Post by adm on May 4, 2009 14:54:19 GMT -6
Part 1 - The Party and First Argument
“Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday dear Andrew, Happy Birthday to you.”
Chuck E. Cheese is where we had the relatively late birthday party for my eldest child, Andrew. I think ahead, of how just four days after Mother’s Day, Zachary will turn three as his brother is now five years old. So many years and I almost missed this birthday. Why? Because of work. My wife is still very upset with me for staying here, for continuing in nCw despite her best wishes of me going home and being “safe” trying to find a different career in this horrible job market. California is suffering greatly, during this Recession. I come from the upper middleclass…and I know how hard it is, it is why I am still here. I am the hope so many of the fans get to having their dream career.
“Blow out the candles on your cake, Andrew.” My wife says to our son, “And make a wish.”
“Yes, Andrew, make your wish and then go play with uncle Chad.”
Yes, Chad Lights, my wife’s request actually. She wanted to talk…about my career and “us”. I didn’t know anyone else who would “babysit” my two children for next to nothing.
“So you’re cool with me taking your kids, Mrs. Bates?”
“Yeah, I have some things to do with my husband…”
The cold in her voice is telling of how angry with me she is. No way am I getting out of this one. Not at all.
“Yeah, listen…this party is pretty much over. So if you wanted to take them to the park or Dairy Queen, go ahead. I’ll reimburse you for whatever you spend on them. Just…I’ll call. Okay? They aren’t too hard to handle.”
“Yeah, I understand. I’m actually kind of touched you would ask me.”
“I can’t trust anyone else…except Harold, and who knows where he is right now.”
He leaves with my children, off distracting them while their parents argue on their way back to the hotel down the street. Another day, another city, another match. For me it’s the new normal, for my wife…she’d rather have us be home.
We exit the facility, she’s quiet…too quiet. I can see in her face the anger, the rage that is building up. The rage that I got my dream instead of her, after putting the family ahead of myself for so long…I finally get what I wanted, and now…she’s mad. Mad that I can do what I want while she’s stuck at home. She’s angry about it all. And now…now Joe comes to mind…does he imagine how much trouble it will be in a few years managing his career while taking care of the children? Taking off for shows because they are sick? Maybe not…maybe he doesn’t think about it quite like that…not yet. The baby is still new, still fresh…still loving.
“Kristoff, I am very upset with you. You didn’t listen to me, and you got hurt, bad. You didn’t listen to me, and now you’re still here, still fighting for, what is it now?”
“The Elite 8 X-Division tournament.”
“Yes, that…why? Why are you putting yourself on the line for the “fans”? Why do they take precedence over your WIFE?”
“Kendra…I…”
“Don’t you DARE, Kristoff? I’ve been telling you for weeks I accepted your new career while lying to myself, and our children. Do you think about them when you are out there? Do you think about how much they miss you, how much I miss you?”
“I do, Kendra. But I am doing it for more than me; I do it for you as well. I’m making as much as I was, I’m not on Unemployment anymore. I’m HAPPIER; I don’t hurt you or the kids anymore.”
“Not physically, but this is pain I am not used to dealing with. Seven years I’ve been married to you, Kristoff. And not once have I felt such emotional pain. The rest of it I could just blame on your job…but this…this isn’t a job, this is stupid. You are hurting yourself and cutting your life short with all the steroids and drugs and…”
“You know I don’t do any of those things. This place has a very good testing policy; it isn’t like WWE or any other place in the news. This place TAKES CARE of their own.”
“And what about Dark Prophet? What about that cripple? Did they take care of his bills?”
“He opted out…need I remind you he has his own money.”
“Oh, yeah…money…is that what this was supposed to be about in the beginning? Money? You have a chance to make MONEY when you were reaching the end of your unemployment benefits. I know things were getting hard, but you could have taken one of the other jobs, sure it was a pay cut, but it wasn’t dangerous.”
“This is not nearly as dangerous now as it was when I still held that belt, Kendra. I won’t have to take those weapon hits anymore…and at least not as often if I do.”
I can tell she’s still angry as we now reach the hotel. Her face has turned purple from her screaming at me. Seven years of marriage and two children…she’s never been angry at me like this. Could this be the end? Could she finally be thinking of leaving me after everything she’s forgiven me for?
“Oh, yeah, not as often. But what if you do get hurt? I don’t want you hurt. I don’t want to be at home thinking about you…I don’t want to get a call…that’s just not right.”
“Then come with me, Kendra. Come out with me to the ring and WATCH me…you can make sure I am not hurt, you can cheer me on from right there. You can even call for them to stop the match if I am really hurt.”
“That makes me feel SO much better, Kristoff. Why don’t you just tell the children that one…I’m so sure they’d love to be stuck without parents at home?”
“They aren’t even old enough to go to school, yet. It isn’t such a big deal, Kendra. Andrew has another year before he goes to Kindergarten, and we have plenty of time to make arrangements about that with your parents…”
My voice rises as we reach our room. I can’t believe this is happening. She’s so angry, so frustrated…I can’t even focus on Joe Everyman. I can’t focus on my OPPONENT because she’s being difficult. Can’t this wait? Can’t it wait until the cameras are off? Can’t it wait just a few more minutes?
“Kendra, I have to do something for this match. I have to…”
“I know, you have to do this, you have to do that. There’s not enough time for me anymore. You are always gone, or busy. At least taking your physical abuse you were there…but now you’re never around…I…”
She falls, crying, into my arms. She knows I still love her. But this is not a good way to deal with this…if the problems are as big as she says…we need to talk about this with a professional…I’ll call the psychologist that works with the company in the morning…after I talk with her about it.
“I know you love me, Kendra. I still love you. I’m following my dream, and I’m sorry you never could live yours. First the failed attempt at being a singer, then the kids. I know it’s been difficult for you. You’re still beautiful; you still have a beautiful voice. Can’t you, for once, be happy about me finally finding a job I like instead of begrudgingly going every day, ebbing closer to the day I snap and kill everyone? Aren’t you happy for me?”
“I am…but…I don’t know, maybe I’m being selfish. I’ve always had you there, next to me, every night. Now it’s so cold and lonely in that bed, in that house. It’s just so big without you…You’re always there, and now…you’re not…I don’t know.”
“I’ll call someone in the morning…we can talk with them about it. Someone who might have answers I can’t give you, options we both might want to try.”
“You…are suggesting counseling? That isn’t NORMAL is it?”
“You remember Bob Jones, and his wife Nancy? They went through counseling, and their marriage is better than ever now.”
“But Bob cheated on his wife. You didn’t cheat on me, you just…oh god…did you cheat on me?”
“NO! I would never do that to you, Kendra. It’s just an idea, something we could do. Someone to help mediate this so it doesn’t get out of control. I love you, and I want to be with you. We just need someone there to tell us time out if it gets too much, too heated an argument. Just…please…I have to do this.”
She leaves me to be alone in the hotel room. I need a drink, but opt not to take any alcohol at this hour of the day, as well as when I have important business to attend to. So many things are running through my mind, I must be clear-headed to do this. I must focus on my match ahead, and the tournament, and the victory over a former World-Champion and great adversary and wrestler like Jack Hammond, the current X-Division Champ. I loosen my tie and begin to unbutton the top buttons of my shirt, the stress is getting to me and I need to cool off, before I blow my top.
“Joe Everyman…didn’t I just face you the other week in that massive match where I lost the Xtreme title? Didn’t you lose and go sulking off to lose again to Xavier Williams, the man I choked out in the huge Gauntlet? What can I POSSIBLY say to the brother of Mark Evil, one of the people I’ve beaten over and over again in this place, much like Rob Diamond? What can I say to you? Good luck? Hope you beat me because I know you have a child you have to support now? Or should I just ignore all of that and look at your previous records in this place?”
A record of highs, lows, then more highs followed by chances spent, over and over again. This is the Joe Everyman they know, the Everyman who cannot do it not because he lacks the ability, but because somewhere along the way he loses sight of his goal. What happened to his Xtreme Ascension? Where did he lose his sight on the Xtreme title?
“I know how great it is to have a new member of the family, and now you came out of the closet, so to speak, by finding out Mark Evil is your brother…that’s just great. I guess losers run in the family. Not on the whole, you both have potential and win enough matches and titles to keep your careers thriving and alive on the whole, but you both will never beat me. It isn’t that I am better, no…it is that I have what you both lack, PERFECTION. I am PERFECT in the ring. I have a technical ability not even the current and former World Champions have. I have a technical ability for perfection that is more NORMAL than you or your FREAK brother. But…that’s OLD Kristoff, isn’t that? It’s not the nice guy I’ve become recently, huh? Well to be honest, I’m not trying to be mean, I’m telling the TRUTH. Mark Evil needs serious help for his mental problems. And physical ones if he’s still got stitches in his face from months ago, sounds like someone needs to stop picking at the scabs or digging at the old wounds. I can’t help him, hell; I can’t even help my friend Homeless Harold as he loses himself in this fight with Steve Awesome.”
I’m sorry Harold…but I don’t know what happened to the man I have come to know and respect, but…I wish you would give Hope back to her mother, and arrange for some form of babysitting or play-dates instead of kidnapping. But that’s not the point…no…I’m supposed to think about Joe, about the Elite 8.
“Yes, I got distracted for a little bit, but there is so much going on in nCw right now, Joe, and you’re hanging back with your brother trying to go after things you can’t quite accomplish. Maybe you should team up and go after the Tag Titles instead of trying to go for the X-Division where you are out-gunned by most of these men. See, Xavier beat you, Falcon could destroy you, Rob Diamond, even, could decimate you in the ring. But who did they put you up against in the first round? Former Xtreme Champion and pure-wrestling marvel Kristoff Liam Bates. They put you, Everyman, against PERFECTLY NORMAL Kristoff Liam Bates. Average Joe up against the most NORMAL person here. Amazing, isn’t it? But I’ve seen you, Joe, you are great in the ring, but I see in your eyes you can get distracted. You have a family now, you think about going home to them, instead of trying. We are so similar, Joe, but the truth is…you’re going to have to step it up to beat me.”
Yes, you will have to improve your game and get focused, just to beat me. When I enter the ring, I become Kristoff no more and become something else. Because it is my PERFECT DRUG, wrestling. I take out the frustrations of the week in the ring, and on my opponent. The fans adore me, now that they know who I am. I keep getting fan mail cheering me on. When is the last time a thirteen year old child told you they wanted to be you when they grew up? It makes me hearken back to the letters I sent to IRS when I was their age, and now…I am here, in the big leagues. You need to stop thinking about the outside when you step into the ring, or you will be eaten alive.
“You have all the potential in the world, Joe, but you seem to forget that once you get in the ring, it’s no more talk, and only actions. I have proven in my brief career here that I can hang with the biggest dogs and win. I beat Spike Kane, I beat Jack Hammond, I beat Steve Awesome and even Homeless Harold. Men who are all veterans, Joe, men who have as much experience as you. How could I do it if I didn’t have the drive to do it? How could I win if I wasn’t backing up the things I say, every week? Sure, I fell down and lost a few times, but you always lose a few matches. You…on the other hand, have lost a lot more than a few. You get distracted by a losing streak then fade away for a while. You fade away until you somehow miraculously make a brief comeback, just like you did right before you lost the Xtreme Championship match. I know you are good enough to have beaten us all, and Dirty Deal, but you didn’t. You lost, and I lost. I am happy I lost; I moved on…but have you? Are you truly ready for me this week, Joe? Or are you still dwelling on losing to Xavier last week and thinking about how much harder it would be to face me? Think, Joe, think before you come out and talk about winning on Trauma. Because Trauma is MY HOUSE, the B-Show…B for Bates. You will step in, and lose.”
Not because you are lesser, Joe. Not because you suck. But because you lack focus when you are in the ring. I don’t question your heart, but I question your mind. And when you face me at Trauma…I will show you exactly what PERFECTLY NORMAL can do.