Post by Jacqui M on Jan 11, 2020 20:03:16 GMT -5
Jacqui Monroe's Apartment
Tokyo, Japan
January 11, 2020
11.30 AM Local Time
'Bad timin', Coach...'
'Bad timing?' Who does this kid think she is?
'Awww, what's wrong, cupcake? Am I keeping you up past your bedtime? Cutting into your homework?'
What time even is it in Arkansas?
'Naw. Just Sheriff come round. Say he lookin' into summin' come up from down in Texas. Say maybe it's summin' to do with...y'know...'
Oh.
Oh.
Well, shit.
'Damn. Sorry, kid. You want me to hang up so you can go talk to them?'
'Naw. You good. Drew doin' it.'
'Well...hope it's good news.'
'Thanks, Coach. Me too.'
Damn. That sure turned into a goddamn downer. How am I even going to bring this shit round to what I wanted to talk about now? Here she is, twenty years old, worried about actually important shit, and my old ass wants her to tell me how to shit-talk somebody so I can win a wrestling match. Shit's fucking whack.
'What can I do ya for, anyhow?'
...well, I guess that's one way of changing the subject. Problem is, I don't really want to change the subject anymore.
'It's nothing, kid. Just some dumb shit. You go and deal with your stuff. That's way more important right now.'
I mean that, too.
'Naw. I done tole ya, Coach. You good. Drew ain't need my help. Now...what you fixin' to talk to me 'bout?'
Well...I guess if she's all right with it...
'Ariel Shadows.'
No reaction. No yelling, no smiling, no nothing. This kid sure is chill about hearing a name from her past. Either she's let go of wrestling completely, or this shit with her family is taking a lot out of her. Either way, it ain't good.
'What 'bout her?'
...shit. How do I put this?
This is so fucked up. I'm Coach. I'm the one with the twenty years' experience. I'm supposed to have the answers, not the questions.
'Well...you know how you faced her?'
'Yup.'
'And then y'all got together in that whack-ass tag team? Right before...'
'…....yeah.'
Whoa. Sore spot right there.
Well...guess she's justified...
'Sorry. Uncalled for.'
'Whatever.'
'Anyway...point is...you know her. As a partner, as an opponent, whatever. All I know her as is my ex's ex. I think the first time we were in the ring together was that time your partner bailed out on you and we had to call her in. Remember that?'
'Yeah. We almost done won the whole damn thing, too.'
We sure did. Just needed a little more luck...
...buuuuut we're getting side-tracked. Back to Ariel.
'So anyway...I guess you know where I'm going with this, right?'
'Yeah. I know her better'n you.'
This kid is a lot of things, but she sure as fuck ain't stupid.
'Yeah. And that's why I need your help.'
...can't say I didn't see that coming. I would have laughed too, if it was me.
'...for real?'
'Yeah.'
'Shit, Coach. I ain't even make it a goddamn year in the biz. Yo' ass got like twenty. And you out here askin' me to help you?'
Yeah. Doesn't sound any better when it's her saying it.
'Look. Kid. It's like I said. I've been in the ring with Ariel once in all those years. You wrestled her - and with her - a bunch of times in your one. You tell me who knows more about her.'
There. Now she sees it too.
'Well, damn. Guess it ain't that ass-backwards after all.'
'Nope. It ain't.'
'I still ain't sure what'cha want me to tell ya, tho'...I mean...you fixin' to know private shit, or just wrestlin' shit, or what?'
Good question.
'Not private shit. I got enough dirt on the woman already. And I ain't even gonna come at her that way, anyway. Nah, tell me about her as a wrestler. Strengths, weaknesses, things I can use against her...shit like that.'
What's with that look?
'Uh...Coach...you done heard a' YouTube, right?'
Oh, this kid's got jokes, huh?
'REAL funny, cupcake!'
She obviously thinks it was, too. First time I've seen her smile since this call started.
'Sorry, Coach. Had to do it.'
'Yeah. Ha-ha. Of course I know about motherfucking YouTube. Of course I know there's fucking videos. But fuck videos. I have a chance to get info straight outta the horse's mouth here – like fuck I'm gonna just rely on videos!'
She can understand that, at least...
'But if you're not gonna help me....if you're gonna make jokes and tell me to go watch goddamn YouTube videos...you better let me know right now, so we don't waste any more of our time. Capeesh?'
She's smiling again. She better not be getting ready to screw me over.
'Chill, Coach. You good. I'mma help ya.'
Oh shit – now it's me who's smiling.
'I was hoping you'd say that, kid. I was really hoping you'd say that.'
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Jacqui Monroe's Apartment
Tokyo, Japan
A few hours later
'We've really gotta stop running into one another like this, Ariel.'
...wait, should I be addressing it to just her? There's three people on the team...
...fuck it. I'll get to those other dudes later.
'I don't mean in the ring. In the ring, I think we only worked together once, last year, when we were helping my kid out. I mean in general. It's like no matter what we do, somehow, some way, we always end up running right smack dab into one another again.'
I ain't even lying.
'Don't worry, though. This time, I ain't angry. In fact, I think this is the first time I ain't got nothing against you since...well, you know...'
Yeah. Probably don't want to be bringing that up if I don't want beef with her.
'And you know why? It's 'cause I don't care about...You-Know-Who...anymore. Motherfucker played me, the same as he played you. In fact, the only reason I'm glad he ain't dead is that maybe I can still track his drugged-out ass down and do it myself. And when I do, you're free to help.'
I mean that, too.
'So yeah. This time, I ain't gonna come at you as the bitch that stole your man, or your ex's new girlfriend, or whatever the fuck. This time, I'm just gonna come at you as an opponent. An opponent that just happens to know you really fucking well. And as just an opponent, I can tell you...this ain't how I wanted our first match to go down.'
Again, not even lying.
'Nah, if you'd'a asked me, I would'a said I wanted you in the ring one on one. Just you and me. Not you and your posse against me and two randos that I barely even said hi to before. But hey – in this business, you take what you're given and you shut the fuck up, right? So that's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna go in there, play my part, and hope my side don't fuck up too bad. 'Cause what else you gonna do, right?'
Yeah. What else you gonna do?
'Ariel...I ain't under any delusions. I know my side ain't favorites here. Three random chicks against the goddamn Tag Team Champions and the goddamn Cruiserweight Champion? No shit we ain't favorites. But maybe that's a good thing. Maybe if there's no pressure on us to win, we can at least turn some heads. Fight toe to toe with y'all three. That is...if those other two chicks don't fuck it up.'
Yeah. Time to talk about them.
'Speaking of which...with one of you being ridiculously into her training to the point where she has almost no interpersonal skills, and the other being warm and cuddly as an un-potty trained labradoodle – and about as useful in high-stress situations as an un-potty trained labradoodle - together the two of you make one barely passable wrestler…slash-labradoodle.'
Thank you, Perry Cox.
'Y'all better get your acts together, though 'cause the way I see it, you're way the fuck too excitable for your own good. That's gonna end up costing you. And it better not cost you when you're in the same fucking team as me – 'cause if it does? Y'all gonna hear about it. So get all that Little Mermaid, My Little Pony, not-like-other-girls bullshit out of your system before you get in there with me, and make sure your focus is on this goddamn match and not any of your hang-ups or problems or whatever. 'Cause if you don't do it yourselves...I'm gonna fucking make you do it. Capeesh?'
That's it. I'm done. I got better things to do with my time than talk about the past to Ariel fucking Shadows and yell at two kids I don't even fucking know. Like call the kid I do know back and ask her what the Sheriff said. 'Cause to be fair...I care way more about that right now than fucking wrestling.
And that ain't no goddamn lie.
Final Word Count: 1500 including this line