It was another quiet evening in the Davison household.

If the sounds of a little girl playing and screaming in her bedroom upstairs counts as ‘quiet’. Ken and Kyra were in the kitchen together, listening to Adina as she did whatever it is that she was doing up there. Ken sat on the opposite side of the counter from Kyra, his eyes watching her as she fumbled around the kitchen.

“Would you like some help?” Ken asked innocently, to which Kyra simply shook her head.

“I would not.” Kyra replied, matter of factly as she noticed the smoke beginning to rise off of the chicken she’d been frying on the stove. She rushed over and pulled the pan off the burner and shook her head. “Shit!”

It took all she had to not toss the entire thing in the garbage and grab her phone to order a pizza. But when she glanced over at her husband, she noticed an ornery grin on his lips, and his phone already in his hand.

“Would you like me to do the honors?”

Kyra sighed. “I can cook, I swear it. The chicken is fine. I just need to–” She said, full of bravado – that was until she placed the still smoking pan in between them and realized that the chicken was indeed a lost cause. She rolled her eyes. “Fuck it. Just order the damn pizza.”

Ken simply nodded his head and set out to be the hero of dinnertime once again. Meanwhile Kyra relegated herself to clean up duty. A few minutes later, Ken approached her from behind and wrapped his arms around her waist, placing a kiss on her neck.

“You’ve been really tense since you talked to JD earlier…” He said softly into her ear.

Kyra stopped what she was doing and turned around to face him, crossing her arms over her chest. “I have not.”

Ken looked at her in disbelief, but much to his credit, he didn’t say a word. He knows better, and he also knows by now that if he gives Kyra enough time to think about it – that she’ll eventually realize he’s right. He’s a sly fucker, that one is.

And like clockwork, Kyra stared at him and a few moments later she let out another exasperated sigh. “Okay, you’re right. Sometimes he’s not half bad to talk to, and other times… he’s a shithead. Tonight was a shithead kind of night.”

“What did he want this time?” Ken treaded carefully, he knew it wasn’t entirely his business what Kyra’s ex husband wanted, but when it came to Kyra and Adina, he wasn’t afraid to do what was necessary to make sure his girls were happy. “I mean, if you want to talk about it.”

Kyra shrugged her shoulders. “He just wants to see her. And it’s like I’ve told him how many times? I’ve lost count. But if he wants to see her, he needs to make the effort. I’m not gonna go down there to bumfuck Florida and beg him to take her. The motherfucker needs to stop acting like we’re still married because I don’t cater to him anymore.”

With that, Kyra turned away from Ken and continued scrubbing the pan that she’d ruined dinner in. But Ken stayed right where he was, opting to move in beside Kyra and watch her. She was frustrated. And maybe this wasn’t the right time to ask the question he wanted to ask, but he couldn’t help himself.

“So… that means you’ll cater to me?” Ken asked wistfully, trying to deescalate the mood. “If I’m way out of line, tell me – but I’m curious… Even though it seems like it’s going to be an obvious answer… But what happened between the two of you?”

Kyra stopped scrubbing and turned her head slowly to look into Ken’s eyes. Her face was less angry, and more… curious. “Why do you ask?”

It was Ken’s turn to shrug his shoulders. “I don’t know. You’ve never really spoken much about it, and I suppose I’m hoping that maybe talking about it will help. But again, if I’m completely out of line, we can forget I asked or we can make up later.”

Kyra gave him a smirk and a wink before she looked away, wiping her hands off on her pants.

“No, no.. That’s okay. I can’t believe I’ve never really talked about it. I just kinda threw you in there and went ‘hey, here’s my dickhead ex… deal with it.’” Kyra replied, turning around and leaning against the counter. “I met JD when I was young. Back then I was just some no name doing crazy shit in people’s backyards. He was a scout, for lack of a better word. And he took a liking to me.. Probably because I was fucking crazy. I don’t know.”

Ken simply listened, nodding his head as she continued.

“But back then, it wasn’t anything romantic or whatever. He just knew he wanted to have me in his promotion and who was I to turn down a pay raise? So I went… And the place closed down a few months later. So I was back doing what I’d been doing before, and I figured I’d never hear from him again. Then an opportunity arose that I couldn’t pass up, and I joined a place called Underground Wrestling. Just so happened that JD ended up there too, but this time he was on the roster and we started working together more and more. It felt like he was the only guy that understood and actually encouraged me to be the fighter that I am… And I fell for him. Hard. I mean.. It was weird. I never wanted anything like that but there he was.”

“Sounds kind of like us in a way. I wasn’t looking for anything and BOOM! It happened.”

Kyra nodded. “So I mean long story short, he knocked me up and asked me to marry him when I was running Carnage.. And I thought it was happily ever after. But I always knew there was someone that would always be more important to JD than me.. Himself. He means well. At least I think he does, but after a while, we just… It started feeling like we fought more than we were happy and I didn’t want to be in a home like the one I grew up in. I didn’t want to raise my daughter in a home like that either, so I left.”

“So it’s us in reverse? I mean, I was the most important person in my world until you came along. Like I was a real douche canoe,” Ken quipped. His response was both humorous and more importantly, true.

“He’s not a bad guy. He’s just.. He’s frustratingly dense. That’s the best way I can put it. I know it probably doesn’t make sense. I wish he’d move on. I wish he’d find someone that can do for him what I couldn’t… Like what you do for me.”

“And what’s that, Mama?”

Kyra smiled softly. “You encourage me to be me, but you also keep me grounded. You do so Goddamned much for me, you make me a better person, even if I’m not always willing to see it. I don’t know. It’s hard to put into words, but you really do complete me, Ken. In the best way possible.”

“I mean, I do what I can. Remember, I told you we both had baggage and luckily, I was right when I wondered if they matched.” Ken paused, giving Kyra a chance to sort things out. “Let me ask you this. What do you want from him? What kind of effort are you looking for?”

At first she didn’t really have an answer for that question, but after a few moments she sighed and ran her hand through her hair. “I want him to stop jumping in and out of her life like.. She’s not a toy that you can just throw away and come back to when you feel like it. He says he loves her, and I know he does. She’s his only daughter and I know he’d do anything for her, but I just want him to get his god damned head on straight and… and just try more.”

Kyra paused for a moment, her mouth turning downward into a frown. “I also know that I’m incredibly hard on him. Maybe he is trying and I’m just not seeing it. I don’t know.”

“So, this is probably not the best time to point out that you just said “hard on.” Kyra punched Ken in the arm as he chuckled, knowing full well he deserved it. “Let me ask you this. What makes our relationship work?”

Ken asked what he knew was a hard question. The fact of the matter was that Ken didn’t know the answer here, but he had a hunch, which was better than nothing.

“It’s little shit like that, you know? Those little things you do when I’m frustrated. You don’t let me stay frustrated. You don’t toss gasoline onto an already raging fire. I don’t know, maybe that’s not the best answer but we don’t let things fester and we’d rather make each other happy instead of letting things fall apart.”

“I mean, you’re right. But, I was thinking of a more simple answer. “Communication.” We talk shit out instead of fighting about it.”

“Yeah, that. JD liked my passion, hell I think he liked it too much. He liked riling me up and setting me loose, but that’s not how this is supposed to work. At least I get that now.”

Ken furrowed his brow. He knew this was uncharted territory for him. Still, he had to do something to smooth this over, for Adina’s sake if for no other reason.

“You need to talk to JD and create a set schedule. It’s that simple. Then there is no reason for him to come in and out. If he doesn’t take her on his time, you note it and take it to court if you have to. I mean, I would think that’s the way to handle it.”

Kyra nodded her head.

“Yeah. I’ll talk to him.” She leaned in and placed a soft kiss on his lips. “Thank you.”

“Anytime, mama. Anytime.” Ken responded gently.

 

I know we’ve not been formerly introduced, but I’m Kyra.   One half of UGWC’s Cooperative Champions, the sister of the woman you tried, unsuccessfully might I add.. to beat a few weeks ago at Run of the Mill, and most importantly – The woman who gets the distinct pleasure of beating your ass in a few days time at Synergy. 

We don’t know a whole lot about one another, and I’d venture to say that you don’t much care.   Well that’s funny because I don’t much care either.   

All I see is the next motherfucker that’s unlucky enough to wind up on the opposite end of the ring from me.   All I see is someone who wound up in the main event of a pay per view that he didn’t have any business being in… only to wind up disappointing himself and anyone who’d be stupid enough to root for him.  I see someone who’s returning to something that’s familiar because he doesn’t have anything else?  

Correct me if I’m wrong here, but I don’t think I am.  

Are you lonely?  Are you broke?  I mean what could have possessed you to make your grand comeback in match that you had to have known you had no fucking chance of winning.   And honestly, I don’t intend on making your comeback any easier on you, bud.   

I might be fighting this one solo, and I know that there are plenty of people around here that think I can’t do jack shit without my partner to pick up my slack.  But you see, there is no slack for Ken to pick up.  We’re both deadly on our own, and that’s why we make such a great team.  

But I know, this isn’t about cooperative teams and all that.  

This is about you and I, Holden.  This is about whether or not you’re gonna step into that ring on Monday and show me more than the bullshit I saw in that Mill.  You’re gonna have to do a lot better than that to beat me, but if you’ve got more than a single brain cell in that head of yours, you already know that.  

Treat me like I’m a joke and I’ll put you down. 

Treat me like I’m not on your level and I’ll knock you so far down off this ladder that you’ll be clawing your way back up to my level for years to come.  

You don’t know me, Holden.. But after Monday, you will.  And you won’t soon forget the ass kicking I’m about to give you.