Post by dom on Mar 29, 2017 18:12:39 GMT -5
“Woooo boy!”, Mr. DiBona, Dom’s father, is looking at a piece of white paper with a contract typed out on it and his eyebrows raise as he looks at Dom and then back to the paper, “That’s quite a deal you have here, son”
“Had.” Dom cuts his father off.
Mr. D turns his head towards his son and tilts it a bit, “Whatchu mean had Dom?
Dom throws his hands in the air, avoiding eye contact with his father as he looks straight ahead at the flat screen television in the local Youngstown bar they're sitting at.
“Had. They took it from me because of the whole”, it still hurts his stomach to think of it, “..title loss thing. Nobody wants a loser to be their spokes person, Pop.”
Mr. D slides the paper back into the manila envelope and pushes it back towards Dom – gliding across the glossy bar top “Then invoke your re-match clause, Dom. That's enough money to finish your gym and get it ready for the public”
His father sighs looking towards the TV Dom has his eyes locked onto, “Then you won’t have to bother comin back around here”
A bit off put by his father’s comments, Dom’s head snaps to the side and his dad hits him with a quick elbow to the ribcage.
“I'm messin’ with ya kid RELAX”, Mr. D cracks a smile trying to lighten the mood that as dim as the dive bar’s mid-level lighting. “Look. You didn’' get to be the first champion and so what if you aren't the last? That title has a lineage and when people look back at the record book they're gunna see that you held that baby”
Under his breath “Yup. For the length of a trending hashtag”, Dom refuses to take the compliments his father is offering.
“A what?!” His dad tilts his head again, a trademark Mr. D move that the family often references.
“I'm just saying Pop, the world thinks I'm a fraud. They refuse to let me forget that I haven't won since I became the Paramount Champion – I try to get fired up in the gym or when I train and that voice in the back of my head creeps in every time to remind me that – maybe this just isn't for me”
Dom reaches over to the basket of peanuts and his fingers barely reach a shell before his father pulls them away and throws them on the floor.
“I ain’t listenin to that Dominic”, clearly frustrated Mr. D takes a couple deep breaths before turning his barstool towards his son, “You started on this path not too long ago and in that short time you’ve turned me around on what I'm supposed to think about it. Hell I flew out to Vegas to help you train – but I wont listen to this wishy washy nonsense like when you quit baseball because you struck out lots.”
Dom holds his finger up to protest and as his mouth opens his father grabs his fingers and force-ably pushes his hand down
“How many people gotta tell ya you can do this before you do it, Dom? Huh? You need a trainer in another company? You need a little girl with her leg missing from a car accident? How much reassurance does a human being need?” Mr. D’s deep breaths haven’t helped his anxiety, “If you’'e gunna do this you're gunna be the best – but god dammit if your heart aint in it then you shouldn’t be either. That’s what you told me back at the house months ago. You said you feed off of the fans. You said they give you this high you’ve never felt before.”
Mr. D staring a hole through Dom forces Dom to look elsewhere – his father’s stare still intimidating
“God damnit don’t you ignore me Dominic – answer me”, Mr. D slaps the bar top and begins to garner a bit of attention because he can be heard over the awful country pop music.
“Yeah Dad, yeah I Do. I love this, but…” tears begin to well up in Dom’s eyes as he slips his lower lip between his teeth and pinches his eyes shut, “…it was right there in my hands. It’s all my fault.”
“Welcome to manhood” Mr. D turns away from his son and slaps him on the back, “Could be worse, you could still be working with the butcher”
In a fourth wall breaking fashion Dom turns directly towards the camera and smiles before snapping his fingers.
____________________________
As he does a fragile old woman walks up to the counter in front of him and hands him a number printed out on a ticket, “Are you serving number forty-three?”
“Nevermind the number young woman, I’m serving you – because I’m going to be courteous out of respect”, another wink to the camera, “—not because of your life insurance. What can I get you?”
“Hm”, her old hands rub her chin sarcastically, “How about some beef tenderloin?”
Dom appears hesitant as he beckons the old woman closer, “I’d love to give you beef tenderloin but I’ll let you in on a secret.”
The older woman smiles as Dom cups his hand near his mouth, “We call that the Cosmo Meat cut because it’s flavorless and has no texture – but for some reason everyone is willing to pay to have it”
Making a priority to share the laugh with the customer Dom then gets a very serious face, “but I’ll tell you what I CAN do. Just for you. I’ll give you a discount on the neck. It sounds a bit weird and nobody knows what to do with it but if you take your time and cook it slow the flavor is unmatched by any other cut on this planet”
The woman nearly falls into a trance as Dom sings the praise of the neck cut.
“We call that the DiBona Deal of the Day ma’am – just for you. Because you’ve earned it”, almost as if it was pre planned – Dom reaches under the deli shelf and hands the woman a slab of neck meat covered in white paper, “Take care now – make sure to tell your friends!”
“NEXT!”, Dom’s smile couldn’t be erased by the baddest of news, “How can I help you there, sir?”
The camera shows a priest who stands in front of Dom, clearly over dressed for his trip to the market but near perfectly dressed to get the point across that he is a man of god
“Hello Mr. DiBona! May I have a cut of your finest filet mignon – big dinner in honor of the lord”, the priest’s smile slowly disappears and a look of worry grows
The camera pans back to Dom who is hunched over and his hands, still in rubber gloves, pinching the bridge of his nose clearly appearing to be upset.
“I can’t do that father, I’m sorry”, Dom’s over dramatic distress is taken to be severe
The perplexed priest takes a deep gulp and looks around to make sure there is no danger, “What is wrong Mr. Dibona? Shall I get help?”
Dom waves off the priest, trying to recover from his episode, “No, no father I will be fine. It’s just that…well…”
As if a pin had dropped Dom suddenly seems fine, “It's just that the filet has often been regarded as the finest cut of meat because of the name it’s attached to. Everyone says the name and it sounds like the coolest name you’ve ever heard. You even seem cooler when you ordered it for the perfect pronunciation but – around here that’s the Cooper Crap Cut. Last time anything made itself that popular a cow jumped over a moon in a nursery rhyme.”
The jaw of the priest drops. Perhaps he’s offended – but more than likely he’s confused
“Tell ya what”, Dom looks around like he’s about to give out top secret information, “I can give you the beef cheeks for a DiBona discount”, Dom goes to reach under the shelf, “it’s tender and practically melts in your mouth. Plus it gets a pretty good workout in every day if you know what I mean.”
“EXCUSE ME – I AM NOT THAT KIND OF PR-“, the priest cuts himself off as Dom hands him a large slab of meat covered in white paper.
Dom’s eyes narrow a bit as the awkward silence is nearly matched by their awkward eye contact as Dom slips the pencil behind his ear, “Wait, what?”
The priest scurries off as Dom turns and leans his back on the counter taking a deep breath of relaxation before he is startled by someone ringing the service bell repeatedly with zero remorse for ear drums anywhere near the general vicinity
“CAN I HELP YOU!?!” If you thought Dom’s smiles were fake before this one is probably the fakest.
As he turns around he sees a young man squinting at the white board behind him, “What’s the special for the day. I can’t see without my glasses”
Dom slides his hand towards the bell and grabs it making sure it can no longer punish his ears, “It's the Cocky Cosmo Combo – comes with fries.”
The guy holds his hands up, clearly unaware of what’s in the combo, “I…guess I’ll take one of those?”
“Sure thing, brah”, again in perfect time Dom reaches under the shelf and grabs a plate before putting it down on the counter, “It's half a brain. This big piece of sausage and…”,
Dom looks around in search of something particular, “It was supposed to come with two balls of cheese but I can't seem to find them”.
“Ah-ha!”, Dom snaps his fingers, “They’re probably wherever his originality is.”
The kid was shoo’d away as Dom wipes off the top of the counter where parts of cow brain were spilled. He unties his apron and folds it perfectly before laying it on top as well.
“Man, you really have the opportunity to smash me Cosmo. To finish the job like a ninja in a combat video game but then you came at me like a watered down shot. Weak, bro. But the rumor has it guys like me are a dime a dozen – if that’s the case I can bet you couldn’t find a piece of silver in your pocket. And I know DAMN WELL you won’t find a dude like Dom DiBona marching around back of AWE and if you wanna talk about YAWN fests then DAMN Cosmo I wish I had a dollar for every dude in the back who …. Well said exactly what you said. I mean I wish you people in AWE would leave that poor horse you all keep beating alone. He’s dead. It’s done. You ain’t the first the say it or think it Coz – but I will be the first. The first dude to give Cosmo Cooper his REALITY check. I stepped through those doors the first time to be a hero – but now I walk this earth for Alpha Wrestling. This is my home and those are my people. Fact is you couldn’t tell me what brave was if it painted it’s face half blue and tried to free Scotland. Don’t worry though Coop, I’ll help you up when you fall. I’m not here to tell you what you can or can’t do in this life I’m just here to remind you and the rest of this company that Dom DiBona is the standard whether I’m number five or number one. All the pressure is on you now – let’s go have some fun.”