Post by Nick Knight on May 30, 2020 9:05:30 GMT
Before...
It is a beautiful spring day in South Florida and Nick Knight is quietly pacing around his rented Jeep. He was nauseous from a mix of nervous anticipation, fear, and a breakfast burrito he was really regretting eating. Twice now the local cops had tried to get him to ‘move along,’ but a couple of pairs of tickets to Night of the Immortals finally got them to leave him alone. Beads of sweat were starting to run down his back from the nerves, and then he saw her and nearly fainted. She was still the most gorgeous creature he had ever laid eyes upon.
“DAD,” the young boy screamed, running out the door and throwing his arms around Nick. The elder Knight smiling ear to ear reaches down and lifts his reason for living up off of the sidewalk. “I can’t believe we’re finally here. That flight took for ever and they didn’t even have any good movies to watch. I’m just glad Mom brought snacks because all they had was stupid pretzels and they were stale. I’m really happy to be here. Thank you Dad!!!!”
“You’re welcome,” Nick says trying not to laugh at his son’s enthusiasm. “Give me your bag and hop in the back seat.”
“Hello Nicky,” she said, and his heart shattered.
“Hi Penny,” he replied, once he was sure his voice wouldn’t crack. “How was your flight?”
“The movie selection sucked and the pretzels were stale,” she said with a smile that took Nick’s breath away. All of his friends always drooled over her chest, but it was always her smile that made him weak in the knees.
“I will make sure that you have the freshest pretzels possible for the trip home.” She laughed at his lame joke until she snorted, which just made the both crack up. He knew in that moment that asking her to bring JC was a good idea. [color=cc33cc“I hope you like the hotel I picked out. I was able to get a two bedroom suite so we’ll each have a room and there's a pullout for JC in the living room. There’s a hot tub on the balcony which looks out over the beach.”[/color]
“Sounds like that place in Hawaii we went to with James and oh… what was her name?”
“I don’t know, I can’t keep the flavors of the week straight anymore. Hell when we were on the road it was flavor of the night, and some nights he had more than one scoop.”
Penny laughed until she snorted again. [color=ff00cc“I’m sure you did your fair share of rat killing back in the day.”[/color]
“`Rat killing?”
“Yeah you know, you slay… and they’re called rats...oh nevermind!”
Knight could not help but laugh as his ex turned bright red. It was funny to see a woman that had made a good living most of her adult life, while not wearing clothes be embarrassed about sex. There was always something so girl next door about Penny once you looked past the tattoos and pink hair. He guessed you could always take the girl out of the midwest, but you can’t take the midwest out of the girl.
The drive from the airport to the hotel was uneventful as the three chit chatted, mostly about what was going on in JC’s life. The junior Knight had made one of the best travel baseball teams in Southern California, The Hollywood Stars, and he would also be going to football camp at UCLA. Nick promised that he would be at home as much as possible to go to games, and for the first time in his career he meant it.
Once they were in the room JC curled up in one of the beds to take a nap leaving the adults alone for the first time in nearly three years.
“So JC and Sam both have told me you have a nice place,” Penny finally said after a long awkward silence.
“I like it a lot. It’s three bedroom so JC can have his own and I’m going to use the other as an office/man cave. The building has a gym, so I don’t have to deal with the muscle heads that always start up with the wrestling is fake bullshit. Plus it’s close enough to the beach that it’s a nice morning jog down there to just relax and watch the waves.”
“What are you doing for furniture,” she asked.
“I paid some lady to come in and take care of everything. She was still working on it when I was home last, so I’m excited to fly out and see it now that she’s done,” Nick said, smiling. “I want you to know that you are always welcome to come over, and I’m not trying to hit on you. Like I said the other day, we have to be in each others lives and it might as well be as friends.”
“I really appreciate that Nicky. You are always welcome at our place, but please call ahead. I wouldn’t want you to drop in and catch me walking around naked or something.”
“We would never want that,” Knight said, sarcastically. Earning him an eye roll from his ex-wife.
“I was worried that that place had changed you, but you’re still the same smart assed Nicky I met twelve years ago.”
[color=cc33cc“Penny that place did change me in a lot of ways. Some are good and some are bad, but I’m not exactly the same man I was when t they locked the door on that cell. I’m not really ready to talk about it all, but please know that I am trying my damndest to be a better man. Do me a favor, and grab that envelope.”[/color]
Penny reached over, taking a manilla envelope with her name written on it off of the table. “What’s this?”
“Just open it,” Nick instructs. Inside she finds a key ring with a key and a fob as well as a debit card. “That is a key to my condo and the fob is for my car, if you ever need either you are welcome. The debit card is for my bank account, pay whatever you need to pay and buy whatever you need to buy for JC. I’ve been an asshole about things because I was a pussy and I’m not doing that anymore.”
“Nick I…”
“Penny this is what I should have been doing all along. We don’t need lawyers anymore, they just fuck things up for everyone.”
“You’ve been talking to Sleaze.”
“Let’s just say he gave me a little push when I needed it. Penny, you are the mother of my only son, and you being happy is important to him. I want to make sure that you have everything you need and aren’t worrying about anything.”
“You know I can make my own money,” she said, anger touching her voice.
“I know you can, Sleaze told me that you have been doing a lot of editing for him, but that’s not the point. My point is that I want to pull my weight and that card is my way of doing it, Just promise me that if you use it to buy underwear I get to see you model it.”
“You wish,” she said, laughing and slapping him on the arm.
“Hey a guy can always try.”
“Nicky I’m really proud of, I want you to know that. You had a lot of people worried that you were never going to come back from the darkness. I think you have proven me, and other people wrong. I didn’t believe it when Sleaze told me how good you looked, but the fat bastard was right. I really like the long hair and beard,” she said, smiling.
“Even if their is silver starting to show,” he replied. Just being this close to her made his heart race. He felt like a teenager on his first ever date. “Oh I almost forgot. I got you a present while I was in Europe.” The grappler gets up and runs off to his bedroom. A minute later he returns with a very sloppily wrapped package.
“Nicky...this feels weird, You aren’t supposed to be buying me presents and stuff. We’re divorced.”
He gave her a sly smile. “Just open it.”
Slowly she opened the gift and held it up with a confused look on her face. “What the fuck is this?”
“That is a terrible bootleg of Sleaze E Cumming Presents Pretty in Pink dubbed in Lithuanian. I found it in some little market and couldn’t pass it up. I’m pretty sure the person that is doing your voice is a dude.”
“Oh my god, this is amazing! Wait until I show it to Sleaze!”
“I sent him a copy. They also had Rump Wrangling Cowboys Starring Randy Just Randy, Back Door Bandits II, and a couple others. I sent him a big ass package as soon as I landed in the States. I figured he’d a kick out of them and then try to sue the shit out of someone.”
“Sounds about right.”
The rest of the weekend went by in a blur of fun. They spent a day at the beach and Nick had to puff out his chest at the fact that he was with the woman that everyone was checking out, but the be honest he spent a lot of time checking her out. Thank god for dark sunglasses. That night they went to Little Havana and JC tried his very first Cubano and instantly fell in love with the porky goodness, which made Nick smile from ear to ear like a truly proud poppa. The night before Night of the Immortals was spent at the Fan Experience with Nick shaking hands and signing autographs, while JC run around meeting the other IWF wrestlers.
It was a great couple of days, but that night Nick could barely sleep a wink. He knew that Joker in the Pack was going to be hell on his ageing body. He knew that ladder matches were the kind of match that could take years off of your career. Heck they were the kind of unpredictable match that could leave you crippled for life. It was in a ladder match that he blew out his knee the first time, and he knew there was no fucking way he could come back from that again. So while his family slept he was left sitting on the balcony alone worrying about tonight.
After…
Warren Kane's entrance music began to play just as Nick Knight reaches backstage. He has his arm draped over a member of the IWF medical staff and he grimaces with every step. The trainer leads him straight to a small room and helps Nick hop up onto the table.
"The doc will be right in," the trainer says, closing the door.
A couple of minutes pass before there is a knock on the door and a black man in his late twenties enters the room. "Mr. Knight I'm Dr. Hunt. Todd tells me you're in a lot of pain, where does it hurt?"
"My ribs are killing me, but I'm pretty sure they're just bruised. I'm guessing I'm going to need a couple stitches over my eye, again. What the fuck is going on with my back," Knight groans.
"Take off your shirt and let me see." Nick grunts as he gingerly pulls his shirt over his head. "You've got a pretty good gash back here, but it's not deep. I'll have someone bandage you up once you get a shower."
"Well I nothing is broken and I'm not crippled, so all in all it wasn't a bad match.” Knight starts to laugh, and then sucks in a quick breath.
“Let me check those ribs before decide nothing is broken. Ready?” When Nick nods the doctor begins to feel around on his side making the grapple wince. “I agree that it doesn’t feel like anything is broken. If they aren’t starting to feel better in a day or two we’ll have them x-rayed. Go get cleaned up and find one of the trainers to get you bandaged up and wrap those ribs.”
Nick hops down off of the table and shuffles out of the training room. Out in the hall Penny and JC are waiting on his, concern painted on both of their faces. Knight does his best to give his son and ex-wife a smile and the boy runs over to give his dad a hug. It felt nice to have him there at that moment, even if his ribs hurt like hell.
“I’m okay. Just a few cuts and bruises,” he tells them. “I need a couple of stitches over my eye and that’s the worst of it.”
“I have definitely seen you looking worse after a match,” Penny said. Then to his surprise she came over and gave him a hug. “I was worried when you went through that ladder there at the end.”
“I think that’s what gave me the cut on my back. I’m pretty sure the bruised ribs are from falling when Locke knocked me off of the briefcase. Damn it I was this close to winning!” Nick goes to punch the wall, but stops himself. Being a better man meant getting his temper under control, especially in front of the kid.
“You’ll win next time Dad.” Nick could not help but smile at his son’s faith in him. It had been a long time since anyone had really believed in him. If he was honest he was just now truly beginning to believe in himself.
“I’m going to get cleaned up and have this stitched up. Go ahead and head back to the hotel and I shouldn’t be more than an hour.”
“You sure,” Penny asked, concern still on her face.
“Yeah I’m sure. Order a pizza or something, just no damn pineapple.” Penny and JC both laugh at that, Nick’s hatred of Hawiian pizza was a running joke in the Knight household, going back to before JC was even born.
Nick left his family and headed towards the locker room. Grabbing a cold beer out of a cooler by the door he climbed into the shower to enjoy the customary post show shower beer. It always tasted better when you won the match, but he had nothing to be ashamed of on this night. James Gilmore was just the better man and he hoped that the little hippy surfer was able to turn the briefcase into gold.
It is a beautiful spring day in South Florida and Nick Knight is quietly pacing around his rented Jeep. He was nauseous from a mix of nervous anticipation, fear, and a breakfast burrito he was really regretting eating. Twice now the local cops had tried to get him to ‘move along,’ but a couple of pairs of tickets to Night of the Immortals finally got them to leave him alone. Beads of sweat were starting to run down his back from the nerves, and then he saw her and nearly fainted. She was still the most gorgeous creature he had ever laid eyes upon.
“DAD,” the young boy screamed, running out the door and throwing his arms around Nick. The elder Knight smiling ear to ear reaches down and lifts his reason for living up off of the sidewalk. “I can’t believe we’re finally here. That flight took for ever and they didn’t even have any good movies to watch. I’m just glad Mom brought snacks because all they had was stupid pretzels and they were stale. I’m really happy to be here. Thank you Dad!!!!”
“You’re welcome,” Nick says trying not to laugh at his son’s enthusiasm. “Give me your bag and hop in the back seat.”
“Hello Nicky,” she said, and his heart shattered.
“Hi Penny,” he replied, once he was sure his voice wouldn’t crack. “How was your flight?”
“The movie selection sucked and the pretzels were stale,” she said with a smile that took Nick’s breath away. All of his friends always drooled over her chest, but it was always her smile that made him weak in the knees.
“I will make sure that you have the freshest pretzels possible for the trip home.” She laughed at his lame joke until she snorted, which just made the both crack up. He knew in that moment that asking her to bring JC was a good idea. [color=cc33cc“I hope you like the hotel I picked out. I was able to get a two bedroom suite so we’ll each have a room and there's a pullout for JC in the living room. There’s a hot tub on the balcony which looks out over the beach.”[/color]
“Sounds like that place in Hawaii we went to with James and oh… what was her name?”
“I don’t know, I can’t keep the flavors of the week straight anymore. Hell when we were on the road it was flavor of the night, and some nights he had more than one scoop.”
Penny laughed until she snorted again. [color=ff00cc“I’m sure you did your fair share of rat killing back in the day.”[/color]
“`Rat killing?”
“Yeah you know, you slay… and they’re called rats...oh nevermind!”
Knight could not help but laugh as his ex turned bright red. It was funny to see a woman that had made a good living most of her adult life, while not wearing clothes be embarrassed about sex. There was always something so girl next door about Penny once you looked past the tattoos and pink hair. He guessed you could always take the girl out of the midwest, but you can’t take the midwest out of the girl.
The drive from the airport to the hotel was uneventful as the three chit chatted, mostly about what was going on in JC’s life. The junior Knight had made one of the best travel baseball teams in Southern California, The Hollywood Stars, and he would also be going to football camp at UCLA. Nick promised that he would be at home as much as possible to go to games, and for the first time in his career he meant it.
Once they were in the room JC curled up in one of the beds to take a nap leaving the adults alone for the first time in nearly three years.
“So JC and Sam both have told me you have a nice place,” Penny finally said after a long awkward silence.
“I like it a lot. It’s three bedroom so JC can have his own and I’m going to use the other as an office/man cave. The building has a gym, so I don’t have to deal with the muscle heads that always start up with the wrestling is fake bullshit. Plus it’s close enough to the beach that it’s a nice morning jog down there to just relax and watch the waves.”
“What are you doing for furniture,” she asked.
“I paid some lady to come in and take care of everything. She was still working on it when I was home last, so I’m excited to fly out and see it now that she’s done,” Nick said, smiling. “I want you to know that you are always welcome to come over, and I’m not trying to hit on you. Like I said the other day, we have to be in each others lives and it might as well be as friends.”
“I really appreciate that Nicky. You are always welcome at our place, but please call ahead. I wouldn’t want you to drop in and catch me walking around naked or something.”
“We would never want that,” Knight said, sarcastically. Earning him an eye roll from his ex-wife.
“I was worried that that place had changed you, but you’re still the same smart assed Nicky I met twelve years ago.”
[color=cc33cc“Penny that place did change me in a lot of ways. Some are good and some are bad, but I’m not exactly the same man I was when t they locked the door on that cell. I’m not really ready to talk about it all, but please know that I am trying my damndest to be a better man. Do me a favor, and grab that envelope.”[/color]
Penny reached over, taking a manilla envelope with her name written on it off of the table. “What’s this?”
“Just open it,” Nick instructs. Inside she finds a key ring with a key and a fob as well as a debit card. “That is a key to my condo and the fob is for my car, if you ever need either you are welcome. The debit card is for my bank account, pay whatever you need to pay and buy whatever you need to buy for JC. I’ve been an asshole about things because I was a pussy and I’m not doing that anymore.”
“Nick I…”
“Penny this is what I should have been doing all along. We don’t need lawyers anymore, they just fuck things up for everyone.”
“You’ve been talking to Sleaze.”
“Let’s just say he gave me a little push when I needed it. Penny, you are the mother of my only son, and you being happy is important to him. I want to make sure that you have everything you need and aren’t worrying about anything.”
“You know I can make my own money,” she said, anger touching her voice.
“I know you can, Sleaze told me that you have been doing a lot of editing for him, but that’s not the point. My point is that I want to pull my weight and that card is my way of doing it, Just promise me that if you use it to buy underwear I get to see you model it.”
“You wish,” she said, laughing and slapping him on the arm.
“Hey a guy can always try.”
“Nicky I’m really proud of, I want you to know that. You had a lot of people worried that you were never going to come back from the darkness. I think you have proven me, and other people wrong. I didn’t believe it when Sleaze told me how good you looked, but the fat bastard was right. I really like the long hair and beard,” she said, smiling.
“Even if their is silver starting to show,” he replied. Just being this close to her made his heart race. He felt like a teenager on his first ever date. “Oh I almost forgot. I got you a present while I was in Europe.” The grappler gets up and runs off to his bedroom. A minute later he returns with a very sloppily wrapped package.
“Nicky...this feels weird, You aren’t supposed to be buying me presents and stuff. We’re divorced.”
He gave her a sly smile. “Just open it.”
Slowly she opened the gift and held it up with a confused look on her face. “What the fuck is this?”
“That is a terrible bootleg of Sleaze E Cumming Presents Pretty in Pink dubbed in Lithuanian. I found it in some little market and couldn’t pass it up. I’m pretty sure the person that is doing your voice is a dude.”
“Oh my god, this is amazing! Wait until I show it to Sleaze!”
“I sent him a copy. They also had Rump Wrangling Cowboys Starring Randy Just Randy, Back Door Bandits II, and a couple others. I sent him a big ass package as soon as I landed in the States. I figured he’d a kick out of them and then try to sue the shit out of someone.”
“Sounds about right.”
The rest of the weekend went by in a blur of fun. They spent a day at the beach and Nick had to puff out his chest at the fact that he was with the woman that everyone was checking out, but the be honest he spent a lot of time checking her out. Thank god for dark sunglasses. That night they went to Little Havana and JC tried his very first Cubano and instantly fell in love with the porky goodness, which made Nick smile from ear to ear like a truly proud poppa. The night before Night of the Immortals was spent at the Fan Experience with Nick shaking hands and signing autographs, while JC run around meeting the other IWF wrestlers.
It was a great couple of days, but that night Nick could barely sleep a wink. He knew that Joker in the Pack was going to be hell on his ageing body. He knew that ladder matches were the kind of match that could take years off of your career. Heck they were the kind of unpredictable match that could leave you crippled for life. It was in a ladder match that he blew out his knee the first time, and he knew there was no fucking way he could come back from that again. So while his family slept he was left sitting on the balcony alone worrying about tonight.
After…
Warren Kane's entrance music began to play just as Nick Knight reaches backstage. He has his arm draped over a member of the IWF medical staff and he grimaces with every step. The trainer leads him straight to a small room and helps Nick hop up onto the table.
"The doc will be right in," the trainer says, closing the door.
A couple of minutes pass before there is a knock on the door and a black man in his late twenties enters the room. "Mr. Knight I'm Dr. Hunt. Todd tells me you're in a lot of pain, where does it hurt?"
"My ribs are killing me, but I'm pretty sure they're just bruised. I'm guessing I'm going to need a couple stitches over my eye, again. What the fuck is going on with my back," Knight groans.
"Take off your shirt and let me see." Nick grunts as he gingerly pulls his shirt over his head. "You've got a pretty good gash back here, but it's not deep. I'll have someone bandage you up once you get a shower."
"Well I nothing is broken and I'm not crippled, so all in all it wasn't a bad match.” Knight starts to laugh, and then sucks in a quick breath.
“Let me check those ribs before decide nothing is broken. Ready?” When Nick nods the doctor begins to feel around on his side making the grapple wince. “I agree that it doesn’t feel like anything is broken. If they aren’t starting to feel better in a day or two we’ll have them x-rayed. Go get cleaned up and find one of the trainers to get you bandaged up and wrap those ribs.”
Nick hops down off of the table and shuffles out of the training room. Out in the hall Penny and JC are waiting on his, concern painted on both of their faces. Knight does his best to give his son and ex-wife a smile and the boy runs over to give his dad a hug. It felt nice to have him there at that moment, even if his ribs hurt like hell.
“I’m okay. Just a few cuts and bruises,” he tells them. “I need a couple of stitches over my eye and that’s the worst of it.”
“I have definitely seen you looking worse after a match,” Penny said. Then to his surprise she came over and gave him a hug. “I was worried when you went through that ladder there at the end.”
“I think that’s what gave me the cut on my back. I’m pretty sure the bruised ribs are from falling when Locke knocked me off of the briefcase. Damn it I was this close to winning!” Nick goes to punch the wall, but stops himself. Being a better man meant getting his temper under control, especially in front of the kid.
“You’ll win next time Dad.” Nick could not help but smile at his son’s faith in him. It had been a long time since anyone had really believed in him. If he was honest he was just now truly beginning to believe in himself.
“I’m going to get cleaned up and have this stitched up. Go ahead and head back to the hotel and I shouldn’t be more than an hour.”
“You sure,” Penny asked, concern still on her face.
“Yeah I’m sure. Order a pizza or something, just no damn pineapple.” Penny and JC both laugh at that, Nick’s hatred of Hawiian pizza was a running joke in the Knight household, going back to before JC was even born.
Nick left his family and headed towards the locker room. Grabbing a cold beer out of a cooler by the door he climbed into the shower to enjoy the customary post show shower beer. It always tasted better when you won the match, but he had nothing to be ashamed of on this night. James Gilmore was just the better man and he hoped that the little hippy surfer was able to turn the briefcase into gold.
Well howdy there pardner.