Chapter 2
CM Punk met up with Rob, Sandman, Tommy, Jeff and Matt at a restaurant the next day. To tell the truth, he really didn't feel like going at all. He had a headache and he hadn't gotten much sleep. But he went anyway because…well he didn't actually know why.
"Dude, did you guys check out that new Neidheart girl?" Rob asked after they ordered their food. "She's freaking hot."
"Yeah, but she seems like a bitch," Matt commented.
Sandman snorted. "A bitch? Believe me, compared to my ex-wife, this girl is going to be a saint." He grinned. "Did I tell you guys what went down between her and Candice last weekend?"
"Candice bitch slapped the hell out of Lori," Tommy explained. He looked at his friend. "What I want to know is, how the hell did you get Candice Michelle? She's gorgeous and…just look at you man!"
Punk rolled his eyes. "Dreamer, Candice doesn't care that our resident drunk looks like he's been beaten with a stick too many times. She's too nice for her own good." He turned to Rob. "And why are we talking about this anyway? It's not like you're getting with any of the divas. You're married."
"Marriage doesn't mean I can't appreciate the scenery," Rob replied. "Besides, I wanted to bring the divas up because you need a girlfriend."
Punk groaned. Not this subject again. "For the last time, I don't need a girlfriend!"
"Yes you do. Tommy and I are married, Jeff's engaged, Matt's dating Eve and Sandman is fucking around with Candice, who's nearly half his age. Let's face it dude, you are the only one at this table not getting any satisfaction."
"He's probably getting some self satisfaction," Jeff commented.
Sandman and Tommy spit out their beers as they laughed. Punk glared at Jeff. "You just shut up over there. My masturbation is none of your business."
"It is if you're thinking about me as you do it," Jeff replied.
Matt smacked Jeff. "You just need to stop talking. Seriously, what has gotten into you and Shawn lately? You two are acting like complete idiots."
Punk looked around the restaurant as the two brothers started arguing. Halfway across the room he saw Maria, Mickie and Ashley eating and having a good time.
"Man, you have got to stop obsessing about her," Rob said. "Maria's a sweet girl and all, but things just don't work between you two."
"I'm not obsessing," Punk lied. The truth was that he had been depressed ever since they broke up. He knew it was partly his fault because he kept the April thing from her, and when he got depressed about April, it made Maria think that he wasn't happy with her. Pile that on to other problems that they were having and things turned into a disaster. "I've got to go get some air," he said.
"Great, now you've upset him," he heard Sandman tell Rob. "I hope your happy now. He's probably going to get really depressed and turn into another fucking Raven."
I'm not that bad, Punk thought as he left. He just wanted to be alone. Was that so hard to ask.
"Phil! Phil wait!"
Apparently it was. He turned around and saw that Maria was chasing after him. "What?"
She stopped, a flash of hurt going through her eyes at his tone. "Are you alright?"
He shrugged. "Sure. Why wouldn't I be?"
She sighed. "Phil, please don't do this. I know you're lying to me."
"Then I guess this shouldn't be much of a change." Punk regretted the words as soon as he said them. "Maria--"
"Just stop Phil!" she exclaimed. "Don't say you're sorry because we both know that's not going to change anything." She took a deep breath to calm herself down. It didn't really work that well. "I gave you everything Phil. You know everything about me. But every time I tried to find out about you, you just pushed me away. What's so bad about you that you couldn't let me in?"
"It's not who I am, it's what I did," he said. "And what I didn't do."
"Well what was it?" she yelled. "You owe me the truth."
There was no way he could tell her. How in the hell could he admit that he was the scourge of his family because they all blamed him for April's disappearance? How could he admit that he thought they were right? The answer was simple: he didn't. "I'm sorry," he apologized. "I really am." Then he took off running.
000
Chicago was different yet still the same. It was confusing to April. She wandered around the streets, trying to remember how the hell to get to her house. "Here house, come here house," she said under her breath.
She walked around for three hours before she finally found it. By then it was night time and she was starting to get a little cold. The front door was locked so she kicked it down. But as soon as she stepped in, she knew nobody had lived there for years. "Mommy?" she said quietly. "Daddy?"
No answer. She closed the front door and slumped down on the ground. Where was everybody? Had she come all this way for nothing? The very thought of it made her want to cry and kill somebody all at the same time.
She got up and left the house. She couldn't stay there; no answers could be learned there. She walked around some more, eventually ending up in grocery store. Buying things weren't on the agenda; she just didn't know where else to go.
She just happened to walk by the secluded magazine area. Nothing caught her eye until she spotted a wrestling almanac. Curious, she picked it up and skimmed through it. It wasn't until the wrestler's real names that she stopped dead in her tracks.
CM Punk's real name was Phil Brooks. Holy shit, she had just found her brother. Thinking quickly, she picked up a WWE magazine and looked through it until she found a picture of him. Yeah, it was definitely Phil. He was older and his hair had grown out, but she could tell it was him.
"Miss, can I help you with something?" the manager asked.
She looked at him and cocked her head to the side. "I find my brother. I go to him now."
He frowned. "What?"
She rolled her eyes. She wasn't going to repeat herself. Her message had been clear the first time. She pushed past him and started to walk out.
"Miss, you can't take those magazines without paying for them."
Oh yeah, she forgot. She dug in her pocket and threw a five dollar bill at him. "There. I go now."
"Miss that's not enough."
She growled and swung a bladed hand at his throat. It connected, and the loss of oxygen caused him to faint. "I don't like you," she told him. "You sleep or I kill you." With that, she got out of there before anyone else got a good look at her.
