Posted by Ronnie Long on July 10, 2004, 1:54 am

# Sun shades in the color of my coat of valor # # Helmet built out of my strength and honor # # Bet I die from an arrow through the head # Green Plaid Castle, De Istemus We open inside an apartment somewhere in Miami, Florida. It’s a fairly nice one, with a living room set up. An air conditioner, set to full blast, rattles noisily in the window. The living room itself is dark, but a light comes from somewhere behind the view, presumably from the kitchen. A man wearing black jean shorts and no shirt sits on the couch, relaxing. His longish black hair hangs over his face, and his shoulders and back are a veritable roadmap of old scar tissue. His name is Ronnie Long, and he is the ‘weak link’ of the Andrews Foundation. A shadow appears in the light briefly, darkening the scene. But it walks into the room, and the light returns to normal. “I brought you one of those limeades you like, Ronnie.” Deanna D’aimore wears black jogging shorts and a magenta spaghetti string tank top. Her eyes are green, and this sets off the blackness of her waist long raven hair. She holds a plastic bottle of something in one hand, and holds it out for Ronnie to take. He smiles, and takes the bottle. Leaning back, he opens it and takes a sip, before reaching to his ribs with his weathered hand. He leans back on the sofa with a noise that is half sigh, half groan. His girlfriend of two years looks over to him in concern. “Ronnie, are you hurt?” “Only in memory.” He sighs heavily. To understand Ronnie Long, you have to understand where he came from. You have to understand how close he came to becoming quite literally the psycho would-be killer he portrayed in the GWF, and how he was saved first by love, and then by friendship. It would also help you to understand if you familiarized yourself with a conversation Long held with then NPW President Sam Carnage. In short? Ronnie told Sam that the arrival of Jeffy Andrews and Kai Scott – now his stablemates – in NPW, unexpectedly and on the same week, was no coincidence. He warned Sam to keep his eyes open, and had fully intended to do the same. He had even gotten the sensation that Kai was involved in something he didn’t fully understand. But somehow, he’d been slow on the uptake. He didn’t trust Angelina Bishop, and he didn’t trust Kurt Richards much more. But it never occurred to him to distrust Jeffy Andrews. “Ronnie, do you feel bad about what happened?” Deanna was a gentle creature. She always had been. Even after working as an exotic dancer in the bowels of downtown Denver, she had a sort of innocence, a mostly intangible quality that somehow gave Ronnie a burning desire to protect her from anything that could hurt her. Ronnie always considered his match against Neo on 7/4/02 to be the most painful experience of his life, and yet he’d go through it 10 times gladly, if only it would keep her safe and happy. This isn’t hypocritical on his part. Because she lives her life, and he lets her do that, and stays there to catch her whenever she falls. And so, when she asks, he answers simply and without grumbling. “Yes, I do, Deanna. I think Jeff made a mistake, and I went along with it out of cold, impartial logic, and a conscious decision that doing so was the lesser of two evils. Friendship is precious, you know I believe this, and even as Jeff said, the former NPW roster isn’t badly off even now. Even Ariel Mace now has a job with CRW. But that fails to take into account damage his actions did to everyone.” She looks uncomfortable. “But you helped him. You hit the NPW commentator with a chair, and you did it from behind.” “And I’m not proud of it.” Prodding his oft injured ribs, Ronnie adjusts his position on the couch. “But things happened very suddenly that night. And Jeff’s always been prone to making impulse decisions at the last minute. So when he staggers back to the VIP room where he’s left me stationed, and says ‘Ronnie, here’s what we’re going to do and how we’re going to do it’ and hands me a chair and tells me to make sure that Ken Crowley doesn’t get involved and then clean up the ringside trash damn, I know it’s not the right thing to do. But it happens, and if you blink, you’ve lost your chance to speak up.” Ronnie stands and pushes the curtains over the window aside. It’s night time apparently, and the moon can be seen. Out in the distance, it reflects off the water of the ocean, and listening carefully he can hear the murmur of the tide over the sounds of traffic and humanity. “So I go along with Jeff, on the grounds that I can’t think of anything else I can do given the circumstances. Think about it from my perspective – Jeff lost an important match, arguably the most important of his career, because I was on the wrong side of the ring with my head up my ass when the Untouchables Untouchadrove Kai. This weak link stuff it’s bad enough when I know there’s no basis in it.” “You shouldn’t listen to Adam Delicious though, Ronnie.” Deanna pats him on the shoulder. “He’s never liked you, and you’ve never liked him. When he cut his promo, all he could come up with was to say that you’re stupid.” “He may be onto something. A smart person wouldn’t fight in a Japanese Deathmatch with Jeremiah Blackwell.” She says, “He probably just doesn’t understand you.” And Ronnie laughs slightly. “And I’ve been trying to cut ties with the gothic thing I had going back years ago, and the last thing I want to do is get caught complaining about not being understood. And I’d just as soon not get into verbal battles – you know that stuff doesn’t interest me. And it gives me flashbacks about Griven.” Deanna laughs at this one. Only one person reading this knows who Griven is, and he may have forgotten. But Griven was GWF’s answer to Crippler and if you don’t know who Crippler is, forget it. “Adam calls me stupid, and there are certainly stupid things I do. But that isn’t what prompts him to say this. It’s a random response of about half a dozen pre conceived insults he comes up with. He says things without having a reason he doesn’t put any thought into his actions He is a man who lives his life walking backwards, and it shows. And Taranis isn’t much better he has been betrayed by too many people – his spirit is broken. Of all my opponents for the week, Deion Bonds is the only one that worries me. And between myself, Jeff and Heidi, he can be dealt with.” Turning away from the window, Ronnie sits back down on the couch. Again, he raises his hand to his ribs. “My first match in over a year. And you’re not upset?” “You know I wish you’d retire, Ronnie, but I know how much you don’t want to do that. As long as you stay out of the death matches, I’ll be here for you.” A long sigh escapes as Ronnie leans all the way back, his spine creaking. “You know the last thing I want to do is hurt you, Deanna. No matter how hard I try to be a good person, I cannot do the right thing by everyone. Some people simply are more important than others to me you topping the list, followed by Jeff and Heidi.” “He’s really that good of a friend?” “He is.” Ronnie nods. “Jeff is not a bad person. He intended to save the Coalition through straight up means. But he worked himself to the breaking point, and like the businesswoman she is, Angelina Bishop made him an offer he couldn’t refuse. And Jeff jumped at the opportunity to rid himself of the burden that is saving the CAL, while at the same time getting IWA back. I’d guess that, if he feels no remorse for the people he hurt in doing this, he will within a month. But hopefully those people will realize how the offer Angelina made him would have broken a saint.” Deanna nods. “But would Sam Carnage?” “Jeff considered Sam almost a mentor. Jeff hasn’t talked to his parents since he started wrestling, you know, and I think he nearly found a father figure in Sam. And he experienced growing pains the only difference is that no teenager can knock you out and sell away your house, which is comparable to what Jeff did to Sam. He’ll feel guilty, if he doesn’t already.” “I like him too. He’s always been very nice to me. But can he really excuse the fact that he hurt so many people? People like Sam Carnage. People like the wrestlers in IWA who had faith in him. And in the long run, himself? The Low Man Immortal turns out to be a myth.” Ronnie looks his girlfriend over. Deanna sits, pensive, a ruby painted fingernail against her lips. “A myth. Just like Daeriq said.” Deanna looks up in surprise. Ronnie rarely mentions his former tag team partner former mentor and friend, even. “Why bring that up now, Ronnie?” “Because human nature is frail. People trust in others people trust in themselves and they throw it away on a spur of the moment plan for revenge against their own perceptions.” “Even you?” Deanna reaches out and puts his hand between hers, an oddly touching gesture. And he smiles. “I wouldn’t be so arrogant as to deny it, Deanna. But I’ve had more than my fill of revenge. In the long run, it will accomplish nothing. And that’s why I reaffirm my loyalty to Jeffy Andrews – my friend. And to Heidi, who is also my friend. Because to turn on them would be something. Revenge is a hollow, meaningless sensation. Only through positive can you ever hope to grow.”