Post by Evan De Parker on Nov 11, 2012 17:42:31 GMT -4
Thursday, November 8th
”Do you smell that?”
We blink into color. Evan Envi is seated behind the wheel of his BMW 760Li in what, at first glance, appears to be a very similar scene to what we were introduced to nearly two days prior; he pulls onto the highway, shooting the occasional glance at the ten-year-old that sits in the passenger seat, Chastity Weaver.
The blonde-haired, blue-eyed preteen girl is captivated by the iPad that sits in her lap. She flicks her finger across the screen, playing a high-resolution version of Angry Birds. Evan grimaces in annoyance as the sounds of the game ring through the car as opposed to a response.
”It... Hah... It really makes it difficult to go into a monologue when you don’t even give me a reaction.”
Chastity places her arms over the iPad to display her attentiveness and turns, arching an eyebrow at Evan.
”Sorry, Mr. Evan.”
She most certainly does not sound very apologetic.
”Were you asking me to smell something?”
”Yes.”
”Mhm. I thought that was what’s happening. And I find it weird, so I ignored you.”
”The VICTORY, child! Can you smell it?”
”No. Victory has no scent. It’s not even an--”
”Kid, you’re killin’ me. Don’t you have an imagination? Don’t you watch Barney?”
”I’m not particularly thrilled about having to stay at your house again. The stuff you cook smells weird... What is it, tofu? And you talk in your sleep. Loudly. I can hear it from down the hall.”
”Well, it wasn’t my choice. Maybe you should’ve gone to Delaware with your aunt.”
”And miss school? What the hell kind of a guardian are you?”
Evan turns to her and frowns.
”You know, I thought we had started to bond this morning. We were having breakfast, and you were minding your own business, listening to your Bieber... I was jammin’ out to Rush, and we spoke less than eight words to each other before Michelle picked you up. It was fantastic. Why can’t we go back to that?”
Chastity smirks at him, deciphering his sarcasm with sharp eyes.
”You have nothing to talk about unless you’re talking about yourself. Again, I have no idea why Michelle is still with you.”
”Of course you don’t. You’re ten! You know nothing about relationships, or men for that matter.”
”Hm... Well, you’re twenty-four and you know nothing about relationships, or friendship. I mean, cool, you know about wrestling, but you’re probably gonna piss it off too, and lose that as well. Do you want to talk about how your team beat Nick Watson and Mark Mania, Mr. Evan? Do you want to talk about Envikado? I’m not stopping you.”
”Wow. Why are you such a--?”
”Bitch?”
Shocked, Evan’s eyes widen and he nearly jerks the car onto the shoulder. The foul mouth on this child was becoming more and more alarming.
”Because I don’t like you, Mr. Evan.
“We’ve discussed it-- you wrestle. I think that’s cool. You’re a cool story to share with my friends. But you’ve done nothing but treat Michelle like trash so why should I be nice to you? It’s not like you’re going to marry her. You’re not going to be around forever. You treated Aubrey J. Parker just like that and now she’s a bigger deal than you. Now she’s ‘hanging out’ with that William Williams guy.”
”Psh. And every other guy on the roster.”
”Not including you. Whatever you were doing, Mr. Williams is doing better than you. And now you have to fight him. He wants to do for Aubrey what you never could, and he wants to embarrass you on her show.”
”That’s enough, kid.”
”You always boast about how you’re an adult and you talk down to me like I’m a baby! But I’m right. You can’t look bad on Monday. You brag about how you made this show...”
”Stop it.”
”And if you lose to a guy that hasn’t even been here for two months and Young Mannie, you and Mr. Delikado lose all... All... What’s that word?”
”...Credibility.”
”Ha. Yeah, exactly.”
No matter how endearing Evan saw her constant need to address every adult by “Mr” or “Ms”, Evan Envi would tell you this ten-year-old, Chastity Weaver, was evil. Possessed. Quite possibly by Satan himself.
However, he takes the final exit toward his uptown Baltimore home and tries his best to keep his eyes, burning from tiredness on the road. Not on the demon next to him.
”You don’t really care about my career, do you?”
She looks at him, thoughtfully.
”...I care about saying I was there. And if, somehow, you and Mr. Delikado win the Tag Team Titles and you can call yourself the best, then I get to say I knew the best. Or half.”
The best.
”But who knows if you can even do that?”
The best.
”We can do that. I-- I’m not going to discuss this with you. I doubt you’ve even learned long-division yet. Don’t talk to me about my wrestling.”
Evan shakes his head, dissatisfied, and our scene fades to black on the amused grin on the face of Chastity Weaver.
Sunday, November 11th
We blink into the face of one very confident Evan Envi. He is dressed in a white #Nightmarefuel t-shirt and has a half smile on his face. It wouldn't be entirely accurate to say Envi looks happy, but the former Xtreme Champion looks content.
To the casual viewer, this room strikes us familiar as the master bedroom of Evan's Baltimore, Maryland home. To Evan, this is quite possibly the only place in the mid-Atlantic in which he can see refuge and ignore the harsh judgment and expectations of the outside. Here, in this man-made sanctuary, when Evan Envi refers to himself or Envikado as "the best", no one can argue.
"William D. Williams... Young Mannie... You're not the best. I don't think anyone here has tried to convince you otherwise but I'm sure you can quickly identify why that poses a problem for you.
"Delikado and I? We are the best.
"We’ve every intention of making it to Christmas Chaos and challenging for the newly vacated Tag Team Championships buuuut... Can you guys say with confidence that you can do that?
“Mannie, can you stub the blunt long enough to do something noteworthy in the ring?
“Williams, do you even HAVE the capacity to last five minutes in the ring with Envikado?
"Spoiler alert: Both answers are no."
Evan leans closer to the camera.
"Mannie, let's start with you, shall we? Haha, I mean, you KNOW better than that. You couldn't even hang on Overdrive in the first place so why would you be able to beat the two most prominent stars from the program? Even on Meltdown, you've been less than stellar in the ring. You were the second guy eliminated in your North American Title match at One Night in Hell and the LAST time you and Williams teamed up, he ate the pin, you failed to do shit about it, and THAT was to a makeshift team full of guys who didn’t even like each other.
"Around that time, you and Shanell Lewis claimed the number one contender spots annnnddd thennnnn what? She got her ass handed to her by Tuhoa Valo and then the same thing happened a week later with Kaylyn Evans. Now? She's not even with us anymore. She’s hopped up on pain meds in an Ohio hospital somewhere because you failed to do the most important thing a tag team partner can be called upon to do...
“You couldn't protect her.
“Mannie, lemme ask you: What the hell kind of a tag team partner is that?
"Whenever Envikado goes to battle, I already know that I can trust my partner but Mannie, you don't exactly give Williams that option, eh? We just WITNESSED the horrible truth! You’re only capable of looking out for yourself and even that is a bit steep of somebody to ask of you, right? I mean, let’s go ahead and consider your climb back toward Overdrive exactly what it is-- fraudulent. You have absolutely no intention and no desire to go back up there and get fed to the wolves, and just in case you were feeling frisky, Overdrive has sent the wolves to you. Haven’t they?
“You get to face Envikado and those bitter, cold memories of Overdrive come flooding back, and you sink to the bottom of the barrell on the Meltdown roster once again. Where it’s warm, always warm with dozens of bodies.
“Where’s it’s familiar.
“It brings me to you, Williams, because that’s where you came from, right? We had to scrape a few buckets to get you. I mean-- you’re not as pretty as Shanell, but I guess you’re ‘second best’ for Mannie when it comes to choices for tag team partners. I guess... I won’t feel as bad, hurting you this week. You look like a man that can take it.”
Evan pauses to look away, but within a few seconds sighs and turns back to the lens.
”I’ve been more impressed with you each week, Mr. Williams. I have more confidence in you to carry a team than I do in your partner. You and Roy Speede beat Comikaze last week and... You earn a golf clap.
“This week you aren’t facing faux-superheroes, but make no mistake, you’re facing a former Overdrive Champion-- a Cuban mastermind in Delikado, and me. The former Xtreme Champion. The first North American Champion.
“...Damnit, I created Meltdown. I made this show what it is. I gave people like YOU and YOUNG MANNIE some fucking hope!
“I am, and always will be THE BAR and this week, you’re in for a treat, gentlemen, especially you, Williams. For the first time in nearly four months, I’m wrestling on the show I built. And I don’t know what that our beloved North American Champion sees in you, but I’ll be sure to show her, Duvall, and the world that you’re nothing... Nothing compared to Envi.
“I’m not out to humiliate you, or end your career, or cost you opportunities. I’m out to do something much, much worse...”
Evan brushes his hair back and gets even closer to the camera.
”I’m out to hurt you. Physically. Emotionally.
“...We’re gonna traumatize you. It’s a harsh reality on the other side of a draft, gentlemen. Mannie already knows, but you have no idea, Williams. You’re already trying to indulge in my sloppy seconds behind the scenes, but I don’t think you could do it in the ring.
“I don’t think you could carry my show.
“I don’t think you could carry the Tag Championships...
“I... Wonder if you can hack it. I wonder if you have the ability to take Delikado and I to the limit. We already know that you can’t win, but maybe you can rough us up. Maybe you can scare us a little.
“The both of you have everything on the line tomorrow night because if you don’t make it in this tournament, that’s it. You’re at the back of the line for the Tag Titles and who knows when either of you is going to give enough of a damn about yourselves to become legitimate contenders for the North American Title?
“Delikado-- no matter how controversial his opinions-- and I have proved that we belong. We fight on the other side of these lines separating Meltdown from Overdrive weekly, but only one of you two knows what it’s like. And you’ve fallen. It’s like sending two marines into battle against a wounded vet and a rookie. The only thing is-- the vet was never great, and the rookie is destined to underachieve. At the end of this story, the underdogs are heralded for their efforts, but there’s a reason they lost.
“It’s the very reason that they’re labeled as underdogs.”
Envi smirks and our scene fades to black, but his words still commit through the darkness.
”Somebody has to be the best.”
