Date April 3rd 2020 / Time10:47AM / Status Not Recording
Location The (Former) Johnson Residence – Baltimore, Maryland

“It doesn’t look like anything happened…”

I say into the phone, staring uncomfortably at my childhood home from the street. Even if that crazy bitch would have burned the damn thing down, I don’t honestly think that I’d give one flying shit… It’s just the fact that she was here… Looking for Lucy.

Trying to get to both of us.. Trying to scare us.

That’s what pisses me off.

“Did you go in?”

Lucy asks, garnering a sigh in return.

“I know, I wouldn’t want to go in there either. Been in there more than I ever hoped to be over the last two years or so.”

“No kidding. I ain’t going in there, Luce. I don’t care if she left a fruit basket in there or if she set the entire thing to explode the moment I go through the door… I ain’t going in there.”

I know it’s ridiculous. But this house holds such… horrible memories for me and frankly, Lucy is lucky she even got me to the street in front of the house. I know she can’t be down here, so I was really her only hope when she got the call the other night about someone being on the property… but there are times I wish I wasn’t.

“I’m not gonna force you. I mean if I could be down there myself, I’d of left you out of it.”

I sigh again, louder this time.

“I know.. I know.”

“Don’t let her get to you… That’s exactly what she wants.”

I close my eyes and grit my teeth. I know that’s what she wants. I fucking know, but she has. I don’t know what her obsession is, but the fact remains that she’s trying to get to Lucy and regardless of what I’ve done in the past.. That’s not okay with me.

Call it repentance, or an attempt at redemption. Whichever.

Either way, I’m not a fan of the games. There’s far too much of that shit going on here lately – From all sides. I’m at my fucking breaking point.

“It’s not that easy.”

“No, it’s not. I get it.”

I take another few seconds, possibly a few seconds too many – to stare at the house before I turn and head back across the street to my car.

“Well I can’t stand here all day looking at that hell hole. John’s coming over today to talk to Adina, I gotta get back.”

“Yeah, I was meaning to ask you… What’s up with that?”

I roll my eyes.

“Apparently he just got out of prison – And he’s sorry.”

A moment of silence from my sister as I slide into the drivers seat and close the door.

“You sound like you don’t believe him.”

I sigh and lean back in the seat.

“It’s not that. The problem is that I do believe him. It’s just… I don’t want Adina getting to know him, finding out who he is, only to be let down again. She’s getting older, you know? If he leaves again, she’s probably going to remember it this time… I just don’t want her getting hurt.”

“No one can blame you for that.”

I guess not, but this whole thing just adds yet another thing to my list of things to worry about. This one though, I don’t really mind. It’s funny, two years ago I wouldn’t have wanted JD in the same room as me… But at least he’s one of the only people trying to keep from making things harder on me.

Jesus.. That’s weird to think.

“How does Jack feel about this turn of events?”

I don’t think I can roll my eyes any harder.

“Frankly, I don’t think Jack gets a say. He’s not even around anyway. But he knows, and he doesn’t like it. As long as JD behaves himself and does what he says, I don’t see a problem.”

“Speaking of Jack…”

I shake my head.

“Not going there right now. Between him and Amber, I’m fucking done with the whole thing.”

“Understood.”

Starting the car, I take one more look across the street at the house.

“Listen, I gotta go. JD said he’d be over to talk to Baby girl around 12:30 or so.”

“Gotcha. Well, thank you for at least checking things out for me. Have fun…”

“Right. See you.”

She says goodbye and I hang the phone up. Guess I’d better head back home. If I want to give JD the chance to prove himself… I gotta be there myself.

 

Date April 10th 2020 / Time2:01PM / Status Not Recording
Location The Johnson Residence – Baltimore, Maryland

“No… I don’t fucking control what Jack Michaels says or does.”

My fiance thinks that he’s the only one who has shit to deal with, he thinks that he’s all alone in having shit on his shoulders to bear… but little does he realize the position he’s left me in. Not that it matters in the slightest.

I’ve got nothing better to do than deal with the shit he should be dealing with, on top of my own obligations.

“I apologize, Miss Johnson. W–”

“No if you were fucking sorry you wouldn’t be hounding me with this shit. I know you saw what Jack said on Twitter yesterday – He doesn’t give a flying fuck about anything except facing Amber. But unlike him, I have other shit to worry about.”

Why should I give a shit about his match when he doesn’t even care about mine?

“Miss Johns–”

“Fuck off.”

*Click*

Don’t get me wrong, not once have I thought that Jack should care about me or my matches more than he should his own. Obviously him facing his adopted daughter for the world championship is a huge deal and he should be focusing on it.

I just disagree in the method with which he’s decided to focus on it…

Just like I disagree with the casual approach Amber’s taken to the entire thing.

It’s frustrating. And there’s not a damn thing I can do about it, but I know that if I sit here and try to figure all this out, that’s going to be my undoing on Monday against Ken, and it’ll definitely be the end of my Championship hopes at Isolation.

So right now? Fuck them both. They wanna be selfish… Fine by me. I’ll take care of everything for myself, and make sure Adina is taken care of.

Speaking of…

I grab my phone again and press a few buttons, putting it up to my ear.

“Kyra?”

“Hey, I was wondering if you were busy on Easter?”

“…No, nothing except training.. Why?”

I shrug.

“I was thinking maybe you’d like to talk to our daughter again and since it’s a holiday…”

“Absolutely! I’ll be there.”

I smile.

“Good. I’ll see you, maybe around 10:00?”

“You got it. And maybe… If it’s not too much trouble, maybe I could pick your brain a little.”

“Hmm?”

“Carnage has changed a lot. I feel a little behind the times.”

I chuckle.

“Aren’t we all? But yeah, maybe I can give you a little insight. Who knows?”

“Thank you. I appreciate it. If you need anything, just let me know.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

I sigh.

“You alright?”

“Who me? Yeah, I’m always fine. I’ll see you on Sunday.”

 

Date April 10th 2020 / Time11:53AM / Status Not Recording
Location The Johnson Residence – Baltimore, Maryland

“Okay Baby girl, Mommy’s gotta go get ready for her match tomorrow.”

Adina nods her head, she knows the drill by now. But in an unexpected move, she turns to JD, a quizzical look on her face.

“An you Mister JD? Does you fight too?”

I glance over at him, seeing him smirk and nod his own head.

“Yes ma’am, but it’s been a while. Your mommy is going to help me get back on my feet.”

Adina seems satisfied with that answer.

“Mommy says she gots to trains real hard ta fight. I dun want Mommy to get hurted though.”

“I-“

“Honey, your mommy is one of the very best at fighting. She might get a few boo-boo’s every now and again but I wouldn’t worry. Your mommy is tough as nails.”

Adina’s eyebrows raise.

“Tough.. As… Nails?”

“He means that mommy can take care of herself, sweetie. You go and take the phone back to Amber now, and I’ll talk to you soon. You be a good girl, okay?”

She nods her head and I can see the phone start bobbing up and down as she runs through the house.

“AMBURRRR HERE YOUR PHONE!!!”

“Bye Adina!”

“Bye Baby–”

*Click*

I chuckle and lay the phone down on the table.

“Well then. At least you got to say bye.”

JD nods and lets out a chuckle of his own.

“She’s adorable and very…..busy.”

I roll my eyes.

“So busy… God only knows with what.”

Silence settles between us for a few moments, awkwardly sitting here together on the sofa. Awkward, but oddly comfortable. And of course it makes me wonder why our paths split so quickly and so harshly. Our relationship… It was both the greatest thing, the greatest feeling in the world… And also the biggest pain in my ass.

I don’t know.

No use in wondering about it now. I’m sure we’ll have this discussion in due time.

Finally, I sigh and bring myself up to my feet, heading towards the kitchen.

“Well, I did tell her I was gonna go get ready for Davison… Guess I should keep my word. What about you? You ready for Joey?”

“I’m so ready! This is the best I’ve felt in years. I’ve just got to focus on the task at hand and not get distracted”

I grab a water from the fridge and grab another one for him, tossing it to him as he gets up and follows me.

“Good to hear. That’s not been my strong suit lately.”

I look at him, seeing his eyebrows raised in question. I shake my head. I ain’t going into any of this right now. Not with my ex husband.

“I know you well enough to know something has been going on with you. We were best friends before I lost my shit and I’d really like to be your friend again. I’m not going to beat it out of you, but I’m here for you.”

I stare at him for a few seconds, wanting to go back to the friendship he and I had before.

“I appreciate it… I, uh…”

I look away, trying to figure out what to say.

“Um.. Well do you wanna join me? My gym isn’t as good as some others, but it gets the job done…”

“Let’s do the damn thing!”

I roll my eyes and motion towards the hallway leading back to my gym.

“Well? Don’t act like you don’t know your way around this place.”

 

‘Dollar Store Amber Ryan…’

How hard did that little pea brain of yours have to think in order to come up with that?  

‘But, Kyra.. How can you act like it doesn’t bug you when you VERY obviously were bothered by it at Chaos?’  

Eh.

It did bother me.  I mean who works as hard as I have to be the best I can possibly be in this industry.. Just to be compared to someone else?  Don’t get me wrong, you could have picked someone much, much worse than Amber to compare me to – and I guess, for that I’m grateful.   But I’m sure Amber could tell you the same thing once she pulls her head out of her ass… We don’t work this hard to be compared. 

That’s not why I’m here dickface. 

That’s not why any of us are here.

And don’t get me wrong, I know you were only out to get under my skin.. You and everyone else around here lately.  You sure you’re not conspiring with the Psycho Sisters?  

If there’s something I’ve never been too good at, it’s not letting shit get to me. 

But if you’re surprised by that fact, then you mustn’t pay attention very well.  

Anyway.

Ken.  

It’s really amazing to me, when you first came here, I thought you were interesting.  You and your good friend Mac.  But in the time since your arrival, Mac’s shown his ability to grow.. be more than any of us realized he could be.  But you?  You’re just the same old ‘Godly’ Ken Davison who came on the scene all that time ago. 

Sure, now you’ve got your little Bitch Danny Kemp.. But what good has he been to you?  

You’re still that same old record, running on a loop… Frankly, it’s a bit disappointing.  And you wanna talk about how disappointing I am.  You know what?  I am.  Completely.  To have worked as hard as I have and to end up with so little?  Yeah, you’re damn right I’m a disappointment.  

But at least I’m not you, Ken.

I’m capable of seeing when something is wrong, and even more capable of changing things to change that wrong into a right.  And what went so wrong with last Chaos.. I’m gonna make right on this one by kicking the ever-loving shit out of you.  

Don’t believe me?

You’ll find out soon enough.

 

OOC: JD Used with Permission.