Chapter 7 A Private Beach
“Peter, I need a rest. Even my bones are aching.” Kelly wrestled with the boom.
“Let me help you.” I grabbed the main sheet and secured the flapping sail.“We'll put in -there' a small cove about a mile up. You can even nap there.” I leaned over and kissed her lightly. “You've done really well today.”
After her fight with Alison, Kelly had surprised me. It didn’t surprise me that she’d slept with me – that I'd scored. After all, I’d planned the fight to ensure I would. Nor did it surprise me that, once Kelly gave herself to me, she did so completely. That was how she was – once she was in, she was all in. Our lovemaking that night didn't surprise me either, however much it exceeded my best expectations. What surprised me was what she had said as – after quite a few enjoyable and exhausting hours – we finally left her bedroom. “How long before I can beat her at sailing?” she had asked.
My confusion must have showed on my face, and she had stood there, naked and tousled, with an impish grin on her lovely face. “Peter, pay attention! I want to learn to sail. I want to beat Alison where it will hurt her most. Not in a fight – on the water. She prides herself on her sailing – that’s obvious. I want to show her that I’m better there too.” She looked me directly in the eye, and I felt the steely determination in her. “I want you to teach me. How long before I can beat her?”
“I don't know, Kelly.” I thought for a moment. “A year or so, I guess.” I thought that might dissuade her.
She didn’t even stop to think about it. “Okay…we start this morning! Go home, get some sleep and pick me up at ten.”
We weren't living together then but Kelly knew enough of my habits to know that I always had to prepare at home before leading the training squads at the sailing club at 11.00 each Saturday morning. I needed a lot more sleep, but I knew there was no use arguing – I picked her up at ten. From then on, we practiced every weekend. When I taught the beginners group, Kelly was there helping. She was a good teacher. She surprised me with her patience and her rapport with the teenagers. When we sailed together, she unnerved me with her concentration and her dedication. She never asked if she was good enough to sail against Alison. She knew that she wasn’t – not yet – but we both knew that the day would come. This was Kelly, and she always did what she set out to do.
But right now for all her persistence, all her efforts over the last few months, she was exhausted.“It's not that you don't have the strength,” I consoled her. “You just don't know how to use it – yet. That only comes with practice.” I brought the boat about and steered it into the cove.
“Looks like we have company,” observed Kelly. My heart fell. I knew this small sheltered cove with its tiny beach, an equally small brook flowing across it and into the lake and its grassy banks sloping back into what still looked pristine forest. It was a perfect spot for a lover’s picnic –with all that that might lead to. It seemed that someone else had had the same idea.
As we drew closer, my eyes widened. “Hey, that's Vic's boat.” Vic Hely-Hutchinson may have been a malicious gossip and a snob, but he was a good sailor and a good club member. He'd spent many more hours than I had, coaching the development squad. Not to mention that he did a good deal of work behind the scenes with the club's finances. The other malicious gossips would say that he did it for the prestige and the contacts, and they’d be – at least partly – right. Good sailor and good clubman though he was, I was surprised to see him here. “I thought his – ” I bit off the end of the sentence. I'd been about to say that his wife was away on business. Vic rarely sailed without her. As we approached the shore, I saw it was Vic right enough, and that with him was a rather attractive blonde.
“Maybe we should go find another cove,” Kelly began.
I was surprised. She'd never respected anyone else’s privacy before.
“No honey. If I recognized Vic's boat, he will have recognized mine. If we go now, he’ll just think we’re being rude.” Though I didn't say so to Kelly, Vic would know the reason why we didn’t put in. He’d know we’d seen the blonde, and he’d expect me to think the worst. That’s what he would have done in my place –and the story would be all over the club before the day was out.
I reefed the sail and pulled the centerboard as we glided into the shallows.“Peter Balfour, if I've said it once, I've said it countless times – drag your mind out of the gutter.'”Kelly poked me in the ribs from her seat on the thwart.
“Kelly, my mind's well above the gutter.”
She followed my gaze. “Yeah, it’s fixed on that blonde's rack – just like your eyes,” she said archly and poked me in the ribs again.
I couldn’t deny it. I was staring at the blonde's breasts. She was topless and they were pretty damn impressive. I turned my head to look at Kelly. “You're a masterpiece in God's gallery, honey. She’s just a copy by some student…a poor imitation.” I kissed her.
“Thank you, my dear. That’s so romantic.” Mollified, she kissed me back and giggled.
“Go on, admit it…you were fishing for compliments.”
“Peter, a gentleman doesn’t ask and a lady doesn’t tell that sort of thing.” That was her standard reply in such circumstances. “A gentleman gives compliments graciously and a lady accepts them equally graciously.” I grinned, knowing I was right, whatever she said. She had been after some flattery. She was a perfect beach bunny type – almost too perfect. She wore a bikini better than any swimsuit model. I knew it and she knew that I knew it. She just wanted to be told again. I was happy to oblige.
I dropped anchor and ran the line out, letting it gradually slow the boat to a halt. I jumped out and helped Kelly over the side into knee-deep water. We strode ashore and approached Vic and his companion. “Hello Vic.” I tried to keep my eyes off the blonde. Not only was she topless, but now I saw she was wearing the smallest thong I think I'd ever seen.
“Hello Peter…hi Kelly. Wendy…meet two good friends of mine, Peter Balfour and Kelly Haldane. They help out teaching the junior squad.” He turned to me. “I guess you’re done with them for the day.”
“Yeah,” I confirmed, and turned to Wendy. “Hello…pleased to meet you.” I refrained from reaching out to shake her hand. I didn’t think Kelly would appreciate me touching any part of her. I was careful to keep eye contact. “I don’t think I’ve seen you around before. Do you sail often?”
“No,” she replied, “but my friend Michelle Michaels does…she’s a member of the club.”
I nodded. I knew Michelle – she was a good social sailor. “So what brings you here with Vic, today? – Ugh!” Kelly had elbowed my ribs so hard I stumbled in the sand.
“I’m sorry. Sometimes he forgets the meaning of the word ‘tact’.”Kelly smiled at Vic and Wendy. “Peter, why don’t you go get the hamper?”
“I’ll come with you,” said Vic. “I need to get something from my boat.” We walked down the small beach together. He lowered his voice. “Kelly was a lot more tactless than you. Her ‘apology’ couldn’t be plainer – she was saying Wendy and I are here to fuck.”
I nodded. “Yeah she was. That’s her style.” I decided to be as direct as he and Kelly. “So – are you?”
He grinned. “As it so happens, yeah – we are. But I’d appreciate it if you’d keep it quiet.”
“Don’t sweat it. I won’t tell anyone about your little bit on the side. I’ll ask Kelly not to, either.”
“Thanks. Anyway, I’m sure you had the same idea in mind when you put in here.”
“Yeah, I did, but I don’t have a wife.”
Vic had the decency to blush. He took some towels out of his boat while I grabbed the picnic hamper out of mine, and we walked back up the beach.
“Wendy and I have agreed that we should pool our resources,” Kelly announced on our return. “We’ll have a combined picnic.”
Vic whispered, “I’m sure that was Kelly’s idea.” I nodded. We sat down, shared out our food and wine and chatted for a while.
“Peter,” Kelly said with a yawn after we finished eating, “I’m still tired. I think I need a nap. I’m going to lie down for a while. “Maybe you and Vic should go for a walk.”
“I'm tired too,” Wendy agreed. She too stretched out on a towel, face down on the sand a few yards from Kelly.
“That’s a very unsubtle way of telling us they want a girl talk session.” Vic said quietly. A little louder he added, “Peter, let’s let the sleeping beauties lie. Have you seen the rock pool…about four hundred yards upstream?”
“Yes, it’s a great spot for swimming,” I agreed with feigned enthusiasm. “Let’s go.”
I wasn’t kidding about the rock pool though. It was a great spot, shrouded by majestic oak birch beech and fir trees, so tall and with trunks so huge they must have been more than a century old. The trunks were covered with moss, there were ferns and other understory plants,. It was truly beautiful. The water was cool on the hottest day and so clear that minnows were visible at the bottom, which was deeper than I could dive. We swam for about twenty minutes before we agreed we had had enough and sat on the bank under a tree, listening to the forest sounds.
Vic usually wasn’t much of a conversationalist – not unless he had somebody to trash or pick on, but this time he broke the silence. “Peter, we should record this for a relaxation CD. Add it to a slideshow of the scenery and we could make some easy dollars.”
It was typical of his mindset – crass, always trying to turn whatever he could to his own advantage. He was right though – if you could package this place, it would be a huge seller. I nodded, and even started to turn the idea around in my mind a little.“It wouldn't cost much, Vic. We’d need a good camera to take a slideshow – I think a slideshow would be better than a video. We'd need good sound equipment. That’s easy to get hold of, though. Set it up here, take some photos and record the sound.”
“I can get it burned onto CD's. They’d cost less than a dollar.”
“What about marketing?” I asked.
“That’s the tough part, Peter.”
I nodded, thinking about how to market it. I wasn’t really serious about the idea – it was more of a mental exercise – but it was fun to think about. My thoughts were broken by raised voices. “What’s that?”
“It sounds like the girls have company” Vic replied, frowning and standing up.
“And they’re not happy about it.” By tacit agreement, we got up and immediately made our way back along the shoreline.
“That is one expensive yacht.” Vic whistled at the craft anchored just a short distance from shore, its bow pointed at the beach. I was surprised that it hadn’t run aground in the shallow cove. If the wind swung around much, it undoubtedly would.
More than the yacht though, I had focused on the young mixed family– African American mom, white dad and two small girls. They had presumably arrived on the yacht – a dingy was pulled up on the beach . The woman towered over Wendy who lay on her back on the sand, propped up on her elbows.
“So you think you can tell us where to go?” asked the African American woman ,“Just because you were here first?”
“No, you can go anywhere you like,” replied Wendy. She was still topless and her nipples pointed impudently at the newcomers. “Just so long as you don’t make too much noise –Kelly and I were snoozing before you came. And don’t let your kids kick sand around.”
“They’re just little kids having fun…like any kids on any beach.”
“This isn’t any beach, “argued Wendy. “It’s a small, out of the way, very secluded beach. Not many people come here – and we like to keep it that way. Now…if you don’t mind…” She yawned.
I looked over at Kelly, who had moved a little further up the beach toward the grass. She was sitting quietly with the two children- one thing about Kelly was she could always make friends with children. They just loved her. That was one reason I was glad she helped me with the training squad.
Wendy seemed to have got herself into a dispute- and one Kelly was not hotting up – not that she needed to, judging by the look on the newcomer’s face. Her husband was standing nearby, watching.
I took a closer look at the young mom. She was my sort of woman – big breasted and wide-hipped, curvy but not quite fat. She had a Jane Russell kind of look – voluptuous was the word I was looking for. She had short curly jet-black hair and wore a cream-coloured one-piece swimsuit that set off her caramel skin, with a sarong loosely knotted around her waist. She held a can of soda in her hand.
Kelly caught my eye and coughed loudly. I blushed. She knew how I lusted after full-figured women and I knew how it infuriated her; nothing else came close. It was as though she was scared I was going to leave her for some broad – to use that old fashioned but so appropriate word. I’d never seen her so angry as when I met her off her plane at O’Hare and showed her the pictures of Jenn Peccavi and Fiona Burke fighting. She didn’t mind me lusting after Fiona – she knew Fiona didn’t even rate in my eyes, compared to Kelly herself, just as she knew Wendy didn’t rate either. But she hated the thought of me even looking twice at a woman like the big brunette who she’d systematically taken apart. I knew that was partly why she’d beaten Peccavi so soundly. Kelly had been jealous.
Now she was warning me off the black woman. She needn’t have bothered. I knew my weakness and despite it, I wouldn’t have made a pass even if the woman’s husband and kids weren’t with her. Kelly must have been very jealous to suspect that I might. Instead, I walked over to where the father was standing, keeping a watch on the women and kids. I kept my pace and expression nonchalant – the two women were already bristling at one another and one potential confrontation was enough.
“Now…if you don’t mind,” mimicked the black woman. “No, I don’t mind…just as you won’t mind…and she won’t mind,” she pointed at Kelly, “and they won’t mind,” she indicated Vic and me, “if we all share this nice place together.”
Wendy glowered at the black woman for a moment. She seemed to be lost for words. After all, what the woman was asking was completely reasonable. I took the chance to introduce myself to her husband, as much to diffuse the tension as anything else. “Hey…I'm Peter. My girlfriend Kelly is the quiet one over there. We were out sailing and decided to put in here for a picnic. Vic here – ” I nodded toward him, “ – is a friend from our sailing club.”
“And the…err…” the man paused as though searching for the right word, but I knew was he was also trying to emphasize his own tact and discretion, “rather…loud… blonde?”
“Her name’s Wendy.”
“Oh yes, so if Kelly is your girlfriend- nice lady by the way we had a talk a few moments ago, look how she’s playing with the kids- she,” he pointed to Wendy ‘must be Vic’s…” and again he paused, “…friend.”
I blushed slightly. I knew what this guy was insinuating, and while it was true, and while Vic was a prick to have a mistress when his wife was a wonderful lady, he was still my friend.
He smiled knowingly. “A rather…,” again he paused, “…intimate ’friend’.” It wasn’t exactly a question.
I blushed more, I spluttered something.
He nodded. “I get it. You don’t need to be embarrassed. Though I see your buddy’s wearing a wedding ring. I’m guessing he isn’t married to Wendy. She doesn’t look like the right type for the Lake Michigan Sailing and Yacht Club.” I raised an eyebrow and he added in explanation, “I saw the logo on both your boats.”
Then, perhaps realizing he had indeed embarrassed me, he stretched out his hand “Glad to meet you, Peter. I’m Calvin Stowe. That’s my wife Harriet, and the two balls of energy down there are our daughters Eva and Eliza.”
“Nice to meet you, too.”
I hadn’t been paying too much attention, during our conversation, to the argument between Wendy and Harriet – as I now knew her –but now it seemed to have escalated. The two women were simply restating their earlier positions, with Harriet trying to persuade Wendy to share the beach, and Wendy stubbornly refusing.
“You’re the only one complaining,” said Harriet hotly. She nodded at Kelly again.
“Your friend moved. Your guys aren’t concerned. My kids aren’t bothering you.” I was waiting for her to say “What’s your problem?” but she didn’t.
Wendy was sitting up now.“They flung sand around. Some of it got on my towel.” Her face was dark. It seemed that the more Harriet argued, the more the blonde dug her heels in. A trivial dispute was escalating beyond all reason. I wondered, with more than a little relish, how far it might go.
To complicate matters further, Calvin and Harriet’s two daughters chose that moment to come running back, calling, “Mommy! Daddy!” It shocked me that, if this confrontation continued to escalate, they might see their mother in a fight. I’d never seen a woman fight in front of any children, let alone her own as Harriet, judging by her and Wendy’s body language, seemed increasingly likely to do. I glanced round to see Calvin holding them, one in each arm. They cuddled into him, but their eyes were fixed on their mother and Wendy.
I was about to say something when Calvin strode over to where Kelly sat, and crouched down. “How about you girls go back and play with this nice lady for a little while?” he said brightly, then added to Kelly, “Do you mind?” He indicated his wife and Wendy with a jerk of his head.
Kelly took the cue immediately.“There’s a really great rock pool just up there!” she said. “There are fish and you might even be able to catch one in your hand! Want to come see?”
The girls looked to their father, who smiled. “Go with Miss Kelly, and make sure you do what she tells you.”
They departed, and Calvin came back to stand beside me, looking visibly relieved. I felt the same way, and for a variety of reasons. I remembered – again – how the voluptuous Peccavi had skirmished with a slim blonde before my Kelly had taken her apart. The blonde’s children had been there– that was how the altercation had started and maybe that was why the blonde hadn’t fought back. She had looked strong and wiry, not like Kelly who looked like a beach bunny, or like Peccavi. I had wondered at the time why she hadn’t fought back – maybe it was because her kids were around. Here and now, Wendy and Harriet would have no reason to hold back.
“Your girlfriend is a smart lady,” said Calvin. “I wouldn’t want my girls to see what’s about to happen.”
I nodded. “Yeah, this is going to get physical any second.”
He smiled. “That won’t be a problem. Harriet’s stomped more than her share of blonde insects in the past.”
“I don’t see how a little sand on your towel is such a problem,” Harriet replied to something Wendy had said which I’d missed with the children being underfoot.
“Maybe if you’d just moved a little like your friend did, it wouldn’t have happened in the first place.”
“Whatever,” said Wendy dismissively. She rolled over onto her tummy, turning her back on Harriet, lying prone on the beach. For a moment I thought the argument might be over, but then Wendy added, as though to nobody in particular, “Don’t see why I should move an inch, for you and your damn kids.”
Harriet seemed to swell, and her face hardened. “You…spoiled brat!” She expressed my thought exactly. Then she did what I wouldn’t have done, however, tempted I might have been. She stepped forward and emptied her can of drink over Wendy’s back.
“Bitch!” Wendy scrambled to her knees, turned and flung herself at Harriet, her arms around the other woman’s knees. Harriet crashed heavily to the sand on her back. Before she had a chance to recover, Wendy was onto her, ramming a knee into her side and trying to pin her arms.
Harriet managed to avoid Wendy’s grasping hands and punched Wendy’s cheek hard. The blonde groaned but pressed on, capturing Harriet’s left arm and pinning it beneath her knee. She tried to straddle her struggling opponent but failed as Harriet pushed her hand against Wendy’s chest and shoved hard. Wendy, one leg in the air, overbalanced and almost fell. Before she had a chance to regain her position, Harriet swiftly rolled away and started to stand.
Before Harriet was fully on her feet, Wendy again launched herself forward, this time head butting Harriet’s rounded stomach. Again Harriet fell backwards but his time she dragged Wendy down with her. The two women rolled around, a frantic melee of slaps, punches, kicks, elbows and scratches.
“This insect is fighting back pretty well, even though your wife’s got the advantage in size and weight.” I admired Harriet’s form, from her impressive bust to her strong but shapely legs, revealed now that her sarong had ridden up around her broad hips.“Not that I’m calling her heavy, of course…not at all. What do they say? Well endowed and amply supported?”
Calvin grinned. “Don’t worry, I’m not offended. Harriet’s a big strong girl, and she’ll squash your friend. She started well, but she won’t last long.”
Meanwhile, Harriet and Wendy were still struggling in the sand, each trying to control the other, slapping, punching, kicking and shoving one another. For a moment it seemed that Harriet had achieved her aim, as she pushed Wendy onto her back and pinned one arm. Then Wendy drove her other elbow into Harriet’s side, knocking her opponent back enough that she could bunch her knees up and kick out strongly, forcing Harriet away.
The pace of the fight was too fast for either woman to sustain for long. As Wendy tried to fight her way on top of the black woman, Harriet swung her elbow at Wendy’s sweat-slicked, sand-covered torso. Wendy reared back to dodge the blow. Harriet turned on her side, dislodging her opponent who fell to the sand once more. Harriet rolled further to distance herself from the blonde before getting to her feet. She tore her sarong loose from her waist and threw it aside, standing in only her swimsuit with her knees bent, the muscles of her thighs flexing beneath her skin.
They circled one another, both breathing heavily. Harriet’s skin was speckled with sand. Wendy’s bare breasts were smeared with it, clinging to her sweaty skin. They took turns darting forward, each sparring at the other. Each scored, if only lightly. Wendy ducked back each time Harriet unleashed a real blow, no doubt knowing that a solid punch from the heavier, older woman would be devastating. Harriet, on her part, was apparently content to stand and accept Wendy’s punches, sometimes parrying but never bothering to dodge, perhaps thinking that Wendy would tire herself out. Wendy concentrated on Harriet’s face and shoulders, and broke through her foe’s defenses more often than Harriet who aimed lower, at Wendy’s midriff and sides.
“The insect seems to be doing okay,” I said to Calvin without taking my eyes off the two women.
“Indeed she is,” observed Vic. I had not even seen him come over. I was too intent on the fight. Vic glanced at Calvin. “Yes, I heard what you said. Butterflies and bees are insects too, and this one seems to be floating like the former and stinging like the latter.”
“You seriously think that bratty little princess of yours is going to win?”Calvin asked skeptically.
“I think your wife – and you – are just a little too arrogant,” Vic replied.“Remember, pride goes before a fall.”
Calvin didn’t seem to take offense at the oblique insult. “There's a difference between arrogance and confidence.”
I had to agree with him, but I took Vic’s point too. Calvin and his wife were arrogant. It was the same kind of arrogance that Kelly displayed. I wondered if Harriet had the same level of skill and tenacity to back it up. She certainly seemed to be able to handle herself. Then again, Peccavi had also shown that same arrogance, before Kelly had pounded her. I caught myself – there I was again, thinking of that big brunette, so like Harriet in build.
Suddenly and with deceptive speed, Harriet surged forward, hammering Wendy’s body with a left right combination that left the blonde gasping, but able to retreat and buy a few seconds respite. Harriet strode forward again, but was brought up short by Wendy’s high kick aimed at her stomach. I was impressed as well as surprised. That move showed training as well as skill. The kick connected and Harriet groaned. She almost doubled up and lurched forward to keep her balance and remain on her feet. Wendy smirked, glancing at Vic, and stepped forward, grabbing for Harriet’s close cropped curls.
Vic chortled, “Confidence you said, Calvin. Maybe that should be over confidence!” He added, almost to himself, “Nature, red in tooth and claw… the primal struggle.”
Wendy raised her knee, clearly aiming to pull Harriet’s face down onto it. Harriet swung her head to the side, taking the knee in her shoulder, and stepped into the blonde, clutching Wendy around the waist. She drove forward, her thighs rippling as she strove to drive Wendy to the sand. Wendy twisted herself sideways and wrenched hard at Harriet’s hair, making Harriet stumble and release her grip. Wendy retreated as Harriet stood, regaining her balance. Breathing heavily, she again closed on the blonde, firing punches.
“My 'princess' is taking the fight to your wife,” Vic said proudly. He watched the fight intently, his eyes wide, focused on Wendy.
“She’s doing better than I thought she would,” Calvin conceded. He looked at me, as if wanting a reaction.
I shook my head. I didn’t have any emotional capital invested in this fight. I could just watch and enjoy it. “Wendy’s light on her feet, nimble and swift. Harriet’s bigger, hits hard. She clearly has stamina and…” I paused, again copying Calvin 's trick of a few moments ago, “…experience.”
“Yes,” Calvin answered my implied question. “Harriet’s fought many times. She knows it arouses me to see her take some bitch apart and make an example of her.” He turned to Vic. “Just like she’ll do here.”
“Wendy's won her fights too!” argued Vic. “She’s no pushover, as you can see.”
Once more Wendy circled an almost stationary Harriet, lunging in at intervals to deliver some sharp blows to the older woman’s head. Harriet parried most, deflecting them with her forearm. Some she avoided by ducking but a few got through, though they didn’t seem to affect her terribly much. I wondered if Wendy was tiring. If the black woman’s tactic was to wear Wendy down, it might be working. I found myself wondering what ‘make an example of her’ meant but of course I was prejudging the issue, just as Kelly had turned the tables on Peccavi when I’d been cheering for that voluptuous, strong brunette, so Wendy might yet defeat Harriet.
Harriet’s defensive tactic encouraged Wendy to close, which she did. That allowed Harriet to unleash a massive uppercut, stepping in, she drove her fist up under Wendy’s left breast. Wendy gasped and dropped back, panting. The punch had clearly hurt her. Harriet pressed her advantage, though somewhat more circumspectly than before, jabbing at Wendy’s rack as the blonde retreated. Wendy got her arms up and covered, protecting her chest, blocking Harriet’s attacks. Again moving faster than I thought a big woman would, Harriet ducked to the side and kicked. Wendy realized that Harriet’s jabs had been feints, but too late to avoid the foot that slammed into her stomach. She doubled over, holding her middle as she retreated across the sand.
Harriet smirked. “Can’t take your own medicine, bitch!” She seized a fistful of Wendy’s blonde tresses and yanked hard, stepping to the side, pulling Wendy off balance and sending her enemy down to the sand.
Wendy retained enough wherewithal to roll away, and scrambled to her knees. Harriet stood back a little, letting her rise. Wendy was almost to her feet when Harriet lunged again, her head and shoulder down. Her lowered shoulder struck Wendy’s cleavage full on, crushing her breasts against her ribs. Wendy wailed, and only by clutching at Harriet’s hair did she prevent herself from falling. Harriet shoved her backwards hard, and Wendy let go, backing away quickly She stood panting a few yards off, her mouth hanging open as she gasped for air, her bare breasts heaving .
Harriet closed in, moving deliberately, her pace showing she too had suffered. The two women sparred once more, with light punches. Wendy was no longer dancing around Harriet, and nor was Harriet slamming heavy punches into the blonde like before. Both women moved slowly, watchfully, conserving what stamina they had left.
“You're quiet, Peter,” Vic said.
“Yes.” I didn’t take my eyes off the fight.
“A curt answer. I know you like women – especially your Kelly – fighting. After all, that's how you met.”
I wondered how he knew that. “I'm watching the fight.”
“I noticed…but watching a fight hasn't stopped you talking about it before. You're wondering how your Kelly would fare against Harriet.”
I blushed. Indeed I was, or more correctly I was fantasising about the prospect of such a fight. It didn't bear thinking about. I'd even tried to clear it from my head by thinking about a new production process for the factory. That hadn’t worked. I was glad when the lull ended. It gave me something more immediate to think about.
Wendy crouched, then sprang up, her shoulder forward aiming to strike Harriet in her midriff. Harriet again displayed a speed deceptive for her size and swung to her side to dodge the attack. She partly succeeded. Wendy’s shoulder missed but Wendy had flung her arms out and managed to wrap them around Harriet’s waist. Her momentum carried the rivals some paces across the sand as Harriet back-pedaled to retain her balance. Wendy let go of Harriet’s waist but then lunged again and body slammed the bigger woman with her foot splayed out behind Harriet’s.
It was the same trick that Peccavi had tried to fool Kelly with, that day on the beach, but Harriet was too experienced to be caught by it. She stepped back, bracing herself and then, as the lighter woman’s thrust spent itself, she pushed forward, driving Wendy back a pace or two. Wendy too braced herself and tried to press back, her hands pushing hard on Harriet’s shoulders. She failed. She was simply too light to make an impression on the strong, solid Harriet. Worse, she put all her strength into the attempt. When Harriet abruptly sidestepped, Wendy’s own effort carried her forward past her opponent. Stumbling and trying desperately to stay on her feet, she ran right into Harriet’s out flung knee which sank into her exposed belly. She folded over and nearly fell.
Giving Wendy no chance to recover now, Harriet seized the blonde’s left hand in both of her own. She started turning, slowly at first, just rotating on the one spot in the sand but dragging Wendy with her. She increased her speed, never giving Wendy a real chance to regain her footing, forcing the blonde to stumble after her as she turned. Judging her moment perfectly, just before Wendy lost her balance completely and dropped to the sand, Harriet let the blonde go. Wendy stumbled away, tripped and fell backwards just where the beach ended and the grass began.
She lay gasping, struggling to push herself up, at the same time trying to keep Harriet at bay by kicking in the air. Harriet sidestepped the kicks and before Wendy could roll away, she stomped on Wendy’s stomach with her full weight. Wendy groaned as her eyes flew open wide.
For a moment again I thought of that fight between Kelly and Peccavi – it was almost as though Wendy and Harriet were surrogates for the other two women, but the ending to this fight was about to be very different. Harriet was about to finish Wendy. It was clear to anyone that the blonde had nothing left. I had a sudden thought of what might have happened, had Peccavi won and Kelly lost that day. I had a vision of the strong, voluptuous brunette’s leg crushing Kelly’s midsection just as Harriet’s was crushing Wendy’s now. In my mind’s eye it was Kelly, not Peccavi mewling piteously in defeat. It occurred to me that my life might be very different right now, if that had happened.
Harriet stomped again. Wendy made only a faint attempt to protect herself. As the black woman’s foot drove deep into her tummy, she convulsed. Harriet stepped astride the whimpering blonde and dropped to her knees, straddling the beaten Wendy. Mercilessly she seized Wendy’s head, pulled it up then slammed it into the grass– three times. Wendy’s body went limp.
“Stop it.” I decided it was time to step in, before Wendy got seriously hurt. “You’ve done enough. You’ve won. Don’t torture the girl.”
Vic interrupted me. “What are you, some kind of sadist?” He stepped over. “Get off her. You’ve beaten her. It’s over.”
Harriet turned her eyes up to him. “She hasn’t apologized…hasn’t conceded!”
“She’s all but unconscious!” Vic knelt beside Wendy. Her eyes were open and she moaned, but she was clearly out of it.
“He’s right, honey.” Calvin added his opinion to mine and Vic’s. “Let’s not set a bad example for the kids.” I glanced over my shoulder at the mention of the children.
They were still out of sight around the point.
Harriet took a deep breath and let it out in a long sigh. “Ok then.” She seemed to be struggling to calm herself. Finally she rose and stepped back, dusting the sand off herself. Calvin slipped an arm around her waist and kissed her lightly.
“Wendy?” Vic asked tenderly, leaning over her, “Are you ok?”Wendy mumbled something that I didn’t hear. “It’s ok, babe.” Vic continued. He slipped his arm under Wendy and helped her to her feet, keeping his arm around her as she swayed unsteadily. “Let’s go.”With Vic almost carrying her, they made their way to his boat. I followed them, carrying his hamper and their towels.
Vic got Wendy settled, as comfortably as possible. “I’ll see you around,” he said as I helped him push his boat off toward deeper water. I watched him raise the sail and point the bow out of the cove, then turned and made my way back up the beach.
Kelly and the two girls had returned. The children were babbling excitedly about the rock pool.
“Surprising…Vic was almost a gentleman,” Kelly said as I approached. I slipped an arm around her shoulders. “Now we’ve all met, and I’ve had a great time with these two lovely young ladies…” She smiled at the two children, who smiled back, Kelly had clearly made some new friends. “…shall we continue our picnic with each other?”
After watching the fight, I had other things on my mind, and I hoped that Kelly would have, too. Nevertheless, I settled for the picnic. Calvin and Harriet turned out to be excellent company. We exchanged phone numbers and agreed to meet again. After they left, Kelly and I had the beach to ourselves. It was then that Kelly gave me that special look – and shortly thereafter, surpassed my wildest expectations.
My thanks to the original of Wendy for her suggestions and her willingness to appear in this story, to The Scribbler and to my other wonderful editor Kyle for their help. I hope you like it. Comments are always welcome
