(David): Mommy!
David hops in the car jubilant as ever wrapping his arms around her neck and planting kisses on her cheek. Evina gets in and closes the door, puts her seat belt on, and helps David get into his before she turns to stare out the window in silence as they pull away.
(Wisdom): How was school today?
(David): (David): Mommy, we had toothpicks and candy and made shapes and triangles and mine was short, but Greg put his on top and we had a tall one and then, and then the teacher said “No”, so, so, so we took them down and then his fell on the floor but we didn’t step on it and, and, then we got to eat them and they, they, they stuck to my teeth.
David leans forward as far as his can and Wisdom looks in the rearview mirror to see bits of Dots candy gummed up in his teeth.
(Wisdom): Well, we’re going to have to brush our teeth when we get home okay?
(David): Okay?
(Wisdom): How was your day sweetie?
Wisdom shifting her eyes in the mirror to Evina, still looking out the window, a sullen expression on her face.
(Evina): Fine!
(Wisdom): You do anything special today?
(Evina): No!
(Wisdom): What’s wrong…something happen, you want to talk about it?
Evina just shrugs, her hand on her chin as she faces the window. Wisdom knew something was bothering her, but she’d wait until they got home to pry further. The drive wasn’t much longer and David being his chatty self rambled on about wanting to watch Paw Patrol, having a bowl of cereal for dinner, and lifting 100lbs with daddy. When they got home, Evina went in and straight to her room. Completely unaware of his sister’s mood, David chatted on about school tomorrow and the field trip to the Aquarium of the Pacific. In preparation for the trip and to get the kids excited…his teacher had the students draw some of their favorite sea creatures they think they might see at the aquarium. David had drawn a sea horse, a fish, a shark…or something with a fin that was supposed to be a one…and some orange patches in the bottom corner. When his teacher asked what they were he said “Uni.” He wasn’t exactly wrong in his thinking, but he wasn’t exactly right either, so she just replied “Maybe” to him and kept on.
As she came into the house, she could tell that Butch was home. The smell of his secret steak marinade could be smelled. She left her keys and purse in the foyer and looked down at the medium sized box on the floor, and shook her head with a smile. Their usual box of mail from HWA had been delivered as well. They had a ritual of going through fan mail together, but the personal mail was all hers. It was one of those things Butch always said that he “cannea be arsed with” so it was left to her so sift through the stupid grocery fliers, credit card offers, coupon booklets and other crap to find their bills or other personal, more meaningful mail. One black envelope caught her attention because it had no postage, and address on it. It meant that someone had delivered it directly to their box. The only writing on it in gold lettering read “Parker!” Wisdom opened the envelope and on a folded piece of paper inside it read…
“I thought I had said my goodbyes, but I was wrong. They keep pulling me back and so have you, and you will pay for what you’ve done.”
Wisdom rolls her eyes and sets it aside, calling out to Butch.
(Wisdom): Who’d you piss off this time babe?
(Butch): What?
Butch comes walking into the living area, sweat dripping from every edge of his frame and a towel thrown over his neck. He had obviously just finished working out which is why he didn’t greet them at the door. Those last few moments to the finish line, especially in cardio was important to maintain focus…especially at the speed in which they tended to go. Lose your focus and they could seriously injure themselves. He gives her a peck on the lips, his chest still heaving as he sucked up air. David looks up at him with the cutest frown on his face.
(David): Dad…you started without me!
Amused at his little man, Butch reaches down scooping him up with one arm.
(David): You didn’t wait for me?
Butch just looks at him, he may have only been about 45 pounds, but his true weight, weighed heavy on him as a father.
(Butch): Does you Da break his promises?
David looks confused because clearly Butch has exercised without him. He doesn’t want to say No, but he doesn’t want to say yes either. Seeing him struggle, Butch saves him…
(Butch): Remember what your Da said we would do together tonight?
David nods…
(Butch): I just got off the elliptical, keeping these knees in order…you’re too little for that machine remember…so what were we going to do?
(David): ……the floor…
David mumbles shyly…
(Butch): That’s right…we’re going to do our floor work together okay.
David perks up and Butch plants a big kiss on his cheeks, sets him down and he’s back to his bouncy self, running up the stairs to head to his room. Butch turns to Wisdom and she wraps her arms around his neck then pulls at the towel drawing him in for a kiss before she looks at him seriously.
(Wisdom): Talk to your daughter mister, she’s in her dad’s Fort Knox mood. Something must have happened at school, maybe one of the other kids or something.
(Butch): Great! Should we call her teacher?
(Wisdom): I don’t know. Let’s see what she says first. We don’t have a lot of time…we have a red eye tonight for Salt Lake, the nanny will be here in about 5 hours. Ohh, and please go through this stuff before we go, I’m going to change real quick and we can get dinner going.
Wisdom hands him a stack of his mail including the black envelope and he looks at it.
(Butch): Shite!
Butch walks over to the kitchen tossing it in the trash along with some other mail he can’t be bothered to open. They were accustomed to just as much hate mail as they were fan mail. Late at night in bed they’d sometimes play a game of “He Loves Me Not” with the mail. Instead of flower petals, they used their HWA mail. Fan mail of course counted as being loved and hate mail was the obvious opposite. Butch went upstairs to Evina’s room. She was sitting at her desk on the computer playing a word search game. Her head turns to him, but she doesn’t say anything as she turns back to her game.
(Butch): EV, mommy said something’s bothering you…you want to tell daddy?
Evina shakes her head “No.”
(Butch): Did the teacher say something?
Evina shakes her head “No.”
(Butch): Did the other kids do something to upset you.
Evina shakes her head “No.”
(Butch): Sweet Pea, you know you can tell daddy anything right?
Evina nods “Yes.”
(Butch): You want to talk about it now?
Evina shakes her head “No.”
(Butch): Okay, how about after dinner?
Evina shrugs her shoulders, which is at least some progress. Butch comes over and gives her a kiss on the forehead. He starts to make his way out of her room but is stopped at the door.
(Evina): Daddy?
(Butch): Yeah, baby?
She looks defeated and retreats back to her previous mood. What courage she had in that moment quickly gone in a flash.
(Evina): Never mind.
He doesn’t press further and heads out of the room. Returning downstairs he and Wisdom finish making dinner together. Steak Fajitas, with homemade tortillas, sour cream, guacamole, cotija cheese, some sliced limes and chopped cilantro. Their nanny had set some of her delicious pinto beans in a crock pot for them that had been slowly simmering all day. It was a delicious dinner and David had quickly forgotten about the cereal he wanted for dinner (but never was going to get anyway). Not long after they’d eaten, David had gotten his little workout in with dad and was knackered. Butch then retreated to the living area to watch the recording he had of the Rangers – Celtic match. Needless to say…it hadn’t gone as he had hoped and after a shout of “Fuking disgrace” followed by silence, the results were clear. Luckily, his little angel appeared to save him and plopped herself right into his lap, leaning her little head against his broad chest. He instantly forgot all about the game.
(Evina): Daddy? You’re still the best wrestler in the world right?
He didn’t know where this was going but he played along. Growing up, he had always fell into her adoration of seeing him on tv by the time she was allowed to watch and her “you’re the best daddy.”
(Butch): Of course Daddy is, he hasn’t been in the ring in a little while, but you bet your little tooshie your Da is still the best.
There’s silence, followed by light shudders and a wet sensation on his chest. Evina was crying, and it wasn’t until he pulled her back just enough to check that the waterworks really poured on. Wisdom came rushing into the room, but saw her in Butch’s arms and stepped back for him to deal with whatever this was that had been brewing.
(Butch): EV, what’s wrong Sweet Pea? EV look at me…tell daddy what happened at school today? Did somebody do something to you? Did somebody say something to you? Did somebody touch you?
For a blip of a moment he thought of Michelle and Sean, and as his pulse raced, his adrenaline rose, and muscles tightening in anticipation…he knew what Sean felt, not that he hadn’t felt it before himself, but this was his 10 year old daughter and if anyone had ever……….
Through her tears, Evina then began to explain everything that had happened at school. WWE’s Be A Star program had come to their school and a few representatives from the company had been on campus talking to the kids about anti-bullying. Over the next minutes Evina explained what had happened in her class………………….
(Mrs. Brooks): Alright class, today we have very special guests visiting us. They’re going to talk to us about what?
(The Whole Class): Bullying!
That’s right…now some of you may know our guests from on tv, and their going all around our school to meet all the other kids and classes, but our guest….our guest asked to visit our room specially.
The kids look from one another with excitement, curious about who is going to walk in the door that wanted to visit this particular room out of all of them. Screams from another room next door can be heard as a boy is shouting “The Usos!” Mrs. Brooks decides she better hurry up before the rest of the surprise is given up.
Okay, class please welcome from the WWE…Mr. Cody Rhodes.
Cody enters the class and they burst into cheers including Evina who knows him. She has a broad smile on her face and waves to him full of excitement as he enters. Unable to contain herself she gets up and hugs him and he gives her a little hug bug.
(Evina): Cody…we miss you. When am I going to get to see Liberty again?
(Cody): Hey there Evina!
The other kids look in awe at the fact that he knows her, and Mrs. Brooks pulls her away sending her back to her seat as not to disrupt the presentation. Cody has a smile on his face as he waves to the kids.
(Cody): Good morning guys, it’s great to be here on behalf of the WWE and the Be a Star program. Now I know your nice teacher here has already told you guys all about bullying so my job is already done and I can leave now.
Cody acts like he’s headed for the door and the kids all laugh.
(Cody): But seriously, lets talk a little bit more about bullying because its very real, and it’s very serious and it comes in all different types. Raise your hand if someone ever said something that wasn’t so nice about you?
Most of the kids raise their hands…
(Cody): How about if someone every pushed you, or even hit you?
More of the same kids raise their hands and then some…
(Cody): Those are just a few ways people get bullied, who here has ever heard the word “cyberbullying”?
Most of the whole class raise their hands…
(Cody): Who here can tell me what “cyberbullying” is?
They all raise their hands again, but his eyes go straight to Evina, her hand proudly raised high. Cody walks over to Evina and looks down at her.
(Cody): So… what is cyberbullying Evina?
(Evina): Ummm…when someone does something to somebody online.
(Cody): That’s right, now is that a nice thing someone to do?
(The Whole Class): Noooooooo!
Cody again focuses on Evina…
(Cody): If someone invited you to a party, but when you got there they attacked you…is that bullying?
(The Whole Class): Yeeeesssss!
(Cody): Yeah…it sure is huh! What if someone came to your house, and dragged you out in the front lawn and hit you…is that bullying?
(The Whole Class): Yeeeesssss!
(Cody): It sure is! You don’t get to be the best wrestler in the world without knowing a little something about bullying.
Evina raises her hand up high.
(Evina): But my daddy’s the best wrestler in the world.
Cody looks at Evina with a sad pitiful look.
(Cody): Awww…that just isn’t true Evina, it hasn’t been true in a long, long time. You see, to be the best wrestler in the world…you kind of need to actually wrestle, and you’re dad doesn’t anymore does he?
Evina looks sad, her eyes going down to her desk as her head also tilts downward.
(Evina): But…
(Cody): And your mom…well she can’t “Be a Star” can she? She can’t be a star, when she’s too busy being a bully.
Evina looks up at him confused, not knowing what he’s talking about. He has spoken just low enough for only her to hear.
(Cody): You see boys and girls, bullies aren’t nice people. They often pretend to be nice, they even sometimes pretend to be “your friend”, so when they say or do something mean, it hurts you more. But the question is…what do we do about bullies?
Hands in the room go up, and one eager boy is nearly jumping out of his seat and Cody points to him.
(Aaron): You stand up to a bully and push them back!
Cody shakes his head…
(Cody): That might seem like the answer, but it’s not…
He stares back at Evina who now feels so small, and intimidated unable to look away from him, scared.
(Cody): You might want to stand up to a bully, you may even want to hurt them because they hurt you….but the first thing you should do is……….tell someone.
Mrs. Brooks is nodding her head in agreement with a smile. She had written that on the board earlier.
(Cody): You can tell your teacher, you can tell your mother, or your father, or you can even tell a friend. Bullies only want to get a reaction from you, they want to take away your power, but you guys all look nice and strong to me right?
(Most of the Class): Yeaaaaahhhh!
Cody still stares directly at Evina.
(Cody): Bullies just want to scare you, but if you tell someone, they can help you deal with that bully. It doesn’t matter how strong your dad thinks he is, or how beautiful and untouchable your mother thinks she is…if they’re a bully, they will be stopped by bigger, stronger, better people that know just how to handle the situation.
His stare has frozen her in place, she just wants to run and get away. She feels absolutely smothered, and finally he turns away from her.
(Cody): Now, I want you guys to look all around the room at your classmates. Do you respect each other?
(Most of the Class): Yeeeessss!
(Cody): Do you know what it means to be tolerant of one another despite Allllll the different kinds of differences you might have from someone else?
(Most of the Class): Yeeeessss!
(Cody): So I have one more question for you guys….who wants to join me and Be a Star?
The class bursts with excitement as hands go up and the door opens and a WWE rep has t-shirts that Cody starts throwing out to class. Evina is the last to get a t-shirt, but there is so much excitement in the room no one notices as Cody walks over to her to hand her hers personally.
(Cody): You should wear it now Evina, it might not be appropriate for a Parker when you get older.
Cody turns and smiles to the class giving high fives and signing a few t-shirts, folders, shoes, and other autographs before he leaves the room.
He listened attentively to his daughter as she explained what had happened and literally hadn’t voluntarily moved a muscle although many throughout his body tightened and twitched on their own. His body was stone, but he could feel her gentle, innocent softness still in his lap. Tears abating, she looked up at him in the face.
(Evina): Daddy? Mommy’s not a bully is she?
He doesn’t move his head, his eyes are fixed ahead looked at the post game commentary but not really seeing it, and he doesn’t look at her. It takes every bit of his will for him to move his lips and form words to come out. He musters the determination to hold what he his feeling tight in his mind so he can deal with his daughter.
(Butch): Of course not sweetie, Cody was just teasing.
Butch turns to her and smiles, and starts tickling her. She laughs and giggles loudly.
(Butch): Maybe Cody was just bullying you to see if you passed the test. I think you’re so strong to have sat and listened to his presentation. You definitely are a star! Now give your Da a kiss and go get ready for bed.
Evina puts her hands on the gruff of his cheeks and gives a kiss, followed by a huge hug. Everything she had been feeling he had melted away and she hops off the couch and rushes off to do as he says. He doesn’t have to hold it in his mind anymore, slowly the poison starts to seep back into his system. He still stares ahead, once again not moving, but knowing that Wisdom is close by. She is near the point of volcanic rage. The very limits of their willpower had been reached. If the kids were not home right now, they’d both be rather unbridled.
(Butch): You hear?
(Wisdom): MmmmHmmm! Every word.
Butch stands up, his subtle movement alone was like Titan waking from the earth in a rage.
(Butch): I’m going to…
Wisdom already in front of him has her hands on his shoulders.
(Wisdom): Babe, I know…believe me I know and I’m right there with you, but….
Her head turns looking upstairs as if she could see through walls at David and Evina.
(Wisdom): The nanny will be here any minute, we have to get out of here and catch our flight soon. I’ve already been down that road, so I’m certainly not trying to stop you, but I think we need to handle this, deal with this when we get back. We can’t let the kids see us like this.
Butch looks at his wife, there are tears in his eyes he’s in such a fury. It almost physically hurts for him to hold all this back, and he talks through his gritted teeth.
(Butch): Their school…he went to their school and scared the living fuk out of our daughter using their bullshit program as a guise.
(Wisdom): He did it on purpose, to get at you, he probably dropped off that stupid envelope for you too, no doubt that bitch probably had a hand in it somewhere as well. We will deal with them, but babe…we are one week from our ppv, we have a big announcement for Havoc and we both have to be on point.
Butch reaches into his pocket and pulls out his phone. He dials a number and holds the phone up to his face. It rings, and there’s no answer so it goes to voicemail.
(Butch): Evina? You bring my daughter into this? You just made the biggest mistake of your life.
Butch ends the call, his emerald green eyes shine and beam like lasers as at concert. Standing there, they didn’t even hear the door open.
(Nanny): Mr. / Mrs. Parker…it’s me.
She was a cold douse of water, that snapped them out of it. Wisdom shouts out to her.
(Wisdom): We’re in here…be right there…
(Butch): Let’s get our shit, say good night to the kids and get the fuk out of here before I change my mind. We’re on the first flight out of Salt Lake after Havoc, I’ll get a goddamn private jet if we need to, but were back home and then…
(Wisdom): …and then we’ll deal with this!
Butch and Wisdom give one another knowing looks as she goes to greet the nanny and the scene fades to black.
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