Julie In School
MERZ
Julie teaches manners to a classmate


Julie, from the story "Joey Meets Julie" now attends community college as she
looks ahead to a career.

*****************************

"I can't believe they even let girls sign up in this program. Obviously
they're never going to be firemen. I mean, can you imagine if one of them got
all dirty out on a fire? Or broke a nail carrying a hose? They'd probably have
to stop what they were doing to get cleaned up. I know I'd never let one watch
my back."

A tall, broad shouldered young man was dominating the talk with two other male
students. Now they chimed in to echo his sentiments, hoping to earn favor by
agreeing with whatever thoughts their taller friend offered up. Walter
Peterson was meeting his Principles of Fire Management class for the first
time. Walter taught part time in the community college Emergency Management
Professionals program, working the teaching in around his shifts as a city
firefighter. He had heard all this before and had seen it all disproved when
women did pass the rigorous physical fitness tests to qualify for a job in a
firehouse. He enjoyed helping shatter the outmoded stereotypes some male
students brought to the program. He was diligent in preventing those unable to
lose their bias from ever being hired in his department.

"And who do you think has to do all the real work? The girls aren't strong
enough to carry ladders and swing axes," the young expert was continuing.
"It's all just affirmative action crap, hiring a quota of girls when obviously
they aren't strong enough to do the job. It makes me sick."

"I don't know," the shorter of his two associates ventured tentatively. "That
Julie in our program seems pretty strong. I took First Aid and Emergency
Response with her last quarter and she was able to do all the lifts and
carries pretty well, made them look easy in fact. She says she was in the army
for a while. She might be pretty fit."

"Julie Hunt," the tall one snorted. "She's dumb as dirt besides being a girl.
I haven't seen her do any superwoman tricks. She just looks like a fat cow to
me."

"Uh, I don't think it's fat," the shorter student began.

"Obviously it is. She's as wide as a house, of course she's fat."

Surveying the class Walter noted a heavy-set blond woman sitting in the front
row looking attentive with her note paper and pencils neatly lined up. With
only three other women in the class and none giving much impression of the
size suggested in the conversation he had overheard he guessed this would be
Julie. The woman looked to be in her mid-twenties, dressed casually in blue
jeans and a bulky cardigan sweater over a cotton T-shirt.

"Have any of you had military training?" Walter asked after introducing
himself to the class, and wasn't surprised when the blonde young woman in the
front row raised her hand. He concluded this must be Julie Hunt as she had
suspected, based on her solid appearance and the military experience the young
man in the hallway had described. "Would you please step up here," he invited,
and the woman rose and shyly came forward. She was shorter than he had guessed
when he saw her seated, no more than five feet four inches. "And you, would
you come up as well," Walter casually indicated the tall young man with all
the opinions, Mark Boyd. Once they had joined him in front of the class he
asked their names..

"Now you would have gone through boot camp and had other training in the
military, is that correct Julie?" he asked.

"Yes. I got lots of training," the young woman replied quietly and simply.

"So you had to carry packs and manage equipment, I imagine. How were you as a
woman strong enough to do all that?"

"I had to do my exercises. Then I got strong so I could be a better soldier. I
was an MP and I had to be strong to defend myself and apprehend people
sometimes." Her voice was soft and flat, she didn't meet his eyes as she
spoke.

"What was the heaviest weight you had to lift? Do you know?" Walter liked to
demonstrate proper and improper lifting techniques, to show that women often
can lift as much with their legs as men even when there is a difference in
upper body strength.

"I don't know. I lifted four hundred pounds once, but not over my head," Julie
replied. "Maybe that was the heaviest."

Walter smiled, thinking he had made a good selection. This Julie had evidently
learned to lift with her legs when moving heavy equipment or whatever great
mass she had had to lift once. Now he turned to the young man, Mark. "And you,
what's the biggest weight you have lifted?"

"I really don't know, I've squatted with six hundred before, if that counts.
If I hadn't, I wouldn't make up a wild story about it," he responded with a
sneering look at Julie.

"It might interest you to know I've seen women in the department deadlift four
hundred pounds, young man," Walter told him coldly. "As I look at your legs it
seems they are no bigger around than this woman's. Is there a reason you doubt
she would be capable of using them? Let's try an experiment. I'll pick an
average size student for each of you. You and she can do shallow knee bends
with your partner on your back. Do you think you will do a lot more than she
will?"

"Of course. Here, I'll pick for you. Wally, you're the biggest guy in class,
you get to be my partner. Pick anyone you like for Julie."

Walter was delighted to see a large young man who must have weighed two
hundred and fifty pounds rise from the rear of the classroom at Mark's
request. He picked a slender young man as Julie's partner, knowing he was
skewing things slightly by choosing someone with a lighter build, but still in
the normal range. Mark and Julie crouched to take their partners on their
backs and on Walter's command began dipping and rising in unison. He suggested
Julie not go so low as the full deep knee bends she began doing were harder on
the knees. It soon became obvious Mark had made a mistake in calling for such
a large partner. He began showing the strain of the exercise as Julie
continued mechanically rising and dipping with no sigh of effort. Finally
Mark's legs buckled as he sank for one more rep. Walter let Julie continue
with a few more before he declared her the winner and let all four students
resume their seats.

"You see, lifting correctly and using the large muscles of the legs rather
than relying on arm strength alone allows women to overcome a good deal of the
disadvantage they often face in upper body strength. Even in an emergency it's
important to work smart as well as work hard. This woman says she was able to
lift four hundred pounds. If she was lifting with only her legs instead of her
arms I think you can see how that would be possible. You were just lifting
with your legs, weren't you?"

Quietly Julie replied, "No, I was trying to press a barbell but I could only
get it up to my chest. I'm not strong now like I used to be." Walter did a
double take at the bulky woman in the bulky sweater and wondered what she
might be hiding under her wraps.

For the rest of the hour he went over his expectations and goals for the
class. He explained that the two year program at the community college gave a
good preparation for those seeking a career in firefighting, but that the
physical requirements were uncompromising and challenging for all applicants.
Just as important, he told them, were technical knowledge and proper attitudes
toward the public and fellow firefighters in finding a place in the
profession. As the time flew past he noted Julie maintained an expression of
rapt attention, took many notes on everything he said and generally gave the
impression of someone working very hard just to absorb the information he
presented.

After class Julie gathered her papers, pencils and books into the bag and
joined the file of students into the corridor. Immediately outside the
classroom door Mark stepped into her path. The same two boys who hung on his
comments in the room now stood at his shoulders.

"What a bunch of bull," he declared looking down at Julie. "Four hundred
pounds. And that's because you aren't strong anymore, you say. If you're going
to make stuff up at least make it believable. You don't belong in this program
in the first place, and if you're such a liar you don't belong in school. I'd
like to see you try lifting four hundred pounds."

"My husband told me I shouldn't lift really big weights anymore. He said I
didn't need to be as strong as I was when I was a soldier, just strong enough
to be a fire fighter, so now I don't lift so much," Julie replied softly
without looking up.

"If he believed this bull your husband must be dumber than you are," Mark
laughed at her. "And if he thought a fireman shouldn't be twice as strong as
you were on the best day of your life he really is a moron. As if you were
ever strong enough to be a fireman."

All the color drained from Julie's face. Otherwise her expression barely
changed, her eyes widening a fraction, her mouth opening a fraction of an
inch. "My husband isn't dumb. He's the smartest person I ever met. You can't
talk about him like that. I'll make you stop," she told Mark in her soft, flat
voice.

"You'll make me? If you were a guy I'd invite you out behind the gym so you
could show me how you'd do that. Louie, how dumb do you think a guy would have
to be to marry a porker like this?" Mark asked one of his companions.

"Pretty dumb. And pretty ugly to have to settle for her," his blonde companion
chimed in. "Rob, what do you think?"

The short member of the trio stammered and looked at the floor, scuffed his
feet and finally said, "Oh, I don't know, he might not be so bad."

"Rob," Mark said as he grabbed the smaller student's collar, "how dumb and how
ugly did you say?"

"Oh all right, really dumb and really ugly. Now let go."

Julie had stood frozen through all this, the tiniest quiver beginning to show
in her chin. "Can we go behind the gym now, please? I have to go study before
my next class."

Mark laughed. "Which one do you think you're taking on? Better go with Rob,
he's closer to your size."

"All of you. You all said bad things about my husband. You can't do that. We
should go now."

"Ladies first," Mark said with a mock bow. Rob tried to ease away but Mark
seized him by the arm and propelled him after Julie as she began walking
toward the exit and out to the gym building. "No you don't, we're going to let
you go first. Don't hurt her or she's apt to holler rape. Just push her down
or something. We'll back up your story."

An alley behind the gymnasium allowed trucks to reach a loading dock. As usual
the area was deserted when a dozen students reached it. Mark had summoned a
few more friends to watch the sport. They formed a circle with Julie in the
middle. Mark shoved Rob toward her.

"I'm not going to fight her," Rob said over his shoulder. "This is stupid."

"You said my husband is dumb," Julie said in a voice barely above a whisper.
When her uppercut connected with Rob's chin he was lifted off the ground and
dropped senseless onto the pavement.

The blow had come so fast most of the onlookers had missed it and were
confused to see his fall. Louie hadn't missed it and now knew he had stumbled
into a fight that was more real than he had imagined. In an instant he decided
he had better take the initiative rather than wait for Julie to come to him.
He leaped, planning to push her to the ground and possibly get Mark involved
quickly to put an end to this contest. His first surprise came when the force
of his attack didn't force Julie backwards. The second surprise came when he
gripped the sleeves of her sweater and felt hard, rounded muscles rippling
beneath the fabric. His third surprise came as those muscles began swelling,
the tops of great biceps completely filling his hands, too wide and thick to
allow him to grip them as she lifted him bodily into the air and tossed him
back the way he had come. The crowd caught him and pushed him back into the
circle where Julie waited.

Louie tried throwing a fist at her head, but Julie easily side slipped it and
caught him in a bearhug. "My husband is the smartest man there is. And he's
beautiful." She applied pressure that drove the air from his lungs and
strained his rib cage. Louie was in helpless agony when he felt himself tossed
aside to land hard on the ground beside Rob. Mark had entered the circle.

"Everybody leave or I'll fight you, too. You're all on his side and I'll fight
you all," Julie said loud enough for the circle of students to hear. A few
exchanged looks and retreated from the alley. "I want to take off my sweater.
My husband bought it for me," she said to Mark as he edged closer. They
circled until she stood between her three opponents and the opening of the
alley. Julie began removing her sweater, her eyes fixed on Mark.

As Julie pulled her left arm out of the sleeve Mark started to move in
quickly. He halted when she exposed an arm inches bigger in diameter than his
own, chiseled with muscle and embroidered with veins from wrist to shoulder.
Its mate appeared a moment later. Mark and the remaining onlookers gaped at
the display, and a few more drifted away to other pursuits.

As Mark paused to try rousing Louie to rejoin the battle a student grabbed
Julie from behind, seeking to pin her arms in his own bear hug. Without
dropping her gaze from Mark Julie shrugged her arms forward to loosen the
grasp, shifted a little to the side, then brought her forearm back forcefully
into her captor's crotch. As he doubled in pain his forehead crashed into
Julie's rising elbow and he dropped stunned to the ground. This maneuver
happened so quickly that Mark could make no move to take advantage of the
distraction before Julie had dealt with it. Now all the students beat a
retreat except Mark, Louie, the still groggy Rob and three others who were cut
off from retreat by Julie's position between them and the opening of the
alleyway. Julie folded her sweater carefully and set it on top of her bookbag.

Mark was nearly a foot taller than Julie, big and strong by all the standards
he had been measured against. But seeing the quick work Julie had made of
everyone who had faced her so far he was feeling increasingly worried. More
unnerving was the calm, unchanging expression Julie had maintained from the
outset. Her outward calm made it clear this was neither work nor play for her,
simply a chore to perform. Mark suddenly rushed forward, hoping to tackle
Julie or rush past her as he had learned to do in high school football. When
he collided with her Julie shifted her weight so Mark glanced off her at an
angle. Before he could recover his balance Julie was behind him driving him
face first into the brick wall of the gym. She released him so he could bounce
back and land in a heap at her feet. Looking up at her towering above him
suddenly filled Mark with fear and he began scrambling to his feet and crab
walking away. Julie might have followed up, but Louie suddenly came in
swinging. Julie was momentarily occupied as she ducked and slipped away from
his wild blows and then delivered a rapid combination of solid punches to his
mid-section. Louie crumbled to lie rocking and moaning on the asphalt.

Now Mark was up again and dragged Rob to his feet. "Come on, man, she can't
fight all of us at once. Let's rush her."

Rob pushed Mark away from him. "No way. I'm not fighting her. I didn't want to
in the first place. Julie, I'm sorry I said those things. I didn't mean them.
Please, will you just let me go?"

Julie hesitated then stepped aside to give him passage out of the alley.
"You've had punishment. You can go."

"How about these guys?" he said, indicating the three students trapped inside
the alley by Julie's position. "They haven't done anything. Your fight is with
Mark."

Julie nodded and all the boys but Mark and the fallen Louie quickly ducked out
of the alley and hurried back into the school. The one who had grabbed Julie
from behind was slowly crawling from the scene and Rob paused to assist him on
his way.

Left standing alone Mark determined to make a fight of it. He put his fists up
chest high, about level with Julie's face and began advancing. "How about if I
just apologize? We don't have to do this," he said as he inched forward.

"You haven't been punished yet. You aren't really sorry, just scared. You need
your punishment," Julie replied.

Mark charged in swinging as Louie had done. Julie deftly avoided or deflected
his punches, then stepped in close to drive a fist into his solar plexus and
two piston-like jabs to his eyes. Mark fell heavily to the ground, the wind
knocked out of him, both eyes swelling and his head spinning.

"There. Now you have had your punishment. Now you can apologize and promise to
be nicer. Say it."

Mark hesitated a moment too long and was rewarded by Julie lifting him to his
knees by his hair as she cocked a hard fist to drive into his face once more.
"No, don't. I'm sorry. I promise I won't say anything again." He cowered and
she pushed him back down to lie beaten next to Louie.

As he thought back over the fight the thing that haunted Mark most wasn't how
easily Julie had beaten him and his friends. It was the fact her expression
never changed, never showed any emotion from beginning to end. However upset
she had been at his remarks, the fight had made as much impression on her as
house training a pet.