The destruction of Billy Gallagher.  A Diane Marie Kelly story.
By Wes Vintner     dianestories@gmail.com
Billy challenges Diane, and loses.  And then things only get worse. 


Part 1

Hi. My name is Steve Ryan, and I'm the luckiest guy in the world. That's
because I'm in love with Diane Marie Kelly, and, through some miracle that
I'll never understand, she loves me too. You see, Diane is the most amazig,
extraordinary, resourceful, determined, courageous person I've ever met"" as
well as the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. I know, I know"" lot of men
feel that way about the woman they love. Well, at least some do. But I really
think I'm right. And just maybe, after I've told you a little about Diane,
you'll agree.

One person who didn't agree was Billy Gallagher. He refused to accept the idea
that so much physical and mental strength could reside in such a beautiful,
feminine package. And it cost him. Everything. Though their paths crossed only
three times, the consequences of Billy's encounters with Diane were serious,
and, in the end, tragic. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

So let me go back and start with the day when Diane first came into my life.
It's hard to believe that was thirteen years ago, especially since I still
remember everything so clearly. It was Saturday, a beautiful May afternoon in
Middletown, and the usual gang was hanging out in front of the recreation
center in Mason Park. With the center closed for repairs, there wasn't much to
do but stand around and chat. I was there, and so was Laura Brown, and the
Lanza brothers, along with their ever-present sidekick, Chris Cooper. And, of
course, there was Billy Gallagher. There was always Billy Gallagher, the
hotshot football player, borderline juvenile delinquent, prom king, showoff,
braggart, occasional bully, and all-around jerk. Billy loved being the center
of attention almost as much as he loved being the star athlete in town. At 19
years old, a well-built 6'1", 180 pounds and still growing, Billy was going
places athletically"" everyone said so. True, he had had a few run-ins with
the police, and it had taken him an extra year to finish high school after
that cheating scandal in his sophomore year, but people always seemed to make
allowances for Billy. He had a knack for squirming his way out of trouble. God
knows he got enough practice. But now he was about to graduate, and could look
forward to attending State U. in the fall. He'd been recruited to play
quarterback. Billy's life was good.

That was about to change, forever.

Billy was once again telling Chris Cooper the story of how he had engineered
the winning drive in last year's big game against arch-rival Kingston High
when I saw two girls walking toward us across the grass. One was Janet Kelly,
but the other, a cute brunette in some sort of track suit, was new.

"Hi, guys," said Janet. "This is my cousin Diane. She just finished her first
year at college. She's visiting me for a couple weeks."

As we made our greetings and introductions, I realized that Diane wasn't just
cute. She was really pretty"" beautiful, even. Now, a good-looking girl
usually left me tongue-tied, but somehow I found it easy to talk to her.
"Welcome to Middletown," I said. "Where are you from?"

"Fairport. About 40 miles west of here."

"Oh, yeah. I know Fairport. My grandmother lives there. On Groton Avenue,
near"" what's it called?"" Carol's ice cream stand."

"That's right around the corner from my house!"

"Really? Small world. They make a sundae so big that... "

"The Chocolate Challenge!" she laughed. "I know. It's gigantic. It takes two
people to eat it. Maybe we can split one the next time you visit your
grandma."

"It's a deal! So you go to college. Where?"

"State U."

I started to ask her another question when Billy interrupted. "Hey, that's
where I'm going in the fall." Damn him. I was actually having a
conversation with this girl. But everything always had to be about Billy.
He stepped between me and Diane. "I play football. Billy Gallagher. The
quarterback. You've probably heard of me."

"No, I don't think I have," Diane replied politely. "But I really don't follow
football that much."

"We won the regional final last year. Janet must have told you that she
knows me," Billy insisted.

"No, I'm sure she didn't. I'm sorry. I probably should keep up more with
high school sports." Billy looked confused. You could see what he was
thinking: What sort of person hadn't heard of Billy Gallagher?

"Yeah, we were playing Kingston High and I..." Diane cut him off, gently.

"Excuse me Billy." Then she turned back toward me. "Steve, you were
saying something?"

The idea that Diane wanted to talk to me, rather than listen to Billy,
combined with the nasty look he shot in my direction, made me completely
forget what I had wanted to ask. So I tried to think of something else.

"Uh ...yeah. Do you run track?"

"No, why do you"" oh, the suit. No, I'm on the gymnastics team."

Billy snorted and rolled his eyes.

"She's not just on the team," said Janet. "She's the state champ."

Some of the kids oohed appreciatively. Diane looked embarrassed. Billy
frowned. Someone else was attracting attention, and he didn't like it.
Before I could say anything, he sneered, "Gymnastics? You mean where
you hop and skip and bounce around? And you're the best at that, huh?
Well, congrats."

Diane ignored his obvious sarcasm. "We do some of that in the floor
exercises, yes. But there's a lot more to gymnastics than skipping and
hopping. You've seen the events: balance beam, uneven bars..."

She didn't finish, since Billy had started to jump and spin, flapping his arms
like a big, loose-winged bird. "Look," he laughed, "I'm the champ."

"What you are, Billy, is an asshole," Janet scolded him. "Why do you have
to act like this?"

"What's wrong?" Billy asked, in the disingenuous, who-me tone he had
perfected through many years of troublemaking. "I'm just doing what your
cousin Debbie does. Go ahead"" twirl for us, Debbie."

"It's Diane." Diane said it before Janet could. Then she went and stood
directly in front of Billy. Though he towered over her by more than half a
foot, she didn't seem at all intimidated. Diane spoke to him in an even tone.

Only her eyes showed how annoyed she was. "I've played lots of sports.
Softball, basketball. I was even on the field hockey team for a while. But
now I do gymnastics. I like it. It's another challenge." Diane paused for a
moment. It looked like she was deciding whether to say anything more.
She did. "Besides, gymnastics requires a lot of strength."

Billy took the bait. "Strength??" he scoffed. "What a joke! Are you telling
me you think you're strong?"

"Yes." I wish I could write that word the way Diane pronounced it"" with a
firm, confident tone, slightly drawn out, and all while looking directly into
Billy's eyes. A little voice in the back of my head said, Wow! This girl is
hot!

Even Billy, self-assured as he was, seemed taken aback by Diane's
composure. "W-well, I'd like to see you prove it." His voice, unlike hers,
sounded uncertain. "Anywhere, anytime," she told him. She wasn't
backing down.

Billy looked away from Diane. I think he was unable to meet her gaze. His
eyes settled on the metal scaffolding in front of the rec center. You could
almost see the light bulb go on over his head.

"I know!" Billy announced, pointing. "Pull-ups. A contest, over there, right
now. You against me. You think you're strong, gymnastics girl? We'll see.
I'm gonna kick your ass. How many can you do?"

Diane gave him a little smile. "One more than you," she said.

I felt an embarrassing swelling in my pants. I was rapidly falling in lust, if
not in love. At eighteen, there's not much difference.

The rest of us had remained mostly silent during the confrontation between
Billy and Diane, but now the noise picked up as we all moved toward the
scaffolding. "All right!" "Battle of the sexes!" "You're in trouble, Billy!"

"I don't know, he's pretty good!"

Diane took off her track suit. Underneath, she was wearing a dark blue
sports bra and a pair of gym shorts. She had a great figure"" not overly
muscular, just really well put-together. And she didn't seem the slightest bit
embarrassed about removing most of her clothes. She was obviously
comfortable with her body, which, to me at least, made her even more
attractive.

We looked for a suitable section of scaffolding for the contest, and soon
found one. Over by the corner of the building there were two metal bars
running parallel to each other, about eight feet apart and perhaps ten feet
off the ground. Billy, being Billy, tried to jump up and grab one of them. He
could slap it with his fingers, but it was a bit too high for him to take
hold.

"You guys are gonna have to help us up," he said, "unless super girl here
can fly." Diane ignored him. "All right," Billy continued, "the rules are
simple. Most pull-ups wins. Real pull-ups. You have to drop till your arms
are straight between each one." He looked at Diane. "You got a problem
with that?" She was stretching and loosening up. "Whatever rules you like,
Billy."

"OK," Billy went on, "Ryan, you count for me. And Janet"" no, I don't
trust you, you're her cousin"" Laura, you count for what's-her-name. C'mon.
Let's do it."

Chris Cooper and I gave Billy a boost up to the bar, while Mitch and Doug
Lanza did the same for Diane. After Diane had established her grip, Mitch
looked toward me and confided, "Jesus, the muscles in her legs are like
steel." That's great, I thought"" I have to put my hands on Billy's ass, and
Mitch gets to touch hers. Mitch has been my good friend for a long time,
but at that moment I think I hated him, just a little.

Billy and Diane hung from the bars, facing each other, for a second or two.

"OK," he said, "Ready. Set. Go!" He did his first pull-up. Diane did the
same a moment afterward. Game on.

Billy looked strong. He rapidly outpaced Diane, performing rep after rep at
a brisk pace. Five...ten... fifteen...twenty. She was only at nine. He had a
big smile on his face. This was going to be easy. Billy had reached nearly
thirty before he showed any signs of fatigue. But each pull-up after that
was more difficult than the one before. After number thirty-one he didn't
really extend his arms completely. I gave him the benefit of the doubt,
along with a warning, "All the way down, Billy, or it won't count." Thirty-
two and thirty-three were really a struggle for him. Thirty-four was almost
too painful to watch. But, to his credit, Billy pushed himself to the limit.

After number thirty-four, he rested for a few seconds and then managed two
more jerky reps before releasing the bar and dropping to the ground. He
was exultant. "Thirty-six! My best ever!" Diane was only at seventeen""
miles behind him. "I wanna watch her give up," he gloated.

But she didn't give up. She continued at her steady, deliberate pace.
Eighteen. Nineteen. Twenty. Twenty-one. Once Diane passed twenty,
Billy's expression began to change. He didn't seem quite as confident
anymore. He was looking for signs that she was tiring. There were none.
Her body remained taut and controlled, her arms working like pistons as she
raised and lowered herself. Twenty-four. Twenty-five. Twenty-six. The
other kids, especially the girls, were really starting to cheer. "You can do
it, Diane!" Janet encouraged her. "You go, girl! Be strong!" Twenty-nine,
thirty.

Billy was incredulous. I knew exactly what he was thinking. This couldn't
be happening. He couldn't lose"" not to a girl, and not in front of all of us.
It was impossible. He was Billy Gallagher. But look at her go! Thirty-two,
thirty-three. She was like a machine. Thirty-four. Thirty-five!

Billy panicked. He jumped and grabbed Diane as she was starting to rise
again. He wrapped his arms around her, just below her waist, and hung on,
his feet dangling perhaps eighteen inches above the ground. He had to stop
her. I don't think it even occurred to him that what he was doing was the
same as admitting that she would have beaten him, that Diane Kelly was
better than Billy Gallagher. It didn't matter. He just couldn't let her win.

His ego couldn't take it. That's why he had to pull her off the bar.
We all started to shout in protest, then suddenly grew silent as, somehow,
Diane managed to hold on. She was supporting Billy's weight along with
her own. It was amazing. But she couldn't do that for long, not with him
dragging her down. In a few seconds, at most, she'd have to let go. Her
arms, bent at right angles, were already starting to straighten. No! With a
groan, Diane managed to hold her position. She and Billy hung motionless.

The muscles in her shoulders and back stood out under her smooth skin.

Diane closed her eyes. Her chest rose and fell with long, deep breaths. She
was centering herself, gathering strength. Then her arms began to tremble
as, incredibly, she started to pull herself and Billy up again! Chris Cooper,
his mouth hanging open and his eyes wide, said what everyone was thinking:

"No fucking way!" But she did it! As she completed the pull-up Diane
counted this one herself. "Thirty-six!" Billy hung on. He appeared to be in
shock. Diane lowered herself and Billy until her arms were almost fully
extended. She drew a few more deep breaths and then began to rise again,
even more slowly this time. By now she was sobbing from the effort. I had
never, ever, seen that sort of determination before. Diane just managed to
clear the bar with her chin and gasp "Thirty-seven!" before her grip gave
way. She and Billy tumbled to the ground, where she lay partially on top of
him, gulping for breath but glowing in triumph.

We were all in awe. No one said anything for several seconds. Finally, as
Diane climbed off Billy and regained her feet, Doug Lanza asked, "How the hell
did you DO that?"

Diane was still out of breath and could only speak in short bursts. "Have
to... really.... wanna win," she replied, rolling her shoulders and stretching
her arms. "Use... all your... strength and... willpower... Take the pain... be
tougher... than the other guy." She put her hands on top of her head. Her
breasts lifted as she filled her lungs with air. You could see the strength
begin to flow back into her. "Basically," she said with a smile, "you have to
be a woman."

It was the sexiest thing I'd ever heard"" at least up till that moment.

Remember, since then I've spent a lot of time with Diane. Like I said, I'm
the luckiest man in the world.

Billy was sitting silently on the ground, shaking his head in consternation
and disbelief. Diane looked down at him. "You made it tough for me,
Billy," she said. "But I told you I could do one more than you."

"Yeah, Billy," teased Laura Brown. "How does it feel to lose to a girl? Oh,
excuse me, Diane"" to a woman?"

"Shut up!" was all Billy could think to say in reply. Then he got to his feet
and and looked at Diane. For just a second I thought he was going to
congratulate her. Wrong. Billy was a lot of things, but a gracious loser
wasn't one of them. He pointed his finger at her. "You"" you"" cheated!"
he exclaimed.

We all burst into laughter. "What??" "You've got to be kidding!" "SHE
cheated?" "Are you nuts?" "You're the one who grabbed her!" Billy was
getting angry. People were mocking him. "That last one doesn't count!" he
said. "You didn't go all the way down, and you didn't go all the way back
up! It's a tie!" Diane just shook her head and laughed along with everyone
else.

I was about to explain to Billy, as tactfully as I could, that he was making a
fool of himself, but Laura beat me to it. She was a bit less tactful. "Oh,
fuck off, Billy!" I had never heard her use that word before. "She kicked
your ass. You're the one who cheated, and you know it. But she beat you
anyway. Just admit that you lost, you coward!"

Billy rounded on her. "I ain't no coward, you fuckin' bitch!" He put his
hands on her shoulders and shoved. Laura stumbled a few steps backward,
but managed not to fall. "Don't you push me!" she shouted. "I'll push you
whenever I want to!" he said, advancing on her. This was getting ugly, fast.

Before any of us could stop him, Billy shoved Laura again, harder this time.
She fell awkwardly to the ground.

In a flash Diane was in front of him. "You stop that!" she ordered him
angrily. "And you apologize to her!" "Or else what?" Billy challenged.
"Or else I will make you stop and make you apologize, that's what. You
don't go around shoving people." "No? Watch this." Billy tried to put his
hand on Diane's face.

I don't know exactly what she did, but Diane caught Billy's wrist and,
placing one of her legs between his, pivoted her body. Suddenly he had
flipped over her back and was lying on his side at her feet. I remember
thinking: She's beautiful, and built, and strong, and determined, and she can
fight, too? My male ego was taking a beating.

But not as bad as the beating Billy's was about to take. Diane stood over
him, hands on hips. "Apologize to Laura," she repeated. "Fuck you!" was
his answer. He started to get up, then without warning grabbed Diane's
ankles and pulled. She fell on her back. Billy pounced on her. He raised
one fist.

As I moved to grab Billy's arm to prevent him from punching Diane, I heard
a terrible squeal of pain. Oh, shit, I thought. What was he doing to her?

But that sound had come from him! Diane had wrapped her legs around his
waist and started to squeeze. I had never seen a scissor hold before, and
certainly had never felt one, so I had no idea just how much crushing force
Diane could apply with those well-muscled legs of hers. Yet there was Billy,
frozen for a moment with his fist in the air and then frantically pushing and
pounding like a madman on Diane's thighs. He couldn't budge them. He
crumbled to the ground again and she sat up, all the while maintaining the
hold.

"You are going to apologize, Billy," Diane said, matter-of-factly. "Why
don't you just do it now and get it over with?"

In response Billy swung his left arm, barely missing the side of her head.
"You don't learn, do you?" she asked. Diane leaned back, and, with her
hands braced on the ground and her ankles locked, flexed her entire body,
tightening the hold. Her thighs bulged. Billy gasped. "Don't make me hurt
you," Diane told him. "You know what you have to say."

Billy still couldn't bring himself to do it. He began to flail his arms and
legs wildly and to rock from side to side"" anything to break her grip. It didn't
work. After about a minute his struggles began to grow weaker. Then,
unexpectedly, Diane released the hold and changed position. Moving
quickly, she climbed on top of Billy, snaking her legs around his and
pinning his wrists to the ground.

"A grapevine!" exclaimed Chris Cooper. I gave him a funny look. "How
the hell do you know that?" "I"" uh"" saw it on a video. I'll tell you later."

"Damn right you will." If there were videos of this sort of thing, I wanted
to hear about them.

Meanwhile, Diane had Billy almost totally immobilized. She used her legs
to spread his farther and farther apart. He tried repeatedly to raise his
arms, but she kept forcing them back down. In desperation, Billy attempted to
buck her off by raising his hips again and again an inch or two off the
ground, but Diane easily kept him under control. Finally he gave up and lay
still, exhausted. It was incredible, but true"" Billy Gallagher, the Billy
Gallagher, had been completely overpowered by a girl.

Diane looked down at him. Her breasts loomed inches from his face. "Well,
Billy?" she asked. There was a long pause. I could see tears in his eyes.

Then he said it, at last. "I'm sorry, Laura." "Tell her what you're sorry
for." "Fuc""," he began, but caught himself just in time. "I""I'm sorry for
pushing you. Now let me up, goddamn it!"

"I will," Diane said, "in a minute. But you accused me of cheating. I don't
cheat. If I win, I win. If I lose, I lose. I can deal with it. Apparently, you
can't. You're the one who cheated. And I beat you anyway. I want you to
look me in the eye and say, 'Diane, you beat me fair and square.'"

Billy made one last attempt to twist out from underneath her, but Diane
wasn't letting him go anywhere. "Say it." He turned his head away, and
muttered, "You beat me..." Diane stopped him. "I said look me in the eye.

That's better. And please speak clearly." Billy's face was bright red. No
one had ever treated him like this before. "You beat me..." he began.

Diane cut him off once more. "Say my name." By now he was openly
weeping. "D-Diane, you beat me fair and square." "Even though you
cheated." "E-e-even though I.....cheated." "Thank you." She released him
and stood up.

We all waited to see what Billy would do or say next. We didn't have long
to wait. Still lying spread-eagled on the ground, he lifted his head and
began screaming at Diane. "I hate you! I hate you! I hate you!" He
screamed until he began to choke on his own sobs. Finally he rolled over,
got on his hands and knees, and rose unsteadily to his feet. Whatever those
holds were that Diane had used on him, they had left him barely able to
stand. Billy glared at Diane, though I noticed that he was careful not to get
too close to her. He was shaking with frustration and rage. "I hate you!"

Laura Brown pointed out what some of us had already noticed. "You know,
Billy, to judge by the front of your jeans, I'd say that you like her, at
least a little." Billy looked down at his crotch, mortified. There was a small wet
stain on his pants. Sometime during his fight with Diane, he had ejaculated.

It wasn't very surprising, really, considering all that close contact with her
strong and supple body. The same thing had almost happened to me, and I
was only watching. But for Billy it represented the final humiliation.

He spun around and stalked off"" if it's possible to stalk and limp at the
same time.

I turned to Diane. "I'm really sorry this happened," I said. "Are you all
right?"

"Oh, I'm fine. A little sore in my shoulders, that's all."

"No wonder! What you did was freakin' incredible!" She blushed just a bit.

"Damn, you must be strong. And here I thought you were going to lose," I
confessed. "You were going so slowly I didn't think you'd catch him. How
many pull-ups could you have done if Billy hadn't grabbed you?"

Diane smiled and gave me a wink. "That's a secret," she said. "But I was
pacing myself. I wanted him to finish first, so I'd know just how many I
needed to win. I wanted to teach him a lesson, too. Women are very strong.
And a woman's greatest strength is her willpower. Maybe he knows that
now." Well, if Billy didn't, I certainly did.

Suddenly we heard a voice. Billy had reached the far side of the park and
was shouting back at Diane. "Fuck you! You bitch! You cheating bitch! I
hate you! I hope you die!" Then he turned and hustled off along Madison
Street.

That last bit made me really angry. "He can't say that to you!" I exclaimed,
starting across the grass. I was going to catch up to Billy and give him a
piece of my mind. But Diane called me back. "Steve, don't. Please. Let
him go. He's angry and upset right now. Let him yell. It's all right. He'll
get over it."

Boy, was she wrong.

To be continued in Parts 2 and 3, with more action and less clothing.

Comments welcome at dianestories@gmail.com.