True Disrespect

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Off Camera

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A car pulls up to the front door of a large apartment home in Boston, Massachusetts. The engine turns off and the door opens.  Arthur Pond steps out with a work bag in his right hand and his keys in the left.  After shutting the car door he starts to walk away from the car and towards the front door.  Mr. Pond approaches the front door and puts his key into the lock, unlocking the door, and then pushing the door open.  He steps inside and sets his work bag down.  A smile spreads across his face.  The smile is because he knows he will soon get to see his lovely wife, Marie Annabelle Jones.

Arthur Pond walks in to the living room to find his wife sprawled out on the sofa, a remote control in hand, staring blankly ahead at a television set tuned into a wrestling program.  Arthur barely pays attention to whether it’s UWA or SCW.  She competes for both and that makes it terribly difficult for him to keep track.  It is clear, however, that his wife has been here in this state for quite a while.

“Marie?”

No response.  Arthur decides to try again, louder this time.

“Marie!”

That did it.  Marie suddenly shoots up on the sofa, dropping the remote in the process.

“Huh?  Wha?”

She smiles as she regains focus and realizes that it is just her husband Arthur.

“Oh, you’re home.”

“Yeah, I’m home but what gives with you?”

He motions to Marie lying on the sofa.

“I see you laid out on the sofa, almost as if you were in an entirely different universe.  Are you ok?”

She sighs and nods her head, running her hand through her long red hair.

“Yeah, I think so.  I guess I lost track of time.”

Arthur frowns.

“Marie, it’s nearly midnight.  I tried calling to let you know I’d be home late and you never answered.”

“Oh I’m sorry, babe.  I just…yeah…I just lost track of time.”

“That’s obvious.”

Arthur walks over and sits down next to her.

“What’s wrong?”

Marie looks at him curiously.

“Who said anything was wrong?”

“I did.  It’s clear something is wrong.  You’re just not acting like yourself.”

Marie sighs.

“Nothing is wrong, Arthur.  I just have a lot on my mind, that’s all.”

This is true.  A great deal has been on Marie’s mind ever since she stood side by side with Sophie James and Kimberly Williams to shock the world with the #GingerHoax.  Despite the immediate afterglow, the great feeling of fooling everyone, Marie now begins to wonder if she truly did the right thing in pulling the wool over everyone’s eyes.

On the one hand she feels truly and fully justified in doing what she did.  UWA, Drew Bryant, and David Helms seemingly were hell bent on keeping her away from pursuing a singles career.  It seemed as if the only way out was to go somewhere else, namely Supreme Championship Wrestling.  In the process, to stick it to those who she felt turned on her, who betrayed her, she masterminded the #GingerHoax, utilizing Kimberly as a stand in whenever UWA booked her in a tag match.

And yet on the other hand Marie regrets it in the sense that her fans are disappointed in her.  Her fans no longer cheer her.  But it is not her fault that they do not see the truth of what Drew Bryant and David Helms have tried to do to her career in UWA.  It is not her fault that they are drinking the UWA Kool-Aid.

Marie can only try to focus on what she now has going for her in Supreme Championship Wrestling but even that has been lackluster at best.  She did well early on with victories over Hannah Warr and Kara Abdheri but that was followed up with a loss to Kara in a triple threat that also involved Hannah and then a loss to Brett Sinclaire in a TV Title Eliminator.

Now Marie is scheduled to face Darrin Miles at Hell Hath No Fury, SCW’s December pay per view offering.  This is the perfect opportunity for Marie to get back on the right footing in SCW.  She can’t afford to squander this opportunity.

“Is it about the crap involving UWA and SCW?”

Marie grins.

“Are you a mind reader?”

“No, I can just read you like a book.”

He kisses her on the cheek.

“So, care to tell me about it?”

Marie opens her mouth to talk but is silenced when she hears a strange noise outside.  She frowns and motions with her hand.

“Did you hear that?”

Arthur, who clearly did not hear anything, shrugs his shoulders.

“Hear what?”

Marie sighs and gets up off of the sofa.

“I’ll be right back.”

Jones walks out of the living room and then out of the front door, stepping out onto the front lawn of her Boston, Massachusetts home.  More footsteps are heard off in the distance.  Rustling can be heard in the leaves.  Marie Jones sighs and rolls her eyes with frustration.

“This whole dark knight crap is unbecoming of you, Jessica.”

She turns back around to face the house.  Stepping from around a corner, behind a bush, is none other than Marie’s sister, Jessica-Corey Jones.  Although lately she has taken to calling herself The Archangel, both inside and outside of the wrestling ring.  Jessica-Corey is wearing a black and white floral print blouse, black skirt, and black high heeled pumps.  Her long red hair hangs unrestrained to shoulder length.  The look on her face suggests that she is quite unamused with her older sibling at the current moment.

“And prima donna attitude is unbecoming of you, Marie.”

Marie rolls her eyes.

“Great, not you too.”

“Well it’s the truth.  You are acting like a prima donna.  Everyone can see it.”

She folds her arms over her chest.

“Prove me wrong.”

“Is this how we Jones women act now?  We just skip the greeting and go right into the arguing?”

Marie sighs.

“But then again, you ARE half Lasiewicz, so that could be part of it.”

Jessica smirks.

“Nice job at deflecting.  But you’re not getting out of it that easily.”

Marie shakes her head as she approaches her younger sibling.

“Fine, but you will listen to me Jessica…”

“My name isn’t Jessica…”

Marie sighs.

“Ok, right, Corey…”

“Archangel.”

Marie rolls her eyes.

“I am NOT referring to you by your ring name.”

“I am The Archangel.  That is who I am as well as my duty and responsibility.”

She reaches out and takes her sister by her hands.

“I’m here to help you.”

“Then shut up and listen…”

She quickly jerks her hands free.

“…and you’ll realize that I don’t NEED any help.”

“From my perspective you definitely need help.  You have gone off course.  You need someone to guide you back to the right path.”

Marie shakes her head.

“You’re wrong, Jessica…Archangel…whatever…”

She pokes her in the chest.

“…YOU are wrong.  I know what I’m doing.”

“I don’t think you do.  You’re on a path that leads to destruction.”

Marie arches her brow.

“Really?  Is that so?”

“Sister, your redemption quest was admirable.  I supported you throughout the entire ordeal.  But now you are turning your back on the fans that supported you throughout the entire redemption journey.  Tell me I’m wrong.”

Marie nods her head.

“I’ll gladly tell you that you’re wrong.”

She pats herself on the chest.

“I was never granted a one on one rematch for the world championship after losing the belt to Vanilla Skyy.”

“It was never in your contract.”

“True, I understand that, but that’s not the point.  As a former world champion I felt that at the very least I should be in the title picture.  But I haven’t competed in a one on one match for UWA in four months.  Even at Sectioned for the elimination chamber I was overlooked.  Instead of putting me in the match they put Selena Frost, someone who had QUIT THE COMPANY, in the match instead.  Now is that fair?”

Archangel sighs.

“It’s the way Drew Bryant and David Helms have chosen to run their company.”

“The United States CHOSE to make slavery legal for almost a hundred years.  Germany CHOSE to make extermination camps legal during World War 2.  Just because it’s legal doesn’t make it right, Jessica, and you know it!”

“I never said I thought you were in the wrong.”

Marie blinks curiously.

“Then what the hell are you saying, Jess?”

“You may have been wronged, Marie, but there are better ways to make things right than the way you are choosing to go about it.”

Marie sighs and turns to walk away from her sister.  She walks up to the front door and turns the knob.  Before pushing the door open she turns to look back at her sister Jessica one final time.

“If you know of a better way to deal with this than by all means, let me know.  Until then, I’m going to continue doing things my way.  I refuse to be stepped on.  No more.”

“Marie, wait…”

She stops and turns to face Jessica one more time.

“What?”

“I also do not trust Kimberly.”

“I don’t think anyone trusts Kimberly.”

“You clearly do.”

Marie sighs.

“Look, Kimberly is my sister.  Hell, she’s your sister too.”

“I refuse to claim her.”

Marie chuckles.

“You can refuse to claim her all you want, but biologically she is your half-sister.”

“Irrelevant.  Fact is that Kimberly is dangerous.  You know this.  She is the person who kidnapped you and tried to take your place in your life.  Remember?”

Marie sighs and nods her head.

“I remember.”

“Then why the hell are you willing to trust her?”

“Everyone deserves a second chance, Jess.  People were willing to give me a second chance.  It’s only fair I give her a second chance.”

“Giving someone a second chance is one thing, but being naïve is something else entirely.”

“Are you calling me naïve, Jessica?”

Jessica’s eyes flare up with an intensity that even Marie is taken aback by.  Jessica points a long slender finger at her sister.

“Not only are you being naïve in thinking Kimberly deserves a second chance, but you are squandering that second chance the people gave you.  Marie, I’m here to warn you.  I’m warning you that if you continue down this path, you will regret it.”

With that, Jessica Corey Jones, The Archangel, turns and walks away, slowly disappearing into the night.  Marie watches, stunned and deep in thought about what her sister just said to her.  Jessica made quite a few legitimate points and yet Marie doesn’t know how else to handle her situation.  UWA wronged her.  She just wants justice.  Is there anything wrong with that?

Marie doesn’t know how long she was standing outside until the front door opens again.  Arthur Pond, Marie’s husband, steps outside and joins her.

“Marie?  Are you ok?”

“Huh?  Oh, uh, yeah, I’m fine.”

Marie leans over and kisses Arthur on his cheek.

“I was just talking to my sister.”

“Your sister…Kimberly?”

“No, Jessica.”

“Oh, so your sister came to speak to you at this time of night?”

Marie nods her head.

“Yes.”

“Near midnight and your sister stops by…”

Arthur shakes his head in disbelief.  Marie just chuckles.

“…do you have any normal sisters?”

“Kelly is still quite young, so there is hope for her.”

“May I ask what you and Jessica were talking about?”

Marie sighs and looks Arthur in his eyes.

“Am I doing the right thing, Arthur?”

“Only you can decide that, babe.  I agree that you have been wronged, but are you taking the right approach?”

He shrugs his shoulders.

“Only time will tell.”

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On Camera

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We open in front of an SCW logo backdrop.  Marie Annabelle Jones enters the scene from stage right.  Jones is wearing a black petite v-neckline sleeveless dress that features a stunning lace overlay at the bust and a flattering tiered skirt that finishes with a tulip style hem.  Her feet are encased in black high heeled pumps.  A few moments later Kimberly Williams enters the scene from stage left.  They are identical twin siblings, so it would be difficult to tell which is which, were it not for the fact that Marie typically dresses far nicer than Kim, and Kim has a black t-shirt on with the name “Kim” embroidered on the front in purple script lettering.  Kimberly is also wearing torn denim jeans and flip flops.  Kimberly is carrying with her a UWA logo banner.  Kimberly just stands there, saying nothing.  Marie begins talking.

“Ever since the #GingerHoax I have heard nothing except the same narrative from the same damn hypocrites, all telling me that I am a prima donna.  All of them claiming that my quest for redemption was a con job all along.”

She nods her head.

“I will admit that the #GingerHoax was a con job.  Sophie James, my twin sister Kimberly Williams, and myself fooled you, we conned you, and for months on end we made you believe we were unstable, that we were on the verge of splitting up.  We had you thinking that the entire time it was me and Sophie defending the belts when in reality it was my sister Kimberly playing the role of yours truly all along.”

Jones smirks.

“Kimberly really is a great actress.”

“You know it, sis!”

The siblings share a hearty laugh and even share a high five before Marie continues.

“Yes, the #GingerHoax was a con job, but my redemption journey was never a hoax.  I did regret what I had become, I truly did want to change and make up for my past sins, and I fought, I bled, and I sacrificed all in the name of redeeming myself and by God I did just that.  I don’t care what the Alana Starr’s, the Abigail Lindsey’s, the Drew Bryant’s, or even the David Helms’s of the world have to say; I did redeem myself.”

She points a finger at the camera.

“You are the ones at fault.  Drew Bryant and David Helms are at fault for overlooking me time and time again when it came to a world title contender’s match.  I didn’t even need a one on one title shot.  Just a spot in the elimination chamber would’ve sufficed.  But Helms and Bryant disrespected me there, too, when they put someone who QUIT THE COMPANY in the chamber in place of me.”

“The fans are at fault for turning on me, tossing me away as if I were a fad, as if I were yesterday’s trash.  You supported me up through Olympus but when Drew Bryant’s golden girl Vanilla Skyy wanted her rematch, every fan turned on me.  I fought for the fans at one time.  But now, if they are willing to do that to me, then by God, I have no problem turning on them.  I do not need fan support.  I never needed fan support.”

She shakes her head.

“I haven’t always been a good person, but let’s be perfectly clear.  I didn’t suddenly change into this bad person the rest of the world is trying to make me out to be.  I was wronged.  And I’m not about to just to lie down and take it.  I am Marie Jones, the Crown Jewel of Professional Wrestling, and I will fight back against the machine that has turned on me.”

Kimberly reaches into her pocket and pulls out a lighter.  Then she lights the UWA banner on fire.  Kimberly smirks knowingly as she watches it go up in flames.  Marie unfazed by this as she continues speaking.

“Why else do you think I came to Supreme Championship Wrestling?”

She shakes her head.

“I don’t expect SCW to just throw championship opportunities my way right and left.  I fully understand and accept that I have to fight my way to the top here in SCW, the premier company in professional wrestling bar none.  Thus, I am not upset about not getting title shots right and left in SCW the same way I am upset in UWA about being overlooked.   It’s expected.  And you can see, also, that my grievance has nothing to do with just mere championships.  I’m not that kind of person, despite what some people try to say.”

“My grievance is over the fact that I haven’t been given ANY opportunities in UWA since I lost the championship.  Drew Bryant and SCW’s own David Helms have been purposefully trying to keep me down.  But unlike Bryant and Helms, Mr. D and SCW are giving me opportunities to prove myself.  I was granted opportunities to compete in a women’s title contender match and a Television Title Eliminator Match.  And how did I do?”

Jones shrugs her shoulders.

“I lost both matches, but I’m fine with that.  Do you want to know why I’m fine with that?  I at least got the opportunity.  An opportunity UWA never gave me.”

She narrows her brow in a tense show of anger.

“Darrin Miles was lucky to be brought into a great company like Supreme Championship Wrestling.  But then he no-showed.  He couldn’t make it.  He didn’t have the decency to do the job that he was hired to do; compete for SCW and its fans.”

“That’s what true disrespect is all about.  What I’m doing is about righting a wrong done to me.   I’m not disrespecting a damn thing.  I’m just calling a spade a spade.  If you want to look up disrespect you’ll find Darrin Miles and his ugly mug all over it.”

“Now I’m not here to be the SCW cheerleader by any stretch of the imagination.  But Miles should consider himself lucky, damn lucky, to be working for a company like Supreme Championship Wrestling.  And yet he just doesn’t show up to his debut?”

She holds up two fingers.

“Consider Hell Hath No Fury to be your second chance.  Or dare I say it, consider Hell Hath No Fury to be your own redemption quest, because you have one chance to make things right, a chance that very few individuals get in this business.  So take some advice from someone who grew up in this business…”

She lets her voice trail off as she pauses dramatically before continuing.

“…do not squander this opportunity.”

She smirks knowingly.

“Now don’t get your hopes up, Miles.  The fact of the matter is that you will pay for YOUR sins, much as I have had to pay for mine.  The fact of the matter is that you are guppy facing a Great White Shark.  The fact is that you are not facing some rookie fresh out of some wrestling school.  You are facing The Crown Jewel of Professional Wrestling, a former UWA World Champion, a title that actually meant something when I held it.”

“Yeah, I do have quite a very high opinion of myself.  That much is true.  But I can back up my tough talk and win or lose at Hell Hath No Fury, you will know that you have not just been in a fight, but that you just got your ass kicked by Marie Annabelle Jones.”