been given the old zebra stripes, he will be dictating this match, he will be in charge, the boss hog of sorts. I’m assuming a nice little twist added in by Will Washington. Knowing that there are five men, capable of tearing the arena and each other apart, you need to have an above average referee. 

I guess I picked a terrible time to break up with his baby sister…

Regardless, I find myself curious of what interest that Xander holds in this match. He’s one of the most sadistic yet brilliant minds, he’s almost like Hannibal Lector minus the strange appetite. It seems that this match may end up being more than a scramble, but a chance for him to send a message not only to the Heavyweight Division, and the future Heavyweight Champion, but to IWF.

The man likes his platforms, and this couldn’t be any bigger of a podium for him to stand on. 

******

Chapter Five: The Rescue 

The engine roared, as Xavier headed in the direction he knew. It was the old stomping ground. He could see Mrs. Von-Darwin holding onto the seat belt, but despite how nervous she was, she was still focused. For some reason this made Xavier feel comfortable, a little more reassured, and it motivated him even more to find Drew.

“I’m sorry this happened Mrs. Von-Darwin…”

“Call me Dianna, I hate having to listen to that long title.”

“Then call me Xavier, I’m not that huge of a fan of Mr. Cross, the kids call me that.”

She looks at him, the confidence still there, but a shade of worry was too obvious to hide.

“My son…”

“He’s a good kid, he’s a little lost right now…probably from losing his dad. If I knew who he was…He said his last name was Alduino…I never knew…”

She smiles a bit, which catches Xavier off guard.

“That’s my maiden name…”

“Wait, you’re the Dianna Alduino, the soap-opera star?”

“You watched my Soap?”

“No…but my late wife….she loved you, playing the devious black widow…”

The two exchange a smile, but it soon fades from Cross’s face, this was his old home, the same street corner he thought he would become a man at. This was Five Point Blood territory.

“Look, we don’t exactly have the time for me to explain why I know this so well, but I’m going to park the car. You’re going to get in the driver seat and keep driving around. Don’t stop for anyone unless it’s me, even if you see Drew. This is a dangerous neighborhood.”

“How do you know Drew is here?”

“This is the gang’s home, this is where we started…”

“We?”

“Yeah, we all have a past, some a little darker. Just trust me, I will bring you back your son.. I promise…”

Her eyes are reluctant, but Xavier doesn’t give her much time, raising the arm rest, parking the car, and hopping out after throwing it in park, before heading across the street. It felt like a glove, a dirty glove.

He hears the roar of the engine, as the car pulls out and keeps going taking a right turn. Xavier grins a bit, a little impressed she can handle the Impala. Returning his focus, he could hear something, and his gut jerked him to start running in the direction. Turning down an alley, Cross could hear it clearly, a fight. It took him one hop, he may have bulked up for the heavyweight division, but he still had his leaps. Climbing over the fence, he could see in the distance three men standing over a body, throwing kicks, the body was huddled up in a defense curl.

“HEY! HEY!”

Cross moved, he was as fast as ever charging forward. He could see the shining silver of a knife, turning towards him running. Xavier didn’t have a chance to stop, but he did have a chance to side step. The knife ripped across his shirt, he could feel the steel cut through a bit of skin, nothing serious, a scratch at the worst. The next part was more disturbing as in a single motion his fist was balled up now, everything was moving so slowly. His fist made contact with the knife wielders nose, causing a sickening crunch. The blood seemed to spray out, mimicking a broken fire hydrant. The man stumbled back, as Xavier took a step back, the attention was on him now, away from Drew.

Thug 1: “You’re gonna pay for that!”

Thug 2: “It’s that bitch! Xavier!”

One of them stepped forward, swinging at Xavier, the other went low, but didn’t get far. They had their backs turned, and Xavier had seen his little brother, Jaqwan come around the corner. Just in enough time to grab the other guy, slamming him against the wall. Xavier side stepped, grabbing the lunging thug’s arm, twisting it, slamming him on the ground. But he was caught by surprise, after hearing Jaqwan’s voice.

“D-Dwayne…”

The thug uses the surprise to send a hard right into the jaw of Jaqwan, sending him staggering a bit, it was a cheap shot. Cross slammed the other thug’s face into the ground, the knife wielder had gotten to his feet holding his nose, and scrambled away.

“Did you say Dwayne?!”

Jaqwan turns around, a little confused and shocked.

“Yeah…it was him…it was my brother…”

Xavier shakes himself loose from the situation, scrambling over to Drew, who was a little beaten but not too bad. Xavier turns the boy over, who is still holding his arms up in a guard.

“Drew. It’s me…”

“M-Mister Cross?”

“Yeah buddy, I’m here…I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”

“Hey…it’s okay, rules are rules right?”

Xavier is a little taken aback by the boy’s words. Helping him up.

“We need to get you cleaned up…I got a surprise, but I’m not sure if you’re going to like-“

He is cut off by a familiar female voice.

“ANDREW!”

“..M-Mom…”

Xavier felt himself behind pushed out of the way, as Dianna clutches Drew in easily the tightest bear hug Xavier had ever seen. She was sobbing as she held her baby boy close. It was in that moment, Xavier’s eyes got wide. She reminded him so much of Cari, the calmness of her voice under stress, even when she was scared, and worried, she was confident. At a whim, she trusted Xavier. Hell, they even had the same dark piercing eyes.

“Thank you…Thank you so much…”

Xavier shakes his head.

“This is my fault, up and down. Let’s get him back, I got a good doctor there…he can patch him up.”

Xavier feels a warm trickle running down his shirt, looking down, realizing that the knife dug a little deeper than he realized.

******

Let me catch anyone up to speed who is lost. At the age of 13, I ran away from home, a good loving, caring, wealthy home. My father was a lawyer, on route to become a judge; my mother was finishing up medical school to become a heart surgeon. I never had to beg, or ask for anything, it kind of just appeared. Eventually, my ‘maturity’ got the better of me, I spit the silver spoon out, and left. Of course, I had a credit card, my father’s. I was still too young to be an adult, but I didn’t care, I just didn’t.

I ran away from home, and was taken in by an old lady, in the same neighborhood you just saw. I befriended another kid, the same age. We had dreams of running Atlanta, starting from the bottom and making our way to the top. We sold drugs, we jumped kids, we eventually attracted a following. We started the Five Point Bloodz right there, a few buildings over. 

Eventually we got too powerful, a bunch of kids selling drugs, totting guns, thinking we were big shots. But every stack of ‘cheddar’ attracts rats. We had our own rat, and it ended up getting Dwayne killed….

Or so I thought, maybe Jaqwan has just been through so much, that he thought he saw him. That he thought that it was his brother. But I watched him get shot….but…I ran, I ran faster than I ever ran before. 

Jaqwan was about six or seven around that time, I took him back with me, my Dad was able to force through the adoption, and within a month I was back to my old life. But there was a hard reminder, on my way out of court one day, my dad was shot in a drive by. They never caught the guy, but my father was almost murdered because of my stupidity.

That was the point, I realized I wanted to help people, but it took me this long to finally get to a point in my life that I felt that I was able to finally achieve that dream. A dream that I’ve pushed away for personal success, for providing a perfect life for my family. I’ve done enough for both to finally use my talents for something other than holding a championship, for something other than getting roles in terrible movies. 

I can use my talents, my abilities as a microphone, and IWF’s ring as a stage. I can get a message out there, that you shouldn’t fight for just yourself, but every time you swing a punch, aim a kick, or try to submit someone that you should be doing it to better yourself, and to help them. To help your opponent to understand their weakness, to push them to become stronger, better at this craft. In that notion, I don’t want to walk away from a match knowing that I didn’t give my opponent my full respect, which I didn’t do enough for them to see that they can do so much more with their talents. I mean, it will benefit everyone in the long run, myself, my opponents, and this company. 

For the longest time, I was a leech in NCW, something I despised, and accused others of being. But I had my hands in the pockets of the right people; I could come back and be the number one contender to the National Title on a whim. It wasn’t fair, and I realize, that earning something, tastes so much sweeter than being able to have it. A lesson I tried to learn at thirteen years old, and I stand here, seventeen years later, finally understand what I want out of life. 

I don’t want to change the world, it’s impossible for one man to do. I want to change one person, and hope that, that one person is able to change another, and so on and so forth. Like the Haley Joel Osment movie, pay it forward. 

So there is one more man left to talk about in this match, and I’ve already told you quite a bit about him. The one man who can change the entire outcome of my destiny, and how it ends for me come Bloody A.

Xavier Cross. 

Xavier Cross, the once brash, arrogant thug-wanna-be, who turned into an egotistical maniac, who lost his wife, and realized he had to grow up. So what was his façade? He took the red, white, and blue, and hoisted it up, a sham to keep himself for realizing he was alone. He came back as nothing more than a pathetic excuse for a wrestler, and ended up leaving NCW by taking the hugest shit on the company, all for some stupid revenge. 

It took facing Alex Jones to realize how petty I truly was. But at the same time, in my shame, in my doubts, and in my true weakness, I burned, and was able to let it go.

It be reborn, that is the Phoenix.

I am the Phoenix. I will suffer, I will rebirth, I will become stronger.

This is a different Cross, this is a new place for me. So I don’t exactly know where this is going, but I do know, at Bloody A, five men, and a referee will enter a ring, one man will walk out crowned as the first King of the Heavyweights, the very first champion. Quite the honor indeed. 

Will it be me…

Maybe? But I’m not counting my chickens, when I understand there are bigger things at work than a strap. 

However, my mindset is on winning, I expect my opponents to come correct, and try to stop me. In which case, they will learn my limitations as an athlete, or their own limits. Whichever comes first, the loser will benefit. Remember that my friends, losing one match doesn’t make a career, it only makes another chance to achieve greatness. Learn from what is going on now, tomorrow, and during this match. Take it with you, for whatever challenge lies next to it, and fight for it, as though it means the world to you.

Because without that, you’re really not trying are you?

*****

Chapter Six: The End.

“Ouch…Ouch..”

Cross is sitting on a doctor’s table, his shirt off, his arm up. A small gash is shown just below his pectoral muscle. We see Drew, who’s eye is swollen, lip is busted, and he’s bruised up in various places. His mother shadowing over him, like a momma-bear. Xavier groans a bit.

“For a tough guy, you sure do whine a lot…”

“You know what Drew…Ouch Doc!”

Doc Evans: “Stop moving and it’ll stop hurting.”

“You’re a liar!”

Xavier tilts his head, looking at Dianna.

“Hey, can we talk for a second Dianna? In private?”

Xavier looks around, as Doug, Doc, and Drew, exit the room, Dianna looks a little nervous about letting Drew out of her sight, but resigns to the fact. Xavier turns around, rubbing his stitches as he buttons his shirt up.

“Please, Dianna, let me talk let me get out what I need to say, and then you can say whatever you like, or hit me.”

Dianna has a skeptical look about her, but nods, as Xavier returns to his feet, looking her in the eye.

“When I was about Drew’s age, I ran away, to this town, to this place. I wanted to feel reality, what these people were living. It took me a long time, but the fact is, I didn’t want to help them, I wanted to help myself. It was a senseless, selfish action. I pitied these people, so I punished myself to live their life…Maybe it’s a guy thing, foolish pride, or whatever. But I look at Drew, and I see a lot of myself in him. The first week he was here, he was picking on a younger kid, and the kid stood up to him. Drew beat the kid up. My decision of discipline was to make Drew his big brother, to look out for him, to protect him. To learn responsibility. But also, I’ve seen the younger kid around, he’s lonely, he doesn’t have friends. Drew, he’s a handsome kid, he’s popular around here, and he’s tough. His confidence rubbed off on the boy, and I think Drew learned some humility quickly. I know you want to take Drew home, and put the pieces together. But I’m asking you, for your son’s well-being…let him keep coming here. I will personally keep an eye on him, in fact I’ve started self-defense lessons, wrestling, martial arts, you know, the basics, these kids need to learn not only how to defend themselves, but that when they make a fist, that they’re going to swing it for the right reasons. I want to help Drew, and I have no kind of doctorate, or anything…I can’t tell you this is right, but the fact is, I’ve been in his shoes. He’s young, but he’s been through more than most at his age.”

Cross stands there, a desperate look on his face. She eyes him for a moment, before responding.

“No. Absolutely not. Knowing that Andrew is fighting is one thing, but I refuse to have him learn how to wrestle, or any form of combat. He lost his father, because I pushed him to pursue a dream. He wanted to be a great wrestler, a great entertainer, and it killed him. It was my fault, I should have made him get a real job, become a white collar worker, instead I pushed him to achieve his dream. Staying here will only lead Drew down the same path his father took, and he’s all I have left. So as much as I appreciate your offer Mr. Cross, Andrew will be returning home with me, he will get back to his studies and he will never see this place, or you, again.”

Cross is a little taken aback, despite his new found humility, Xavier wasn’t used to people saying no to him right off. This woman had quite the backbone and fortitude.

“With all due respect, Dianna, you’re making a mistake!”

“How would you know Mr. Cross, do you have children?”

“Three…actually, two boys, and a girl…”

Dianna pauses for a moment, before looking at Xavier.

“What would you do if any of them ran away, because being the only parent in the house wasn’t good enough. That I wasn’t enough for my child, and now you want to teach him this wrestling crap. Absolutely not. No. I will not have it…”

The two are interrupted.

“Is that what you think Mom? That I left because you weren’t good enough…”

“Oh Andrew, please…just stay outside, you don’t need to be here…”

“No…I do…I know I’m not an adult, but I’m not a kid. This is my life, and I should have some say in it. Yes, running away was stupid, and doing what I’ve done is even dumber. But Mr. Cross wants to help me, and so what if I want to learn wrestling, if I want to be like Dad. Dad was my hero…and if I could be half the man he was, I’d be happy…I ran away because I couldn’t stand to see you so sad all the time. I thought it was my fault…I thought you hated me…”

“Oh my baby boy, why would I ever hate you…”

“Because…my entire life you’ve always told me, I look like Dad, that I’m a mirror image of him…Well…maybe you should know now, that I want to be just like him. When I heard that Xavier Cross, the professional wrestler was opening this community center thing for children, I knew where I had to go…I knew it…”

Cross grins a bit, as Dianna looks at him. He immediately wipes it off his face, the poor woman is in tears now, as Drew looks down.

“Don’t look down Drew, your Mom needs you. Go home with her, go back to school, get an education. You got potential to do great things, and you’re a good kid. You know down in your gut what you got to do…”

Drew looks up at Xavier, and steps forward, hugging Cross, catching him off guard. Dianna looks up, as Cross is a bit shocked but pats the boy on the head, the returns the hug.

“Thank you Mr. Cross…”

“Hey, call me Xavier, now go home, Doug has gotten your stuff packed…”

Drew looks at his mother for a moment, before speaking back up.

“Can I say bye to my friends Mom?”

In between tears, and trying to wipe them away, she nods, as Drew runs out of the room. Xavier looks over at Dianna, who is trying to fight back the tears.

“You got a good kid there Dianna…”

“Thank you…Thank you Xavier…you saved my boy…”

“Hey, I know what it’s like to be a parent, you’d do anything for them…”

“…Wait…you said his bags were already packed…why did you give me that speech on trying to get him to stay here…”

“Because, I knew what was right. Drew has to go home, you two need each other now more than ever. More than he needs this place…But…I’m not wrong when I say that I can help Drew, he has talent in there, and could be…great…”

Dianna looks at the ground…then back up at Xavier.

“Give us some time…let him get settled back home and into summer school…he has a lot of catching up to do…”

Xavier reaches into his wallet, pulling out a business card.

“You can reach me here, at home, or on my personal cellphone, anytime you need to talk, about Drew…or anything…”

She smiles at Cross, before giving him a hug, and a quick kiss on the cheek.

“Goodbye Mr. Cross…”

“Hey, I don’t believe in goodbyes…I believe in see you laters…”

“How are you such an optimist?”

“I wasn’t…but I’m pretty sure this is who my wife would want me to be, she was a constant optimist, to the point that it drove me crazy. But it’s kind of nice living in a world where the sun is shining…”

“…Well…then I will see you later, Xavier.”

Cross smiles, as Dianna enters. Xavier folds his arms, before looking up at the ceiling, but beyond it, to the sky. A wound in his heart began to hurt, he missed Cari more than ever. He takes a deep breath, before letting out a sigh…There was so much more to do, dealing with the legal issues that Jaqwan was now facing, clinic business, the upcoming Pay-Per View, and now….

Was Dwayne still alive…

“Damn…”

A slight vibration is heard, as Xavier quickly pulls out his phone, the camera fades to this name.

-Detective Thompson, Brother-in-Law-

To be continued