In this month's column, Stephanie McMahon explains how it's not always easy having Shane McMahon as a brother....
Big Dog was a giant pink, stuffed animal about twice my size with a white face and a red tongue. Big Dog protected me at night while I was sleeping and listened unconditionally to all my stories. Big Dog was my friend of five years, and Shane was holding him hostage.
"Shane PLEASE don't do it!" I screamed as loud as I could, with all my heart and soul. Shane turned to look at me with a malicious smile, and the look in his eyes revealed a sort of evil ecstasy and his hand was Big Dog's little red, protruding tounge.
"I'm gonna rip it o-off," Shane said in a sing-songy voice, knowing he was driving me crazy. "Uh, don't take another step or Big Dog will definitely loose his tongue."
I was stuck. If I tried to phyically stop him, the tongue would come off. So, what could I do? I looked at my brother with utter disbelief and decided I would have to beg. "Shane, I LOVE Big Dog. PLEASE STOP!!"
Shane's wicked grin broadened, his lips pulled tight across his teeth, his eyes seemed to open wider and.... "VWRIP!" The sound of the paper tongue ripping coincided with the breaking of my heart.
"Here," Shane said, as he handed me the torn piece of red paper that was once part of Big Dog's face. I was absolutely horrified. Ripping off Big Dog's tongue was one of the meanest things Shane could have possibly have done. Why did he do it? For one reason-- Because he could.
Shane has to be in control of everything around him, including me--especially me-- because anything I do is a reflection on him. Shane controlled what he watched on television, what we listened to on the radio-- he even tried to control what I wore to school. I remember one morning as I was getting dressed, I decided that I was going to wear what I wanted. I even put on a little makeup. All my friends at school were complimenting me, and I was getting a lot of looks from guys who usually didn't notice. Needless to say, I was feeling pretty darn good about myself...until I saw my brother.
Shane hadn't seem me yet that day because he always drove to school alone. (I wasn't cool enough to ride in his BMW, with the "Posse1" license plate.) I was simply walking to class when I spotted Shane and the Posse from across the Student Center. It was a moment of truth; I was going to have to walk right past them. The Posse hadn't seen me yet and I got alittle nervous, but I decided to hold my head up high. After all, I only had alittle bit of makeup, my skirt was only one inch above my knee-- and most important, I felt good. I was being myself and for the first time at Greenwich High, I was full of confidence.
By the time all these thoughts had passed through my head, I was close to where Shane and the Posse were hanging out. Before I had time to react, I felt Shane's hand grab my neck as he wrapped his fingers around my throat-- the same hold Shane put on me when he made me watch the Posse attack Test on RAW. Still holding me by my neck, Shane whipped me around so I was facing him. His hand felt like that "Jaws of Life"; he was squeezing so hard.
"What are you doing?!" he yelled so loud everyone heard him. "You want people to think your a SLUT? What are you trying to do, RUIN ME?"
Shane said all this while dragging me to the nearby water fountain where he forced my face under the spigot and used his hand to wash off the makeup. By this time, because of the water-- and my tears-- the black mascara was running down my face. My hair was matted down, and my face was bright red and swollen from crying. The confidence that I had felt quickly dissolved into utter humiliation. I ran away as fast as I could. What had started off as one of the best days of my life quickly turned into the worst.
Shane now had help trying to run my life-- the Mean Street Posse. When I would go out with friends one of the members of the Posse would always follow. Everywhere I looked I saw Rodney, Pete Gas, or Joey abs. With a system of cellular phones and beepers, Shane and the Posse would always know where I was and with whom.
One night a friend of mine, Kristin, invited me to a party that her cousins were throwing. The party was in Portchester, New York, in an apartment building approximately 15 miles outside Greenwich, Connecticut. I knew that I would never be allowed to go to a party in New York, so I told my family I was going to Amanda's house for a sleep-over. I did drive to Amanda's and called my mom when I got there. Amanda and I had Kristin pick us up, so Shane and the Posse would see my car in Amanda's driveway in case they did a drive-by. Kristin, Amanda and I got to the party with no trouble. I was so excited! I was at a party in New York with my friends, and I had all the bases covered. No one would even suspect I was there.
I thought wrong. The party was just getting going when I heard the sound of screeching tires and the faint "boom" of heavy bass just outside the building. I looked through the window and there they were-- One BMW, license plate "Posse1"; one red Ferrari, license plate "Posse2"; one black porsche, license plate "Posse3"; and onesilver Corvette, license plate "Posse4". The "Mean Street Machines," as the Posse called them, stood out starkly amidst the Toyota trucks and Hyundai hatchbacks. Within 30 seconds, Shane, Rodney, Pete Gas and Joey Abs busted down the door. The music literally stopped. Everyone at the party was too shocked to move; they didn't know who these angry strangers were. All they could see was four big men who was just broken down the front door.
The look on the Posse's faces was utter disdain. Shane began slowly sniffing the air, and then he turned up his nose and commented, "EUWW, Joey, it smells like a pack of dogs urinated in here!" Joey added, "I thought it smelled like human feces." Pete remarked, "You know, these kind of people don't clean themselves." And Rod contributed, "Yeah, they can't even afford butlers!" Kristin, her cousins and all the partygoers were equally offended.
"Let's go, Steph," Shane said, "you don't belong here." Needless to say, my friendship with Kristin quickly came to an end. I was more embarrassed for Kristin and her family than I was for myself; and, of course, I paid for all the damages. From then on, if I wanted to go to a party, it had to be a Posse party. No one else wanted me to come-- not because of me, but because of my brother.
Shane is demanding, controlling and manipulative (my father would be so proud), but he does love me. I have seen other sides of my brother and believe it or not, sometimes he is actually sweet....just not often. I loathe the fact that Shane tries to control me, especially when he involves the Posse, and most of the time he makes my blood boil with anger. But when it comes down to it, blood is thicker then water, and I do love my brother. I'll just have to make him understand that my life is my own.