Post by Jana Rikar on Jun 5, 2018 14:13:03 GMT
The Civility War or the Fight for My Independence
Norfolk, Virginia
Jamison Residence
6/3/2018
“It’s gonna be a little weird not seeing him running up to greet me when I walk in the door.”
Sitting on the couch in the living room she grew up in with a towel draped around her neck, an exhausted Jana Rikar picks up a photo album from a box on the coffee table in front of her.
“He lived a good long fulfilling life, Jana.”
Flipping through the album, she smiles as her mother, Chandra, walks up with two bottles of water in her hands. She sets the bottles down on the coffee table as Jana turns the album towards Chandra.
“I remember that photo. Kendo wasn’t more than 6 weeks old when you and Daddy picked him up at the shelter. That was just before Daddy died.”
“He fell asleep in your lap within 10 minutes of being here. Animals have that sense about people, knowing who’s good and who’s not.”
Jana smiles and closes the album, placing it back in the box. She picks up another scrapbook and raises an eyebrow towards her Mom.
“Momma, what’s this? Did you put this one together?”
Chandra sits down beside of Jana and takes the scrapbook from her. She opens the book and Jana’s eyes widen.
“Those… those.. those are my colorings? From when I was very little?”
“Todd thought they would be good to keep together. He’s quite the bookbinder when he wasn’t cracking people over the head with Devastation that is.”
Jana cracks up laughing at the ‘visual’ of her stepfather, known by his painted face and kendo stick as Armageddon the Hardcore Overlord, sitting at the kitchen table putting together a scrapbook of a child’s drawings for posterity sake. Chandra opens the book and Jana smiles at the first freehand drawing in crayon..
“It’s you and Daddy with a dog.”
Jana stops for a second then turns the page over. Chandra glances at the expression of disbelief on Jana’s face as Jana sees the date on the drawing.
“Are you sure that’s right?”
“I dated everyone of your colorings, Jana. Todd verified a few with me while he was putting together the book.”
“I made that drawing a month before Kendo came home?”
“You did.”
Chandra flips to the next page.
“Me and Daddy. And Daddy’s… “
“Sleeping, as you told me then, four days before he passed on.”
Jana chews her bottom lip as she turns the page, showing a man inside of a box on fire, the date in the lower left showing 12/22/02.
“That was Todd, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah. It was me.”
Jana and Chandra look up from the book to see a sweat-covered Todd Jamison standing in shorts and a tank top. Chandra takes one of the bottles and tosses it to him.
“That’s when you went from that god-awful mask to the facepaint.”
Jana looks at Chandra then back at Todd.
“It was your mother’s idea to go to the paint. Less trouble than having to continue to buy tons of luchador masks.”
“I’m trying to remember what happened…”
“Flaming Casket match between myself and Orion in Brazil. Maracana Stadium 2003, just before the refit. Over 100 thousand watched us in that old stadium.”
“Orion was that guy that wanted to set everyone and everything on fire, right?”
“The same. We did the spot where the casket went up in flames. And the only thing left was the charred remnants of my mask. I ended up having to travel in sunglasses and a hat the entire tour until we made it to back to the States.”
“It wasn’t all bad though. I had to spend a lot of time with your mother during the tour.”
Chandra winks at Todd and Jana rolls her eyes.
“Get a room, you two!”
“We did. Often.”
Jana covers her face with her hands as Todd kisses Chandra on the forehead.
“I’m off to get a shower.”
“See ya when you get out.”
A flushed Jana continues to shade her eyes as Todd starts to walk down the hall.
“Thanks Todd for working with me in the ring today!!!”
“My pleasure, Kiddo. Knock ‘em Dead in Atlantic City.”
Todd turns the corner of the hallway and closes the door behind him. Chandra looks back at Jana with a cringe as she takes her hand away from her eyes.
“Sorry, baby. Didn’t mean to embarrass you just then.”
“It’s ok. Momma. I’m just glad Todd could work with me before the match with Abigail. Kaden is… well, I’m not sure what’s going on with him.”
“And Lex?”
“He’s on Walkabout or whatever it’s called..”
“Walkabout?”
“Yeah, that young guy Clayman from Australia once told me that’s what you do when you’re trying to clear your mind or trying to find yourself. I talk with Lex every night, but he's just out on his bike, trying to figure out what he wants to do next. I'm still disappointed that Clayman didn't have a big knife like the Dundee guy did in that movie we watched when I was little. Is there a pic of me and Clayman in this?”
Jana flips a few pages then finds a drawing of her and a younger blond man, wearing tights similar to the Australia Flag.
“Clayman. Clayman? OH, You mean Clay Manfred from Sydney?”
“Yeah, Did you know he got his name cause everyone called him Clay Manfred Mann and he just shortened it.”
“Everyone must have thought he was the Mighty Quinn or something.”
“I don’t get it, Momma.”
“Way before your time, baby. WAY before your time.”
Chandra closes the book and places it back in the box, then smiles at Jana.
“A lot of people thought you could see the future through your drawings, but I always felt like you were just being a kid.”
“Well, if that’s true, then I need to get some crayons and go do some colorings I’d like to know what I need to do in this match versus Abigail.”
“Just do your best and the future you desire will come true.”
Virginia Beach, Virginia
Collins Home on the Beach
6/3/2018
“When I first saw the match listed on the card for Atlantic City, I tweeted out something that I thought was a little cute, but not many others took as much of anything.”
Jana sits on the deck of their beach house as Chocolate, her puppy, sits asleep on her lap.
“The tweet was that the match between myself Abigail was for the Battle of Virginia, since she was from Richmond and I'm from Norfolk and now living in Virginia Beach. The more I thought about it, it kind of reminded me of the American Civil War or the War of Secession or the War between the States or whichever you wanna use. In the American Civil War, often the generals on both sides were taught at West Point and, depending on which town, city or state you were in, you literally could have been drafted to the Union or the Confederacy. Because of that, you had battles where it was brother against brother, or in our case with Abigail and myself, Sister vs. Sister. None of that really matters though, other than to be anything more than just a little Catch Phrase. The Battle of Virginia is not going to be that a big of a battle. It's just going to be a good little match between Abigail and myself. I've managed to pick up a win to run my record to a whopping 1-1 lifetime but Abigail's been on the losing in the last few times. I don't know how a losing streak works but Lex does and I know that, in all honesty, he's been a little out of sorts with his last few matches have been losses. But that's something I'm not going to allow myself to do. The easiest way for me to do that is to pick up this win against Abigail on Thursday in Atlantic City.”
Jana looks down and softly rubs Chocolate just behind the ears as she continues to doze.
“I don't see Lex as being any different than he was when he was Champion, just that the the odds have turned against him and maybe that's all it is with Abigail too. Maybe the odds are turned against her right now and and the opportunity for her to change that, might just be this week. Personally, I hope it wait another two weeks at least because that means that I've got a second W and she doesn't break that losing streak.”
Jana looks up at the camera.
“Abigail, I don't have any bad feelings towards you and I don't have any qualms with what we're both doing here. We're just both trying to win a match. We're both just trying to get that win and unfortunately, we've got to go against each other for that to happen. This match is going to be completely different for me, because I'm having to go It alone. Lex is still on walkabout. Kaden's in the hospital and, as much as they mean well, Mom and Todd just aren't the same when it comes to training. But I’m still going to give it my all in Atlantic City regardless.”
She picks up Chocolate off her lap and stands up, holding the puppy cradled like a baby.
“I know some people think I'm here in WWH just because Lex is my husband and that I'm just trying to ride off of his coattails. But that is not the case. I'm standing on my own here. I am not trying to ride off of anybody's name or coattails. Or that have my job because of who I am married to or, as someone so eloquently put it, whose lap I'm sitting on. I am not here to be taken lightly. I am not here just because I'm some kid who doesn't know any better. I'm Jana Rikar. My dad was a wrestler. My mom is a wrestler. My stepdad's a wrestler. My family is made up of wrestlers. And now... I'm a wrestler.”
Jana raises her chin slightly as she proudly proclaims herself as a wrestler.
“So this match is not just about the Battle of Virginia or a match between between two sisters of Virginia. This is a match to show that I am more than just the wife of Lex Collins. Then I am more than just the student of Kaden Kessler. That I am more than just running off of my family's Legacy. This is about me. This is about the 20 year old Time Bomb of the WWH. This is about Jana Rikar. This about me proving that I am a wrestler.”
“Abigail Williams, this is nothing personal. Just business. And we both have that mindset going into the match. There’s no vendetta. There’s no grudge. There’s simply two people wanting the same thing. One of those people is gonna be disappointed at the end of the night.I had a taste of the spotlight against El. I picked up a win over Jessalyn. And I’m gonna do everything in my power to make sure I’m going to 2-1 and not 1-2.”
“In Atlantic City, Abigail Williams, you and all the naysayers are going to find out just what a ticking time-bomb feels like when it goes… click… click… boom.”
She throws up two fingers and smiles.
“Be Well, Abigail, Be very well”
Jana walks back into the house with Chocolate in her arms.