Post by Tamika Strader on Mar 12, 2022 17:00:38 GMT -5
Clayton Hotel
Limerick, Ireland
March 8th, 2022
(Off Camera)
Tamika was still pumping with adrenaline from the events of the night. She indeed was challenging for the Craze Championship. Some former Hall of Famers wore, even from its days as the Intercontinental Championship, kept her blood pumping. She chose herself for the first time in her wrestling career, which is just unheard of in professional wrestling.
The former youngest Strader (thank you Cara and Vee) in the industry was laying on her king-size with the comforter tossed to the side because that is the blanket that hardly gets washed, a trick she learned from all the road trips town to town during the heyday of their careers. She knew to check for the black specks around the seams of the mattress as well for bedbugs. If you asked Harold, he would shudder and say crabs are more enjoyable.
Laying in her silk hunter green lace bra and panties with a silk robe in a matching colour, she holds her phone above her head to look up at her FaceTime call with Samantha Tolson. Sam is laughing as Tamika tries to convince her that something is true.
“No, seriously, I trimmed her into a Four-Leaf clover, Sam. It’s like they say “when in Rome”, ya know?”
“Yeah, you are in Ireland; get drunk. Start a fight. It doesn’t mean trimming your pubic hair like that. You are so weird.”
“Next time, I will save some for a rainbow since it’s basically above a pot of gold!”
“Oh my god, haha! I miss you a ton, ya know!”
“I know, I am freakin’ awesome,” Tamika’s response earns her a nod and a wink from the giggling Tolson. “I’ll be back before either one of us knows it, hopefully, twelve pounds heavier.”
“Get your warm-up matches in, and you’ll beat Roach, I am sure of it,” the sound of pride from her voice was unmistakable, and it made Tamika feel good, having support that wasn’t only from a Strader or her estranged husband. Before she can reply, someone knocks on her door with the old ‘shave and a haircut, two bits’ rhythm.
"That is probably Megz; she wanted to talk. Wish me luck. Have a good morning workout.”
Before Sam can reply, Tamika pulls the band of her sexy underwear down enough to show her 🍀. Sam blows her a kiss before they hang up. Tamika is up quickly, leaving her iPhone 12 Pro on the bed as she pulls the right side of her silk robe over her abs and ties it up. As soon as Tamika opens the door fully, Meghan has made her way in. Baby sister shakes her head with a chuckle.
“Sure, come on inside and make yourself comfortable,” she laughs, looking over at Meghan, who has sat herself down on the edge of the bed.
“So hey, we need to talk about something, Meeks,” she reminds her baby sister. “About a couple things.”
"Meirda. Grande?”
“Meeks, only you would speak Spanish in Ireland. It’s serious; it's about two things I know that you don’t know. One about you and the other about me, but each affects us both.”
Tamika sighs, eyes open wide, and she puffs out her cheeks, lifting her arms out, hands turned outwards, motioning her to continue.
“I know you had two discs in your upper spine replaced, C3 and C4,” Tamika stares blankly at Meghan as she is informed her secret isn’t really a secret. “And I had my L2 and L5 replaced in my lower spine.”
Tamika chuckles as she walks over to the mini-fridge and pulls out a handful of mini bottles of Jameson. She sits down beside big sister and hands her one, then cracks one open and drinks it back.
“So, what you are saying is, we are both healthy enough to actually be doing this and don’t have to pretend anymore?”
A nod and a drink of whiskey follows. Tamika smiles and shakes her head.
“How did you find out?”
Meghan’s brow furrows as she looks to her side at her.
“We have the same specialist in Houston, remember? When I saw her for my annual appointment, she thought I was going ahead with a similar procedure with artificial discs like that kid who got the hell out of Buffalo in the NHL.”
“Jack Eichel.”
She receives a simple nod in reply, followed by another sip of whiskey. Meghan places her right hand on Tamika’s left knee and squeezes.
“I didn’t want any secrets between us. You were honest with me about why you were taking the Craze shot, and I wanted to return that favour,” she adds on, hoping there was nothing more in between them. Tamika nods her head from side to side and lifts her brow.
“Well, I didn’t tell you about the disc surgeries. I am sorry for that, and I just wanted to live pain-free. I had no idea that —”
“--- the itch would come back. Yeah, I know exactly what ya mean.”
The sisters would feel better about letting the truth out, and for their sake, hopefully, no more secrets were kept from one another. This was new for them but can become quite familiar if not kept in check.
Clayton Hotel Rooftop
Limerick, Ireland
March 11th, 2022
(On Camera)
Tamika Strader bursts through the door from the stairwell of her hotel, and she looks positively glowing. Not James Raven seed sprouting glowing, but glowing nonetheless. She has her green toque with the CFH logo on it to keep the tops of her ears warm as it drives her crazy when they are cold, green and black leather jacket with black jeans and snakeskin boots that click with every step. It’s morning with a pink hue over the horizon, and it’s just as beautiful as she is, inside and out.
“You know… I am one of the luckiest women, hell, people that I know. I have an amazing big sister who moonlights as the best tag team partner a cowgirl can have. I have a handsome, sweet and caring young man for a son. I might be separated from my husband, but I couldn’t ask for a better baby daddy. I have a wonderful friend (who is more than that more times than not) in the insanely talented and beautiful Samantha Tolson. I have wonderful nieces and family. A legendary tag team career with numerous titles and a Hall of Famer all before I turned thirty.”
“Now I have a shot at doing something I never dreamed of, and that’s becoming a singles champion. I have a go at the Craze Championship against a notable OCW name in Roach. He’s so weird; we’d probably get along if it weren’t for twelve pounds of gold being in the way, but that’s in sixteen days. Before I even step foot in the ring one on one (man, that still sounds weird) with the big weirdo, I have Robert Something… damn, what was his name?” she says to herself, looking out down over the edge as she steps closer to the edge.
“ROBERT UCHIHA!” she says loud enough to have residents walking down the cobblestone sidewalks. She covers her mouth with her right hand, eyes wide, saying whoops without communicating verbally. “My name is TA-MEEK-AH STRAY-DERR. You could be hard of hearing and have Forest Gumps IQ points, so I wanted to make sure you understood how to say my name. It can be a toughie for people.”
“It’s no secret that singles competition has never been my Kia. Ya know, Forte?”
“Shuddup, it’s funny, hoe.”
“Now I have to get all warmed up and feel loose, but just not as loose as half of the community outside of OCW.”
“I tells ya what I am gonna do cause here’s the sitchiation: On Monday, right here in Limerick somewhere over there,” she says, pointing all around because she doesn’t know for sure the direction of the venue for MNM, “Imma gonna bring my buttski down to that ring, wait for your silly entrance, and then I’m gonna hit you with one of my finishers. Hopefully, not the Backseat Vasectomy for your sake, get that 1-2-3, improve to 6-0 in the rankings, and make my way to Dublin to not only celebrate the almost twelve anniversary of the Cowgirls' first Tag Team Championship glory. Then start a new anniversary: the one where I leave Dublin as the Craze Champion.”
Tamika stops and looks down at street level, watching people pass by before looking back up at the rising sun pulling that pink hue over the horizon away.
“If you told me all the way back in 2006 that one day I would be where I am now, I probably would’ve called you insane in the membrane (Wu-Tang, beeetch). But here we are, on the road to Luck of the Violent. There’s a chance that two Straders will hold two different singles titles for the first time since my daddy and my uncle Payton did back in the mid-2000s. It’s a whole new era I am extremely excited to begin. If you don’t like it, I have five words for you…”
Like every member of this godforsaken family, the familial sneer creeps across her face, but with Tamika, it does glow with playfulness.
“Go to a different McDonalds!”
Le fin.
