Post by Tate Selby on Mar 15, 2022 21:42:30 GMT -5
“The greatest sacrifice is when you sacrifice your own happiness for the sake of someone else's.” - Anonymous
OFF CAMERA
EAST MALLING, KENT
SEPTEMBER 21ST, 1997
Today was the day, The day that eight year old Tate Selby had been looking forward to. Not only was Tate excited but at the same time, he was nervous. Today was the day the school was going on a school trip and he’d managed to sneak the money out of the wallet of one of the guys his mom had brought home. He’d never have been able to go if he hadn’t have done that because the money they did have Tate’s mom spent on all on alcohol and relied on food banks to provide her with food for Tate, Grace, and Jack. Tate had got himself dressed and as he leaves his bedroom he could hear his sister and brother downstairs already. He rushed down the stairs, he wasn’t sure if his mom was there or even the fat hairy ape of a man she’d brought home. All he knew was that he had to make sure that Grace and Jack were okay. It felt like he was having a heart attack as he run down the stairs. His left arm felt heavy, his chest felt tight and his heart was beating faster than it had ever done before. At eight years old, even Tate a boy who’s had to grow up quick wasn’t even sure what was wrong with him. Clutching onto his chest, he finally makes it into the kitchen where he sees Grace feeding Jack some porridge. Jack was so happy as he grabbed Grace’s arm to get her to feed him more. She’d stopped because she saw Tate come running in all in a panic.
“Are you okay, Tate?”
Grace says with concern in her voice. Noticing the concern in Grace’s voice he smiles.
“Yes, I’m okay. Has mom left again?”
“Yeah. Said something about taking Greg out.”
Tate could hear the fear in her voice as she mentioned his name.
“The bald fat guy?”
“Yes. When I come down, I put Jack in his highchair and started making his porridge. I… Well… Greg walked up behind me and slapped my bottom.”
Holding back her tears, Grace gets back to feeding Jack. Tate starts to grind his teeth in anger trying not to just blurt out and upset Grace and Jack.
“I’ll sort it. Do you or Jack need anything at the shop?”
Whatever pain he had earlier had gone and was replaced with anger. He was so upset too and annoyed that their mom would put them in situations like this where they suffer. Tate was also feeling guilty, guilty that he wasn’t there to prevent this from happening.
“Jack only has two nappies left, and we need some bread for sandwiches for school since mom wasn’t able to feel the forms in for school dinners.”
“Okay. I’ll be as quick as I can be.”
Walking out of the kitchen, he grabs his shoes and puts them on before leaving. On his walk to the shop, he pulls the money out of his pocket that he did have and sighs. As much as he was excited about the school trip, he knew he couldn’t go. He had to use that money to get nappies for Jack and some bread so they could at least eat while at school. Thankfully, the neighbor was trustworthy and would take care of Jack until Grace and Tate returned from school. The money that Tate did manage to take out of Greg’s wallet, he didn’t feel guilty anymore about taking it. Especially after hearing how he slapped the bottom of his sister, a seven year old's bottom at that too. This enraged Tate to the point where he was hoping he’d bump into his mom and Greg just so he could kill Greg. This wasn’t normal thoughts for an eight year old but it wasn’t a normal life he was having to live because of his mom and her dependency on alcohol. She’d rather drink and have sex with a stranger than protect her children. Still, with the money in his hand, Tate looks at it knowing full well that he’d be selfish to have spent it on the school trip anyway. Especially since there was enough to get Jack’s nappies he needed to get, the bread, and also was enough to feed Grace and Jack for a week, maybe even himself too.
“Oi you little bastard!”
It was directed at Tate and as soon as he’d heard the voice he knew who it was. It was his mom and when he looks over at her, she was standing outside the shop drinking alcohol with Greg. Tate quickly slides the money into his pocket and zips up the pocket, luckily he had zips on the pockets of the trousers he was wearing. As soon as he had, he clenched both of his fists and marched over towards where his mom and Greg were standing. Tate punches Greg straight in the balls bringing the man down to his knees causing him to drop his alcohol. The bottle of beer doesn’t smash so Tate picks it up and ignores the pleas of his mom not to do what he was about to. Without any care in the world, Tate brought the beer bottle back and swings it as hard as he can. Tate managed to connect with the bottle as it hits Greg to the side of the head smashing and sending shards of glass everywhere. Greg falls to the floor, blood rushing from his head as Tate’s mom doesn’t even care about him, she is straight over checking on Greg. Tate wasn’t even scared anymore. He stood there looking down at Greg watching as the blood from the side of his head was flowing freely. This is when Tate’s mom looks up at Tate to see Tate standing there with the biggest of grins on his face.
“Tate, you little bastard! Why did you do that?”
“You know why! You allowed him to lay hands on Grace. How dare you allow that. All you care about is that devil’s juice you drink. You don’t care about Grace, Jack, or me. You just care about when you’re going to get the next drink and the next man.”
Having heard enough, Tate’s mom gets to her feet and walks up close to her son looking down at him.
“Shut the fuck up. I’m your mom and you don’t speak to me like that.”
“What are you going to do? Hit me, allow the next man to touch Grace or Jack? We both know you’ve never stopped any of the men hitting me. I have the scars to prove it. Would you like to see them?”
By this time, a crowd has gathered as they start to check on Greg who was still on the floor bleeding from the side of his head. They didn’t know what was happening as they approach Tate and his mom. Tate’s mom just picks up the bag from where she was originally standing with her alcohol in and just walks off. Letting out a sigh, Tate starts to shake his head as he once again witnesses his mom picking alcohol over him, his sister, and his brother yet again. Tate can’t remember the last time his mom had even hugged him, shown him any form of motherly love, or even said I love you. Instead, he’d witness her proclaim her love for strange men just to get her next drink.
“Are you okay?”
Snapped out of thought, Tate looks up to see a guy asking him that question.
“I’m fine. I have to go.”
All that’s on Tate’s mind right now is that he gets home to Grace and Jack before his mom does. Without even waiting for a reply from the guy, Tate starts to run as his little legs would take him. All the thoughts were going through his head. The thoughts of the time his mom watched as one guy choked Tate out to the point he’d passed out. Then onto the time, another guy put a lit cigarette out on Tate’s chest and another time when a guy held a knife to Tate’s throat. The sort of woman that Tate’s mom was sacred Tate so much. Especially as every time he’d get attacked by the men she’d bring him, Tate would have to hear the laughter from the woman who was meant to protect him. Still running down the street, Tate lets out an angry roar hitting himself in the head to get the thoughts out. Finally, Tate arrives home and runs straight into the house.
“Grace, Jack, where are you?”
There was clearly panic in his voice.
“We’re in the lounge. Mom is home and sleeping on the couch.”
All Tate can think of is that he hopes that his mom hasn’t said anything to Grace or Jack. Hopefully, she’d got straight in and passed out on the couch where she was asleep. Arriving into the lounge, Tate can see his mom on the couch snoring away as Grace stands there with Jack in her arms.
“Did she say anything?”
“No. She just come in, placed the bag beside the couch, and went straight to sleep.”
Grace looks at Tate, he was sweating and she could see that he was showing signs that he’d be running.
“Right. I’m going to give you money to get some food at school. Go take Jack around to the neighbor and I’ll meet you outside.”
She was going to ask him if he was okay but she knew if she kept asking him it’d start to annoy him and it looked like he was going through enough already. Once Tate had heard Grace and Jack leave, he heads right over to the bag. Inside the bag were three bottles of beer. Tate grabs the bag and heads straight for the kitchen. Once in the kitchen, Tate sees their screw caps so unscrews the cap of the first bottle of beer and pours it down the sink. A grin appears on Tate’s face as he does the same with the other two as well before placing the empty bottles back into the bag. Grabbing the bag, Tate takes the bag back to where he picked it up from and places it back there. Proud of having just tipped the alcohol away, Tate got a blanket from the nearby chair and placed it over his mom to keep her warm. He then placed a kiss on her forehead.
“Enjoy the empty bottles when you wake up.”
You can hear the sarcasm in his voice as he looks down at his mom and says “Love you.” before he walks out of the room with a well-earned smile on his face.
Once outside, Tate walks over to the neighbor's house where Grace was saying goodbye to Jack.
“Goodbye, Jack. Be good, Grace, and I will see you later. This is for some nappies.”
Handing over the money to the neighbor, the neighbor takes it and smiles before Grace, Tate, the neighbor, and Jack finish off saying their goodbyes. Grace and Tate now start on their walk to school. Tate takes out some more money from his pocket and hands it over to Grace.
“This is for your dinner at school today. I’ll get some food after school while you head home to get Jack and sort him out at home.”
“Thank you, Tate. Is everything okay? Will mom ever get better?”
As much as Tate had tried to protect Grace, he knew he couldn’t hide the obvious of there being something wrong with their mom.
“Everything will be okay, I have everything under control, I promise you. As for mom, she’ll get better in time, we just need to look after Jack and make sure we’re okay too.”
Tate was hoping that Grace wouldn’t know his smile was false as he smiled at her. It seemed he’d been having to do that a lot lately. Pretending everything was okay, putting on a smile just to assure his sister and Jack everything was okay, and having to lie as he’d just done yet again. It wasn’t something Tate liked to do, it was just something he had to do. Thankfully they’d got to Grace’s school where they said their goodbyes and Grace hugged her brother Tate as he hugged her back. Grace headed off into school as Tate now headed off to go to his school.
It was just Tate and his mind again. He sighed as the hug he got from his sister was the only sort of affection he received other than the hugs from his little brother Jack too. They were nice but it was nothing like a mother’s love. All Tate’s ever wanted is a hug from his mom, an I love you or even an I’m sorry. He just knew it was something he’d never get and it hurt so much. The sacrifices Tate has had to make while growing up have just made him want his mom to be just what she is meant to be, his mom. He was meant to love her and be proud of her. Yet, Tate hated his mom and was ashamed of her. He could never forget the last time she turned up at his school drunk. Tate was embarrassed and everyone laughed at him. Tate was an outsider at school and in life. The only thing that kept him going was his brother and sister, without them he’d have given up a long time ago. The strength that Grace and Jack had given Tate was like a superpower. He still wasn’t immune to the pain and hurt he was going through but they gave him the superpower to be able to handle it.
Tate is now outside his school as he sees everyone getting on the buses ready for their school trip to the museum of History. Only, Tate wasn’t going to be able to go. He was kidding himself that he even could in the first place. He chose to sacrifice his happiness, for the happiness of his brother and sister. Tate walked over to his teacher to let her know he didn’t have the money or permission to go. Instead, Tate was now having to stay at school on his own while everyone else went on the trip. As Tate walked towards the school entrance he turns to look back at the school buses. They were full of happy and excited kids, some of which were pointing and laughing at Tate. Tate just lowers his head, sad and upset as he makes his way into school.
“It isn’t sacrifice if you love what you’re doing.” - Mia Hamm
ON CAMERA
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
MARCH 14TH, 2022
Having just finished a rigorous training session followed by an even more rigorous workout, Tate heads off to the showers. Eddie notices that the cameraman had turned up and had a big grin on his face.
“Hey, short stack. Over here.”
Eddie Matthews had noticed the cameraman was short as he called over to him. The cameraman does as he is told.
“Just set up in that room over there and I’ll send in Tate Selby when he's ready.”
“I do have other places to be.”
“STOP! There is no one more important than Tate Selby. You will wait until he is ready and if you’re going to complain, I’ll have Tate deal with you, got it?”
The cameraman takes a big gulp before nodding and heading off to set up for when Tate was ready. The only reason the cameraman listened to that threat is that he saw what Tate did on the last Fallout. Not only that, the cameraman had just witnessed Tate take on a gauntlet of six men and still ask for more. Eddie even had to talk to Tate to make him release the chokehold on one of the guys from the gauntlet.
Eventually, Tate was ready. He’d showered and got into a tailored suit ready to go handle his business. Tate walks out of the changing rooms of the Matthews Multi-Gym just to a hand signal from Eddie Matthews pointing him to where he had to go. Eddie was on the phone, probably trying to negotiate something else for Tate to do that he really wouldn't want to do. Tate heads over to the room and walks right in and startles the cameraman. This doesn’t even bother Tate one bit as he closes the door behind him. In front of the camera was a desk with a jug of water and a glass on it. Behind the desk was a chair that Tate walks around too and sits down at. The cameraman doesn’t say a word, not wanting to upset, aggravate or even give an excuse for Tate to bite his head off. Instead, the cameraman gets the camera rolling and signals to Tate the camera is rolling.
“Sacrifice…”
Tate pauses for a moment and pours himself a glass of water.
“I’ve had to make plenty of them throughout my life to be where I am today. I’m sure Henry Lee Hyde has had to do the same too. That’s the one thing I’m sure we’ll both have in common too. That we’ve made sacrifices for this business because it’s what we love doing. You care more about that Gatekeeper Championship around your waist than I ever would. I hear it has become a Fallout exclusive Championship too. That’s beside the point though. Although it becoming just a Fallout exclusive Championship makes it much better to have than before, it’s still something that is beneath me. I’m not you, Henry. I’m not happy to settle for something I’m better than just because it is shiny. I looked at the matches that are taking place on the next Fallout and not one of them impressed me at all. Lil Petey against Lance Williams is above my match. A has been in Lance Williams and a never has been in Lil Petey. Two chumps I could go out there and beat before having a match with you right after and still beating you. Just because you have the Gatekeeper Championship Henry, it doesn’t make you anything special. Just be grateful that I don’t want that belt because if I did, I’d have had it by the end of Fallout. Then the Main Event is a Tag Match, one of the worst things ever, just no. Word of warning to whoever does the booking, if you put me in a Tag Match, not only will I put down my opponents but my Tag Partner and then you for booking it. I’m serious when I say I’m better off alone and I fight alone. Henry Lee Hyde is the next person to find out that violence is my middle name.”
Picking up the glass of water, Tate takes a couple of sips before placing the glass back down from where he picked it up from.
“Mr. Hyde, you haven’t defeated anyone of importance to earn the Gatekeeper Championship around your waist. Unfortunately, I haven’t defeated anyone of importance either yet and that won’t change when I defeat you either. I get that I’m the new guy around here and can’t just walk into a big match and sit at the top of the mountain. So I’ll happily destroy the small fish along the way to taking down the big fish. I’m not here to sit at the bottom of the food chain and to be happy with being the biggest of the small fish. I’m going to be the biggest, big fish here and sit at the top of the food chain. I’m willing to hand out as much pain in and out of the ring to get to where I want to be too. I’ve not trained to fail, I’ve trained to succeed. I’d consider walking around with the Gatekeeper Championship as a failure. I have physical and mental scars that you would never have been able to deal with, Henry. You’ll see every physical scar I have when we step in that ring but I can promise you now, the only one walking away scarred from this match, is you!”
“When you and I step in that ring, Henry. Just remember that you’re still Gatekeeper Championship because I allowed it to be that way, just like if you survive this match, it’s because I’ve allowed you to do so. I’ve had to learn the hard way that life isn’t fair and it truly isn’t fair on you to have to step in the ring with me. I’m a dangerous man, Zack and Carny learned that on the last Fallout and I’m going to enjoy teaching you the same thing on this Fallout. You can forget about guys like Angelo Caito and their pet brick being dangerous and Arik Holt and the most dangerous thing about him being Savannah Sunshine. They’re nothing compared to what I’m capable of yet they’re somehow the Headliner Match for Fallout. It’s a good job that I’m now here in Fallout because it means I can bring the true meaning of violence back to it. Starting with you, Henry. I’m going to enjoy hurting you, playing with my prey before finishing it. I did what I said I was going to against Zack and Carny and I will do the same against you. I’m a man of my word, Henry and I promise you now that I will win and I will forever leave a lasting effect on you and you definitely won’t enjoy it.”
Stopping for a moment to drink some more water, Tate is purely focused and ready to take care of business.
“Henry, Henry, Henry. My dear old chap. I’ve lived a torturous life but it has taught me that I am strong and what I’m capable of. I’m capable of being a one man revolution to make Fallout better than it ever was before. I don’t need to do it with some trickery of fire, by pulling a gun on someone, or by evening faking my death. I’ll do it just by being who I am. Something people for years couldn’t and wouldn’t accept, only now no one has any choice. I’m going to make people accept who I am and accept what I do. I’m not here to make friends. I’m not here to form some True Society or some gangbang like Big Drip. I’m here to be Tate Selby. A man built to fight. A man built for pain. But most of all, a man whose willing to go to any and every extreme of violence to be where he deserves to be, at the damn top. So, I welcome you Henry to come out to Fallout and try to make an example of me. To try and show everyone that you’re the Gatekeeper Champion and that the belt means something. Cause as I sit here right now, all I see you as is another statistic on my way to becoming who I’m destined to be, Tate Selby, the one-man revolution and the violent leader Fallout needs. I’m going to be remembered for a long time to come whereas you’ll just be another number that was there for people to use as a stepping stone. I’ll see you at Fallout Mr. Hyde.”
Having said all he needs to say, Tate gets up to his feet and leaves the room leaving the cameraman on all his own. Just as the cameraman is about to stop recording and pack up his stuff, the door opens and Eddie Matthews pokes his head around the door.
“That’s all folks!!!”
