The Aftermath: Part 2

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January 4th, 2020

Boston, Massachusetts

Off Camera

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It was a surprise to many that James Evans and Angelica Jones won the tag team of the year award as Redemption.  Marie was not surprised in the least.  They were quite a formidable tag team.  She was somewhat surprised that her mother’s former tag team partner and eventual SCW World Champion would throw Angelica’s trophy on the ground at the trophy presentation.  Angelica really had no chance of retrieving it.

Lucky for her, Marie was there.  They may have had their ups and downs recently, but whether James ever will truly forgive Angelica or not is beside the point.  The trophy belongs to Angelica and Marie will make certain that the trophy gets to its rightful owner.  Plus this is a good excuse to go see her mother.

Angelica does not wrestle much these days, unlike Marie who is still very active.  So if Marie ever wants to see her mother she has to take any opportunity she can.  And with 2019 concluded and a new year on the horizon, Marie is going to use this opportunity the weekend before Breakdown to return her trophy and visit her mother in the process.

The wintry sun is the brightness of the day, taking centre stage as the blooms of the summertime become a part of the soil. The sunshine and cold, the sparkle and the ice, somehow warm even when the north wind bites.  This is nothing new to The Phoenix, Marie Annabelle Jones, who was born and raised here at this luxurious home in Boston, Massachusetts.  This is the familial Jones home where Marie’s grandparents, Bart and Kelly, lived with their children, Angelica and Kayla.  Angelica would eventually have a family of her own and would call this same place home.  The Matriarch of the Jones family still lives here at this grandiose estate and Marie does enjoy visiting her mother, whether the visit is out of necessity as it is today or if it is just to catch up.

Marie, dressed in an ankle length red maxi skirt, black leather boots, and a black long sleeve sweater, walks alongside her mother Angelica, who is dressed in a similar conservative attire of an ankle length black skirt, patent leather pumps, and a white silk blouse.  While Marie is used to this atmosphere and colder winter environment, the one thing she does not like about this is the fact that the garden is not kept well.  Angelica doesn’t bother to even try to keep up appearances of a well kept garden in the winter time.  Thus all Marie sees is the cold dark and despair of nothingness.

“It’s always a pleasure for any of my children to visit.” Angelica says, her voice sounding somewhat regretful, like a woman who wishes she could go back and rewrite history.  This woman has endured so much pain and heartache in her life, pain and heartache that Marie wishes to avoid, which is yet another reason why Marie is here today.

“And you know I like to visit.”

“There’s always a reason, though.” The elder Jones points out with more sadness in her voice. “You don’t visit JUST to visit.  None of you do.”

“Yeah, I know.  I’m sorry.” Marie’s voice is quiet.  She knows her mother makes a good point.  She only visits Angelica when she needs advice or needs help and here again she is visiting Angelica because she needs advice.  Weeks ago Dr. Jennifer Warren, the Jones family psychiatrist, had suggested that Marie find a way to deal with the suicide death of her husband Arthur Pond.  Warren had suggested either visiting the grave or visiting the family but Marie wants to speak to her own mother first.  If anyone knows about loss it is Angelica, who at the age of thirteen was forced to watch her own mother get raped and murdered.  She has dealt with loss in a big way.  If anyone could help her, it would be Angelica.

“It’s ok, Annabelle.” Angelica says with a forced grin on her face. “I understand.  I’m just happy to be able to see you, that’s all.”

Marie still feels like a horrible daughter, despite her mother’s words.  But she nods her head and decides to brush it off and move on.  The Phoenix then reaches into her purse and produces the small trophy for tag team of the year of 2019 in SCW.  It is in disrepair but nevertheless Marie hands it over to her mother.

“Oh, uh, here is your award.”

“Thanks, I think…” Angelica says with a slight chuckle “...it definitely has seen better days.”

“Sorry, mom.  I couldn’t get to it in time.”

“It’s not your fault.  Now come on, let’s go inside.”

Marie nods her head and follows her mother further down the garden and towards its exact, which is a gate.   The gate was somewhat rickety. It had surely been sturdy when it was made. It was solid cedar wood and held together with great iron nails. But it had not been varnished for many years and the rot had set in. The hinges and nails had become rusted and the gate hung at a jaunty angle.  Mother and daughter Jones exit through this gate and walk up the walkway that leads towards Angelica’s main house.

The French doors open and Marie and Angelica enter into the dining room area.  The dining-room was exquisite. The walls were covered with a shimmering gold paper and in the middle of the ceiling above the carved oak table was a candelabra. Down the center of the table was a runner with Celtic design woven in gold and green into the fabric itself. At the end of the table were floor to ceiling french doors, left slightly ajar to let in the scented summer air. The polished silver cutlery was heavy to the hand and shone brightly in the early evening light. At each place stood a tall empty wine glass and there were beautifully folded napkins to match the runner. All that was missing was the food and the guests.

Guests are not coming.  Marie knows that her mother, the ever illustrious Angelica Jones, enjoys the finer things in life.  To a degree, Marie understands this.  A lifetime of hardship, trial, and tribulation that Angelica had to live through has made her believe that she has earned this decedent lifestyle.  Marie has a sense of that pride running through her veins, as well.  She may not been left wanting for much growing up, but she still had pains and heartaches of her own.

“So what brings you here?” Angelica asks point blank.  Marie tilts her head to one side curiously and stares at her mother for a few moments before answering.

“What do you mean?”

“Annabelle, you heard me outside.  Heck, you admitted it yourself.  You come when you need something.  Same with Jessica and Kimberly.”

“What about Kelly?” Marie asks about her youngest half-sister hoping to change the subject.  Angelica shakes her head.

“Not really, because she still lives with me.  But I don’t even see her as much as I used to, not since your aunt Kayla took her under her wing.  I hardly see her now.”

“Aunt Kayla takes up that much of Kelly’s time?” Marie is somewhat shocked to hear this. “I thought you were training her in the combat aspect of wrestling while Kayla taught her the business aspect?  You should have her more than Kayla.”

“I agree.” Angelica nods her head. “But Kayla seems to think it is best if she handle Kelly’s entire career, including the wrestling aspect of it all.  I suppose she raises a good point.  It may not be a good move for Kelly to bounce around between me and Kayla all the time when Kayla, a trained wrestler herself, can just as easily do it all.”

“Don’t talk like that, mom.” Marie shakes her head vehemently. “Kelly is your daughter, my sister.  You deserve time with her.”

“I’ll just have to wait until she comes to visit, like I do with you.” Angelica winks playfully.  Then the Matriarch motions to the table. “Sit, please.  I’m going to get us something to drink.”

Marie does as she is told, sitting down and waiting patiently for her mother to get the wine.  Her mother is quite the wine drinker.  Angelica always has quite the variety but has a strong preference towards the reds.  Marie anticipates a red wine and, sure enough, Angelica reaches into the refrigerator and produces a bottle of Cabernet sauvignon.  Smiling pleasantly, the elder Jones pours some of the wine into Marie’s glass.  Then she pours some wine into another glass, presumably for herself.  Angelica then sits down as well.

“So what is it that you need, Annabelle?”

“Mom, please don’t…” It still stings and hurts for Marie to hear her mother be so pointed about this, so blunt.  It is the truth, though.  Marie visits only when she needs help.  She has not been a great daughter.  The irony of it all is that Marie knows for a fact that she was once the favorite daughter.  She isn’t sure if she still holds that title any longer or not.

“You come when you need help.  I do not mind helping, so what is it that you need?”

It hurts to her mother’s pained voice.  Marie is feeling stressed out now and knows only one way to deal with the stress.  Dr. Warren told her it was not healthy but damn it, it helps.  Marie smiles from ear to ear.  Positivity oozes from her every pore.

“Oh mommy!  What I want doesn’t matter!” Marie stands up and hovers over Angelica briefly before kissing her on the cheek. “All that matters is that we are together!  Right?”

“Uh, Marie?”

“Yes?”

“What the hell is wrong with you?”

Marie stares deep into her mother’s eyes.  She tries with all of her might to continue her practice of positivity, she tries to be this upbeat and happy person but she cannot maintain the front any longer.  She starts to cry. “I’m sorry...I’m sorry, mom…”

“Marie Annabelle…” her mother’s voice is more stern this time.  It sparks Marie to attention as she shakes her head.

“I’m sorry, mom.  It’s just hard, very hard.”

“What is?”

The Phoenix decides after a moment’s pause that it is best if she just bite the bullet.  This is why she came, after all.  She wants help from her mother.  She can deal with the guilt of being a terrible daughter later. “Mom, how long did it take before you were able to get over grandmother’s death?”

“Wow, that’s quite a loaded question.” Angelica says as she pauses to think about her answer.  This definitely was not where she was expecting her oldest daughter to go with this conversation.  Finally Angelica comes up with a semi-appropriate answer. “Honestly, I’m not entirely sure I am ‘over it’ right now.  To this day I think about my mother every day.  Why do you ask?”

“Because I know I am not over Arthur.” Marie says quietly. “His suicide still haunts me and is hurting me to this day.”

“I see.  But I thought you were supposed to get help from that place...what was it again?” Angelica asks curiously.  Marie sighs.

“The Inner Peace Enlightenment Retreat.”

“Yes, that.” Angelica nods her head. “What happened with that?”

“It wasn’t what I thought it was.” Marie responds quietly with a sense of shame in her voice.  She realizes she made a mistake in trusting Raul Alfaro, the leader of this movement.  Just like she made a mistake last year by trusting Katya and Syren.  Marie has made lots of mistakes and wants to make up for them all.

“I was afraid of that.” Angelica says with a sigh. 

“I was such an idiot for trusting them.”

“Annabelle, you need to stop that.”

“Stop what?”

“You know what.  You need to stop beating yourself up over what happened in the past.  Forgive yourself and move on.  It’s not just the Inner Peace crap, either.  I know you still blame yourself for siding with Syren and Dark Fantasy.  That was a long time ago.  And there are so many other things in your life that you have not forgiven yourself for.  Healing starts with you forgiving yourself.”

“You talk like you have some experience in that…” Marie says, her voice trailing off.  Her mother nods her head in agreement.  She knows this all too well.

“You’re right.  And Annabelle, I know how much it hurts to lose someone so close to you.”

“I know you do, that’s why I knew you could help me.”

“I hope I can help you.  But first you need to forgive yourself.  You also need to stop blaming yourself for Arthur’s death, because it wasn’t your fault.”

“But…”

“NO!” Angelica’s voice raises a few decibels as she shouts at her daughter. “It was NOT your fault!”

“Easy for you to say…” Marie takes a sip of her wine but shakes her head “...but much harder in practice.”

“I know but take it from me, blaming yourself for things that are not your fault and refusing to forgive yourself for the past will only continue to poison your future.  I’m just glad you’re out of that stupid Inner Peace movement.” The elder Jones scoffs as she takes a sip of her wine. “I knew it was a mistake for you to trust them.  I just knew it.”

“You knew?” Marie arches a brow. “Then why didn’t you stop me?!”

“Because you are an adult.  Like it or not I have to let you live your own life whether or not I agree with your life choices.  I do not agree with Kelly devoting her entire time to Kayla but I’m not going to stop her.  Same with Jessica and Kimberly, I do not always agree with their decisions but they are adults now and I will not stop them.”

Angelica reaches out and grabs her daughter’s hand, squeezing it tightly. “It is your time now, Marie Annabelle Jones.”

“Thanks, mom.  And a part of me has always known that my time is here and now but I have to get myself composed first and that will take some time.” Marie takes another sip of her wine.  After she sets her glass down she smirks knowingly at her mother. “I see why you drink so much of this stuff.”

“It helps calm the nerves, doesn’t it?”

“Yes, a great deal.” Marie remarks with a nod of her head.  Mother and daughter each pick up their glasses, clink them together in a toast, and then in unison take a sip of their wine.

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On Camera

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We open in an exquisite looking living room with cream colored walls and carpeting that is lush and an off-white color.  A big screen television set is placed on a wall over a fake fireplace mantle.  A comfortable black leather sofa is a few feet away.  A few  moments later “The Phoenix” Marie Annabelle Jones steps into the scene from stage left.  The beautiful redhead is barefoot and wearing denim jeans, a black “Phoenix” t-shirt, and her signature black leather jacket.  Her long locks of red hair hang unrestrained to shoulder length.  A grin is on the face of the Boston native as she waves jovially at the camera.

“Happy New Year everyone!” A low chuckle escapes her lips.  “Well, I must admit that the end of the year 2019 did not go exactly the way I had hoped it would.  Getting choked out by a member of your own family is not how I pictured closing out 2019.  Then again, I had also hoped that 2019 would begin with me as the SCW World Champion and that did not happen either.  But I’m not going stand here and make excuses or cry about it.”

The Phoenix shakes her head. “No, that was the old Marie.  That was last year’s Marie.  I did not win the championship at the End of the Year Show but so what?  I will live to fight another day.  I will learn from those mistakes I made that caused my elimination.  More importantly, I will fight back to the main event, I will earn another world championship match in the future against James Evans or whomever the champion may be and when that time comes, you had better believe that I will be ready to light the world on fire to claim what I want.”

“I am also done living in the past.  I made mistakes last year, but who doesn’t make mistakes?  The trick is learning from your mistakes.  I have learned from my errors, I have forgiven myself, and I have become a more mature athlete as a result.  I am also a much more capable and competent athlete as a result and that is a very dangerous thing for anyone and everyone I encounter heading into the new year.”

Jones points a long slender finger into the camera. “And it all starts with you, our Adrenaline Champion Gavin Taylor.  We are not strangers to one another.  We have done battle before, recently as a matter of fact.  You might have forgotten, with all of the stardom of being who you are and being the great champion you are...” the sarcasm oozes from her voice, any normal person would catch it but she isn’t quite certain that Gavin will catch the sarcasm “...so in case you forgot a little peasant like me, allow me to remind you of our last encounter.”

Marie reaches down to the sofa and picks up a remote control.  She turns on the television and immediately footage of the Gavin Taylor versus Marie Jones match from the October 16th Breakdown is aired.  Specifically we are in the endgame of the match as Gavin Taylor is running away.  Kimberly Williams, Marie’s twin sister, is trying to convince Marie to return to the ring but The Phoenix is refusing.  The match results in a double count out.  Jones turns off the television and tosses the remote to the side.

“I could have taken advantage of that opportunity, entered the ring, and won via count out.  Kimberly wanted me to take advantage.  Hell, it would have been an easy win for me but I refused to take the easy way out.  I never take the easy way out and I am not going to take a victory like that just because you were too much of a damn coward to finish the match!”

A smirk forms upon her lovely features before she nods her head. “That’s right, Gavin.  I called you a coward because that is exactly what you are.  You ran away from a fight.  That’s not honorable, it isn’t noble, and it is definitely not the actions of the star that you claim to be.  Those are the actions of a man afraid of getting beaten, scared of being exposed as the fraud that he is by The Crown Jewel of Professional Wrestling Marie Annabelle Jones!”

“Funny thing is, that is exactly what happened that night.  Despite all of your attempts to get away, despite your attempts to avoid it, you were still exposed not only as a coward but as a fraud.  You can argue the technicality of a double count out all you want, Gavin, and yes I will admit that it was a double count out, but it was a double count out BECAUSE I ALLOWED IT!  The match ended in a draw BECAUSE I ALLOWED IT!”

The smirk on her face fades away. “Now things are different.  You would go on to become SCW Adrenaline Champion; congratulations on that, by the way…” The Phoenix applauds, again with quite a bit of sarcasm that she knows Gavin will probably miss.

“...but you see, Gavin, that Adrenaline Championship is the specific reason why things are different now.  You are in possession of one of the two championships I have yet to win here in Supreme Championship Wrestling.  Which reminds me, have I told you of my goals for this new year?  Of course you haven’t, why would you care about a peon like me?  So I’ll remind you and anyone else who wasn’t paying attention that my goal is to win the Adrenaline Championship, win the World Championship...not necessarily in that order...and become Supreme Champion!”

“I have already proven that I can take you to the limit and I have proven that I can beat you.  Now just imagine what might happen not if but WHEN I actually DO pin your shoulders to the mat for a three count in front of God and everybody on Breakdown, thus providing irrefutable proof that you are mortal…” in another sarcastic move, Marie fake gasps “...I know, hard to believe, am I right?”

“Just think, though; think about when I beat you on Breakdown, that puts me in line for a title shot.  That puts me one step closer to getting what I want and you will be forced to live forever in the past, recalling your failure to defeat me.  Your failure to put me down will forever haunt you.  Your ego will be destroyed as I hit you with a painful dose of reality and that reality is that as good as you think you are in your deluded brain, I am better.  I will be Supreme Champion, Gavin, and you are just the beginning.”