Slamdown Town

by Maxwell Nicoll

His mom dropped to the mat and banged out the count.

  “Eight. Nine. Ten. He’s out!”

  Ding, ding, ding!

  The match was finally over.

  Screech Holler screamed and fell out of his chair. “He’s done it again! Big Chew is the comeback king, the piece of gum that will never lose its flavor!”

  Ollie scanned the crowd again. He hadn’t noticed them before, but there were definitely more people in the stands. Maybe Big Chew was becoming a bit of a draw.

  But still no Tamiko.

  “Big Chew! Big Chew!” chanted the audience.

  Over the roar of the crowd, Screech Holler proclaimed that Big Chew was the most exciting new wrestler in years, and Ollie’s mom droned on about food-safety regulations and how they impacted fashion statements. But Ollie wasn’t paying attention.

  He was still busy scanning the crowd, wondering where his best friend was.

  “Is there anyone that can beat Big Chew?” asked Screech Holler.

  “Arooooo!”

  Goose bumps broke out on Ollie’s arms and the back of his neck. He knew that howl. The arena crowd howled in response and broke out into raucous applause. That howl indicated the impending entrance of Slamdown Town’s most notorious bully.

  Werewrestler.

  CHAPTER 33

  Werewrestler’s sudden introduction sent shivers down the spines of everyone gathered in Slamdown Town. Ollie remained where he was in the ring. Barbell Bill still lay facedown on the mat, passed out.

  The world seemed to hold its collective breath.

  Then smoke filled the entrance ramp. It billowed forward and blocked out everything. And then he emerged from the smoke.

  Werewrestler.

  He looked down on the ring and raised a microphone to his mouth.

  “What do we have here?” snarled Werewrestler. “A chump who thinks he’s a champ?”

  Werewrestler made no move to head toward the ring. This wasn’t an impromptu match (Ollie’s mom made all efforts possible to ensure that no unauthorized wrestling would occur on her watch); this was a challenge. Ollie had witnessed these encounters countless times before. Werewrestler was sizing up his opponent like a hungry wolf. Ollie’s heart beat against his chest at the thought that Big Chew’s chance to face Werewrestler for the championship belt might finally have arrived.

  Ollie couldn’t find a microphone of his own in the ring, so he climbed through the ropes and headed to the ringside announcer’s table to seize one.

  “I’m being overrun. Send backup!” yelled Screech, who retreated into his cheaply made bright orange suit like a turtle into its shell.

  Ollie took the mic straight out of Screech’s shaking hands. “I’ll give this back once I’m done teaching this no-good, cheating jerkface a lesson.”

  From the stands, Hollis let out a cheer. “Yeah, you give it to him, Big Chew!”

  Ollie knew that Hollis wanted to see Werewrestler toppled from his throne as much as he did. Pretty much every fan in Slamdown Town wanted to see Werewrestler defeated. But now wasn’t the time for his brother’s commentary.

  “Zip it, Hollis,” Ollie said into the mic.

  Hollis squealed. “Big Chew just said my name during an actual match!”

  “What part of ‘zip it’ do you not understand?”

  “He said it again!”

  “I said, what part of—”

  Werewrestler growled and cut him off. “Quiet. You’re just a big dumb kid, Big Chew.”

  “Big dumb kid says what?” Ollie said.

  “What?” asked Werewrestler, genuinely confused.

  “Gotcha,” said Ollie.

  The entire arena broke out in laughter.

  “Oh, boy, I do love classic humor,” cried Screech. “You got him good with that one.”

  “If you’re done being an idiot,” interrupted Werewrestler, “I’m here to tell you that your wish is about to come true.”

  Ollie froze. He had waited for this moment ever since he became Big Chew.

  “That’s right, Big Chew. No more stalling. I’ve been watching you. You think because you got a fancy outfit, a big mouth, and some pathetic moves, you can beat me?”

  “Of course I can beat you,” Ollie replied.

  “Well, then, consider yourself challenged. And trust me, once I’m done with you, the only thing that’s gonna be chewed up is your face,” said Werewrestler.

  He pointed at the ring and licked his lips with his huge tongue. Then he walked back up the ramp and vanished into the smoke.

  Ollie tossed the microphone back to Screech as he headed toward the ramp.

  “My goodness, folks.” Screech fumbled with the mic. “We have ourselves a challenge! Why, this will be a championship match for the ages. The new kid on the block, Big Chew, versus the undefeated, reigning champ, Werewrestler. Next Saturday. Winner takes the belt.”

  He’d finally scored his chance to take on Werewrestler.

  He was certain Linton Krackle was busy calling Tamiko right now to arrange the particulars. Ms. Manager would be demanding floor-to-ceiling banners of Big Chew, calling it the match of the century. No, the best match of all time.

  Not to mention local TV commercials, exclusive Slamdown Town Big Chew championship shirts, and of course the revival of one of their favorite video game series ever: Slamdown Town Brawlmania Supreme, this time with Big Chew on the cover.

  Ollie giggled to himself at the thought. Tamiko’d be so relieved that the plan had finally worked that, whatever was going on, they’d be right back to normal.

  This was all going to turn out all right. He knew it.

  He walked away from the ring and through the entrance ramp.

  “Big Chew!” shouted Hollis as he jumped up and down behind the fan barricade, which was barely holding him back. “It’s me. Lil’ Chew.”

  Lil’ Chew? What’s a Lil’ Chew?

  Ollie turned to see his brother wearing an outfit that looked like a cheap knockoff of Big Chew’s costume. He wore heavy winter gloves to sub for the leather ones. Instead of combat boots, Hollis wore rain galoshes that were several sizes too small. He’d wrapped a bedsheet around him to pass for the wrestler singlet. He even had gold underwear, which looked like it was colored with gold crayon and, unfortunately for Hollis, looked extra brown on the backside.

  His brother beamed with pride.

  “I spent so much time making this. Like, I didn’t study for two tests or do my biology homework or do my chores or anything,” admitted Hollis.

  Ollie had ended up having to do those chores because Hollis was slacking off when he claimed to be studying. Like always, Hollis’s love for Big Chew harmed Ollie.

  “And check out this drawing,” said Hollis, pulling a piece of paper from his pocket. It was the drawing that Ollie had done of Big Chew wrestling Gorgeous Gordon Gussett, Silver tongue, and Barbell Bill. The drawing that Hollis had stolen from him.

  Only, Hollis must’ve made some edits. Alongside the other wrestlers, Hollis had drawn a stick figure of himself, dressed as Lil’ Chew, holding hands with Big Chew.

  “See?! It’s me and you! What do you think?”

  “I think . . . ,” started Ollie. Ollie wanted to hang his brother up by the underwear. He wanted to sit on top of him like Hollis had sat on top of him so many times before.

  “You’re gonna be the next Slamdown Town champion!” continued Hollis. “I just know it! With your outfit, and smack talk, and moves, you can’t lose!” Hollis mimed doing Big Chew’s finishing move.

  “Give me that!” said Ollie. He reached forward with his giant hand and snatched the drawing away from Hollis. He dangled it in front of his brother’s face, like Hollis had done with the flyer.

  Hollis stood there, wide-eyed and mouth hanging open. Ollie wanted his brother to jump up and down for it, like Ollie had jumped up and down for the flyer.

  But that didn’t happen.

  “Yeah! I was going to give it to you anyway! I bet you get a lot of fan art.
Maybe you can hang it on your fridge, and every time you open it, you’ll see it and think of me, Lil’ Chew!”

  Ollie buried his head in his hands. Of course, it seemed that nothing Ollie did as Big Chew would ever break his brother. Big Chew was Hollis’s idol, after all. He might as well give up, because all his efforts only ever amounted to Hollis having that stupid grin on his face.

  And that was worse than doing nothing at all.

  Hollis fumbled for his camera. “Hold on. I need a picture of us. Lil’ Chew and Big Chew, together at last. The number one wrestler with his number one fan!”

  Hollis snapped a photo of them before Ollie could react.

  “Wait till my little brother sees this! He’s never gotten a selfie with a wrestler. I can’t wait to post this on my Officially Unofficial Slamdown Town Fan Club. I’m a web developer, in case you didn’t already hear.”

  But Ollie had heard all that he could handle. He pocketed the picture and marched down the hallway toward the locker room. There were more important things to tackle than dealing with Hollis.

  He needed to find Tamiko.

  As quickly as he could, he walked back into the locker room. Wrestlers came forward to congratulate him or offer him phone numbers for reliable medical care to call after his match with Werewrestler. But he waved them all away.

  He found a quiet corner and spat out the gum. Then he ran all around the arena.

  He checked the stands. He searched the lobby. He asked the concession-stand workers.

  Nothing.

  He tried to reach out to Tamiko multiple times. His messages remained unread, his calls unanswered. After nearly a half hour of searching, he couldn’t escape the truth.

  His best friend—the one who had helped him become a better wrestler, the girl who somehow knew as much about wrestling as he did when he figured that was impossible, the one who stood up for him after his brother turned on him—was not here.

  Instead of coming to watch him wrestle, she had stayed home.

  He had won the fight against Barbell Bill. And secured his title match against Werewrestler.

  But without Tamiko there to celebrate, he found he wasn’t as excited as he should have been about the win. Without his best friend, he wasn’t very excited at all.

  CHAPTER 34

  Ollie slumped back in his seat in the stands, dragging a soggy nacho through some congealed neon cheese. His match with Barbell Bill had been scheduled early, so there was an entire evening of wrestling to enjoy.

  Only, he couldn’t really enjoy himself, knowing that Tamiko was mad at him.

  He looked over at the empty chair next to him. Since they’d become friends, he had never sat here before and watched wrestling without Tamiko. Now that he was, it didn’t feel right.

  He observed as Gorgeous Gordon Gussett revealed his new spring lineup of outfits in his bounce-back match against Petey Paradise. Apparently glitter was in style. The cleaning crew took some time to scrub the ring down. But Ollie was certain that, hundreds of years from now, people would still be finding flecks of glitter in the ring.

  That match was followed by a spat among the Sánchez Sisters. When Ana revealed that she was leaving the ring to go to college, her sister Mariana became enraged. But when Ana clarified she planned on majoring in headbutts with a minor in civil engineering, the two sisters reconciled. With the controversy behind them, they delivered a resounding defeat to the Infinity Squad who, ironically, lasted only three minutes in the ring.

  Then Big Tuna managed some long-overdue revenge when he interrupted a match between Jesse Five-Fingers James and Doctor Destruction. Big Tuna swam into the ring and dramatically Fin-Slapped Jesse, who never saw it coming. He was knocked out cold.

  Ollie’s mom got so angry that her head threatened to pop off.

  “The rules are very clear that any wrestler who intends to invade another match must submit the request to me at least twenty-four hours before those intentions are carried out!” she shouted as she barred Big Tuna from the ring.

  The knockout allowed Doctor Destruction to secure a victory.

  The matches were great. Some of the best he’d seen in months, actually.

  But without his best friend there, Ollie found himself having far less fun than normal. Or rather, no fun at all.

  But he couldn’t leave. After all, his mom was his ride home, and there was still a whole evening of matches ahead. So, for the first time in his life, he walked out in the middle of a match, hoping to find something—anything—to take his mind off Tamiko.

  First, he made a pit stop at the pinball machine. The left flipper didn’t work properly, and Hollis had tilted and rocked the machine so often that half the lights refused to blink. But the game spat out tickets that could be redeemed for prizes at the counter.

  Ollie scored a decent amount. Not nearly as much as Tamiko ever did. She was the video game extraordinaire, and it was she who, naturally, held the top score. Normally, he and Tamiko would pool their tickets together to get one of the top-tier prizes.

  But now he had only enough for the bottom row.

  “Here’s your cheap garbage—er, I mean, cherished prize,” said the ticket taker as he handed Ollie a plastic replica of what he could only assume was The Bolt, but looked more like a blob with mismatched, googly eyes that fell off after two minutes of play.

  Then he ordered a supersize slushie from the concession stand. It was not advisable to go in on a supersize slushie alone. The drink contained the largest legal sugar content allowed in the tristate area. Which is why he and Tamiko usually split it.

  The icy slush turned his teeth and gums and tongue blue. He bounced up and down in his seat as the sugar overload made its way through his body.

  But it didn’t help him feel better, either. He still felt blue—and now he literally was.

  No amount of sugar or cheaply made toys or awesome matches made the sinking feeling that he had really messed up go away.

  Tamiko wasn’t here.

  And since she wasn’t here, he started to realize that he hadn’t really been there for her a lot lately. This was the first time since becoming Big Chew, after all, that he had not stayed backstage with the other wrestlers post-match. He wondered if Tamiko felt the same loneliness he was feeling right now each time he had gone away to wrestle.

  He felt bad. Then he remembered all the other stuff he had ruined. Her dad’s costume. The presentation. Mrs. Ramirez’s dogs. He hadn’t been a good friend the past few weeks.

  The admission made him feel even worse.

  For the first time in his entire life, Ollie was relieved when the final wrestling match ended. The ring emptied and the wrestlers cleared out. Screech Holler entered the ring, prepared to make the final announcement for everyone to go home.

  But the show wasn’t quite over. Ollie watched as none other than Linton Krackle, the Slamdown Town CEO, walked down the entrance ramp.

  “As I live and breathe, folks, it’s the man who makes it all happen. Give it up for . . .” Screech paused, pulled out a piece of paper, and read the following from it, “. . . the most successful business tycoon in the history of forever: Linton Krackle!”

  The usual showering of boos and hisses rained down as he descended the ramp toward the ring. He waved off the crowd, struggled getting over the ropes, fumbled his way into the center of the ring, and held a microphone to his lips.

  “Is this thing on?”

  “Boo!” yelled Ollie. “Linton socks!”

  “I’ll take that as a yes. I have an announcement to make. So shut it.”

  More boos and hisses rained down.

  “Yeah, yeah. Get your fill of that. Because you won’t be able to do that for much longer. As of next week, Slamdown Town is closing. Permanently.”

  The arena suddenly went silent. Even Screech had no words. He just stood there next to Linton, head down, speechless.

  Ollie wondered if he had heard wrong. Clearly, Linton had made some sort of mistake. Or Ollie had e
ntered into a nightmare.

  “Next Saturday’s championship match between Big Chew and Werewrestler will be the final match here at Slamdown Town,” confirmed Linton.

  As quickly as they had gone silent, the people in the arena erupted with shouting. Ollie saw the devoted stragglers turn from silent shock to outraged yelling. They were the fans who had come to the arena through thick and thin, rain and snow.

  Through years of boring, nasty Werewrestler being champion.

  Several rows down, Hollis looked just as shocked as he was.

  “But wrestling is life!” cried Hollis. He rolled up the sleeve of his Lil’ Chew costume and pointed to a peeling splotch on his arm. “My temporary tattoo says so.”

  The crowd roared their disapproval. Linton motioned for them to be quiet.

  “Listen!” shouted Linton over the yelling. “I appreciate that you fools—er—fans show up every week and pay full-price admission. But the point is, there ain’t enough of ya. Which means there ain’t enough to keep this place open. Plain and simple. So I’m shutting Slamdown Town down. For good.”

  Sure, Slamdown Town was a little rough around the edges. It hadn’t had a makeover in years, and most of the talent was, well, lacking talent.

  But the arena was home. The fans were family. The thought of it closing . . .

  Ollie wasn’t the only one in shock. His mom stood there, mouth hanging open. She held on to the rope for support. Ollie hadn’t ever really seen his mom look so uncertain.

  “This can’t be,” moaned Screech. “Slamdown Town, closed?! Without even a fight?”

  “What exactly does everyone expect me to do here?” demanded an annoyed Linton. “I tried bringing in new talent, but still, no one showed up!”

  “What do we expect?” responded Screech. “Folks. Seems like our previously esteemed owner wants to know what we expect.”

  Screech Holler walked to the edge of the ropes. His voice shook with a fiery passion as he began to lead the crowd in a chant.

  “Keep it open! Keep it open! Keep it open!”

  Ollie shouted as loud as he could. Everyone in the arena joined in. They may not have been a large crowd, but those gathered gave it their all. Linton Krackle surveyed the scene. His eyes narrowed and his fingers instinctively flexed toward the wallet in his pocket.