She Can and She Will

[Jamie Quinn]

February 27, 2018 Atlantic City, NJ

*Knock*Knock*Knock* 

An middle aged gentleman looks around, nervously straightening his jacket and wiping his chin as he waits for someone to answer the door. He looks at his watch and sighs, waits, and is about to knock again, but the door opens when he raises his hand. Adriana stands in the doorway wearing a robe. He acknowledges her with a nod.

“Adriana…”

“Jimmy. Does Jamie know that you’re here?”

He just shakes his head, expecting for the door to get slammed in his face, but much to his surprise, Adriana opens it a little wider to let him in. She gestures for him to follow her into the house while yelling for Jamie. He hears her say something from the kitchen. Then there she was, sitting on a stool at the kitchen island, wearing black yoga pants and charcoal grey sports bra, eating a bowl of cheerios with slices of strawberries because hashtag healthy living.

“What are you doing here?”

She barely even looks up from her bowl. It was quite obvious she was not impressed with his unannounced appearance. Jimmy just unrolls a piece of crumpled paper in his hands and sits it in front of Jamie. It was a flyer for Warzone. The graphics presented the card for that night with everyone’s picture and it included hers.

Here we fucking go.

“You want to tell me what this is about?”

Jaime finally makes eye contact with him. She takes a minute to finish chewing her food, intentionally taking her time and even takes a drink of orange juice. Once she’s finished she leans back in her chair and looks at him. Sizing him up a bit before chuckling sarcastically at how stern and serious he is. 

The nerve.

“I believe that’s none of your fucking business”

“It is my business when my daughter is doing this crap!” He emphatically jabs his finger at her picture on the flyer. Jamie couldn’t help but roll her eyes.


“Ugh, why do you even care? I mean, you didn’t swoop in this quickly when I was lying in a hospital bed and now you’re over here like you’re trying to win a fucking gold medal for dad of the year.”Jaime couldn’t remember the last time her father was genuinely happy with what she chose to do with her life so this outburst isn’t a surprise at all.

'Your mother would be spinning in her gra-"

“Don’t you dare speak about my mother.” If Jamie wasn’t already pissed off before. She definitely was now. Adriana was sitting in the hallway eavesdropping, but as soon as she she heard Jamie talk in that low angry growl, she reappears in the kitchen. She makes her presence known by standing beside Jamie, giving Jimmy a glare that was enough to let him know that if he messes with her woman, there will be hell to pay.

“So...after almost being killed because of her," He makes sure to glance at Adriana, "you’re going to leave your former life, whatever that was, only to start another career that constitutes nothing but more violence. You know, when I found out that you were done with the club business and you decided to do something else, I had hope. Then yet again you disappoint me.”

“Well, hope is for losers.” Jamie says bitterly while gathering her dish and rising from her chair, “Now get the hell out of my house. The dead beat in you is starting to stink it up”

Nothing more is said. The tension in the air speaks for the both of them. Jimmy just leaves the kitchen in silence. A few seconds later the door is heard being slammed shut.

“Bastard.” Jamie whispers while throwing her bowl into the sink. She Spins around and sits against the kitchen sink with her arms crossed. She really doesn’t give a rat’s piss that her father was mad. That was expected. As not bothered as Jamie appeared to be, Adriana knew that she was trying her best to not let her father's words get into her head.

“Babe, who gives a shit what Jimmy has to say? He’s a piece of shit and he hasn’t seen how hard you’ve been working for this.”

Jamie can’t recall the last time she was so focused on something that didn’t involve the club, partying almost every night with booze, and networking with Dez by trying to expand their brand. This was a new territory for her and the closer it got to Warzone the more excited and antsy she became.

“Yeah, you’re right. It’s just…” She sighs “I’m not nervous, really. I’m just anxious. I need for March 5th to fucking be here already.”

Adriana smiles at the sight of Jamie looking like a kid on Christmas morning at the thought of her debut.

“There’s gonna be so many people there, Adriana. It’s going to be amazing. Wrestling experience be damned. Who in the hell needs fancy wrestling moves when all I would have to do is get my hands on the nearest object and go to town on Ryan and Stian.  I may not be a seasoned ‘wrestler’” she says in a mocking voice with quote fingers, “ but I for damn sure know a thing or two about fighting. The only difference now is that there’s a ring involved with a lot more people watching. And you know how much I love an audience.”

Jamie pulls Adriana in for a kiss when her phone starts to vibrate on the counter. Adriana pulls away and grabs it, seeing a text flash across the screen while Jamie kisses her shoulder.

“It’s Dez. He says he’s outside.”

Atlantic City Boxing Gym (Atlantic City, NJ)  

Dez and Jamie take seat on one of the mats outside the ring at their favorite gym, both of them drenched in sweat after a very intense hour and a half of circuit and cross training. They always worked out there, but the workout sessions were turned to level 100 ever since Jaime decided to join the The Factory. Sometimes, she thought Desmond was more excited than she was. It only took less than 24 hours after the show was announced for him to come over with videos of Ryan and Stian breaking down their matches with her.

“J.Q Smooth...what’s going on. Come on, you can talk to your dear old Dezzy.” Dez says playfully while laying his head on her shoulder. He chuckles as she shrugs him off. She stands up and begins to do cool down stretches while he stays seated.
“My dad stopped by earlier today and had a flyer for the show.”

“What’d he say?””

She scoffs and  looks at him incredulously, “You’re really gonna ask me that?”

“Well, I know how much of an arsehole he is so I already know what he said, but let me tell you what I think...I think that Jamie Quinn is going to reign supreme at The Factory’s first ever show. I also think they forget that actual wrestling Isn’t going to matter as much as they think. When it comes to The Factory, hardcore fighting is the standard. Not only do you have scars to prove you're not afraid to fight in that environment, I've seen you excel at it for many years.”

When he mentions the last bit, she instinctively touches the scar on the right side of her abdomen. She sometimes catches herself reaching to touch her abdomen during random times through out a day. Like she’s checking to see if It’s still there as if tt’s just going to magically disappear.

"Ryan is  good at scouting moves and doing all that high flying flippy shite. The figure skater, Stian, is a submission machine. But neither of them have your power, stamina, and endurance. The guy who owns this gym says he was watching you and that he has never seen anyone in his 30 years in the boxing business strike as hard as you do. Hell, you’re the reason why my nose is so big and fucking ugly.”

Once upon a time Jamie punched Dez in the face during a drunken spat. That’s a story for another time, though.

“Ryan  is like every other Boston Irishman I know. He seems like a total fucking loony bin. His willingness to go extreme will without a doubt backfire against him. Also, If you’re so bold to punch a real, tough Irishman like myself in the face without a so much as a blink of an eye, I can only imagine what you’d do to that bootleg knockoff. But you have to Be careful with Stian. Have you ever watched figure skating? Those motherfuckers are flexible and athletic as all hell. Which makes him even more dangerous with the submission.”

As much as she appreciated Dez’s advice and suggestions, she was starting to get sick and tired of hearing what Stian and Ryan can do. She already had to hear enough it during the commentary of their matches.

“Obviously, I don't have the experience, but the owner of The Factory saw enough in me to offer me a contract on sight." She snaps "Ryan and Stian can have a pissing contest over who has the most experience all they want. While they’re busy measuring their dicks, I will be in the in the shadows, waiting and plotting to cease the very first opportunity I see.  How lethal is Sebastian's submission skill going to be when his stamina is going to be worn down more than already it already is from having to fight off not just one, but two people? He's slow. I'll react faster and drop him on his fucking head."

Dez opens his mouth to say something, but Jamie inadvertently cuts him off, and continues to ramble.

"They'll think they have such an advantaged because of their years in experience. Did they ever stop to think that it could very well expose them? I've been able to see what they do during certain situations. How can they possibly know what I'm gonna do when they haven't even been able to see me in any situation during any match? I exert so much power that one solid hit to Ryan's head and he's going to think he has 10 voices talking to him in that crazy ass head of his!"

Dez tries again.

"I just..FUCK!"

Jaime yells as she just uses all of the strength she can to hit one of the speeds bag. She ended up hitting it so hard that it breaks off it's mount and goes flying to the floor. She was going to say something else, but instead stops to catch her breath a bit. Up until that point, she didn't realize how much pressure had built up in her. Dez could tell that part of her frustration was because she probably felt like she was being doubted by him.  

“You can beat them, Jamie.”

She knows he wasn't just saying it to make her feel better and that he actually believed it. He was always the type of friend who told her what she needed to hear. Not what she wanted.

Before today, joining The Factory was something Jamie thought she would just give a shot. Even though she worked to get in shape more than she ever has before ever since the night that mysterious man handed her a flyer, she made peace with being okay if this whole thing never worked out.

But she’s not okay with that anymore. She can't make that peace. Everything has changed.

“I know I can.”

Everything.

“And I will.”