MELTED? NICE WISH

Scenes open to a bright morning in the Thomas household. There laid two body wrapped up in linen. One moves a little and stops. That would be my wife. Me? I’m just waking up. I rubbed my eyes and yawned. I had to take a look over at Ashley. She looked so beautiful…so peaceful. That one moment just made me want to not show up to Wisconsin and tell SCW to go to hell. At one time, I wrestled to make her life better…or so I thought. Now I’m losing her because of it. I didn’t want to think about it. I got out of the sheets and looked for some clothes to put on for my trip to Milwaukee. I quietly headed to the bathroom. The warm water pouring over my body was a relief from the cold night…maybe the last night I lay in the same bed with Ashley. After taking a shower, I put on a purple OWF Shorty shirt. It was an old shirt in the sense that it was made a few years ago but it looked brand new. I put on some regular baggy jeans and white sneakers.

Xavier: I CAUGHT IT! I CAUGHT IT! I CAUGHT IT!

Mark: Shhhh…Daddy and Mommy are sleeping.

Xavier: Okay.

I smiled as I heard them from the back yard. I walked down the stairs and headed over there. Mark was sitting there at the outside table with an almost empty plate of eggs and bacon with a half full glass of milk. I took a seat nearby. The boys looked over at me and I waved. They waved back and then continued to play catch. I watched them for a while. I already knew what was going to happen in the future. I would probably only get weekend visitations but even then I would be too busy with wrestling to see them. They would grow up without their dad…all because of this damn divorce. It made me sick to my stomach to know that would be the case. What could I do? You just can’t jump out before a match and you certainly can’t break a contract with SCW. They paid millions for me to be there. I’d have to pay millions back. I could do that with no serious ass beating on my account BUT I’m greedy as hell. Mark turned his head to me.

Mark: Listen Anthony, I know you are stressed. Remember though, you still do have a match. I’m driving you to the Newark Aiport but before I do that we have to talk. The simple fact is Ashley has given you her ultimatum. You have to pick your family or wrestling. Everyone else around you has picked his or her family. You are the only one who still wrestles in our circle. You and Shorty Jr. but Shorty Jr. is eighteen years old. He has no obligations. You do. I know this is going to rack your brain on your trip to Milwaukee and I don’t want you to get off track. I want you to beat Ramirez THEN talk divorce with Ashley. It’s only going to intensify the situation if you are in a bad mood. I just want to know you’ll be all right. There is no reason for you to go downhill if you do choose wrestling. I just hope to God that you will choose your family. We all do, even Shorty.

Anthony: Thanks…

Mark: For what?

Anthony: For being there while I was gone. I doubt I could trust another man with my wife and kids like I trust you.

Mark: That’s what brothers are for.

Anthony: I got to go re-pack.

Mark: I’ll be waiting in the car.

Anthony: All right.

I soon got up and left to go inside. I headed back up the stairs and went into my room. She was still sleeping beautifully. The sun glowed on her face only for her to cover the sheet over her head out frustration with the light in her eyes. She didn’t even realize I wasn’t in the bed…many nights spent a lone while I went out to wrestle. I quietly began to get my suitcase and packed. As I was about to leave the room, I looked over at her…or should I see the sheet that covered her up. This might be the last time I ever see her in my bed. It hurt but it was what it was. I walked out and I heard her stir and make some kind of mumbling noise. Should I go back and tell her I’m leaving? No reason to make an awkward moment…I walked down the stairs to see my boys waiting by the door. They looked up at me…as if they wanted an answer for all the questions posed last night. I walked towards them and got on one knee to give them hugs.

Anthony Jr.: Dad, if I got a second job would you stop wrestling and stay home?

Anthony: Ha-ha. I wish but that’s not going to happen.

Xavier: Daddy, please go back upstairs and change mommy’s mind. Please! We want you to stay with us.

Anthony: Xavier…I know how much you want things to work. So do I. Right now, daddy has to make a few decisions and it will be in both of your best interests. Trust me.

Xavier: Okay.

I hugged them and quickly left with my luggage. I couldn’t stay any longer after seeing the tears well up in their eyes. It would kill me if I stayed a second longer. I walked over to the car and put my stuff in the back. Quickly, I sat in the passenger seat as Mark reversed out. He drove to the airport. It was the evening time on Saturday so it was pretty packed. I went and had my bags weighed. The line was a bit ridiculous but I could deal with it. Then we headed to the appropriate gate for my flight. It was just hitting me that the next time I come back to New Jersey that I will probably have to meet my lawyer about the divorce. I sighed. Mark noticed and patted me on the back. As if that was going to really save my marriage. What am I saying? He’s been trying to help me from the start. I just couldn’t quit. I’m nearly thirty and still wrestling. Thirty is nowhere near old but still. An announcement was being made.

Announcement: Those on flight to General Mitchell International Airport please head to gate 15. Your flight will be leaving soon.

Mark: Well…that’s your flight, bro.

Anthony: Yeah…I guess it is.

Mark: Don’t worry man, things will work out for the best.

Anthony: I hope so. Anyway, I’ll see you later. Be good.

We hugged and I took my carry-on luggage with me. My other luggage was already boarded on the plane. I was in Coach. I didn’t think much of the difference in first class and coach. I’m just trying to get from one place to another. It’s not like I’m buying the airplane itself. I put my carry-on in the overhead compartment then took a seat. They went through their regular procedure of explaining how the emergency items are used then we took off. They started to show some kind of weak movie that I could care less about but I watched it to keep my mind from wondering away from my match and to my family. I would be useless in the ring if I were to get emotional before my match. I had to keep a reputation as the hard resilient asshole that would put Ramirez in a wheelchair. As the movie had gone on, a brunette flight attendant came up to me with a trolley. I put down the tray off the back of the seat in front of me then looked over at her.

Flight Attendant: What would you like: Chicken or Fish?

Anthony: Chicken, please.

Flight Attendant: What kind of drink would you like?

Anthony: Coke.

Flight Attendant: Hey aren’t you Glacier, that up and coming wrestler in SCW?

Anthony: Yes, that would be me.

Flight Attendant: My kid watches SCW all the time. He thinks you’re the greatest thing since Playstation 2. So why aren’t you in first class, hotshot? Trying to understand the common folk’s plight?

Anthony: Ha-ha. I’m just trying to get to my destination without spending a fortune.

Flight Attendant: Right…and I’m Britney Spears.

She scoffed at me and put my meal down on the tray then put my drink. She walked off with her trolley as I sat there in disbelief. Where the hell is her manager? If she tries some shit like that again before I get off the plane, I’m ending up in jail for the night. Drachewych is going to have to find some money to bail me out so I can participate in my match…which means I won’t cause if Drachewych is anything like me…he isn’t paying for shit he isn’t held responsible for. I took a deep breath and calmed down. Soon the plane landed in Milwaukee. It looked dark but hey, at least I’m safe and sound at the GMI Airport. After they said the usual announcements, everyone got up and took their carry-ons. We all left. I went to the luggage pick up and waited as the luggage moved around on a conveyer belt. I took mine once it came around and left the airport. I took out my cell phone and called Mark. It rang and he finally picked up.

Mark: Hey Ant, what’s up?

Anthony: Just wanted to let you know I made it safely to Wisconsin.

Mark: Good. Win this one for the family, bro.

Anthony: Heh, you know I will. I’m winning it for the sake of humanity.

Mark: Ha-ha. I’ll call you after your match, all right?

Anthony: Yeah, later bro.

Mark: Later.

I ended the call then flipped the cell phone closed and put it in my pocket. I stood out in the fifty-three degree weather with just this shirt on. I put my duffle bag on the floor and bent down. I unzipped it and took out my navy hooded jacket that I usually wear to the ring. As I put it on and zipped up, then flipped the hood up over my head…I noticed I got a bit warmer. I was still a cold but not freezing. I waited for a taxi to come soon as I needed to get to my hotel as soon as possible. I figured right about now wouldn’t be a bad time to discuss my match with Ramirez. I saw his crap on the plane when I pulled out my laptop and watched it on SCWFanatics.com; I was surprised he didn’t crawl into a hole like the rest of his Syndicate brethrens. He somehow was capable of getting locked up, getting out of jail, flying to Chicago, taking down the Latin Kingz with the rest of Syndicate minus Diaz, and get to Wisconsin. One talented man. Indeed.

Glacier: As I expected, a childish response from a twenty something old man. He denies being illegal…hey anyone can if you haven’t been caught yet. See, Ramirez is nothing more than a damn fool. I remember this one man who said, “You mess with a man’s family…you have to deal with the consequences of that man’s reactions.” Every single word of that I agree with. Juan, you are in no position to talk about my family life. Why? Aren’t you the one behind bars getting it from behind from some husky man? Oh, that’s right! Somehow you ran out of a police station precinct FULL OF POLICE MEN AND WOMEN. Can we say, “setup”? Trying to pretend that you can outsmart the police and actually doing so are two different things. Even though you are not the weakest member of Syndicate…you are the most mentally challenged of them all. Stake pierced through my heart? What is with you and saying random shit?

You think the burning in my heart was something of a physical disease? No, assclown. It was an emotional burning. Unlike you, I have a family who needs me. Oh, that’s right. You do have a family don’t you? All your “brothas” in Syndicate, right? Well let’s see. I defeated your “brothas”, Shyne and Diaz. Your other “brotha”, Shorty Jr., is still somewhere bouncing off the walls with his crazy ass. That would leave you and Silkk as the only people not decimated by yours truly because Shorty Jr. cannot count. I wouldn’t lay two fingers on him out of respect for his father. Let that be known. Somehow…a twenty-year-old Puerto Rican who acts like a thirteen year old is calling me a “kid”. I’m twenty-eight, little man, and while I was wrestling…you were still getting over your awkwardness of not knowing what to say when college girls talked to you. What lines have I stole from Michael Richards?

You are beyond stupid you are brain dead. Love of Mark Henry? YMCA? VH1? What the hell? This sounds like you’re on mixture of peyote and crack. To sit there and listen to your shit was a pain on my ears. Sometimes, I feel like I’m in a “Yo Mama” contest when I listen to Juan. It’s like, “who has the most craziest non-logical joke?” Moan and scream? I don’t recall doing either; you must be mistaking me for some whore you knocked up before you jumped over the border. I’m supposed to focus on protecting YOUR pretty face and lips from being busted open? WHAT? Am I losing it or did I hear right? Then somehow, in the world of wrestling, Michael Jackson has somehow found his name coming out your mouth. You want to know what is a comical wrestler, Juan? Turn around. Look at your boys. That’s comical...they think they’re on top of SCW. What’s more of a laugh-fest? Your chances of winning at Tactical Terror.

I waved at a nearby taxi that pulled up. I put my luggage in and got in as well as scenes faded.