One Fall

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  Joey wondered if anyone in the room could tell that he wasn’t listening. Four people had been barraging him with final details about his match tonight and he had heard none of it. Now there was absolutely no turning back. Even if everything else went to hell, even if his fear was too great, Joey was now going into the biggest match of his life without a clue of what he was supposed to do.

  It wasn’t that he didn’t want to listen. He wanted to know what the choreography was supposed to be, what Goliath was expecting, what the decision-makers backstage were expecting. But the facade was so prevalent, so thick in the air, that he couldn’t pay attention.

  In the room with Joey were “The Big Four,” the most important wrestling promoters of the past twenty years: Max Zeffer, Duke, Gene Harold, and Larry Jenkins. Every important wrestling promotion in North America was run by one of these people at one time. With the Big Four were Joey Mayhem and Goliath, the stars of what portended to be the biggest match of all time. These titans sat in a circle of folding chairs, in a small carpeted room with no windows, in the basement of a sports arena, under one banner of lies.

  Those lies were what made it so hard to pay attention. Did Gene or Larry know what Goliath and Max knew? Were all of these people in on the sham that brought down the GWA? Now that Duke was officially among the top brass in the new company, what secrets was he aware of? What secrets had he already known?

  And if Steve’s guess was right, Mr. Anonymous might be sitting here with him right now. Gene Harold and Larry Jenkins were on the list of suspects. Neither of them gave anything away. They both participated in the discussion, assisting Max and Duke as they described the twists and turns of the match. Joey prayed that they didn’t ask him to repeat the script back to them.

  Of course, the biggest masquerade belonged to Goliath, who had to act out a complex character who had forgiven Joey for injuring him in a previous match, and understood that Joey would be more cautious this time. While Joey worked to conceal his intentions for tonight, Goliath worked to conceal the truth of the last two months.

  The lie loomed over Goliath like an odor, and made it easier to sit in his physically intimidating presence. There was no doubt about it, Goliath was a huge, strong man you didn’t pick a fight with. Goliath had been chosen among hundreds of eager hopefuls to play the part of the invincible monster whose physique was so frightening that crowds paid to see it in action. He had been chosen over professional football players, former bodybuilders, and amateur wrestling champions. The more Joey looked at him, the more he realized he probably wouldn’t win his fight tonight. He probably would get trounced, made to submit in front of millions, with his overconfident statement posted on the Web for the world to see.

  “Do you have any questions, Joey?” said Max. Joey had plenty of questions that couldn’t be asked tonight.

  “No sir, clear as a bell,” said Joey.

  “Well then,” said Max, “I guess we’re ready to get this show started.”