Post by Rick Majors on May 21, 2017 21:47:00 GMT -5
Gabriel is sitting on the floor of his apartment. It is dark. The only light is provided by a series of candles that have been carefully arranged on a makeshift altar. Gabriel is intently staring at them, deep in thought. Suddenly his concentration is broken by a loud banging on his front door.
Gabriel jumps up. He grabs a broken broom handle from the floor and walks towards the door cautiously. He opens it slowly, ready to strike whoever steps through.
He drops the broom when he sees the face standing outside the door.
“Go away,” he mumbles, turning his back to the visitor.
“Rick.”
“I SAID GO AWAY!”
Gabriel tries to close the door in the woman’s face, but she sticks her foot out, stopping him.
“I’m not leaving,” she says defiantly.
Gabriel turns away again. He walks back to the candles and stares at them. He then closes his eyes and tilts his head back.
“Talk to me, Rick,” the woman says, stepping into the apartment.
“My name isn’t Rick,” he replies without opening his eyes.
“I know it is,” the woman responds. “I named you. You’ve been Rick for 45 years.”
Gabriel ignores this latest comment. He bows his head now in a silent prayer.
“Dammit Rick, Gabriel, whoever the hell you claim to be!" she shouts. "You haven’t spoken to me in months. I tried calling you. I tried calling PCW. No response. I even called Kelly. She had no idea where you were. I spent weeks trying to find you. I stayed out all night roaming the city, asking people if they’d seen you. I haven’t had a real night sleep in forever. Talk to me. You owe me that. I raised you. Look at me! Open your eyes!”
Nothing.
“OPEN YOUR FUCKING EYES RIGHT NOW!”
The woman swings at Gabriel, hitting him directly in the chest. He stumbles backward, mostly due to shock. He opens his eyes and look at her.
“I have nothing to say to you,” he replies.
“Then at least listen. I’m your mother. I’ve spent all day looking for you. I’m old and I’m tired and I just want to talk to you. Please Rick…”
“MY NAME ISN’T RICK.”
“Please… just listen. Give me five minutes.”
“Fine.”
Anne Majors looks around the room.
“Isn’t there anywhere to sit? Don’t you have any furniture?”
“Are you really going to spend your five minutes criticizing my décor?”
She sighs.
“Well I’m tired. I need to sit down.”
Gabriel does nothing to help with this request. Eventually, Anne Majors slowly sits down on the floor, leaning against the wall. She sighs again as she looks at her son, who appears to be completely disinterested in her.
“You said you wanted to talk, so talk,” he says finally, breaking the uncomfortable silence.
“What are you doing? What are you doing with your life? You’re better than this. You’re a strong, proud and accomplished man.”
“Am I? Am I really?” Gabriel shoots back, seemingly now invested in the conversation. “What accomplishments!? My wife!? My children!? My great career!? My large circle of friends!? The respect of my peers!? What accomplishments!?”
“You’re a good person, Ri…”
“WHAT ACCOMPLISHMENTS!?” he yells, angrily walking over to her and practically yelling in her face.
She turns away from him, clearly emotional and overwhelmed by the situation that she’s in. He glares at her for several moments, crouching down and holding his face just centimeters from hers. He's seething with anger, breathing deeply and sweating. Finally, he turns and walks away. No one says anything for quite some time.
“This is good for me,” Gabriel finally says, once again breaking the silence between them. “Seromine understands me. He believes in me. He’s helping me.”
“He’s using you!”
“HOW DARE YOU!?”
Once again, Gabriel charges towards her, filled with a violent rage.
“Please… stop…” she says softly, practically cowering against the wall.
He turns away from her. There’s a look of disgust on his face, but it’s not evident if he’s disgusted in her, himself, or both.
“I told you that I didn’t want you here," he says. "You didn’t listen.”
“I have to be here,” she replies. “You’re my son and you’re throwing your life away. You’ve wandered into a cult looking for acceptance and it’s going to destroy you.”
“It’s going to save me.”
“Listen. I know you’ve had a hard time with Kelly and the accident. I know you’re not where you wanted to be at this point in your life. I know you’re hurting, emotionally and physically. I know all of this. But this isn’t the answer. A cult isn’t the answer.”
“IT’S NOT A CULT!”
“Calm down! You don’t need to scream at me every ten seconds!”
He walks away from her, shaking his head in confusion and anger.
“You’re attacking the one good thing that I have in my life," he yells. "How do you expect me to respond!?”
“The one good thing you have in your life? What about me!?”
“You don’t get it, do you!?” he replies. “You’ve never got it! I’m an adult! I’m a man! I’m 45 years old! I need more in my life than my mother following me around telling me I’m a special boy! I need….”
“At least you’re willing to admit that I’m your mother.”
He stops for a second, possibly taken aback by this latest comment.
“This isn’t the right way to fix your life,” she says softly. She slowly gets up off of the floor and walks towards him. She puts her hand on his shoulder. He whips around to face her, his eyes filled with anger once again.
“Of course this is the right way! This is the only way! There is just one way to salvation and it is through the Word of the Lord! It is through Seromine!”
She walks away from him. Now she is the one shaking her head.
“They’ve really done a number on you, haven’t they?” she says sadly.
“Society did a number on me. Society is cruel and heartless and evil. It is filled with lust and decadence and sin. Seromine helped me recognize this. Seromine saved me. Seromine is shining light in a world filled with darkness and hopelessness. He is the answer to…”
“Spare me your sermon,” she interrupts. “I’ve seen you on TV, week after week, saying the same shit about sin and salvation and the ‘Word of the Lord’ and it’s all lies, Rick. You know it! It’s all lies.”
He pauses for a moment, then turns back to face her.
“You’re a lie.”
“I’m your mother!” she replies, her voice quivering slightly now, her eyes filling with tears. “I’m the only person who will love you, unconditionally, no matter what. I wandered through the city for weeks trying to find you… trying to HELP YOU.”
“I don’t need your help! I don’t need anyone… anyone but Seromine. He is the one who is here for me. He loves me unconditionally. He helps me. You are just another sinner trying to take me down. He warned me about this,” Gabriel says, again turning away from Anne. “He told me that people would be jealous of our faith, that they’d lash out and try to destroy what they didn’t understand. He told me all of this. He warned me. He warned me because he cares.”
“He warned you because he wants to control you! This is how cults work, Rick!”
“You don’t know shit,” he shoots back. “You don’t know about salvation and love and sacrifice. You don’t know about…”
“I don’t know about love and sacrifice!?” she yells back. “I raised you myself, as a single mother. I did everything I could for you. Some nights I didn’t sleep at all because you had a cold. I sat beside your bed the entire night and watched you breathe! So how dare you tell me that…”
“How dare you come into my home and try to take away the only good thing that has happened to me in a decade!?”
“You need help.”
“I’ve found help. If you can’t see that, if you can’t understand that I’m better off now that I have been in years, then you’re the one who needs help.”
“They’re lying to you, Rick. They’re using you.”
“You need to go,” he says, turning his back to her once again.
“Rick, please…” she responds, tears streaming down her face now. She walks towards him, her arms outstretched.
“I SAID LEAVE!” he screams, turning around to face her. “GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE! I DON’T NEED YOU I’VE NEVER NEEDED YOU! YOU’RE A JEALOUS, PITIFUL WOMAN WHO CAN’T DEAL WITH THE FACT THAT I DON’T NEED YOU ANYMORE! I’VE FOUND A BETTER LIFE! GET OUT!”
Anne is a mess now, blubbering, tears streaming down her face. She staggers around the room, barely keeping herself standing.
“I SAID GET OUT!”
Gabriel opens the door and shoves her out of it. She stumbles into the hallway and falls, her head hitting the wall. She is dazed, but tries to stand up. He slams the door in her face. She screams and yells his name over and over. He has no response.
He turns back to his candles, which have nearly burned out now. She’s frantically banging on the door, screaming and crying. He picks up one of the candles with his right hand and looks at it. He then tilts it slightly, allowing the wax to drip down onto his left arm. He winces momentarily as the pain hits him, but then takes a deep breath and slowly exhales. Another drip of wax. And another. And another.
Flesh is weak. He is weak. Weakness is a sin. He needs to be strong. He needs to erase what just happened from his mind. He needs to erase Anne Majors from his life. People like her only hold him back. Seromine says to never look back. Always look to the future. Your past is gone. The future is bright.
Kyle Shane. The Underground Title. The Icemann Invitational Tournament. One more win and he is in the finals. NCM was the latest victim. His world of sin was no match for the world of light. Kyle Shane will not be either.
That doesn’t mean that Shane won’t be stiff competition. He might be brash, obnoxious, and oozing sin out of every pore, but he’s also successful, or at least he's successful by society's sick standards. He’s held the Underground crown for a long, long time now. He’s taken on all comers and he has survived and grown and continued to improve.
But that doesn’t earn him respect. Every week, Kyle Shane poisons Trauma with his bravado. He is the type of person who needs to be eliminated. He cannot be saved. He is brash and cocky and conceited. These are character flaws that directly insult The Lord. Kyle Shane cannot be allowed to continue spouting such disgusting and sinful heresies to the world. He needs to be stopped.
The Underground Title. He worships this piece of metal like a false god. He craves the attention and the spotlight that comes from being a champion. Taking away this title is crucial. Kyle Shane must learn that only The Lord shall be worshiped. He must be humbled and made to understand the power of The Lord.
Gabriel has never held a championship before. While Rick Majors craved the acceptance that came from these gaudy baubles, Gabriel does not. Rick Majors was a failure. He never held a championship in PCW. It ate him up inside. Gabriel is not a failure. He will be successful. He will win this championship to present it at the feet of The Lord. And then he will win the Icemann Invitational Tournament as a message to the world. That message? The same as always.
Praise Seromine. Praise The Lord.
"Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past." - Isaiah 43:18
Gabriel jumps up. He grabs a broken broom handle from the floor and walks towards the door cautiously. He opens it slowly, ready to strike whoever steps through.
He drops the broom when he sees the face standing outside the door.
“Go away,” he mumbles, turning his back to the visitor.
“Rick.”
“I SAID GO AWAY!”
Gabriel tries to close the door in the woman’s face, but she sticks her foot out, stopping him.
“I’m not leaving,” she says defiantly.
Gabriel turns away again. He walks back to the candles and stares at them. He then closes his eyes and tilts his head back.
“Talk to me, Rick,” the woman says, stepping into the apartment.
“My name isn’t Rick,” he replies without opening his eyes.
“I know it is,” the woman responds. “I named you. You’ve been Rick for 45 years.”
Gabriel ignores this latest comment. He bows his head now in a silent prayer.
“Dammit Rick, Gabriel, whoever the hell you claim to be!" she shouts. "You haven’t spoken to me in months. I tried calling you. I tried calling PCW. No response. I even called Kelly. She had no idea where you were. I spent weeks trying to find you. I stayed out all night roaming the city, asking people if they’d seen you. I haven’t had a real night sleep in forever. Talk to me. You owe me that. I raised you. Look at me! Open your eyes!”
Nothing.
“OPEN YOUR FUCKING EYES RIGHT NOW!”
The woman swings at Gabriel, hitting him directly in the chest. He stumbles backward, mostly due to shock. He opens his eyes and look at her.
“I have nothing to say to you,” he replies.
“Then at least listen. I’m your mother. I’ve spent all day looking for you. I’m old and I’m tired and I just want to talk to you. Please Rick…”
“MY NAME ISN’T RICK.”
“Please… just listen. Give me five minutes.”
“Fine.”
Anne Majors looks around the room.
“Isn’t there anywhere to sit? Don’t you have any furniture?”
“Are you really going to spend your five minutes criticizing my décor?”
She sighs.
“Well I’m tired. I need to sit down.”
Gabriel does nothing to help with this request. Eventually, Anne Majors slowly sits down on the floor, leaning against the wall. She sighs again as she looks at her son, who appears to be completely disinterested in her.
“You said you wanted to talk, so talk,” he says finally, breaking the uncomfortable silence.
“What are you doing? What are you doing with your life? You’re better than this. You’re a strong, proud and accomplished man.”
“Am I? Am I really?” Gabriel shoots back, seemingly now invested in the conversation. “What accomplishments!? My wife!? My children!? My great career!? My large circle of friends!? The respect of my peers!? What accomplishments!?”
“You’re a good person, Ri…”
“WHAT ACCOMPLISHMENTS!?” he yells, angrily walking over to her and practically yelling in her face.
She turns away from him, clearly emotional and overwhelmed by the situation that she’s in. He glares at her for several moments, crouching down and holding his face just centimeters from hers. He's seething with anger, breathing deeply and sweating. Finally, he turns and walks away. No one says anything for quite some time.
“This is good for me,” Gabriel finally says, once again breaking the silence between them. “Seromine understands me. He believes in me. He’s helping me.”
“He’s using you!”
“HOW DARE YOU!?”
Once again, Gabriel charges towards her, filled with a violent rage.
“Please… stop…” she says softly, practically cowering against the wall.
He turns away from her. There’s a look of disgust on his face, but it’s not evident if he’s disgusted in her, himself, or both.
“I told you that I didn’t want you here," he says. "You didn’t listen.”
“I have to be here,” she replies. “You’re my son and you’re throwing your life away. You’ve wandered into a cult looking for acceptance and it’s going to destroy you.”
“It’s going to save me.”
“Listen. I know you’ve had a hard time with Kelly and the accident. I know you’re not where you wanted to be at this point in your life. I know you’re hurting, emotionally and physically. I know all of this. But this isn’t the answer. A cult isn’t the answer.”
“IT’S NOT A CULT!”
“Calm down! You don’t need to scream at me every ten seconds!”
He walks away from her, shaking his head in confusion and anger.
“You’re attacking the one good thing that I have in my life," he yells. "How do you expect me to respond!?”
“The one good thing you have in your life? What about me!?”
“You don’t get it, do you!?” he replies. “You’ve never got it! I’m an adult! I’m a man! I’m 45 years old! I need more in my life than my mother following me around telling me I’m a special boy! I need….”
“At least you’re willing to admit that I’m your mother.”
He stops for a second, possibly taken aback by this latest comment.
“This isn’t the right way to fix your life,” she says softly. She slowly gets up off of the floor and walks towards him. She puts her hand on his shoulder. He whips around to face her, his eyes filled with anger once again.
“Of course this is the right way! This is the only way! There is just one way to salvation and it is through the Word of the Lord! It is through Seromine!”
She walks away from him. Now she is the one shaking her head.
“They’ve really done a number on you, haven’t they?” she says sadly.
“Society did a number on me. Society is cruel and heartless and evil. It is filled with lust and decadence and sin. Seromine helped me recognize this. Seromine saved me. Seromine is shining light in a world filled with darkness and hopelessness. He is the answer to…”
“Spare me your sermon,” she interrupts. “I’ve seen you on TV, week after week, saying the same shit about sin and salvation and the ‘Word of the Lord’ and it’s all lies, Rick. You know it! It’s all lies.”
He pauses for a moment, then turns back to face her.
“You’re a lie.”
“I’m your mother!” she replies, her voice quivering slightly now, her eyes filling with tears. “I’m the only person who will love you, unconditionally, no matter what. I wandered through the city for weeks trying to find you… trying to HELP YOU.”
“I don’t need your help! I don’t need anyone… anyone but Seromine. He is the one who is here for me. He loves me unconditionally. He helps me. You are just another sinner trying to take me down. He warned me about this,” Gabriel says, again turning away from Anne. “He told me that people would be jealous of our faith, that they’d lash out and try to destroy what they didn’t understand. He told me all of this. He warned me. He warned me because he cares.”
“He warned you because he wants to control you! This is how cults work, Rick!”
“You don’t know shit,” he shoots back. “You don’t know about salvation and love and sacrifice. You don’t know about…”
“I don’t know about love and sacrifice!?” she yells back. “I raised you myself, as a single mother. I did everything I could for you. Some nights I didn’t sleep at all because you had a cold. I sat beside your bed the entire night and watched you breathe! So how dare you tell me that…”
“How dare you come into my home and try to take away the only good thing that has happened to me in a decade!?”
“You need help.”
“I’ve found help. If you can’t see that, if you can’t understand that I’m better off now that I have been in years, then you’re the one who needs help.”
“They’re lying to you, Rick. They’re using you.”
“You need to go,” he says, turning his back to her once again.
“Rick, please…” she responds, tears streaming down her face now. She walks towards him, her arms outstretched.
“I SAID LEAVE!” he screams, turning around to face her. “GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE! I DON’T NEED YOU I’VE NEVER NEEDED YOU! YOU’RE A JEALOUS, PITIFUL WOMAN WHO CAN’T DEAL WITH THE FACT THAT I DON’T NEED YOU ANYMORE! I’VE FOUND A BETTER LIFE! GET OUT!”
Anne is a mess now, blubbering, tears streaming down her face. She staggers around the room, barely keeping herself standing.
“I SAID GET OUT!”
Gabriel opens the door and shoves her out of it. She stumbles into the hallway and falls, her head hitting the wall. She is dazed, but tries to stand up. He slams the door in her face. She screams and yells his name over and over. He has no response.
He turns back to his candles, which have nearly burned out now. She’s frantically banging on the door, screaming and crying. He picks up one of the candles with his right hand and looks at it. He then tilts it slightly, allowing the wax to drip down onto his left arm. He winces momentarily as the pain hits him, but then takes a deep breath and slowly exhales. Another drip of wax. And another. And another.
Flesh is weak. He is weak. Weakness is a sin. He needs to be strong. He needs to erase what just happened from his mind. He needs to erase Anne Majors from his life. People like her only hold him back. Seromine says to never look back. Always look to the future. Your past is gone. The future is bright.
Kyle Shane. The Underground Title. The Icemann Invitational Tournament. One more win and he is in the finals. NCM was the latest victim. His world of sin was no match for the world of light. Kyle Shane will not be either.
That doesn’t mean that Shane won’t be stiff competition. He might be brash, obnoxious, and oozing sin out of every pore, but he’s also successful, or at least he's successful by society's sick standards. He’s held the Underground crown for a long, long time now. He’s taken on all comers and he has survived and grown and continued to improve.
But that doesn’t earn him respect. Every week, Kyle Shane poisons Trauma with his bravado. He is the type of person who needs to be eliminated. He cannot be saved. He is brash and cocky and conceited. These are character flaws that directly insult The Lord. Kyle Shane cannot be allowed to continue spouting such disgusting and sinful heresies to the world. He needs to be stopped.
The Underground Title. He worships this piece of metal like a false god. He craves the attention and the spotlight that comes from being a champion. Taking away this title is crucial. Kyle Shane must learn that only The Lord shall be worshiped. He must be humbled and made to understand the power of The Lord.
Gabriel has never held a championship before. While Rick Majors craved the acceptance that came from these gaudy baubles, Gabriel does not. Rick Majors was a failure. He never held a championship in PCW. It ate him up inside. Gabriel is not a failure. He will be successful. He will win this championship to present it at the feet of The Lord. And then he will win the Icemann Invitational Tournament as a message to the world. That message? The same as always.
Praise Seromine. Praise The Lord.
"Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past." - Isaiah 43:18
