Blood Red Turns Dollar Green Volume 3

by Paul O'Brien

  Still not a cent was found.

  It became like a sickness to Ade. When she could afford a crew, they picked through the house. When she couldn’t afford them any longer, she gently deconstructed her house piece by piece.

  Such was her infatuation that the wrestling company she was left with was on life support. It was now costing her money to run shows, and both it and the house were chewing her up. She was quickly nearing being completely broke.

  Months before, she’d had to move out to a motel. When the roof came off of the house, she had slept in the garage for fear that someone would come along in the middle of the night and simply stumble onto the jackpot that was right under her nose, somewhere.

  Sleeping there just made her sick. Even when her doctor strongly advised her against it, she came back to the house, and worked through the night, again and again.

  She was desperate for the money, but, more than that, she couldn’t let Merv win. She was sure by now that the wrestling business as a whole entity was an albatross to her life, but she couldn’t get out now, even if she wanted to.

  So, she kept going; even when she didn’t want to, when she was too sick to, and when she knew better.

  She was already this far in; what other option did she have?

  Ade sat in the attic of her house, looking down on the bay below. It was a beautiful night, and there was rain in the air. She needed to move soon to get back to her motel room before it got too dark. She knew her way around the missing boards, but not so much that she wanted to navigate them without light.

  She planted her hand, and pushed herself up, but she’d moved too quickly. She hit her head on a beam, which knocked her sideways, and sent her face-first to the floor. Ade just managed to stop herself from going through a missing section, and possibly down to the next floor.

  As she lay there, Ade could feel the pain in her head as it swelled and throbbed. She could hang on where she was, and lie there, crying.

  Ade managed to make it down to the ground floor, and began walking to her car when it began to rain. She reached into her pocket, and realized that her keys were where she had fallen at the top of the house.

  She beat the lock off of her garage with a rock, but by now, she was bleeding from the head, dizzy, sore, wet to the bone, and physically weak. She was glad to get in, and out of the rain.

  She tried the light, but knew that she hadn’t paid the bill. The garage was packed to the gills with Merv’s old things, but in the corner was the mattress that Ade used to sleep on when she stayed the night.

  She lay gently down, and pulled her wet coat over her head. She had very little left in her, and was just about done, until she heard a noise outside.

  One eye shot open as she felt around the mattress to see if there was anything that she could use as a weapon if she needed one. There wasn’t.

  She quietly sat up, and tiptoed to the door to see what was outside. As she wiped the blood from her face with the sleeve of her jacket, she saw a heavy candlestick holder that Merv had loved. It would certainly do the job; she struggled to pick it up.

  When she peeked out the door, she immediately saw the neighbor’s dog taking a shit right outside her garage door.

  Ade clapped, stomped her foot, and shouted at the dog, which ran away. She, in turn, threw Merv’s candlestick holder into his pile of possessions, and started a mini-avalanche. Ade didn’t care; she just fell back onto her mattress, where the contents of Merv’s desk were waiting for her. There were pens, unopened bills, a Rolodex, and some cufflinks. Ade just swiped it all into a box, and fired it into the garage, but not before checking it for cash.

  With a shake of the mattress, all her impediments were moved, and Ade could lie down, again. She didn’t want to think—she never did, anymore. She knew that Danno was making a fortune, and that Proctor would soon get his turn.

  But what did she have?

  See, it was better for her not to think. She would just wait for sleep, and start again tomorrow.

  She looked around, and was yet again surrounded by Merv and his things. Only this time, she was in a small garage at the back of a ruined mansion.

  Something kept drawing her to an envelope against the wall, which read:

  SAUSALITO YACHT HARBOR.

  Ade had no idea what that was, but it was chipping away at her. She lay looking at it, and something wouldn’t let her thoughts move on.

  Her outstretched hand could easily grab it, and it did. Ade opened the envelope. It was nothing of interest, so she threw it back from where it had come, and turned over.

  She closed her eyes, and got a minute or two of rest, until it hit her.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Morning couldn’t come soon enough. Ade waited for the pier to be opened. She had been this excited before, but it had always led to nothing. She drove down, and timed her journey; Merv could have easily done the same.

  She waited for a middle-aged woman to open her small wooden office beside the pier. Shortly after her came what must have been her twin sister, who also walked into the hutch. Ade darted from her car.

  “Hello?” she called.

  The twin ladies turned to see a disheveled, bleary-eyed woman, who wore bloodstained, slept-in clothes, approach them. Ade saw that their nametags read Emma and Sarah respectively.

  “Emma, Sarah, how do you do?” Ade asked.

  “Good, thank you,” they both replied together.

  Sarah pushed her sister, Emma, forward to talk to Ade alone, while she tiptoed off in the background.

  “I’m sorry,” Ade said, suddenly becoming self-conscious about her appearance. “But, I think my husband had a boat down here.”

  “You think, ma’am?” Emma asked.

  “He was... a secretive man. He didn’t say much about things. But I got this—”

  Ade reached into her pocket, and pulled out the letter from the garage.

  “‘Sausalito Yacht Harbor’. That’s you guys, isn’t it?” Ade asked, as she pointed to the sign above them.

  “That’s us, ma’am, yes.”

  “And I’m presuming that there would be no point in paying club fees here, unless there was a boat somewhere?”

  “Some people just join for the clubhouse and tennis courts.”

  “Can you check? His name was Merv Schiller.”

  As Ade said his name, she could tell that the woman had heard of him before. Her face noticeably shifted. “Do you know my husband?”

  “Mr. Schiller was a regular here, up until a time ago. He worked long hours, and needed to get to his boat pretty late at night, if I remember.”

  Ade could have cried with joy. This was it, she knew it.

  “Can you show me that boat?”

  Emma could see the relief on Ade’s face. It was hard for her to realize that the woman in front of her was Merv Schiller’s wife.

  “Do you know the name of the boat, at least?” Emma asked.

  Ade shook her head. “He never even told me that he had a fucking boat.”

  “I don’t know, ma’am.”

  “April something,” Ade said emphatically.

  “Let me go check,” Emma said.

  She entered the hutch. Ade’s whole body was fluctuating with adrenaline. Even if she wasn’t allowed to see the boat right now, she knew that it could be overcome with some ID.

  She ran to her car, and got her driver’s license. It still said Schiller on it.

  “Ma’am?”

  Ade could see the woman waiting outside the hutch for her. She looked the same, but her nametag said Sarah.

  “Where’s the other... where’s your sister gone?” Ade asked.

  “She’s on the phone, ma’am.”

  “Okay, I’ll wait.”

  “There’s a problem,” Sarah said.

  “I have ID,” Ade said, as she flashed her license.

  “It’s not that. The April Showers isn’t here, anymore, ma’am.”

  Ade heard, but didn’t understand. “Excuse me?�
��

  “It was taken away.”

  First Ade felt sick, but then she immediately grew furious. “What?”

  “We posted you several times. We called. I even personally went to your house.”

  “For what?”

  Sarah pointed to the white sign that was posted on the outside wall of the hutch. It read:

  ALL FEES MUST BE PAID ON TIME.

  “What?” Ade asked.

  “We tried everything to get you, ma’am. I personally put you—” Sarah looked around to see if anyone was listening, and then continued, “I personally put you down as paid for over a year, because Mr. Schiller was such a long-time member.”

  Ade grabbed Sarah by the shirt. “Where is it?”

  “It’s gone. They get taken away, if we can’t—”

  Ade screamed, “Where is it?”

  “Ma’am?” Emma re-appeared to see Ade assaulting her sister. She grabbed Ade’s hair, and tried to wrestle her from the terrified Sarah.

  “Ma’am, let go. Ma’am! Mrs. Schiller. You’re—what are you doing? We’re going to have to call the police. Ma’am? Ma’am.”

  Ade wasn’t even fully focused on hurting or fighting the woman she had a hold of.

  She would learn that the company that took away her boat had actually closed down, suddenly. The twin sisters thought that the owner had retired one day, and never came back to work.

  They speculated that there had been a breakdown, but Ade knew better. Her mind had already left, but her body was about to be arrested.

  Ade traveled to New York. She’d heard about what had happened to Proctor’s son, and she wanted to see if he was doing okay. She just wanted to see a friendly face, and maybe go for drink. Mostly, Ade wanted to get away from San Francisco.

  She wanted him.

  After pooling everything she had, she bought herself a ticket. At this stage, she was hardly going to wrestling shows at all. Venues were looking for her, and wrestlers were looking to get paid.

  She needed a break; she needed someone to put their arm around her. Ade didn’t know what she needed, but she knew she had nowhere else to turn.

  When she arrived at the hospital, she immediately saw him at the pay phone. “Put me through to Danno,” she heard him order.

  Ade looked around, until she found her reflection in the glass doorway. She looked good: confident, with no desperation.

  “You fucking cunt. I swear to God, I’m going to kill them, Danno,” Proctor said. “You’ve conned me out of the belt, and don’t think I don’t know that you tried to kill my fucking son, too, you son of a bitch.”

  Ade waited before advancing any further. Proctor was ready to blow, and she didn’t want that to be the backdrop when he finally saw her again.

  He removed the phone from his ear, and just screamed down the line.

  “Where’s his fucking foot, Danno?”

  He slapped the phone off the wall, and fired a plant pot through the candy dispenser’s glass, in front of him.

  “Move him,” Proctor shouted to no one in particular. “I want to bring my boy home with me!”

  Ade watched as Proctor stormed off to the wards.

  She listened for quiet, and she got it before she peered around the doorway.

  “Hi,” she whispered.

  Gilbert King was in the bed, all bandaged up. Proctor looked at Ade with a confused look on his face.

  “Ade?”

  “Sorry to....”

  In that second, she knew that it was all a big mistake.

  “What are you doing here?” Proctor asked.

  Ade couldn’t think of anything that didn’t sound crazy. She had built their story up in her head while she was tearing her house down; after a couple of years, she would re-introduce herself to Proctor, and he would be delighted to see her. Maybe he would even want to be with her, now.

  It was fucking crazy, all of it. Ade knew it and felt it, but she couldn’t do anything to change the fact that she was now in the hospital.

  Proctor marched her roughly into the hallway. “My wife is here.”

  “You’re hurting me.”

  “I don’t want you around her; she doesn’t have anything to do with this fucking business.”

  “But there’s nothing going—”

  Proctor fired Ade headfirst toward the door. She landed badly, but all he did was kick her shoes after her.

  “Get the fuck out of here.”

  Ade’s head was bleeding, her clothes were ripped, and her eyes were blurred with tears. She didn’t know who he was. “I’m leaving.”

  He grabbed her from the floor by the hair, and dragged her the rest of the way to the door, like she was less than human.

  Ade lay in the doorway after he left. She was petrified, stunned, hurt, shamed, and unable to get up.

  A couple of shocked nurses ran to her aid when Proctor had gone, but Ade shrugged them off. The last place she wanted to be was in this hospital.

  A couple of months later, Ade found herself back in New York. This time, she didn’t have to pay for anything, which was good, because Ade didn’t have two coins to rub together.

  Lenny inched Ade Schiller through the traffic, leaving JFK International. “How was your flight, Mrs. Schiller?”

  Ade was freshening up her face in the back of the car. “The Great White Way to New York, is what they say, now?”

  “Well, Mr. Garland is really looking forward to your company tomorrow, after you get settled.”

  “How is Mr. Moneybags? I hear that he’s dealing with a lot of shit from that asshole in Florida.”

  Lenny concentrated on finding the smallest opportunity between the Buick and the Mack truck in front of him. “I wouldn’t know about those things, I’m afraid. The word is, though, that Proctor hasn’t even been heard from since the boss gave him a what-for over the match in Shea.”

  “Really?” Ade seemed intrigued.

  “Not a single word.”

  Lenny popped the cigarette lighter, and handed it back to Ade, who duly lit up.

  “How did Danno know that I was coming out here?” she asked.

  Lenny shrugged at his boss’ mystical ways.

  In truth, it was more than likely that a wrestler from her territory had said something in passing about them not working this week, because their boss was coming to New York. This, of course, had been overheard by his tag-team partner, who was a brother of the ring announcer in Los Angeles, who had met with Ricky last week to see about working some towns with them, while his brother finished up a messy divorce in Jersey.

  It was either that, or a crystal ball.

  “I’m around if you need anything in the city, Mrs. Schiller.”

  “Just call me Adrienne. And I’ll be okay, thank you.”

  “Are you sure?”

  Ade looked out the window with a smile on her face. She was home.

  “I’m positive.”

  “Ade?”

  “Yes?”

  “It’s Danno. How are you?”

  “I’m doing great. I’m coming right down.”

  “Do you mind if I come up?”

  “Eh... I guess not.”

  “Good.”

  Ade was overdressed for her room, and now she felt like a fool. She had torn her small garage to pieces to look for something to wear. She just wanted out of the wrestling business, and something told her that Danno Garland hadn’t flown her to New York to talk about the weather.

  Ade had heard that things were getting heavy between Danno and Proctor. Their big match, during which Danno would have to release the belt, just like Ade had planned, was just around the corner.

  She had been all over the plan at the start, and now that it was coming to an end, she couldn’t have been further away from it. All she wanted to do was distance herself even more.

  She opened the door, and Ricky Plick walked in first; Danno quickly followed him.

  “Sorry about this, Ade,” Danno said, as he put his hat on her glass table. �
�I’ve got to be careful.”

  “I understand,” Ade said.

  Ricky nodded at Ade, and she nodded back.

  “I’d like to buy you out,” Danno said before he’d even taken his coat off.

  Ade could hardly hide her joy, but she managed. “Can I get you a drink?” she asked.

  Danno smiled, and shook his head. Both he and Ricky were clearly in a hurry.

  “I’ve got to do my favor for Proctor, soon,” Danno said, “And I think it would be a shame to have all of this power right now, only to go back to where I was when the belt is gone. Don’t you?”

  Ade nodded. “I don’t want to sell, though.”

  “You’re losing everything, Ade,” Ricky said. “Your territory is hurting, you’ve built no new stars, your gates are down hugely, and your contract with old Lance Root still has years to go.”

  “I’m going to step out,” Danno rose from his seat.

  “What?” Ade asked.

  “Ricky, here, is going to look after things,” Danno said. “I’m in a tight spot at the moment, Ade. I’ve got a lot of people breathing down my neck. I hope you understand.”

  Danno kissed Ade on the cheek, and left the room.

  “So you’re his mouthpiece, again?”

  Ade remembered that when Merv was killed, and Danno was next in line to take the title belt, it was Ricky who came to her house and negotiated on Danno’s behalf.

  “I’m doing a job,” Ricky said.

  “How much?” Ade asked.

  “Three hundred grand.”

  Ade scoffed.

  “That’s more than it’s worth,” Ricky said.

  Ade could hardly take the fucking business, anymore. It had ruined her life, and made a show of her, pulling her first one way, and then the other. She couldn’t take these men, anymore. Even the good ones like Danno seemed to be an asshole to her. What the fuck was it?

  “And you pay off Root’s deal.”

  “Ricky...”

  “Danno can’t be seen buying up such a bad contract, Ade. Do you think Babu would be happy being the second best paid wrestler on the roster? You made a bad call.”