Becoming Julia Braddock (2)

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Off Camera
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It has been almost two weeks since Julia Braddock...that is her name, right? She still isn’t certain who she truly is, but she knows that she must identify as Julia Braddock if she is to ever escape this mental institution that her own sister, Glory Braddock, has locked her up in. Either way, Julia has been her for over two weeks since being locked up and the first meeting with her psychiatrist, a woman known only as Gwen, was enlightening. Gwen herself isn’t even fully aware of what is going on. Julia has her suspicions but has nothing concrete. No evidence. No proof. She cannot do anything from in here anyway, and that is part of the brilliance of her sister’s plan; it keeps Julia away. She is no longer a threat. Even if Julia were outside, she has no contacts. She has no support system. And Glory has covered her tracks all too well. No one could prove that she was unjustly incarcerated here by her own sister.

Julia Braddock today finds herself in a new situation; visitation. She has yet to receive any visitors since coming here. Julia can only guess at who would want to come see her. She has no friends due to the fact that she burned all of her bridges as Chastity Noel. The only people who may want to come see her would be her agent Mason Van Stanton or her sister Glory Braddock and even then it would be to just simply gloat over her misfortune. Does Julia want that? No, of course not. But she cannot afford to appear uncooperative, not while Gwen still holds her future in her hands. So Julia is here in visitation, sitting at a table awaiting on the arrival of the visitor.

A few moments later a door on the far end of the room opens. Julia watches with wide-eyed awe as she sees the last person she ever expected...dressed in a black pencil skirt, black high heel pumps, a red blouse, and her signature black leather jacket, long red hair cascading down to past her shoulders...this is Angelica Jones, Julia’s cousin.

“Angelica…” Julia’s voice is full of shock. She is definitely surprised to see her cousin here. It makes no sense. The Jones family and Braddock family are forever interconnected through the relationship shared by Mary Ford and Glenn Braddock. Mary Ford and Glenn Braddock are Glory and Julia’s parents, but Mary Ford also happens to be the maternal aunt of Angelica and Kayla Jones.

“You look surprised.” Angelica says flatly and stoically as she nonchalantly walks over and sits down at the table with Julia. “We are family. What is wrong with me visiting family?”

“Nothing I suppose...it’s just that…” Julia finally sighs and turns her gaze away from Angelica’s “..oh what would you know?!”

“What would I know about insane asylums? Plenty. I took a gun and blew my ex-boyfriend’s brains out...Marie and Kim’s father is dead because of a psychotic episode I endured. I spent years in a mental hospital until the “law” felt I could be trusted in society again. So yes, I know plenty about places like this, Julia.”

Angelica’s run in with psychiatric hospitals is well documented and if anyone could speak to Julia’s troubles right now it would be her. Julia sighs and nods her head. “Fine...you win...but why? Why are you even here? Won’t this piss off Glory?”

“You say that as if I give a damn about what Glory thinks.” An evil smirk forms across Angelica’s face. “To be honest, I don’t really care what anyone thinks about me. You should know this.”

“Yes, yes I do.” Julia says, finally the tension is easing up as she and Angelica both share a light-hearted laugh.

“How are you holding up?” Jones finally asks her. Julia sighs and shrugs her shoulders.

“I don’t know. It’s tough. I mean, this is a farce. It is a hoax. All of it.”

“You mean you don’t believe that you belong here?”

“I don’t.” Julia shakes her head. “I spoke with my psychiatrist...someone named Gwen...after talking with her and knowing what limited information I already had, I came to the rather easy conclusion that Glory has orchestrated all of this just to make sure she has no threats against her.”

“How exactly were you a threat?” Angelica asks curiously. “I thought you two had made peace.”

“I thought so too. But it makes sense the more I think about it. Long ago Glory retook the Braddock name. After she did that she slowly began to gain more and more power and influence within Global Championship Wrestling….our dad’s school...everything. There was one thing keeping her from ultimate power and I suppose that was me. I was still an embarrassment to her because I was her sister but I still went by the Noel name. Some deal was struck between her and Mason...I’m still not clear on what the deal was or even if there was a deal? Maybe Glory just blackmailed him? Point is, she and Mason worked together to get me locked up here on the basis of my mental instability. Apparently changing my name is grounds for her claiming I’m mentally unstable. I can’t be released unless I sign a document legally changing my name back to Julia Braddock.”

“It sounds far fetched but knowing how cold Glory and Aphrodite have been towards one another recently, it actually makes sense.” Angelica would know. She is every bit a cousin to Glory as she is to Julia. Also Angelica and Aphrodite are lovers. She hears it from both. Perhaps Angelica even knows more than she is letting on? Julia considers this as a real possibility.

“I could get out of this place today, Angel.” Julia insists. “All I have to do is sign that document.”

“Then why don’t you?”

“Two reasons...first, out of principle. I really would hate giving Glory what she wants, plus I would be betraying Aphrodite. Second, I feel as if maybe I do need to be here...maybe I do need some psychiatric help...just not in the way Glory believes I do.”

“Well as far as the first one goes, Glory will get what she wants regardless. You know this. Aphrodite won’t be hurt. Trust me, she would understand completely. As for the second,” Angelica takes her cousins hands and squeezes them tightly “you’re not crazy.”

“Maybe not in the traditional way. But you have to admit I have changed. There are unresolved issues that have allowed people like Aphrodite, Mason Van Stanton, and my own sister to influence me, manipulate, and change me. Unresolved issues with my mother abandoning me and Glory was enough to allow Aphrodite the room she needed to get inside my head. Don’t get me wrong, Aphrodite in the end was a true mother figure to me. I learned so much about how to negotiate my way through the politics of wrestling. But there was a sense of distrust created in the beginning, and that distrust allowed Mason inside my head and he changed me into a narcissist...he made me into a monster, a monster who betrayed friends like Destiny...Kendra...and Hannah…” Julia sighs deeply. Tears form in her eyes. “Will I ever earn their friendship and trust back?”

“I wish I could say yes.” Angelica says quietly.

“But you know this business better than anyone, including me. You know better than to lie. Point is, over the years I have become a monster due to many unresolved issues. I need to deal with those unresolved issues so I can really and truly become the best version of myself...not the bullshit line Mason fed me, either. I’ve burned many bridges, Angelica, and I want to do whatever it takes to repair them, and if it means staying here for awhile then so be it.”

There is a pause as Julia sits and stares at her older cousin. Angelica processes what was told to her and then finally, after a deep sigh, nods her head and begins speaking. “What you are doing is admirable. Noble. But you’re going about it the wrong way. You cannot do this alone.”

“I have to.” Julia insists. “I have to fight this battle on my own. I have been betrayed so many times, I have betrayed so many people myself, I’m just not sure I can work with anyone...I have to do this myself…”

“No you don’t.” Angelica shakes her head. “Trust me, I have burned many bridges. I have become a monster many times only to fight back from the brink and restore myself. The monster I became, The Dragon, it was so worse than you could ever hope to be. I have done far worse things than you could ever imagine. But I am now sitting before you a better person having fought that monster and destroyed it. Now I’m working to prove to the rest of the world that I am a better person. I would be honored and privileged to start with you.”

“What are you suggesting?” Julia asks.

“I want to help you on your journey to redemption. As a way of making up for my many years of misdeeds as a monster I want to help you destroy your own monster. Do we have a deal?”