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fallingblueroses · 1 month ago

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A change of pace.

***

Kathy had never thought she'd ever have reason to mistrust Geoff. But for the past several Saturdays he'd been leaving in the middle of the afternoon and not coming back for several hours. Sundays he would having difficulty moving, or she'd see fresh bruises on his body. He'd never lied to her, but he could maintain a stubborn silence when there was something he didn't want to tell her--and that silence had been coming into play more and more lately. She'd gone so far as to ask Layne what was going on, but he swore he didn't know anything. Which meant that he likely did, but Kathy hadn't pressed it.

Kathy had finally put a GPS tracker on their van. For the past week Geoff hadn't gone anywhere unusual. But it was Saturday again, early evening, and Kathy was sitting in their living room watching her phone as Geoff drove through Orlando. It made her feel like a stalker, but she was desperate for answers. She wasn't entirely sure where she was expecting him to end up. Maybe at a hotel, or a bar, or even a--

Huh?

The tracker stopped at the municipal auditorium.

It was so unexpected that she had to stop and think. A quick search showed her that one of the local professional wrestling groups was holding a show there--and that made even less sense. She'd never known Geoff to be a wrestling fan, but maybe he'd gone to support a friend? But then why hadn't he just told her? Well, there was one way to find out. She'd go to the auditorium herself and find him. She didn't have time to find a babysitter; she'd have to take William with her.

***

Well, this promises to be an experience, Kathy thought as she slowly drove through the auditorium's parking lot. People were wandering in and out between the rows of cars, and Kathy was looking for Geoff's van. She did wonder if he'd found the tracker and put it on a random car to mess with her--but then she found the van. So he is here.

Kathy parked the car and she and William joined the crowd heading for the entrance. She held William's hand to keep from losing him. "Stay close to me, William. And let me know if you see Daddy."

"Okay." William looked around. "Why did Daddy come here?"

"That's what we're going to find out."

After waiting in line for about fifteen minutes she paid for their tickets and went in. The lobby was crowded with people wearing t-shirts with all manner of wrestling logos. Tables had been set up with merchandise to sell. A few old wrestlers were selling autographs and pictures of themselves in their prime. She kept William close to her as she pushed toward the staging area. "Enter Sandman" reached her ears and began to increase in volume as they went down a flight of stairs; by the time they emerged into the staging area, her head already hurt and she was close to giving up. How am I supposed to find Geoff in this crowd? She took a breath tainted with sweat and alcohol. Well, I've come this far. Might as well keep looking.

After several minutes of walking around William tugged her hand. "Mom, it's uncle Cesar!"

She turned to look and saw Cesar dancing to the music next to Omar. A smile of relief broke out on her face in spite of herself as she and William headed for them. So Geoff was here with VoicePlay after all. She wondered who they'd come to see.

Omar saw her first and waved. "Hey Kathy." She barely heard him above the pounding music.

Cesar turned around. "Kathy! William! You made it!" He hugged them both. "I didn't think you were coming!"

"Well, we're here now." Kathy managed to smile at him.

Cesar looked down at William and held his hands in a mock boxing manner. "Ready to see your daddy kick some butt? Tonight's the big one!"

William grinned. "Yeah!"

Kathy's eyes widened as she looked at Cesar. "The big one? What are you talking about?"

Omar's eyes widened. "You don't know?" The mirth drained out of Cesar's face at that.

Panic began to grow in her chest. "Know what?"

Omar and Cesar looked at each other, then Omar handed her a rolled-up piece of paper. She unrolled it to see a poster, about eleven by seventeen inches, with pictures of the wrestlers that were going to be performing tonight. Geoff's picture was next to a costumed man's in the middle of the page, above the caption "Finale of $25,000 Amateur Tournament: Robbyn "Swamp Trash" Parkenson vs. Geoff "Dragon Breath" Castellucci".

Kathy stared at the poster, her mouth open, unable to form a coherent thought. Cesar's voice broke through. "Oh no. Oh God. Kathy, I'm sorry. I thought you knew!"

"What." Kathy slowly looked up at the three of them. "What? Where is he?!"

"Backstage with Layne and Eli, getting ready," Omar said. "You won't be able to get back there without a pass."

"But he'll be okay!" Cesar said quickly. "He's been doing great this entire tournament! Layne's been videoing his matches. You should have seen Geoff last week when he--"

Omar clapped a hand over Cesar's mouth. "I don't think you're helping."

"I want to talk to him!" Kathy almost yelled. "Right. Now!"

Cesar hurriedly pulled his phone out of his pocket and began to tap at the screen. "Yes, ma'am!"

***

Layne for one would be glad when all this nonsense was over. Being backstage at a professional wrestling event was not his idea of how to spend a Saturday night. Also, Cyndi was starting to get irritated at his going out every weekend, and had made that irritation felt in more ways than one.

When Geoff had announced his intention to join the tournament Layne had laughed outright at him and Eli had asked if he was feeling okay. Neither of them had thought much about it. Geoff was strong but he was no wrestler. Layne had been sure he was joking, or would change his mind, or would lose in the first round and that would be it.

But then Geoff had won that first match; he'd taken a pounding, but he'd won. Then the next week he'd won the second match. The third week Layne had gone with him; he'd had to see this for himself. It was a little surreal to watch Geoff performing elbow drops and clotheslines and powerbombs. He'd recorded that match and sent it to Eli, and Eli jad joined them the next week. It had been Eli who had finally asked "Does Kathy know about this?"

"Of course not," Geoff had said. "What do you think I am, stupid or something?"

Well, either way it would all be over after tonight, Layne thought as he watched Eli put black tape on Geoff's wrists. They'd invited Cesar, and he'd brought Omar, but Geoff could only have two people with him backstage. When it was time for the match Layne and Eli would join Cesar and Omar in the crowd. At least Geoff had managed to get them all front-row tickets.

Layne's phone rang. He glanced at the screen and saw it was Cesar. "Hey Cesar. Everything good out there?"

"Problem," Cesar said. "Kathy and William are here. She wants to talk to Geoff."

Layne's eyes widened. "Oh shit." He looked at Geoff. "Kathy's here. She wants to talk to you."

Geoff's eyes widened in surprise for a second. "Tell her we'll talk after the match."

Layne spoke into the phone. "Geoff said they'll talk after the match."

Cesar's voice was doubtful. "Um, she won't like that."

Kathy's voice was next. "Whoever this is, you let me talk to Geoff right this instant!"

"He's getting ready for his match."

"I don't care! If he thinks I'm letting him wrestle someone named 'Swamp Thing' he's got another think coming!"

"Who would you rather he wrestle?"

"Layne!" Kathy's voice was a shriek.

Thankfully Geoff took the phone. "Kath, calm down. I'll explain everything after the match. Love you." He hung up and handed the phone back to Layne. "I feel sorry for Cesar and Omar right now."

"We really should have warned them," Eli said. He looked at Geoff. "You'll probably be sleeping on the couch tonight."

"The couch?" Layne asked. "He'll be lucky if she lets him in the house."

Geoff shrugged. "I'll find a hotel." A grin crossed his face. "Well, now I've got incentive. I can't lose this in front of Kath."

#fan fiction #fanfic #voiceplay #geoff castellucci #kathy castellucci #layne stein #eli jacobson #cesar de la rosa #professional wrestling #yes I know it's fake

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fallingblueroses · 14 days ago

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You can find the first part of the story here.

I used a height-weight chart to estimate Geoff's weight.

I had entirely too much fun writing this.

***

Geoff stood in the makeshift entrance to the ring, waiting to walk through the black curtain and down the aisle to the ring. Layne and Eli had already gone to join the crowd.

He thought about the day he'd been walking by their bedroom door and overheard Kathy on the phone to her mother. The word "treatment" had reached his ears and he'd stopped to listen. "The doctor says I could get seventy-five percent of my hearing back with this new treatment. But the insurance isn't wanting to cover it. They say it's not medically necessary. So I'd have to come up with the money myself....No, I haven't told Geoff yet. There's nothing he can do. You know how he is. He'd only worry about it."

He'd crept away from the door before she'd noticed him. And he had worried about it until he'd seen the flyer for the tournament a week or so later and figured it was worth a shot. He'd surprised even himself when he'd won that first match, and decided to keep it a secret from Kathy. No sense in raising hopes to disappoint her. He'd planned on telling her when he had the money in hand. Well, can't be helped now. I wonder who told her.

A thick French-ish accent broke into Geoff's thoughts. "This is your last chance to back out, pretty man."

Geoff looked over at his opponent. "I've gotten this far. Might as well finish it."

Parkenson's olive-colored, full body tights and mask were covered in patches of fake moss and streaked with painted mud. His mask didn't cover his mouth, and Geoff saw his red beard move in a smile. "I won't be nice out in the ring."

Geoff shrugged. "So I'll be earning my money, then. Fair enough."

Parkenson laughed. "I like you, pretty man. Maybe after the match we'll go for a beer, yes?"

Geoff grinned at him. "Loser buys the first round."

"Ha! It's a bet." Parkenson's music started then, and he swaggered through the curtain. Geoff took a deep breath and rolled his shoulders to gather himself as he waited.

***

Layne sighed as he and Eli found Cesar and the others in the crowd. They had left Geoff backstage just a couple of minutes ago, and as they'd walked out the door he'd called after them. "Keep Kath calm!"

"Oh sure," Eli had muttered with an eye roll. "We get the hard job."

Kathy looked to be almost beside herself when Layne and Eli walked up, and the looks on Cesar's and Omar's faces could only be described as relief. William seemed happy enough as he watched the ongoing bout, but Kathy turned on Layne and Eli. "Where's Geoff?"

"Getting ready," Eli said. "His match is next."

Kathy wrung her hands. "Oh God. Oh, God. He's going to get himself killed! Geoff's a singer, not a wrestler! How did he get this into his head anyway? He doesn't even like wrestling!"

"He's probably doing it for the money," Eli said.

Kathy shook her head. "But we don't need it!"

"Maybe there's something special he wants it for," Omar suggested.

"Like what?"

"How should I know?"

Layne looked at Cesar and Omar. "Has she been like this all night?"

"Yes," Omar said.

Cesar sighed. "When she hasn't been threatening to kill him."

The crowd noise surged as a bell rang three times to signal the end of the match. Eli looked at Layne as the referee held the winner's hand up. "Showtime." He held his phone up and began recording.

Cesar put a hand on William's shoulder. "Your dad's up next! Are you excited!"

"Yeah!" William cheered, then looked at Kathy. "Are you excited, Mommy?" Kathy groaned and put her head in her hands, which made William frown and look at Cesar. "What's wrong with Mommy?"

"She...she's just worried your dad might hurt himself. But he'll be okay." Cesar looked at the rest of them. "Won't he?"

"Oh, sure." Omar nodded.

"Of course," Eli said.

Layne's answer was cut off when the ring announcer began to talk. "The following match is set for one fall with a thirty minute time limit and is the final match in our twenty-five thousand dollar amateur tournament. Now coming to the ring--" Eerie music overlaid with the sound of bubbling water and squelching footsteps began to play over the speakers. "Hailing from the swamps of Louisiana, standing six feet, three inches tall and weighing in at three hundred and twenty-one pounds, Robbyn "Swamp Trash" Parkenson!"

Parkenson walked down the aisle, snarling and growling at the crowd as he went. Layne began to get a little nervous himself as the masked wrestler walked around the ring to the metal steps and climbed in. Parkenson was easily twice Geoff's size and even though Geoff had been doing well so far, Layne didn't see how he wouldn't need a trip to the ER after this. He glanced at the now-silent Kathy, and saw from her expression that she was thinking about the same.

VoicePlay's cover of "Axel F" began to play as the announcer went on. "And his opponent, from right here in Orlando, Florida--" Geoff stepped out from behind the curtain and stood with his hands on his hips and a confident smirk on his face. "--standing five feet, eleven and a half inches tall and weighing in at one hundred and seventy-one pounds, Geoffrey "Dragon Breath" Castellucci!"

Layne watched as Geoff began to walk down the aisle, slapping hands with members of the audience as he went. He rounded the ring on the opposite side from Layne and the others, then once inside he walked to the corner nearest them and climbed on the bottom ropes, one foot on each side of the turnbuckle. His eyes caught sight of Kathy and he blew her a kiss before jumping down to the mat and turning to look at his opponent.

"He's enjoying this!" Kathy said.

"Why not?" Cesar asked.

Eli sighed. "He'd better win this or he's a dead man."

Layne glanced again at Kathy, who seemed to be swinging back toward fury, as the music ended and the bell rang once to start the match. "He might be a dead man either way."

***

Geoff walked toward the center of the ring. Parkenson did the same, until their chests were nearly touching. Parkenson chuckled. "That your lady you blew the kiss to?"

Geoff kept an easy grin on his face. "Yeah. It was."

"Ha. Don't worry, I won't embarass you too much in front of her."

"Just as long as you make me look good."

Parkenson grinned at Geoff, then the two of them grappled.

***

Kathy watched in apprehension as Geoff walked up to stand nose-to-nose with his opponent. Words were exchanged, then they locked up for a few seconds before the Swamp Trash picked Geoff up and threw him down in a body slam. She felt her face scrunch up in a grimace as Geoff half-sat up, obvious pain on his face.

Geoff was pulled by his hair to his feet then whipped into a turnbuckle. He turned his body to hit the metal with his back, and then as his opponent charged in he moved aside. Cesar cheered as the other wrestler hit the turnbuckle chest-first, and then Geoff grabbed his opponent's head and slammed it into the post. The other wrestler stumbled back, and Geoff swept his legs out from under him. The crowd cheered as the opponent hit the mat hard.

The other wrestler quickly got to his feet and they locked arms again. The Swamp Trash grabbed Geoff's arm and whipped him into the ropes. Geoff turned, bounced off the ropes, and ran in. He jumped at his opponent, but the larger man caught him in mid-air. Kathy couldn't help but shriek as Geoff's opponent spun him around and slammed him into the mat again.

***

Geoff ran at Parkenson, intending to go for a splash, but Parkenson caught him in mid-air. Well. That was a mistake.

Parkenson chuckled. "Land well, pretty man." The world tilted as Parkenson spun him around, and Kathy's scream came to his ears as he was body dropped. He felt Parkenson pin him, but managed to get a shoulder off the mat at the count of one.

He let Parkenson pull him off the mat, then gave him an elbow strike to the stomach. He elbowed him twice more before Parkenson pulled him upright and shoved him toward the ropes.

Hit with your back, not your chest, he thought as he twisted his body around. He hooked his arms over the top rope to stop himself, then gave Parkenson a boot to the face when he charged in. Parkenson stumbled back, but charged in again for a spear. Geoff moved aside, and to his surprise Parkenson flew through the ropes and onto the floor.

The referee began the countout, but Geoff got an idea. He went to the corner nearest where Parkenson had landed and began to climb to the top rope.

Kath's going to kill me if I screw this up...

He took a second to gather himself, then jumped off the turnbuckle.

***

"What's he doing?!" Kathy cried as Geoff climbed up the far corner from them.

"Is he gonna try..." Eli's voice trailed off.

"He is," Layne said.

Cesar yelled. "Go, Geoff!"

The referee's count was at seven when the other man's head appeared over the ring mat and Geoff launched himself into the air. Kathy expected him to get caught again, and was shocked when both men fell to the ground. The crowd in that corner went absolutely wild as the referee restarted his count.

Cesar nearly screamed. "Holy shit! That was awesome!"

"Get back in the ring," Eli said. "Get back in the ring..."

Geoff stood up and rolled back into the ring as the referee counted four. Kathy hoped the other man would stay down, but he climbed back in at seven.

The two men grappled again, then broke loose and traded chops and body blows before Geoff's opponent picked him up for a suplex. To Kathy's relief Geoff managed to kick and wriggle enough to force his opponent to put him down--but that relief faded when Swamp Trash kicked him in the stomach and then brought him up for a powerbomb.

"It's over," Layne said.

Cesar cheered as Geoff hung on and began to hit his opponent's head with an open fist. "Not yet!"

The crowd cheered as Swamp Trash stumbled backwards, and then both men hit the mat with a loud banging noise. Neither moved, and the referee began to count.

"Get up Dad!" William yelled. The rest of them, except for Kathy, started to yell encouragement as well. Kathy stared at her husband's body, face down to the mat and unmoving except for his heavy breathing. She didn't care if he was counted out. She just wanted this to stop before--

Geoff lifted himself onto his arms at six, then scrambled to pin his opponent. The referee--and the crowd--got in a two-count before Swamp Trash raised his arm. Geoff sat up and breathed hard for a couple of seconds as his opponent lay still on the mat, and Kathy saw him looking around. He finally stood and climbed onto the corner ropes again.

"Don't do it," Kathy said to herself, shaking her head. "Don't do it..." His opponent was too far away, he'd been down too long, he'd move...

Geoff turned around on the top rope and launched himself into an elbow drop. To Kathy's shock he landed it, then grabbed his opponent's leg and rolled over, lifting the leg in the air and pinning the other man. The crowd counted to three with the referee, and the bell rang to end the match.

Cesar nearly lost his mind as "Axel F" started back up. "He did it!" He gave Omar an opened-mouth kiss, then hugged Kathy, Layne, and Eli before grabbing William's hands and dancing with him. "Your daddy did it! He won!"

William danced with Cesar. "Yeah!" He was all smiles as he looked at Kathy. "He won, Mommy! He won!" Kathy sank down into the chair behind her and heaved a heavy sigh of relief. Eli and Layne looked to be as relieved as Kathy felt.

The announcer's voice came on as the referee helped Geoff to his feet. "Ladies and gentlemen, the winner of our twenty-five thousand dollar amateur wrestling tournament, Geoffrey 'Dragon Breath' Castellucci!"

The referee held Geoff's hand in the air for a couple of seconds, then Geoff looked at his opponent who was starting to sit up. The music stopped and the crowd quieted as Geoff held his hand out to the other wrestler. Kathy held her breath, expecting him to attack Geoff, but he let Geoff help him up before they exchanged a fist bump and a quick hug. The crowd cheered and the eerie music began to play as they climbed out of the ring and walked back down the aisle.

Eli looked at Layne. "Well, I guess we'd better get back there and help Geoff get ready to go."

"Hold it." Kathy stood back up and held her hand out. "Pass." Eli sighed and handed her his backstage pass, and Kathy looked at Layne. "Lead the way."

"Don't let her hurt him too much," Omar called as they walked off.

Layne sighed. "I get the hard job."

***

Parkenson's spirits were high as he and Geoff walked through the curtain and backstage. "You did better than I expected, pretty man! You were showing off for your lady, yes? Perhaps next time I should bring a pretty lady to show off for! She would bring me luck!"

They entered the locker room and Geoff gratefully sat down on a bench to catch his breath as Parkenson talked on and began to change. "And as we agreed, we'll go out and I'll buy the first round. Bring your lady and your friends! We'll get drunk and raise Cain until we're thrown out."

Geoff was about to answer when he heard Kathy's voice. "Geoff?!"

Parkenson grinned. "Your lady?"

"Yep." Geoff sighed. "Over here, Kath."

Kathy quickly came up to him with Layne right behind. Her face was pale as she looked at him. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, Kath. I'm fine."

"Good. Now--" Her hand cracked across his face. "What were you thinking?!"

Geoff rubbed his slapped cheek. "Kath--"

"Don't 'Kath' me! Do you have any idea how worried I was out there watching you get manhandled?"

"I knew you'd worry. That's why I didn't tell you what I was doing." A thought occurred to him, and he glanced at Layne. "Who ratted me out?"

"Nobody," Kathy said. "I put a GPS tracker on the van and followed you."

Geoff stared at her. "Why'd you do that?"

"Why?" Kathy nearly shrieked. "I wanted to see where you were going! I thought I'd find you sneaking around with another woman, not trying to get permanently disabled!"

Geoff frowned at her. "Wait. You thought I was cheating on you?"

"You were leaving the house every Saturday, not telling me where you were going, coming home late, and you could barely walk the next day! What was I supposed to think?"

Geoff sighed. "All right. That's fair."

"What--what was all this about, anyway?" Kathy demanded. "Why would you even do this?"

He held her gaze. "We needed the money, Kath."

"Did we go bankrupt and I missed it? What did we need the money for?"

"Your treatments."

"My treatments? I'm not getting any--" Her voice cut off and her hands went to her mouth. There was silence for a few seconds, and her eyes were wide and her voice soft when she spoke next. "You--you heard me talking to Mom about that?"

"Yeah. I did." Geoff sighed. "I know it's not going to be enough, but I thought--"

Kathy practically jumped into his arms. "You idiot." Her voice was thick. "You...you sweet, wonderful, empty-headed dork."

Layne finally relaxed and smiled at Geoff. "I think you're forgiven."

Geoff hugged Kathy close to him. "I sure hope so. It'll be a long night if I'm not." He looked at Parkenson. "I think I'll have to collect on that bet another time."

Parkenson grinned. "Hey, little lady comes first, I know. If you're ever in New Orleans, come visit! I'll make you a pot of my famous alligator gumbo. It'll put hair on your chest!"

Geoff chuckled as he gently patted Kathy's back. "I'll take you up on that sometime."

***

Everyone ended up going back to Geoff's house to celebrate. Kathy ordered pizza and Cesar picked out a movie from Geoff's collection. William fell asleep halfway through the movie, and Geoff put him to bed. Once the movie was over the others left, and Geoff and Kathy did a quick cleanup before going to their bedroom.

Geoff got a shower, and after he'd dried and dressed he got into bed next to Kathy. She moved closer and hugged him. "So are you actually going to get that money?"

"The promoter said I should get the check in the mail in about a week." Geoff yawned and put an arm around her. "He offered me a contract too."

Sleepy eyes looked up at him. "Tell me you turned it down."

"Yeah, I did."

"Good." Kathy smiled. "You're a singer, not a wrestler. Remember that." She rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes.

"Yes, dear." Geoff kissed the top of her head.

"I still can't believe you did that for me," Kathy said.

"If the treatments do some good it'll be worth it." He yawned. "Eli said he's going to post some clips of the match on VoicePlay's Patreon."

Kathy chuckled. "The fans will love it." A pause. "I guess VoicePlay fans and wrestling fans don't have much of an overlap. No one made a single comment about you wrestling."

"I guess not." He'd been worried about that for the first couple of weeks, and it had surprised him that no one had said anything. Not that he'd complained. "We'd better get some sleep." He kissed her again. "Goodnight. Love you."

"Goodnight." Kathy yawned. "Love you too." Geoff had a fond smile on his face as he watched her drift off, and it wasn't long before he was falling asleep as well.

#fan fiction #fanfic #voiceplay #geoff castellucci #layne stein #eli jacobson #cesar de la rosa #kathy castellucci #professional wrestling

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