My mother was a strong woman. As a young girl growing up i had watched her ..endless hours in the home gym , 5ft 8 of solid muscle . i had often seen her pack her lycra leotard in a bag and travel out for the night with my father..I was blissfully unaware of what she was up to . They would come home in the early hours and i could hear them together , making love , laughing , almost celebrating tone.Dad would laugh as he would say things like ' local champion - you destroyed her baby ' or ' i thought she was meant to be strong - you carried her around like rag doll '
The day after this mum would always be back in the gym , working on her abs and especially her legs , as if what she had done the previous night had made her even more determined.
And then one evening when mum and dad were away again , my auntie , mum's sister turned up unexpectantly . I knew they didn't get on particularly well so i was surprised to see her.
She then took great pleasure in explaining to me where my parents were going on these nights away.
My mother had built up a fearsome reputation in the local area , and sometimes beyond , in the fight scene . Girl v Girl , no rules as such and stakes were either money or just for the honour of humiliating another female.. I wasn't sure she was telling the truth as i knew there was bad blood ..but it seemed too implausible to make up.
She told me tales of mum taking on and beating all comers ,,sometimes despatching more than one opponent per night infront of their husbands - she said dad loved to see that - old women , young girls , housewives , all fancied their chances but would all end up in submission on the floor with mum holding their leotards above her head as a trophy whilst posing and flexing.
I did feel a sense of pride that mum was so strong but did wonder why her sister was keen to tell me on this particular evening ...
She couldn't hide her devilish smirk as she said tonight my dear mother had gone away after accepting a challenge from a girl who was also previously unbeaten.
A much younger lady than my mum , who worked all day as a farm labourer and was described as a 'beast'
My auntie revelled in telling me that as no single lady would face her , she had taken to fighting two girls at once , and barely broke sweat in despatching both.
She was even more delighted to tell me her husband had gone to witness the fight and had promised to provide her updates on his phone , vid clips , texts etc...
She grinned as her phone pinged....
to be continued.....
