Off the Ball (Part 1)
SPACEI’m not sure exactly what God has planned for me. If my destiny was met, I’d already be dead… there would be no further use for me to remain living on this cruel unforgiving planet any longer. I find myself in a state of confusion unable to grasp reality. It’s like trying to catch a ball that’s soaked in butter… I find myself unsure of which way to go… what direction to look. To this day, I still have nightmares of the mistakes I made… but somehow the feelings of hate come rushing back into my heart as if flood gates are opened into my blood stream. Hate. What a strong word… how does one determine when an extreme feeling of dislike has surpassed that point… to be identified as hate. A jealous girlfriend’s feelings towards a girl the love of their life is now infatuated with… can jealously lead to hate? Of course… but what can cause such hatred that feeds off of the very soul you inhabit? Much more than jealousy… it’s a thriving; an on-going beat deeper than any pit of solitude that exists. What can make someone so hateful… that they do not care about anything except destruction? Pain, my friends… pain.
SPACE As if I hadn’t suffered enough… I guess God wasn’t finished with my punishment… before Survival had even started… I was being taunted like a caged dog. Airing a paid commercial to make people aware of my past… feeding them these thoughts to make them hate me. Change is another strong word… highly overlooked when it comes to an extreme nature such as mine. Even changing doesn’t seem to take the pain away… it merely taunts me continuously until I feel so lost… I cannot cope. Like pins to a voo doo doll, every comment and every finger pointed pierces my skin with a sharpened dagger. It seems they are out for blood… out for revenge… the torches are lit and the community is on their way to my domain… chasing me into the shadows with pitch forks… I feel so alone… why can’t they just accept me?
SPACEAnother sleepless night… I woke up in a cold sweat earlier than usual although the nightmares were becoming a daily chore. I knew the drill… rolled out of my silk sheets and went to wash my face just as I do every night. I feel the cold trickling down my skin cleansing my body of the dirtiness I feel every time I have the nightmares. I sighed from the aching that was in my neck… the results of all of this in-ring activity were starting to take affect on me.
SPACE I touched my neck to comfort it as I descended to the lower level of my 12 room mansion and poured myself a glass of Shardinae, hoping it would relax me into a state of unconsciousness. I decided to sit in my leather chair… I could feel my embedded initials digging into my spine as I leaned on the back of the cushion. I reached for the remote after taking a sip from the crystal glass, and pressed power. Almost immediately, like a slap in the face, the very commercial aired on HWA’s Survival prelude popped up on my 40 inch plasma screen TV. It was mocking me…. They were all mocking me.
Danny Starr: Unbelievable…
SPACEI don’t blame them… but I needed to prove them wrong. If I wanted to prove myself, I would have to expect this kind of treatment for a while… after all, with a history like mine, to them I’m just setting up another betrayal. Sometimes I just wish I could take it all back…
SPACE I began to feel my eyes becoming heavy, for my glass of wine was nearing its end… When I placed it down, my head fell back against the leather and it felt so right. Right there I fell asleep once again…
SPACEIt was black. I heard a voice begin speaking to me as if narrating over the dark picture in my mind.
Voice: Please don’t!!!
SPACEIt was a young girl’s voice, begging me… pleading with me… I then heard a snap and my own voice laughing. I heard sirens… that’s when the picture popped up in my head… all I saw was a mallet laying in a puddle of blood. As I focused on it hoping for some clarity, I heard my voice laughing again in a haunting echo. The laughter becomes consistent… and begins rising in volume… so loud I want to cover my ears but can’t… I then see my own face in the mirror… only the eyes are glowing red. A smirk appears on my face and blood begins to drip from my mouth as I begin laughing hardily. I want to say stop… but the laughter over-rules my own voice… I now have access to my own actions and see the bloody mallet lying behind Danny Starr… I grab it and the blood drips onto my shoulder as I swing the mallet at his back… as I make contact, he turns around to reveal himself as Heather Zimmerer and she now lies beside the bloody mallet…
SPACEIt was then I woke up in another cold sweat to find myself on my living room couch being blinded by the sunlight shining in through my windows. I see on the TV screen an infomercial, which tells me that it must be early morning. I wiped the sweat off of my forehead and look at the time. 7:40... On a Tuesday morning. I turn the television off and climb to my feet, wiping the sleep from my eyes. I let out a yawn as I stretched my arms into the air. I grabbed the crystal glass I drank the wine out of, and made my way towards the kitchen sink… it was then I heard Fixxxer by Metallica ringing on a loop from my cell phone. How ironic… the words repeating ‘Dolls of Voodoo all, stuck with pins…”, “Dolls of voodoo all, stuck with pins…” I rushed to answer it, to my surprise, none other than Jenn Copelin’s name popped up on the small screen. My eyes widen before accepting the phone call and placing the speakers to my ear. I pretended I was half asleep just to make her feel bad.
Danny Starr: Hello……
Jenn Copelin: I know you’re not sleeping… we have to be at the Hartford Mall by 8:30!
Danny Starr: What!?
SPACEOops… it must have slipped my mind… now I remember. I’m supposed to sign autographs today until 11!
Jenn Copelin: Are you ready?
Danny Starr: Okay… to be completely honest… no.
Jenn Copelin: I’m coming over right now, and you BETTER be ready!
Danny Starr: Okay, MOM.
SPACEI cover up the bottom part of my phone so I can laugh freely without her hearing me. She begins ranting on and off on me as I laugh.
Danny Starr: Okay! Okay! I’m getting in the shower now… just knock on the door and Mark will let you in.
Jenn Copelin: Hurry up!
Danny Starr: Yeah, Yeah…
SPACEAfter we hung up, I sighed in exhaustion as if I had been on the go for the last 24 hours. Immediately, I called for Mark. The house went silent…
Danny Starr: Uhh… MARK!!!!!!
SPACEI sounded like a spoiled little brat on her 16th birthday crying to get waited on. I heard rumbling and foot steps scurrying above my head. I lift my eye brow trying to listen to what sounded like a Clydesdale trampling around upstairs. I hear foot steps descending closer and closer when finally I see a well groomed (For once) Mark Crow turning the corner in a new suite. My eyes light up and a smile forms on my face as I see in his hands is a silver plate with a folded towel laid directly on top with a bar of soap placed gently next to it.
Danny Starr: Mark?
Mark Crow: Mr. Starr… your bubble bath is running nice and hot; just how you like it.
Danny Starr:……
SPACEOnce again, Mark has left me speechless. Man, he really knows how to do it!
Mark Crow: Sir?
Danny Starr: Uhh… yeah, I mean… Thanks! Wait uhm… Mark?
Mark Crow: Yes, Sir… ‘The Delinquent” Mark Crow.
SPACEI get up and grab the entire plate he prepared for me.
Danny Starr: I can’t handle this shit right now…
SPACEAs I walk up the stairs and into the warm bathroom fogged with steam, I’m unable to comprehend with the transformation I just witnessed. I’m not even going to think about it anymore to avoid certain confusion. I strip down to my bare skin and stick my foot into the white bubbles. I crawl inside the oversized tub and lean against the marble siding spreading my arms on top of the rim. I let out a sigh of pleasure as the warm water relaxes my muscles.
SPACE I close my eyes for what seemed like a minute, but when I was woken by a loud knock from outside the door, I realized I had slept longer than I planned. The door opens and Mark creeps in. Not the first thing I wanted to see when I first wake back up, but nonetheless, he approaches me and places a plate next to my tub. I look on the plate and there are two crystal glasses, both filled with the same amounts of red wine. I look at it, hoping to god they’re both for me…
Mark Crow: Enjoy your bath, Sir Starr.
SPACEMark begins to walk out of the bathroom…
Danny Starr: Wait! Mark… Who’s the other glass for?
SPACEMark stops dead in his tracks and turns to me.
Mark Crow: Why, a Miss Jenn Copelin insists on joining you.
SPACEMark begins to walk back out of the bathroom…
Danny Starr: What? Oh no! Mark! Wait!
SPACEJust as Jenn Copelin replaces his presence… She looked beautiful as usual, her long dirty blond hair just draped along her shoulder line. She wore black heels with a skirt and white blouse. Good thing there were bubbles on top of the clear water.
Danny Starr: Wai… ell Hello, Miss Copeland. You look quite ravishing today!
Jenn Copelin: Save the bullshit, Danny… You’re lucky I got the wrong day on my planner; otherwise I would have sent Mark up here an hour ago.
Danny Starr: Thank God…
SPACEI begin to wonder why she is in the bathroom with me, that’s until she begins unbuttoning her blouse.
Jenn Copelin: You know its business for pleasure, Danny…
SPACEShe continues to unbutton her blouse until it’s completely separated revealing a black bra tight against her breasts. She approaches me and gets close enough to whisper in my ear… she sticks her tongue out and I feel the warm air enter into my ear lobe…
Jenn Copelin: But until you snap out of sleep mode… and get focused on business… there won’t BE any pleasure.
SPACEShe snaps back and buttons up her shirt again; what a tease. As she finishes the last button I bite my lip and shake my head for getting all worked up for nothing.
Danny Starr: I know… it’s just, it’s hard to concentrate.
Jenn Copelin: Please, Danny… you need to stop thinking about me until you can actually get somewhere in the HWA.
Danny Starr: I’m not talking about you, you overzealous creature… I’m talking about the fact everything in my past, no matter how regretful I am, is now biting me in the ass.
Jenn Copelin: You reap what you sow, Danny… you just need to get on the ball. You got screwed out of your International Championship match on Survival… You never got screwed in the past… you did most of the screwing…
Danny Starr: Yeah… I can name one person…
SPACEI smile sarcastically, and Jenn puts up her middle finger after catching the comment.
Danny Starr: Look, I know what you’re saying… but I don’t have a reason to be like that anymore. I want to change, Jenn… and yeah, so what? I got screwed, but I made sure everything was fair with Ryan Maxem and Sett.
Jenn Copelin: That’s great. I’m happy you called it right down the middle with Sett and Maxem… but uhhh, you’re not Sett, and you’re CERTAINLY not Ryan Maxem. Instead of worrying about them… do something different and worry about yourself.
Danny Starr: To save the sheep, you have to stop the wolf…
Jenn Copelin: You used to be a wolf. You used to be the one everyone feared… everyone knew not to come acrossed… you’re not a wolf anymore… you’re a damn sheep.
Danny Starr: Are you on your period or something?
Jenn Copelin: Look, I don’t know what the hell happened to you in Peru, Danny…but you need to snap out of it because if you don’t… you’re going to keep getting screwed… and it’s NOT going to be done by me.
SPACEShe walks out of the bathroom leaving me with nothing to say… but of course, even as a changed man I must have the last word.
Danny Starr: Yeah well… I WASN’T EVEN SLEEPING WHEN YOU CALLED! I WAS UP 4 HOURS BEFORE HAND! HA! Damn tease.
SPACEIt’s like ever since I’ve come back, I have been stuck in limbo. Some want me to go back to my old ways, but others want me to remain a changed man… the third party are the ones who don’t believe I am a new man at all. I heard the saying ‘Good Guys finish last’ and I’m starting to believe it’s true. Rebirth will be the first time I have stepped into the ring with Michael Diamond in 3 years… and for 3 years, I would expect more of a greeting than a cold stare in my eyes. I’m not sure exactly what ails him; he was my best chum since grade school and now they call us bitter enemies? How did this come about? Just then my cell phone rings and the name ‘Eric Rayne’ pops up on the little screen.
Danny Starr: Hello?
The voice appeared…
Voice: Rise and shine, chap.
Danny Starr: Eric! Good morning, what entices you to call so early, my friend?
Eric Rayne: Oh, just checking up on you, Danny. I want to make sure you’re doing okay after losing your opportunity for that International Championship.
Danny Starr: I’m actually doing fine… Dexil will pay for that, and so will Jackson.
Eric Rayne: It seems you are public enemy number 1 these days, Danny. Well, I’m sorry to cut you short, I do, however need to get going. I have an important breakfast meeting… Danny.
Danny Starr: Yes?
Eric Rayne: We’re still on for lunch?
Danny Starr: Of course… I’ll meet you at the front of the club around noon.
Eric Rayne: Fabulous… I’ll talk to you then. We have things to go over, Danny. Tata…
Eric hangs up his phone before I can reply… I had to remember to meet him there, but what could he have wanted to talk about?
TO BE CONTINUED…