Years ago, a man by the name of Havoc took SFT by storm. The brash rookie ran like a steam roller over all comers it seemed. The most experiences veterans were in awe, the other rookies trembled in fear. The fans were split, either they loved him, or they hated him. He obviously was living in the moment, and cared about only about what he was doing in the ring.
Now, he seems to have settled down. Living for his family more, and mellow. But with this in mind he looks at his partner for this weekend's SFT pay-per-view. Sara Pettis has been setting the wrestling world on fire, and has become a bit of a rookie phenom herself, of course, no where near the level Havoc had achieved. But despite her lack of size, shes got a wrestling pedigree, and her genetics have been kind enough too bless her with enough talent to help her succeed at anything she has set out to do in the wrestling world. Havoc looks at his phone as he arrives in Atlantic City, and the number he has dialed in. He's never talked to this girl. His only interaction with her came when she was just a small child, and he was fueding with her mother. Unlike many veterans of SFT, Becky Thompson (known as Ice at the time) had no problem telling Havoc what she thought of him. And with Sara, and her step-sister Jane as their only audience, Havoc lashed out at Becky, insulting her, calling her the most degradeable things he could think of. This was of course followed by a physical confrontation that had to be broken up, and left Becky a little worse for wear. Havoc smiled at Sara as he walked away from the scene of the incident, the tears a sign of victory to him, that he savored at the moment. Now, he wonders, with his tag partner this weekend that same little girl crying for her mother might hold his fate in advancing in the Lethal Lottery.If she remembers him, and if she does, does she hold grudge? He thinks of his own child, and what she must feel every time she sees him bleeding on T.V. He hates the thought of what she must be go through, and he thinks about what Sara had to be feeling that day, experiencing her mother's attack without the buffer of cable television between them. He even goes so far as to, in his mind, justify her double crossing him this weekend, even though she hasn't made any indication to do so. He just hopes that she doesn't resent them so much that she's willing to take herself out of the Lethal Lottery just to settle a score. As the phone rings after pushing the green 'send' button, he can't help but feel a little embarassed by the actions of his past, and hopes that they don't come full circle this Sunday.
"Hello?" the voice on the phone answers.
The other end of the conversation, Sara Pettis, is right now in the city of Greensboro, North Carolina. She has just checked into a hotel, planning on staying the night her before her journey tomorrow that begins with a match in the small town of Horneytown, North Carolina, and leads to a PPV match in Atlantic City, NJ tomorrow. The unknown number on the phone at first made her tenative to answer. Lets face it, the phone has been doing freaky things to her lately.
"Hello, Sara, this is Kolby. Your partner for tomorrow's match against Felix, and Legend." Havoc begins, a little tenatively, "How are you?"
Sara is taken a bit by surprised by this. She had never thought about getting in touch with the man she was going to tag with tomorrow, let alone him getting in touch with her. She remember his voice vaguely, but remembers it being louder, and more intense then the casual, soft sound she hears now. "I'm good," ,she finally says, "I'm in North Carolina right now, I have a house show tomorrow afternoon. I'm assuming you're in New Jersey?"
"Yea, I am. Listen, what time will you be getting into New Jersey tomorrow, if you have any idea, I would love to see you in person before the match. There are somethings I'd like to talk to you about." Havoc begins, a he tells her, "And I'd so much prefer to talk about them live, in person."
"I'm going to be honest Kolby," Sara responds, "I have no idea. I'm hoping to make it with a little time to spare, but its going to be so close, I probably will change into fresh gear on the plane so I'm ready to sprint to the ring if I have too."
"I remember those days." Havoc says, half chuckling, "I guess we're just going to have to get aquanted on the phone then."
This is met with a silence on the other end, as neither know what to say to one another. Sara thinks back to watching this man attack her mother backstage at a SFT event. She decides to break the silence, and let it all out into the open.
"Kolby, why did you attack my mom?" Sara asks innocently.
Havoc is taken back by the way Sara asks the question, straight forward, and too the point. He stumbles over his words for a moment, and sighs. "I don't know Sara." he admits to her, "I had an ego, and I didn't like the fact that your mom wasn't intimidated by me. I was an insecure rookie, and I didn't like the veterans calling me out. That doesn't excuse what I did though. I should've save it for the ring, instead of doing it in front of you and your sister."
Sara isn't quite sure how to respond to Havoc's explaination. At first she thinks she should be angry, but she isn't. Part of her feels sorry for the man on the other end of the line. The years that have passed since the incident seem to have made him wiser, and regretful of the things he has done in the past. "Kolby, I know this is the first time we've ever talked. And I feel like I should be angry with you." Sara tells him.
Havoc is surprise by what he hears, "You mean you aren't?"
"Not at all," Sara admits to him, "And I don't know why."
Havoc smiles on his end, "It's because you're a better person then I could ever hope to be Sara. Which is kinda why I wanted to talk to you, aside from the match."
"What are you talking about?" Sara asked, slightly puzzled.
"Sara, I know in your life, you've had to go through so much. And yet, you're so pure, and sincere, and genuinely nice. Don't ever lose it. When I was in your shoes, I let everything going my way blow my head up. I got an attitude, and I cared only about myself. You...you genuinely care about others. You're such a caring soul, that even though I did something so dispicable to you and your family years ago, you haven't held a grudge. You're a credit to humanity Sara." Havoc tells her, "I envy you. I really do. When you get to look back at your rookie months, you'll get to be proud of not only what you did in the ring, but also how you handled yourself out of it. I can't say that. I'll never be able to say it. All I can do is apologize for the things that I did that I'm less then proud of."
Sara takes in everything that Havoc has just said to her. She lets it sink in before telling him, "Kolby, I accept your apology. And I don't hold a grudge because for some reason, I feel like Mom doesn't hold a grudge." Sara tells him, "She wasn't that kind of person, and neither am I."
"Thank you Sara, that takes a huge weight off my shoulders. I'll see you tomorrow when you get to Jersey. Good luck at the House Show." Havoc tells her.
"Alright Kolby, I'll see you tomorrow." Sara tells him, and she closes her cell phone, and goes back to checking into her hotel as she was before Havoc called.
If theres one thing I know about this business. It can change people, and it can make them do things they regret doing later in life. I look at my Mom's life, and see a whole series of mistakes she made, and regretted till the day she died. I look at Will's life, and the list goes on and on, and seemingly keeps growing by the day. I know some day he's going to regret what he's doing to me, and he'll be sorry about it. So I don't hold a grudge. Just like I don't hold a grudge with Havoc.
He made mistakes, and now they weigh on his conscience. He doesn't need me to hold a grudge. He's already punishing himself enough for it, and thats fine with me. I'm not going to take myself out of this tournament because of something he did years ago, that he wishes now that he hadn't. That would be pety, and stupid. I'm not like that, and I hope to never be like that.
I want to win this tournament more then anyone can realize. I carry the burden of being a Pettis, and Pettises seem to be generally hated around these parts. I carry the burden of a name that was soiled by my father and Uncle, and no matter how I act, people are going to wait for me to be like them. Nevermind the fact that they had nothing to do with making me who I am. Or shaping the way I think. Too some of these people in SFT, the only good Pettis, is a dead Pettis. And no matter how hard I try, I will never be able to change that opinion. But I'm still going to try too, even if it is a futile effort. My dad and his brother crossed too many people, and tried to ruin to many lives for me to try to clear this name.
I will still try, only because I do love this place. I grew up in these locker rooms. I grew up with the people that made this place as great as it is. Even if I can't clear my name, I can still try to be accepted, based on my own merits. I know, it's a lofty goal. And I need to be ready to face the fact that it may never happen. But I owe it too myself to try. And if it really is a problem, I can always change my ring name, but stay the same person I am now.
But if people want to hate me because of my name, let them. I can't do anything to stop it. I just do my best, and hope they aren't shallow. I know I can win some people over. I can feel it in my heart.
End...