Solo
Court’s Apartment - San Diego
9 February 2021
OFF-Camera
Packing up and moving all of my shit wasn’t exactly what I had planned for the week. I wasn’t going to cause anymore problems though. Regardless of if people believed it, I was actually trying to stay away from trouble. It just felt that no matter what I did lately, trouble always seemed to find me. I did Coby the solid of helping him record his media shit, only to have everyone look at me sideways since he got attacked. I tried to bust my ass at Jet City South, but Ruby and the chip on her shoulder won’t fuck off and let me do my thing. It wasn’t worth getting kicked out of the gym over though. So instead of training, I am busy packing up a studio apartment by myself too busy to even notice even more trouble approaching the opened front door.
Kyle: Did they kick you out already? I have to hand it to him… I didn’t think Kris had it in him to actually kick you to the curb.
I regretted letting him crash here when he first came into town. I should have known better then. I damn sure did now. Kyle and I had known each other for a long time, and he had never been the type of person that I would trust with a secret. He has always been out for himself, and it wasn’t surprising to hear that he was the one that took out Coby at the gym. It wasn’t surprising that he was the one hiding under that Cyan mask. For Kyle, that mask was a fresh start that he wasn’t going to get by showing his face. He told me about his plan last summer while we were sitting in the limited crowds for SCW and SCU events. I wasn’t high on it then, and hadn’t warmed up to it since.
Court: I don’t know what you’re trying to brag about Kyle, but I don’t have time for it, or you.
He laughs and steps into the apartment. There are boxes piled up on both sides of the doors, but he slides in between them without hesitation. I hated how comfortable he felt in this space. My space. Well, I guess not anymore. I could rest a little easier knowing that there was no way that he was going to be sneaking into the Gem’s mansion. Unfortunately that wasn’t going to help me here and now.
Kyle: Oh come on! I know they have to have you fingered as our co-conspirator. You were the only other person there with Coby. You were supposed to have locked the place up.
There was nothing ‘supposed to’ about it. I suspect the reason that Coby and Kris haven’t said anything to me yet was because they watched the cameras and saw that I wasn’t lying. I locked up the whole place before we started. He wasn’t going to plant any doubt in my mind about that.
Court: Look! I don’t want to know what you did, or how you did it. It doesn’t have shit to do with me, and I’d like to keep it that way. As you can see, I’m busy. You can kindly go fuck yourself.
I could tell already that the casual blow off wasn’t going to get him to leave me alone. He was looking into the tops of boxes now, almost like he was making sure I was actually packing up and it wasn’t all some trick.
Kyle: So if they didn’t kick you out, where are you going?
I wasn’t dumb enough to answer that though.
Court: It’s wonderful! This new place. It’s on the corner of… right… none of your goddamn business. You know Kyle, fucking off is free. I’m sure you can afford it.
It wasn’t nearly as insulting now as it had been over the last couple of years. Most of the Jet City students had landed on their feet in other companies, or shifted into being trainers themselves. Some even had families to help them where money wasn’t such a big deal. Kyle had neither. He came to us as a poor assholey nomad, and never changed. Except now he was cashing championship level checks. It was a combustible situation that I wanted no part of.
Kyle: You’re awful feisty today…. This Ruby chick must have you all bent out of shape. I know this can’t be about your upcoming cream puff match-up with Jessie.
He was just pressing buttons now to see what would work. The problem was, the same person that taught him all of his tricks trained me too. I wasn’t going to be dumb enough to get sucked into another game that I didn’t want to play. It had cost me too much time already. It was the whole reason that I have been stuck in neutral and saddled with this match with Jessie. I should be doing bigger things. I WOULD be doing bigger things if I could just stay focused on what was important. I needed to clear out the distractions, starting with Kyle.
Court: Look, we may have been part of the same Jet City class, but we aren’t friends. You’re lucky I am still talking to you after the shit you pulled. Right now though, I’m busy. I don’t want to be part of whatever game you’re playing with Kris. I have my own shit going on right now, and I don’t have enough time for all of it, let alone whatever the fuck you want.
He holds up his hands innocently, but I’m not buying it. He’s not innocent, and never has been.
Kyle: I just wanted to offer you a leg to stand on for when Kris and Coby kick yours out from under you. Extending an olive branch, you know?
I shake my head. He must think that I am the same naive little girl that Kris goaded into breaking her hand. He must think that I haven’t learned anything in the last couple of years that were stolen from me. First it was Ruby. Then Jessie. Now Kyle. All of it is insulting. I wasn’t going to listen to his bullshit anymore. I knew why he was here. It was time to cut to the point.
Court: No, you’ve started a war that you aren’t sure you’re masked friends are going to back you up for. Now you’re here trying to get my help.
He shrugs.
Kyle: Wel---
Before he can even get started, I cut him off.
Court: AND! Before asking for the help that you need you went out of your way to remind me that you already framed me for having helped you last time. You put me in the position that I am in, and you want me to fucking pretend you’re here to help. No! Instead, you can get the fuck out of my apartment.
He actually takes a step backwards towards the door. It was the first show of respect that I had gotten during this conversation. He just needed to be reminded who he was messing with. He might be bigger than me, but I could take him a couple years ago and I damn sure could now. I don’t know if it was body language, or the tone of my voice, but he finally got the message and sounded more like he was backing down.
Kyle: You used to be so much smarter than this...
Now it’s my turn to shrug off his words.
Court: Yeah, well you’re just as dumb as always.
Ignoring him, I got back to tossing things into boxes. There wasn’t much left to pick up at this point. It was mostly sweatshirts, blankets, and other things of the sort to give every box a little additional cushion. As I started to make a final pass around the apartment, he finally found a new angle to come at me from.
Kyle: Humor me, because here’s how I see it...
I held up a finger, and pulled an egg timer from one of the boxes. I turned it just slightly and sat it on the corner of the box closest to him.
Court: Three minutes.
I didn’t think he would back down from the challenge, and at the very least it set a time limit on how long it would be before he would actually leave me alone. I was only even half-listening to his pitch.
Kyle: Coby is dragging Kris down his hero path, but you know him. You know how he is. You know how he trained us. He wants to pretend to be the role model and attempt to throw us all under the bus as failed experiments. He wants to act like he is all high and mighty, but we know the truth.
It wasn’t anything that people on Sin City’s roster hadn’t already said week after week. I didn’t matter, and more importantly, I still didn’t care.
Court: ...yawn...
He shakes his head and I can see his frustration starting to build.
Kyle: The problem is, you don’t have it in you to pretend do you? You aren’t going to play nice for the sake of playing nice. I have seen it with how you have been treating the new girl. How long do you think it will be before they accuse you of being on my side all along? You’ve seen the distance wedged between Kris and Mikah because of his new change of heart. You’re like a carbon copy of her. You’re next.
The whole scenario made it seem like I needed someone to save me. It was disgusting, and there was no hiding it.
Court: So they are all going to abandon me and you’re here to pick up the pieces? That’s you’re pitch?
I laugh at him. There was so much more to the story that he didn’t know. Yet he was standing here and trying to tell me what I needed.
Kyle: All I am saying is that when they turn on you, you’re going to need allies...
It was clear in that moment that he really didn’t know where I was headed. Little did he know that I would soon have a house full of allies, assuming Ruby and I can work past whatever the fuck her problem is. But just in case, I wasn’t going to mention the Gem’s place just yet.
Court: ...and that Cyan mask of yours and all of your new idiot friends are going to be able to help me with that.
He looked like he thought he was winning the argument. No wonder I was always a few steps ahead of him in the ring.
Kyle: Better than being left to to dry solo.
The timer next to him chimes through the small apartment space. I give him a wink and gesture towards the door with my open hand.
Court: Time’s up Kyle.
He at least started moving towards the door. That was progress.
Kyle: At least tell me that you’ll think about it...
That was more than I agreed to. I gave him his three minutes, that was going to have to be enough. It was more time than I had to give, and he still got it. I still had to get all of my things to the mansion and then put together a plan for the week before my match. I wasn’t looking to add things to the itinerary.
Court: No, I don’t think that I will.
He still wasn’t taking no for an answer, but at least he was back out into the hallway, and no longer my problem.
Kyle: ...your funeral.
His smugness finally got to me.
Court: No, it’s your mistake. See, you came here thinking that I was some girl in need of being defended. Correct me if I am wrong, but we went to the same school for training. We had the same teachers. Yet, I have actually done something with my name and my career. You’ve flamed out everywhere that you’ve gone and hide under a mask these days. What makes you think that someone like me would need help from someone like you? You’re a male Jessie Salco. Beneath me.
None of my words did anything to wipe the smirk off of his face.
Kyle: We’ll see how long things stay that way. After all, I’m the SCU Television Champion, and you’re on the worst losing streak in the company.
I roll my eyes and grip the handle to the door. I knew that he wanted me to slam it. It was all a game to get me flustered, but I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction.
Court: I bet I get a win before you get that championship of yours back.
He thought it over for a split second, before determining that he liked his odds apparently. He attempted to reach out to shake my hand.
Kyle: Wanna bet?
I was done. He was gone, and I needed to focus. I didn’t even care that it was giving him what he wanted. Before he could touch me I slammed the door shut in his face and had to listen to him laugh on the other side. Looking back at the apartment full of boxes I couldn’t help but think that it was going to be a long and frustrating week.
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>This bitch...
The camera is hovering above Court, looking down at her as she sits back nearly horizontal in an office chair. She sounds exasperated. The chair spins, but the camera over her rotates with her, making it look like the world is spinning around her while Court sits perfectly still.
Jessie Salco wants to pretend that she is better than me.
Court seems frustrated to have to even say the words. In her mind, there was no comparing her to Jessie. There was no world where they were the same. They were in different parts of their careers and Court had already leaped past her in terms of success. She had done something in so little time than Jessie never accomplished in all her years. Court had even been dominant for a stretch of time, something Jessie could never really lay claim to. There was no point where Jessie had been labeled as the next big thing of the company. She was never a rising star. She started dim, and never got brighter. They weren’t similar.
Yeah, the same Jessie Salco that had a worse record last year than I have had in my career in Sin City. The very same Jessie that is closing in on 200 matches worth of experience in this company, and still can’t seem to break 50 wins. The same Jessie that has been banned from championship matches in the past. The Jessie that was the less talented individual from a tag team that included a porn star.
Jessie was quick to accuse Court of being carried through a tournament, but would never admit to being carried by a partner to nearly half of her claims to championships. Court was going to do her best not to hold that against Amy. Kris had always spoke so highly of her.
I may have had a bad run last year, but Jessie has been in the middle of a bad run for the majority of a decade. She has been a punchline for years. She is the one blemish on an otherwise historically amazing Bombshell division in this company. There has never been an occasion where one of her wins wasn’t considered a huge upset. She has never been someone that you put smart money on. She exists as the bottom rung of the SCW ladder. Always has. Always will.
It was harsh, but that’s what happens when someone decides to speak above their station. Jessie had thrown the first stones on social media. Court had phrased her lack of enthusiasm about the match in the most pleasant possible way. Jessie took exception to it anyways, so now there was no point in trying to sugarcoat anything.
So she beat Evie at Inception…. You know what that says? Evie had a fucking off night. Jessie didn’t suddenly become way more talented than we have seen her be over the years. She didn’t finally put all the pieces together and show up as an actual threat. No. As per usual, she didn’t so much pull out a victory as much as Evie took a loss. It’s happened before. I’m sure if Jessie is around for another couple of hundred matches, it’ll probably happen at least one more time.
It was a clear underestimate, but Court wasn’t going to waste time correcting it for Jessie’s benefit. Any concern for her opponent’s feelings were gone. This wasn’t going to be a lighthearted comparison to a boring ice cream flavor. Court felt like she had something Jessie needed to hear, and there wasn’t going to be any stopping her from saying it.
I mean, that luck has carried her to championship reigns a few times. Nothing super impressive. A sex worker overcame the odds to carry her to a couple of tag team championships. Other than that, she had a couple weeks as champion here and there. Nothing that ever lasted long. Nothing that was ever impressive. How many times has she entered Blast from the Past? She’s never even made it to the finals, let alone won it all. In fact, the only time I can remember her even sniffing close to the Bombshell Championship, it was in a match that she eliminated herself from in order to get away from Maki. I might just be a handful of matches into a career here, but I never had to run from Maki. I may have lost, but I took it on the chin. You would have thought someone that has been around for so long could have at least done that. Especially with this whole hardcore punk bullshit she has been trying to sell people for years.
She rolls her eyes.
The fact is, Jessie is never going to go down in the Sin City history books for a good reason. Sure, she has that most losses record on lock, but is that really what anyone wants to be known for? She might have the longest career here, but that just means that every Grand Slam Champion was more successful than she was, but in significantly less time. She might have a few championship reigns to her name, but none of them are impressive enough to land her on the top lists of any division in this company. The only thing that she has going for her is that no many how many times she gets embarrassed and beaten, she always comes back. No matter what the Bombshells do to try and get rid of her, she is always in the locker room. Putting it plainly, Jessie Salco is SCW’s herpes.
She holds her arms out to her sides and shrugs before letting them fall back towards the ground. Her fingertips graze the concrete under her as the chair continues to spin.
Think about it. It’s true. Sure, it’s shitty to actually say out loud, but if the shoe fits, you have to lace that bitch up. Nobody is excited to see her show up. Nobody is watching her matches. Nobody wants to be stuck teaming with her, and everyone sees her as success inept. Being in a match with Jessie is where your Sin City career goes to die. Look at Evie. She went from the top of the division to talking about never showing back up after losing to Jessie at Inception. Granted, that’s not the first time we have seen that particular song and dance either.
Court slams her feet down on the floor suddenly and stops the chair from spinning. The camera goes around another rotation before stopping once Court is right-side-up in the frame. Court tries to shake the last thought away before it burrows in too deeply.
...but Evie’s not the focus of my attention today, and I’m not going to get off track.
It was obvious that there was something about Evie that continued to get under the young Bombshell’s skin, but that was for another time and place. If she was going to beat Jessie, she needed to stay focused on Jessie. Nothing else. Luckily, the long time loser had provided her the exact motivation that she needed to make that possible.
Jessie had the audacity to call out my gym for how I have been performing lately. I guess she missed how well Ruby has been doing, despite how annoying she is. I guess she missed that two of the gym’s trainers are Grand Slam Champions in this company. They trained me, the rookie that won a tournament Jessie has never, and will never win. They trained Coby and Chelsea Quik, both of whom have held championships in this company, one of which won that championship from Jessie herself. You want to point a fucking finger anywhere, you point it at me. The gym that I came out of has had nothing but success in this company. You don’t get to drag them through the mud just because I have had a bad run of it. My losses are on me, and me alone. Just like all of your losses are on you…. And there’s a fuckload more of those on your plate than there is mine.
She stands from the chair and the camera descends from the rafters to be face-to-face with the former Blast from the Past winner. Fans can see the faces of every Jet City South person at the gym all around her. Court had been in the ring surrounded by all of them. It isn’t just Kris Ryans and the rest of The Black Sheep, but all of the Gemstones, the Sweete Twins, and more than a dozen faces of what could be tomorrow’s wrestling stars. If Jessie was going to attack the whole gym, the whole gym wanted to show that they were standing behind Court. It only appeared to give her more confidence.
Maybe another 115 losses from now Jessie could open her mouth and talk this kind of shit to me. Today is not that fucking day though. That day is years from now, if it ever comes. Beating Evie does not cancel out a disappointing career. One win doesn’t change the fact that Jessie has been less than mediocre for nearly a decade. That is what makes this whole thing so laughable.
...but just like her one win over Evie, another loss isn’t going to change a damn thing for Jessie either. It is just going to be more of the same. After all, she has never managed to chain together victories without it being looked at as some kind of fucking miracle. She stole a win from Evie on a bad night and that highlight that will have to hold her over for the next few cold and winless months ahead.
It was as close as Court had gotten to sounding like she was actually going to walk away with a win this time around. Maybe whatever curse she had been fighting lately was finally starting to lift.
I may not be at the place that I wanted to be by now, but I’m going to get there. It doesn’t matter that Jessie wants to attempt to rewrite my history like I ran away. It doesn’t matter that she has been giving me shit all week on social media. I realize that I am in the midst of a slide that can tank my entire career if I can’t get it turned around. For the first time, I am looking at my record with more losses on it than wins. If this streak continues, a few years from now, I could be the one breaking all of Jessie’s shitty records…. That’s the difference between us though…. A few years. That’s why I need to stop the slide now. That’s why I need to get things turned around sooner rather than later. I have never run away from this company. I spent years trying to fight my way back so that I could compete. I have an entire gym standing behind me. I have so many people that I have to represent better than I have been lately. I’m going to get things turned around. There is nothing that I have ever wanted more in my life...
Court walks up to the camera so that she alone occupies the entirety of the frame.
...and come Sunday I will be face-to-face with what I will become if I fail…
...talk about motivation….
