RJ Redmond folded his arms and curled into his seat as an
army of screaming wrestling fans polluted the air with their fried chicken
breath, open bottles of beer, and overly-buttered popcorn. Was being in the
front row really worth it? Was being in the nosebleed section really worse when
there was a video monitor hanging over the ring?
RJ breathed deeply in an attempt to quiet his schizophrenic
mind, always racing with wild thoughts the more these fans screamed. It didn’t
help matters that the Jabba the Hutt look-alike sitting next to him grabbed RJ
by the sleeve of his System of a Down T-shirt and shook him. The piggish
wrestling fan also ruffled Mr. Redmond’s spiky green hair. RJ could do nothing
but sigh and ride out this wave of testosterone.
The ringside announcer in a tux belted into a microphone,
“Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the ring: ‘The Nation of Temptation’
Luna Kat!” Every drunken male in the crowd came to life and quite possibly came
in their pants at the announcement. RJ shrunk in his chair and sighed again. Calm down, it’s just a stupid fucking woman,
he thought to himself. He ignored his own mental command as did everyone
else in the arena.
With a hard rock remix of “Love Is Blue” by Paul Mauriat
blasting over the speakers, the aptly named Nation of Temptation strutted down
the aisle swinging her hips from side to side. As part of her sexy gimmick, she
came to the ring wearing a black leather bra, a black leather thong, and
fishnet stockings. Her pale white skin, long red hair, and puffy blue lips also
did their job in getting the horny male crowd to go berserk. Isn’t she supposed to be a heel?, thought
RJ.
Luna did the splits on the ring apron and then wormed her
torso underneath the bottom rope. The fans’ screams really set off fireworks in
RJ Redmond’s mind. Why am I even here? I
should just get up and go, he said to nobody in particular. He failed to
heed his own advice by the time Luna picked up a microphone and licked it to
get some extra crowd attention.
The music died down and Luna smiled seductively at her
audience, which did nothing in getting them to shut up. In fact, they chanted
her name over and over again despite the fact that RJ himself said she was a
heel, or villain in plain English. Luna couldn’t hold the microphone to her
lips without being whistled and catcalled by the audience. She held her land to
her mouth and smiled, selling it like the champ she wanted to be.
“Okay, boys, settle down,” she said in her sweetest voice,
which surprisingly worked. “I came here tonight for a one-on-one match. But to
be honest, it probably won’t last five minutes. Or two. Or even ten seconds. My
opponent tonight is a lot like all of you: lazy, out of shape, and probably
eating government cheese with a plastic spork.” That got a boo from the entire
arena, RJ included. “In fact, just to show you all how easy this is going to
be, I’m going to need a volunteer.”
Oh dear god, why did
she have to say that? I fucking hate these sacks of protoplasm around me, RJ
thought. He had every right to say those words as the crowd roared to life once
again, every horny male pointing at themselves and screaming to be chosen.
Luna giggled as she scoped the audience. RJ was secretly
grateful that her pretty jade eyes scanned the upper tiers first. She shook her
head and wagged her finger in disgust as she moved to the middle tier. And
then…the front row. She tapped her chin in contemplation and finally found the
one man she’d love to make an example out of. “You!” she said in a low, steamy
voice while pointing at RJ.
His insides locked up on him while his skin vibrated in
absolute crippling fear. He shook even harder when obnoxious fans pointed at
him and messed with his hair again.
“Come on, don’t be shy, love bug,” said Luna as she sat on
the middle rope with her thong-wearing butt pointed directly at him.
RJ’s blood turned cold and sweat glistened off of his goose
bumps while rowdy fans chanted, “Don’t be shy!” over and over again. With one
last wave of her hand, Luna invited RJ into the ring. One leg over the
barricade and he nearly stumbled onto the floor, which earned a chuckle from
everyone around him. At this point he was convulsing with terror as he slowly
made his way up the stairs and into the ring. The crowd laughed again when he
entered through the side that Luna wasn’t sitting on. She laughed too and shook
her head before wrapping her arm around his shoulders.
“What’s your name, sweetheart?” asked Luna before holding
the microphone to her mark’s mouth. His lips quivered and the crowd laughed at
him even more. “You speak English, honey?”
“…R…RJ. My name is RJ.”
“Give it up for RJ, everyone!” said Luna while clapping her
hands. The crowd booed at her new boy toy, causing him to shrink inside of
himself again. “So RJ, you’ve seen the show before, I’m sure. Do you know how
this goes by now?” No answer, just trembles and stuttering, which earned even
more boos from the audience. “Come on now, guys, be nice. He’s obviously
proving my point as to how easy of a match I’ve got coming up. I’d be nervous
around me too if I was a lonely, sweet little virgin. This isn’t a Magic: the
Gathering tournament, honey. If you’ve got something to say to me, say it.”
The sea of laughter that swallowed RJ Redmond whole sent his
panicked mind into overdrive. First the fans laughed…then his head voices
laughed…then the fans called him vulgar names…then his head voices called him
vulgar names. RJ’s knees got so weak that he crumpled to the ground to the
amusement of others. On his hands and knees, his high anxiety morphed into
schizophrenic anger. His mental illness often led him to be Incredible Hulk
levels of angry at little things. But the big things in life…
“I can’t fucking take it anymore!” RJ shouted as he began
pummeling the canvas with his fists. He shrieked and foamed at the mouth while
raking his nails across the ring. Pounding. Raking. Pounding. Raking. All of
his psychotic energy concentrated on the spot next to Luna Kat’s feet. She soon
backed up from that spot in fear and threw her arms in the air in the shape of
an X.
RJ’s strikes and claws grew so intense that he managed to
pull out pieces of the canvas along with pieces of his fingernails. He didn’t
care that his fingertips bled. In his racing mind, everybody in this arena
should have been on the receiving end of his fury, not the mat. More energy was
expended. And more. And more. When his tank was quickly emptying, the fans
booing gave him more energy to work with. And then…his arms and legs ached with
lactic acid buildup. His breathing intensified. And in his ultimate low, he
dropped his forehead on the ground and bawled his eyes out in front of this
hostile crowd.
He didn’t notice paramedics helping him to his feet. He
didn’t notice Luna Kat breaking the code of fiction known as kayfabe to show
concern for something that was essentially her fault. His mind was too
destroyed to notice the crowd still mocking him with hateful chants. Or were
they mocking Luna? Who gives a fuck, it’s
never really over, he thought to himself.
RJ had been wide awake throughout this whole disaster, this
shit show in a fuck factory, but when his mind calmed down for just a few
seconds, he found himself laying on his back on a padded doctor’s bench in the
trainer’s room. His body ached worse than any wrestler who worked a match that
night. He felt like he had been body slammed off of a skyscraper. His legs felt
like they were twisted off and sewn back on Frankenstein-style. His arms hung
off the bench like wet beach towels. He kept repeating to himself in an
exhausted raspy voice, “I’m so angry…I’m so angry…I’m so angry…”
The face that came into his blurry view wasn’t that of a
villainous wrestler. The raised eyebrows and sorrowful frown painted a picture
of concern and genuine heartbreak. RJ thought he was hallucinating again when
he saw Luna Kat’s face, but she held his hand and there was no mistaking it
anymore. Still, he repeated the silent, tearful phrase, “I’m so angry…I’m so
angry…I’m so angry….”
“I know you are…and I’m sorry about what happened to you,”
whispered Luna uncharacteristically. “I feel awful right now. I took my role
too far. You didn’t deserve that.”
“I’m so angry…I’m so angry…I’m so angry…” RJ squeezed Luna’s
hand for extra effect, but she only gave a minor wince of pain.
“You have every right to be angry, RJ,” she said while
petting his shoulder. “Your ride to the hospital is going to be here any minute
now. I just…thought I should let you know how sorry we are about the whole
thing. You’re probably not in the mood to accept apologies right now, but…I
thought I’d put that out there…”
“I’m not angry at you, Luna…I’m angry at those fat bastards
out there who think my suffering is funny…It’s like…they’ve never seen a
schizophrenic before…”
Kat’s face sank as her eyes got a little dewy. “I honestly didn’t
know you were mentally disabled. I thought you were just shy…I’ve always liked
being around shy guys, but…not like this…I’m so sorry, RJ…I really am…”
“Nobody knows I’m schizophrenic. They know there’s something
wrong with me, but they probably didn’t guess that until tonight…” RJ sniffed
and wiped away a single tear with his weak hand.
“Look, if you want a refund for your ticket, you can…”
“I don’t need a fucking refund…getting my money back isn’t
going to mean much to me…it’s not even my money…it’s the government’s. If you
wanted to do me a favor…nah, I shouldn’t ask….”
A sad smile formed on Luna’s face. “What do you mean you
shouldn’t ask? Is it something…you know…derogatory?”
“No…it’s not…at least I hope it’s not…”
“Well, what is it?”
Swallowing a peach-sized lump in his throat, RJ asked in a
slow and jittery voice, “Would it be alright with you…if I…if I…rested my head
on your lap until the ambulance gets here? You don’t have to say yes if you
don’t want to. I promise…I won’t be pervy or anything, but…”
Luna shushed him and placed a finger on his drooling lips
before wiping some of it away. “Of course you can. No problem. It’s hardly the
worst thing someone’s asked me to do for them.” She smiled and sat on the
padded bench, cradling RJ’s head on her lap and playing with his hair.
“Thank you…you…have no idea how much…this means to
me…especially after tonight…I’m not trying to hit on you or anything, but…”
“It’s okay…I swear it’s okay,” whispered Luna. For the next
few seconds, this was how they sat together. RJ would have smiled at this
moment, but he was too weak to even curl his lips. So instead, Luna continued
the conversation with, “You know…there’s already talk amongst the wrestling
journalists. If it’s any comfort to you, what happened out there is being
considered for a Most Disgusting Promotional Tactic award from the Wrestling
Observer Newsletter. I know you smarks like to read that stuff.”
“Yeah…and WWE’s like, ‘Hold my beer. We’re going to Saudi Arabia.’”
Luna laughed. For the first time that evening, RJ allowed
himself to laugh too. It wasn’t a hearty one, but it was a good start.
