It was 3:30 in the afternoon on a Saturday. I had been invited out to lunch with one of my longtime childhood friends whom I hadn’t seen in years; she came into town on a business trip, and I invited her out to lunch. Pricilla Taylor and I had been nearly inseparable as children, and we attended the same middle school and high school together. Our personalities were so different that we broke several stereotypical boundaries. Growing up I was a jockette; I played all kinds of sports and the guys treated me like one of their own. Pricilla was shy and didn’t speak much, while I on the other hand was loud, obnoxious, and spontaneous. When our friendship had first started I had asked her why she wanted to hang around me. She responded that I was nice to her and that I made her smile.
Once we graduated high school, Pricilla went to college while I started to train to become a professional fighter, and we kept in touch the best we could while on two separate sides of country. The last time we had seen each other was right before I’d broken into pro wrestling; I told her it was a dream come true for me to be able to perform for others. She said that being a professional wrestler would have suited me perfectly because I had such talent to reach people.
When I started to hit the big times, I begin to change. I remember when I would wake up in the mornings and travel to arenas happy and grateful to be a WZCW superstar; but that changed when I was offered a lucrative deal. Stick around longer, work through the injuries, sacrifice my social life for my work and earn more money. As a result I would walk around expecting my colleagues to cater to me, I refused to do jobs, work certain dates and venues, and I became calloused to fact that I needed to put others before myself. As a result Laxus and I became separated and we nearly divorced. I was involved in several backstage altercations and my colleagues soon lost respect for me and called me juvenile. Soon everything changed when I finally hit rock bottom.
It was in the summertime three years ago; not only had I developed an enormous ego, but my perception of reality was finally beginning to waste away. I had been under so much stress with the company and failing marriage that I began to work myself into a manic frenzy. I suffered wild nightmares to the point where I rarely slept. I became paranoid through insomnia and stimulant abuse and began watching my back in a metaphoric way, waiting for something that was out to get me to tear its claws into my flesh and drag me further down into delirium. A month following my release from the company I was involved in an altercation outside of a bar in San Jose. I was arrested, and sentenced for misdemeanor assault.
While in jail I received a letter from Pricilla; it wasn’t so much a depiction of condemnation for my actions from my once good friend, but words of encouragement that she still believed in me, and that she’d always be my biggest fan. It was inspiration for me to finally get my life back on track. I sobered up, quit abusing pills, and even managed to mend my broken relationships. I have a child with the man I love, whom I adore more than anything else in the world. I live a comfortable life in the city I grew up in with my father close by; it’s the life I’ve always wanted.
When I felt ready to return to the world of professional wrestling, I made strides to not only get my body back into shape, but my mind as well. I began practicing meditation more often, and most importantly I let go of my anger that I had slowly built up over the years. The list of reasons why I became angry isn’t as important as the reason why I consumed myself with it. When I returned to WZCW, the biggest thing that I changed was my pride. I wasn’t prideful because of the star pro wrestling had made me; I was prideful because I was still getting to do something that I loved to do.
“And can you believe that helicopter was stolen?” I laughed as I retold Pricilla the story of my drunken escapades the night of the All Stars show in Japan.
We were dining at one of our old hangouts on the lower east side of Sacramento; we would come here every weekend during high school. Even after so many years, our tastes remained the same.
“I see Patricia hasn’t changed at all,” she replied. “I’m glad you’ve become so adjusted since going back. I can tell how happy it’s made you.”
I smiled, “I’ve learned not to be so selfish in my endeavors, and as a result I’ve grown patient.”
We sat and ate our lunches as we traded stories about our husbands, our children, and our jobs. I told her stories about backstage life in WZCW, meeting fans, and getting to travel. At this point in my life, I was really starting to have genuine fun.
“This is what I imagined being a pro wrestler must have been like; and I can say after years in the business that it was the best decision that I ever made and I don’t regret any of it.”
“I try to follow the show every now and then,” said Pricilla. “My son watches and he’s a big fan of Constantine.”
I raised an eyebrow, “Constantine huh? What, no love for his Aunt Celeste?” We shared a laugh, “Constantine’s going to be a world champion soon; for that I am certain. He’s a great guy; intense, strong, and a good role model for teens.”
“Anything new going on,” she inquired. “Maybe some backstage spoilers for an old friend?”
I laughed again, “We’re doing this mentorship program where all of us old farts get paired up with a rookie, helping them with the ropes, getting them over with the audience, showing them how to pay their dues the right way. It’s going to make for some gripping television.”
I went on to talk a little about my mentee, “His name’s Arashi, he’s this no nonsense grappler from Japan who used to wrestle the puro style.”
Patricia had filled me in on the differences between American pro wrestling and Japanese pro wrestling. In a country in which nearly everyone and their mothers read manga and watch anime, the culture had evolved to expect certain norms. For pro wrestling that meant watching two superhuman-like men beat the shit out of each other without the other going down or even getting hurt.
“Sounds interesting,” she said, taking a sip of her lemonade. “Maybe you can relate to him with your sambo background.”
I scoffed, “That’s his gimmick. In reality he’s stubborn, angry, and incredibly chauvinistic.”
She frowned, “Really? Then why would your bosses pair you up with such a man? Do you really think you can help him?”
I frowned, “He doesn’t respect me, but that’s okay-”
“It is?” she said in surprise.
“…For now,” I finished.
“My bosses didn’t team me up with him; I advocated being his partner because I see myself in him, the way I used to be. I want to guide him so that hopefully he doesn’t make the mistakes I did.”
“But can you put up with him?”
“I can handle my son just fine,” I replied. “How much different could mentoring someone and raising a child be?”
Pricilla looked flabbergasted, “You’re not serious? The two are very different-”
“That’s not how I see it,” I interrupted.
She had a teenager so she had to know how it was like having someone try to undercut your authority at every turn. I had done it to my parents growing up, I had done it to Laxus while we were having problems; I even did it to WZCW by not showing up to work. I knew how to handle disobedience from experience of being disobedient.
“The reason why I’m doing this is because he’s my co worker and my mentee. I want to see him succeed. I have unconditional care for him.”
“Unconditional care huh,” she mused. “It’s amazing how you’ve changed so much. You truly are someone to be admired.”
I blushed, “If this had happened years ago I probably would have kicked his ass, but what would that have solved? Nothing. Even if I beat him in every match we would have had he still wouldn’t respect me. It’s purely psychological with him.”
“The key to handling someone like Arashi is to give kindness but expect none in return. The only thing that I will make clear to him is that I am the mentor, and he is the mentee.” I explained.
“But I’m not going to hold that position over his head and act like I’m better than he is; I’m going to act like someone that wants to see him succeed and do the best he can.”
From there we switched gears as I began to talk about the benefits of having strong connections within the company. I spoke about Sandy Deserts and the strong friendship we’ve developed over the last few months, and the bond we shared as women in a company dominated largely by men. I spoke a little about Steve Kurtesy; calling him a selfless and courageous man.
“Steven and I have had our ups and down over the past few months; but the respect that we have for each other is mutual. Every match that we’ve been featured together, either as opponents or partners, we’ve stolen the show. We’re like Titus and Everest.”
I smiled, “I’m going to be facing him again next week; we’ve got a bit of a contest going, and so far we’re both one and one.”
“That should be fun,” Pricilla commented. “Is he a mentor as well?”
I nodded, “He’s mentoring this new girl named Isabel, I know, another women wrestling for WZCW besides me, big shock right?” I said chuckling.
“I don’t know much about her, but she’ll be in his corner, and Arashi will be in mine.”
“Will that put pressure on you to try harder?”
I shook my head, “I’ve got nothing to prove to Arashi. Even if I beat Steven he won’t start respecting me; that’s why I don’t mind if I win or lose this match. I just want to go out there and put on another show for the ages with a good friend of mine-”
“Besides,” I said switching to gossip mode, “Kurtesy may benefit from a win much more than I would. That Isabel doesn’t look easily impressed.”
“Arashi will come around eventually,” I continued. “I think he’s a good man, just misguided… but I was misguided once and I managed to change. There’s no reason why he can’t either.”
“That’s amazing. I’m happy that you’ve manage to come so far. Your unconditional kindness and care was the reason I wanted to be your friend in the first place.”
I blushed again, “Hopefully I can show Arashi some of this when I’m in his corner for his match against Krypto. His mentors are Sabo and Saxton; that’s going to be a blast.” I finished with a smile. “I can’t wait.”
“I’m so happy for you Celeste,” she said. “I hope your life continues to be filled with fortune.”
We continue to talk and converse and laugh, catching up with each other’s lives. I ask for the check, when my friend reveals a surprise to me. She came back to Sacramento for two reasons, the first was a business trip, and the second was our 20th high school reunion which I didn’t have a fucking clue was coming up. We make plans to get together again really soon. I give her a hug, and turn to leave to my car.
