Keep You

A week after Riley was put in the hospital, there was still no progress with her. In fact the doctors kept saying since she had such a naturally weak immune system, it was a surprise she was even alive right now, so there is hope that she will fight off the illness and get to come home.

Kylie’s entire personality has changed since the day of the meeting. She’s spending time with her brother, she’s calling her cousin to talk to him, and she even sits in the office while I work and tries to help. Of course she tried to make me put hot pink trunks on someone, so that didn’t last too long, so now she just sits and talks to me while I work.

“What made you want to become a wrestler?” Kylie asked while I was working on a video.

“I don’t know, I guess I was just inspired.” I replied, adjusting a clip length by a few second.

“What made Mom want to go in?” Kylie had been asking a lot of questions about her mother, which I was grateful for because it seems her unnecessary resentment toward Riley was over.

“I really have no idea. She actually hated the thought of being a manager,” I replied, sitting back and looking over at her. “I guess she realized that she could also wrestle, and it was in her blood, considering who her father was. Plus it was what Matt and I wanted, and she’s heard stories about how relationships change to those who are on the road and people who stay home, and she didn’t want to loose us.”

“So she took the managing thing to be with you and Uncle Matt?” she asked. I nodded, running my hand through my hair.

“What about Grandpa Mark? How good was he?”

“Your grandpa was a legend in that business. Everyone, even people who didn’t watch the WWE knew who he was. He has the longest Wrestlemania winning streak to this day.”

“How many wins?”

“Let’s see, he was still wrestling after the Hall of Fame, he stayed about ten more years, so he was with the WWE for thirty years. He skipped a few Wrestlemanias, so I’d say about 26, 27 wins.” Kylie’s jaw hit the floor as I told her that.

“You’re serious?” she asked.

“Absolutely. There were people who would challenge him to try to break the streak, they all failed. Michael Hickenbottom was the one that was dead determined on breaking it. He put his career on the line to do it, but that was actually because he was getting ready to retired anyway.”

“Who’s he?”

“Your mother’s third father,” I muttered, smiling. “He was a really good friend of Mark’s, and Riley absolutely loved him. At first it was a crush, but then she got over it and he became more of a father figure to her.”

“I miss Mom,” Kylie muttered suddenly. “I want her to come home soon.”

“So do I Lee,” I said, wrapping my arms around her shoulders. “So,” I said after a minute. “How’s school going now?”

“Terrible, I can’t think of anything but Mom. Tracey’s still out on suspension, so I have no one to talk to.”

“What about Gracie, Christian and Mitch?”

“They won’t let me near them because of what happened. I walk up to them and they walk away.” she replied. “Are you sure Gracie’s my aunt?”

“Yes, I’m sure,” I replied with a laugh. “Kylie, Sara is the same age as your Mom and me.”

“Seriously? Okay what was grandpa thinking with that one?”

“He was in love,” I said with a shrug. “We didn’t mind it, we knew she made him happy. You have to think though, they really weren’t that far apart in age.”

“They’re fifteen years apart in age,? Kylie tried to point out.

“I know, because Mark was fifteen when Riley was born.”

“Wait, Grandpa was a teen Dad?” she asked shocked.

“Yeah, that’s why we’ve been concerned about you and where you was heading hanging out with Tracey. We didn’t want you to end up like that.”

“There’s a lot of girls who are doing that.” She said.

“Sure, but do those girls have the father around?” I asked. Kylie didn’t respond, which meant I proved my point. “Kylie, Mark was fifteen when your mom was born, but he didn’t come into her life until she was nine years old.”

“But, Grandma Sammy died when she was six right? What happened to her through those three years?” I sighed, knowing she would have to hear this sooner or later.

“Her grandparents couldn’t take seeing her anymore. She reminded them too much of the daughter they lost. Your mom was put into Child Services’ care until they could find a relative that could take her in. They found Paul and Marylyn. They brought her down here, passed her off to someone else, and left. Now, she was seven when this was going on, so she didn’t understand. The social worker had no idea what they were doing, so she stopped the car randomly and sent Riley on her own way.” Kylie gasped, her eyes grew wide with shock.

“They abandoned Mom on the side of the road?” I nodded, thinking back as best I could to the night she told us. I tried to go back further, to the night I met her, but some of the memory was a little hazy because of how long ago it was.

“They abandoned her, and the night we met, I was doing something and at the end of the driveway. The night we met, was the same night they abandoned her. I found her nearly passed out completely from exhaustion. I tried to help her, but it was too late for her trust. She refused to trust anyone then, so she ran. She ended up collapsing at her aunt and uncle’s house, and that’s where we found her. Little did we know, that’s exactly where she was heading.”

“Mom had a really tough life didn’t she?” Kylie muttered, staring at her hands.

“Yeah, she had a tough life, but you know what made up for that tough life? Becoming a wife, and then becoming a mother.” I sighed as I remembered the bag Amanda found in Kylie’s room a few months ago. It wasn’t as bad as the things I did, but it was still pretty bad for a fifteen year old to have.

“Remember when your aunt Mandy found the bag of pot in your room? How pissed off I got because you had it?” When Kylie nodded, she mumbled something under her breath. “What?”

“I said, I’m sorry. I did smoke a joint.”

“Kylie, the reason I acted that way was because I know what drugs does to a family. I was addicted to prescription pain pills for a while. It caused me to get suspended from wrestling twice, and it even lead to me getting arrested for possession and intent on distributing.”

“You were going to sell drugs?” Kylie asked, looking up at me.

“I didn’t know what I was doing. Thank goodness I had Riley though, she literally slapped some sense back into me and took charge. I haven’t done anything since that day.”

“Mom cares a lot,” Kylie replied.

“Yep, she does.” I agreed. “Her caring personality is one of the things I love about her the most. Plus her courage to keep fighting, no matter how bad things seem to be.”

“So a little birdy told me that you used to date Ms. Carmichael.” Kylie said.

“And that’s the end of our session, please make an appointment with the receptionist on the way out.” I said, getting back to work on the video. Kylie laughed and stood up, before she left the room she said, “I’m glad you and Mom met. Mom really needed someone stable, and you’re the best person for that.” She left the room, and I sat back in my chair.

I decided that when she starts dating, I’m buying a shotgun to learn to clean.