Post by Rick Majors on May 21, 2018 17:40:01 GMT -5
"Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins."
It was dark. It was dark both in Gabriel’s apartment and in his mind. He lost. Again. Kyle Shane was victorious. Again. Gabriel continued to allow heathens like Kyle Shane to embarrass the Lord.
It didn’t have to be this way. Gabriel knew he had Shane beaten. He could feel it. But then… NOTORIOUS. Of course. Justin Michaels had to show up. He just couldn’t take the fact that something big was happening and he wasn’t a part of it. Stormm’s ego needs to be fed and he couldn’t help himself any longer. Stormm believes that he's more important than anything else on this earth. He believes that the world itself is below him and that we should all bow in his presence. How sinful. Only the Lord deserves that kind of respect. Only the Lord is worthy of such admiration. Justin Michaels certainly is not. He is charlatan with a giant ego and a loud mouth.
Of course, you simply cannot discuss egos without mentioning Kyle Shane. Shane not only wanted to keep the spotlight on him, but he wanted to earn a quick buck while doing it. And there was Gabriel, trying to do the right thing, but he was instead victimized by two gargantuan egos.
That’s what wrong with our society today. Those who seek a righteous path are shouted down by the loudest and most popular voices in the room. The few who try to actually improve the world are ignored in favour of flashing lights, shiny objects, and celebrity. Everybody stops to listen when Kayne West or Kim Kardashian have something to say, but not enough pay attention to the words of the Lord.
It’s shameful. It’s disgusting. It’s….
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Gabriel is immediately snapped away from his thoughts by a loud knocking at his door. Who could this possibly be? Barely anyone knows he lives here. Is it someone sent to attack him? Is it another hideous blasphemer here to try to destroy the Lord’s messenger? Or is it the Lord himself, angered by Gabriel’s failure and looking to teach him another lesson?
Gabriel is frozen.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
It’s dark inside the apartment. Gabriel hopes that if he stays perfectly still, whoever it is will think no one is home and they’ll leave.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
They aren’t leaving.
“OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR!!!!”
He knows that voice. Of course he knows that voice. He will never forget that voice.
Slowly, and with great hesitation and fear, Gabriel walks towards the door. His heart is beating in his throat as he approaches it. His hands are so sweaty that the knob is difficult to turn. When he finally opens the door, there she is.
“WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING!”
Kelly Chalmers – formerly Kelly Majors- strides into the room, her eyes lit with fire. Gabriel staggers backward, stunned by the appearance of his… of Rick Majors’ ex-wife.
“No, I’m serious Rick,” she continues, “what the fuck are you doing?”
“What is THIS?” she asks, gesturing around the dark apartment, with thick curtains covering the windows. As the door closes, all light leaves the room.
“Turn a damn light on.”
Gabriel is too stunned to say or do anything. Kelly angrily storms around the room for a few moments before she finds a switch on the wall and flips it up. A lamp in the corner turns on, illuminating a nearly empty apartment. A few burned and melted candles can be found scattered around. There is dried blood on the floor. There is no furniture, no decoration, and nothing that makes it feel anything like a home.
Kelly looks around for a moment, turns, pauses, and takes a deep breath. After she’s calmed down, she speaks again.
“Okay Rick…. What’s going on?”
Finally, after another long period of hesitation, Gabriel responds.
“It’s Gabriel.”
That sends Kelly right back into her fit of anger.
“IT’S RICK! YOU ARE RICK! RICK MAJORS!”
“NO!” shouts Gabriel, apparently over his nervousness, at least temporarily. “I USED TO BE RICK! HE'S GONE! I’M GABRIEL NOW!”
“Yeah!?” shouts Kelly right back. “You’re Gabriel now!? And you’re happy being Gabriel!? IS THIS THE HOME OF SOMEONE WHO IS HAPPY!?”
“I’VE FOUND THE LORD! I NO LONGER NEED TO FOCUS ON POSSESSIONS! ONE HUNDRED PERCENT OF MY FOCUS IS ON HIS MESSAGE!”
Kelly is about to shout back, but she stops herself. She breathes deeply and tries to calm herself before continuing.
“Okay… Gabriel,” she relents. This isn’t the first time that she’s adjusted her tone, demeanor or words to prevent the man she’s currently sharing the room with from flying off the handle. After years of marriage, she has learned how to act around him.
Gabriel immediately relaxes upon hearing her call him by his chosen name. Finally, with the lights on and rage no longer blinding him, he can get a good look at her. This is a woman that Rick Majors loved. Or, at least, a woman that Rick Majors claimed to love. Though, if he was being quite honest with himself, he loved the idea of marrying her much more than he loved marriage itself.
She looked older than the day she walked out of his life, of course, but no less beautiful. Not even the hints of anger and sadness that remained on her face could detract from her beauty. Of course, she had looked angry and sad for so long that he barely remembered what it looked like when she smiled or laughed. After a long break, he finally gets the nerve to speak.
“What are you doing here?”
“I didn’t come here to fight with you,” she responds. “I didn’t come here with the intent of yelling and freaking out. I came here to help.”
“Well,” he answers quickly. “I don’t need any help.”
“You know that’s not true,” Kelly sighs. “Look at your life. It’s the middle of the afternoon and you’re sitting in complete darkness. You have no furniture. You have nothing. That dried blood on the floor, it’s yours, isn’t it?”
Gabriel lowers his head sadly. He doesn’t have to answer. It was a rhetorical question and they both know it.
“Ri… Gabriel,” she quickly corrects herself before another shouting match breaks out. “I know life has been hard. It’s been hard for both of us. For years. We’ve both struggled personally and professionally. I know that. And I’m sorry that our lives didn’t turn out the way we dreamed they would, but this…” she points around the room for a moment. “… this isn’t how you should be living your life. This isn't how anyone should be living their life.”
“I have disappointed the Lord,” Gabriel responds quietly. “I do not deserve the light if I am not able to properly follow His word. If I cannot….”
“Stop,” Kelly interjects. “Just stop.”
She starts to pace around the room. For a moment it looks like she’s about to head to the door and leave, but she changes her mind and faces Gabriel once more.
“What makes you think that he’s the Lord?” she asks.
“He is powerful,” Gabriel responds. “He is intelligent and caring and just. He is far better than any mere mortal could possibly be. He is…”
“He is a fraud!” yells Kelly.
“HOW DARE YOU!?” Gabriel shoots back, his face turning red with anger.
“Look,” says Kelly, speaking sternly while trying to repress her anger. “Look… I know that you felt lost after the NLCW closed down, after I had my accident, after your career started to suffer. I know that. I understand that. And I’m sorry that happened to you. But this man… Seromine or Jason Willard or…”
“Don’t you dare call Him that!” says Gabriel, almost lunging at Kelly in anger. After a brief moment of tense silence, things calm down and Kelly speaks again.
“He’s taking advantage of you, Rick.”
“It’s Gabriel.”
Kelly almost storms out of the room again. She steps away to compose herself while Gabriel turns his back to her. But she doesn’t leave the room. She walks right back to Gabriel and looks him directly in the eyes.
“He found you when you were struggling. He found you when you were hurt and weak and looking for answers. And since that day he’s been using you for his own personal gain. You helped him win championships and retain them. You helped him with the Deadly Rumble. You helped him…”
“No!” shouts Gabriel. “He helped me! Before He saved me, I was floundering. I was nothing. But since He accepted me, I have become a champion. I have earned respect. I have earned love!”
“You have become a champion,” Kelly responds. “That's true. But you did that yourself. I’ve been watching. You won that Underground Title yourself. You won the North American Title yourself. Twice.”
“And then I lost it!” says Gabriel.
“Sure,” she replies. “That happens. People win titles and then people lose them. But that’s the key here. It’s PEOPLE that win titles. Not Gods. No one willed those championships to you. No one blessed you with success except for yourself. You’ve been winning more often lately, but how often has he helped you in a match? And how often have you helped him?”
Gabriel is quiet for a moment. Kelly is not.
“You’re in the Icemann Invitational Tournament. You’re about to face the man who took your title away. The man I knew - the man I loved – wouldn’t be sitting here in the dark worried about disappointing some cult leader. He’s be working his ass off to make sure he advanced in this fucking tournament. He would want revenge. He would want to prove himself. He would want to win.”
“Of course I want to win. Of course I want to advance in the tournament,” says Gabriel. “Of course I want to show Stormm that his ego and his bravado aren’t what it takes to be a champion. Of course I want to succeed and continue to spread the message of the Lord to…”
“STOP!” Kelly shouts in his face. “You’ve given up so much of your life to wrestling. You’ve given your health. You’ve given your friends. You’ve given me.”
Kelly paused for a moment, trying to hold back tears. She swallows deeply and then continues.
“You’ve sacrificed so much for this business,” she says calmly. “If you want to continue that sacrifice, that’s fine. It’s your life. But don’t do it for someone else. Don’t do it because you want to help a con artist get more attention. Do it for yourself. Do it because, even after all of these years, you’re still one of the best in this business. Do because it, dammit, you’re Rick ‘The Impact’ Majors and you can.”
There is silence in the room. And then Gabriel speaks.
“I’m not Rick Majors.”
“Yes you are,” Kelly replies. “Yes you are.”
She then turns and strides across the room to the door. Gabriel stands silently as she opens it and walks out. Several minutes go by as Gabriel stands motionless. Finally, he walks a few steps and picks up a candle off the floor. He stands it up, finds a lighter, and sets it aglow. He then turns the lights off in the apartment and starts to pray.
