Guest Starring
==========
Boston, Massachusetts
June 5th, 2019
Off Camera
==========
The air is a somber
one in the home of Marie Annabelle Jones. She’s been spending many a
night alone ever since her husband, Arthur Pond, committed suicide. The
loss of Arthur has left her struggling many a night to sleep. All attempts have failed. Even her recent newfound relationship with
Emerge star Tommy Cook hasn’t completely helped. She cares for Tommy, she
enjoys being with him, and her time with him does help her forget; but only for
a moment. She still has to return to
this same house, a house she once shared with Arthur. She still has to
spend this time alone.
Silence isn’t good.
Silence allows for bad memories to come creeping back into her mind and
she doesn’t need that right now. This is why she sits in her living room,
cross legged on top of the cream colored sofa, with her television set blaring
loudly to a music station airing classic rock tunes. The louder it is,
the more she can try to forget. The more
noise that exists in this house, the more likely it is she can try to push the
bad memories out of her head.
Coping with Arthur is
a challenge she knows she has to overcome, not just for herself but for her
son; for Sean Connor Jones. She hides her grief well but she is certain
he has noticed her pain. She is certain
that, at the very least, he knows that something is wrong with his mother.
The feeling in the
air isn’t just a somber feel but it is almost as if it is a feeling of death
itself. A stillness and silence has taken over this entire house, despite
Marie’s best attempts to cover it up with the loud music.
“KNOCK! KNOCK!
KNOCK!”
Yeah, she hears the
banging at her front door but she’s going to just pretend that it is nothing.
It could very well be just the pipes in the house or an animal or the
wind. It’s not necessarily someone who
wants to come in. Even if it was, Marie doesn’t want company. Not right now at least. She’s in a dark place and would rather stay
there by herself. This darkness has affected all aspects of her life,
including her professional career. Some
would even argue that it all started with her professional career. But
whatever side of the fence of that argument they may fall, one thing is abundantly
clear, Marie Jones missed Taking Hold of the Flame. She chose not to throw her name into the hat
and compete for a chance at being in the main event of Rise To Greatness.
Is she that grief
stricken over her husband Arthur? That definitely plays a big part in her
decision. But there’s more than just
grief that seems to pervade the atmosphere of this New England home. This
Phoenix seems to blame herself.
“KNOCK! KNOCK!
KNOCK!”
There’s that knocking
again. The Crown Jewel of Professional Wrestling still refuses to
acknowledge it, despite the fact that there is no doubt of its origins being
someone at the door wanting to come in. Let them knock. Let them knock as long and as often as they
want. Marie wants no visitors. Not right now.
Oh but who lets a
locked door stop them nowadays? Marie hears the door unlocking and rolls
her eyes as she hears it creaking open. It can only be family; they have
keys to her home. The redhead turns and
looks just in time to see her identical twin sister Kimberly Williams entering
the living room area being flanked on either side by their half sisters,
Jessica Lasiewicz and even little Kelly McBride.
“The door was locked
for a reason.”
“Since when did a
door stop me, sis?” Kimberly
asks with a wry grin.
“True but you
knocked.”
“It was her idea.” Kimberly motions to Jessica. “Something
about being polite.”
Marie rolls her eyes.
“No one answering that locked door should have given you a hint that you
weren’t welcome.”
“I don’t take hints
very well.” Kimberly says with
that same snarky grin on her face.
“That much is
obvious.”
Marie sighs as she
turns back around on the sofa. She picks the remote control up and turns
off the television. It isn’t long afterwards that Jessica, Kimberly, and
Kelly have approached the sofa and find themselves standing in front of Marie.
In fact, her three siblings practically surround her. It’s almost as if they are afraid of her
getting away.
The Phoenix looks
scans the room and quickly thinks about how she could potentially get out of
this. Upon seeing none she realizes the best option is just to entertain
whatever nonsense her sisters have in mind. The quicker she can get this
started the quicker it will be over. At
least that’s what she hopes. She motions
to the youngest, Kelly, not quite a teenager yet but close…
“Hey Kelly, why don’t
you run upstairs and play with your nephew Sean? I have a feeling
this is going to be awhile.”
At first young Kelly
looks a little disappointed that she does not get to participate in this
seemingly grown up activity. But she relents and quickly nods her head.
“Ok, Marie.”
The youngest of
Angelica’s children briskly makes her way out of the living room. The
other three sisters listen to her footsteps going up the stairs. Then Kimberly sits down on the sofa on
Marie’s right while Jessica takes a seat on Marie’s left.
“So what is this
about?” Marie asks, gazing a
hole through Kimberly.
“This is an
intervention.” Jessica
answers. Marie turns to stare at her younger sister. “You need
help.”
The Phoenix doesn’t
disagree with that statement. She understands what kind of despair she is
in right now. The grief grows with every passing day and while being with
family, friends, and loved ones does temporarily help, it is still just that;
temporary. The pain continues to grow to the point that even their help
is unsuccessful. Now Jones just simply
rejects their offered assistance altogether.
“I don’t need help.” She’s lying through her teeth and she
knows it but she doesn’t care.
“Yes you do.” Jessica states firmly. “You’ve
grown more and more despondent in recent months. You hide it well from
the view of the public. The cameras do
not catch you because you are quite good at flashing that fake smile. But
those closest to you, those who see the private, real you, see that it is all a
sham. A game. A veil to hide your true feelings.”
“So what if I am?” Marie asks with a hint of frustration
in her voice. “It doesn’t mean I can’t handle my problems by myself on my
own time. And the public doesn’t need to see it. Quite frankly, it’s none of their business.
All they need to see is me happy.
So I give them that; or at least I let them think I’m happy.
That’s all that matters, right?”
“No, it’s not.” Jessica remarks shaking her head
slowly.
“Jess, I appreciate
this; I really do. It is nice to know that I am loved, that people care
about me, but I need to handle this on my own.”
“But that’s the
problem,” Kimberly wraps her
arms around her identical twin sister in a big hug “we don’t think you’re
handling it very well.”
“How the hell would
you know?” Marie snaps, shoving
Kimberly away.
“Because you’re
acting like a real grouch.” Kimberly
says with a smirk.
“Ok, so I’m a grouch.
How does any of that or how does any of my problem for that matter impact
you or have anything to do with you?”
“The Marie I know
wouldn’t act so selfish.” Jessica
answers in an almost judgmental, scolding tone.
“Give her a break,
Jessie,” Kimberly chimes in “besides,
I can answer that question of hers because it really is impacting me.”
“How?” Marie asks skeptically.
“You may be putting
on a good show for the people but I can tell, in the ring, your work is slack.
You are not as good as you once were.
I have seen you at your best; you won the SCW United States
Championship, you won the SCW Television Championship twice, and you came close
to becoming SCW World Champion. But now you’re virtually off the
radar. You didn’t even want to compete
in Taking Hold of the Flame. That was
your chance to main event Rise To Greatness and get yet another world title
match. The Crown Jewel of Professional
Wrestling would not have passed up an opportunity like that.” Kimberly shrugs her shoulders. “So
what gives?”
“I’m just being
realistic, ok?!” Marie’s
voice grows slightly louder. “I would have had to have beaten thirty nine
other superstars. Why waste my time and a spot for someone who might have
had the chance to get the job done?”
The Woman Scorned
places a hand on her twin sister’s shoulder. “And that’s how I know
something is terribly wrong with you, babe.”
“I failed!” Marie is full on shouting now. “I
failed, ok?! I failed to capture the world championship, I made a fool of
myself by siding with Katya, Syren, and their ilk thinking that it was the
move, I thought I had rebounded by winning the Television Title, a nice
consolation prize I guess, but then I lost it to that smelly ape Dustin Adams…”
“In fairness he is
really big and stuff.” Kimberly
interrupts.
“Shut up!” Marie exclaims. “Point is I am on a
streak of failure right now. Of course I was going to fail at Taking Hold
of the Flame. So I felt, why bother?
Why the hell bother?!”
There is a long,
tense silence that falls over the room as if it were a dark cloud falling over
the night sky. Jessica and Kimberly knew that their sister was having
some difficulties right now but they had no idea it had become this bad.
The Phoenix is almost at a point where she wants to just give up and that
is definitely not her. That is not the
Jones fighting spirit.
“Why bother?” Kim asks, breaking the silence after
several moments. Marie nods her head with her silent response. “Ok,
fine. Why bother to try if you think you’re going to fail? In that
case, when is it ok to bother? If there
was no point in ‘bothering’ with Taking Hold of the Flame, then when will it be
ok to ‘bother’ with wrestling again?”
The Woman Scorned
motions to herself. “Like I said, this effects me too. Remember that
we are Twin Magic. We’re a team, you and
I; we’re more than that, though. We’re sisters and damn it we don’t give
up on each other.”
“This is different.” Marie says quietly.
“Bullshit. I
wanted to give up when I was locked away in the loony bin and my own family
wanted to disown me, and rightfully so. Mom, Jess, Aunt Kayla, all of you
were perfectly justified in letting me rot away in that mental ward for the rest
of my fucking life but you didn’t give up on me. You brought me back from
the brink and became a sister to me. You
showed me the value of life. You didn’t
give up on me, so I’m not going to give up on you.”
“I appreciate the
kind words, Kim,” Marie
sighs and shakes her head “and you DO have a bright future ahead of
yourself. You really do. So don’t
let me hold you back.”
“You have a bright
future too…”
Kimberly says with her voice trailing off “...but you have to get back on
the horse sometime. Just because life throws you off doesn’t mean it’s
over. Pull yourself up, dust yourself off, get back on.”
“And we know how
tough this has been for you, Marie.” Jessica
chimes in. “That’s why Kimberly and I are here for you.”
Marie turns and looks
over at her half-sister Jessica and then she turns and looks back at her
identical twin sister Kimberly. A part of her is moved by the show of
compassion and caring attitude from her siblings. Even little Kelly came along to help. Still, the pain and grief is there and it
hurts. It is almost insurmountable.
She takes a long time to think it over but her sisters do not seem to
mind waiting as The Phoenix ponders the options before her. Finally, after nearly a full minute,
Jones sighs and nods her head as she comes to a decision.
“Maybe…” The Phoenix’s voice trails off only
momentarily as she sniffles just a little, moved greatly by the compassion her
siblings have shown this evening “...maybe you’re right.”
“Of course we’re
right.” Kimberly answers
back quickly. “Because you’re not a quitter.”
“Kim’s right.” Jessica answers with a warm smile. “You
are a fighter.”
“I know,” Marie nods her head “I always have
tried to fight. It’s just been so difficult lately. You know?”
“I know, but we are
here for you.”
Jessica states definitively.
“Thanks.” Marie stands up. “But I think right
now I just need to clear my head. I need to get some air and then maybe…”
she sighs “...maybe we’ll talk.”
The Phoenix turns and
walks past both of her siblings and out of the living room. The Woman
Scorned doesn’t like the idea of her sister leaving in this frame of mind and
starts to get up and go after her but Lasiewicz grabs her by the arm and jerks
her back down onto the sofa.
“Don’t.”
“What?” Kimberly asks, feeling confused.
“She needs to be by
herself right now.”
“Are you sure?” Kimberly is clearly skeptical.
But Jessica is more certain and nods her head.
“I’m sure.
Everything will be fine. Trust me.”
The last noise either
hear is Marie slamming the front door behind her as she exits the home.
==========
Later
Off Camera
==========
It’s been at least an
hour since Marie Annabelle Jones was at her Boston, Massachusetts home speaking
with her sisters. Hell, maybe more than an hour has passed. She isn’t quite sure. Time doesn’t exist to
her right now. And yes, she knows that
her sisters have been trying to get in touch with her. Her phone has been
vibrating like crazy in her pocket. But
she’s been ignoring it. She knows what
she wants to do, what she feels she must do, and she doesn’t want either
Jessica or Kimberly to try and talk her out of it.
The redhead knows
that she is outside of the Boston city limits. She finds herself standing
at a bridge overlooking a body of water. The bridge is a marvel of steel
and cables. It spans the river six lanes wide and looks like it just got beamed
down from outer space. The old brick one that's still on the town's postcards
crumbled and became unsafe. Each block was square and perfectly laid, the
arches were mathematical semi-circles and along the edges was a balustrade of
stone carved into dome topped pillars.
Jones stands,
overlooking the edge. It is a beautiful sight in the nighttime sky.
Too bad this has to be where it ends.
It’s just too difficult and too painful; life is too painful for Marie.
So many hurts and so many problems.
And she still hasn’t managed to get over what happened to Arthur.
It would be much
better if it were over.
“Ahem…” the noise startles Marie ever so
slightly. She turns around suddenly to find a young man in a bright
yellow suit and a black tie. His black hair is slicked back and he is
wearing somewhat thick glasses. He
appears to have a week old beard. The polite smile indicates that this
stranger is friendly.
Still, Marie doesn’t
want anyone near her and that includes her sisters and even this guy, whoever
he is…
“Go away!” She shouts angrily at him. “I’ll
call the police!”
“If you believe
myself to be a threat to you then why bother calling the police? I mean,
you are planning to throw yourself over the side of that bridge and end it all.
Are you not?”
Jones is immediately
silenced by this man’s words. It’s almost as if he is telepathic. She shakes her head.
“You’re crazy!”
“Are you not planning
to kill yourself?”
She considers lying
but realizes how terrible of a liar she truly is and just sighs as she nods her
head. The man smiles warmly as he ever so slowly approaches Marie.
“See? The truth
does set you free. Now I do want you to know that I am no threat to you.
I just happened to be out and about, I saw you standing there looking sad
and forlorn.”
“You were stalking
me?” Marie spits out.
“You call it
stalking. I call it observing.
Either way, I assumed you may be attempting suicide and I couldn’t stand
to see the life of a lovely woman like you extinguished in that manner,
especially not if I could help.”
Jones stares at him
for a few moments with skepticism washing over her face. “So you just want
to help a perfect stranger?”
“Young lady, this
idea of ‘strangers’ is a cancer upon humanity. If one is a stranger then
we are less likely to care about them.
If we see a stranger in pain then we pass them by; it isn’t my problem,
correct? Just like the priests and levites walked on by and left the
beaten man for dead but a good samaritan stopped and assisted.”
“I heard that parable
before in Church.”
Marie growls.
“But do you know why
The Good Samaritan helped? Because he does not believe in the concept of
strangers. Neither do I. Everyone
is a friend as far as I am concerned and I will always help my friends.”
“So we’re friends?” Marie scoffs. “That’s crap. I
don’t even know your name.”
“Fair point.” The man responds. He holds out his hand
“My name is Raul Alfaro.”
She stares at his
hand for several moments but The Phoenix is still skeptical of him. She
refuses the handshake and, after a few moments, Raul gets the hint and pulls
his hand back.
“May I at least ask
what is so terrible, so horrible, that you feel taking your life is the only
answer?”
“It’s none of your
business!” She spits back at
him with venom in her voice.
“No need for the
hostilities, miss. I’m only here to help.”
“You can’t help me.” Marie shakes her head. “My life,
both professional and personal, is tanking! I allowed people to turn me
into a monster! That monster pushed my
own husband to killing himself! So why not just jump over this bridge? Karma.”
“Now we arrive at the
truth.” Raul remarks, nodding
his head. “But this doesn’t have to be the end, and I can help you.”
“I highly doubt
that.”
“Maybe I can’t.” He shrugs his shoulders. “But what
have you to lose? Besides, think of your loved ones. Think of your
family. Would they want you to end it
this way?”
Marie doubts
seriously that this Raul can help her. She thinks he’s just some crazy
stalker. But then again, if she really
believed that, then why is she still here entertaining his notion? One
thing he is right about though is that it would be unfair of her to end her
life like this when she still has friends and family who care about her and
love her. This act would hurt them as much if not more than she’s hurting
right now. Raul Alfaro is also right
about one other thing…
...suicide is not the
answer.
“Ok, fine. I
won’t kill myself.”
“Good, now go back to
your friends and loved ones. I’m sure they need you now, just as you need
them. But before you go...” he reaches into his pocket and produces
a business card and hands it to Marie. She looks at it, studying it
carefully before looking up at Raul.
“Inner Peace
Enlightenment Retreat?”
It sounded cheesy as hell.
“Yes, I told you that
I could help you. This is it.”
“No thanks. I’m
not interested.”
She tries to hand the card back to Raul but he refuses to take it.
“Keep it. Think
about it. That’s all I ask. You will never again hear from me
unless, of course, you call the number on the card. Fair enough?”
Jones still doesn’t
trust him but nods her head in agreement. “Fair enough.”
==========
On Camera
==========
We open in front of
Boston harbor, the place that hosted the infamous Boston Tea Party that helped
ignite the American Revolution. The sky overhead is a bright blue and the
waters appear calm today. It isn’t long
until Marie Annabelle Jones steps into view from stage right wearing a long
sleeve black sweater, a knee length black skirt, and black patent leather
pumps. She is also wearing her signature black leather jacket. A stoic glare is etched across her face as
she looks into the camera.
“It doesn’t make
sense, does it? Why would you dump perfectly good tea into Boston
Harbor?” She shrugs her
shoulders. “The colonists of that time period were sending a message to the
British government.”
“It also doesn’t make
sense that I would stay out of Taking Hold of the Flame.” She shakes her head. “Becoming SCW
World Champion has been my goal since signing a contract with this company.
I’ve been United States Champion and Television Champion twice but as
great and awesome as that was, I still wanted to be World Champion of SCW more
than anything else.”
“And everyone knew
it. Everyone knew it because I wear my heart on my sleeve. I left
myself open to manipulation and abuse, so of course the likes of Ravyn, Syren,
and Katya would take advantage.”
“Don’t get me wrong,
I will not pass the blame. I am to blame for every single one of my
sins. But they did play a major role in
turning me into a monster. And if it weren’t for my sister Kimberly, I
may not have found my way back from the darkness that those bitches put me in.
But it wasn’t enough to just disassociate myself from their ilk.”
She shakes her head. “I
knew I had to make serious changes in my who I was. I had to realize that
there were more important things than being SCW World Champion; things like
life and family. It was that obsession with being world champion that
allowed them to get to me. So I knew I
couldn’t let anyone else use that obsession to get to me again. So I took
a self-imposed exile and included not competing in Taking Hold of the Flame,
even if it meant a guarantee that I would NOT be in the main event of Rise To
Greatness competing for the world championship.
“But my time to be
champion will come. I know it, I believe it. I just have to be patient. Until then
I’m going to team with my sister Kimberly and we’re going to raise hell, we’re
going to kick ass, and maybe if we’re lucky, we can take home some tag team
gold. Because my mom and James Evans have beaten just about every team
there is to beat in SCW.”
“But they haven’t
beaten Twin Magic yet.”
She smirks. “Until
that time comes, though, I think Kimberly and I should exact some more revenge
upon those bitches who manipulated me.”
“Ravyn and Christy,
Infamous is it? Or I thought it was Dark Fantasy? Hell, how many fucking names do you have to
come up with to appear cool these days? Pick one and stick with it. Not that it matters, because a manipulative
whore by any other name is still a manipulative whore and I owe both of you big
time for the crap I’ve endured. True, I did get some payback already…”
Her voice trails off
as a smug grin flashes across her face “...it was great, being part of the
reason why you guys lost Tactical Warfare and why Sasha is now in control, not
Katya. Whipping the collective asses of your stooges Red Empire was great
but that got boring after awhile. I
think I want to kick both of your asses and remind you that it doesn’t matter
what your name is or what you’ve done in this company in the past, it doesn’t
make you entitled to a damn thing and it definitely doesn’t mean a damn thing
to me. Your history here, your record, doesn’t earn respect from me
simply because I have lost ALL respect for you.
Simply put, I’m coming to hurt you.”
Marie steps off
screen stage left. Then shortly thereafter Kimberly Williams steps into
view from stage right. She is dressed starkly different from her
identical twin sister. Kimberly is
dressed like a pirate. She is wearing a pirate’s hat, even. She is wielding a sword.
“ARRRRRR ME MATEYS!” The Woman Scorned waves the sword
around menacingly. “STABBY! STABBY! STABBY!”
She stops and looks
at the sword for a moment. A sinister grin forms across her face. “You
know, I’d sure love to shove this up Christy’s ass. Or better yet, I’d
like to slice her across the stomach with it and then hang her atop the rafters
to let her stomach and intestines spill out onto the onlookers below. I’d
like to do that to Ravyn but my pal Abi wants her all to herself. And I think everything I suggested is illegal
anyway, so…”
She tosses the sword
aside “...you know Sasha, I agree that pile drivers should be illegal but
can we at least legalize swords? Yes, no, maybe?” Kimberly shrugs her
shoulders. “Awww! Anyway, Infamous may
know the power of manipulation and they may know the power of being world
champion since those weirdos seem to get off on being world champion, but what
they don’t understand is the power of family.”
“Yeah, I apologize
for the cheesiness of what I just said but it really is true. Familial
bond is a powerful thing and the bond that the Jones family is unbreakable.
The notion that you clowns and your other pals thought that you could
split up Marie and I is laughable. The moment Marie realized that she had
to choose between you and me, you had to know that she would choose me.
She was going to choose family.”
“So bring you
manipulation and deceit. Bring the Infamous, the Dark Fantasy, or
whatever names you come up with, bring all of it to Breakdown, because Marie
and I are going to burn it all to the ground and all that will be left will be
a sad memory.”
