==========
February
10th, 2019
Boston,
Massachusetts
Off
Camera
==========
Usually
death is the ultimate equalizer. After all, everyone has to die
eventually and no amount of money and no amount of political influence can
change that fact. Everyone dies and there is nothing we as human beings
can do about it. In that sense, death is
fair. Death takes everyone regardless of
socio-economic status and regardless of political persuasion or sexual
orientation. Death takes everyone no matter who you happen to be. It is truly fair.
Marie
Annabelle Jones used to agree with that statement. She used to believe
that death was fair. Now that she’s
experiencing firsthand the emotional and mental pains of the death of a loved
one, she finds it difficult to admit that this death, the death of her husband
Arthur, is fair by any stretch of the imagination.
Arthur
Pond was still young, far too young for death to take him. Arthur had so
much left to give to the world. He had
so much he could still accomplish in his life. And he had so much love he
could have given to his wife Marie. It
just doesn’t seem fair that the young would die so early in their lives.
Perhaps
that is why this particular death has rocked Marie so much? In truth,
what really has shaken Marie to her foundations is the guilt she feels on top
of the grief of her loss. Arthur’s death was a suicide. He shot himself after he and Marie got into
an argument and she kicked him out of the house.
And
Marie blames herself.
She’s
been trying to remain strong throughout the whole ordeal. A part of her
is glad that this is almost over, that she can at least attempt to move on once
Arthur has been laid to rest. All that remains now is for Father Heiney
to complete the funeral mass.
Father
Heiney has been the Jones family’s local parish priest for as long as she can
remember. He has been very good to them and has tried to help them in any
way he can. He hated seeing Marie like
this. He hated seeing Marie lose Arthur in the manner that she lost
him. The least he could do is to provide
his services to perform the ritual of burial to, hopefully, allow Arthur’s soul
to rest in peace in the after life, even if it didn’t end peacefully in the
current life.
“Almighty
God and Father, it is our certain faith that your Son, who died on the Cross,
was raised from the dead, the first-fruits of all who have fallen asleep.” Father Heiney gazes
up and out into the audience of onlookers and mourners, most of whom is
composed of the Jones family as the deceased did not have much family to speak
of. The deceased is Arthur Pond, Marie’s husband.
“Grant
that through this mystery your servant Arthur Jonathan Pond, who has gone to
his rest in Christ, may share in the joy of his resurrection. We ask this
through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the
Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.”
The
widow, Marie Jones, sits outside in the church cemetery. Arthur had no
real family and he died young, thus he never had any real plans for death.
It was Marie’s idea to allow Arthur to rest eternally in the Jones family
Mausoleum.
“Before
we go our separate ways, let us take our leave of our brother, Arthur Jonathan
Pond. May our farewell express our affection for him; may it ease our
sadness and strengthen our hope. One day we shall joyfully greet him
again when the love of Christ, which conquers all things, destroys even death
itself.”
The
sun shone brilliantly and the virescent color of the spring day under its glare
was offensively bright and cheerful. It was as if nature itself conspired
to go against the grain of the somber atmosphere that the occasion
presented. It was as if nature was
determined to show Marie Annabelle Jones that the world would go on without her
beloved Arthur Pond, her beloved husband. It shouldn’t. Everything should be as grey and foggy as my
emotions, it should be cold and damp with silent air. But the birds still sang and the flowers
still bloomed.
Marie
struggled to hold back the grief and tears flowed steadily and silently down
her immobile face, feeling bruised inside, feeling numbness, emptiness, walking
behind the mahogany coffin, saying goodbye to her sweet Arthur, although he was
gone already. Marie’s grief was great and the redheaded Boston native was
unwilling to acknowledge the finality of death.
She didn’t want to admit that she would never again gaze upon Arthur’s
face, never again feel his embrace, see the warmth in his eyes, and be surrounded
by his love.
It
doesn’t seem fair; none of this seemed fair. A part of her mind blamed
herself for pushing Arthur to this point. She was the one who kicked him
out of the house. She told him to leave.
She never knew he would take such a drastic action as to kill
himself. If she had any inkling he was
disturbed or depressed in any way, if she had any idea that kicking him out
would push him over the edge, she would never have done it. She would have
just listened. She would have tried to
talk things out. She would have tried to
make it work.
No,
it isn’t fair, but life has seemingly been unfair to Marie since day one.
Her mother gave her up at birth; and when she was reunited with her
biological parents as a teen it was her own mother who murdered her father.
Her innocence was taken from her at a drastically young when she was
raped. All she ever wanted for her child
was to have a good father figure, a good role model to look up to; but even that
fell through as her first boyfriend, Damian Daniel Toole was an abusive drunk
and then Arthur Pond, who she thought was finally Mr. Right, ended up
committing suicide.
“Marie…”
The
Phoenix had been lost in her own thoughts and didn’t even notice that Father
Heiney had wrapped up the service and had made his exit. All of the
onlookers and mourners have also begun to make their exit. Marie is one of the few left, along with her
aunt, Kayla Jones-Snow. It was her aunt who got her attention.
“...Marie,
the service is over. Do you want to go and say your final goodbye to
Arthur?”
Marie
knows that she probably should go up and say at least a little something.
Yet she is finding it difficult to get the courage to do so. There is a momentary pause as Marie just
stares straight ahead with a blank look on her face. Kayla can tell that
her niece isn’t quite sure what to do and pats her on the back.
“It’s
ok if you don’t want to.” Kayla states. “We don’t have to.”
She
has an out. Her aunt said as much. But Marie knows that she needs
to be strong. She knows that she needs to move on past this part of her
life and part of that moving on process involves saying her final goodbye to
her lost loved one. The younger Jones looks up at her aunt and shakes her
head.
“No,
Aunt Kayla. It’s ok. I want to see
him.”
“Alright,”
Kayla
takes her niece’s hand and squeezes it tightly “but know that I’m right here
with you the entire time. Ok?”
“Thanks,
Aunt Kayla.”
Marie answers, nodding her head.
The
Crown Jewel of Professional Wrestling stands up and, while holding tightly onto
her aunt’s hand, walks slowly down the center aisle of chairs up the carpet
laid out on the grassy area of the cemetery up towards the coffin containing
the remains of Arthur Pond. This coffin will eventually be placed inside
the Jones family Mausoleum but for now it rests just outside. Marie approaches the coffin, the lid still
up, and she gazes upon the empty, dead face of her late husband Arthur.
The
funeral director did his job quite well. Arthur’s body looks nearly
perfect. If she didn’t know any better,
Marie could easily see him sitting right up in the coffin and embracing Marie
in his loving arms one last time before crossing over.
But
that’s just a child’s dream. Marie knows that her time with Arthur has
now come to its conclusion. She brushes a tear out of her eye as she
tries to remain strong and composed.
“Goodbye,
Arthur. And I’m sorry…” the ginger sighs and shakes her head “...I’m
so sorry, Arthur.”
“Oh
Marie,”
Kayla takes her niece and embraces her in a tight hug “it isn’t your fault.
Quit blaming yourself.”
“I
appreciate what you’re trying to do, Aunt Kayla,” Marie breaks the
embrace and gazes into Kayla’s eyes with her own tear-filled eyes “but it is
my fault. I drove him away. I
kicked him out of the house. I just…”
Marie
shakes her head “...I just had no idea he would take his own life.”
“Sweetie,
I don’t think anyone had any idea that he would do something like that.” Kayla places a
comforting hand on her niece’s shoulder. “You can’t control that. No
one can. So please, stop blaming
yourself.”
“Easier
said than done.”
Marie answers, bowing her head.
Marie
and Kayla hear footsteps approaching. They look up and notice Angelica
Jones, Marie’s mother and Kayla’s older sister, approaching. Marie scowls
angrily at her mother who just seems to look on with pity.
“How
are you holding up, Marie?” Angelica asks.
“How
do you think I’m holding up?!” Marie snaps back angrily.
Marie’s
relationship with her mother is yet another complicated matter. Marie
hasn’t exactly gotten along with her mother in recent months. It all started with the power struggle that
erupted in Supreme Championship Wrestling where both compete as professional
athletes. Marie has chosen to side with Katya and Dark Fantasy, thinking
that Katya will run things in a more fair manner. Angelica has sided with the group fighting
against Katya. Being on opposing sides
of a power struggle only intensified issues that were already there between
Marie and Angelica, just ready to boil over, ready to erupt like an active
volcano.
Angelica
is far from the perfect parent. She abandoned Marie and Kimberly when
they were born. That was bad enough but when Angelica was reunited with
Marie, it wasn’t long after when Angelica would lose her mind and put a bullet
into the brain of Sean Williams, Marie and Kim’s father, thus ending his life.
That alone angers Marie to no end.
Marie wants her son, Sean Connor Jones, to have a father figure in his
life. Marie could have had one but
Angelica took that from her.
“I’ll
bring the car around, ok?” Kayla tells Marie as she pats her on the back.
Marie nods her head and watches Kayla walk off, giving her some time
alone with her mother; time she does not necessarily want but time she knows
she has to deal with eventually.
“I
just want to check and make sure you’re ok, that’s all.” Angelica says as she
cautiously approaches her obviously distressed daughter.
“Well
I’m fine.”
Marie snaps back coldly.
“You
say that you’re fine but are you really?” Angelica asks quizzically. “Trust
me, I know. I’ve had to deal with loss before and it is very difficult to
hide but I have become very good at hiding it.”
“You
didn’t lose anyone the way I did.”
“Oh
no? Granted I may not have had anyone commit suicide on my watch but
Lindsey Carter, she disappeared and I have no idea where she is. She may
be dead for all I know. My father, your
grandfather, he’s dead. And I had to
watch my own mother get murdered. So
don’t tell me that I don’t know what it’s like to lose someone and don’t stand
there and act like you’ve had it worse than anyone else.”
There
is a tense stare down between mother and daughter. Eventually Marie
breaks the ice with a sigh.
“You’re
right. I’m sorry. But I don’t...I
still don’t…”
“What
is it?”
“I
still don’t think I want you here right now.” Marie shakes her head. “I don’t
know, I just know that I have to work through some things right now. I
have to do some serious introspection and serious thinking about where my life
goes from here. And I’d rather you not be here to involve yourself. Because whether you like it or not, mom, this
is my life. I have to make these life changing decisions for myself. And Arthur’s death is just one of many things
I have to deal with on my own.”
Marie
reaches out and takes her mother’s hands. She squeezes them tightly. “Maybe
I was wrong for being as harsh towards you as I was? Maybe…”
“I
take it this has to do with more than just Arthur.”
Angelica’s
daughter nods her head. “Arthur and I had a heated argument the night he
killed himself. We argued about many things, including my infidelity and
my association with Dark Fantasy and Katya. We were arguing about the
some of the same things you and I argue about, mom. I kicked him out for treating me like a child
and not being supportive. Then this happens…”
“I
hope you understand that this isn’t your fault.”
“Aunt
Kayla kept saying that but it’s easy to say it but much harder to actually
believe it. I just know that I need to cope with what happened to Arthur
and I need to understand why he did it. I also need to make sure that I’m
making the right decisions.”
“I
see,” Angelica
remarks as she nods her head, a telling look that shows that she realizes where
her daughter is going with this “you know what I think.”
“Of
course. But I need to figure this out for myself. This is my life
and I can’t let you try to impose your will on me, mom. That’s all I’ve
been trying to tell you. Maybe I am
wrong about Katya and Dark Fantasy? After what happened in that
championship match on Breakdown I am definitely suspicious. But then again, they’ve never done wrong by
me before. So what do I do?”
Marie
shrugs her shoulders. “I don’t know yet, but whatever I do I want to arrive
at that decision on my own. By myself.”
==========
February
13th, 2019
Orlando,
Florida
Off
Camera
==========
Just
like death is fair and comes for everyone eventually, life too consistent in
the sense that it moves on. You may think yourself as the most important
person in the world but life always moves on even after you die. Marie has buried her husband Arthur and now,
just a few days later, she has already had to move on herself. Because
life does not stand still and neither does she.
It’s
odd for Marie to find herself alone in a hotel room in Orlando, Florida.
She used to take her husband Arthur on the tours with her and he would
stay at the hotel with her. And yet it still shouldn’t feel very
odd. For the past several months, ever
since Arthur found out about Marie’s affair with Blake Mason, he hadn’t been
traveling with her. Marie wouldn’t allow it due to his insane
jealousy. She was worried his jealousy
would distract her from the task at hand.
And sure enough, keeping Arthur away tended to help her wrestling
career. She has truly had one of the best runs of her SCW career, which
has included two shots at the SCW World Championship.
What
makes this unusual is the realization that she will never again have her
beloved Arthur with her in the hotel rooms. Never again will she have him
with her on tour to support her. It’s
like a shot to the gut for Marie and it makes this particular day all that much
more difficult.
But
as the sunlight streams in from the outside, shining upon Marie’s face, she
realizes that she does have to get up. Breakdown is tonight and she has
to put in an appearance. Not only that,
she wants answers. She knows she was
within a hair of beating Syren to become SCW World Champion and then things
went horribly wrong. Somewhere, someway, someone screwed her out of the
gold. Was it Syren or was it
Kimberly? That’s the question Marie
wants answered.
The
Phoenix can’t get any of these questions answered while still lying in bed.
Jones throws the covers off and then she swings her legs over the side of
the bed and stands up. Marie is wearing a pink silk teddy and matching
lace panties. She walks slowly and
robotically across the floor to where finds a pile of her clothes lying on the
floor. Just before she can begin dressing she hears a knocking on the
door.
“Damn
it.” Marie
exclaims, rolling her eyes. Instead of the clothes she walks over to a
closet where she finds a long black robe hanging from the door knob. She
pulls the robe off and throws it over her.
It’s long enough to cover her entire body and most of her legs.
The
knocking is heard again and Marie sighs out of frustration. “Coming!
Geez, be patient, will you?”
The
Phoenix approaches the door as the person, whoever it is, continues their
incessant knocking. Finally Marie opens the door and is somewhat
surprised to find Kimberly Williams, her identical twin sister, standing there.
“Oh,
Kim, it’s you!” Marie
exclaims. “I wasn’t exactly expecting you…”
“Can’t
I visit my favorite twin?” Kim asks playfully and with a wink.
“I’m
your only twin.”
Marie retorts. “But that’s not really why I’m surprised. I’m more
surprised that you used the door like a normal person. Normally you break
in or climb in through the window or some crazy shit like that.”
“Yeah,
I admit, I thought about it but I figured you could use some normalcy right
now. Considering…” Kim’s voice trails off “...you know….”
“Yeah,”
Marie
sighs and nods her head “I appreciate that, actually.”
“So,
uh,”
Kim motions to the inside “can I come in?”
Marie
nods and steps aside, allowing her sister entrance into the hotel room.
Immediately Kimberly flops down on the king size bed, making herself at
home. Marie sits down on the edge of the
bed and doesn’t even look at Kimberly. A few moments pass before Kimberly
swings around and sits up next to Marie.
Kimberly looks deep into her sister’s eyes and detects the sadness, the
grief.
“Hey,
uh sorry about Arthur.”
“Thanks,
Kim.”
“And
I’m sure this is all meaningless in the grand scheme of life and death and shit
but, uh, sorry about last week. Sorry about Syren and the world
championship match.”
Marie
turns and stares at Kimberly stoically. “Kim, I do appreciate what you’re
trying to do. I really and truly do.
You’re looking out for me, you’re trying to help, and I do understand.
And I know you don’t trust Katya or Dark Fantasy.”
“Actually
I just want to maim them, gut them, and feed their entrails to hungry
pitbulls.”
Kimberly says with a creepy grin on her face.
“Right,
I get that, but I’m going to tell you the same thing I told mom.”
“Whoa,
hold on a sec,” Kimberly
interrupts Marie in mid-sentence “you spoke to mom?”
“Yes.”
“And
you didn’t deck her?”
“No,”
Marie chuckles “actually, it was rather civil.”
Kimberly
smiles warmly. “Good. That’s real good, sis. I was really hoping
you two could sort things out. Things are so much better and you both are
so much happier when you are getting along with one another.”
“I
can agree with that.”
Marie nods her head. “And maybe saying ‘we’re getting along’ is a bit
premature, but we definitely have made some progress. We have an
understanding.”
“What
do you understand?”
Kim asks quizzically.
“Mom
understands that there are certain decisions that I need to make on my own.
That goes for you too. Kim, I get
that you want to help me. I understand
all of that. But I need to make my own path. If I succeed I want to succeed because I did
it on my own. If I fail I don’t want to be able to blame anyone but
myself.”
“I
understand.”
Kimberly nods her head.
“Good,
because this past Breakdown is a perfect example. I lost but not because
Syren was any better than me but by disqualification. Now that means I
have an excuse. Someone screwed me, Kim. I don’t know who is more to blame but what
irks me is that I wasn’t in control. If I lost because Syren was simple
better than me, I could’ve lived with it.
But now I’ll never know.”
“Well
like I said, I’m sorry. I guess I fucked that one up, huh?”
“I’m
not saying that.” Marie
shakes her head. “I still don’t know the whole story. A lot went down
that I don’t know about. I’m looking for answers and I’m reserving my
judgment until I get those answers.”
“I
understand. Hey, do you have any beer?”
Marie
nods her head and points to the mini-fridge. “Sure, help yourself.”
“Great!” Kimberly hops up and
walks over to the fridge. She opens it up and reaches inside, producing a
can of beer. She gets another and tosses it to Marie. Marie looks at it and shakes her head.
“No,
thanks Kim. Not this early.”
“You
might need it with what I’m going to tell you.”
“Oh?”
Marie’s
eyes widen out of curiosity.
Kimberly
opens her can of beer and takes a swig. Then she sits back down on the
edge of the bed next to Marie.
“You
know I like to stalk people, right?”
“Unfortunately,
yes.”
Marie rolls her eyes.
“Well
ever since the whole thing between you and Blake came out into the open and
Arthur found out, I started keeping tabs on Arthur. Mainly because I was
worried about him. You know? I was worried about what he might do in
retaliation or to himself or whatever. I
mean, you see what he did to...you know…”
“Yeah,
unfortunately I remember and will probably never forget.” Marie says out of
frustration. “Get to the point.”
“Well
apparently while you were on tour with SCW, he had been taking secretly seeing
a psychiatrist and he paid him under the table in cash so that the psychiatrist
wouldn’t have to record any paper trail.”
“That
makes no sense.”
Marie states. “Arthur was in perfect mental health. Why would he want
to see a psychiatrist?”
“Apparently
he kept a few secrets from us, sis.” Kimberly says somberly. “From
what I understand, Arthur has always had a battle with depression. It got
severe when he found out about your affair with Blake.”
“Oh
my God…”
Marie’s voice trails off as she tries to take in what she’s just heard “...I
really did kill him.”
“No,
Marie, don’t say that.” Kim sighs. “Ah shit, I shouldn’t have said
anything.”
“Get
out, Kim.”
“But
sis…”
“GET
THE FUCK OUT!”
Kimberly
sighs and shakes her head. “I’m sorry, Marie. I really am. I shouldn’t have said anything but I thought
you would want to know.”
Kimberly
gets up off of the bed and makes her exit. Once Kim has exited Marie
buries her face in her hands and begins to cry.
==========
On
Camera
==========
All
I have ever wanted since coming to Supreme Championship Wrestling was a fair
shake. It’s the one thing I did not get in UWA. It’s what I had hoped SCW would grant
me. And yet despite everything I gave,
all of my blood and sweat and tears that I gave for this industry, everything I
sacrificed for this industry and for this company, I was still largely ignored.
I was ignored in favor of obese jackasses who peddle pornography, drug
addicts spouting off inane rambling about Wonderlands and Lizard Kings, and
losers who get things handed to them on a silver platter just because of their
damn name. I was ignored by SCW
management in favor of these undeserving imbeciles.
Until
Katya came along. Katya and Dark Fantasy told me that if they had their
way things would be different. I was told I would get the world
championship opportunity that I rightfully deserved. I admit I was skeptical but I was also open
minded. Hey, Mr. D had his chance and nothing changed. Why the hell not try something different for
a change? I mean, the definition of
insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different
results.
I’m
not insane and I’m not stupid. I’m also not naive. I know damn who I am dealing with. I
knew going in about the reputation of Ravyn and Syren. I’ve had my guard up around them since day
one of my association with them. But that didn’t mean I wasn’t willing to
give them a chance.
My
reward for giving them a chance was not one but two opportunities at the SCW
World Championship.
That’s
all I’ve ever wanted. I just wanted an opportunity and I knew that if
given that opportunity that I had the potential to get the job done. I
know that I have the tools necessary to defeat anyone on this roster. My first opportunity was against Sienna Swann
at the End of the Special but I didn’t get the job done.
No
excuses. She beat me fair and square in the center of the ring. But
you see, I have no problem accepting a loss, so long as I’ve had a fair
opportunity. On that night she was the better athlete.
My
next opportunity was a week ago. Breakdown. I fought Syren in what I thought would be the
match of my career. I expected it to be a show stealer and in many ways
it was. We had a hell of a match and
that match should have been the highlight of the show. And had Syren
beaten me straight up I would have again had no qualms with admitting that on
that particular night, Syren was just a little better.
Oh
but no, heaven forbid a wrestling match actually end without controversy!
There was so much damn chaos in the ring that it was hard to keep track
of it all! Masked vigilantes running around, Syren wielding a
championship belt apparently ready to strike, and now yet again I’m left
confused, befuddled, and just unsure of who or what I can trust as being real
anymore.
There
is one person I know I can trust and that person is me. I am The Phoenix
and The Crown Jewel of Professional Wrestling. I know I can count on
myself to live up to my word when I say that I will always give it my all
inside of the wrestling ring. I may not be able to count on certain
people living up to their word when they promise me opportunities or I may not
be able to count on certain people to live up to their promise to stay out of
my business when I’m competing for the richest prize in our industry, but I can
always count on the greatest in ring performer of this generation to get the
job done and that person is me!
Fool
me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. I won’t be fooled again. I’m done
relying on others to give me a leg up.
I’m going to take matters into my own hands and there is no better
opportunity to do just that than with the Trios Tournament.
Earning
a Trios Contract will give me the ultimate ability to create my OWN
opportunity. I can create an opportunity for myself that makes it impossible
for well intentioned idiots to stick their nose into my business or for
champions to get intentionally disqualified. With a Trios Contract I can
cover all of the bases and ensure, without a shadow of a doubt, that I get the
fair opportunity I deserve. I can
virtually guarantee myself the one prize that has eluded me since coming to
SCW…
...the
World Championship.
Do
you think I can get along with my tag team partners? The Hellbilly
Goddard and Konrad Raab? You damn right
I can. They may like me, they may not like me. From what I understand, Konrad doesn’t think
much of me. Konrad can kiss my adorable little ass. But we don’t have to be friends. We just have to get along and be tag team
partners, we have to be professionals, for one night, as we work towards a
common goal.
I
mean hell, look at our team kiddos, and you realize that this may be the team
with the most differences in terms of look and personality. We all look
different, we all have different personalities, and we all damn sure have
different outlooks on life. But one
thing all three of us have in common is the fact that we are professionals and
we all are competitors. We all want to win.
Good
news for you two chuckle heads is that on eight separate occasions I have been
a world tag team champion and almost every time it was with a different
partner. That means I can work with anyone and get the job done. I can put my differences aside and work
towards the goal of victory.
Question
is can you do the same? If you can, we three, Team Dark Horse if you
will, will be unstoppable. No one thinks we can get the job done. No one thinks we can get along and survive
and ultimately win this whole damn tournament.
I
say we give them all the one finger salute and show them that their opinions
mean bullshit in the grand scheme of things. I say we throw down the
gauntlet and kick all of their asses in route to winning the Trios
Tournament. I say we shove their
opinions right down their fucking throats.
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