Post by The Circle Television Network on Jun 9, 2018 22:01:47 GMT -5
- ACT I -
RING AROUND THE ROSIE
RING AROUND THE ROSIE
MASSIVE MELEE
I had been fighting my heart out for what had seemed like an eternity. The only thought in my mind was trying to reverse the damage that had been done to me professionally by my mother. I had come to UGWC with thoughts of continuing my wife's legacy in the company that she loved and I would get my start as part of the Chill brand. My very first outing was in a steel cage, my very first time being locked inside one and my nerves were frayed by the time the match started. Daniel Corvin was a second generation wrestler, like me...but unlike me, he had actually been trained for this business by his father. My mother had never wanted me in the wrestling business, so I had to learn anyway that I could...from anyone that I could.
...cheat to win...
That was the motto by which I had lived and that was the way I had succeeded in the sport after losing every match for an entire year...but no more. If I was going to win, I was going to do it the right way. If I was going to lose, it was going to be a learning experience that would make be that much better the next time. Unfortunately, that choice had been taken from me when my mother interfered in my very first match as part of Chill...slamming the cage door into the head of Corvin not once, but twice.
...I was a laughing stock in the company and no one spoke on it louder that Aveline Lacklan…
The Massive Melee was my chance to change that perception...if not for my own sake as a professional, then for the fact that Aveline was my mother-in-law; part of the most mixed up dysfunctional family on the face of the earth. I didn't need her respect, but I craved it...as I had once craved the respect of my own mother. I'd never gotten it from Sid, and now I wasn't getting it from Aveline either.
...maybe tonight...maybe right now...
I drew an early number; bad luck for me, but I wasn't going to let that stop me from showing everyone in UGWC what I was made of. I didn't need help to win...I didn't need or want anyone's help to make my mark in this business. I was going to win this thing and prove once and for all that I belonged in this ring and no one was going to spoil this for me!
I remember sucking wind, trying to stay in this thing, then turning right into a clothesline from Necron. I hit the mat and was laid out like a starfish that had been washed up on the beach...if the beach was mostly populated by semi-naked professional wrestlers. I tried to get back up, tried to fight my way back into the match. I saw Roxy, my fellow Cool Kid get eliminated and my heart sank for her, especially after seeing her and Angie lose their Cooperative Tag Team Titles earlier in the night. Her night was over, and I didn't want mines to be over next.
"Pride" by Five Finger Death Punch blasted through the arena and the heavy metal sound spurred me to try to find my feet. I had thought that perhaps it wasn't so much the music of the next entrant, Jessica Mathis, so much as it was the soundtrack to my comeback...
...pride...
That was what I was fighting for as I grabbed those ropes, determined to show everyone in the company what I was made of. I wasn't the child of Sidney Grey, I was my own woman and I fight my own battles!
It was like a dream because it felt like it was happening to someone else. I saw my mother in the ring, jumping in front of me and taking the shot that Jet Somers had intended for me. The first thought in my mind was; 'why in the hell was she out here?' The next thought that I had came as she crashed into me, sending me over the top rope was; 'AGAIN?! REALLY?!'
I was enraged, not over losing the match, there were going to be a hell of a lot more losers tonight than just me...besides, there was a surprise in store for everyone. I had hoped to still be in the ring when it came, but that was not to be. I didn't even watch as my mom was eliminated right after me...if I saw her right now I was probably going to snap and take her head clean off her shoulders!
...that was a lie, of course...
I would never hurt my mother...not again at least...
My night was over, but not for my family I listened as the eliminations came fast and furious as people were tossed over the top, but it wasn't the names of the ones who had fallen to the wayside like me that I cared to hear, it was the return of my wife that had me excited. When I heard "Moonlight Sonata" play and the crowd reacted my heart swelled almost to bursting.
This was a moment that had been in the making for several months. My Baby returning to action in the place that made her the happiest…the place she had become a singles champion! A million thoughts flashed through my mind…would she be the same, could she still fight like the Red Queen she had once been before…before Jacob Hargrave had come into our lives and took everything away…
My heart rose with every step that she took. Thoughts of my night ending after a 28 minute stretch by my own mother was forgotten. Tonight wasn’t about me anymore, it was about Sarah returning to action after a long absence…one that no one thought she would ever return from. Tears welled up in my eyes as I watched as the culmination of months and months of rehab and buckets of blood, sweat, and tears shed.
…pride…
Earlier in the night that is what had given me the courage to drag myself back to my feet inside the ring. Now it was what I felt again as the woman who was literally my life did what she did like no one else, blaze a fiery path inside that squared circle. She took shot after shot and she gave them right back. Eliminations came one after another…but my focus was on my wife, her triumph over tragedy was finally complete. We could finally put the past to rest…
“You have no idea, child...”
I turned and saw Aveline coming at me, a wild and affected look on her sweat soaked face. Her night had ended just like my own, but I had missed it, my thoughts were only for Sarah. I had thought that she might feel the same sense of pride that I felt in seeing her daughter back on her feet...back in action. She had tossed around the phase 'cripple' and it had always got under my skin, even when I knew that Sarah was on the mend...I knew that Sarah would not only walk, but she would run...run right into the ring and fight again like only she could do. It had angered me that Aveline would seemingly delight in her condition, but part of me thought that maybe it was her twisted way of punishing her for all the time she had lost.
Aveline grabbed my hand, squeezing it...hurting it, her eyes seeming far off as she ranted.
"Wha-what I have done..."
Her nails dug into my flesh and it took me a moment to realize what she was even talking about. 'What I have done...' What in the hell was she talking about?
"...to encourage him...to push him...to give him strength..."
I was so confused as I stared into the green of her eyes, thoughts of Sarah's return forgotten for the moment. Family came first and Aveline was having a break down of epic proportions.
"Him…who are you tal-"
It came to me in a flash as I stared at her and the words came back to me. Aveline wasn't having a breakdown, she was making a confession. My breath caught in my chest as the words slipped past my lips.
"Jacob…it was you?"
A thousand thoughts ran through my mind. It was November again...it was the worst time of my entire life. It was a months long nightmare and that nightmare had a face...
"...I did not mean to push him to do what he did..."
What he did...she did not mean to set a rabid dog loose on me and my wife? Her lips were moving and the words were coming out...but they were tangled in my mind's eye...memories of those last few days in October...spilling over into the Hell that was November right before everything changed. '...I did not mean to push him to do what he did...' were the words that rang in my ears over and over. Aveline had done this...Aveline had set Jacob on us. She had not meant for Sarah and I to be terrified...to be assaulted...to be broken and crippled...
...an eye for an eye...
Rage...blind and all consuming rage filled me and before I knew it I was on her and there was nothing on this earth that was going to stop me from beating her until nothing remained. 'I do not regret what HE did' were the words that she spoke...right before I punched her in the fucking face harder than I have ever hit another person in the entirety of my whole goddamn life!
THUMP
...what HE did...
THUMP THUMP
...SHE did not regret what HE did...
THUMP THUMP THUMP
...SHE WAS THE ONE THAT DID THIS...
THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP
...his face...her face...the same face I would obliterate…
THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP
I smashed her head into the concrete over and over and over again...I didn't want to stop...I didn't care anymore...I wanted Aveline Lacklan to suffer...I wanted that bitch to die...
- ACT II -
A POCKET FULL OF POSIES
A POCKET FULL OF POSIES
CLEVELAND, OHIO
My mother, had wasted little time in putting out an official statement after the fight I'd had with Aveline. She took very few things in her life seriously, anyone who watched her syndicated reality show on CTN could tell you that, but apparently she took her position as interim General Manager of the Cincinnati Hit Girls very seriously.
Fighting with Aveline was the last thing that I wanted to do. She was the last remaining piece of Jean Paul that was left in this world, even though I seriously doubted that Sarah shared my opinion. Sarah had told me everything; how Aveline had been more like a big sister to her at first, allowing her to run amuck, the way that all children craved. Perhaps she wasn’t the best example of motherhood, but in the eyes of a child, what could have been better? Things had turned once Aveline’s devotion to Sarah’s father had become cult-like. Suddenly the cool girlfriend was now more of an authoritarian and Sarah hated her for it…so much so that she had actually had the woman committed…locked up like an animal to rot because of anger and selfishness…
…I knew those emotions, much more than many would guess…
I could feel the heat behind my ears and feel the sweat in my palms as we arrived at the hospital where she had been sent following the vicious attack she had goaded me into…though the reality of it was that I shouldn’t have gone after her. I knew what she was doing…I saw the gleam in her eyes as she told me how she had been whispering in Jacob Hargrave’s ear all along…how she had been the one to set him on the path that lead him to our doorstep. I understood it…but I didn’t forgive it, I probably never would.
My fists clenched and unclenched as I remembered the feel of my fist smashing into her face like a trip-hammer. The smack of flesh against flesh and the feel as her face gave way under my attack. All I saw was the face of Jacob…his dead stupid eyes staring back at me from the bed in lay in like the cripple he deserved to be. I wanted to put my fists right through that smug stupid face…I wanted to watch his skull split open and spill out what he probably thought passed for brains all over the concrete. I had wanted to kill him for months…wanted this moment…dreamed about it, and when it came it wasn’t Jacob at all…it was Aveline…it was my wife’s stepmother all along.
I screamed as I beat her. My throat hurt as I laced my bloody fingers through her blonde hair, coloring it a dirty pink. I yanked up and drove her skull into the floor harder and harder, doing my best to split it open like an overripe melon. I wanted her to die…I wanted her gone from the world where she could never hurt Sarah…never hurt us ever again.
There had been a time when I envisioned Sarah as having the mother that I knew she always craved. Not like my mother; a conniving hatemonger that cared for no one but herself. I was stupid to believe that Aveline could ever be that person. All she cared about was what she had lost…the love of her life that she would never ever spend another moment with…
…just like I had almost lost Sarah…almost…
I was the lucky one. Despite Jacob’s best efforts to kidnap Sarah and poison her so that they died a less-than-poetic death that mimicked Romeo and Juliet, he screwed the pooch and only maimed her. Though she lingered in and out of consciousness for weeks on end, though she could not walk, and though her body sometimes shook uncontrollably, I was the lucky one. Aveline would have killed to have what I had…the love of her life still alive in her arms…
…she nearly had…
…I nearly had…
“Hey…you okay Ken?”
I snapped out of my thoughts as I looked over at the tallest of the Cool Kids. Besides being five foot ten, Angie Vaughn was also the one that was the furthest away from all of the drama and controversy that seemed to follow the rest of us. She was the one with the good, pure soul...and she was the one I asked to come with me today, passing over all the others. I needed someone with a good heart to get me past the blackness that was rapidly overtaking my own.
I put on a smile that I knew was forced as I answered her.
“I’m fine…”
Angie reached over and grabbed my arm as she held it up, revealing the tightly clenched fist at the end of it. I swore I could still see Aveline's blood on it...still feel the hairs I had ripped from her scalp.
“This is the international symbol for NOT being fine.”
She posted her hands on my shoulders and gave me a firm shake as her eyes held mines. In that moment, her resemblance to my wife was uncanny and I was stuck dumb as she did her best to set me straight.
“I know that you’re still angry and upset over what she did, but holding on to it while we walk into her hospital room, which incidentally is the same one you put her in, is a sure fire way to make sure that this visit ends badly! Come on Ken! We came this far for a reason, so let’s show her that no amount of goading is going to stop us from being what we are! What are we?”
Angie cocked her head to the side, her blonde hair spilling over her shoulder as she grinned. She gave my shoulders a squeeze as she coaxed me out of the dark corners of my own mind. When I finally spoke up, my voice as small and frail.
“…heels…”
“OBVS!”
Angie squealed, ignoring my melancholy response, as she brought me in for a tight hug that I wasn’t ready for, though I had to admit felt nice. Angie paused as she heard the crinkle of plastic in my pocket. She eyed me, then reached over and flipped open my coat to see a small bouquet of flowers there. She raised a single eyebrow.
"Ken, why are you carrying flowers in your pocket like that. Are you trying to surprise Bordy?"
I shook my head, it was nothing of the sort.
"I didn't want to just carry them in, and she'd see them and tell me to stick them up my ass. I figured if I hid them, and things went well, I could pull them out like....SURPRISE!"
Angie stared at me for a long while, then laughed as she pulled me in for another hug.
"WOW! That's really smart Ken!"
I could feel the tension seep away and my nails unhook themselves from the palms of my hands. Angie had worked her magic on me and suddenly I felt much better. Not tackle the world better, but at least better in the sense that seeing Aveline again wouldn’t result in her immediate termination…
…probably…
The leggy blonde led me through the impossibly bright halls of the hospital that smelled like they had used just a little too much cleaner to mask an underlying smell…one that was probably pure sickness or death. Honestly, it seem appropriate for Aveline, I thought to myself cruelly. Angie took the lead as we arrived at the nurse’s station and she told them who we were; Aveline’s daughter’s in-law. The rotund woman behind the desk stared at us for a moment, her eyes lingering on me a bit longer before she finally nodded and directed us to her room.
I reached inside my jacket pocket and
We marched down the hallway towards the room we had been directed to and as we arrived at the door, Angie gave a light tap. Almost immediately the door swung open and we found ourselves standing face to chest with a rather large and imposing figure. His bearing was that of the Lacklanland militia, but the mask that obscured the bottom portion of his face gave him a menacing look that said he was anything but. The man’s eyes bored into me, as he looked pass Angie as if she wasn’t even there…
“Redmaine, laisse-nous. La petite chienne n’est pas une menace pour moi.”
French wasn’t a language that I was super fluent with, but I gathered that it roughly translated into I was a little bitch that didn’t warrant his concern. It was painfully apparent to me that had this man…Redmaine as she called him, had been within the general area on Monday night, our roles would have been reversed…or Sarah would actually be in mourning right now. I tucked that bit of knowledge away as I made a mental note to myself to make sure that Bruce informed me of just who this ‘Redmaine’ person was.
The large man said something in response to Aveline’s command and though it was muffled under his mask, I knew it was him giving in to her command, begrudgingly. As he stepped past us, allowing us to enter, I could swear that I felt the floor give way under his massive weight. The entire time he kept his eyes on me, and it was a stark reminder that he would be there in a flash if I so much as raised a single finger in Aveline’s direction.
“I hope you haven’t come here in the hopes that you’d get another chance to finish me off.”
Her French accent was thicker than usual and slightly affected, likely from the swelling that peppered her face in black and blue marks. Angie held my hand, lending me a bit of her strength…but also holding me like a puppy on a leash that might piss all over the floor if I was given free reign.
“Aveline…I- I’m here to tell you that…I’m sorry for…”
Aveline cut me off, knowing full well that I was not sorry at all, at least not for the bed she now occupied than I was for the loss of my precious clarity. Following the tenants of Scientology had helped me overcome a great many obstacles in my personal life; chasing away demons that had gotten me into more trouble than anyone twice my age should have already experienced. I had thought that I was beyond something like this, but I obviously wasn’t and I knew that Aveline likely took some perverse pleasure from that…despite the violence that had been leveled on her.
"For not being good enough to finish the job? For not being able to do something on your own?"
Her words cut me, not because she was insulting me, but because she was right. I had really wanted to finish her off that night...to punch her face until I felt my knuckles smack against the concrete. I hadn't been good enough, and she should have been grateful that I wasn't.
"The truth of the matter, dear 'daughter,' is that you are NOT capable of getting ANYTHING done on your own. You are NOT capable of being a success on your own. You are NOT capable of being anything more than a whining child who pines for the adoration of imbeciles in a pathetic attempt to make herself feel relevant."
These words cut me deeply, but I tried my best not to show it. I had spent the last year of my career doing everything I could to be a success on my own. Sarah had showed me through deeds how great I could be, and I had strived to do everything I could to make her proud of me. In one fell swoop she had negated everything I had worked for, painting mw with a broad brush that brought me right back to Monday night.
"You cannot win a match by yourself. You cannot defeat ME by yourself. Good Lord, child, you cannot even APOLOGIZE by yourself. You ALWAYS need people around you. You ALWAYS need people to do the hard work for you. You ALWAYS need to hold onto someone's coattails in order to not be left in the land of obscurity. You NEED these harsh lessons in life. Your demonic wife needs these harsh lessons in life. And it takes ME to give them to you."
Aveline leaned back as she continued spitting her venom at me.
"I know why you REALLY came here today. To thank me. I gave you and your demonic wife the most important lessons that a mother can offer. You may thank me now, child. I am ready to hear it."
I listened to everything Aveline had to say...listened, not heard. My eyes were locked on to hers and I could feel the anger rising inside me. Yes, I had tried to say the words...I had tried to apologize, but I did feel it the way that I should have. In this, I knew I was being incredibly selfish, but frankly, I didn’t give a flying fuck!
She had quoted a bible passage to me last week before she told me of her involvement with Jacob, she had suggested that this was ‘an eye for an eye.’ Sarah had suffered this fate because of she had robbed her of a life with her father. Well, that didn’t wash with me...even if it was somewhat justified.
...I guess I was just being selfish...
Sarah was my whole world and she was the only thing I lived for. Maybe she had done a terrible thing, but couldn’t we all be forgiven? They both shared a common love of Jean Paul; shouldn’t that have been enough for them to realize that all they had left was one another?
Instead Aveline had embarked on a path of revenge, and she didn’t care who she hurt. Jacob wasn’t only a lovesick puppy, he had been a would be rapist and a murderer. Had it not been for a mutual friend of ours, there is no telling how far he would have gone after the first and second times that he attacked her before he attempted to kidnap her.
If she, a woman herself of such alleged piety couldn’t fathom what it was like for someone so young to experience an assault from someone they trusted and loved, then she was truly ever bit the monster I thought she was. I had no intention of letting her get another chance to hurt Sarah or anyone else close to us.
I leaned in close to her, no doubt making Angie uncomfortable. My voice was low and filled with malice and deep loathing for the woman I had once envisioned as a potential mother figure for my wife...and maybe even for myself.
“...I know why you did it and I understand, but I don’t forgive you because I love Sarah more than anything in this world...”
I knew that my next words were meant to cut and wound her, but that didn’t bother me as much as the fact that Angie would hear it. I’d never want her to think ill of me, but this couldn’t be helped. Sometimes bitches just needed to be told the fucking truth!
“...I love Sarah more than you have ever loved anything in your entire twisted existence, especially Jean Paul...”
“...non...”
She spoke in return, but I ignored it, pushing the knife deeper still. Invoking the name of her husband, and Sarah's departed father was low, but what she did was far worse and I was done being pleasant...now all I wanted was to hurt her, however I could.
“...how long did it take you to escape from that institution? A long long time...so long that Jean Paul died waiting for you!”
“NON! HE IS THE LIGHT!”
“He died while you carved yourself up like a fucking Thanksgiving turkey!”
Angie grabbed me as Aveline was ready to come out of her bed and Redmaine rushed in, shoving her aside as he wrapped his massive hand around my throat and lifted me with ease. My feet kicked as I clawed at him and gasped for air. I saw Angie jump on his back,pounding on him from behind, but he was built like a tank and was probably just as hard. I struggled in that vice-like grip as I felt like I was slipping underwater; drowning...no air...vision blurred. I heard Aveline cry out, even as I was slipping deeper and deeper into unconsciousness...
“...NON...NON...”
The attack was stopped...I didn't know why and I didn't know how, I just hit I hit the floor like a ragdoll. I was like a puppet that had its strings cut in the middle of a dance as I lay sprawled out. I saw Angie’s face staring down at me, worry etched across it as she screamed and shook me. I could tell by the horrified look on her face that I didn’t look good at all...I was pretty sure of this since I felt terrible...
A FEW MINUTES LATER...
My head didn’t clear again until I was sitting in the back of the car, my head pressed against Angie’s shoulder as she held me. I sat up, trying to speak, but it felt like I’d swallowed a mouthful of glass that had cut my throat to shreds. When I looked at Angie I could see the look on her face and it screamed that I looked like death warmed over.
“Ken, how are you going to explain this to Sarah...no...how am I?! She left town and half of her pigeons died! Now I’m bringing her wife back looking and sounding like a zombie!”
I tried to clear my throat, with no success. Instead, I pulled out my phone and reversed the camera and the image that greeted me was right out of a horror show. My neck was deep red, well on its way to a big black and purple hand-shaped bruise and the whites of my eyes were blood red...or what little I could see of them.
“...fuck...”
It was all I could manage, but it probably sounded nothing like I intended since Angie didn’t seem to notice. She was too focused on the fact that Sarah was going to kill her for bringing her wife home in the state I was in. She had been my rock earlier and she had done her best to hold me in check, but now it was my turn as she was the one who was frantic.
“When you tell her what happened, she’s going to hit the roof!”
“...not...t-telling...”
I managed to say with a bit more strength this time. Angie’s face fell and she stared at me like I’d farted in church.
“Kenzi, you have to tell the truth! God doesn’t like ugly and he totes doesn’t like liars!”
I tried to answer, but it was much too hard. I wanted to tell her that I was both ugly and a liar, but it was easier to just reach in my pocket and hand her the bouquet of crushed flowers. Angie decided not to press me as did her best to perk up the smashed posies. For my part, I just sat quietly and thought about all the evil things I was going to do to Aveline after I got her in that barbed wire ring on Monday. My attempt to try to make up for losing my clarity had ended, and now all I wanted to do was finish what I had started...just like she said I couldn't. She had no idea of what I was capable of...but she would find out...everyone would...forces were already in motion...and things done in the dark were being brought into the light...for both of us...
- ACT III -
ASHES! ASHES!
ASHES! ASHES!
QUEEN CITY WRESTLING
I had signed with Queen City Pro several weeks ago, long before any of this craziness had happened. Chill was my home, but Queen City was going to be the place where I honed my skills between big events…or so I had planned. The revelation Aveline had dropped on me had sent me off the deep end, collapsing my own sense of self-worth and leaving me wondering if the person I had one been was as long gone as I thought she was.
It was a win/win until I decided that I was moving on. Brittney thought that I was taking her with me, but I didn’t…I left her behind and I didn’t give it a second thought. She tried to get me to take her with me…tried to get me to make her a Cool Kid, but I was done with all of that.
When this match was booked Brittany was already salivating over her chance to get her hands on me and show me what she had learned. She was eager to remind me that the student was now the teacher. As dirty and as vile as I had been, she was worse…and it was all thanks to me. A wonderful thing to hear after beating the shit out of your mother-in-law, then shitting on her again as she was laid up in a hospital bed. Whatever I had done to Brittany, I regretted it now. I was supposed to be good now…I was supposed to be showing her how to do and be better. I was ashamed of a lot of things that I had done in my past, and even though it was apparent that I hadn’t changed, there was no way in hell that I would do something else to further corrupt Brittany…
…I laid down for her…
I’d hurt enough people in my life, and I wasn’t going to do it again…until Monday night at least.
Everyone was upset with me, but at least I had done something decent this week…even though I knew Brittany still wouldn’t be satisfied. Beating me that way probably felt hollow...like biting into a fruit and coming away with nothing but a mouthful of ash. I'd try to talk some sense into her again, after I had dealt with Aveline.
I started getting dressed in the locker room, hoping to get out of town quickly. My performance was certainly going to get me heat that I didn't want or didn't need right now. When I heard my mother walk in, I tried to cover myself up quickly. She hadn't seen the injuries I had hid from her behind dark shades and a high neck collar, but there was no hiding now.
“WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU?!”
My mother screamed, seeing the injuries I had received at the hands…or rather hand of Aveline’s giant masked mad man. My throat had turned a deep purple where he had lifted me off the floor and nearly choked the life out of me and the whites of my eyes were a deep red, as the capillaries in them had ruptured. Angie had been right when she said I looked like a zombie…I looked every bit like an extra on the Walking Dead.
“I’m fine! Just leave me alone!”
“Who did this to you?! It wasn't Crystal's kid, she barely laid a hand on you!”
My mother rushed over and grabbed me by my arms and shook me hard. She was trying her best to be the dutiful parent, but I couldn’t help but feel like she was just serving her own self-interest , just like she had when she interfered in my match at Chill and then again during the Massive Melee. I pulled away from her, feeling anger rising up inside me.
“Are you worried about me or are you worried about how bad I will make you look?! Everything that you do has been about YOU! I thought things would be different when you accepted that I was going to keep on wrestling, but instead it’s just gotten worse!”
Sid recoiled a bit, obviously feeling the sting of the accusation I had just leveled at her. She narrowed her eyes, posting her hands on her hips.
“Everything I have done over the last few months, I have done for you! I told you that you were better than that and you didn’t have to wrestle anymore! You keep insisting on throwing yourself into a goddamn wrestling ring every time I turn around when you should be making movies and being the star that I raised you to be! You retired from LAW and I thought that things would change, then you turned around and signed with UGWC and then again with Queen City…when will it end?!”
She grabbed my face and held it.
“Maybe after your face is smashed into a million pieces and the only movie roles you can get is as the homely plucky comedic relief! Now, tell me who did this!”
I pushed her hand away, the anger rising in me even more.
“Don’t you worry about it…mother. I will take care of this on Monday! You won’t have to worry about me! All of this, it’s nothing…trust me!”
Sid grew quiet as she stared at me and I could see the wheels turning inside her head. The connection between my injuries and Aveline was easy enough to make. Her face tightened even more than its usual heavily botoxed self. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone, angrily punching the numbers.
“Don’t you worry, I am going to take care of this! That bitch has crossed the line and now I am done playing nice with her! I am going to talk to the LFL front office and let them know that she is OFF THE GODDAMN TEAM! SHE IS OUT OF THE ENTIRE FUCKING LEAGUE SHE IS OFF CTN AND OUT OF LACKLANLAND! I kept her close so that we could keep an eye on her, but this is too far…this is too fucking far!”
I reached over and snatched the phone out of her hands, ending her call. She looked at me in a mixture of confusion and anger as she wondered what I was doing.
“We? What do you mean we? Who are you talking about?"
Sid sighed, she looked away as she realized that she had said too much. She folded her arms over herself, probably considering how much she would tell me. My expression hardened and she finally gave in.
"Sarah and I...Sarah told me who Aveline was when she first caught wind of her escape and saw her snooping around. She didn't tell you because she didn't want to worry you. Not over her hurting you, but over here trying to claim Jean Paul's legacy as the sovereign of Lacklanland. We thought it was better to keep her close so that we could keep an eye on her. I even cozied up to her, just to be that much closer. But neither of us suspected that she was involved in this business with Jacob! We have to get her away from us! We have to expose what she did!"
"You and I both know better than that I think..."
My mother didn't say anything to that. There was a reason, there was a very good reason for that...a reason that the two of us never gave voice to. I shut off her phone and handed it back to her.
"You’re not going to call anyone or do anything! Let her quit if she wants, but DO NOT give her anything else to crow about or use against us! She showed her hand and now she’s just waiting for us to try to burn her at the fucking stake so she can look like the victim and rally the rest of Lacklanland to her side! Well, she’ll be a victim alright…I promise you…she’ll be a victim before it’s all said and done, but it will happen on MY terms!”
I was tense…as tense as I had ever been. Aveline had taken advantage of us since the moment she had showed up…stalking us, joining LAW and then joining the Hit Girls. It turned my stomach to think that all along she was watching Sarah and me, plotting her revenge and her confession on Monday wasn’t the culmination of that vengeance, it was her maneuvering into the end game…setting us on the path to whatever master stroke she had planned. I was done playing stupid and stepping into ever trap she laid for us.
“Right now…she thinks that she has me where she wants me. She thinks that she’s inside my head…the poor stupid little black girl who dances to every tune that she plays. She thinks she knows who I am…she thinks she knows what I am capable of, but I think we both know better, don’t we?”
Sid stiffened a bit, the understanding washing over her as well. I wasn’t proud of my past, especially as it related to my mother, but the time for being timid in the face of that was over. I had changed, or I had tried my best to. Since then, people had looked to take advantage of me wherever they could. I knew that Aveline was no different, but she had no idea who she was really dealing with…but she would…she would find out very soon.
A FEW MINUTES LATER...
As I left the arena, I felt the buzz of my phone and I picked it up to see that my mother had wasted little time in using her position to manipulate things as much as she could...
- ACT I V -
WE ALL FALL DOWN
WE ALL FALL DOWN
I’d watched as many of the Hit Girls had spent time with the children, talking to them about what it meant to do the right thing. It was almost like they were all talking to me…trying to tell me just how wrong I had been. It only served to make me feel even more ashamed of what I had done…and what I was yet to do with a barbed wire match looming. Honestly, it was all just too much for me to deal with and I slipped out quietly, not wanting to make a big production out of things.
“Hey bb, you tired of the snot-nosed brats already?”
I turned as Roxy stood outside all by herself. She hadn’t been in the best mood following the Massive Melee. She and Angie had lost their Cooperative Tag Team Titles, and she had blamed herself. It had been a bit weird seeing her withdraw from everyone and everything like she had. Usually Roxy was able to shrug off a loss and find a way to come out the other side smelling like a million dollars, but this wasn’t one of those times. I had given her space, mainly because it made me sad to see her like that.
“Not really tired…just kinda, not really feeling it.”
“Yeah, me either…especially with Milisandre Crotchworn in there, probably dragging me in there I’d bet.”
The two of them had gotten into it earlier in the day, which was weird since it was actually #BestFriendsDay. Mil had taken the hard stance that Roxy wasn’t her friend and had even gone so far as to say that she’d never help her, no matter how badly she needed it. I had found that hard to believe, mainly because since the moment the Cool Kids became a thing, we had been constantly under fire from all directions. Though we often had disagreements, when the chips were down, like family we always had each other’s backs…or so I thought. I had come down on Roxy’s side, mainly because I felt that Mil was wrong, but I didn’t want to choose sides.
“Maybe she just needs more time…more space.”
“The only time I care about is the time she answers my challenge to try her best to shut me up!”
She paused, staring at me weirdly.
“Damn bb, what happened to you? Did Sarah try to fuck start your face with her vampire vagina?”
“Very funny! No…I kinda got into it with Aveline’s watch dog, but it’s cool I’m paying her back on Monday, which is why I’m not speaking to the kids about bullying. I have kinda been a walking talking billboard for being a bully!”
Roxy was silent for a bit as she chewed on what I said. I assumed that she would tell me that it was fine and I didn’t need to do anything, but what I got was much different.
“You can’t have an anti-bullying event without a few bullies. But here we are, made out to be the two biggest bullies here tonight. I mean, I bet that little French frog licker is in there telling everyone how she alpha-bitched you right out of the building. Same as Mil telling everyone how I’m vile and cruel, when I’ve had her back since day one. I guess this whole ‘Stomping Out Bullying’ thing is more about kicking us while we’re down.”
There was a long pause as we stood there looking at each other. Her words had affected me in a way that they rarely had before. Usually I listened to Roxy when I wanted to have a good laugh, not that she was stupid, but because she was incredibly self-centered and I found it hilarious. Mil had never taken the time to really get to know Roxy…to find out that there was a real person behind the exterior that the rest of the world saw. Maybe she was a bully, but she was also a friend…and friends didn’t just throw one another aside like the trash Mil had claimed Roxy had treated her like.
I walked over and put my arms around Roxy, holding her. She wouldn’t have ever asked for a hug, so it was up to be to just give her one. I whispered in her ear.
“Thank you bb…I needed that. Is there anything that you need?”
Roxy grunted…
“For you to get off my foot bb.”
“Sorry! I’ll be right back, okay?”
As I ran back towards the building, I heard Roxy muttering under her breath.
“…why are her damn feet so big…?”
A FEW MINUTES LATER…
When I walked back into the school, I wasn't sure what I was going to say. I was one of the very last people who should have been speaking to children...not only because I hated them...but because I was already branded as the thing that this entire event was designed to get rid of. Up until Monday night, I had been a good person...or at least the best possible person that I could be. I had allowed Aveline to awaken something inside me that I hated...something inside me that was probably inside a lot of the children inside this building, and maybe that was what I needed to address...and so, I did...
“Hello…my name is Kenzi Grey-Lacklan, and I wanted to tell you all…and Aveline Lacklan, in particular that I am a recovering bully. I know that it’s not the most popular thing to say in this day and age, but you can’t run from the truth of what you are. I have been a bully for almost my entire life and I have done a lot of things that I am certainly not proud of. I have lied, I have cheated, I have stolen, and I have hurt people…badly. I wish that I could tell you all that I regretted every single thing that I did, but that just wouldn’t be true. Everything that I did, I did for a reason…including when I beat the holy hell out of my mother-in-law on Monday night. I don’t want to make any excuses for what I did, because violence is never supposed to be the answer, but sometimes people make mistakes. I have made a lot of them in my life.”
“My mother is admittedly one of the biggest bullies that I have ever met, but I can’t blame her for the way I turned out, because she wasn’t even there for most of it. I wish I could look at her like that little kid in that old commercial who gets caught smoking dope by his dad and he screams out; ‘YOU KNOW WHAT? I LEARNED IT FROM YOU DAD…I LEARNED IT FROM YOU!’ Well, I couldn’t say that because my mother wasn’t there to teach me anything…and I do mean ANYTHING! I was raised by my grandmother and she did the best that she could, but I was just born to be a bully and there was nothing that anyone could do about it. When I wanted a friend, I walked up to a kid and I told them that we were going to be friends. If they didn’t want to be my friend, I beat them until they became my friend, or until my arms got tired.”
“When I got older, and my mom finally decided that she wanted me…it was to join her on her reality show, because kids bring ratings. I’d like to lie and tell you guys that the opportunity to spend time with my mother made me a better person, but it didn’t. Do you know what happens when you put two bullies together? Eventually you end up with only one bully. As mean as my mother was, I guess she just wasn’t as devious as I was. When it came right down to it, I think it wasn’t a matter of me being a bigger bully than she was, so much as it was that I was able to set aside the fact that the person who was in my way, just happened to be a member of my family.”
“Some might say that is ruthless, and maybe they are right, but I think that Aveline understands that because she’s a bully herself. Family and friends have no meaning for someone like her because she doesn’t care about anything and anyone but herself! I don’t think that is a surprise to anyone inside of UGWC where she has ruled the roost as Chaos Champion. She has carved out quite the little niche for herself in the company as the roaming trash talking personification of what it means to be a bully. A hallmark of hers has been to intimidate everyone around her, but like I already told you, I’m a bully as well and I told you what happens when two bullies come together, one of them ends up going the way of the dinosaur.”
“…I’m too young to be a dinosaur…but I’m not too young to learn from my mistakes…”
“I’m not proud of what I did to Aveline on Monday night, just like I am not proud of any of the terrible things that I have done to the people in my life. I know that I am a work in progress and I know that I can’t continue living my life the same way I have while expecting good things to continue to happen for me. A year ago, I turned my life around and I started working my way around to being a good person, the best person that I could be. It wasn’t easy, I had done a lot of bad in my time, but just as hard as I worked to take what I thought I was owed, I worked twice as hard to try to give back. I didn’t want to be a bully anymore…seeing people like Aveline, people with no friends and no real future made me want to erase that part of my past.”
“Monday I allowed myself to get pulled back into a life style that I thought I had left behind. I allowed Aveline to turn me back into a bully, back into something I had learned to hate.”
“When I tell you that I am a bully, I tell you that to let you know that just because you are a certain way, it doesn’t mean that you have to stay that way. If you’re a bully, you don’t have to stay a bully…you can change and that is exactly what I am going to do! I’m not like Aveline…I have the love of family and friends to help get me through the tough times. Last Monday was one of those time…and try as I might, I will never be able to take it back, but I will be able to make it better. I will be able to learn from the mistakes that I made and put myself on a better path.”
“That is what I want for all of you…no matter what it is that you have done in the past, I want you to realize that even though you’ve been a bully, you don’t have to stay one. Just because someone pushes you, you don’t have to push back. All that rage and all of that anger, it never leads to anything good and it never makes you a better person…it just makes you bitter.”
“I’m done with being bitter and I am done with being controlled and forced to dance to a tune that’s not of my own making. Aveline Lacklan wanted this because she thought she could change me…she thought she could make me became someone I didn’t want to be…but in the end, she failed. Come Monday night, she is going to fail again, and then she will learn the very same thing that I told all of you here tonight.”
“I’m a bully…but I don’t have to stay one, and I don’t have to become one, to beat one! Aveline got me to play her game, but I’m done being her puppet! On Monday night, we are going to settle our differences inside the ring…and when it’s over…it’s going to be over for good!”
“After I beat her and I show that I’m never going to be the kind of person that she is, I am going to offer her the chance to change. I am going to look her in her eyes and I am going to find a way to forgive her for what she has done to me and my family and friends. I am going to give her the choice that she never wanted to give me, and I am going to do it because that is what it takes to not be a bully. People can crow about all of the terrible things that they have done in their lives and all the terrible things that they have done to others, but believe me when I tell you, the hardest thing that you will ever do will be to look someone in the eyes who has hurt you and tell them that you forgive them…and mean it.”
“Thank you…thank you all…”
I don't know if any of them got it. Many stood and cheered, but for all I knew I was the last speaker of the night and they were finally going to get to go home to their video games. I hoped that I reached at least a few of them...even just one. For me, that one was my mother-in-law...a Lacklan..like me. We didn't have the blood, but we had both loved them fiercely. Her love had drove her to do the unspeakable...and maybe what she thought was the unforgivable...
...I could forgive her...but she would have to find a way to forgive herself...
Until she did...I would just have to settle for kicking her ass!