The Thanksgiving Dinner Massacre
by M.C.
Cindy meets Bob's family and has to teach his tough, older brother a lesson.


November 20th

I recieved the most wonderful present for my 17th birthday today, Bob's ring.
We are now officially going steady. He presented it to me during my birthday
dinner at (don't laugh) Hooters - I told you not to laugh (wink). Actually it
was my choice to go there; I'd never been and I wanted to see what all the
fuss was about. So tell me, what's so special about being served by a bunch of
scantily clad, sexy waitresses? Does it really make the food taste better? I
know, I know (sarcastic grin). Bob presented his ring to me in front of my
parents who were both very pleased. For obvious reasons I never told them
about my first encounter with Bob last summer (see the first segment of
"Cindy's Amazon Diary" in the M.C. bookshelf).

As the Thanksgiving holiday was approaching I thought this would be a good
opportunity for me to finally meet Bob's parents. With all the excitment at
the martial arts tournament I never even saw them, though Bob told me they
were there. I asked him if it would be all right for me to have Thanksgiving
dinner over at his home so we could get together. Imagine my surprise
(shock) when Bob told me that he didn't think it was such a good idea; that I
should wait for another occasion.

"Why not Bob, don't you think your parents would like me?" I asked when we
were alone.

"It's not my parents Cindy, it's...it's my brother Larry. He's a starting
lineman for the UCLA football team. He'll be over for Thanksgiving but I'd
just prefer if you didn't meet him."

He doesn't want me to meet his brother? Now this is really interesting so
naturally I had to try and find out why.

"It's a long story Cindy. I'd really rather not discuss it now if you don't
mind."

Great! Bob and I have been going steady for exactly two hours and already our
relationship has hit a snag. Is this an omen?

November 22nd

Bob (with a little feminine persuasion from you-know-who) finally told me what
the problem with his brother is; in a round about way. It seems that Larry,
who is four years older than Bob, is one of these all-round super jocks and
Bob (if I'm reading this correctly) worships the ground he walks on. He didn't
put it in exactly those words but from Bob's description of Larry I'm
beginning to get the picture. Larry also seems to be one of these guys that
has to put other people down in order to feel good about himself; especially
his younger brother. So no matter what Bob accomplished in his life, it was
never good enough for Larry.

Throughout their lives Larry would constantly tease, berate and otherwise try
to diminsh whatever it was that Bob did. It was in an attempt to impress his
older brother that Bob began to study karate in the first place. Not that that
did any good. Even when Bob told him he was now the co-champion martial artist
in the city (along with yours truely) his brother was unimpressed. Because Bob
has always looked up Larry, he found his older brother's rejection of him very
distressing. I think I now understand the arrogant, macho attitude Bob
displayed at camp last summer. It was probably all the anger he had repressed
inside of him from constantly being put down by his older brother.

So, what should I do about this? Mind my own business? Let it ride? It's
obvious to me now why Bob prefers that I not be there for Thanksgiving; who
wants to be humiliated in front of their girlfriend? But as his girlfriend,
shouldn't I be there to support him? And, if I don't, then what kind of friend
am I? "Bob, I would really appreciate it if you'd invite me to
have Thanksgiving dinner with your family. My parents - like they do every
year - are going to my aunt and uncle's and I'm always bored to tears when I
go there (that part wasn't a lie either; I *hate* going there and welcome any
excuse not to go). So, what do you say?"

I could feel the struggle taking place inside of him. I think he really wanted
me to be there but was afraid I'd see how Larry treats him. I reached over,
grasped his hand and softly said,"Bob, please let me come."

"O.K. Cindy...you win."

"Thanks honey." I leaned over and kissed him on the cheek." I usually do win
don't I ? (Wink) What time should I be over?"

Thursday evening, November 24th - The Thanksgiving Dinner

Well, where should I begin? At the beginning I suppose. I arrived at Bob's
home at six o'clock sharp. I wore my prettiest blue dress - blue to match my
eyes - and even stole some of my mom's expensive perfume (I normally don't go
in for this sort of stuff - girl jock you know - but I felt that this was kind
of a special occasion). Bob met me at the door and introduced me to his
parents; Ralph and Sherri. I noticed a very large and powerfully built man
slouching on the couch watching a football game on T.V. who, I assumed, was
Bob's brother Larry. Guess what? I was right.

Sherri, a very beautiful woman (I guess that's where Bob gets his good looks
from) introduced me to Larry but I guess it was too much trouble for him
to nod or otherwise acknowledge my presence. He just mumbled something totally
incomprehensible and asked his mother, rather gruffly, when dinner would be
ready. Larry made no attempt to hide his disappointment when she told him he'd
have to wait a few more minutes.

There was another family there also whom Sherri introduced me to. They were
relatives and had two daughters, ages 14 and 13. While we were waiting for
dinner to be served, I struck up a conversation with them. It turns out that
they're both studying judo. Recalling Jennifer's lessons, I asked them to show
me a few  holds and we played around a bit until we were called to the dinner
table.

The first part of our Thanksgiving dinner went very well, due largely to the
fact that Larry was still absorbed in his football game. The girls, Bob and I
discussed the relative merits of the many different forms of martial arts and
I gave them my theory as to why I felt Tae Kwon Do was the most effective form
of self-defense for women. When Larry's game ended, things began to take a
turn for the worse.

"So Bobby," Larry began," what's this I hear about you having to share that
title of yours with a girl? Tell me, just how serious could this tournament
have been if they not only let girls enter, but one of them even reached the
finals?" (Neither Bob nor his parents had told Larry that I was the girl).

Bob and I held our tongues, hoping that maybe Larry's arrogant remark would
pass by and we could go on with what had been, until then, a very pleasent
dinner. But Ann, the 14 year-old girl, said,"that's very unfair Larry. If a
girl trains hard enough in martial arts, she can reach a level equal to or
even better than the boys. I know this because I can beat every boy in my judo
class."

"Is that so Miss judo expert? The guys in your class must be a bunch of wimps
then."

"They're definiately not wimps Larry. It's just that I train and practice very
hard, perhaps harder than they do, and that's why I'm better." (I'll say this
for Ann, she's not one to back down from a confrontation - not even from her
macho, older cousin.  You go girl!)

"That's bullshit!  If you can beat them then they're wimps; by
definiation. Show me a girl trained in martial arts that can take on someone
like me and maybe I'll believe what you're saying. Until then you're just
talking shit, girl." (I felt the urge inside of me building up at this point
but somehow I managed to restrain myself. I looked over at a very nervous Bob,
smiled and shrugged my shoulders).

And then Donna, Ann's 13 year-old sister, looked over at me and asked," what
do you think about this Cindy? You teach Tae Kwon Do and you were
just explaining to us how effective you believe it is for women's self-defense
(me and my big mouth). Do you think you can defend yourself against Larry?"

The dinning room suddenly became quiet...very quiet. I was on the spot here;
why didn't I see this one coming? Bob tried to help me out."That's a very good
question Donna. Perhaps we could test it out at some future date when we're
not all dressed up in our fancy holiday clothes and enjoying a
wonderful Thanksgiving dinner." (That was a nice try Bob - but it seems that
fate had other plans in store for us that evening).

Larry gave his younger brother a contemptuous look before turning back to me
and said," that's an excellent idea Donna; let's test this theory out shall
we? That is if my brother's girlfriend has the guts to put her money where her
mouth is."

There are times in one's life when you feel you have no control over your
destiny; that you're like a leaf in a stream being carried along by the
current with no power to decide what direction to take. That's how I sort of
felt now. Yes, it's true that I didn't have to come here tonight and I didn't
have to explain to Ann and Karen about my views on women's self-defense. But I
did come and I did give my views. Like it or not I had been drawn into this
and there was no backing out now. "Very well then Larry," I said softly,
"we'll test the theory out - if that's what you really want to do."

"You bet your ass I do. Then we can put an end to this stupid discussion about
martial arts for women once and for all."

"And so we shall Larry, and so we shall."

While the two sets of parents stood quietly by and watched as the events
unfolded, the two girls, Bob and I moved all the of furnature in the living
room into one of the corners - needless to say, Larry didn't lift a finger to
help us." I'm sorry Bob," I said as we pushed a large couch off to the side,"
but in the words of Popeye the Sailor Man, 'that's alls I can stands cause I
can't stands no more'. This brother of yours really needs to be taught a good
lesson."

"But Cindy, Larry's a very strong, tough guy. He's a also teriffic athlete; a
starting lineman at a major university. He's six-feet three inches tall and
must weigh at least 250 pounds. Are you sure you're doing the right thing? "

I know Bob's feelings towards his older brother; though I really can't
understand how he could feel that way about him. They say that people can only
make you feel inferior if you allow them to do so. Bob's brother worship was,
I believe, the result of an inferiority complex that Bob had due, in large
part, to Larry's constant belittling of him over the years (God I just loved
that psychology class I took last semester). I felt that the only way to break
this hold Larry has over his younger brother was to show Bob that his
idol wasn't all he's cracked up to be. In other words, beat the crap out
of Larry while Bob watched.

Sound psychology? I don't know. The truth is, I was so pissed off at Larry for
both his arrogance tonight and the years of abuse that he made Bob suffer
through that I really didn't give a damn about psychology anymore. I just
wanted to kick some ass. The only problem? Larry stood a good ten inches
taller than I did and weighed twice as much. He's also a muscular, well
conditioned athlete in top shape. So, did I bite off more than I could chew? I
wondered about that as I removed my high heeled shoes, tied my hair back into
a ponytail and prepared to face off against the mighty 250 pound college
football player (I hope my pretty blue dress doesn't get ruined).

"O.K. Larry," I began as if I was teaching the girls at my Tae Kwon Do class,
"let's pretend that I'm a helpless little girl walking along the street. Try
to mug me and let's see if I can prevent you from doing so."

"It'll be a pleasure," he said with a wide grin across his face. He spread his
huge arms wide apart and began to approached me.

"Oh dear," I said in my cutest high-pitched voice,"a big, strong man is coming
to do bad things to me, whatever will I do?" Just as he was about to enclose
me in his arms I shot out with a powerful kick into the pit of his stomach. As
he keeled forward I landed a hard punch to his solar plexus and quickly
followed that with another kick to the stomach. With the wind knocked out of
him, the surprised Larry fell to his knees. Helpless before me, I could have
really wailed into him had I wanted to; but I decided to hold off...for now at
least. "You see girls," I said as I smiled at Ann and Donna,"no matter how big
and strong your attacker is, you can always disable him if you know how - and
where - to strike." I then winked at Bob.

"I wasn't ready for that!" Larry angrily barked out,"you caught me off guard."

"Very well then Larry, care to try it again?"

Larry straightened up, took a few deep breaths, and began to come at me again;
though a bit more cautiously this time. "He's coming again," I teased,"what's
a little girl to do?" This time I faked a kick to the lower part of his body
(which he was nice enough to go for) and then slammed my right foot hard
underneath his jaw. Although I can shatter boards with my feet, sending Larry
to the hospital was not my goal here. My goal was twofold:1) to teach him a
lesson in humility and 2) to show Bob that the brother he idolozes is nothing
more that a pompous, concieted jock; certainly not worth the adulation Bob
showers on him. Oh yes, I also wanted to show Ann and Donna how a well
trained female in Tae Kwon Do can easily overcome a much larger and stronger
man when she needs to.

The force of my kick drove his head up leaving his nice, large mid-section
begging for me to strike. How could I refuse? I fired off a series of rapid
punches to the selective weak spots in a man's body that I'd been trained to
hit and I soon had Larry reeling backwards (I stole a quick peek at Bob now;
the expression on his face as he watched me pounding his brother was priceless
- damn, why didn't I bring my camera). A final hard kick to the jaw again and
Larry fell on the couch - not by design, that's just where he happened to
land."Maybe you'd like to rest awhile Larry,"I teased,"while the rest of us
have our dessert." Ann and Donna began to giggle.

"Screw you, bitch!", he yelled. "I'm just getting started."

"Suit yourself," I shrugged and winked at Bob again. As Larry was taking quite
awhile to get up from the couch, I turned my attention back to the young
girls. "Now don't get me wrong kids, I have nothing against other forms of
martial arts. In fact a friend of mine - Jennifer - is a judo expert and last
summer she taught me how to flip a 200 pound boy to the ground. But when
you're faced with multiple attackers, or one very large one, I feel that a
woman trained in Tae Kwon Do has a much better chance of defending herself."

Larry was on his feet now and coming up behind me. Seeming to ignore him
though, I continued talking to Ann and Donna with my back to him. "When a
woman," - THUD! - (I suddenly moved back and slammed my elbow hard into his
already abused stomach) has to make a quick decision," - WHACK! - (I quickly
whurled around and landed a hard roundhouse kick squarely on the side of his
face) "that her life may very well depend on," - POW! - (my lethal right foot
again found Larry's jaw) "she needs to know she can handle herself without
question," - CRACK! SLAM! BAM! - (three more solid kicks and Larry was back on
the couch again) "and I believe with it's emphasis on kicking, Tae Kwon Do is
more suited to women because we have greater strength in the lower parts
of our bodies." Looking over at Larry I casually asked,"had enough yet big
boy?"

He didn't say anything, he just lay there; so I continued my discussion with
the girls. When Larry did finally manage to stagger to his feet I smiled at
Ann and asked, "how long have you been studying judo?"

"Nearly five years."

"Do you think you can flip Larry onto the floor in the condition he's in now?"

"Hmmm...I'm not sure Cindy; he's awfully big."

"Well, why don't you come over here and give it a try; and don't worry about
him, I'll be here to protect you."

There was a wide smile on her pretty face as she rose and walked over.

Larry had just recieved a fairly good beating if I do say so myself. He was
still big and strong, but I had completely knocked the fight out of him; he
was barely able to stand on his feet. What could be a better end to this
lesson than to have his 100 pound, 14 year-old female cousin finish him off?
To apply the 'piece de resistance' so to speak.

She approached him and, in a surprisingly quick move, grabbed his right hand
with both of hers, twisted it around such a way that his entire body followed
his hand forward and  - SLAM! - she sent her large cousin crashing to the
floor on his back. "Bravo Ann!" I yelled. The smile of this 100 pound girl as
she stood over her battered cousin lying helplessly at her feet will stay with
me for the rest of my life. Equally embedded in my memory will be the look on
Bob's face as he stood there, mouth wide open, staring in disbelief. Damn,
that's another Kodak moment I missed tonight.

"Well good people," I said," I don't know about you but I'm ready for dessert.
I suddenly have an appetite again."As I passed by Sherri - Bob and Larry's
mother - I felt her hand grab mine and, in a voice barely audible, heard her
say,"thank you Cindy, this has been a long time coming. I just hope
Bob appreciates what he has in you."

We didn't see Larry anymore after that. After sitting down for dessert we
heard a car start up outside and drive off...rather quickly. Wow! This is one
of the best desserts I've ever tasted; I'll have to get Sherri to give me the
recipe. As we ate, I looked over at Bob who was sitting next to me and noticed
he had a very serious expression on his face; much too serious for a festive
holiday like Thanksgiving. I reached underneath the table, I grabbed
his...well, he began to cheer up after that (giggle, giggle).

Monday afternoon - November 28th

"Well girls, I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. Forgive me
for saying this but some of you look like you've put on a bit of weight this
weekend. Not to worry, we'll start to work that off soon. But before we begin
our Tae Kwan Do lesson today I'd like to introduce you to two new students who
will be a part of our class from now on. Please meet 14 year-old Ann and her
13 year-old sister Donna."