Post by K.I.S.S. on May 27, 2015 21:20:20 GMT -6
Walking onto her back patio, Bethany Kenyon sets up three plastic lawn chairs in a small circle around a small portable table. This was going to be an interesting business meeting what with everything going on for them all lately, especially where it concerned the one member of Arsenal guaranteed to not be in attendance. As she finishes setting the chairs, Nikki Peltier and Jeszika Gautier enter the patio area and nod around, each hugging Bethany lovingly.
Bethany Kenyon: Hey, guys.
Jeszika nods as she takes her seat.
Jeszika Gautier: Hey.
Nikki does the same as she takes her seat.
Nikki Peltier: Hey.
Bethany quickly takes the third seat and Nikki gets right down to business.
Nikki Peltier: What do you think happens now?
Jeszika frowns in confusion.
Jeszika Gautier: About what?
Bethany nods knowingly.
Bethany Kenyon: Ash?
Nikki nods.
Nikki Peltier: Yeah…
Jeszika shrugs.
Jeszika Gautier: I’m willing to forgive if she is… Has she said much?
Bethany shakes her head.
Bethany Kenyon: Not since she kicked us out of her house…
Nikki shrugs sadly.
Nikki Peltier: Same.
Surprise rushes across Jeszika’s face.
Jeszika Gautier: She kicked you out of her house?
Bethany and Nikki nod in stereo.
Bethany Kenyon: We went to check on her.
Nikki Peltier: I’d texted her about a job and she hadn’t answered and… not like her so…
They both pause, not sure how Jeszika will react to what they have to say.
Nikki Peltier: We went over to her place, we were there for a couple of hours.
Bethany Kenyon: Ended up just playing with Wolfie.
Jeszika can’t believe her ears. Nobody ignored things from Nikki, especially not one of them!
Jeszika Gautier: She ignored a text from you? About a job? Uh.. what? Why would she?
Bethany sighs heavily, sadly.
Bethany Kenyon: When you ignore your phone, why does that happen? The few times it’s happened, I mean…
Jeszika shrugs as if the answer is obvious.
Jeszika Gautier: Because I’m depressed and off getting high and drunk.
Bethany and Nikki nod knowingly to her.
Bethany Kenyon: She spent the night with Lis and Kelly…
Jeszika closes her eyes.
Jeszika Gautier: I should have known…
Nikki sits back in her chair, the strain evident on her face.
Nikki Peltier: She pulled up to her place while the sun was still coming up.
Bethany just shakes her head.
Bethany Kenyon: Ripped out of her mind, powder still on her face...
Seeing the collective look crossing both of her friends’ faces, Jeszika swallows hard, knowing there’s more yet to come in this story.
Jeszika Gautier: Then what happened?
Bethany sighs heavily.
Bethany Kenyon: I went out to talk with her, Wolfie beat me to the car. Nik stayed by the door and…
She swallows hard at the memory.
Bethany Kenyon: She was already not happy that I wasn’t happy about her being loaded, then she found out about the job we worked with the Dead Men and without you and her and…
Bethany trails off, not really wanting to re-open that particular wound with Jeszika. Smiling and nodding protectively, Jeszika pats her friends arm.
Jeszika Gautier: What did she do, B?
Bethany shrugs.
Bethany Kenyon: She got pissed off, screamed at me…
Aas Bethany hesitates, Nikki nods, almost instructing Bethany to do something.
Nikki Peltier: Tell her what she said…
Bethany nods slowly.
Bethany Kenyon: She said… I wasn’t Mama…
Jeszika closes her eyes again.
Jeszika Gautier: It’s worse than I thought…
Nikki nods her agreement.
Nikki Peltier: Tell her what she said before that…
Bethany looks at Nikki, not sure she wants to but the look on Nikki’s face tells her to keep going.
Bethany Kenyon: She was still upset about the whole accusing her of trying to steal Carrie thing.
Nikki nods knowingly, sadly.
Nikki Peltier: And then she stormed up to the door, told me to leave her dog and get out of her house.
Bethany nods.
Bethany Kenyon: Nik was trying to hide the tears when she came back to the cars…
Nikki Peltier: And Bethy couldn’t hide hers…
Jeszika lets out a deep breath.
Jeszika Gautier: I caused this… I drove her away…
Bethany shakes her head.
Bethany Kenyon: No, Honey…
Nikki shakes her head as well.
Nikki Peltier: We all missed whatever is going on with Ash.
Jeszika shakes her head, almost adamantly.
Jeszika Gautier: But she lashed out like this because I accused her…
Bethany sits back some.
Bethany Kenyon: I don’t know, I think she’s just as angry at us for not going out and doing things together anymore as she is over that…
Jeszika’s eyes narrow.
Jeszika Gautier: We do still go out though… we just don’t get high.
Nikki shakes her head.
Nikki Peltier: Not like we used to…
Bethany Kenyon: We used to practically live together at these places, whether we were going full on party or just having a beer. We’ve all but stopped doing that.
She stares off into the distance, looking guilty and ashamed.
Bethany Kenyon: And we make excuses to her about why we can’t…
Jeszika still just stares at them in confusion.
Jeszika Gautier: Go to Prey all the time, I still hang out, I still have a good time… not everything needs to revolve around alcohol and drugs.
Bethany tries to smile but the sadness keeps her from quite managing.
Bethany Kenyon: Jezzy, there’s a difference between going to your girlfriend’s room and rolling out together as a family. Between Brody, Richie and all the other stuff that’s happened lately… we really haven’t done that since…
She shakes her head.
Bethany Kenyon: I can’t remember…
Nikki ponders this question.
Nikki Peltier: Probably before the Jones concussion.
Bethany Kenyon: And even when we have gotten together it’s been about business and how we’re all in need of money because of medical expenses and stuff.
Looking somewhere between hurt and exasperated, Jeszika sighs, shrugging.
Jeszika Gautier: So what do you suggest we do then? Cause I’m at a loss of how to fix this if that’s the problem.
Bethany shakes her head.
Bethany Kenyon: I don’t know… she’s never been that… just… resentfully mean before…
She looks down, suddenly sounding almost defeated.
Bethany Kenyon: Is this… is this my fault? Have I babied her too much?
Jeszika shakes her head, patting Bethany’s arm supportively again.
Jeszika Gautier: You’ve been a good sister, B. That’s all.
Bethany shrugs, her eyes moistening.
Bethany Kenyon: Did I... really... try to replace…
Nikki takes her other hand.
Nikki Peltier: B, don’t… don’t do this to yourself…
Jeszika nods her agreement.
Jeszika Gautier: B, you did what any of us would have done in the same situation. You raised her, kept her out of trouble… The rest and everything from here on is on her. She needs to learn to live without our constant guidance, maybe it’s what she needs.
Bethany sits back, looking like she just wants to scream until she can’t breathe anymore.
Bethany Kenyon: We were a team…
Nikki squeezes her hand.
Nikki Peltier: We still are.
Jeszika nods, squeezing the other hand.
Jeszika Gautier: But sometimes teams need time to themselves… Being in each other’s face all the time can’t be good for us. Sometimes we need to discover ourselves and bloom alone.
Bethany shakes her head, looking ready to panic.
Bethany Kenyon: I don’t wanna be alone…
Jeszika nods.
Jeszika Gautier: You won't be alone, B. What I’m saying is, if she wants to be alone, give her her space. If she truly cares, she’ll be back.
Bethany nods slowly.
Bethany Kenyon: So, what do we do for jobs then if Ash isn’t gonna be there?
Nikki starts to answer but catches herself and slows down.
Nikki Peltier: We don’t know that she won’t…
Bethany just shoots her a look.
Bethany Kenyon: Sake of argument?
Nikki nods.
Nikki Peltier: I don’t know since…
She nods at Jeszika.
Nikki Peltier: As much as she would help us, I don’t think asking Carrie would be a good idea.
Jeszika Gautier: Yeah she’s probably not gonna wanna… not after last time… maybe we could do different ones? That don’t involve snipering. I could play bait and B could still blow things up.
Nikki shrugs.
Nikki Peltier: If we get jobs that call for that.
Jeszika starts to nod, seemingly happy with this answer but Bethany still isn’t quite satisfied.
Bethany Kenyon: What if we need somebody for it, though? Who do we know that could do it?
Jeszika lets out a long breath, whistling wistfully.
Jeszika Gautier: No one comes to mind apart from Carrie…
Nikki shrugs, resigning herself to this fate.
Nikki Peltier: I might could look for somebody.
Bethany sighs.
Bethany Kenyon: You’re gonna wanna call Ash first, to make sure…
Nikki visibly shrinks into her seat.
Nikki Peltier: That’s probably not gonna go well, is it?
Jeszika does as well.
Jeszika Gautier: Yeah, that's won't go well.
Bethany shrugs sadly.
Bethany Kenyon: But it’ll be worse if we just…
She pauses, shaking her head.
Bethany Kenyon: If we try to replace her without talking to her first.
The three sit there in silence for a second, all of them pondering the elephant in the room.
Jeszika Gautier: Who's gonna call her then? I know I'm the last person she wants to talk to right now.
Nikki shrugs, almost like she knows she’s biting the bullet.
Nikki Peltier: I probably should…
Jeszika nods, her eyes telling everyone this is definitely the right call from her perspective.
Jeszika Gautier: Probably wise.
Bethany just shakes her head in despairing disbelief.
Bethany Kenyon: I can’t believe we’re here…
Nikki pats her hand again.
Nikki Peltier: It’s gonna be ok, B.
A few hours later, Bethany stands alone on the patio in front of a camera, the UWA World Heavyweight Championship belt sitting on the small table next to her.
Bethany Kenyon: It’s gonna be ok, B…
She nods, looking down and taking a deep breath as she does so.
Bethany Kenyon: I’ve heard that a lot lately.
Reaching into her pocket, Bethany pulls out her phone and quickly boots up the internet function.
Bethany Kenyon: It’s amazing how we’ve gotten here…
She lifts up her phone and scans through old UWA cards, settling on the first two pay-per-views.
Bethany Kenyon: A lot of people have mentioned where we were a year ago and then talked about where we are now in comparison. It’s been almost funny to hear this because, for the most part, it’s coming from people who weren’t here in UWA for at least part of that year and in some cases, a huge swath of it.
Pausing momentarily, she focuses on last year’s Spring Stampede card.
Bethany Kenyon: A year ago, UWA was on its way to its second pay-per-view. Aerynn Donnelly was the shocking first World Champion, about to defend against her best friend, Pauly O’Connor. My best friend, Jeszika Gautier, was about to be in the match to crown the inaugural North American Champion with two guys who took vastly different paths both to get into the match and after the match in The Garbageman and Kyle Travis. Sentinel was getting ready to fight Brody Montgomery, III in a Falls Count Anywhere, No DQ Match that would set the tone for a certain level of violence in this company and I was “the Other Sister” in a third wheel tag team about to stand between the Sin City Knights and Dark Camelot, and I say we were the third wheel because almost everyone including us was wondering what we were doing in this match, but considering we were the only ones left off the first pay-per-view, we weren’t exactly in a position to complain about it.
Changing her focus, she moves back to the card for the original UWA pay-per-view, Tragic Engagement.
Bethany Kenyon: It was a strange time for UWA. The excitement of the first pay-per-view had been tempered by the disappointment of being left out and then was compounded by the showing in the main event. Going into that first pay-per-view, Aerynn Donnelly was supposed to be the fourth choice, the candidate least likely to win anything. She was the one who should have been just happy to be there because she was the least experienced, and let’s face it, she was the smallest competitor and the only woman, no one was picking her to win. Pauly O’Connor was supposed to come in third and the two favorites, the two unanimously held as the favorites and the two best competitors in the company and probably in the world, were Nick Daniels and Sentinel.
She lowers her phone as her chin droops to her chest.
Bethany Kenyon: And then the match happened and Nick Daniels and Sentinel…
She shakes her head as if she still doesn’t believe it.
Bethany Kenyon: Laid eggs no one thought they were capable of laying. Aerynn and Pauly rose to the occasion and Aerynn won the championship. Nick Daniels would soon disappear from UWA at the hands of the Children and Sentinel would follow him a couple of months later in similar fashion and…
Raising her phone back up, she glances at the card and can only shake her head mournfully at it.
Bethany Kenyon: You look at the rest of the card for that night, Garbage Man vs Kaylyn James Evans vs Vance Voltoro turned out to be the battle of three empty shirts, two of whom we never really heard from and the third was gone after a couple of months. Cornbread Mafia vs Sang Real in Sang Real’s debut started the first real lasting rivalry. Jeszika Gautier vs Donzing for a spot in the North American Title match at the second pay-per-view. Donzing left after losing there, whether because he was angry or just another empty shirt. Brody Montgomery vs Matt Lennox, which, for all intents and purposes…
She trails off, her thoughts running into one another on what to say about her boyfriend and his career.
Bethany Kenyon: Matt Lennox was yet another empty shirt and Brody became another victim of the Children, suffering lasting injuries that still plague him now…
She bites her lip, still looking at the card graphic on her phone.
Bethany Kenyon: Ashley and I weren’t thought of highly enough to get a place amongst all of that. Neither of us had been involved in the matches to crown the World Champion and neither of us would be involved in the matches to crown the North American Champion either. Move on to the next pay-per-view, we get thrown into a match between two other teams that want to kill each other while Donzing, Kaylyn James Evans and Garbage Man all got chances to be in the North American Championship match and Kyle Travis got handed the chance despite losing to Brody in his qualifier match.
The phone lowers, entering a pocket in her jeans as Bethany looks up into the camera.
Bethany Kenyon: That’s where we were a year ago, the Children making a little noise, Sentinel on his way out of the company after being an overhyped disappointment and me as an afterthought in my own tag team. There were some who thought neither of us were ever going to get anywhere here, you because you were never coming back, your fire was gone and me…
She shrugs almost apologetically.
Bethany Kenyon: Well, it was likely I never had the fire to begin with, depending on who you were talking to at the time.
A small smile comes over her face as she thinks on it all.
Bethany Kenyon: A year, later, I’ve been tag team champion with Ashley, she’s the North American Champion and I’m the UWA World Champion…
She picks up the World Championship belt and nods to it like it could answer her.
Bethany Kenyon: After thought, no more…
She lowers the belt and looks back to the camera.
Bethany Kenyon: And Sentinel stands as the number one contender and a man accused of things that, quite honestly, I don’t think he did. This whole “Sentinel is the stalker,” bullshit just seems like a smokescreen set by somebody to drive wedges between people who might otherwise stand together. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear it was a Joshua McBride and the Children move, but we know it can’t have been Joshua, don’t we?
Shaking her head, Bethany stares into the abyss above her, looking like she wishes she could crawl into a hole somewhere.
Bethany Kenyon: The sad part is that it appears to be working. Jeszika is convinced Sentinel is her stalker even though, every time I see that video I shake my head and think, “There's no way that’s Sentinel, the guy’s like six inches shorter and a good fifty pounds lighter.” From the way Jezzy describes the voice, that doesn’t sound like it fits either so the only real evidence against him is that he left me a rose once after I won the World Championship and…
Her hands go up, before balling into fists of exasperation.
Bethany Kenyon: It wasn’t even the right color rose!
The camera follows her as she walks over towards the sliding glass door that goes into her house. Bethany stops and then turns leaning against the wall next to it, her hand covering her face in shame.
Bethany Kenyon: So here we are, me versus Sentinel and we’ve had a couple incidents now, haven’t we?
She nods, her hand seeming to hover in front of her about chest high.
Bethany Kenyon: First, he takes my head off because he doesn’t know it’s me and he’d just dropped Jeszika for pushing him on the whole stalker thing. He apologizes, comes down to New Orleans and helps me and Nikki out with something, proving he is exactly who I always thought he was…
Her eyes close as her hand starts to shake in midair.
Bethany Kenyon: And then we have our match teaming where Sang Real manages to drill him with chairs, he shoves us out of the way, we get up and think he hit us for no reason and we kick his head off only to find out he deserved none of that…
She bites her lip, her hand slapping herself on the forehead again. Her entire body seemingly sags guiltily against the wall, her hand falling to her side as she shakes her head in shame.
Bethany Kenyon: Somehow, “I’m sorry, Sentinel,” just doesn’t seem to cut it.
Managing to stand up straight again, Bethany pulls herself off the wall and takes a step forward. She takes a deep breath and looks dead into the camera.
Bethany Kenyon: But you deserve no less, I can’t speak for Jezzy and I wouldn’t even try right now for Ash, but, Sentinel, I’m sorry for what happened at Mayhem. You didn’t deserve that and I thank you for saving us and taking the shot from Sang Real. I know it’s little consolation, but it’s what I can give you right now.
She pauses, taking another deep breath.
Bethany Kenyon: So, where do we go from here?
She lets the breath out and then looks dead into the camera again.
Bethany Kenyon: I walk into the lion’s den, stare the biggest, angriest lion of them all in the mouth, tell him how his breath smells and then wait to see how bad he tries to bite me. There’s no question about whether he will, it’s just a matter of how fast, how hard and how bad the damage is when he does and the only thing I can do about it is realize I’ve been bitten before and I’m still here…
Shaking her head, Bethany looks back at the belt, considering if it’s really worth it.
Bethany Kenyon: I once said Sentinel scared the hell out of me and you know what? He still does because I know this time he’s coming in angry, he has a right to be and there’s only so many times the lion can bite you before you don’t get back up.
She closes her eyes, takes a deep breath and then looks dead into the camera again.
Bethany Kenyon: But I’m still gonna do it because I’m the UWA World Heavyweight Champion and I have been through way too much to just give up now! I survived being left out of the company’s plans, the Children trying to end us all, Joshua McBride’s whims, Aerynn losing her mind, Jezzy’s addiction, assaults on Brody, Carrie, Melissa, and Billy and now this stalker crap and I can live through this too! I was able to get the win over Sentinel once before and there isn’t anybody else in this company that can say they got him straight up like that, one on one. On Sunday, I’m walking into that lion’s den…
Picking up her championship belt, she holds it up in front of the camera.
Bethany Kenyon: I’ll be damned if I’m not walking out!
Bethany Kenyon: Hey, guys.
Jeszika nods as she takes her seat.
Jeszika Gautier: Hey.
Nikki does the same as she takes her seat.
Nikki Peltier: Hey.
Bethany quickly takes the third seat and Nikki gets right down to business.
Nikki Peltier: What do you think happens now?
Jeszika frowns in confusion.
Jeszika Gautier: About what?
Bethany nods knowingly.
Bethany Kenyon: Ash?
Nikki nods.
Nikki Peltier: Yeah…
Jeszika shrugs.
Jeszika Gautier: I’m willing to forgive if she is… Has she said much?
Bethany shakes her head.
Bethany Kenyon: Not since she kicked us out of her house…
Nikki shrugs sadly.
Nikki Peltier: Same.
Surprise rushes across Jeszika’s face.
Jeszika Gautier: She kicked you out of her house?
Bethany and Nikki nod in stereo.
Bethany Kenyon: We went to check on her.
Nikki Peltier: I’d texted her about a job and she hadn’t answered and… not like her so…
They both pause, not sure how Jeszika will react to what they have to say.
Nikki Peltier: We went over to her place, we were there for a couple of hours.
Bethany Kenyon: Ended up just playing with Wolfie.
Jeszika can’t believe her ears. Nobody ignored things from Nikki, especially not one of them!
Jeszika Gautier: She ignored a text from you? About a job? Uh.. what? Why would she?
Bethany sighs heavily, sadly.
Bethany Kenyon: When you ignore your phone, why does that happen? The few times it’s happened, I mean…
Jeszika shrugs as if the answer is obvious.
Jeszika Gautier: Because I’m depressed and off getting high and drunk.
Bethany and Nikki nod knowingly to her.
Bethany Kenyon: She spent the night with Lis and Kelly…
Jeszika closes her eyes.
Jeszika Gautier: I should have known…
Nikki sits back in her chair, the strain evident on her face.
Nikki Peltier: She pulled up to her place while the sun was still coming up.
Bethany just shakes her head.
Bethany Kenyon: Ripped out of her mind, powder still on her face...
Seeing the collective look crossing both of her friends’ faces, Jeszika swallows hard, knowing there’s more yet to come in this story.
Jeszika Gautier: Then what happened?
Bethany sighs heavily.
Bethany Kenyon: I went out to talk with her, Wolfie beat me to the car. Nik stayed by the door and…
She swallows hard at the memory.
Bethany Kenyon: She was already not happy that I wasn’t happy about her being loaded, then she found out about the job we worked with the Dead Men and without you and her and…
Bethany trails off, not really wanting to re-open that particular wound with Jeszika. Smiling and nodding protectively, Jeszika pats her friends arm.
Jeszika Gautier: What did she do, B?
Bethany shrugs.
Bethany Kenyon: She got pissed off, screamed at me…
Aas Bethany hesitates, Nikki nods, almost instructing Bethany to do something.
Nikki Peltier: Tell her what she said…
Bethany nods slowly.
Bethany Kenyon: She said… I wasn’t Mama…
Jeszika closes her eyes again.
Jeszika Gautier: It’s worse than I thought…
Nikki nods her agreement.
Nikki Peltier: Tell her what she said before that…
Bethany looks at Nikki, not sure she wants to but the look on Nikki’s face tells her to keep going.
Bethany Kenyon: She was still upset about the whole accusing her of trying to steal Carrie thing.
Nikki nods knowingly, sadly.
Nikki Peltier: And then she stormed up to the door, told me to leave her dog and get out of her house.
Bethany nods.
Bethany Kenyon: Nik was trying to hide the tears when she came back to the cars…
Nikki Peltier: And Bethy couldn’t hide hers…
Jeszika lets out a deep breath.
Jeszika Gautier: I caused this… I drove her away…
Bethany shakes her head.
Bethany Kenyon: No, Honey…
Nikki shakes her head as well.
Nikki Peltier: We all missed whatever is going on with Ash.
Jeszika shakes her head, almost adamantly.
Jeszika Gautier: But she lashed out like this because I accused her…
Bethany sits back some.
Bethany Kenyon: I don’t know, I think she’s just as angry at us for not going out and doing things together anymore as she is over that…
Jeszika’s eyes narrow.
Jeszika Gautier: We do still go out though… we just don’t get high.
Nikki shakes her head.
Nikki Peltier: Not like we used to…
Bethany Kenyon: We used to practically live together at these places, whether we were going full on party or just having a beer. We’ve all but stopped doing that.
She stares off into the distance, looking guilty and ashamed.
Bethany Kenyon: And we make excuses to her about why we can’t…
Jeszika still just stares at them in confusion.
Jeszika Gautier: Go to Prey all the time, I still hang out, I still have a good time… not everything needs to revolve around alcohol and drugs.
Bethany tries to smile but the sadness keeps her from quite managing.
Bethany Kenyon: Jezzy, there’s a difference between going to your girlfriend’s room and rolling out together as a family. Between Brody, Richie and all the other stuff that’s happened lately… we really haven’t done that since…
She shakes her head.
Bethany Kenyon: I can’t remember…
Nikki ponders this question.
Nikki Peltier: Probably before the Jones concussion.
Bethany Kenyon: And even when we have gotten together it’s been about business and how we’re all in need of money because of medical expenses and stuff.
Looking somewhere between hurt and exasperated, Jeszika sighs, shrugging.
Jeszika Gautier: So what do you suggest we do then? Cause I’m at a loss of how to fix this if that’s the problem.
Bethany shakes her head.
Bethany Kenyon: I don’t know… she’s never been that… just… resentfully mean before…
She looks down, suddenly sounding almost defeated.
Bethany Kenyon: Is this… is this my fault? Have I babied her too much?
Jeszika shakes her head, patting Bethany’s arm supportively again.
Jeszika Gautier: You’ve been a good sister, B. That’s all.
Bethany shrugs, her eyes moistening.
Bethany Kenyon: Did I... really... try to replace…
Nikki takes her other hand.
Nikki Peltier: B, don’t… don’t do this to yourself…
Jeszika nods her agreement.
Jeszika Gautier: B, you did what any of us would have done in the same situation. You raised her, kept her out of trouble… The rest and everything from here on is on her. She needs to learn to live without our constant guidance, maybe it’s what she needs.
Bethany sits back, looking like she just wants to scream until she can’t breathe anymore.
Bethany Kenyon: We were a team…
Nikki squeezes her hand.
Nikki Peltier: We still are.
Jeszika nods, squeezing the other hand.
Jeszika Gautier: But sometimes teams need time to themselves… Being in each other’s face all the time can’t be good for us. Sometimes we need to discover ourselves and bloom alone.
Bethany shakes her head, looking ready to panic.
Bethany Kenyon: I don’t wanna be alone…
Jeszika nods.
Jeszika Gautier: You won't be alone, B. What I’m saying is, if she wants to be alone, give her her space. If she truly cares, she’ll be back.
Bethany nods slowly.
Bethany Kenyon: So, what do we do for jobs then if Ash isn’t gonna be there?
Nikki starts to answer but catches herself and slows down.
Nikki Peltier: We don’t know that she won’t…
Bethany just shoots her a look.
Bethany Kenyon: Sake of argument?
Nikki nods.
Nikki Peltier: I don’t know since…
She nods at Jeszika.
Nikki Peltier: As much as she would help us, I don’t think asking Carrie would be a good idea.
Jeszika Gautier: Yeah she’s probably not gonna wanna… not after last time… maybe we could do different ones? That don’t involve snipering. I could play bait and B could still blow things up.
Nikki shrugs.
Nikki Peltier: If we get jobs that call for that.
Jeszika starts to nod, seemingly happy with this answer but Bethany still isn’t quite satisfied.
Bethany Kenyon: What if we need somebody for it, though? Who do we know that could do it?
Jeszika lets out a long breath, whistling wistfully.
Jeszika Gautier: No one comes to mind apart from Carrie…
Nikki shrugs, resigning herself to this fate.
Nikki Peltier: I might could look for somebody.
Bethany sighs.
Bethany Kenyon: You’re gonna wanna call Ash first, to make sure…
Nikki visibly shrinks into her seat.
Nikki Peltier: That’s probably not gonna go well, is it?
Jeszika does as well.
Jeszika Gautier: Yeah, that's won't go well.
Bethany shrugs sadly.
Bethany Kenyon: But it’ll be worse if we just…
She pauses, shaking her head.
Bethany Kenyon: If we try to replace her without talking to her first.
The three sit there in silence for a second, all of them pondering the elephant in the room.
Jeszika Gautier: Who's gonna call her then? I know I'm the last person she wants to talk to right now.
Nikki shrugs, almost like she knows she’s biting the bullet.
Nikki Peltier: I probably should…
Jeszika nods, her eyes telling everyone this is definitely the right call from her perspective.
Jeszika Gautier: Probably wise.
Bethany just shakes her head in despairing disbelief.
Bethany Kenyon: I can’t believe we’re here…
Nikki pats her hand again.
Nikki Peltier: It’s gonna be ok, B.
A few hours later, Bethany stands alone on the patio in front of a camera, the UWA World Heavyweight Championship belt sitting on the small table next to her.
Bethany Kenyon: It’s gonna be ok, B…
She nods, looking down and taking a deep breath as she does so.
Bethany Kenyon: I’ve heard that a lot lately.
Reaching into her pocket, Bethany pulls out her phone and quickly boots up the internet function.
Bethany Kenyon: It’s amazing how we’ve gotten here…
She lifts up her phone and scans through old UWA cards, settling on the first two pay-per-views.
Bethany Kenyon: A lot of people have mentioned where we were a year ago and then talked about where we are now in comparison. It’s been almost funny to hear this because, for the most part, it’s coming from people who weren’t here in UWA for at least part of that year and in some cases, a huge swath of it.
Pausing momentarily, she focuses on last year’s Spring Stampede card.
Bethany Kenyon: A year ago, UWA was on its way to its second pay-per-view. Aerynn Donnelly was the shocking first World Champion, about to defend against her best friend, Pauly O’Connor. My best friend, Jeszika Gautier, was about to be in the match to crown the inaugural North American Champion with two guys who took vastly different paths both to get into the match and after the match in The Garbageman and Kyle Travis. Sentinel was getting ready to fight Brody Montgomery, III in a Falls Count Anywhere, No DQ Match that would set the tone for a certain level of violence in this company and I was “the Other Sister” in a third wheel tag team about to stand between the Sin City Knights and Dark Camelot, and I say we were the third wheel because almost everyone including us was wondering what we were doing in this match, but considering we were the only ones left off the first pay-per-view, we weren’t exactly in a position to complain about it.
Changing her focus, she moves back to the card for the original UWA pay-per-view, Tragic Engagement.
Bethany Kenyon: It was a strange time for UWA. The excitement of the first pay-per-view had been tempered by the disappointment of being left out and then was compounded by the showing in the main event. Going into that first pay-per-view, Aerynn Donnelly was supposed to be the fourth choice, the candidate least likely to win anything. She was the one who should have been just happy to be there because she was the least experienced, and let’s face it, she was the smallest competitor and the only woman, no one was picking her to win. Pauly O’Connor was supposed to come in third and the two favorites, the two unanimously held as the favorites and the two best competitors in the company and probably in the world, were Nick Daniels and Sentinel.
She lowers her phone as her chin droops to her chest.
Bethany Kenyon: And then the match happened and Nick Daniels and Sentinel…
She shakes her head as if she still doesn’t believe it.
Bethany Kenyon: Laid eggs no one thought they were capable of laying. Aerynn and Pauly rose to the occasion and Aerynn won the championship. Nick Daniels would soon disappear from UWA at the hands of the Children and Sentinel would follow him a couple of months later in similar fashion and…
Raising her phone back up, she glances at the card and can only shake her head mournfully at it.
Bethany Kenyon: You look at the rest of the card for that night, Garbage Man vs Kaylyn James Evans vs Vance Voltoro turned out to be the battle of three empty shirts, two of whom we never really heard from and the third was gone after a couple of months. Cornbread Mafia vs Sang Real in Sang Real’s debut started the first real lasting rivalry. Jeszika Gautier vs Donzing for a spot in the North American Title match at the second pay-per-view. Donzing left after losing there, whether because he was angry or just another empty shirt. Brody Montgomery vs Matt Lennox, which, for all intents and purposes…
She trails off, her thoughts running into one another on what to say about her boyfriend and his career.
Bethany Kenyon: Matt Lennox was yet another empty shirt and Brody became another victim of the Children, suffering lasting injuries that still plague him now…
She bites her lip, still looking at the card graphic on her phone.
Bethany Kenyon: Ashley and I weren’t thought of highly enough to get a place amongst all of that. Neither of us had been involved in the matches to crown the World Champion and neither of us would be involved in the matches to crown the North American Champion either. Move on to the next pay-per-view, we get thrown into a match between two other teams that want to kill each other while Donzing, Kaylyn James Evans and Garbage Man all got chances to be in the North American Championship match and Kyle Travis got handed the chance despite losing to Brody in his qualifier match.
The phone lowers, entering a pocket in her jeans as Bethany looks up into the camera.
Bethany Kenyon: That’s where we were a year ago, the Children making a little noise, Sentinel on his way out of the company after being an overhyped disappointment and me as an afterthought in my own tag team. There were some who thought neither of us were ever going to get anywhere here, you because you were never coming back, your fire was gone and me…
She shrugs almost apologetically.
Bethany Kenyon: Well, it was likely I never had the fire to begin with, depending on who you were talking to at the time.
A small smile comes over her face as she thinks on it all.
Bethany Kenyon: A year, later, I’ve been tag team champion with Ashley, she’s the North American Champion and I’m the UWA World Champion…
She picks up the World Championship belt and nods to it like it could answer her.
Bethany Kenyon: After thought, no more…
She lowers the belt and looks back to the camera.
Bethany Kenyon: And Sentinel stands as the number one contender and a man accused of things that, quite honestly, I don’t think he did. This whole “Sentinel is the stalker,” bullshit just seems like a smokescreen set by somebody to drive wedges between people who might otherwise stand together. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear it was a Joshua McBride and the Children move, but we know it can’t have been Joshua, don’t we?
Shaking her head, Bethany stares into the abyss above her, looking like she wishes she could crawl into a hole somewhere.
Bethany Kenyon: The sad part is that it appears to be working. Jeszika is convinced Sentinel is her stalker even though, every time I see that video I shake my head and think, “There's no way that’s Sentinel, the guy’s like six inches shorter and a good fifty pounds lighter.” From the way Jezzy describes the voice, that doesn’t sound like it fits either so the only real evidence against him is that he left me a rose once after I won the World Championship and…
Her hands go up, before balling into fists of exasperation.
Bethany Kenyon: It wasn’t even the right color rose!
The camera follows her as she walks over towards the sliding glass door that goes into her house. Bethany stops and then turns leaning against the wall next to it, her hand covering her face in shame.
Bethany Kenyon: So here we are, me versus Sentinel and we’ve had a couple incidents now, haven’t we?
She nods, her hand seeming to hover in front of her about chest high.
Bethany Kenyon: First, he takes my head off because he doesn’t know it’s me and he’d just dropped Jeszika for pushing him on the whole stalker thing. He apologizes, comes down to New Orleans and helps me and Nikki out with something, proving he is exactly who I always thought he was…
Her eyes close as her hand starts to shake in midair.
Bethany Kenyon: And then we have our match teaming where Sang Real manages to drill him with chairs, he shoves us out of the way, we get up and think he hit us for no reason and we kick his head off only to find out he deserved none of that…
She bites her lip, her hand slapping herself on the forehead again. Her entire body seemingly sags guiltily against the wall, her hand falling to her side as she shakes her head in shame.
Bethany Kenyon: Somehow, “I’m sorry, Sentinel,” just doesn’t seem to cut it.
Managing to stand up straight again, Bethany pulls herself off the wall and takes a step forward. She takes a deep breath and looks dead into the camera.
Bethany Kenyon: But you deserve no less, I can’t speak for Jezzy and I wouldn’t even try right now for Ash, but, Sentinel, I’m sorry for what happened at Mayhem. You didn’t deserve that and I thank you for saving us and taking the shot from Sang Real. I know it’s little consolation, but it’s what I can give you right now.
She pauses, taking another deep breath.
Bethany Kenyon: So, where do we go from here?
She lets the breath out and then looks dead into the camera again.
Bethany Kenyon: I walk into the lion’s den, stare the biggest, angriest lion of them all in the mouth, tell him how his breath smells and then wait to see how bad he tries to bite me. There’s no question about whether he will, it’s just a matter of how fast, how hard and how bad the damage is when he does and the only thing I can do about it is realize I’ve been bitten before and I’m still here…
Shaking her head, Bethany looks back at the belt, considering if it’s really worth it.
Bethany Kenyon: I once said Sentinel scared the hell out of me and you know what? He still does because I know this time he’s coming in angry, he has a right to be and there’s only so many times the lion can bite you before you don’t get back up.
She closes her eyes, takes a deep breath and then looks dead into the camera again.
Bethany Kenyon: But I’m still gonna do it because I’m the UWA World Heavyweight Champion and I have been through way too much to just give up now! I survived being left out of the company’s plans, the Children trying to end us all, Joshua McBride’s whims, Aerynn losing her mind, Jezzy’s addiction, assaults on Brody, Carrie, Melissa, and Billy and now this stalker crap and I can live through this too! I was able to get the win over Sentinel once before and there isn’t anybody else in this company that can say they got him straight up like that, one on one. On Sunday, I’m walking into that lion’s den…
Picking up her championship belt, she holds it up in front of the camera.
Bethany Kenyon: I’ll be damned if I’m not walking out!
