“I don’t understand how he could do that to us.”
“I’m in no way defending him, but after you have a kid of your own maybe it will make more sense.”
What Paul Bryson had done was never going to make any sense, none at all.
“Didn’t BJ tell your grandparents anything about your father?”
“If she did, they never told me except to say he was a no good scoundrel who deserted her when she got pregnant with me.”
Must have been why he had believed it was Paul, since the scoundrel part sure fit.
“I was with your mother when she met your father and got pregnant. There were eight of us. Six guys and your mom and another lady wrestler, on a USO tour entertaining the troops in Europe with matches in a makeshift ring. Paul was back in Georgia working for Fred Ward. That’s how I know there is no way he could be your father.”
“Who was he then?”
“An Italian fan. The poor guy followed BJ around like a love sick puppy dog the whole time we were over there.” William laughed. “She was terribly smitten with him too, and you can go look in the mirror to see what a handsome devil he was.”
“Did he know about me?”
“That I don’t know. She didn’t find out she was pregnant until we were back in the States. I know she wrote to him, but I don’t think he ever replied.”
“What was his name?”
“Carlo something or other. If my mother was still with us, she could probably have told you all about him. BJ was a godsend for staying with her through her last days on this earth.”
“Granny did tell me about her staying with y’all in New Orleans.”
“I’ll be honest with you, when she was with mom, I tried has hard as I could to court her, but she never would consider me as anything more than a friend. She always said I was the kid brother she never had and dating me would have been like incest.”
Just to think, if his mom had of fallen for William instead of that Italian dude, how different his life might have turned out. Billy didn’t have too long to ponder the what ifs before Odessa slinked up behind William wrapping her arms around his neck.
“I’ve missed you so.” She looked at William like he was some kind of god and actually he did look that way in his expensive suit with that platinum hair slicked back and a gorgeous woman by his side. “I hate it when we quarrel.”
“Je taime, mon chére.”
Instead of offering her a chair, he pulled her into his lap and she hit him with a kiss so intense Billy could feel the heat from across the table. He just sat there trying not to squirm until William was able to extract her tongue from his mouth.
“I have some wonderful new.” William said, waving towards the waitress. “Billy has decided to join me in Louisiana as my right hand man.”
“If only I were able to join you,” she sighed dramatically.
“In due time love. In a mere six months it shall all be over and we will never again be apart.”
William ordered a bottle of Dom Pérignon and after the champagne was poured, he raised his glass for a toast. “To new beginnings and a prosperous run in New Orleans.”
“I’ll drink to that,” Billy said as they clicked glasses.
“Samhain blessings.” Odessa caught William in another lip lock as if Billy wasn’t even there before raising her glass in another toast. “May the Goddess bless our union and your future endeavors with Billy,” she said, finally acknowledging his presence. “I do hope you’ll be able to attend our hand fasting service at summer solstice.”
“Do what?”
“It’s a pagan wedding ceremony,” William explained. “I’m divorcing Dinera the day after Charlie turns eighteen in April. That way we’ll both be able to get away from her without a lengthy court battle.”
“One can only hope there won’t be any hard feelings,” Odessa added.
“Whatever floats y’all’s boat.” Billy wasn’t about to be the one to tell them he didn’t see Dinera going down without one hell of a fight.
“Will Lizzie be coming to New Orleans with you?” Odessa asked. “I mailed her the candle as you requested.”
“I sure hope I’ll be able to get her to take me back.”
“Dinera would love having her there with you,” William said. “That might be just the distraction she would need to make these next few months somewhat more bearable.”
“Do you think you might be able to get me booked in the Carolinas until the first of the year?”
William shook his head. “You can’t leave Vic without working a proper notice.”
At that moment Billy didn’t care one bit about his job. Now that he knew the truth, he wanted to go jump in the car and head towards Charlotte that very night.
He was ready to give Paul Bryson a piece of his mind and maybe a punch in the gut for the hell he had put them through. Never again, Billy vowed, would he ever believe a word that man said. Nothing was ever going to come between him and Lizzie again.
William must have known what Billy was thinking because he said, “I’ll talk to Lizzie for you and have a few choice words with Paul. Providing you’ll do what’s good for business and stay here a few more weeks.”
Mr. George had been awfully good to Billy and he was looking forward to doing a program with Bobby Heenan.
“Alright, I reckon I can do that.”
“I’ll call Jimmy Crockett in the morning to see about getting you booked on the Thanksgiving show and the next week’s loop with me. Maybe he could use you and Vlad as a tag team. I’m sure he would love to spend some time with his sister around the Holidays.”
“Vlad’ll be so excited he’ll buy a ticket to his own match.”
“I’ll see what I can do.” He poured the last of the champagne into Billy’s glass. “Now if you’ll excuse us, I want to enjoy the rest of the evening with my lady.”
Billy watched them walk away, admiring the swoosh of Odessa's backside.
Two more Jack and Cokes later and it was last call. The only thing that kept Billy going towards the elevator was the fact that he was too buzzed to drive and too mind boggled for any of this to make sense. He didn’t know what to think of his Italian Daddy. He wondered what the man thought when he got his mom’s letter and if he ever wrote her back.
Was he still even alive? It had been twenty-two years since he was conceived. What if he had a bunch of half brothers and sisters he’d never met? Billy imagined them all sitting around a table eating spaghetti. At least his Italian side explained his love of pastas and pizza.
Maybe someday he could go wrestle over there and look up old Carlo. He wondered if his old man would recognize him if he saw Billy’s mug on a poster? Would he know who his father was if he looked out into the audience and saw an older version of himself sitting in the crowd? What was Lizzie going to think about the way her Daddy had lied to him? Would she ever forgive him for running away?
Billy’s head was a spinning by the time he opened the door to that hotel room. Amy looked like a different person curled up under the covers in one of the hotel’s terry cloth robes. She had washed her hair and put on a little makeup to where she almost looked human again. She looked so content that you could almost see the pretty girl she must have been before the abusive marriage, four kids and all those drugs washed away her hopes and dreams.
“Hey you.” She smiled, coming back to life. “Ain’t it something what a hot bath, a good meal and a magic pill will do for a girl?”
Billy just sat down beside her on the edge of the bed. He was too far gone to even speak.
“Odessa came over and treated me to dinner. She’s actually very nice when she drops the bitch routine, and that little purple pill she gave me was just marvelous. This is the first time in days I don’t feel like I’m about to crawl right out of my own skin.”
There was no telling what Odessa had given her or what kind of a room service bill they had run up at William’s expense.
“She told me she was the o
ne who gave you the Moonlight Mystique candle.”
Billy hadn’t even noticed the candle she’d lit on the nightstand or noticed it had gone missing from his room. Amy must have taken it the last time she had stayed over. Not that he really cared or believed in that hocus pocus mumbo jumbo.
“I want you to go back to Lizzie. You deserve a lot better than me.”
If that was the case, why was she unbuttoning his shirt and why was he not stopping her when she went for the zipper of his pants? Billy don’t know if it was the shock or the alcohol. All he did know was that he had to stop carrying on with every girl in sight. He pushed her hand away and headed over to the loveseat by the window.
Loveseat. What a stupid name for a couch. Especially when the man sitting on it was about as far from loveable as you could get. A miserable excuse for a man. Just like his deadbeat Italian Daddy and Paul Bryson.
“What’s eating at you?” She asked wrapping the robe tight around her neck.
“You was right. Paul lied to me. My real daddy is some Italian dude my mom met when she was ‘rassling over there.”
“That’s wonderful,” she said a little too brightly. “Now you can go back and work things out with Lizzie.”
“I was such a doggone fool for believing Paul. I don’t see how she could ever forgive me for just up and leaving her like that. How will I ever explain why I took off?”
“Try telling her the truth.”
The last thing his addled brain needed was Odessa to start screaming on the other side of the wall. William must have been screwing her silly because Billy didn’t remember her being that horribly loud when he was doing her.
“Come on. Get you some rest.” Amy patted the side of the bed. “It will all work itself out.”
“I shouldn’t be sleeping with you or any other gal.”
“Sleeping’s fine, it’s the other thing that gets you in trouble.”
Billy went and took a good hot shower. Not that it helped much with Odessa still squalling like a banshee. How in the world had Amy fallen asleep with all that noise? He crawled into the other side of the bed, pulling the blanket up over his head and pressing a pillow hard against his ears. Damn, if he couldn’t still hear Odessa howling with pleasure. Each blood-curling scream felt like a knife straight through what was left of his heart.
The next morning he woke up to Amy sobbing against his back, her hot wet tears sinking into his skin. That bitch next door was still screaming like she was having the world’s longest, most intense orgasm. William had to be more of a man than he could even imagine.
Billy turned to where he could hug Amy up against his chest. “What’s wrong?”
“What’s right?” She asked snorting back the tears. “It’s me and my miserable excuse for a life. If I have to stay here, I’m going to die. I want to go back home.”
“Where’s home?”
“I want to go be with my mom in Florida. I want to get clean. I just once want something to go right with my life.”
“What about your kids?”
“I can’t handle them seeing me like this and Luke’s parents kicked me out. His dad told me to stay away until I get sobered up.”
“Tell you what?” Billy said. “Let’s go get your stuff together and I’ll get you a bus ticket to go to your mom’s.”
“You would do that for me?” She sat up as shocked as if he had just offered her the whole world. “As horrible as I’ve been to you, you still want to help me?”
“It ain’t all that much.” Billy wasn’t about to let her flattery go to his head. “You go on home and get your act together. Do it for your kids, so you can take care of them again.”
“All I’ve got left in this world is right over there.” She pointed towards her purse and that tattered brown shopping bag. “At least it won’t take me long to pack.”
“See you’re already getting your sense of humor back.”
Billy put her on a Tampa bound bus with a couple of twenties tucked in her purse and then sat down in the hotel lobby to wait for William.
He about choked on his coffee when Odessa slinking in wearing one of William's dress shirts unbuttoned to where he caught a glimpse of the white lace of her bra against the trail of bruises that kept going deep into her cleavage. William was a little more discrete, dressed in a black turtleneck sweater and dark jeans. It struck his as strange that it was the first time he'd ever seen William not wearing a suit or his wrestling gear.
William Fletcher looked surprisingly relaxed and years younger dressed all in black, like the vampire of Odessa’s dreams. Super human strength and stamina. The best worker to ever set foot in a ring. Maybe that was the secret to his incredible success. Or maybe Billy’s mind was still flying a mile a minute trying to make sense of his fucked up life.
“Good news, Billy,” William said. “You guys are on the Carolina loop with me, November 27th thru December 13th.”
“It’s all going to work out for you and Lizzie.” Odessa assured him with a farewell peck on the cheek. “As it is willed, so mote it shall be.”
That was the best news Billy had heard in he didn’t know when.
Seeing them walking to the car holding hands with their arms entwined made him miss Lizzie more than ever. As good of a person that William was, Billy had a sick feeling that his mentor was walking straight into something even he wasn’t going to be able to handle.
Yet, there he was ready to risk everything – his whole career, his mother’s home in New Orleans, the fate of his son - all for the chance to spend the rest of his life with Odessa.
Chapter 40
“Why don’t you bring your new fellow with you to see my match tonight?”
Paul back peddled in front of Lizzie, slowing his pace just enough for her to catch up with him. He was so keyed up about the big title match that they had already done a good five miles and it didn’t look like he was going to stop anytime soon.
“I might just do that.”
Watching her daddy win the world title might be the perfect polite way to scare Richard off. He was nice enough, but he just wasn’t Billy. Elena had gotten Allen to set her up with one of his friends from the fire station. The four of them had gone out to dinner several times before Richard worked up the nerve to ask her to see a movie without Elena’s supervision. Two weeks later and they had gotten as far as a first kiss. Lizzie didn’t want to go any further.
“You’re not blowing up on me?” He asked, picking the pace up.
“Nope.”
Like she would ever give him the satisfaction of admitting she wanted to head back to the house for a nice long soak in some Epsom salt. There was only one more hill to tackle, so she sucked it up to catch up to him.
“It’s going to mean the world to me to have my family there cheering me on tonight.” He threw some air punches as if William was standing in front of him. “I can’t believe Carol Ann went in to work. Our first Thanksgiving as a family and my son is off volunteering at the rescue mission.”
“I think it’s a wonderful idea for us to meet him there,” Lizzie said trying to catch her breath. “And Carol Ann will get off work in plenty of time to make the show.”
“I guess it is good publicity, the future champ putting in some time serving turkey to the homeless on the day he wins the title.”
“And you’re helping others.”
“I’d rather cut them a check and have the day at home with my family. I won’t be able to be home for Christmas this year. Total nonsense to book the champ in Atlanta instead of Charlotte or Greensboro on Christmas Day. Are you sure you don’t want to drive down with Carol Ann?”
“I want to stay with Gran and I need to be here for Elena’s wedding.”
“You’ll get a kick out of seeing Glenda in action tonight reffing the ladies match. I hope I can get around that good when I hit seventy.”
“You’ll probably still be wrestling.”
“I sure hope so.”
Paul sprinted ahead an
d when she caught up to him around the curve he slowed to say hello to Al Hurtz. Elena’s former ‘Mr. Yummy Pants’ was looking rather handsome in a pair of tight jeans and boots.
“Hi,” he said with a movie star worthy grin.
“Hello.”
She wanted to stop to catch her breath but Daddy picked up the pace, racing across the parking lot of the café where he had parked his car. “Come on! Last one in gets stuck on gravy detail.”
“Are you helping at the rescue mission?” Al asked.
“Yes, that’s where we’re headed after our run.”
“Mr. Crockett asked us all to stop by, so maybe I’ll see you there.”
“Okay.” She returned his smile and bravely threw out a little hint. “Daddy’s letting me go to the matches.”
“That’s-”
“Lizzie, come on already. You’re bringing down my heart rate down.”
“More like driving up his blood pressure by having the never to talk to one of the other wrestlers.”
Al laughed with her. “Are you doing anything after the matches?”
“Lizzie, get a move on!” Her daddy yelled, turning around to jog back towards them.
“Just Daddy’s victory party, you should come.”
“I’ll be there.”
To calm her daddy down, she took off running to meet him and sprinted on past him a couple of paces until he broke ahead and started doing that annoying backwards jog again. “Don’t you go getting any ideas about Hurtz. That kid’s too much of a player for my daughter.”
Lizzie kept quiet because at last the finish line was in sight and there was Gran standing by her shiny new red Grand Prix.
“You should have seen your granddaughter back there coming on to Al Hurtz.”
“Daddy, I was just being polite.”
“You were shamelessly flirting with him.”
“There’s not a thing wrong with chatting up a good looking man.” Gran jumped to her defense. “Hell, if I was about forty years younger, I’d be all over that Al Hurtz myself.”
“Like age has ever stopped you before.” Paul headed toward the front door to keep Gran from getting in the last word.
Desire Page 27
