The Meeting

It all started with an accident.

“I don’t know how many times I have to apologize, Kai. We were in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Bryan paced in the small living room of his apartment in downtown Hilo. The sound of the ocean entering the apartment through the open window provided a sort of white noise in the background of the argument.

“I’d say…I was assaulted when I was eight months pregnant with our son! UNDER YOUR WATCH, BRYAN.”

“Ya think I don’t know I put ya in a bad spot? C’mon Kai, ya act like I did that on purpose!”

Kai was exhausted. After all she and Nicholas had been through in his short time on earth, she needed support. Support she wasn’t going to get from her fiancee. This conversation had been going on for nearly an hour and neither side was relenting.

“So now the solution is to take my son away from me?”

Kai sat on the worn pleather couch and sunk into the old, ratty cushions. That couch was once the spot where two young lovebirds used to enjoy binging movies and garbage television until they fell asleep together. Now it was a painful reminder of what they used to have.

“You know that’s not what this is, Bryan. No one’s taking him away from you.”

Bryan picked up the manilla folder from the counter and waved it in the air dramatically.

“Pretty sure that’s not what this custody paperwork says. Reckless endangerment? Really, Kai?”

“Don’t sit there an act like we weren’t in danger. Rhett damn near killed us.”

Bryan remembered it well. *** ReVolution 169

August 20, 2008

Charleston, West Virginia

Bryan Dawkins and Tyler Rayne had just suffered a loss at the hands of the Princes of New England. At this point, Kai was around seven months pregnant but was traveling with Bryan on a weekly basis at his insistence. He wasn’t going to leave Kai at home while he endured the rigors of ReVolution-era PRIME’s travel schedule.

He and Kai were on their way out of the arena when tragedy struck. Rhett Locke emerged from the shadows of the parking garage and launched an assault with a flying knee that was intended for Dawkins. Bryan’s first instinct was to sidestep the attack and prepare for a counter attack of his own.

Kai’s first instinct was to wait for Bryan to protect her.

*SMASH*

The sound of Kai’s skull crashing through the passenger side window of the car was one that Bryan wouldn’t soon forget. Shattered glass fell to the pavement like forbidden confetti as her body slammed into the door and collapsed to the ground.

“YOU MOTHERFUCKER–WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOU?!”

Bryan was inconsolable, overcome with rage and more importantly, concern for Kai.

“QUICK, WE NEED HELP OVER HERE!” he shouted as a swarm of backstage staff emerged from the bowels of the building into the parking garage.

As PRIME’s medical staff cared for Kai, Dawkins set his sights on Rhett. Without thinking, he quickly leapt to his feet and took his adversary down with a swift double leg takedown and began raining blow after blow into the albino’s head, busting him wide open. If Dawkins had anything to do with it, they’d need two ambulances by the end of this thing. Ideally, they’d need one ambulance and one hearse.

In one fell sweep, Dawkins took Rhett by his bleach blonde locks and returned the favor for Kai, launching him head first through the side window of the Dodge Caliber nearby. Blood immediately began to gush from the wound; later it would be revealed that Rhett nicked an artery in his neck that could’ve been career ending had it not be for the close proximity of the medical staff.

As Locke laid in a bloody heap in a pile of shattered glass, Dawkins hopped into the ambulance with Kai and were en route to the hospital in moments. *** ReVolution 174

October 1, 2008

New York, New York

The night began as a usual one for Bryan. He opened the show backstage with Nurse Kelly, the smokin’ hot nurse employed by Dr. Fihlguud in those days. She was busy taping his ribs as a result of an assault with a baseball bat the prior week, courtesy of Rhett Locke. Tsonda would join him, attempting most of the pick up lines in the book on Kelly while Dawkins was still trying to figure out how he managed to snag a spot in the Roulette match at Great American Nightmare.

However, that normalcy came to an abrupt halt at the end of the evening. Dametreyus, Head of Security for PRIME even back then, found Dawkins prepping to leave the arena. He had spent most of the night in the trainer’s room and was anxious to get home to Kai. She had been back in Hawaii since the incident weeks before in West Virginia.

“BD, shit, man…” Dam’s normally deep, booming voice trailed off.

Dawkins looked up from his bag, mid pack. “Dam, what’s up Bruh? Was gonna head out before Chan’s match…wanna get home to Kai, ya know?”

“Boss, we jus’ been lookin’ for you all night. There’s…” again, trailing off.

Something about the softened look in the eyes of the otherwise hardened and intimidating Head of Security told Dawkins something was wrong. Almost instantly, his mouth was devoid of all moisture and a deep pit in his stomach formed. He knew something wasn’t right.

“Seriously, Dam…what’s up?”

“It’s Kai, man…”

Dawkins’ legs instantly transformed into wet noodles, buckling at the mere mention of Kai’s name. He caught himself on a bench, knocking his bag and phone to the floor in the process.

“She went into premature labor, boss. Dr. Fihlguud talked to the docs - sounds like Kai and the kiddo could be in a bad way. Doesn’t sound good, B.”

All of the air in the room was sucked into the black hole that was Dametreyus’ update. Bryan did his best to seem composed but failed to suppress the sniffles and tears that overpowered his defenses. Dam looked away from Dawkins, hiding his own misty eyes in a rare break in character from the otherwise steely Head of Security. This wasn’t news he should’ve been responsible for giving. Hell, given the circumstances, no one should have to give this kind of news.

“That. Mother FUCKER!”

Before Dam could come up with any words of comfort or consolation, Dawkins stormed from the room.

Dawkins found Rhett backstage moments later and initiated a brawl that saw Dam dispatch Enemigos I through XXIV in an attempt to restore order.

Spoiler–it didn’t work.

Instead, PRIME decided to sanction the match on the fly. The matchup saw weapons of all sorts, from chairs to tables to baseball bats and ladders. PRIME’s Senior Referee Bernie Roberts did his best to keep the action in the ring within the leather while the Enemigos who weren’t dispatched in the backstage chaos did what they could to keep the contest in the ring. In an absolutely brutal affair, Dawkins managed to pick up the win after delivering a Hawaiian Hangover Shooting Star Press from the top of a 20-foot ladder.

However, the aforementioned victory was completely hollow given the grave concerns for Kai and his future son’s health. *** “Bryan, you know I’m right. And I appreciate you wanting to continue to support us.” She paused, fighting back tears.

“But I know you want to be out on the road, wrestling.”

“Kai, you know I can come home. I can come back and wrestle for dad in High Risk Wrestling here in town.” He swallowed that tough pill as soon as it came out of his mouth.

Bryan was desperate. Deep inside, both he and Kai knew this was never going to happen. He wasn’t going to quit PRIME.

“I can get a better apartment. I can get a regular job and be home on the weekends. Ya tell me what to do and I’ll do it, Kai.”

Kai let her head fall back and stared at the cracked plaster overhead. She knew she had to stand strong.

“I think I need to leave” she whispered as her eyes welled up with tears.

“Don’t do this, Kai. We can work this out. I promise I can make this work…” His defense weakened with every word.

As she stood up, she focused her gaze on the apartment door. She grabbed her keys from the counter and beelined to the door. Without looking at Bryan, she whispered “no, you can’t. We both know that” before quickly opening the door and making her exit.

Bryan slumped down into the side of the island in the kitchen, falling onto the vinyl flooring. He clutched at the custody paperwork as he fought back tears.

His entire world was crumbling around him in this shitty apartment. *** Bryan pulled up to the Bang Bang Cafe in downtown Seattle and parked his rental car along Western Avenue. From his parking spot on the street, he could see the entrance to the cafe, which was pretty clearly a busy place. For a midweek morning, the cafe was bustling and a small crowd was forming outside the door.

He arrived early intentionally - this was a meeting sixteen thirteen years in the making. Bryan wrestled off and on for PRIME between 2009 and 2011 before leaving the company. In 2012, he ended up in Bang!, where he would spend the next nine years.

For the past fifteen years, the payment was debited from his checking account on the first of the month. From a child support standpoint, Bryan was a model citizen. He proactively reported his income and remained diligent in making sure Kai received the money. But there was zero contact between Dawkins and his son.

He knew today would come eventually, but there really couldn’t have been worse timing. His return to PRIME had been anything but successful. He was still finding his way as a singles competitor in the ReVival era and even though he now had an exciting new ally in Adam Ellis, the duo has had a slow start to their partnership.

What he needed now was not the complication of reintroducing his ex and estranged son into his life. He needed to figure his own shit out. Yet here he was.

Within a few moments, she appeared. And she hadn’t changed a bit since she last saw her. The same long, bronze hair. The same perfectly tanned complexion. The same petite, athletic body that she never had to work to maintain. The same kind eyes and welcoming smile that hooked Bryan the first time they met at a beach party back in the mid 2000s.

And she was headed straight for his car.

*TAP TAP*

She gave a slight wave as he rolled down the window.

“You mind if I hop in?”

He smiled. She was beautiful. The most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. All of the reasons he fell in love with her rushed back into him all at once.

“Course not.”

He unlocked the doors and she hopped into the car. She smiled at him and he returned a sheepish smile.

“How’ve you been, Kai?”

“Oh you know, we’ve been making due.”

“How are your parents?” he questioned. They had never really liked Dawkins. Her father, in particular, thought Kai was making a mistake being with a professional wrestler.

It was Kai’s turn for a sheepish smile. “Good, but you don’t really care, do you?”

“Not really.” He responded without thinking.

The two ruminated on the awkward conversation.

Small talk wasn’t coming easy. Time to ask the tough questions.

“So…what does he know?”

After adjusting her posture in the seat in an attempt to shake out some awkwardness, she responded. “I mean, not much. He knows you’re alive. Knows you’re not around.”

“Does he, uh…know who I am?” As if the Bryan Dawkins of 2024 was someone.

“Ha…” An eye roll. Sarcasm, great. “Yeah, he does.”

Bryan wasn’t sure of what to think about that. Does he know his dad’s a loser? Does he know his dad has been a complete failure in his return to the place that made him famous in the first place? Does he know he assaulted a woman half his size with thousands of pineapples a few days ago?

“We should get in there.”

We were about to find out.

“Can you give me a minute?” He asked.

The blood must’ve drained from his face, because Kai immediately looked skeptical. “Yeah, as long as you don’t find another reason to bail on us in the next couple minutes.”

Shit.

Bryan attempted to compose himself. “Yeah, I’ll be in.”

She nodded, opened the car door and stepped back onto the sidewalk before turning back.

“Bryan, don’t mess this up. Don’t hurt him.”

He gulped and nodded.

You hear that, Bryan? Don’t fuck this up.

His eyes followed Kai as she made her way back into the cafe.

Panic immediately set in. His mind was running a mile a minute. Trying to find a legitimate reason to leave. Trying to figure out how he could get himself out of this.

He was preoccupied. He had a pissed off second generation PRIME wrestler with a bad attitude and plenty of reasons to want to end his career on his mind. The Intense Rules match, while completely out of Bryan’s comfort zone, was his idea. He asked Lindsay Troy for this match. This entire situation with Rose was manufactured by Dawkins’ feeling that he needed to prove himself.

Somehow he convinced himself that provoking one of the most violent members of the roster would be the best way to do that. His mouth wrote a check that his ass would have to cash in a matter of days a few blocks away.

But first… *** The cold sweat that he generated on the couple hundred foot trip from the car to the front door gave him the chills as he entered the air conditioned cafe. The place was jam packed, wall to wall people occupying tables of all sizes.

Bryan scanned the crowd for a few moments before he spotted Kai, who was sitting in a booth with her back turned toward him. He’d know that hair anywhere.

The walk across the cafe felt like it took twenty minutes as Bryan questioned every life choice he had made over the past sixteen years before tapping Kai on the shoulder.

“Hey…” He barely squeaked out. He was being choked by a metaphorical boa constrictor.

“Hey…”

He rounded the corner and for a split second thought Kai was sitting next to some kind of time traveling mirror. His son was a carbon copy of the Bruh from 2002.

Same sharp facial features. Pointed jaw. Buzzed haircut. And the kid was clearly an athlete.

“Hey, I’m Nico.”

Dawkins shot a glare at Kai as he sat down at the booth. Didn’t he get lectured for using that name?

Nonetheless, he smiled at his son.

“Yeah, I know.”

“I guess we have a lot to catch up on.”

How in the hell were they going to cover this over breakfast?

“We do. Where do you wanna start?”

Nico paused and Bryan could see the wheels turning. He had no idea where this was going.

“Why did you leave us?”

“Why don’t you love me?”

“Why are you such a failure?”

The longer he sat in the cafe, the bigger mistake he thought he made.

Then, Nico dropped the bomb…

“So are you really gonna use that barbed wire pineapple on Rose?”