Skrabal's Motel Room
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
24th September 2021
12.36AM
An exhausted Skrabal drops his phone on top of the coffee table and flops onto the mustard yellow sofa in his rented accommodation.
"Fam this tourin' shit takes the piss I swear" He mutters to himself as he leans forward towards the coffee table in front of him.
"Shit was comfy..." he takes a glass doob tube from a drawer in the coffee table.
"One night at work e'ry two weeks..." He takes a joint from the doob tube and puts it in his mouth, then drops the doob tube on the floor.
"Rest a the time man was doin' what he wanted..." He lights his joint and inhales.
"Now I'm out here catchin' planes, ridin' buses..." He takes another toke on his joint.
"Workin' here one night, there the nex'..." He takes another toke on his joint.
"On the road, doin' tricks in dif'rent cities..." He takes another toke on his joint.
"They workin' me like a trained chimp or suttin..." He takes another toke on his joint.
"Like a cheap hooker..." He takes another toke on his joint.
His phone vibrates on the coffee table. he leans forwards and picks it up, looking at the screen he sees a notification, 'message from: Sabrina'.
| Thanks! |
|
| ? ? ?
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For ghosting me!
|
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| ? ? ?
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U invite me over, playing games,
telling me not to msg u back
and ur not even there!!
|
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| lmao wtf???
that was really u?
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What?
|
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| dw about it
I didn't msg u
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You did!!
|
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| i didn't
u knew i left Denver
we spoke about it
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I know
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| and u still went?
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| Yeah |
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| 😂 fucking idiot
|
Skrabal shakes his head then turns his phone off and throws it across the room.
"What the fuck fam?" Skrabal asks himself with a laugh before going back to smoking his joint.
Skrabal's Motel Room
Birmingham, Alabama
October 2nd 2021
1:10AM
Smoke drifts up through the frame and Skrabal looks deep into the camera as the video begins.
"Fam they got me in fuckin' Alabama..."
He brings a joint to his mouth and takes a long, deep toke.
"Alabama... Fuck this tourin' bullshit."
He takes a deep breathe.
"So I guess this be about the time that man like Skrabz s'posed to sit before you an' tell you how he been humbled. Coz that be twice now..."
He shakes his head, disbelieve etched on his face.
"Either that or ignore it, s'how it go right? You either act like the shit ain't happen or you act like it changed you."
He laughs slightly.
"Nah, ain't nuttin' changed me fam.... An' Man like Skrabz ain't do humble."
He takes a long, slow draw on his joint.
"Don't get it twisted though, I ain't even 'bout to front... that man done whooped my backside almost as bad as I done did to e'rybody else."
He takes another deep toke.
"But still I be here fam. I know there be some of 'em out there been hopin all along that somehow, some way, I catch a couple big els an' fade away but nah, man like Skrabz ain't goin' nowhere... But shit, he hurt my body an' my pride for real. That ain't the worst ting though, coz you wanna know what hurt my soul?... Layin' on my back, lookin' up, seein' that War Queen flauntin' the big strap right there in my face an' not being able to reach out an' snatch it from her. The ting I wake up for, the ting I need most in the world, right there jus' inches away an' I ain't have the strength left to do shit about it... Ya nah if man like Skrabz was the kind to cry himself to sleep he woulda been snoozin' in a puddle a tears that night fam... I ain't get sad though, nah, I get even..."
He pauses and takes another deep breath.
"But apparently man has done fallen' off a cliff... S'what he said innit, pon the socials."
He lifts is eyebrows condescendingly.
"What, coz a you?"
He shakes his head and takes a quick toke on his joint, then shakes his head some more.
"Man like Skrabz been on that Blue Birds a Dover vibe, soarin' on those thermals, way up above the cliff from the off. So I ain't ever fall off nuttin' an' if I do I only float up anyway."
An almost unjustified look of smugness sits on his face, given who he is talking to, as he takes another few tokes on his joint.
"It feel good though innit. That dub... Yeah you get a big dose an' the euphoria hit ya, I know it do, ain't a feelin' like it in the world. If you could sell it ya'd be a bilyunaire in a month. Ya can't sell it though fam, can't buy the shit neither. Nah, you gotta work real hard for it if you want it an' you done worked harder lately than you ever done did before. Man like Skrabz brought out the best in ya but if you ask me I'mma tell you it's the worst ting that could ever happen. Coz you gonna crave it fam, you gonna need it like I does. Ya can stand there wit' ya creepy smile an' laugh while ya tell us it ain't mean shit to ya, but fam real truth is if the shit ain't matter then ain't none of us even be here in the first place... So I know you gonna fiend for it, you gonna want more... Prollem is ain't a bigger hit for ya right now so they gotchu on that Chris Mosh maintenance, butchu gimme a month or so an' man like Skrabz'll hook you up wit' a shot at the biggest dose goin'... Coz still ain't nuttin' changed fam. Man like Skrabz stay on that chiropractor vibe, yeah he straight back it at. So nex' time me an' look at each other across that ring I'mma have the big strap on my shoulder, an' you gonna be the number one pick to take the ting off me... It's what they'll say innit."
He pauses, his body language carrying the same questionable level of confidence as his tone of voice. He takes a final few tokes on his joint and stubs it out before moving on.
"But that be a way off yet an' before we get there we repeatin' history one more time, man like Skrabz an' Azurine Vebbins..."
He shakes his head and kisses his teethe.
"Azzy where ya been fam?
He holds his hand hand over his brow, as if shielding his eyes from sunlight, and looks out into the distance mockingly.
"I ain't seen you yet."
He smiles smugly and breaks into a slight laugh.
"I mean you here but you ain't really here, is you? Not like you used to be. I mean you look the same, you sound the same too. Suttin' feel off though. Ever since that big four way ting you came back to you been lackin' the passion, after all that shit you spoke way back about certain tings bein' below ya, you walk straight back into the main event an' a chance to stake ya claim at the big strap an' you do what?
He reaches down the side of the sofa and takes a bottle of beer from his ever present box of beers.
"You tap out in seven minutes, that's what!"
He twists the lid of his beer and drops it on the floor.
"You got gifted an opportunity you ain't ever deserved an' you gave up in less than ten minutes, an' that kinda set the tone innit, but we gonna circle back to that.... Coz you had yaself a lil buzz back there for a second or two but since you had ya shot at the Throwdown Title it been back to back to back els for ya, an' it seem to me that you close to the point a no return. Worse ting is you ain't seem to give a shit. You slidin' down in to the void an' all ya care about is shakin' ya backside an' sellin' pies..."
He shakes his head in disgust.
"Fuckin' pies, are you for real blad?"
He takes a long drink of beer.
"Man like Skrabz got a black Tee Shirt wit' a lil white ting on it an I ain't ask for the shit, truth is I be kinda pissed off seein' so many neeks in the seats rockin' the Tee Gee. That shit been a lifestyle not a brand but I guess they sell e'ry lil part of ya if they get a chance. Dif'rence is you encourage that foolishness. You set up ya stall like fly pitcher, sell any ol' shit an' that be why ya market shrinkin'. But this always been ya prollem innit, you always been more concerned wit' sellin' ya merch when the only ting you ever needed to sell was yaself."
He shakes his head, a mixture of disgust and frustration on his face.
"The shit repugnant fam, for real."
He finishes his beer and drops the bottle on the floor then reaches for a fresh bottle.
"It piss me off too, coz truth is if you weren't busy puttin' ya name pon any piece a plastic shit they churn out for ya, you coulda been puttin' it up in lights. Ya coulda been puttin' it at the top a the card, you coulda put ya name pon the billboards but shit ain't nobody buyin' billboards are they, so ain't no quick profit in it for ya. An' that be jus' one dif'rence between us, this a quick return verses a long term investment an' it be clear to see which one carry the higher interest, ya feel me?"
He looks into the camera, the disgust firmly set in on his face now.
"See I could respect ya hustle if that was all you had but it ain't fam. You got a lot more than that to give, you jus' ain't got it in you to give it as consistently as it need to be given... Ain't nuttin' worse in this world than wasted potential an' you be wasted potential personified."
He twists the lid off his second beer and drops it on the floor.
"An' it seem like you givin' up completely too, coz you goin' on exactly how you started back at that big four way ting... Your last two times out there say it all. First it was that French gyal, she kinda fine, you know who I mean innit coz she made you tap back at Game Over, knocked you right on outta that Rise Of The Phoenix ting. Then it was Zombie jus' a couple weeks back, she made you tap too. But it ain't come as no surprise fam coz way I it see is you been tappin' out on ya entire career ever since you came back."
He takes a long drink of his beer.
"Butchu got a chance to turn it around now innit. Coz it's you an' me, once again an' fam you caught that big dub once before. I know you remember it, prolly still feel the after glow, shit I bet that's why you stay smilin' today coz ain't nuttin' else for you to be happy about. Butchu you did it before... Ya think you can do it again? Ain't a better time for ya than right now coz man like Skrabz got his tail firmly tucked innit, yeah he vulnerable, he weak, weary, he done for... That's what they'll tell you anyway. It's what they hope an' wish for innit..."
He downs the rest of his beer, greedily finishing the bottle.
"I guess it all depend on which Azzy we see come Throwdown innit. It all depend on if you come for a fight or you come to sell some shit. It all depend on if you gonna bring ya best or if you gonna stay brinin' what you been bringin'..."
He leans forward and takes a fresh joint from atop the coffee table in front of him.
"That prolly be what they think I should say innit, but what they forget is you still Azurine Vebbins, an' I still be man like Skrabz, the number one contender..."
He puts the joint in his mouth and lights it.
"An' even when you brought ya best you still needed a fuckin' miracle."
He takes a deep toke on his joint and as he exhales a cloud of smoke the video ends.
