Clean...It All Has to Be Clean

[The Silver Tongued Devil]

Clean. 

It all has to be clean. 

Ever since my arrival to the Dojo, it was my task to clean. 

Clean the sheets. 

Sweep and mop the floors. 

Scrub the toilets. 

Wash the dishes after everyone else had eaten. 

Every single day. 

I watched the others train, I watch the others work. 

And all I did was clean. 

Clean and wait. 

And as the days turned into weeks, I began to take pride in my work regardless of how menial the task. I wanted to prove my worth and show that I wasn 

t just another urchin off of the streets. I didn’t just want this, I didn’t just need this. 

My entire life depended on this opportunity.  

I was told that just arriving here would be the most important part of my training...I was told that this would be the most important day of my entire life, for it would be the beginning of the rest of my life. 

“Learn how to serve before you could lead, young Toraburu.” 

Sensei's words echoed in my head and kept my warm during the cold Tokyo nights. And since then, I kept my mouth shut and kept my head down. 

Spoken only when spoken to. 

Seen not heard. 

Watching those who have come before me and learning by just watching those who have forged ahead and paved the road before. 

I was told that I had to pay my dues, that I needed to be humble in front of those who I wished to mold me into something better than I was. 

I had hopes, dreams, and aspirations… 

...but I had to make sure that I had the proper education to seize them all and turn them into realities.  

Yet before I could do all of that before I could even step into that ring, there was more than needed to be done. 

I had to clean. 

It all needed to be clean. 

october, 2015 

shinjuku, tokyo, japan 

fighting love dojo 

Goddamnit, I was cold.



It would be raining when I arrived into Tokyo for the third time in my life.



Then again, it seemed like my entire career in Exodus was nothing but a massive rainstorm that I was struggling just to keep my head above water. Maybe it was the fact that I put so much pressure on myself and I held myself to such a standard that I was stressing myself out too much but regardless...it finally get all of that crap off my chest and finally say what everyone else was either too scared or chicken shit to do so felt good.



And then I did the thing that everyone didn’t see coming.



I walked out.



I quit.



I broke the Exodus contract that I worked so hard to get because I could see I was headed...just another name on that roster who wouldn’t amount to anything to anyone. I couldn’t handle that, maybe my ego was bruised, maybe my pride took a hit...but I couldn’t stand it anymore. To be in that locker room week after week and getting nowhere no matter how much I kicked and screamed, it bothered me and I couldn’t take it anymore.



So I left.



I left them all at home: My brothers, Darius and Cassius, my newly discovered sister, Bianca...and even my wife Melody, who was quite pissed when I broke the news that I had to leave. She offered a bit of protest but yet, this wasn’t for her...this wasn’t about her. I had to do this. I had to find the man who had set me on this course for the past several months...I had so many questions and not a single answer in sight.



So, eleven hundred dollars and a twelve hour airplane ride later...here I am in Tokyo



Fighting Love Dojo...searching for him.



Searching for the only man to not only beat me but to do something that I haven’t felt in a very long time.



The only man that has truly made me humble.



Genji Yamato.

theblackestsun.com/promos 

the silver tongued devil chronicles 

fga wrestling present vertigo 

aries reed vs ricky valero 

video i 

[Chess is a thinking man’s game.]



[Chess is about strategy.]



[Chess is about making the other man believe that he’s making all the right moves…]



[…when he’s doing nothing but hanging himself with his own rope.]



[Chess requires patience…chess requires skill. All that Aries Reed possesses but Mr. Valero does not.]



[Sitting in front a empty black and white marble chess board, Aries sits with a soft smile on his face as he slowly begins to place the artfully and rather eloquently marble pieces on the board slowly and carefully as if they were made from glass. He slowly placed the ebony pieces in their correct positions one by one as he never looks up at the camera.]



“Mr. Ricky Valero.”



“We’ve never had the pleasure of meeting before this week and unfortunately for you after this trip to New York City is over with, the name of Aries Reed will reverberate into the depths of the brain that you didn’t know existed.”



“I hate to be one to bring this to your attention, Mr. Valero but you’re not as good as you think you are and sadly enough, the fact that you’re even coming to New York in the first place is nothing more but a means to a very horrible end for you. You’re not entertaining and frankly…you’re not that good a wrestler to begin with. So please before you start you diatribe about how many places you’ve been when other meaningless titles that you’ve won and when your plans on coming to the FGA are, please allow me to beat you to the punch by saying the following:”



“I don’t give a shit.”



[With disgust, Aries waves his hand dismissively as the thought of wasting the time and the mental capacity on such a fool of a man as Ricky Valero has brought him as he slowly starts to begin place the ivory pieces on the board.]



“I don’t give a shit about whom you are…I don’t give a shit where you’re from or what you’re about.”



“You want to think that you’re a real bad man, but in actuality you have no idea what it takes to be a man in the first place and when push comes to shove, you’re not ready to see how far and how deep that rabbit hole goes to become a bad man at that.”



“And that makes you fake.”



“That makes your transparent.”



“That makes you nothing more but a little boy trying to play a man’s game, the game is chess…not checkers, Mr. Valero and I’ll already have you in checkmate and the game hasn’t even started yet.”



“You want to think that you’re ready…but you aren’t even close. You want to step into the ring me with and prove me otherwise, then by all means…please do. I want you to attempt to prove me wrong because when it’s all said and done you’ll realize that you never had it in you in the first place.”



“And who’s the blame for that egregious error in character and talent development?”



“Maybe it’s the people around you who inflate that ego of yours unjustifiably, giving you a false sense of accomplishment.”



[Aries smirks and begins his sarcastic slow clap for a moment before turning his attention back to the board that sits in front of him.]



“Regardless of your past accolades…I’m better than you.”



“No matter how you slice it, no matter how you spin it. In every single aspect of the word, I’m better than you, Mr. Valero. I’m a better wrestler and I’m a better athlete in every single sense of the word. And if this is the first time that you’re hearing this…well, I just feel bad for you because to be honest…you don’t have it in you to prove me wrong.”



“But if you must…I know you will…”



[His arrogant smirk fades from his lips as his brow furrows slightly the camera seeming to slowly zoom in on his face as he looks into the camera for the first time.]



“…then let’s dance. Let’s see who’s willing to do what it takes to walk out of the ring a winner. Let’s see who’s willing to get the dirtiest, let’s see who will be willing to do the things that most people won’t do. Because I am…I’m willing to go to the seven depths of Hell and come out smelling like a rose on the other side. And I will bring you with me kicking and screaming the entire way because I don’t think you have the minerals to fight that kind of fight. Are you ready to bust your knuckles open? Are you ready to take years off of your life just to prove a point? Are you willing to push yourself to the point of no return…just so you can push the other off that ledge first?”



“You’re not that guy, so who are you fooling?”



“Yourself?”



“Those around you?”



[With a shrug of his large shoulder Aries continues on…]



“…like I said earlier. You’re fake…and once in New York, I will strip everything back like an onion and show you off to the rest of the world for the man you are…”



“…or in this instance…the man you aren’t.”



[Reaching over Aries carefully knocks off the ivory King piece over before standing to his feet.]



“Checkmate, Mr. Valero. Checkate.”



[Fade]

october, 2015 

shinjuku, tokyo, japan 

fighting love dojo 

“Kare wa sensei, mada arimasu.” <He’s still there, Sensei.>



“Dono kurai kare wa ima, soko ni sa rete imasu ka?” <How long has he been out there now?>



“Watashi wa ima 12-jikan o sa rete iru to shinjite imasu. Anata wa kono otoko o shitte imasu ka?” <I believe it’s been twelve hours now. Do you know this man?>



Peering through the blinds of the third story window, he looks down at the early-twenty something black American, who stands defiantly on the sidewalk in the middle of the rain as others walk around him. They pay him little mind, little as one would a stray dog, they don’t look him in the eye, they simply walk around him as if he was nothing but an obstacle in the way...easily avoidable. Stepping back from the window, he turns his back to the window, crossing his arms over his chest for a moment.



“Sensei?”



“Watashi wa ano otoko... Shutsuejiputoki kara namaikina amerikahito wa, watashi wa kare ni watashitachi ga atta saigo no ressun o oshiete ita to omotta chi tte iruga, sore wa tabun ressun wa kanzen ni subete no nochi ni manande inakatta yōdesu” <I know that man...brash American from Exodus, I thought I had taught him a lesson the last we met but it seems that maybe the lesson wasn’t completely learned after all.>



“Wareware wa kare ni tsuite nani o shimasu ka? Tan'ni soto ni kare o nokoshi? Kare wa samu-sa no shi o kyatchi shimasu.” <What do we about him? Simply leave him outside? He’ll catch death of cold.>



The sensei could only chuckle as he reached up, running his fingers over his chin, scratching the salt and pepper stubble as a smile spread over his lips.



“Kare wa watashi ga ima madenaraba shi wa, kare no tame ni junbi ga dekite iru koto wanaidarou... Kowarenai seishin o motte imasu. Ima, watashitachiha, kare ga kare ga motomete iru mono o matsu koto o itowanaidesu dono kurai dete mitsukete morau tame ni mo, kare no mama ni shite okimasu.” <He has an unbreakable spirit...I doubt death would be ready for him, if ever. Leave him be for now let us find out how much he’s willing to wait for what he seeks.>