Quite a sad chapter really, however I hope you find it interesting.
This goes into a little more detail as to why Lana is the way she is.
10
'Who's Charlene?'

As Randy looked around Ellen's apartment in New Hampshire, he was shocked at how small it was. It was probably the size of his bathroom in his St Louis home. There was a miniscule kitchen, an even smaller bathroom, and a medium sized living room, with one of those beds that comes out of the wall.

"It's only temporary." Ellen explained. "My other house is going through some work after it was broken into."

Randy knew Lana came from a tough background, but he had no idea it would be anything like this.

"So, what did you want to ask me about Charlene?" She called from the kitchen, as she began making Randy a cup of coffee.

"No, I'm here to ask about Lana." Randy was confused. "Who's Charlene?"

"Oh my God, you don't know." Ellen walked back into the room. She sat down on one of the sofas, with her head in her hands. "I shouldn't have said anything."

- - -

"I love Lana, Ellen, and I need to know what's going on with her. She's like a closed book, and I just want to be there for her." Randy sat down next to Ellen.

"Randy, a lot's happened to Charlene in her life, and I don't think I should be telling you..."

"Who the hell is Charlene?" He was more confused than ever.

"Lana Gomez's real name is Charlene Benjamin." Ellen explained. "It says so on her birth certificate."

"Why does she have two names?"

Ellen took a deep breath. "When she was fourteen, Charlene's mom and two older brothers died in a car crash."

"That's awful." Randy breathed. "What about her father?"

"She never knew him. He walked out on her mom when she was six months pregnant with Charlene."

"God." Randy breathed.

"She didn't take the deaths well." Ellen looked as if she was about to cry. Randy was not good with crying women. "She closed herself off from everyone, and became recluse. That was until she met Darren."

"Darren?"

"She was only fourteen and he was twenty-one." Ellen clenched her fists until her knuckles turned white. "She was so young, and he took advantage of her."

"He was a...?"

"Yes." Ellen whispered. "He was a disgusting, heartless man that took advantage of a young, innocent girl without even caring. She became so attached to him, reliant on him almost. He relied on her too, actually."

"What do you mean?"

"He didn't work so she skipped school to be with him. Eventually she got kicked out because she never showed up."

- - -

"What happened then?" Randy was enthralled by this tragic story.

"She decided that she didn't need school if she had Darren. Instead she moved into his apartment with him, and there wasn't a single thing any of us could do about it. He wasn't just sick, but he was dangerous too, and no-one knew what he was capable of." Ellen let out a small laugh. "Then he encouraged her to change her name to give her a fresh start. She changed it to Lana Gomez."

"Did he ever hurt her?" Randy didn't know what name to say anymore.

"Not that we know of. I don't think his intentions were bad, he genuinely cared about her. It's just a shame it was illegal really." Ellen tried to be funny, but it wasn't the time. "Darren had some other illegal habits too, which he really didn't have the money to fund."

"Drugs?"

"Cocaine and heroin to be exact." She said bluntly. "She only ever took one line of cocaine, but never anything else. Behind the entire trauma, she was a sensible girl and knew drugs weren't the answer."

"So did he ever kick the habit?"

"Nope." Ellen replied. "When Lana was seventeen, he took his last line of cocaine, and died right before her very eyes."

"She watched him die?" Randy repeated sadly.

"She was only seventeen. She didn't know what to do, so she came to my house, I called an ambulance, and she cried as they took him to the hospital morgue."

"And?"

"She wanted to get away, so she fulfilled her secret dream of becoming a wrestler. She bought a car with the last of Darren's money and drove around the country, taking her own frustrations out on her opponents in a wrestling ring..."

"Wow, Ellen. It's great to know family loyalty still exists." The story came to a screeching halt when Lana came storming into the room.

- - -

"Charlene, darling..." Ellen had forgotten she'd given her niece a key.

"It's Lana!" Lana yelled back. "I can't believe you told Randy about Darren! That's personal! You think I want people knowing about my past?"

"Lana..." Randy stood up.

"Just... leave me alone! I can't talk to either of you!" Lana ran out of the house.