This post is by Lorna who watched Sonia and Muriel fighting. Lorna told me of her memories very recently. This has been done in two parts. (1) The build up on the day of the fight. (2) The fight and after. This is the first part.
This is Lorna's account of that day:-
"Muriel and Sonia had not got on together for a while. I was not in work the day they had a big, and quite vicious argument. It was not over one thing, but a number of things that seem to spring up. They did not speak to each other after, but when they did it was because they had to, and they were very frosty with each other. Everybody seemed to sense something was going to happen between them.
I knew they were going to fight the day before it happened. What had happened between them that particular day, I don't know. There had not been anything what I know of that day. Muriel had come up looking for Sonia, she wanted to have a fight with her after work that day. Sonia had already gone home, so had Sandra and Hannah. Muriel left a note under Sonia's typewriter. Muriel said she was going to have a fight with her, come what may. Arvinda was there has well. We did not say anything but looked at each other, there was a bit of excitement on both our faces. When we finished work, we both talked about it on the way out. I told Arvinda that I was going to support Sonia if they did fight. Arvinda said the same. Arvinda nor I, had seen two women fighting after work before. When I got home, I could not stop thinking about it. I had not seen two females fight for a number of years. I was going to telephone Sonia about it, but did not in the end.
The following day, I felt excitement and also a bit of un-ease. Arvinda was already in work when I got there. She looked at me and said, "Do you think they'll have a fight?" With a bit of excitement I said "Yes". I looked at Arvinda and asked, "Are you still going to watch it?" A wry little smile came on Arvinda's face, "Yes" she replied. "Who do you think will win?" I asked. "Don't know, but I think Muriel is really going to go for it," replied Arvinda. "Who do you think will win?" she then asked. "I think Muriel will, but I don't know what Sonia is like when she really starts." I answered her. Has I answered Hannah and Sandra walked in. "Muriel has just said she is going to have a fight with Sonia." Sandra said quietly. "We know, Muriel came in here late yesterday looking for her. She wanted a fight with her after work then. She left a note under Sonia'a typewriter." Arvinda said quietly. "Are you going to watch?" she then asked. Both Sandra and Hannah said "Yes" simultaneously. Hannah then said "I'm supporting Sonia." "Likewise." said Sandra. "Have you seen her this morning?" I asked. "Not yet." replied Hannah. We did not say anymore before we all settled down at our typewriters. About a minute later Sonia came in, other than good morning, she did not say anything. She picked up the note, read it, then ripped it up. She sat down at her typewriter and started work. Around 10:30 Sonia got up and went to the toilet, she did not say anything. Hannah said to everybody "She looks worried." "She is." replied Sandra. "I think I would be." Arvinda also said. I did not say anything. When Sonia came back, she was visibly shaking slightly, and looked very worried. I looked at Sonia, then said, "We know about the fight. Do you want us to stop it if she starts getting the better of you?" I asked. Sonia looked at us, then replied "No, I'll be OK." She then carried on working. About ten minutes later I went to the toilet myself. Has I came out of the cubicle, Muriel and Debbie came in the toilets. "Are you going to watch the fight?" Debbie asked. Before I could answer, Muriel chipped in "I'll scratch her eyes out!" "Maybe" I replied. Both Muriel and Debbie went into their respective cubicles. I washed my hands then went back to my desk. My mind was made, my support was with Sonia. Has I worked, my mind was partly on work and partly thinking about Sonia. I was excited about the fight, but also concerned about Sonia. She seemed too much of a lady to get into a fight, but I did wonder what she would be like fighting. Perhaps she could be really vicious underneath.
It was now lunch time. Has we got up to go out to lunch, I could see Sonia looked very worried. I could see she needed to go out. "Do you want me to come with you?" I asked. Before she replied, Hannah also said she would come with us. Sonia agreed. Arvinda was going to work through some of her lunch break, and Sandra had to go elsewhere. Has we went out to the lift , we could hear Muriel talking down on the second floor landing. "Wait a couple of minutes." I said quietly to Sonia. Within I moment Muriel went. We did not really talk has we went out. The first shop we went to there was to much of a queue. The second shop did not have what we wanted, we were in luck at the third shop. We ate our lunch on a small bench. Sonia hardly said anything. Hannah then said she needed to pick up something. We walked to another shop. Hannah went in on her own. I was just going to ask Sonia Again if she would want us to stop the fight If Muriel was getting the better of her, when Hannah came rushing out. "She's in there!" Hannah said sharply. Sonia did not say anything but turned and ran. It was pointless chasing after her, it was obvious she had ran back to the office. Hannah got what she needed and we headed back to the office. Muriel was still in the shop when we left. Hannah did not need the toilet when we got back. I did. One cubicle was occupied. I went into the next cubicle. While I was in there, I could hear the very soft sound of somebody sobbing. I did not say anything, but I knew it was Sonia. I went out of the cubicle and washed my hands. I was going to call her, but I thought it was best left. I went back to our room. Hannah, Sandra and Arvinda were there. I told them were she was, and that she was crying. We just looked at each other. About a minute before the end of the lunch break, Sonia came into the room. She did not say anything, but we could see she had been crying.
We did not say anything to each other during the afternoon, mostly because we were very busy. I looked at Sonia couple of times, she did not notice, she was engrossed in work. She went to the toilet once that afternoon, but seemed to now be un-concerned. While she was in the toilet, Arvinda said "She looks OK now, perhaps she's going for it." "I don't think she's got much choice." Sandra said. "Gosh! Two women fighting!" Arvinda suddenly exclaimed, "I've seen girls fighting, but never two women!" We all giggled a little. Sonia came back into the room. I asked her again if we should stop the fight if Muriel started to get the better of her. Still she said no. No more was said. We were very busy until about 4:30, when things started to slow down. I noticed Sonia looking at the clock more so now than she had been looking before. About 10 minutes before we finished I could see Sonia was constantly looking at the clock. Arvinda, Hannah and Sandra were doing the same. We all seemed to be full of excitement and a little bit of fear. Five O'clock came. Sonia had hardly looked at us and had remained silent virtually all afternoon. She was the first to get ready to leave. She put on her jacket and picked up her bag. For some reason none of us had moved. We all looked at Sonia. Sonia looked at us has though she was in deep thought. Then quite calmly she said, "I want your support." I smiled at her reassuringly, the others done the same. We all got ready and went out of the room. We walked down the stairs in silence. I was beside Sonia, Hannah and Arvinda were behind us, and Sandra behind them. I could feel excitement and a little fear has though they were battling inside me. (Later Arvinda would tell me she felt herself tingle with fear over her excitement.)
Outside stood Sarah. She looked at us then said, "She's waiting at the bottom of the lane." My heart felt has though it was pounding. Sonia did not say anything. We turned the corner to go down the lane. At the bottom was a crowd of about a dozen women standing in a semi-circle. Muriel was standing at the front of this semi-circle. To her right stood Amanda, to her left stood Debbie. It was has though there was no sound around us except for the sound of our footsteps on the ground. Has we got closer, Muriel took off her jacket and gave both jacket and bag to Amanda. I looked at Sonia. She took off her jacket, turned to me and said "Hold my jacket and bag." I could see in her face she was going to stand up to Muriel, but there was that look of loss and emptiness in her eyes. She carried on walking towards Muriel. Muriel started to walk towards Sonia. I felt a rush of adrenalin has they grabbed each other by the hair."
Has told by Lorna.
Lorna's memories of Sonia and Muriel. The fight.
This is the second part of Lorna's memory of the day Sonia and Muriel had a fight.
This what Lorna had to say:-
"I felt a rush of adrenalin has Muriel and Sonia grabbed each other by the hair. I put Sonia's jacket and bag on the ground. Amanda done likewise with Muriel's jacket and bag. For a minute or so they stood there holding each others hair. We all stood relatively motionless and quiet, then the hair-pulling started. I felt another rush of adrenalin. Then there was some kicking. There were shrieks and squeals from both Muriel and Sonia. Muriel's shrieks and squeals being louder. I held my breath has Muriel grabbed hold of the one side of Sonia's hair and tried to pull her down. Sonia gave out a piercing scream. She let go of Muriel's hair with one hand and tried to dig her finger-nails into Muriel's hand. "Don't let go of her hair Sonia!" I screamed. "Kick her in the face Muriel, I would!" Debbie screamed. I looked at Debbie. I thought to myself "If you join in, I'll join in." I looked back at Sonia and Muriel. Sonia reached up with her one hand and scratched her finger-nails down Muriel's face. Muriel screamed out "You bloody bitch!", let go of Sonia's hair, covered her face with her hands, turned sideways and took several steps back. The women standing behind her also stepped back. Sonia stood upright. Her face was red and her eyes were watering. She immediately went at Muriel. She's going for it, I thought to myself. Everybody was now getting excited. "Go on Sonia!" shouted Arvinda. I looked at Arvinda, her hands were clenched into fists. She looked has though she was ready to join in. "Go for her!" and "Go on!" others shouted. "She's coming!" Debbie screamed at Muriel.
Most of the women watching were now beginning to cheer both of them on. Some were on Sonia's side, most seem to be on Muriel's side.
Muriel screaming "You bloody bitch! You bloody bitch!", spun around at Sonia lashing out with her arms. She hit Sonia in the face has she swung her fist around sideways. I thought that was it. Before I could scream out more support for Sonia, she swung back at Muriel. There were screams of "Go on! Go on!" from women supporting either women. Both women grabbed each other by the hair and started pulling back and forth. Muriel clenched her teeth in pain. "Pull her hair out Muriel, pull her hair out!" Debbie screamed. "Don't give up Sonia!" I screamed in support at the same time Sonia screamed loudly. The kicking then started between the two of them. Both women screaming short, sharp and loudly, has each kick connected with their respective legs. Leg movement between them was fast, and precise. Both kicked at the same time causing them to lose their balance. They fell sideways. Sonia falling on her right side, Muriel on her left.
The crowd gathered around slightly closer. It was like being in school again. Just about everybody watching was now cheering one or the other on. Still holding and pulling each others hair, they both started kicking each other. Muriel kicking Sonia with her right leg, Sonia kicking Muriel with her left leg. Both their skirts were riding up their legs. There were encouraging screams of "Kick her, kick her!" and "Keep pulling her hair!" from all around. I felt a strange weird sort of excitement has their skirts got closer to their thighs. For some reason I also had a feeling of embarrassment. "Go on Sonia!" I screamed. It just mixed in with the screams of encouragement from everybody else. There was a sudden cheer has Muriel's skirt rode up high enough for everybody to see her white knickers patterned with blue flowers. The excitement now seemed has though it was electrically charged.
The moment Sonia stopped kicking, Muriel tried to wrap her legs around her. Sonia let go of Muriel's hair and tried to push Muriel's legs off her. Everybody backed away slightly has Muriel slithered on top of Sonia. She sat upright on Sonia's stomach with her knees either side on the ground. Muriel's skirt was almost up around her waist, her knickers in full view. Sonia struggled about beneath her. The struggling stopped has Sonia was now on her back facing upwards towards Muriel.
I wanted to pull Muriel off her, but I knew I could not. It would end up with several of us fighting. I said in my mind, "This is between Muriel and Sonia."
I felt another rush of adrenalin has Sonia reached up a grabbed hold of Muriel's hair. There was a sudden high pitched scream from Sonia has Muriel pulled her head up by the hair off the ground. I put my hand over my mouth has Muriel hit Sonia's head against the ground. Sonia screamed has Muriel again pulled her head up by her hair. I held my breath and kept my hand over my mouth has Muriel again hit Sonia's head against the ground. Sonia closed her eyes has her head was hit against the ground. "Go on! Go on!" Debbie was screaming. "Keep going!" somebody else screamed. Sonia now started to thrash her legs about trying to grip her feet against the ground. Her skirt was almost up to her thighs. Again Muriel pulled her head up by her hair. Sonia was now screaming loudly. Her eyes were red but not yet watering. She did not yet look has though she was filling up to cry. Muriel hit Sonia's head against the ground again, this time harder. I took my hand away from my mouth, "Don't cry, Sonia!" I shouted. Sonia now managed to grip the ground with her feet. Her skirt went high enough to reveal her pale green knickers. There were more screams of excitement at this point. Has Muriel again pulled Sonia's head up by her hair, Sonia let go of Muriel's hair with her both hands. With one hand she dug her fingernails into Muriel's hand, with the other hand she dug her fingernails into Muriel's face and scratched down. Muriel let go of Sonia's hair. Has she did Sonia lashed out with her arm hitting Muriel in the face. This seemed to push her off balance and off Sonia. Muriel rolled away from Sonia.
Quickly Sonia tried to get up. I was ready to pick her up, but Arvinda got there before me. Quick has a flash, Arvinda put her arms around her and lifted her onto her feet. I did not see if anybody helped Muriel up. In the corner of my eye I saw fast movement. Muriel was back on her feet. Sonia was facing the opposite direction. "Sonia!" I screamed. Sonia turned around has Muriel, with her arms stretched out forwards, came back towards her screaming "You bloody bitch! You bloody bitch!" with renewed anger. Sonia went back towards Muriel. Has she did, she said "No" very quietly. I did not hear her say it, but I saw her lips say it. They both grabbed each other by the hair and again started pulling. Sonia seemed to pull Muriel's hair harder and a little bit more violently this time. I could see Sonia's face was red, she was beginning to fill up and her eyes were watering. "Tare her hair out!" Hannah screamed with renewed vigour. "Keep going at her!" Arvinda shouted. At the same time Muriel was screaming "You bloody bitch! You bloody bitch!". Tears suddenly started to roll down Sonia's face. "Go on Muriel, go on, she's really crying!" shouted Amanda. Muriel's screams of "You bloody bitch!" seemed to go more high pitched. Suddenly Sonia slapped Muriel hard across the face. Another scream of "You bloody bitch!". Another hard slap across Muriel's face. "Go on Sonia!" I screamed at the top of my voice. "Go for her Sonia!" screamed Arvinda, just has loud. There were other screams of "Go on!" from various women. Again Sonia slapped Muriel across the face. Muriel let go of Sonia's hair and tried to shield herself against the slaps. Sonia immediately grabbed hold of Muriel's hair and pulled her sideways. Muriel screamed out. "Go on!" I screamed. Sonia really seemed to be fighting back. She gave Muriel a hard kick. I thought Sonia was now getting the better of Muriel. It was short lived. Muriel, her arms flailing around scratched Sonia full force in the face. Sonia let go of Muriel's hair. Muriel was back at her, both women starting to scratch each other in the face. There was high pitched screams from Sonia, and the constant high pitched screaming of "You bloody bitch!" from Muriel. This being mixed in with screams of encouragement from everybody else. Muriel caught Sonia in the face with her two hands. Sonia turned away to try and shield her face. I knew what was going to happen next. Muriel grabbed Sonia by the hair with both hands. Has she started to tug on Sonia's hair. Sonia burst out crying. She partly stumbled has Muriel dragged her down to the ground. "No! No!" Sonia screamed has Muriel dragged her across the ground. "It's over Muriel, leave her alone!" I shouted at Muriel. "I'll bloody kill her! I'll bloody kill her!" Muriel screamed. Several other women grabbed hold of Muriel. She let go of Sonia's hair. Sonia had tried to curl up like a ball to protect herself. She was now laying on the ground crying hysterically. Muriel was led away still screaming "I want to kill her!".
Arvinda was the first to comfort Sonia. "It's over." She said in a quiet, comforting, motherly instinct way. Sonia lay there crying loudly. I bent down over Sonia. "Come on Sonia, you need to get up." I said to her quietly. "Leave me here." Sonia cried. Arvinda looked at me and shook her head. We could still hear Muriel saying "I want to kill her." although in more quiet tones. I looked around at the group of women with Muriel. Muriel was there with her hands up to her face, although her back was towards us. We left Sonia crying for a couple of minutes, by this time Muriel had gone quiet. They were now walking Muriel away. "Sonia, come on she's gone. " I said quietly. We picked Sonia up onto her feet, she was still crying. Sandra gave Sonia a handkerchief to wipe her eyes. For comfort Arvinda put her arm around Sonia's shoulders and I put my arm around her waist. We walked her back to the office. We were going to take her into the toilet to wash her face. When we got to the office foyer, Joan one of the cleaners was there. "What's wrong?" she asked. "She had a fight with Muriel." Hannah replied. Joan pointed to a room marked CLENERS ONLY. "Take her in there." We went in and sat her down on a chair. Sonia was now crying less. Her face and eyes were still bright red. Her hair was a mess, you could see it had been pulled violently. We could not let her go home on her own, so I decided I would take her. Hannah, Arvinda and Sandra stayed with her while I went to fetch my car.
Joan came out of the room with me. "Was it a real catfight?" she asked. "Yes." I replied. "I wish I had seen it." said Joan. I looked at her, "Who would you have supported ?" I asked. Joan looked at me, "Sonia. I've never liked Muriel." I looked at her and smiled. "I've got to get my car." I turned and went out of the building. Before I went to fetch my car, I looked down the lane. There was nothing now to suggest there had been a fight between two women.
I came back with the car. I went in to see Sonia. She had now stopped crying but was still visibly upset. She came out, but looked nervous has she got into the car. She did not say anything has we drove off. Fortunately, Muriel was nowhere to be seen. Sonia did not say much has I took her home. I made sure she was alright when we arrived at her home. I offered to pick her up for work the next day, she refused. She thought it was better if she went in has normal.
Sonia and Muriel never spoke to each other afterwards. Muriel moved to another department at one of the other offices shortly after. Sonia and I went to work in one of the small branch offices until it closed. Sonia left the company when that office closed. Muriel stayed for a number of years after the fight until she took early retirement. A rumour went around they were going to have another fight. It proved false.
Told by Lorna
