"J'en ai marre de toi!!  Vous êtes insupportable!!" Joseph screamed as he stomped down the stairs, a large suitcase in hand. He yanked his coat off the rack in anger and proceeded to make his way towards the door when his mother's frail and cold hand grabbed him and yanked him towards her.

He turned and gave a sharp glare at the woman. Her eyes were sharp but enraged, her nostrils flaring, her teeth grit and her grip tightening around his wrist. He looked behind her. His younger sisters all stared with worried, sad eyes. His father's tired eyes hadn't changed, but his lip trembled as he tried to speak, and his eyebrows furrowed in concern.

Joseph felt for them. He felt for his baby sisters. He felt for his father. He felt for the family that was hurting under the tyrannical rule of their bitch of a mother….but he was gonna change it.

He was the first to rebel, he was the first to push against her rules…what he was doing was risky, it was a first-time thing. He had no prior knowledge of this path he was going to take, all he knew was some blokes named "Bailey and Jordan" were helping him get to America and take on a new pursuit of life. 

He was going to leave this life of being a nobody behind. He was going to leave being a disappointment to his mother behind…he was going to leave them behind.

He couldn't take them with him. As much as he wanted to, he couldn't…it would be too much for them to leave…he couldn't make them do that…so he had to go…not that his mother was gonna make it easy.

The woman yanked the boy so that his face was next to hers, "Joseph Amaury Durand!!  Si tu fais un pas hors de cette maison je te renierai!!" She snarled.

Joe yanked his wrist from her grip and clutched it tightly with his own, "Renoncez-moi alors!  J'ai fini de me soucier de toi ou de ce que tu fais !" He yelled, "Je vais me faire une vie! Je vais enfin me trouver! Et tu ne peux plus m'arrêter!"

"Joseph, je te préviens! Ne quittez pas cette maison! Vous allez briser cette famille!" His mother said in a low tone

Joseph didn't say anything, he simply began turning the doorknob until he felt the door was no longer held in place.

"Joseph!!"

He pulled the door open and slipped his coat on, as he grabbed his suitcase tightly. His mother's desperate, empty threats sounded like background noise as he began to step out of the house.

"JOSEPH, JE-JE VAIS TE TERMINER!!  VOUS N'AVEZ OÙ ALLER!!  PERSONNE NE S'OCCUPERA D'UNE ERREUR COMME VOUS!!"

"JE M'EN FICHE!! N'IMPORTE OÙ C'EST MIEUX QU'ICI!!"

"N'OSEZ PAS PARTIR!!"

Joseph had put a good amount of distance between himself and the house, he gave one final look back to…to this horrible prison he had called home…to the wretched woman he had kept him there for 19 years…no more…no more…

With one final sigh, he straightened his back and whispered, “Goodbye…Annette…” as he walked proudly down the path to the roadside, where a little broken-down truck was parked, waiting for him. The Frenchman opened the car door and slung himself in, shutting the door hard behind him. 

Sitting in the driver's seat was a blonde man, mid 30's, wearing simple clothes and a backwards cap. Behind him was a skinny man, possibly younger, wearing a loose jacket, no top, and jeans. Definitely American.

"Ye alright kiddo?" The driver asked. Joe slumped in his seat sighed, "J'irai bien, plus tôt je m'éloignerai de cet enfer" he grumbled. The two older men looked between each other, the one in the backseat leaned forward to ask a question, "Whatcha say there, bud-"

"JUST DRIVE!!" Joe demanded. Startled, the driver quickly started the car and back out of the parking spot, turning onto the road and driving out to the freeway.

After a few minutes of riding in silence, the man in the back spoke. "Hey, don't worry nothing, kiddo," he said, "We're gonna get ya a nice new apartment, we'll pay for your first year, we can keep paying for your tuition- Hell! We'll even cover your first year of Boxing! All the gear will be on us"

"Tch, YOU can do that, I'm just working on tryna keep my own career afloat, I'm nearly at the end of my wick, don'tcha know?" The driver replied

"...I-I know, Bailey…"

"It's been harder trying to keep the place running when the commissioner just keeps making it more difficult for us to keep up with everything, ya know?"

"...I know, Bailey"

The man in the backseat leaned back and huffed, "But we gotta try and make it good…for the new generation…like you, Joey,"

Joseph turned around to look at the man behind him, his eyebrows furrowed. "You really mean that?" He asked. The man nodded, "You are going to help lead a whole new generation of people, to be strong…to be bold…you're gonna do great things, I just know it! But we gotta get you there first…and trust me, bud…we will"

The young man's cheeks grew flustered from the comment, he quickly turned to hide his face and sighed in contentment. "Merci, Jordan…I really appreciate it" he said in a low, tired voice.

The road to town was long, and Joseph knew the path to becoming one of the greats like the ones he was driving with would be even longer…but it was a journey he was willing to take.

After all, it was as his father…occasionally said…

"La douleur est beauté"

Pain is Beauty