(Editor's Note: My web friend Betty, at Gamgam4681@aol.com, flattered me by writing a sequel to my story, After The Tournament,  http://www.thevalkyrie.com/stories/gw/tournament.txt. With a little editing and some pictures from me, here it is. GW)

Sandy spent most of the night making Frank service her, inventing several new variations, she'd never thought of before, and never letting that brush leave his ass.  By morning, though, she had time to think. Her naturally loving nature came to the surface.  What had she done?  Frank was a wreck; he looked like a piece of raw meat from his face to his feet.  Now her handiwork sickened her. She was still mad at him for hitting her and raping her, but she no longer tried to justify the beating she'd given him. She wanted to do something, but didn't know what. She decided to go out and get medicine and tapes for both of them, and ointment for Frank's ass and his face.

Even though she felt sorry for him, Sandy was still angry at her husband. Things would have to change between them, if they were to continue.  Frank would have to get used to treating her as an equal, and a partner!  As she left, she snapped: “The house is a mess, thanks to you! Clean it up, while I'm gone! I'll be picking up the kids from my mother!”

Frank almost broke down at the thought of his children seeing him like this.

“Pl-please, Sandy don't let the kids see me like this!”  He begged.

“Tough, Big man!  You brought this on yourself!”  Sandy retorted, unsympathetically, but on the way to the drug store, she stopped at a phone and called her mother. She asked her to look after the kids for the next week, but she wanted Frank to suffer a little more before she got back so she didn't tell him anything about it.

Looking in the bedroom mirror, Frank almost threw up at sight of the damage his cute blonde wife had inflicted. Getting down on his knees, he very gingerly eased the brush from his violated rectum, and almost passed out from the pain.

“I AM, nothing but a wimp!”  He thought bitterly.  “My own wife beat the shit out of me!”  He looked at all his trophies that he'd always been so proud of. Now, they seemed to mock him. He started smashing them, and couldn't stop until he destroyed every one in the house, screaming, “Wimp, wimp, wimp!”  almost hysterically, all the while.

Then dressing as fast as his pain allowed, Frank rushed out to his van.  It was agony driving with his ass on fire from the spanking and that brush handle, but he stubbornly kept on until he got to his gym.  The first thing he saw when he got there, was that someone had spray painted, “WIMPY’S” on the front wall.

“Damn it ! Does everyone in town know about it?”  Frank wondered sickly.  As he tied to walk in, nonchalantly, he noticed that there was almost no one there, for this time of day.  The few that were there, all stopped exercising, and stared at him.  He heard some whispers, and one guy he'd never liked, snickered out loud, at sight of his bruised face.

Sid, his assistant manager, came up to him, and in some embarrassment, told Frank.  “Shit, Frank, people have been emptying out their lockers all morning!  Everybody's been talking about what happened at that tournament last night!”

“Out! GET OUT!”  Frank screamed, chasing the few men that were there out.  Looking around, he started crying.  He grabbed a barbell and started smashing everything in sight, starting with the rest of his trophies.  After wrecking the gym, Frank staggered out and got into his van.   Sid tried to call Sandy, after Frank left.

“It's that damn Bill's Gym that started this!”  Frank muttered through his tears.  Not entirely sure why, he turned the van toward his rival's establishment.  Driving to Bill's did nothing to clear Frank's head, or ease the pain in his butt.

When he got to Bill's Gym, Frank saw the parking lot was packed. Going up to the door, he looked in.  Even at first glance, he recognized that a large part of the crowd, were his former patrons.   When he went through the door everyone in the place stopped and stared at him, with much whispering and snickers.

The first things Frank saw were two life-sized pictures of Sandy and himself on the wall.  One was a shot of his beautiful wife with her foot set triumphantly on his neck in the tournament ring.

The second picture was Sandy laughingly carrying him out of the ring on her shoulder like a hunting trophy. Someone had written under it:   "Frank's better half and his better side."

Frank almost threw up. Bill saw him in the doorway and screamed, “Hi, Wimp!  Damn it, you look worse now than after the match.  Did Sandy have to show you who was boss when she got home from celebrating?’ He burst out laughing.  Bill swaggered across the gym to where Frank was standing.

“Now why don't you get out of here!  We don't cater to wimps like you, here!”  Bill laughed, loud enough for everyone in the room to hear.

Frank stood there indecisively, not moving.  He wanted to do something, but those damned pictures looking down at him from the wall, took the heart right out of him.

Finally, Bill pushed him.  “Go on!  Get out of here, you stumblebum!”

Frank tried to throw a punch, but his heart wasn't in it. Bill slapped it down, and then almost floored Frank with just a slap.

“Get out, before I finish what your wife started, Asshole!”

Frank slunk back to his van, his head down, followed by the loud laughter of everyone in the gym.  Frank knew he was never going to be the same again.

“I gotta get away from here, anywhere, just so long as it's far away from here!”  Hardly thinking what he was doing, Frank started driving out of town.   The pain in his body was nothing compared to the pain in his soul.

Sandy left the Drug Store with the bandages and ointment. She absentmindedly got into the car, deep in thought.  “God! Why didn't I just leave him alone? I had to really press it last night!  I know he raped me, but it was partly my fault!”  In the clear morning sunshine, she was no longer telling herself “Frank was asking for it!”

“Why the hell didn't I just pin him, during the match? NO I had to beat him, and carry him out like a piece of garbage!  Hell, I didn't even stop when he was begging me in the ring, and I heard people laughing, as he was trying to give!”

Getting home, Sandy sat in the car, for a few more minutes, still lost in thought.  “Damn! Why didn't I just tell him I was going to get bandages?  No!  I had to make rub it in some more! Shit I left him with that hair brush still stuck up his butt!”

“Frank!”  Sandy called as she came into the house.  Then, she saw the smashed trophies.  “My God!  Frank where are you?” Dropping her bags, she ran from room to room, but they were all empty.  Running outside, she saw Frank's van was gone. Just then, the phone rang. It was Sid from Frank's Gym.

“Hey, Sandy you better get down here fast. Frank busted up the place, and chased all the customers out! He was acting real crazy!”

Breaking just about every speed law on the books, Sandy raced to the gym.  As she pulled into the parking lot, she almost got sick to her stomach, when she saw the painted graffiti “WIMPYS” .  Inside the gym, she was shocked by the extensive damage. It looked like vandals had been loose, all night.  Frank had smashed just about every thing that could be smashed.

All Sandy could think of was. “What have I done? This sure isn't what I wanted!”

Just then, Sid rushed up to her.  “Sandy, someone from Bills gym just called, he said Frank is over there, right now!”

Fearing for Frank, Sandy ran back to her car, and raced to Bill's Gym.  When she walked into the gym, she was met by several cheers.

“Hey, Champ!”

“Congratulations!”

Sandy looked around, and noticed that at least half the people working out had been Frank's customers, until yesterday.  She froze, when she saw the pictures of her and Frank, on the wall. Bill strutted up to her and gave her a tight hug.

“Sorry, Hon! You just missed Frank!”  Bill snickered, loud enough for everyone to hear, getting a big round of laughter. The laughter annoyed Sandy, and she pulled away from Bill's arms.  “I have to get going, now!”  She told him.  She was anxious to get home in case Frank called.

Bill smiled.  “Hey Hon, if there's anything I can do, and I do mean 'anything', just call me!”

As Sandy walked to her car, Bill's eyes were glued to her smoothly rotating butt, a sly, thoughtful look on his face. “Yeah, Baby, 'anything'!” He muttered, licking his lips.

At home, Sandy sat by the phone for the next couple of days. All she got, were calls congratulating her, and ones from Sid at Frank's gym saying there were almost no customers there.

“Damn it! I didn't have to humiliate Frank like that! Why the hell did I carry him out of there like a trophy?” All Sandy could think of was how bad Frank looked and the pain she'd caused him.

By Friday, Frank still hadn't called, and it was time for their two children to come home. Sandy still had no idea of what she was going to say to them. After school, that afternoon, her mother brought the kids home. As they came up to the door, Sandy knew that they did not have to be told. Ten year old Bobby ran past her, when she tried to give him a kiss, and thirteen year old Penny stood there glaring at her with deep hatred on her young face.

“Honey I…” Was all Sandy got out, when Penny threw three pictures at her.

“These are all over school, MOTHER! I hope you DIE!” Turning, Penny ran into her room.

Picking up the pictures Penny had thrown at her, Sandy at them looked in shock. Two were the same ones as those on the wall at Bill's Gym, her, with her foot on Franks neck, and her carrying him from the ring. The third was Frank standing in a doorway, looking like a piece of raw meat. Someone had written ‘what a wimp’ on all three pictures.

Sandy's mother tried to talk to her, but she was about at the end of her rope. Her children hated her, Frank left her, and the gym was trashed. Her proud victory of just a few days before, had turned to a curse, it seemed. Trying to put up a brave front, Sandy told her mother that she would be okay.

That night, Sandy sat in the dark, looking at nothing, but remembering everything.  "Who's to blame? Frank knew nothing about wrestling, and he had no business in the ring at all! I didn't have to beat him like I did, though! Hell! I could have pinned him halfway through the fight! Even when I used the crab on him, all I had to do was roll him over and pin him. But no, I just had to humiliate him and make him suffer!”

At that, Sandy started crying again. “He begged me to stop, and I head the people laughing, but I just had to keep it up!” And Sandy could not even bear to think of their fight at home.

“Frank did hit me, and rape me, and for that he asked for a fight! But I wouldn't leave him alone! He all but begged me to just leave him alone! I just had to make fun of him again. Hell! Even after I beat him again, he begged me to stop, but I had to keep hitting him!” Sandy cringed, thinking of what followed, the spanking and anally raping him.

“Even next morning, if only I didn't taunt him one more time, telling him to clean the house, when I was going to get medicine and bandages!”

The next few days were pure hell for Sandy, Penny only talked when spoken to, and Bobby talked back and made life hell for her. It was obvious that things were not going to get better. It was a relief, Monday, when they went back to school. Neither of them seemed to want to go and be ridiculed by their friends, but she refused to take any excuses. “If I'm the evil bitch of a mother, I might as well get some good out of it!”

Sid, at Frank's gym, called again, and said he had the place fixed up some, but that only a couple of people were bothering to come in, and that a lot were still emptying their lockers out. Not only was the gym Franks pride and joy, it was their only income. Sandy had to get out of the house before she went crazy and going there would be a relief.

Sid had done a good job. The broken windows were boarded up, and most of the damage inside was fixed. There was not much that could be done about the broken machines, and Frank's smiling picture was gone. WIMPY’S was painted over. But only two people were working out. Usually, at that time, even on Monday morning, there were seven or eight men and women there.
Sitting in the office, Sandy was at a loss.

"What am I going to do? If this keeps up, we'll lose the Gym! I've got to do something! Hell! I never ran anything! Can I save this?” Sandy felt like crying, as she just sat there.

Sandy asked Sid if he would help.

“I'll do what I can, but if things don't pick up, you're out of business!”

Looking at the phone, Sandy knew what she had to do. She picked it up and dialed.
“Bill, I need some help!”

“For you, anything, Hon!” Was his answer.

“I'm at Frank's, and I think I'm going to have to run the gym for a while, if we're going to eat!”

“Yeah Hon! What can I do?”

Awkwardly, Sandy asked Bill, if he could give her some advice.

“Sure thing, Hon! Tell you what! Lets meet and get some coffee and talk?”

Sandy agreed to meet Bill in a half hour.

Hanging up, Sandy prayed she was doing the right thing, and that Frank would appreciate it, or at least not blame her too much, when he came back.

Bill hung up with a big smile on his face. “Frank's gone now, and he's a laughingstock, and now I'm going to get his wife! And she IS some piece of Ass! After I'm done with her, she'll be mine, and his gym’ll be gone forever! Yeah Hon! I'm going to help you, but GOOD!”

Laughing, Bill looked at the pictures of his worst rival being carried like a beaten girl, and smiled “Yeah, Hon!”

Sandy and Bill talked for a long time over coffee, and Bill went out of his way to be helpful.  “I know most of your customers came over to my place after you beat Frank, Hon, but I never asked them to come. Y’know, I wouldn't do that!”

Smiling at Sandy, Bill inwardly thought of the life size picture of Frank in the Men's Locker Room at his own gym. The picture of Frank in the doorway, bruised from his face to his belt line, his eyes half closed, his face looking like raw meat, with the caption!” IF YOU WANT A BODY LIKE MINE COME TO FRANK'S GYM”  “Hah, like hell I wouldn't!”

Bill advised Sandy to put in a wrestling ring in her gym. Sandy knew Frank would be against it, but she agreed, anyway. She was desperate to do something, anything, to keep the gym open. Besides, wrestling was something SHE was good at, and knew how to teach. The way Frank left the gym, there was plenty of room for a ring. Thinking of Frank made Sandy teary eyed. Bill seeing the look on her face, took her hand and caressed it, ‘sympathetically’, as he asked if she wanted to go there now? Sandy declined saying she had to get home but would meet him there later.

As usual, Penny and Bobby came home, still seeming to hate her. It seemed like there was nothing she could do for either one. Her son still would not talk and seemed to hate both Frank and her! Penny was defiant, and told her mother that when she found out where ‘Sandy had driven her father’, she was going to go there, and live with him. Before last week, Sandy and Penny were as close as any mother and daughter could be, and did lots of things together. Now Penny's hatred hurt even worse than Bobby's did.

After eating a very quiet and gloomy supper, Sandy couldn't wait to go to the gym. Bill was already there, looking it over. Seeing Sandy, he gave her a big smile and took her hand. After the way things were at home, Sandy was happy to see a smiling face and it showed. Bill knew things were working out just the way he wanted. If he just took it slow, it would all be his.

“I kind of got started helping you by dumping some of the broken junk, Hon!’ Bill said not telling Sandy that ‘the junk’ included all Frank's broken trophies, and his life size picture. “We're going to put your trophy in the window, and I have a life size photo of you! Don't worry, Hon, it's the one after your last match.

Sandy was looking at the difference in the gym. "God! Frank would never recognize it!”
Bill had already laid out the ring for her. “Oh, if only we can get enough customers to come, maybe, just maybe, I can keep the place going!”

Sandy planned to try to get as many women as she could into wrestling, and after her fight with Frank; she figured maybe a little boxing, too. She seemed to have a natural talent for it! She'd started practicing it at the gym, and was going to do her best. “Oh, if only Frank was here with me!” She still got teary eyed whenever she thought of Frank.

Bill saw the sad look on Sandy's face, and placed his fingers on her back and very gently started to rub up and down her back. Sandy closed her eyes, and leaned back as he rubbed it. She had not been with a man since that horrible night with Frank, over three weeks ago, and sure missed it. Stepping in front of her, Bill took Sandy in his arms, and pulled her up close. He placed his lips on hers. Forgetting everything, Sandy almost swooned in his arms, and returned his kiss. She pretended to herself, that it was Frank kissing her, but she angrily told herself. "If he cared, he'd be HERE!” And it felt so, so good, to have some affection with all the hatred at home. “Well, Frank is gone, and I don't know where, and Bill is here!”

Bill was as big as Frank, maybe even a little bigger, and, if she closed her eyes, she could almost pretend it WAS Frank. Sandy did not even pull away, when Bill stuck his tongue into her mouth.

“God! I do so need to unwind!” Sandy told herself, guiltily, and only pulled back a little, when Bill gently pulled her into the back room. Bill gently laid her scarcely resisting body down on some old mats and lay down beside her. Sandy lay still, as Bill ran his fingers ever so gently over her body, as he slowly undressed her. Sandy stiffened a little when Bill removed her blouse and then unsnapped her bra, but when she felt his fingers touching her nipples, she relaxed, again. Her nipples stiffened with an eagerness of their own. “Oh I shouldn't, but I need it!”

Sandy kept her eyes closed, and ran her own fingers up and down Bill's chest, as Bill toyed with her big breasts. Bill kept teasing her nipples with one hand, as he slid her panties off. Sandy moaned a little as Bill touched her between the legs. It was the way Frank used to touch her! Bill eased between her firm, rounded thighs. He slid his trousers down, and Sandy felt his cock rubbing against her pussy lips. Forgetting everything but her need, Sandy shivered in excitement, as it slid inside her. Bill's cock was nowhere near as big as Frank's, but he was being so gentle with her and for now, that was all she needed. They rolled all over the mat taking turns on top, and with long soft kisses and then with deep French kissing. After all the hatred she had been living with, Sandy desperately needed someone being nice to her. Keeping her eyes closed, she could almost pretend it was Frank. Bill was having a ball. “God it's good to use her like this! What a body the slut’s got, and she is one damn good fuck!”

As Bill exploded inside Sandy, he was laughing to himself. "This is too good to be true! I got Frank out of town, ruined his gym; I'm going to get his wife to turn it into a women's gym, and the best part is, now I'm fucking his wife! Yeah, life is good!”

After she came, Sandy opened her eyes and thought Bill's big smile was for her, and she smiled back.

“Yeah, Hon, that's my good little dimwit! Smile for me, and keep up the good sex! Mmmm, I wonder if I could knock her up? That'd be the crowning insult to Frank! His wife carrying my bastard!” And a bigger smile covered Bill's face. He lay back and smiled, wondering how often he'd have to use her to give her his bastard. “Yeah Hon! I'm going to take GOOD care of you!”

Sandy lay there feeling drained but with some relief at least. She also had a guilty feeling, but, “Damn Frank! Why couldn't he have stayed home! It's so hard trying to keep things going, and no one seems to give a damn! Everyone hates me, but Bill! Thank God Bill is helping!”  Sandy looked into Bill's face. She returned his smile, and gave him another long kiss, as they lay touching each other.

The next couple of weeks found Sandy and Bill in the back room every day or so, then every day and finally, sometimes a couple of times a day.  Sandy had deep-seated guilt feelings, but was hiding them. She knew it wasn't right doing it with Bill, of all people, but she couldn't stop. Those back room interludes with Bill were the only time she felt good lately. Bill was not as good a lover, or as big as Frank and once he came, he stopped, but he seemed to care about her, and that's what she needed now. If not for Bill she'd have gone nuts. Her son Bobby hated every thing now, and it seemed Penny only glared at her. Mealtimes were horrible; no one talked and the atmosphere was so thick you could cut it with a knife.

One morning, when Sandy pulled up to the gym, she saw a new window that Bill had just put in. On it, he had painted ‘SANDY'S GYM’, and under it, ‘Proprietor Sandy Johnson’. Johnson was Sandy's maiden name, and she hadn't used it since her marriage. She'd been Sandy Manson, since she married Frank. Underneath her name were listed. ‘Bill Gates and Karen Gates Instructors’. Bill had introduced Karen to Sandy as his sister some time ago. All the old staff was gone now. Even Sid had left after an argument with Bill, one day when Sandy was away.

“NO! NO!  NO!” Sandy ran to the phone and called Bill at his gym.

“DAMN IT, Bill! Why the hell did you do that…” was all Sandy could sputter before Bill laughingly interrupted.” Take it easy, Hon! I did it for YOU! Nobody is going to go to a place called Frank's Gym, now that they all know what a loser he is!”

“Damn you! Don't call him that!”

Thinking fast, Bill interrupted. “Now Hon, just give it a try, and see if it doesn't bring more people in?” Bill knew how desperately Sandy's gym needed customers and the money they'd bring in, and played on it. Sandy hung up angrily, but she didn't say to change it.

Bill drove over to Sandy's Gym a little later that morning. When he put his hand on her back, he knew by the way she tensed up, that they were not going into the back room today.

“Oh well! Guess I can do with out it one day!” Bill thought complacently, knowing that his changes were going to stay the way he wanted them.

Sandy spent the rest of the day working out, and helping the other women that were there working out. Not that there was many of them. She was trying to forget everything and let Karen run the gym. The little redhead did most of the paper work, and signed up almost all the new customers as it was. Sandy was coming to depend on her, almost as much as she did on Bill. Even so, there was just something about Karen that she just couldn't get really close to her. Sandy couldn't put her finger on it, but there was just some undercurrent there. Karen was friendly, and always smiling, but it seemed behind the smile, she was laughing at Sandy. Since she really needed the Gates, Sandy let it go for now. Another thing Sandy couldn't figure out was that there were almost no men customers left at the Gym.

After a full day of working out, Sandy went home to fix supper for her children, a task that was becoming harder and harder.  Sandy was just placing the food on the table when Bobby came in and screamed at her. "THANKS FOR NOTHING, Mom! Now every one is calling me Bobby JOHNSON! Thanks, Mom! Just thanks!” He ran to his room, and slammed the door. Penny was standing in the door just looking at Sandy with hate in her eyes.

“Honey…” Sandy started to tell Penny that it was not her doing at the gym, but she was cut off with, “Go to hell!” Then Penny walked past her going to her room.

Standing in the kitchen with everything getting cold, Sandy started to cry. “How much more can I take of this?” She went to her purse and took out a little black cigar. Karen smoked them and Sandy had been trying them for her nerves. She lit it up and got the whisky out of the cabinet and poured herself a big glass full. Going into her room leaving the food sitting and hearing loud music from the children's rooms, she slammed her own door, and smoked and drank half the night away, going through cryfest after cryfest. She only went to bed after she was out of it. She slept in her clothes, holding Franks picture in her arms. As she slept, she had dreams of Frank holding her and laughing with her, like he used to.

When Sandy got up in the morning, she had one hell of a hangover and her mouth felt like an ashtray.  She went into the kitchen and saw that supper was where she left it, not a crumb had being eaten. The children had left for school, and she just had to get out of there. After showering she drove to the gym; it was her only escape now.

Things went on like that for the next four weeks, home being a hell. Hatred seemed to be the only thing that was there for her. At the gym Bill was taking her in the back room everyday now. She no longer gave it much thought. She didn't really enjoy it; Hell! If she let herself think about it, she had to admit Bill was a lousy lover, but she just needed the affection. It was just something she did. It did seem to relax her, and she let it continue, even though it was just one more thing to feel guilty about.

The only thing that seemed to matter to Sandy now was fighting in the ring. At least she seemed good at that, even if she felt like a failure about the rest of her life. She was getting paid for her fights now, too. Bill had introduced her to a small time promoter who ran a small private fight club, for a well paying clientele that wanted to see real action. Although the purses were small, they helped with the bills that seemed endless. Frank always handled the money. She'd resented it at the time, but now she wondered how he did it. “Guess maybe it wasn't all that much fun as I thought!”

By now, Sandy had had three more fights, two against male opponents and one against a woman. The promoter of the fights, capitalized on Sandy's reputation, billed her first fight as a ‘Battle of the Sexes.’ Her opponent was inexperienced and out of shape, and Sandy dispatched him with ease, but once again her victory over a man created a stir. The promoter decided to match her against his toughest male fighter. "Lets see how tough the bitch is against Bruiser" He thought. Though he was making money off the beautiful blonde, like many males, he resented seeing a woman winning.

Sandy knew this fight was for real. She'd heard Bruiser's reputation. He really liked hurting his opponents, and fought for the fun of it, rather than the money. Looking at the huge, brutish male across the ring from her, Sandy was a little intimidated. As she gulped nervously, Bruiser was on her. Before she knew what hit her, the brute had her body in his arms, in a bear hug.

Before she could do anything, Sandy found herself almost passing out from the crushing pressure on her middle. Seeing her anguish, Bruiser laughed nastily, and began making suggestive remarks to his struggling, very beautiful female opponent. He even made a slighting reference to Sandy's age, although he was only a couple of years younger than she was. Normally, Sandy wasn't particularly sensitive about her age, but hearing it from this ape made her furious.

In desperation, Sandy furiously slammed her hands together, driving her thumbs into the pressure points at the side of Bruiser's neck.

Once she had Bruiser off balance, Sandy took advantage of her huge foe's lumbering pace. She attacked from all directions until Bruiser's head was swimming.

Sandy climaxed her deadly, lightening attack with a flying kick that nearly knocked Bruiser off his feet.

Reeling, Bruiser might still be on his feet, but not for long. As Sandy landed lightly on her back she scissored her calves around the big man's ankles and rolled, bringing her huge opponent down with a crash.

Bruiser partially broke the fall with his hands, even so he was stunned for just a moment; long enough for Sandy. Working with methodical skill, but catlike quickness, she twisted his legs in a pretzel, secured them with her left knee, planted her right knee in the small of his back, grabbed him under the chin and, with the strength of a lioness bent his middle backward at nearly a ninety degree angle.

Before he figured out what happened, the male fighter was immobilized in an agonizing hold he couldn't break. Sandy remorselessly turned on the pressure.

When Bruiser didn't respond, Sandy increased the pressure.

Sandy leaped off Bruiser's body and planted her foot on his back in token of victory, while Bruiser muttered obscene threats. Bruiser's back was badly enough injured that he had to be carried from the ring on a stretcher, and they both knew he couldn't carry out his threats against the deadly female foe.

Surprisingly, Sandy's toughest fight, to date, was against another woman, a grudge match with Bruiser's girl friend and ring valet, who called herself Bruiserette. Wanting revenge, the girl had begged the promoter to match her against Sandy.

Even though she knew this was a grudge match and her opponent wanted to mess her up, Sandy naively extended her hand to shake at the beginning of the bout.

Bruiserette took the opportunity offered by Sandy's good sportsmanship, to kick her between the legs. Sandy wailed in pain as Bruiserette followed up by raking her sharp nails across Sandy's eyes, and then down her sumptuous breasts, tearing her blue halter off tin the process.

Paralyzed from the waist down by the crotch kick, and half blinded by Bruiserette’s claws, Sandy didn't even see the punch coming. The vicious girl nailed her in the belly with a deadly right. The club patrons in the front rows could hear the thump of the fist ramming deep into Sandy's belly muscles.

Sandy crumpled to the canvass, in shock. She gulped back a sob of agony. The audience watched nearly silently, certain the fight was over. Bruiserette was too; she dropped Sandy's halter beside her with a snide taunt.  Her sneering laughter rang in Sandy's ears.

Bruiserette knocked Sandy on her back with a vicious kick to the underside of her breast.

The younger woman planted herself on Sandy's head, wriggling around on her face. When Sandy struggled weakly, Bruiserette clawed her naked breast

Sandy did the only thing left. "Well the little bitch started to fight dirty!” She told herself as she twisted her head and sank her teeth into the flesh of the girl's inner thigh.

Sandy clamped her jaw shut with the grip of a bulldog, and Bruiserette screamed in shock. A moment later she tore herself loose, and rolled off Sandy's body. Sandy sat up feeling a little better. Maybe it was stretching the rules a bit, but biting the bitch made her feel a lot better, almost made her forget how badly she hurt. Now it was time for pay back

As Bruiserette nursed her bitten thigh, Sandy struck, smashing her fist into the girl's jaw.

Then Sandy did something she was always a little ashamed of afterward. Still sobbing in pain herself, she smashed her fist into her foe's crotch.

Bruiserette writhed in agony on the canvass. Sandy knelt over her a few seconds, eaten by guilt; then she gritted her teeth, and wrapped her powerful legs around the girl's neck in a finishing scissors.

Once Sandy's legs closed around her neck, Bruiserette writhed and struggled but there was no escape. Sandy's legs gripped her throat like a sprung bear trap. Bruiserette resisted for a while but then gagged in surrender.

Though she won, when the fight was over, Sandy was too upset to drive.  Bill had to drive her home. At the door, Bill tried to make advances, but Sandy snarled, "Not TONIGHT!"

Sandy's refusal was so emphatic that Bill, who rarely took 'No' for an answer, decided he wasn't going to get any that night. Well, there'd be lots of other nights!

Inside the house, Sandy showered and went directly to bed, so shaken by the viciousness of the fight, she didn't even celebrate her victory with one of her small cigars.

As her string of victories mounted, Sandy started to place trophies back in their gym. She wished that she had some of Franks trophies, but Bill had thrown them out, before any could be fixed. There were a couple at home that Penny fixed, but Penny kept them in her room and told her mother "Go to hell!" when Sandy asked to take them to the gym.

Sandy was training hard now with Bill and Karen as her instructors. They were showing her all the moves and every time Sandy wanted to try something different they said no, or it was not right. Karen was running Sandy's gym now and taking care of all the bills. The one thing that still bothered Sandy was that now all but a couple of the members were women, it just seemed that there was no new men and almost none of the old ones left.

About six months after Frank left, Sandy had her twentieth fight and won it with almost no effort. The one thing good was that she now had twenty trophies at the gym, and Bobby did not seem as mad at her now that she was winning all the time.  Penny, though, never talked to her and still seemed to hate her.

Sandy and Bill went out after the fight and celebrated and he was a perfect gentleman.  She was beginning to hope maybe he was going to be happy with just dinner and a few drinks.  He took her home and walked her up to the door.  As Sandy was about to thank him, he took her in his arms and gave her a deep kiss. As he kissed her, his roaming hands tried to pull her dress up in the rear.
"No! Not here!"  Was all Sandy could get out, before Bill stuck his tongue down her throat, and pressed her back up tight against the house.   As hard as Sandy tried, she couldn't get loose from him.  Just as Bill slid his hand inside the top of her dress and fondled her breast, Penny came up the walk.

Penny just stood there glaring at them with disgust on her face. Bill just smiled back at her, but he did let Sandy loose. Trying to get her composure, Sandy said:  "Uncle Bill was just dropping me off, Honey!"

Without answering, Penny went in the house.

"Bill, you better go!"  Sandy said.

Bill just stood there laughing and thinking. "Hmm, things are working out better and better for me!"

"Bill, PLEASE go!"  With that, Sandy went into the house.

Penny was standing in the kitchen, and as she saw her mother, she said, “WHORE!”

That did it.  Sandy finally snapped.  She slapped Penny as hard as she could, knocking her into the fridge. Sandy was about to slap her again when Penny said with an ever so calm voice, "Are you going to beat me up, like you did, Daddy, Mommy, Dear?"

It was if all the wind was knocked out of Sandy.  The remark stopped her cold in her tracks, and she turned white. A minute later, Penny calmly walked past her mother, and went to her room.  Sandy went and got the whiskey bottle and her swishers and sat down. She poured a full glass, and took out one of her cigars, but she just sat at the kitchen table, not drinking or lighting up. She thought of what she was becoming, and was not happy with it.

"Lord, it's been six months since I drove Frank away, and I've never been so unhappy! God, have I made a mess of everything!"

Sandy resolved to tell Bill, it was over between them.  She only enjoyed the sex with him when she pretended it was Frank, and even that hadn't worked in a long time. At four in the morning, Sandy emptied the untouched whiskey glass in the sink, threw out the unlit cigar, and went to bed, knowing what she had to do. Getting up at six, Sandy went into the kitchen to try and eat.  She found Bobby already up.

"Congratulations, Mom, on another win! Everyone is talking about how tough you are at school, and all the guys want to meet you, but you never seem to be home!"  Her son said with a smile.
Sandy was surprised and happy to see her son smile at her. It was the first nice thing Sandy had heard from either of her children in almost six months.

"Have you seen Penny this morning, Honey?"

Shrugging his shoulders, Bobby said, "Yeah, she left a couple minutes ago!"

"God!"  Sandy thought.  "I only hope she'll at least talk to me!  If her brother can learn to stop hating me, just maybe she can too!"

Seeing her son off to school with a kiss, for the first time in six months, made Sandy's day.  The only thing bothering her now, was the thought of going to the gym, to try to set things straight.
Sandy pulled up in front of her gym. She saw Karen's car in the lot and knew Bill would be there soon. "Well, first things first, I'll talk to Karen, and try to find out what's going on here at the gym!”  Inside, she looked around.  The clients working out were all women.

"Damn!  I still can't understand why I have almost no men customers, anymore?"

Smiling her smug smile, Karen said, "Hi!" as she sat looking at the account books for the gym.  Karen did all the book keeping now, and interviewed all the new members.  Hell!  She paid all the bills and took care of buying all the equipment and supplies.  Karen really ran the gym now, so Sandy could train full time for her fights.

Taking a deep breath, Sandy looked Karen in the face, and told her.  "Karen, I want to look over the books and bills!  It's been a couple of months, and I need to see how we are doing!"  Karen stared at her as if she was crazy, and Sandy added nervously.  "After all, I do own the gym, you know”

All Sandy got from Karen was a laugh and: "Why Honey, don't you trust me?"

"Yes, of course, but I want to see anyway!"

Just then, Bill came into the gym, and they stopped talking.   Bill walked up to Sandy, and started to take her in his arm, but she pulled away. "NO! Not now, Bill!"

Smiling at Sandy, and glancing at Karen's smirk, Bill just laughed and said.  "Sure thing, Babe!"
As he stepped back from Sandy, Bill asked.  "Say, what's going on with you two, anyway?"

"I want to look at 'MY' books!"  Sandy said, by now a little irritated by Karen's seeming reluctance.
Bill laughed and said.  "Hey Babe, you know you can trust Karen and me!  Come on!  Lets go work out!  We saw a lot, at last night's fight, that you need to improve on!" Reaching for her arm, Bill was still laughing at her.

"NO!  DAMN IT!  I want to see those books, NOW, and all the new customer applications for the past few months, too!"

Bill and Karen grinned at each other.  "Sure Babe!  Go ahead and look!  Guess it's about time anyway!"

"What's that supposed to mean?"  Sandy was starting to get a sick feeling in her stomach. "Why are they laughing at me? What the hell is going on?"

With a smirk, Karen handed Sandy the books, and reached under her desk and gave her a pile of filled out applications.  With that, Karen lit up one of her small cigars, sat back in her chair with a satisfied smirk, and blew a big smoke ring, knowing Sandy did not allow smoking in the gym.

Doing her best to ignore Karen, Sandy sat down and started looking at the books. It took a few minutes to figure out what was going on, because she hadn't looked in months, having trusted the Gates. Her eyes almost popped out of her head when she saw what had happened.

“Oh MY GOD!” The mortgage had not been paid in over five months and all the money that had been coming in was used for down payments on all the new equipment with nothing being used for payments. Looking up Sandy saw they were both smiling at her. With a shaking hand Sandy looked at a pile of applications, all men and by the looks of them they were all sent over to Bills gym!

“What have you done to me? For God sakes why, what the hell are you ruining me for?” Sandy could not even try to stand; she just sat there looking at Bill and Karen smiling down at her.

Karen lit up another of her little cigars then laughed at her. “Honey I think this gym is about to be history!”

Bill smiled at her and said: “Hell Hon, MY Gym is the big gym in town, now! Face it, Hon, you only keep this dump open so Frank will come home to you, and you must know by now that ain’t gonna happen! That wimp’ll never have the cohones t’show his face in this town again, after what y’did t’him! Come on, Hon lets close this place down! You can work out in My Gym! Hell you can move in with Karen and me!”

“Don't you dare call Frank a wimp! He is not one! I know what I did to him, but he was no fighter, even if he did box some! He just wasn't a wrestler, that's all! For God sake, at least he treated people good, and all his customers loved him! He sure never would have tried to ruin YOU, like you two are doing to him and me! I'm not going to move in with YOU, and your sister! I'm sure not going to leave my children, for that!”

Both the Gates burst out laughing at that. “Honey,” Karen said, blowing out a cloud of smoke, “I'm not Bill's SISTER! Haven't you figured that out yet? Jeez, you are slow! I'm his WIFE! We both like a little variety, in our sex life! Hell! I was hoping you'd come live with us; I'd like to try out that sweet, little pussy o’yours, Bill's always talking about, myself! It'd be perfect! I don't want kids, and you seem to breed them so nicely, we figured you could give Bill a couple! Shit, at least they'd have a man for a father and not a gutless wimp!”

With that Sandy exploded “GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY GYM!!!” She was shaking like a leaf, and about ready to throw up. “Get out! GET OUT! Get out, NOW, and don't you ever come back, you bastards!”

Sandy was in such a rage, she threw the books at Bill and Karen as she shouted. The women working out in the gym were all staring at them.

“Come on, Babe! You know this dump is finished! Come on, and lets be a family! You'd love it with us, and your hot little bod knows it!” Bill smirked trying to place his hand on Sandy's breast. Sandy almost knocked it off, as she punched it.

Taking a deep breath to get hold of herself, "Get out!” Sandy hissed in an almost calm voice. That, and the look on her face was more then enough to make the Gates leave.

As they were walking out, Karen said, “See you in the ring, Honey! I’ll have you one way or the other!” and she blew a kiss at Sandy.

Closing the door after them, Sandy just stood there in a state of shock not moving. After a while, Pam a new girl at the gym, one of the very few new members, silently walked over to Sandy and took her by the hand.

“Ms. Johnson, please come with me!” Pam led the trembling Sandy back her office and sat her down at her desk. Not knowing what else to do, Pam went out and told the other women there to go back to working out.

Sandy sat at the desk, the rest of the day just staring at the wall, knowing that it was all over.

In the next few days, word seemed to get around fast that Sandy was going to lose the gym, and probably her house and everything else. Pam was just out of high school and needed a job, so she was trying to help run the gym even though she knew she was not going to get paid. Sandy just came in and sat in the office. She no longer looked at the books, because she knew them by heart now, and they told her the same thing every time she looked. She was going to go under BIG TIME! She'd failed in business, her husband left her, her daughter hated her, and all she could think of was: “It's all my fault! If only I didn't try to show Frank up, IF, IF, IF!”

A week after Sandy threw the Gates out, she was morosely sitting at her desk, when Pam came in with the mail, almost all bills as usual. Sandy could hardly bear to look at them, but Pam said.
“There is this one thick envelope that says, ‘to be opened by Ms. JOHNSON only.’ It doesn't look like a bill!”

Sandy took the envelope and looked at it, curiously. The address was typed, and the postmark showed it was mailed from the local post office. She shrugged, and opened it. Inside, was a second envelope, and that one stopped her cold. Her heart beat faster. After six months, she saw Frank's handwriting on it.

She read. “Sandy I'm sorry that I'm not the man that I thought I was! I know I'm a loser and wimp, but here's something that might help out, now. Will you tell the children that I love them, and I'm sorry!  Frank.”

With shaking fingers, Sandy opened the envelope. She and Pam both just stared, as hundred dollar bills fell out onto the desk. Sandy stared at the pile of money in disbelief for a time, and then slowly began counting it out. She seemed to go on forever, and when she finally finished, she'd reached ‘Ten thousand dollars!’

For the first time in months, Sandy cried tears of happiness. Frank was at least alive, and thinking about her, AND "Thank God we're not going to lose the gym after all!’ She was so glad that Frank helped. At least he still thought of her and the children. If only she could tell him! Somehow she knew that he knew what had been going on between her and Bill. It was terrible to think of Frank knowing about ‘that’ but he must still care, or he wouldn't have sent the money to help her.

Looking at Pam, Sandy smiled through her tears, and said. “Get the painter and have those damn ‘Gate’s’ names taken off the window! Put your name there as assistant trainer, instead!”

With a big grin, Pam answered, “Yes, Ms. Johnson!” and started out.

Sandy called her back. “Just a minute Pam,” She said. “I'm not Ms. Johnson! Tell the painter to change the name to ‘Manson’! I'm Mrs. Sandy Manson, and that's what I want on the window! And take that damn picture of me at Bill's Tournament down too! I’ll get one taken at some other one that won't have such bad memories! And for god sakes, will you call me ‘Sandy’? You're making me feel awfully old!”

The next few weeks were busy! Somehow the money Frank sent seemed to bring luck with it. Business started to pick up, again. Some of Frank's old customers drifted back. Sandy found herself needing more than just Pam and herself. She was about to call Sid and ask him if he'd consider coming back, when he called her. Sid was more than happy to return to work. He was an old Golden Glove's fighter. He'd even coached Frank, years before. When she asked him, he told Sandy, he'd love to coach her.

With the new picture of herself, and one of Frank when he won second runner up in Mr. USA, in front of the office, all Sandy needed was more customers, and they started coming in. She was especially pleased that a lot of Frank's old customers were drifting back.

Sandy's wrestling schedule was rough, with two to three fights a month, but even so, she was winning all of them with first places. Pam was doing a lot to help with aerobics and Ti Bo, and Sid with weight lifting and boxing. Sandy ran wresting and helped with boxing. She was truly running the gym now, and doing a good job of it. She thought about changing the name of the gym to ‘Manson's’, for her and Frank, but knew that too many changes were not in the best interest of business.

One day, as Sandy was working out, an odd looking woman came barging into the gym.  She was only about 5’5’’ but she weighed at least 250 pounds. Looking around the gym, the woman asked,  "Who's this Sandy?”

“Hi, I'm Sandy!”

“Well Dearie, I tell you what! I need a little work, and I hear you need someone that knows wrestling, and I'm an old pro!"

Sandy tried to think how to get rid of the woman.  "Like this is just what I don't need; a short, fat, old woman, barging around here!"

"Gee! I don't know who told you that, but I have all the help I need right now and..." That was as far as Sandy got.

"Look, Little Girl, by the way, my name is May, I'll make you a deal!  If I can't beat your skinny ass, wrestling, in ten seconds, I'll leave!  If I do, I get the job!  I don't need much, Honey! I'm just passing through and could use a little spending money!"

“Damn! She talks a mile a minute! She hasn't shut up since she came in here!” Sandy thought. Just to shut the woman up, and get rid of her, Sandy said, “Okay! It's a deal!”

Sandy led the way to the ring, still wearing her street clothes.  "Heck, this isn't going to take long enough to bother changing!” She thought, confidently. May shrugged, and followed, still in her own street clothes.

Without further formalities, Sandy and the unorthodox job applicant came out of their corners. Just as Sandy aggressively reached for her opponent, May grabbed her arm, and easily tossed her over on her back. Before Sandy could figure out what happened, she felt May drop on her stomach, knocking all the wind out of her. May securely pinned Sandy's shoulders under her fat knees. Sandy looked up in shock. She wriggled around and discovered she might as well be pinned under a cement mixer. There was no way she was going to get loose. Nobody ever pinned her that easily since she started wrestling.

“THERE NOW, UNDER TEN SECONDS! Do I get the job, Honey?”

“Dammit! Looks like I have a real expert to help with wrestling now!” Was all Sandy could think.

Sandy had stopped her solitary drinking. She no longer felt the need for it, anymore. The only cigars she smoked nowadays, was the traditional one after each of her fights. Her small but growing group of followers were used to seeing her come out of the locker room, with her small victory cigar in her teeth at a jaunty angle, after every fight now. It was the only thing that she got from the Gates that she kept.

Every month, more money came from Frank, anywhere from $5,000, to $15,000, never the same. After the first couple of months, she had all the back bills paid up, and she no longer needed it. She was making more then enough now from the gym. She had paid off everything that was owed on it, and even had the house paid off. Even if she didn't need the money any longer, it was comforting to know Frank was still thinking about her and the children. The notes that came with the money were the important thing now. Frank never came out and said so, but Sandy could tell that he still loved her. She knew she still loved him. Sandy had shown the notes to the children and both Penny and Bobby read all them over and over.

The closest Sandy came to losing a bout was a mixed wrestling match with a man who was almost Frank's double. He was as bad if not a worse wrestler than Frank, but Sandy just couldn't bring herself to fight him. The only reason she won at all was that he was so bad, he didn't put up much of a fight. Sandy didn't even raise her hands in victory after that fight, but ran to her locker room and threw up over and over. When she finally got dressed and left, her fans didn't see her victory cigar, that night.

One of Sandy's biggest victories was to a Karen look a like, in a boxing match. Sandy beat the poor girl half to death, before the referee stopped the fight in the middle of the third round. Later Sandy apologized, but any time she fought anyone from Bill's Gym, she gave that extra ten percent, to make sure that they'd learn not to mess with Sandy's Gym.

Four months after the Gates were gone, Sandy was sitting in her office doing the never ending book work, when Pam stuck her head in the door, and said with a smile, “Come out here! There's someone to see you!”

Outside the office, Sandy was stopped cold, for standing in the door of the gym was Penny, and she was holding two of Frank's trophies that she had fixed up.

“A truce, Mother and nothing more! Here, you can borrow these for the gym!’

For the first time in almost a year, Sandy hugged her daughter and cried. She whispered, huskily, “I'm sorry, Honey! I'm so, so sorry! If only I could change what I did, but I'm trying, Honey! Please know that!”

Looking at her mother, Penny furtively wiped a tear from her eye, and gave her the trophies. Then she shyly asked if she could start taking Ti Bo and maybe wrestling lessons at the gym. Sandy, at last, was starting to hope that things had bottomed out now with her family. She still had lots to make up for, but at least Penny seemed to have stopped hating her like she did, and Bobby was proud of her. Damn it! Now, if only she could win Frank back.

For the next couple of months things went great. At the gym, Sid and May helped her learn more then she knew was possible about fighting. She was winning every fight with ease. Having Penny at the gym after school was a pleasure she loved. Penny and Pam had a ball with aerobics and Ti Bo. Pam had even started using Penny as an assistant instructor now, and it helped with her esteem, but she still missed her father.

Bobby was proud of Sandy, and loved telling every one in school that, “MY MOM CAN LICK YOUR MOM AND DAD!”  Sandy was especially glad that they had begun eating meals as a family, again. If only Frank was sitting down at the table with them, Sandy would be the happiest woman alive.