Grade "A" Bitch
by Alpesco
Alicia makes sure that everyone is obedient.
It was two o'clock in the afternoon when Alicia released me. Her
voice finally overrode the automatic lock on my door, and I
stumbled out of my room.
I hadn't slept much. I was in too much pain. She certainly hit
hard. My face was covered in bruises and I was sure that my cheek
bone was broken.
I had come here to help run this small residential care facility
upstate. But Alicia wasn't interested in sharing authority over
this unit with its eight residents, three staff and me. She was
only twenty one, to my thirty five, but she was trying to confine
me to a secondary role. She was very tall, at six feet five, with
very long limbs. But like many tall girls, she was very thin and
willowy, as if she weighed next to nothing. She wore flat shoes,
a short black miniskirt and a sleeveless black top.
"Come here," she said, examining my face. "I
decided not to let you out until I'd sent the residents off to
their workshop placements. I don't want them to see you in this
state."
"Did you have to lock me in?"
"Certainly. You tried to attack me last night and I had to
restrain you." She turned away. "Go into the kitchen
and Linda will have a look at your face. It looks bad. I wouldn't
look in the mirror if I were you."
I went to the unit's large, modern kitchen.
"She sure has marked you," the thirty five year-old
cook, Linda, clucked as she looked at my bruises. "You
shouln't tangle with Miss Alicia. She may look like a beanpole,
but she's amazingly strong, and she loves to punch out guys."
"She makes a habit of this?"
"Miss Grammond has studied a raft of martial arts to a very
high level,
"There isn't a lot we can do, even if we wanted to,"
Linda said. "She has the power to punish and fire staff and
to manage and discipline the residents. Her authority is pretty
overwhelming here. It's best not to go up against her."
"She can't fire me," I said.
"Maybe not directly, but there are plenty of other things
she can do."
Alicia strode in to the kitchen, as Linda finished applying cream
and bandages. "I could have done a lot worse." She held
my chin with the hand that had caused the original damage. "
Good work," she nodded to Linda. "You won't be able to
see these bruises in a few days."
"What about my cheekbone? Is it broken?" I asked.
"It's probably cracked," the cook said, "but if it
doesn't take any more damage in the next few days it should mend
fine."
"Look, Miss Grammond," I said as I trailed the slender
figure out of the kitchen and into the main hub of the modern
building. "I need to know what my precise responsibilities
are meant to be here..."
"You're to work as I direct," Alicia said. "that's
all you need to worry your head about. I'll assign you what tasks
I feel you're ready for."
Ahead was the main living area, and on a level above that, which
I was unable to reach, the main administrative area. A broad
corridor ran off to right and left. Off this were eight rooms for
the residents of this half-way hostel, staff bedrooms, bathrooms,
and a couple of other doors, which were locked. Alicia walked to
one of these, and spoke out loud for the computer mikes to hear.
"Open gymnasium door."
There was a click as the security system recognised her voice,
and the door slid open to reveal a small, but well-equipped
gymnasium. There was a multigym weight unit, a jogging machine,
two stationary bikes, gym mats, pull-up bars, a pec machine, and
some free weights.
"This is mainly for the residents," she said. "But
I tend to spend a lot more time in here. The only thing is, the
resistance on the multigym isn't enough for me. I prefer to use
free weights." She sat on one of the benches, beneath a
heavily weighted barbell, and began to do bench presses. I worked
out there were 225 pounds. It was amazing to see her long thin
arms move such a heavy weight.
"I like to go fairly heavy," she said. "Then I
just max out my reps. I love it that people don't think I'm
anywhere near as strong as I am." She did fifteen reps as I
watched, then she sat up.
"Cameras replay." she ordered as a TV monitor burst
into life. She watched herself lift the weights. "Pretty
fair technique. I think I'm ready to go up ten pounds."
She slipped on two five pound plates and repeated the lifts with
a 235 pound total.
"Can I get voice operation of the doors and cameras like you
have?" I asked.
"You don't need to have that level of control," Alicia
lay back on the bench with a fifty pound dumbell in each hand and
started doing perfect flyes, her long arms coming up like wings
to meet way above her chest. "I need it because I'm
responsible for safety, security and management here. Just take
care of the work I assign you. You haven't finished that
inventory of equipment yet. I'd like it finished by five pm
please."
Leaving Alicia to finish her workout I got back to the tedious
task she'd assigned me. I felt sure that this was just make-work
to keep me busy and out of her hair, but I didn't know how to
make her let me do something more important.
A driver ferried the eight residents back home at four thirty.
The weekday routine followed a regular pattern. The men came in
from their workshop, changed out of their work clothes, then did
their house chores in the time before dinner.
As I finished my inventory, I saw Walter and Henry start an
argument over a magazine. The two residents, one aged twenty
eight, the other around forty began quarrelling over who should
have it first. There was pulling, shouting, and then some heavy
shoving that looked like it was going to develop into a fight.
Suddenly Alicia was there. Stepping between the two, she grabbed
each by the shoulder and forcefully separated her long arms,
pulling both of them apart. Both guys tried to resist her, but
the tall, slim figure of Alicia was simply too strong, and the
two stumbled backward under the relentless pressure, until they
were six feet apart.
"Do you need any help?" I asked, as she held them at
arms length.
"No." she shook her head, her fingers gripping the two
just where their arms met the shoulders. "I'm quite in
control."
That seemed quite true. The two were being held so that they
couldn't reach her or each other, and neither of them could move
against her steely arms.
'It's often useful to have long arms," she said.
"Oww!" Walter said. "You're hurting!"
"I'm only holding you tight enough to make sure you don't
escape," Alicia said. "I can squeeze a lot harder than
this if I want. Now stop struggling and I'll let you go."
This seemed a fair offer, but moth men were still very angry, and
they fought to break free.
"All right," she said as her wrists twisted harshly.
"Down on the floor, both of you. Get on your hands and
knees, then lie flat on the floor." She half-guided, half-forced
both of them down. They tried to resist, but there seemed to be
nothing they could do against her steely arms, "This is
where my arm strength comes in handy," she said to me.
"It enables me to control two of these guys at once."
She turned back to her two captives. "I'm not letting either
of you go until you are both calm and still." She went down
on one knee between them. "Right. Lie still and flat. If
either of you moves after I release you, that person spends the
rest of the day alone in his room."
The two lay still as she released her grip on their shoulders and
stood. "Good," she said as Linda and the other six
residents came out into the hallway.
"What's happening?" one of them asked.
"A disturbance," Alicia said. "Something I don't
want to see happening in this house. Now everyone is to lie flat
on the floor, face down." They all obeyed.
"Do you mean me as well?" Linda asked.
"I said everyone," Alicia nodded. "You too."
She looked at me. "It's a calming discipline for the
residents, but it works just as well for staff."
Linda got down, and I got down, lying flat on our stomachs.
Alicia stayed on her feet. "You all stay like that until I
tell you to move," she said. "No speaking. No noise at
all. Just slow, relaxed breathing."
She sat down in an armchair and started to look at some papers.
None of us moved. Minutes passed to the sound of the wall clock
ticking.
Alicia's rule over this facility was pretty absolute, I realized.
She was also a Grade One bitch, who had the staff and residents
completely under her thumb, and intended to keep it that way. I
felt foolish lying face down on the carpet with my arms at my
sides, but I had no convincing reason to disobey Alicia's order.
"Okay," Alicia said after a few minutes. "Linda,
you can get up now and go back to the kitchen. The rest of you
remain as you are. Anyone who makes a sound or a movement will
spend the rest of the day alone in isolation."
Another few minutes passed. "All right, Mr Hunt," she
said. "You can get up and finish your inventory now." I
rose. A minute later she said. "Now the rest of you. When I
click my fingers you can get up, slowly and silently. Nobody is
to speak, you will go slowly to your rooms and tidy away your day
things."
She snapped her finger and the eight guys got back to their feet,
heading for their rooms. An hour later people were moving around
again, and I got talking to James and Henry in the living area.
"Why do you always obey Miss Grammond so fast?" I asked.
"Because she's the boss. She can do what she likes. She
makes the rules, and if we annoy her she can punish us all."
"All of you? How?"
"A lot of ways." James ticked them off on his fingers.
"She can take away our priveleges. No TV, no games, no
videos. She can make us stay in our rooms. She can separate us so
that two groups never see each other. She can put people in the
cool-off room for as long as she wants. She can stop our treats,
she can ban outings, she can make us do all sorts of extra work..."
"She can make us keep total silence," Henry added
quickly. "Or make us lie out flat like today. She can ban
swimming. She can make us wear work uniform all day. And if she
really wants, she can send people away for good, to another place
like this, or back to a big hospital" He looked fearful.
"She did that with Jack last year, and we got Brian instead."
"I liked Jack," James said. "Even though he was
always getting us into trouble. But its been a lot quieter since
he left."
Alicia came in. "Have you two got nothing to do?" she
asked.
Henry left, but the taller James stayed where he was. "I'm
bored," he said, stretching to his full five foot nine.
"There's lots for you to do," Alicia said. "If
you've finished your work, there's TV, there's games or you could
go to the gym and exercise. If you do enough, you might get close
to being as strong as me."
"You think you're strong?" he grinned. "You try to
pick me up then."
"You already know what I can do," Alicia said. "I
think you just like being thrown around." She stepped
forward, clamped her hands beneath his arms, and then just
stretched her long arms upward. I gasped as Jamie went straight
up with them!
"Oooouuggh!" He gasped as her long arms extended to
full stretch, lifting him clean up off the floor. Her slender
arms didn't look that strong, but there he was, dangling above
her, his body hanging from her hands. She held him there. "I
don't say things I can't do."
"Owww! You're hurting."
She lowered
him to the floor, then moved her hands down his body to grip his
hips. "This won't hurt so much." Her arms pushed upward
once more, and up he went with them, even higher than before.
"I can see into your office!" he said, looking across
into the upper level.
Alicia bent her wrists, tipping his body backward until he was
being held horizontally, parallel with the floor.
"Ooouuugghhh!" he cried.
"You see how strong my arms are?" She moved her wrists
once more, tipping his body again, this time holding him upside
down. "Ooouuuhhhhh!"
"I'm not weakening yet," she said, her breathing steady.
"Please!" Jamie gasped. "Turn me the right way up!"
"Okay." Her wrists twisted him back upright. " But
you're not coming down yet." She held him upright for a
moment more, then she bent her arms, lowering him a little. She
drew a breath, and threw him powerfully upward. He gave a cry of
alarm as his body twisted sideways in the air, moving into a
position where she was able to catch him horizontally in her
outstretched arms. He landed with a crump as her long arms halted
his fall.
She held him cradled n her arms for a minute. Then she lowered
them a little, throwing him up again, two feet in the air, before
catching him securely.
"Auuugh!" he cried.
"I can throw higher than that," She lowered him in her
arms and then hurled him three feet into the air, catching him
once more in her long long arms.
"Now for the big one." She bent her knees, then came up
fast, her long arms hurling him nearly four feet in the air,
spinning his body so that it turned face down as she caught him.
He cried out in alarm, not expecting to be hurled so high.
"I won't let you drop," she said. "I could play
with you like this for ages."
She tossed him up again, using the toss to flip him over on to
his back once more. "This is quite good exercise. Shall we
see how many I can do?"
"One... Two... Three... Four... Five... Six... Seven...
Eight..." She hurled him three feet in the air with each
throw, flipping his body through 180 degrees each time, so that
he came down alternately face up or face down. She was breathing
hard now. "Two more!" she gasped. "Nine... Ten...
Eleven.. Twelve.. Thirteen... Fourteen..."
"I thought you said just two more?" I said.
"It turned out that I had more strength left than I thought,"
she said, holding a gasping James in her arms. " In fact I
think I'm getting my second wind now. This feels good." She
began to flip James again. "Fifteen... Sixteen... Seventeen...
Eighteen... Nineteen... Twenty... Twenty One... Twenty two...
Twenty three..."
"Stop. Stop!" James cried out, sounding more out of
breath than she did.
"I'm going to go for thirty now," she shook her head.
"I still feel really strong." Her arms lowered his body
by a foot, then hurled him upward again. spinning him to a face
down position before catching him. "Twenty four... Twenty
five... Twenty six... Twenty seven..." She paused, breathing
heavily. "This is starting to get harder," she frowned,
narrowing her eyes in concentration. "Twenty eight..."
He flew even higher this time as she caught him, face upward and
tossed him again. "Twenty nine... and..." She threw him
even higher. "Thirty!"
She grinned in triumph as he landed heavily in her outstretched
arms. "I didn't think I could have done that. I sometimes
don't know my own strength! And I still feel good. Okay."
She said, still carrying him. "This is the last,"
Alicia turned and tossed him up a Thirty first time, and this was
even higher. He cried out as he was rolled over three times in
the air and realised she wasn't going to catch him. But this time
she had directed his body in a high arc which sent him crumping
heavily on to the sofa.
"I thought you'd dropped me..." he gasped.
"I wouldn't do that," Alicia said, windmilling her long
arms and breathing deeply. "You must learn to trust me. I'm
here to take care of you and everyone in this hostel. I'm always
in control. That's why you have to do everything I say.."
Brian had been watching from the doorway. Now he ran at her,
aiming to take her by surprise. But she had seen the movement,
turning at the last minute to catch him in her arms. She swept
him effortlessly off his feet, lifting him right up to shoulder
height before dumping him on the sofa alongside James.
"I thought you were tired?" he complained.
"My body recovers fast. I've still got more than enough
strength to deal with you two!"
James got back to his feet and rushed her. She did the same with
him, sweeping him up in her arms and crashing him down on the
sofa.
"I quite like to rough and tumble with the boys," she
said.
I tried to pick up Brian, getting him up to waist height. But he
was surprisingly heavy - at least 170 pounds. I lost my balance,
and we both ended up on the floor.
Brian got up first since he was on top of me. Then the two ran at
Alicia. She bent her knees stretching out her arms to stop them.
Then her arms clamped about their backs as her legs straightened,
lifing them both up off the floor onto her shoulders. She stood
tall with them both clamped over her shoulders. They gasped for
breath as her shoulders dug into their stomachs. She was so tall
that their feet were nearly three feet off the floor. Then she
spun and dropped them on the sofa one on top of the other.
"Had enough?" she said, breathing deeply. "I can
pick you both up again if you like?"
"No. That's enough!" Jamie said. "You're far too
strong, and I'm starting to feel sick."
"Have you got the inventory completed?" she asked me as
we walked back to the kitchen.
"That's all I could find," I handed her the clipboard,
and turned away. I tried to go into the back garden, but the door
was locked
"Do you have to keep so many doors locked?" I asked
impatiently, searching for my electronic door key.
"Unit security," she said.
My electronic key didn't seem to work. "The key doesn't open
this door," I complained.
"That key only opens the doors I program it to," she
explained. "That isn't one of them." She looked toward
one of the ceiling cameras. "Rear door two, unlock."
The lock clicked open on the glazed door. The voice-controlled
locking system seemed to emphasize Alicia's oppressive level of
power over this unit.
"I need to be able to get out into the rear gardens on my
own," I said. "I can't be locked inside the building."
"Okay," she said. "Computer: enable pass key nine
for rear doors two and three, but no more than four uses in any
twenty four hour period, and always reset the locks."
"Changes authorised and registered," a computer voice
came from somewhere near the ceiling.
"Why the restrictions?" I complained.
"I told you. Security. I don't want any of the residents
wandering outside unsupervised. And I don't want unauthorised
intruders gaining access to the building."
Alicia looked out through the window, then walked out into the
back yard. A heavy-set man of about five foot eight was clipping
grass on the main path across the lawn toward a conservatory.
"That's George," Linda whispered.
"Mr Taylor," Alicia pointed to some uneven stone slabs
on a square patio adjoining the main building. "I thought I
asked you last Saturday to re-lay those stones."
"That's not my job," the man growled. "My job is
gardening and maintenace of heating, piping, equipment and
furnishings. I don't do paving slabs."
"As long as you work here, you will do any reasonable task
that I order."
"Yeah? And what the hell do you think you know about my job?
Butt out of my face. I've had it with you telling me how to do my
job!"
"Okay," Alicia said. "That's it. You're fired.
Pick up your things and come into the kitchen where I'll sign you
off."
"What?" George turned to face her, startled.
"You heard me. I won't tolerate insubordinate staff."
"But I've worked here for five years! I'm on permanent staff."
"Not any more," she said. "Your employment here
terminated as of one minute ago."
"You can't do that!"
"I certainly can. I have absolute authority to hire and to
fire. I've terminated your employment for unacceptable behavior
and misdemeanors. Now collect your bags and your coat and come
into the house. I want you off these premises in ten minutes time."
"Bitch! You can't do that!" He strode angrily toward
her.
I don't know what he intended, but he had no chance of success.
He was solidly built, but the slender figure of Alicia was nearly
a foot taller than him. Her long arms simply stretched out and
held him away from her, well out of reach if her body. It was
almost funny watching the enraged groundsman trying to reach her
with his fists or kick at her, his blows striking only the air,
as they missed by several inches.
"Stop that!" Alicia ordered. "Now!"
Enraged, George aimed a furious blow directly at her face, but he
still couldn't bridge the gap. The blow whistled past, eight
inches from Alicia's face, as the tall young woman's arms held
him away from her.
"Okay!" Alicia said as her right arm withdrew from
George's shoulder, pulling right back as her long hand
transformed into a surprisingly heavy-looking fist. Without
further warning, it launched forward, lightning fast and deadly
accurate, aiming at the gardener's head.
This blow did make contact, and with an astonishing amount of
force. There was a heavy crack as the blow landed. George groaned
as he was sent spinning backward, stumbling drunkenly for a few
seconds as he tried to stay on his feet. The effort, however was
too much for him. He staggered and then fell on to the grass.
"Don't ever try that again," Alicia stared down at him.
He looked shocked as streams of blood ran down his face.
"You're not going to fire me!" he said as he attempted
to get back to his feet. I could see that the effort was
difficult for him. He still seemed dizzy, speaking in a slurred
voice as he made two failed attempts to stand. On the third
attempt, he managed to stagger uneasily back to his feet,
supporting himself with one hand against a tree.
"I said you aren't going to fire me!" He shouted
angrily yet almost drunkenly, as if the punch had taken away some
of his wits. He was obviously still very angry as he lumbered
toward Alicia.
But he was no sort of threat at all to the tall young woman. Her
left arm stretched out to halt him once more. Then, in a quick
movement, she wrapped her long right arms around his outstretched
right, stepping behind him to encircle his body from behind. Her
long arms swept upward, suppressing his struggles as they trapped
both his arms, linking behind his neck. The older man tried to
struggle, but he was securely pinned in a full nelson. Alicia's
slender arms were astonishingly strong, immobilising the hundred
and eighty pound gardener almost with out effort.
Alicia's face
was passionless as she controlled him. He was strill struggling
and swearing. Her arms began to pile on more pressure. Her linked
forearms started to press forward and down - and his head and
upper body were forced forward and downward with them.. He was
straining and gasping, struggling with all his might, but his
whole body couldn't resist the smooth power of her arms. She was
bending him double! His face went red. Her power seemed
effortless. He was gasping and struggling, but she was moving her
forearms easily forward and down with no strain.
Suddenly in another display of her strength, she straightened her
body, lifting the bowed-over George right off the ground, to hang
from her linked arms. His legs kicked impotently, eight inches
off the ground. Alicia took his weight with ease as he coughed
and spluttered.
"Owww. Owwwww!" he moaned. "I give. I give! Please
let me go!"
Alcia held him where he was for a few moments longer as he gasped
for air. Then she unclasped her strong arms, letting him fall to
the ground, where he supported himself on hands and knees as he
gasped raspingly for breath. He coughed and spluttered as his
breathing steadied. He was clearly shaken. The thing was that
Alicia seemed to be doing little more than toying with him. I was
sure that if she wanted, she could launch a far more serious and
devastating attack on the forty year old. Three or four more
blows like the one she'd already given him seemed quite within
her power. I shuddered to think what he'd look like after that
sort of punishment.
"Now get up and go into the kitchen," Alicia ordered.
This time he obeyed and Alicia followed him in.
"You hurt me," George complained as he stood in the
middle of the kitchen. "I could sue you. I could sue the
State... You could go to jail..."
"You tried to hit me," Alicia said. "The only one
who could go to jail here is you."
"You won't get away with this - do you hear me? I won't let
a kid, half my age do this to me..."
"George," Alicia said. "Be quiet."
Her right arm moved so fast it was a blur.
CRASHHH! The noise was ear-splitting as her fist sped right past
George's head to smash in to the nearby wall cabinet. The whole
four foot by three by two cabinet seemed to implode with the
force of the impact. The wood effect door stove right in, as if
it were made of styrofoam. The impact shattered the wooden
shelves inside as it tore whole cabinet apart. Bits of shelf,
cabinet wall and door hurtled across the kitchen. The shattered
contents of the cabinet, cans bowls and plates clattered onto the
work surface and the floor, breaking and smashing.
Less than a second after her blow, Alicia withdrew her fist from
the middle of the shattered mass of wreckage that still clung to
the kitchen wall. She opened her hand, spreading her fingers to
check for any cuts or grazes. "Not a scratch," she said
with satisfaction, closing her fist again. "My technique is
getting better." She turned to George. "As for you. If
I wanted to hurt you I'd give you a few more of those. You really
do not want to be in the way of one of those punches.
Understand?'
"Yes, ma'am." George was clearly shaken by the
unexpected speed, power and potency of the tall young woman's
punch.
"Right," she said. "I'll sign you off and write
you a check for your remaining salary."
"Please, miss," he said. "I'm sorry for what I
said and did earlier. I can't afford to lose this job. It was the
drink I had this lunchtime doing the talking. If I promise to do
exactly as you say in future, can I stay?"
"I just fired you," Alicia looked stern. "You've
got to learn that I mean what I say."
"Please!" George begged. "I will learn. I have a
family. There's no other work round here that pays like this.
Can't I get another chance? Please!" He fell on his knees. I
saw tears running from his eyes,
"Stand up," Alicia ordered.
He obeyed.
"Your old job is gone," Alicia said. "But because
of what you say about your family I'll give you one final chance.
I'll hire you on a week-to-week basis, and see how well you do.
It's casual labor. You'll do whatever hours and shifts I decide,
and whatever work I decide. Any day you displease me with the
standard of your work or your attitude, I'll let you go. There's
no appeal, and you won't come back. If you get through three
months, do exactly as I order and improve the quality of your
work, I may consider re-hiring you on a more permanent basis."
"But..." George began.
"That's all I'm prepared to consider,"
George looked beaten. "Okay. I'll do whatever you say."
"I hope so. You'll fix up a new cabinet in your own time
tomorrow morning, then fix up that patio. If you show me you've
improved your attitude, I may reconsider what I've decided."
"Thank you, Miss Grammond." He turned and sidled out,
"I wish you wouldn't do that," Linda said, nodding to
the wreckage of the cabinet. "It's a terrible mess to get
cleaned up."
"Sorry," Alicia allowed herself a half smile. "I
though it would be a gentler demonstration than actually laying
out George."
"George would have been less messy," Linda said.