ON MY MIND

RECAP
Not Applicable.

Location: Chicago, IL (Hotel – Late Night / Early Morning)
“Slick bastard…” was all that was chuckled as Glacier spoke on the phone. In light conversation with a colleague of his, they had laughed about several moments that spanned from years ago. From chasing the ladies in college to getting chased by them after the fellas’ love were found to be “untrue”. It was all games Anthony had played when he was young. His friends had gone to college while he preferred to go to wrestling school but they all had kept in touch. When the summer let out they ecstatically planned with one another their three months of freedom. Whether it was Jamaica, Cancun, or the beaches of South Jersey they always had a plan. One of these ex-party animals name was Jason: a young dashing man with brown hair and dark brown eyes. He was the “ladies man” of the group. A quick wink and a show of those pearly whites and ladies would melt at the idea of him. He and Anthony hadn’t talked in awhile so some small chit-chat on the phone didn’t take anything away from his day.

Anthony, on the other hand, was the muscle of the group. He would always have Jason or any of the other boys’ backs when an argument that was seemingly about to turn physical aroused. Such loyalty and cooperation worked out well as he is now the current and proud owner of half of the SCW Tag Team Championships. He rubbed his crew-cut styled hair as he laughed on the phone. He was lying on his back in bed, his hand behind his head with his famous devious smirk across his face. A sudden idea had popped into Anthony’s head as he found himself distracted. He had looked over on the end table near to the bed and saw two tickets, in a pale green and white color scheme. He picked them up and looked at them. He would always get two tickets to give anyone of his liking a chance to watch an SCW show. He would just hand them to the fan that forgot to bring their ticket. He realized quickly he could give it to Jason as Jason would conveniently be in the Chicago area for some modeling contest.

“Hey, pretty boy, I got a ticket for the next Breakdown. You want it?”

“Bro, I don’t swing that way. I only accept those kind of offers from chicks.” He said jokingly over the phone.

“Jackass, I’m going to be wrestling on Breakdown, forget already? Funny thing is…I heard you male models all swing that way. In denial, eh?” Anthony smirked to himself using a little Canadian accent on the “eh”. He had been wrestling with Canadians in the earlier part of his career. It was like everyone who was in on the wrestling business that had talent was Canadian, at least back in the days. As time progressed, he met some Australian and fellow Americans even some British guys.

“Shut up, bitch!” Jason snapped back. Anthony could only laugh. They soon found themselves in discussion about the location of the arena that was hosting Breakdown as well as how Anthony was to meet with Jason to hand him the ticket. After getting off the phone, Anthony stretched out his muscular arms and yawned. He soon switched to lying on his side which twisted his blue and white TAPOUT shorts in the process. He fixed them back before lazily looking through the contacts in his phone. Notable names like Holly Adams, Michael “Shorty Jr.” Johnson, Josh Hudson, and many others showed up as he scrolled down. He should have called all three, wishing the guys good luck in the match and just talking to Holly overall but he had a bad feeling about her as of late. Many he was oversensitive or maybe this is how she reacts when she feels she might be getting pushed away by those she loves, but he almost felt a sense of longing.

It was as if she longed for someone other than him. The way she touched, the way she kissed…it wasn’t like before. It was as if her mind was elsewhere or on someone else. There was only one person; it had to have been Chris Lawler. Anthony couldn’t get it, he just wouldn’t. The sack of shit damn well landed his finisher on her in the middle of the ring yet she could feel love for him? Maybe it was Anthony. Junior had attacked him a week or two before his match against Damian Angel for the title yet Anthony was still there for Junior. Anthony slowly shook his head. It couldn’t be the same thing. Junior did it out of anger and need to make a point. Junior apologized. Lawler? He did it because he is a coward bastard and still calls the woman a slut to this very day. Anthony stared out the window with his icy blue eyes, burning up on the inside. He couldn’t get it. Lawler wants Nancy. Holly more than likely wants Lawler. Could the truth really be that no one wants him?

He was just a pawn.

Fuck it, he had to have been a pawn all along; a rebound and nothing more.

How surprisingly. How could Holly have loved him? Someone so full of evil and hate for others. How could any human even slightly like him? Before he met Hudson, the man lived in a beautiful mansion with his girlfriend and nice car. Life was sweet. Since then? Hudson confines himself to the basement and has been looking pale as of sorts. He had a hand in Hudson’s insanity. He helped steer Hudson to the breaking point yet he had the nerve to turn around and wonder why Holly would want to find herself in the arms of another man. But it was mere suspicions. He had no concrete evidence that Holly felt that way. If he confronted her she would only deny it and it would push them farther apart. Maybe a man such as Anthony should be as cold and as lonely as his stage name would suggest. Maybe this was his just desserts for everything he has done, to receive such a beautiful pure person who he loves only to have them ripped from underneath him. Eh, who knows?

He gave a small grunt then sat up on the side of the bed where he proceeded to crack his knuckles. He noticed he had been talking on the phone for awhile as it was late night / early morning. He noticed it was still dark out at five AM. The street lights that light up the city were still on so he decided a drink of water wouldn’t hurt. His feet touched the wooden floor as he pushed off of the bed. His whole upper body felt heavy as he slowly moved to the kitchen with a bit of stumbling on along the way. He opened the fridge and saw his water bottle, he took his teeth to the top and pulled back opening it up then guzzled down some of the water. He wiped the small amount of water on the corner of his mouth then placed the water back into the fridge. He went to the bathroom, after using the toilet; he walked his hands and looked into the mirror. His blue eyes stared back at him; he had taken out his contacts before going to bed. He even rubbed his dyed jet-black crew-cut.

He was an amazing physical specimen. He looked at his chest; he had an All-American type build. A form he was proud of and the ladies certainly enjoy. He had what many wrestlers did not: an eight-pack, a family friend in the form of the interim US Champion in the same federation, and an undying love for misery. He made himself miserable; he was in fact his worst enemy. He would promise himself every year that he would change his ways and every year he would be bitterer than before. Therapists didn’t work. Counseling didn’t work. This was his curse and his own fight. No one could fight it with him or for him. Knowing he was in this struggle alone doesn’t make it that much easier to fight. He wanted Holly to know how he was feeling, he wanted her to be his rock but she seemed more interested in being someone’s granite. All he could do was sigh. Physic was not the only thing that made a woman’s head turn anymore and he knew that. Why he thought he had anything worth looking at was beyond him.

“I need to go to bed. I need to take my mind off of it. I’m just overreacting. That’s all. It couldn’t be anything more than just overreaction. She probably adores me as much as I do her. I need to lose these crazy thoughts. I don’t know why my mental demons decided, after all these years, to creep up on me now.” Anthony contemplated to himself.

He turned one of the pipes and the water rushed down strongly. He splashed the cold water across his dry pale face. He wanted to wake himself up. All this self doubt and paranoia was probably symptoms of delusion from lack of sleep. He wiped his face off with a towel hanging nearby and left the bathroom. Anthony laid back on the bed, attempting to go to sleep. He couldn’t. He was tired, delusional and yet he couldn’t go to sleep. The idea of Lawler taking the one he loves ate into him. Lawler, a guy he’s insulted and made fun of time and time again…taking Holly away from him? It annoyed him, what annoyed him even more was the fact that the ONLY reason Holly feels any kind of connection to Lawler is because of their son. Lawler denies his fatherhood and yet Holly wants to keep a family with him? What is SHE thinking? It was upsetting but what was he to do really? He had a few opinions but he wanted to lay back and see how the pieces played on the chess board before he made a move.

“I have to get rid of this Lawler guy.” He seethed to himself. He didn’t think he would have to deal with SCW’s biggest joke again especially in this form. Hence why he did nothing about Lawler in the first place. But now the chump was Underground champion and thought himself better than others. Anthony should just take that title from underneath him but what would be the point? The Underground title couldn’t replace Holly and Anthony knew that. Anthony had never been a situation like this before. Maybe because he had been married for awhile as well as a very “liberal” guy. A girl couldn’t hold him down back in the days, no matter how hard she tried. A good looking toned man like Anthony in a place like New Jersey, how could he stay with one girl back then? He had grown up and settled down eventually but never once was he in a predicament like this. One where he gave his heart to a woman who now has her heart beat for another. Anthony eyelids began to get heavy. Lights out.

Location: Chicago, IL (United Center Arena – Next Day: Evening)
Hellos and Good Evenings could be heard as Anthony walked through the arena. He was in search for one person, Shorty Junior. He wanted to talk to him about his female problems or rather one big problem. He had on a burnt orange colored tight t-shirt. It formed against his body as if the shirt look painted onto him. On the front of the cotton shirt was a white tribal logo, on the back in bold black was APOCALYPSE with the same colored blood dripping graphics on the text. The pay per view was coming fast and Anthony had a tag team match to prepare for. His jeans were a bit different, deep blue denim very baggy. He always wore baggy jeans since he was young. He had always thought they look good on him. He had on a red NY cap on backwards. He had talked to MJ this morning and they decided to meet up at the arena in the evening at the nearly completed ring. Anthony walked from the back and down the ramp and took a seat in the audience section. He laid back and looked on as they set up the ring.

“Aren’t you a little early?” one of the men said rhetorically.

“Yeah, you can say so.” Anthony could have as easily told him he was meeting MJ but what is it this guys business. His job was to set up the ring, not ask questions like he was someone’s mother. Those kinds of people overstep their place in life and it annoyed him to no end. The guy reminded him of Terrell Owens. Anthony shook his head and waited a while. After about a half hour or so, a familiar face walked down the ramp. MJ had finally arrived, smirking from ear to ear. He had on a green and white stripped polo shirt with white three-quarter regular jeans shorts. His aviator shades hanged off the top of his polo shirt. You could smell the fragrance off of him from four feet away and that’s exactly where he stopped. Neither of them carried around their belts a lot, it was a good way of getting a good ass kicking from an envious fellow wrestler. The only gold that could be seen was the chain around MJ’s neck. MJ shoved one of his hands in his pocket.

“So…” he said as there was awkward silence. He had no clue what Anthony had asked him to come up here for. For all he knew, Anthony might just right out take a cheat shot and attack him.

“Look I need to talk to you. It’s about Holly…” Anthony glimpsed over at MJ who squinted his eyes once he heard that name.

“Again with Holly, man? What now?” he said rightfully annoyed. How many times was Anthony going to beat a dead horse of a topic?

“Look it’s really stressing me out.”

“You’re stressed out? I’m stuck with Special ‘Ed’ and ‘Jack’-Ass yet you’re the one stressed out? Give me a break.”

“Ha. Yeah I couldn’t figure how the put you on the other team maybe they need Silkk to get a quick win to prove he’s actually some kind of challenge come Apocalypse. Have fun retaining your belt, I know me and Hudson will. Listen, I’m not trying to be rude but with Cherry Pit Crew by your side I really can’t tell you that you have much of a fighting chance. Yes, it’s a hurtful thing to say and you’re talented but you’re also not magician. You cannot make tweedle-dee and tweedle-dum become high caliber wrestlers over night even if you try. So you concentrate on Silkk and Silkk alone because all three of us need to leave that ring in one piece before Apocalypse so don’t forget that. If it comes down to what will probably be the inevitable, one of us taking on you, then let the best man win. All I can suggest to you, as a friend and mentor, to stay the hell away from Hudson. That kid has turned crazy on me and I doubt he’ll hesitate to hurt you. I’m not saying he will but just keep your ears and eyes open.”

“Thanks, grandpa. Maybe next time you’ll remind me about how you fought in World War II.” MJ snickered only to receive a straight slap upside the head. MJ squinted his eyes and held his head with one hand over the spot he was smacked.

“Call me grandpa again, I dare ya.” Anthony defiantly remarked. MJ thought about it for a second. He tried to calculate the situation. He figured given his God-given speed, he could run too far for Anthony to catch him. So he decided to play this game of dare. He couldn’t help it plus showing off his lightweight abilities might remind Anthony that he was a force to be reckoned with.

“HEY YO GRANDPA SHUT UP!” He ran like a bat out of hell up the ramp before Anthony could even react. Anthony looked in disbelief but then smirked and shook his head.

“Didn’t think you could run that fast. Lucky bastard.”

“Ha-ha. See you at Breakdown man.”

“Yeah YOU WON’T BE ABLE TO RUN THEN!” They shared a laugh then MJ waved good bye as he headed backstage. Anthony had to stop making MJ his counselor. MJ was just an eighteen year old kid with barely any relationship experience and there Anthony, at the prime age of twenty-eight, talks to MJ as if he could help with the Holly situation. Anthony could only shake his head. He had to concentrate even if MJ is a close buddy of his; Anthony could not afford to go into Apocalypse looking weak. A loss to CPC, even with Junior on their team, would be an embarrassment. Anthony watched the ring finished being set up. Tonight would be the night he would have to help Josh, instead of Josh carrying him to victory. It needs to be a team, not a one-man show. Anthony jumped back over the barrier and headed up the ramp after a few minutes. He looked back at the ring, one more night of wrestling before their first defense. With Junior in it, it should be an all out war. Scenes fade away to black.