Alister's Collector: RP #1

[Deleted]

The Henry Mansion || Scarsdale, New York || 1:12 PM

Pulling into the gates of Alister Henry’s sprawling Scarsdale, New York mansion, I slow my Harley to a stop just on the far side of the fountain. Sighing deep and with great hesitation, I step off and help Frankie down before making our way to the front door. Before I can knock, the door swings open and the older man with gray hair stares at me a moment.



“Thaddeus, I can’t say I was expecting you,” he greets me with a hint of surprise. “And Francis,” he greets my son, warmly, yet entirely fake. Or at least I think.



“Hey,” Frankie says shyly.



For all intents and purposes, Alister Henry is my grandfather. A few years ago, my plane was shot down and I took that opportunity to not be me for awhile. Rather than being Thaddeus Duke, I set out to find my mothers birth family. Mom died when I was an infant so I never had a connection to her and I really longed for it. I found Alister Henry, her biological father. In finding him, I thought there would be some warm familial connection. What I got, was instead just more of the same. What I mean, is that Alister, in a lot of ways, is very much like my fathers father- the man who raised me. Cold, uncaring, sinister, despicable.



In an attempt to ingratiate myself to the only connection to my mother I ever knew, I put on a mask and adopted the name Jameson Henry while becoming his ‘collector.’ He’s a major player in the New York underworld. Loan sharks like their money and they need persuasive individuals in order to recoup debts owed to them.



That was my job. I was good at it, but I didn’t much like it.



“Alister, we need to talk,” I inform him as I mostly push my way passed him and into his house.



“I expected that months ago when you lost custody of Francis,” he says with a bit of a grin. Inside me, I want to eliminate his ability to grin. Forever. During what was supposed to be the final hearing granting the adoption of Frankie to me, turned into a veritable circus. My amazing grandfather, still angry at me for stealing his arm candy wife, had sent my out of state police records to the Connecticut judge. Frankie was taken from me as a result and in an outburst of hurt and anger, I was jailed in contempt.



For those unaware, I have three kids. Two month old twins, mothered by Alister’s now ex-wife Elizabeth. And of course, adopted ten year old Francis, or Frankie, as he prefers.



“Frankie, go watch some TV while me and Alister have a chat,” I say to the ten year old as he rolls his eyes and takes off for the family room. He’s not a fan of change and a lot of change is happening in his life. Our house was destroyed by my enemies not long ago and we’ve taken up permanent residence in New York City. A result of which has put a temporary end to his aspiring to be a motocross racer. On top of that, my best-friend Corey (and also my former tag team partner), is no longer my best-friend and he and Frankie got on pretty well. Actions have consequences. Maybe I’m right for ending my friendship with Corey and maybe I’m not, but at the end of the day, my choices have rippling affects on others. My choices don’t just affect me.



“Seems all is well in Thad Land,” Alister says in his feeble attempt at humor.



“No,” I chime in. “Not particularly,” I conclude as we head into his private office. He retreats behind his desk and offers me my old seat across from him. Out of contempt and defiance, I choose another.



“Well tell me about it,” Alister urges.



At first, I only shake my head. “I don’t want you thinking this is a social visit, Alister. You may share my blood but we are not family.”



“Why does it have to be that way?” he asks as he leans forward a bit, seeming genuinely interested. “I granted Elizabeth’s divorce so that you two could wed.



“Clearly, that didn’t happen,” he says with a smirk.



“I’m only here to honor my commitment,” I tell him. Alister leans back in his chair. He and I made a deal once. When Liz left him for me, he was understandably angry. The first time her and I split up, I offered to do some work for him temporarily so long as he granted her divorce. At the time, I had no reason to believe her and I would get back together, but even if we didn’t, I wanted her to have her freedom. As it turns out, she was pregnant with our son and daughter at the time so… no piece of paper would ever grant her her freedom. As the mother of my children, her life is no longer free. My children have my blood and wear my last name and as such, their lives are in danger in perpetuity.



“And in only eight months,” he again tries to be funny. “You truly are a man of your word, Thaddeus.”



“Fact is, I need reasons to spend more time in New York,” I admit to him freely. “Frankie and I haven’t been getting along. I’m traveling a lot more now that I’m seeing Adi Gold and working for OCW. Plus, I bounce to North Carolina a lot for Talon and Caitlyn.”



“Mmmm,” he groans. “My other great grandchildren that I have yet to meet. Except for that brief moment at your mothers burial service on Long Island.”



“Probably gonna stay that way,” I reply coldly. “I don’t want you a part of their lives, Alister. In fact, had you and Frankie not met previously, you wouldn’t have any association with him either.”



Alister stands a moment and looks down at me before stepping back toward his liquor cabinet and fixes himself a drink. Looking over his shoulder, he lifts his bottle up in an offering gesture. “No, but thanks,” I deny him. “I’m on the bike and Frankie’s with me.”



He nods his understanding before setting the bottle down and returning to his seat.



“My daughter left a legacy Thaddeus,” he begins after a quick swallow of his bourbon. “And I intend to be a part of that legacy.”



Just as I starting to speak, he cuts me off.



“You’re just 22 years old and you’re the patriarch of a dynasty,” he begins. “The man that raised you is dead. Your father is what your father is and he’s barely part of the equation. You… Thaddeus… are as much of my daughters legacy as your children.



“The life she never got to live because of your father, will live on through you. Through Caitlyn. Through Talon. And yes, even through Francis.



“I know you detest me,” he says before polishing off his drink and slamming his tumbler down on his desk. “But I’m not the man you think I am. Ruthless in business, sure. But that’s the business I know. I have to be cold, cunning and ruthless because if I’m not… someone else will.



“With your own change of heart in your own business… surely you can identify?”



Sighing a deep breath, I look at him.



“Stick to business,” I insist and he nods in reluctant defeat.



“Meet with Joey at the Staten Island warehouse at 7:30,” he informs me. “The jobs are getting trickier and the marks are getting slipperier. You’re gonna need help.”



“What kind of help?” I inquire.



“The kind you can trust.”



“Frankie, get your shoes on,” I call out as I eyeball my grandfather. “I got just the man.”



“You’re sure about him?” he asks. He never asked too many questions when I collected for him in the past. Either I came back with envelopes stuffed with cash or I didn’t.



“Were you sure about me?” I ask him as I start for the door. He only smirks. “About that legacy,” I pause in consideration a moment. “I’ll afford you the opportunity to earn it.”



“That’s all I ask,” he replies with the slightest of smiles. Without another word, Frankie and I leave the mansion.

---

House of Cards has come and gone. As expected, yours truly was resoundingly victorious. Ed Houston is no slouch and he’s one hell of an athlete, but the new Golden Era of OCW has begun and Thaddeus Duke is the catalyst for all of it. Tony Savage was ushered in as the new CFO and he quickly loosened the purse strings because he and I see things that aren’t and want to go there. All the others, the rest of this roster, they dread a larger roster because it threatens their spot.



In just a months time I went from brand new off the showroom floor as it relates to OCW, to damn near the penthouse. I’ll be challenging for the Savage Championship at Under The Lights and Savage, is exactly what Brim is gonna get.



I don’t do much in the way of mincing words. I sugarcoat nothing and the way I see it, this roster grew comfortable. It was small. It was cliquey. It was routine. These guys clocked in and clocked out and what will be will be.



Then I showed up and changed the game.



I knocked down doors that were closed… because I could.



I ruffled the feathers of the World Champion because I could.



How dare I be a big name and not only show it, but prove it on almost a weekly basis? Lux looks at me with envy and jealousy because when he looks in my eyes, when he stares me in the face, he sees everything he wishes he was but can’t possibly be. And it isn’t his fault that he’ll never measure up to me, to what I am, to what I’ve become. Most don’t, and even more of them, never will.



The roster expanded, because of me.



OCW is traveling again… because of me.



They still clock in and clock out, but they have yet to see me punch a clock. I’m always switched ‘on’ and that in and of itself is a culture shock to all the rest. I’m a different type of animal altogether.



Some guys are wrestlers. That’s all they are. There’s not much to them other than ‘hey I wrestle sometimes, here’s my tale.’ Very few are like me. I live a rather brutal lifestyle, some of it by choice, some of it by birth, but the fact of the matter is really quite simple: wrestling is just something else I also do in addition to the many other things I also do and ALL of it, makes me what I am and that’s the bankable, marketable box office draw that I’ve been since the day I stepped foot back in this industry.



They can boo me or they can cheer me, it matters not to me. All that matters, is they come to see me get my ass kicked and just keep fucking winning… because I can.



Brim – the resident street criminal. Way to aspire to something. Way to be yet another statistic. Way to be so fucking original too. You can line up 100 professional wrestlers and I’d put money on 95 of them having lived some life of crime before deciding to “beat people up for money.”



Yeah… seen it before, beat it before, and I’ll do it all again on pay per view in Texas.



Brim is the kind of guy that looks for reasons to keep being a shit human being. Dad left? Be a piece of shit. Mom died of an overdose? Be a piece of shit. Be smart and athletic and have collegiate scholarships pouring in hand over fist and lose it all because you were caught dealing to teachers? Be a piece of shit.



He’s the kind of main that will find any excuse to not succeed. He will find any mythical reason to not achieve what he could have, just to place the blame anywhere, except where it belongs. His own fucking stupidity.



High flying 385 pound man? For fucks sake, Toy Story told you the truth when you were… well, I assume you were never little, so much smaller than you are today… You’re not flying, you’re falling with style. Though I’ll admit, I can appreciate someone, even Brim, attempting to be an all-around kind of competitor. It’s a lot more fun when you have a lot of strengths and very few weaknesses. I can relate.



Congratulations are in order though. No, not for wining another title. In fact, Brim lost his Savage title to the future former OCW Champion. Congratulations are in order because, Brim is about to go to back to back pay per views and lose to someone better than him. Congratulations are in order because Brim is a statistic and he’s about to become just another win on my tick sheet.



You know why Under The Lights is in Texas? Because its just about the only place in the country large enough to fit my… huge… massive…



Thad looks down a moment, then back at the camera.



Ego.



...





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What? Did you think I was talking about something else?