Post by Buck U on Jun 17, 2017 21:18:17 GMT -8
Somewhere far from Texas...
Charlotte O'Neal-Buchanan sits quietly in her rocking chair, feeling the twins growing inside her shifting around. The feeling of contentment is short, as she thinks of their father, banished from the house. So lost is she in thought that she jumps when her father walks into the den.
"Well I managed to get Haruto to fall asleep. Good thing I picked up a few Japanese lullabies in my travels," Chuck Buchanan jokes, taking a seat on the couch across from his daughter.
"Thanks for helping, Dad," she says warmly, "I'm not sure what I'd do without you and Mom."
"You could always ask Eli's dad for help."
She openly cringes at the thought.
"No thank you."
Her father laughs at her obvious revulsion.
"Charlie, you used to worship that man when you were on his staff."
"That was back when I was blinded by ambition," she admitted, "Let's just say that since my priorities have changed I've learned more about him than I'd like."
Chuck frowns slightly. His daughter can tell he wants to say more, but he doesn't press the issue, even if she is speaking ill of one of his best friends.
"Have you spoken to Eli today," he asks, changing the subject.
She winces.
"I sent him a tweet saying he can Skype with Haruto for Father's Day tomorrow."
"How impersonal of you."
"Damn it, Dad, I'm not ready to talk to him right now. Not after what he's put us through the last nine months. Turning on his best friend. Trying to ruin the career of a young man. Ruining his own sister's wedding. Standing by and allowing Mya to be hurt and kidnapped..."
She starts crying and her father rushes over and raps his arms around her as she begins to weep. Finally she regains her composer enough to speak.
"I've lost, Dad. Castor snook back in while I was trying to build our company and I didn't even see it. I knew it was a mistake for him to ever get back into wrestling after that incident last year."
Her father said nothing, he simply continued to hold her. A bit over a year ago the man known to many wrestling fans was told he would never wrestle again. Some blamed it on an after match assault in Dallas, others blamed it on a battle with a giant wrestling ring Transformer the following night. Regardless of which, the end result was a diagnosis of post-concussion syndrome. Then suddenly his brain was "healed" and there was no sign of any damage to his brain. The common theory was a misdiagnosis and two doctors now faced losing their medical licenses and much more in a malpractice suit.
Charlotte wasn't so sure though. How could two doctors both misdiagnose him? Something about the whole thing didn't sit well with her, but she couldn't figure out how.
"It could be worse, you know."
Charlotte raised her head and looked at her father, confused.
"It could be Io we're dealing with."
She groaned and pushed her father away.
"Don't even joke about that, Dad."
He grabbed her hands and looked her straight in the eyes.
"I'm serious, Charlie. Io caused a lot of problems for him when he was a child. Remember those Mexican boys who would always beat him up, that's only because Io would mock and even flirt with them and then Eli would take the beatings. He never even realized she existed, the little brat. If it wasn't for you we probably wouldn't have either."
Charlotte simply nodded her head. The less she spoke of Eli's now long gone former personality, the better. She, however, shivered remembering how cruel Io could be.
"The only good thing Castor ever did was kill that bitch," she said, easing back in her seat.
Her father laughed at her cut and dry response. His daughter, a woman who once proudly referred to herself as a "professional bitch", was never good at sugar coating things.
He rose up and returned to his seat.
"So you prefer the maniac over the 'bitch', as you say. I know a whole town in Mexico and a few cameramen who would argue with you over that."
"But at least I knew how to deal with him," she groaned, taking off her glasses, "Even at his most violent, when he was running around as El Tigre de Jengibre, he never laid a finger on me. Eli told me I gave him the strength he needed to fight back against Castor, that Castor feared me at times."
Her father looked at her thoughtfully.
"So why are you pushing him away? If Castor is so scared of you, why are you allowing him to tear your husband?"
"Things are different now. I've got Haruto to think about," she rubs her stomach, "I've got these two little ones to think about."
She sees the look on his face, the same one he uses when she bad mouths Eli's dad. The look quickly fades away though and he gets up and helps her to her feet.
"Come on you," he says, "we better get you to bed too."
She simply nods as her father helps her to her room and helps into bed.
"You're mother and I will be just down the hall if you need us," he says.
"Thanks Dad."
He smiles warmly at her.
"You're welcome, Charlie. Promise me one thing though. Don't give up on Eli, or Tiger Mask Red, or whatever he's calling himself these days in wrestling. You two need each other more than you will ever realize."
She simply yawns and closes her eyes. Her father turns the light off and closes the door as he leaves.
Once he's gone Charlotte grabs her phone and tweets, "Please don't give up, @tigermaskred."
Charlotte O'Neal-Buchanan sits quietly in her rocking chair, feeling the twins growing inside her shifting around. The feeling of contentment is short, as she thinks of their father, banished from the house. So lost is she in thought that she jumps when her father walks into the den.
"Well I managed to get Haruto to fall asleep. Good thing I picked up a few Japanese lullabies in my travels," Chuck Buchanan jokes, taking a seat on the couch across from his daughter.
"Thanks for helping, Dad," she says warmly, "I'm not sure what I'd do without you and Mom."
"You could always ask Eli's dad for help."
She openly cringes at the thought.
"No thank you."
Her father laughs at her obvious revulsion.
"Charlie, you used to worship that man when you were on his staff."
"That was back when I was blinded by ambition," she admitted, "Let's just say that since my priorities have changed I've learned more about him than I'd like."
Chuck frowns slightly. His daughter can tell he wants to say more, but he doesn't press the issue, even if she is speaking ill of one of his best friends.
"Have you spoken to Eli today," he asks, changing the subject.
She winces.
"I sent him a tweet saying he can Skype with Haruto for Father's Day tomorrow."
"How impersonal of you."
"Damn it, Dad, I'm not ready to talk to him right now. Not after what he's put us through the last nine months. Turning on his best friend. Trying to ruin the career of a young man. Ruining his own sister's wedding. Standing by and allowing Mya to be hurt and kidnapped..."
She starts crying and her father rushes over and raps his arms around her as she begins to weep. Finally she regains her composer enough to speak.
"I've lost, Dad. Castor snook back in while I was trying to build our company and I didn't even see it. I knew it was a mistake for him to ever get back into wrestling after that incident last year."
Her father said nothing, he simply continued to hold her. A bit over a year ago the man known to many wrestling fans was told he would never wrestle again. Some blamed it on an after match assault in Dallas, others blamed it on a battle with a giant wrestling ring Transformer the following night. Regardless of which, the end result was a diagnosis of post-concussion syndrome. Then suddenly his brain was "healed" and there was no sign of any damage to his brain. The common theory was a misdiagnosis and two doctors now faced losing their medical licenses and much more in a malpractice suit.
Charlotte wasn't so sure though. How could two doctors both misdiagnose him? Something about the whole thing didn't sit well with her, but she couldn't figure out how.
"It could be worse, you know."
Charlotte raised her head and looked at her father, confused.
"It could be Io we're dealing with."
She groaned and pushed her father away.
"Don't even joke about that, Dad."
He grabbed her hands and looked her straight in the eyes.
"I'm serious, Charlie. Io caused a lot of problems for him when he was a child. Remember those Mexican boys who would always beat him up, that's only because Io would mock and even flirt with them and then Eli would take the beatings. He never even realized she existed, the little brat. If it wasn't for you we probably wouldn't have either."
Charlotte simply nodded her head. The less she spoke of Eli's now long gone former personality, the better. She, however, shivered remembering how cruel Io could be.
"The only good thing Castor ever did was kill that bitch," she said, easing back in her seat.
Her father laughed at her cut and dry response. His daughter, a woman who once proudly referred to herself as a "professional bitch", was never good at sugar coating things.
He rose up and returned to his seat.
"So you prefer the maniac over the 'bitch', as you say. I know a whole town in Mexico and a few cameramen who would argue with you over that."
"But at least I knew how to deal with him," she groaned, taking off her glasses, "Even at his most violent, when he was running around as El Tigre de Jengibre, he never laid a finger on me. Eli told me I gave him the strength he needed to fight back against Castor, that Castor feared me at times."
Her father looked at her thoughtfully.
"So why are you pushing him away? If Castor is so scared of you, why are you allowing him to tear your husband?"
"Things are different now. I've got Haruto to think about," she rubs her stomach, "I've got these two little ones to think about."
She sees the look on his face, the same one he uses when she bad mouths Eli's dad. The look quickly fades away though and he gets up and helps her to her feet.
"Come on you," he says, "we better get you to bed too."
She simply nods as her father helps her to her room and helps into bed.
"You're mother and I will be just down the hall if you need us," he says.
"Thanks Dad."
He smiles warmly at her.
"You're welcome, Charlie. Promise me one thing though. Don't give up on Eli, or Tiger Mask Red, or whatever he's calling himself these days in wrestling. You two need each other more than you will ever realize."
She simply yawns and closes her eyes. Her father turns the light off and closes the door as he leaves.
Once he's gone Charlotte grabs her phone and tweets, "Please don't give up, @tigermaskred."