chapter 9 Bad girls at the beach bar
Being a bad girl was good! I should have learned that lesson a long time ago. I should have seen how Jo St Leon got her way all the time. She had a gang of harpies around her. They flocked to her because she fought and won her fights and stood over everyone to get her own way. She got the boys flocking around her too. Again it was the bad girl image.
Now I’d proved I was more of a bad girl than she was. She’d picked on me. Her gang had picked on me. For a few weeks they’d made my life at work hell. Then St Leon had picked another fight with me. It was the night we – all the girls from Vaughan Herbert and Donne – were conscripted by Kelly Haldane to help out at a charity function at the sailing club where Kelly and her boyfriend were members. We were drinks waitresses, but really we were eye candy for the older men there. St Leon had gone too far. I’d fought back but she’d been about to win when I’d gouged her eye. That had turned the fight around. I’d been able to pummel her guts till she couldn’t take it any longer. When she’d finally slumped to the floor, I’d finished her off by stomping on her gut.
After that, all her gang stopped picking on me. No more stealing things from my files. No more petty vandalism of my desk. Once they’d jostled me in the corridor, but now they stood aside for me when I walked by. Of course, it hadn't happened overnight. The Monday after my fight with St Leon, Baur got to work about the same time I did. She made some snide comment under her breath about 'dirty fighters'. She muttered it softly but it was obvious she expected me to hear it – and I did. I whirled around hissing, “Just as dirty as you and your gang!” I swung my elbow straight into her soft gut. She'd made the mistake of standing too close to me. Totally unprepared, she doubled up gasping. I body slammed her into the wall. She groaned. I laughed, “Don't mess with me again!” and walked off.
There were one or two more 'incidents' before they left me alone completely. The last time was one evening, not quite two weeks after the fight with St Leon. I was working late and I heard Suzette Luke’s voice across the quiet office. Suzette was a friend – or at least she had been not a close friend but an office friend, and I liked her. It wasn't so much the words, “No...no,” but her tone that made me get up and walk barefoot – I’d kicked my heels off earlier – over to her cubicle. I found Maria Gomez, one of St Leon’s cronies, standing over a seated, flustered Suzette. Neither of them noticed me at first and I listened for a moment. Gomez was bullying Suzette. Still unaware of me watching, she gripped Suzette's chair and slammed it forward, squashing Suzette's stomach between the chair and the edge of her desk. Suzette groaned.
I stepped into the cubicle, grabbed Gomez from behind and slammed her back against the partition. I followed that up by kneeing her in her soft belly – not once but three times. She sank to her knees. I seized her ears. I slammed the back of her head into the cubicle wall. “Don't mess with my friends again!”
I waited until she slunk away before I turned back to Suzette, who was looking at me fearfully. Like most of the girls in the office, she’d heard about the eye-gouging incident with St Leon and had distanced herself from me since then. “Tell me if they give you any more problems.” I didn’t bother asking her what Gomez had been hassling her about. Instead I just helped her clean up, then walked with her to the L station where I bought her a coffee.
One reason St Leon's cronies stopped persecuting me was that St Leon herself wasn't around to give them a rallying point. St Leon had been moved to the new events management team, full time – despite her failings. . That team was in our building but was three floors away. There was a floor occupied by another company between us. Vaughan Herbert and Donne had had to put up with that to get more space in the same building. We never saw St Leon or any of the events management team – and that suited me just fine. I knew she'd look after her cronies if she were around. I knew she'd start bullying me again. I knew she'd even fight me again. I had no illusions that she'd probably beat me, and beat me bad. She and I both knew how close she'd been to destroying me all over again when we last fought. No one else knew that though, and she wasn't around to tell her cronies or to lean on me again.
No, I was very grateful that St Leon had been moved. It seemed moved sideways, and that was another reason I was glad. She and I had been rivals for promotion to a team leader's position. She'd gotten that, in the events management section, but now she had to build her own team. I knew I was next in line for internal promotion in my section. I knew too that Kelly Haldane was pressing my case for me.
That wasn't all Kelly had done for me, either. There was a basket of flowers on my desk on the Monday morning after my fight with Jo St Leon, along with a note “Thanks for everything you did last week. Kelly.” The word ‘everything’ was underlined and followed by a little winking emoticon.
For the rest of the working year and into early January, I seemed to float along. I realised by then that Kelly had seized on the creation of the events group to finesse St Leon like a bridge player discarding a card she didn't want. St Leon’s clique realised it too. They knew their days were numbered. The office had a completely different tone.
Work was great. I’d rebuilt my friendships there. It wasn’t just that everyone wanted to be my friend now that I was again the shining star in line for promotion. That might have been a part of it. So was the fact I was happy and confident again. It’s natural to want to be with ‘the rising person’, just as it’s natural to want to be with someone who’s happy and outgoing. There was more to it than that though. My sister Bella put her finger on it. “Beth, you’re likeable again. You’re no longer letting your inner bitch break through.” She spoilt the compliment by continuing, “But you need to root out your inner bitch. All that bad attitude needs to go.”
Bella just didn’t understand. She didn’t know that fighting was my drug of choice. She didn’t know that I got the greatest high imaginable from it – at least when I was winning – and I wasn’t about to tell her. She didn’t understand that it was the ‘bad girl attitude’ that had gotten me so far in – and since – my second fight with St Leon.
Kelly Haldane understood. More than that, she fostered that attitude. She didn’t call it that, of course. She called it ‘having backbone’ which sounded a whole lot better than ‘bad girl attitude.’ But it meant the same thing. Kelly knew it just as well as I did.
The only thing that hadn’t changed for the better was my love life – or the lack of it. I still didn’t have a decent guy. Yes, I’d met a few. I’d had a couple of men – older than me – ask me for my phone number at Kelly’s function. I’d met some others in bars and even dated a little. But none of them ticked the boxes for me.
Bella was good. She understood my loneliness. She often asked me along when she went out with her boyfriend Stephen. Usually, I didn’t go – I didn’t want to be in their way – but one night, when they were going to Emily’s for a meal, I decided to tag along. I could always find some company there and even if the place was almost empty, there was always Emily herself to talk to.
This night, the place was pretty full. That was unusual for winter. We ordered some drinks, along with cannelloni for me and lasagne for Stephen and Bella, and waited while Wayne, Emily's bartender, served up the drinks. “What's up?” I asked. “The place is alive tonight.”
“You missed the fun.” He jerked his head sideways. “Yeah...those actresses again. Drive me crazy. That tall one...” I looked where he gestured. There was a group of them – that arrogant snob Kim Curzon who'd so completely lost the fight she'd picked with me, along with a couple of others standing around a blonde as tall as me. The blonde’s face was a little battered looking, her clothes askew. She was glowing. I knew that look – victory after a hard fight.
“What happened, Wayne?”
It wasn’t Wayne who answered. “Hildy Johnson tried to stand over Kim and Odette. She got what was coming to her.” Stewart James broke into the conversation.
“It's not hard to stand over Kim Curzon,” I started, but a warning shake of the head from Emily, who had stepped up beside Wayne, stopped me. I changed tack. “Kim's small.”
“In size...but not in heart, spirit or ability.” Stewart half smiled then turned back to the bar. “Wayne, I'd like a bottle of Champagne in an ice bucket, please.”
Emily took a bottle from the refrigerator behind her and put in on the bar. “Wayne...it's on the house!”
“Emily, that's most gracious and very generous of you.” Stewart almost bowed.
“My pleasure, Stewart. I don't like that 'journalist,'” the sneer in Emily's voice would have cut steel, “any more than your friends do. But I have to bottle that dislike up. She's a customer, after all.” She turned to me. “Your boss and some of her friends just helped Hildy out. You only missed her by a few moments.” She turned back to Stewart, whose eyebrows were raised enquiringly. “She works with Kelly Haldane,” she explained.
“Then you are as smart as you are beautiful,” Stewart said to me with a smile as he almost bowed again. “Ms Haldane is most selective with her colleagues. But I must get back to my friends. Adieu, ladies.” He walked off.
“Is that guy gay?” asked Wayne tentatively. “Anyone who behaves like that...”
“Hardly. A real ladies’ man.” I watched him sit down next to Kim Curzon. “Even whores, apparently. It’s just that Stewart is a little…”
“Beth, I had to hush you up,” Emily cut me off. “You were about to badmouth Kim in front of Stewart. Yeah, she may well deserve it. Hildy’s not the only customer I don't like. Stewart on the other hand...” Emily shook her head. “Kim has no brains. She spurns a man who dotes on her, who'd be so good for her, and instead she hooks up with one guy after another. She says Stu's a flirt. She should talk!” She paused, smiled and went on, “Though maybe Kim has a point. Stewart was asking a lot of questions about you, that night when your sister thrashed Lucia. He seemed quite interested in you. He wanted chapter and verse on your fights here...the one with Kim, then that blonde. And yeah, Stu usually has his arm around some woman’s waist. ” She shrugged. “Maybe Kim’s right after all.” She smiled and went to serve some other customers as Wayne returned with our meals. I took them back to our table.
A while later I was at the bar again getting another round of drinks. Wayne served me. Then his mouth dropped open. “Shit!” he whispered as he looked over my shoulder at the group of actresses, then back at a gaggle of people who'd just walked in. I followed his look. They were young, a few guys and a few girls in their early twenties, I guessed.
“What's wrong, Wayne?” I asked.
“Kim Curzon and that little blonde...” He pointed to one of the new arrivals who was about Kim's size – five foot three but more slightly built. She was younger too – she looked about twenty. “...got into a big catfight. Kim kicked her ass!” He must have seen my astonished look, and laughed. “Don't look at me like that! Kim came close to beating you. Emily told me. If she'd been sober she would have.”
He stopped and shook his head. “Nah, what am I saying? If she'd been sober, no way in hell she'd picked that fight. Not that she's a wimp and doesn't fight when she's sober...she's vicious and stuck up, drunk or sober. Mean as a two-headed snake. No, she'd have sized you up first. You're a lot bigger and you look strong and tough too...and she knows you hang out with other girls who fight. No...if she was sober, Kim wouldn’t have picked on you.” He paused again, then added, “I guess she didn't pick on Carissa either.”
“Go on...what happened?” I wanted to know.
“Kim was over there on her own, waiting for some friends. They turned up later. That young guy Carissa just put her arm round his waist...see him?” I nodded. He looked to be in his early – maybe mid – twenties. “He started talking to Kim. I heard some of it. The boy had seen Kim in the Rocky Horror Picture Show. He sounded awestruck to be talking to a real live 'star'.
“Kim played it for all she was worth. She was the cool, experienced, knowing older woman. Reminded me of that classy supermodel Carol Alt and that hockey player she married...Ron Greschner. The Beauty and the Beast. Do you know they came into this joint once for brats and beer?” He chuckled. “I didn’t even want to serve Greschner…he was with the Rangers...but the boss made me do it … Go Blackhawks! Not that Greshner was younger than Carol Alt. He was older and she was way more sophisticated. She's written books and she's an actress as well as a model. Another couple...older woman, younger guy...is Julianne Moore, the actress. She's been in everything from Speilberg films to Oscar Wilde plays. Yeah, I got that from Kim. Anyway, she married Bart Freundlich, who’s nine years younger and was just about unknown when she started to date him.”
Wayne seemed to realise he was wandering off topic. “Anyway, Kim got him to light her a cigarette. Then she took it from her lips and put in his...yeah, like the women used to do on those old movies. He lit her up another one. In maybe fifteen minutes, she had this chump eating out of her hand.” He chuckled again. “What a sucker! Guess he'd have wanted to eat her out too. Not that Kim would let him. She's a real ice maiden...a flirt, a tease. I’m betting not many get past first base with her. As for this kid? Can’t imagine him crossing the plate with any of Kim's friends. He might as well be playing for the Cubs this year.
“So Kim was playing the guy...she'd caught him and was reeling him in like a fish when Carissa...the little blonde...came in. She took one look at the two of them and went white as a ghost. She went over and joined them. Not smart. She was no match for Kim. I couldn't hear it all but it was pretty obvious Kim was turning on the charm. The guy was like a planet orbiting round her...all over her like white on rice. Carissa could have been on Jupiter. She kept trying to break into the conversation, but they were just ignoring her.
“Finally Kim puffed smoke in her face. Carissa coughed. The dude said something. I couldn’t hear it but whatever it was, it sent Carissa batshit crazy. She walloped Kim's face with a smack that you could have heard in Michigan. I mean in Tiger Stadium! It knocked Kim's cigarette right out of her mouth, the drink out of her hand and sent her stumbling into the wall of a booth.
“Carissa stood there. Another bad move...she should have beat feet for the door. Kim picked herself up, shook her head and punched the little blonde under the chin. Carissa's head snapped back and I thought she was going down on her butt but instead she seized a fistful of red hair, dug in knuckle deep and pulled hard. Stepping sideways...she was fast on her feet...she yanked the squealing broad forward and swung her round. I think Kim was still dazed from being slammed into the booth. She was about to get more dazed too! Carissa was still holding Kim by the hair and she body-slammed her into the booth again. Yeah, Carissa's small but so is Kim, so she didn’t have a weight handicap. So Carissa had Kim reeling. She was on Queer Street. She was groping around, searching for Carissa like she couldn’t see straight.
“Yeah, so Kim was fucked up and Carissa seized her chance. She yanked hard, bending Kim over at the waist. She yanked hair...yeah, like she was trying to bald Kim. There was red hair flying everywhere. Kim was still trying to find Carissa and not hitting much. Enough to make Carissa give up her grip on Kim's hair, but not enough to turn the fight around. The blonde was just faster. No, that's not quite true. She was faster than Kim but it wasn’t just about speed. She was faster
and more agile. She leapt in the air, she leapt sideways, she jumped back and forth. And it seemed like whenever she was in the air, she'd kick. Never seen a girl so small kick so hard. She had Kim reeling again. Any time Kim tried to grab her, she'd just sidestep, leap up and kick Kim again.
‘Finally Kim did grab Carissa but it didn't do her much good. Carissa grabbed her hair again and dragged her around the floor, slamming Kim's butt into the booth and her sides into a table. She was literally bouncing Kim off the furniture.”
“Excuse me. What’s a girl got to do to get a drink around here?” A new voice broke into Wayne’s story.
I turned to look at the speaker. She had just appeared next to me. Not more than ten seconds ago there had been no one there. She was one of the people who’d walked in with Carissa. In fact she looked a lot like Carissa – not twins, not sisters but cousins perhaps. They were both no more than five foot three but unlike Carissa, this girl had long brown hair. She was skinnier than Carissa too – I’d say no more than ninety five pounds, soaking wet. She wore a short sleeveless dress with a bold geometric pattern that looked vaguely Egyptian.
“I don’t think you were kept waiting long.” I said, not sure whether she was serious or kidding.
“Long enough to hear you gossiping about my friend Carissa,” she said shortly. “Maybe I can get some service when the bartender stops badmouthing her and when
you stop hitting on the bartender.” She tossed her head dismissively. “Never mind...Wayne only badmouths good people. It's almost a badge of honour to have him dump on you. And he is
sooooo cute. I can understand anyone wanting to hit on him.” She gave me a glare, then another at Wayne. She ordered some drinks. Wayne got them and she went away.
“How rude was that, Wayne!” I said, looking after her as she returned to her table.
He shrugged. “Hannah’s the bad girl in that crowd. She’s just a brat who can’t resist running her mouth. And she’s a trouble maker...she sets others up for fights.”
I decided that Ms Hannah and I would see who the real bad girl was – soon – but for now I wanted to hear the rest of Wayne’s story. “You were telling me about that fight.”
“Oh yeah...it was a real show. It couldn’t last, though. Kim’s too good a fighter.” Again Wayne caught my surprised expression. “She really is, and you know it. She had you on the ropes a few times.” I coloured. I didn't like admitting he was right.
Wayne went on. “So anyway, it went on a little longer. Kim was struggling to get some traction. Carissa let go of Kim's hair and pushed her hard...shoved Kim hard, back into the booth. Kim let out a really loud 'Oh shit!’ and her legs seemed to buckle as Carissa punched her hard in her stomach. Kim threw her hands up and just managed to deflect a follow-up blow. She edged to her left as Carissa came after her again.
“Then I saw Carissa stumble. Just like that, Kim had thrust her leg out and tripped the blonde. Kim took the chance and escaped to the open bar. For a few moments she seemed like she couldn’t do any more than just avoid the blonde's attacks. Carissa was pouring it on, all confidence, but avoid them Kim did. Carissa got a few light blows landed on Kim but they didn't do a lot. Yeah, Kim gasped when they hit her but Carissa wasn't really slugging hard. Besides, Kim was getting wise to her kicks now. She'd step back or to the side whenever Carissa fired one off at her. Carissa didn't seem to have the edge...not after Kim seized an ankle and wrenched it up.
“Kim was starting to do some damage of her own too. She punched the blonde hard in the gut. Carissa's mouth erupted spit and air. Kim was cackling, 'Not so tough now. I'm going to fuck you up, little girl!' Carissa wasn’t too keen on kicking after that. Kim almost landed her on her butt on the floor a couple times and she was on the defensive now. She’d made the mistake of letting Kim recover and the redhead was getting more coordinated, more stable and lighter on her feet by the minute.
“Mind you, Kim still couldn't land a blow on Carissa though it wasn't for want of trying. Kim launched a few slugging punches, any of which t would have hammered the blonde if they had hit...but they didn't. Kim might have got her mobility back but she was still a poor second to the nimble little blonde. Carissa kept her distance whenever she could. When Kim closed, Carissa was able to dodge or duck and often land a punch that pushed Kim back again.
“Kim's eventually hit Carissa when the blonde mistimed and left it too late to duck Even so, Kim's punch only hit the top of Carissa's head, and Carissa retaliated with another punch to Kim's stomach. The redhead was all stretched out and the blow hit her abs hard. Kim gagged...you could have heard her moan of pain, all the way in Wrigley Field.
“Carissa got more confident still. Yeah, again she was all over Kim. She stepped up her attack, closing in. She forced the redhead back. Kim was panting...she was running out of steam. She was wearing this leopard skin patterned top and her boobs were heaving, putting on a show of their own.”
I interrupted him. “Yeah...what were they wearing?”
“Both were casual. Like I said, Kim was wearing a leopard print top. It was short...her stomach and forearms were bare. She had some kind of designer label denim cutoffs on, and sneakers...wavy red hair all fluffed up...very stylish. Her face was made up even though she'd been on the beach. Carissa had come from the beach too. She still had a bikini top on, with frayed bleached denim cutoffs and flip flops though she kicked them off to fight. No makeup. Yeah...it was the flame-haired firecracker against the girl next door. When it came to the guy, Carissa had no chance...Kim had the silly kid wrapped around her little finger...but the fight looked like it was gonna be different.”
I nodded. “Go on. Sorry to interrupt you.”
”Kim sure was struggling now. Carissa was firing punches left and right. She was starting to hit Kim more often, and harder too. She aimed...and hit...mainly at Kim's upper body...her chest, her shoulders. Kim was gasping and gagging. Carissa got in close and Kim stepped back. The blonde was chasing after her.
“Then suddenly Carissa doubled up clutching her tummy. Kim had kneed her! Carissa staggered backwards and Kim came after her, faster than she retreated but she still wasn't able to get a solid hit on Carissa. I guess Carissa was too bunched up to make a target. Yeah, Kim got her in the ribs a few times but she didn’t do much damage. Then Kim wised up and grabbed Carissa's hair. She swung her knee up and hammered Carissa's stomach...not just once but three times. Each time Kim's knee thudded into Carissa's abs, Carissa groaned. The third time, Carissa dropped to her knees, moaning.”
Wayne paused. “I think if Kim had walked right then, Carissa wouldn't have fought on. Carissa's a good kid.”
“Why was she fighting, then? You told me she started it.”
“It sounds corny, but I think she was fighting for her man. She's pretty self-conscious. She knew she'd seem naïve...outclassed by the sophisticated Ms Curzon in front of her friends. So she’d fought Kim and everyone would see she'd given Kim a hard time. She'd lost but at least she'd tried. People would respect her for that.
“But no, Ms Curzon's too vicious for to end a fight half won. For all her sophisticated ways, she's meaner than a sewer rat. Instead of letting Carissa be, Kim first let her stand up and then grabbed a fistful of her hair. She turned Carissa around, grabbed the back of her neck and tried to drive Carissa's side into the wall of the booth. She couldn't...maybe if Carissa was wearing a blouse but she wasn't and Kim couldn't get the traction she needed from just holding her neck. Carissa wriggled out and ducked down. She head-butted Kim right in the stomach. Kim made a sort of whooshing sound as she doubled up, clutching her belly. Yeah...kinda served her right.
“Carissa got to her feet and backed away. I could see both girls were suffering...panting for breath. Kim tried to go after Carissa again and she got in two hard slugs...one on Carissa's chest, the other on her side. Then for a while, Carissa evaded her. She was still faster. Kim was gasping a lot harder that Carissa was...completely out of steam. Yeah, all those cigarettes will do that to you.
“Carissa got her breath back and counterattacked. She slapped, she punched, she kicked. She was mixing it up, hitting at Kim's face, her thighs and her stomach. Kim was hard pressed to hold her off. She had one hand down guarding her stomach. I'm sure she's had that belly of hers hammered just like you did to her later on.” Wayne smiled and all but licked his lips. “Maybe she'd learned the hard way...sober or not, she had to protect herself downstairs. And not to underestimate anybody but she forgot that with you. She got too arrogant again.
“Anyway...with her other hand, Kim attacked, lobbing punches...not the hard slugging ones she'd tried before though, or the lighter ones that Carissa was throwing at her.
“Carissa was circling, trying to keep away from Kim's fists and to get some blows of her own in. She was raining light punches down on Kim, who parried most but not all of them. Kim standing more than moving. She blocked Carissa's blows rather than dodging them. When Carissa managed to hit Kim, it made her gasp and wince but didn't seem to faze her much. She hit back when she saw a chance...and those chances came. Her punches did damage to Carissa. They were well aimed, they were hard and they had all of Kim's weight behind them. Each one that landed...and most of them did...made Carissa stagger. The little blonde was starting to take a lot of punishment.
“Yeah, the advantage had shifted now and Kim knew it. She started to smile...a nasty, cruel smile. It took Carissa a moment longer to realise she was in trouble. She'd backed off a pace or two each time Kim had hit her...and Kim kept on hitting her. Not that hard, but hard enough...harder than Carissa was hitting Kim. The blonde wasn't hitting her enemy that often now. Kim was parrying more. Carissa was on the defensive.
“Then Carissa suddenly ran out of room. Yeah, she'd hit the booth behind her. Her face went white. Kim saw, and smirked. She began to lay into the blonde in earnest. She'd been rat smart and trapped her enemy. She just about had Carissa where she wanted her. She fired a right-left combo to Carissa’s bare middle. Carissa just managed to stay upright. She parried the next blow but not the one after that, which hammered her side. She'd stepped to her left a little, or it would have hit her fair in her navel. She tried a counter attack...her knee flashed up. Kim blocked it with her thigh...at a cost though. Kim groaned and staggered. Carissa fired another punch...a heavier one. It hit Kim's shoulder, rocking her back a pace. Then Kim feinted...jabbing her right fist at Carissa’s left side as if to stop her from escaping. Carissa parried the feint but that left her open and Kim’s left fist thundered into Carissa's stomach. The blonde was just outclassed. She’d never seen that coming. Her mouth opened. Spit sprayed out all over the place. Kim had just about winded her.
“Kim sneered at her. “’Why don't you just give up little girl?’
“Carissa groaned. ‘Oh…oh god!’ She was bent over, her left arm down to protect her belly. She jabbed weakly at Kim's chest with her right but she never even came close. The actress parried the blow with a sweep of her arm, without even trying, like she was swatting away a fly.
“As her right fist crashed into Carissa's stomach again Kim sneered “Did you think you could fight me?”
“Carissa folded up like laundry. She was barely able to stay on her feet, clutching her stomach and moaning.
“Kim stepped back. ‘Come on, little girl...give it your best shot.’ She waited till Carissa stood upright, then she slugged the blonde again. Carissa shook all the way to her toes. Kim cackled, taunting her. ‘Come on, fight me, you little weakling!’ Carissa staggered again. Yeah...it was all she could do to stay upright.
“Kim half turned. She looked over at the guy she'd been chatting with...Carissa's boyfriend. ‘Don't know what you see in her. No conversation, she can't fight...I hope she's a good fuck.’ She turned back to Carissa. ‘Oh...fish symbol necklace. I guess you're a good Christian girl. Wow...your guy lucked out there too!’ she said spitefully.
“Carissa made some kind of sobbing sound...I think she was begging. Kim just laughed at her. ‘Can't talk, can't fight, won't fuck! At least you make a good punching bag!’ She fired a left-right combo at Carissa's middle and Carissa’s legs gave out. She slid down to the floor. Kim gave her one last kick, then she walked over to Carissa's boyfriend, patted him on the cheek and said, 'So long...it’s been nice knowing you but I don't cradle snatch.' She kissed him lightly and walked over to the bar. Like nothing had even happened, she said to me, 'Now that I've disposed of Ms Goody two shoes over there, get me a double scotch.'
”That was when Stewart James came up behind her and scooped her off her feet. 'Champagne for my winning leading lady!' He kissed her.
“I said to her, ‘Kim, you went too far. She might have started the fight but you didn't need to destroy her like that. One day, someone's going to do that to you.'
“She laughed. 'Like that's ever going to happen!' Stewart carried her away. I mean
actually picked her up and carried her off.” Wayne shook his head. “You can see why I think he’s gay...all his gestures are way over the top.” Then he smiled at me. “And you proved Kim wrong. You
did destroy her.” He looked around quickly, then got me a bottle of white wine. “It's on the house. I don't like that bitch. You'd better get back to your sister. She'll think you've been trying to hit on me and if that gets back to Trudi, I'll be in all sorts of crap. ”
I did as Wayne suggested, at least partly. Bella and Stephen were happy enough on their own so I detoured slightly on the way back to the table. I wanted a better look at the girl who'd beaten Hildy Johnston, and I also wanted to remind Kim who'd destroyed her a few months ago. “Hey Stewart! Nice to see you!” I waved as I passed. He smiled and waved back. I stopped, smiling invitingly at him, pushing my chest out just a little. “I’m here with Bella and Stephen. Maybe we’ll see you later?”
Kim gulped as she heard my voice. She whitened. I got a buzz from seeing the shock on her face. She was even more shocked when Stewart replied, “Sure, I’d like that.” Kim nestled closer into the guy she was sitting next to. He was tall with a great shock of blond hair. I guessed he was the latest man Kim had hooked up with.
I kept walking and sat down with my sister and Stephen. A while later, I saw Kim and Stewart alone together so I went over. I wanted to make Kim squirm, and to hit on Stewart right in front of her but I changed my mind when I heard their conversation.
Stewart was telling Kim how she needed to control her temper. He even suggested she make her peace with me. That just made Kim flare up. “Stewart James, when I need your advice I'll ask for it! Till then, I can take care of myself. I don't need you to patch fences with that bitch.” She stormed off.
I approached Stewart and put a hand on his shoulder. “Why waste your time on that selfish loser?” I asked, hoping my voice was loud enough that Kim heard me. Stewart reddened slightly but before he could reply I added, “Especially when you could spend your time with me?”
“Why indeed?” His smile was a little wrinkled. “Let me buy you a drink.”
“I’d be delighted.” I sat down in the vacant chair across the table, while he went to the bar. There was nobody there except Wayne so he wasn’t going to be long.
“That's one way to pick up a guy.” I turned to confront the speaker. It was Hannah. I should have known. She was standing with Carissa. She looked back at me and raised her eyebrows.
I didn’t bother replying to her. The skinny, tiny girl wasn’t worth my time. I turned back to get the drink Stewart handed to me. We both walked back to Stephen and Bella.
A little while later, Emily's house band started up. Stephen asked, “Bella, do you mind if I dance with your sister? There's a couple of things I want to talk to her about.” Bella grinned and shook her head, so Stephen and I got up.
We wound up close to where Carissa and her friends were sitting, and it wasn’t long before Hannah, the loud mouthed one, piped up. “Wow Carissa...that tall woman is one fast worker. First she was making the moves on Wayne, then on that older guy over there...and now this guy.”
She was becoming annoying. I thought about teaching her a lesson in manners but I didn't want Stephen to think I was always fighting. I glared briefly at her, and he noticed. “You ok, Beth?” he asked.
I shrugged dismissively. “Just a gnat bugging me. It’s not a problem.”
Stephen had some exciting news for me. He wanted Bella to move in with him. I gave him a huge hug and a kiss. I was so pleased for my sister. She deserved a good man like Stephen. He showed just how good he was as he went on; telling me that he wanted to sound me out about it because he knew it would mean some significant changes in my life too. He wanted to know if I’d be able to find another roommate to replace my sister. I told him that wouldn't be a problem. He also asked – and he tried hard to put it delicately – if I’d be ok without Bella around, given how reliant I was on my sister for support. He wanted me to know I'd always be able to talk to him and Bella. I told him he was worrying too much. I was an adult and I could stand on my own two feet. I knew my sister would have added, “most of the time.”
We only danced for a short time. It had only been an excuse for Stephen to tell me what he was planning. I was delighted with his news and wanted to tell my sister that. So I did. We made our way back to the table, to find Bella probing Stewart for his views on about women fighting. She had gotten him to the point where he was confessing that he liked it, at least when the girl he liked won. That was why he'd bought champagne to celebrate his friend's victory over Hildy Johnson. I hadn't made the connection. Bella was right. He
did like seeing his friends victorious. I coloured. I'd thrashed Kim, whom Emily said Stewart still carried a torch for, even though his love was unrequited. Would hitting on him get me far?
There was one way to find out. “Stew, would you dance with me?”
He smiled. “I was summoning up the courage to ask you the same question. Of course I will.”
As Stewart and I walked to the dance floor, the skinny girl – Hannah – again called out a catty comment. “Carissa, look! Another quick change there. That big tall bitch should remember the old saying, 'Best be off with the old love before you're on with the new.'”
“That girl!” exclaimed Stewart in exasperation. “She's Ms Malice 2006. You should have heard what she said about Annebell. ‘Kim's hitman’ was the nicest thing she called her. She said she was pleased to see Kim had lost her tongue...that way her mouth wouldn't get her into any more trouble. She was laughing that last time she saw Kim, Kim's mouth ended up writing a bunch of cheques her body couldn't cash.”
I wasn't so sure I liked the references to Kim. “Stewart, that may be true,” I said carefully. “Kim’s arrogance toward me...yes I'll be blunt...got her into trouble.”
Stewart stifled a chuckle. “So I heard. Again, she couldn't cash that cheque either. Though,” he added with a mischievous smile, “she came closer than you'd care to admit.” He stopped my protest with a kiss.
We danced till the band stopped for a break, then went to rejoin Stephen and Bella.
Hannah stood in our way. “Excuse me please. We'd like to walk past.”
“Would you now? Why don't you try another way?”
My patience was almost exhausted. “You're being rude. You've been making bratty comments all night, and not just to me either.”
“I have? So what? It’s a free country. What are you, some kind of morality police?”
Stewart wrapped his arm around me and whispered in my ear, “She needs to be dealt with.”
Hannah giggled. “Yeah that's right...another guy with his hands on you. Morality police...right. You of all people. How many guys have you made out with tonight? Two? Three?”
I reddened. She saw she’d scored and giggled again, maliciously.
“You should be ashamed.” It was a weak comeback but it was all I could muster at the time. It took most of my effort to maintain my self-control.
Hannah giggled yet again. “Hehe. Too bad I'm not.”
“That’s obvious to anyone.” Stewart's tone showed he expected me to deal with this brat. Not that I minded – I was struggling to hold myself back. I stepped up close to her and eyeballed her icily. She was a good deal shorter than me, and skinny as a rake. Was she asking for a beating, with her attitude?
Hannah wrinkled her nose. “You have bad breath!” She let out another giggle.
“And you have a bad attitude!!” I snaked my left hand out to seize a fistful of her long dark locks. Yanking so hard I came near to jerking her off her feet, I slapped her face hard with my right hand. Her head snapped to one side from the force of the slap.
I had to give her credit. She slapped me right back, hissing, “Fucking scumbag.” The hit did little damage. I repeated my jerk and slap. This time she wobbled precariously on her heels. “Dickhead!” she sneered at me. I avoided her attempt to kick my calf by jerking her head again, pulling her to the side so she came close to falling.
I held her up with my hand twisted in her hair. “Time you learned some manners!” My other hand, balled into a fist, slammed into her stomach.
A fountain of spit exploded from her mouth along with all her breath as she doubled over with a sound like a burst balloon. I thought I'd crushed her stomach. “That was easy!" Now it was me who giggled.
I should have known better. She lunged forward, her shoulder ramming into my gut. It was my turn to wobble. I stayed on my feet by gripping her hair even more tightly. She took the opportunity to pound my sides with both fists. I clenched my teeth hard. I couldn’t show pain in front of Stewart.
I swung my knee up hoping to strike her belly again. It worked! This time I
had crushed her stomach. She dropped to her knees, groaning.
She wasn’t done though. Suddenly she wrapped her arms around my knees. I tried stepping backwards to escape her grasp but she tightened her grip and bent forward at the waist. The little bitch was trying to push me over. I seized her shoulder with my left hand to steady myself as once again I grasped her hair with my right. I snapped her head back. She yelped, her eyes suddenly staring at the ceiling. “Let go, bitch!” she squawked at me.
I tore one leg free from Hannah’s grasp and planted it firmly on the floor behind me. I was more stable and able to let go of her shoulder. She had tried to hit me, again firing blows at my sides but they did little more than sting. I held her hair, twisting her head back again, and aimed a solid punch at her chin.
Even I was surprised at how effective it was. The force of it knocked her backwards off her knees. She fell, landing on her butt with her legs tangled awkwardly under her. I think she would have fallen on her back if I hadn’t been holding her hair so tight.
It was almost embarrassing to punish her like this. It was like stealing candy from a kid. Maybe Hannah wasn't much more than a kid. She was small, but then so was Kim and Kim had fought hard. Hannah was young though – perhaps that was more to the point. She had no fighting experience.
I took a risk to look away from her for a second, at the onlookers. Stewart was smiling broadly at me. Carissa was clutching her boyfriend's waist. Kim, hand in hand with her latest beau, even flashed me an encouraging smile. She seemed to like the idea of someone else punishing her enemies for her. She was a cruel bitch – but I was crueler. When I got done with this brat, Kim wouldn’t want to tangle with me again.
I looked back at the squirming blonde. Still holding her by the hair, I kicked her in the ribs. She squealed in pain and sagged sideways, then groaned as I yanked her up by her hair, keeping her from falling. She clung to me as if I were her friend, not her enemy.
I slapped her face hard enough that I noticed Carissa wince at the sound. “Learned your lesson?” I grinned broadly down into Hannah’s face. She was not much more than a groaning, battered pulp. “Say you’re sorry, and I'll let you go!"
Hannah’s lips trembled as she whispered, “I'm sorry.”
I gave a contemptuous sniff. “That’s it? Giving up so easy, li’l girl?"
I saw a little fire in her eyes – just a little. She slapped feebly at my side. “You are such a douchebag!”
I'd been right. She was a gnat – an annoying little insect. Keeping my hold on her hair, I rammed my knee into her already ruined abs. She made a sound that would have been a scream if she’d had the breath. Her knees gave out. She’d have crumpled in a heap at my feet if I hadn’t held her up – but I did, and hauled her up again to ram my knee another time into her stomach. This time I let her go and she collapsed to the floor, blubbering.
I got down on my knees myself and rolled her onto her back. She tried to wriggle away as I straddled her. She couldn't. She tried weakly to buck me off but she couldn't dislodge me. I captured first one, then both her hands and pinned them under my knees. She tried to buck again. I slapped her face and she groaned in helpless misery. I bounced up and down on her, rocking on my knees. Each down beat crushed her belly even more. Her mouth was opening and closing like a fish out of water as she fought for breath.
She whimpered. I smirked. “Look at you! Easy meat! Let that be a lesson to you!” I spoke to Hannah but I looked straight at Kim. I slapped at Hannah’s face again. The blow whipped her head sideways. She was trying to choke back tears, without success. “Silly little slut!”
She whimpered again. I shook her head by the hair. “Give in or I'll destroy you!”
She croaked her surrender.
I stood up and stepped off her. “Stewart, I think I 'dealt with her' adequately.” I smiled at him. “Don’t you?”
He grinned at me. “I'll be poor at this rate. Two bottles of champagne in one evening. Worth celebrating though.” He slipped his arm round me.
I begged a few moments in the ladies room to put myself to rights then came out, glowing just as that friend of Kim's had done earlier. I had an extra reason to glow – Stewart was waiting for me when I came out.
It was a great night. Stewart and I chatted for an hour or more, getting to know each other.
My sister all but spoilt it as we were going home. “Beth, if I were you, I wouldn’t set my heart on Stewart James. Sure, he was affectionate tonight but maybe he's just hoping this will change Kim's attitude toward him.”
I recovered quickly and grinned at her. “I'd be happy to play along, just to make that stuck-up bitch squirm.” Bella knew I wasn't telling the whole truth there, but she let it go.
My thanks to the ladies whose characters appear in the story Carissa B as Carissa, Kimberleythesp as Kim and Hawtbrat_Hannah as Hannah. And more thanks to those who helped me with editing and listening to my bleatings.
