“Get up and come over here!”
I sigh and take a deep breath, “I can’t….”
“Bullshit! I said get up and get over here!”
“Ugghhhhh…I really can’t.” Grimacing, “My back hurts!”
“It will hurt a lot more if you don’t get the fuck up and get your stupid ass over here!”
I hang my head, but I don’t wait for another reply. I work my legs under me and get to my feet….nearly falling…but getting my balance. I stand as erect as I can, but my back really does hurt. Of course it hurts! Crazy bitch has slammed me on it about a hundred damn times!
Grrr!!!
I walk across the wrestling ring to my personal coach and trainer. Mary has been retired for a couple years, but she still looks like she could step between the ropes and win titles. I know she could take me apart….she’s proven it on an almost daily basis for the last month and a half.
I stand in front of her and look slightly up…she’s about two inches taller, and twenty pounds heavier. She’s seen many battles, and her body shows the scars. However, she has won most of them.
“Can we stop for the day?” I ask hopefully. I try to look as tired as possible, but I already know the answer.
“No. No we cannot. I have to have you ready by this time next month and…sadly…you are a year away from being near ready. Now, shut up and let’s do the drill again!”
I sigh and walk to the corner…then I run out and jump into the air and land on my back. We have been doing this for almost five hours. My whole body hurts. I have to learn how to fall…to fall without hurting myself or anyone else. But I have to wonder if there really is a way to fall without hurting yourself. I mean, really? Maybe you just do it so many times you get immune to pain.
That time didn’t hurt so badly. Maybe I did it right!
“Again!”
Maybe not….
[b][u]Chapter Two[/u] (A Hot Mess)[/b]
“She isn’t ready.” Mary firmly states. Her eyes locked on Lorie’s across the conference table. “No where near ready.”
I can sense a great deal of tension between the two women. I don’t think they much like each other. However, Lorie is the president, and Mary an employee.
“She has to be ready, Mary. It has been four months. They are clamoring for her! Her debut is still the most talked about experience since our last match!”
Their last match? Interesting.
“Lorie, she is not ready. She is going to get hurt…or hurt someone else. I won’t sign off on this. You can’t make me.”
“Fuck you Mary!” Lorie leaps to her feet and points her finger in Mary’s face. “She is ready! She has to be! Next Friday night you will open the damn curtains and lead her to the fucking ring!”
My mouth drops open because I never thought Mary would stand being talked to this way. I nod my head when I learn I am right. Mary literally jumps out of her chair and chest bumps Lorie. “I will take you apart if you don’t get out of my face! How dare YOU!” Her voice rises with each word.
“Catfight!” Tony whispers from beside me then laughs. I bite my lip and shrug.
There is no catfight, though. The others in the room quickly separate the two women. As Mary straightens her blouse, she hisses, “I beat you last time and I will again if you talk to me like that.”
Lorie has calmed by this time and she responds with, “Friday. Her next match is Friday.”
With that she regains her composure and stalks out of the room.
Mary slams her hands on the table and sits down heavily. Fuming for a few minutes until you can visibly see her mood change. “I guess your next match is a week from Friday,” she says softly.
__________________________________________________
The next week is a whirlwind of activity as I prepare for what Mary calls my ‘real debut.’ She says I never had a chance against Marie, even though I got in some lucky moves. “Marie would take you apart in a rematch right now. Probably would several years down the road.” I roll my eyes at Mary’s vote of confidence.
I do see Marie from time to time. I was always told how wrestlers went at each other in the ring, but were friends outside. Marie apparently didn’t get that memo. When she saw me training in the gym she hit the ring like a whirlwind and chased me out with a chair.
Luckily, Mary was there to keep her from killing me. I might have been able to out run her…if I hadn’t gotten tangled in the ropes and fell on my head.
Ouch!
The second time she saw me, she rushed the ring and actually got me. She must have forgot how to wrestle. She also forgot to put on clothes (I later learned she was taking a shower when I came in. A troublemaker named Kayla told her I was in the ring). Anywho, a very angry…and very naked Mawee stormed the ring and caught me. As I said, she must have forgot how to wrestle, because she was throwing punches!
Imagine the look on my face when I was dragged to my butt from behind! My ponytail held tight in a naked girl’s hands. She’s dripping wet with shampoo in her hair! Her first punch catches me on the chin. The second in the throat. The third on the ear. I don’t remember four through twenty-five. I woke up with Mary holding smelling salts under my nose!
After that, Lorie and Mary decided that Marie and I should not schedule gym times on the same days. I thought that was a pretty good idea.
__________________________________________________________
Friday finally came and I thought I was ready. Sitting in the dressing room…already in my wrestling attire: a purple sports bra with purple spandex boy shorts and gold high top Cons with purple laces. For a final touch, I used black grease paint to make little marks like football players under my eyes. I have no idea why I did this, but it seemed like a good idea at the time.
Yep. I’m ready.
“You’re not ready, but here we are.” Of course Mary is always here to pull me back to earth. A girl has to stay grounded, you know.
We all have our own little ways of dealing with nerves. I guess giving lap dances is mine. It also happens to be a good way to warm up. I am pretty sure Tony didn’t mind. Mary did, however. She seemed aghast when she walked in on us.
Anywho, she nodded that it’s time to head to the ring. She walks with a look of disgust that actually hurts my feelings a little. I know I am not the best student she’s had. I also know I am not the easiest person to get along with. But I have been training hard. Maybe she is being too harsh on me. I have tried to soak in all the knowledge she is teaching. It’s not my fault if my ADD gets in the way! Boo! She hasn’t so much as paid me a compliment. Seems I have done nothing right. As I walk into the dark arena, a feeling of sadness washes over me. I am about to embarrass myself. I am not ready.
At that very moment it occurs to me….no one has mentioned my opponent.
_____________________________________________________________
By the time I wonder who my opponent is, I have already heard the announcement and I didn’t even pay attention to her name. I almost ask Mary as we walk down the aisle, but she would probably ridicule me more. How can someone who doesn’t even know who her opponent is be ready for a match?
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! GRACING OUR RING FOR THE SECOND TIME! PLEASE WELCOME THE NEWEST PHENOM! A LEGEND IN THE MAKING! PERHAPS THE NEXT BEST THING TO COME FROM THE GREAT STATE OF LOUISIANA! THE CAJUN QUEEN HERSELF! GIVE IT UP FOR THE BAYOU BEAUTY! CHEERLEADER JONI!!
Oh well, too late to worry about that stuff. I have business to attend to!
[i]Jump around
Scream and shout
Joni spirit, is what it’s all about[/i]
I literally hop and skip down the aisle all the way to the ring. Tony and Mary are panting by the time they finally catch up to me, but I am already on the ring apron blowing kisses and waving at the boisterous audience. Smiling wide and showing all my perfect teeth…I certainly look more confident than I feel.
Climbing into the ring, I grab the ropes and stretch my shoulders. The crowd actually on it’s feet. It seems they might have come to see me. Lorie called me the ‘next superstar,’ and the announcer sure did his part to play that up. Maybe I might make it after all. Anyway, here I am. Ready or not world…here I come!
The roar of the crowd finally subsides and I turn to look for my opponent. I see her looking at me with total contempt and disdain. However, I try to stay excited and keep the crowd into it, so I raise my hands and hop up on the bottom rope and hold my hands high over my head. I shout:
[i]“GIVE ME A J!”[/i]
To my shock…the crowd replies: “J!”
I giggle when I see Mary’s cheeks flare red, “GIVE ME AN O!!”
“O!”
[i]“GIVE ME A N!!!"[/i]
“N!”
[i]"GIVE ME AN I!!”[/i]
“I!”
Smiling at the crowd and finally hopping down off the ropes, “WHAT’S THAT SPELL?”
I don’t get an answer. My opponent’s shoulder slams into my back so hard, I tumble from the ring onto the mats surrounding the outside.
_____________________________________________________________
“Why do I have to fight THAT?!?!”
A whiny, nasally voice echoes through the shockwaves in my head. I look up to the ring and see blonde hair haloed by the light. Mawee? No. It’s too big to be Mawee. Besides, Mawee would be standing on my throat by now. I grab the apron and use it to pull myself to my feet. The bell rings and the referee starts counting me out. However, my opponent isn’t finished whining.
“I don’t want to look at THAT…let alone touch THAT!”
I have seen her around. She’s the ring leader of a group that calls themselves the Silk Stocking Tramps, or something like that. I think her name is Heidi. She’s really cute…in a spoiled, slutty kind of way, but from the way I have seen her treat everyone, she’s a total bitch! I mean..look at her outfit?!?! How the fuck can you wrestle in that?!?! How?!?!
Heidi bounces around the ring wearing a slutty crimson one piece with the midsection bared. It looks like silk. I swear to gawd! Silk! What the fuck! Silk! Of course, she has on her trademark black stockings under that atrocity! If there was ever someone they would make high-heeled wrestling boots for, it would be Heidi! I am really shocked she isn’t wearing crimson high heels. I mean it. I am not joking.
I grab the ropes while she is whining and pointing. The poor ref already looks overwhelmed. I pull onto the apron, but that is as far as I get.
“I can’t touch HER!” Heidi whines….her voice really grating. Then she touches me. She grabs my hair and drops to her knees causing my throat to drop across the middle rope. “AGGHHHH!!!!” I gasp and fall back to the floor.
“Back off Ms Foster!” The referee yells and tries to corral the blonde back to her corner.
“Shut uppppppp!!!”
“One….two…..three…..”
The ref begins his count but I am not sure he’s counting me out or counting her to make her go to her corner. I can still hear her though.
“Count faster! Get to ten! I will take a disqualification! I don’t want to touch her! She’s got dirty hands!”
Rubbing my throat, I get to my feet and this time I walk to the steps…climbing them and watching my opponent closer this time.
“I mean…look at HER! She’s so……pitiful!” Heidi’s head bobs while talking. “She has to come from a poor family….those clothes! Oh. My. GAWD!” Pointing and bobbing her head at me as I get back in the ring. “I mean….totally AWFUL! I’m not touching her. No way.” The blonde crosses her arms and nods her head curtly to put an exclamation point on her last remark…a pout on her lips making her look like a towheaded child.
Welp, the match is very early and I have already had just about enough of Heidi and her verbal jabs. I step through the ropes while her back is too me and I drop back into the ropes. Coming off, I run at her and jump leading with my feet. Her head is still bobbing and her arms still crossed when my Cons hit her right between the shoulder blades..She pitches forward into the referee so hard the both nearly fall out of the ring.
The crowd erupts in wild torrents and catcalls when the blonde falls to the canvas and bounces.
“HEYYYY!!! Get her away from MEEEE!!!!” Heidi literally squeals as she scoots across the ring on her tushie. I give chase but she makes it to the ropes and the referee has no alternative but to stop me and make me go back to my corner. Cursing myself for not being faster, I have no choice but to let the blonde get up.
“No FAIR! Disqualify HER! She CHEATED!!!”
Heidi gets to her feet, pleading with the ref to ring the bell. She grabs his sleeve, imploring him to make me leave the ring. I even think she has a tear on her cheek.
“She CHEATED!!!”
Holy crap! She just stamped her foot!
“Ms Foster! Either leave the ring or wrestle!” The referee finally declares. Heidi starts to protest, but the ref raises his arm to call for the bell, and she huffs and puffs, but goes to her corner.
“I doooonnnnnnn’ttttt waaaannnntttt to touch HER!” She whines but she moves out of the corner and starts circling the ropes….her eyes on me. I will say this about Heidi. She may whine and cry….A LOT, but she moves like an athlete. One look at her and you can tell she is no pushover. Her shoulders are wide like a (Gasp!) cheerleaders. Her arms are tanned and toned from long days in the training room. Her footfalls hardly make a sound on the mat and the ring doesn’t vibrate at all. Her eyes belie her attitude. I would never turn my back on this opponent. If I did I would probably have to peel myself off the wall.
I stalk with her in a tight circle and suddenly I lunge out with a move Mary showed me. The old collar and elbow tie up. That seems like a good place to start. However, to my shock, Heidi squeals “Don’t touch ME!”…steps to the side and let’s my momentum carry me right into her oncoming thigh. The blow knocks the wind from me, and as I double over, she grabs my hair and drags me face first into the mat.
THUDDDD!!!
The canvas burns as it scrapes across my nose and I gasp “fuckkkk!” I blush when Heidi seems to laugh slightly, but then her arm slips around my neck and tightens. Pulling my back to her chest as her leg slips across my body locking me against her. “FUCKKK!” I guess she doesn’t mind touching me now!
“I’m going to snap your filty little neck bitch!” She whispers in my ear but she doesn’t try to break my neck. Instead, she tries to choke me. I gasp and squirm and slobber all over her…Okay, maybe I got a little melodramatic, but it’s worth it when the referee inspects the hold and yells, “Break it Foster! One….two…..” I pull away and roll toward the ropes. My lungs burning from the choke.
“It was totally LEGAL! What the hell ref?!?! You fucking her TOO?!?!”
Okay, that made me blush. Who else is fucking the ref? I wonder…..
I guess it doesn’t matter, however. I grab the ropes and pull myself to my feet and see Heidi on hers arguing with the referee. I rush at her again…remembering how well it worked for me last time. I lower my head to go for a tackle and take an elbow right in the forehead. Staggering back, her boot drives into my midsection. Seeing stars and gasping for air. This is starting to remind me of the Mawee Bee match….
I roll onto my tummy and try to push myself to my hands and knees. I am getting the hell beat out of me by a whiny, spoiled rich bitch who is most likely one of the federation’s biggest jobbers. Maybe Mary was right. I am not ready. I glance in her direction, and see her looking at the floor shaking her head. She’s rubbing her temples like she has a migraine. I have that effect on people.
I don’t have much time to contemplate whether I am ready or not. Heidi has apparently gotten over her phobia of touching me. Her hand grips my ponytail and pulls me to my knees. Once there, she unloads a hard knee right into my chest. The blow knocks me backwards, but Heidi yanks on my hair to keep me upright. Another knee to the chest, and then she lets me go, but I think it’s only because the referee has gotten to 8 on his 10 count. However, I am not safe yet. A cute crimson boot slams between my shoulder blades, knocking me to the canvas.
“Not so tough now are ya, baby?” Heidi’s voice is no longer grating. Now it is condescending. This is the attitude I have always most associated with her. The problem is, she usually attacks with her partners. They have a bad habit of ganging up on their enemies. The problem for me is Heidi apparently needs to partners to handle me. She is kicking my ass pretty well on her own!
A hard tug and I am back on my knees. A little yank and I am bent backwards. One step and suddenly two powerful thighs clamp around my ears. Next thing I know I am staring into the silky crimson crotch of my opponent’s outfit! My nose about half an inch from her most intimate anatomical features! I should have about a thousand thoughts racing through my brain, but the only thing I can think of at this moment is, I hope she is wearing panties.
One step back and I am sitting on my heels. I must look a sight! I guess Mary was right. I am not ready, and Heidi is going to prove that in spades!
The taller blonde…oh I forget to mention, Heidi really is bigger than me. Unlike Mawee, Heidi looks like an Amazon next to me. Well, she looks like one now….with me sitting on my heels, bent backwards, with her crotch in my face (Literally! She squats and suddenly my nose sinks in about an inch!). Heidi might be 5’4”….looks around 6’4” right now….and she weighs around 240 lbs. Okay, not really. She might weigh 120…maybe a few pounds less. But that’s not the point! She whines and cries, but this girl can wrestle! She knows her stuff. Okay, well maybe she doesn’t, but she looks like it against me!
WHAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!
Since I am so totally outclassed, I simply try to regain my composure and survive. This isn’t going to be easy…considering I have my nose in my opponent’s ass…but I have to try. I tell myself this will be my last match.
(Ya know….odd but the thought to tap out never crosses my mind. I guess I really am too dumb for this after all)
When I get out of this, I will make a beeline to the dressing room, pack, leave, and never come back. I will grab Tony and just go. I should have learned from the Marie episode, but I have always been hardheaded. Mary was right. Even if I was ready for this match, I would never be ready to be the superstar Lorie wants me to be. Maybe I don’t have the talent to pull it off. Maybe I don’t have the talent to do anything. Maybe I am a hopeless cause.
Anywho, things go from back to worse. Heidi tires of scissoring my nose into her butt crack, so she step back…freeing my head…but she drops to one knee and put my nose into an even worse place….her armpit. My boobs point at the ceiling and she lowers my shoulders so that pain ripples through my arched back. Her arm tightens and begins to cut off the flow of blood to my head. I actually know this hold. During one of my training sessions, Mary got mad at me and put me in this. It’s called a Dragon Sleeper. I took a nice long nap that afternoon. Looks like I may be taking another one tonight.
Again, it never occurs to me to simply tap Heidi’s thigh. I mean….it’s right there! All I would have to do is tap. The referee is standing in front of me saying something. Looking back…I am pretty sure he is imploring me to submit. However, I can’t hear anything he is saying. That and the crowd noise have been drowned out by the roaring in my ears. It also doesn’t help that one side of my head is mashed against Heidi’s boob and they other ear is being smashed by her upper arm. One thing I can do now, though, is look into Heidi’s eyes. I can’t hear a word she is saying, but she is talking to me. Talking to me plenty. I should probably happy I don’t know what she is saying, but I still have a pretty good idea what it is. She is pretty much claiming ownership.
I can’t say I am in much of a position to dispute that right now.
Heidi clamps down on the sides of my neck…further limiting the blood flow to my brain. Mary has said on many occasions that I don’t have much blood flowing to my brain anyway, so this can’t be good. My eyelids begin to flutter and my breath gets shallow. I am past the point of panic. My head feels lighter and lighter by the moment, and the ref grabs my wrist, lifts it, and lets my arm fall limply to my side. He lifts it a second time and lets go, but this time I keep it up, but it starts slowly drooping…just like my eyes. I can tell by the frantic look on his face, he is literally begging me to give up. Somewhere in the deep, dark recesses of my brain…something tells me he is probably right. I didn’t come here to get permanently damaged. Something down there tells me to tap out before I black out.
Ha! Almost unconscious and I can still make a rhyme! One thing I always could do was cheer! That’s one thing I am good at…motherfuckers!
I lift my hand and reach toward Heidi’s thigh, but just as I begin to tap….she lets me go and I flop to the mat with my heels under my butt. She let me go.
Did I tap? Is it over? Did I pass out?
I don’t much think so. I can still open my eyes, and Heidi is parading around the ring pointing and obviously mocking me! Her fat ass even does a cheer! What a bitch!
Pretty good moves, though…..
Anywho…I instantly hate her.
The match apparently isn’t over. The ref is checking me and when I can understand what he is saying, he asks, “Do you want to continue?”
Hell no! I don’t want to continue! I want this nightmare to end! But I nod my head up and down. He steps back and when he does Heidi grabs my ankles and bends then 90 degrees then stomps on my tummy. Following that, she drags me to the corner. I don’t resist much. I can’t.
A few more taunts…these I can hear…and she hooks her arms under my armpits and drags me to the turnbuckles. She somehow manages to get my butt onto the second turnbuckle…then the top one…so that I am sitting on the top rope. She steps up to the second one and locks my head under her arm. I don’t know what she has planned, but it can’t be good. All sorts of bad things can happen up here.
I don’t want to fall.
Please, don’t let me fall.
Maybe Heidi has some redeeming qualities. She grabs the side of my shorts at the waistband and bunches them in her hand to keep me steady.
She won’t let me fall.
So sweet….
The way her arm has my head trapped I am looking at the mat. I feel her weight shift, but I am not worried. She is holding onto to me. Maybe she really is my friend.
So sweet….
Her muscles tense and tighten.
My new friend is really straining to make sure I don’t fall.
She strains so hard to keep my from falling that my butt comes off the top turnbuckle.
So sweet….
Then I realize what she is going to do!
Heidi is decidedly not my friend.
Fuck sweet! This bitch is crazy!
She leans back to pull me into a suplex off the top rope and in a moment of panic I suddenly push my shoulder into her chest and shove with my feet. I have to get off these ropes!
Next thing I know we are falling.
SHIT!
One of two things will happen here. She will drive the top of my head into the mat and make it pop like a balloon…or she will bend my head under and snap my neck.
Damn my fear!
Neither of those things happens, however. For some reason, she lets go of my head and when we land…I land on top of her. I actually feel her breath rush from her lungs. Because of the way she was holding me, her legs are up at a 90 degree angle and for some reason I grab them both under the knees and pull forward. The force of the impact bounces me onto her chest and I lean forward putting all 107 lbs of me onto her shoulder and neck. The referee drops to his knees in front of me and lifts his hand and slams it down once…..twice…..my hand grips Heidi’s trademark silk stockings and pulls her butt toward her head…..the ref’s hand falls a third time.
The next thing I know he is standing and waving toward one side of the ring then he is patting me on the shoulder. Heidi finally manages to kick me off her, but as she gets to her feet…the referee steps between us and yells something in my direction.
What did he say?
I’m so confused….
He grabs my wrist and pulls my arm over my head. He shouts again….”WINNER!”
I look at him in utter amazement. It doesn’t hit me until the announcer says over the PA:
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN….YOUR WINNER AT THE 13 MINUTE 32 SECOND MARK OF THE MATCH…..CHEERLEADER JONI THE CAJUN QUEEN!!!
My eyes nearly bulge out of my head and I keep my arm up even after the referee lets it go. A feeling of joy that I can’t readily explain washes over me. Tony and Mary are in the ring by now…Tony is dancing around like he won the lottery. Mary is shaking her head in disbelief.
Heidi…on the other hand…is inconsolable.
“NOOOOOOO!!!!! She screams in frustration and anger. “SHE CHEATED!!!” She even tries to show the referee how I cheated by theatrically grabbing her own suit and pulling them so tight they ride into her ass giving her a wedgie so painful she yelps and comes at me. One glance from Mary, however, stops her in her tracks.
In response to all of this, the referee again points at me and shouts, “WINNER!”
It takes another moment, but the realization really begins to sink it. I WON! I BEAT HEIDI!
Maybe I am a superstar in the making.
[i]Great job
Super well done
Come on Joni
Let’s score another one![/i]
I guess I really made a spectacle after my first victory celebration. I am pretty sore now, but at the time, I was turning cartwheels in the ring, running from corner to corner, and screaming and shouting. The crowd liked it. It was like they were watching me at Tony’s club. Only then didn’t throw dollar bills at me.
Boo!
Anywho, Mary looked disgusted when she finally got me to leave the ring. However, as I stepped down, I caught a glimpse of Lorie’s face, and I will never forget the look of smug satisfaction I saw. I think she really believes a star is being born.
[i]Our spirit…is outta control
Let it roll, let it roll, let it roll![/i]
Later in the dressing room, I am still jubilant. I WON! Mary, on the other hand, isn’t sharing in my excitement.
“You got lucky.”
“I know! Isn’t it great?!?!”
“Great?” The look of utter frustration on her face causes my mood to darken a little. “She was about to snap your spine. You were on the verge of losing to one of the biggest jobbers in the federation. You were losing badly.” A look of sympathy….almost, “Joni, you are not ready. You are going to get hurt….”
Her words fade out when the door opens and an excited Lorie rushes in!
“You’re a HIT! You are about to go PRIMETIME! Your next match will be our feature event on the Friday Night line up!”
Mary’s ominous warning is now forgotten. This star is burning bright.
[i]Jam!
Say what? Say what?
Jam!
That’s what we do!
We Jam!
We do for you!
We turn around, touch the ground
Get back up, and Jam it down![/i]
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