[Kristopher Ryans]

 Monday Morning

It was not often that Kris called Coby in on his off day. It was especially strange since Kris very publicly announced he would be stepping down from all responsibilities and giving away his half of the ownership. He walks into the front door of Jet City, noticing all of his students were gathered around the ring, yet there was no scheduled class. He immediately gets a bad feeling, moving through the building to the back office. As soon as he gets to it he notices an immediate difference. The typical doorknob has been replaced with a panel lever like you would see on hospital doors. Coby presses it to pop the latch free and pushes the door open. Kris is standing behind the desk, taping up his right hand. He has a glove on under the tape that covers his palm, but only the bottom third of each of his fingers.

Coby: “Nice gloves…”

Kris laughs, picking up the other glove from the bag and holding it out to Coby.

Kris: “New toys. I found them at one of the stops on the cruise.”

Coby takes a step forward and takes the glove, but is surprised to find how heavy it is. He turns it over in his hands, feeling the thin plates built inside the fabric of both the palm and the back of the hand. His fingers move around to the knuckles to find thin tungsten rings sewed into the fabric. He looks up at Kris, terrified because he already knew why he got them.

Coby: “You sure you want to go this far?”

Kris looks up, finishing the tape on one hand before reaching out for the left glove without a response. When his eyes meet Coby’s, the younger man knows that this is going to happen with or without his consent. He hands Kris back the glove, shaking his head.

Coby: “Don't kill him…”

Kris slides the glove onto his hand, and starts to tape around it. Within a minute the entire glove is hidden under the tape. As he moves down to his wrist though, the roll of tape runs out. Kris grits his teeth, annoyed. Coby immediately snaps into action.

Coby: “It's cool. We got all the extra stuff in our storage room.”

There is a short hallway inside the office that goes back to a walk in closet with all of the surplus supplies for the gym. Coby looks through the rack, looking for tape but not finding any. As soon as he disappears into the room, Kris reaches into his bag, grabbing a small metal bar, only eight inches long, and a second roll of tape. He moves around the desk, and out the door, closing it behind him. Once it is closed, he slides the metal bar between the wall and the new lever handle, preventing it from being able to be opened from the inside. He turns to the main area of the gym, seeing all of the trainees already waiting there for Coby.

JD: “Where is Quik at?”

Kris shrugs, using the new roll of tape to finish his left wrist before throwing the rest of the roll onto a nearby table.

Kris: “He came in, had to run out, and asked me to take over.”

Chatter breaks out over the group as Kris rolls into the ring. He raises up both of his hands to calm them.

Kris: “Relax. He will be back before you know it.”

However, they are not sold.

PJ: “Kris, you know we love you, but you've never even been trained. What do you even have to teach us.”

Kris smiles widely, conceding the point.

Kris: “You're right. I couldn't teach you guys about the technical side of wrestling even if I tried. What I can talk about for a little bit is striking though. I'm going to need someone to come up here with me though.”

He looks around the crowd trying to not make it obvious. He finds someone avoiding eye contact, and immediately makes her a target.

Kris: “Maddie, want to come up?”

She shakes her head ferociously, knowing better than to get up in the ring with Kris. It was by design though. Kris knew calling on someone else would trigger the jealousy in his least favorite student.

Kurtis: “I’ll do it.”

Kris’ heart leaps in his chest, but he knows he cannot let it show on his face. He scowls, sighing heavily.

Kris: “I don't even know why I'm surprised…”

Kurtis knows that Kris cannot say no without everyone in the group thinking he backed down, so he climbs the ring stairs and enters between the middle and top rope. He comes over to Kris, and offers his hand, but Kris simply glares down at it without shaking it. He turns back to the crowd instead of dwelling on it.

Kris: “You can know all of the technical shit in the world, but if you can't stop someone from knocking you out you're never going to win any matches. It's not about dodging. It's not about evading. You need to learn how to anticipate what is coming. Know your opponent as well as you know yourself.”

There are nods of agreement from the trainees, and Kris is quite pleased with himself. He was making it all up on the spot and they were buying it without question. Kris turns from them to face Kurtis, motioning for him to put his hands up.

Kris: “When an opponent squares to you, you can't spend all your time watching their hands. It's in the shoulders.”

He uses his right hand to tap his left shoulder.

Kris: “Nice and slow Kurtis, we aren't going full speed here.”

They circle each other a little, both of them with their hands up. Kris’ voice raises, talking to the crowd again.

Kris: “If someone is going to go low on you, you're going to see them drop their hands just a half inch…”

As he speaks Kris does that, baiting his hook. Kurtis, in response lowers his to match and tucks his elbows in to absorb the shot.

Kris: “Wait to see the shoulder twitch so you know which side it is coming from…”

Kris fakes with his right hand and Kurtis reacts. He drops his gloves to cover his ribs on the left side of his body. As soon as he does Kris flips his footing, planting his left foot and swinging as hard as he can with every bit of his power and weight behind it. However, he is not aiming for ribs. He is not even throwing a right hand. Instead, he throws a left hook that connects squarely across Kurtis’ cheekbone. The rookie drops immediately, like a lifeless ragdoll. The students gasp, and some step forward. JD and PJ both hop onto the apron but Kris holds his hand up and shakes his head. He reaches down to Kurtis, and snaps his fingers but gets no response. He holds the back of his hand to his mouth, feeling his breath on his hand. As soon as he feels it, he stands back up. His emotions finally boil over.

Kris: “DON'T YOU EVER TRY TO FUCK WITH MY LIFE!”

The words are lost on Kurtis, but it makes the rest of the group back off. The voice that comes out of Kris is more hateful and angry than anyone had ever heard. He shakes his head, not paying any attention to the students and spitting on his unconscious trainee. He crosses the ring, dropping to the mat and rolling under the ropes. The students immediately flood the ring, checking on Kurtis while Kris makes his way back to the office. He pulls the bar off of the door and opens it to find Coby leaning on the desk waiting for him.

Coby: “He alive?”

Kris shrugs.

Kris: “Breathing.”

Coby sighs, nodding.

Coby: Do you feel better?

Kris rolls his shoulders, letting out another deep breath.

Kris: That was the easy part….

Coby pushes away from the desk, pats Kris on the shoulder, and heads out through the door without a word. Kris starts unwrapping his hands, tossing the tape in the garbage and the gloves back in his bag. He wishes he felt better. Felt anything. Instead, he is just numb. He puts his feet up on the desk, cradling the back of his head with his hands and closing his eyes. He was not sure if he was ready for the next part, but he knew it was his only option.



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Monday Afternoon

He opens his eyes when he hears the knock at the door. He could not have been asleep. He had not done much of that at all in the last week. Kris pushes himself up from the couch, dreading each of his steps until he pulls open the door. There she was, only concern on her face. Her eyes begged him to change his mind but she was in no place to vocalize it. She tries to force a smile, but it looks like Kris is looking through her instead of at her. She holds out the same plastic bag to him.

Kris: Receipt?

She nods.

Kali: It's in there.

He does not respond, simply taking the bag from her and moving it to his left hand. He reaches back out with his right.

Kris: Give them to me…

She shakes her head, but her hands move to the bag on her hip. She pulls the folder from it, and holds it out to him. He grabs it, but she does not let go.

Kali: You don't have t---

Kris: Yes I do. Let go. Just give me a second.

Her eyes plead with him for just another moment before she reluctantly lets the folder go. He tucks it under his arm, nods, and closes the door. As soon as he is behind it, he spins, putting his back to it. He leans his head back, resting it against the wood, closing his eyes tightly.

KJ: You're doing the right thing…

Kris swallows hard, not opening his eyes. A tear falls from his eye, and he nods. He knows that nobody is really there but right now it does not matter. He did not want to do this alone. His voice cracks and is barely above a whisper.

Kris: I know.

He raises his arm, brushing at his face and forcing himself to move from the door. Crossing the living room is like walking in quicksand. Every atom in his body wanted him to stop. His feet barely leave the ground with each step, but he pushes through the door and into the kitchen. His legs wobble as he gets to the island countertop in the middle of the room. He puts the bag down, and the folder next to it.

KJ: You know it's the right thing.

Kris closes his eyes, looking down. He nods. Without opening his eyes he flips open the folder. It takes the motivation of another deep breath, but he opens his eyes to look down at the papers it contained. Right on the top, the petition for uncontested divorce. It was all there in plain letters. His signature already on the bottom from when they forced his hand. His fingers fumble around in his pockets for a pen. As soon as he finds it, he clicks the top, and quickly scribbles the date next to his signature like he was ripping off a bandaid.

KJ: It's okay. It's over now. Two more.

He cannot stomach looking at it anymore, flipping it over. He pulls a stack with it, all of terms of the dissolution spelled out over and over again that he gets nothing. The next one is even more difficult. He tries to ignore the top line, but catches his son’s name as he searches for the signature line. Tears start to roll from both eyes now as he scribbles the date a second time.

KJ: One more. You're doing so good. I'm proud of you. You can do it.

He flips the page again. The form was identical to the last, with the exception of a few names being switched around. He is careful to stay away from reading his daughter's name so he did not have to feel the shame of letting his sister down as well. With the last of his energy he writes the date, and closes the folder. It breaks him. The pen flips out of his hand, and his legs fall out from under him. He sobs, leaning on the counter until he feels his son’s hand on his shoulder.

KJ: Come on. You're so close…

It was too much. He hits his head against the counter, wanting to feel something other than this. Anything would be better. His hands come together, the fingers of his right hand finding the ring on his left. It feels glued to him, liked it was suddenly two sizes too small. He fights with it. Finally finding the willpower to budge it, it falls to the countertop. The clang it makes echoes through the whole house. Everyone has a moment in their life that feels like it will not end. This was his. The sound rings in his ears for what feels like centuries.

KJ: Get up….

He does as he is told. His son’s voice in his head is reassuring. He steps away from the counter to the fridge, reaching up to open the cabinet above it and remove the small wooden box from its hiding place. He takes it back to the counter. Not bothering to close the cabinet. Setting it down, he removes the lid. The bags inside had no power over him. Not anymore. Nobody would buy the lie if he left them behind though. He reaches in, grabbing the bags and stuffing them into his pockets. He does not even bother replacing the lid, driving himself forward.

KJ: Do you remember where it is?

He exits the room, climbing up the main stairs to his office. His son follows him the whole way. Kris does not look behind himself but he can feel him there. He might be at rock bottom but he is not there alone. By the time he gets to the door he is on autopilot. He is just a spectator to the events, crossing the room to an amp for his guitar and reaching around to the back side. The panel was missing, but what he wanted was just inside. He grabs it, pulling it free and holding it up.

KJ: Why did you keep it?

Kris shrugs, his eyes scanning the label of the container. Two red lines appeared over the tab for opiates. Reading across it, the fail bar was also red.

Kris: As a reminder that I would never do it again…

He turns, basically gliding back down through the house. Before he realizes it, he is back in the kitchen, fumbling with the bag Kali brought him. He pulls out the receipt first, the date and her name being across the top from swiping her credit card to pay for it. He places it on top of the folder, next to his ring. There was no arguing it was from today. He reaches into the bag again pulling out the same brand of drug test he had failed. He rips it open, pulling the container out, spinning the top off and scattering the instructions for it on the counter. He leaves the box, the ripped plastic, but pockets the container itself. Instead, he takes the old failed test and leaves it in its place.

KJ: It's better this way. We all have a chance now.

Kris nods. He leaves the counter, heading back to the door. Next to it are a small bag, and a single guitar case. He shoulders the bag, picks up the case, and reaches for the handle of the door.

KJ: Dad…

Kris turns. He should not listen. It is all in his head. It does not stop him from turning though. He does not even have to respond.

KJ: Close your eyes...

Kris nods, taking a breath. Tears roll through his closed eyelids.

KJ: Five…

His mind wanders. First meeting Heather. The smile on her face in her sister’s driveway. She challenged him. She pushed him. She was not content to let him get away with anything. He fell in love with her that day.

KJ: Four…

He can almost hear the knock on his door the night she came back. The night that he had finally been able to admit the feelings he had the whole time. She had broken through those walls, but he could not admit it until it was almost too late. She came back though. It was when he decided he would marry her.

KJ: Three…

The wedding. A day he never thought would come. He promised himself that it was never going to happen for him. Standing across from her he had never seen anyone more beautiful. He thought the bubble would and she would say no. He pictured what it would be like to be left there by himself. The two words he got instead changed everything.

KJ: Two…

Labor. Holding her hand in the hospital. Holding their daughter for the first time. Sitting KJ in their lap and introducing him. It was everything he never had. Everything that he never thought he was good for his entire life. It was all right there in one memory.

KJ: One…

Kris opens his eyes. He is alone. The house is silent. He takes a look around the room, turns the handle and walks out.