Sure enough, approaching the sea of chairs, Wyatt was lying down on his back on a row of four seats. His headband covered his eyes, and he was snoring.
I shook my head. “What the hell is this?” I grumbled, but Darren put his hand on my shoulder like reining in a carriage of horses, and he stepped forward.
“Wyatt,” Darren whispered, “Wyatt, wake up.” Darren knelt beside him, gently shaking his shoulder.
“Yoooo, whaaaaat uuuuuup,” Wyatt uttered, pulling his headband back up to his forehead. His hazy eyes and goofy smile wasn’t enough to stop my blood from boiling.
“How did your match go?” I gritted through my teeth, knowing damn well he probably missed his match.
“I actually already played two matches. I was one of the first people who had to play, and then my next opponent was already ready to go when I was done,” Wyatt said.
“Well, how’d you do?” Darren asked.
Wyatt’s daydreamy smile grew wider. “Won both of them two-O, two-O. it’s just going to be a little bit of a wait for me for the third round, so I figured I would just lay here and catch up on some sleep.” He rubbed his temple and winced. “My head is killing me, though. Either of you guys have some aceta-mino, you know, acetamen—?”
“Acetaminophen? No, neither myself nor Gordie has any.”
“Damn,” he sighed. There was a group of people towards the edge of the seating area, easily 50 feet away. “HEY!” Wyatt yelled the first time I heard his voice reach that decibel. I tried to shush him, but he hollered, “You guys have any acetamino-you know, headache medicine?”
They all looked back at him and laughed. One of them said, “It’s acetaminophen. Go back to third grade. And sorry bro, can’t help you.”
“You see what I mean, Gordie? The people here are just rude,” Wyatt said.
“How were the guys you played against? My first opponent was pretty nice to me,” Darren said.
Wyatt pondered, then shrugged. “Yeah, I guess the two guys I played were alright.”
“Hey, if your head is really bothering you, we could go to the pharmacy nearby and get you something for your hangover,” I said.
“That’s a golden idea.”
“Whoever finishes their next match first between Gordie and me, we’ll run to the store and pick you up something.”
“Yeah, that would huuuuuge,” Wyatt said as he rested his head on the row of seats.
“Do me a favor, though, sit up and fall asleep, don’t take up all these chairs,” Darren said like a parent.
“Have you seen this area? No one is sitting here. I’m good.”
Darren and I both gave an eye roll. We headed back to our section to play our next match. When I arrived at my station, my next opponent was already waiting for me. I didn’t say much to my opponent, but I shook her hand, and we started.
She landed more combos than Mikey, that’s for sure.
“Game one goes to GordieHoward,” the moderator said.
She picked a different character and a different stage, and I stayed as Soul-Steel.
“Game two goes to GordieHoward. Congratulations.”
Good game, my opponent said, and I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. It was a message from Darren.
Hey, just so you know, I already finished up my game, and I’m going to the pharmacy to buy some medicine for Wyatt. Please keep an eye on him when you finish up.
Reluctantly I returned to Wyatt’s section. I didn’t want to go over there because I was worried that Wyatt would would do something dumb and I’d start screaming at him. I was almost already at that point. It’s not that I didn’t love the guy. I just didn’t like relying on him in this fashion. I felt like his babysitter.
Arriving back to the rows of seats where Wyatt was still lying down, I kept my distance from him, I didn’t wanna wake him up or disturb him, but I also didn’t want anyone to mess with him. However, I did see a few people run up and take a picture of him as he was sleeping, but I’m sure he didn’t care. He’d only care if someone disturbed him from his sleep.
Part of me didn’t believe that Wyatt had already played two matches. I looked for his silly name on the giant projection on the wall, which had a live updated bracket. Only a few players were already at round three. Sure enough, I saw the name ‘Y-do-nut.’ No way… a plume of hope filled my chest, and I couldn’t help but smile stupidly and laugh silently. I wanted to watch him play so bad, more than the pros.
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It wasn’t long before Darren came back from the pharmacy with the acetaminophen. We linked back up, and Darren gently nudged Wyatt’s shoulder while whispering his name.
“Yo!” Wyatt shot up.
“Hey, cuz, I got you some medicine, and here’s my reusable water bottle I brought for the day. I just filled it up,” Darren said.
Wyatt sat up and threw two pills in his mouth and chugged the water.
“Uh, you were only supposed to take one. It’s for severe head pain,” Darren said.
“I’ve done worse.” Wyatt laughed. “That should really take care of the hangover then, eh?”
“Oh god,” I voiced aloud, rubbing my forehead.
“Hey, thanks for going out and getting me some medicine. I’ll pay you back… Someday,” Wyatt said with a wink.
“Okay, Gordie and I will go back to side B. Text or call me if you need anything.”
“And you text or call me if you need anything,” Wyatt said, standing up and walking toward his station.
At the other side, nothing too crazy happened. Playing the game started to feel like a routine at the tournament. When I first played there, it felt so overwhelming and new. Now it felt natural. Fortunately, there weren’t many large crowds for round three, and I drew a lucky bracket and didn’t have any of the top eight guys in my path until much later. Darren, on the other hand, was not as fortunate. If he made it to round four, he’d have to go up against Dayzees. If I made it to Round Five, though, I’d go up against Amaya, who was also nasty at the game.
She hit the scene the same year I started, and finished in the top 32. And then she was ranked as the number three player globally at the start of that year’s tournament. That really sucked. Really really sucked. It sucked so much because Dayzees was her doubles partner. They were even partners when Dayzees went to the Miami tournament. The tourney organizers let it slide since she was technically part of Dayzees’s team before she cracked into the top ten. If she never joined Dayzees but tried to team up with him now, the organizers would not have allowed it. I knew they’d win the doubles tournament the following day and then the Miami tournament again.
People loved Amaya, probably more than their already beloved number 1, Dayzees. She was the only female in the top eight. The largest number of attendees got autographs from her, specifically before any matches started. She had the largest group of fans watching each game.
Amaya certainly was more entertaining and engaging to watch in interviews. She was charming, unlike any other people in the top eight. She had a personality. Even though I hated Dayzees with a burning passion, I honestly had nothing against Amaya. Hell, I kinda liked her too. If I had to get any of the pro’s autographs, it would have been Amaya’s.
I wondered if that could have been my brother in that position. I tried not to think too deeply about it. I could feel the tear ducts getting ready to burst like a dam.
Round 3 began.
“Game one, GordieHoward,” the moderator said.
“Game two, GordieHoward, congratulations,” the moderator said.
I gave my opponent a handshake, and Darren smiled up at me when I turned around. “Nice game there, pal. We’ve made it to round four!”
I gripped his shoulders and shook him like a martini (not that I had ever made martinis, but I had seen enough movies to know). “Let’s go babyyyyy! Round four!”
“Woo!” Darren shouted.
“Looks like we have some time. Let’s go see how Wyatt is doing,” I said, and the two of us weaved through a sea of players and headed towards side A.
It wasn’t hard to find Wyatt. He stuck out like a sore thumb in his silly headband, long hair, mustache, and no corrected vision. Wyatt was in the middle of a match, tongue sticking out the side of his mouth like a little kid. There were quite a few people gathered around, more than I expected, but when I looked at the live bracket on the projection, they were already on round four matches. He was playing against a known live streamer who went by m1x3r (but pronounced “Mixer” because he worked audio for live events). Mixer was pretty good at the game, definitely worthy of being in the top 32.
As Mixer played Wyatt, I thought his head would explode. Mixer’s face was tomato red and tightened with rage.
“Are you kidding me! How did that not hit you! This game is literally rigged!” Mixer screamed, and the crowd behind him was stifling laughter, myself included.
“Game one, Y-doo-nut,”
Wyatt chuckled.
“Oh yeah? Do you think that’s funny, doo-nut? What kind of name is that anyway? Loser.”
“That’s not how you say my name, man, but whatever.” Wyatt laughed again.
“What’s so funny, prick!?”
“I’m just playing this game. That’s all, man. I don’t know who pissed in your pancakes,” Wyatt said and followed it up with a shrug.
“Alright, that’s enough. This is your warning, keep it up, and then I have to disqualify you both,” the moderator said.
Mixer picked the next stage, but he stayed the same character, and so did Wyatt. I wasn’t sure what was more entertaining with game two, Wyatt’s smooth natural ability at the game or Mixer’s tirade:
“WOW! Really? Okay!”
“Cool, dude. Real cool.”
“Are you kidding me right now?!”
“How is this hippie spanking me? He has to be cheating!”
Wyatt’s Poison-Javelin threw a lance straight into Solar-Flame’s chest, causing him to explode into flames.
“Game two, Y-doo-nut!” the moderator said.
“Sick!” Wyatt hollered, and the crowd behind him started to cheer. He turned around with his hazy goofy grin and waved to everyone. “I love you all, peeps. Thanks for watching, and thank you for the support!”
They cheered louder. Mixer stormed away. Darren and I rushed toward Wyatt, hugging him and patting him on the back. He was in the top 64.
“Dude! Congrats!” I hollered, genuinely proud of him.
“Ha, thanks, dog, but it’s not over yet, Bro-cha-cho. There’s still a long road ahead of us,” Wyatt said.
“Yeah, Gordie and I still have to play through round four. You have some time before your next match; you should come over to our side and cheer us on. I have a big match against Dayzees next.”
“Nuh-uh,” Wyatt said, his mouth drooped. “Damn, sorry, you have to play that douche… By the way, I can’t believe all of the people that came out to watch my match. That was pretty tight.”
I chuckled. “You just beat a popular streaming personality. He’s pretty good at the game, and has a sizable following online… but guess who’s better?” I gave Wyatt a nod of great approval, and he pulled me in for a tight hug.
“Ah! Gordie! I love you, dog!” he yelled. People were looking at us as he squeezed me.
“I love you too,” I whispered while laughing.
“And cuz!” he released me from his clutches, and grappled Darren. “Love you too, dog!”
“Love you too, man,” Darren said.
“Let’s see how you do against Dayzees!” Wyatt said, rushing over to the other side without waiting for us.
“Looks like that victory has him a little fired up, huh?” Darren asked while grinning at me.
We were both on the verge of laughter, speed walking through the crowd, trying to catch up with Wyatt and get to our next match. I had a little more time than Darren, which was perfect because I wanted to support him and watch his match. I kept wondering how he would fare against Dayzees.