It had been a long day. Why I agreed to do some promotional shit for this match is beyond me. I should have said no.

“You're tuning into 95.3 The Beat! I’m Big Von and with me as always is DJ Rick Lee!”

As typical with all DJs when they get an introduction or mention, the turntable sound scratches. It was an audio clip, there were no turntables and he was more a digital DJ, which.. Who isn't?

“We’e been chatting it up with XWF Television Champion, Jason Cashe! Who is in town for Saturday Night Warfare this week.. That's over at the Spectrum Center, correct?”

He’s looking at me. It was a nice setup, although I haven't been on a radio or podcast in some time. A nice round table with wires and microphones everywhere. Very familiar to the Breakfast Club or Sway in the Morning sets. “Yeah, in Charlotte.” I gave him a response but it was dry and low pitched.

“I was a big fan of Wrestling when I was a kid! Coming off the top bunk in the bedroom, I was trying to collapse the chest of my brothers. For those who haven't followed along or need to catch up, tell us about this show, who you’re facing and why we should tune in..”

We had been at this interview for almost an hour already. I had answered questions but almost none of them had to do with the show or my match. We talked about music. What artists I fucked up, my Top 5 Dead or Alive. We talked about Hip Hop and this was the place to do it. Classic HipHop Station, I was at home in this part of the genre.

“I'm booked to defend the TV Title. Adeyemi Prince. Good dude as far as I can tell.. Has had a bit of a dry spot when the stage is bright. I guess we’ll see if that changes.”

“Oh so you think you could lose this match?” Von asks as he grabs hold of the microphone sitting on the table in front of him. “Is he good?”

“He’s respectable. Former top Champion within the company and one half of the current Tag Champions. So he has some flex but I mean..” I could feel the grin spread across my face. “I’m confident where my feet are planted.”

“Yooooo! Is there some bad blood here, a grudge match? That's what it's called right?”

“Yeah but no, no grudges. He and I have never crossed paths before.”

Another voice, the DJ pops in and asks a question. He did that from time to time. “It's fake tho right?”

“Rick! You can't ask this man that!” Von tries to check his co-host before turning to me with a forgiveness in his eyes. “Forgive him, he has no filter!”

“Nah, it's fine. Some of it probably is..”

Nodding, I have seen plenty of places that showed signs of a fixed product.

“I have tried to stay away from that part of the business. What I do is leave lumps in chumps and that's real. You can't fake being dumped on your head or punched in the mouth.”

“I hear that!” Von exaggerates his support.

“So the match on Saturday is a legit fight? You and dude are going to squabble?” Again, DJ Rick Lee adds in his questioning.

“Yerrp! That's the plan.” I wasn't mad. I didn't take offense to him or anyone questioning or doubting what we do in this sport. “It's not for everyone. I won't ever be a Scuba Diver but I lay hands plenty well and I enjoy what I do.”

“Okay but why not Boxing? Why not MMA?” DJ Rick Lee piles on.

“Yoooo! Quit mugging him!” Von scolded his co-host but he laughed about it.

“Why not a DJ? How's the pay?” I shot a little jab back but again, I wasn't mad or offended.

“I gets mine!”

“As do I..” Trying to keep the peace because to me, it seemed like they were toying with me a little. “Difference is, if we go out back, I would hurt you.”

“Yooooo!” Big Von cuts in as his hands go up to put a pause to the conversation. “Let's calm down!”

“I’m calm. I’m here to promote this show, my trade and we’re just talking.” Looking from Von to the booth where DJ Rick Lee was sitting behind a plate of glass looking into the room. “Right?”

“That’s what's up! We're just chopping it up!” Agreeing with me, he plays a few sound effects of crowds cheering. Grabbing the mug of coffee they provided for me, I take a sip as Von takes over the interview.

“So outside of Professional Wrestling.. Or, my bad, do you call it Sports Entertainment?”

“Yeah, what's politically correct? We sure don't want to offend!” Rick Lee added sarcastically.

Grinning as I placed the mug back onto the table. “It's Wrestling to the majority, it's Scrap Action for me. I scrap. I fight. Like Boxing or MMA or any sport, we compete for a prize. Call it what you will though..”

“Outside of that, what do you do? Any side hustles?” Von asks.

“Actually, yeah!” I perked up a bit and tried to not show my excitement but it showed. “I am the head coach for the GFL Team here in North Carolina! Asheville.”

“Oh yeah?! GFL, that's the Women’s Football League right?” Von asks for confirmation.

“Yeah. Carolina Phoenix and we have a nice roster this season! Number one seed heading into the playoffs last season. We are most definitely trying to bring home a Championship this coming Season!”

“Okay! Okay.. That's dope!” Von seemed intrigued. “Don't they play in skimpy outfits and what not?”

“Yeah, it's not like REAL football is it?” DJ Rick Lee was just a bitter son of a bitch. He was here to play ‘bad cop’ and just add in a negative vibe to the interview.

“No, it's legit Football. It's not 11 on 11. We run 7 on 7 which makes for some creative planning as you can imagine.”

“Hard hitting? That could be cool!” Von was just trying to be the ‘good cop’ or that's how I was taking it.

“I’ll send some tickets when the season starts. Come through, catch a game on me..”

“Yooooo! We appreciate that!”

“That's respect man, thanks!” DJ Rick Lee showed some love for that.

“Back to business though.. This match with, what was his name again? I have King and Prince here in my notes? You said Prince before though, right?”

Giving the confusion a snicker before I cleared it up. “Yeah, his name is Isiah King. He’s been going by this Adeyemi Prince. I’m not even sure if I am saying it right to be honest.. Let's go with a Prince named King!”

“It’s Nigerian.” DJ Rick Lee blurted out. “From the Mother Continent!”

“Well I might have to put my chips in on him!” Von adds and both of them gave into some laughter.

“Honestly.. You can bet on whoever you want. Money lost isn't my concern. I’m not playing for Fantasy Points or Fanfare, I’m defending MY Television Title and that's what I’ma do.”

Pausing, I decided to add more. “And I don't frankly care if he is from Nigeria, England, Greece or Antarctica. This man bleeds and has had a rough patch. He couldn't beat Corey Black, he couldn't beat Sebastian or Ned in solo competition and guess what, I don't plan to let him beat me..”

“I can respect that! You're standing on business regardless!” Von says as he nods his head.

“Say, we have some callers that have questions if you don't mind?” DJ asks and I wasn't told there would be fan questions but I didn't mind. Nodding to him, I gave him the ok. “Bet.”

“Hello Caller, state your name, where you're calling from and what question you have for Jason Cashe.”

The airwave crackles a moment before a voice breaks through the surround sound in the room.

“My name is Jasmine and I’m calling from Durham.”

“Hello, Jasmine. What's your question for Jason?” Von keeps the flow going.

“Are you still married and if so, are you happily married? Asking for a friend!”

Both Von and Rick Lee laugh. Sound bites play as they overreact to the question and I was just grinning. Leaning forward so the mic was in a good position, I responded.

“I am, yeah. We're doing good actually. Want me to tell her you said Hi?”

“Ummm.. No thanks, bye..” Jasmine sounded disappointed or bitter, I couldn't rightly tell but she hung up.

“Rejected!” Von shouts out in a cheer. Rolling a finger towards DJ Rick Lee, he wants the next caller. “Let's get another!” After a signal from Rick Lee, the second caller was live and Big Von makes the same introduction. “Caller, you’re on with 95.3 The Beat!”

A sound bite plays before Von continues. “State your name, where you're calling from and your question for the Champ!”

There was a pause that lingered. “Did we lose them?” Von asks as he looks over towards the DJ booth. Rick Lee shakes his head from left to right, the caller was still on the line. “Caller, are you there?”

“... Hello..”

I was reaching for the mug of coffee when the voice hit me. I could feel my eyes bulge out from their sockets as the voice immediately was recognized. By me, not them.

“There you are!” Von says with a cheerful greeting. “State your nam–”

“... He already knows it..”

Von stumbles and looks confused. “I’m sorry?” He hadn't heard what my ‘Fan’ had said. That was his confusion.

“He said I already know it. His name.”

Von must see my zoned in focus but he took it in a different way than I would have guessed. “Is this him?! Like HIM?”

It was I told myself. It was my ‘Fan’ who wanted me dead. My ‘Fan’ who recently has made adjustments to his appearance to LOOK like me.. Me from a different time. This was not the same ‘HIM’ that Von thought it was.

“Adeyemi Prince? Is that you?” Von’s smile was big, his hands were rubbing together. He was looking at potential ratings boost if a major Wrestling Promotion was going to stage a beef ON Air! That was not the case though.

“Hey yo, Prince! What can you tell us about our boy, JCashe here?” DJ Rick Lee seems eager to get in on this.

“It's not Prince..” I said with a drag to my voice. “It's Danny, a ‘Fan’ of mine.”

“... Hello, Jason..” His voice moved in slow motion even over the call.

“A fan huh?” Von loses some of his enthusiasm but carries on with his job. “So it's Danny, right? Will you be attending the show on Saturday?”

The laugh that came over the airwave was creepy. It was low but had a snicker to it that just worked for the goosebumps effect.

“Nah he won't show up, will you Danny? Not to where I can place hands and eyes on him anyway.”

I sat up in my chair. This dude was dodging me. He was this ‘killer’ but he was also a pussy.

“This is the same dude who stabbed me outside of a show back in November.”

“Ohhhh word?!” Von had a fist balled to his open mouth.

“He has threatened me. My Sisters, my Mother, my Wife! He wants me to make better choices, be the me I used to be but his bitch ass won't stand in front of me. He’s a coward ain't you, Danny?”

At first I thought he hung up but that same low snicker is heard over the call again. “Is this a storyline?” DJ Rick Lee asked, playing into the whole scripted/fixed argument from before.

Standing up from the chair I was in, I lifted my shirt to show them the scar from where I was stabbed. “Does that seem like a storyline? Punctured a lung..”

His eyes squinted to look across the table but Von wasn't focusing on my stab scar.

“Are you missing a nipple?!” Both him and DJ Rick Lee bursted into laughter.

“... Shut up..” My ‘Fan’ said in a soft spoken voice. The laughing continued from Von and Rick Lee but I wasn't laughing. I let my shirt fall and listened as Danny got louder. “SHUT UP!”

“Yooooo! Who’s show are you on right now?!” Von was sitting up, bouncing almost as he took offense to being yelled at by a caller.

“... Don't make fun of him..”

Now I was confused. Von was confused but he was still hot over being yelled at. “Get your boy.. This is MY timeslot!”

“... I will gu–”

“Let me tell you about Danny!” I cut him off and I know that made his skin crawl. I took away his valuable spoken word and he didn't seem like someone who liked being cut off. “My missing nipple? Battle scar. Lost it in a match years back.” Opening my mouth to show my teeth, I add. “I also have three permanent implant teeth. Battle scars, lost in a match.”

“Geezus..” Von responded, sitting back in his chair, he was all ears.

“Danny boy here decided he wants to BE like me! Isn't that right? Be me or kill me.”

A silence fell over the room. Danny wasn't responding but I could hear his breathing. He was fuming.

“He cut off his own nipple. Broke out his own teeth so he can take the steps to look like I used to.. Before I got my shit fixed.”

“Minus the nipple..” DJ Rick Lee points out. “You can't get a nipple replacement can you?”

“I bet you can! They got fake asses, man parts and even biceps!” Von adds.

Neither were aware of the situation. I got the feeling they truly believed this was all a part of some script. That annoyed me more than them believing Wrestling was. Go figure.

“What is it you want, Danny?” I realized I had never really asked him that. “Because if you want me dead as you said throughout the past months, come get you an attempt!”

“Yooooo!” Von’s hands were up in my direction. “Is this real, like for real?” Scoffing as he realized this wasn't just some storyline. “Should we alert the police?”

“No!” I was firm in that.

“We could get in trouble if we don't report something like this..” Rick Lee chimes in. “It's for our protection as well as yours!”

Shaking my head, I wasn't about to let that happen. I faked a laugh. “It's fake!” Adding to the laugh to make it seem real, I slapped the table as I stood next to it. “You should see your face right now!! You bought it!”

“Yooooo!” Von said before joining me for a laugh. “You set this up?”

“Yerrp.. Ain't that right, Danny?” I asked the caller I knew well without knowing at all. Not really anyway. I knew very little about him. I waited for a response. Denial or Agreement and neither of them came. The call went dead. “Good guy..”

An awkward patch of silence came over the room. Von wasn't sure what to think and I’m fairly sure DJ Rick Lee was no longer in the booth.

“We're going to take a break. When we return, we will get into XWF Warfare and some of the talent they have on the roster and those who will be in action this coming Saturday at the Spectrum Center over there in Charlotte! For all your Classic Hip Hop needs, there is but ONE place to find it in the Raleigh area! That's 95.3 The Beat!”

Music begins to play as Von shoves the microphone away from him. He sits back and rubs his face as he looks over at me.

“That was real wasn't it? That guy, what happened, everything?”

Shrugging. I wasn't wanting the cops involved. “What's real anymore?”

“...Yeah.. That's true, I guess.” He said with a sigh. “I’ll be right back.” He said as he pushed up from his chair and headed towards the door to the studio. Now I was alone.

“I hope this motherfucker does show up..” I mutter under my breath.