Chapter 5

Chapter 5


A decade or two had passed since the altercation between Adam and Tony, The Montagues sat around the table for a holiday feast. Adam and Eve sat at opposite ends of the table. In between them were Gene who now had a wife and kids, Leslie with her husband and children, and their two younger sons Pete and Doug, who were just old enough to be out on their own. In spite of their dislike for their parents’ choice of careers when they were younger, Pete became a professional athlete and Doug was now a playwright. Adam and Eve now got along better with their kids since they had gotten older.

Gene had gotten a promoter’s license, and had bought his father’s promotion. Another promoter had put his operation up for sale to cover bankruptcy debts, and he had thoughts that he should make an offer. However, he feared that his father wouldn’t approve for some reason.

‘’The ticket sales for the wrestling shows in St. Louis are in decline where that no good brother of Mama promotes, and he’s gonna sell the promotion. I thought I’d make an offer to purchase it.’‘ said Gene.

‘’Why in the hell would you wanna do that? Wrestling promoters have it tough as it is! Why risk your business even further by buyin’ some useless piece of shit from that loser?’‘


***

Leslie helped her mother prepare the rest of the food in the kitchen, she had an idea for a new soap that was about social issues that people face in real life with a diverse canvas of characters rather than the usual whitewash plots that involved housewives who whined and complained over their domestic problems. She then handed her mother a written pitch for the show.

‘’I love the idea honey, but it just isn’t the kind of soap that sells. ’‘ Eve mentioned to her.

‘’Those housewives that have turned into our stories for the past 30 years are now in the work force as they fight for the same rights as men do. Not to mention a similar situation is also takin’ place between whites and blacks, and above all, America is divided over a war in Vietnam!’‘ she exclaimed.

‘’I agree, but I think that material is too risky for a soap’‘, said Eve


***

Gene walked into his uncle Tony Capulet’s office in St. Louis, and handed him a humongous wad of cash to buy out his promotion. Tony soon burst into laughter at the fact that his little nephew had just made an offer to buy him out. But he didn’t a cent since wrestling wasn’t anywhere near the attraction it once was.

‘’Boy, you think because you took over your daddy’s promotion that you could play on my field? This ain’t that minor league outfit like the one you bought from him. My operation is a goldmine in this business’‘, Tony explained to him with a sarcastic grin.

He wanted to slap that smirk off Tony’s face in the worst way possible. His dad’s organization wasn’t a minor league until Tony swiped their TV deal and the world heavyweight champion from them. He thought Tony was a fine one to talk since his business hadn’t turned a profit in years. He hoped Tony would come to his senses so that he’d shut up and take the money. He sure needed it.

‘’Look, your not doin’ so hot yourself. You kinda owe us after all you’ve pulled. Be smart and take me up on the offer, so you can get out of debt.’‘ he replied.

Tony then shut his mouth in a rather quick fashion, at last Gene got him right were he wanted him. Both stood still for a second to see what move the other would make. They both wondered if the deal would go anywhere, one waited for the other’s response. A transaction had to be made, and it had to be made now!

‘’Alright, I’ll sell. But just because I love my sister, don’t forget to tell your mama that’‘, Tony said.

They shook hands, as Tony accepted the deal. Gene watched Tony count the money as he left the doorway, he wondered if he had made the right decision in the acquisition of Tony’s promotion, he already had his father’s promotion to contend with. How was he gonna handle another one? He couldn’t understand how his mother was able to produce all those damn soap operas!


***


Leslie received a telegram in the mail from a television network that wasn’t associated with Capulet Consumer Goods or Capulet Television. The few soaps on their network were low rated at best, and were often a distant third in a two network race. They needed someone to come and shake things up, and most of all, they needed a damn good soap.

‘’This network who isn’t havin’ much luck with soaps, wants me to come in, and pitch an idea. But I don’t know what I should pitch to them.’‘ she said to her husband.

He opened her desk drawer to reveal the pitch her mother had rejected. Leslie wondered why should she pitch that, the top soap opera producer in America had turned it down – her own mother for god’s sake! If it had been discarded by the gold standard of daytime dramas, then what use would it be to a network that wouldn’t know a good soap opera if bit ‘em on the ass!

‘’Why not pitch this?’‘ he asked.

She figured what the hell, it doesn’t hurt to pitch to a network. If it was rejected, she’d seek opportunities else, and if it was picked up, it might be cancelled after thirteen weeks. So what? She had a husband that loved her, and could support her and the kids with his Chrysler dealership. She also wouldn’t mind if she spent some time at home with the kids, if it all didn’t work out.


***

As Gene watched from behind the camera at the TV announcer as he ran down the lineup for that night’s wrestling show, he couldn’t help but think about how low the business had sunk. It went from a live arena broadcast on network television to some promotional tool for the arena shows that were taped in the studio of a local TV station, it just made him sick.

‘’In tonight’s main event, the world heavyweight champion will defend his title against a mysterious newcomer known as The Masked Shooter in the best two out of three falls! The bell time for the show is 8pm, we will return after these commercial breaks’‘, said the TV announcer before the video cameras stopped.

This was Gene’s first card after he bought out his uncle Tony Capulet’s promotion in St. Louis, he wondered if he’d be able to pull it off. He knew the operation of one regional promotion was difficult enough, but two promotions in two separate regions seemed almost impossible to him. It had been done by many promoters before him, but he didn’t see how they could keep up with all that work!


***

Leslie entered the offices of the low rated network where she was greeted by the executive who had sent her the telegram. She handed him the pitch for her show, she was so nervous at what his response would be. She hesitated to think that it would be yet another rejection. But a smile came over his face as if he liked what he read.


‘’This is just what this network needs! A show the breaks down the barriers of the typical soap opera, and takes it into the realm of the daytime drama’‘, he said as he went from excited to breathless in one sentence.

He handed her a contract for a thirteen week run, which she read over and signed. She had now managed to break the standards and conventions of the soap opera genre that had been set by her own mother. Now if she could just be successful at it. This wasn’t gonna be the typical soap, but she still had doubts about whether or not the viewers would accept it as the network had.