Link to the n*de photos and NSFW dialogue
Note: This story takes place during Righteous Gemstones Episode 2.6. Believing that Eli's old friend Junior Marsh (Eric Roberts) sent the Cycle Ninjas to try to assassinate him and other family members, Jesse and his men's group go to Memphis to tell him to back off. Actually, Junior had nothing to do with the Cycle Ninjas and has no idea why Jesse is so upset:
The Southern Slam Championship was not very exciting: it was basically two tag teams pounding on each other for a crowd of about 30 people who had no idea how to watch professional wrestling. And held at the Memphis American Legion! Sure, Junior's assistant, the Tall Man, did his best with their limited resources, but he remembered the days when he and his father promoted the biggest names in the business, and packed the 10,000 seats in the Mid-South Coliseum -- where Elvis Presley performed!
Junior was having trouble pretending to be enthusiastic, so he asked the Tall Man for some blow, and ducked out to urinate and get high.
His day was about to get much worse.
While he was urinating on an old arcade game, symbolically punishing his father for vanishing with the $2 million that could have saved their wrestling business, Jesse Gemstone stepped out of the shadows.
The son of his old friend Eli, who Junior visited in Charleston two weeks ago. What was he doing here?
"D*ck is out, Playboy," he complained. Weird thing to comment on. Son was just like his father -- Eli couldn't take his eyes of Junior's d*ck, either, in 1972 or 2022.
"I'm aware. I take it out when I urinate, Jesse."
"And to do other things, too." Twenty or more of his goons stepped up, armed with slingshots! Jesse pointed a gun at him.
Junior tried to laugh, but he was terrified. Was Jesse going to murder him, just because he visited an old friend? Ok, maybe they hooked up, but when Eli called things off, he high-tailed it back to Memphis. Ok, maybe he sent the Tall Man to smoosh a tomato on Eli's windshield, but how did a smooshed tomato warrant murder? And what was the army for?
"You want to kill my family?" Jesse yelled.
"What the heck are you talking about?" Junior asked. How could going to bed with Eli destroy the Gemstone family? Aimee-Leigh was long gone, so it wasn't cheating. By outing him as bi?
"How about I kill your family? Grandparents, kids, special needs. Chop their heads off!"
"Or we could r*pe them," one of the goons yelled.
"Just the men," another goon pointed out. "We don't r*pe women."
Putting on a brave front, Junior sassed back: "I don't have a family, wise guy. I'm 66 years old. You think my granddaddy is still alive? And I don't have any kids, that I know of. Maybe you should ask your wife."
Uh-oh, too far! Jesse was fool enough to believe that Junior had actually slept with his wife, and shoot him to restore his manhood.
"Only one getting r*ped tonight is you," Jesse snarled.
Junior thought about trying to run back inside, but Jesse would probably shoot him in the back. Besides, he couldn't show fear. So he scoffed.
"We'll...show you how we handle sickos!"
Sickos? The stuff they did was entirely consensual! Jesse must be a homophobic bigot. When you're gay in the wrestling world, you encounter a lot of homophobes, but he never imagined that the Gemstones would be homophobic. Eli was bi. So was his brother-in-law, Baby Billy. And didn't his son Kelvin have a boyfriend?
"You got some b*lls on you, boy. Reminds me of your Daddy when he was a young man. If you and your boys have d*cks as big as his, you got yourselves a date."
This didn't phase Jesse. He simply reiterated: "I am Jesse Gemstone, son of Eli, father of Gideon, Abraham, and Pontius. Come after my family one more time, and I will end you."
So upset over their Daddy's gay stuff from 40 years ago!
While Jesse continued to aim the gun at him, the goons started pelting him with stones from the slingshots! He tried to jump out of the way, crouch down, hide behind a dumpster. Those darn diots were going to stone him to death! He remembered a sermon from long ago, about a woman taken in adultery. Jesus spared her from being stoned. Boy, he could use Jesus right now!
"Ok, ok, I'll stay away from your family."
"Too late, boy. The guys are riled up. I'm afraid this is the end for you."
More after the break
He tried to run toward the back door, but a stone hit him in the shoulder blades, and he fell. Would he see his Daddy in heaven? Hopefully not.
"What the hell is going on out here!"
Suddenly the Tall Man stormed out, 6''6", 240 pounds, NPC Bodybuilder of the Year 2002, WWF Heavyweight Champ in 2005 and 2006, with long hair and a beard like Jesus, if Jesus could bench press 340. He knelt over Junior. "Are you ok, Boss?"
"I've felt better."
He stood. "You got a beef with Junior, you got a beef with me. Who wants to go first?"
Jesse stared as if he was really seeing Jesus, then turned and ran. His goons followed.
The Tall Man pulled Junior to his feet. Junior hugged him tightly, his face pressed against Tall Man's chest. It was like a rock! How did this guy manage to have John Cena physique at age 48? "Want me to go after them and teach them some manners?""Now, let them go. You're good, Tall Man, but not twenty-to-one good."
"What was that all about?"
"Oh, Jesse Gemstone was miffed because he thinks I slept with his Daddy." He broke away to looked back at the retreating army. "Let me tell you, Eli had every guy in Memphis on their knees, back in the day. He and Baby Billy used to close out George's Lounge."
"Fun times."
"Boy, you have no idea. But then Eli met the love of his life, and left his tomcatting days behind. Baby Billy was righteous pissed!"
The love of his life. Who was the Tall Man, anyhow? His promoter, bookkeeper, and all around assistant, doing everything from "pick me up a pumpkin spice latte" to "beat up those twunks who called me a f*g." A friend, dating back from the days when he wrestled as a heel named the Banshee and then a face -- named The Tall Man.
He lifted up Tall Man's shirt to feel tightest, most ripped body north of Tallahassee, and began kissing and fondling his chest. His hand strayed down to Tall Man's belly, past his giant belt buckle.Suddenly another patron came out of the American Legion. They broke away and stood there nonchalantly until he walked past to the parking lot. Then Tall Man grabbed Junior's butt and pulled him close again. "Do you want to get on your knees?"
"No. Well, yeah, but..." Junior moved his hand away and began kissing the Tall Man's neck.
"Want me to top you?"
"Sure, but...dagnabit, Tall Man, this is hard enough. Stop distracting me. I'm working up my courage to kiss you!"
"Oh." He looked perplexed. "What for?"
Junior felt his temper rising. Was Tall Man making fun of him? "What do you mean, what for? I haven't had a boyfriend for awhile, but I'm pretty sure the procedure hasn't changed...."And then Tall Man was kissing him. It was a hard, deep kiss, tentative at first, then passionate.
Suddenly Tall Man broke away. "Wait...why tonight? Is this a rebound thing? Eli broke your heart, so you latch onto the guy who does stuff with you regular?"
He sighed. "Tall Man even 40 years ago, Eli and I weren't boyfriends, just buddies who screwed sometimes. We reunited two weeks ago and did stuff, but it wasn't serious, it wasn't romantic."
"Yeah, I get you. It was like my ex-wife. We did some stuff, of course -- I've got a daughter to prove it. But we were just friends. There was no passion."
"You weren't in love."
They started kissing again, but they heard footsteps and broke away. Two more patrons, a man and a woman, had come out of the Legion Hall. "Evening," the man said, looking suspicious at the two wrestling promoters enveloped in a hug.
"Evening," the Tall Man said. "Y'all enjoy the show?"
"It was nice," the woman said politely. "Interesting."
"My boyfriend, the Tall Man, arranged it," Junior told them.
"Oh...well, good job." They walked off.
"Boyfriend?"
"Well, it's too soon for husband, isn't it, Tall Man?"
The Tall Man took his hand, and they walked toward the parking lot. "If we're going to do this, you should stop calling me the Tall Man. That was my character's name when I was wrestling back in the 2000s. My name is Lyle."
Junior laughed. "Sorry, can't do it. You'll always be the Tall Man to me." He reached over cupped his beneath-the-belt stuff. "Well, I might consider changing it to Big Man."
Eric Roberts: a lifetime of sleazebag killers, hunks, and noble gay guys