The Cruiserweight (8 page)

“Brett will be thrilled.”

“Send my congratulations the next time you talk
to him. Maybe he‘ll ask you out.”

“Phoebe, stop. We’re only good
friends.”

“You have to be the luckiest woman in the world
to have a guy like that for a friend.”

“I’m very grateful to have him in my
life.”

“If I didn’t know any better, Brett thinks well
of you too.”

“We’ve had some interesting conversations over
the last several months. He’s told me things that even the biggest
fan doesn’t know. Brett has made it easy for me to open up in a way
I’ve done before with only my closest girlfriends.”

“Did you talk to him?”

“Not since last night. He’s probably busy with
upcoming shows.”

“I can say that he has an understanding friend
who knows the rigors of his profession. I have never heard of any
other sport without an off season.”

“
If wrestling did have one, it
would allow their injured athletes to heal and the other roster
members to recover from the brutal schedule involved with their
business. I could never go through what those people do every
night, three hundred days a year.”

“You are quite passionate about this sport,
aren’t you?”

“I don’t discuss the topic for my own health,
Phoebe.”

Indeed you don’t, lady.
Now Karen had more reason to be passionate about her
career.

*****

Brett’s flight was scheduled to leave at ten.
Once he arrived, went through security and checked his luggage, a
two-hour delay announcement came over the intercom, due to some
fires in Los Angeles affecting visibility. “Oh, that just made my
whole morning,” he said with a touch of sarcasm.

“We’re sorry for the delay, sir.”

“Do people live just to piss me off? If I knew
beforehand, I could have stopped for breakfast.”

Brett walked away from the counter and flopped
into an empty seat. He opened the tour book he carried with him on
the road, flipping through the pages for the desired listing for
nearby shops and restaurants. “I guess if I’m stuck here for
another couple of hours, better to find somewhere else to go than
sitting here like a fool.”

The WiFi in the terminal wasn’t working, but he
lucked out when he found a nearby café with functioning service.
Brett pulled out the new netbook and checked email and his webpage,
skimming over comments about the previous night’s show. There was
also a joke of the day sent by Patrick, which made him laugh out
loud. “What a dirty-minded smart ass.”

“Why are you laughing at your computer,
mister?” a small voice asked.

Brett looked away from the screen, spotting a
little girl with blond hair and large green eyes.
This kid
probably thinks I’m nuts.
“A friend sent me a joke.”

“What kind ?”

“Uh…I don’t think this is one little girls
should hear or see.”

“Why?”

“It’s a grown-up joke.”

“What’s that?”

Before Brett could respond to the child, a
woman called from a short distance. “Audrey! What have I told you
about bothering people?”

“I’m not bothering him, Mama.”

“I’m so sorry,” the woman apologized. “She
tends to be very curious.”

He smiled, noting the woman’s appearance
resembled a golden-haired Karen. “Your little girl’s keeping me
company. I have about two hours to kill since my flight’s been
delayed and it’s good to have some company.”

“Yes, so is our flight to Los Angeles, not an
easy thing with an active and nosy five year old. Apparently there
is some issue with the fires out there.”

“You’re going to L.A.? I’m also headed there.
Would you both like to join me while we’re waiting?”

Audrey‘s eyes grew bigger. “Can we,
Mama?”

“I don’t see why not. By the way, I’m Samantha,
and you’ve met my daughter.”

“I’m Brett. I’ll get us some coffee and a soda
for the little lady.”

He was relieved that neither recognized him.
They must not be wrestling fans, and this morning, that‘s fine
with me.
The wait wouldn’t be so bad after all.

CHAPTER 10

On July thirtieth, news sites printed a major
story that Brett was the latest wrestler who lost his job. The
talent director called at eight AM, informing him was let out of
his contract due to “budget cuts.”

“I should’ve expected this to happen. The
six-second squash match with Kid Dynamite this past week should
have been an indication.”

While losing such a plum job would have
bothered other wrestlers
—
and prompted them to
make bitter remarks to the public
—
Brett took
his release in stride. “Just think, I can go back to the
independents and be me in the ring again. Sure, I’ll take a pay
cut, but it’s a price to pay to wrestle how
I
like for a
change.”

By noon, his release had spread across several
top sites, beginning with the company’s official
announcement:

Brett Kerrigan Released

We have come to terms
on the release of
Brett
Kerrigan as of today, July thirtieth. We wish him the best in all
future endeavors.

Fellow wrestlers were shocked to find stories
of Brett’s termination. No other star’s release made such
headlines
—
not even Patrick Sanchez-Garcia or
Karl Killeen, the wrestler released three months earlier. The
latest development became a hot conversation topic in several
locker rooms.

“I can’t believe Brett’s gone. He did such a
great job hosting a few weeks ago!”

“It had to be the pot thing. I told him to give
up that shit, but he wouldn’t listen. He’d kick for a couple of
months, and then he was lighting fatties again.”

“Looks like management will have to find
someone else to fill their weed fine piggy bank.”

“Cruiserweights always get fucked over, pot or
otherwise.”

“Poor Brett. What’s he going to do?”

“He’s a talented dude and always ready to work.
Someone will see he‘s a hot commodity and sign him. All the
released guys get snatched up sooner or later.”

“Brett put on a good face, but he didn’t appear
happy toward the end.”

“Kind of a shame he fucked up with weed. A nice
kid, didn’t complain much.”

Wrestling fan boards also lit up with thoughts
and opinions; some were neutral, while others expressed both shock
and outrage.

“Guess pot use in the locker room will go down
now that Kerrigan’s gone.”

“Woohoo! Independent feds anyone? Go ahead and
flame me, but this is the best thing to happen to Kerrigan. He
wasn’t being used right. I was sick of him as a tackle dummy for
the bigger guys.”

“That’s it! I am so done with this promotion.
First Karl Killeen and now Brett Kerrigan? This sucks!”

Brett couldn’t help but smile while he read the
anecdotes. “I didn’t realize people liked me so much. Don’t worry,
everyone, I’ll come back soon somewhere else
—
and I’ll be better than ever!”

*****

“Karen won’t be happy when she hears what
happened,” Phoebe said to the others gathered in the staff room.
“Eddie just told me about Brett Kerrigan losing his
job!”

“How in the hell did
Romano
find out?”
Terry asked.

“Brett’s release is all over the Internet,
where have you been?”

“I don’t know, maybe
working?”

Lou shook his head and lit a cigarette, leaning
back and tilting the chair where he sat. “From what I’ve seen,
Kerrigan has charisma and talent. Too bad he can’t lay off the
marijuana.”

Phoebe glared in Lou’s direction. “Not the time
for pot jokes, Lou.”

“I wasn’t making a joke, Pheebs, merely stating
an opinion. Jesus, the kid just lost his spot on the roster. You’re
acting like he
died.”

“Thank God that didn’t happen,” Terry said.
“Karen would be upset.”

“Upset over what?” Karen asked as she came in
the room, heading toward the coffee counter.

Phoebe gave her a look of sympathy. “I’m
guessing you heard what happened?”

“If it’s about Brett being released from his
contract, I knew the whole time. I can’t be sad about the whole
situation, though. I had some idea last week his being let go was
about to happen, so when the announcement came down, it didn‘t
shock me in the least.”

“What’s he going to do?”

“There’s a ninety-day clause that will go into
effect, which means Brett won’t be able to compete on television
for anyone else until it expires. In the meantime, he’ll consider
non
-televised offers.”

Lou and Terry looked at each other. “She’s
taking the news well,” Lou said. “Talk about an unexpected
reaction.”

*****

Brett noshed on bacon pizza after he finished
off his second joint of the evening. “This is some good shit. Hey,
maybe I should make some calls tomorrow about some indy
work.”

Patrick shook his head in disgust. “Is that all
you’re going to do now that you’re out of a job? Smoke fatties and
pester some low-level wrestling companies? You’re
pathetic.”

“There’s no point dwelling on the past when
there’s a future to plan.”

“Come on, you should hold out. Your being
released today makes you hot property! Wait till they come to
you.”

“Not my style, man. Unlike you, I’m not going
to spend the next three months wallowing in self-pity and putting
on a ’diva’ act asking for more money when offers do
come.”

“Yeah, yeah, rub my face in it, Midget. At
least you know now how I feel about losing a job. Anyway, I got to
go get ready for a date tonight.”

“Have fun. I‘m just going to hang here and
check out some stuff for awhile. It‘s been a long day.”

“Loser.”

“Yeah, tell me something I
don’t
know.”
Brett turned on his laptop and surfed a few websites. He spotted a
short poem written by Karen along the mass of the online “we will
miss you” notes.

“Oh, sweetheart,” he said in a soft voice, “I’m
glad I’m not the only one with a positive outlook.”

Free to Fly
I received the news
today,
But I won’t allow myself to be sad.
I honestly think it is for the best.
Because you are free to fly!
You have touched the lives of many,
Now you may go to find more to do the same
There are no longer any restrictions on what you can do
Because you are free to fly!

This new change doesn’t affect how
I feel
I will still be there for you
I will support any direction that you may go
I can take comfort that you can spread your wings
Because you are free to fly!

CHAPTER 11

Less loyal fans had abandoned Brett when
reports about his positive marijuana tests and recent backstage
attitude were published in the weeks following his contract
release.

“Sure I had an ‘attitude problem.’ near the end
of my run,” he told Karen during an online chat. “It got old having
to job to someone less competent in the ring.”

“I’d been pissed too.”

“Karen, first they had me wrestling midgets,
and then men older than me, and I mean old, like some dude almost
sixty. There’s guys six months into their careers—one example, Kid
Dynamite—earning undeserved pushes while I was jobbing most of the
time.”

“You deserved better for your efforts. Look at
the great hosting job you did a few weeks ago. I thought you’d go
somewhere.”

“Yeah, I went ‘somewhere’, all right. Out the
front door on my ass.”

“How could they do such a thing?”

“Don’t know, but I’m glad the entire bullshit
is behind me. I felt like the short kid jumping up and down in a
large crowd yelling, ‘Hello! I’ve been here seven years!’ I was
invisible most of the time. Toward the end, they were waiting until
a more popular heel came along—Chris Pridgeon—before showing me the
door.”

“You were thrown over for an ex-steroid
freak?”

“Ex? If that isn’t a joke! The man is still
juicing and I can’t wait for the reports to come out that he failed
a piss test. I may had my own share but at least they were red and
not green.”

“What do you mean?”

“The color for a positive steroid test is green
and red for marijuana. Mine turned red.”

“Oh, okay. But just think, you’re now a free
man to pursue anything you want.”

“Sure can. Right now, I’m planning to limit my
shows to the West Coast so I can wind down from traveling so much.
Once I receive more offers and ready to go to other states, I’ll
head back your way for an appearance.”