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Off Camera
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The old
saying goes “forgive and forget” and then there is the song made famous by
Disney’s Frozen titled “Let It Go” and some have used that phrase quite often,
telling friends and family to just “let it go” regarding whatever grudge they
may have.
It’s quite
easier said than done; and if you don’t believe that, then just ask Angelica
and Kayla Jones. The two women have had
nightmarish teenage years that scarred them and, indeed, shaped them as adults. Those years, those events, the women have
held onto for a long time. Some would
say that their insistence upon holding onto those horrific nightmarish
incidents proved to be unhealthier to them than the incidents themselves. But it was how they each reacted to their own
separate incidents that have, up until now, separated Angelica and Kayla.
Angelica and
Kayla’s birth mother was brutally raped and murdered, but while Kayla was
spared having to witness it, Angelica was forced to watch every horrific second
of the monster taking their mother away from them. Angelica held onto that horrific memory for
so long, a memory that scarred her for life and warped her mind so much that it
would lead her to committing a crime that landed her in a mental
institution. Even after years of treatment
at the institution, Angelica’s anger issues were still present. But ultimately, just a year ago, Angelica let
go of the past. She learned to forgive
and to “let it go”, to quote Disney.
After their
birth mother’s death, Kayla ended up in the foster care of one Oliver Hardy
Sr. Her foster father brutally abused
her, physically and emotionally and yes, even sexually. But unlike Angelica, Kayla never quite
learned to let go of that past. She kept
hanging onto it, just like Angelica, but the difference is Angelica was quite
obvious and up front with how her issue warped her mind. Kayla kept her feelings bottled up and put up
a front to mask it all, so that no one would ever know just how much her
problems with Oliver Hardy Sr. had indeed warped her mind, perhaps warped her
mind even more so than Angelica’s…
Unlike her
older sister who did finally learn to let go of her past, Kayla never did let
it go. She kept it bottled up. But even those who bottle up their feelings
and emotions, those who bottle up what troubles them, even still there comes a
point at which they snap and that bottle cracks open violently. And it happened recently to Kayla Jones when
she learned that the family of her late foster father wanted his ashes and that
they could not legally possess them unless given to them by the heirs and the
heirs, as written in his own last will and testament, were Oliver Hardy Jr. and
Kayla Jones.
It was
enough to cause Kayla to break; her anger grew to a boiling point and she
snapped at anyone and everyone for the slightest things. She damn near assaulted her own sister in a
parking lot, and that isn’t even considering the smaller matter of how this
emotional and mental roller coaster has affected the career of both Jones women. The Sisterhood as a unit has been on a losing
streak for weeks, a streak that started almost to the day when Kayla and Oliver
were first approached by the Hardy family.
It’s now or
never that something must be done. That’s
why this afternoon in the corporate office of Jones Wrestling Incorporated is
so very important. It is here where
Kayla, along with her foster brother Oliver, will meet with relatives of Oliver
Sr., relatives Kayla barely has any memory of, relatives she isn’t even sure
she will recognize when she sees them.
She just hopes that Oliver Jr. and Angelica are both right when they
insist that doing this, confronting the family head on, will solve her problems
once and for all and help her to finally let it all go and finally to heal
mentally and emotionally.
Kayla is not
alone as she walks through the offices today.
Oliver Hardy Jr. is already here waiting on them to arrive in his office
but walking with Kayla today is her older sister Angelica Jones. Angelica agreed to come with Kayla in order
to provide moral support in what has to be a very difficult time.
“Thanks for coming with me…” Kayla
remarks quietly as she and Angelica pass on by the secretary at the front desk,
not even bothering to give the young man a greeting. They are all business as they face forward
and make their way towards the back.
“Don’t mention it. What are older sisters for, eh?”
“Stealing my stuff when we were younger.”
Kayla answers back with a smirk.
“You got me there.” Angelica says with a
slight laugh. “But again, as you said, we
were much younger then.”
“Of course we were. Young with our childish innocence. Innocence we lost way too early.”
“Yeah…way too early…”
“I mean it though, sis.” Kayla says,
trying her best to maintain her composure, sensing that tears may be coming
soon. “Thank you for coming. I need all the support I can get for this. I mean, I know that they themselves didn’t do
anything to me, but still this is the family of the man who…who…”
“I know,” Angelica answers, nodding her
head “I know, and trust me, I know all
too well how difficult it is to confront your demons. Remember how I confronted the man who raped
and murdered our mother?”
“Yeah…” Kayla says nodding her head “…you were very strong. Stronger than me.”
“And you will be strong too. I just know it.”
The Jones
women are silent, the entire office is silent today, which accentuates the
sound of the soft clicks of Angelica and Kayla’s high heel shoes hitting the
marble floor as they walk through the door and down the hall towards the office
of Oliver Hardy Jr., Kayla’s foster brother.
The walls were covered with grey and ivory wallpapers and motivational
photography with silver frames. There were two small sections of offices across
from each other. People were working but
they took no notice of the Jones siblings as they passed this work area by and
entered down another hall, rounding a corner, and finally making their way through
a door that led them to Oliver’s office.
The room is
small and square, with two plastic chairs, a table and an empty water
dispenser. The window is cracked, allowing a faint but pleasant smell of
moisture into the room. Angelica and
Kayla find Oliver at his desk, looking a little less than confident from his
usual temperament. This is due to the
unexpected nature of today’s proceedings.
Kayla Jones has indeed agreed to sign the paperwork, thus signing over
the ashes of Oliver Hardy Sr. to the family who wishes to have them, but she
will not do so unless she gets to “say her piece” as she puts it…
…and Oliver
Hardy Jr. has no idea exactly what she will say to this family, a family she
has, fairly or unfairly, held a grudge against her entire adult life.
“Good afternoon, Angelica.” Oliver says,
trying his best to exude confidence before turning towards his foster sister
Kayla. “How are you holding up, sis?”
“As well as can be expected.”
“You know we’re both here for you.”
Oliver says, embracing her with a hug.
“That’s right,” Angelica says, joining
in to create a group hug “we both are
here for you.”
“Thank you, both of you.” Kayla says,
grinning from ear to ear. “Your support
means a lot.”
“Anything to help, Kay. I know, better than anyone else maybe, how
important it is to move on and at least try to heal from the wounds and scars
of the past. You’ll never forget, you shouldn’t forget, but moving on IS important
and healing IS important. I didn’t let
go of my past and it landed me in a loony bin.
I don’t want…I don’t…” Angelica’s voice trails off, unable to finish
her thought. Kayla, though, surmises
what her older sister was trying to say and just shakes her head.
“Don’t worry, Angel. That won’t happen to me.”
“Right,” Oliver chimes in “we won’t let it.”
“Hey bro,” Kayla says, drastically
changing the subject as she turns to face Oliver “when are they supposed to arrive anyway?”
“Anytime now.” Oliver answers, checking
his watch. “I wanted everyone here at my
office by three and you arrived five minutes until three…”
“Great, almost show time.” Kayla says
with a sigh. “Who will it be anyway?”
“My uncle Samuel and my grandmother Jenny.”
Almost as if
dramatically on cue there is a knocking at the door. Oliver immediately faces Angelica and Kayla
and mouths the words “that’s them” before walking to the door and opening it
up. A gray haired woman, though elderly
but still energetic and vibrant, enters.
Following her is a middle aged balding man, with a slight beer belly. Oliver extends a hand and the man accepts the
handshake first.
“Good afternoon Samuel.” Oliver smiles
as he turns to face the woman and maintains the forced smile. “Hi, grandma.”
“Hi Oliver.” The woman, Jenny Hardy, his
grandmother, answers back. “It’s nice
seeing you. I haven’t seen you in
forever.”
“Yeah, you’ve gone off the radar, boy.” Samuel
chimes in. “What gives?”
“A great deal has happened to me, Sam. Let’s just leave it at that.”
“I can see life has been nice to you.” Samuel
responds as he scans the office. “Is this
your setup?”
“Yes, I’m the head of Jones Wrestling
Incorporated’s legal department.” He turns to motion towards Kayla. “Grandma, Uncle Samuel, this is Kayla. She owns this place and I work for her
now. The woman next to her is her
sister, Angelica Jones.”
“Kayla?” Jenny says as she approaches
Kayla, squinting her eyes to get a better look. “Is that you?”
“Yes, it is.
Nice to see you, Ms. Hardy.”
“My gosh, it’s been so long since I got to
see you.” Jennifer laughs lightly. “Your
father never let me see you or your brother very often. The last time I saw you…in fact, the only
other time I saw you…was the day he got you from social services. You were just a little girl then, barely over
thirteen years old.”
Kayla is
gritting her teeth. She is doing her
best to hold back her true emotions and she is doing her best to maintain a
strong front. She knows now is not the
time to speak out about how she really feels.
Oliver Jr. can tell that she is having difficulty right now and he knows
that he needs to speed this along…
“Well grandma, Uncle Samuel, I’m sure you
two really want to get this whole process finished, so do we,” Oliver walks
past them and back to his desk. He opens
up a drawer and produces a legal contract and a pen. “This is the contract that will give you control of the ashes of my
father…”
“Oliver…” the grandmother begins
“…now as you know, it takes the signature of
both heirs to give you the ashes. That’s
how my father deemed it in his will. I
already signed the contract. That means
it just needs Kayla’s signature and we can all be on our way.”
“No need to rush, Oliver.” The
grandmother says.
“Yeah, boy.” The uncle chimes in. “It’s like you want to rush this too
fast. We haven’t even seen ya in
forever; you or Kayla.”
“Grandma, Uncle Samuel, I think it’s in
everyone’s best interest if we…” Oliver attempts to get his thought
finished but once again he is cut off, this time by Kayla Jones.
“Stop, Oliver.” Kayla remarks. “Just stop.”
Everyone in
the room, Angelica and Oliver, Jenny and Samuel, all of them turn to face Kayla
Jones who has a cold, stoic glare on her face.
Angelica and Oliver are the only ones who have any clue as to what may
be going through her head right now and even they are unsure as to how she’ll
react right now. They are not sure if
this will turn out well or not…
“Oliver, I told you that I would sign the
contract.” She says, looking at her brother. “But I have something to say and I will say my piece before I put my
signature on that piece of paper.”
Oliver sighs
and just nods his head, giving his approval.
Kayla then turns to face Jenny and Samuel.
“You contacted Oliver back in July about
wanting the ashes. And we’re only just
now getting around to finishing the deal.
Has it ever occurred to you why it took so long to get this deal done?”
“Nah,” Samuel says with a shrug of his
shoulders “just figured it was legal
crap.”
“No,” Kayla says, shaking her head “Oliver had everything all drawn up and
ready to go the moment you called. You
have me to thank for this delay.”
“Why?
What is it, Kayla?” Jenny asks.
“This wasn’t a snap decision I could make,
Ms. Hardy. This wasn’t even a decision I
could easily make in a few months, though it appears that way. This is something I’ve been struggling with
for nearly two decades.” She points a finger at Jennifer and Samuel. “Your son, Ms. Hardy, your brother Mr.
Hardy, the man who legally became my father but whom I will never recognize as
my father…he…he hurt me…”
“Oliver, my son Oliver that is…” Jennifer
begins, not sure what to think of this revelation “…what did he do?”
“Sorry to be so blunt, Ms. Hardy, but he was
a drunk. Use your imagination.” Kayla
says scowling.
“Yeah, I can vouch for that.” Samuel
says with a nod of his head. “He always
took to the bottle way too much. Heh, I
drink a little myself, but he did it in excess.
I even warned him about it but the snobby piece of shit never wanted to
listen to me.”
“What are you suggesting?” Jennifer
Hardy asks of her son Samuel.
“I’m just saying that whatever it is Kayla
here says Oliver did to her, I can believe it.” He shakes his head. “He wasn’t good people, mom.”
“He beat me, Ms. Hardy.” Kayla begins,
not holding anything back. “He beat me
and on top of that, he took my innocence away from me. He molested me. You’d think by now I would’ve gotten over it…”
She chuckles
and shakes her head. “No such luck. His nightmarish image has lived on in my head
for a very long time. Ironically he gave
me an assist in getting out from under his iron fisted rule; he used the Hardy
influence to get me started in the modeling business. And the modeling success led to professional
wrestling, which led to what I have today.
But to this day I have problems sleeping at night as I ask myself if I
really earned any of this or did all of it, the modeling and the wrestling and
even this company I own, if all of it is just due to the Hardy family
influence?”
Kayla takes
the pen from Oliver’s hand and then signs her name to the contract.
“There.
The asshole’s ashes belong to you. But I wanted you to know the full
extremity of what he did to me. He beat
me physically. He took my innocence from me.
And only recently, thanks to my true friends and family, have I learned
to believe in myself again.”
There is a
long tense pause as everyone stares at Kayla.
Finally Jennifer Hardy breaks the silence.
“Like Sam, I did have my suspicions about
what Oliver was doing.” Tears are forming in her eyes. “He never brought you around me and never let me come to see you. I had a feeling that there had to be something
wrong but I was too afraid to say anything.
I was too afraid to speak out.”
She shakes
her head. “That was my mistake. I should have said something. Believe me, Kayla, I never wanted to see you
get hurt. The moment I saw you the first
time, the moment I heard your story and how you came into the family, all I
wanted was for you to be happy. I hope
you can forgive me…forgive all of us.
This family never meant to hurt you.”
“Ms. Hardy…” Kayla pauses momentarily
and a small yet genuine smile creeps across her face “…grandma, my brother reminded me that an entire family should not and
cannot be blamed for the sins of just one man.
You have nothing to apologize for.
I just needed to get that off of my chest. That’s all.
Now maybe…”
Kayla turns
and looks into her sister Angelica’s eyes. “…maybe
I can just let it go?”
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On Camera
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Do we like
having to work with Dante McAffery, knowing the he clearly doesn’t want to work
with us, knowing that he probably doesn’t even want us on the same team as
him? No.
Not a chance in hell. But Kayla
and I are consummate professionals and we will do our job. We will play along and help our team get the
win, with or without Dante’s participation.
If we have to, we’ll drag his broken ass to the finish line.
But already
talked in great detail about how we feel regarding Dante. It’s time to move on to our opposition.
Kennedy
Street, the way you’ve turned yourself and your attitude around is
remarkable. Many doubted you, and
others, namely Ethan Von Aaron, tried to hinder you. But you did manage to turn yourself around
which I applaud. I, myself had to turn
myself and my attitude around not too long ago while people doubted me. So I can relate to you and what’s more, I
respect you. But that respect means
nothing when the bell rings. Only the
winners will advance their career while the losers continue down the abyss and
lately, that’s where Kayla and I have been headed…towards a black abyss of loss
after loss…
…we’re tired
of heading in that direction and if ending that streak means winning at your
expense then you had better believe we will do whatever is necessary to take
all five of you down. And yes, that
includes your new friend Thirteen, no matter how legendary he is, he can be
conquered by The Sisterhood, and so can Katelyn Buehler.
Buehler, we’ve
tangled before. We’ve butted heads
before so you know what I’m capable of when I am under pressure. Right now, The Sisterhood is under immense
pressure to perform and no one will stop us, not even you. You say this is your house? Well we’re going to burn your house to the
damn ground.
Finally The
Resurgence. Are you sticking with this name,
by the way? Jake, Tommy, there is
respect there from me…maybe not from Kayla, but she is, by her own admission, a
bitch…but no, we don’t like one another.
We’ve clashed before, not just as a tag team, but you and I have clashed
on many occasions, Jake. And I look
forward to this opportunity, an opportunity to not only get back on the right
track, but to get back to our winning ways by beating you two.
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On Camera
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There are
those on the opposing side that I respect; namely Kennedy and Katelyn. Others I don’t really care about; namely
Thirteen. And still others I just don’t
like; Jake Starr, Tommy Valentine, I’m looking at you. But like my sister said, I am a bitch, and I
don’t care about who I like or don’t like and I damn sure don’t care about
respect right about now.
The
Sisterhood has been on a losing streak for too damn long and we’re ready to end
this streak right here, right now, at Under Attack. Is this the ideal setting for us? Hell no.
We’d rather have anyone else on our side than Dante. We’re not sure we like the idea of Edwards
Adams being on our side either.
Autumn can
stay. She’s fine with us.
But one
thing that we all have in common is the shared desire to win and regardless of
the circumstances that brought us together, we are going to head into this
match and we are going to kick your teeth right down your throat. Do you understand that? We are going to kick your damn teeth right
down your throat and your bow to us. You
will lose to us and The Sisterhood, we’ll be back on the right track.
So once
more, with feeling, just in case you missed it…Angelica and I, and hell, even
Autumn, Adams, and Dante, we are going to kick your teeth right down your
throat at Under Attack!
