Post by "Ginger Ninja" Molly Hatchet on Oct 18, 2022 22:55:00 GMT -5
“If I could fight anyone in the world, any place, time, what-have-you… who would it be and why?”
I sit here in a fold-out chair, staring into a fire in the middle of a clearing at night, my orange tent not too far away. I’m dressed in black: cargo pants, shirt, jacket, and shoes due to the bite of winter coming in the northeastern US. Renting a camping spot is cheaper than a room and I love nature. I grab a stick and stoke the fire, sending some glowing embers into the air. This is being recorded to be played before the live studio judges in Vegas.
“This question was one poised to me as part of tha’ World Series of Wrestling, one that isn’t difficult, but I have to tell the story as to why me choice is Melinda Rhodes…”
I shove the stick completely into the fire to add just a little bit of fuel. Rubbing my hands together, I recall the events in my mind and prepare myself for what I know is going to be an emotional story, one that I replay in my head anytime her name comes up.
“O’er a decade ago, I met her in a wrestling company in New Jersey. She was just becoming something of a name in the sport and I loved her attitude and just tha’ way she carried herself. She was e’ery bit tha’ Rebel she’d been dubbed as. She’d been there fer me after I’d been badly injured by a monster of a wrestler… pushed me durin’ recovery, helped me find help and learn ta’ wrestle better. If not fer tha’ modern day Rebel Star, I’d have likely ne’er come back to wrestlin’ and gave in ta’ fear…”
“...I might’ve even drank meself ta’ death with nothin’ ta’ live fer. I was not in a good way in those times, though it took me much longer ta’ get o’er tha’ addiction to tha’ demon alcohol than it did that fear and pain. She was there e’ery step of tha’ way, checkin’ in on me, makin’ sure I was alright as I recovered and as I trained fer me return.”
There’s a bitterness in me that I knew I couldn’t hide, those feelings already welling up. I felt like this was more of a confessional than anything else. I’ve never gone into the full story before like this, only showing my anger but not going fully into why.
“She was a wonderful inspiration then, someone who I called a true sister and I could always confide in. I loved her and then she let me down in tha’ worst way. It was at the end of tha’ first company I’d worked fer in Jersey, when she let tha’ fame and success get to her head and turned her back on her friends, claiming we did nothin’ for her and only held her down and stabbed her in tha’ back!”
It was old news, but it did start the fire for certain.
“She walked out of tha’ company and because of her star power, the fucking place collapsed without her holdin’ it up. Alot of us, includin’ meself, lost our jobs. It fucking devastated me, but at tha’ time I dinnae’ blame her, even if I should’ve. Tha’ management was turnin’ shite and it was ultimately tha’ culmination of long standin’ problems in tha’ company that sent her packin’ and tha’ money and interest with her.”
I chuckle bitterly and sigh, shaking my head without any masking of my disappointment.
“Aye, then again if all it took was one person walkin’ out ta’ kill a company, maybe it wasn’t so grand in tha’ first place, but when I look back on it, I knew that had she not left like she did, tha’ company would’ve kept goin’ on.”
“So years pass and I’d found work here and there, working appearances in different gigs and even travelled the world a bit with two of those many years spent in Japan making a name for meself internationally. Me and Mel hadn’t really spoken much or crossed paths for a long time at that point. I hadn’t given her much thought and during some downtime, she called me up out of the blue. I still donnae’ know how she got me number, but connections in tha’ biz can be made easy enough if ye’ want to get in touch with someone.”
I can’t help but smile at the memory, however. It’s a sad smile, but there’s a little happiness there.
“We talk and catch up and she tells me she’s having a hard time staying focused and could use a little help. I was in transition and livin’ in California at tha’ time with me then girlfriend, Nyx… Such a lovely lass she was. So I agree to help Mel out and we make an agreement that I’d be kind of like her coach at ringside. I’d be tha’ Mick to her Rocky, or so I thought.”
My eyes water a little at first…
“So as this happens, Nyx gets involved as well and things go down and she gets hurt badly. We ended up breaking up as Nyx made me choose between love and me friendship with Melinda. As I was still loyal to me old friend, I let Nyx go.”
“I never told Mel any of this at all. I just kept working with her for a little while longer, but then one day out of the blue, she told me to go back to the wrestling ring and that I’d be happier there. True I was pining to get back in the ring, but I wanted to help. She point blank fired me. Then as I’m applyin’ ta’ work, she got fired by tha’ company and I’m barred from signin’ up with them… guilt by association.”
“So I’m back on the independent circuit, though our association doesn’t end there as I join another company and suddenly notice she’s on tha’ roster there too! Ok, fair enough. We talk things out and after smoothing things out and a few apologies along with a few pints of lager, we become a tag team in this company, calling ourselves tha' Rebel Ninjas. Grand! We had so much fun, but her temper flares up, goin’ ta’ loggerheads with yet another promoter. There’s a blow up and suddenly I’m out of a fucking job AGAIN!”
…followed by the quivering of my lower lip.
“We had a long talk and she apologized, I accepted, but was devastated and disappeared into a bottle. I spiraled outta control. Where tha’ fuck was she? Nowhere. I’d be in and out of the beds of so many men and women, letting all me vices go wild as I just stopped caring. I was on a path to self-destruction, but I somehow was doing ok enough in tha’ ring ta’ still get bookings and such.”
My hands are clasped so tightly together that I can feel the skin pressing to the bone, my knuckles turning white. Tears were starting to roll down my cheeks. I look into the fire, the wet streaks on my face reflecting the light.
“I come to work regularly for another wrestling company. I’m doing well on one of it’s two brands, havin’ a feud with their top champion. Everything is great, apart from the champ nearly taking me eye, but that’s another story for another time. No, as I work the company, Melinda Rhodes appears in me life once more and this time as a GM for the opposing brand. I let it go, seeing as she seems to want to help people more than promote herself.”
“I showed up drunk to work one day. I’d just broken up with another lover and while it’s no excuse, it was the first and last time I ever showed up to work legitimately drunk. Mel had just taken over the company entirely and called me into her office. She asked me if I was drunk, I said yes I am and apologized, promising never to do it again. She told me under no certain terms that I am to enter into rehab and get clean if I’m to come back to work. Angrily I told her to go fuck herself because I said I wouldn’t do it again and that should’ve been enough. She fired me immediately.”
My brow is wrinkled from the deep furrow as the fury comes through. I can’t hide it at all.
“Some bloody friend she was, turnin’ her back when I needed her tha’ most and that is why I, Molly "Ginger Ninja" Hatchet, want to beat the holy fuck out of Melinda Fuckin’ Rhodes.”
Nostrils flare on my face, my lips curved in a deep frown. I rise and kick dirt over the fire, putting it out and drenching the area in darkness. You’d never know when I cut the camera off if not for the end of the recording itself.