CHAPTER 21
Friday night’s house show was at The Pit in Albuquerque. Joey and Jade had arrived together. They entered on the south side and walked together to the locker rooms, where Duke spotted them.
Duke was standing in front of the entrance to the Visitors’ Locker Room, talking to Mike Clarke, a GWA road agent. He eyed Joey and Jade as they passed, but didn’t say anything to them. It’s done, Joey told himself. He hoped that would be the extent of his contact with the boss that night.
Two hours later, Duke was in his face. The pop guitar riff of Jade’s music was audible through the walls – she had just entered the arena for her match. Duke had found Joey alone, pacing in the back of the locker room.
“Do you realize what you’re giving up for that woman?” said Duke. He was standing a foot away, looking up. Joey had never realized Duke was so short.
“Yes, I’ve thought about what I’m giving up, and frankly, I was ticked that you’d even asked. I made my decision. To hell with my push.” Joey was amazed that he was speaking this way to this man.
“To hell with your push? Kid, this is your one and only chance. We’re talking about superstardom or jobber obscurity. What the hell? Are you in love?” Duke said love like it was the most childish notion he’d ever heard of.
“I’m not talking about this,” said Joey. “You do what you need to. I’m not talking about my personal life with my boss.” Joey started to leave. Duke grabbed his arm and pulled him back.
“Alright then. Tonight, you were to go over Raptor. Switch that. Put him over. Go find him right now and tell him that you’re putting him over on my orders. You two work out the match. Make it good. You are now a jobber, Joey Mayhem. If you want to continue working for me, you’ll make my stars look good as they kick your ass.”
“Fine,” said Joey, and again turned to leave. This time he got two steps away before Duke called after him.
“Another thing, Joey. The gossip about you and Jade on the Internet isn’t good for my business. Consider yourself gagged. I don’t want you saying a word to anyone in the real press or on the Internet about anything regarding this company. I also don’t want you talking to anyone within the company about any of our recent conversations, including this one. That includes your girlfriend.”
“Fine.” But it wasn’t fine. It was ridiculous. Where did Duke get off telling him what he could and couldn’t say to Jade? No matter. Revolution wouldn’t want him to be a jobber. He’d do as he pleased and if he was fired so be it. “Anything else?”
“That’s it. Get out of here. Find Raptor. Work out a good match. You’re on soon.” Duke waved him away like a housefly. Joey felt like he was being thrown out of the locker room.
He found Raptor sitting with a group of wrestlers in a makeshift common area just before the arena entrance. Raptor, whose real name was Eduardo Baca, had been a huge star in Mexico before signing with GWA for much more money than he was worth. Unlike most wrestlers in Mexico, Raptor wasn’t a skilled acrobat. He got over with the fans due to his charisma, which hadn’t translated well in America, mostly due to his poor English.
As Joey approached, all the conversation in the common area stopped.
“Raptor, I need to talk to you about our match,” said Joey.
“Okay.”
“In private,” said Joey.
Half an hour later, after a brutal conversation about re-working the match (Raptor barely understood what Joey was asking him to do, much less why), Joey did the job for Raptor in front of fifteen thousand fans. They reacted worse than Joey expected. Raptor was popular in New Mexico, but not popular enough to go over Joey Mayhem. The boos were extraordinary.
The displeasure of the fans brought about a slurry of questions when Joey returned to the backstage area. Why did they get booed? Did Raptor go over? Was that planned? Joey refused to answer anyone, which only made everyone more curious, including Jade.
“What’s going on?” she asked, following him to the locker room. She had to run to keep up, he was moving so fast.
“I can’t talk about it now,” he said.
Joey expected her to protest, or ask why he couldn’t talk about it, but she didn’t.
“Do you want to leave?” she said.
“Yeah, let me just...ah fuck it, I’ll take a shower at the hotel.” Joey ran into the locker room and came out with his bag. Still wearing only his tights and boots, Joey walked out of the arena.Jade followed him to her car.
“I’ll drive,” she said.
“Thank you,” said Joey.
She let Joey in the passenger seat, closed the door after him, ran around the front of the car to the driver’s side, and hurriedly drove out. They came to a red light and cars pulled up on either side of them. Joey slouched in his seat.
“They can’t see you,” said Jade. “I got these windows tinted in Arizona because that’s the only state where it’s legal to have them this dark.”
“Are you serious?” said Joey.
“Yes, I’m serious,” she said. Joey laughed, quietly.
The Wyndam Hotel was only three minutes from the arena. It took most of the drive for Joey to find and put on a T-shirt from his bag. They said nothing as they arrived, walked through the lobby, rode the elevator, and entered the room.
“Do you need the bathroom before I shower,” said Joey.
Jade shook her head. “Honey, are you okay?” she asked.
“Let me take a shower, then we’ll talk about it.”
Joey smiled at her before shutting the bathroom door. He sat on the toilet seat and began unlacing his boots. The phone rang.
“Hello,” he heard Jade answer. “May I ask who’s calling?” she said. Shit, it was for him. If it was Duke, he’d tear this room apart. “Why don’t you give me your number, and if he wants to talk to you he can call you back,” she said. She wouldn’t say that to Duke. He finished unlacing both boots and took them off. The smell of feet, or wrestling locker rooms, filled the bathroom. He heard Jade hang up the phone.
“Who was that?” he called out.
“Some kid from Pro Wrestling Newsletter. He wanted to talk to you about your match tonight.”
Great, he thought. Since when do wrestling journalists give a shit about what happens at the house shows. Doing the job to Raptor, even at a house show, was big news, and Duke knew it. That’s probably why Joey wasn’t supposed to talk to anyone.
He opened the door and walked out into the room. “Well, even if I wanted to talk to him, which I don’t, I’m not allowed.”
“What do you mean?” asked Jade. She was sitting on the bed, having kicked her shoes off and let her hair down.
“Tonight Duke told me I wasn’t allowed to talk to anyone about anything, including you.”
“Is that why you’ve been so quiet?” she said.
Joey laughed. “Hell no. I just wasn’t in the mood to talk, I’m so pissed. I’m going to talk to you about whatever the hell I want. Duke can kiss my ass.”
Jade’s eyebrows shot up. “What happened tonight, Joey?” she said.
Joey sat down in an easy chair by the bed. “I’m being de-pushed.”
Jade sat quietly for a minute, then said, “Is it because of your match with Goliath?”
Joey thought for a minute before answering. He could continue the lie, or come clean. Jade’s question would force him to choose.
“Well, no,” he said. “It’s because Duke told me to do something, and I didn’t do it. That’s why I’m in the doghouse. But I don’t know why he told me to do it.”
Jade’s face was overcome with the horror of recognition. “What did he tell you to do?” she asked, obviously anticipating a particular answer.
“He told me to stop seeing you,” Joey said.
She stood up from the bed, and looked around in a fury, as if ready to kill something, if only she knew what it was. She grabbed the phone off the nightstand, ri
pped it away from the wall, and threw it across the room as she screamed, “God Dammit!” The phone collided with the bottom of the entertainment center in a muddle of bells and clatter. Jade fell back on the bed, this time flat on her back. “I knew it. I knew he’d pull something like this. He told you on Tuesday, right? At your lunch meeting.”
“Yes,” said Joey, wondering if she’d known the whole time that he had been lying.
She sat up and looked at him. Her eyes were filling with tears. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Well, I thought I’d just take what was coming and tell you I was being de-pushed because of my screwup with Goliath. I didn’t figure I’d get this pissed about it. Now I want to tell you everything just because Duke told me not to.”
“Joey, you can’t do this to yourself. You need to go to Duke tomorrow and tell him you’ll do whatever he wants.”
“Like hell I’ll do that! He has no right to ask, and even if he did...am I that unimportant to you?”
“No Joey, you’re not unimportant. It’s that you’re giving up so much. I don’t want to be responsible for that. You’re on your way to being the biggest wrestler in the world. You’re talking about fame, and money, big money, hundreds of millions of dollars over time – you can’t give that up for me.”
“It’s not what I wanted. This whole thing isn’t what I wanted. I wanted to make it to the top, but I didn’t want to do it with everyone in the locker room hating me, and my promoter telling me who I can and can’t be with. If this is what it takes to be on top--”
“Joey, this is what it takes to be on top. I’m sorry to be the one to tell you that. You’ll never make it in this business if you don’t play the game. There’s never been a World Champion who wasn’t envied by every has-been in the locker room. And there’s never been a World Champion who didn’t do what Duke asked. That’s his way. He only gives you what you want if he gets what he wants.”
“Well what he wants is stupid. Who cares if there’s some gossip on the Internet about us? It doesn’t mean I should have to stop seeing you.”
“It’s more than the gossip on the Internet, Joey. A lot more.” Jade was slouched on the edge of the bed, looking down at her feet, tears now running down her face.
“What, is it something to do with you and Goliath?”
Jade sat silently for a minute before saying, “No, it’s not about me and Goliath.”
“Jade? What is it?”
Jade tensed up, as if Joey’s question were a threat. Her cheeks reddened, and she looked around the room, her eyes stopping in several places other than on Joey. Finally, she looked down at the floor again and began speaking.
“Last year, after my shit with Goliath went sour for everyone, Jumbo started...I had this thing...with Jumbo. It started with him following me around. He acted like I needed an escort, like he would protect me from Goliath or anyone else who happened to look at me. And I didn’t know what to say. My relationship with Goliath had ended badly, and, well you know, Goliath isn’t a totally safe person. It didn’t seem so bad that the biggest guy in the company wanted to be my bodyguard.
“I was stupid. Any girl could see what he wanted, where this was headed. God, I was stupid. Anyway, one night after a big show, the Storm pay per view in New Orleans, Jumbo tried to come into my room with me. He wouldn’t take no for an answer, and before I knew it, he was pushing me into my own hotel room, closing the door behind him, and forcing himself on me. I screamed bloody murder as loud as I could before he covered my mouth. Thankfully some guy in the hotel heard and started banging on the door and asking if everything was alright. That distracted Jumbo enough for me to scream some more. I yelled to the guy at the door that I was being raped and he should call the police. Even a dolt like Jumbo could figure out he was had. So he got off me, and left. I locked the door behind him. The guy who was banging on the door, I don’t even know who he was, but he stuck around even after seeing Jumbo leave, can you imagine seeing this seven foot tall monster come out? But the guy stayed at the door and asked if I was alright. I told him I was, and thanked him, and told him everything was fine and he could leave. I wish I’d let him call the cops. Everything might have been different.
“The next morning I called Duke and told him everything. He told me to meet him in his suite to talk about it in private. I was sure he was going to listen and he was going to make things right and fire Jumbo.
“But he didn’t make things right. I remember his fat face and his fucking gold teeth that afternoon. He asked me if anybody knew, and I said no, not yet, and he said to keep it that way for now while he figured out how to handle it. He told me he’d make it right but I had to promise to keep my mouth shut while he worked things out.
“Then nothing happened for two weeks. Jumbo left me alone, but I could tell nothing had happened, he hadn’t even been talked to, so I called Duke again and we had another meeting. This time he told me that since technically nothing happened, since someone banged on the door and Jumbo got off me before anything happened, that he didn’t have cause to do anything to anyone. I told him that was bull shit. Then he, Jesus Christ, I’ll never forget what that fat fuck said to me. He said, ‘If the public should come to know of this the company and I will not stand beside you.’ Then he said, ‘It’s best for all of us if this stays quiet.’ He said if word got out he’d personally make sure I never worked again.”
Joey felt like the walls were closing in on them. Unable to continue standing, he sat on the bed next to Jade.
“Oh my God,” he said to her. “Jumbo tried to rape you, and Duke just let it go?”
“Just a minute,” she said, then stood up and went to the bathroom to blow her nose. She came out with a handful of tissue, sat down, and sighed, trying to compose herself.
“Yes, Joey, Duke just let it go, and I’ve been shit ever since. I haven’t wrestled a real match since then, just Duke’s crap fests. He’s squeezing every dollar he can get out of me, all the while trashing my name and my character so when I leave this godforsaken shithole of a company I won’t be even remotely over. And that’s why you’re not allowed to be with me. It’s not because of the gossip on the Internet, or my past with Goliath. It’s because I have this shitty secret to keep and he can’t make you his top star if he thinks you’d side with me.”
Joey put his arm around Jade and kissed her forehead. “Thank you for telling me,” he said.
“Joey, I know it’s going to be hard for you, but it’s really important to me that this information stays between us. If I’ve learned anything in this business, it’s that you can’t make it if you rock the boat. And I’m the dumb one who signed a long contract I’m still stuck in. When it’s up, I’m out of here. There’s still time for me to have the career I wanted.”
“I understand,” said Joey. “I’m out of here as soon as my contract’s up too.”
Jade turned so she was facing him. “Joey, are you sure this is what you want?” she said.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, I’ll understand if you go to Duke and tell him you’ll do whatever he asks. You’re throwing away an opportunity--”
“No way. We’re not even talking about that anymore. I’m glad my push is over. Now that I know the whole story, I don’t want to rise in this company. This company can go down the crapper as far as I’m concerned.”
Jade leaned back, nodding in agreement. “Me too,” she said.
They faded into a relaxed silence. Joey realized that they both had unveiled their biggest secrets in a matter of minutes. It was somehow tiring.
“I’m going to take a shower now. I’m overdue,” he said. He kissed her before standing up. He felt like they were rebels, the only two who understood what Duke and his business were really about and would take it down from the inside if they had to. He felt comfortable. For the first time since his landmark match with Jumbo on Burn, Joey felt li
ke he could face the locker room without shame.
Jade was asleep when Joey came out of the shower. She was lying on top of the comforter, still in her clothes. Joey slipped her shoes off, turned off the lights and lay beside her.
The phone woke Joey seven hours later, playing the elevator music of a hotel wake-up call.
They ate breakfast at the hotel buffet, then checked out and hit the road. Saturday’s show was six hours north, in Denver. Joey was surprised that they didn’t need to speak further about the previous night’s revelations. During the drive, they spoke of other things, the dialogue drifting across their interests and desires with the ease that can only exist among people who are completely honest with each other.
The Denver show was at the Uptown Center. Joey did the job to Raptor again, and again the crowd was livid. Jade wrestled in a mixed tag match with Gordy Goodnow, Safire, and Lord Mayberry. During her match, Joey was approached by Mike Clarke, a production assistant.
“Phone call for you Joey,” said Mike, handing Joey a cell phone.
Joey took the phone, fearful of who was on the other end.
“Hello,” he said.
“Joey, this is Duke.”
Of course. The bastard wasn’t even at the show tonight and he still managed to get hold of Joey at the one time Jade wouldn’t be around.
“Hello,” Joey said again.
“Listen Joey, we’ve been working out Monday’s show in light of what you and I have talked about, and, anyway, you’re going to be in the main event on Monday.”
The main event on Burn? This didn’t sound like a de-push.
“You’ll be doing the job to Jumbo in the main event. I’ll need you to really give him some heat too. We’re talking about putting the strap on him while we wait for Goliath to get well.”
Great. Joey had been avoiding Jumbo tonight, and hoped to do so from here on out, lest he lose his cool. Now he had to do a program with him.
“Are you there?” said Duke.
“Yeah, I can hear you,” said Joey.
“Okay, good. Well, to prepare for Monday’s bout, I’m going to have you and Jumbo work together tomorrow in Las Vegas. I’ll be there to talk further with you guys. Just wanted to let you know.”
“Okay.”
“Alright then. See you tomorrow. Can you put Mike back on?”
Joey handed the phone back to Mike. A few minutes later Jade came backstage.
“How was your match?” Joey asked her.
“Good enough, I guess,” she said.
“Good. I just got off the phone. Duke had some news for me, and he conveniently delivered it while you wrestling.”