December 23, 2023 -
Las Vegas, Nevada
The holiday season of 2023 has come and gone, but for those of us within the realm of Sin City Wrestling, the miracle of flashbacks is not something that is relegated to one instance or another. In fact, we can go back as far as we wish in order to reflect on times past so that we might better learn and experience from memories - be the beloved or hard to face and confront. And when it comes to the holidays, one can visit the good or the bad because there is absolutely no promise or guarantee that either will be the case. You can plan your Christmas or ule or Hanukkah down to the very minute detail and even the smallest thing will lay waste to the absolute best of plans.
Case in point…
Tempest: Hey Momma.
Tempest said from her end of the call she had been worried about placing since yesterday, but there was no mistaking the circumstances and no turning back. The woman who was looked at by the SCW Universe, fan and competitor alike, as the literal amazon of the six-sided ring, looked to be anything but given the circumstances.
Nalani: Alleyne! Dear, I wasn’t expecting you to call!
Tempest: I know, Momma, but I’m afraid I have some bad news.
And as quickly as her mother’s face lit up with the call from her ‘baby girl,’ it fell just as quickly with the words dreaded by any parent.
Nalani: Oh dear, what is it?
Tempest closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath, exhaling through her pursed lips before she broke the news.
Tempest: Anela and I aren’t going to be able to make it for Christmas.
And what mother wanted to hear that the wouldn’t be seeing their child (even just one of several), that one most magical day of the year. Nalani looked absolutely devastated, her free hand placed over her heart and her eyes were closed for a brief time while her daughter continued from her end of the call.
Tempest: I know despite what we talked about on Thanksgiving that we’d come to you, but Anela isn’t feeling well. She started getting sick yesterday and I don’t know if it’s a cold or the flu or…
Nalani: Dear, if it’s just a little cold…
Tempest: Momma, whether it’s just a little cold or what… bringing a little girl onto a plane for a seven hour flight would just be irresponsible. The poor thing would be in misery.
Nalani: I know dear, I was just hoping so much to see you both with everyone…
Tempest: I know, and I was looking forward to that perfect little first Christmas with my daughter but sadly things don’t always work out the way that we want them. Plus, answer me this; and be honest! How would you react if someone tried to get you to bring one of your sick children onto a flight?
Nalani sighed, despite herself, and found herself unable but to admit the truth.
Nalani: I would probably forget that I was a lady and tell them where to go.
Tempest chuckled, never failing to take delight in her mother’s way of putting her thoughts into words.
Tempest: Well, I never claimed to be a lady but I would also never tell my own mother where to go.
Nalani murmured.
Nalani: Smart girl…
Tempest: And I wanted you to know this is not how I wanted my first Christmas having Anela back to go but…
Nalani: I know, I know. It’s alright Alleyne. Well, it’s not alright but I more than understand. So … it is just a cold? It’s not…?
Tempest: I don’t know yet but I pray to God not. That’s all this poor kid needs! I’ve kept us holed up in the apartment just in case but will give her the test first thing in the morning.
Nalani: Poor thing… Well dear, I still hate that you two won’t be home but I’ll let the family know. Now you just go take care of our little girl. Just make sure you keep me updated on how she is and call us come Christmas!
This was one of the many reasons why Alleyne - Tempest - loved her mother so much. Disappointed though she was, she always had her priorities in order and her heart remained in the right place.
Tempest: I will, Mama. Love you.
A sentiment that was as well spoken as it was sincere. Tempest was not a woman who regularly showed such emotion, preferring to allow the image of her being an angry Amazon to perpetuate in the minds of those around her. But where family was concerned, particularly her mother, there simply was no going back from being the loving woman that those closest to her knew her to be.
Nalani: Love you too.
And that being said, the call was ended. Tempest turned her phone off and set it on the counter of the kitchen in her new apartment in Las Vegas. She stood up from the bar counter and walked into the kitchen, opening the refrigerator and taking out a single bottle of beer. She used to be more free when it came to having a beer every now and then, but with a child in the house, one of whom she had bought for so long to regain custody of, she felt almost a sense of guilt when it came to having a drink. And she was just about to pop the cap off the bottle, when she closed her eyes and exhaled.
Tempest: Damn it.
And she opened the refrigerator back up and set the bottle back inside, shutting the door behind it. This was going to take some getting used to.
Tempest then turned and walked out of the kitchen and down the hall where she arrived at the door that was slightly a jar so as to better afford her adopted step daughter some some months of privacy but also allow her to keep an eye on the young girl given she was under the weather. Tempest nudged the door open further and gazed into the darkness and she could see the huddled form under the blankets, hidden from head to toe. She knew Anele well enough that when she wasn't feeling well, she was curled into a fetal position just as she was now.
Tempest crossed over the carpeted floor of her step daughter's bedroom and sat as gently as was possible given her 6 ft 3, 200 plus pound frame. But no sooner did she do so than Anela snuggled up to her in her sleep. That was all the invitation this Beast of a woman needed, as she kicked off her shoes and Drew her legs up onto the small bed, resting back against the headboard. She draped an arm around the girl and just sat there for her daughter who needed her, simply being a mother.
The follow morning…
And thank God, Anela did not have COVID. Tempest had administered the at home test on her stepdaughter, and the girl put up an impressive struggle to having a swab stuck up her nose, but in the end the result came back negative which was a great relief. Tempest then did the unthinkable and asked her next door neighbor, a kindly older couple, to keep an eye on the apartment while she ran to the nearest drugstore and stocked up on every available child's cold and flu medicine she could get her hands on.
This was all foreign territory to her, and by her own admission Tempest did not know how her mother managed to do the same between herself and her three older brothers. She doused Anela with vitamins, medicine, and of course the obligatory orange juice and chicken soup simply because her own mother had insisted upon it. And when it comes to their children, or in this case, grandchild, a mother/grandmother knew best.
By the time night had fallen this evening on Christmas eve, Anela was feeling somewhat better but still not entirely under the radar of the bug that had caught up with her. Tempest had chosen to forego temporarily the chicken soup and orange juice and sent for takeout at her step daughter's behest, getting the Chinese food that the young girl wanted so badly. Not that Tempest minded, mind you. She could certainly do with some spicy shrimp while Anela hit at her own beef and broccoli but only ate it sparingly, still feeling the influence of both the flu as well as the medicine taken. Tempest even ignored her own rule about no eating in the living room and she sat on the sofa with her own plate while her stepdaughter stretched out with her head in her lap, the pair of them watching the traditional Charlie Brown Christmas special on TV.
The lights were turned down, the colorful and soft twinkling of the Christmas tree lights dancing off of the white walls that surrounded them. It was one of the things that brought a sense of magic to this one night. And it had nothing at all to do with the pile of elaborately wrapped Christmas presents that were under the tree.
Honest! It was not as if Tempest was in any hurry to spoil her stepdaughter on their first Christmas together. And if you believe that, I have some motion front property in Arizona that I would like to sell you!
“Well, isn't it amazing how things seem to take on a life of their own and work out for better or worse? I have to admit that the past couple of weeks or not what I had expected. I had hoped that my first Christmas with my stepdaughter would have been perfect but circumstances dictated otherwise. And even though it wasn't what I envisioned, I have to admit that it still turned out special.”
“Weeks ago when I thought all hope was lost for my new family, that was when Gabriel Stevens put something into my head that never truly took root until Christmas eve. He told me that the family I have in Hawaii was not my only family. Or I'm from, family always meant a great deal and took precedence above all else. But this year I wasn't able to be with my family for the holidays, and what did that man do? On Christmas Eve he showed up at my door, with his own family, to celebrate Christmas Eve with me and my daughter since they would be busy the following day. That was what he meant. And that was the moment I realized the truth that rang true behind his words.”
“I have family here, in Las Vegas, where I need it when I can't be home. Gabriel and his family. Carter, Ariana and their significant others. Despy and Synn. And perhaps most especially my closest friend, Austin James Mercer. Everybody. And even though my GO Gym family all said that they would be busy on Christmas day, they still stopped by once again to visit and wish us well, and make sure that my daughter had even more presents than I had already given her. The way her eyes lit up on that one morning, it made everything right. It made all the pain from the struggles of the past several years of wanting her home completely worth it in the end. And it made me value and cherish the people that helped me get here, where I am today, all the more.”
“Which is why this Sunday, things are not going to go well at all for my opponent, Luna. All due respect to Luna, I never once expected somebody simply to step up and volunteer to be my opponent because quite frankly, I can't remember the last time that ever happened if at all! But you said if I wanted someone to fight inside of that ring, you would step up. And step up you did! That I have to respect.”
“But it doesn't mean that things are going to go any easier for you simply because you chose to do so. If anything, quite the opposite. Because yes, I do want to have somebody to fight. And you volunteering was just your way of placing yourself in harms way. I am not the sentimental sort by any means of the word, but all of the love and support that I’ve and shown over the years by everyone from the gym and Austin's own support, has given me all the motivation I could need or want.”
“Some of my critics were right. For the last 4 years I was content. I could easily stand back and take my fights where I chose. No more, no less. My tag team with Austin is the peak of my career that I will cherish the most, but I think it's time that my sights were set on singles gold as well. Up until now, I couldn't have cared less. To me, those championship belts were just baubles. Trinkets to feed the egos of pretty little blonde girls who fancy themselves as more than they really are. I've sat back and watched people that I have been close to in this business lose themselves because of his desire to wear one of those belts around their waist and call themselves The best. I didn't want to all that far, I didn't want to go down that rabbit hole”
“And now? While I still feel that championship belts are just show and decoration, I think it's high damn time that I show these girls, time that I show all these armchair experts who don't think I have what it takes, that I in fact do! And it all starts this Sunday. It all starts with you, Luna.”
