Come Together

November 23rd 2022
Midday

The day started out cool, and much to Kyra’s chagrin – It stayed that way even as the sun sat as high in the sky as it possibly could.   That didn’t stop her, however, from bundling up and taking herself into the backyard of their home here in Baltimore to enjoy what she could of the day.  

It was her birthday, after all and she knew better than to expect anything, considering she and her husband had barely been speaking to one another lately.  It was partially her doing, and she knew it.  Things going on elsewhere, things that shouldn’t matter when the two of them are here, and away from SCW or UGWC.. Kyra never was very good at keeping work shit at work and not letting it bleed into her home life. 

Then again, deep down Kyra knew that while her choices during all of this were shitty.. Her husband’s choices were equally as shitty, if not more so in a couple of instances.  And when you strip it down to brass tacks, that’s why things are strained in the Davison household.  Whether Kyra wanted to admit it or not, she was hurt.  

And when you’re a Johnson, hurt nearly always turns into anger and resentment.  

Not a good thing when a marriage hangs in the balance. 

She sighed to herself as she brought herself down upon an abandoned lounge chair – the cold weather making it much less beneficial to spend much time outside.  But she didn’t care.  Chloe had taken Adina out to grab a few last minute things for dinner tomorrow – and Ken, she wasn’t really sure where Ken was, but if he was anywhere in the house, she really didn’t want to fight with him on her birthday.  So she disappeared. 

But no longer had she reclined back and closed her eyes as the sun warmed her face – her phone began ringing.

“Fucks sake…”

She was annoyed, but when she glanced down at the phone in her hand and saw Chloe’s name on the screen, she was between being even more annoyed and being concerned.  

“Yeah?”

Kyra said into the phone only to hear what sounded like labored breathing. 

“Chloe?  What’s going on?”

“Kyra?  Kyra we need you…”

“What?  I–”

“I took the kiddo to the park and– We just need you okay?!  Please, hurry!”

In an instant, thoughts of what could have happened to either of them rushed through her mind and she was up and leaving the house.  

“I’m coming.”

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Sitting inside of the Enoch Pratt Free Library, Ken had his laptop open in front of him. His screen displayed the results for a google search entitled “Maryland divorce forms.” With the constant strain on their marriage, despite what he’s been told by Adina and Chloe, Ken figured that Kyra wanted out. She was cold and unreachable. Those rare moments that they’ve had to talk to one another have pretty much blown up in Ken’s face. One wrong word, one wrong reaction, one moment of saying the wrong thing while trying to hold his ground in the middle of a hurricane of anger and sadness and frustration… Let’s just say Ken hadn’t helped his situation. Since it was Kyra’s birthday, Ken had planned to give her what he thought she wanted, her freedom.

As he sat, silently crying in a corner while trying to figure out how to print the damned forms, his phone rang. He peered down at the caller ID and saw that it was coming from Chloe Hawkhurst. ’Jesus, this is exactly what I need right now,’ he thought to himself. He shut the laptop and answered the phone, whispering as to not bother the other patrons.

“Yeah, what’s up?”

“Um… Daddy…” came Adina’s voice through the phone. That wasn’t the voice he expected to hear on the other end of the phone. “Imma gonna need you to come get me and Chloe. We went to the park an’ Chloe fell and bumped her head. We need you right now.”

Ken began packing up his stuff as quickly as possible. He made no effort to remain quiet as his only concern was now his children.

“Alright, is she bleeding?”

“No. But she’s saying weird stuff and the black part of her eyes are like, really big.”

“Sounds like a concussion. Where are you? I’ll get there as soon as I can.”

“I dunno. Let me find a sign.” There was a pause and Adina’s breath can be heard as she ran around. “Um, yeah. It’s ‘M T Ver-something.’ That’s where we are.”

“Mount Vernon?” Ken said with a sense of urgency as he stepped out the door. He can’t help but to notice the chill in the air as he started walking to his car. “I should have put on my coat.” 

“Yeah, Vernon. That’s what Chloe said.”

“Alright, babygirl. Hold tight and call 911 if Chloe starts to fall asleep. I’m at the library nearby. I’ll be there soon.”

“Yes, sir!” Adina answered, almost proudly before disconnecting the call. It was weird that Adina seemed so calm, but Ken figured everyone handles stress differently. Right?

Right?

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“Where ARE they?”

Adina throws her little arms up into the air as Chloe watches on from the top of the slide, shoving her phone back down into her pocket for safe keeping.  

“Listen, Squirt.. We gotta give them time to get here.  They obviously ain’t gonna ignore our cries for help.”

Chloe grins. 

“And I gotta say, nice work with Ken, Kiddo.  I couldn’t have done any better myself.”

Adina runs around the playset and makes her way up until she’s seated beside Chloe.  The little girl lays her head on Chloe’s shoulder, and while the elder of the two wasn’t always up for affection, it seemed that in this moment of teamwork between them, she wasn’t entirely opposed to it.  

“But why did you have to call my mommy?  Wouldn’t she have been more scared if it was me?”

Chloe shook her head. 

“Absolutely not.  It’s WAY more worrying for me to tell her something happened and have her not know whether you’re okay or not.”

“Daddy needs to know what’s going on or he can’t think right. We hadda tellum somethin’.”

“Exactly right.  And you gave him exactly what he needed in order to get him here.”

The two share a high-five, and mere seconds later Kyra is there, running like her life depended on it.  She spots the two girls and rushes over. 

“What’s going on?  What’s wrong?”

And like the true actress she is, Adina spotted her mother and immediately dropped – landing in a heap behind Chloe.  Chloe turned and grabbed Adina, feigning concern as Kyra climbed the playset and knelt down beside them – panicking.  

“Come on, let’s get her out of here.  What happened?”

It was Chloe’s turn to activate her powers of manipulation as she helped Kyra get Adina down off of the slide. 

“I don’t know.  One minute she was playing and the next…”

Just as they reached the ground, Chloe stopped talking when Ken ran up, scanning the area, trying to figure out just what was going on. He says nothing. He only sits there with an unparalleled look of confusion. You can see him trying to piece things together in his head by the way he is moving his finger from point to point. The pieces fit together in much the same way that\ Chuck E. Cheese pizza slices never seem to belong together.

“Someone has some explaining to do… NOW!” 

Upon hearing his voice, Kyra turned around – completely shocked and even more so when Adina suddenly came to life and dropped out of her arms.  The little girl rushed over to Chloe and now the two of them were coming face to face with their choices, and the two people they’d manipulated to this very location. 

“It’s a..”

“It’s a miracle!”

Adina finished Chloe’s sentence, putting on her best innocent face as they looked between Ken and Kyra.

“A miracle that you’re not hurt or a miracle that Chloe isn’t so concussed she can smell colors?” Ken adds, having figured out that something is up. “What the hell is going on here?!”

Kyra finally chimes in, staring daggers at both girls.  

“Seriously. Give me one good reason I shouldn’t ground the two of you.”

“Well” Chloe interrupts with a mischievous grin, “I’m 19 so you can’t ground me.”

“I can change the Wi-Fi password. Don’t make me do it.”

Ken looks at Kyra, taken aback for a moment. It’s the first time they’ve been in the same book, let alone on the same page, in almost 3 months.

“Um, Happy Birthday, by the way.”

Kyra stops for a moment, turning her head slowly towards Ken.

“…Thanks?”

In that moment, the realization came over her and she turned her attention back to Chloe and Adina.

“Is that what you two were trying to do?”

“We know it is. I just want to hear the two of you admit to it,” Ken taps his foot impatiently on the ground. “So, which one of you two is the mastermind?”

Chloe and Adina look at each other for a few seconds, smirking and after a minute or so of complete silence, Chloe grabs Adina’s hand and the two of them back away. 

“Hey, I just remembered that Adina and I need to go..”

“Yeah we needs to go!  See you later!”

“Are you two brown wording me right now?”

But neither of them bothered to turn back to acknowledge Ken, leaving him and Kyra by themselves.  They turn and look at each with an amazing cocktail of emotions containing frustration, confusion, defeat and… maybe hope. Finally, Kyra sighed. 

“We live with a bunch of shitheads, huh?”

She mused uncomfortably while she stared at her husband.

“You think?” he quipped back at her, holding his gaze perhaps a little too long.  But surprisingly enough, Kyra’s gaze never wavered from his.  

“Listen.. I-I’m sorry.” She began, shocking even herself with her words, but she kept going. “I was just so worried, and hurt by what you said.  Like, I know why you were doing what you were doing, because I’d do the same damn thing.  But you didn’t want me to, and it just… I don’t know.  It just really fucking hurt.”

Kyra finally pulled her gaze away from Ken’s, moving to and sitting on one of the swings, lowering her head so she was staring at her shoes as they moved through the dirt and mulch.  It was no real surprise that Kyra wasn’t exactly the type to tell all about her feelings, especially if they were anything besides anger.   It made her feel vulnerable and feeling vulnerable made her uncomfortable. Ken follows Kyra over sitting on the swing next to hers. 

“Um… thanks. I’m not apologizing, though.”

Kyra’s face is overtaken by shock. Before she can respond, Ken continues. 

“Hear me out. Every time I try to apologize I say something stupid and step in it. I know I fucked up. It just… I just… every time I tried something different, it still blew up in my face. You know I’m not smart with this shit. But, you should have known I was trying. I know I hurt you, but I also felt you were too angry to meet me halfway.”

Kyra nods her head. 

“Yeah.  I was.”

Just when Ken thought she wasn’t going to say anything else, Kyra glances up and into his eyes. 

“But all of that ‘I’m not smart with this shit’?  That’s just an excuse, Ken.  There ain’t no owners manual for this… But you know me.  You know who I am deep down.  You’re one of the few who knows what I am beneath the surface.. I don’t know.  I know I didn’t give you enough slack, and I’ve been told some shitty things by the people I love, but this one just hit differently.  This entire situation just hit me differently.  Maybe it’s because it’s you.  Regardless… I should have let it go.  It’s not worth ruining what we’ve got over…” 

Ken pushed with his feet, causing him to sway back and forth. 

“You weren’t listening, at least I felt you weren’t. You were so hellbent that I was trying to… I don’t fucking know, shock you into listening.”

A sad smile crossed Kyra’s lips as she looked down into her hands. 

“I was listening.  To everything.  That’s why I was so angry.  That’s why I wanted to protect you.  It’s funny, we’re both out here trying to protect each other, but neither of us can handle the possibility of something happening to the other to the point where we’d rather be ignorant of who we married than let them risk hurting themselves for us.”

She let out a sigh and shrugged her shoulders. 

“I was wrong for expecting you to back down.  That’s just not who you are, and I’ve known that as long as I’ve known you.”

“To be fair, we are both the two most stubborn people that I know.  Not going to lie, I am very confused by all this Mr. Miyagi, words of wisdom bullshit you’ve got going on.”

Kyra couldn’t stop the chuckle that escaped her lips. 

“Well, I’ve had a lot of time to think.”

“So did I, but it’s been far less productive. I don’t want to talk about it. Let’s just leave it at that, you are smarter than I am.”

Ken sighed as soon as he finished his sentence. At that moment he was feeling a mixture of shame and confusion.

“Oh, stop it with that… please?”

Kyra got up from her swing and moved over in front of the one that Ken was seated upon and extended a hand to him.  

“I’m not smarter than you.  But I’ve missed you, and I love you… and.. And I–”

Ken cut Kyra off.

“I was at the library looking up divorce paperwork. I figured if I couldn’t make you happy that I shouldn’t hold you hostage. So, yeah, you’re smarter than I am.”

Kyra was stunned for a few moments, digesting what he’d just told her.   

“Oh, Ken.. Why…” She closed her eyes and shook her head. “Maybe you’re right…”

Ken’s hands fell to his sides, defeated. His eyes welled up with tears. 

“I mean, if that’s what you want. You can have the house and all that, it was always meant to be yours.”

At first Kyra was completely confused but when she realized what he thought she meant, she reached down and grabbed him by his hands and pulled him up to his feet. 

“Ken, I didn’t mean that!”

“Oh…” he replied sheepishly.

“You’re not getting rid of me that easily,” she replied, and before he could say anything else – she put an exclamation point on her statement with a kiss. The kiss is deep, passionate, like their first kiss all over again.

“Could we do that again? I kinda missed that.”

Without a word, Kyra obliged him – pulling him in and kissing him once more. A short distance away, Chloe and Adina have taken refuge in Chloe’s car. Both of them are sitting with their faces pressed against the glass watching what is going on between Kyra and Ken.

“Told you it would work.”

“Yup. Yup. Yup.”

Adina put out her little hand. Without either of them breaking their gaze, Chloe reached over and fist bumped Adina.

“I guess the turkey isn’t the only thing getting stuffed for Thanksgiving,” Chloe quipped.

“Huh?”

“Nothing, squirt.”

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“Hey, haven’t we been here and done this before?”

The scene fades in upon hearing Kyra’s voice, to find Kyra and Ken Davison somewhere. It could be anywhere, to them it doesn’t matter. Ken stands behind Kyra, arms wrapped around her waist. First the first time in the last few months, The Baltimore Elite stand united. 

“Indeed, we have. Both figuratively and literally. We’re right back where we started a year and a half ago. Standing here with nothing around our waists and a chip on our shoulders.”

Kyra nods her head.  

“While being one of the longest reigning Cooperative Champions in the last decade was nice.  It almost feels right to be back here again.  I mean, don’t get me wrong – We’re great when we’re champs.  But God damn, I think we’re even better when we’re clawing and fighting our way back up the ladder, it’s more fun too, that’s for sure.”

Ken looks down at Kyra and gives her a gentle squeeze as he picks back up.

“The problem is sometimes, when things are good, you take them for granted. I feel like that was our mistake. We looked at our opponents and I thought we were far superior, that they were beneath us. I don’t know if that’s wrong. But I know that I got complacent.”

“We both got complacent.  But hey, shit happens.  We’re not above needing to be knocked down a couple of pegs in order to remember where we came from and what it took to get to the top.   So that’s what it is now, back to the bottom of the mountain.  Square one.   And that starts with you guys – Seb and Travis.  Not the easiest beginning, I’ve gotta say.  But I’m looking forward to it.”

“I, for one, am certainly looking forward to getting in the ring with you again, Seb. That Chaos championship match is still fresh in my mind. I can admit that the better man won that night, but much in the same way that the better man won that night, I fully expect that “The Ultraviolent Goddess” Kyra Johnson and the GKD, “Godly” Ken Davison are going to walk into this match with something to prove. We are going to walk into the match knowing who we are and what we can do. We will walk into this match with the simple mindset that we are starting at the bottom and we will spend as much time climbing that ladder rung by damned rung by damned rung. We need to prove that we are the better team, to the fans, to the roster, and most importantly, to ourselves.”

“No matter what happens, as long as we walk out knowing we gave Seb and Trav the fight they deserve, then I ain’t got no complaints.  I mean, there’s a reason Seb has been Chaos champ for as long as he has… And a reason that Travis be riding those coattails hard.  No offense.  But I call em like I see em.  Monday, it’s gonna be one hell of a fight between two teams who deserve to make it all the way to the top… But I guess it’s just gonna be a matter of who wants it more in this moment.  Right here and now.   And I don’t know, but Mr. Chaos Champ might not wanna split his attention between ruling the Chaos division and dragging the corpse of Travis Pierce around.”

Kyra shrugs with a smirk.  Ken doesn’t seem to quite share that sentiment with Kyra, but his facial expression doesn’t quite seem to show he disagrees with it, either. He lets his grip on Kyra’s waist go, but continues to hold her hand.

“I don’t quite see it that way, because I know that I want it more. I have spent the last couple of months trying to prove how much I wanted it. I fell short time and time again. It was a very humbling experience. One thing that was said to me was perhaps splitting my focus between another company and the Coalition watered me down. Others said I was fine, that my opponents were just a little bit better. The fact of the matter is that the problems that Kyra and I were having made me weak. I was a shield when I should have been a sword. I am at my best when I stand beside this woman. She is the greatest part of me, and now that we are back on the same page, I don’t care if you put Seb in front of me. I don’t care if you put Travis Pierce in front of me. Hell, I don’t care if you put the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in my path, I will put whomever is in my crosshairs down to get back what we lost.”

Kyra turns her head and looks up at her husband, nodding. 

“That sounds about right.  Don’t mistake my good mood for lack of motivation, boys.  I ain’t out here to play games either, and just because I’m trying to show just a teensy bit more respect than I typically do… Doesn’t mean I’m above doing whatever I gotta do to make sure you fuckers leave Synergy wondering why you thought you’d have it easy.  Because I know fuckers like you.  I know you wanna focus on us losing the Coop titles, and every bad thing that’s happened to us since then and throw us off our game by trying to shame us for it.  But shit happens, fellas.   Sure, we lost those belts.  We lost a bunch of singles matches.  We ain’t got much to show for all the effort we put in, but there ain’t no God damned shame in picking ourselves up and dusting ourselves off and going for it again.  If anything, all of this is only gonna make us stronger in the end.”

“If I have my way, that is exactly what this is going to be, the end. This is going to be the end of the losing, the end of the doubt, the end of constantly second guessing myself. Ibegan reminding people who the fuck “Godly” Ken Davison is during that Choas Championship match. I began showing the Coalition for the first time that. “Godly” Ken Davison is one of the most sadistic men to ever compete in the ring. I remembered that I once promised to do a great, many terrible things for this woman then proceeded to shove a screwdriver so far into her ex’s arm that his own daughter had to throw in the towel to save me from a murder charge.”

Ken looks at Kyra with a fire in his eyes that hasn’t been seen in a long time.

“I don’t know what else to say to the both of you when I’d much rather show you. You want the kinder, gentler “Godly” Ken Davison you’ve gotten the last year and a half? Come looking for me when I’m spending time with my daughter. In the ring, those days are fucking done because we are  here to go down in history as one of the best teams to ever do it here, and knocking down the men and woman who are the foundation of this company is the best way to do it. Bryce… Pierce… I don’t know if you’re religious, and quite frankly, I don’t fucking care. But I want you to go home, I want you to get on your knees, and I want you to pray to whatever deities you believe in, because in the ring, there is only one God and it sure as hell isn’t yours. Rest assured, gentlemen, that you won’t be beating anything Monday night until you get back to your hotel rooms after Synergy.”

Kyra nods in agreement while Ken stares intensely into the camera until the picture cuts out.