Get the popcorn

”Come on, get up, buddy.”

Ken Davison opens his eyes to see a TSA Agent looking down at him. On the floor of Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, Davison was waiting for a flight to Los Angeles. He is dressed in a nice orange button down shirt and black dress pants.

”Is there a problem?”

”You can’t sleep here. Now go find yourself somewhere to go.”

”I’ll tell you what, Officer Bitchcakes. Tell Continental that when they cancel the red eye that they need to make accommodations for their passengers. Not all of us can afford hotels you know.”

The truth of the matter is, Ken Davison could more than afford to go to a hotel. Hell, he could have driven home. But the floor of the airport was just as comfortable to him. He hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in months.  Originally, he was supposed to leave at 7:16 last night and his flight was delayed. Then, it was delayed a second time. The third time, it was canceled. Ken simply decided that he would wait at the airport and fix it in the morning. The TSA agent walks away, now ignoring Davison.

”Hey, homeboy, come back here. Can’t I get one of those enhanced pat downs? I haven’t had that kind of action in months!”

Ken gets up and grabs his suitcase and jacket off of the floor, wiping the dust off of them. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out his cell phone. It’s just after five in the morning. Davison groans audibly, trying to stretch out the muscle in his back. Davison makes his way over to the JetBlue terminal, surprised to see agents there already. He gets his travel issues sorted out and walks to the food court. Dunkin’ Donuts coffee and a Boston Cream Donut in hand, he parks it at the nearest table and pulls his cell phone out and sets it on the table. He goes to call his fiancee, but on the off chance Kyra is actually sleeping, he decides not to call her.

Back at the Davison-Johnson residence, it looked like a bomb had gone off in the bedroom that Ken and Kyra shared.   The moonlight gave only a small peek into the chaos – a clothes basket knocked over onto the floor, clothes strewn about all over the place.  A blanket crumpled up on the floor with one corner barely hanging onto the edge of the bed where a small foot was hanging over.  Following the foot all the way up a leg to find another blanket – draped haphazardly across the body of a little girl laying the wrong way, her arm pressed firmly into the back of another sleeping figure.

That second figure just so happened to be that little girl’s mother.  Little did Kyra know that Adina had snuck into their bedroom that night like a wrecking ball – knocking things over on her way to Ken’s vacant side of the bed.

Adina grunted in her sleep and shoved Kyra in the back, causing Kyra to stir.  Another, louder grunt was followed up by a light smack into Kyra’s back.  This time Kyra let out a little sigh and rolled over, her eyes still closed… That was until Adina half shouted in her sleep and hit Kyra again, this time in the stomach.

“What the–”  Kyra sat up like a bolt of lightning, grabbing at whatever hit her – sighing when she realized she was holding Adina’s hand.

“What the hell are you doing in here?”

Kyra hissed at her daughter, who hadn’t heard a word.  Kyra simply stared at her daughter for a few moments, shaking her head before she gently moved Adina’s sleeping form to a more… safe position and laying back down.  She laid awake for a little while, watching Adina sleep between glances at the clock on Ken’s side of the bed, watching the minutes tick by ever so slowly.

But finally she drifted back off.. Only to be woken up once more just an hour later – This time by a foot jammed up under her armpit.

“Jesus fucking Christ…”

Kyra groaned and pryed Adina’s foot away from her and wondered how this child did any sleeping at all.  Adina was approximately 180 degrees turned from where Kyra had moved her not too long ago, after all… Not to mention, somehow Kyra’s UGWC Cooperative Championship had made it into the bed with them.

All too quickly, Kyra realized that she wasn’t going to get any more sleep in this bed tonight, so she got up and grabbed her phone and made her way down the hall to Adina’s room.

Once inside, she realized the little shit had taken her blanket with her but she was far too tired to care as she laid down and did her best to get comfortable on the much smaller bed.

She pulled her phone up and looked at the time once more, wondering if Ken had gotten to where he needed to be for his next SCW show.  But upon taking a glance at the Life360 App that she and Ken had installed on their phones (in order to be able to find one another in the event of an emergency), she realized that he was still in Baltimore.  Still at the airport.

So Kyra did what any person would do in her situation, she dialed his number and waited for him to pick up.   Curiosity didn’t know how early it was in the morning after all.

“Hey, mama…” Ken’s voice sounds tired and weary. “You sleep okay?”

Kyra couldn’t help but chuckle, albeit humorlessly.  “I’ll give you one guess where I am right now.”

“I would guess either the couch or on the shitter.”

“Good guesses, but no.  Adina took over our bed so I took hers.  Got tired of getting my ass kicked.”  She replied, stifling a yawn.  “We really should look into getting her a new bed though.  God damn this thing sucks.”

“Kicked?” Ken forces out through his stifled laughs. “Last week when you were on the couch I ended up with three of her toes in my mouth! Do you know where those things have been?”

“Other than in your mouth?  I don’t even wanna know, but whatever it was… I’m sure it tasted horrible.”  Kyra laughed.  “She’s a menace and she needs to be stopped.”

“Remember that time she tried to make ramen in the microwave and didn’t add water? It tasted as bad as that smelled.” Ken smiles in spite of himself. “So, yeah… I’m guessing you saw I’m still here.”

Kyra doesn’t respond right away, but eventually she sighs. “Yeah.. I only checked to see if you made it over yonder.. But what’s going on?  Everything okay?”

“Yeah. There were a couple of delays and then they canceled. I slept on the floor and just got the flight rebooked as early as possible. I’ve got a stop over in Las Vegas, so probably going to head over and see Mac. I need to get my head on straight.”

Letting out another sigh, Kyra sits up in the bed.  “That’s not a bad idea.. But what’s wrong?  Can I help?”

“Honesty, I’m just… I don’t know… lost, is maybe the word.

“I don’t like the sound of that.”  Kyra replies, her voice quieting.

“I just feel like we scratched and clawed and fought to win the UGWC Co-op titles and now that we have, it’s like, what now? With the rotating door of cooperative champions, I’d like to try and hold onto these things for a while. But, the motivation is just… it’s like the adrenaline has worn off. You know?”

Kyra nods her head, even though she knows no one can see her.  “No, no.. I get it.  I completely understand, but I also know that the moment we go back and we see these fuckers doing the same shit we were doing to get to those belts… it’ll come back.  And hell, it might even come back with a vengeance because we don’t wanna lose em as quickly as we got em.”

“I understand that. We’ve gone from the hunters to the prey. I’m not going to lie, Ragdoll and Cervantes AGAIN! At least the Piercing Media Empire will be a new challenge. What I really wanted was one more match against Incendium so we could see once and for all who the better team was. Then Gabe retired and that was the end of that.”

“I don’t know, hun.  I feel like we could face them and beat them a hundred times more and there’d still be a debate.  But I guess we’re just gonna have to settle for agreeing to disagree on that particular topic.”  She grins.  “But we’re still here and regardless of what anyone says.. No one can deny that we’re the best team in the UGWC at the moment.  I mean they’ll deny the shit out of it but fuck em.”

“So, where do we go? Do we just wait to see what the world throws at us or do we just start leaving a trail of bodies?”

“You know me.. I’m all for bodying these fuckers.  And honestly, that seems to be the only thing they understand.  But.. And I can’t believe I’m saying this…”  She pulls in a deep breath.  “..It doesn’t hurt to sit back and see what ends up coming our way either.”

“You know, you’re saying ‘fuck’ an awful lot today. Feeling a little spicy?” Ken laughs. He desperately wanted to be home with Kyra, but he was sitting alone, in an airport, by himself. At least the coffee was fresh. “You think we’ll be okay? Or you think we need to get slapped around a little bit to regain our edge?”

Silence settles between them while Kyra thinks about Ken’s question.  She pulls one of Adina’s stuffed animals into her lap and stares at it – It was an adorably ugly little thing that Ken had bought for her.   She smiles at the toy and clears her throat.

“You know, I think we’re perfect Ken.  We’re in the business of getting slapped around, so that’s gonna happen regardless.  As for our edge, we ain’t lost it.  Not one bit.  This isn’t gonna last forever but at least we get to say we were champions twice… together.  Maybe I’m getting soft in my old age… I dunno, but I got you, and I got that little shithead that’s sleeping with my belt in our bed.. What more could I ask for?”

“I don’t know about you, but I could ask you to stop talking about old age. My body gives me enough reminders of that on the daily. One day, I will be too old for this.”

“I mean, you can ask.. But that doesn’t mean I’m gonna listen.”  Kyra replies with an ornery smirk.  “One day we’ll both be too old for this, but until then.. Let’s just keep doing what we’re doing.”

“Sounds like a plan. I just need make sure you’re healthy enough that we can get in trouble for grabbing each other’s asses when we finally get to the old folks home.”

Kyra chuckles.  “I don’t think you have anything to worry about.  I always find a way to get into trouble.”

“Alright.  I’ll be home in a couple of days. I promise.”

“Oh I know you will be, we both know you can’t leave me for too long.  Just take care of yourself and let Mac finish kicking your ass back into shape.  I love you.”

“I love you, too, mama.”

As Kyra hangs the phone up, she happens to notice something lingering in the doorway to Adina’s bedroom and when her eyes finally focus in, she can faintly make out Adina standing there – staring at her with her little arms crossed over her chest.

“Yes?”  Kyra asks, setting the phone down in front of her.

“You are in my bed, mommy.”

Kyra can’t stop herself from laying down and laughing.

“You were in mine, you little shit.  With my title belt nonetheless.  So I came in here to lay with…”  She grabs the stuffed animal and holds it up in the air.  “..Whoever this is.”

“Mr. Stuffington.”

“Yeah, him.  Now what are you doing up so early, Maam?”

“You was being noisy.”

Kyra sits back up with an incredulous look on her face.  “Are you serious?  Really?”  But before she continues, she stops and reminds herself that she’s set to get into an argument with a five year old.  A five year old that’s just as stubborn as she is.  So she simply takes a deep breath and pulls herself off of Adina’s bed and turns to face her Mini-me.

“Fine.  Do you want breakfast or do you want to lay down in your own bed and sleep for a few more hours?”

But instead of answering her question, Adina simply stared up at Kyra.  “When is daddy gonna be back?”

“A few days.  But until then, you’re stuck with me kiddo.”

A very Kyra-like groan came from Adina’s lips as Kyra ruffled up her hair and left the room, heading downstairs for a very large cup of coffee.

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“Here we go again. Last time we had to do this, I pulled out all sorts of creepy parlor tricks because I wanted to show Ragdoll that we could play her game. This time, we are the Champions, which means that she needs to play <i>our</i> game. You take her, Cervantes, and then add the Piercing Media Empire into the mix and you have a match where anything can happen.”

“Oh, anything will happen.  That’s a guarantee.  Although, I can’t decide whether or not it’s gonna be more fun than what happened between the Creeps and ourselves the last time we went at it.  I guess that depends on how unpredictable Sebby and Travis can be in the faces of two of UGWC’s most… violent teams?”

“Ragdoll specifically went out of her way to point out how many times she beat me. Let me ask you something, Ragdoll. When was it that the Baltimore Elite beat the Astrocreeps? When it counted. You can say anything you want about me. I don’t give a flying fuck.what you have to say. The one thing you cannot possibly say about me is that when it comes to put up or shut up, you get the best version of the Baltimore Elite and you get put down.”

“I mean, she’s a cunt.  What more could we possibly say?  I think that much has at least been confirmed time and time… and time again.  I know, I know.  That’s not what matters.  But then again, neither does a damn thing Ken or I can say leading into this match on Monday.  We can drag each and every one of you until our hearts are content – but none of it will change what we’re gonna do to you or what you’re gonna try and do to us.”

“Ragdoll, I used to have some modicum of respect for you, just the teeniest, tiniest morsel of respect. I get that in this business, we’re supposed to talk about one another and create drama to build up the match. I get it. You went out of your way to talk about my sister-in-law for no apparent reason other than the fact that you are a abhorrent, detestable, execrable hippotwatacunt ain’t gonna fly with me. I swear, given the opportunity, I am going to kick you right in your lady garden on principle alone.”

“Oh, and hey Montague.. Did I forget to congratulate you on becoming number one contender to the world title?  I did?  Good.  But hey, looks like you’re not shy about putting your eggs in so many different baskets.. I mean, I wouldn’t want you to lose focus on the big prize now, you know?  That would be a shame.  It would honestly be a shame for both of you to forget about everything else you’ve got going on while you’re fucking around with us.”

“What’s he forgetting?”

“….That he’s facing Centurion for the World title in a few weeks…”

“Oh, I thought you meant he was forgetting that Ragdoll had his balls in a jar on her mantle.”

“Low hanging fruit.. You’re better than that.” Ken shakes his head ‘no’ while Kyra ignores him.  “He couldn’t forget that anyway.  But hey, what about Seb and Travis?  How you two feeling?  Good?  Glad to be on your own again, or are you gonna miss your plus one this week?”  

“I don’t care. If we include all 47 of her different personalities, we’re already losing the numbers game to Ragdoll. So if the two of you want to bring Centurion down with you, go for it. We’ll just ask Johnny to join at ringside. Maybe the sound of his voice will be enough to make one of you submit.”

“It’s enough to make me wanna.  But I digress.  I know Seb and Trav don’t need any help to get the job done.  I also know that Seb’s had the number of just about anyone he’s gone up against.  Which makes me think that lil Miss Ragdoll is gonna wanna make sure Seb isn’t in the best of shape heading into triple E in a few weeks.  And who doesn’t love watching the shit hit the fan?  I know I do.  Seb already cost her first place in the Global Challenge – And who wouldn’t think he’d waltz his smarmy ass right in and take that Cross-Hemisphere title off of her too?  Hun, the more I talk about it…  I think we’re in for a bit of a show on Monday.”

“We should just sit back and relax and watch the two of them beat the ever living piss out of each other. We can grab some hot dogs, a bucket of popcorn, and a couple of chairs and watch the Carnage. It’s not like we have anything to prove.”

“Right you are, hun.  Right you are.”