Sometimes in life things don’t happen the way they should. You can make plan after plan. You can look at every angle, account for all the variables, and still, something can go wrong. That is what I did that night and the nights leading up to that night. I thought I had covered every angle. I looked at every swerve or monkey wrench that could be thrown at us, and still, I did not see it. I am the one that has seen the most time in the ring. I am the one that should have seen all this coming.
Colton walks through the lobby of the Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo. He walks up to the lady at the desk and gets a room for the evening. As he walks to the elevator, he lets out a long sigh as he pushes the button and waits for the door to open. Riding the elevator to the eleventh floor. The elevator stops and Colton starts his walk down the hall to room 1123. He scans the card and walks inside. Looking around he sees what looks like a comfortable chair. He drops into the chair and just sits there.
He sits for what seems like forever before he pulls out his phone. He hits a button.
“Call Lily.”
The phone dials the number and there is a ringing at the other end. Lily answers. “Hey babe, how are you doing?” Colton lets out another sigh.
“I am fine. I just wanted to let you know that I am at the Hotel Chinzanso. I know you are still at the hospital with Cassie and Kami. If you decide to come back for the evening, you can come here. I just don’t think I can stay at her place tonight. It just doesn’t feel right.”
Lily quietly asks,
“Colton are you okay?”
Colton rubs his forehead with his hand.
“Not really, but I will be. Please take care of the two of them. I don’t need anything else happening to them.”
Lily clears here throat.
“I will watch over Kami, but Cassie left a couple of hours ago. I thought she would have called you. Oh, and just so you know Hara is here with me. Right now, he is asleep on the floor next to Kami’s bed.”
Colton rubs his head harder.
“Ok babe, thanks for letting me know. I will try and call her. Stay safe and I love you.”
After hanging up with Lily, Colton tries to Call Cassie, but she does not answer. Colton tries a few more times and still nothing.
Colton picks up the phone in the room and calls room service to bring up some beer and a bottle of whiskey. He sits there going through the channels on the TV, when he runs across the rebroadcast of night one of the rumble. He tosses the remote on the table and starts to watch it. A sudden knock at the door breaks his concentration. He gets up and lets the server in. The young man puts the beer in the fridge and places a bottle of whiskey and a glass on the table next to Colton. Colton reaches up and hands the young man a fifty-dollar bill. The server bows and leaves the room. Colton pours a glass, as he watches the PPV. Then it comes to the match. Colton places the drink on the table and moves to edge of the seat. He watches as Kami is being held from behind, beaten in the body. A couple of hits made Colton flinch. He knew it was bad, but not this bad. During the match he sees Cassie and Hara fighting hard, what he doesn’t see is himself. Colton thinks to himself.
“Where the hell am I?”
The shot pans outside the ring and Colton is lying on the floor with no one around him.
“What the fuck? Why don’t I remember that?”
He keeps watching the match. He sees himself standing in time to grab Kami up and take her to the back. He sees Cassie fighting off three people, as Hara fights the other two in the ring. Colton sits there just staring at the screen.
“No this can’t be true. This is not how it happened. Why don’t I remember any of this? Why did I leave Cass and Hara by themselves?”
Colton pours another drink and slams it back. As the rebroadcast ends Colton sits there going over everything he has just seen. Just as he is pouring another drink, his phone starts to ring. He knows who it is by the ring tone. He hits ignore and stands up and walks to the bathroom. He decides to take a shower. He knows that he will call him back. Colton knows unless he clears his mind first there is no way he can talk to him right now. Twenty minutes later Colton leaves the bathroom. He is wearing a pair of basketball shorts and a black T-shirt. He walks over and grabs a beer from the fridge. He twists off the cap and takes along drink from the bottle. Just then the phone rings again. Colton lets out a long sigh. He looks at the ceiling as he grabs the phone and taps the phone and accepts the call.
"Why are you not out looking for your sister?"
Summer notices an empty whiskey bottle on a table in front of him, her eyes squint and a more sadistic tone escapes her lips.
"You are leaving William to track her down while you sit in a room partying it up?"
Colton begins to open his mouth to speak but, Summer bluntly shuts him up.
"Watch what you say next boy, because I will be on the very next flight to Tokyo, and it will not go well for you."
She pauses for a moment as Colton remains silent.
"Your sister called your dad just a few moments ago. Something is seriously wrong, and I swear Colton, if my baby girl is hurt or has drowned out in that ocean current while you're playing party boy. I promise your hell will be a cake walk compared to what I will do to you!! Do you understand what I am saying boy? “
Summer’s breathing was getting heavy; Colton lifted his head up quickly hearing the news about Cassie. He once again tries to speak, but Summer was not going to let him.
"Just so you know your son found and watched that pay per view."
Summer squinted her eyes, dropping the phone on the table as Colton watched her walk away. Colton lowers his head. Then a voice rings through the quiet.
“Boy! Look at me.”
Colton looks up and sees his father’s face on the phone. Colton looks at him.
“Pops I don’t know what happened during that match.”
Hunter looks at Colton and just shakes his head.
“Boy did you win the match at the end?”
Colton lets out a long sigh.
“Yeah, I guess we did Pops, but Kami was hurt bad. I feel like I let her down. Then watching the match, it seemed like I was not even in it. I don’t even remember most of the match.”
Hunter kind of chuckles.
“Boy that is because, and I bet you dollars to doughnuts, you got a concussion. Have you been checked out?”
Colton shakes his head no.
“Boy your girl went to all that schooling for just that reason. Where is she anyway?”
Colton opens a beer.
“She is with Kami at the hospital. I talked to the hospital so she and Cassie could stay with Kami. I didn’t trust anyone else but her to watch over Kami. Pops I thought I figured everything out, but I missed it somehow. Where did I fuck up?”
Hunter lifts a beer and takes along drink.
“Boy shit happens. You know how many times I had to go it alone, because Gyon got hurt and could not fight? This is a dangerous job and people get hurt. You can plan for everything and then comes the swerve, and your plan goes to hell. All you can do is move on to the next one. Kami will be okay after a while. She is a tough kid; we both know that. Now you need to screw your head on straight and get this mess cleaned up. We sent you there for a reason. You need to get to work boy.”
Just as Hunter stops talking a small face appears on the screen.
“Hey Dad, I saw your match. Is Ms. Kami and Aunt Cassie alright? Ms. Kami looked really hurt. Dad how come you didn’t fight much?”
Colton’s eyes drop to the floor as Hunter lifts Sammy off him.
“Boy go find your Sassy, I am not done talking to your dad yet.”
Colton looks up.
“Fuck Pops that hurt. I never want to let him down.”
Hunter shakes his head.
“Boy you have to shake this shit out of your head. You won the match. That is all you should be thinking about. You want payback for what they did to Kami, then go take it. Remember what your mom always says.”
Colton smiles a little.
“I know. You can’t be a puss your whole life.”
The two of them chuckled. Hunter picks up the phone.
“Now like your mom said earlier. You need to find your sister. When I talked to her, she did not sound right. Kami is her best friend, and she is going to want payback, so we both know what that means. This time it is going to hard to get that one to leave. Maybe there will be a chance with William there, but someone is going to get hurt really bad, when she comes out.”
Colton looks at his dad.
“Yeah, it is going to be bad.”
Colton takes another drink.
“Son what are you going to do now?”
Colton looks down at the floor.
“I don’t know Pops. They have us all in this Rumble match coming up. I don’t think Kami is going to make that one. Hara is so worried about revenge and Cassie, hell who knows what she is going to do.”
Hunter stands up and starts to walk.
“Here is what you are going to do. You are not going to worry about the others. They are going to do what they want to do. You have the most time in the ring. You are the veteran out there. You handle stable business. You get the win and then let the chips fall where they may. If you don’t get the win, then you hurt someone. It could be anyone; it does not matter. You get out all that anger, because there will be a next match, there is always a next match. You need to empty yourself so you can lead everyone. There are other things at play here and you know that.”
Colton moves back to the chair and takes a seat.
“Pops you can trust me. I am going to get everything squared away and it will be taken care of.”
Hunter nods.
“I am going to give the phone over to your mother again."
Hunter calls Summer to come sit with him, he looks at her long and hard, he still sees the fire building in her eyes, and he knows he needs to calm her before she gets back on the phone.
“Babe you need to calm down. He seems lost. We have all been in his shoes. You know that."
He places the phone in front of Summer. He leans down and gives her a kiss on top of her head. He grabs Sammy and walks out of the room. With a deep breath, she picks up the phone. Colton was just placing an empty cup back down on the table as he looked into the phone and noticed his mom staring right at him. He lowers his head as he knows what she may be thinking.
"Sorry, mom."
He says. She just sat and starred for a moment, and turned to look into the other room, where Hunter nodded his head at her and smiled.
"No son, I am sorry! I had no right to yell at you like I did earlier. I know you think you are at fault here, but the truth is, we all have a little bit of blame. Sure, people were injured, but that comes with the game. You may think you failed Kami, but you rescued her. I saw that fear and worry in your eyes. It was the same look I had watching your father fall."
She takes a deep breath.
"You know, you just have to brush it off."
She shakes her head.
"I can't believe I am about to say this, but."
She turns and looks to Hunter.
" That was in the past, you have to leave it there and go on. Nothing can change what happened. But what you do about it is what's important."
She shakes her head watching Hunter smile, giving her a wink and whispering,
"That's my girl." to her.
"You go make it right, and you make that shit hit hard." She smiles at Colton. "Now grab a glass and take 2 shots. One for me and one for you. I love you, son!"
Colton looks up smiling and pours two shots. He downs them both and smiles back at his mom.
"I love you mom. I am going to let you go so I can take care of some stuff here."
He smiles at her as he hangs up the phone. He gets his things and calls a car. He goes down to the front desk and checks out of the room. He has the car take him to the hospital. He waits in the lobby for about five minutes. An elevator door opens up and Hara and Lily walks over to Colton in the lobby. Lily walks up and gives Colton a tight hug. Hara just stands there watching. Colton looks at Hara and Lily.
"Babe we are not going to stay at that hotel tonight. After a talk with the folks and some time thinking I think it would be better for all of us to stay at Kami's dojo. We have things we need to talk about. So, you can come with us now or you can stay with Kami."
Lily takes a step back and looks at Colton and then at Hara.
"I think I will stay here tonight. If she wakes up someone needs to be there that she knows."
Hara starts to say something, but Colton shuts him down.
"Cuz you are coming with me. I know you want to stay, but this is better for everyone. Lily, can you call William and let him know that Cassie is at the beach? We are going to head out now. I love you."
Colton walks up and gives Lily a small kiss. He grabs Hara by the arm and leads him out to a car that is waiting on them outside. In the car Colton turns to Hara.
“Cuz I know you are mad right now. I know you want to get back at them for what they did to her, but we have to do this correctly. If you want to get the most out of this, you need to calm down and listen to what I have planned. You will get your chance, and I think you will love this idea. When everyone gets to the dojo, I will go over everything.”
Hara turns and looks out the window. Colton sits back and closes his eyes.
“They will never see this coming.”
