True to You by Tony Correia

Author:Tony Correia
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lorimer
Published: 2018-08-27T16:00:00+00:00

12

Poached

“Table for how many?” asks the hostess at the White Spot.

I look around the restaurant. Ricky Flamingo is scrolling through his phone at a booth next to the window.

“My friend is already here,” I tell her. I knock on the table to let Ricky know I’ve arrived. “Anybody home?”

“Hey, Jorge!” Ricky gets out of the booth. He slams his hand into mine like we’re old buddies. “Can I order you a beer?”

“I’m underage.”

“I doubt the waitress will mind. I think she’s hot for me,” Ricky says with a wink.

“I’m good.”

“Let’s get down to business then.” Ricky gestures to the bench across from him. “So what are the odds I could lure you to wrestle for LGW?”

“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t interested. But I don’t know if I’m ready to cross that bridge yet.”

“Then what are you doing here?”

Good question. The last thing I want to do is betray Romeo. But I’ve never had my ego stroked like this before. No one has ever recognized my talents for anything. Until I started wrestling, people pointed out my shortcomings, not my strengths.

“I understand your obligation to Romeo,” Ricky says. “But Romeo knows as much as I do that his fed is a bust. You saw the crowd you wrestled for. You could be playing to a house twice that size.”

“I’ve only had one match,” I say. “There’s still a lot I need to learn.”

“The only way you’re going to get better is to wrestle in front of an audience. You were born for this. It shows in the ring.”

“Couldn’t I wait a few months?”

“This business waits for no one. Remember, there’s always someone coming up behind you. You could get injured next week.”

“Didn’t you hire Thunder after he broke Arshdeep’s arm?” I point out.

“Here’s my point. Why would you want to headline a wrestling card if no one is there to see you wrestle?” Ricky continues. “Come wrestle for me. I promise to give your career the push it deserves. A year from now, you’ll be wrestling Kyle O’Malley for the championship.”

Kyle O’Malley. The Holy Grail of indy wrestling. I should have known Ricky would play the Kyle card.

“That is tempting,” I say slowly.

“You need to decide what you’re worth. Do you want to spend the next year dragging Romeo’s broken ring to Cloverdale? Or do you want to headline a card for a sold-out crowd at the Russian Community Centre here in the city?”

“Can I have a couple of days to think about it?”

“Why don’t you come to the next show on the house? Bring a date if you want.” An alarm on Ricky’s phone goes off. “I have to run. We’ll be in touch.”

Ricky slides a couple of tickets for the next Lion’s Gate show across the table. He puts on a pair of aviator sunglasses and leaves some money for the waitress. I watch him through the window as he walks across the parking lot. He raises his hand and clicks a fob. A big white SUV blinks to life.

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