My Friend
I met My Friend many years ago in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. I was a hot-shot manager at the Holiday Spa and he was a wet-behind-the ears kid, just out of high school, who walked in off the street and told me, “You need to hire me.”
I hired him on the spot and we’re still friends to this day. We worked together until I got fired three years later and moved to St. Croix.
It’s important to note that he was, and still is, a wrestling junkie. I found out the day I threw Jimmy Super Fly Snuka out of the spa on his ass.
My Friend missed the altercation because he was out to lunch – which he often is. But when he returned he unbuttoned his Holiday shirt and showed me his Super Fly tee-shirt underneath.
Talk about small worlds.
In St. Croix, I picked him up at the airport when he flew down to visit me. But I never mentioned that he was going to be an extra in a Love Boat special they were shooting on Frederiksted pier. I hooked it up with my agent in advance.
Before I picked him up I was a plainclothes detective in a scene with Tom Bosley. When we got to the pier we were tourists coming down the gangplank.
I also never mentioned that Rowdy Roddy Piper was a guest star on the show.
But I hooked them up after we got done shooting. The way I remember it, Piper asked me for my autograph – but my memory may be off.
In real life, My Friend became a pro wrestler under the name Hit Man Bruno. In the world of fiction he’s a perfect character for The Dead Stripper.
He’s the Main Character’s sidekick. By the way, the name of the main character is Steve Piasecki, the great-grandson of Frank Piasecki who founded the Piasecki Helicopter Company.
In The Dead Stripper, My Friend’s in the story from the opening scene to the end. Below is an excerpt from a crucial buildup scene in Chapter 15 ─ titled “Airplane Spin.”
He’s wrestling Cry Bay Waldo in that scene and the first three paragraphs are below.
I’m at the Springfield Country Club watching My Friend wrestle Cry Baby Waldo. They’re ten minutes into the match and Cry Baby Waldo’s lifting My Friend onto his shoulders, extending his arms upward and hoisting him over his head.
Thus begins the classic airplane-spin maneuver.
Cry Baby Waldo circles the ring looking for the perfect spot to body slam My Friend onto the mat. The match looks like it’s over and, in fact, it will be over in less than two minutes. But it’s not gonna end the way it looks now.
Excerpt from The Dead Stripper by Barry Bowe
The scene goes on for another page, but this is already long enough.
I took the header photo on one of my trips back home. That’s a wrestling program in Wilmington. Bam Bam Bigelow and Abdullah the Butcher are right in front of me, all bloodied up, and that’s the Hit Man in the blue shirt.
Coming March 1st
I’m America’s Best Crime Writer – Barry Bowe – & I approve this message.
My first book – Born to Be Wild – Published in 1992 – Still selling on Amazon & Kindle. A true story about certain members of the Warlocks motorcycle gang.
The story took 21 years to play out – many twists & turns – an amalgam of Sons of Anarchy and Breaking Bad – but these outlaw bikers make the Sons look like Cub Scouts.
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