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Post by Deleted on Jan 12, 2011 18:19:03 GMT -5
I would like to post a little disclaimer here, while little to none of Tyger's life reflects my own life, I did have a sister that died very young for reasons very similar to this, and how Tyger feels here is very similar to how I felt, a lot of emotion is coming from that.
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Post by TheNinthCloud on Jan 13, 2011 0:06:59 GMT -5
I had a feeling that you were getting the story from somewhere. It's just too deeply written to be made up out of the blue. Fictitious or not, I'm liking this.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 31, 2011 21:57:20 GMT -5
Chapter 6
I sat in the waiting room of that cold hospital. My Mom was sitting beside me still sobbing. Dad was at the nurse’s station, yelling and hollering, holding my sister. They were repeating themselves, telling him to sit down, calm down, and they would help her in a minute. The minutes passed, and my Dad got more and more angry, yelling at the top of his lungs for them to help her. Finally, the nurses cracked, and shuffled to him to aid my sister….
But it was too late. My sister wasn’t breathing. When the nurses realized this, they freaked, and went into “Emergency Mode”, which is what they should have done to begin with. They tried for a few tense moments, but it was all in vain. My sister was gone, dead at age 3.
I was 15, not only was I watching my Mom sob her eyes out, not only was I watching my sister die in my Dad’s arms, but I saw the single moment that broke my Dad in two. Any attempt to clean up and become the man he wanted to be flew out the window, as his face turned cold as stone, showing no emotion as they carried my sister off into a room.
The next few days crawled on. I’m not quite sure what killed my sister in the end. I never wanted to ask, but I’m sure all of the problems she had just hit her. At her funeral, I sat with my Mom, who as just as uncontrollable as she was the days before. I sat there, confused, not knowing what to think. I didn’t know what would happen next. What I saw happen to my Dad at the hospital scared me. I looked over at him, as he stared, eyes to the front, showing no emotion at all.
I knew that this would be the spark of something bad. Dad had a few days off of work, and when he went back, the day just seemed to take forever. Neither me or my Mom said anything the entire time. I was sitting in my room, sitting on my bed, as I looked over at the clock.
It was an hour and a half after Dad was supposed to come home from work…. The time ticked by, before I heard the front door creak open, and Dad stumble in.
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Post by Matt on Jan 31, 2011 22:07:23 GMT -5
Beautiful writing derives from passion, and this is a prime example. This brings back a lot of SNME memories, which is nice. It is just amazing and I cannot wait to see where you take this next.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 8, 2011 22:33:55 GMT -5
Chapter 7
This became a nightly occurrence. I'd sit in my room, wait for Dad to stumble in, and pretend not to hear the fight that would follow between my parents. I knew life was hitting shambles, and being a kid, at 15, I could do nothing about it. I just sat and heard it all. The screaming, the yelling, the crying, and the hate. Sometimes it would die down, sometimes it would go one for what seemed like hours, sometimes Dad would just leave.
This went on for a nearly year. Almost nightly. There was so much hate in that house. I was 15, so I had no real escape other than wrestling and going to my friend Chris' house. Wrestling was all I had anymore. My Mom had become so depressed and despondent and listless, there was no real friendship left there. Anytime I would try to talk to her and do anything with her, it's like she wasn't there. I just gave up on everyone but wrestling.
I was in grade 9 at Century Secondary School, which is a huge adjustment alone, let alone with a lot of things going on at home, but I know a lot of kids probably had it worse than me. I didn't really have a lot of friends, to be quite honest, Chris went to a different school. I wasn't a loser or hated by everyone or anything. Almost everyone at school was extremely friendly and seemed to like me, but I was, and still am, awfully introverted. I wasn't much of a conversation with anything. I tried to be talkative to anyone that took the time to talk to me, I just couldn't tear down any walls that I had built up around myself long enough to keep them interested, I guess.
There were plenty of the women folk at Century, but I had enough trouble talking to guys, let alone girls. I was never really a magnet for girls to talk to or anything. Most of the ones that did try and talk to me couldn't bother with me because I could barely bring myself to say two words to them. The few that would talk to me on a regular basis would work harder to break down the walls I had built, as all women try to do with men. I never had a girlfriend in high school, I don't know if any girls even cared about me that way. I had girls that I liked or whatever, but my shyness would never bring me to actually do anything about it. But, hey, if any of you are reading this now, call me!
It was now summer in Windsor, and we were getting out of school, and my Dad was all but getting out of the house. He would never be home, only to sleep. In June, Dad officially moved out, leaving me and Mom alone in the house. Mom was jobless and had no money, so soon she was looking for the cheapest apartment available. Before we could make a move, Dad filed for divorce, and since Mom had no job and was about to nowhere to leave, court threw me in with my Dad. There was nothing me or Mom could do, and when Dad stopped at our house, he threw what little belongings I had in a trashsack, and grabbed me, throwing me out the door, as Mom cried and screamed the entire time. I would never see my Mom, who was my best friend, again.
Life at Dad's was basically like home. I would spend all day alone, feed myself, and watch TV as Dad would stumble in drunk, and yell at me, before passing out on his bed. Dad was never abusive, I can nod my hat at him for that. As much as he yelled and as much as he drank, he would never hit me, and I can only recall once that he pushed my Mom. It was soon after this, that he filled in transfer papers to be transferred back to a factory in Tennessee. He was told he would transfer 1989, but for now, would have to move to London, Ontario for a temp job, training new employees at their London branch. So we packed up, as at age 15, I left Windsor, leaving behind one of my only friends Chris, who I have kept up with periodically through Facebook.
We moved to London, just in time for Grade 10 to start at Westminster Secondary School, which, fun fact for you, Hafiz Abdurehman would attend 8 years later, 13 years before I would book him for Pro Wrestling GEN. Life there was must of the same as at Century. Westminster was a much smaller school, with about 1000 students, so I did become less of an invert. I didn't have loads of friends now, but I did talk more to people (except the aforementioned women folk, there were still a no go more young Tyger here.) I did have a handful of girls that I fall in with that I ate lunch with, but no relationships pop up at Westminster either. I did have a bit of a crush on one of the girls I sat with, and looking back I think she might have shared the feeling, but we were both way too shy to do anything about it.
1988 went by fast. Dad still drank on a nightly basis, but on night, he walked in, completely sober, and had a talk with me. He said he was sorry for the way things had turned out, and that he wants the move to be a completely new beginning for us. My Dad cried during the talk, which was the first time I ever saw him cry in my life. I knew he was serious about this, and I was too. Things got better between us, and we actually got to know each other. We both knew very little about each other, and that we shared a lot of interests, but wrestling still wasn't one of them, but he was loosening up about it, letting me watch AWA and WWF when it was on.
January 1989 rolled around, and it was time to leave Canada. I shared parting goodbyes with Westminster, and my friends. The girl I mentioned that I had a crush on seemed to take it kinda hard, which furthered my suspicion that she might have liked me to, but either way, February 2nd hit, and it was time to uproot and begin the 11 and a half hour drive to Lebanon, Tennessee, where our new live would begin.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 28, 2011 22:57:13 GMT -5
Chapter 8
“Hey, kid! Wake up!” My dad said as he chopped me across the chest, jarring me out of my sleep. We were still on the road, and as I looked around I noticed we were in Missouri, nowhere near our planned new home of Tennessee.
“What are we doing here? This ain’t on the way to Tennessee.” I said, as he replied, smirking, “Oh, you’ll see. Don’t worry, you’ll like it.” “Alright then,” I replied, as Dad drove on, not giving my any answers as to why we were driving through Missouri. Finally, we came to a stop at an Armory in Kansas City.
“Why are we he-..,” and before I could finish my sentence, my Dad cut in, “You’ll see kid, get out.” We both got out of the truck and walked into the building, where I saw a crowd of people, around a wrestling ring. “See kid? I told you that you’d like it. Second row, let’s go sit down, it starts soon.” I stood in disbelief. Dad, noted hater of wrestling, has brought me to a wrestling event, under his own free will? I wasn’t complaining though, as I followed him and sat down. My disbelief settled in even deeper, as I saw the familiar All Japan Pro Wrestling logo on the ring. “Wait, this is an All Japan show?!” I asked excitedly, as Dad nodded in agreement. “They’ve come to America to do some shows.”
I sat star struck as the show went on. In the first match was Tiger Mask II. I knew that Mitsuharu Misawa was under the mask, and was excited to see him wrestle. The second match was an eventful one, as the Funks, Terry and Dory Jr. wrestled in a tag match. The third match was a singles match with Genichiro Tenryu and Bill Irwin. I was such a huge fan of Tenryu watching him on AWA and tapes, I couldn’t believe I was actually seeing him in person, chopping and punching poor Bill Irwin, who I had seen some in WCCW. Next was a tag match between the Rock n Roll Express against The British Bulldogs, this match was so good, it was just a clinic of tag team wrestling, which I loved.
The last match probably exploded my brain. One team was Terry Gordy, who I loved, and Stan Hansen, who I nearly idolized, battling against Jumbo Tsuruta, the former AWA Champion, and his tag partner, Yoshiaki Yatsu. I was so star struck, three of my favorite wrestlers, there, right in front of me. I was amazed, and it really made all of my worries and concerns and problems in life completely evaporate. All I knew, all I cared about, all that I could think about, was Gordy, Hansen, Jumbo, Tenryu, Misawa, all, there, in front of me. Little did I know that these men would go on to be my influences, trainers, mentors, and friends, but now I’m just getting ahead of myself.
After the show, I was so hyped up, rambling and babbling and marking out to my Dad, what probably ended up being hours. Never did I tell him I was still thinking about doing this for a living, never did I tell him that it was all I thought about to get away from my parents, but it’s all the flowed in my brain on the ride until I passed out asleep, a fact of which my Dad was probably thankful for.
We arrived in Lebanon, Tennessee on the day after, on February 3rd, a Friday. We had all Friday, Saturday, and Sunday to move in and get settled. Monday? Oh yeah, first day of school for young Tyger. I had 3 months of Grade 10 left, and, again, they were very much the same as my schooling years in Canada, very much the quiet guy that rarely ever talked to people. I fit in much better at Lebanon than I did in Canada. Hafiz has told me I’m the most Redneck Canadian ever, which probably fits me. I have my Dad’s country accent and simple loves, but I still have a tinge of my Mom’s Canadian accent, which got laughs whenever I said sorry.
I missed my Mom and friends in Canada, but life was actually alright. Dad was coming home every night sober, and we were actually bonding, and while Dad still begrudgingly let me watch wrestling, he was still sitting with me while I did. Things were looking up for me and my Dad. My 16th birthday came and went, and things were still looking great, and I loved how the Tennessee winters didn’t nearly freeze me to death on the walks to school, that was pretty cool.
Dad was trying to get a girlfriend, going on a few dates here and there, but they never seemed to be successful for whatever reason. I really didn’t noticed how much it was bothering and effecting him. I knew he wanted someone else to spend his life with, but I didn’t know how much it really got to him. Now, I did enjoy the girl folks I saw, but I never had a girlfriend, and never got that close to any girl I was friends with, and it never bothered me that I didn’t have any girlfriends, so it didn’t really register with me how badly my Dad was annoyed and growing impatient with the fact he apparently couldn’t find anyone else.
But, it finally did one night in 1990. It smacked me in the face, as, while sitting on the coach waiting for Dad to get home… he stumbled in, cursing and complaining. That familiar stench hit me, as Dad fell onto the couch, yelling and screaming about he would never find another woman, how he would die alone, and how he didn’t know why. I didn’t have anything to say, nor did I want to. I got up and started off to my room, before Dad started yelling and hollering at me. I just ignored him, and shut my door, as I could still hear him rambling, going off on nothing.
Things when from good to bad, but it would all crash again a few months later, when Dad, drunk again, took it upon himself to get throw out anything in his life he felt was preventing him from getting what he wanted.
Things that included me.
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Post by Red Dragon on Mar 29, 2011 10:12:22 GMT -5
How did I miss some of these entries. Good as allways KvE. I'm glad wrestling is being introduced more into this but I like the slow build up. The next part seems really intresting with Tyger being kicked out and I'm sure it will lead to wrestling school. Just keep this up, it's amazingly written. Good luck.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 17, 2011 22:43:36 GMT -5
Chapter 9
“What are you good for?! Huh?! What do you do but still here and watch your stupid ass wrestling? HUH?! I’m busting my ass at work every day, to pay for that damned TV so you can watch that crap, and I ain’t got any woman to show for it, all I got is your sorry ass!”
As you have probably guessed by now, my Dad was drunk again, yelling at me. I sat there, taking it as usual, until, I’m pretty sure I got possessed by a demon, maybe the Ghost of Justin Tyger Future.
“You know what Dad, what are you good for, huh? Funding Jim Beam’s corporation to keep feeding you that crap you drink all day? The only ass busting you do is your ass hitting the bar stool!”
Then the demon let my soul go, and I realized what Tyger has just made me holler, just as Dad’s jaw hit the ground, as his face turned red.
“You son of a bi-…”
Dad was attempting to make a charge at me, but he tripped over himself and face planted on a table… and I laughed.
“See what I’m talking about? You can’t keep yourself standing along enough to get a girlfriend or to even make an attempt to get closer to me, ass!”
Tyger hit me again, as Dad pulled himself up, growling at me.
“You ungrateful bastard!”
He managed to stumble over to me, grabbing me by shirt, dragging me to the door, flinging it open, before throwing me out into the rain soaked gravel outside of the apartment.
“I don’t ever wanna see you again, you waste of life!”
As he slammed the door, I laughed at the hypocrisy I just heard, shaking my head. Before I could stand up and gather myself, I heard snoring coming from inside the house. I doubt Dad even made it to his bed before he fell over.
That was the last time I ever saw that man.
I wandered around until the sun came up, and it was time for Dad to go to work. I walked back to our apartment, making sure he was gone, before I crawled into an unlocked window (my only Breaking and Entering case, I swear!). I got a Krogers sack, and cramped all the clothes, food, water, and legal documents I thought I’d need in life I could into it. I also gathered every penny I had to my name, about 34 dollars (Hey, atleast it wasn’t 34 Canadian.), and I walked out of the last home I would know for years.
It’s hard to hold any sort of grudge or hate towards him. He did the best he could with what he had. When he was sober, Dad was a great man, but he just didn’t have the control he needed to control his demons and addictions, and that led to our downfall. I prefer not to look back on things, but when I do, I prefer to look back on when my Dad lived his life good, and clean, and was a good man, not the negative man I saw too much. I will never say a negative thing about him again, because he tried. He tried to stay the good person we all want to be in life, but he just couldn’t control himself.
I went to school for a few days after this, but when it became rather apparent that I hadn’t bathed in days, I was rewearing the same dirty clothes, and how skinny I was getting from my quickly diminishing food supply, I just gave up and stopped going. I really don’t know if very many people missed me, or if anyone noticed, but I never went back to school after that, no diploma or GED, Tyger here is a dropout, which I strongly advice against. Your education is highly important, especially in this day and age. Always finish it.
So that was my life. I found an abandoned barn to sleep in, a real nice thing with a hearty hay supply, which I was thankful for, and I spent most of my time there. When I did get out of the “House”, I’d wander around our new 24 hour Wal-Marts store, hoping that they would have some form of free food sample or something to carry me throughout the next days.
Life was alright… That was until winter came. Tennessee isn’t as cold as Canada, but when all you got in the hay around you and a blanket you lifted off your old bed, it sure seems like it. For the entire winter, I laid there all night, barely able to sleep, as I shivered and shaked, unable to get warm. It got worse, as one night it decided to snow… A lot. Infact, that night was the absolute coldest night in the history of Lebanon, as it got to -24 degrees, without the wind chill. I was protected by the barn, so the 7 inches of snow we got didn’t affect me, but barns ain’t isolated, so the cold sure did.
Needless to say, the next day I dropped some money on a new jacket.
When I turned 17 in 1991, I took the opportunity to attempt to erase my past. I want to city hall, looking to change my last name. Up until this point, I was Michael Dawson, my father’s last name. I didn’t want to carry around that name for the rest of my life. It was very difficult, as I was still technically a minor, and had no parental guidance, but I finally was granted my legal name change, to Justin Tyger. Nah, just kidding, but I did change my last name to my mother’s last name, Christopher. This process took every cent I had. As the newly christened Michael Christopher, I stumbled out on the street, with no money, no home, no water, and almost no food. All I had was the few clothes I had and my new name.
As I wandered around various store and rental buildings, unsure about anything ahead. I knew I couldn’t go back anywhere near my Dad, and my Mother was no option. As I chewed through my nails, I looked up at a sign for the building I was in front of, and saw the only option I really had….
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Post by Deleted on Oct 3, 2011 1:09:34 GMT -5
THE RETURN!  Chapter 10I walked in to this placed called “Armed Forces Recruiting Center”. I had no clue about the military, I had never even given it a thought. I looked at the names on the windows, “Army”, “Marines”, “Air Force”. I walked to the furthest one, the US Army. A man in desert camo greeted me. I asked every question I think I could have about the Army, but three things jumped out at me. A place to stay, food, and money. A lot of money.
It was a hard process getting in, because I had no documents or papers they needed. Anything proving my existence in the world was either in Canada or with my Dad, both places I couldn’t go. Other than the paper stating my recent name change, I had nothing to prove I was even born, nor did I have a High School Diploma. They recruiters really worked hard for me, and somehow, I got in. I never would have gotten close today, but back then, rules were less strict, and we were in the middle of a war, so they took me. The date was set, December 17th would be the day I went to MEPS, a fun filled day of eye and hearing tests, blood and urine work, a physical exam, and countless papers questioning my past and mental state. Needless to say, I had to lie on that last part, as I probably needed a psychologist more than food, but I passed, and was sworn into the Army that day, going to Basic and AIT to train as a Medic.
More importantly on that day, we had to stay all night, in a hotel. I finally had a bed to sleep in, a TV to watch, and a free meal. How could life get any better? Boy, was I mistaken. Little did I know I wouldn’t ship off to basic until January 23rd, 1992, so I had more than a month of cold and snow to bare in that barn, and Lord, was it a cold one.
The days crawled by, as I shivered and hungered my way closer to leaving. Christmas came, and it proved to be a good one, as Ole Saint Nick gave me a gift, in the form of twenty dollars I found laying on the ground. I ran to the closest McDonalds and had my first warm meal in a long time. Needless to say, I took many refills of the Dr. Pepper.
Day dreaming was one thing that carried me through my cold days. Wrestling was constantly on my mind. I got to watch wrestling for the first time in months while at MEPS, and boy had things changed. WWF had completely taken over, leaving little to no one left, other than World Championship Wrestling. I saw very little of the NWA and WCW stuff in Canada, but got more of a taste of it in Tennessee. What I saw at MEPS was amazing. Brian Pillman was the Light Heavyweight Champion. Him and Jushin Liger were doing things I never dreamed possible in the ring. Masahiro Chono was the WCW Heavyweight Champion, a name I knew very well from Japan. The Japanese involvement in WCW quickly grabbed my attention, as I was finally able to see names I knew again. It definitely got me excited for wrestling again, and it was all I could think about sitting in the barn.
I imagined what I would be as a wrestler, thinking of my name and moves and who’d I wrestle. I practiced all the moved I could do in the barn, landing on the hay. I don’t recommend doing so, expiring wrestlers. I nearly broke my neck and died many of times landing the wrong way, but hey, we all did it was kids, and the movement helped keep me warm and excited for wrestling some day.
January hit, as soon did the 23rd. I sat awkwardly in my recruiter’s car, as he gave me tips and pointers for Basic. I had to stay in a hotel for the night again, which, again, was amazing. I got to watch more wrestling, sleep in a bed, and got fed. I couldn’t complain.
The next day was a long one, as we were awake and out by 4 in the morning, with the newcomers headed for MEPS. We sat in the waiting room of the MEPS building for hours, as we were processed and all that jazz. Finally we boarded the bus en route to the airport. Basic would be in Texas, which was Heaven to my ears, as it was warm in Texas. As I boarded the flight with all the other Army recruits, not words from the recruiter could have prepared me for the hell that was coming my way. |
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Post by SodaGuy on Oct 3, 2011 1:14:23 GMT -5
I'm glad you decided to bring this back, I enjoyed this entry. You have a good writing style of making me "apart" of the story, like any good story/book/show. Also, that was my $20 you found... I'd like it back. Thanks!
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Post by Deleted on Nov 10, 2011 3:24:28 GMT -5
Chapter 11
Jesus Jones is all I can say about basic. It started the moment we got there. We arrived at Fort Sam Houston after a bus ride that seemed like it took years. This big old guy charged onto the bus, screaming and yelling for us to get our asses off, which we quickly did with no questions asked. We had to line up outside of these bus on these feet that were painted on the ground, before they hustled us into the building.
The first week was all paperwork and shots (Which was terrible for me, by the way, I hate needles, and boy did they poke me as many times as they could). After that was nine weeks of the absolute roughest time of my life. I couldn’t really complain, I was getting fed, had a place to sleep, and was actually talking to people, which after years of being a complete shut out, was a new experience.
The two main people I talked to were a guy named Matt Riley, and a girl named Jessica Walton. I thought Jessica was cool because her last name was Walton. I never asked her if her father’s name was John, but I should have, John Walton Sr. was the man. But anywho, after literally not talking to anyone other than my recruiter since I left school, it was pretty nice having people to talk to. Matt was a big wrestling fan too, so we connected pretty good.
Matt always said Jessica, in his words, “totally loved me, man”, but hell if I know if he was kidding or not. I hadn’t talked to a girl in more than a year and a half, let alone knew how one was when they liked someone. We didn’t get to be together that much, because she was a woman and was separated from us guys, but when we did she would always come right towards me, which lead to nudges and awkward smiles from Matt. Hey, I was happy just to finally have some friends, let alone anything else.
The first part of basic was pretty much just loads of PT, but as time went on we learned more detailed things, like the vocabularies and shooting (I was the best marksman of the recruits, so don’t mess with me when I got a gun). It was all hard at first, but was pretty easy to catch onto, and other than the grueling PTs, it was getting pretty fun. I was learning and socializing, so while it was one of the roughest times of my life, it was also one of the best.
Those nine weeks went by, and basic was soon to end. It was pretty sad to leave Matt and Jessica, as again they were pretty much the only friend I had, but unbeknownst to me, it wouldn’t be the last time I saw them.
Next up was AIT, where I would learn more about my job, which was a Combat Medic. For the short time I did go to high school, I took a lot of medical classes, so I already had a basic knowledge going in, so that gave me a bit of an advantage. There was a lot more freedom at AIT, which included a TV, so I was happy to be watching more wrestling. Ric Flair was the champion of WWF at that point, which was a weird sight to see, after seeing him in NWA for as long as I had.
The end of AIT soon neared, but not before I had to pass the absolutely hardest test I have ever been apart of. They simulated a war situation where a helicopter crashed, and as a medic, you had to go in and aid everyone, which sounds fairly easy, but no, they sprayed you with freezing cold water the entire time. Starting an IV while shivering uncontrollably is not the simplest thing to do by a long shot. I passed the drill, and was officially in the Army as a Combat Medic.
Now, we were at a war at the time, so there wasn’t much peace time between AIT and deployment. I was quickly informed I would be deployed to Somalia, in Africa. The day of deployment came pretty quickly, as all of these soldiers gathered on an airstrip on a base. Everyone was with family members and friends, crying and saying their goodbyes, as I stood alone, with no one to miss and no one to miss me.
I was quickly snapped out of my loneliness, as out of nowhere, a madman jumped on my back, putting me in a sleeper hold. That madman was Matt, who was accompanied by Jessica, who‘s hug was a lot more inviting than Matt‘s mugging. We talked and swapped stories, as we were all going to Somalia, so at least I wouldn’t be alone.
We were three young friends, who had no clue of the life changing hell that we were going to soon endure.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 11, 2011 16:08:53 GMT -5
Chapter 12
We flew on a really fancy plane to Somalia, which is totally opposite of what you’d think you’d ride to a war in. Matt and Jessica schemed and plotted against the people beside me to trade seats, so the flight became a lot less awkward for the near 18 hours it took to fly there. The two talked about all they were leaving and all they were going to miss, but I really had nothing to say. What did I have to miss? The barn a slept in?
I think were talked about everything under the sun as the hours drug on. At some point, Jessica fell asleep, putting her head on my shoulder. Sounds cute right? No, I had to pee so bad, but I held it in until she was awake. See the sacrifices I make for some people? While she was asleep, Matt did more prodding about her “totally loving me”, but we got to the real talk, talking about wrestling.
Matt had never seen any Puroresu. I must have sung the virtues of Jumbo Tsuruta, Genichiro Tenryu, and Stan Hansen for about an hour. He was huge into WCW, that I hadn’t seen very much off, singing the virtues of Sting, Brian Pillman, and others who I had seen, but had no great knowledge of. He had seen some of AWA on ESPN, but hadn’t loved it as a child like I had. We both shared a love for Nick Bockwinkel, although I was still his biggest fan.
We arrived in Somalia a little while later. We walked off the plane, and what I saw is burned into my memory. The seemingly endless sea of camouflage, all in formation. We fell in, before getting shipped off to our camp, in the middle of nowhere desert. It was the beginning of summer when we got there, but Somalia has pretty fair temperatures, so it was never that hot, so we had it better than our brethren in Kuwait.
What followed was months and months of doing nothing but endless drills and sitting around, talking about the most random stuff. Me and Matt would talk about what we thought was going on in wrestling, and booking fantasy shows we’d think up. We didn’t see Jessica as much as we saw each other, because she was a woman and in a different part of the camp, but when we did it was always fun. Throughout all of the boredom and endless PTs and drills, but we’d always find a way to find each other to pass the time, comparing the amount of sand we poured out of our boots, the biggest insect we saw that day, how much we missed actual toilets, how much me and Matt missed wrestling, all of the basics.
It was during this time I picked up the nasty habit of dipping. Dip was easily accessible, all over the place, and it was a great way to help pass the time. My tobacco of choice was Copenhagen, it had the best taste of everything I tried. Sharing tins, trying new dips, comparing and contrasting the taste and nicotine levels, and laughing when other people would have their first dip and end up throwing up was another way to pass the time while we were doing nothing. Spitting out of a moving humvee without getting spit on the side of the car is a special skill that takes a lot of practice.
Six months of repeating this day in and day out all lead up to the day we were told the time had come, that our war would be beginning. We would be entering the main area of conflict, Mogadishu, within the coming days. Me, Matt, and Jessica had are last meal together before we were shipped off, as me and Matt showed a bit of excitement, at least we were finally going to see some action. Jessica was a driver, women can’t fight in combat in the US, but she was excited too finally see something new in the scenery.
The next day, we all loaded up in humvee and tanks and other cars, as we headed towards Mogadishu. The drive was nerve-racking and exciting at the same time. Me and Matt sat beside each other in the back of the humvee, and we could both sense something was off.
Matt looked at me, serious as could be, a complete opposite for him, and said, “Something’s gonna go wrong here. I can just feel it, man.”
It was an eerie foreshadowing of the events that were soon to come.
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Post by SodaGuy on Nov 11, 2011 21:36:15 GMT -5
Uh-Oh... foreshadowing is never good.  |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 13, 2011 23:35:04 GMT -5
This is just beautiful <3 You really drag me in to this, and like I've always told you, you are one of my favorite writers.
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Post by Red Dragon on Nov 14, 2011 12:32:36 GMT -5
I'm sad, really sad that I missed out on all these updates once again. I'd say one of the best written pieces I've read on this board. The feelings you put into these are emense, I can't think of a better writer than you on the board. The language and the way you write just draws me in. However, with that said there are a few things I didn't like or didn't make sense. I don't know much about the army and such but putting a guy with no qualifications and a good aim as a medic, I would predict they'd just have thrown you as a basic frontline soilder thing. Theres' also a few references I don't get but I'm sure thats because I'm British. Every update just bleeds emotion whether it be your father, the homelessness or what I suspect to come next the horror of war. Loving the constant mention of wrestling, slowly building up for the suspected turn to Pro wrestler. Good luck and do please keep this up.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 16, 2011 5:19:07 GMT -5
Chapter 13
We arrived in Mogadishu, and the first few days weren’t that bad, as we really did nothing but more sitting around. This was followed by weeks of patrolling, guarding posts, and driving through the cities. We were helping the people of Somalia, so they were very thankful and always cheered us. On days we weren’t real busy, we’d give out food and candy to kids that would run up to us. It was a good feeling to help the kids that were having a real hard time, even if it was a bit of food or a sucker.
Things got a lot more intense, when the jobs we had to do got more dangerous. We began having to clear out buildings, check what we thought might have been hide outs, and other things. Our group hadn’t seen any action, but we were constantly hearing about firefights and bombs going off that were killing soldiers. We were having it easy so far.
During the down times we had, me and Jessica got closer and closer in the rare time we got to have together. Now, if you don’t mind me getting a little personal here, I really started to get to liking her. Now, I’d never gotten that close to a girl before this, so I was a little weirded out at the time and had no clue to know if she did, but I think she felt the same way. There was never any touchy feely or any of that, the middle of a war zone was never the most romantic of places, but after being lonely for as long as I had, talking to her and the possibility of something after we left Somalia, I was more than happy.
Then came that faithful day. The day began like any other, eating with Matt and Jessica, pouring sand out of my boots, spitting Copenhagen on the sand. We were sent out to check a possible safe house for the SNA militia. We couldn’t leave the women drivers alone in the vehicles, in case something happened, so they had to come in with us, in the middle of the line. Women can’t be in combat, but they were trained for it in case they were caught in the middle of a battle. Our unit began searching the building, with Matt in front of me, and Jessica behind me. The first floor was cleared, before we headed to the second floor. We cleared several rooms, before we found what looked like an armory, with guns, ammo, classified documents, and other things. Our unit grew more tense as we climbed to the third floor. We cleared the floor, and as we were walking to the stairs, we heard an explosion. The building shook like an earthquake, knocking everything on the walls, and us, over. As we tried to stumble to our feet, another explosion went off, and this time, it knocked the building over.
Then everything went black.
I woke up some time later, I don‘t know how much time had past. I tried to move, but couldn‘t. I looked behind me, and saw a huge ass beam laying on my back. I moved it as much as I could, and shimmied my way out from under it, but there was nowhere else to go after that. I stared at the rubble in front of me, as my possible fate ran through my mind. How would I ever get out of this? Well, always the optimist, I took the challenge, and began digging and moving things out of my way. Awhile after I started, I began to see some light cracking throughout the holes I was making. I began digging faster, until I dug out a hole I could see through. I saw some of our unit knelt on the ground, talking on the radio. I hollered at them, getting their attention. Some of them ran over to me, one of them being Matt, who had a huge cut on his head, and blood on his face. They began helping me tear away what we could, until we got a hole I could crawl out. I escaped from the building, hitting the ground, as my back throbbed. We made our way back to the group, as they caught me up on what was going on. As they talked to me, I looked through the faces of the group, noticing a good chunk of the unit was not there.
“Where‘s everyone else at?” I asked our commander. “They‘re still inside.” He said.
I scanned the faces again, and didn‘t see Jessica‘s. A bit of panic set in, as I realized she was still in the building.
“We got to go back in there! We can leave them in there!” I told the commander, but he shook his head. “Half of the building is gone! We can‘t just run in there! The rest might fall down on us and kill us all!”
I started walking towards the building anyway, but Matt stopped me from walking any further, as our commander repeating himself, saying we couldn‘t go back in.
Before we could argue the point, a gunshot rang out, as blood burst out of his head. He hit the ground, as me, Matt, and the remainder of our unit fell down also, hiding behind a mount of sand, staring out onto the militia, who were advancing on us, guns raised.
We picked up our guns, and fired back.
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nibs92
Main Eventer
Joined on: May 29, 2008 5:47:21 GMT -5
Posts: 2,343
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Post by nibs92 on Nov 17, 2011 17:11:12 GMT -5
i've been reading this since it first started and is one of the best things i've seen on here.
i don't even know who the person is that you're writing about but am totally hooked on this diary.
i'm a bit worried that Jessica won't be found alive, Tyger seems to have moved from one bad experience to another and deserves a bit of good fortune.
look forward to the next chapter.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 18, 2011 2:41:33 GMT -5
Chapter 14
Bullets flew by our heads, as we shot back and ducked under the mounds of sand. I am not proud to say I shot and killed some men. I know it was either us or them, but there are times I do feel guilty, because I pulled the trigger that killed someone’s father and someone’s son and someone’s husband. Looking down the sight and shooting someone, seeing them bleed and fall to the ground is a sight and a feeling I wish I could forget.
After what seemed like ages, all the gunfire stopped. All of the militia advancing on our position seemed to either be dead or had retreated. Our unit gathered up, as none of us seemed to be badly injured from the firefight. There were some scratches and dents in helmets, but we were fine other than that. We couldn’t help but stare at our commander, laying dead on the ground. We all stood there, speechless, before Matt broke the silence.
“…..That was crazy, dude,” he said, before our attention returned to the building. “We gotta go in there,” I told everyone, walking towards the building. Matt and a few of the soldiers followed us, but the rest stood. “The commander said not to go back in!” one guy said. “Well, he’s not really in a position to lead us now,” I said, as I kept walking towards the building. They kept trying to argue with me, but what were we gonna do? Leave them there to die?
Some of the building was reduced to nothing but rubble, but most of it was still standing. Unbeknownst to us, most of what was still standing was full of debris and was quickly falling apart. We split up, as most of us that agreed to search started looking through the rubble, while me and Matt went into the part that was still standing. In total, there were seven missing, so we began looking, digging through beams and broken walls, yelling for anyone.
We were shining flashlights into cracks and looking in holes, and after a few minutes, Matt screamed, saying he found someone. I ran over to him, as we moved stuff out of the way to get to them. We finally got a big enough hole to pull him out, as me and Matt heaved, trying to get them out, but we couldn’t move them. I stuck my head into the hole with my flashlight, and saw the guy’s face, blood pooled in his mouth. I looked across his body, and saw that a steel rod was shoved through him. I checked for a pulse and for breathing, but he was dead.
“This one’s gone, man…” I told Matt. “He’s got a pole struck through him and it’s keeping him in here… I’mma pull it out and we’ll be able to get him out.” I grabbed the rod, and in one quick pull, I jerked it out of his chest. Matt and I were able to pull him out, taking him outside, putting him beside our commander. We went back in, picking back up where we stopped, searching for anyone. At one point, someone started yelling back at us. It took us a minute, but we finally found him. We dug him out, before I checked him over, noticing there was blood all over his leg. Me and Matt carried him outside, telling one of the guys that that was a medic also to tend to him, as we went back in.
This repeated, as we found two more still alive, and the people outside found one in the rubble, still alive. A lot of cuts and bruises, but amazingly, there were no major injuries with them. There we still two somewhere in the building, one of them being Jessica. Me and Matt started to get nervous, as we knew it wasn’t looking good. We searched a few minutes after this, probably about ten of fifteen, before I saw a boot laying on a platform above us. It looked like he was laying in between the floor and the ceiling of the floor above it. He was a bit higher than we were, so we stacked some of the stuff laying around to get up to his level. He yelled at him, smacking his boot, but he didn’t move. Matt grabbed his foot and leg, as I dug a little, grabbing his arm. It was cold, no warmth to it. I knew he was dead. We counted off, pulling him out. As he slid off of the ledge, blood shot out, spraying me all over the face. Matt dropped his foot, which caused the body to swing over, spraying his face with blood to. I dropped the body, and as it fell to the ground, we noticed, the body had no head. Me and Matt stared at each other for a moment, as we took several deep breaths, looking at the blood all over us. I had to spit on the floor several times, as a lot of blood had flown into my mouth. It took all I had not to gag and barf everywhere, before me and Matt looked up onto the platform the body was on, seeing that a huge beam laid where the top of the body was, with blood and other stuff on it and around it. We looked back at each other, before we jumped down, picking up the headless body.
We carried it outside, dropping it near the other two. Everyone stared at us, and the blood all over our faces. I looked across all of their faces, before looking over at Matt. “There’s still someone in there…. Come on,” I said, as we wiped off our faces with our gloves, before we went back into the building. I don’t know how long we searched, but it seemed like forever. I couldn’t have left the building without Jessica, dead or alive. Some people outside were trying to rush us, but me and Matt kept looking, knowing we needed to find Jessica before we left.
After more time past, we started losing hope, as we yelled at the top of out lungs. We got no answer, as I began to start losing it, shoving over everything in my way, kicking and knocking stuff over. Matt grabbed me, calming me down. I took a few breaths, before I heard a noise that sounded like a voice. Me and Matt stared at each other, as he heard it too. We heard it a time or two more, before we started yelling back. This time, we got an answer. We threw chunks of the wall and beams and other stuff away like madmen, digging towards the voice. After a few moments, we pulled away the last piece of debris, before finding nothing. We looked all around, trying to find the voice, before I looked up, seeing an opening in-between two platforms. I put a beam in front of me, climbing on the top, and looked through the opening with my flashlight. I saw Jessica, stuck between the two layers. She stared at me, tears in her eyes.
“I found her!” I yelled at Matt, smacking him on the shoulder. “You ok Jessica? Anything wrong?” I asked her, as she nodded, saying she was ok. I pulled myself up, trying to fit into the hole, but I was too big with all my gear on. I threw off my helmet and vest, handing them to Matt. This gave me enough room to squeeze into the hole and crawl over to Jessica. There was some rubble in between us, that I moved as fast as I could. Finally, I cleared a path, as I grabbed her, keeping her on my side, as I spun around, using my feet to push us out of the space. Matt was standing on the beam, looking in on us, talking to Jessica the whole time.
Suddenly, as we were near the ledge, the floor gave way a bit, sending us sliding down, smacking us into Matt, before we hit the floor. We tumbled and flipped, before we settled, laying on the ground. We stood up, as Jessica quickly hugged me, as Matt stumbled around, taking a few breaths, before looking at me, face winced in pain. “Dude…. You kneed me in the balls, man.” I cracked a grin, before I pulled him into the group hug. I grabbed all of my stuff, putting it back on as we walked out of the building, before we met back with our group.
We had lost two people in the building collapse, and our commander in the firefight. It could have been a lot worse, and everyone in the unit looked at each other, realizing how lucky we were. A few guys were trying to get the radio to work, as me, Jessica, and Matt sat on the ground. Jessica was latched onto me, not letting go, as Matt tried to get all of the blood off of his face. Jessica let go of me standing up, saying she had to pee. I told her not to go too far, as she walked off in front of me. I stared at her as she walked, as Matt looked back at her, before looking at me, “Not only does she totally love you…. You totally love her now… Did I get all the blood off my face?”
We laughed, as I shook my head. I looked back over at Jessica, as a gunshot rang out. She hit the ground, as I jumped to my feet, running over to her. I raised up my gun, shooting the guy that shot her, in the head. I got to her, falling beside her. She was bleeding from her stomach. I pushed down on her wound, “Jessica… Hey, look at me, you’re gonna be alright… Hey, look at me, as long as I’m here you’re gonna be ok,” I told her, as she stared at me, eyes glazed over, groaning in pain. I picked her up, and started running back to Matt.
More gunshots rang out. I felt a sharp pain in my knee and side.. I tried to keep going, but I fell over, holding onto Jessica. Things got blurry around me, as I stared at Jessica, who was now unconscious. I tried to move, but it hurt too bad. I saw Matt as he fell to his knees beside me, shooting off into the distance. He looked over at Jessica, before looking down at me. “Michael, look at me, ya’ll are gonna be fine, alright?” He drug us across the ground, as I clung onto Jessica as tightly as I could. Gunshots were going off all around us.
I looked up at Matt, then over at Jessica….. And everything went black.
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Post by Red Dragon on Nov 18, 2011 15:17:54 GMT -5
Epic stuff KvE, as usual. Lots of tension, drama and emotion. Shed load of things happening yet you don't get yourself confused in the write-up. Lots of good stuff, although I do miss the little wrestling references and personally would like to hear abit more about wrestling. This could easily be a film or book, its that good. Keep it up, I know you will.
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Post by The Natural Eddy Valintino on Nov 18, 2011 15:30:03 GMT -5
Man, this is better than the stuff I read in school. I can so feel the emotion in this story. Keep this up, man. I can't wait to read more.
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