DIARY ENTRY THREE – FOLEY’S LOG.
Dear Diary,
On the eve of Chain Reaction, I’ve been thinking deeply about my life. I’ve been considering how one catalyst can be the beginning of everything.
Look at last week for example…
Had I done what my good buddy Doom suggested and walked away from a fight that wasn’t ours, he wouldn’t have taken a shovel to the head.
And I wouldn’t be writing this with an ice pack on mine.
I was the catalyst for both of those things. I set off a Chain Reaction that resulted in both of our injuries. That’s not the first time in my life that’s happened.
Next week at Chain Reaction, it won’t be the last.
[Felix Foley closes his diary and removes the icepack from his head, checking it for blood. It’s dried. He moves the diary aside and smiles faintly.]
“My father set of a Chain Reaction of events that led us to this very point… to Chain Reaction, in fact.”
[He nods.]
“When I was born, that was the beginning of it all.”
[Foley stands up and walks over to his father’s diary, peering down at it.]
“In reading this, I’ve learned more about that man than I ever thought possible. My birth was the chain reaction that led to everything he did. I don’t know why, I don’t even know how, but there’s no other logical reason for it, is there?”
[He flips a few pages.]
“For example, my brother was conceived years after I was. Albert – his chosen son, didn’t suffer the abuse I did. My existence was the catalyst for his life being as perfect as it was.”
[Foley shakes his head.]
“I set off a chain reaction that saw him live a completely different life than I ever knew.”
[He pushes the book aside angrily and takes a seat.]
“And when I went searching for my brother, I continued that reaction. I saw Tombstone murder him and that led me to Ring of Dreams, whereby I was annihilated by the man. Every single moment from the day I was conceived to this very moment on Monday has been one reaction after the next, including my stupidity last week that saw my friend hurt.”
[Foley closes his eyes, ashamed.]
“When will it end?
When will the next reaction begin. Isn’t it overdue? I’ve been living from the same moment all my life and nothing good has ever come from it. Do you know what changes that? Starting a new chain reaction. Beginning something else.”
[He takes a deep sigh of breath.]
“For a lot of people in this match, it’s about winning an opportunity at the Old School Wrestling World Heavyweight Championship and gee, don’t get me wrong, I want that too. But that’s not what winning Chain Reaction is truly about for me.
It’s about creating a new explosion – something bigger and better, that starts a new chain reaction that might finally lead me to a better life…
This time, not for the kids…
But for Felix Foley.”