"WHAT IN THE FUCK IS THAT SHIT, ROMO?"
My sudden outburst got the attention of both my girlfriend and my cousins, but absolutely no response from my cousin or aunt. They were more than used to Shields men and their anger over football. It was pretty much a Thanksgiving tradition for one of us to be screaming at the Cowboys game. Although I've never really been that big on family holidays, even when I was a kid. For me Thanksgiving meant two things, the Cowboys are on, and I get to eat a lot. I guess part of that could be attributed to the fact that I was an only child and at around nine or ten when you really start to decide if you care about holiday's or not, my mother was becoming a coked up slut. From eleven to eighteen, Thanksgiving and Christmas were spent with my aunt, my cousin Matt and my baby cousin, Courtney. Now though, Matt had turned into a total douchebag, and everyone was happy he wasn't gonna be there. My baby cousin Courtney was almost twenty, had started wrestling despite me trying to keep her out of this business, and was dating a girl. Honestly, if the woman clutching my arm and using my shoulder for a pillow, wouldn't have said we should come here for Thanksgiving, I'd be on my way to Cancun to settle into the hotel before my debut match with SCW.
"That's just freaking brilliant, give them the ball and a touchdown, and then do fuck all on the next drive. Son of a bitch."
I looked over at Courtney and her girlfriend Ashleigh as they sat there giggling about who knows what. It was still really weird to see them all cuddled up together, but they made each other happy.
"How bout them Cowboys, huh? Bunch of worthless assholes."
I quickly turned my head as I recognized the voice, but sure as hell didn't expect to hear it today.
"Dad?"
"Uncle Mark!"
Courtney was excited to see him and jumped up to give him a hug.
"Hey munchkin."
She smiled at his pet name for her and she introduced Ashleigh to him. He gave her a hug as well, while I still sat there, very surprised to see him and my step mom Karen.
"You gonna say hi or just sit there like a jackass?"
I finally got up and headed over. I gave my step mom a quick hug and then shook my dads hand.
"Good to see you too dad."
Kahlan came up and took my hand.
"This is my girlfriend, Kahlan."
She shook both their hands and gave a friendly smile.
"How did he trick someone as pretty as you into dating him?"
"That never gets old dad."
I rolled my eyes, gave Kahlan a kiss and walked outside for a bit. Before the door had even closed, my dad was right there.
"I wasn't expecting y'all."
That was a huge understatement. I hadn't seen my dad or stepmom in a few years, and I certainly didn't miss the ball busting bullshit.
"Not happy to see us, huh?"
"Karen is fine, she doesn't give me shit at every single chance. There's a reason we don't exactly talk that much."
"Yea, I didn't even know you had divorced Cruella DeVil."
"Her name was Lenora, and that happened awhile back."
"At least you upgraded. Seriously, how in the hell did you get a chick like that?"
"I don't know, maybe it has something to do with not being a dick all the time, shit."
I shook my head and went back inside the house. I went to the kitchen, opened up the fridge and saw that beer staring right at me. God how I wanted to twist that cap and down the damn thing, but no way I was throwing away months of sobriety, just because my dad's a jackass. Well, a jackass to me, everyone else, he's great with. I grabbed a bottle of water, took a quick sip and headed back into the living room where and even bigger surprise waited for me.
"Katie?"
"CHRIS!"
My stepsister ran towards me and wrapped me up in a huge hug. She squeezed tight and continued hugging me for what felt like an uncomfortably long time. A throat clearing finally stopped it, and I looked over to see it was Kahlan.
"Uh, hey. This is my girlfriend, Kahlan."
Katie gave her a half smile and shook her hand before turning back to me.
"It's so great to see you. I can't believe it's been like five years."
"Yea, you're mom didn't even mention you were coming."
"I wanted it to be a surprise."
That was an understatement if I had ever heard one. I just nodded my head before going back to watch the game, well to pretend to watch it so I could get out of that uncomfortably awkward situation. Unfortunately, she came over to the couch and sat down right beside me. Kahlan sat on the other side of me, and I could just feel the tension growing and growing. After about ten minutes, Kahlan whispered to me that she wanted to talk and we went to one of the guest rooms.
"Okay, what is going on with your stepsister?"
Oh fuck, I really wanted to avoid telling her about this craziness for well, the rest of my life.
"It's a bit of a strange deal, but technically, she's one of my exes."
The eyes went wide and I could see the anger starting to bubble up after the new information.
"Before my dad married her mom... uhm... we kind of... dated., and I may or may not have been the uh, first..."
Yea, there was a damn good reason why I didn't tell her about all that, but now I knew that a kick to the shin or a punch to the arm or a screaming rant were coming my way. She stood there for a few seconds, and I quickly took a deep breath then closed my eyes as I prepared for the worst.
**************************************************
I should have been in high spirits right now. I was just a few days away from making my SCW debut, and I was in a World class resort with incredible views, including the absolutely gorgeous woman resting in a large cabana chair on the balcony. However, the woman was pissed off at me after learning I had hidden a fairly embarrassing part of my past from her. I tried to go out and talk to her, but all I got was a middle finger and a death glance. I retreated back to the living room area and sat myself down in front of the couch. I grabbed the remote and began playing what had to be the thirty seventh Casey Williams match I had watched. After a few minutes, I paused it and began to think for a bit. I grabbed my phone, switched over to the camera, switched over to record and after a quick check to make sure I was as pretty as ever, even in a simple pair of black pants and no shirt, I hit the button to record and took a step back so I was perfectly in frame.
"Ladies, gentleman, aliens picking up this transmission forty years from now, allow myself to introduce myself. It's really not necessary, because anyone who clicked the video knows who I am. Hell, anyone that hasn't been living under a rock for the last ten years, knows who I am. Still though, indulge me this little bit. I am the one and only, Chris Shields. that's right, the sparkling one himself. The prettiest wrestler on this planet or any other, the ring general, the best wrestler in the galaxy, mister look at me, I could go on and on and on with all the nicknames I have, but right now there's a new title to add in. Newest Sin City Wrestling superstar. Oh yea, my debut comes in just a few short days, and to say that it is highly anticipated, well that is an incredible understatement. My opponent in this debut, some of you may have heard of him, some of you probably haven't, but I'll go ahead and give his profile a little boost right now, Casey Williams. Go ahead, I'll wait while you look him up. Open up your browser, googs the name and see the man I beat come November twenty ninth."
I paused for a bit, and gave people time to look up the giant that I'd be facing. I stood there with a smile and after about twenty seconds I gave a nod of my head.
"Yea, this one should be interesting. The question that's been going through my head for a bit, is, what is there to say about Casey Williams, that hasn't already been said by probably ever person who has faced off against him in the last ten years? The guy isn't someone that you should see in real life. He looks like something out of a comic book or a horror movie. The fact that he's seven feet tall, is in and of itself, something that can't be taken lightly. Adding in that he weighs three hundred and seventy pounds, with all of that looking like it's muscle... he's clearly not the guy you hope to see across the ring from you. No sane person sits there and thinks to themselves, I think I'd like to fight a giant today. I could sit here and say that this is exactly the kind of first match I wanted here in SCW, but we all know that I would be lying. I would have preferred to fight someone that's at least somewhat close to being a normal sized human being. I'm not going to sit here and piss and moan and complain about it though. This is the hand I've been dealt, so it's the one I'm playing. I've faced big guys, monsters, giants, behemoths, and once there was even a colossus one time. I'm still standing right here, and ready to fight. Not gonna sit here and say that I always won, but I have taken down my fair share of giants."
I paused once more and took a few seconds to myself, as I wanted to really think about the match for a bit. I smirked and looks back at the camera.
"No doubt that this will be billed as some kind of David and Goliath type of thing, but it's more of a Sheriff Bart versus mongo situation. If you get that reference, congratulations, you can still be my fan. If you don't, do yourself a favor and find blazing saddles on Netflix. Now, back to the business at hand, myself against Casey Williams. From a physical standpoint, I'm clearly outgunned. However, from an intellectual standpoint, I'm like a damn aircraft carrier, while he's the equivalent of The Luxemborg Army. Casey, if you're watching this, I know you're not the brightest crayon in the box, so allow me to explain. An aircraft carrier is a very large boat with planes, guns, missiles, and all manner of things that go big. The Luxemborg army, doesn't even have one thousand people in it. As I said, I have taken down my fair share of giants, and it wasn't because of my great looks and charming personality. Sure that worked on the girlfriends, wives, sisters, and mothers, but I only bat for the home team. The reason I took them down, superior tactics and game planning. You look at the write up for this match, and it's said that I drew the short end of the stick, but I sure as hell don't see it that way. I see this as my opportunity to make a massive statement. I go out to that ring and beat a guy the size of the Incredible Hulk, and that's what everyone is talking about. I'm going out there and proving that I'm the prettiest wrestler on this planet or any other, as much for this oh so handsome face, as I am for my incredible abilities inside the ring."
I smiled and gave a little wink to the camera, then ended the recording. A quick bit of work and it was uploading to the youtube channel. I looked out on the balcony and decided to try for it one more time. I stepped out and didn't get flipped off this time. That's a good sign. I headed over to the chair and she looked up at me.
"Just a quick explanation and if you still want to be pissed, that's fine. I didn't tell you, because well it's really messed up."
Now that the gross understatement was out of the way and she seemed alright with it, I figured I'd try and smooth things over.
"Can't we just forget about all of that and both agree we have shit in our past that is best left buried?"
She looks up at me, then down to her drink. She finishes the drinks off and much to my surprise, nods her head in agreement instead of smacking me. I lean down and she comes up to kiss me.
"Now, let's relax a bit. I know you're gonna be busy training for your match tomorrow."
"I can definitely do that."
I sit down beside her in the chair and smiles as I look out over the beautiful beach.
"I do think I have a plan for him, but the bitch of it is gonna be inventing the candygram. I probably won't even get credit."
"Ugh, I know he looks, talks, acts, and thinks like that Mongo guy, but you have to stop quoting that movie."
"Fine."
I lean back and relax before what is sure to be one of the most difficult tests I've faced in awhile, if for no other reason than the fact that Casey Williams is a huge bitch.
