Post by Lissie Hope on Jun 25, 2022 1:29:33 GMT
TO YOU, CHRIS PAGE, THREE RING BARNEY, & CU:LT WRESTLING
Please, call me, Lissie.
I don’t go out of my way to travel to Miami. There was a time when I was magnetized to the sunlight warming the beaches, and the crystal-blue waves crashing onto the shore. I enjoyed the bright lights and the musical energy, and I admired how cultures collided into beautiful harmony. Miami mirrors CU:LT, in a way - the motif they’ve built on chaos and brutality attracted the eccentric; the misfits and the oddballs. It wasn’t until I signed my contract that this organization went - mainstream.
I’m a known commodity across the globe, competing on some of the grandest stages. My face is recognizable, my name draws resentment and contempt. It’s why I had a chihuahua like Jaka barking and snapping at my ankles on day one. But I wanted to come to CU:LT - not to further my reach, but because I wanted to go back to basics. I wanted to remember what it’s like to fight for honor, for integrity - for the love of it.
But why is Chris here?
That’s the question I’ve been struggling with answering since the day his signing popped up on my timeline. He’d already made his mark in Action Wrestling at the beginning of the year, settling an old score with someone even more repugnant - J.C. Keeton - than I once considered Chris to be. Chris didn’t make it easy to think differently - between waging war on my home turf, and discrediting the organization we’ve built; me, my friends, my colleagues. Between going online and trashing a performance at Denzel’s Invitation that I was proud of - between the jokes and ha-ha’ing with some of my sworn enemies - and finally, when he decided to choose me to be his tag team partner on a night I earned my opportunity at the CU:LT New World Championship.
I just can’t ever seem to put all the pieces together.
And people think it's of my own doing. That I ask for to be cut at the knees repeatedly. Like I may even deserve it. And there's a part of me that can't disagree. If this continues to happen, over and over again, maybe the problem really is me, y'know?
If every roommate you've ever lived with hates your fucking guts - maybe it's you. Maybe you're the problem. Maybe you're the bad roommate.
But people also seem to hate me for the dumbest of reasons. A certain sneaker enthusiast who managed to weasel her way into another unearned New World Championship match - I've tried to erase our divide. I've tried to be kind and put aside our tension and rivalry. But you can't build a bridge when the other's finger is always on the torch. She wants nothing to do with me because - I'm not cool enough, I guess? I don't know - I've never felt more like the old lady in the room than I do whenever I'm listening to or speaking to this little spitfire. And it sucks - I used to think I was a cool girl. The one who drank whiskey with the boys over a game of pool. The wingwoman who helped those boys get laid. I wrote a goddamn paper on the "cool girl" archetype from Gone Girl, for fuck's sake.
But I guess I just need to have more friends, because that's how you survive in this industry, isn't it? You've got to have people watching your back, and echoing everything you say, and making you feel accepted and welcomed because you lived sad, miserable, pathetic lives before all of this.
There's that cock-faced dweeb who howls into the abyss while the hyenas below repeat his conclusions about me: about how I'm lame and annoying and lazy and unwilling to put in and work and how my jokes don't land and again how annoying I am - yet can't list a single, substantive reason why he actually hates me.
And there was a time when I thought you felt the same way, Chris.
I called you a geriatric lizard - you said I was a whiny baby. I told you your stubby sausage fingers prevent you from ever reaching the middle of a Pringles can, and you tell me that even reaching the halfway mark - as you did in the Havoc Rumble - is the single greatest accomplishment outside of winning the damn thing because you managed to eliminate Corey Black.
For all of your insistence on how Action Wrestling, it's product, and it's progeny - people like me - are so beneath you, you sure do seem to rely on coming out ahead. You need to have the upper hand, now that your career is dwindling in the twilight. Because it just means more, doesn’t it?
I mean more.
You’ve tethered yourself to me and draped us in an oversized get-along t-shirt, putting me on the spot repeatedly with your very public, very repetitive advances. You’re forcing me to accept you, to trust you, and I’m going to be honest, Chris - I don’t know if I do.
I know I have to, if we are going to come out of Miami with the Double Homicide Championships. I know it’s going to take us performing at our best, being selfless and cooperative, shelving our massive egos for the greater good. And Three Ring Barney are going to bank on their success as a trio, riding the wave of their perpetual depantsing of your favorite errand boy Holden Ross. And they’re going to be a much tougher challenge than they appear on first glance - the products of meth-addled cousin-fuckers with missing chromosomes who stumbled out of the MurderHills Have Eyes or some shit.
But here’s where we stand.
We are iconic. We have global stature. We are names that transcend trash wrestling and garbage humans. And you are literally double my age - 52 to 26 - and I honestly don’t believe my shelf-life in this industry will ever match your longevity. But that doesn’t matter, does it? Because what I’ve done in three short years is unparalleled.
And now I’m forced to rely on you to add another trinket to my resume.
We all have roles to play. I don’t know if you’re stirring shit up in a cauldron at the Rabbit. I don’t know if Luna is the heart of their weird Human Centipede. Is Royston the muscle, and Chester the brain? Have Three Ring Barney even been battle-tested yet?
We are tag-team specialists. We carry our own tag championships on our shoulders - but we have two of them, chiseled and sculpted by the Gods of the crossfit gym. But I also hold the Havoc North American title. And I’m on deck to become the CU:LT New World Champion. So these four belts - I don’t think they’re going to fit around my washboard abs. I’m going to need a bigger waist.
That’s your role, Chris.
That’s why I need you.
That’s why I’ve decided to trust you.
That’s why the answer to your question - that despite our history, despite my relentless fat jokes and despite your propensity to discredit me and devalue me, you have asked me if we’re friends yet.
We’re going to have to be.
Reluctantly.
An amalgamation of the monsters I’ve conquered - the seven-footers like Odin Balfore and Corey Bull, the manipulators like Samson Saltair, the violators like Cypher, and the demons I confront in the mirror every time I come back to a city like Miami, a city that nearly took me from this earth - that fusion has led me to this point. To be what I was always meant to be - the killer.
And now it’s time to conduct a Double Homicide.
You couldn’t have chosen a better partner in crime.
It was just after a sunrise jog when Siri read out a text message through Lissie’s AirPods. Chris wanted to meet for coffee, the first face-to-face contact since Chris facilitated a since-reneged contract signing with Matthew Knox. When Lissie arrived at Panther Coffee in South Beach, she found Chris seated at a table with a steaming coffee and a bottle of Topo Chico waiting for her.
“How thoughtful.”
“Americano, right?”
“How did you know?”
“I’ve got ears everywhere, Elisabeth.”
Lissie sat across from him, cautiousness and curiosity evident in her vigilant and defensive posture. She raised the cup to her mouth and expelled a soft gush of breath.
“Call me Lissie,” she said, looking around at the patrons seated nearby. “All alone? Where’s the misses, Mr. Page?”
“Please, call me Chris,” he said with a smirk.
“Touche. I suppose it’s better than BFFE or whatever it is your guilting me into saying online.”
Chris’s charming smile escaped from his lips and he dug into his pocket.
“Speaking of - I got us matching friendship bracelets.”
“You’re joking, right?”
He handed one to her and she scoffed as she read the pendant.
“We have to walk into this match unified, Lissie! Three Ring Barney haven’t been beaten yet, and we need to get you a third title. Your luggage must be getting pretty heavy.”
“Let’s cut the bullshit, Chris.”
Lissie’s demeanor changed in an instant. Chris looked back at her, folding his hands, giving her the floor to speak.
“I’d rather you be honest. When you could’ve picked Holden, someone you’re trying to elevate, a member of your enterprise - you picked me.”
“I did.”
“Why?”
Her voice cracked, and the question came out more pleading than accusatory.
“If you’re just playing games, if you’re only here to embarrass me - to humiliate me - to fuck me over, then give me the courtesy of knowing your intentions. I can take it. I’ve earned that, at least.”
“Lissie - why do you feel everyone is out to get you?”
Lissie is interrupted by an incoming text message on her phone. She reads it inquisitively, fighting the urge to text back.
“Hold on.”
“Don’t be rude; we’re having a discussion.”
“Sure thing, dad.”
Lissie quickly types up a reply.
“I put my trust in people, Chris - “ a pause. “And I get burned. It’s been my cycle, and I don’t - “
Another incoming text message.
“ - over and over again, y’know? The faces change, the names are different - the story is the same.”
“Do you want to cut the shit? Fine. As soon as you can give me your undivided attention I’ll give you all the answers that you seek.”
Lissie blacked out her phone and placed it on the far-end of the table. Taking another sip of coffee, her brown eyes, hiding pain and caution, meet his.
“Here is the truth, take it or leave it. You have always been your worst enemy. You refuse to see what I see. This isn’t a game, this isn’t some ploy to lure you into some false sense of security. You and I don’t have the best track record when it comes to interactions, doesn’t mean that I hate you or do not respect what you bring to the table.”
Chris, speaks with sincerity within his tone.
“I had a chance to pick anyone on the CU:LT roster, I picked you. Now, let’s address something that I want to make clear; I went to Casanova immediately after winning that Battle Royale well before your Contender’s match. I hate that because that opportunity you earned on your own merit and abilities; and while you DO have that shot that the World Title in your back pocket, a strap you’ll no doubt win, WE have the opportunity to make chicken salad out of chicken shit.”
Chris gazes into the eyes of Lissie, he let’s out a light sigh before he states.
“I am not asking you for your undying trust or attention… I am asking you to let bygones be bygones, and let’s light some shit up.”
“My brother used to say that,” Lissie says, letting a smile out for the first time this morning. Chris looks at her with genuine interest. “The chicken salad thing. I haven’t heard that in a long time.”
“It’s some antics at the end of the day. Just know that I am not here to stab you in the back, and if you choose to bring your shit… I will bring mine. Who will be able to stop us?”
“I don’t really have any other choice,” Lissie says, her voice trailing off. “Did you watch my promo?” Chris smiles and nods his head affirmatively. She notices the incoming text lighting up her phone again. “I’ve pledged myself to you, Chris, even if my gut is telling me it could be a mistake. But I have to believe you. Just please - don’t make a fool of me.”
“Likewise.”
Chris motions toward the barista. He looks back at Lissie as he asks.
“So we are doing this?”
Lissie takes a sip of her coffee and her eyes are hopeful again.
“Any ideas on what they should call us?”
“I’m not good with the name game, I am more of a entrance theme guy…”
Suddenly over the Coffee Shop PA…
Chris starts bopping his head to the open of “I’ll Be There For You”.
“I’m not doing the clap, Chris.”
Chris does the clap solo, with a frown.
“They can call us Yin and Yang, because we are about to complete each other.”
“I’m more of a Grey’s Anatomy girl - and Dr. Yang is my spirit animal, so this kinda tracks,” she answers with a smile. “You haven’t aged as gracefully as Meredith did, though.”
“Fun fact, when we win these tag titles that will make my second set. I’ll be catching up to you soon - and Three Ring Barney ain’t got shit on Three Belt Lissie.”
“I’ve really gotta take this call, Chris -” Lissie steps up from her stool, taking her coffee and Topo with her. “You will have my undivided attention - I promise. But I’ve got to take care of something first.”
Chris Page can be seen outside of Panther Coffee sitting in the back of a limo. He is seen on the phone which is set on the speaker setting as Chris is heard stating.
CHRIS PAGE: It’s not that I am nervous by any means. The history between the Lissie and I hasn’t been the greatest.
Let’s call a spade a spade the last thing anyone expects is for Lissie and me to put personal differences aside to take claim to the prize Three Ring Barney currently hold, the Homicide Championships.
CANDICE WOLF-PAGE: Chris, you have gone above and beyond to show you have the best intentions.
CHRIS PAGE: Yeah but it doesn’t change perception. The perception that I have been screwing her over the last several months is not reality. I don’t expect her to trust me off rip, but I need for her to know that I have been harder, or was harder on her because I see what she can be versus what she is.
Winning the battle royale last month I knew going in who I would be selecting as my partner. I immediately sought out Casanova English backstage in Vegas and reaffirmed what I stated in my promotional package leading into the event it self.
Lissie Hope is my partner.
Nobody feels bad about taking her out of a World Title shot more than I do, but I didn’t know she was going to come out on top, and I didn’t know that English was going to force her hand over giving her an option.
Why Lissie?
Easy question to answer if you have seen what she has done here in CU:LT and what she is doing elsewhere. She is the best shot I have at adding a second set of Tag Titles to my arsenal here in CU:LT and I am man enough to admit it. Lissie has put everyone on notice, and while Three Ring Barney has been impressive in their own right… they aren’t Chris Page or Lissie Hope. The two of us have a global presence that is next to none. We have made our names for ourselves by ourselves throughout our careers, and now finally the stars have aligned for two superpowers within the industry to join forces.
Spells bad news for anyone that crosses our paths… if we can get on the same page whilst reading the same book.
CHRIS PAGE: This is the first conversation she and I will have face to face. I can just hope she is over her lapses with immaturity to have this conversation.
CANDICE WOLF-PAGE: What are you hoping to gain out of this meeting?
Candice asks.
CHRIS PAGE: Honestly, some common ground. It’s a starting point.
Let’s be completely transparent for a moment. The only way the champs leave with those straps is if we don’t get on the same page. Unlike Lissie I take everyone at face value; which is why it is probably easier for me to make this work than it will be for her.
Go back to Jonestown when I took her eliminations.
Go back to What Happens in Vegas where Cass took away her World Title shot.
All I wanted to do was bring out the best version of Lissie so that she can be everything that I see her being. I don’t expect for her to take my word for it. My actions will speak louder than the words ever could.
CANDICE WOLF-PAGE: There’s no denying that if the two of you worked collectively that nobody would be able to stop you.
CHRIS PAGE: I know, and that is the craziest thing within the entire situation.
Chris glances down checking the Rolex he is sporting on his wrist taking note of th etime.
CHRIS PAGE: I have to get ready to go in a few. She will be here shortly.
CANDICE WOLF-PAGE: Whatever you do, keep it cordial.
CHRIS PAGE: I’ll do the best I can.
CANDICE WOLF-PAGE: I love you babe.
CHRIS PAGE: I love you too… Hey, do you at least think she will dig the music?
Candice is heard burting out into laughter before she is able to respond.
CANDICE WOLF-PAGE: There is something seriously wrong with her if she doesn’t do the clap.
Her words bring a smile to Chris’s face.
CHRIS PAGE: God I love you. I’ll call you later.
Chris hangs up his phone as he looks over at the Coffee shop through the tinted window of his limo. He reaches over grabbing a CD case off the seat before letting out a deep sigh. Chris opens the door exiting the limo where he starts to walk toward the front door. He enters the establishment where he walks up to the counter.
A barista comes forward as Chris lays the CD case on the counter.
BARISTA: What can I get for you, sir?
CHRIS PAGE: I need to get an Americano grande, a Topo Chico, and a grande Coffee, black.
Chris is rung up.
BARISTA: That will be twelve dollars and sixty cents.
Chris retrives his wallet from his back pocket where he pulls out a one hundred and places it on top of the CD case.
CHRIS PAGE: I am meeting someone here, and I was hoping you could play the CD when I give you a signal over the sound system.
Chris slides the case and the bill across the counter. The Barista looks at the large bill and then up at CCP.
CHRIS PAGE: Please?
BARISTA: I got you.
What started as a training ground for Corey Black has turned into a shot at the Homicide Titles. I have put my body through hell over the last three months as a way to toughen up because being fifty-two years old in a business where your body breaks down over the course of time I didn’t have a choice. CU:LT has given me the battlefields to step to the plate and prove my merit. I cinged my body at Jonestown, I bet on my fists in Vegas while everyone else relied on weapons to EARN this opportunity.
This right here is something that you cannot replicate.
I have toured the globe over the last year bringing fresh eyes to products all over, CU:LT isn’t an acception. I stand before you proud of being able to carry a business on my back, I take pride in being the face of professional wrestling AND I CHALLENGE anyone of you to prove me wrong. Three Ring Barney; there can be only one first ever, that honor belongs to you when it comes to being the Homicide Champions. Nobody can take that away from you, nor would I try.
Just because you are the first doesn’t mean you are the last.
You are walking into what is arguably the biggest fight feel surrounding the Homicide Titles since the inception of this company. Standing across the ring from you is Lissie Hope; one-half of the Action Wrestling Tag Team Champions and Chris Page, one-half of the IIW Tag Team Champions. We aren’t a couple of scrubs walking in off the street. We are both battle tested in our own ways while bringing something completely unique and different into the equation.
We know that as singles we are successful.
We know as Tag Teams we are successful.
… but can we be successful together? Ah, now that is the million dollar question, wouldn’t you say? Allow me to answer from my perspective.
The two of us working toward something versus against it will be such a force that it would make Darth Vader tremble in his goddamn boots. I won’t speak for Lissie, I’ll only speak for myself when I say that I have zero intentions of leaving Miami empty handed, I’ll be damned if I cut through a plethora of names from all over the spectrum to get this opportunity not only to compete for the Homicide Titles but to show Lissie that good things can happen if you just give them a chance.
… speaking of not having a chance; Larry, Curly, and Moe don’t stand one.
You asked why am I here?
I am here to continue adding to a legacy within ALL aspects of this business that will never be seen again from any talent past, present, or future! I am here because I wanted to show the world that Corey Black isn’t the only tough mother fucker walking the face of the planet, I am here because I am “CHRONIC” CHRIS PAGE who is and will always be simply better than you!
This isn’t my first rodeo boys and girls.
I know to expect the unexpected, I know that just as badly as I want those straps for Lissie and myself you three equally want to hang on to them. Unfortunately for all of you I have more talent in my left nut than you have in your bodies combined. You had better bring your best, you had better be on top of your game, and you damn sure should bring those Homicide Titles…
… and kiss them goodbye.
CHRIS PAGE: I’ll give you the cue; not until then.
BARISTA: What is the sign?
CHRIS PAGE: Just a hand motion of some sort.
BARISTA: Not a problem.
Chris nods his head as he turns his attention toward the lobby observing the few people that are inside having their cup of joe. The coffee’s are made and placed on the counter which garners Chris’s attention as he spins around.
CHRIS PAGE: Remember… the cue.
Chris takes the two cups of coffee and makes his way toward and empty table where he takes a seat facing the door so that he may see Lissie when she walks in.
CHRIS PAGE: Let’s see if she’s on time.
There’s not a whole hell of a lot left to be said when it comes to the Homicide Titles. Three Ring Barney is walking in with them… Chris Page and Lissie Hope are leaving with them. We are about to show the world that opposites do attract.
You are looking at the new CU:LT Wrestling Tag Team Champions.
30 Minutes Prior.
Chris Page can be seen outside of Panther Coffee sitting in the back of a limo. He is seen on the phone which is set on the speaker setting as Chris is heard stating.
CHRIS PAGE: It’s not that I am nervous by any means. The history between the Lissie and I hasn’t been the greatest.
Let’s call a spade a spade the last thing anyone expects is for Lissie and me to put personal differences aside to take claim to the prize Three Ring Barney currently hold, the Homicide Championships.
CANDICE WOLF-PAGE: Chris, you have gone above and beyond to show you have the best intentions.
CHRIS PAGE: Yeah but it doesn’t change perception. The perception that I have been screwing her over the last several months is not reality. I don’t expect her to trust me off rip, but I need for her to know that I have been harder, or was harder on her because I see what she can be versus what she is.
Winning the battle royale last month I knew going in who I would be selecting as my partner. I immediately sought out Casanova English backstage in Vegas and reaffirmed what I stated in my promotional package leading into the event it self.
Lissie Hope is my partner.
Nobody feels bad about taking her out of a World Title shot more than I do, but I didn’t know she was going to come out on top, and I didn’t know that English was going to force her hand over giving her an option.
Why Lissie?
Easy question to answer if you have seen what she has done here in CU:LT and what she is doing elsewhere. She is the best shot I have at adding a second set of Tag Titles to my arsenal here in CU:LT and I am man enough to admit it. Lissie has put everyone on notice, and while Three Ring Barney has been impressive in their own right… they aren’t Chris Page or Lissie Hope. The two of us have a global presence that is next to none. We have made our names for ourselves by ourselves throughout our careers, and now finally the stars have aligned for two superpowers within the industry to join forces.
Spells bad news for anyone that crosses our paths… if we can get on the same page whilst reading the same book.
CHRIS PAGE: This is the first conversation she and I will have face to face. I can just hope she is over her lapses with immaturity to have this conversation.
CANDICE WOLF-PAGE: What are you hoping to gain out of this meeting?
Candice asks.
CHRIS PAGE: Honestly, some common ground. It’s a starting point.
Let’s be completely transparent for a moment. The only way the champs leave with those straps is if we don’t get on the same page. Unlike Lissie I take everyone at face value; which is why it is probably easier for me to make this work than it will be for her.
Go back to Jonestown when I took her eliminations.
Go back to What Happens in Vegas where Cass took away her World Title shot.
All I wanted to do was bring out the best version of Lissie so that she can be everything that I see her being. I don’t expect for her to take my word for it. My actions will speak louder than the words ever could.
CANDICE WOLF-PAGE: There’s no denying that if the two of you worked collectively that nobody would be able to stop you.
CHRIS PAGE: I know, and that is the craziest thing within the entire situation.
Chris glances down checking the Rolex he is sporting on his wrist taking note of th etime.
CHRIS PAGE: I have to get ready to go in a few. She will be here shortly.
CANDICE WOLF-PAGE: Whatever you do, keep it cordial.
CHRIS PAGE: I’ll do the best I can.
CANDICE WOLF-PAGE: I love you babe.
CHRIS PAGE: I love you too… Hey, do you at least think she will dig the music?
Candice is heard burting out into laughter before she is able to respond.
CANDICE WOLF-PAGE: There is something seriously wrong with her if she doesn’t do the clap.
Her words bring a smile to Chris’s face.
CHRIS PAGE: God I love you. I’ll call you later.
Chris hangs up his phone as he looks over at the Coffee shop through the tinted window of his limo. He reaches over grabbing a CD case off the seat before letting out a deep sigh. Chris opens the door exiting the limo where he starts to walk toward the front door. He enters the establishment where he walks up to the counter.
A barista comes forward as Chris lays the CD case on the counter.
BARISTA: What can I get for you, sir?
CHRIS PAGE: I need to get an Americano grande, a Topo Chico, and a grande Coffee, black.
Chris is rung up.
BARISTA: That will be twelve dollars and sixty cents.
Chris retrives his wallet from his back pocket where he pulls out a one hundred and places it on top of the CD case.
CHRIS PAGE: I am meeting someone here, and I was hoping you could play the CD when I give you a signal over the sound system.
Chris slides the case and the bill across the counter. The Barista looks at the large bill and then up at CCP.
CHRIS PAGE: Please?
BARISTA: I got you.
What started as a training ground for Corey Black has turned into a shot at the Homicide Titles. I have put my body through hell over the last three months as a way to toughen up because being fifty-two years old in a business where your body breaks down over the course of time I didn’t have a choice. CU:LT has given me the battlefields to step to the plate and prove my merit. I cinged my body at Jonestown, I bet on my fists in Vegas while everyone else relied on weapons to EARN this opportunity.
This right here is something that you cannot replicate.
I have toured the globe over the last year bringing fresh eyes to products all over, CU:LT isn’t an acception. I stand before you proud of being able to carry a business on my back, I take pride in being the face of professional wrestling AND I CHALLENGE anyone of you to prove me wrong. Three Ring Barney; there can be only one first ever, that honor belongs to you when it comes to being the Homicide Champions. Nobody can take that away from you, nor would I try.
Just because you are the first doesn’t mean you are the last.
You are walking into what is arguably the biggest fight feel surrounding the Homicide Titles since the inception of this company. Standing across the ring from you is Lissie Hope; one-half of the Action Wrestling Tag Team Champions and Chris Page, one-half of the IIW Tag Team Champions. We aren’t a couple of scrubs walking in off the street. We are both battle tested in our own ways while bringing something completely unique and different into the equation.
We know that as singles we are successful.
We know as Tag Teams we are successful.
… but can we be successful together? Ah, now that is the million dollar question, wouldn’t you say? Allow me to answer from my perspective.
The two of us working toward something versus against it will be such a force that it would make Darth Vader tremble in his goddamn boots. I won’t speak for Lissie, I’ll only speak for myself when I say that I have zero intentions of leaving Miami empty handed, I’ll be damned if I cut through a plethora of names from all over the spectrum to get this opportunity not only to compete for the Homicide Titles but to show Lissie that good things can happen if you just give them a chance.
… speaking of not having a chance; Larry, Curly, and Moe don’t stand one.
You asked why am I here?
I am here to continue adding to a legacy within ALL aspects of this business that will never be seen again from any talent past, present, or future! I am here because I wanted to show the world that Corey Black isn’t the only tough mother fucker walking the face of the planet, I am here because I am “CHRONIC” CHRIS PAGE who is and will always be simply better than you!
This isn’t my first rodeo boys and girls.
I know to expect the unexpected, I know that just as badly as I want those straps for Lissie and myself you three equally want to hang on to them. Unfortunately for all of you I have more talent in my left nut than you have in your bodies combined. You had better bring your best, you had better be on top of your game, and you damn sure should bring those Homicide Titles…
… and kiss them goodbye.
CHRIS PAGE: I’ll give you the cue; not until then.
BARISTA: What is the sign?
CHRIS PAGE: Just a hand motion of some sort.
BARISTA: Not a problem.
Chris nods his head as he turns his attention toward the lobby observing the few people that are inside having their cup of joe. The coffee’s are made and placed on the counter which garners Chris’s attention as he spins around.
CHRIS PAGE: Remember… the cue.
Chris takes the two cups of coffee and makes his way toward and empty table where he takes a seat facing the door so that he may see Lissie when she walks in.
CHRIS PAGE: Let’s see if she’s on time.
There’s not a whole hell of a lot left to be said when it comes to the Homicide Titles. Three Ring Barney is walking in with them… Chris Page and Lissie Hope are leaving with them. We are about to show the world that opposites do attract.
You are looking at the new CU:LT Wrestling Tag Team Champions.
30 Minutes After.
The last time I was in a car cutting through traffic on the busy US-122 towards Miami International, I was dependent on the driving of a perverted cab driver watching us on the rearview, seated next to a pair of vacationing St. Louisians who spent the weekend with me in a drunken haze of depravity. Still coming down from a cocktail of oxies and bourbon, those girls were my only friends in the world, and that became even more evident when I made it back to my hotel room, high above the city of Miami, with only my thoughts and a handful of pills calling my name.
They landed in the pit of my stomach like a rock tossed off a cliff, splashing into the surface of the water and anchoring down, a torpedo of emotion and regret and failure and futility as I laid my flesh on the cold tile of the bathroom, a cascade of tears and piss and vomit pooling under me. And I waited - I waited for someone to help. And it finally came when I closed my eyes and saw my brother.
I see him in the palm trees that pass by like a pulse of my heartbeat.
I smell him in the waves of the Atlantic crashing over the shore.
I hear him in the whistling of the winds.
I feel him in the sand under my toes.
“Here.”
“I’m pulling up now.”
I cautiously approached the pick-up zone of Miami International, looking for that familiar face. I was expecting him to be donned in an all-black getup, but to my surprise, he was wearing black cutoff shorts and a Hawaiian shirt. I pulled up next to him and popped open the trunk, watching him load in his luggage. I smiled as he shut down the door, and he cautiously opened up the left side of his body for me to collapse into.
“I didn’t know you were coming for this.”
“Neither did I.”
“So you came for me?”
“No, I don’t think so. But perhaps it works out in the end.”
He was holding something in, but I didn’t want to press the issue further. Not yet. I just felt relieved that I could see him, despite everything.
“Do you wanna drive?”
I tossed him the keys and we situated ourselves in the rental. He looked down at the cupholder, noticing the coffee and the Topo. Instinctively, he reached for the coffee cup.
“Huh, you thought of me this time.”
“Wait - “
But he was too quick. He shook his head in regret and horror.
“God that's gross, Elis- Lissie.”
“Sorry, I know you like it black.”
“Wouldn’t want to be reprimanded for not calling you Lissie.” He smirked and turned his eyes back to the road. “So what - you were double-fisting your drinks today? Man, there’s good old Miami making it’s resurrection.”
I grew quiet, leaning my head onto the headrest, looking out the window.
“Bad joke, sorry.”
“It’s okay, really. I just - can’t get away from it. From everything this city meant. Means,” I corrected.
“How did it go with Chris?”
“It’s it in God’s hands now. I said what I needed to, and he said what he needed to. I think we’re on the same page.”
“You trust that guy?”
"I have to."
"I have to."
I reached over and touched his hand, lacing my fingers in his. After a brief hesitation, he reciprocated.
“Where are you staying? I got an oceanside cabana. It’s really beautiful, and more importantly, it’s on the ground level. If you want- ”
He looked over at me and pulled down his sunglasses.
“I got a room already.”
I immediately felt my heart sink into the bottom of my stomach.
“Okay.”
I felt a tear form in the corner of my eye. I looked out the passenger window to watch each highway sign, and each palm tree, and each surfer riding a wave pass us by. I opened the window - I wanted the winds the winds to flood my nostrils. Instead, I felt as if my eyes were burning with the sand.
I just wanted my brother.
I wanted my angel.
Instead, my demons were consuming me.
“I think I need to go back there,” I said out-loud, even though I didn't really intend to. We had just passed the W Hotel in downtown Miami. Thankfully, he didn't press. "At least I don't have to do this alone. I've got Chris... and I've got you."
“Yeah... you do.”
