Forgive Me Father, For I Have Sinned...

The bell tolls...it goes off again...and once more.

A taxi cab pulls up in front of this holy facility, the back seat passenger door opens and out steps a pair of leather shoes with scratchy blue jeans draping over the mouth of the shoe but hanging only a few inches off the ground. The door is slammed shut by the bulky, masculine hands of a man. His knuckles showing wear and tear with healed up cuts all over which suggests he’s some sort of athlete, maybe. 

Actually, he’s not just an athlete...He’s “The Next Level Athlete”, Brett Carson. And from the front passenger seat the ever-so familiar black pinstripe suit coat and pant stick out of the open door as the man donning the expensive trademark suit is none other than Bronson Goldward also known as, Bronx Goldie. Goldie finishes paying for the cab fare before slamming the door shut. They stand side by side looking up at the bell that still tolls. Few people quietly gather inside the building, the church rather. Brett frowns as he looks at the structure that holds spiritual value to many people in the surrounding area of Mankato, Minnesota. 

“I’m half afraid to ask this but...what exactly are we doing here?” Brett analyses the architectural genius of this particular church, it’s no chapel or cathedral by any means but it has it’s beauties. 

Bronson smiles light heartedly as he points forward to the entrance, suggesting that they enter.

“Well, I know this is something a little farfetched but we’re going to repent our sins, Bretty boy.” The smile on his face expands to something more of a grin as they enter the peaceful and graceful environment of the church. 

Light shines through the tinted windows in different colors, masterpieces of paintings and statues sit around the church as religious followers kneel quietly and pray. The priest moves around by the altar before stepping down to ground level.

“With all due respect, Bronson...It’s a few years too late for quote unquote God to forgive us for the sins committed.” Brett whispers with a quiet chuckle to follow as Bronson smirks now, the kind of smirk that a man who’s plotting a devious plan would wear. 

“You may be right but hey, the last time I was in here I helped get Maxwell Soloke and Jasper banned and given restraining orders from a relatively famous church in Germany so after that, I doubt God is gonna forgive me for my sins...and as for you, I mean you signed the deal with me, you yourself know that you made a deal with the devil.” Brett grins to which Brett nods in agreement. 

The priest stands in front of the twenty, maybe twenty-five people in attendance and with no microphone for voice projection he is forced to raise his voice when he speaks. 

“I thank you all for coming here for this evening of repent and confession. Please sit in an orderly fashion and await for the red light above the confession room to go off before making your way in the confession room. Only one person in the room at all times, those waiting may kneel quietly and pray, otherwise we ask you to sit quietly and patiently.” And with that, the priest makes his way inside the confession room. 

Bronson launches up and like a rowdy, encaged monkey starts to leap over the long chairs and rows as Brett briskly follows behind, as they both rush to get in front. A old lady however makes it first barely as another lady is already walking into the confession room. 

“Again, I’m probably going to regret asking this but...what’s the point of being here?” Brett questions in a whisper as a few people kneel down and begin to pray faithfully. 

“Well, what I’ve learnt over my time in this world is that if you want to look for gullible and emotionally unstable people you look in three places: an aged care home, the women’s locker room and a church. This little experiment will hopefully give you a nice little idea of the completely emotional wreck your opponent, PKA is as well as giving you a nice little idea of what you’re dealing with in the altar girl, Reya Serra. Two birds with one stone per say.” Bronson grins slightly, the devious man has a plan in mind and that alone makes Brett smirk a little too. 

For a few moments there’s silence...Brett looks around, people emotional mouthing prayers while their palms are placed together, some of them tilt their head and stare intently at the large wooden cross at the very back of the church. 

“Small crowd, huh…”Brett acknowledges the surprisingly small number in the church made for 100 plus people. He’s not a church goer these days but as a kid with religious parents, he had a fair idea that normally there was a lot more people who came to church. 

Bronson nods remembering his days in the church, since his parents too were religious people, “Isn’t a regular sunday mass...that comes later this evening. But we won’t be here for that, only need this confessional gathering for the experiment.” 

Brett nods in realisation of the fact that this isn’t the sunday mass, “I see...well, either way if I’m confessing my sins we’ll be here long enough that we might as well stay for the evening mass.” Brett chuckles to which a few people give him death stares for making noise. 

“Act your age, young man.” One lady whispers, sternly to which Brett replies with a asshole grin and a quick flip of the bird. The lady gasps in disgust before turning back to her prayer. 

Bronson shakes his head before going back to their conversation as the red light goes off and the lady who was in there exits quietly and the old woman in front of them gets up and slowly makes her way to the room, “Oh did I say we were the one repenting? My bad.” is all he replies with, a light chuckle. 

Brett raises an eyebrow, a little worried and confused by what he might have meant by that statement. Carson shakes his head before looking at Jesus on the cross…After a few moments the light goes off and the old lady walks out rather peacefully. Brett looks over and Bronson as they both get up and make their way towards the confessionals. 

Suddenly they’re interrupted  by the lady from earlier, “Only one at a time, you stupid idiots!” Her annoyance from earlier is clearly still there but after realising what she said she covers her mouth. 

Brett stops, a smirk appearing on his face as he turns around with sarcastic, asshole tone in his voice he simply replies with, “Act your age...old lady.” Before once again giving her the finger, this time in front of everyone else who are shocked and appalled by Brett’s rude nature. 

Carson however just couldn’t give a damn as they both enter the confessional. Bronson pulls out his mask and puts it over his head before walking up to the mesh folding screen where the priest sits behind for blind confessions. The priest is in a state of shock at the sudden appearance.

“You...you...y-you can’t be behind here. If you want to confess your sins, sir...you’ll have to do it from behind the folding wall.” The priest utters, quietly...Gritting his teeth to hold in whatever fear he might throw out in his voice. 

“Good morning to you too, Father Nathaniel...You look awfully ill today, a little on the pale side...Oh dear, oh dear...And here you are doing this long winded confessionals.” Bronsons mockingly places his hand of the terrified priest’s forehead as if he’s checking how warm the priest might be, “...Yeap. You’ve got quite the fever, I’m afraid to say that you can’t do these confessionals...but you know what. I’d be more than glad to take over for you, Father.” Bronson grins as Brett suddenly puts the missing piece of the puzzle in, shock written on his face. 

The priest stands up as from behind the mesh you can hear whimpers from the priest after a few moments Goldie steps out from behind the mesh, in a priest’s gown. A sick grin appears on his face as he yanks out the real priest who stands in a singlet and boxer shorts. Bronson reaches through the gown and into his coat pulling out a roll of tape.

“Kneel.” Goldie orders as Brett finally adjusts to what the plan is, holding the priest still as Goldie runs the tape around the wrists of the Priest, over and over and over until it’s sufficiently thick with tape, well thick enough for him to not be able to escape. He then tapes up his mouth twice. 

They drag the Priest to a cupboard, opening it and throwing him in there. Once again he reaches into his coat pocket pulling out a needle and syringe and a small little bottle of liquid. He places the needle into the syringe before putting the tip (just the tip) into the bottle and sucking up the liquid. He injects the needle right into the neck of the priest and after a minute or two the priest is out like a light. 

“What the hell is that? You’re not gonna kill him are you?” Brett asks, a little bit of concern in his voice. 

“Chill out, it’s light anesthesia. He’ll be out for an hour maybe two at max. Won’t remember a thing when he wakes up. Once we’re done, we’ll put him back normally and make it look like he was sleeping on the job.” Bronson mutters as he points to the mask he still has on, “He has no idea what I look like and he didn’t see you.” Bronson nods before they both make their way behind the mesh. Brett sits quietly as “Father Bronson” flicks the switch in front of him which one could only assume is the light switch outside above the door. Next to the light switch is a laminated script which the priest uses for confession. 

The young lady from earlier enters and kneels by the mesh. She makes the sign of the cross 

“Bless me father for I have sinned…” She proclaims, as her eyes close, “It’s been a good year or two since I last made my confession.” She adds, making it quite clear she knows the ins and outs of making a confession. 

Bronx looks down at the template and reads aloud, “May God the Father of all mercies help you make a good confession.” He reads, a look of confusion on his face as he proclaims the words. 

“Father, I have been spreading rumors about my friends…I have abused my sons to the point where they don’t wish to speak to me anymore…”

The confession goes on and Bronson does a convincing job of playing the priest. The woman goes through the routine before the ending of the confession comes along.

“May God bless you...Have a good day.” Goldie finishes, before flicking the light off again.

The lady nods and does the sign of the cross once more before getting up and exiting the room. Almost immediately, a young adult enters the confession room. The straight black hair that holds still, even with the fan on, and the black eyeliner that makes this kid’s eyes pop out suggests he’s not a regular everyday religious nut. He kneels down and puts his hands together.

“I...I’m Jacob...This is my first time doing this, I asked the old, dementia patient sitting outside what I had to say...So, forgive me father for I am a sinner...I guess.” The kid uttered. 

“Thanks for coming to confession, Jacob. May God help you when confessing your sins.” He uttered once more. He glanced at Brett who was looking on intently, and with a smirk on his face, mouthed the letters, P, K and A before smiling, suggesting that Jacob is the perfect example of someone who might be emotionally unstable, much like PKA is. 

“Well, I get drunk a whole lot much to my father’s dismay. I smoke, regularly and I fu- I mean I have sex with my girlfriend by night and abuse her by day without my parent’s knowledge. I actually just got bailed out from jail by my parents after being in there for 2 days. I cut a fair bit and tried to kill myself a few times...not sure if those are sins. I guess they are though…” Jacob pauses for a moment, “...Despite all that I’m loving life right now. I’m being who I wanna be, I mean I’ve turned to God right?...” 

Bronx raises an eyebrow, “Riight...That’s a huge turnaround for you, Jacob. Re-” But before Bronx can finish, Jacob continues on.

“...Oh who the fuck am I kidding? My father is the delusional asshole who forced me to come here. My mother is a whore who I caught sleeping with my best friend, my two sisters are sluts who pretty much lust for jocks who smoke marijuana and drink alcohol that they can’t even handle. Life is a bitch, Father...but I’ll beat it. I’ll live my life, I’ll do my best to get passed the sadness…” After almost yelling and screaming, Jacob drops to a tone of sorrow. If there was anyone more emotionally unstable than PKA, it might be this young chap, it was almost stereotypical the way he was acting. 

Bronx smirks at the poor life Jacob has, mostly because it fits perfectly into what he’s trying to teach his client. 

“Well, whatever sins you’ve committed young man...They’ve been forgiven.” Bronx leans back in his seat, realising that he really doesn’t have to follow the book for someone who probably doesn’t give a damn about confession. 

“Really? Just like that?” Jacob questions, a rather confused yet suspicious tone in his voice.

“Yeah, yeah...May God bless you and all that jazz.” Bronx nods before flicking the switch off again, signalling the the next person can enter as Jacob shrugs his shoulders and exits. 

The next ten to twenty minutes that follow are a whole bunch of religious enthusiasts doing their usual confession, a few question the professionalism of Bronx who does slip up a few times with curse words and sexual jokes but it’s nothing that “The Golden Child of Professional Wrestling” can’t fix. Brett passes the time by tweeting away on his Twitter account while half listening to the lives of those that enter, not making a peep while anyone was in the room. 

Bronx flicks the switch off once more, as he yawns off boredom. After Jacob, nobody had any interesting stories or confessions in Goldie’s eyes. 

“I think it’s time to wrap it up, kiddo...I’m gonna yawn and sound drowsy here and there to make Father Nate’s sleeping on the job act a little more logical, realistic in a way…” Bronx proclaims, stretching his arms out after a long time sitting in the seat.

Brett smirks and looks up from his phone, “#realism.” He mutters with a sly grin on his face as the next person enters.

A young lady wearing a black high collar dress enters. In her hand is a small booklet of prayers and around her neck is a rosary with the groups of beads and the cross hanging. She quietly kneels down.

“Good afternoon, Father...My name’s Edith, I haven’t come to confession in a month or two. Forgive me father for I have sinned.” She peacefully utters, innocence and fear in her voice. She’s the prime example of a gullible human being.

“Nice to meet you Edith. May God the father help you and watch over you as you confess your sins and cleanse your spirit and soul here today. You may begin your confession.” Bronx repeats once more like he has for the past 7 or 8 people. 

“Father, I’ve been rude to my friends and family since my last confession. I’ve started excessively drinking and I made a silly decision to cheat on my husband in an act of revenge after I caught him cheating on me. He often hits me if I try and stand up to him...I...I... I want to be cleansed and renewed once more and be faithful to God in hopes of being brought to his kingdom. I am sorry for all of my sins, Father.” Edith solemnly confesses, her voice sinking low when she mentions she cheated on her husband. 

“That’s no way to treat your husband, Edith. Even if it is in an act of revenge, God is not happy to hear someone like you doing something so evil and twisted. The Devil sits proudly on your shoulder, Edith.” Bronx grins before faking a yawn, as promised. Brett shoves his phone in his pocket as he listens in on the confession. 

“I know, Father…I’m really sorry for the sins I’ve committed, please help me retrieve forgiveness from God the father.” She mourns, her voice slowly getting loose as it’s quite clear that the cheating escapade is a rather sensitive topic for her. 

“Edith, to prove that you’re faithful to God and that you’re truly ready to be forgiven for such dastardly sins then you  must go home today and stand up to your partner. Settle the differences, Edith.” Bronx grins as Brett’s eyes widen, realising where his manager is going with this.

Edith is in shock, that a “priest” would suggest for her to do something like that, “Father, are you sure? I mean...It’s an awfully sinful thing to do, don’t you think?”

Goldie chuckles quietly, realising that poor innocent Edith is playing her role as a pawn or example in his lesson. 

“No, not at all, Edith. In fact it’s quite the opposite. Our Lord stood up to the wrong doers and sacrificed himself for those he loved. Stand up to your husband and make a sacrifice. Much like the Lord’s sacrifice, yours will undoubtedly pay off.” Bronx argues, calmly. A devious grin imprinted on his face as Brett too smiles in the disbelief of how easily this woman believes Bronx’s lies.

Edith nods, “Okay, Father...I’ll give it a good try tonight. Thank you for the advice.”

Bronx smiles before doing a light fist pumps as Brett just shakes his head in disbelief, “Good my dear...Now please proclaim the Act of Contrition.” Bronx goes back to the laminated template in front of him which he’s referred to all morning.

"Oh my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee. I detest all of my sins because of Thy just punishments, but most of all because they offend Thee, my God, who are all good and deserving of all of my love. I firmly resolve with the help of Thy grace to sin no more and to avoid the near occasions of sin. Amen." Edith prays out loud, as Bronx still has that shit-eating grin on his face.

Bronx looks down at the template and reads in the same monotone, "God the Father of mercies, through the death and resurrection of His son, has reconciled the world to Himself and sent the Holy Spirit among us for the forgiveness of sins; through the ministry of the Church may God give you pardon and peace, and I absolve you from your sins, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." He finishes as Edith does the sign of the cross. 

“Amen.” 

“May God bless you and your family, Edith. Go and stand up to your husband…” And with that Edith gets up and quietly leaves. Bronx doesn’t flick the switch instead getting up out of his seat. 

Brett finally gets up as well, he’s rather shocked at how right Bronx was about this particular religion. 

“What’d I tell you? Sit down for an hour and listen to confessions and you’ll find a dozen Patrick’s and a dozen Reya’s...Jacob and Little Miss Gullible proved it.” He chuckles as the both make their way to the cupboard where the real priest sleeps rather uncomfortably. 

After a few moments of removing the garments and placing them back on the Priest, they drag him back to the chair and sit him down. 

“Those two are perfect examples of what you’ll deal with this Tuesday at Breakthrough...A true Bible thumper who is misunderstood and is over excessively dependant on something as controlled and straight as religion and then you have a unstable psycho...an emotional wreck whose only way out is through violence and alcohol.” Bronson explains as he looks up at the slightly open window. 

He points up at it gesturing for Brett to boost him (the lesser fit of the two) up towards the window. Bronx yanks off his mask and stuffs it in his suit pocket before Brett boosts him up towards the window where Bronx launches through, forcing the window to open for his body to fit through. Goldie falls out and commando rolls safely to the outside of the church as Brett uses his athleticism to escape out of the confessions room. 

“You have a hard task ahead of you, Brett…Don’t underestimate what Patrick and Reya are capable of doing. Just remember who is capable of doing so much more.” Bronx advises, chuckling at the whole scenario that just happened.

“I’ll keep that in mind...I’ll prove to those two and the rest of the world why I’m called the Next Level Athlete. Go and get me a bonus while I’m at it…” Brett smirks, reminding himself of the deal he struck with Vincent Moretti that if he were to injure or severely hurt “The Herald of Holiness” Vince would personally pay Brett a sum of money.

“Don’t be too focused on the damn money though kid...That’ll be your undoing if you focus on hurting Reya. You want the win...not the money” Bronx sternly reminds his client.

Brett nods as they make their way out of the church garden. Much to his surprise, he had a better idea of how he was going to handle the completely different opponents he faces this week thanks to this little experimental mission...And in his mind he knows that PKA may be experienced and vicious and Reya may be quicker and very much a fan favorite but in Brett Carson’s eyes...neither are anywhere near his level of athleticism. Will Brett overcome PKA and Reya and finally add a win to his name? Will he injure Reya and cash in on the prize or will PKA and Reya add another strike in the L column for Brett? Tune in this Tuesday to find out.

“We’re so going to hell for what we did today…” Brett chuckles…

“Brett my boy, we’re in the line of work where the shit we do each week is sending us to hell anyway.” Bronx replies.