The Reckoning- Part Two

Sunday May 5th- Adam and Ginny’s Apartment Ginny Van Lear jabbed at the simmering pot on the stove. The scent of hearty beef stew filled the modest kitchen, a comfort on an otherwise tense evening. With Adam still staying with his parents after their blow-up, the apartment felt quiet and gave Ginny time to process what happened.

Suddenly, the calm was shattered by the percussive thump of knuckles on wood. Ginny's heart slammed against her ribs, a rapid drumbeat that matched the sudden intrusion. She pivoted on the balls of her feet and strode to the door.  She looked through the peephole.

"What th-," Ginny muttered under her breath, her Kentucky twang thick with annoyance.

The imposing figure of Dawn McGill, her statuesque frame casting a long shadow in the hallway, was on the other side of the door.

Without a word, she yanked open the door, her green eyes flaring with a fighter's fire.

“Ginny-” SLAM

Before Dawn could utter another syllable, Ginny slammed the door shut with a thunderous clap. Behind the barrier, Ginny's back pressed against the cool wood, her breaths coming in short, controlled bursts.

"Ginny, open the door, please.  Just hear me out," came Dawn's muffled plea from the other side.

"Go away!" Ginny shot back, the words sharp as a suplex slam.

"I just want to talk. This isn’t Adam's fault—"

"Th’ hell it ain't," Ginny interrupted.  She then pressed her hands together and looked contritely up at the ceiling.  “Sorry, Lord.”

"Adam doesn't even know I'm here, Ginny.”

That gave Ginny pause. Her fingers twitched at her sides.

“He didn’t put me up to this. I’m here on my own. Please open the door and let’s talk."

She hesitated, then with a huff, Ginny finally unlocked the door and swung it open with authority.

"Fine," Ginny growled, stepping aside with reluctance, her body language still defensive as she let the wrestling manager into her sanctuary. "But y’all better make it quick. My dinner's cookin’."

Ginny stomped back to the kitchen, turning down the heat under the pot. The bubbling inside the pot seemed to mirror her inner turmoil, but she took a deep breath, trying to keep her composure from boiling over.

"Thanks, Ginny. I mean it," Dawn said, following her at a respectful distance.

"Talk," Ginny commanded, not looking at her not-so-welcome guest as she stirred the stew with more force than necessary.

Dawn approached the kitchen table, her towering frame a stark contrast to Ginny's more compact build. She pulled out a chair, keeping her gaze level with the redhead's fiery eyes.

"Look, Ginny, I can't say I’m sorry enough for the trouble I've caused between you and Adam," Dawn began again, her tone earnest and regretful. "It's the last thing I wanted. I came here to clear the air, not stir it up. Especially after the weekend he had."

Ginny's brows furrowed in confusion. "The weekend he had?" she repeated questioningly.

“I take it you didn’t watch ReVival 47 then.”

“No.”

Dawn nodded solemnly. "Your husband ran into a buzzsaw Friday night in Paris," she explained. "He took on the hometown favorite Flamberge in front of an incredibly hostile crowd. He's never experienced anything like that before in his career and Adam didn't handle it the greatest...and I didn't either."

Curiosity piqued, Ginny leaned forward in her seat. "What happened?" she asked, already feeling a sense of dread in her gut.

"Some idiot threw a cup at him on the ramp," Dawn explained. "Of course, Adam responded by flipping the guy off and all hell broke loose.”

Ginny's jaw nearly hit the floor. "Wait.  He flipped off the whole dang crowd?!"

"Yep, not just once but twice," Dawn replied. "Adam went and gave 'em a double bird on his way out of there."

"That ain't like him at all," Ginny remarked with a shake of her head.

Dawn chuckled bitterly before adding, “And then some creepy guy in the audience got handsy with me and I had to take him out with my heels. But… back to topic…even with the crowd giving Adam all kinds of abuse, he still went out there wrestled his heart out against a world-class wrestler... maybe if not for being in Paris and that horrible French crowd, Adam might have pulled off the win."

Ginny's jaw clenched tight as she listened to Dawn's account of the events that had transpired over the weekend.

"But I'm sorry for anything I've done to create tension between you and Adam," Dawn said, her voice softening as she reached out to place a hand on Ginny's arm. "It was never my intention to come between the two of you."

Ginny felt a wave of conflicting emotions wash over her.

"Alright," Ginny conceded with a nod, "Apology accepted.”

“Dawn exhaled, her posture deflating slightly as if the weight of past decisions pressed down upon her shoulders. "I know, Ginny. I know it looks bad, especially coming from where you stand.”

“What I don't understand is how you could get mixed up in that... that sleaze on screen." Ginny’s accent thickened with emotion, each word loaded like a shotgun ready to fire. "My daddy- may he rest in peace, always taught me better'n that. There's no way he woulda let me wear nothin' like that in public, with them boys all over me doin' who knows what. Have a little guide of yerself.”

“You have to understand... I was desperate." She paused, her eye contact unwavering. "Divorced, broke, and with three kids- I had nothing with MVW and HOW going dark and I had to make ends meet somehow. Those movies paid the bills when nothing else would.”

"So y'all just up and went to makin' them raunchy flicks?" she asked with a twang.

“Look, it wasn’t porn or anything like that.  But yes, it was definitely 1970’s B-movie, drive-in, trashy kind of material.”  Dawn shrugged helplessly and silence hung between them for a moment, both women lost in their thoughts.

Finally, Ginny spoke up again. "I reckon I git why ya gotta take care of your family," she said slowly. "But turnin' to that kinda work...it just don't feel right to me."

"Ginny," Dawn continued, the steel edge of her voice softened by a hint of vulnerability, "I'll be the first to admit I've made some really bad choices in my life." She looked up, locking eyes with the younger woman, a silent plea for understanding in her gaze. "And probably worse ones trying to dig my way out of financial messes."

Ginny's brows knitted together, the fiery temper she was known for simmering just below the surface. Her arms crossed defensively, though her curiosity piqued at Dawn's confession.

“How am I supposed to just trust ya 'round Adam?" Ginny asked.

Dawn shook her head, a lock of wavy blonde hair tumbling across her face. She pushed it back with a practiced motion. “Ginny. In that ring, in PRIME, I'm there because Adam's got talent and that’s all, not for any... other reasons." The corners of her lips twitched, a ghost of a smile attempting to break through. "Managing him while you're holding down the fort here- that's it… that’s my only angle."

Ginny uncrossed her arms, leaning back slightly as if absorbing the impact of Dawn's words.

"And you know what the crazy part out of this whole thing is?" The intensity of Dawn’s eyes was unwavering. "I'm jealous of you, Ginny Van Lear."

“Jealous?" Ginny snorted, her face showing her disbelief. "Why woudja be jealous of me?"

"Ginny. you've got someone who loves you. That boy would walk through fire for you." Dawn's hands clasped together, a rare sign of unease creeping into her posture. "You have no idea how much I wish I had someone in my life who loved me as much as Adam loves you. Lord knows I've had my chances…” Dawn looked wistfully over at the wall.  “I'd give anything in the world to take back some of the bad choices I’ve made. To rewind the clock and do it all differently," she said, a note of longing threading through her words.

Ginny's gaze drifted past the simmering pots on the stove, her eyes reflecting a turmoil that had little to do with the bubbling stew.

“Y'all don't get it. When he packs up and heads out for his shows, I'm left all by my lonesome, wrasslin' with this here loneliness," Ginny confessed, voice tinged with a weariness that belied her 21 years. "Yeah, sure, Adam's livin' it up out there, chasin' our dreams while I'm stuck here in the apartment, fat as a hen and rooted to the ground." A sigh escaped Ginny's lips.  "I feel… like I'm just gettin' bigger 'n bigger every day."

Dawn leaned forward with an empathy that softened her normally steely demeanor. "Ginny, honey, I've been pregnant three times, once with twins. I know exactly what you’re going through right now. You're 21 years old... you’re about to become a mother for the first time.  It's scary.  I know... I’ve been there.  It's okay to feel overwhelmed. I was 16 years old when I was pregnant for the first time. It felt like the whole world came crashing down on me.”

Ginny nodded and conceded the point with a half-hearted grunt.

"Look, how can I prove to you that my intentions are purely business, please tell me," Dawn continued, sincerity etched into her sculpted features. "How can I make this right?"

Ginny's head dropped to the table, her fiery red hair cascading over her arms.

Moments passed by with an intense silence as Dawn gazed at Ginny, waiting for her to respond.

Then, without warning, Ginny's head snapped up.

"Maybe there's somethin' y’all can do," Ginny said, the corner of her mouth twitching with the hint of a plan.

EPILOGUE “Hello?  Ginny?"

Adam Ellis stepped back into his apartment later that evening after receiving a text from Ginny to come home and walked right into the most unexpected scenario he could imagine.

"In here!" her voice called out.

There, amidst the comforting familiarity of their living room, his wife Ginny lounged like royalty on her recliner throne.

"Hey, darlin'," Ginny greeted, her voice an easy drawl.

The fiery countenance who’d bounced a pan off Adam’s forehead the day before had mellowed to a radiant glow, a stark contrast from the tempestuous maelstrom she'd embodied just a day prior. She was adorned in an oversized t-shirt that draped over her expectant form, shorts peeking out beneath the hem like a wrestler's trunks beneath a billowing robe.

“Ginny?”

Dawn’s three cabana boys orbited Ginny with the precision of a well-rehearsed NASCAR pit crew. One kneaded the tension from her shoulders, another stood by with a bottle of water at the ready, while the third applied gentle pressure to her swollen feet.

Adam's jaw dropped and his eyebrows shot up.  "What... how?" he managed to sputter, his gaze flicking between Ginny and the woman standing nearby, Dawn McGill, who watched the scene with a self-assured smirk.

"Let’s just say we had a nice girl-to-girl talk," she said, her tone carrying the confidence of a practiced promo.

Ginny let out a contented sigh. "I reckon I could get used to this," she confessed while the cabana boys continued to pamper and tend to her, Adam’s fiery Kentucky wildcat, relaxing in the recliner in all her natural beauty, more serene than Adam had seen her in a long time.