Advice
Its never been a part of me to go out and find answers to my problems.
To ask questions over and over again, to try and get guidance when it comes to my future and my own directions. Its simply, not me. But sometimes we need to break those patterns.
What is the point of watching someone go through something, an experience, and then when you go through it you don’t approach them? Pick their brain?
Alicia and I aren’t perfect sisters. I have been away from her in times of need, she has been too focused on her own life. And if I had needed to ask her about all this a few weeks later, well, what she is going through now would have taken precedence over my bullshit. But at the time, I needed her. I needed to talk.
I needed to ask.
I needed to know everything. No matter how painful.
I guess part of me is happy, through our shared pain, trauma and talking about it, well. We bonded. And now…well..
Now I have my sister back.
Her past, and mine
Zoey took a breath, a deep one attempting to relax and calm herself. Looking down to the table in front of her, tilting her head and reaching out to the small glass filled with amber liquid. She took it down and closed her eyes as Alicia stepped in, putting a bottle in front of Zoey and laughing to herself. The hous ewas quiet.
Too quiet.
The boys weren’t home.
Ironically enough they were spending time with their grandmother. The same woman that had, in their minds, ruined their young lives. Alicia looked out into the backyard, watchi ng the sun go down as she held her glass to her chest after taking a sip. Zoey smiled and shook her head before asking the first question. ”How do you deal with moms bullshit?”
Instead of answering, Alicia simply laughs. Caught off guard but amused. ”Her bullshit? You can’t really…”deal” with it. Why?” She sat down across from Zoey, pouring them both another drink. Zoey leaned forward, her glass in her hand drinking half of it and wincing as it burned her throat.
”I told her about Aron.”[/color[] Zoey trailed off, Alicia stayed silent, looking at her sister and recognising just how big that was. Being patient and waiting as Zoey continued. ”She was…less than impressed. We got into it and I may have brought up what she put you through…the bullshit with Ronnie..”
Alicia looked down and took another drink, reliving everything she went through and was put through, nodding slowly. ”I…don’t blame Mom for that…she may have been the one who set it up, for her own reasons. But she didn’t know what he was like” She swallowed, Zoey nodded. ”But, I take it she wasn’t happy you hadn’t introduced her yet?”
Zoey chuckled shrugged. ”It’s almost like you know her or something.”
”And, if I had to guess. She brought up Michael…”
Silence.
Zoey sat back, mAlicia stayed staring ahead. They both took a drink and waited. Waited for the next part of the conversation. One that Zoey had never really talked about it or brought up. Finally, Alicia turned to her sister and swallowed before breaking the silence. ”What exactly happened between you two?”
She shook her head, pouring another drink and taking it down right away to loosen her lips. Zoey pushed up to her feet, moving around Alicia and leaning against the window. ”At first, Michael was amazing.” She shook her head and swirled her glass. ”He was supportive, charming, affectionate. He would always have my back…but as I fell for him more and more he just…”
”Changed…”
Alicia interrupted, but it was exactly what Zoey was thinking, what she was remembering. ”Yeah. He started being controlling, he’d get angry at the smallest things and suddenly I couldn’t see my friends, or family. He made me push you all away.” Zoey swallows hard and looks to the side before continuing. ”I let it happen Ali. I let him take everything from me.” She put the glass down, her hands balling into fists as she tried to control the anger inside. ”And now, now I have fought back and found a good man, someone who makes me happy and Mom just treats me like…like”
”A stupid child? Still one that makes mistakes?”
Zoey swallowed again and gave a nod. Alicia laughed to herself and threw her hands in the air. ]color=limegreen]”I get it, I do. I made mistakes, but we all have and we all learn from them. I just wish she’d trust me…”
Alicia smiled warmly. She got to her feet and moved to her sister reaching out and patting her on the shoulders, reaching up to reach her bigger sisters arms. She then pulled Zoey forward into a hug and gave her a pat on the back before pulling backwards. ”To her, we’re both still little girls who have no idea what we’re doing. Not young women who have lived through pain.” She shook her head and laughed under her breath. ”You wanted my advice on her? So…here it is…” Alicia backed away with a wry smile.
”Ignore her…..it’s the worst thing you can do to someone who craved control and needs attention…live your life Zo….be happy…”
Round 2
”Well then. What an interesting turn of events hmmm? Kind of disappointing really…”
Zoey folds her arms over her chest and sneers.
”See, even though Joe and I won and we get to move on to the quarter finals, the way it happened was hardly the stamp of authority we wanted. See, Joe held up his end of the bargain and we got the win, but Krystal gets to actually think she was in any way, shape or form better than me. And why? Why does she get to do that huh? Because of Tempest, because she had to make her return and get her hands on Krystal.”
“It’s not enough that Tempest stalled my momentum with a win over me and then just disappeared, now she has to get involved in my Blast from the past match all because she had an issue with Krystal? One that couldn’t have waited? And for what? Where is Tempests grand revenge? So now, Krystal gets to strut around and act like she somehow has a misguided bullshit moral victory over me….”
“Thanks Tempest…”
“But, here we are. The next round in the tournament and Joe and I get to face the team of a former SCW world champion and a woman who has actually won this tournament in Courtney Pierce.”
“So, to say this is a step up in competition from Casey Williams and Krystal Wolfe is an understatement.”
She tuts and shrugs before continuing.
”Joe showed the world that he is every bit as awesome and impactfulo i9n SCW as he has been in other companies all around the world. And it’s something he’s going to continue when he gets in the ring with “Godly” Ken Davison. That is, if Ken gets in the ring and wrestles Joe instead of running like he has from every other credible challenge that came his way. Legit, I have seen some really shitty world champions in various companies in my time but Ken?...come on..”
“I get it, we should all show the old man some respect, with his forty year career that lasted four times as long as his hairline, the fact he has been able to be a world champion while looking like one of those hairless cats, complete with sagging skin…”
“What I’m trying to say is. Ken Davison is old as fuck…”
“And he took the SCW world title and started it’s latest downward spiral. He beat Mac, lost it to Finn, beat Finn, lost it back to Mac. Rinse and repeat. How incredibly boring. And now, this old fart has a chance to win this tournament and punch his ticket to face whoever the world champion is by the time the tournament ends. And I don’t know about Y’all but the prospect of the Ken Davison threepeat fluke fest doesn’t really get my juices flowing if you get my drift…”
She shrugs again and paces back and forth.
”So, it is up to Joe and me to stop that lunacy. But, while I know that Joe is more than a match for Kenny the bald grumpy cat, I know I have to face off against Courtney Pierce. And, you know, part of me thinks that maybe, just maybe Court is better than she’s letting on. See, I could come out here and say that she got carried to a Blast from the past win by Fenris but she and I know that in this tournament that simply isn’t true.”
“People don’t get carried in this tournament it is a partnership and you either succeed as partners or fail as partners and Courtney succeeded with Fenris and now she could succeed with Ken.”
“But, to what end?”’
“I’m in this company week in and week out, grinding and pushing myself each week and each event to get better and to be a rising star. Joe is a legend in the business and has been competing everywhere, he could be a huge get for SCW to stay here, but Courtney? What can we expect of Courtney Pierce? If she and Ken lose I can say right now that she’ll be gone again, out of the company waiting for another year to throw her name in the hat to try her hand again…”
“But what if she and Ken win?”
“I already gave you all a sneak peak at the crap we will all have to put up with if Ken wins. He could lose, or even worse, win the title and make it an even bigger joke. But what of Courtney Pierce? Do any of you actually think she can go on to beat Roxi? Or whoever the champion is? Courtney, despite training at Jet City you just never quite made it to that level that you thought you should.”
Her voice lowers into a growl.
”All this time in and out of SCW, all the statements and training and the great people you’re connected to and what exactly do you have to show for it? A blast from the past win five years ago and a string of people talking about your potential. But, potential only gets you so far Court. If, after the string of matches and wins I have had in SCW against goddamn bonafide legends and hall of famers, I am still being looked at as a “potential” champion and the “future” in five years….then I should just leave and not come back…”
“That is where you’re at.”
“A crossroads. Put up or shut up. But, if you lose in the tournament then what will you do huh? Will you walk away? Or stay in SCW and keep chasing that potential. Cause realising it, climbing that ladder and grinding. It’s about more than just coming in once a year to try your hand at a damn shortcut. And that is the biggest issue with you. I see this as an opportunity to earn my way to a match no one has ever seen before.”
“For you?...this is your once a year grasping at straws for relevance. It didn’t work in the queen for a day last year and it ain’t going to work in the blast from the past Court…I’ll do everything to make sure of it…”
