Seven
"So what kind of match are you having?" Sharyn asked. The two of them were in their hotel room for the night; Cody had already showered and changed into his pajamas; at the moment, he was running a flat white towel through his freshly washed hair. He looked up at her as his hands moved the linen feverishly through his dark hair.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, is it a singles match, a tag team, or any other stipulations?" He smiled.
"It's an I Quit match," he replied. "My friend Ted is going to WWE, so he's going to lose the match, leave the indies and join the big leagues."
"How long until you follow?" she asked. He shrugged.
"I'm not sure," he confessed. "I just want to have the experience before I go. Be a solid guy so I don't have to spend the rest of my life in developmental hell." She laughed and Cody tossed his towel in a corner of the room. There were no laundry hampers and he didn't want to just leave it on the floor, so he settled for a corner.
"Do you have any way of finding an address for your father?" Cody asked. "I'd feel a lot better dropping you off on his doorstep than just having you kind of fend for yourself."
"I don't; but I'll be all right," she assured him. "I mean, I have his name and whatever, so he won't be that hard to find."
"What's his name?"
"Jake Davidson," she replied. "My mom didn't give me his last name because they had already split by the time I had been born."
"No offense, Sharyn, but your mother has a lot of shit she needs to work through."
"You know, I know it, but she doesn't," Sharyn replied, resting her head against the headboard of her bed. "I spent my teen years trying to help her through everything; try and get her to stop drinking so much, stop smoking pot so much, stop trying any drug under the sun to fit in. I tried to help her, you know, but I can only do so much." She sighed. "You always hurt the ones you love the most because the help they offer you can't be taken unless you want it." Cody smiled sadly and took his place on her bed, enveloping her in a comforting hug. She didn't try to pull away; this time she hugged him back tightly, not letting him go. But the tears weren't coming.
"You're too strong for your own good," he told her softly. He could feel the tension in her muscles from all the stress and heartache she carried with her. He knew a million hugs weren't going to make her feel better, but he knew this was all the comfort he could really offer. "Sometimes you have to let others help."
"It's hard sometimes," she confessed, reveling in the comfort of his firm flesh. "When it's always just me, it's hard to think about letting someone in on things." She sighed and fell silent for a few minutes. She could sense the awkwardness of the moment resonating from Cody. He tried to release the hug, but she held on. It was making her feel better. "I bet you're wishing you didn't stop the car now." She finally pulled herself away and he shook his head.
"Not at all," he assured her, brushing a strand of hair out of her face. "You're a special girl, Sharyn Halliday. Never forget that." She rested her head against his shoulder. She was sure she could stay resting against him forever, just reveling in the comfort his presence provided.
Cody heard his cell phone ring and he stood to grab his phone from his jacket pocket. Sharyn crossed her legs on the bed and rested her head in her hands as she watched him answer the phone. "Rhodes."
"Hey, bitch, where the fuck you at?" He recognized the voice immediately.
"I'm at where I'm at, DiBiase," Cody retorted with a laugh. "What do you want?"
"Just thought I'd call and check in on Gullible's Travels." Ted still couldn't believe Cody had wanted the death trap he had called his car. He always told Cody he was gullible for buying the thing. "That shit heap break down on you yet? When are you getting in?"
"Probably tomorrow night or the morning after," he told him. "Why? You there already?"
"Me? Fuck no. I'm flying out tomorrow night with London and Kendrick. You know, you could have flown. Probably would have been cheaper than fixing that death trap."
"You sold me that death trap," Cody reminded him. "Anyways, it's held out on me good."
"So, you scored any hot chicks on your travels?" Ted asked. Cody sighed; Ted was a polar opposite to him, enjoying casual sex and whatever other perks came with the occupation of a professional wrestler...well, everything short of hard drugs. Ted liked to party, but he knew when to call it in. Being the kids of legendary wrestlers, they both knew that things were different from their father's age and acted accordingly. Otherwise, t heir fathers would kill them. They always seemed to find out what happened on the road, so Cody just played it on the straight and narrow at all times.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Cody said with a shake of his head and roll of his eyes. Sharyn smiled at him. "Is that why you're calling me? To see if I have some hot little number in my hotel room?" He flashed her a wink and Sharyn felt herself blush. He smirked. "Seriously, DiBiase, is there a point to calling me?"
"Yeah, motherfucker, there is," Ted replied sternly. In all the years that Cody had known Ted, he knew that the language wasn't anything to be offended or hurt by. It was just Ted. "When did you want to meet up at the arena and map shit out?"
"Probably the afternoon on the day of the match. I have an errand to run that morning, but I can meet you in the early afternoon. Is that all right?"
"Sure," Ted said, "But you're supplying lunch. I have to go though. Family dinner. You know how Mom gets when I'm out on the road." Cody nodded; his mother was the same way. "I'll see you at the show. And take it easy with the girlfriend in there."
"I'll take it under advisement," Cody retorted. Before Ted could respond, Cody shut the cellular phone shut and laughed. "What a guy."
"Does he always try to set you up?" Sharyn asked.
"He tries to get me laid. Big difference." Sharyn smirked as Cody got comfortable. "We all kind of call him the, ahem, 'Talent Scout'." Sharyn laughed.
"Is he proud of the reputation?"
"Well, we've never flat out told him it was his rep." Sharyn nodded and they both shared a laugh. "He's a cool guy though. Just enjoys being a bachelor."
"Don't you enjoy it?"
"Yeah, just not half as much as Ted does. I swear, if I wasn't around with a few of the guys sometimes, we don't know how Ted would get home or would still have his teeth." Cody shrugged. "But he's young, and enjoying the perks he gets from being in the business."
"You don't?"
"Not that aspect of things. I'm not into the whole idea of having a groupie in every town. I guess I'm a little old fashioned, but the idea of catching herpes from Suzie in Baltimore just doesn't appeal to me." Sharyn laughed and a smile tugged at Cody's features. "Ted razzes my ass about it all the time, though. Calls me the 'Old Soul' of the group." He looked at her. "Do you think it makes me old fashioned?"
"No. It just means you don't want to be a whore," she replied and he laughed. She was still in her jeans and T-shirt, contemplating about whether or not she was going to take a shower before dinner. Cody had seen the rain coming and had decided to just order in pizza for dinner instead of searching for a diner or something. It didn't bother Sharyn; she was exhausted and she knew all the driving had to be getting to Cody as well. The rain was coming down in torrents outside; both of them were just happy to be out of it and in a warm hotel room with a comfortable bed.
"I'm going to have a shower before dinner," she told him softly, getting off of the bed and gathering some items from her backpack. "If dinner gets here before I get out, there's money in my bag to go halfers." Cody nodded and she disappeared into the bathroom. He sighed; there was no way he was taking money from her. He had worked hard enough to be more than able to afford the trip; with all the double shifts and six day weeks. He wouldn't even ask her how much she had; he didn't need her money. He knew she felt awful that he wouldn't, but as far as he saw it, he was just helping her out and he was more than happy to have the company on the trip.
Their conversations, even in recollection and retrospect, made Cody smile. She wasn't like a lot of the other girls he had met when he had broken into wrestling, all bubbly and cheerful; he was refreshed that Sharyn was complicated, an enigma. He reveled in their conversations because he felt like each piece of information she gave him was huge, even if she didn't acknowledge that. It was a big step for her to talk about extremely personal things with a stranger; and Cody was appreciative of every single word she said to him, because he knew she wasn't one to mix her words. She didn't speak much, but when she did, he knew she meant business.
He heard the water running in the bathroom and he turned on the television. He wondered if he was ever going to hear from her again after they parted ways in the next day or two. The idea of not seeing her again was something that definitely wasn't appealing to Cody at the moment. The truth was that he was enjoying her company. The feeling of leaving her left him uneasy; was it natural to be attached to somebody so quickly?
His cell phone rang again and he answered it. "Rhodes."
"Hey, son, how's the road going?" Cody straightened his posture on the bed and turned down the television.
"Hey, Dad. How's things back at home?"
"Fine, fine. Your mother wanted me to call and make sure things were good. Are they?"
"Yeah, Dad. Everything's good." He contemplated telling his father about what was happening, that he had picked up Sharyn. But he didn't have to. Dusty could sense something was going on in his son's head. It never ceased to amaze him how much his father picked up on. Dusty always told him that he could be read like a book, just by his mannerisms, by the way he spoke, or even just by the expressions on his face. It was close bond that Cody had formed with Dusty; something that surprised everybody considering how much time Dusty had spent apart from his children as a result of life on the road.
"So, what's happening, son?" Dusty's voice cut into Cody's thoughts. "Something's up. I know these things." Cody sighed. No sense in lying to the old man, Cody thought to himself. He ran a hand through his damp hair.
"I, uh, met someone, Dad. She's kind of in the shower at the moment." He didn't know why he told his father that and he silently cursed himself for the way it sounded. Dusty whistled low and he instantly knew what his father was thinking. "Dad, it's not like that, all right? I found her on the side of the road, running from a pretty rotten situation. I just wanted to help."
"You picked up a runaway? Is this really a situation you want to put yourself in the middle of?" Dusty didn't like the sound of this; it could only spell trouble for Cody.
"I promise you, Dad; things are fine."
"If things are fine, why am I sensing a problem?"
"Well, it's when I take her to Louisiana in the next day or two...I think she's great; I'd hate to just drop her off and forget she existed."
"Sometimes that's the best thing to do." Cody felt his jaw tense; he definitely didn't like the sound of that. Especially since he still had that sinking, heavy, sneaky feeling that Snitsky was hot on their trails. "You hardly know the girl or her situation, Cody. She's a runaway. What do you know about her that says she's not trouble with a capital T?" Cody knew his father wasn't being a jerk; he had a valid point. How well did he really know Sharyn? And how much trouble was she really in with this Gene Snitsky man that had stopped him on the road?
"All I know," he told his father firmly, "Is that I cant let her go back where she came from. She needs help, Dad, and more importantly, she needs a friend." He heard his father whistle low on the other end of the phone.
"You're a good kid, Cody. But she's not taking you for a ride, is she?"
"No. Far from it."
"So then what's the problem?"
"Nothing, Dad. It's just I'm exhausted and it's a really long and complicated situation that I'll explain when I get home, all right?"
"All right, Codeman. You have a fun time out there. Your mother sends her love."
"Give her a hug for me, Dad."
"I will. See you when you get home. Be careful." With that, Cody snapped the phone shut and rested his head against the headboard, his eyes slowly closing.
"Your dad doesn't like me traveling with you, does he?"
His eyes snapped open to see Sharyn leaned against the doorframe of the bathroom, drying her hair in the same manner Cody had. She still didn't look relaxed; just tense, sullen. Cody went to answer, but was cut off by a knock on the door. Sharyn languidly threw her towel into the corner where Cody's rested before retreating into the bathroom. "That's the pizza." He sighed as she closed the door. He hated the thought of upsetting her.
He paid for the pizza and the six pack of soda, making inaudible noises at the delivery man who was trying to make small talk with him. He closed the door and took it back to the bed. They had elected on a pepperoni and pineapple pizza; it had seemed weird to him, but Sharyn insisted he tried it. She said she used to have it all the time as a kid, and she loved it. The way her eyes looked when she remembered the little things about her childhood...they sparkled in a way that he had never seen since he had met her. When he had told her that, however, she had only shrugged her shoulders and told him ignorance had been bliss.
He shook his head; he knew she was upset. It didn't take a rocket scientist to know that she had come to the conclusion that his father thought she was a groupie, a gold digger. She would have to be inhuman for it not to bother her. She was good at hiding it, but at the end of the day, when her eyes were closed and she was stuck in her fitful slumbers, everything tortured her mind. And there was nothing he could do about it. The pain never left, never faded; just danced in her mind night after night, each one clamoring for more and more attention.
Cody knocked quietly on the bathroom door. "Sharyn. Come on out...dinner's here."
He heard the water shut off and the door opened. She looked surprisingly well composed, but the look in her eyes definitely said she was hurt. "Your dad thinks I'm a gold digger, doesn't he?"
Cody shook his head. "Far from it, Sharyn. Come on. You can just hear the pepperoni and pineapple calling out to you." She shook her head, a soft smile tugging at her features as he led her towards the bed. She sat down and he went to grab some plates. She went to help, but he motioned for her to sit still. He flashed her a charming smile as she opened the pizza box and grabbed a can of Coke. He studied her as she changed the television channel.
"What's this?" he asked, sitting down beside her on his bed. He handed her a plate and she put two pieces of pizza on the dish. She blushed.
"Powerpuff Girls. I used to be so into them," she confessed with a smile. "I didn't think anyone aired this stuff anymore...especially at this time of the night."
"Ugh," Cody grimaced. "I had a few classmates into this crap. With that monkey villain thing...what the hell was his name...Yoyo..."
"Mojo Jojo," she corrected, her tone so intense and serene that he had to laugh.
"So you strike me as being a Blossom fan," he said, sipping his Coke. She shook her head.
"I related more to Buttercup."
"Which one is Buttercup."
"The green one. The bitch." Cody chuckled as she took a bite of her pizza. "I used to think X-Men: Evolution ruled all, too."
"You were an X-Men fan."
"Correction, Rhodes – I am an X-Men fan. I always thought it would be so awesome to be Shadowcat. I mean, could you imagine it? Walking through walls and disappearing through floors? Just being a person with the ability to be contained by nothing?" He could see something in her eyes that he couldn't put his finger on.
"I was a huge Gambit fan," Cody replied. "Everything about him ruled. The accent, the outfit, the cards. Gambit was just a badass." Sharyn raised an eyebrow.
"I would have pegged you as a Wolverine fanboy." Cody laughed, almost choking on his Coke.
"Wolverine's overrated." He took a bite of pizza. "So you're a real superhero fan, huh?"
She nodded. "Superman bores the hell out of me though. I don't know why. Him, Green Hornet and Aquaman."
"Are there any real Aquaman fans out there?" he asked, laughing. "Like seriously?"
"I have no idea. But I always thought Batman had the coolest villains. I think Joker and Harley Quinn totally school Hobgoblin and Green Goblin." Cody laughed.
"I never would have pegged you as a superhero freak."
"I was a big Sailor Moon fan, too," she said. Cody grimaced and began to make choking noises. She laughed. "Oh, no. You are not going to rag on the Sailor Scouts."
"That was like the worst crap I have ever seen on TV," he said with a shake of his head. "All the girls used to sing the theme at school..."
"Fighting evil by moonlight...winning love by daylight..." They erupted into fits of giggles as Sharyn attempted to sip on her Coke.
"The girls used to play that stuff on the playground and crush on Tuxedo Mask. They'd treat me like I was the biggest prick when I reminded them that he was a cartoon character." Sharyn laughed.
"Do I detect a note of jealousy?"
"Over a cartoon character? Please," Cody laughed. They continued to watch the Powerpuff Girls and Cody told her to stay put while he put the dinner stuff away.
"Come here," he told her after putting everything in the fridge. He maneuvered her between his legs on the bed. Sharyn knew she should feel some form of panic, but she couldn't.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm thinking maybe if I get this big knot out of the back of your neck, you might actually have a relaxing sleep tonight," he told her. She felt his hands on the base of her neck and she tensed. "My God, Sharyn, that lump is huge."
"My doctor tells me I'm wound up tighter than a stopwatch," she told him. He smiled.
"Mine tells me I have the sleep habits of a crackhead." They laughed.
"Nice doctor."
"He's a British fellow. Really cool." She leaned her head back as she felt his fingers push hard into the lump. She bit back a moan; she didn't want to look like a total idiot in front of him.
"Has the doctor ever given you anything or suggested anything to keep the lump down?"
"Don't be stressed."
"Don't be stressed?" Cody sighed. "Great advice. What a tool."
"I'll agree with you there." An old cartoon came on that Sharyn didn't know about. She rested her head forward and it was the last thing she remembered before she drifted into sleep.