Post by Jack Hart on Aug 14, 2023 8:00:13 GMT -6
For Jack Hart, the past twelve months had been tumultuous to say the least. Coming up to a year ago he had signed his first professional wrestling contract with the EWC. His wife, Lily, had just given birth to a baby girl named Rose. This was supposed to be the best time of Jack's life, a life that had consisted of years of struggle and hustle that had got him to this point. What followed this were months of self-doubt, self-destruction, and to some extent self-harm.
See, for Jack, wrestling is an escapism. A mechanism to take him away from the confines of daily life. Jack had never had a real job and spent most of his adult life scraping the barrel to survive. Some of Jack's methods for getting by he wasn't proud of. Holding up local convenience stores for the last of the change in the register left him feeling like he was stealing from his own. But he massaged his conscience, convincing himself it was the only way to survive.
Some methods however Jack did prefer. Elaborate plots to extort filthy rich tycoon's in particular took his fancy. To Jack, these people were the lowest of the low. Most made their millions feeding off of the misfortunes of people like Jack and his loved ones. Whether it be those in the pharmaceutical industry or gambling racketeers, Jack saw this as fair game and would frequent local bars, casinos and more often than not strip clubs to seek out these fat-cat's in order to gain some leverage and work a long-con on the unsuspecting 'victims'.
It wasn't until Jack met his future wife Lily however that he started to care about the potential repercussions of these deeds. Seemingly it was by fate that Jack had met Lily, who worked at one of the strip joints that Jack had been familiar to. Like Jack, Lily had a taste for taking the money of those who had too much of it. Whereas Jack tended to use his brawn, Lily would use her brain to extract as much as she could from these wealthy business men who would pay to see her in their hotel rooms after they felt that they weren't getting quite enough of what they came for in the gentleman's club.
The irony was that once Lily had left the hotel room, all that the wealthy fiends were left with was a red-face, a limp-dick and a lighter wallet. Lily would let them undress before snapping as many photographs of them as she could. And in exchange for her silence, Lily would receive a generous amount of hush-money as compensation. Lily generally chose her targets well, those men who were horny enough to partake in these sorts of activities, but not street-wise or callous enough to do anything about the predicament she had enticed them into. That was until she met 'Big' Jim Kelsey.
'Big' Jim's wealth was inherited. Passed down from his forefathers who ran a now defunct diamond mine in Colorado. Jim had never done an honest days work. He used his inheritance to buy into government pharmaceutical contracts and raise the prices of drugs that were needed to treat the sick. Lily had known of Jim for a long time, staying well clear of his grasp as he was known to be a vicious man. But when easy marks had started to dry out, Lily needed to take a few more risks.
So when she finally set her eyes on 'Big' Jim and his money, she knew that it could well go south. And that's exactly what happened. See what Lily didn't bank on was that Jim didn't care about his wife finding out of his sordid secrets, because they weren't secrets at all. Jim would go home and boast of his sexual expedition with other women to his wife. His wife had been ground down by years of manipulation and mental abuse at the hands of Jim. Quite frankly she was just happy if he was out of the house.
Jim was much more concerned with any scandals that might jeopardise his fortune rather than his marriage. If his escapades were exposed, he would be likely to lose millions in government backhanders as they try to save face. When Lily tried her usual trick on Jim, he responded in rage rather than panic, striking her several times in a vicious attack. Lily could tell by Jim's demeanour that he was willing to kill her there and then. Luckily the pepper spray that she kept hidden in her bra was enough to disorientate the vile man for just the right amount of time so that she could bolt out of the hotel room door and flee down the backstairs.
But it wasn't like Lily could just disappear. After a week of calling in sick to her employers at the club, she had to go back to work. Jim had been in the club every night since, asking at the bar for 'The gorgeous brunette who was here just the other night.' As Lily was doing her usual rounds, in walked 'Big' Jim and some questionable associates. Jim calmly sat at an empty table, feigning some enjoyment at the sight of topless girls making their way up and down a pole before him. His friends wasted no time however, grabbing Lily by the ankles and the hair and swiftly carrying her out of the club like she was some sort of inanimate object. Lily's cries and screams were met with terror by the staff around her, wanting to help their friend but realising the danger.
Sat in the corner of the club, covered by a cloud of smoke was Jack Hart, watching the proceedings before him intently. Jack himself had been keeping a close eye on 'Big' Jim, seeing him as a perfect mark for one of his own cons. Sat with Jack was his lifelong friend and partner in crime Micah MacDowell. Much more rugged and affected by the life that he had led than Jack was, Micah had been beside Jack throughout all of his years of hustling and was Jack's closest confidant.
Jack's attention was first drawn to Jim Kelsey when his Uncle Malkie was going through cancer treatment. Jack had always been close to Malkie, he was the one person in his family who took an interest in Jack and tried to lead him down the right path. He was a compassionate and caring man, the kind Jack hadn't encountered much of in his formative years. The drugs needed to treat Malkie were crippling his family financially and feeling as though he were a burden to the people he loved, Malkie took his own life. Distraught and enraged, Jack vowed to seek revenge on those who he felt indirectly murdered his uncle.
The search for vengeance had stopped at Jim Kelsey's door. Jim's manipulation and exploitation of the most vulnerable in society infuriated Jack and he felt it his duty to exact some form of revenge for the pain he has caused him and his family personally. As Jack watched on, Jim finished a small glass of Scotch before following his boys out of the club minutes after their departure with Lily.
Jack gave Micah a knowing nod and they proceeded to follow 'Big' Jim out of the club. Stealthily they kept a watchful eye on Jim as they climbed into Jack's run-down Hyundai. Jim got into a pristine Roll's Royce and drove away. Jack pursued shortly after, not wanting to attract any attention. They followed Jim through the dreary and wet night at a distance for quite some time before reaching a baron wasteland somewhere out in the sticks.
Lily by this point felt that her time was up. As she knelt in the mud, with two shotguns pointing at her head, she rued her decision to pursue Jim and his money. As Jim got out of his Rolls Royce and marched towards her, she let out a whimper. "You have no idea who you fucked with doll." Jim told Lily with an almost maniacal laugh. "I could have killed you with my bare hands in that strip joint and could have walked out smoking a cigar, but that would have been rather uncouth. I have unadulterated power here, the power even money can't buy." Four sudden gunshots dispelled the myth of Jim's power, one to each kneecap of his henchmen as Jack and Micah appeared out of the shadows of the winters evening.
As the stooges writhed in pain, squealing on the damp earth, Jim's expression turned from one of smugness to that of absolute fear and astonishment. "How's that for power?" Jack quipped as he approached Jim and knocked him senseless with repeated blows from the bottom of the gun. Jack gave Jim a swift kick in the ribcage and approached Lily, raising her from the floor with the help of Micah. Jack warned Lily "I don't know what kind of trouble you got yourself into, but I wouldn't think about going back to that club anytime soon...I might have some work for you myself though."
From this day forward, Lily would act as a lure for Jack's cons. Lily would draw out the unsuspecting marks with her allure, and when the time was right, Jack would strike with his brawn and fleece the rich son's of bitches. But Lily's allure was strong enough to consume Jack also. As the months passed, the two became closer. Lily saw through Jack's hardened exterior, seeing his caring, almost loving side. To Jack, Lily was his saviour. Underneath the mask of deception and trickery that all of her marks saw, Jack got to know Lily as a warm and gentle soul. She'd talk often to Jack about his dreams of being a professional wrestler, and encourage him to pursue it and get out of the life of crime and punishment that he had become accustomed to.
The attraction was too much to ignore, and following months of awkward flirting and tension, the two did finally begin to see each other romantically. The relationship blossomed quickly and the two seemed made for each other, both able to confide in each other through their shared experienced, they'd both lived lives of disarray. When Lily fell pregnant, they agreed to a shotgun wedding. Going down to Las Vegas, they were married by an Elvis impersonator, with Micah acting as their witness.
With the prospect of becoming a father and the reality of being a husband, Jack sought out less risk in his ways of making a living. He knew that he was a great wrestler, but the percentage of those who make a real sustainable living out of the sport is minute. He began to spend more time wrestling in bingo halls and gyms, and less time robbing from the rich. Lily gave birth to Rose and Jack was ecstatic to be a father to a beautiful baby girl and husband to a beautiful wife. But with fatherhood came responsibility, and Jack knew that he needed to start making a living wage, which wasn't going to happen wrestling for the indie promotions he was performing for. So when he was spotted by an EWC talent scout and subsequently offered a contract at the illustrious company, his dreams had come true.
Jack made a solid start to live in the EWC, winning three of his matches, and losing two against formidable opposition and EWC champions in Sally Talfourd and Tanja Devereux. Whilst from the outside it seemed as though life was perfect for Jack, not least considering where he had come from, on the inside everything was falling apart. Jack was rarely at home due to the EWC's busy schedule, flying out across the globe to faraway places such as India and Australia. Lily was left alone to care for Rose and she was beginning to feel isolated.
This wasn't the biggest problem however. When Jack was home, he was just as faraway from Lily as when he was performing on Paramount. Rather than spend the precious time with a his new born daughter and his loving wife, Jack would obsess over both his previous and his future matches, trying to improve. He would spend hours upon hours repeatedly watching his last bout, looking for areas of improvement, and watching footage of his next opponent in the hope of gaining an advantage. Lily had told Jack that he 'never really came home' and in her heart she knew she couldn't live like this for the rest of her life.
It all came to a head after Jack had defeated Divewire at EWC's 2022 iteration of the Youngblood Pay-Per-View. Jack returned home to find Lily in hysterics with baby Rose crying unattended. Jack tried to smooth things over, but the damage had been done and a teary-eyed Lily shook Jack to his core as she asked for a divorce. Jack's reaction was one of sorrow rather than rage. He wept as he cradled baby Rose back to sleep and put her back in her cot before comforting a crying Lily, giving her a kiss on the forehead and telling her that he would 'always love' her. Jack walked out of his home that night and upon his return a few days later, his wife and child were gone with a note from Lily, telling him that she'd be back when the time is right.
Filled with fear, uncertainty, and desolation, Jack did nothing but sit at home, staring at the walls, contemplating his life. He was scheduled for a triple threat match on Paramount that week, but EWC staff hadn't heard from Jack since Youngblood and feared he wouldn't show. Walking into the Barclay's Center in Brooklyn around fifteen minutes before his scheduled match, Jack didn't speak to anyone. He walked through the curtain when it was time, lost the match convincingly to Tanja Devereux, and left the building without a word to his friends or colleagues. Jack wasn't seen again in the EWC as he suffered a severe mental breakdown.
Although Jack had left the life of crime to pursue his wrestling dream, Micah was still out there hustling. Micah himself was a wrestler by trade, but hadn't got the look of a star like Jack had, and gave up working on the Indie scene to pursue more perilous work. Micah had been working a con in New Orleans by himself for the past month, and when he returned to find Jack in the state that he was in, he took care of his best friend like a brother. Jack could open up to Micah and let him know of the split and the subsequent collapse of Jack's life. Micah worked on getting Jack back to full health whilst informing the EWC of his situation and pleading with them to keep him in mind.
Recently Jack has gotten back to something more like himself. He is in great shape and has been wrestling with Micah in the local boxing gym, preparing for a return to the EWC. When Jack got in touch with the company, they were willing to take a second chance on him, citing his sky-high potential, despite his unpredictable nature and his unstable predicament. He will be returning in the very near future to once again pursue his dream.
Lily never did return. The time mustn't be right. But Jack hasn't given up hope of finding her and his daughter. Jack hopes for a reconciliation, but would settle for just knowing of their safety and happiness.
To be continued.
See, for Jack, wrestling is an escapism. A mechanism to take him away from the confines of daily life. Jack had never had a real job and spent most of his adult life scraping the barrel to survive. Some of Jack's methods for getting by he wasn't proud of. Holding up local convenience stores for the last of the change in the register left him feeling like he was stealing from his own. But he massaged his conscience, convincing himself it was the only way to survive.
Some methods however Jack did prefer. Elaborate plots to extort filthy rich tycoon's in particular took his fancy. To Jack, these people were the lowest of the low. Most made their millions feeding off of the misfortunes of people like Jack and his loved ones. Whether it be those in the pharmaceutical industry or gambling racketeers, Jack saw this as fair game and would frequent local bars, casinos and more often than not strip clubs to seek out these fat-cat's in order to gain some leverage and work a long-con on the unsuspecting 'victims'.
It wasn't until Jack met his future wife Lily however that he started to care about the potential repercussions of these deeds. Seemingly it was by fate that Jack had met Lily, who worked at one of the strip joints that Jack had been familiar to. Like Jack, Lily had a taste for taking the money of those who had too much of it. Whereas Jack tended to use his brawn, Lily would use her brain to extract as much as she could from these wealthy business men who would pay to see her in their hotel rooms after they felt that they weren't getting quite enough of what they came for in the gentleman's club.
The irony was that once Lily had left the hotel room, all that the wealthy fiends were left with was a red-face, a limp-dick and a lighter wallet. Lily would let them undress before snapping as many photographs of them as she could. And in exchange for her silence, Lily would receive a generous amount of hush-money as compensation. Lily generally chose her targets well, those men who were horny enough to partake in these sorts of activities, but not street-wise or callous enough to do anything about the predicament she had enticed them into. That was until she met 'Big' Jim Kelsey.
'Big' Jim's wealth was inherited. Passed down from his forefathers who ran a now defunct diamond mine in Colorado. Jim had never done an honest days work. He used his inheritance to buy into government pharmaceutical contracts and raise the prices of drugs that were needed to treat the sick. Lily had known of Jim for a long time, staying well clear of his grasp as he was known to be a vicious man. But when easy marks had started to dry out, Lily needed to take a few more risks.
So when she finally set her eyes on 'Big' Jim and his money, she knew that it could well go south. And that's exactly what happened. See what Lily didn't bank on was that Jim didn't care about his wife finding out of his sordid secrets, because they weren't secrets at all. Jim would go home and boast of his sexual expedition with other women to his wife. His wife had been ground down by years of manipulation and mental abuse at the hands of Jim. Quite frankly she was just happy if he was out of the house.
Jim was much more concerned with any scandals that might jeopardise his fortune rather than his marriage. If his escapades were exposed, he would be likely to lose millions in government backhanders as they try to save face. When Lily tried her usual trick on Jim, he responded in rage rather than panic, striking her several times in a vicious attack. Lily could tell by Jim's demeanour that he was willing to kill her there and then. Luckily the pepper spray that she kept hidden in her bra was enough to disorientate the vile man for just the right amount of time so that she could bolt out of the hotel room door and flee down the backstairs.
But it wasn't like Lily could just disappear. After a week of calling in sick to her employers at the club, she had to go back to work. Jim had been in the club every night since, asking at the bar for 'The gorgeous brunette who was here just the other night.' As Lily was doing her usual rounds, in walked 'Big' Jim and some questionable associates. Jim calmly sat at an empty table, feigning some enjoyment at the sight of topless girls making their way up and down a pole before him. His friends wasted no time however, grabbing Lily by the ankles and the hair and swiftly carrying her out of the club like she was some sort of inanimate object. Lily's cries and screams were met with terror by the staff around her, wanting to help their friend but realising the danger.
Sat in the corner of the club, covered by a cloud of smoke was Jack Hart, watching the proceedings before him intently. Jack himself had been keeping a close eye on 'Big' Jim, seeing him as a perfect mark for one of his own cons. Sat with Jack was his lifelong friend and partner in crime Micah MacDowell. Much more rugged and affected by the life that he had led than Jack was, Micah had been beside Jack throughout all of his years of hustling and was Jack's closest confidant.
Jack's attention was first drawn to Jim Kelsey when his Uncle Malkie was going through cancer treatment. Jack had always been close to Malkie, he was the one person in his family who took an interest in Jack and tried to lead him down the right path. He was a compassionate and caring man, the kind Jack hadn't encountered much of in his formative years. The drugs needed to treat Malkie were crippling his family financially and feeling as though he were a burden to the people he loved, Malkie took his own life. Distraught and enraged, Jack vowed to seek revenge on those who he felt indirectly murdered his uncle.
The search for vengeance had stopped at Jim Kelsey's door. Jim's manipulation and exploitation of the most vulnerable in society infuriated Jack and he felt it his duty to exact some form of revenge for the pain he has caused him and his family personally. As Jack watched on, Jim finished a small glass of Scotch before following his boys out of the club minutes after their departure with Lily.
Jack gave Micah a knowing nod and they proceeded to follow 'Big' Jim out of the club. Stealthily they kept a watchful eye on Jim as they climbed into Jack's run-down Hyundai. Jim got into a pristine Roll's Royce and drove away. Jack pursued shortly after, not wanting to attract any attention. They followed Jim through the dreary and wet night at a distance for quite some time before reaching a baron wasteland somewhere out in the sticks.
Lily by this point felt that her time was up. As she knelt in the mud, with two shotguns pointing at her head, she rued her decision to pursue Jim and his money. As Jim got out of his Rolls Royce and marched towards her, she let out a whimper. "You have no idea who you fucked with doll." Jim told Lily with an almost maniacal laugh. "I could have killed you with my bare hands in that strip joint and could have walked out smoking a cigar, but that would have been rather uncouth. I have unadulterated power here, the power even money can't buy." Four sudden gunshots dispelled the myth of Jim's power, one to each kneecap of his henchmen as Jack and Micah appeared out of the shadows of the winters evening.
As the stooges writhed in pain, squealing on the damp earth, Jim's expression turned from one of smugness to that of absolute fear and astonishment. "How's that for power?" Jack quipped as he approached Jim and knocked him senseless with repeated blows from the bottom of the gun. Jack gave Jim a swift kick in the ribcage and approached Lily, raising her from the floor with the help of Micah. Jack warned Lily "I don't know what kind of trouble you got yourself into, but I wouldn't think about going back to that club anytime soon...I might have some work for you myself though."
From this day forward, Lily would act as a lure for Jack's cons. Lily would draw out the unsuspecting marks with her allure, and when the time was right, Jack would strike with his brawn and fleece the rich son's of bitches. But Lily's allure was strong enough to consume Jack also. As the months passed, the two became closer. Lily saw through Jack's hardened exterior, seeing his caring, almost loving side. To Jack, Lily was his saviour. Underneath the mask of deception and trickery that all of her marks saw, Jack got to know Lily as a warm and gentle soul. She'd talk often to Jack about his dreams of being a professional wrestler, and encourage him to pursue it and get out of the life of crime and punishment that he had become accustomed to.
The attraction was too much to ignore, and following months of awkward flirting and tension, the two did finally begin to see each other romantically. The relationship blossomed quickly and the two seemed made for each other, both able to confide in each other through their shared experienced, they'd both lived lives of disarray. When Lily fell pregnant, they agreed to a shotgun wedding. Going down to Las Vegas, they were married by an Elvis impersonator, with Micah acting as their witness.
With the prospect of becoming a father and the reality of being a husband, Jack sought out less risk in his ways of making a living. He knew that he was a great wrestler, but the percentage of those who make a real sustainable living out of the sport is minute. He began to spend more time wrestling in bingo halls and gyms, and less time robbing from the rich. Lily gave birth to Rose and Jack was ecstatic to be a father to a beautiful baby girl and husband to a beautiful wife. But with fatherhood came responsibility, and Jack knew that he needed to start making a living wage, which wasn't going to happen wrestling for the indie promotions he was performing for. So when he was spotted by an EWC talent scout and subsequently offered a contract at the illustrious company, his dreams had come true.
Jack made a solid start to live in the EWC, winning three of his matches, and losing two against formidable opposition and EWC champions in Sally Talfourd and Tanja Devereux. Whilst from the outside it seemed as though life was perfect for Jack, not least considering where he had come from, on the inside everything was falling apart. Jack was rarely at home due to the EWC's busy schedule, flying out across the globe to faraway places such as India and Australia. Lily was left alone to care for Rose and she was beginning to feel isolated.
This wasn't the biggest problem however. When Jack was home, he was just as faraway from Lily as when he was performing on Paramount. Rather than spend the precious time with a his new born daughter and his loving wife, Jack would obsess over both his previous and his future matches, trying to improve. He would spend hours upon hours repeatedly watching his last bout, looking for areas of improvement, and watching footage of his next opponent in the hope of gaining an advantage. Lily had told Jack that he 'never really came home' and in her heart she knew she couldn't live like this for the rest of her life.
It all came to a head after Jack had defeated Divewire at EWC's 2022 iteration of the Youngblood Pay-Per-View. Jack returned home to find Lily in hysterics with baby Rose crying unattended. Jack tried to smooth things over, but the damage had been done and a teary-eyed Lily shook Jack to his core as she asked for a divorce. Jack's reaction was one of sorrow rather than rage. He wept as he cradled baby Rose back to sleep and put her back in her cot before comforting a crying Lily, giving her a kiss on the forehead and telling her that he would 'always love' her. Jack walked out of his home that night and upon his return a few days later, his wife and child were gone with a note from Lily, telling him that she'd be back when the time is right.
Filled with fear, uncertainty, and desolation, Jack did nothing but sit at home, staring at the walls, contemplating his life. He was scheduled for a triple threat match on Paramount that week, but EWC staff hadn't heard from Jack since Youngblood and feared he wouldn't show. Walking into the Barclay's Center in Brooklyn around fifteen minutes before his scheduled match, Jack didn't speak to anyone. He walked through the curtain when it was time, lost the match convincingly to Tanja Devereux, and left the building without a word to his friends or colleagues. Jack wasn't seen again in the EWC as he suffered a severe mental breakdown.
Although Jack had left the life of crime to pursue his wrestling dream, Micah was still out there hustling. Micah himself was a wrestler by trade, but hadn't got the look of a star like Jack had, and gave up working on the Indie scene to pursue more perilous work. Micah had been working a con in New Orleans by himself for the past month, and when he returned to find Jack in the state that he was in, he took care of his best friend like a brother. Jack could open up to Micah and let him know of the split and the subsequent collapse of Jack's life. Micah worked on getting Jack back to full health whilst informing the EWC of his situation and pleading with them to keep him in mind.
Recently Jack has gotten back to something more like himself. He is in great shape and has been wrestling with Micah in the local boxing gym, preparing for a return to the EWC. When Jack got in touch with the company, they were willing to take a second chance on him, citing his sky-high potential, despite his unpredictable nature and his unstable predicament. He will be returning in the very near future to once again pursue his dream.
Lily never did return. The time mustn't be right. But Jack hasn't given up hope of finding her and his daughter. Jack hopes for a reconciliation, but would settle for just knowing of their safety and happiness.
To be continued.