Off-Camera
Friday, May 1, 2020
Zdunich Room
Saxon Hotel
Las Vegas, Nevada
8:15 AM PDT
Detox was not usually something that went on in a hotel room but in the case of Mary Hilton, it had been going on for the last sixteen days, it had been going on next door to the room occupied by Seleana and Christina Zdunich.
Mary was Christina’s biological mother and up until April fourteenth had been a heroin-addicted prostitute in Detroit, Michigan. Upon arrival back here at the Saxon Hotel in Las Vegas, first there had been anger and some screaming involved. Then quarantine had been set up along with treatment protocols to help with the detoxification process.
Luckily, Mary had tested negative for most things including COVID and done so repeatedly. The testing had been extra rigorous for her considering her occupation and drug activity.
Now, she would be allowed to do more than eat and drink through tubes that were fashioned for her by her nurse, Loti Nguyen.
Now as Mary sits on the bed, contemplating what to do in her third week of isolation when the door to her room opens. Three women, her daughter, Christina Zdunich, her daughter-in-law, Seleana Zdunich, and her granddaughter-in-law, Haylie Jo “Halo” Annis, walk into the room carrying pieces of computer equipment. Loti nods from the doorway approvingly as they move quickly to set everything up for Mary.
Mary Hilton: What’s all this?
Seleana and Halo both turn and grin to the woman as Christina walks over to hand her biological mother a remote control.
Christina Zdunich: It was Sel’s idea. Loti told us you needed something like this now that the withdrawal was allowing you to be lucid.
Seleana walks over and extends a hand.
Seleana Zdunich: Heya, how’s it?
Mary accepts the hand and nods back to her.
Mary Hilton: Hi…
Seleana nods, still smiling broadly.
Seleana Zdunich: This is to allow you stimulation and to help with your rehab process. If you’ll notice, there are several options on the remote. When you’re keen, we set you up with all of Christina and Brittany’s events on channel one, Disney Plus on Channel two, and Rose Productions’ Library on Channel 3. Channel 4 will be for your counseling sessions that you will be able to do remotely from here. The schedule will be worked out with you on Monday. Channel 5 is for your groups sessions and we have found some people to help take part in that for you.
Seleana points to the remote.
Seleana Zdunich: If I may?
Mary nods and hands it to her daughter-in-law. Seleana turns the monitor on and selects Channel 5. Suddenly, the screen comes up with a different shot in each of four quadrants. Seleana’s sister, Zenna Zdunich, sits down in front of the camera for quadrant 2.
Zenna Zdunich: Hej!
Zenna’s fiancée, Linnéa Lacroix sits down in front of the camera for quadrant one.
Linnéa Lacroix: Hi!
Linnéa’s sister, Alissa Lacroix, sits down in front of the camera for quadrant 3, seemingly rushing to make it there.
Alissa Lacroix: I’m here, y’all, I’m here.
Alissa’s fiancée, Kelly Taylor, sits down in front of the camera in quadrant 4.
Kelly Taylor: Greetings, Love!
Seleana waves to them.
Seleana Zdunich: Meet your support group…
Halo nods knowingly and Seleana shrugs back.
Seleana Zdunich: Four or five…
Halo nods back in response.
Haylie Jo "Halo" Annis: I’m number five, y’all.
Zenna, Linnéa, Alissa and Kelly all wave back as Mary can’t stop the tears streaming down her face.
Seleana Zdunich: You can tell them anything. They’ve all been through things as well.
Seleana hands the remote back.
Seleana Zdunich: They’ve all had this channel thrown to their phones as well. You’ll have your regular session, of course, but you will also be able to gain any of their attention any time you need to talk. It goes to Halo’s phone as well so she can come to you in person if that is what you need.
She turns to face the screen.
Seleana Zdunich: Tack, min familj!
Zenna, Linnéa, Alissa and Kelly all nod.
Zenna Zdunich: Självklart!
Linnéa Lacroix: Family, y’all!
Alissa can’t help but snicker.
Alissa Lacroix: God I love it when Li’s southern self comes rampaging out like that!
Kelly snickers right along with Alissa.
Kelly Taylor: That’s me as well!
The screen goes back to black and Seleana nods to Christina.
Christina Zdunich: We’re gonna have sessions together too, right here! We both need it and it will help both of us if we have a schedule for it!
Mary nods, tears still streaming down her face.
Mary Hilton: Ok.
Seleana nods to the remote.
Seleana Zdunich: Show her the last one, Stjärna!
Christina nods and Mary pushes the button for Channel 6. Within seconds, a familiar face is staring back at her.
Mary Hilton: Coo….Cookie?
Her sister’s smiling face nods back.
Cookie Hilton: Hi!
Seleana and Halo both turn and nod to the screen.
Haylie Jo "Halo" Annis: Hi, Miss Cookie… I’m HayJo…
Cookie giggles.
Cookie Hilton: You really did it…
She shakes her head in shocked amazement, her own eyes starting to glisten.
Cookie Hilton: This is the greatest gift I’ve gotten in years!
Seleana can’t help but smile, Christina and Mary both crying solidly now. They both nod and Cookie does as well before the screen goes dark again.
Mary Hilton: I… can never…
Christina shakes her head, moving quickly to hug her mother.
Christina Zdunich: I told you, we were doing this together…
Seleana nods, moving in to join in on the family hug as well.
Seleana Zdunich: I told you the same, Stjärna. Family helps each other!
Halo nods.
Haylie Jo "Halo" Annis: I’m in agreement on that one and we can work on Brit that way too!
She walks over and extends her hand to Mary.
Haylie Jo "Halo" Annis: Haylie Jo Annis… call me HayJo, everybody does.
Trembling, Mary reaches out a hand to shake the Halo’s proffered hand.
Mary Hilton: Nice… nice to meet you, HayJo.
Halo smiles.
Haylie Jo "Halo" Annis: Do y’all mind if I call you Mama Mary or is that a bridge too far?
Looking like she’s been kicked in the gut, Mary sputters for a second, searching for the words to answer. Christina hugs her mother.
Christina Zdunich: We’re here, Mom.
Mary nods and loses herself in her tears.
Seleana Zdunich: That is, how you say, a “yes.”
Halo nods, almost laughing.
Haylie Jo "Halo" Annis: Looks like, Mama Sel, looks like it.
On-Camera
Friday, May 1, 2020
Saxon Hotel
Las Vegas, Nevada
5:11 PM PDT
The camera opens on Seleana Zdunich
Seleana Zdunich: För fan i helvete!
She shakes her head, crossing her arms in angry annoyance as she does so.
Seleana Zdunich: So, we are still at this, are we?
She looks away momentarily and then throws her hands up.
Seleana Zdunich: You would think Mercedes Vargas would have learned by now.
Glaring harshly, she turns back to face the camera.
Seleana Zdunich: The last four matches we have been in together, she has won none and she’s eaten the pin twice!
Nodding angrily, Seleana sweeps her right hand across the shot in front of her.
Seleana Zdunich: So for her to call me losing to somebody to be both a foregone conclusion and a spoiler for everyone else when she has not only not done any better but has, in fact, done very much so worse means she should shut up until she decides to show the Mercedes Vargas that she brags about being. The one who won all those championships and racked up accolade after accolade while being insulted by my very existence in this sport!
Pausing, Seleana’s glare turns even harsher as she points accusingly into the camera.
Seleana Zdunich: Right now, you are everything you have said my wife is.
The finger jabs the air violently.
Seleana Zdunich: You walk around with a mask of who you used to be and who you want everyone to think you are when you haven’t backed that up in a year’s time, possibly more! The only difference is you have a greater cache of respect from which to draw from and thus people are willing to cut you more slack but the truth is, they should not!
She shakes her head slowly.
Seleana Zdunich: Not until you get off ass and show you are still what you say you are! Is that not what you all say to me?
She nods and then holds her arms out wide, hands with palms up.
Seleana Zdunich: Shut up until I am more than just a name on a page opposite another name that deserves to be there way more than I ever have?
Her arms lower, her right hand moving to allow her to point accusingly to the camera again.
Seleana Zdunich: My win over you was meaningless?
Seleana shrugs, still glaring into the camera.
Seleana Zdunich: It would appear it meant more to you than it did to me…
She turns and walks a few steps before turning and seemingly walking in a complete circle just to end up exactly where she started from.
Seleana Zdunich: So now I get the foregone conclusion of a match with Evie Jordan, a woman that was a champion relatively recently and has beaten me in the past.
She pauses and nods to herself.
Seleana Zdunich: It’s a spoiler to say Evie will beat me again because…
Again, she pauses and then shrugs.
Seleana Zdunich: Skit också, det är sanningen, ja?
She nods in obvious mock agreement, anger seething in her eyes.
Seleana Zdunich: Jag ska bara skitta i det blå skåpet igen ändå, ja?
Again, she nods in mock agreement.
Seleana Zdunich: Fan i jävla helvetes, din jävla idioter! Jag kommer att bevisa att du är jävla rövhål!
Ni säger alla att jag tar vatten över huvudet men ni har fel! Ingen ko på isen, du kommer att fånga ditt skägg i brevlådan! Jag lovar dig att detta kommer att vara sant!
Pausing to get control of herself, she closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. After a few more, she nods to herself and opens her eyes to glare directly into the camera.
Seleana Zdunich: Evie Jordan, say whatever you wish to say.
She shrugs angrily.
Seleana Zdunich: You will say it anyway so what is the difference?
She nods as she points to herself.
Seleana Zdunich: I am not the same competitor I was when we fought before.
The hand pulls back just enough to not be jabbing herself anymore while still remaining in position to point and indicate she is talking of herself.
Seleana Zdunich: I have had the time to learn, to grow, to become better and I have always been keen to do that even more as well!
The hand moves to sweep across the shot again.
Seleana Zdunich: No one thought I could main event when I came here and at that time, they were right!
Now the hand moves to point emphatically to the ground.
Seleana Zdunich: The thought was laughable after my dismal showing as a rookie in LAW. What had I accomplished? What business would I have in the main event of anything, much less for the World Bombshells Championship against a champion like Alicia Lukas or hall of famers like my wife or Roxi Johnson?
She nods knowingly, her hand moving back to her side.
Seleana Zdunich: I admit, I was nothing when we fought before. My whole first year here, I had no business being in any matches like that. That I was given multiple opportunities anyway, I am eternally grateful for because those opportunities did not slip through my fingers as many like to say.
She shakes her head.
Seleana Zdunich: I learned something in every one of those matches. I took something away from them all whether I lost or even in the few times I did manage to win. I have taken something from every match whether it was the time Mercedes Vargas could not put me away or the time I put her down! Whether it was the time people like Jessie Salco and Amy Santino had their way with me or the times I was able to come out on top of them!
She takes a step forward.
Seleana Zdunich: Every match is meaningful and every match got me to where I am today! I let nothing slip through my fingers because while you and everyone else were busy making fun of me or talking down to me because I had lost again or because of who I chose to marry…
She pauses, turns away and nods pointedly.
Seleana Zdunich: And, ja, I did make that choice with no hesitation or regret!
Her jaw clenched as she almost wants to spit.
Seleana Zdunich: While you were all doing that and having your good laugh at my expense, I was taking it all in, learning how things work. Learning what I could do and what I could not do and at the end, I realized that what you all spew forward means nothing and yet everything at once!
Turning back to the camera properly, Seleana stares lasers through it.
Seleana Zdunich: It means nothing because all that shit talking is empty rhetoric even if you believe every word of it when you say it. Most of it is what you are supposed to say when you are in that position or it is something you say to “promote” the match…
She shrugs.
Seleana Zdunich: Whatever, all it really meant was I needed to work and work and work until I had made you all those words over and over and over again!
She pauses to nod in acknowledgement.
Seleana Zdunich: So, yes, before, the idea was crazy...
Her hands come together and start rubbing over and against each other, seemingly ready to ball into fists at any second.
Seleana Zdunich: But now I have done it more than once and I earned my way there every time I was able to do it!
The right hand separates, opens and the index finger extends to point all over again.
Seleana Zdunich: You said I couldn’t do it, but I did!
The finger jabs the air again, a little more forcefully.
Seleana Zdunich: You said I didn’t belong, but I showed I did!
Again it jabs, more forcefully still.
Seleana Zdunich: You said I’d never have respect and yet, the last time I checked, I did have it from certain people who matter!
The finger jabs out one last time, almost stabbing the camera in the process.
Seleana Zdunich: You said I’d never be anything and yet here I stand!
The hand sweeps away and points to the ceiling.
Seleana Zdunich: I’ve been to the mountaintop and I have been knocked down and climbed back up!
She looks from the ceiling to the floor and then back to the camera.
Seleana Zdunich: So say whatever you want to say because I will climb that mountain again!
Her hand lowers as she glares once more into the breach.
Seleana Zdunich: Jag kommer inte gå som katten runt den heta gröt! Ni gör alla en höna av en fjäder och eftersom smaken är som rumpan, uppdelad, jag kommer att få dig att kväva det!
