Post by Dontevius Ellis on May 23, 2016 20:40:08 GMT -5
She sat there, her gaze averted. She lived within her own little world. She looked down at the dolls she played with and felt like they were her only real friends. They cuddled up to her at night. They’ve never said a single mean thing to her. They were smiling… Always smiling…
“Where’d you get that dress from? The toilet?”
Kids are mean. Just because she didn’t associate with them nor take interest in their toys and conversations, that didn’t mean that she deserved the brunt of their ire.
“Look at her nose! She’s snotting everywhere!”
A collective “Ew!” came from the surrounding children. She never looked up at them, not once. You would think that, if someone wasn’t fighting back, they’d be left alone. Perhaps you wouldn’t. Perhaps you know that children are cruel.
“She probably doesn’t even wipe her butt!”
Without any merit whatsoever, chants of “Skid marks!” came from the surrounding children now.
“Stop it.”
The voice didn’t come from the girl who still tried to pretend that she was anywhere but here. Instead, it came from a young man who appeared from across the room.
“What, are you her boyfriend?” mocked the ringleader of the group.
“Leave her alone,” the young man said to the group.
“You gonna make me?” the boy said stepping forward, trying to lift his chubby frame to look more intimidating.
“I will if I have to,” the smaller framed boy said as he stepped between the chubby ringleader and the innocent girl.
The large kid laughed and looked around at the group he’d gathered. He encouraged them to join in and they did so without hesitation. Suddenly, his head snapped back and the boy looked stunned. The lean child had thrown a punch and was now in a fighting stance preparing for the chubby kid’s retaliation.
“You’ll regret that,” the large kid said with a scowl as he stepped forward.
Punch! Punch! Punch!
The large kid grabbed at the small boy but received three punches to the face for his efforts. The redness in his face from the hits was clear now and he seemed a bit dazed. With one more heavy shot, the large kid was on his backside. Blood now spurted from his nose as he sat there, shocked.
The boy started to cry.
The crowd quickly dispersed, their horse in this race clearly having lost. Shameful isn’t the right word for the looks on their faces. The better descriptor would probably be embarrassed. The boy sobbed loudly trying to say words but in the mixture of wails and blood, his words were not at all discernable. The skinny young man turned to the girl who was still staring at her doll.
“Hi,” said the young boy.
The girl didn’t respond.
“That’s a nice doll you have,” the boy continued as he tried to initiate conversation.
“Her name is Abigail,” the girl said simply without looking away.
“What’s your name?” the boy asked. “I’m new here. I don’t know anybody.”
The girl looked up for the first time and met his eyes. She seemed to be scanning them for sincerity or motive. When she was sufficiently convinced that his intentions were innocent, she looked back down to her doll and answered.
“Kelsey.”
“Hi Kelsey. I’m Dontevius,” the boy said with a smile.
Some memories you can remember plainly no matter how long ago they were. This was one such memory. That was the day we first became friends. Sure, I got in trouble for breaking Brent’s nose but it was worth it. What the hell did she do to him? I can tell you what he did to her after that though.
Fucking nothing.
I made sure of it. No one dared make fun of me for playing with dolls with her. She didn’t have a terrible childhood but her parents were poor. She wore hand-me-down clothes and anything her mom could find at yard sales. Was that her fault? Of course not. She was pretty without all the frills and popular clothes. All she wanted to do was enjoy herself and playing with dolls was what did that for her. If anything, I was honored to play with her. Sure, she was resistant to me at first but man, when I first saw her smile, it was incredible. I knew from then on that I wanted to do nothing but see more of that smile. And I did for a time.
I see a lot of her in you, Kelli: that incredible and infectious smile, the desire to just enjoy herself in exactly what she wanted to do, and a love for life unparalleled by anything I’d ever seen. Like her, I’m honored that I get to do battle with you at Living A Legacy. As it relates to my legacy, you are perfect. I’m sure I’ll just be another opponent to you but you are much more to me.
Relax, Nathan. It isn’t like that. While I treasure the similarities Kelli shares with Kelsey, I also know the difference.
I see how you’ve been bullied and I’ve gotta say, I’m not happy about it. It may be a faceless, nameless enemy but at some point they’ll show themselves. Let’s be real here, it’s probably going to happen during or after our match. Someone has an ego that they’re stroking right now and they’ll want to make an example out of you in that big spotlight.
I’ll stand against bullying now exactly as I did back then.
Now I know that you don’t need me to stand up for you. Don’t mistake my intentions for male chauvinism. If we’re being real here, this is as much for me as it is you to be honest. Kelsey’s life turned out great. No matter how differently things turned out for Kelsey and I, I’d have done it the exact same way.
“Kelsey Taylor!”
Dontevius watched as she stepped up to receive her high school diploma. The cheers throughout the auditorium could’ve blown the roof off of the place. She was valedictorian of their class and one of the most popular kids in the school. She had academic awards, enough scholarship offers that her entire senior class could’ve received a free college education, and held school records for female athletics.
Dontevius did not cheer but took in the sounds of the love she received. He closed his eyes and smiled, thinking about his childhood friend and how much he adored her. I guess you could say the ended up being the ugly duckling.
Dontevius stood and walked toward the exit. He would receive his diploma in private with very little fanfare. While he was an accomplished athlete, he also became somewhat of a social pariah. He was accused of having a ‘me first’ attitude on the field and his attitude toward others wasn’t much different.
There was always one person that he never put himself before, even as she moved on in life past her friendship with him. He put his hand on the door and looked back one final time. Kelsey had stopped on her way back to her seat as she locked eyes with Dontevius.
He smiled at her.
She returned the smile.
His heart skipped a beat.
He pushed the door open and stepped out of the auditorium.
“meet me in 20 mins. our old spot. plz!!”
Dontevius looked at the text in confusion. He hadn’t had more than a passing greeting here and there with Kelsey in two years. While he was excited to have a full out conversation with her, he still had butterflies in his stomach like he did back when he fell in love with her as children.
Sometimes, young love is timeless, ageless.
Nevertheless, Dontevius sat on a swing in the Elementary School playground. He swung in the night air, a man now. He waited for her for thirty minutes.
“Hi,” Kelsey’s voice said.
Dontevius looked up at her but didn’t immediately speak.
“That’s a nice swing you’ve got there,” she said with a smile.
Dontevius smiled, his features relaxing. “Her name’s Abigail. She’s held me up for years.”
Kelsey’s smile widened, her eyes glistening in the moonlight. “I still remember when my mom sold that doll at a yard sale. Even though I knew I’d never play with it again, I still didn’t want to let it go.”
“Why’s that?” Dontevius asked uncertain if he wanted to hear the answer.
“C’mon, D,” she stated with an eyeroll. “You know why.”
“Don’t play. What did you want?” Dontevius quickly responded.
“I needed to see you again. It’s been too long.”
“It has,” Dontevius acknowledged. “Makes me wonder why you’re here.”
“Brent and I will be getting married in September,” she blurted out.
Dontevius’ heart sank. He turned away. “Yeah? Why you telling me this?”
“I just… I just wanted…”
She was at a loss for words.
“To rub it in?”
“What?” she asked in sudden confusion.
Dontevius grimaced.
“What do you mean?” she expanded. “Are you saying--”
“That I’ve loved you all this time? Yeah, I guess I am.”
Kelsey’s mouth dropped open. All this time and she never knew how Dontevius felt about her. He never acted because if it didn’t work out, he’d lose her. The irony is that he lost her anyway. He lost her to the popular crowd. He lost her to achievement, success, and a future he didn’t think he’d ever have.
“And how the hell am I just now finding out about this?”
“Because I never wanted to bring you down with me.”
“Bring you down?” she shouted. “You brought me up! If anything, I could’ve done the same for you! If I’d have known--”
“Then what? We’d go make caramel babies and live off of your success? Or how about we live in some trailer park because you don’t want to make me feel bad having to live in your shadow?”
“That’s not fair,” she cried.
“Not fair? You’re marrying him of all people and you want to talk about fair?”
Dontevius stood up. Kelsey quickly did the same. Kelsey grabbed his hands and held them. Dontevius lost himself for a moment in her gentle touch before he pulled away.
“I’m sorry. I was never going to be great,” he said as he turned to walk away.
“You’re already great. You have been all this time,” she said with a persuasive smile.
So adorable. So forbidden.
“I know that you’ll be successful. You’ll be a great wife, a great mother, and so successful, your babies will be born with grills.”
Kelsey laughed briefly.
“Please don’t say this is goodbye,” she plead as she looked at him.
Dontevius looked back over his shoulder.
“You’ll be better off without me.”
“Dontevius, please!”
“Goodbye, Kelsey.”
She was always going to be great. Call it cheesy or whatever you want but I knew she was going to be great from the moment I met her. I don’t know, I guess it was just a feeling, maybe the one thing I was most right about in my life. She needed someone to stand up for her, someone to give her a boost. She didn’t need me dragging her down.
She’s just like you, Kelli. You’re destined for greatness. You’ve already proven yourself here in PCW. You’ve held gold, you’re established, and you’re arguably one of the most talented wrestlers in this damn company. It’s an honor for me to be in the same ring and to get the opportunity at such a big event. I may mean nothing to you as an opponent but trust me when I say that this is much bigger than the two of us.
These are our legacies.
My time with Kelsey ended the night of graduation. I never saw her again. I assume she achieved great things, had a bunch of babies with rich white names and moved into some mansion somewhere. She and I couldn’t make greatness together.
That’s where you come in. That’s where our legacies meet.
You and I can still achieve greatness. Everyone will tune in for the Iceman Invitational Tournament finals. Everyone will watch Grimm go back after Justin Kaard. Everyone will tune in to see Alexa Black versus Non Compos Mentis. Let’s make them wish they could watch us again.
We don’t have to fight for a championship. We don’t have to fight for an award. We can fight because we want to show these people what greatness truly is. You are already great. I refuse to drag you down. I’m going to go out there and put on a show the likes that PCW has never seen. I’m putting everything on the line: my body, my soul, my pride. I’m going to do everything that I can to thrill those fans and I’m going to do it with you, Disney characters be damned.
You and I are going to rock that place. We’re going to keep everyone on the edge of their seats. And when it’s all said and done…
We’ll give everyone a glimpse of what it truly means to leave a legacy.
“Where’d you get that dress from? The toilet?”
Kids are mean. Just because she didn’t associate with them nor take interest in their toys and conversations, that didn’t mean that she deserved the brunt of their ire.
“Look at her nose! She’s snotting everywhere!”
A collective “Ew!” came from the surrounding children. She never looked up at them, not once. You would think that, if someone wasn’t fighting back, they’d be left alone. Perhaps you wouldn’t. Perhaps you know that children are cruel.
“She probably doesn’t even wipe her butt!”
Without any merit whatsoever, chants of “Skid marks!” came from the surrounding children now.
“Stop it.”
The voice didn’t come from the girl who still tried to pretend that she was anywhere but here. Instead, it came from a young man who appeared from across the room.
“What, are you her boyfriend?” mocked the ringleader of the group.
“Leave her alone,” the young man said to the group.
“You gonna make me?” the boy said stepping forward, trying to lift his chubby frame to look more intimidating.
“I will if I have to,” the smaller framed boy said as he stepped between the chubby ringleader and the innocent girl.
The large kid laughed and looked around at the group he’d gathered. He encouraged them to join in and they did so without hesitation. Suddenly, his head snapped back and the boy looked stunned. The lean child had thrown a punch and was now in a fighting stance preparing for the chubby kid’s retaliation.
“You’ll regret that,” the large kid said with a scowl as he stepped forward.
Punch! Punch! Punch!
The large kid grabbed at the small boy but received three punches to the face for his efforts. The redness in his face from the hits was clear now and he seemed a bit dazed. With one more heavy shot, the large kid was on his backside. Blood now spurted from his nose as he sat there, shocked.
The boy started to cry.
The crowd quickly dispersed, their horse in this race clearly having lost. Shameful isn’t the right word for the looks on their faces. The better descriptor would probably be embarrassed. The boy sobbed loudly trying to say words but in the mixture of wails and blood, his words were not at all discernable. The skinny young man turned to the girl who was still staring at her doll.
“Hi,” said the young boy.
The girl didn’t respond.
“That’s a nice doll you have,” the boy continued as he tried to initiate conversation.
“Her name is Abigail,” the girl said simply without looking away.
“What’s your name?” the boy asked. “I’m new here. I don’t know anybody.”
The girl looked up for the first time and met his eyes. She seemed to be scanning them for sincerity or motive. When she was sufficiently convinced that his intentions were innocent, she looked back down to her doll and answered.
“Kelsey.”
“Hi Kelsey. I’m Dontevius,” the boy said with a smile.
Some memories you can remember plainly no matter how long ago they were. This was one such memory. That was the day we first became friends. Sure, I got in trouble for breaking Brent’s nose but it was worth it. What the hell did she do to him? I can tell you what he did to her after that though.
Fucking nothing.
I made sure of it. No one dared make fun of me for playing with dolls with her. She didn’t have a terrible childhood but her parents were poor. She wore hand-me-down clothes and anything her mom could find at yard sales. Was that her fault? Of course not. She was pretty without all the frills and popular clothes. All she wanted to do was enjoy herself and playing with dolls was what did that for her. If anything, I was honored to play with her. Sure, she was resistant to me at first but man, when I first saw her smile, it was incredible. I knew from then on that I wanted to do nothing but see more of that smile. And I did for a time.
I see a lot of her in you, Kelli: that incredible and infectious smile, the desire to just enjoy herself in exactly what she wanted to do, and a love for life unparalleled by anything I’d ever seen. Like her, I’m honored that I get to do battle with you at Living A Legacy. As it relates to my legacy, you are perfect. I’m sure I’ll just be another opponent to you but you are much more to me.
Relax, Nathan. It isn’t like that. While I treasure the similarities Kelli shares with Kelsey, I also know the difference.
I see how you’ve been bullied and I’ve gotta say, I’m not happy about it. It may be a faceless, nameless enemy but at some point they’ll show themselves. Let’s be real here, it’s probably going to happen during or after our match. Someone has an ego that they’re stroking right now and they’ll want to make an example out of you in that big spotlight.
I’ll stand against bullying now exactly as I did back then.
Now I know that you don’t need me to stand up for you. Don’t mistake my intentions for male chauvinism. If we’re being real here, this is as much for me as it is you to be honest. Kelsey’s life turned out great. No matter how differently things turned out for Kelsey and I, I’d have done it the exact same way.
“Kelsey Taylor!”
Dontevius watched as she stepped up to receive her high school diploma. The cheers throughout the auditorium could’ve blown the roof off of the place. She was valedictorian of their class and one of the most popular kids in the school. She had academic awards, enough scholarship offers that her entire senior class could’ve received a free college education, and held school records for female athletics.
Dontevius did not cheer but took in the sounds of the love she received. He closed his eyes and smiled, thinking about his childhood friend and how much he adored her. I guess you could say the ended up being the ugly duckling.
Dontevius stood and walked toward the exit. He would receive his diploma in private with very little fanfare. While he was an accomplished athlete, he also became somewhat of a social pariah. He was accused of having a ‘me first’ attitude on the field and his attitude toward others wasn’t much different.
There was always one person that he never put himself before, even as she moved on in life past her friendship with him. He put his hand on the door and looked back one final time. Kelsey had stopped on her way back to her seat as she locked eyes with Dontevius.
He smiled at her.
She returned the smile.
His heart skipped a beat.
He pushed the door open and stepped out of the auditorium.
“meet me in 20 mins. our old spot. plz!!”
Dontevius looked at the text in confusion. He hadn’t had more than a passing greeting here and there with Kelsey in two years. While he was excited to have a full out conversation with her, he still had butterflies in his stomach like he did back when he fell in love with her as children.
Sometimes, young love is timeless, ageless.
Nevertheless, Dontevius sat on a swing in the Elementary School playground. He swung in the night air, a man now. He waited for her for thirty minutes.
“Hi,” Kelsey’s voice said.
Dontevius looked up at her but didn’t immediately speak.
“That’s a nice swing you’ve got there,” she said with a smile.
Dontevius smiled, his features relaxing. “Her name’s Abigail. She’s held me up for years.”
Kelsey’s smile widened, her eyes glistening in the moonlight. “I still remember when my mom sold that doll at a yard sale. Even though I knew I’d never play with it again, I still didn’t want to let it go.”
“Why’s that?” Dontevius asked uncertain if he wanted to hear the answer.
“C’mon, D,” she stated with an eyeroll. “You know why.”
“Don’t play. What did you want?” Dontevius quickly responded.
“I needed to see you again. It’s been too long.”
“It has,” Dontevius acknowledged. “Makes me wonder why you’re here.”
“Brent and I will be getting married in September,” she blurted out.
Dontevius’ heart sank. He turned away. “Yeah? Why you telling me this?”
“I just… I just wanted…”
She was at a loss for words.
“To rub it in?”
“What?” she asked in sudden confusion.
Dontevius grimaced.
“What do you mean?” she expanded. “Are you saying--”
“That I’ve loved you all this time? Yeah, I guess I am.”
Kelsey’s mouth dropped open. All this time and she never knew how Dontevius felt about her. He never acted because if it didn’t work out, he’d lose her. The irony is that he lost her anyway. He lost her to the popular crowd. He lost her to achievement, success, and a future he didn’t think he’d ever have.
“And how the hell am I just now finding out about this?”
“Because I never wanted to bring you down with me.”
“Bring you down?” she shouted. “You brought me up! If anything, I could’ve done the same for you! If I’d have known--”
“Then what? We’d go make caramel babies and live off of your success? Or how about we live in some trailer park because you don’t want to make me feel bad having to live in your shadow?”
“That’s not fair,” she cried.
“Not fair? You’re marrying him of all people and you want to talk about fair?”
Dontevius stood up. Kelsey quickly did the same. Kelsey grabbed his hands and held them. Dontevius lost himself for a moment in her gentle touch before he pulled away.
“I’m sorry. I was never going to be great,” he said as he turned to walk away.
“You’re already great. You have been all this time,” she said with a persuasive smile.
So adorable. So forbidden.
“I know that you’ll be successful. You’ll be a great wife, a great mother, and so successful, your babies will be born with grills.”
Kelsey laughed briefly.
“Please don’t say this is goodbye,” she plead as she looked at him.
Dontevius looked back over his shoulder.
“You’ll be better off without me.”
“Dontevius, please!”
“Goodbye, Kelsey.”
She was always going to be great. Call it cheesy or whatever you want but I knew she was going to be great from the moment I met her. I don’t know, I guess it was just a feeling, maybe the one thing I was most right about in my life. She needed someone to stand up for her, someone to give her a boost. She didn’t need me dragging her down.
She’s just like you, Kelli. You’re destined for greatness. You’ve already proven yourself here in PCW. You’ve held gold, you’re established, and you’re arguably one of the most talented wrestlers in this damn company. It’s an honor for me to be in the same ring and to get the opportunity at such a big event. I may mean nothing to you as an opponent but trust me when I say that this is much bigger than the two of us.
These are our legacies.
My time with Kelsey ended the night of graduation. I never saw her again. I assume she achieved great things, had a bunch of babies with rich white names and moved into some mansion somewhere. She and I couldn’t make greatness together.
That’s where you come in. That’s where our legacies meet.
You and I can still achieve greatness. Everyone will tune in for the Iceman Invitational Tournament finals. Everyone will watch Grimm go back after Justin Kaard. Everyone will tune in to see Alexa Black versus Non Compos Mentis. Let’s make them wish they could watch us again.
We don’t have to fight for a championship. We don’t have to fight for an award. We can fight because we want to show these people what greatness truly is. You are already great. I refuse to drag you down. I’m going to go out there and put on a show the likes that PCW has never seen. I’m putting everything on the line: my body, my soul, my pride. I’m going to do everything that I can to thrill those fans and I’m going to do it with you, Disney characters be damned.
You and I are going to rock that place. We’re going to keep everyone on the edge of their seats. And when it’s all said and done…
We’ll give everyone a glimpse of what it truly means to leave a legacy.
