You Oughta Know Better
Jan 15, 2015 9:49:36 GMT -5
Post by Noelle Smith on Jan 15, 2015 9:49:36 GMT -5
Baltimore, MD
January 10th 2015
The Winter Street Carnival in Baltimore Maryland was laid out along large parking areas downtown and spilled out towards the smaller local businesses. Noelle had of course bundled up for the weather and it was so so cold – but she'd promised her niece and nephew that she'd take them. They groused about how she'd made them wear hats, scarves and gloves along with their thick puffy coats to make sure that Tyler Kahil and Madeira didn't freeze as they wandered through looking at the games and rides. Noelle had gotten them both hand warmer packs once they were there to add a layer of protection, and after an hour or two she was pretty sure that they had walked up and down at least three times just to make sure that the bundles of energy that were her brother Baz's youngest kids could be certain they had seen everything before they chose what games they wanted to try their hands at.
Currently they were standing before the ring toss booth, plush toys of various animals real and imagined clustered thickly attached to the ceiling of the booth. Even though Madeira wasn't having much luck actually getting the rings over the bottles she was laughing with delight and for Noelle that was more than enough to get her smiling too, watching the clouds of laughter made 'cold fog' breath rising up into the sky. She'd be willing to stand here all day and watch her do this if it kept that smile on her lips and that laugh spilling out, that was certain. She was watching her toss her latest handful one at a time when she watched a boy about her nephew's age approach Tyler Kahil and poke him in the chest.
“So what is you, a dune coon?”
Tyler Kahil was much like the rest of his family – they were of North African descent, with lovely light skin because of their Grandpa. Being a racially-mixed family, they ran into their share of this sort of behavior all the time. Noelle and her sisters got a bigger dose sometimes because they were so lovely. It's not that everyone that they encountered acted this way, but ignorance was occasionally on display and it made Noelle mad that her darling niece and nephew would have to deal with this sort of thing. That was life though, like it or not and you worked with the cards you were dealt.
“I'm not an Arab, you inbred cracker!”
Noelle's eyes went wide and she moved to step between the two boys.
“Tyler Kahil, you apologize right now! We don't talk like that...”
Her lovely large eyes narrowed as the other boy looked smug at his target having to apologize, until Noelle leaned in close to him.
“He's not Arabic, educate yourself - if you're going to insult someone you better understand everything there is about them first... and you better understand the consequences of what you say. You're just a kid, it's not too late for you.”
Noelle took him by the collar and yanked him right to the nearby carnival security man, stationed near the “gate” on that section of the parking area. She batted her eyelashes at the slightly older man, winking at him and then putting on a distressed air.
“Hi honey, I found this little boy wandering around without his parents and he's just so lost and alone. Can you take care of him until his Mommy and Daddy show up? Thank you, you're such a sweetheart! Bye bye dear, hopefully they come claim you soon!”
She smiled serenely as the security guard took the protesting little punk to the waiting area for lost kids, items, etc and Noelle heard him say … What a nice lady, you should be glad she helped you out. There were some people that if they knew what Noelle had done, would point fingers at her and call her a bad person and that would crow about that they 'knew' she wasn't as nice as she 'pretended' to be. But the thing was, not a single one of those people knew what it was like to be her, to get things yelled at them like 'hey baby I'm down with the swirl too!' and making rude remarks about her ethnicity, her femininity, the fact her parents were rich (even though they'd earned it all). All things considered, the fact Noelle was so nice was why that kid wasn't knocked on his ass with a red mark from a slap across his snotty face. She hoped that his ruined day would get him to thinking about what got him in trouble, and he'd learn to change his ways rather than deal with other ruined days. Of course it was more likely that he'd just end up being a bigger racist until he got his butt kicked right into an ICU, but Noelle really truly was a Silver Lining kind of girl.
Noelle had set up her camera and was fluffing her soft loose curls as she stepped into the shot, looking more than cute in her new ring gear with the ruffled skirt that really highlighted how bootylicious she really was. If she had any nerves about talking to Johnny Karma it certainly didn't show as she smiled with her pink frosted lips and she had an air of confidence as she began to speak.
“Hey FGA fans, Noelle Smith here again and this week I get the pleasure of facing someone that isn't out to try and kill me in the ring or end my career! I think that's a pretty positive thing isn't it? No tag partner with or without motives that I might have to worry about on top of all that sounds like a pretty good deal to me! Now I'm sure that Johnny Karma being the sort of competitor he is has already written me off as a done deal... that? I'm not so okay with. I mean why should I let this negativity bring me down when it really in the end doesn't matter a hill of beans?
Honestly if I was him – which I'm glad I'm not don't get me wrong, I might look past me too. Little Noelle Smith, I haven't done so great as far as the “w” column here in FGA. Good thing though that I'm a positive person and I look at more than who won or lost. To have that sort of attitude I think would have to be a crushing weight to bear, to put your self esteem on the shelf and do horrible things to people just to win is not my style at all. I look at every match as an opportunity, not just to win but to learn more about this sport that I love so much. To do my best every single time, for the fans and to show the world that the man who trained me, “Lethal” Scott Reynolds has the reputation he does for a reason.
Really, only a complete joke of a person could look at what I've done even in matches I didn't win and not understand that I was fundamentally trained to be a great wrestler. I'm not a little pink and gold princess flouncing out to the ring and hoping to win just because I've got a smoking hot bod and a slamming hot booty! I mean sure I do have both of these things, look at me... I've got it going on!” Noelle winked at the camera and did a cute little turn, shaking that booty as she did so before turning back to the camera with serious focus.
“But see I can look this great and still be able to actually, you know, wrestle with passion and perfection. This isn't a game to me, this isn't something I'm doing for a little bit before I quit and go into modeling for Victoria's Secret. This is what I want to do, what I dedicated so much time of my life into learning how to do the right way, the Old School way. Maybe I'm not a stand up brawler, a powerhouse, or the best submissions person in the world. Maybe I like doing the flashy things that get the fans sitting on the edge of their seats, hearts beating wildly and screaming their hearts out. I enjoy knowing that when they see Noelle Smith in a ring, they know I'm doing this for them and that I'm going to do it the right way.
I may not win every match, but I'm not taking cheap shortcuts and I'm not cheating. I'm wrestling the best match that I can, and being the best Noelle I can be. That's nothing to be ashamed of, and I won't let Johnny Karma or anyone else talk down to me about the purity of my motives. What you see is what you get, yes I really am this nice and yes I really will keep doing things this way. People like me, like Annie Zellor – we have a place in this business too. We're not stopping, we're not going away, and we're going to keep climbing the mountain because that's just what we do.
I can't help but think that Johnny is doing himself a disservice on top of everything else. This is the guy that had the intestinal fortitude to step up to Jimmy Page and grab after his open challenge. That takes real guts, and no one can take that away from Karma...but it takes a certain amount of delusion on his part. Johnny might well know what he's doing in that ring, but let's be real here, he's no Jimmy Page, he's no Dom Harter, he's no Malcolm Drake...this list could go on all day. Johnny Karma is a great man, a decent enough wrestler, and has oodles and oodles of charisma and quirky personality. Good on him, but it doesn't make him Mister Marquee Player either.
He's no more ready for the threat of Jimmy Page than I was the threat of Dante Anglais, but he's darn sure going to give it the old college try and pour everything that is Karma into his pursuit of the big man and the big championship. I can look at that with a little awe and be a little impressed, but getting back to that disservice he's doing to himself? I know for a fact and so do all of you that he's looking right past me, right past this match, and already marking me off as someone he's defeated before the bell even rings. But see, that's not how this works. That's not how any of this works, and a man that's ready to step up to Jimmy Page ought to know better.
For shame, Johnny Karma. And it would be an even bigger shame after all your expected braggadocio if you were left on the mat after I walk away with a win with your eyes big as saucers and wondering just how the heck little Noelle Smith managed to put away big bad Johnny Karma.
Well, it would be a win for me and a win for the fans but hey... I won't be the one looking past you the way you're looking past me. I have too much respect for this business and the people who give everything they have to compete in it, to do that to you or anyone else. Even if they deserve it.”
She sighed a little, but then smiled wide and winked at the camera. “But I do promise you Johnny that I'm going to treat you like the threat you can be, that I'm going to pick my spots and give the fans the best kind of wrestling match. Because I care about them, I care about FGA, and that is something I take pride in. Just being here, you have to understand that's a win for me and I'm not going to ever take that for granted. See you in Poughkeepsie, Johnny!”
Noelle waved to the camera and blew a kiss before walking out of the shot, humming happily under her breath.
Poughkeepsie, NY
January 14th 2015
Evan hadn't been too happy with the little gif that Noelle had posted to Twitter, his arms crossed as she explained that the man she'd been in the ring with while showing off her new ring gear wasn't a threat to him, he was just her brother Baz looking to break into wrestling and she'd done him a favor by teaming with him.
“What the hell kind of name is Baz anyway? I mean I know that's your brother ... What does he do anyway? Isn't he a fitness model?”
“It's Moroccan, be nice he likes you. He's done some modeling and teaches a spin class or something but he used to wrestle in high school and thinks if he puts on some flashy pants that he'd be a good tag team partner for me. It didn't go so badly, he's got a good trainer...”
“Do you need me to talk to him or what why are we having this conversation? I mean hell if you needed a tag partner why didn't you ask ME?” He groused, the multi-time champion now General Manager of SCW's Wildcard acting a bit like a petulant child told he couldn't have 'just dessert' for dinner.
“Baz isn't ready for the big time, so no... he's not going to be a regular tag partner for me in FGA...besides, don't you think I would ask you? I mean, if I really needed the backup in FGA you'd be there, right?”
Evan sputtered a bit then reached over and ruffled Noelle's curls. “Of course, of course. You're my lady, and I'm here for you.”
He said this expansively, but somehow Noelle didn't feel much relief at his words. What would happen if she really did get targeted by the Infinite Empire for her bold words to Tomoko last show? Noelle bit her lip and shook her head, then smiled. She'd keep her disquiet to herself at the moment, and just do her best when it came to facing Johnny Karma. That's how Noelle handled things, looking on the bright side no matter what.