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A Friend In Need

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Offline howardcosell

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A Friend In Need
« on: February 05, 2011, 12:14:33 AM »
A Friend In Need

“Tell that bitch to pick her ass up off the fuckin ground and get the fuck away from my friend,” I didn’t know who she was or how it started. I didn’t know what to think of it; the Black girl with her long brown hair in a ponytail was staring right at me with her angry blonde haired friend behind her, and Sarah was starting to stand back up, her red hair wet from the beer and piss stained Bourbon Street and her lip busted and her blue eyes shedding tears.

“I’m not done, Shannon,” she said, but I could hear defeat in her voice as she tried to stand, but stumbled and I put my arm around her and pulled her up, “I’m not done… let me finish that bitch off.”

“No Sarah,” I said, “Let’s get out of here; somebody could’ve called the police and I don’t want my first night back to be spent in jail.”

“No!” she said, trying to push me off, “Fuck that bitch!! I want her spitting blood!!”

I had gone off to college at the University of Houston right after Hurricane Katrina and completed my Bachelor’s in General Psychology and I had gotten a job as a counselor at the high school where Sarah and I met. I had known Sarah since high school and what I found when I came back to New Orleans was nothing like the person I had left. Sarah back then, was a quiet girl who kept to herself and didn’t like hanging around other girls because of gossip and stuff, but if you made her angry enough, she’d snap and back then, it took a lot to make her angry. Sarah told me that she was picked on as a child and had an abusive father in the trailer park she‘d grown up in, but she learned how to box participating in those neighborhood boxing tournaments. But that was way in Chalmette; this was New Orleans and nobody knew how good Sarah could fight until Nicole Falco and her little gang of girls decided to pick on Sarah senior year in Chemistry. Mrs. Hamer sat there and continued to teach the class while Nicole, with her shoulder length curly dark hair, her olive skin, her large deep dark brown eyes and her self described “distinct proud Italian nose” kept picking at Sarah about wearing the same shirt for three straight days. Sarah was 5’7” and weighed roughly around 135 lbs and she had a great body, with light red hair that she’d add blonde highlights to, blue eyes and slight freckles and a round face. She had a great smile when she smiled.

“Sarah, you don’t have anything else you could wear?” Nicole kept saying, “And you didn’t bring any deodorant from gym class? I could smell you from here; you smell like a dead raccoon.”

On and on she went, and Sarah just kept looking at the chemistry book while Nicole and her friends laughed. Then, I don’t know what it was or if Nicole had even said something to trigger it, but Sarah casually got out of her chair, walked to Nicole’s table and said, “Leave me alone, okay? Just do yourself a favor and leave me alone.”

Nicole stood up and she was a hair shorter than Sarah in her black cut off top and rusted blue jeans, coming just below her T-shaped navel. Nicole smiled and shoved Sarah and I can say that when Sarah’s right cross hit the side of Nicole’s head, I’ll never forget the expression on her face. She banged the back of her head hard against the wall and Sarah threw a combination on her, all head shots, and didn’t stop punching until Nicole was on the ground. But Nicole got her hands on Sarah’s belt and shoved her back a few steps, enough for her to get back up… but why? Sarah nailed her in the chin with a left hook then hit her in the stomach with a left hook right cross combo and Nicole dropped right back in her chair, clutching her stomach and trying not to throw up. Sarah shot a look to Nicole’s friends and they all looked away, then Sarah went right back to her seat, but Mrs. Hamer told her to go to the principal’s office while Nicole started crying and sobbing loudly. Sarah got a week’s suspension; Nicole got nothing… that is, until I went to the principal’s office myself and testified that Nicole was provoking Sarah. Still, they only gave her two days because she didn’t throw a punch. This made me at odds with Nicole and her little group, but I didn’t care; I ran track and I was pretty popular in my own right. Plus, I only had to win one fight to send a message that I wasn’t to be messed with, despite being light skinned and girly. I tried to get Sarah to hang out with some of my friends, but between her being a lone wolf and them being Black like me, and being wary of a White girl hanging around us… it just didn’t work out. So, I got some smarter, less racially biased friends and hung with Sarah.

By the time of graduation, I had sprouted up to 5’6” and 130 lbs. I let my hair grow long, straight and black and I was showing my stomach more because I put a lot into looking good. I was developing a bit of an ego, you could say, but I had enough good friends to bring me back down because women with egos and bragging about their beauty and how all the guys want them often end up with the worst guys. And all that primping had taken me away from my studies. Sarah ended up raising her grades considerably, thanks in part to my tutoring her… and let’s face it; some of that stuff is boring, no matter how interested in it the teacher sounds, and the best way to learn it is by helping someone else learn it. Around that time, Sarah was seeing this guy named Lance; he was a straight up loser, but she felt sorry for him. He was one of these guys who was the prototypical geek, but once he became water boy on the football team, he started going to the gym and suddenly, he was acting like the greatest thing in the world once the kicker went down and he got on the team as the replacement. But like most of the people I know with no relationship experience, once he had the chance to cheat on Sarah, he did. But she forgave him… I could see my friend getting ready to spiral out of control because at first, I thought Sarah and Lance were an odd pair, but because Lance hadn’t been with anyone, I thought he was safe. But with the arrogance and the cheating and Sarah drinking and going from just smoking weed to doing acid with him… it was just getting ridiculous.

I had gotten a track scholarship to the University of Houston and I knew I’d miss my friends and family, but when Hurricane Katrina came, most of them were right in Houston with me… Sarah was there too and we were exchanging e-mails. We wound up meeting at Burger King and she saw the tattoo I have of the sun below and to the right of my kinda big football slightly in sticking navel and I saw her pierced eyebrow, tongue, and oval shaped navel that didn’t stick in at all, but there was enough skin to pinch that it could be pierced. We laughed and talked about the old times and then… she told me she didn’t have anywhere to stay and no money. I brought her to my dorm room and for the next few weeks, I gave her money; I fed her; I brought her to look for a job. Lance had dumped her after he got two girls pregnant and he relocated to Mississippi after he got a job with the big Nissan plant. I know all of this because Sarah couldn’t stop talking about him and how she planned on leaving to go and find him. She was still beautiful and still in great shape; it was just that mind was so messed up.

We went to a Green Day concert (I love Green Day!!!) together and I got bumped by some emo girl who spit beer in my face when I politely told her to watch where she was going, and Sarah beat the girl up with ease… I guess that the girl had on black elevator shoes didn’t help. This would be a recurring theme and I would try to tell her that I appreciate her being such a loyal friend, but there are other ways to solve conflicts without fighting… and she would accuse me of being ungrateful or say something like “this is why I kept to myself in high school.” But I felt like she was the one being ungrateful. I was giving her money; I was trying to get her set up in Houston and get her into college so that she could get student loans and grants; I was trying to better her credit. But she would drink beer and get into fights or come home and talk about Lance all night or she would sit in the bathroom and cry. This wasn’t the Sarah I remembered; this was a broken woman. She got really angry with me when I told her that maybe the reason why she couldn’t get over Lance was because she had nothing to occupy her time, no real challenges. Ultimately, she said she had to find Lance and she left.

And that’s what led me to the bar that night when I came back to New Orleans. Sarah and I hadn’t really spoken that much, but she told me she had an apartment and was fighting at the Underground, which is an abandoned building on the West Bank of New Orleans where girls and guys come to watch street fights. Sarah wanted me to come and see her fight and apparently, she had a big fight coming up against this girl named Tara who was from California who appeared in some fight videos that were being sold be some website and was working with a boxing coach and a wrestling coach. I was a casual fan of female fight sports, but I’d never heard of Tara and I told Sarah I‘d help work her corner. She said, “What corner?” and laughed. Not to mention, meeting Sarah at the bar the night before the fight and seeing her beaten up and on the ground wasn’t helping anything. I pulled her to her feet and brought her to her apartment. She barely had any food in her refrigerator; it seemed like her diet was Coca-Cola, beer, ice cream, and cold pizza. She had a punching bag set up in her apartment and some boxing gloves, but when she got home, she went straight to sleep and didn’t get up until late the next evening. That was great for me because it gave me time to go to the store and use my money to fill her refrigerator up with some quality food and clean up that apartment.

We went to the fight and I wasn’t sure if Sarah was ready or not. She was wearing blue jeans and a blue tank top with sneakers and she kept talking about how she was going to go to the stomach early and end the fight because she was still tired. She was sober for once and I could hear the old friend I had in high school talking and not some heartbroken lush looking for any fight she could get into.

“The bellybutton is probably the third most sensitive part of the body,” she’d told me this before and she sounded like she was really trying to convince me, “That whole area is sensitive, but if you drive your knuckle in on that, you could really freeze somebody for a good while and that’s all you need to win is one good shot.”

Sarah and I had sparred a few times, but I wasn’t really going to let her see how much I knew about fighting just yet. She taught me a few things though; one thing about Sarah, she would get in a shot to your stomach, no matter how much you guarded it; her hands were just that fast and she caught me on the navel and I dropped right to my knees on more than one occasion. But like I said, I wasn’t really showing her what I knew just yet.

“Just one, Sarah?” I said, “When I saw you fight, you’d throw a bunch of shots and they would be accurate and precise, like you knew what you were doing because you knew how to fight.”

“I think once she feels my power, she’s going to quit,” Sarah said, “I’ve watched this girl and she has no technique and she doesn’t stand a chance against me because I’m better than those girls she was beating up. She‘s got height and weight on me, but that‘s not going to matter.”

Fast forward to the fight. No cage, no ring, not even really much of a building, just mud and concrete and people standing around blasting metal or rap or rap metal or just music that was loud, fast, and hard to understand… like the lead signer was the offspring of Clint Eastwood and a grizzly bear. I think the band was named Morbid Angel… yeah, that’s them. Tara was 5’8” and 150 lbs and she had tattoos all over her with her bleach blonde hair in a ponytail, blue eyes, and a contagious smile. She looked like a tough girl, but her demeanor wasn’t all that tough because she couldn’t stop laughing. She had on a ripped white tank top that fit her tightly; she had slightly larger than average breasts in a big black bra; her stomach, from what was showing, was a bit soft and had tattoos on it and she had a deep oval shaped navel. Her butt in those black jeans was big and her tattooed arms were somewhat toned; she was wearing Doc Martin boots and she was looking at Sarah, who raised her fists as some idiot yelled, “Get that shit!” and fight started. I had on a black short sleeved shirt that I rolled up to show my pride and joy of a stomach, and some blue jeans with my sneakers and I just watched as Tara charged Sarah, throwing straight rights that Sarah was trying to avoid, but she underestimated the bigger girl’s speed and took two to her jaw before grabbing Tara.

“Come on, Tara!! Beat her ass!!!”

“Somebody get fucked up!!! I don’t care who it is; just one of you bitches get fucked the fuck up!!!”

Sarah tried to push the blonde back, but Tara kept coming forward and smiling. Sarah hit her with a left hook and a right hand and I heard Tara go “EEE!!” but she just smiled and kept coming forward before landing a surprise right to Sarah’s jaw and Sarah let out an “Unnnhhh!!” and tripped over her own feet, but managed to get her balance, only for the blonde to grab her throat with her left hand and throw hard right hands into the back of her head, forcing Sarah to use both hands to cover the back of her head. Tara took my redheaded friend’s head and shoved it down and Sarah groaned out an “Ohhhhh!!!” from a knee that hit her nose and I saw the blood on the dirty concrete ground and heard an “Oooh!!!” from the crowd.

“Come on, Sarah, please,” I thought to myself; this was hard for me to watch. The girl was my friend and I enjoyed watching women fight, but I want my friend to win and she had convinced me that this was going to be easy and so far, this environment and the fight were nothing like she said they would be. Sarah kept on backing up and she’d land a one two right on the smiling blonde’s nose, but Tara would take the punches and charge, landing several hard shots to Sarah’s face. It hadn’t even gone on for that long and Sarah’s left eye was already black and swelling and her nose was bleeding. She took a jab to her chin and almost went down; I noted that Tara’s jab was really heavy; it hit like a straight left more than like a jab. Sarah looked done and the expression on her face was telling me that she knew she was losing, but she didn’t look like she wanted to stop and I was moving closer and closer to the action. I could hear some of the guys and girls saying “Who’s that fine ass Black girl? She‘s got eyes like an Egyptian. Yo Cleopatra, wanna fight?!!” and I greeted them with sneers. Sarah had told me that the number one ranked female fighter in the world, Allison Payne, had fought here before she got famous and Allison looks like Halle Berry… with all these meatheads, I don’t know how she did it.

“EEEE!!!” Tara cried as Sarah landed with a hard left hook to her jaw. Sarah grabbed the blonde by her ponytail and started throwing uppercuts to her face and Tara groaned loudly with every shot that landed. And then, Sarah pulled the blonde’s head down and hit a knee to her forehead. Tara cried “Unnnnhhhhh!!!!!” and went down on her back, but brought her arms in and lifted her legs. Sarah seemed to be evaluating the situation and kicking at the blonde’s sides, but Tara was scooting around and getting her second wind, avoiding the kicks or taking them on the legs. Then Tara got to her knees, grabbed a surprised Sarah around her waist, and slammed her on her face because once Tara got her, Sarah turned and Tara ended up behind her, so when they fell, Sarah’s face hit the ground. I saw the blood starting to run from Sarah’s forehead and saw her take a deep sigh and grit her teeth, but Tara was no longer the girl from the fight videos; she wrestled Sarah over, got her knees on either side of Sarah’s waist, pinned her wrists down above her head and started hammering her with punches. It was a ground and pound from hell. She was even forcing Sarah’s face into the dirt and pouring dirt in my friend’s mouth; it was out of hand and when those idiots started saying “Take her shirt off; take her shirt off!!” Tara obliged them and ripped my friend’s tank top off, revealing her peach breasts with pink nipples even with Sarah crying a piteous “Nooo… don‘t!!”

Tara started going in on Sarah’s ribs with lefts and Sarah was hurting; her red hair was sandy from the dirt and concrete dust; her face with busted, bruised, and bleeding, and she was being beaten on the ground. She wasn’t the fighter she was in high school and she had completely underestimated an opponent who clearly gets off on hurting people. I didn’t know it at the time, but the main reason why the fight was still going on was because Sarah hadn’t quit. These fights were over when somebody quit or somebody got knocked out, and while I could see that Tara was getting tired and taking breaks between hammering Sarah’s ribs and clawing at her breasts, Sarah was defeated and too damn stubborn to just say “I quit.” Tara kept asking “You done? You done?” and Sarah didn’t respond, so Tara listened to the people who were talking back… the meatheads wanting her to suck on Sarah’s nipples or put more dirt in her mouth. I couldn’t take it anymore. I walked right into the circle and yanked on Tara’s ponytail, then waited for her to turn around. But as she was turning, I felt a punch hit me in the back, then a hard shove from behind, then I was blinded by a punch to the left side of my head, doubled over when somebody in front of me kicked me in the stomach “OOUUGGHHH!!!” and I brought my arms up and felt multiple sets of hands grabbing me and throwing me on the ground… I saw a strawberry blonde girl mount me and start punching my face while guys and girls were kicking me and spitting on me between curses and a couple of racial slurs from a white guy who was grabbed and beaten on too by another group of people, but they came back and joined in on me…

“Stupid fucking bitch!!”

“Stay your pretty bitch ass out of our fights!!”

“We’re gonna show you how we do it down here!!”

I was getting jumped, and like I said, I could more than hold my own in a fight, but I couldn’t beat all those people on me at once. A kick to my back finished me off and I was on my stomach hurting all over. I remember seeing the movie “Casino” and feeling sorry for Joe Pesci’s character when his own former friends beat him with baseball bats and buried him and his brother alive in a cornfield. But before they beat him, they held him while they beat his brother and he cried until it was his turn. That night, I knew how he felt. When I got up, Sarah helped me to her car and she drove me back to her apartment. We both didn’t say much of anything to each other; I didn’t even look at her and other than the occasional cough, she was quiet. When I got to her place, I went right to the mirror; my face was okay once I wiped the blood from my nose. I had protected it well, but it was hurting and my pride was hurting too. There was no revenge for something like this; I wouldn’t be able to identify the people who did it because there were so many.

“I didn’t quit,” Sarah said, “She started choking me and it went black after a while. I’ll fight her again. She wasn’t all that; in fact, I’d fight her right now.”

I didn’t say anything and she started in on the beer. I started planning for how I was going to cover up some of the scratches on me with makeup for work the next day, and then I realized that it was Saturday night and I didn’t have to work until Wednesday. I looked at Sarah and said, “Tomorrow, we’re going to have a talk about this.”

“Look Shannon,” she said, “I’m sorry you got hurt, okay? All I can do is apologize. Next time, you don’t even have to come with me. If it pains you that much to see me fight, I’ll go by myself.”

“Tomorrow,” I said and went to my car. Around 6 am the next morning, I knocked on her door and she opened in just a white tank top and shorts. I told her to get dressed and she put on a pair of loose fitting jeans and some sandals. Her toenails were painted a shimmering hot pink and she yawned while chewing on some spearmint gum. I had on a blue wind suit with a hood on the top and I had on a white shirt underneath and my blue Nikes. It was very misty that morning and it was raining a bit; visibility wasn’t all that good, but I could see well enough to get us where I was taking us… The Underground. We got out and she followed me right to the spot where she had fought; the place was covered in trash and with the mistiness, the half destroyed building, and the dirt and concrete with all the trash, the setting looked like the aftermath of a bomb dropping. It was pretty chilly too, but I knew things were about to warm up. I turned and faced her.

“What are we going to talk about here?” she said, and I punched her right in the jaw. She groaned an “unnhh” and stumbled back and I left her have it again and again. I landed three hard right hands to her chin, but she ducked the fourth one and tackled me, but I rolled and kicked her off and we both got to our feet.

“What the fuck is your problem, Shannon?” she said, looking puzzled

“Come on!” I shouted, going right at her, “You want to fight everybody; you want to hurt everybody and fuck up your life, right? Fight me!!”

“Shannon, I-- Unnnhhh!!!” I hit her with a left hook, grabbed her shoulders and kneed her in the stomach hard, forcing out an “OOF!!” I got ready to knee her again, but she lifted me up and slammed me on my back in the dirt. She was on top now and she was looking to pin me down, but I was throwing punches from my back and I got her with a quick combo and kicked her off of me.

“You used to be smart and you were the toughest girl I ever met!!” I said, “But you let one boy mess all that up for you! When are you going to put your head back on straight, Sarah?”

“Shut up about him!” she said, raising her fists as we circled. I had struck a nerve and I came at her, throwing a straight right, but she ducked it and hit me with a left hook to my liver… “ugghh” I winced and tried to back up, but she saw the weakness in my eyes, drew back her fist to hit me in the face, and then, she didn’t do it.

“I don’t know what the fuck’s gotten into you,” she said, “But you know I fight better than you do and maybe you should just try talking because I don’t want to hurt you. You may be the only friend I’ve got.”

“If you were any kind of friend to me,” I said, “You have listened a long time ago. And as far as fighting you is concerned, I don’t think you’re anywhere close to what you used to be.”

I hit her with a jab, but she caught my leg when I tried to kick her in the stomach, then she shoved me on my ass. I got back up as she moved in, but she got me with another left hook to my ribs and a right hand to my solar plexus… that shot froze me long enough for her to fire an uppercut into my stomach, just above my navel and force me on my toes with an “Ooooh!!!” I brought my arms up, thinking she was going to go for my face, but she was working my ribs, slamming hard hooks into my right side and folding me over with a right uppercut to my stomach, “OUGH!!” She wrapped her arms around my body and I had my arms around her waist, folded over and trying to catch my breath… we were both breathing heavily already and she was leaning on me, trying to get me to go down from her weight, and she was still hitting my right side with left hooks, but she wouldn’t knee me because she didn’t want to get me in the face… too bad for her. I stood up and yanked her into a knee that I threw across her stomach; her eyes widened and she went “OHHHHH!!!!” then I buried my left right on her navel, forcing a “GUUUUH!!!!” from her as she froze in place while I spun and kicked the back of her knees, sending her down on her back. I jumped and dropped the back of my leg across her chest and heard an “UUUF!!!” blow out of her, then I got up, pulling her to her feet.

“You’re going to get your stuff together, Sarah,” I said, “You’re going to get clean and if you want to fight so badly, we’re going to find you some trainers. I’m not going to lose you to this stupidity; you will find your head or I will knock it off your shoulders, pick it up and give it to you. OUGH!!!”

She nailed me in the stomach, driving her knuckle and pushing my navel towards my spine. I felt the electric shock of pleasure and pain and felt my tongue come out of my mouth as I looked at her, but she was looking at my stomach. She unzipped my jacket, yanked it off of me and threw it to the ground. Her feet were getting dirty from the ground, and she introduced me to her right one by kicking me hard in the stomach and watching me blow out an “OOOUUUGGGGHHHH!!!!” and drop to my knees, holding my stomach. I felt offended and betrayed because she knew how much I loved my stomach, yet the stomach being her favorite place to hit a girl she was fighting was more important to her than how I felt about mine. And of course, my shirt was rolled short to show off my stomach, but as I got up, she got me with a jab right on the navel and I yelped and jumped, backing up as she sized me up, faked a punch at my face and hit me in the left side with a winging right when I instinctively brought my hands up to protect my face.

“If you had fought like this last night, we wouldn’t be having this discussion,” I said

“Who’s talking?” she said and we came together, both connecting simultaneously with winging rights to the stomach and both stumbling back. She was hurt; I could see that. She made a loud “AAAWWWFFFF!!!!” sound when I hit her and she had turned to the side, holding her stomach and looking at me with pain in her eyes. I felt her bellybutton ring when my fist hit her and I knew I had gotten her navel while she hit me on my sun tattoo, lower than my navel and to my left of it… that punch hurt me pretty badly too, but I saw that she wasn’t coming forward and I moved in on her, but she rammed a straight right on my navel again and after about a second, I let out an “uuugggghhhh,” backed up and squatted.

“Had enough, Shannon? You know you can‘t beat me,” Sarah said; we were both clutching our stomachs and looking at each other. I didn’t know if she was right or wrong about me being able to beat her; I was pretty sure I could do it if she was drunk. But as I was looking at her, I was noticing something about her. There was a sparkle in her eyes and a nobility in her stance; it reminded me of the Sarah I once knew. She sighed deeply and stood herself straight up and walked over to me, extending her hand.

“You want me to get it together, Shannon?” she said, “I’ll--- HUUUUGGGHHHH!!!!”

I rammed my forearm right across her stomach and navel doubling her over, but I stood myself straight up, grabbed her red ponytail and yanked her straight, then I drove my third knuckle on her navel as hard as I could, forcing out an “GAAIIIIIHHHH!!! Ugggghhhh…ohhhh…ohhhhhh…” from her as she went up on her tippy toes and then, slowly dropped to her knees, and then, her face fell forward and she went down, bottoms up.

“I think I just beat you with the punch you taught me, Sarah,” I said, “But it’ll take a little more to get you to see how far you’ve fallen. Now, I‘m going to give you a little glimpse of what I am.”

I got on her back from behind, wrenching her left arm back and up and pulling her right arm back with it, holding then in place by hooking my left arm around them and keeping it there by pressing my stomach against her back, then I grabbed her chin with my right hand and yanked her head and neck to the right while wrapping my legs around her waist and rolling myself onto my back. I had gone to a Gracie taught Brazilian Jiu Jitsu seminar while in Houston and I liked it so much, I made practicing it a hobby. Not to mention, I had taken some kickboxing classes to stay in shape while I was in high school, in college, and when I got back to New Orleans. I was even promoted to an assistant instructor, though the ex green beret who runs it tells me all the time that I’m no where near close to being a fighter because my body isn‘t used to taking a punch nor am I that instinctive, and he’s right. But I’m learning and being able to think up the submission hold I had Sarah in showed me that. I had both her arms trapped and being twisted up; I had her neck hurting, and I had on a body scissors and I could hear her groaning and moaning.

“I want what’s best for you, Sarah,” I said, “And you’re a grown woman and you do your own thing, but you put me in that mess and I’m tired of it. Do you hear me?”

“Ahhhhh,” was all I got from her, so I tightened my legs even more.

“Sarah, you’re going to submit to me,” I said, “Because I’m not going to let you go until you do. And when you submit, you’re not just submitting to me. You’re going to give up the foolishness and the brokenhearted sobbing and the going in against girls at these stupid places and getting beaten up. You’re going to get a trainer and hone your skills if you don’t want to go to college and you’re going to get better at living your life and taking care of yourself. Right here, where you and I both picked ourselves off the ground, bloody and beaten up, we will stand together and you will become a better person… or at least, start working towards it. Say it, Sarah.”

“Okay… you win,” she said, and I let her go and extended my hand… but she chose to stand on her own. True enough, I couldn’t stop her if she wanted to go back to being what she was before, but the first thing she did when we got back to her place was clean herself up and start throwing certain items away. I didn’t know what the significance of the pictures or the old empty bottles was to her, but she must have stood in the bathroom looking at herself in the mirror for at least a half an hour. I brought her to my kickboxing classes and started teaching her what I knew about Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. When she was asked in class how she found out about it, she said, “Shannon here beat me in a fight using that technique and she changed my life.” Now, Sarah and I train together and while I’m really interested in the world of female fighting, I don’t know if I want to be a fighter. I mean, do I really want to get this pretty face and my million dollar abs all messed up? Nooooooo way!! Sarah is definitely going to be a good one and I’m sure that she and Tara will fight again, if she wants it bad enough. I’m just happy to be in her corner, help her manage her money, and most of all… I’m happy to be her friend. But who knows? Heaven forbid it would happen, but if she ever falls down again, I’ll be more than willing to beat her and set her straight, if that’s what it takes. Maybe I have a future as a fighter after all…

THE END?
"When people walk away from you... let them go. Your destiny is never tied to anyone who leaves you... and it doesn't mean they are bad people. It just means that their part in your story is over."

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Offline howardcosell

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Re: A Friend In Need
« Reply #1 on: February 07, 2011, 04:43:27 AM »
in honor of my friend Gemma Rox, I'm working on a story for her, since her freaking cheeseheaded loser team won the Super Bowl. Boooooo!!!!!
"When people walk away from you... let them go. Your destiny is never tied to anyone who leaves you... and it doesn't mean they are bad people. It just means that their part in your story is over."

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Offline Jonica

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Re: A Friend In Need
« Reply #2 on: February 07, 2011, 05:17:59 PM »
Great job, Howard!

:D

xoxo
Bad (Bad) Blood (Blood)
The bitch is in her smile.
The lie is on her lips,
Such an evil child.

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Offline ~Rox Erotique~

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Re: A Friend In Need
« Reply #3 on: February 09, 2011, 02:56:49 AM »
Oh my god!!! In a matter of weeks you've created more characters with more depth and soul than I'd hope to create in a year! The work rate and quality astounds me! In particular with this one I enjoyed the fact that you're learning everything from Shannon's perspective yet you imply that Sarah will be the star... Very interesting!


x G x

PS. Packers RULE!!!
I'm paranoid and needy. So I think people are talking about me, but not as much as I'd like.

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Offline Kayla

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Re: A Friend In Need
« Reply #4 on: February 09, 2011, 07:23:40 PM »
Wow, another new, interesting character!  ;D You need to slow down Howard, I can't keep up with reading all the great stuff you write! LOL!  :D ;)

Hugs
Kayla
Naughty - but oh, so NICE! :-)

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Offline howardcosell

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Re: A Friend In Need
« Reply #5 on: February 12, 2011, 06:02:26 AM »
I have at least five more stories on deck waiting to be finished, lol. believe me, a break is definitely coming for me. I've been doing this stuff for a long time and had my ups and downs, better to stay up before it comes down again.
"When people walk away from you... let them go. Your destiny is never tied to anyone who leaves you... and it doesn't mean they are bad people. It just means that their part in your story is over."

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Offline peccavi

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Re: A Friend In Need
« Reply #6 on: February 12, 2011, 09:16:01 AM »
How do you find the time to turn out all these excellent stories with well developed characters?

Well done, but don't burn out.
Blondes are cool Brunettes are Hot!!

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Offline harpua13

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Re: A Friend In Need
« Reply #7 on: February 13, 2011, 12:37:44 AM »
damn HC, yet another fabulous read!
I really like your characters and enjoy your style. I can read your fiction all day!
hey man, keep them coming, when you're feelin in the groove run with it while you can because it isn't always that way!
I'm in the midst of another run but I've been working like 12 hours and day and I can only really take time to work on mine during the weekends. so I got a few that still need some work I haven't had time to finish.

I try to keep it to one a week as far as getting them out. I like having a nice backlog though, so I can pace the ones I like best myself and try to keep it varied.
this forum has a great stable of talented writers, I feel very privileged to not only read the work here, but to contribute.  :D
Free your mind.
And your ass will follow.

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Offline howardcosell

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Re: A Friend In Need
« Reply #8 on: February 13, 2011, 12:49:22 AM »
Thanks guys! You're right, you've got to get it going while you've got it in your system because we are our own worst critics and we do have real life obligations. I teach and I'm volunteering, which makes me on call... so, using the same lesson plans for the same classes I teach cuts back on some of the time lol. Plus, I get in sooooo much time with my family, I write these stories several at a time because with me, every other minute, someone may want a freeze pop or it'll be nap time or dinner time or time to take them for a ride and that's going to be waaaaaay more important than a story lol. I owe it to my three little troopers that I'm so easy-going now. It doesn't matter what happens to me out there; when I come home, I've got them to greet me and that's what I love. You've got to find what's really important in life, and then you can just laugh the dumb stuff off.

I think I burned out at the end of my last run here lol, before the board crashed. But when I came back, I was working on articles and a thesis and so many other projects in the real world, that I decided to try and use this board to write myself back into shape. I'll have multiple windows open on Microsoft Word and write according to my mood, but I try to catch them all up with one another if one gets too far ahead of the others. You're all great writers and that's another thing. I wouldn't be writing if not for the other writers here, especially Gemma Rox. Having her to laugh with and chat with makes it a lot easier for me because she reminds me so much of some of my close friends in the real world and she's so talented. Since I've been back, there have been some ups and downs in my real life, but who doesn't experience that? I just use that energy to write another story or another speech. I'm glad you guys enjoy my stories; I'm a huge fan of yours as well.
"When people walk away from you... let them go. Your destiny is never tied to anyone who leaves you... and it doesn't mean they are bad people. It just means that their part in your story is over."

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Offline harpua13

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Re: A Friend In Need
« Reply #9 on: February 13, 2011, 01:52:15 AM »
oh man, I totally understand! I can't recall how many times when I'm right in the middle of a paragraph and Mrs H13 has asked me to go run an errand or get dinner going and I can't be like "Hold on a sec honey, one of my fictional girls is getting her boobies mauled by an evil bitch and I need to get to a stopping point!"
that and my cats who constantly know when I'm writing something intense and pick THAT time to sit on my laptop keyboard and demand attention.

these things just really fun to write and get me a nice change of pace when I've written myself into a damn corner on one of the longer works I'm trying to finish. someday, HA.

I'm debating getting my teaching certs maybe this summer. the tech industry is just terrible anymore and I think I'd be happier teaching. should have just stuck it out and stayed in college until i got my PHD and been a professor. but when I was 23 I was too dumb to see the forest for the trees. Thankfully, I've still had a lot of fun, but it always pissed me off I got away from doing what I love for so long, which is writing. Now that I don't go out much anymore and I'm a homebody I can put my ears back and get into it. These stories help a lot and I'm really glad people enjoy them! been really looking for a while for a place like this, seems like a good group of regulars here from what I've been able to tell. It makes me feel best of all when my peers whom I respect say they enjoy them too, I take that as a high compliment.
Free your mind.
And your ass will follow.

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Offline howardcosell

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Re: A Friend In Need
« Reply #10 on: February 15, 2011, 09:40:02 PM »
yeah, we've a got a deliberate jerk or two ::), but we tend to be a good bunch. But then again, the key is not to take things seriously and it's easier when you've got a bunch of responsibilities in the real world to deal with. This is a great site and the talent here is unbelievable. I found this site years ago because I was looking for a site and everything was pay, so I typed "free catfights" in the search engine and voila lol. My wife has a dog that drives me up the wall; I can't leave anything on the floor and Heaven help it if one of the kids gets it lol.

You can always go back and get your PhD. My mother got hers at 60 years old and got both her Bachelor's and Master's when she was in her 50's, so it's quite possible, but it's rigorous and on a lot of levels, it's quite annoying because you've got people out there who think that you have to be abused and treated like crap as a rite of passage to earn the degree as opposed to just doing the work required. If you choose that route, I wish you nothing but the best. But I think whatever we choose to do in life, we've got to enjoy it on some level. That's what's important :)
"When people walk away from you... let them go. Your destiny is never tied to anyone who leaves you... and it doesn't mean they are bad people. It just means that their part in your story is over."

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Offline howardcosell

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Re: A Friend In Need
« Reply #11 on: February 28, 2013, 11:33:19 PM »
Throwback Thursday... here's another one I hope those who didn't get to see will enjoy, while I'm working on a new Laurie Breeze story.
"When people walk away from you... let them go. Your destiny is never tied to anyone who leaves you... and it doesn't mean they are bad people. It just means that their part in your story is over."

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Offline Laurie Breeze

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Re: A Friend In Need
« Reply #12 on: March 01, 2013, 02:17:09 AM »
Throwback Thursday... here's another one I hope those who didn't get to see will enjoy, while I'm working on a new Laurie Breeze story.

Howard, I love the idea of Throwback Thursday! There are so many awesome stories like this one from a few years ago that no one would know about if they weren't bumped up to the first page like this!

Oh, 'n I can't wait for the new story too!

hugggzzz 'n xoxo

~L~
We're on a circuit of an Indian dream
We don't get old, we just get younger
When we're flying down the highway
Riding in our Indian Cars

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Offline howardcosell

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Re: A Friend In Need
« Reply #13 on: March 01, 2013, 03:50:13 AM »
Thank you, Laurie. Your comment means a lot to me now that I'm being reminded of some of the other things about this place LOL.

I'm plotting your story and I'm going to get it done at some point soon. I primarily came back to do your story and I'm going to do it. Then, who knows? I like my freedom  ;)
"When people walk away from you... let them go. Your destiny is never tied to anyone who leaves you... and it doesn't mean they are bad people. It just means that their part in your story is over."