To Be the Man YOU Gotta Beat the Man *PART 2


     Grabbing my "basic" Vanilla Protein Shake from the fridge, settling into my throne to begin my writes, of where I left off last night, today - I find that Washington's weather has once again played me. Played me like that of "an old recording of a favorite song -" only this blistering sun is not a favorite song. Seems to be more like that of a warped record portraying Michael Jackson's melting face. 
I guess however it doesn't make a lot of sense complaining about the ball of fire in the sky as the "latest version" of my Wrestling moments are conveyed, I transport back to the moments before I am standing in an arena forcing my way through thick clouds of smoke while wishing I had a sharp blade to just cut through it. 

     Somehow when you are younger, when life is spinning around you and all you want is to have enough tickets in your pocket to keep the movement going smoothly, endlessly - everything seems to hit in different ways. I am sure that if I looked it up on the internet I could easily find the statistics of how many teenager "live for the weekend." I was not one of the those though. I lived for Wednesdays. Wednesdays meant Big Time Wrestling Live in Seattle. Thursday - Tuesday was spent getting pumped up for those 4 hours where there was nothing but "Excitement in the Air!" 

     All Summer long, the pink clouds draping their veil over the darkened purple skies as you entered the hill above town - as we called it, was nothing short of breathtaking. The cool jasmine toned breeze that calmed you, the multi million twinkling lights reflecting off the still water under the Famous Skyline gave way to the butterflies that fought inside your stomach ready for release. 

     My wrestling days were some of the best days I ever had. Every night was different. Every match (before McMahon ruined everything -yeah, I said what I said) unpredictable. This is where I needed to be. Just right where I was. The Squared Circle. The guys were always crazy, the place always smelled of stale old tavern beer and your ears had to learn how to handle the ringing even before that metal stick ever came close to hitting the bell.

     Kevin Kelly. If you are not aware of this Aphrodite's of a Man - I am going to tell you. Set the back ground - I guess you could say? Kevin was a God in himself if there ever was one here on Earth. He was 6 foot 5 inches tall weighing in at 250 pounds with muscles being about 200 of those. His hair was long, shoulder lenght and blonde. Summer blonde. Hmmmmm ... He wore these shorts. They were red. Between a deep and bright red. You know the red? They were short. Short shorts - I guess you could call them. Like the ones all the guys in the 80s wore only his fit so much better and most of the time he wore tank tops. Not any tank tops but the Rocky Balboa tank tops. The ones that hugged your body contours. Kevin always wore white ones. Pretty sure that was to show off his perfectly bronzed physique. Don't quote me on that but if you wanted to place bets - I am pretty positive you would win.  There was another thing about Kevin. Kevin wasn't a talker. Like, I can't remember him talking to anyone. Ever. Guys or girls.

     The night I had broken up with Hack Sawyer, who I had been seeing for awhile - still unaware as to why though? I know he was the one guy all the girls/rats were trying to claim - he was at the top. Main events all over the Northwest. He was cute. Funny. Flirty. But I really don't think it has anything to do with any of that. That is not who I am or who I was. Standing at the entrance curtain of "The Good Guys" dressing room where once their music starts to play - they run through acting all Hulk Hogan and sh*t.  Kevin walked out from behind the material stopping in front of me: "Hey, I heard what happened. Are you okay?" 
Oh My Gawd! What the?!?!?! Kevin Kelly was talking to me? Whaaaaaaaaat?! I didn't know he spoke. Looking up at him trembling "I am fine. You?" even though the answer to that was quiet apparent. It is like that moment when you have one last number to go before hitting the mega million jackpot - that is what I was feeling. Kevin Kelly. Whhaaaaaaat?!?! 
     He asked me if I came there much? Maybe that was just an ice breaker? I wasn't quite sure but did I mention that I didn't care either. This was Thee Kevin Kelly and he was talking to me. He then went on to tell me that he always wanted to talk to me but he was shy because  I was just much to beautiful.  *Insert Lizzy McGuire screaming, running and tripping. (Compose. Compose.) It only took a moment after my legs stopped shaking for him to ask me out. Of course he had to wrestle his match first but right after his shower - we made plans to go get dinner and find somewhere to chill. He suggested my place. My place? My room he meant.  The room that was filled with photographs of me with my X (Hack) - the one I had just broke up with. So maybe not my house but then again, we could eat there, hang out, watch tv, talk even. Okay. It was a date. Place picked.

     The match ended. He won of course. I like to think it had something to do with me at ringside cheering him on but I think his victory came more due to his massive size. He showered. I waited for him. We made our way to his car - leaving the echoes of another show well played for the fans in the rear view mirror. I lived in Redmond so we had about a 40 minute drive from Seattle to there. 400 minutes wouldn't have been to much for me. I was in Heaven ... sitting next to him with his arm around me. Yup. There I was - floating with the Angels. O! Wait! Did I forget to mention the growling from within?  Nope! Wrong! Not Kevin's hunger pains but his Pitbull, Poodle. That dog hated me. I swear. Each time Kevin would look at me and wink or smile that d*mn dog would growl louder and louder.  The closer I scooted to being on "my protectors" lap the more hysterical he thought it was but me? Not so much.

     The night was perfect. More perfect then anything that takes over your wildest imagination. We had just crossed The Floating Bridge when someone had a Voo-Doo doll of us or something because at that point the car thought it would be cute to let go of the driveline on just enough of an incline that if a foot was taken off the break we would roll back onto the bridge behind us. Kevin tells me "Don't worry. Just slide on over to my side and keep your foot on the petal." He positions his body out of the car door. I slide over and we quickly change his foot to mine so there is no jolt from the frame. My leg is steady. My knuckles are turning white with the grip I have on the steering wheel. Where is Kevin going? "Kevin, where are you going?" He tells me to remain calm that he is going for help and not to worry cuz Poodle will be with me to protect me. The dog that hates me. Great. Now, if you know the Floating Bridge, you know there is NO place to go. It is miles and miles of concrete being held up by gallons and gallons and gallons of water. Was that going to stop Kevin though? Nope. So with every breath I took Poodle continued to growl as I watched car after car pass Kevin by. Remember this is a hot Summer night so no shirt required leaving this 250 pound muscle bound guy running around in the middle of a bridge with nothing on but his red shorts and white sneakers. Honestly, I really don't think I would have stopped either. After hopping the center barrier and flagging someone down it became the waiting game. Within a half hour of pure terror with this demonic dog inching closer and closer to me, an officer showed up. Letting out a sigh of relief - the most I could say was "There goes my boyfriend" while pointing at this huge mass of a man across the road in a  tow truck going the wrong way. The Officer stayed with me until Kevin arrived. The tow guy ended up taking us to the next town. Mercer Island. We found a hotel and rented a room ... not before getting into a huge argument with the desk clerk though. I guess dogs aren't allowed? The woman called our room about 9 times before Kevin finally snapped and firmly told her "I will let you talk to my wife but please don't mention our ugly child because it makes my girl cry." Ha! That phone never did ring again that night and that was okay by us.     
     Kevin and I had a lot of fun together with teasing and inside jokes. I guess that maybe Hack learned just what his mistake was - though I don't know if he ever made it again? I do know that he did get married at one point though - his wife passed away, he also had children.

     As for Kevin and I - we grew apart - he ended up leaving the Northwest and the last I heard he goes by the name of NAILS now - some tough guy just out of prison. I smile inside knowing the truth. Just a sweet, gentle man who feared getting yelled at upon meeting My Grandmother.

     As the song goes: "Those were the days, my friend. I thought they would never end. Those were the days!"


                                                                                                                                                      Kazz 💋


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