Saturday January 22, 2011
Sam N’ Ella’s Roadhouse Restaurant
Morgan City, Louisiana
2:12 PM Local Time
“Terry, are you sure about this?” I asked as I looked around the small, seedy-looking restaurant we had just entered.
“What’s there to be worried about?” my husband replied nonchalantly, as he looked around the room, before spotting an open table large enough to accommodate the five of us. “We used to eat at Sam N’ Ella’s all the time when we lived down here!”
“I know, but...” Terrence was already walking towards the table, but I arrested him by putting my hand on his arm, forcing him to turn around and look at me. “Don’t you think it’s a little rough for Theresa?”
I thought I had a pretty valid point. Located along LA-70 heading north out of Morgan City in south-central Louisiana, Sam N’ Ellas was a local favorite- a place to get the best- and spiciest- fried food in all the state. But it was also a rowdy joint- a combination of a sweltering roadhouse, alcohol, spicy food, and an equally spicy rural Cajun patronage made the restaurant somewhat of a dangerous place.
But Terrence merely laughed off my concerns. “Don’t be silly, hon. Who’s going to pick a fight with a four year old girl?”
He grinned at me, and reached over, and grabbed our daughters hand, and led her through the restaurant towards the table. I watched him retreat, and sighed and shook my head. “That’s not quite what I meant.”
I sensed another presence at my side, and looked over. Our sitter Cassie, her pale-blonde hair bobbing about her neck, was looking around the restaurant, her nose wrinkled. “It smells in here,” she complained, thankfully at a reduced volume.
“That it does,” another voice piped up at my other side. Daniel Pollaski had sauntered up to my side, and took a deep breath, exhaling as if he had just sniffed a particularily exquisite bouquet of flowers. “I’m betting that heaven probably smells a lot like this...”
“I doubt it, but where YOU’RE going proabably does,” Cassie muttered under her breath as Pollaski followed my husband and daughter to our table. I shot her a reassuring smile, and together, the two of us worked our way through the maze of tables.
As we sat down and the waitress handed us our menus, including a kid’s menu for Theresa (they HAD those?), I looked around the room, and couldn’t help but smile. It may have been five years since I had last been in Sam N’ Ella’s, but the restaurant did hold a sense of familiarity- how many times Terrence and I had stopped here to eat I couldn’t even begin to guess.
In a weird way, the rowdy roadhouse was almost reassuring- ever since the referee had counted Crazy KYD’s shoulders down for a third count, everything had been turned upside down. In those three seconds, I had not only advanced to the finals of the X3W tournament, but I had been placed in the main event of the Revelations pay-per-view against Madman Szalinski. And I was terrified. Not about my opponent- already Pollaski, Terrence and I had begun putting our heads together to develop a match strategy to beat Szalinski, and with over three weeks remaining until the match, we had plenty of time to perfect it. But the overall situation- that scared the hell out of me.
The first-ever X3W pay-per-view- an event that almost always determined the success or failure of a fledgling wrestling company, was on my shoulders. And it didn’t matter what I had done in this tournament, or even what I did in the match- if this event didn’t produce satisfactory buy-rates and gate sales, I’d never get another opportunity like this in my career again. Already I’d had a nightmare where I burst onto the stage at the American Airlines Center, only to find the 20,000 seat arena completely and utterly empty.
It was a ludicrous thought, of course. But merely looking at the long list of promotional appearances that were being lined up for me was daunting. Autograph signings, Radio shows, local television interviews, even a couple of magazine and newspaper articles- how was I supposed to have time to even train for this, let alone have a life?
But here, in this room that smelled of sweat, booze, and cayenne peppers, I had a moment. I might as well make the best use of it.
“So, you guys used to live down here?” Cassie was asking as she picked her way through her menu, not quite able to hide the expression of disgust on her face at the menu choices.
“Yup,” Terrence replied from behind his own menu. “In an old plantation house on Sixmile Lake about twenty miles west of here. Definite fixer-upper, but it was a decent place. Haunted too,” he said with a grin.
Cassie snorted in disbelief, but stopped when she saw my reaffirming nod. “I saw her.. the ghost I mean,” I said. “She appeared from time to time in our computer room, and was always crying.”
“Wow,” Cassie said. “No wonder you guys left.”
“Actually, we were there almost a year when we were wrestling in the BWA.” Terrence said with another shrug. “Then Wendy and I retired, and both Katrina and Rita did a pretty good number on the place. So we sold it to the state, and moved back to Indianapolis to finally get married. Last I heard, it’s a museum or something.”
Cassie looked as if she was about to ask us what living through Katrina was like (she’d have been disappointed- we had evacuated to Arkansas), but the sounds of breaking glass distracted all of us. A few tables over, a beer mug lay shattered on the floor, both spiller and victim were on their feet shouting at each other. As too often was the case at Sam N’ Ella’s, shouting became pushing, pushing became shoving, and soon, both men were grabbing the other’s shirt with one hand, and rifling punches to their rivals face with the other, a hockey fight that set the entire restaurant rooting them on.
“Ah, here we go!” Terrence proclaimed brightly, setting his menu down, and turning in his seat to watch the show. It wasn’t the most technically sound fight, but both men were giving each other some pretty good shots. The waitress ran over to the men, then stopped, and shook her head in disgust, before taking a deep breath...
“Ell-LAAAAH!”
At the sound of the shrieking voice, the restaurant went completely silent, save for the grunts of the two men still fighting, seemingly oblivious to the doom that was about to befall them. Even with the door to the kitchen at the other end of the room, we could hear the thuds of heavy footsteps.
“Ah, NOW comes the fun part.” I could hear Pollaski whispering, the comment meant for Cassie and Theresa. I glanced quickly at the two other females at the table- Cassie had an astonished look of horror on her face, while Theresa, seated furthest from the fight, had climbed up on her chair for a better view, and she was wearing a grin of delight. I silently cursed my husband- and myself- for bringing our daughter to this place.
Then the footsteps grew louder even still, and I couldn’t help but shiver.
Being a professional wrestler, there’s very few people in the world that I would be terrified at the prospect of ever fighting. Ella St. Croix was one of them. A woman in her fifties, Ella’s hulking frame put someone like Victoria Wolf’s to shame, although Ella was also considerably more meaty than my X3W colleague. Had she been a pro-wrestler herself, I had little doubt that Ella would have won every single championship that had ever been invented. Including belts that were retired.
But, luckily for the rest of us, Ella’s love was cooking, and she took great pride in being the proprietor and lead chef of Sam N’ Ella’s, staying in the kitchen and making the best and spiciest food for her guests. She handled the rowdy patrons of her restaurant in as fair a manner as could be- if there was a fight, Ella simply grabbed her trusty rolling pin, and joined the fray herself.
The two combatants, both punch-drunk and booze addled, didn’t realize the fate that was about to befall them until a shadow fell over them. Both men turned, their fists cocked back. Both men paused, and gulped.
Ella just smiled.
*WHAM!*
*WHAM!*
The rolling pin cracked into both men’s heads, and soon, Ella and the waitress were dragging the men to the door. Two quick heaves later, and Ella was on her way back to the kitchen, the sounds of conversation returning to the rest of the room.
Theresa was grinning ear to ear, as if what she had just seen was the greatest moment of her life. Cassie still was completely in shock. Pollaski was chuckling to himself, and even I couldn’t help but smile. Terrence was laughing the hardest of all of us.
“You’d think the morons woulda figured out by now what happens if you fight in here,” he said, shaking his head. “Then again, this ain’t exactly scholar’s country.”
I just shook my head, and returned to perusing the menu. Whatever I ordered, I was giong to be on salads all the way up until bell time if I hoped to fit in my ring gear. Nevertheless, I hadn’t had Ella’s spicy fried cod in ages, and I was looking forward to it.
“So, Wendy, you ready to face Elfman?” Pollaski’s voice broke into my thoughts. For a second, I stared at him in confusion, unsure of whom he meant. Then it hit me.
“Oh, Keebler?” I responded. “I should be. You think HE’LL be ready? I mean, he’s going through a tough time...”
Considering Pollaski knew how I felt about kidnapping, I was definitely less than pleased when my manager started laughing. I shot him the dirtiest look I could muster, but it had no effect.
“That idiot,” Pollaski muttered, again chuckling. “Idiot doesn’t have a clue about who’s got his babymama, when he doesn’t need to look very far at all.”
“Oh?” Cassie asked to my side, narrowing her eyes. “I suppose Mr. Knows Everything, you know who did it?”
“As a matter of fact, I do,” Pollaski replied, wagging his finger at Cassie with the air of a professor lecturing an annoyingly skeptical student. “Keebler oughta look no further than Victoria Wolf. Then give me that quarter-mil reward, because I knew it all along.”
I couldn’t help but snort in disbelief. “Really, Dan? Victoria?”
“Well, think about it. I mean, this lady walks into the X3W, and she’s completely obsessed about facing Kris Keebler. She gets that match by beating up Ariel Shadows, and a week later Kookie Kreme goes missing. And now Victoria’s suddenly altruistic and lending a helping hand? No, sorry, does not compute.”
The fact that the other three adults at the table were giving him incredulous glares did little to deter Pollaski, who merely shrugged, and set his menu on the table. I didn’t even know why I was going to humor this ridiculous theory, but nevertheless, I couldn’t help myself.
“Why would Victoria kidnap Kristi?”
“Jealousy?” Pollaski said with a shrug. “I mean, Victoria said in her very first promo that getting her hands on Keebler would be ‘sheer enjoyment’. Well... she’s got her hands on him now! I wonder who’s enjoying it more?”
Considering my four-year old daughter was sitting next to him, I narrowed my eyes at my manager, but Terrence made a retching sound.
“Dude, please. We’re about to eat.”
Pollaski shot Terrence and I a grin, then took a sip from his glass of water.
I paused for just a second. “Either way... don’t you think Keebler’s being a bit on the disingenuous side? I mean, Kristi’s been gone nearly a month now, and instead of looking for her, he’s travelling around to wrestling shows.”
Terrence cleared his throat. “Well, what else is he gonna do?”
“I don’t know,” I replied, surprised my husband would defend it. “Something, anything...”
“He is doing something. Wendy, I’m sorry, but you don’t know what it’s like.”
“What? Terry, I’ve BEEN kidnapped before!”
“Four times,” Pollaski confirmed from the end of the table, drawing a nasty glare from me. The number wasn’t important.
“Yeah, and I’m not taking anything away from that,” my husband said mildly. “But the feeling of helplessness you get when you know that a loved one’s gone, and you can’t protect them- that’s pretty hard stuff to deal with. And if you don’t have any leads, or reason to hope, what else can you do but try and keep going? I mean, when you were kidnapped, I knew who took you, and I still couldn’t do a damned thing. Keebler doesn’t even have that.”
“Yeah he does. Victori-”
“Shut up!” Terrence, Cassie and I all snarled at Pollaski simultaneously, and even my outspoken manager clammed it.
I looked at my husband, and was surprised at the expression on his face, a mixture of hurt and regret, as if he was reliving my own troubles so many years ago. Knowing I had nothing, I looked away. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have judged.”
Terrence shrugged, and smiled. “You have nothing to apologize for, hon. And I know Kookie’s abduction troubled you when it happened- I’ve seen the expression on your face every time its brought up, and you’ve been quick to change the subject when you could. And I know facing Keebler’s going to make that tougher for you.”
I said nothing, and doubted I could if I had tried. I had been uneasy about this match since I had learned of it, and I felt even more so now. How could I live with myself from beating up a guy who was more focused on finding his fiancee? Instead, I pretended to be suddenly interested in my menu again, even though I knew what I wanted
Terrence took my gesture for what it was, and knew that I was trying to hide my confusion and . He clapped me on the shoulder, and smiled at me. “Don’t worry hon. If I have Keebler figured out right, he’s probably going to say something soon that’s going to just piss you off. And then, you won’t be so worried about the ethical ramifications of driving his head into the floor.”
I burst out laughing, and looked over at my husband, smiling and shaking my head in amazement. Terrence grinned back, and opened his mouth to say something-
“You shawt my DAWG?”
The Cajun-accented voice came from a couple tables over, and I wheeled around. A man was on his feet, clutching the edge of the table, glaring at his dinner companion. The other man, still seated spread his hands defensively.
“He had it comin!’ I was shootin’ duck, and I missed! Duck flew away, and yer dawg sticks his head outta the reeds, an’ starts LAUGHIN’ at me!”
“Why ye li’l!”
“Oh, not again...” Cassie hissed from my side, rolling her eyes.
Everyone began hooting and hollering at the new fight breaking out. I looked from my husband, to my manager, to my daughter, to my nanny, each one watching the two men with a varying degree of amusement, and I couldn’t help but smile. It was going to be a difficult week- maybe even a difficult month. But if watching the events that had unfolded around me in X3W over the past few weeks had taught me anything, from the attack on Thatcher Rex’s protege, to Kristi’s kidnapping, to the custody battles surrounding Crazy KYD, its that times like these, no matter how off-kilter they were, were precious commodities. Whatever worries I had could wait until later, for now, just enjoy the moment.
“Ellll-LAAAAAAH!”
And with Ella on her rolling pin on the way, the moment was about to be very enjoyable indeed.
=======================================
Sunday January 23, 2011
Bobbi’s RV Park & Snipe Hunt Tours
Marrero, Louisiana
11:15 AM Local Time
[Unfortunately, not even the Birdz were able to escape Sam N’ Ella’s and the wrath of Ella’s rolling pin. Pollaski took a shot to the back after making a quip about the local seafood platter being dipped in ‘extra oil’.]
[Nonetheless, it was a great, albeit high-calorie meal, which ended up being heavily discounted after Ella recognized Terrence and Wendy, and was overjoyed to see some of her ‘favur-ite coostamers’ again.]
[Whoda thunk?”]
[Anyways, we’re back in the WhirlyBirdz RV, which is parked at a campground just outside New Orleans. The main cabin appears to be empty, save for Wendy, who’s seated on the sofa. Wendy’s smiling at the camera as the scene fades in, and she pauses for just a second to brush a loose strand of her flame-red hair from her face]
“Well, I’ll be the first to admit that a school-boy rollup isn’t exactly the most dominating way to win a wrestling match, but considering the stakes at hand, Im more than happy to take it.”
[The smile widens momentarily into a grin,]
“I think most of you can figure out that I’m getting pretty excited. I mean, I’m in the finals of the tournament, and on February 13, I fight Madman Szalinski for the right to be the first X3W Champion. Even better, the more I think about it, the more I realize just how well I match up against Szalinski. I’m not saying it’s going to be easy, but there’s no reason why I can’t be walking out of Dallas with the championship.
[Wendy’s smile fades just a bit, and she sighs]
“Obviously, it’s going to be a long, anxious three weeks. But until my moment arrives, and Szalinski and I step into that ring, I’ve got plenty of other business I need to focus on.”
[A small pause, and Wendy’s smile turns into something more resembling a grimace]
“Kris Keebler, I wish I could say how much of an honor it is to be facing you on Monday, but alas, I would be lying.”
[Wendy scoffs and shakes her head]
“Nonetheless, I knew this match was coming sooner rather than later. You and I are natural rivals, Kris. Two people who are opposites, both in their style of wrestling, and in their personalities, yet both have enough talent to get the job done. And I’m sure the appeal of the last-ever Evolution Champion facing the potential first X3W Champion adds more than a little spice to the pot.”
[Shrug]
“In honesty, Kris. If someone would have given me a pencil and told me to fill out the brackets for the tournament, this match would have been the one taking place in Dallas in three weeks time. But there was NOTHING predictable about that tournament, and Joey Jenova surprised a lot of people when he knocked you off in the second round, just as I’m sure I raised a few eyebrows when I beat Psycho Soldier.”
[Not to mention her other semifinalists would have been Thatcher Rex and Katherine Stryfe]
“I guess it goes to show just how unpredictable things are here in X3W. There are no guarantees. Anyone can win any match, at any given event. The closeness of talent, and the parity in X3W is remarkable. There’s just no way of knowing who’s going to emerge on top.
[Short pause]
“But one thing I DO know, Kris, is that for all your grandiose, self-effacing verbiage, you’re no more invincible than the rest of the X3W locker room. As dominant as you were in EPW, that simply hasn’t carried over to the present. I’m sure that realization’s put a ton of pressure on you.”
[Another shrug]
“And yes, Kris. I heard that little speech you gave on the radio the other day, and all it does is amount to little more than sour grapes. You can talk about me all you want, and downplay me as little more than an annoying, overexposed novelty act, but that doesn’t change what I’ve managed to do here. I’m grateful for my success, and I’m proud of my accomplishments, and there’s absolutely nothing you can do or say to take any of that from me. You can love me or hate me for that, but I am what I am, and I’m not going to change.
[The small smile returns to her face, although there’s just a little bit of a sardonic glint in her eyes as Wendy leans against the armrest of the couch.]
“Keebler, you may be secure with YOUR place in wrestling history, whatever it may be, but I certainly am not. I doubt I ever will be, after all, the surest way to extinction in this business is through complacency. But either way, my story is still being written, and I’m certain there’s a lot of chapters left to be penned. Because whatever you might think about my loyalty to this company, I’m not going anywhere, title or no title, victory or defeat. I feel comfortable in X3W, and I have just as much a place here as you, Thatcher, Szalinski, or anyone else does.”
[The expression on Wendy’s face is one of determination, and she sits up a little straighter, going into that perfectly rigid posture she was so famous for having in her PWX interviews]
“Kris, you’re exactly the type of challenge that I knew I was going to face when I signed my contract. You’re rude, and you’re arrogant, and I daresay you’re pretty annoying. But ultimately, you’re a talented wrestler, one who knows his way around the ring. Your track record speaks for itself, anyone who wants to be considered a top-tier talent needs to go through you. So yes, Keebler, as much as I dislike you personally, when it comes to proving what I can do, I can’t wait to step in that ring against you.
[A short pause, and a small smile]
“But I’m warning you, Kris. I might just ‘measure-up’ a lot better than you think.”
[Fade]
