Carmen was lying, comatose, in a hospital in Indo, California. Two days ago, she was headed to a party with Carson when he stood her up. She went alone, but she didn't come home. Jalie was searching for somewhere to place the blame. Conveniently enough, circumstances made one Cody Carson look incredibly guilty.
"Where the hell were you?!" Jalie screamed, slamming the door to Carson's apartment behind her. Cyprus shot up from the couch to see who was making the intrusion. Upon seeing Jalie, she flushed slightly; all too aware of their past experiences together. Jalie offered her a glance but the recognition didn't settle in. Instead, Jalie turned to where Cody was standing dumbfounded by the kitchen counter. He had a spoon half-way to his mouth and milk dribbling down his chin and back into the cereal bowl.
"What the fuck are you talking about? I'm here. I never left." He reminded her. Jalie's eyes narrowed. She was beyond angry this time. Cody's antics had often pissed her off, forced her to hurt him, or even made her laugh. Seeing her angry was a normal occurrence for him. But this, well... He quickly assessed his options and found she was blocking his only likely exit. With a feeling of lead dropped into his stomach, he decided to continue the conversation.
"What the hell is wrong with you, dude? And you didn't even say hi to Cyprus." He reprimanded.
"FUCK CYPRUS, CARSON!" Jalie railed. Cyprus raised an eyebrow and stood up slowly, debating on whether or not she should leave. “Stay where you fucking are. I love you, Cyprus but I swear to God if you make one more comment regarding my sister I’ll knock you on your fucking ass!”
“What are you talking about…?” Cyprus asked, wide-eyed. Jalie sneered. “’Carmen wasn’t strong enough to hold onto a man with Carson’s sex appeal’? Don’t fucking patronize me, Cyprus. You’ve made plenty of snide little comments about her and why? Because she’s his fucking ex. But that fact does NOT give you the right to fucking degrade her, do you understand?! Hell, they would have gotten back together if you and Carson hadn’t fucked. She was so close to being happy again… After the shit Cody pulled with Brandy, and now you… He can’t make up his goddamn mind. And she just trailed along behind him, staying faithful while he acted like a fucking bitch in heat.” Jalie rounded on Carson, her eyes blazing. "You blew off my sister for one measly fuck - you broke her fucking heart AGAIN and now she's gone! SHE'S FUCKING GONE!" As if to emphasize this last point, Jalie put her fist through the front window. The pane shattered, making Cody jump. Cyprus looked incredibly calm as she casually took note of the blood trickling down Jalie's hand.
"Calm down, god damnit! What... What do you mean she's gone? She's gone like a vacation or she's gone like Kurt Cobain?" Cody asked, his heart hammering against his chest at the thought of the latter option.
"Neither..." Jalie seethed. "A fight broke out at the party. The one she’d planned for weeks. The one you promised you’d go with her to? People heard a woman scream, and then a black pick-up took off. She was raped. Beaten. And now, she‘s in a fucking coma."
Cody paled. His head reeled with calculations... How long ago was the party? What was the survival rate of comatose victims; he knew he heard it on Law and Order last night. How was this his fault? Did he leave the fridge open? Hold on... Carmen's in a coma.
"When? I mean, how? I mean... What the fuck? How is this my fault, Jalie?!" He demanded finally.
As you may have guessed, this was the worst possible question and the tone in which it was put didn't help his situation either.
"She was going on about this party for two weeks. It was her big chance to make things up to you. Make you see that she still loved you. You know she still wore the engagement ring? You know since you two split up, she never so much as looked at another man? She loved you, Cody! AND FOR WHAT?!"
Jalie appeared to fight with herself for a moment - the urge to close her hands around Carson's throat becoming unbearable. Still, she contained herself and settled for knocking over his lava lamp with a string of curses. Cody approached her, slowly, stilling her hands with his own.
"Did they find the guys that did it?” He asked.
Jalie turned her eyes up toward his. Cody was startled when he realized how empty they looked.
"No. But I did."
Carson steeled his stomach against the grisly images that came to mind. Quickly, he changed the subject. “Listen, Lielee… She’ll come out of it, alright?”
“She’d better. For your sake.” Her voice rang clear and cold. She turned and gave a small nod to Cyprus. Though they'd spent numerous years apart, the two girls had a solemn understanding of each other. With that simple gesture, Cyprus understood that none of this was to be taken offensively toward her. That Jalie’s anger wasn’t with her, despite her biting words. Jalie shoved Carson back onto his ass. He landed in the remnants of the lava lamp, cursing as Jalie stormed out of the apartment. Casually, Cyprus glanced back into the kitchen, then turned back to Cody, who was carefully plucking bits of glass from his behind.
"You left the fridge open." She noted.
./scene 2\. __go home, get stoned, we can end up makin‘ love instead of misery
“Bitchwhorecunt!” Cyprus exclaimed, pitching Jalie’s empty beer bottle at a passing blonde. Jalie blinked. The two of them were sitting on Jalie’s front porch and enjoying the mild winter evening. Seth was visible in the living room window, throwing pretzels at the TV image of Jay Leno. For several years he’d held a grudge against the man for his horrible jokes, bad hair, and blatant inferiority to Conan O’Brien. When Leno ended, Seth hollered loudly toward the window.
“Babe! I’m entering the Cone Zone!”
“That’s great, honey!” Jalie called back. Seth turned back to the TV as Conan’s theme began playing. Cyprus giggled.
“You two are cute. I wish I was cute. Am I cute?” She inquired. Jalie looked her up and down, then followed with a nod.
“Passable. Although you’d be cuter if you passed me another beer.” Jalie flashed a grin worthy of the Cheshire cat. Cyprus reached into the ice box behind her and handed Jalie a Corona. She’d been drinking the same brand since the age of thirteen. By now, she wasn’t sure she could even taste it anymore.
“May I also ask why you assaulted that woman earlier?” Jalie asked. Cyprus bit onto her lower lip. Her memory was almost as bad as Jalie’s. Almost.
“Oh! Right. Because she looked like some chick I went to school with. It wasn’t her, but the resemblance pissed me off.” Cyprus explained.
“Do you think Hitler went up to his councilor on career day and went, ‘I’d like to be an internationally recognized mass-murdering fuckhead.’?” Jalie asked casually.
“Dunno. Maybe it was more like, ‘I wanna have my honeymoon in a ditch, covered in petrol and on fire.’” Cyprus offered. Both girls smiled.
“Yeah, party.” Jalie added.
They were silent a moment until Cyprus finally asked what had been on her mind since that morning.
“So… Any word on Carmen?”
“Nothing…” Jalie downed the last of her beer and tossed the bottle against the boulder in the front yard. “Not a fucking thing.”
Cyprus had already guessed this, knowing Jalie better than she knew herself. By now the chances that Carmen would come out of it were slim to none… If they didn’t wake up soon afterward, the outlook was bad. Cyprus knew this, and she knew Jalie was aware of it as well. But for either of them to speak it was like admitting the possibility.
“It doesn’t even seem real. I keep expecting her to walk in the door, telling me I’m dressed like a guy. I know this has to be just as hard for Carson, though… He loves her. At least, I think he did. He used to tell me there was something special about her. Something no one else had.” Jalie mused.
“And then I came along.” Cyprus smirked sarcastically. Jalie shook her head. “Don’t. You had nothing to do with this. Carson had a choice to make… And he turned her away. The fact that he turned her away to be with you doesn’t really matter.” She explained. “In fact, it’s better it was you than just some bimbo. Because if that had been the case, well…” Jalie smiled as she pulled a joint from her pocket, slipping it into her mouth and digging for her lighter. “If that was the case,” she continued, “You’d have to find his body before you could even make funeral preparations. I meant what I said, though. I don‘t wanna hear you talk about my sister. I understand you and Cody have something now and that‘s fine… But you won‘t be acting like Carmen didn‘t deserve him. If anything, he never deserved her.”
She flipped open her zippo and lit the smoke, taking a long drag and frowning. When she’d released her breath she turned back to Cyprus.
“You two, however, well… I think you’re both fucked up enough to be perfect for each other. The same way you and I get on so well. It’s gotta count for something.”
Cyprus smiled. She liked the thought of her and Cody being together… But at the same time it terrified her. In one of those “Speak of the devil” moments, Cody Carson wandered up to the two of them. His truck could be seen parked across the street. There was room in the driveway, but he didn’t wanna take the chance of Seth spotting him. Damage to his own body was one thing, but damage to his truck was something else entirely.
“Lielee…” he started, testing out her mood. She nodded. “I don’t know what to say other than I’m sorry. I never expected any of this to happen… I was confused. That fucking woman does something to my head that I can’t quite figure out.” He nodded toward Cyprus, who was blushing.
“Just please, please forgive me. You know I miss her too, but there was nothing I could-”
Carson’s sentence was cut off by Jalie, who had gotten up and thrown her arms around him. Shocked, he patted her on the back and finally wrapped his arms around her.
“Awww…” Cyprus smiled. She hopped off the step and joined in on the hug. Jalie was laughing when Cyprus suddenly interjected - “It’s like a big cuddly threesome!”
At that, Jalie broke away making gagging noises and Carson started laughing. Seth was heard inside the living room, singing and clapping in time to Conan’s patented “I’ma gonna go to hell when I die” tune.
Now, generally, I’d say Jameson was too preoccupied with her own mental instability to focus on beating one of the greatest wrestlers ever to grace a wrestling ring. And then, I would remember that she’s only fighting me.
Besides, who am I to talk about mental instability? If anything, it’d be her own personal trauma that is giving her lack of sleep or something. But that’s just looking for some sort of excuse to say she won’t be on top of her game. Obviously if you look at her track record this isn’t the case. She’s been fucked up for ages and it hasn’t affected her performance. Now that is impressive. Although it might just make the situation her worse. Because going into this… I know I’ll be fine. I’m not referring to my record, or the fact that I’m a double champion, because that is essentially pointless when it comes to any match. Intimidation factor, maybe, but not with Jameson. The fact is I know I’ll be fine because I’m not worried. It’s kind of a mantra. If you’re worried, you’ll probably blow it. If you’re calm and collected, you’re good.
So best of luck to Miss Jameson. If nothing else, may you take solace in the fact that losing to me isn’t shameful in the least. I’m actually rather talented.