Carolina




The girls face is so close to mine. I can see every detail. She is pretty,
close to beautiful. She has olive skin, dark brown hair, short and straight.
Her eyes are brown and her teeth are slightly crooked, but very white.

She is smiling, in a nervous but confident way. She has nothing to lose.

For me time stands still, I can hear someone call to her and she answers, but
I do not know what they say. I see only her. She has a white T shirt on and
has a very nice athletic figure. Her shoulders are quite broad and her arms
thick. She is solid rather than muscular. Her T shirt opens and I see a
respectable glimpse of breast. I look away, she is only 14 years old.

Looking down, her T shirt is tight, she is almost, but not quite overweight.
She has a thick black belt on. I like the belt, I could wear it myself. And
pail blue denim jeans. I cannot see her shoes, but I imagine she is wearing
training shoes of some kind.

I look at her hand. It is fascinating. As large as mine. Strong fingers, with
nice polished nails but no nail varnish. Her fingers are entwined with mine.

Our arms are so different. Mine is slimmer, hairy, a little bit muscular and
wiry. Hers is smooth. Very, very smooth and yet alarmingly solid.

My heart is sinking and I feel very apprehensive. Everywhere around us are my
family and my friends.

I have never met this girl before in my life and I am about to arm wrestle
her. I am 49 years old and a respectable family man. My mind wanders back to
the events of a few minutes ago.

My step daughter Rachel has invited her Spanish friend Carolina to our
housewarming party. The house is large and spacious and we have about 100
guests. There are only three children present, the other being my bosses son
James.

The party is going well and I am delighted to see my guests enjoying
themselves. Over by the BBQ I am disappointed to see the children appeared to
be falling out. I wander over to sort things out and am concerned to see that
James is crying.. He is 13 years old and looks very wimpy. He tries to hide
his tears as I ask what has been going on.

Slowly the story emerges.

Both girls have been teasing him about his small build. This has developed
into an arm wrestling contest and both have beaten him. I Lecture them on
picking on someone younger and smaller and for making fun of him, because he
had lost. The girls argue that they had not teased him when he lost, he was
crying because he had lost! I began to get irritated, and explained that it
was wrong picking on someone smaller and younger, but that he should take his
defeat like a man.

After a little arguing, Carolina asked if I would take defeat like a man,
should she be able to beat me. I laughed at her and pointed out that I was an
adult man and she was a girl. She pointed out that at least she could not be
accused of picking on someone smaller and younger, and she also pointed out
that we were almost the same size. I am 5'7" and weigh about 140lbs, I have
always been very conscious of my small stature. I dismissed her suggestions,
but she just sat in front of me with her arm extended in a classic arm
wrestling pose. I began to get up, but many other people had joined us,
including my wife. They all agreed with Carolina and wanted to see me put her
in her place. I still resisted, but my boss Louise came up and said that I
should restore our companies pride and win on behalf of the company and her
son.

I reluctantly raised my hand. I know I will win, but I am also aware that I am
not a strong man. I do not want to make a fool of myself by having to try too
hard.

As Carolina goes to grasp my hand my wife calls out for us to wait as she
wants the video camera to record our contest. By the time she has returned,
everyone has gathered around. We grasp hands and I am stunned by Carolinas
grip strength. Her hand is crushing mine and I almost wince in pain. I look up
and her eyes are boring into mine. "I know it is silly, but I am so sure I am
going to beat you!" She whispers. I laugh and pull my hand out of hers. I need
a new grip and I am filled with fear. She seems to grow before me. My mind is
racing as I try to think of any way of avoiding seeing this contest through.
Having felt her grip, I know that this will be a real test for me. I look up
and see my wifes worried look. She reads me well and she can see my fear.

I grasp Carolinas hand in mine, determined to show her who is stronger. I
squeeze hard and can feel her hand respond Her hand is soft and yet powerful!
Even though I began first. our grips end up about even. Carolina looks at my
step daughter and smiles. Carolinas mother is behind her, next to my wife. She
is a tall imposing woman, I am glad that I am not arm wrestling her.

"Are you both ready?" asks my wife

She nods and I say nothing.

"Three, two one, go" I push as hard as I can and see her eyes widen as she
strains against my power. Her arm is thick, not muscular, but definitely firm
and I can she that she is trying as hard as she can. I can also feel that I am
stronger than she is. I feel a little relieved, her grip and her confidence,
combined with my awareness of my own lack of strength had made me very
nervous.

Our hands tremble and she is very, very slowly giving ground.

I look up and see my wife and Carolinas mother. Both of them look concerned. I
try to smile at my wife, but I am straining too much. I feel sweat on my brow
and my hand is already slippery. I look at Carolina. She is frowning and has
her lips set tightly together, but is still staring right into my eyes. She
closes her eyes and make a little moaning noise and I can feel her strength
increase. My progress is halted with her hand about a third of the way down. I
push and strain as hard as I can, but we remain in this position. Again I try
to force the win, and again she holds on. Our hands shake again, but this time
it is my hand which is making the tremble. I rest a little as my arm is
starting to burn and hurt.

Carolina opens her eyes and looks into my soul. She can see my fear returning.
She can feel my pain. She pushes and I respond, still holding her in a loosing
position. Now things have changed. I am no longer trying to push her to
defeat, now I am clinging onto my advantageous position. She pushes again, and
again. Still I hold her, this time I moan.

It seems that we have been wrestling for hours, but later I discover it is
only 30 seconds. She pushes again and my arm is screaming with pain. I give
and slowly we reverse positions. She has me at least halfway down, and my arm
is total agony. I hear my wife. "Steve, for gods sake, what are you doing?"

I hear Carolinas mother "Take your time, he is beaten!"

I knew she was right, but still I hung on. My hand was only inches from the
table. I looked up into her face. Her face was so close to mine. "I knew I
could beat you" She whispered. I wanted to cry, I wanted to disappear,
anything but lose in front of everyone. "Please let me win" I whispered. Her
eyes widened. She smiled and thought about it. Her strength eased off, my arm
was still held inches from defeat, but the agony subsided. She stared at me
again. "No sorry, I am going to beat you! I want to see if you lose like a
man" She then forced my hand flat down to the table.

Everyone was cheering for her. I looked up at my wife, who had videoed the
whole thing. She looked disgusted and walked away. My stepdaughter had her
arms around Carolina and they were both laughing.

Carolina offered me her hand, and I gently shook it. "So what does a man say
when he loses to a girl?" She asked

"I am sorry, I, err , I did not expect you to be so strong!"

"I am not strong, my mother is strong, I am just stronger than you, that's
all"

I left and went to get a drink. My boss Louise came over and commiserated with
me. "James feels better, now he has seen her beat you, so some good has come
out of that"

I smiled my thanks and rubbed my arm. I was still in pain and I could not get
Carolina out of my mind. So young, so pretty and yet I was not even her equal.
What was my wife going to say. Or my step daughter. How could I look Carolinas
mother in the eye, when she knew that even her daughter was stronger than me.
I slowly left to be alone.