One Fall

CHAPTER 24

  They found Jumbo in the center foyer, an open space of concrete floor and fluorescent light just past the arena entrance. He was amidst a group of wrestlers and entourage, all sitting against the far wall in the steel chairs that were so prevalent in the wrestling world. He was talking to two wrestlers and his wife. A handful of other people were scattered through the room. Jumbo stopped speaking to his listeners, seemingly in mid-sentence, and stood up when he saw Joey approaching. It was clear that Jumbo knew what was coming and why.

  Joey surveyed the room as he continued his approach. Everyone had turned their attention to the pending conflict between Joey and Jumbo. By now, word had surely spread throughout the locker room of their botched match earlier in the night. Jumbo’s wife, Rashann, stood up. As if experienced in this sort of scene, she took three steps away from her husband, clearing the path to his assailant.

  To Jumbo’s right sat Lamar Thomas, Deep Six, and Lord Mayberry. They glared at Joey with active skepticism, as if all three were eager to be involved in whatever was forthcoming. To Jumbo’s left were Raptor and Pit Bull. Their faces expressed more concern. If this grew out of hand, they might get involved.

  Ten or more others were dispersed among the room, mostly along the walls. In the perimeter of his vision, Joey saw Mike Sanders with his daughter, Gordy Goodnow with his boyfriend, and Martha Tanner. It occurred to Joey that Martha would call Duke through her headset soon, if she hadn’t already.

  But the focus of Joey’s vision was Jumbo, who was now standing directly in front of him, less than six feet away, prepared to fight. Jumbo wore only blue jeans and wrestling boots. He stood nearly a foot taller than Joey.

  “Do you have a problem?” said Jumbo.

  “Someone pissed in Jade’s bag, and I think it was you,” said Joey.

  Some mumblings and whispers immediately circled around the room. Joey could now hear Martha speaking into her headset. He needed to get this started and finished quickly.

  “What the fuck you punk,” said Jumbo. “I didn’t piss in nobody’s bag.”

  Joey continued to approach, albeit slowly. He wished he hadn’t said anything, and instead had run in and thrown a punch. This wasn’t an argument that needed to be settled. He didn’t need any proof. Jumbo’s denial meant nothing except that he was a coward.

  “Where is your little woman?” said Jumbo, now looking over Joey’s shoulder. “If she’s so sure it was me, why doesn’t she tell me to my face?”

  You fucking coward, Joey thought, and maybe said, he couldn’t remember, it wasn’t clear. In the midst of that thought, he charged and threw a punch. A solid right hook, that started at his waist and swung through the air too fast for Jumbo to dodge it, landed right underneath Jumbo’s left eye.

  Jumbo stumbled back two steps and then fell. He put his hand to his face for just a second, before jumping back to his feet and lunging at Joey. He threw his shoulder into Joey’s stomach and tackled him to the ground. Joey’s head whipped backward and slapped into the concrete.

  Then the room erupted. Pit Bull and Raptor jumped on Jumbo from the side, knocking him off Joey before he could land a punch. When Jumbo tried to shake them off, Mike Sanders and Gordy Goodnow assisted. The four of them held Jumbo back while Joey rolled around on the floor, holding the back of his head.

  “You fucking pussy!” Jumbo yelled over the heads of his restrainers. “Next time I’ll kill you!”

  Jumbo’s screaming brought about everyone else in the area to see what was going on. While Joey continued rolling around on the floor, the foyer filled with crew members and other wrestlers.

  “Joey, are you okay?”

  It was Jade. This fight apparently was over.

  Was he okay? His job required him to get beat up every night, sometimes taking steel chairs to his head, but nothing had ever hurt like this. He was dizzy, and nauseous.

  Joey rolled to his back, and tried to sit up. The room was blurry, and the light hurt his eyes.

  “I’ll be fine,” he grunted. He flailed his arms around him to stave off the crowd of would-be helpers.

  “Well you don’t look fine,” Jade said. “Somebody get the doctor in here,” she called out.

  The room was now a buzz of conversation and movement. Through the blur, Joey could see several concerned faces looking at him. He tried to focus on Jade’s. He lost her face when the doctor’s hand appeared.

  “Joey, how many fingers am I holding up?” the doctor asked.

  Joey pushed the hand away. “I’m fine,” he said, then tried to stand up. It was as if the room stood up with him. Nothing was right. His knees didn’t work, the walls weren’t straight, and before he knew it, he was back down on the ground.

  “We should call an ambulance.”

  “Duke’s gonna be pissed,” someone said.

  “I’m fine,” said Joey. “I just...” He wanted to say, ‘I just need a minute,’ but the sentence didn’t come out. He started it, but he lost control of the end of it. Then he turned his head to the side and vomited on the concrete.

  Such a nice arena to make such a mess, he thought. Then he blacked out.