“Feeling lost”
(The scene opens in Lancaster California, we see Madison, Jenn, and Charlee walking out of a restaurant towards their car. They’re in Lancaster for their father’s funeral even though Jenn voiced her opinion about going to the funeral. Instead of going with her sister and getting lost with strangers, Jenn took Charlee with her. The three of them get into the car, Jenn and Charlee get the 2 front seats and Madison takes the back seat.)
Charlee: You’ve been quiet since we’ve left the funeral home.
Jenn: Just thinking….
Charlee: About?
Jenn: Stuff.
(Charlee heard the way Jenn gave that answer and she knew it was going to be a long 2-hour ride back home if this type of attitude keeps up.)
Charlee: Look, I get it. You didn’t want to be there and you’ve made it known loud and clear. If my dad did those things to me, I wouldn’t want to be there either but I would be there to support my sister though. That’s what this trip was about, it was for her. Look at her, she’s miserable.
(Jenn looks towards her sister in the backseat and she is miserable. She hasn’t talked all day, and that has Jenn worried in a way. Madison is always the chatterbox of the family, but today she’s in her own little world.)
Jenn: You’re right, Today’s not the day to air these grievances, it should be about her. She lost her dad. I’m glad you came along too…
Charlee: Always will be! That’s one promise I’ll never go back on, ever. Looking over the past 6 months, we’ve had a lot of bad things happen to us. Between the wildfire that took out my house and left me homeless, you losing your father figure, and Madison losing her dad, misery loves company but damn!
Jenn: Yeah and I’m kinda sick and tired of it you know? Tired of the hospital visits, tired of the funeral homes, tired of the sympathy hugs. This year started off so well too and then it quickly fell off the track and it feels like I’m heading into an endless void. It happened before and I’ll be damned if I’ll let it happen again…..
(Charlee can tell that Jorge’s death and the death of her ex-father is affecting her but she knows that Jenn would never let those feelings be known. Jenn is the type of person who would distract themselves and keep their feelings hidden. She’s like the members of the Lopez family in many ways. All of them are like onions, to get to the core, you have to peel them back slowly. In the reflection of the car window, you can see Jenn trying to hide the tears so her friend and her sister don’t see them. All of them lay silent as the mountainous desert terrain passes them by.)
Jenn: As it stands right now, I’m feeling lost. But it’s much different now, I’m surrounded by loved ones. I have my granddaughter, I have my kids, I have my sister, you, Lexi, Eddie… list goes on and on. I just can’t shake the feeling of being left behind again. Sure, I have Lexi’s dad but he’s thousands of miles away and I can’t simply walk up to him and give him a hug when I need it. I dunno maybe I’m just rambling here, but I’m not good with expressing my feelings and shit. I always hide them deep inside of me and move on with my life…
Charlee: You’re not rambling, you’re expressing yourself and I’m just letting you unleash it. Look, I’m gonna help you get over this. You’ve helped me in so many ways this year after my house burnt down, you have me and my kid a place to stay, you gave us support that can’t ever be replaced. You and I have been through a lot since we first met and I haven’t let you down once… we can get through this together, I promise you. All those people you listed, they’ll be there for you too. Just ask… don’t bottle up emotions anymore, ok?
(Jenn looks towards her friend then looks back to see her sister. Madison is nodding her head, She doesn’t want her sister to fall down a giant rabbit hole and can’t find a way out.)
Madison: It sounds like we need to take a vacation to get away from the negativity and just focus on our emotional health. Just to get away, and relax for once. The 3 of us have been working so hard this year, non-stop. We need a break…
Jenn: I agree. We need to get past this show and then think about vacation. Speaking of, normally we are on a break after Christmas, who’s stupid idea is it to take that away from us? I was looking forward to the vacation too.
Madison: We are taking one! So, after your match with Haze we’re going. ALL of us are going.
Jenn: When did you become the aggressive type?!
(Madison chuckles)
Jenn: Speaking of this match, I’m looking forward to it. I won’t get too much into it, but Haze did some things that she needs to explain, but I know she won’t because she doesn’t really care about me, and that’s ok. The feeling is mutual. I’m not saying I hate the girl, I’m just saying that we won’t exchange letters or text messages with each other.
“Keep your friends close and enemies even closer”
2 days later.
(The scene opens up at Jenn’s house in LA, inside of the house we see Charlee, her roommate, and Crystal, her stepdaughter, and of course the dog. Everyone is doing their own thing, Jenn is wrapping gifts for Christmas, Crystal is studying for her driver’s test and Charlee is making lunch for them because she asked if they were hungry and they were too busy to move.)
Jenn: My grandchild is gonna be so spoiled this Christmas!
Crystal: I know right? She’s gonna be the star of the show this year and I’m excited to see her reaction to opening gifts for the first time.
Jenn: Yeah, I know right now she doesn’t care too much about gifts, she only cares about the lights but the idea of having another kid around is exciting enough! I kinda miss the days when Britt’s kids were small and they got all excited about Christmas, and they got angry when they had to wait for everyone to arrive.
Charlee: Well, my kid is coming over too. I finally got his father to agree to let me see him….dealing with him is like dealing with a dumbass…I mean god damn.
Jenn: How old is he now? I know you mentioned him before.
Charlee: He just turned 5. He’s gonna be a little shy around newcomers but he won’t take long to warm up to people. But he knows of you, Auntie Jenn!
Jenn: He’s gonna have fun here, he’s gonna realize that he’s with family and we’ll take care of him!
Charlee: I know you guys will, that’s why I want to introduce him to everyone.
Jenn: This Christmas is gonna be special in so many ways. Crystal’s first Christmas with us, my granddaughter’s first Christmas, your kid’s first Christmas with us!
Charlee: Makes me excited for it!
(Charlee looks towards Crystal, she’s still working on her study time for the driving stuff she wants to do.)
Charlee: You ready for her to drive?
Jenn: Crystal? No. but it’s something she wanted to do and I’m not going to stop her from doing it. We’ve been doing this for the past 2 months now, and if she’s gonna be working with talent relations, she needs to drive. Her dad, me, or her sister can’t help her get from place to place all the time. All of us are busy doing something. Her road test is when we come back from vacation. I told her to study from here out till then, even on vacation. Watching her grow up from when I met her 10 months ago has been amazing. From the shy girl who knocked on my door looking for her dad and wanting to sleep in her car, to her learning how to drive and having a job…
Charlee: I hope she gets it! By the way, how are you feeling since we last talked to each other a couple of days ago?
Jenn: I’m in a much better mood but It still bothers me that Jorge won’t be here to see his great-granddaughters first Christmas, it’s something we have to get used too but it hurts. He wanted to be here so bad but he couldn’t make it, it wasn’t meant to be. With the firsts we talked about, it outweighs the negative thoughts too, so that’s a positive!
Charlee: Good, I’m glad you’re in a better headspace. You worried me a couple of days go, but it’s understandable too. I guess we should talk about the match you have, and you voiced your opinion about it a couple of days ago, but you didn’t really dive deep into it.
Jenn: Good reason, I wasn’t ready to talk about it then but now I am. Now last show, Haze decided it was a smart thing to pop the nose of Lexi, and then on Twitter act like it was an “accident” Bitch, really? Does she really think we’re that stupid to believe that? I mean I get it, Haze and Aubrey don’t get along….big cmon now. Not even I would pop her in the nose like that.
(Jenn shakes her head in disgust.)
Jenn: Let’s be honest here, the whole overprotective lesbian overtone attitude ran its course a long time ago, but here we are again where one of Lexi’s friends acts like she can only have one friend and it HAS to be her, like really? It’ll be if Charlee did it to me and I couldn’t have friends or family to hang out with, I would be angry and I would shut that shit down quick, but Lexi though is either too nice or too stubborn to see it. Cool, Haze and Aubrey don’t like each other, who cares! Aubrey has made strides in turning her life around, she’s not the same person she was earlier this year. Aubrey is trying to fix things and it’s not working when a psycho wants to get involved….
(Jenn lets out a giant sigh.)
Jenn: It kinda reminds me of a certain person in Lexi’s past that tried to do this as well, she showed the same signs that Haze is showing, the creepy lesbian protective overtone, always getting in the way of things and making things worse, the whole “If I can’t have her, nobody else can” thing….
Charlee: OH yeah! I remember you told me about…..
Jenn: Shhhhh! We can’t say her name. If we do people get excited and strange things start to happen.
Charlee: You mean…..
Jenn: Yep.
Charlee: ….and….
Jenn: Yep.
Charlee: Gross!
Jenn: Besides, doesn’t Haze have a boy toy she can play with or something? I have no idea what his name is, he kinda looks like a rat with abs.
(In the background we saw Crystal look up from her studies with a disgusted look on her face after Jenn said that. It’s almost she couldn’t believe what she’s been hearing from these two, she shakes her head before going back to her studies, this time with a headset on her ears.)
Jenn: I can do these ha ha’s all day if I wanted too but let’s get back to business. Haze is talented, and I won’t deny her of that. But there’s more to wrestling than laying half-naked or getting rats with abs, or how do my tits look in this picture…. There is a reason why we left that stuff back in 2012.
(Jenn shrugs her shoulders before she starts to talk to Haze directly.)
Jenn: But the problem with you is, you popped my sister’s nose and then you acted like there would be no consequences for it. As if I wouldn’t have seen it since I wasn’t there because I had to take care of something else. Honey, I hear eyes and ears all over this company when I found out that you did that, I was pissed off. Why? Because you waited till my back was turned and you knew that I couldn’t do anything about it….I’m here now, and after the bullshit, I’ve been through the last 2 months and a reason now… I’m going to take it out on you.
(Charlee got done with the food she was making and handed them to everyone but Jenn doesn’t touch the food just yet, as she’s still thinking about what she wants to say about Haze.
Jenn: You did this to yourself, you decided to wake up the monster. Sure, I haven’t made the biggest splash since coming back and I admit it. But don’t think for a second that I can’t go back to the old me and shove your boobs down your throat. You’re getting the Jenn that took those championships in the past without regret and crushed people’s spirits, dreams, and whatever they had to look forward to. You’re not going to get the “Happy to be here” Jenn, or the “supportive” Jenn…. You’re getting the Jenn filled with passion, desire, and anger. Something that’s been lacking for a long time, and thanks to you, you brought it back. You wanna run around hurt my family. I’m gonna hurt you, I don’t care about wins or losses, all that matters to me is you get payback and that WON’T be an accident….
(Jenn shakes her head to say that she’s done talking. She wants to save her energy for the match, but for now she wants some quiet time before the holidays come so the scene comes to an end with hear eating the sandwich her friend made)