Chapter 58: Roy Brown escorted her to a skybox.

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(present day)

She had declined the offer of a ringside seat. He took her to an upper balcony to a small room which overlooked the proceedings below. It was something like a ‘box seat’ such as might be found at an Opera or a skybox at the old Astrodome.

“I think you made a wise choice ma’am. The boys get kind of rowdy during a fight. From up here you can view the festivities and be out of the splatter zone. A waitress will be here to take your order shortly. What would you like to drink?”

Shaniqua was slightly overwhelmed. Fight?

She said "Uh...Coffee?”

“Cajun, Cowboy, TruckStop, Java, Joe, Jamoke or Carbon Remover. We even have sissy stuff like Espresso, Cappuccino, and Mocha. Perhaps you have a personal favorite? Sally knows all about coffee. She can make just about anything.” he recited.

“Ummmm...so many choices. I like my coffee ‘Strong enough to wake the dead and to scare the living’ " She quoted.

He smiled at her. "Sounds like a true coffee drinker. "Black as hell, Strong as death and sweet as love”

“Not sweet.” She said..”but otherwise...yeah.”

“I’ll see what I can do” he said "The next match will starting soon. You might be interested.”

With that he left.

Below on the ring something was happening.

An announcer walked into the ring. A blonde lady announcer wearing a mask and a leather suit that revealed a LOT of cleavage and fit her like skin everywhere else. She also wore very high heels. She even had a whip. Her microphone was in the whip handle. She snapped the whip often for effect.

“In this corner she shouted...is the Challenger....Mr. Indestructible.” she cracked the whip a few times. It was a long bullwhip. She was very proficient with it.

The crowd applauded politely while what Shaniqua would describe as ‘a big ole boy’ strutted and cavorted around the ring. He didn’t look all that indestructible to her. In fact he looked like a farm boy wearing coveralls and some kind of goofy mask. From the looks of the crowd that might be what he was.”

After a bit of that the announcer cracked her whip some more to get everyone’s attention. "In this corner is the house champion ‘The Chief!”

Shaniqua almost choked. She could swear it was the same guy who had escorted her to her table. He wasn’t wearing anything special other than normal workout clothing. She was standing up a little and leaning forward a bit to get a better view when a young lady arrived with her coffee.

“Place your bets” the announcer shouted. She strutted around the ring cracking her whip as she walked, extolling the virtues of the two components as she did so.

“Momma said to try this.” the girl said.

Shaniqua took the offered cup and tasted it.

"Woooooo’ she said. "Yeah..that’ll do.

Shaniqua looked at the waitress more closely. The young lady, not yet a teen, bore a striking resemblance to Mr. Brown.

“You know the home champion pretty well do you?” Shaniqua took a wild guess.

“Well Yeah!” the waitress said "He’s my daddy. He’s gonna whup BillyJoe.”

The girl was obviously proud of her father.

“Could you sit here and explain to me what is happening?” Shaniqua glanced down at the ring where the match was in progress. ’Mr. Indestructible’ didn’t appear to be doing too well. "I don’t know anything about wrestling.”

“Let me check with Momma and see if it will be ok first.” the girl replied. She did something with a handheld device then looked up. "Momma said that I can take as long as need be with your order. So yeah..I can do that.”

“Have a seat” Shaniqua invited.

The young girl did so. For the next few minutes she explained in intricate detail what was happening in the ring below.

“Dad is having a hard time making BillyJoe look good. This is BillyJoe’s first time in the ring.” she said.

Shaniqua watched more closely for a moment then said " Yessss...now that you mention it...he’s playing with the young lad isn’t he? Fascinating.”

“BillyJoe couldn’t whup my day on his best day even if Dad was hogtied. But no one can whup my dad.” the girl beamed. "He’s the best, he used to be a Pro.”

In the ring below The Chief finally brought and end to the match. He pinned Mr. Indestructible to the mat.”

“The WINAH, and still undefeated Champeen....THE CHIEF. The leather clad lady said. She was a tall lady wearing very high heels yet she had to stretch when she held his arm up. All the while she was snapping her whip repeatedly.’

“Can I take your order now ma’am?” the girl asked.

“Certainly.” Shaniqua replied. She glanced at the menu and ordered a catfish plate with gumbo and shrimp.”

“Good choice” the waitress replied. "It will be ready soon.”

She started to leave when Shaniqua said . "Oh..and miss?”

The young girl stopped and turned to face Shaniqua.

“If it wouldn’t be a terrible imposition might I speak with your father? I’d like to interview them for a newspaper article that I’m writing.” she said.

“You a reporter?” the young girl replied...rather sharply, somewhat hostile.

“Well no, " Shaniqua told her "I own the newspaper. . but I’ve recently become aware of the shoddy quality of the material that it was producing before I purchased it. I have been doing what I can to fix that.”

“Mom doesn’t like journalists much.” the waitress replied. "Daddy hates them. I dunno if they’ll go for that. Wait? Did you say that you owned the newspaper. The Chronicle?”

“ Yes I do. Please explain to them that I am attempting to repair past mistakes” Shaniqua said "Perhaps I can regain their trust.”

“Huh!” the girl sniffed. "Since it’s the Chronicle that might help. That’s the only newspaper that Momma will read. Daddy too. He spits when any of the others are mentioned and calls them ‘Fish Wrappers’ or "bird cage liners” but recently he’s been reading the Chronicle in the morning with his coffee so I dunno. You do drink good Coffee. He mentioned that. It might help convince them.”

She left.

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The Beginning

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