Not what you thought…
”Losing someone isn’t the end..”
Atlanta Georgia. Not one of Alexs’ favorite places. It was a hot August day, Alex had his arms folded over his chest, decked out in a suit. He undid the buttons on the jacket letting it sit open. His long hair was tied back, his beard was neatly trimmed.His hands slid into his pockets as he looked down. Alicia Lukas gave a small nod, her long blond hair tied back and away from her face, her make up looking immaculate, she wore a black dress and slowly folded her arms over her chest.
She looked forlorn, a long deep breath passing her lips as she stared out at the crowded room. It was 2018, the room was full of people in black clothes. Alicia’s siblings moved around the room talking to people, her brother Josh towered over all of them, being six foot ten, mhis long hair was also tied back, Her sister Zoey wiped away a tear as she chatted away to family members. A large casket sat down the end of the hallway in another room, the top open. It was a wake. A wake for Alicia’s father Jason
Alicia cleared her throat looking over at Alex. ”I know. I know it isn’t the end. It’s just. He was always gone, I never really knew him.”
Her voice faded, Josh seemed the most distant. Zoey cried, Alicia felt guilt. But Josh, he stood in a room full of people and had to pretend to care. It all seemed very familiar. ”I met him once…” Alex sighed and looked over at Alicia who raised an eyebrow, she seemed to be confused. ”Your dad. I met him when I first broke in.” Alex smirked and shook his head before stepping around in front of Alicia to distract her from all the guests who looked over at her making her feel uncomfortable.
”I was at a spot show in Texas. It was small, maybe 200 people…” His voice trailed off, he shook his head thinking back, it was around that time Alex had his own problems, his own loss. But he continued. ”Your dad was there to sign some autographs, he was different than I remembered, his hair had started to go grey, not blond, he did a run in...powerbombed a guy...he was a professional..”
Alicia gave a small nod and cleared her throat. ”Wrestling was all he really felt right in, he wasn’t a good husband or father...he didn’t know how.” Alex put his hand up onto Alicia’s shoulder and smiled weakly.
”He was proud of you. Not just for what you did in the ring, but the woman you have become….Violet.” Alex never used her name, not her real name. Alicia choked up and sighed, she didn’t want to cry, she hadn’t cried. She buried it deep down and she had to be the strong one, for her sister and for her boys who lost their grandfather. Alex Stepped forward wrapping his arm around Alicia. ”You’ll be ok kid...you’ll be ok” His mind faded away, into the past….
July 2007 Dallas Texas. The sun beat down. The heat was high but low humidity as a warm summer breeze moves through the trees and across the grass. Cars kept pulling up to the small house and people dressed in black slowly shuffled into the house past an older woman, her face covered with a black veil as they all stopped to offer words of sympathy. Drowned out by the gravity of the situation. A tall blond woman sat next to the older one, Her hands in her lap as she stared forward.
Sitting alone to the side, his legs up and crossed on a white painted beam is Alex Jones. Much younger than we see him now. No beard or color in his hair. It sits tied back out of his fresh boyish face, his upper body slender and undefined hidden under a black suit with a white shirt and a black tie. He lifts a beer to his lips sipping it with a shake of the head, The blonde looks over and sighs deeply. Alex turns and looks out onto the street as more seem to be coming, a boy much younger than him but looking oddly similar stands with a few older people, they all talk to him, offer words of kindness and support.
He didn’t even hear her footsteps, her voice cutting through the haze. “I know it’s a wake but would it kill you to look like you cared about Dad?” Charlene “Charlie” Jones, Alex’s younger sister stood next to him. She was physically big for her age, at 15 she stood 5’9, only slightly shorter than her older brother, athletically gifted with a kind face and bright blue eyes much like his own.
Alex sat there taking another sip of beer, a sigh coming after the mouthful. “It seems like when you die your sins are absolved and everyone seems to forget what a royal asshole you were….”
The words spit like venom, anger, and frustration behind them as he noticed the young boy crying. Dylan Jones, or DJ. he was 13, he wiped his eyes turning from the group of relatives and well-wishers, no one noticed the tears. No one except Alex and Charlie. “He’s not taking it well Alex.” He scoffed and shook his head. His mind drifting to another place he’d rather be, far away from all the mess he’d left behind.
A place with a certain pale girl with long black hair and a mean look in her eye that seemed to disappear when Alex smiled. “And what do you want me to do Charlie?. The old man is gone, nothing will bring him back and honestly...I wouldn’t want him here anyway….” Alex shook his head again kicking his legs off the banister, a few small white paint chips fell to the floor and Alex turned to his sister.
“He wasn’t the same man, he changed. He knew the mistakes he made and he-”
”STOP!” It was said louder than Alex had intended, it rang out through the house and out onto the porch. The older woman obviously their mother looked up shocked. Alex sighed and turned away taking another sip of his beer.
Charlie shook her head and looked at it.“Continuing the family legacy I see…” Alex ground his teeth together and looked down and away, his hand gripping the glass bottle as he noticed Dylan, his younger brother's eyes staring a hole right through him. “He never forgave you for leaving.” Alex shook his head and finished the beer throwing the bottle down into the trashcan on the ground below the patio.
“Yeah, the old man told me not to come back, remember?” Alex’s mind flashed back to that night, the sound of the glass bottle breaking in the small trash can taking him back to that moment, the small scar on his cheek burning with the memory or glass shattering off the wall and hitting his face.
“No Alex...not Dad…” Her head moved slightly motioning back down to Dylan who had now looked away and focused elsewhere.
Alex sighed again and swallowed hard. “You’re putting all this on me?. I don’t need this…” Alex pushed up and away making his way into the house as Charlie followed.
Alex made it to his old room but before he could close the door Charlie stepped in. “I didn’t say we were done” Her voice was low and filled with hate. Alex raised an eyebrow and stepped back surprised. “You don’t get it, when you walked out you weren’t just getting away from Dad you walked out on us...me... mom...Dyl….You left us, Alex, you stood there and took the abuse and even though Dad stopped drinking last year, how do you think it was before that?” Charlie snarled, her eyes filling with tears, her hands shaking along with her voice and breathing. “Who do you think he took his abuse out on?. It wasn’t mom, it wasn’t me….he needs you, Alex….” He looked down and balled his hands into fists, his stomach aching as his heart seemed to drop into it. He swallowed hard and again his mind flashed back to her.
“You don’t understand, I have...I have a life, Charlie.” His sister shook her head and stepped forward taking his hands in hers.
“It’s family, our family. Our brother, mom, me. We need you….what do you have there?...a job?..friends?...a girl?...” Alex twitched, Charlie scoffed knowing the answer with a sigh. “No piece of ass is worth abandoning your family, if it was meant to be you’ll be together someday. But right now...right now your place is here…” She calmed herself and gave him a kiss on the cheek turning to leave. Alex sat on his old bed, his hands under his chin.
“...Fuck…”
Griffin Hunting
”Well, didn’t take long did it?”
It’s definitely the voice of Alex Jones. But not as clear as it would usually be. Alex steps forward, his long hair is wet and hanging down. His eyes burn and shine with a fire he hasn’t had in months. His arms fold over his chest, around him is dark as a light comes from above. Alex's face is covered by a mask, black with a wolf's snarling mouth on it over his own.
”Shhh, shhh can you hear it?”
His eyes trail up and to the side, he unfolds his arms and his right hand raises, a few fingers sliding his hair behind his ear before moving to his earlobe pushing it forward, Alex stays silent for a few seconds, we don’t hear anything until Alex chuckles and folds his arms again.
”It’s the sound of people whining and complaining. Complaining about my position in Sin City Wrestling. Complaining that I have a title shot, complaining that I am in another main event. Complaining, complaining, complaining. That is all most of you do. O/Malley and his bitch are constantly complaining. A man I have respect for in Fenris complains despite the fact he took his ball and went home. But, if any of you have an issue. Let me explain a few things to you. Look at the mixed tag division. Arguably the best two teams to step into the ring in that division are London Underground and Team Eggplant. Team Eggplant are made up of two wrestlers who haven’t done shit as singles stars.”
“I’m sorry Lach, Si, but it’s true. The mixed tag division goes through stages of being competitive and relevant. Johanna needed a starting off point. So I stood next to her to help her career, but also to boost that division. Because a name like me, a star like me, it boosts the prestige of those titles. I mean, Malachi and Bella are going to be good champions, but they have to face Mikah and Kris Ryans, two of the most decorated professional wrestlers in SCW and that is just going to make those titles mean even more. For name value. I have been here, in this company working my ass off just like everyone else for months and I am also a bonafide legend of this business. So for anyone to have a bitch about me getting a championship match?...”
“Kiss my ass..”
“For years now I have been in this company. I didn’t have to, I could have just sat back and lived my life with what I have already done. I have enough money to retire on, I invested well, I saved, I’m not stupid. So this for me, it was never a money thing. I didn’t need SCW, SCW needed me. When the merger happened SCW got the ones that had already been in both companies, but without me, there would be no Austin, there would be no Alicia. Neither of them would have signed their contracts. They would have gone somewhere else.”
“I made it happen, I ushered in this new golden age.”
Alex tilts his head. In his mind he’s right. In his mind he started this. Wolfslair was his dream, his future. He had been over wrestling. He wanted to retire, to sit back and enjoy life. But the lure of the ring and glory was too much. That and the need to be the best of the best. It was an addiction.
”And, did I get a thank you? No, no i didn’t. See, I stepped forward and did my best and in the end I got involved in the title picture, a picture that at the time I wasn’t as invested in as I should have been. It was all about Austin. It was all about Alicia. Those two kids needed to take the brass rings. And not only did they reach up and grab them, they took them down and made them their own. I came in when I was needed, I won some matches, lost others, but the entire time I was still one of the best in the world and I never asked for ore demanded ANYTHING. I didn’t ask for a roulette title match, I didn’t ask for a mixed tag title match the second Johanna and I teamed, I didn’t even ask for this title opportunity..”
“I asked to be considered, I made it known I wanted a shot, I made it known I would work my way up to one but SCW, they didn’t see it that way. Mark and Christian are smart, Mark and Christian reward people who show how good they can be. Atleast thats what I thought till I saw how SCW are marketing this….See.Jesse Salco, Caleb Storms, Bill Barnhart, Vinnie, Crystal, they all sit around and demand title shots but I prefer to go out there and earn them…”
“But, my name. My name earned me this. My sacrifices earned me this and here we are a few days away from Climax Control 277 and what really pisses me off, what really gets under my skin is that I’m obviously being used. See, while the romantic side of this match is me getting the shot to begin with and people complaining, the real narrative that the company iosd pushing forward with is I’m the first “threat” and that I called Griffin out on his way to the next supercard and to Jack Washington…”
“Are you kidding me?.”
“I called out Griffin, I called him out and I said I would EARN my way to him, but SCW put me in this match two weeks after he beat Ben. And why?. Why would they do that? Why would they have Griffin Hawkins vs Alex Jones and then remind everyone Jack Washington ran his mouth? Because, they think since Griffin Hawkins won against me before, Griffin can beat me again, get a win under his belt and go on to the next supercard to face the golden boy….right?”
He scoffs, rolling his eyes. His anger and frustration boiling over. He steps back and forth, the light from above still on him with nothing around. Nothing to distract you or take your focus off of Alex. He is the focal point. Get it? Metaphors!
”If you think, for one damn second that I won’t get off on destroying SCW’s plans and forcing them to change everything, then you don’t know me at all. See, I am all about being the variable, the intangible, the pain in the ass. That is all me. I have stood back, deliberately, I have watched others go on to be champions and I have done it with a smile on my face like a proud father watching his kids go to school for the first time, but now it’s MY time. Now it’s MY narrative. This is about Alex Jones winning his tenth world title, and yes, I am still searching for that. I have been winning other titles and tag titles and all that jazz but I am still on the hunt for number ten and if you think I’m not willing to destroy Griffin to get it?...well you’re dumb as shit…”
“Thing is, I like Griffin. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, he is a stand up guy. I like Griffin as a human being and he has a great taste in music and is respectful and works hard. And he has great hair. Hell, as a world champion he’s even pretty good. Pretty good, not great. I mean, we get it Griffin, you had this as a goal. You wanted this. The dream since you stepped into the company. So amazing, so poetic, so heartwarming. So generic. It’s all of us Griffin, even me. We all want to be the SCW world champion, if you don’t then you shouldn’t be in the company. Shit Caleb Storms and that moron Stephen Callaway want to be the damn world champion too.”
“But, you did it. You reached your dream and your goal. Congratulations. Really Griffin. You beat Ben Jordan, that is no easy thing to do, you beat me, you went on a great Roulette run. You’re a great wrestler Griffin. You’re a great athlete. But this, this is just business…”
“I want my damn tenth world title. I want my time in the spotlight and it is your job to stop me. It’s your job to step on MY dreams and to live yours. And the difference between us Hawkins is that you’ll smile, shake my hand and wish me luck, I’ll smile, shake your hand, and get ready to stab you right in the back and snatch that pretty gold belt off your shoulder or from around your waist. People like you win the big one, have that wonderful feel good moment in the sun and raise the title over your head, then don’t go on. Because you don’t have the killer instinct to do what needs to be done. You’re not like Fenris, Austin, Ben or me.”
“I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, I’m saying when push comes to shove, you don’t know when to pull the trigger Griffin…”
“The Internet and Roulette titles are different than that one. They are different in how you feel when you hold it. How you present yourself and what people will do to get it. You and I went to war for the Roulette title and in the end you won, you had your hand raised and I give you full credit for it. I’m not here to take that away from you or say it was some kind of fluke. On that night, Griffin Hawkins was better than Alex Jones.”
Alex slowly applauds and nods his head. It was a real admission. An admission of honesty but also failure. Something that has annoyed and burned in Alex's mind for months. He failed against Griffin, he watched Austin win two singles championships, he watched Alicia win the bombshells title twice, go on a hell of a run and become a star. It was his turn now…
”But, what now? I have spent months sitting in the mixed tag division, earning more defences than anyone else has. I have been watching others build themselves up and be looked at as better than me. I watched Austin lose to Vinnie, I watched you beat Ben. I’m done watching Griff. I’m done sitting on the sideline and I can change everything by getting in that ring and simply being the best. Las Vegas Nevada, Sam’s town...Climax Control...Alex Jones versus Griffin Hawkins...you had a hell of a run, you deserve what you got...but...I’m going to take it all away Griffin….”
