Rise of the Champion 21 - Syvone’s calls

It was the middle of a hot summer afternoon, Mr. Syvone was running later than his usual on-time self would be. He rushed into his gym to see what he expected to see walking in. Joshua lifted weights with Adrian while giving him advice on boxing techniques. Martin talking with Issac to spar and practicing moves on the bigger opponent. Jeremy was the mentor for most of the young guys and organized a sort of group practice for the smaller weight fighters. Mr. Syvone walks by the sense of camaraderie among his fighters and into the darkened area of the building better known as his office. Mr. Syvone walked in to grab a box in his room filled with boxes. When he entered his office, he saw his four trusted trainers with cards in their hands and money on the table.

"Again with the gambling bullshit," Mr. Syvone said irritatedly as he closed the door behind him. "Get the hell out of my office and go out there to help our fighters dominate the tournament right fucking now."

"We're sorry, boss," the four men said in almost unison as they head outside of the room putting their cards and cash away.

Mr. Syvone sits down on his chair and looks at his monitor, he observed it until he could see the four trainers out into the gym area to help with the fighters for his tournament. He then goes to count his money for a bit until he hears a ring. He starts to go through his drawers, moving around the papers in some of them and some cash wads. Eventually, he found a small flip phone that was buzzing. Mr. Syvone flipped open a phone and saw the name that was calling him. It said "DBSG", Mr. Syvone sighed a bit before he pressed the answer button.

"Hello, Don," Mr. Syvone said as he hears a bit of breathing into the phone until a low voice spoke up.

"Joey, we need to talk about a certain someone," Don said as he coughed a bit after exhaling.

"There are a lot of people that you could be talking about," Mr. Syvone said confusingly.

"True," Don said before being quiet for a bit. "Do you remember when you got some of my men to kill your one fighter?"

"Yeah," Mr. Syvone said becoming even more confused than he was before. "What about it?"

"Do you remember the young kid Amari Powell?" Don asked letting Mr. Syvone have some time to think.

"Yeah, I remember that little shit," Mr. Syvone said. "Do not tell me that he opens his mouth too much and we have to go kill his bitch ass now?"

"No thankfully, at least not to MY knowledge," Don said reassuringly towards Mr. Syvone. "We just do not know where that kid is."

Mr. Syvone laughs to himself for a bit. "How the fuck that you of all people lost one immature brat?"

"That's what I'm saying," Don said to Mr. Syvone. "All I need to do is to find him, if you can do that I would appreciate that."

"Yeah I can do that for you," Mr. Syvone said into the phone. "I can ask around the stores on my street to see if any of them saw him and I will let you know."

"Thanks a lot, Joey," Don said before hanging up the phone.

As the phone clicked, Mr. Syvone's office goes back to the silence that it was before. He looks back to his money and continues to count the rest of the stack before he can find out where the kid is. After some time, he got done with his ten thousand dollar stack. Mr. Syvone went onto his flip phone, he blanked out for a bit trying to think about who he should call first. He figured that he would call the Barstool pizza restaurant. He dials the number and the phone begins to ring.

After the fourth ring, the flip phone answered. "What do you need, Mr. Syvone?" The voice said from the speaker. It was a quieter tone than the other one.

"Hey Jimmy, I am going to need you to check the restaurant for the special rooms," Mr. Syvone said directly to Jimmy.

"I can sure do that for you boss," Jimmy said with typing noises popping up in the background. "Any particular reason for me doing this?"

"Yeah there is a reason for this," Mr. Syvone said, listening to the clicks of the computer. "I am on a hunt for a kid named Amari Powell."

"Ah ok, Mr. Syvone," Jimmy said as the clicking seemed to stop. "I pull up the receipts and I will call you back later after I get down looking them over."

"Thank you, Jimmy, this is important so I thank you for doing this for me," Mr. Syvone said sincerely. "Talk to you later."

"You too," Jimmy said before he hung up the phone, continuing the silence in the room.

Mr. Syvone sits by his desk and opens up a small red notebook that is near his monitors. He opens it up and begins to flip through the pages. It took a while until Mr. Syvone could find a fresh page to write on. He grabs a black pen and begins to write on the page. The top line said, "Where's Amari Powell?". The next line read "Jimmy, Barstool Pizza, receipts, is looking." Mr. Syvone thinks for a bit before he dialed up another number on his flip phone. The phone read "SMCS" and it began to ring. It kept ringing and vibrating in Mr. Syvone's tough hands. It kept going for a while until the rhythmic sound came to an end. Silence again filled the office. Mr. Syvone again began to write in his notebook. It said "SMCS, not available". He instantly dialed another number and the room was back to the ring of the flip phone. It said "SS" on it. The ringing kept going for a bit until it was picked up and a familiar voice was heard.

"Mi amigo Señor Syvone, what do you need?" Oscar said to Mr. Syvone through the flip phone.

"Yeah Oscar, do you know if you have seen a kid named Amari Powell?" Mr. Syvone asked.

"What does he look like?" Oscar questioned. "I have seen a lot of people through my bar and countless names."

"I am well aware of that Oscar, so that is why I asked you," Mr. Syvone said with his pen in his hand. "He is an average-looking kid, young-looking, maybe still in high school, African American, and pretty skinny."

"Huh, and his name is Amari Powell, correct? Oscar said to clarify.

"Yes, he has information that could be used against us if he decides to run his mouth so we are on the look for him," Mr. Syvone said as he clutched his pen. "We need to find him.

"Well I do not remember that I have ever seen a guy that matches the description," Oscar said with a more sad tone. "I am sorry, I hope you find him. What you do helps out people like me a lot and I appreciate it."

"It is all good Oscar," Mr. Syvone said. "I will find this brat, do not worry about it at all.

"Ok good, adios," Oscar said before hanging up the phone.

Silence again returned to the room and Mr. Syvone began to write in his notebook. It read "SS, no idea, is remorseful." Mr. Syvone leans back in his chair trying to think to himself. "You one sneaky son of a bitch, I give you that," he muttered under his breath. He begins to lean back in his chair. The noises of squeaks from the chair could be heard clearly. He puts the pen near his mouth for a bit. He then looked back to his phone and began to dial up another call. The phone on it said "DESI".

The phone picked up and on the other side, a feminine voice spoke up. "Welcome to the Designer Store, this is Natalie, how can I help you?"

"Hey, Natalie, is the owner there?" Mr. Syvone asked as he hears Natalie muttering to herself for some time.

"I can look for him for you, I will put you on hold if that is fine with you?" Natalie asked Mr. Syvone.

"Sure that is fine," Mr. Syvone said before he heard some cheerful music playing on the phone as the employee seems to be doing what she said that she would do. Mr. Syvone picks up his pen again and writes it down in the notebook. It reads "DESI, Possible,". Then the music stops and a cough could be heard from the other end of the call.

"Syvone? What do you want man?" a raspy voice said. "I have a meeting in ten minutes, I already gave you the payment for the month. Do not tell me there is a tax raise again."

"No, I already got the money," Mr. Syvone said as he pulls up a bag with cash in it. "But seriously, this should be rather quickly. I need to look for a kid, his name is Amari Powell he has information that could be pretty bad if he tells anyone and I do not want to deal with that shit."

"Oh, shit," The man said as he starts to mutter to himself. "I think that we can find him, you know I keep all the receipts."

"I know man," Mr. Syvone said as he clicks his pen again. "Can you try to find the kid or send me camera footage so that I can see if I can find him?"

"Sure thing," The man said to him. "I will have to be going because I got a meeting and I will send it to you as soon as I can."

"Alright, thank you, Roger," Mr. Syvone said as he hangs the phone up. He finishes writing it down on the line with some scribbles. It now says, "DESI, no confirmation, will see later". Then suddenly the phone rang, and Mr. Syvone bounced up a bit in response to the ring. He looks at the phone and it says "SMCS". "You bitch," Mr. Syvone muttered under his breath as he scribbled off the line that represents the shop.

"Mr. Syvone, why are you calling me?" A woman asked on the phone.

"Mary, I have been on a hunt for a little bastard and I need your help to find him," Mr. Syvone responds as he clicks his pen back on.

"Well honey, there are a couple of people in at the store, can you give me a description of the man?" Mary asked as it sounds like she is opening a door.

"He is a small teenager with a small afro," Mr. Syvone said. "His name is Amari Powell is there a guy that looks like it?"

"Uhhhhh," Mary said as she looks across the store. "I think so, I will ask the kid."

"Just asked the name and we will figure it out from there," Mr. Syvone said as he hears footsteps and muttering from the people talking with each other. Mr. Syvone writes down something quick from his notebook, rips out the page, and rushes into the box room as he hears a door being flung open on the other end.

"The kid ran out of the store very fast, it seems to be the kid, Mr. Syvone," Mary said as the doors and people talking can be heard in the background.

Mr. Syvone rushed out of the door, into the gym to see the trainers, Tony was the closest and he walked other to the boss. He grabs the paper and begins to look at it for a bit.

"Hey guys, we have a package to pick up, let's go," Tony yells as the trainers hear the order and all of them head out of the door. "We got it, boss." Tony then walks out of the gym with the doors slammed shut.

"What the hell is that about?" Jeremy said loudly across the gym to Mr. Syvone.

"Oh do not worry about it, it is time to collect some sponsorship payment that some of the stores are doing for our participation in the tournament," Mr. Syvone said quickly before he walks back into his office.