Post by Tamika Strader on Jun 9, 2022 1:16:45 GMT -5
Victoria Strader’s Childhood Home
London, Ontario
June 9th, 2022
“What in god’s name do I bloody well pay you for, Issac?”
Issac braced for the impact of Tamika Strader’s fist, but she turned and punched the punching bag in the downstairs rec-room as one of the long-time Strader family attorneys watched on.
“Tamika, I am sorry, but the best we can do is sue Marcus Welsh and Mike Zybala for a breach of contract in the agreement to be the financial backers of Online Championship Wrestling. He nullified the contract when he sold off his pieces without your approval.”
“So it’s my choice if we stay on to support the percentage he has left or walk away, leaving OCW under litigation if they continue to have shows?”
He nods.
“In a nutshell, yes. That is correct. Gauging by how much money everything costs to run from January to this past Monday, they will be given a rather large bill of one hundred and sixteen million dollars.”
“Alright, be prepared to serve those papers if need be. What of mine and Meghan’s talent contracts?”
“Well, since you both agreed to zero open-ended no-money contracts, you can walk away with nothing that can bite either of you in the ass. The ball is squarely in your court, Tamika,” Issac says to the annoyed and newly minted Strader Family Matriarch.
“Alright, thanks, Isacc. Make sure to stop by Gran’s place and have her sign off,” she says to him before he leaves. Hannah Strader was one of the partners within Strader Incorporated that had their hands in old oil money, Green Energy projects throughout California and Texas, and one of the primary owners of the PWA brand and name.
A little while later…
Tamika lays on the big black couch, watching the TV hanging above the fireplace, with Meghan’s Russian Blue Hair cat, Quinn, on her chest, purring away as she scratches the back of the cat's neck. She isn’t watching anything in particular. Sons of Anarchy, somewhere in the first season, is playing.
“Oh, Quinn, you are such a doll. Life would be so much easier if I was a cat and somebody cleaned out my litter box daily,” she tells the feline. “But then Baumster’s fantasy of Cat-Women Straders would become a reality, and that’s not good for anyone.”
“Yeah, she is a bit of an odd one, isn’t she?” Meghan says to Tamika as she walks into the living room; she sits down on the couch and lays back with her sister being the little spoon. Tamika puts her arms around her red silk pyjama-clad big sister. Quinn looks annoyed at first but finds a spot on the hip of Meghan. “Sons of Anarchy?”
“Yeah, Jax reminds me of John. Looks-wise anyway. Teller is a pussy compared to our little brother.”
“I am surprised he hasn’t locked you in a trunk for calling him your little brother,” she replies, followed by a chuckle.
“Not my fault he was born seven minutes after me on a different day. It totally makes me older.”
They both share a laugh, but it makes Meghan cough really hard and takes a moment to settle down. She reaches over to the glass coffee table in front of the couch, grabbing a kleenex to wipe her mouth and wipe the blood off her hands. Tamika snuggles into Meghan, and Quinn purrs loudly.
“Stupid question, but how are you feeling?”
Meghan doesn’t reply right away as she tries to form a series of words that won’t cause her baby sister any worry. Still, it is fruitless because she would always be worried.
“Besides these coughing fits every so often, I’m alright. I feel comfortable here. Like Victoria is with me, ya know?”
“Yeah, I can just imagine… at least Dustin will be here tomorrow to help with the twins. They went down really easy,” Tamika says. The kids had gone fast to sleep, but it had been a whirlwind being uprooted out of North Carolina to come to be with their mamabear.
“Speaking of Clay and Lizzie… I need to ask you something as their godmother,” she says trepidatiously.
“Anything, Megz. What is it?”
“I want you to be Clay and Lizzie’s mom, or mamabear as Cara would say,” she says after a few seconds of silence. “Meeks?”
Tamika tries to absorb what Meghan just asked of her and takes her a moment to formulate her reply.
“I mean, of course I would raise them for you, but what about Dustin?”
“Meeka… Dustin and I are madly in love and infatuated with each other. Everything he’s gone through in life, from Misty losing their baby, Enika turning psycho on him, then to lose me? That will destroy him. Even though he loves our babes more than life itself, he’s not gonna be able to handle even looking at them for a while,” she replies softly. Tamika knew she was right. Dustin and the Kelser family had been long-time rivals to the Strader clan. Still, after the closure of the PWA in 2015, they had found comfort in one another, and their love was deep and sweet.
“I would be honoured, Megz. I love those two so much, but I’ll always be Auntie Tee to them because no one could ever replace their mom. She’s a real badass, ya know?” she replies, hugging her sister tight.
“Thank you, Meeks. I love you so much,” she replies with sadness but love as well for her baby sister.
“I’ll always be here for you. Always.”
“I wish I could make that same promise to you, Meeks.”
Tamika hugs Meghan tightly.
“I know you; you’ll always be with us. Always.”
Tamika holds back the tears like Meghan does, and the Strader sisters watch TV with the cat as they get as much bonding in as they can before cancer catches up with Meghan.
Outside Buffalo, New York
US-20 E
June 9th, 2022
Tamika Strader hadn’t been on a long ride since her trip from Houston to Redwood City, and since the Harley Davidson Sporster Meghan had bought her when they formed the Cowgirls From Hell was brought up to London for her, she decided she was going to ride east to Brooklyn to fulfill her obligations since she was booked against Jack Puffer, the resident detective of OCW. The sound of the screaming eagle pipes fills the background as Tamika has installed a Go-Pro on her mini-ape hanger handlebars that is turned to face her and a noise-cancelling (well, the best it can do with a Screaming Eagle tailpipe) to record her voice.
“After being stuck on that godforsaken island for a month and another in that trash hole Djibouti outside of the week I flew back to Texas to find my big sister. All I have wanted was to get on my Harley, Indian or Triumph and go on long rides. Riding motorcycles is something that is in almost all the family's blood. Nothing beats when you hit 90 miles per hour, and the thunderheads drown out all the noise with people and cops falling over like cardboard cut-outs as I pass by… it’s incredibly relaxing and has always helped me think.”
The road curves behind her as she makes her way around a bend on US-20E, cars of all types and Transport trucks go by in the distance westbound. Her emerald green eyes behind the clear plastic Harley riding glasses feel like they are looking right at us.
“I came to OCW because Meghan wanted to be closer to Veronica with the goal of having Victoria re-emerge from deep in her psyche. That last part didn’t happen, and we lost Victoria because of the PORTAL-POTTY. Still, we love Veronica and are very grateful to have her in our lives.”
“Meghan proposed that we should finance OCW because Poblano took his money with him, leaving Mike Zybala and Marcus Welsh without the capital needed to run a worldwide wrestling promotion. The deal was simple, Meghan and I would be under contract as talent with zero pay, but we would take a small percentage of any profits made, which in turn we gave back to the unsung heroes of OCW: the janitors (except Poblano), the ring crew, the announcer, even the ungrateful Hood on commentary and The Knife Man. I never once demanded any title shots or anything that we didn’t earn.”
“In February, I won a chance at the Craze title. Why? Because the roster was rebuilding and the Cowgirls From Hell knew that the Great Illuminatus at Carpe Noctem needed more bodies in it, so we did what was needed to do. When the Stranger defeated Meghan on the first tier, and I dismantled Dangerous Dan, one-half of the OCW tag team champions at the time, I signed out of the match, and I kept the title shot.”
“That’s why I am the champion. Marcus has tried to have me murdered in my title defences. Still, I have fought with everything inside of me to be an excellent Craze champion and represent this company. Never under any circumstance have I used the Cowgirls position within OCW for my own gain. We made this company the most money it had seen in the last decade from when President Dean was in charge and was booking high school gymnasiums and elderly bingo halls where he couldn’t even pay the talent right up to the days of Who’re then James Raven of OCW. Then we had the Purge in October of 2021. No matter what Fluke tries to spin, there is a zero conflict of interest. We know what he is about, and even if Marcus had called him right away, he still would do precisely what he did.”
“It was roster members like him that caused the Purge to happen, regardless of what the jag-off says. The beginning of the end has come to OCW, and I will be first in line to tell Welsh: ‘I told you so’ because that’s what is going to happen.”
Tamika checks her mirrors before switching lanes as she spots an exit where she can fuel up and grab a quick bite to eat.
“I have wasted enough time, and I should say a few words to my opponent. Jack Puffer, OCW’s resident detective. A man who helped solve the great mystery of who shot the Nice Lady on the Tara Fenix Charity Cruise. On Monday night, I am going to walk down to that ring and lay your handsome ass out in the middle of it. I will hit the top rope and deliver a vicious Jaques-Hammer that will knock the wind right out of you, then I will make the pin and walk out of Massacre 12-0 and the reigning Craze Champion.”
“Now, what happens after that? I honestly don’t know. I’m uncomfortable with Jag-Off Fluke and his bimbo wife being in OCW. Also, I’m not sure if I can justify making that bastard any money whatsoever. I have pulled the PWA archive streaming deal from the company and started the paperwork to launch a sister company under the banner of Strader Incorporated, which archive the entire Pioneer Wrestling Association library. The company that made my sister and me will not make a Fluke-Era OCW a damn penny off the blood, sweat and tears of the men, women and non-binary talent put into the PWA. Not on my watch and definitely over my dead body.”
“I am positive Jag-off will make a derogatory comment about the once-great company and have some lame-ass excuse saying it shouldn’t be within the confines of OCW because that’s what he does. Shits on everything he doesn’t deem worthy or good enough in his eyes. If it wasn’t clear, I would NEVER be ok with what has happened, especially when it could’ve been avoided by selling to Strader Inc. Instead, we are now stuck with a scum bag and his awful wife who thinks she has earned a right to be called a Cowgirl. I love to break it to ya sweety, but you aren’t qualified to lace up my boots.”
After a few moments, Tamika sits on her bike in a truck-stop parking lot with a Starbucks Vanilla Latte with three extra espresso shots in it. Her helmet on her lap, she runs a hand through her strawberry blonde hair, and her Harley riding glasses hang from the collar of her retro PWA white t-shirt.
“I don’t know what the next couple weeks mean for the Strader family and OCW, but it’s not looking good. If they want us to stay after the upcoming Massacre, they are gonna have to do something besides threatening to rip up a deal they have no legal right to rip up. It’s not our fault the fine print wasn’t read. I truly hope that Reformation won’t be my last show, but if it is, I loved every second in OCW up until last Monday.”
“I have another five hours ahead of me, so that said… I will see all of you OCW Faithful in Brooklyn. Until then, see you on the flip-flop.”
With that, Tamika reaches out and stops recording with the Strader Family sneer across her lips, and we are gifted a Monday Night Massacre promotional video.
