[Bo Dreamwolf]

 So much has happened over the past week that I have to admit that I'm having a pretty difficult time in processing it all.

Several years ago when I met Mister Parker for the very first time, he and I had a long talk about the business of professional wrestling and family, and how at times one will always tend to over shadow the other. He said that when you become a professional wrestler, and if you have family at home, be it siblings, a spouse and children, or like me, a grandmother, you will have to take a respite from being at their side in order to further advance your career. Initially I didn't understand the concept of for what sounded like literally abandoning your family, but as he explained it and I later came to understand, if this is your dream and you're using it to support that family, then there will be times when you have to step away from them in order to do what's needed to help provide for them.

I admit I scoffed, although not openly but I know Mister Parker knew what I was thinking. After all, he had thought the same thing when he first entered the business and when things really took off for him and he had to leave his home and family for weeks at a time. It was rough for him, he told me, but in the end if the bond was there, then their family would endure. And it has. Mister Parker and his wife have been married for nearly sixteen years. He told me once that he was one of the few wrestlers on the road who never 'indulged' himself with extracurricular activities, in other words -- ring rats. I believe him. Although they had tried with him and still do. I remember once with Mister Ward watching him reduce one adamant girl who wouldn't take no for an answer to tears in order for her to get the message; his family meant more to him than a cheap moment of company.

I thought I could do that and perhaps even better, still and always be there for my family. I might not have always succeeded with the company issue, but as far as my family I always made certain my grandmother was always watched after while I was on the road or touring a foreign country. Whether my sister would come to watch over her, our neighbor who is like family, or even the Parkers who would often have her stay at their home in Atlanta, she was watched over and taken care of. So in that degree I felt a bit of success.

A shame I realized too late that while I took all precautions to make certain she was cared for, there was another who was dear to me I am ashamed to say I perhaps overlooked. I know I've discussed the relationship between my sister Abigail and her husband, Darius, numerous times, so I'll try to avoid boring you with repeating myself. Needless to say, things were worse between them than I had imagined. I knew they argued quite a bit, but I never knew how much, or how vehemently.

Not until last week when Abigail called me from out of the blue to ask me to come to Oklahoma City to pick her up. She had left Darius.

You see, I always knew Darius had control issues when it came to all aspects of his life, especially when it concerned his wife -- my sister. He wanted her to be a house wife, to concentrate on being the mother of his children and to care for their home. Now please don't misunderstand me. Taking care of a home and children is work, believe me I understand that, but not going out into the world and holding a job simply wasn't my sister's style. But, she did it anyway because Darius asked her to and she loved him. She didn't see it for what it was; a manner for him to control her. She had little money to call her own save for the pitiful allowance he allotted her on a weekly basis and when he moved them from her family's side to Texas, I saw it as him removing our influence, mine most of all, from her. Darius knew in our family we would always stand by the other, and he did not want my grandmother nor I to be there to put any doubts into Abigail's ear as to her role with her husband.

I didn't let that stop me. I loved my sister and risked much to voice my opinion against her husband. Grandmother knew, as did Abigail herself, that I disliked Darius with a passion I can't ever recall feeling towards anyone. He systematically manipulated my sister into complete dependence on him, and I hated him for it. But still, my sister wanted to handle things her own way. She wanted to make this marriage work despite the negativity she endured on a ritual basis. She was just that kind of woman; strong and determined. She stood by Darius against any onslaught he suffered from me, and I only stopped when I believed it might risk the very bond she and I had since we were children being raised by our grandparents.

And then Darius made one fatal mistake in judgement; He decided to try and use his lawyer to have our Grandmother declared incompetent and thus nullify her signing the family house over to me. Darius was a greedy bastard who had a keen eye for money. He knew our house was prime real estate and he thought eventually he'd get his hands on it thanks to his family connections with Abigail. Oh I wish I could have been there to see the look on his face when she told her husband that Grandmother had signed the deed of the house over to me. Our grandmother had reached her eightieth year but her mind was as sharp as it ever had been, and she knew Darius for what he was. She could recognize the gleam of greed in his eyes whenever he paid us the rare visit with Abigail, and so she did the one thing she knew that would keep our family homestead out of his grasp. Our family attorney studied everything for days before he was satisfied there were no legal loopholes for Darius to use against us in a court of law, and it was done.

That's when he decided to fight dirty and try to accuse our Grandmother of senility and accuse me of using that fact against her for what eh referred to as my own "selfish purposes". What he didn't count on was my sister discovering this, and that one act being the final straw in their now fragile relationship. Abigail would not give me the details as of yet on what exactly happened. I just know she collected what money she had stashed away and what clothes she could carry, and she hopped on the first bus she could catch to get to Oklahoma, effectively leaving him and that piece of her life behind.

The fear she had to have been enduring when she made that final decision. The courage it took to move past that fear and do what she had to. The doubts my poor sister had to have been struggling with from the moment she stepped on that bus, until the moment she saw me at the bus station. I can not even begin to imagine the hellish turmoil she had to have experienced in those waking moments. I can only admire her for having been able to make it past the trial and not have turned back.

This is why I've been feeling guilt these past several days, ever since Abigail moved back in. I wish you could have seen our Grandmother's face when she saw her darling little girl was home again. No words needed to be said. Grandmother knew what was going on through life experience alone, and she welcomed Abigail home again with open arms. It's just our way. Darius tried calling -- repeatedly -- and each time with the same threat; come home or face divorce. None of the calls were returned. Abigail had made her choice.

All of this is why I felt overwhelming guilt still as I pulled my car into the drive way of our home and parked it. I keep thinking that if I had been home more, and had fought harder, my sister would not have had to go through any of this. Yet when I tried saying this she just gave me 'that look' and the subject had been dropped. Grandmother explained to me that we all had our own paths to make in life, and none of them would be entirely without thorns and road blocks. We had to stumble before we could walk. It didn't make me feel entirely better over everything, but it did help soothe the doubts somewhat.

I turned the engine of my car off and stepped out, shutting the drivers door behind me. I then walked around to the back of the car and opened the rear passenger's side and grabbed the two grocery-laden paper bags from the seat. I never understood why Grandmother always sent me to stock up on groceries so much. The pantries, fridge and our two freezers were stuffed to capacity. Nobody can ever say they've been to our home as a table guest and say they went home hungry. if they did, it was their own fault. Mister Parker and Mister Ward can attest to that. Now, with Abigail home again, Grandmother felt she had one more mouth to feed so that meant for trips to the store for me as opposed to the usual delivery that came once a week for her. Normally, she would accompany me to get out of the house. (I strongly suspect it was also she also liked to peek at the Enquirer and Weekly World News but she would never actually purchase those rags.) But she did not want to leave Abigail home, so I went alone with a list and God help me if I left something off.

Walking up the three steps to our front porch, I started to lower the bags to the wooden porch so I could open the door when it opened anyway, with my Grandmother standing there with that perpetual twinkle in her eye. Her arm stretched out to hold the door, she beckoned me inside with a wave of her free hand.

"Come on now." She said to me. "I don't want the cat getting out again."

"Maybe you should consider letting her out once in awhile." I said as I slipped past the doorway and she shut it behind me. "That's probably why that little thing is going wild in here and clawing at everything."

"Your pants leg does not qualify as 'everything' Bo." She almost cackled and reached for one of the bags but being the gentleman that I like to consider myself, I pulled the bags out of her reach and winked.

I said, "What kind of man would I be if I let a lovely lady such as yourself carry such a load?"

She just rolled her eyes and moved past me and headed for the kitchen, saying behind her, "Oh you are so full of it. Just like your Grandfather."

"Full of what?" I asked with a smile as I followed after her. "Charm? Grace? Stunning good looks?"

She stopped just long enough to turn and give me a funny look before setting foot in the kitchen. I entered after her and wasn't about to give this one up as I offered her another, "How about a butt you could bounce a quarter off of?"

"I'll have to ask that young lady we had drinks with about that one."

Okay, maybe I would give this one up.

I stopped and slowly set the groceries down onto the counter and Grandmother took one look at what I can only imagine being a face flushed deep red and she barked out in laughter.

She giggled like a school girl and said, "Oh I'm sorry, but you had that one coming!"

"If you say so."

"And I did." She smiled and walked around and she started reaching into the bags to remove the groceries and set them on the counter so she could begin putting them away. It would be of no use for me to offer to help, as she always turned me down. She wanted everything in just the right spot and this was her domain. It was her way or no way so I tried to stay clear of the kitchen as often as possible.

"Did you get the cookies?" She asked as she snooped in the second bag.

"I got them." I answered. "Both kinds."

"Both kinds?" She asked, looking up to me. "I just asked for the walnut milanos."

I nodded and nodded towards the bag. "They're in there. So are the oatmeal ones Abbey likes."

"Ah." No more needed be said.

We both knew Abigail would end up being a bit spoiled while she was going through this rough patch in her life, and deservedly so. She pulled the box of oatmeal cookies from the bag and handed it over to me and I went around the table to the cupboard where the dishes were kept and fished one out. As I tore the box open and tilted it so a number of cookies slid out onto the plate, I had to ask.

I looked up at my Grandmother and asked, "So, how is she?"

"Still in her room." She answered with a light sigh. "She doesn't seem to want to come down today."

I nodded. I knew all of this was weighing heavily on our Grandmother. She wanted to be there for Abigail just like she and Grandfather had always been, but this was one instance where she had to allow her grandchild to recover all on her own.

Of course, she'd have a little assist from her big brother.

After pouring a tall glass of cold milk, I moved around to the kitchen's entrance and said, "Let me go see what I can do."

"She might not let you in." Grandmother said. "She told me she just wanted to be alone."

I leaned back into the kitchen and smiled, "Well then she won't get the cookies then, will she?" And I left again, leaving a laughter behind me coming from the kitchen.

I walked upstairs and down the small hallway to the last of the two bed rooms. The other was mine, as Grandmother was getting on in years admittedly and she did not want to make the trip up and down those stairs every day so during her last visit, Abigail and I converted Grandfather's old den into a new bed room for her. I think we over did it on the pink decor but it is Grandmother's favorite color and that's all Abigail needed to know. I always felt my sister would make for an incredible interior decorator but go try telling her that.

I knocked on the bedroom door and said, "Open up! It's the police!"

I waited and didn't hear anything for a few seconds when Abigail said through the closed door, "Bo, I'd really like to just stay in bed. Please."

"I have cookies...." I called out in a sing song voice that I could only hope would annoy her enough to open the door just to shut me up. "Oatmeal coooookies....."

I waited again and again, several seconds passed. I was starting to imagine she had just rolled over and ignored me to go back to sleep when the latch on the door turned and it pulled open. I took one look at her and knew that my sister had spent a good portion of the night crying. Her hair was disheveled and she had not yet even changed from her bed clothes.

I asked, "Are you going to let me in?"

"Is that the only way I'm going to get the cookies?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

She huffed, her good humor shining through this dark cloud even at a time such as this, and she opened the door wider and i passed inside, handing the plate over to her. Abigail walked around and sat back on her bed, scooting back to rest against the head board. I took it upon myself to sit on the edge of her bed so I could be close to her.

At first I didn't say anything, and neither did she. We just let our company be enough for one another as I waited and watched her pick up a cookie and nibble at it in a silent form of contentment.

"Sometimes I wonder what it is that I did wrong."

I wasn't certain that I had heard her correctly. Actually, I wasn't certain I had heard her at all. The words just came from out of nowhere all of a sudden, it was only seeing her lips move with the words that convinced me she had actually spoken.

She continued, "I thought everything was going to be alright. That I could make everything alright." She took another bite and shook her head in self dismay. "I can't believe I was so stupid."

"Stop it." I said. I watched her head slowly droop and her eyes clenched shut tightly but not enough to stop the first stream of tears from escaping and slowly sliding down her cheek. I don't think I ever hated Darius more than that exact moment I saw that tear escape my sister's control.

I lifted my feet up onto her bed and slid back to sit beside her and wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulder. I think that was actually what she had been waiting for because no sooner did I do so, than did she rest back against me, forgetting all about the cookies in front of her. She wanted to be held and to be reminded that she was still there. A person.

"None of this was your fault." I said as I felt her head rest down against my shoulder. "That's something you need to get through that thick skull of yours. You went out there and tried to make this succeed."

"And I failed."

I shook my head and said, "No, you didn't fail. He did. Darius is the one that pushed you away. He's the one that thought he could test you and your loyalty to your family. That's not a person that you can change, Abbey. It's a person you have to separate yourself from before his negativity drags you down as well."

She sniffed back, forcing herself not to let loose more tears just yet, and she asked, "Why did I marry him? Why did he have to do this?"

"You married him because you loved him." I said, telling her the truth. I then said, "As for why he did all of this ... who knows? Sometimes people change for the worse. From what you told me, him being an only child had his parents give him everything he ever wanted. He was never told 'no' in his childhood and when he became an adult, he expected that kind of treatment to carry over. He thought anyone and everyone should cater to his every whim and desire just because. When it didn't happen, he became a child again and acted out to make things happen his way. I guess you might say this is all his parents' fault. He didn't have the same upbringing that you and I did. Our grandparents took the time to teach us right from wrong and the meaning of the word 'no'. His parents just thought it would be easier to give in and let him always have his own way. They had no back bone in dealing with their own son."

"It almost sounds like you feel sorry for him." Abigail sniffed.

I scoffed and shook my head, "No, I don't think I could ever feel sorry for him after everything he's done to you and Grandmother. I just dearly wish you hadn't hit him because I would have loved to have done that myself."

Abigail said, "And he would have had you in jail that same night for doing so. Me, he won't do anything other than use that against me in the divorce proceedings." She slowly sat up and wiped her eyes before she went on, "I don't care though. Let him. He can have everything if it just gets me away from him."

"You would let him win so easily?" I asked.

"He lost me, Bo." Abigail smiled as best she could while wiping her cheeks with the back of her hand. "That makes him the world's biggest loser."

"Touche'." I answered and leaned over to give her a lasting hug. Once we separated, I started to stand up and I said, "But try to come downstairs soon, okay? You have Grams worried sick."

"Tell her I'm fine."

"She needs to see it for herself." I said. "Plus, I need to take you shopping soon. We need to get you some things you can wear on the cruise."

"Bo..." Abigail started to say, her eyes closed again. "I thought we had settled this. I don't think I can go on this cruise, even if I was invited."

"Maybe that's exactly why you should go." I offered. "I finally got Grams to agree to go. It's going to do her a world of good, and it would do the same for you. Mister Ward was nice enough to send me a third ticket for you. You've never been on a cruise before so you might have a really good time. In fact, I know you will."

Abigail brushed that long, black hair from over her shoulder to behind her ear and she drew in a breath. I knew she was fighting with herself inside on whether or not she could or would go. I knew she wanted to go, but when people are in these kind of moods, it sometimes seemed as if they would sabotage themselves from doing things to help them to recover. They would deny themselves the chances to get up and get out to make themselves feel better. That was not something I was going to let her do to herself.

"Come on Abbey." I said, using my best annoying pleading voice. "Mister Ward will be very cross with me if I don't get you on that ship." This was quite possibly true as I knew he invited my sister for the main purpose so he could try to work those British charms on her. He and I would have to have a chat about that goal sometime. "Plus I'm going to need the cheering section when I have my match. You know how unpopular I am."

Abigail just rolled her head to the side and looked at me to say, "Oh give me a break."

"You give me one." I said with a smile. "You can't leave me alone on that ship with Grams. She'll be trying to fix me up with every available woman that crosses my path."

Abigail said, "Bo, I'll be trying to fix you up with every available woman that crosses your path! Especially that scary one that almost carried you off."

"Yes, but if it gets you on that ship I'll gladly endure it." I smiled as she looked at me and she shook her head.

She reached down and picked up the plate of cookies again and kept her eyes on it when she asked, "When does the ship leave?"

I could not help but smile. Success! I answered, "It leaves Saturday evening."

She picked up a cookie and sighed as she took a bite. She said, "I guess this means I can use this as an excuse to buy a few new clothes."

"And to make your big brother sit near the dressing room, holding your purse." I added.

She gave me that fiendish little smile and said, "That is a nice bonus, yes."

"So you'll come?"

She huffed and said, "You're not giving me much choice here. Though I strongly suspect you're also pressing this issue to keep any chances away of me going back to that lout while you two are gone."

I gave this thought a moment's pause and frowned, asking her, "Why? Was that something you were considering doing?"

She turned to me and said simply, "No. That's not something you had to worry about."

"Good." I said and I headed for the door. I pulled it open and turned to her to say, "Get dressed in your finest shopping clothes, m'lady. I'll take you to yonder Target to buy something pretty."

"Target!?" She exclaimed. "My I do feel quite the royal personage! And here i was worried you'd take me to K-Mart instead."

"Abbey, you wound me."

I smiled and headed out into the hall, shutting the door behind me. I took a moment to collect myself and feel as if this little hurdle passed had been done so successfully. I was not going to be happy until I had gotten my sister on that ship.




"It amazed me to look around and see the level that the SCW Heavyweight Championship has pushed the men in the six-pack challenge into. The SCW title belt is like the shining beacon, a star in the heavens that six men are standing on the top of the mountain, at its highest peak and stretching with their arms. Reaching, straining to touch that star and grasp it into their hands. It's a goal that's within their reach, but in the end that star will only fall into the grasp of one man. Only one man will answer to that final bell and he will be the man himself. The SCW Heavyweight Champion. I want to be that man. I will be that man. The others in this match have each said at one point or another that they will do the contrary because they deserve it more."

"How can they say such a thing? How can they actually stand there and tell their peers that their dreams mean more than the dreams of another? Its something that I personally don't understand. Everyone's dreams matter, gentlemen. Everyone's wishes and desires mean no more or no less than someone else's. It's not even about who's means more. It's about which of us is going to work the hardest to realize those dreams. Which of us will pull out all the stops to defeat five other men and walk away with the gold around their waist. Some of us will stoop to low levels more so than the others to walk away the top man of Sin City Wrestling. others will stick more to the rule book and fight as a man should, but still not yielding the match to the others willingly."

"I am going into this match with all the drive and ambition that the rest of you have. I have every bit the level of determination as Jordan Williams or Kain or the champion himself, Rage. I have the same fire and hunger of Nick Jones and Lucas Darby. Just because I don't spend the vast majority of my time trash talking my opponents doesn't mean I don't have the desire. Just because I show respect when it is due, doesn't mean I can't put aside the feeling of brotherhood I feel with some of these men. Just because I choose to abide by the rules of the jungle doesn't mean my style of competition isn't as intense or successful as someone who bends every rule in order to take the easy road to that light at the end of the tunnel."

"I don't need to talk trash or to cheat to show what kind of man I am. The simple fact that few of my opponents ever have much bad to say about me shows that I am doing something right. So you'll please understand if I choose to forgo the usual 'I'm going to kick your butt' content in this promo. It's all been said and done anyway. Why bother repeating it and just end up sounding like a broken record?"

"I appreciate it more than you can know when these men speak highly of me and what I've done or tried to do. I learned from my rookie years that respect from your peers was a difficult thing to attain in this business, and few truly managed to accomplish such a thing. I didn't set out to try and make people like me or to coerce them into respecting me for my actions. I simply acted as myself. I behaved like me, like my own person. I was lucky enough to walk through this path and the man I am is the one these men have spoken kind words for. In the end, it is something I am truly grateful for."

"But as I said before, that spirit of brotherhood and camaraderie will have to be put aside because when six men are put inside of the same ring to compete for the same lofty goal, it can only spell chaos. It'll be every man for himself and God only knows what will happen then. Personally I've never even heard of a six-pack challenge so I don't know if we fight until one by one, we each get eliminated, or if we simply go at it all at once like a triple threat or four corner match and the first man to get the pinfall is the champion. I notice the bosses like to keep things like this as a bit of surprise and that's fine, believe me. If Mister Parker taught me anything, it's how to adapt my style to any given circumstance. So, once we understand where we go from here, that's just what I'm going to do."

"Nick, we've had our past history, you and I. I was watching these situations going on between you and Jordan and I honestly thought maybe you were turning over a new leaf. I was hoping you were becoming a changed man. I don't know if the moment had overtaken you and that's why you attacked Jordan, or if it's the same spots on the same leopard, but I know well enough not to turn my back on you. Even if you were to be sincere in wanting to be an all new man, you are still a man of opportunity. If the chance to strike comes to you, you'll take it, whether the opponent's back is turned or not. Of that I have no doubt. The thing is, if you have turned for the worst, you played that hand far too early. The smart thing would have been to continue on with that little charade, and to have struck when it really counted; during the championship match itself. You didn't. You struck early, and let everyone know what could be expected out of you. That was a mistake you will come to regret Nick, and one that I intend to capitalize on."

"Kain, you are one of the ones whose words struck me as unexpected but I want you to understand that it makes them no less appreciated. respect is a two-way street, and you earned mine long ago. Maybe not the short cut and tactics you take, but certainly the talent you have and the skill in which you wield it. As a former world champion, you've already proven yourself to be every bit as capable of walking away a champion as the rest of us, but if you think i will bow down to any man, you are sadly mistaken. if you think i will fear you, then a piece of the respect I held for you just went out the window. I bow to no man, and I will fear nobody that believes it their God given right to be feared. your desires and glory mean no more and no less than my own. Like me, you are simply a man, Kain. One that can be beaten, just like anyone else. You won't like hearing this, but it is the simple truth; you are a mortal Kain, and any mortal has a weakness that can be exposed."

"I really haven't much to say right now toward or against Lucas Darby. he has such a golden opportunity and he hasn't even stepped out and shown himself as of yet. I know some people might have spoken out against his being placed in this match, so early into his SCW career, but i won't. he has shown himself to be a top tier competitor from the time he signed his first contract. He's rugged, skilled, and has every tool at hand to be a champion. But he's not going to accomplish that goal if he doesn't step it up and show himself to us, one and all."

"Now Jordan Williams is a man that little needs be said about because we pretty much already have said it. One look at him and you pretty much have seen it all. He's the veteran amongst us. he has more experience than the rest of us put together, I dare say, and believe me Jordan, I say that with the utmost of respect. I am in awe when I look back at your history in this business and all of the things that you've accomplished. We've met in the ring, but never one on one. It seems that something always comes between that experience, doesn't it? A tag team match here, a six-pack challenge there... it's always something. That's fine, I'm a patient man. I can wait. I know you're expecting to have the utmost advantage in this match because of everything that you've done over the course of your career, but you have five men in that ring who each have the same ideals and goals, and no level of experience is going to carry you past that hurdle. I strongly suspect that you have Nick Jones and Kain targeting your back, and I have every intention of engaging Rage in a rematch if you will. I have the training, you know this, and the experience is coming my way. Let the chips fall where they may, Jordan, but I strongly suspect they'll be falling over in my favor."

"And that leaves you Rage, you might say saving the best for last. And you are the best. As the Heavyweight champion, only a fool or a liar would be stubborn enough to refuse to admit that fact. That chance I had against you really made me realize just how hungry I was for that title around your waist. I wasn't able to put you away and score that win, but then again, you couldn't do the same with me, either. Did that do anything to your confidence level, I wonder? Could it be the first sign of cracks are starting to appear in the foundation of your reign? I mean, if you can't pin one of your challengers, what then will you do when you're facing five? If I know you, you'll plow through us hard and fast and your anger and energy will both erupt like an active volcano. See? I can't deny any of that. I was in there with you. I felt the stiffness and power behind each of your blows. You gave me the thrashing of a lifetime. I don't think I ever hurt like that before, and I sincerely hope i don't ever feel like that again. But the fact is, that match went to a draw. Neither of us won, but neither lost either. That makes this chance against you stand out for me all the more. I would rather face you one-on-one again, but I'll grab that brass ring whenever it's my time to reach for it. It's in my reach, Rage. It's my time."

"Each one of you will slowly come to accept that."