==========
July 15th, 2019
Boston, Massachusetts
Off Camera
==========
Promises; are very important. They tell the
character of a person. If you cannot keep your promises, then how can you
possibly be trusted? If you do not keep your promises, how does one know
that you are not just some liar? Cheat?
Scoundrel? Promises indeed are
very important, especially in the mind of Angelica Jones. Promises,
trustworthiness, and honesty are all things that The Matriarch of the Jones
Wrestling Family value, possibly more so than any other principle you can
name. If you lie to her one time, if you fail to keep your word with her
even one time, she has a difficult time trusting you ever again.
Angelica knows that she is no saint herself.
She hasn’t been the most honest and trustworthy of people herself during her
lifetime. Perhaps this is why she does indeed have a difficult time
trusting people after they have betrayed her? She has done so herself
before and knows the pain it inflicts upon others.
Jones has made promises and she intends to keep
them. She promised to have her cousin Glory Braddock’s back as she heads
into Rise To Greatness against Syren and Alistaire Allocco for the SCW World
Championship. If that means knocking Casterillo’s block off so he won’t
continue running his mouth and harassing her on SCW television then so be
it. If that’s what she must do to keep
her promise then she will do so.
Angelica Jones promised Aphrodite Noel that she would
make up for the time that they have missed being with one another. They
are supposed to be a couple, they are supposed to be together, yet their busy
schedules as professional athletes have kept them running anywhere and
everywhere except in each other’s company. Angelica is determined to keep
this promise to Aphrodite and make up for that.
Sometimes you cannot keep a promise. Angelica
realizes this and realizes that she is about to break one such promise as she
leads her girlfriend Aphrodite Noel up the sidewalk to the front door of her
“mother”...Samantha Hodgson?
No, Samantha Hodgson is not Angelica’s
mother. Her mother, Kelly Jones is quite dead. But after undergoing very strong hypnotic
therapy from Hodgson now believes that her mother is alive and well and that
Samantha IS Kelly Jones. Aphrodite knows better but is playing along for
Angelica’s sake, and hoping to get some answers to the riddle. A riddle that even she doesn’t quite know all
the answers to.
Angelica promised “her mother” that she wouldn’t
bring anyone here to her home, a very new and modern look establishment in
Boston, Massachusetts. Obviously Angelica is about to break that
promise. But logically speaking,
Aphrodite would have to meet Angelica’s mother one day if their relationship
continues…
...right?
“Here we are!”
Angelica and Aphrodite approach the front door.
The house was new. Very new. It looked like it had
been finished last week. It looked almost too new in some strange way. It was
as if it had rolled off a production line, but they had forgotten to apply the
mandatory layer of color to it. The windows were huge and seemingly inspired by
something truly alien. Anyone could see into the house from an uncomfortable
distance. From here, she could see surfaces of white, glossy plastic that iced
over the kitchen, granite enforced the walls in their straight, uninspired
monotony. There wasn't a single square meter of organic material in sight. Not
even a comforting wallpaper that imitated warmth in some way. Not even a plank
of wood. The house, it seems, was a livable, modern mausoleum.
“I hope mom’s home.” Angelica
says, smiling warmly at Aphrodite. “I didn’t call ahead because I wanted
this to be a surprise for her.”
"Don't worry about it, Angel. Your
mother..." Aphrodite managed to get the word
mother out successfully, not without feeling disgusted that she has to
entertain this facade. "...will be delighted to finally meet me."
“I hope so.”
Angelica sighs and places her hand on the doorknob and opens the door. “I
mean, she’s been acting strange lately. Between us, she didn’t even want
me telling anyone about this place, about where she’s staying. I’m
worried about her.”
"All mothers believe they know best, part of
the job." Aphrodite smiles. "Now lets
surprise your mother. Can't wait to see the woman who gave birth to one of the
best women I know."
“Awww, I love you too.” Angelica
gives Aphrodite a brief kiss on the lips before walking into the home.
Aphrodite follows closely behind. Once
inside Angelica calls out…
“Mom? Are you home?”
There is a pause and silence. “Mom?”
Second time is the charm and Angelica hears movement in the living
room. She motions for Aphrodite to follow her and the two walk a few feet
down the hall and then enter the living room area. There they spot
Samantha Hodgson just now getting up off of the sofa.
“Surprise, mom!”
Angelica exclaims as she approaches Samantha and embraces her in a tight
hug. After the embrace she motions to Aphrodite. “Mom, this is
Aphrodite…”
Angelica is cut off rather quickly by Samantha’s
harsh voice. She is not pleased; not pleased at all. As it turns out, Hodgson does NOT like
surprises. She shakes her head vehemently.
“Angelica! I told you not to bring anyone
here! Who is…” Hodgson’s face goes pale “...did you
say Aphrodite?”
“Yes, Aphrodite Noel. My girlfriend.” Angelica
tells her.
“Not her…” Samantha
shakes her head, muttering under her breath. She wanted to stay out of
the limelight, she wanted to stay hidden and away from everyone just in case
she was spotted by someone who remembered her. Aphrodite Noel would
definitely remember Samantha Hodgson as one who decried their relationship from
the start. Hodgson, when she was still
managing Angelica’s career, did not feel Angelica openly dating Aphrodite would
be good for her public image and tried to convince her to break up with
Noel. It was the last straw that ended Hodgson’s working relationship
with Angelica Jones.
This is the last thing Samantha wanted.
Aphrodite scowls, "What did you do to
Angelica... Sam!"
“She’s my daughter!”
Samantha exclaims.
“Sam?”
Angelica looks puzzled. “Who is Sam?”
“Do not listen to her!” Hodgson
pleads with Angelica, hoping her hypnotic suggestion is still holding strong.
"Angel, that woman is Samantha Hodgson. She
has been obsessed with you for years. I don't know what she did to convince you
that she is your mother. This game stops today."
Aphrodite glares at Sam. "Its over. It will be a matter of time before
I bring the wrath of the entire Jones family on you. We can end this facade
today, or this will get a lot worse. Your call."
“Samantha Hodgson?”
Angelica’s face contorts into even more confusion. “Why is that name so
familiar?”
“You’re doing it again!”
Hodgson pulls at her hair angrily and gets up into Noel’s face. “You tore me
away from my beloved Angelica once before! Now you’re doing it again!”
"If you don't back up bitch, your going to
wake up in the hospital!!"
Aphrodite balls up her fist. "I'm going to count to 3. 1... 2..."
While this is going on, Angelica has been thinking
and racking her brain, trying to remember why the name Samantha Hodgson is
familiar to her. “Samantha...Hodgson…” Angelica’s eyes suddenly
light up as memories flood back to her. She scowls over at Aphrodite and
Hodgson right before the count of three from Aphrodite.
“I remember…” Angelica
says with a low growl.
“You remember?” Samantha
approaches Angelica cautiously. “What do you remember, my child?”
“I am not your child!” Angelica
grabs Hodgson by the throat, lifts her up and slams her into the nearby coffee
table. Jones mounts her and starts pouring right hands down upon Hodgson.
“And you are NOT my mother! You are not even
a human being!” Venom spews from Angelica’s voice as
she starts to choke Samantha. “No human being would do what you’ve done and
believe me, I work with some pretty damn despicable pieces of shit!”
“I only…tried...to help…”
Samantha barely gets the words out, as she is being choked.
“LIAR!” Angelica
jerks her up and throws her against a wall. “You used your hypnotherapy and
manipulated my feelings!”
“You wanted to get rid of The Dragon.”
Hodgson coughs up some blood. “You wanted to get rid of The Darkness
inside of you. I discovered that your darkness, rage, and that so-called
Dragon has its origins with your mother’s death. You created the dragon
to protect yourself from the death of your mother, a death you still haven’t
gotten over. Giving you your mother back was the only way to get rid of
The Dragon. And in the process it gave
me what I wanted, what I always wanted…”
She runs a hand through Angelica’s red hair “...you…”
Angelica lets out a fierce, shrill yell as she
throws Samantha down to the floor. Jones drops to her knees and starts to
cry. Aphrodite drops down on the floor next to her. She looks at Samantha
first.
"Even if your psychobabble is true Sam, under
no circumstances is it right screw with someones mind. I learned that lesson
long ago. You never gave Angelica a choice, she never consented to you
masquerading as her dead mother!"
Aphrodite hugs Angelica. "As much as I would love for you to kick Sams
ass some more, you can't. You've done enough. Leaving her here broken will
hopefully drive home the message she lost. Tell me what you want to do. I'll
support you, no matter what."
Angelica looks at Aphrodite with eyes that still
have tears flowing out but now also with a devilish rage and anger. “Get me
the hell out of here before I commit murder.”
Aphrodite nods and walks Angelica by her arm out of
the living room back down the hall and back out of the door. They two are
now standing back on the doorstep they were standing on earlier. Angelica sighs, shaking her head in disappointment.
“I was weak…” her
voice trails off.
"Don't." Aphrodite
rested her hand on Angelica's shoulder. "I hate to agree with
anything she said, you haven't properly dealt with your mother being murdered
in front of you. Who can? I don't think I'd be able to recover from that. I
don't blame you for being vulnerable to her manipulations. I once played on
Chasity's desire to feel like she was number one. We all have our weak spots.
The key now Angel is to properly deal with the past. If you do that, The Dragon
might become a distant memory, who knows. What you need to decide, do you want
to get rid of The Dragon?"
“I have to deal with it.” Angelica
sighs. “I never did deal with my issues and that’s how she got to me.
My mother is dead and my father is missing, probably dead himself. That
left me as the head of the family, the matriarch, and while I always put on a
strong front, like I could handle that responsibility, I have always felt like
I’ve failed. What kind of matriarch lets her younger sister get put into
the situation she was put in growing up?
My children, I’ve failed them before.
Samantha is right, The Dragon has always been there to help me cope with
it all, to help me cope with being the head of the family.”
Jones wipes some tears from her eyes. “And maybe
that’s the answer? The Dragon isn’t my protection, it’s my strength; the
strength I need to cope with being the matriarch of this family. And
instead of trying to get rid of it, maybe it’s time I embraced it.”
Aphrodite smiles. "I agree, one thousand
percent."
==========
July 16th, 2019
Boston, Massachusetts
Off Camera
==========
“So let me get this straight, she had you convinced
that she was mom? OUR mother?” This
is the voice of Kayla Jones-Snow, younger sister of Angelica Jones. The
eldest of the siblings sits on a plush, comfortable cream colored sofa in the
living room of the Jones family homestead, currently owned by Angelica herself,
listening to her sister who is in the kitchen, retrieving some drinks.
Angelica, can even hear a little snicker from her sister. But that’s ok, let her mock it. It’s over now. Jones has had time to sleep on it since the
incident and she is certain that she knows what she must do next. Still, she wants to speak with her
sister. It seems appropriate.
The younger Jones enters the living room with two
glasses of red wine. She hands one of the glasses to Angelica and keeps
one for herself before sitting down on the sofa next to her. Kayla cannot
help but chuckle just a little.
Angelica, however, doesn’t find any of this funny.
“What’s so funny?”
Angelica asks, arching a brow.
“Oh nothing!” Kayla
remarks with a wry grin. “I’m just kind of wondering, what were you
drinking? I mean, you had to be drunk.
Right?!”
“Alcohol had nothing to do with it, sis.”
“Drugs?” Kayla
asks, pushing her sister’s frustration even farther.
“No!”
Angelica exclaims. “It was hypnotherapy.”
“Hypnotherapy?” Kayla
furrows her brow, growing legitimately curious now. “You mean that
psychobabble bullshit?”
“Funny you say that,”
Angelica says with a chuckle of her own “that’s what Aphrodite called
it. Psychobabble.”
“Well that’s what it is.” Kayla
retorts, rolling her eyes. “I’m surprised she got to you like that.”
“I’m not.” Angelica
sighs deeply as she takes a sip of her wine. “She knew exactly what she was
doing. I was vulnerable, I was weak, and I needed help. And she
pretended to be there for me.”
“That’s another thing that irks me,”
Kayla scowls “why didn’t you come to me, you big idiot?”
“I know, I should have. You, Aphrodite,
Glory, anyone else would have been fine. But I was desperate to rid
myself of The Dragon. Samantha claimed
she could get rid of it. And she did…” her
voice trails off.
“But she did it by making you think our mother was
alive. The bitch,” Kayla sips her wine “I have half a
mind to track her down and kick her teeth down her damn throat.”
“No, don’t.” Angelica
shakes her head. “Just leave her alone. She can’t hurt me anymore.”
“Well what are you going to do about this now?” Kayla
asks curiously. “You still haven’t dealt with The Dragon and more
importantly you need to deal with the death of our mother. That’s how she
got to you in the first place.”
“I know…”
Angelica’s voice trails off as tears form in her eyes. Kayla reaches out
and embraces her older sister in a tight, sisterly hug.
“It’s ok, sweetie. Let it all out.”
“I just miss her so much, Kay!”
“I know.” Kayla
remarks with a nod of her head. “I do too. But sis,”
They break the embrace and Kayla continues “you
have to eventually deal with this. The trauma of what you lived through
literally drove you to the point of insanity. And now this…” Kayla
sighs and shakes her head “...none of this is healthy.”
“No, it isn’t. But I do know what I must
do. I have to pay mom a visit.”
==========
July 16th, 2019
Boston, Massachusetts
Off Camera
==========
The sun shines brightly overhead in a cemetery out
behind Our Lady of Annunciation Catholic Church. The boughs of the cemetery
twist like contorted bones, writhing in a silent scream. Beneath them lie the
cold stones, each marking a dwelling place in which no-one is home. The
cemetery is cool and there is dew on the grass.
The air is fresh and, unlike the unloved graves further away, here they
are covered in bright blooms; their families, their loved ones who still live,
have visited. A place like this should
be spooky and fill one with chills while walking amongst the bones and remains
of the dead. Yet in this mid-morning light under a cloudless sky, the air
fragrant with pine-needles, it feels more like the park on a Sunday
afternoon. And for Angelica Jones, this place is far from being
creepy. She has been here many
times. This is quite familiar territory
for her. The ground has a softness that
will be gone in just a few weeks more, frozen as hard as the stones it
supports. Here, amid the long departed, there is time to contemplate without
being disturbed. It’s a good place to
get away from the noise and craziness of life.
And for Angelica, this is where she can be alone with the individual she
misses the most.
“Hi mom…”
Angelica’s voice trails off as she approaches a singular gravestone. In
black lettering across its grayish white exterior it reads “Ford”, the maiden
name of Kelly Jones, Angelica’s beloved mother.
The gravestone was as white as the crystalline
snow. Under the rays of the brilliant sun it seemed to have an aura of its own.
The redheaded Boston native reached out, at first with loving fingers to touch
the marble and run her fingers over the black engraved lettering. Her bare
fingers blanched in the wind but she didn't care. Somehow the feel of the stone
on her skin brought her some peace. It was beautiful, polished and smooth. It
was the most expensive option in the catalogue and she had chosen it without
hesitation. Her late mother was worth it.
“I hope you like it.” Angelica
says, grinning warmly with a tear forming in her eyes. “I just thought your
family deserved it’s own special space. It’s still near the Jones family space
but your family left everything you knew, everyone you loved, to escape Soviet
Russia. You can’t go back there but this place is yours.”
Jones pauses to wipe the tears from her eyes. “And
I needed this too…” her voice trails off as she struggles to find the right
words “...because I miss you mom. I miss you terribly. It’s been like a cancer eating away at me all
of my adult life.”
“I attempted suicide because I couldn’t deal with
it. I committed murder and was subsequently thrown into a mental institution
because I couldn’t deal with it. And I damn near lost myself, my family, and
everyone I care about to an obsessive monster all because I couldn’t deal with
it.”
Angelica takes in a deep breath and sighs, letting
it out. “It’s high time that I deal with this. You’re gone, mom. You’re gone
and you’re never coming back. The manner in which you were taken from me was
bad enough. No thirteen year old should have to witness her mother get raped
and murdered. But it only got worse when dad left me and Kayla. That left me as
the oldest, that left me feeling the weight of the responsibility of taking
care of the family.”
She shakes her head. “A thirteen year old
shouldn’t have those kinds of responsibilities but you couldn’t tell me that. I
was convinced that it was my responsibility and the weight and pressure of that
responsibility scared the hell out of me.”
“I thought I was running away from The Dragon but
in reality I had been trying to run away from my responsibility as Matriarch of
this family.” Angelica’s eyes narrow as she stares
forward with intensity.
“No more. You’re gone for good. Dad is never coming
back, I’ve accepted this. I’m done running away from who I am and from my
responsibility.”
Jones leans more and kisses the headstone. “I
love you, mom.”
==========
On Camera
==========
The camera begins to roll and we open
out in front of a grassy field. The sun
is shining bright overhead and the field and hills seem to go on forever. As this scene opens we also find ourselves in
the midst of “Let It Go” from Disney’s Frozen.
Let it go, let it go
Can't hold it back anymore
Let it go, let it go
Turn away and slam the door
A few moments later Angelica Jones
steps into the scene from stage left.
The Dragon is wearing denim jeans, black boots, and a black “SCW”
t-shirt. Her long red hair hangs
unrestrained to shoulder length. She is
also wearing her signature black leather jacket and sunglasses cover her eyes.
“Ok, you can stop the music!” The redheaded Boston native remarks. Immediately the famous song stops
playing. A low chuckle escapes
Angelica’s throat. “You may think I was
facing someone else considering the song choice.”
Jones shakes her head. “But no, this song is all about one
Casterillo. You cannot and will not let
go of any petty grudges, will you? You
have to have the last laugh because you are one egomaniacal little bitch. But now your ego, and your refusal to just
simply let go of these grudges, is about to come back and bite you on the
ass. And spoiler alert, it is all your
fault because you refused to let go and you had to have everything be all about
you.”
“And that’s what you really wanted from the very start, am I right
Casterillo? Everything absolutely must
be about you. The spotlight has to be on
you. And if even the smallest, tinniest
of details does not go your way, you throw a childish temper tantrum. I mean, sure, you talk tough, but when
someone stands up to you and calls you out for your bullshit, you tuck tail
like the bully you are and run away.”
“That’s ultimately what happened when my cousin, Glory Braddock, fought
you. You were well on your way to being
beaten and humiliated, humbled in front of the entire world by The British
Bombshell, and what did you do? You
turned and ran away. Oh but that’s not
how you’re supposed to act, is it?
That’s not what was supposed to happen?
When the going gets tough, you leave.”
The Dragon points a long slender
finger at the camera, as if pointing directly at Casterillo. “But then you had to come back.”
“And why did you come back you big dumb bastard? You came back because you wanted revenge
against my cousin for running your cowardly ass out of SCW. No one told you to run, especially not my
cousin. She would have gladly taken you
on then but you chose to whine, you chose to run your mouth about her and demean
and belittle her reputation as a warrior, as a fighter, because ‘surely no one
can beat Casterillo’...” Jones shakes her head.
“...she had moved on, Casterillo.
Heading into Taking Hold of the Flame her mind was made up and her
sights were set upon dethroning Syren and becoming SCW World Champion. And you were the last person on her
mind. But you suddenly found your
courage and then decided to come back to SCW because you think you have
unfinished business with her? You want
to finish this dance with Glory Braddock?”
Angelica sneers. “You’re not just a stupid son of a bitch but you are quite delusional
as well. If you came here looking for a
fight with Glory Braddock then let me just save you the time and save the
people the time of having to listen to your damn mouth constantly bringing her
up and just tell you right now that you are not getting another match against
Glory Braddock.”
“My cousin has moved on and she is focusing on bigger, more important
things. So you thinking you could get
her in the ring was your first mistake.
Your second mistake was targeting a member of my family. I am fiercely loyal to every single one of my
family members. Family is important to
me above anything and everything else.
The moment you declared war on my cousin, you declared war on each and
every one of us…”
Jones sneers nastily “...and that
includes me!”
“So this isn’t about just
distracting you or keeping you away from Glory.
By all means, she can take care of herself. This is me defending the honor of my family
and if that means knocking you back down to reality then so be it! You walk around, taking up valuable airtime
so you can preach your delusional bullshit about how you’re going to fight my
cousin.” She shakes
her head. “NOT...gonna...happen!”
A smirk forms across her face. “But my dance card was free and if you want
to fight someone, if you’re all pissed off because someone outed you for the
coward that you are, then take out that anger on me. It has been a long ass time since I’ve
unleashed my inner Dragon and believe me, Casterillo, I am very much looking
forward to introducing you to The Dragon.”
You see, The Dragon is my monster.
It is my darkness. And I’ve been
running from it for far too long. In a
way that makes us alike, doesn’t it? Any
time the pressure gets too much for you, you run. But at Rise To Greatness I will fully embrace
who I am. I will welcome The Dragon and
embrace it to its fullest most violent extent.
And where that takes me?” She shrugs her shoulders. “Who
knows? What I can tell you is that you
will get the very worst of me. And that
is not a good thing for you.”
“You want to finish this, you son of a bitch? Finish it with me, not Glory. I’m right here waiting and ready to rip you
limb from limb. I’m ready to maim
you. So lets go ahead and finish this
story, Casterillo. For the sake of
everyone in the locker room who can’t stand your very presence, let’s end this
and you can then be on your merry way to annoy the piss out of someone
else. Then maybe, just maybe, you can
accept it, whatever the outcome may be, and just move on.”
Angelica smirks. “The real question is, will I let you leave under your own power?”
