Couples, Cards, Cash, and Consequences

Billy learns how to count cards; Irena learns how to count the cost

By Mongoose750 (mongoose750@yahoo.com)

Billy Conrad dropped by his sister's garage to talk to his girlfriend, Irena. He got off work a little early, and he thought about asking Irena if she wanted to eat a light dinner. Nothing fancy, nothing serious, just a little meal at the local Hamburger Heaven. Just that, and a little conversation, nothing pressing or serious, and definitely nothing regarding martial arts, fighting, wrestling, or her involvement in it. Since he already got himself in trouble displaying his ignorance on the subject the last time they really talked.

[Author's Note: That little tiff happened back in the novel Barefoot Heroines. Buy it today! Well, actually it's free in my bookshelf under my pen name ' Mongoose.]

The whole situation was different, agonizing, and humiliating at the same time. Billy had never been on probation of any sort in his life. He's been in disagreements or arguments with girlfriends before, but they either broke up with him or didn't speak for a while until they made up later. But this "probation" deal was like sending the relationship back in time; back to the days they first met. No, even before that.

The first person he met at the garage was a 5'6" Korean-American woman with a stocky build, and about as solid as a Sherman tank. Kym Yong, the new assistant mechanic was dressed in the garage's coveralls and white socks, no shoes. She attempted to shake her short black hair out of her eyes as she was closely examining a car part ' an alternator it was called, wasn't it?

"Hello William, you're off early," she said.

"It's Billy, and yeah, I took off a little early today. Is Irena around?" Billy asked.

"Billy, right, I forgot. She's in the back, checking out tires."

He stepped into the office and greeted his sister, Betty, who stood the same height as her brother, 5'7", and had the same creamy skin tone. She was leaning back, bare feet on her desk, checking out an auto part on the computer's database.

"Hey bro," Betty said, eyes still focused on the monitor.

"Hey sis," Billy replied.

"She's out back, checking tires."

"Yeah, Kym told me. My question is how is she?"

"It's been a pleasant day today, and as far as I could see, she seemed to be in a good mood. Loretta wasn't around to drive her crazy, so you might be safe."

"I'm just asking her to come to Hamburger Heaven with me, nothing involved."

"Well good luck."

As Billy entered the back, he couldn't help but think of a time when he didn't have to ask his sister how Irena was feeling before he saw her. He shook the thought out of his head when he saw Irena standing in front of a stack of tires, her brown hair tied behind her and blowing in the wind, and her left bare foot tapping the ground in anticipation. Suddenly her right hand shot forward and grabbed the tire in front of her.

"I got you now! You can't get away from me!" She nearly shouted to the tire in glee.

"If this is the high point of your day, you really need to go out," Billy remarked.

Irena turned and saw him, her expression turning neutral as she addressed him. "Hello William, you're off early."

"Yeah, I was caught up on my work, and I decided to enjoy the day. Look, I just wanted to know if you'd come to Hamburger Heaven with me. It's not anything serious, just a nice chance for us to clog our arteries with delicious fried food."

Irena displayed a small grin. "That sounds nice, William, but I have a headache," she said.

Billy stared at her for a moment, then said, "You know, if you didn't want to go, you could just tell me."

"No, I really have a headache. Some boys pulled up in a car playing this rap nonsense with yelling and the bass turned way up. I thought the garage would come apart. And they just wanted me to check the air in their tires," Irena replied.

"Were their windows open?"

"On the car? Yes, why?"

"That's why they had you check their tires."

"Why, so they can see ' oh. Now I know why Betty and Kym were laughing."

"So how much longer are we going to do this, Irena?" Billy asked.

"Do what?"

"This probation deal. I've apologized, I groveled, and I even rented DVD's of your matches. I rented Susan's too for good measure. I don't know what else I need to do."

"It doesn't work like that, William."

"So how does it work? Tell me, please," Billy said, making an effort to keep his frustration and volume down.

"It's not all necessarily you, it's me too."

"How so?"

"At one time, no, for a large part of my life, I was involved in the fight game. The fact that you haven't acknowledged it bothered me."

"I know, and I've been apologizing and groveling ever since. What more do you want me to do?"

"What I'm saying is I need to, uh, be ready," Irena explained, a little hesitantly.

"Ready for what, to accept and forgive me?"

"Yes," Irena said in a hushed voice.

"I see. Well I'll see you later then," Billy said as he turned to go.

Irena almost cried out "Wait!" but she hesitated as she saw him walk away. She picked up the tire and lugged it through the office.

Betty, not even looking away from the computer screen, said, "Hasn't he been through enough?"

"I thought you said you would not interfere," Irena replied.

"When it was a little tiff, yeah. But now it's bordering on cruel and unusual punishment. I mean he got the point. Unless you want him to join Golden Gloves, what else is there?"

"Well I'm not ready yet, have you thought of that?" Irena replied, realizing her reply was more of a snap than a reply.

"Irena, I don't claim to be an expert on relationships, but I know some things just have to be worked out, like an engine that is running rough."

Irena smirked. "Leave it to you to compare a relationship with fixing a car."

"Works for me."

"Anything else?"

"Work-wise, just put the tire against the wall before we lose it again, and check over what jobs we have for tomorrow. My advice to the lovelorn I'm through with today."

"Good." Irena walked away.

"At least I can fix cars," Betty sighed to herself as she found the piece she was looking for.

At Hamburger Heaven, in the patio area, Billy sat alone at a table overlooking a park. Somehow the burger that people from high schoolers to business executives craved exclusively lost its taste in his mouth.

How long will it take before Irena "accepts" him again, Billy thought to himself. He would be the first to admit his knowledge of the martial arts was limited. Outside of old kung fu movies and his sister having a black belt in something that involved a lot of kicking, that was it. If he remembered correctly, an exam in Sambo, Irena's fighting discipline, wasn't required when they started going out. Okay, he said something stupid, he knew that, and he did so, even when his guy friends told him not to. And he apologized and repented for said action, sincerely. So why the cold shoulder?

Billy put down the last quarter of his burger and took a sip of his soft drink. Who am I kidding, he conceded. Maybe this is it. He didn't want to acknowledge the possibility, but there it was. Maybe it was time to move on, go on with his life, and seek other possibilities. Maybe '

"A penny for your thoughts, Billy."

Billy roused himself from his thoughts and looked up at the woman standing before him.

"Wendy? It's been a while. How have you been?" He asked.

"Pretty great, and you?" Wendy asked.

"Peachy," Billy lied. Wendy gave him a slightly skeptical look, but it vanished quickly as she gave him another smile.

Wendy Williams was a tall black woman, about 5'9", with medium brown skin. She had a slim figure, most of it being her long legs, which were accented by the canary yellow business suit and skirt she was wearing. Honey colored hose and brown slides with flat heels completed the outfit. She had her hair put up in a bun in the classic no-nonsense style. Wendy graduated high school the same year Billy did, but she attended a college closer to home. Billy remembered she would always sit close to the back during business class. She gave an air of being shy and unassuming; but nothing was further from the truth. While sitting in the back, Wendy soaked up instruction like a sponge, and would turn around and use it.

During Billy's junior and senior year, there were a few junior businesses that suddenly popped up. One provided home cooked breakfast food to students, while another provided sandwiches and fresh-baked cookies shortly after school was out. It wasn't until later Billy found out Wendy was the mastermind behind both efforts. It was just as well Wendy remained silent. Rumor had it that the ladies of the cafeteria were on the lookout for the one who was stealing their sales. If anyone outside the workers who ran the shops knew, they wouldn't talk. Even the teachers were mum on the matter. Indeed, many of them stood in line too.

Another rumor Billy heard at school was Wendy had a crush on him. Billy didn't see much truth in it. After all, this was the girl who publicly said she didn't have time for boys or the prom. Small wonder, considering that she was ' again rumored ' to have made enough money to buy her own prom dress and hold her own prom. But graduation came, and everyone went his or her separate ways. Billy always wondered what happened to the quiet entrepreneur who had the lunch ladies sling their ladles in disgust. Well now he knew, and it didn't look like she did too badly either.

"You're working where your mother works, right?" Wendy asked.

"Yeah, but I'm still the rookie. It'll be a little while before they let me create or improve anything," Billy said. "Outside of that, nothing new. What about yourself?"

"I'm an independent consultant. That's going well. Hey, aren't you dating that mechanic from your sister's garage?"

"Yes," Billy answered, making sure not to miss a beat. "Is my dating life that public?"

"No, but your sister's garage is. People have said Betty and uh, Irena, right?"

"Right."

"Betty and Irena are two of the best mechanics in town, next to your father. I've brought my car there several times. It's great to have your car taken care of by people who know what they're doing. So uh, I noticed you were in deep thought. Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, just something stupid at work. It's really not worth spending time thinking about."

"Well that's good, because I was looking for you," Wendy replied.

"For me? What's going on?" Billy asked.

"I'm sure you're being paid a good salary where you work, but how would you like to make some extra money?"

"Extra money is always nice. What do I have to do?"

Wendy pulled out a memo pad and wrote something on it. "This is where we're meeting tonight. I hope to see you there. Well I have a couple of errands to run. It was good seeing you, Billy; maybe we'll meet again."

After she left, Billy looked at the piece of paper Wendy wrote on. Probably one of those marketing-type deals like Amway# where you're so busy getting people under you, no one has time to sell anything. But then again, it's not like he had anything pressing, like a hot date or something.

Laughing cruelly to himself, he put the piece of paper in his pocket, threw his garbage away, and went home.

Later that evening, Billy arrived at the local college campus. He saw it was a pretty nice campus. This wasn't his school; it was his sister's Alma matter. He would have attended there too, but the school he attended upstate was more specialized for engineering majors. Before this visit, he visited the campus on two prior occasions; the initial visit when he was looking for a college to attend, and when Betty received her business degree. He laughed to himself when instead of fretting about the graduation ceremony, she was more concerned about the backlog of vehicles she would have to deal with because of "attending this silly thing." Now her little garage has expanded, and has two mechanics working under her. One who's almost finished with her business degree, and the other, Irena, she, no, better to not go there.

Room 262 in the Hopkins complex seemed like any other classroom in any other college campus anywhere in the country, except there were cue cards of some sort, some scribbling on a blackboard, and, decks of cards?

"Hello Billy, glad you could make it," Wendy said warmly. She still wore her outfit that he saw earlier, except the shoes were off, leaving her to run her stocking feet upon the room's carpet. She stood at the front of the classroom while six other people, three men and three women, sat in desks near the front. One woman was shuffling a deck of cards with such skill, it would make a dealer at a casino or a riverboat gambler jealous.

"Hello Wendy, what is this?" Billy replied.

"Why, it's your gateway to great riches," Wendy said.

"Riches? It looks like you're teaching people how to cheat at cards. And if the class is about being rich, why do I only see six students?"

Wendy laughed warmly. "Have a seat, Billy, and I'll explain. When you play poker, and you look at the other person's cards, that's cheating, right?"

Billy found a desk and sat down. "Yeah, that's right," he said.

"Now what if you studied everything there is to know about poker, including how to read facial expressions, and then you played that same poker game and won. Would that be cheating?"

"Well no."

"And regarding the six people, including yourself, I handpicked them. I remember from when we went to school together that you were pretty good with numbers."

"Yeah, but I don't have a photographic memory, if that's what you're looking for."

"Billy, let me tell you a little secret about memory. Photographic memory is something we all have as children. As we grow older, we start using other systems to memorize things, and we "forget' to memorize by way of pictures; except for the few who held on it. Those are the ones we end up calling "geniuses,' "gifted,' and such. I can see you're a little skeptical, Billy."

"Maybe a little," Billy admitted.

"Okay, let's do a little demonstration. All right, here are ten words: dog, car, moon, building, telephone, chalk, computer, pen, plane, and cards. Now give them to me in order."

Billy tried, but found himself stuck with dog, car, and cards.

Wendy turned to the tall, slender Hispanic woman, and said, "Gina, what were the words?"

Gina relayed all the words, and by prompt, relayed all the words in reverse order; all while she shuffled her cards. And if that wasn't all, Wendy received the words in proper order from an Asian-American man named Jack who fiddled around with his PDA.

"I stand corrected," Billy replied. "So tell me Wendy, are you able to do this?"

"Of course. Years ago, my dad handed me a book called The Memory Book#. Best present I ever received. It got me through high school and college with good grades and a full scholarship." Wendy paused and looked at him for a moment.

"Yes, I'll ask; how did you do that?" Billy asked.

"I'd thought you'd never ask," Wendy responded, while the others laughed. "Picture in your mind the first item on the list: dog. It doesn't matter what breed, it can be your dog if you have one. Now picture that dog driving a car."

"Dogs don't drive cars."

"Precisely, that's why you'll remember it. The crazier the better. Now have the dog drive the car to the moon, where there's a building with a large telephone on it. The phone is covered with chalk, and a computer sits on top of that. There was a pen on the computer, but it fell off and was dropping all the way to the earth when it suddenly hit the top of a plane. When that happened, millions of playing cards fell out."

"That makes no sense!"

"Billy, what are the ten items?"

Billy found to his utter surprise that he could recall all ten items, pin down what order they were in, and even reverse it.

"Wow, is there a name for what we just did?" Billy said.

"Yes, it's part of a system called mnemonics. The early Greeks started it, and other people, famous and common have practiced it for years. Some probably have without even knowing it," Wendy explained.

"So how can you apply this to playing cards?"

"All in good time; but first, let me introduce you to the gang. Gina, you've already met, Jack as well." She pointed to a black man and woman of medium build, both dressed alike with blue polo shirts, tan khakis, and brown loafers with brown socks. Aside from the woman's hair being a little longer, and the obvious feminine and masculine differences, they looked almost exactly alike. "This is George and Georgette, our resident techno-geeks."

"We prefer the term, "Techno-Twins,' it sounds cooler," Georgette said.

"Much better," George added.

"No matter what you call them, they both supply us with coverage via the internet. If anything happens, they know about it," Wendy continued.

"Don't you two work at a computer repair shop east of town?" Billy asked.

"No, we own a computer repair shop east of town," George corrected.

"We worked there once," Georgette added.

"You worked there, now you own it?" Billy said.

The twins gave a devilish grin.

"Don't let their meek appearance fool you. In front of a terminal or in small business, they can be ruthless," Wendy explained. "I'll leave it to you where they gained the capital."

"I guess you've suffered all the stereotypes from people, like supposedly living in the basement of your parent's house, and being picked on, huh?" Billy said.

Both twins laughed simultaneously, which bothered Billy a little.

"Our parents recently asked us for a loan," George replied. "We live in a large house a half-mile from work."

"And the last man who picked on me almost ended up in traction," Georgette added.

"One more thing," Wendy continued, pointing again at George and Georgette, "they're skilled in tai chi and krav maga, respectively."

Even with his limited knowledge of martial arts, Billy had heard of the fierceness of krav maga. As for the other, well . . .

"You mean you do that slow stuff that old folks do in the park?" Billy asked George.

"Long before the "old folks' did it, it was originally a powerful form of self-defense. Quite lethal," George said.

"In short, we're two geeks you don't want to mess with," Georgette added with a chuckle.

"Techno-Twins," Wendy corrected.

"Whatever!"

After more laughter, Wendy went on. "And last, but not least, this is Naomi and David," she said, gesturing to a Native American woman, and an Arab-American man. The woman stood 5'6" with an athletic build and long flowing raven black hair. The man was 5'7" with a thin build, short black hair, and wire rim spectacles.

"Pleased to meet you," Billy said.

"Same here, as long as you don't have any jokes about being "off the reservation,' firewater, or if any of my cousins own those casinos in New York," Naomi replied.

"What about me? I still have to convince people that my in-laws didn't hijack any planes to fly into buildings," David remarked.

"Come on guys, you know I wouldn't recruit anyone insensitive like that," Wendy said.

"I come from a blended heritage myself, I know better," Billy replied.

"I thought as much," Gina said, looking him over.

To David, Billy uttered an Arabic Muslim greeting.

"I'm Catholic," David said with a serious look.

"Oh. I'm sorry," Billy replied apologetically.

"No problem," David returned, breaking into laughter. "But I appreciate the greeting. I had to learn Arabic so I could understand half the things people say to me."

"But what about your family?"

"My ancestors might be offended, but my family lives here, and we're all Catholic, not counting my baby sister who ran off and became a Methodist."

"I see."

Wendy put a hand on Billy's shoulder. "This is a very interesting discussion, but let's have it after class is over," she said. "We need to introduce Billy to our little business here," she said.

"Wendy, outside of canasta, rummy, and old maid, my card playing experience is limited," Billy replied.

"Oh, a fresh mind to mold into whatever we want! Hang on, Billy, we'll give you a crash course in blackjack, and then we'll teach you how to win it."

The class was actually fun, Billy thought to himself as he left the campus. All his fellow classmates were pretty nice. Even the twins, once he got past their weird exterior were fascinating. Wendy told him there was so much to explain, so he would need to attend class everyday for the remainder of the week. I know what she's doing, Billy thought, she's testing my loyalty. It made sense; if an idea to possibly make a lot of money was to be executed, it needed to be done with people who were committed to it. It made sense; it's what he would've done.

He pulled out his cell phone to turn it back on. His heart leaped when he saw there was a new text message. Without checking the origin, he read it:

Bro, mom needs milk.

-Sis.

And as if she read his mind, Betty added:

Sorry.

I should be able to attend the classes; I don't have anything else going on, he thought bitterly.

"Billy!"

He turned to see Wendy and the others catch up with him.

"You left before we had a chance to ask you something," Wendy said.

"What's that?"

"If you wanted to join us for a cup of coffee and to chat some more. We just end class at a certain time so the janitor won't have to throw us out."

Billy shrugged. "Why not?" He said.

The group attended an all-night diner, and over homemade pie and coffee, tea, and hot cocoa, they again went over the memory aids used in remembering a deck of cards.

"I forgot to tell you our "big surprise,' Billy," Wendy said.

"I thought you were going to wait until the end of the week to tell me," Billy replied.

"No, the big surprise was a place none of us have been before. At the end of the next week, we'll be going to Quarters, the new riverboat casino about an hour or so from here."

"Now that is a big surprise," David remarked.

"Billy, as well as you've done tonight, you'll be ready for the tables by the end of the week," Wendy continued.

"So why don't we go at the end of this week then?" Billy asked.

"Not so fast. The first week we work on technique, the next week, we work on tactics."

"Tactics?"

"Not everyone is crazy about the system we use, especially since we win," Jack replied. "Some still think we cheat."

"And they would not be very happy," Billy concluded.

"And you are correct," Gina agreed. "For this purpose, the Techno-Twins have developed a form of sign language guaranteed to work under any conditions a casino may offer."

"Guaranteed?" Billy questioned.

"It worked for us," George replied. "We have the income, the business, and a few other things to prove it."

Billy thought back to a time when he and Betty were kids in school, and had a few signals between them. One time in high school, the two of them were invited to a party of a friend who was celebrating a sixteenth birthday. Both siblings had their doubts, but the friend insisted. The party was going well, then began to get lively ' too lively. As Billy passed through a hallway to get away from some girl who smelled like a brewery, he saw Betty sitting on a chair, left leg crossed, and flexing the toes of her left foot tightly. Billy replied by blinking his eyes twice, and both grabbed their coats, thanked the host, using the reliable excuse that Betty had a car to work on in the morning, and left. Everyone who knew Betty well at that point knew she would have her shoes off, but no one expected her to conduct sign language with her feet. The timing was excellent, for after they left, someone pulled out a bag of weed, a couple of kegs, and even some moonshine, and things really escalated; until the police shown up and took everyone away. Billy smiled at the memory, and the relief of not having to explain to mom and dad why he and his sister ' total abstainers ' were in the clink with "druggies and drunkards."

"Okay, I believe you," Billy said, flashing back to the present. "In fact, I'll be looking forward to it. Will every meeting be at the same place?"

"Yes," Wendy replied with a smile. "I think you'll work out rather well, Billy."

For almost the whole two weeks, Billy really enjoyed the classes at the college, practiced daily on the memory exercises, and looked forward to the upcoming trip to the Quarters casino. Wendy said this was a real treat, because since it was relatively new, it was very crowded, thus making security more cautious than usual. Now that things had calmed down, it should be relatively safe. Since everybody was excited and knew their technique, Wendy gave everyone Friday off so they could pack for the weekend.

Billy told his parents he was spending the weekend with friends. Being an adult, he didn't have to tell them his whereabouts, but since he usually did, he didn't want to change the pattern. He finished packing his toiletries when his cell phone rang. He picked it up and checked it.

"Hello Irena," he said.

"Hello William," Irena replied. "You haven't been around the garage lately, so I was wondering how you were."

"I'm fine; just keeping busy."

Irena noticed Billy didn't elaborate like he usually did, but she put it aside and continued.

"I was thinking, I'd like to take up your offer. You know, the offer you made last week."

"What offer?" Billy had so many ideas floating through his head concerning his trip, he almost forgot that day, despite the memory exercises. "Oh, Hamburger Heaven, yes. I won't be able to do that; I'll be going out of town with friends this weekend. I'll have to give you a rain check."

Billy reasoned he wasn't lying; he was going out of town with new friends for a weekend, he just wasn't explaining what he would be doing.

"A raincheck in answer to my raincheck," Irena said, laughing lightly. "So we'll do that another day, no problem. So where are you going? Just curious."

Billy saw there was no harm in telling her, so he did, adding that they were going to see some shows. Again, it was true; entertainment was a part of the plan after the casinos. However, he needed to get off soon before she asked a question he wouldn't be able to answer truthfully. Fortunately, a solution was close at hand.

"Look Irena, I need to head to the bathroom, but I'll talk to you when I get back, okay? Bye-bye."

"Bye." Irena looked at the phone for a moment, then just shrugged and walked to the living room to watch TV.

The trip to Quarters was an exciting one, and Billy felt surges of anticipation, nervousness, and excitement all at once. Oddly enough, feelings of failure never entered into the equation. Wendy and the others filled him with so much confidence the concept wasn't an option. George told him it wasn't much harder than most standard math equations. Being an engineer, that put him at ease.

When they arrived at the hotel, Wendy called them to have them meet her in her room for some final words.

"Okay, with the exception of Billy, the rest of you have heard this before; but we need to be reminded, because our success hinges on these things," Wendy began. "Now we don't enter the casino until this evening. Until then, take the time to rest and recharge your batteries. We'll meet back at my room at seven.

"Remember this is a new place, not an old favorite like the others we've been to last year. Because of that, we will move around in groups of two. How you want to arrange that is up to you. One can play while the other plays lookout, you can take turns, or what have you.

"You need to also remember we're here to win that dollar amount we discussed back home. We are not here to break the bank, because that draws too much attention. Our slogan is to get rich slow, not quick.

"We will leave the casino at a particular time. I don't care if you're on a roll or not; if you're hot now, you can be later, because we don't depend on luck. If some of us reach our goal early, we join the others at their tables. If one of us asks, "Do you have the time,' that means it's time to go, no questions asked.

"I can't stress enough safety in numbers. When we cash our chips, we do it together. We enter together, we leave together, and if need be, use the bathroom together, accounting for gender, of course. I know a few of us know self-defense, but I don't care if you have a nuclear warhead in your pocket, we stick together.

"You know our rule, you keep your winnings. Since we're playing it by duets, we split by two. I know the caliber of the people I've chosen, so I know everyone will do their job, plus we'll be hitting a few other casinos over the course of the summer, so winning more money shouldn't be a problem.

"And what's my rule concerning playing other games?" Wendy asked.

"Do it on your own time!" Everyone replied.

"That's right, we're here to play blackjack," she concluded. "Now get out of here, I'm taking a nap. Billy, a minute please."

Billy stopped where he was, and sat down in a nearby chair.

"Not over there, over here," Wendy said, patting a spot next to her on the bed where she was sitting. "I promise I won't bite."

"Oh," Billy replied as he walked over and sat by her.

"You and I are going to pair up. Since I'm the one responsible for getting you involved, it's only fair that I monitor your work. Excited?"

"Very."

"Great. Just keep in mind when things become overwhelming, just play it one card at a time. And I'll be with you every step of the way."

"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind." Billy rose to go.

"Hey, where are you going?"

"To my room. I was going to unwind, and you said you were taking a nap."

"Oh, yes, I was. Well I'll see you tonight, then. Oh Billy, one more thing."

"Yes?"

"After we finish at the casino, there's a little something a few of us do to unwind. Don't worry, it's not illegal or anything."

"Okay, what is it?"

Wendy smiled. "Another surprise."

Billy laughed as he opened the door and left. "Of course."

Wendy smiled as he closed the door, then she kicked off her shoes and laid down.

Later that evening, the eight people entered the casino, all dressed up in suits and dresses. It was Wendy's idea to look classy for the event since this was the first time any of them had been there. Despite some reservations from some of the group, they didn't stand out that much. It appeared that a few people were wearing their "Sunday best" that night. Before they split off in pairs for the blackjack tables, the others slapped Billy on the back, wishing him well.

"Quite an encouraging group you have here," Billy said to Wendy. He was dressed in a black pinstriped double-breasted suit with a white oxford shirt and a black and silver tie.

"We're about encouragement, Billy," Wendy replied. She wore a long black dress, split on the sides to reveal her long legs, which were encased in silver hose with sparkles and black slides. "We work together, we grow rich together." She locked her arm in Billy's as she steered him toward an open blackjack table. "Now let's win some money."

Outside of "Go Fish" or "Uno," Billy never uttered anything relevant at a card game. As he uttered the words "Hit me," his voice cracked. Yet as he won each game, he became more confident. Time flew by, and before he knew it, Billy had won more money than he'd seen in his life. While he received this overwhelming temptation to go on, there was another voice telling him that was enough. He realized the voice belonged to Wendy, telling him to stop.

"Okay, that's enough for me," Billy said, snapping out of it.

As he collected his winnings, Wendy said, "You exhibited good self-control there. Gina had to shake David a few times the first time he played at the table."

"It's kind of intoxicating, especially when you're winning," Billy replied as his heart finally slowed back to its normal beat.

"I know, that's why we set some boundaries. That way, you don't end up broke, too carried away, or addicted. Now let's cash what you've won, and then we'll catch another table where I can rake some money in."

"Uh Wendy, has any of those things happened to you? I'm sorry, maybe this isn't the time for me to ask," Billy asked.

"No, it's a good question. I expected you to ask me that sometime. No, but I heard enough horror stories to put in the appropriate safeguards. My day job is doing well, so I'm not hurting for money, I don't have any outstanding debts, and we only do this during the spring and summer so I can have a life. Of course, there's my system, and if for some reason my concentration is shot, I stop. There's also intelligent investing of my winnings, and taking my time."

"Taking your time?"

"Yes, Rome wasn't built in a day, so if I'm going to be a millionaire, or close to it, why rush? After everything is finished tonight, I'd love to discuss it some more. Now let's grab that table before someone else does," Wendy said.

Watching Wendy play blackjack was like watching a surgeon at work. It was like she knew every card in the deck and when and where it would turn up. While Billy kept watch, he saw the others approach their table. From the looks on their faces, they were successful. When they asked him how they did, he gave them thumbs up, and their smiles broadened.

The players at the table were an interesting study in human behavior, Billy noticed. While Wendy was playing memory games in her head, he saw some of the others weren't so scientific in their strategy. Some not having a clue, just choosing at random, having mixed, and usually disastrous results. Some would only do things a certain way, no matter what the outcome. He soon discovered they were superstitious, relying on "lucky numbers" or a good luck charm to win. Still, there was another type of player Billy noticed that played, hoping against hope they'd win, and even when they'd win, they would feel compelled to play again. Those, Billy deduced, must be the people in the throes of gambling addiction. He grew a new appreciation for Wendy's rules and promised himself he would not end up like that.

"What time is it?" Wendy asked, sensing the other's presence. While other people gave her the correct time, the answer she responded to was "Not too late," from Jack, meaning everyone else finished early.

She smiled and replied, "It's late enough," and quit playing. Although the time they finished was well before the time they planned to leave, there was no need to stick around. Besides, Wendy was only fifty dollars short of her goal, and when you've already won thousands, what's fifty dollars?

On the way out, Billy was congratulated on his win.

"I believe we have a natural here," Wendy said, giving Billy a small hug.

"So now what?" Billy asked.

"This place has an excellent restaurant, but we'll go there later," Georgette said.

"Why?"

"Remember that surprise, Billy?" Wendy asked. "You're about to find out what it is. We're going back to the hotel. Once we get there, you gentlemen can wait in the lobby while we change. Let's go."

At the hotel, none of the men would tell Billy what was going on, even when he saw Wendy and Georgette in full-length kimono silk robes when they returned. Naomi and Gina followed wearing polo shirts and blue jeans.

"Hey, why can't we change?" George protested.

"Because we want you men to look good," Naomi replied.

"You and Gina changed."

"But we have a job to do."

Billy was already used to receiving surprises where these people were concerned, so he just mentally shrugged and followed the others to the rented minivan. The trip was even stranger when they traveled to the outskirts of town. He was further confused when he saw a large barn in the distance.

"This is the place," Gina said.

"The place? We're going to a hoedown?" Billy blurted.

That was apparently the funniest line of the night as everyone except Gina (who was driving) rolled over laughing.

"Some of us will do a little "dancing,'" Wendy said, elbowing Billy in the side before laughing again.

"I hate country music, and I would rather claw my eyes out than dance to it," George said.

"The first time I heard country music, I thought our cat was in pain," David said.

"Okay, so we're not line dancing," Billy uttered, "so what are we doing? Let me guess, it's a surprise."

"You catch on quick."

Before the men were dropped off in front, Wendy handed Jack a stack of bills. "It's on me tonight," she said.

As the men entered the barn, Billy was floored by the interior. He remembered from a world history class he attended in his freshman year of college what the Coliseum in Rome looked like. Apparently the designer had that place in mind when he or she worked on the place. The inside was built to scale in an almost exact replica of the famous arena. It even had a box where the Caesar would sit if they had one.

"Where are we? What is this place?" He demanded.

"You are in one of the branches of the Female Fight Club, or Fem Fight Club for short," George explained.

"George, I know some men get a kick out of seeing women wrestle in mud or jello, but I am not one of them."

"Then you shouldn't worry, there's no mud or jello here," David replied. "It's actually quite exciting to watch. Not the way I would pick to unwind, though."

"Unwind?" Billy said.

"Yeah, a few people in our group seem to think beating somebody to a pulp is relaxing," Jack remarked. "But better them than me."

"Come on, Billy, have a seat, eat some popcorn, and relax. Hey, who knows, you might enjoy it," David said.

And Billy found out he did enjoy it, the better-fought matches, that is. The fights that became nothing more than glorified catfights were booed, but the more skilled battles were cheered on. Finally, they called the audience's attention to what they called "grab-bag fights." The "Caesar," a woman dressed in something that looked like a purple toga, held a large goblet for the crowd to see. The first piece of paper she pulled out was someone named Diane, one of the factory workers in town. She was a black-haired woman with a slim build. She was also into the Goth look as well, with a black pair of shorts and T-shirt that looked worn and torn, but still looked good enough to be fashionable in some standards. Her face was pale, almost deathly white because of her makeup. Black Converse basketball shoes with black socks and black fingerless gloves completed the outfit. To make her look even more disturbing, she had a black mouth guard.

"Who died?" Billy asked.

"No one, she's Goth," George explained. "We don't have too many of those where we come from, much less those who fight."

Jack listened to the applause after she was introduced, and said, "Whatever she is, she seems to be popular here."

The "lady Caesar" pulled out another name, and made the announcement. She called Wendy's name, and Wendy appeared. Billy noticed that what Wendy wore was a far cry from what she wore at the casino. She wore a blue tank top with matching fingerless gloves. The gray shorts may have not been tight, but they were certainly form-fitting. The only sign that indicated she was in a casino at all were the silver toenails on her feet. She turned to where the guys were sitting, and gave them a wink. Gina appeared later, carrying Wendy's robe, a bottle of water, and a small first aid kit.

It took some effort, but Billy managed to tear his eyes away from Wendy to ask David a question. "Does she do this often?"

"Whenever there's one of these places nearby a gaming house," David replied, "which is quite often."

Billy was going to ask another question, but a bell sounded, and the bout began.

Diane moved toward Wendy in a crouch that was a cross between a boxer and a wrestler ready to take someone down to the mat. Wendy on the other hand, bounced on the balls of her feet, let loose a yell that sounded like a high-pitched version of a T-Rex from Jurassic Park, and swung a vicious left kick that connected with Diane's right thigh. The smack sounded like a cracked whip in the small arena.

Diane grimaced for a second, but recovered and threw a punch with her left. Wendy danced out of the way, and delivered a right kick to her side. A split-second later, she sent another kick to the right leg.

Diane gave up a grunt from the kick to her side that landed with a thump, but squealed from the second kick to her leg. Throwing boxing out the window, Diane decided to charge Wendy and take her down while she still had two legs to stand on. In her haste, she fell victim to another kick as the ball of Wendy's right foot struck her in the chin. After she staggered back stunned, Wendy moved forward and delivered punches for the first time. She softened up Diane's midsection, and delivered a few shots to the head before she grabbed her in a headlock and delivered a hip throw. Wendy looked down at her and planned to send another stinging kick to her leg. Diane wasn't going to take a third kick, and tapped out, stopping Wendy in mid-swing.

The audience cheered the victor, and Wendy extended her arms in victory. She turned toward Billy and the other men, and winked.

Was she winking at me? Billy thought to himself. Nah, it was to all of us. So is every woman he knows a closet martial artist?

While Wendy was graceful in her attack, Georgette was more grisly. Clad in a blue wrestling singlet, she attacked her opponent, a hapless black woman named Megan, with a series of powerful blows, followed by a few bone-jarring throws. As Georgette mounted her prone victim to pound her some more, Megan slapped the floor frantically. Fortunately, it was seen in time before she suffered any more damage. Placing a bare foot on Megan's chest, Georgette thrust up her arms in a victory pose and roared to the adoring crowd. Billy saw the last moments of the match open-mouthed.

"I wouldn't want to get into any disagreements with your sister," he said to George.

"We get along great; she's only this way when she fights," George replied. "You know the old stereotype of a big bully showing up and harassing the nerds?"

"Yeah."

"Well with us, it only happened once. After we both came home crying, our parents sat us down and told us whenever we run into a problem like that, we need to use our heads to solve the problem. No bully is a match for that. Plus, there's nothing non-intellectual about knowing how to take care of yourself. The next day, we not only beat the bully up, we humbled him into being our "assistant' for the rest of the year."

"How did you do that?"

"We took two pictures of each of us posed by his beaten body. Nothing is more shameful to a bully than having your butt beat by a couple of geeks. We later studied a few martial arts after that. Amazing. Did you know some of the fiercest martial artists were intellectuals?"

"No, I never thought about it that way."

"Most people haven't. In the Far East, they talk about mind-body fitness, and the advantages of it."

"My sister, a black belt in tae kwon do, would know what that is, but I don't," Billy said, shrugging.

"Both your physical and mental being is in unity with each other. To give an example, even though it looked like my sister was acting like the Incredible Hulk, she is in full awareness of what she was doing."

"It's a good thing, that poor woman can barely get up as it is," David quipped.

"I can explain it later a little clearer. For now, let's welcome our winners," George said as Georgette and Wendy appeared, once again wearing their robes.

"Let's have our dinner sent to my room," Wendy said. "I really don't feel like changing again."

"Did you win a nice purse?" Jack asked.

"Oh yes. Both the women we defeated were heavy favorites," Georgette said.

"They want us to come back," Wendy remarked, "but right now, I want to eat. Let's get out of here."

"Whatever you say, champ," Billy joked. Wendy responded by playfully punching him on the arm.

Back at the hotel, everyone enjoyed a delicious dinner while talking about what occurred that night. One by one, everyone left to retreat back to their individual rooms, except for Gina and Billy. Laughing, both turned to go.

"Billy," Wendy said softly.

"Hmm?" Billy replied.

"Come here, have a seat."

Billy went for a chair.

"No," Wendy said, patting a spot on the bed. "Right here. I don't bite."

"No, but you kick pretty hard," Billy remarked.

Wendy laughed as she lay on the bed, propping herself up on her elbows, feet kicking slowly in the air. "Then I guess you better behave," she replied.

"So where did you learn whatever that was?"

"A few years ago, I started taking Maui Thai, or Thai kickboxing to keep in shape and to protect myself. One day I heard about these female fight clubs, and I wondered how well I would do. I could count on one hand the occasions I had to fight someone off, but I still was curious. So I gave it a try, and I was hooked. I won't bore you with all the training I go through, but I have an appreciation of what MMA fighters go through."

"Heh, I thought Georgette was going to tear that woman's head off."

"Me too; it's amazing how intimidating she becomes once she sets foot in the ring."

"Yeah."

"So Billy."

"Yes?"

Wendy rolled on her back, looking up at his face. "Did you enjoy yourself tonight?"

"Yes I did, even the pit fighting."

"Good. I'm really glad you came with us, and if you enjoyed tonight, just think of all the fun we'll have in the next few weekends."

"Yeah."

"We make quite a team."

"Oh, I wouldn't say that; you knew what to do. I just followed along."

Wendy sat up on the edge of the bed, looking at Billy thoughtfully. "Too late, I just did."

At this point, a voice inside Billy's head was telling him, "Get out now!" He couldn't come up with any fancy exit phrases, so he used an old standard. Faking a big yawn, he looked at his watch and said, "Oh, will you look at the time! I got to get to bed! I'll see you in the morning, Wendy. Good night!" He quickly, but politely bolted through the door.

Wendy just looked on, smiling.

Billy closed the door to his room, and leaned against it, heart beating and breathing heavily. He was so close to breaking a rule he established for himself a long time ago. Probation or not, he was not going to break it for anyone. But if he sat in that room five minutes longer, that point might have become moot. He was not imagining things; she still had a crush on him.

His father once had a talk with him regarding dating and relationships. He told him that despite being chaste, there might be a situation that may be hard to get out of gracefully.

"So what do I do, dad?" Billy asked.

"Run," his dad said.

"Run?"

"Yes, run. You don't understand now, but you'll know what I mean sure enough."

At the time, Billy thought his dad took the saying, flee temptation too literally, but after actually employing that tactic a few times, he had no doubts about how well it worked. It's amazing what a sudden change of scenery can do to clear the mind.

This however presented a difficult, well maybe not difficult, but awkward situation. After giving it some thought, he came up with three possible solutions. He could go ahead and just break things off completely with Irena, then proceed to pursue a relationship with Wendy, even though Wendy was doing quite an excellent job of pursuing herself. No, he couldn't. Even though the temptation was a couple of rooms down the hall (and seeing Wendy, who wouldn't be tempted?), a possible one-night stand would not do it, and it wouldn't be a good way to start a relationship. He knew a friend in college who underwent that experience one time during spring break. The last Billy heard, the guy was being sued for back child support. Relationships should be started on better grounds than that. Plus he still had feelings for Irena. Strike that out.

He could just plain quit, go home, and live life as usual. Actually, he had a few plans for his profits, and a few more visits would take care of them, so that wouldn't work either.

The third choice sounded like the best one. That was to keep doing this, win his fill of money, and stay out of situations where he and Wendy were alone in a room, or anywhere else. Crush or no crush, he was gambling (no pun intended) that Wendy was professional enough to keep business and personal affairs separate.

Satisfied that he came up with a pleasing solution, Billy locked the door (just in case someone had ideas), and went to bed feeling better.

The following Monday at Barefoot Betty's Auto Repair Shop, all three mechanics were in the garage working on separate cars when Irena asked Betty a question.

"Betty, what do you know about this place named "Quarters?'"

"It's a new gambling casino that's about an hour or two from here. Why do you ask?" Betty replied.

"No big reason; Billy headed over there this particular weekend with friends."

"Many of these casinos also have good shows and excellent food. They have a lot of entertainment."

Irena thought for a second, then asked her next question carefully. "Do you think he could be . . . gambling?"

This received a huge belly laugh from Betty. "Gambling, Billy? If he ends up trying to sell his car to pay his debts, you know he's in trouble," she said.

"What do you mean?"

"You remember our family get-togethers with the relatives, especially the kids?"

"Yes, I remember."

"Then you remember game time too."

"Yes, I enjoy that, but what's your point?"

"He's lousy at cards! He won a hand of Uno once, but that's because my ten-year-old cousin felt sorry and let him win. A standard board game would be no problem, but anything that has cards, forget it."

"He's that bad?"

"He swore off cards when my eight-year-old niece and seven-year-old cousin challenged him to a game of Old Maid."

"Okay, I'm familiar with that game, what happened?"

"They kicked his butt! Since that time, the nieces and nephews would try to track him down to play a game with him. That stopped when he hid the cards."

"He hid the cards?"

"We think so, but he won't admit it. My aunts and uncles had the kids leave him alone so family gatherings wouldn't be too traumatic for him."

At this point, Kym couldn't take any more. She slammed down the hood of the car she worked on and started laughing.

"He hid the cards?" She echoed, and laughed some more. She excused herself and walked to the restroom, laughing all the way.

Betty turned to Irena, a smirk on her face. "Anymore questions about my brother's 'gambling' problem?"

"No, I guess not. Well the other night, I called him and told him I changed my mind about going to Hamburger Heaven. In response, he, uh, 'blew me off,' and told me about his plans for the weekend. Then he excused himself, and that was it."

Betty leaned against the front door of the car she worked on. "Well maybe he's giving you some space; isn't that what you wanted?" She asked.

"Yes, I suppose it was," Irena replied quietly.

"Well either it was or wasn't, make up your mind. Terms like this he takes literally, so if you need to tell him something, just tell him."

"So Betty, what do you think?"

"Of what?"

"The whole thing."

"You really want to know my opinion?"

"That's what I asked, wasn't it?"

"Okay; I think the whole thing is silly."

"Silly, what do you mean, silly?" Irena almost erupted.

"The little of what Billy knows about the martial arts is because of me, and that's because he asked me a few questions, and saw my belt test for my black belt. Outside of that, it was all he needed to know. Then you come along, go gaga over him, and get him. While you two are together, you tell him hardly anything about your Sambo background, and next to nothing about the cage fights. He had to hear that from the guys. And now you're isolating him because he has no idea what you did? I'm not saying you should tell him every deep dark secret you have, but we're talking about a major achievement in your life. The others, Susan, LS, Velvet, Kim, Janelle, and myself included respect you greatly for it, and I bet he would too. But my gosh, woman, you're almost sounding like it should be common knowledge with him."

"What would you do?"

"About what, exactly?"

"If you were seeing someone, would you tell them about the fights you get into on Friday nights?" Irena asked, her tone verging on bitter.

"I believe the terms should be 'we' and 'used to.' Someone takes care of that now, and before that, I had help," Betty replied, glaring back at Irena. "And yes, I would tell him, because I'd have no choice. The garage is a large part of my life, and unfortunately, whacking punks across the head who for some reason think I'm queen of the mountain is part of it. Granted, I would need to reschedule a few things, but there you are."

Irena stood there, biting her lip, mainly to keep from delivering a retort that might endanger both their friendship and her employment. Finally, she replied with, "So you would tell him?"

"Irena, we're talking about a sporting event you were involved with a few years ago that had crooked folks, and were governed by crooked folks, but you won. It's not like you were a contract killer for four years or something."

"But they tried to kill me."

"And Billy had nothing to do with that. You know, you can give me all the dirty looks you want, my friend, but remember, you asked."

"You're right, I did. Excuse me for a moment. I'll tell Mr. Hall his car is ready," Irena said quietly and walked out the front door.

A few seconds later, Kym emerged from the restroom. "I'm sorry Betty, but I couldn't stop laughing about Billy being beaten at Old Maid by children," she said.

"Oh we couldn't leave it alone for the next two weeks. You think I was too rough?" Betty asked.

"Not as rough as she's being on herself."

"You think so?

"You may ask Loretta to come back and soundproof the door, by the way, but if she didn't care, she wouldn't be steaming right now. For the record, I agree with you; just tell him and get it over with. People make relationships too complicated."

"Amen to that."

It turned out Billy was correct. Wendy kept her personal and business interests separate, and aside from an occasional wink from Wendy when no one was looking, it was easy to forget what happened several weeks ago. Still, Billy made sure he was first to leave at group meetings. One day in the college classroom where they went over tactics, Wendy gained everyone's attention.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this weekend, we are going . . . nowhere!" She said.

"Nowhere?" Billy questioned.

"Yes; I have a family reunion to go to, and my grandmother wants to make sure I'm eating right, and if I've gotten anymore meat on my bones."

After much laughter, David said, "Do you ever tell her you could eat caviar every day if you wanted?"

"Caviar? No, it's fried chicken and greens with my grandma. My parents try to tell her I eat everything in sight, but she won't believe them. Besides, caviar is gross, I don't care how fancy it is. So go out and enjoy the weekend. We'll meet the same time Monday."

Since she had to pack, Wendy couldn't stick around after class, so it was up to the others to go out for pie and coffee. The next morning, Billy got up and walked to his desk. He went through his bills and receipts until he found what he was looking for. He looked at the statement that told him how much his monthly payments were. Then he looked at how much the total payoff would be. Billy smiled. With the speed of a cobra, he plucked his checkbook out of his desk. He did some arithmetic in his head, and wrote down a dollar amount. He signed the check with glee. After placing the check in an envelope and placing a stamp on it, Billy leaned back in his chair, smiling widely. He had just paid off his car that was less than a year old.

Next, he showered and shaved, got dressed, and headed out to the nearby computer store, making sure to stop by a mailbox along the way. There, he bought a brand new laptop with all the bells and whistles in cash. And that was all the big spending he was going to do that day. The remainder of the day was to be spent in relaxation. Picking a spot on the living room couch, he proceeded to do just that, watching a few movies on the big screen TV.

A little while later, Betty came down the stairs dressed in her standard Saturday morning attire: barefoot in a T-shirt and jeans. She sat down on the couch, and watched a little of what Billy was watching. Finally she said, "Hey bro."

"Hey sis," Billy replied.

"How're you doing?"

"Pretty good," Billy answered upon reflection. He just paid off his car, bought a fancy new computer, and had more than plenty of money in the bank. Why not?

"That's good to hear. Well, if you need to talk, I'm here." She checked her fingernails. "Have you talked to Irena lately?"

Billy stretched his arms. "She wanted time and space, so I'm giving it to her. Until then, I'm taking it easy."

"Makes sense to me."

"Hey, you're not working on any cars?"

Betty smiled. "Since Kym was added to our lineup, it freed up Irena's and my schedule. I haven't had a spare Saturday since LS's wedding. I might just take a cue from you, and go away someplace."

"Where would you go?"

"I don't know; I have a couple of ideas."

The two siblings continued to watch the rest of the movie. Early on, both Betty and Billy had established that aside from general subjects not to pry into the other's personal business without permission. It strengthened their relationship, and it also gave the other complete deniability in case a third party tried to find out any information about the other. It's the reason why Betty didn't try to solve Billy's relationship with Irena, and why Billy didn't try to find a way to keep Betty from having to fight someone every other Friday night, though that had been solved. After the credits finished rolling, Billy's cell phone rang.

Billy wondered why he didn't turn the thing off when he picked it up. "Hello?" He said.

"So the world traveler is finally home! How are you, Billy?" The voice said on the other end of the line.

"Hey Lewis. I'm fine; what's going on?"

"I'm inviting you and the other guys over for a boy's day out at my place. Dinner, movies, maybe some other stuff we can get into. Sound good?"

"Yeah! Where's the other half?"

"Back in Indiana on business. Figured I'd tell David and Benjamin what they're in for. Say, what about Irena?"

"The same. So what time are you guys meeting?"

"Well except for you and Kevin, everybody's here. We have plenty of stuff too, so you can just come over."

"On my way; I'll see you shortly. Bye." Billy ended the call, then as an added measure, turned the phone off.

"What's up?" Betty asked.

"Lewis invited all the guys over for dinner, movies, and other stuff," Billy answered.

"Little early for dinner, isn't it?"

"Yeah, but everyone except Kevin is over there now. LS is in Indiana on business."

"I'd like to know when he's going to do something for us ladies. It's not fair."

"I'll remember to ask him," Billy said, laughing a little to himself. "I'll see you tonight, sis."

"Bye bro."

Betty sat back as she realized she had the whole house to herself. Billy just left, her mother was working in the garden, and her father was doing paperwork upstairs. She unclipped her cell phone and dialed a number. She pondered a moment what the last number was, remembered it, and prepared to punch it.

"Who are you calling?"

The phone jumped from Betty's hand like a living thing, and Betty almost jumped from the couch in a fighting stance. Then she saw who it was and relaxed slightly.

"Irena, have you ever considered using a doorbell?" Betty blurted out.

"I'm the same as family here, remember? Besides, your mother waved me in," Irena replied.

"Oh. Well, a simple hello would be nice."

"Okay; hello. Now where is he?"

"Where is who?"

"You know who. I tried to call him several times over the last couple of weeks, and about four times today. He's been keeping his cell phone turned off."

"Irena, he's giving you space like you wanted. You said so, remember?"

"I know what I said!" Irena stopped herself, and then said more calmly, "I know what I said, I remember it very well. I know it too well. But that didn't mean we shut off communication with each other."

"Irena, we work next door. He still eats and sleeps here every night, not counting the past few weekends, and you can call him on the house phone. Relax, there's nothing to be that upset about," Betty reasoned.

"Well I, I have a bad feeling, that's all."

"Hold on, you don't think my brother is seeing someone behind your back, do you? Because if you do, forget it. Billy-"

"No, no, it's not that," Irena replied. "I know him better than that. It's ' something else, I don't know what."

"Okay, clear as mud. It's not like you to worry like this."

"No, it's not," Irena sighed. "Where is he, Betty?"

"Well you're in luck. He's over at Lewis' house with the guys. LS is away back home on business, so they're gathering around for dinner and all that."

Irena's features finally brightened, only to darken again. "That's how he got in trouble the last time. Thank you Betty, I'll see you later."

"Maybe you should count to ten before you see him," Betty suggested. "There might be a reasonable explanation for the phone silence."

"Like what?"

"I don't know. Right now, you look like you're going to kill him. Since he's the only brother I've got, if you see him with a cooler head, maybe I'll still have one."

"I won't hurt him . . . much. But he is up to something, I can feel it in my bones."

"You are confusing me, girl. First you want him away, then you wonder why he's not talking to you, and then you wonder why he's not talking to you; and this was after he tried to talk to you. Now you want to get him because he's not talking or answering his cell phone because you "feel' something is going on, and I can't keep it straight," Betty said, throwing up her hands.

"Finished?"

"Yeah."

"Good. I'll see you later." Irena turned and left.

As she left, Betty sat there wondering. Even though she wasn't instructed one way or the other, she wasn't sure if it was a good idea or not revealing where Billy was; in Irena's state of mind at the moment, she might be hazardous to his health. Then again, they need to meet so they can get things out in the open and get it over with. The assistant mechanic has been as tight as a coiled spring, a far cry from the days where she's normally happy go lucky. Betty even missed the practical jokes she would try to play on her and Kym. . . well almost.

Giving herself a mental shrug, Betty again opened her cell phone. There were other things to do besides figuring out other people's relationships. She first thought about sending Billy a warning text message, but thought better of it. That might backfire in her face. So she called a different person altogether.

"Hey Jon, how're you doing?" Betty said. "Me, I have some free time on my hands, and I think it'd be better if I spent it anywhere but here. You have some spare time too? Cool! How about we meet at that shopping mall midway between us at that custom auto shop? Yeah, let me change to an outfit that's less ratty, and I'll be on the road. All right, sounds good. See you soon. Bye."

Betty bounded back up the stairs to change clothes. If things came to a head, at least she won't be home to catch any of it.

In the meantime, Billy was sitting back on the deck of the Spaulding's homestead catching the aroma of steaks being grilled. He felt he could live on the scent alone. If they could find a way to bottle it, he'd be first in line to buy it. A minute later, Benjamin Parker walked out to join him. He was a black man who stood a slim 5'10" with dark brown skin and short black wavy hair. He adjusted his glasses as he sat down.

"Hey Benjamin," Billy said.

"Hey, it's our world traveler, taking a break from his journeys to be with us," Benjamin replied.

"Might as well, I don't have anything else better to do," Billy added as he took a sip of his cola.

"Still in the doghouse, eh?"

"Yes, I'm still on probation; and before you ask, yes, I tried to mend things. She said she needed time and space, so that's what I'm giving her."

"Huh. So what have you been doing at the casinos?" When Billy looked his way, Benjamin said, "Yes, word travels fast. The other day, Janelle asked me that same question. So what's up?"

Deciding to ease into the topic, Billy started with, "Hey, everyone knows you're good with numbers, right?"

"I suppose so."

"Have you ever heard of mnemonics?"

"Only ah, let's say most of my life."

"Really?"

"In my case, unlike most people, I like math. I always did, and when you like something, you automatically think of ways to remember things. By the time I found out what it's called, I've been doing it for years with numbers. Now names and remembering to do my laundry are different matters, but to answer your question, yes."

"Huh."

"Have you been playing blackjack?"

"What? How would you know?"

"Simple deduction, my boy. I'm sure the food and entertainment are enough to keep you coming back, but that would get costly. And since you just asked me a memory question, blackjack would be the only game you could do that with at a casino besides poker, and poker involves more psychology than memory."

"So you've heard of this?"

"Billy, it's been done for years. Are you doing this alone?"

"Well uh, no."

"I don't need to know who you're working with. The big casinos in Los Vegas, Atlantic City and all that are always on the lookout for cheaters."

"It's not cheating!" Billy exclaimed.

"I agree, but that gives you an edge over everyone else, and the big boys don't like that. Sticking around with the smaller places makes more sense for you and your posse; I just wonder how long."

"It's only a few months out of the year."

"Care to elaborate?"

Billy explained the details. He knew it wasn't top secret, so there was no shame. Besides, even though anyone could do the system, not everyone had the nerve. By the time he finished, the rest of the guys came out on the deck and heard it.

Lewis Spaulding, who was grilling the steaks, and had caught the whole thing, said, "I wish you started earlier, you could've paid for my wedding."

"There's still time for my wedding," David laughed.

Turning back to Benjamin, Billy asked, "Since you're the number man, why haven't you tried it?"

"It's this simple, Billy," Benjamin explained. "You see, I like breathing."

"Breathing? What does breathing have to do with anything?"

"Because as soon as Janelle finds out, that function would be in jeopardy. Did you know there's a large number of chokes and strangles in judo? She would show me each and every one; and yes, I know she can beat me up."

"Susan would just kick my head off," David said. "At least it would be quick."

Lewis smiled. "Long before we went together, and I was at cooking school, a friend invited me to come over to his place and play poker. I didn't think any more about it until I talked to LS over the phone that night," he said.

"What did she say?" Billy asked.

"She vowed to go to my campus and beat me within an inch of my life, then find the man who invited me and shove his cards up someplace he wouldn't be able to pull them out, at least not easily. It took me ten minutes to tell her I wasn't planning on going."

"Well you're married now, things are different."

"Yeah, she knows right where I live and work, and there's no place I can run. Well there's my parents, but then I'd be in bigger trouble when my mom found out."

"So you're afraid of your wife?"

"No, I love her. Now if you asked me that same question that day concerning the poker game, my answer would've been different. I've seen what she's done to people my size."

Jesse Booker, a 6'3" skinny black man, put his arm around Kevin Coffman, a 5'5" stocky white man. "It looks like Kevin and I are the only ones who would be spared the wrath of vicious females if we played blackjack," he said.

David turned to him. "So you would try it?" He asked.

"No, I'm a graduate student! I don't have time for that mess. I barely have time for this, let alone play with cards."

Unknown to the others, Kevin had been seeing Loretta DeGarmo, a 6'4" carpenter and Brazilian Ju-Jitsu instructor. Both like keeping their personal stuff private, and had no problems keeping it that way. Somehow he sensed Loretta would not like the idea of him playing cards at a casino, no matter what kind of system he used.

"It would be a good idea for me," he said. "Give me Field OPPS any day."

"We need to get together and start that back again," Benjamin replied. "If you want to do that, Billy, that's up to you, but there's a couple of things to keep in mind. One is casino security is improving every day. If they realize what you're doing, they could do something like change decks mid-game. I read about that once."

"Good point, I'll mention that. What's the other thing?" Billy asked.

"Does Irena know?"

"Yes and no. She knows where I'm going, but not what I'm doing."

"Your girlfriend is no dummy," David said. "Eventually she'll put two and two together, and when the answer is five, you may be in trouble."

"Hey, she might like the idea," Billy protested. The looks on the others' faces doubted it. So did he.

"Regardless, she'll find out. Not from us, so you have a break there."

"Have you made very much so far?" Jesse asked.

"Oh yeah!" Billy said. "Today I paid off my car and bought me an Omega laptop. I was going to spend the day playing with it until Lewis called me."

"You didn't bring it with you, did you?" Benjamin said, being echoed by Kevin and Jesse.

"I left it on my bed at home, but I'll so it to you next time."

"You couldn't do it now anyway, because the steaks are done," Lewis interrupted.

As they ate, they all talked about what was going on with their lives. Billy did the same, being careful to leave out his close call with Wendy. Perhaps he jumped to the wrong conclusions on that night. After a while, Lewis addressed the group.

"Gentlemen, I am sorry to inform you that I forgot to fix desert," he said.

"That's okay; how about I buy us some ice cream, my treat?" Billy piped up.

"Hey, as long as the money man is buying, I'll be happy to have some ice cream," Jessie said.

Billy took down everyone's request, then got in his car and drove off. The rest of the men moved the party indoors to the patio.

"Oh, I could sleep!" David said.

"You could sack out in the guest room. I'll make sure to wake you before Love comes back," Lewis replied.

"When is LS coming back?" Benjamin asked.

"Tomorrow night, at the latest. She was checking out her old dojo, looking for a martial arts teacher, and visiting her parents, in no particular order."

"How's her dojo here coming along?" Jessie asked.

"As saturated as this area is, I wondered that myself," Benjamin added.

"That's a good question, but she's doing pretty good," Lewis said. "She started one in the northern part of town where there's no dojo at all. When people started realizing they don't have to journey across town to learn a martial art, they signed up. She may have to start lunchtime classes."

"Huh. It looks like LS has become quite the businesswoman."

"Yeah. I knew she had it in her. She gave me a few suggestions on my business that made it what it is today."

Kevin, who had been glancing out the window, looked their way. "Hey guys, I've got a riddle for you: what do you call an angry Russian?"

""An angry Russian?'" Jessie replied. "Come on, isn't that joke a little tacky? All right, I'll bite; what do you call an angry Russian?"

"I don't know, but she's headed this way."

Even as fearsome a woman as Irena was, she can also be subject to the whims of vanity. After she left Betty's house, she got in her truck, adjusted the mirror, and saw that she looked rather fearsome indeed. She had no makeup on, which was what she wore while working. However, she was visiting a group of men who hasn't seen her like this. Further examination revealed she was wearing torn jeans and one of her rattier T-shirts. Again, Billy had seen her like this, but the other men haven't. Common courtesy dictated to her that you don't go to social gatherings looking like you're about to work on a car or clean the house. So Irena quickly drove home to change, which was when she realized that it was Saturday, which meant laundry day, which meant Irena was digging through her pile of clean clothes to find something decent. After finally pulling on a respectable T-shirt, cleaner jeans, and put on a light smattering of makeup, she threw everything back in their appropriate piles and left. The roaring in her stomach reminded her she hasn't eaten yet. But knowing Lewis, he'll have plenty of food left, after she chewed out Billy for breakfast.

"Oh you're not kidding, she is angry," Jessie said. "Someone's in trouble."

All the men glanced out the window and saw that this wasn't the normally peaceful, cheerful woman they know.

"Okay, time for evasive action here, men," David said rallying the troops. "It's obvious she's here for one person. Answer any question she asks, but regarding Billy's casino activities, we know nothing, got it?"

"What casino?" Kevin replied.

"Precisely."

"So tell me Lewis," Benjamin asked as he and the others regained their seats. "Why do you think there's very few, if any, dojo in the north part of town?"

Picking up where he left off, Lewis said, "Not sure, really. I heard that area might be where the Daughters of Athena hang out, but that may be a rumor."

"Still, I think I'll avoid that part of town."

"I heard that," Jessie agreed.

"You guys had a run in with them?" Lewis asked.

"Yeah, it was real bizarre. Benjamin, Kevin, and I were having lunch on the college campus when-"

Then the doorbell rang.

Irena ran through her mind how she should handle this. She remembered that they were friends of hers as well as friends of Williams', so some tact should be used.

Which was why she rang the doorbell instead of banging on the door.

"Why hello, Irena, come on in," Lewis said as he opened the door and let her in. "We were just sitting here in the patio talking about my wife's new dojo."

"Hello gentlemen, how are you?" Irena said in greeting.

A mild chorus of "We're fine, how are you?" came from the group.

"I'm fine, thanks. Where is he?"

Lewis remembered with his wife, LS, whenever she wanted to discuss something serious, her toes wiggled. Over the years, he never told her about this little detail; it was a useful survival skill. Glancing at Irena, he noticed her bare left foot was tapping the floor rapidly. If this meant the same thing, things could get ugly. Still, he inwardly braced himself and asked, "Where is who?"

Irena gave him a look that said, "You know who," but said instead, "Billy. Betty told me he came here."

"Oh, he was here, but he left," Lewis replied innocently. It was the truth, no harm there.

"I see, and where did he go?"

"He went to the store to pick up a few things," David replied. He hoped for Billy's sake that his car broke down, had a flat tire, or he got lost. It was not safe for him to come back.

"I see. So why do I have the feeling you know more than what you're telling me?" Irena asked.

As she was being answered by shrugs and responses of "I don't know," Irena saw an extra steak sitting on the grill.

"May I?" Irena asked pointing to the steak.

"By all means, help yourself," Lewis replied.

Irena prepared her plate with the steak, baked beans, and salad. He took her drink, and then sat down at a table facing the men.

"Now it is my experience that the company of men is as bad if not worse as the company of women," Irena explained as she cut her steak. "You tell each other everything."

"Okay, that's interesting," Benjamin replied, "so what's your point?"

"My point is you are going to tell me everything you know about what William does when he's away at the casinos, or you face the consequences."

"The "consequences?' What are you going to do, beat us up?" Jessie joked. The stern looks from the others shut him up.

As she put dressing on her salad, Irena smiled. "Why no, comrade, I would not do that, you are my friends. Your lady friends may act differently though."

"Uh, what do you mean?" David asked.

"You see, I know all of your fianc#es, girlfriends, and newlywed," Irena said, directing the last remark toward the newly married Lewis. "If you don't tell me what I need to know, I'll just tell them, and they'll put the pressure on you. Knowing some of them, that would not be a pleasant thing."

Irena took a few bites of her salad and chewed, watching some of the stricken expressions on the men's faces.

Jessie looped his arm around Kevin's shoulders and said, "That won't work on us, Irena. Kevin and I are seeing no one." Kevin smiled in agreement since his relationship with Loretta was secret.

"You are right, Jessie; however I can ask for a little help in making you talk. Maybe Kym, Loretta, Velvet, or Kim, LS's cousin can make you talk. Perhaps Jasmine has a special technique for cases like this. Excellent dressing, Lewis; I can't wait to try these beans."

"Thank you," Lewis said, seeing the smile drop from Jessie's face. Kevin was no happier.

An uncomfortable silence occurred for a few seconds while Irena started on the baked beans. Finally, Benjamin raised his hand.

"All right, I confess; I don't need Janelle mad at me," he said. "Besides, he could get in trouble."

So Benjamin, along with the others told Irena what Billy had told them. Irena, who finished her meal, dabbed a napkin to her lips and nodded.

"Thank you for the meal, Lewis, and thank you for the information, comrades," she said.

"So we're off the hook?" Benjamin asked.

"You're off the hook."

"Are you going to wait for him to come back?" Lewis asked hesitantly.

"No, I'm not; after all, when performing a murder, it's not a good idea to do it in front of witnesses. Good day, comrades."

As they saw her leave, Benjamin turned to the others and said, "I'm sorry guys, but I'm getting married soon. There's only room in the doghouse for one."

"I'm with you there; I didn't see that coming," David remarked.

"I had these visions of Velvet throwing me all over the place," Jessie added.

"That might be preferable to how Jasmine interrogates people," Lewis said. "You'd wish you were thrown. Anyway, I don't need Love mad at me yet, we just got married. Come to think of it, where is Billy? I figured he'd be back by the time Irena finished interrogating us."

"It makes me wonder if the KGB are still around with her tactics," Jessie replied.

"Not to worry, he won't be back," Benjamin said as he refilled his glass of ice tea.

"How do you know?" David asked.

Benjamin held up his Blackberry#. "I shot him a quick text when Irena walked to the door. I remembered how clever she was last time, so I didn't hesitate."

[Irena's cleverness with the guys were witnessed in Barefoot Heroines, somewhere in the middle of the story. You'll have to read it yourself to find it ' Mongoose.]

"Well done!" Kevin said, patting Benjamin's back. "You may have saved his life, or prolonged it for another day, anyway."

Billy was thankful he turned his cell phone back on. He selected the ice cream, and prepared to place it in the shopping cart, when he suddenly received a text message from Benjamin:

"Irena is here, RUN!"

- Benjamin.

Billy quietly put everything back, grabbed a popsicle for himself, and left the store. Knowing Irena, she probably squeezed every bit of information out of his friends, and the upcoming days to come suddenly may not be real safe. He delivered a quick text to Betty, who called in response.

"Yeah, she wasn't too happy when she dropped by the house," Betty said. "She didn't catch you at the Spaulding's household?"

"No, I went out to buy ice cream. I got a text telling me that she was there, and to run," Billy replied.

"Well if you have something to do for the next couple of hours, I'd suggest you do them. For all I know, she could be at our house waiting for you."

"For "all you know?' Where are you?"

"Out of town. I'll be back later tonight."

"So I can't go back to my own house?"

"I'll call mom and dad and ask if she's there later on today."

Billy sighed. "Any reason why she suddenly wants to rip my head off today?"

Betty laughed. "Near as I can figure it, you gave her what she wanted. Now she thinks you became some riverboat gambler or something. And this was after I told her about Old Maid and you hiding the cards."

"I did not hide those cards."

"Sure, bro. Well, I'm here; I'll call you in a bit."

They said their goodbyes and ended the call. Next, he called Benjamin's cell phone.

"Hey Billy, I see you received my text," he said.

"Thanks a lot. So, how much did you guys tell her?" Billy asked.

"We had no choice; she threatened to tell our girlfriends what we did, and have them question us."

"That's rough. Sorry man."

"It's all right. If you seen the look on her face."

"Was she sort of calm, but ready to explode?"

"That's it. Look, you may want to explain what's going on in your own words, but I would wait until she's mellowed some."

"I don't get it. First I'm on probation, then she didn't want anything to do with me, saying she needed some space, and now she wants to kill me because I gave her space . . . and I guess this blackjack thing."

"All I can tell you is love can be weird."

"Weird, huh. I'm not sure what to say to that."

"Just accept it and move on. Hey, I've got to go. You going to be at church tomorrow?"

"I would say yes, but I don't know if "Holy Ground' will be safe enough for me."

"You could try the Pentecostal church next door. Maybe we could get the guys together again."

"She'll probably be waiting for something like that. I'll think of something. I'll see you later."

Surprisingly, Billy's week was uneventful. At church Sunday, he went to the early service, then he spent the day at a friend's house. Work went the same as usual, and the meetings in the evening were fun like always. He occasionally would turn around and expect to see Irena after him, but after nothing of the sort occurred the first couple of days, he relaxed. How he would explain what he knew to her may be a bit of a dilemma, but then again, it is his business after all. Of course he wouldn't tell her that to her face, but it was true.

On Wednesday, during the evening meeting, Wendy announced that the crew needed to get ready for a big weekend.

"Big weekend? Why is that?" Gina asked.

"Because we're hitting two casinos instead of one," Wendy replied.

"Which ones?"

"The Marketplace, and Enchanted Kingdom."

The room was quiet for a few seconds, then Naomi spoke. "You sure you want to try this, Wendy?" She said.

"If we do this right," Wendy replied.

"What's the big deal about these places?" Billy asked.

"The Enchanted Kingdom is fine, but the Marketplace is in a rather rough part of town," Jack explained.

"But it's the most profitable casino in our target area," Wendy objected.

"Which probably explains why it is in a rough area of town."

"Well muggings and robberies are more of a regular occurrence there than any of the other casinos we've visited so far, but the two things we have in our favor is there's six of us, and we're only staying overnight. Saturday, we'll travel thirty miles over to the Enchanted Kingdom, and spend the rest of the weekend there."

"That sounds a little taxing, especially for the driver," Billy said.

"Who said anything about driving? We're flying there. A car will be rented for Saturday, but flying the friendly skies will keep us rested. We're almost at the end of our first phase for this year, so let's go for it, what do you say?"

Everyone agreed, then went on with business as usual. Afterwards, Billy asked Wendy what she meant by the "first phase."

"It means for the last couple of years, we've done this, we do two phases or tours to use another word," Wendy explained. "The first phase is shortly after the school semester ends, and the second one starts in August. During that time we either hit the same casinos or checkout new ones. I'm sorry, I forgot to mention that to you."

"That's okay, but why two "phases?'"

"As enjoyable as visiting these places and winning money is, we all have our regular lives to tend to. Georgette and George have a business to run, for example, Jacks likes to visit his family on the weekends; you know, stuff like that."

"So you guys don't see each other until-"

"No, no, I'm talking about the casino business. We get together and do stuff all the time, movies, parties, etc. We'll be more than happy to have you join us."

As the others affirmed Wendy's statement, Billy read between the lines to see that Wendy herself would be more than happy to have him join them, or rather, join her. Hopefully by the time the second phase starts, he'll have an answer for this situation and the one at home.

One of the nice things about rebuilding cars in your spare time is you can drive a new vehicle, and no one would know. Weeks ago, Irena put the finishing touches on a black BMW sedan, and then proceeded to add some electronic toys to it. By the time she finished, she couldn't bear to part with it, though she knew she wouldn't have any problem selling it. The thing was since she lived at an apartment instead of a house with a garage, like Betty, she had the additional burden of what was she going to do with it. Now she knew.

After work, she showered and changed into some dark sweat clothes, and then she parked a safe distance from Billy's house, following him when he drove out. He never suspected a thing. Billy was so used to seeing Irena in her usual antique truck, seeing her in a luxury car would be far from his mind.

Surveillance was not a new thing to Irena; she did it one time before to save Betty from being harassed by a lustful high school gym teacher [Irena's Visit, in my bookshelf ' Mongoose.] She briefly remembered the rough wrestling match that followed, where she barely won, and the teacher's vow for a rematch once she returned from the cage matches in Russia. Come to think of it, from her sources and a postcard mailed to her, the gym teacher won the cage matches, which meant she might be seeking her out soon for that rematch . . .

Irena shook the thought from her mind. At the moment, she had other things to think about, like what her boyfriend might be up to. Perhaps he'll live to see the morning, Irena mused.

After Billy arrived at the university, and walked to the Hopkins Complex, Irena saw one constant that seemed to be among colleges and universities; they never completely close. There's always something going on. Although the spring semester was officially over, and summer school hasn't started yet, there were quite a few seminars and non-credit classes in session. There was just enough hall traffic for Irena to blend in.

It turned out Billy was the last one to enter the classroom. How convenient. After waiting a minute or two, Irena ventured forward to the door, and listened. When she found out she could hear everything loud and clear, she carefully placed a two-way radio in a secluded spot by the door. Once she made sure it couldn't be easily seen, or accidentally bumped by the door if someone needed to leave, she trotted to a bench down the hall, hooked up an earphone to her other radio, opened a book, and listened.

At first, she heard the usual conversational banter. Irena pegged down a total of seven people other than Billy. She recognized the one named Wendy as the ringleader, and that she spoke casually, but authoritatively to the others. She also sounded pretty sly and clever as well, running over their strategy and tactics for the casino. But Irena thought her voice always changed slightly when addressing Billy. Probably nothing, she thought, and listened further.

" . . . the Marketplace and Enchanted Kingdom," she heard Wendy say.

The Marketplace? Even at the garage, Irena heard about the casino's reputation. It was said that place alone kept the police in business. Yet at the same time, it drew in a lot of money. Maybe staying overnight wouldn't be too bad.

After she heard everything, Irena ran to the door, plucked the two-way radio, and moved to a hidden spot near the exit. Shortly, she saw the group make their way out the door. They were an intelligent looking group, then again they have to be to pull off what they're doing. She recognized the woman known as Wendy, and her feminine intuition was correct; she was attracted to William. To her boyfriend's credit, and her relief, he did not return that same interest. From what she knew, and what Betty confirmed, Billy was very faithful, but she can't have some woman making her moves on her man, probation or not. And what's this? Wendy and that other woman, the twin, participated at the Battle Barn, along with other places belonging to the Female Fight Club? That could come in very handy later on.

Billy and the others left for pie and coffee, but Irena had no desire to follow them. She got all she needed to know. The Enchanted Kingdom was far away, but not too far for a nice drive. When the weekend came, she'll do a little packing and make a little trip. If all goes well, she'll be coming home with William, where they'll have a nice long talk.

During the week, Betty and Irena attended their Krav Maga class. Even though Irena and Betty were both belted in their respective disciplines, the found the Israeli martial art quite exciting in its primal way. Irena found it kept her Sambo skills sharp, while Betty liked its no-nonsense manner. She actually never had to use her new skills ' tae kwon do always came to her first ' but she knew the extra skills were there if she needed them.

What caught Betty's attention was Irena's behavior. The past Saturday, she was on a search and destroy mission regarding her brother. The day after and the days after that, she was her normal self. She was even joking and laughing again. For some reason, this bothered Betty. She almost felt more at home with the Irena who was on a warpath the previous weeks.

While they were running a punching drill, slamming both punches and elbow strikes into hand-held pads, Betty asked, "Hey Irena, have you talked to Billy lately?"

"Why no, Betty," Irena replied. "Why do you ask?"

"You seem to be in a good mood."

"Why shouldn't I be? We had a good day at work, all my laundry is put away, and I finished a good book. Friday, Shelly, Mia, and I are going out to a movie, maybe you should come along."

"Now Betty was really confused. "But what about Billy?"

"Betty, there's an old American saying; I'm sure you heard it: "good things come to those who wait.' Eventually I'll run into William, and then . . . we'll see."

On the "then, we'll see," Irena delivered a straight right punch that struck the pad, but it also knocked down the woman holding it.

Betty considered sending her brother a text message to go someplace far, far away for a week or so. Something told her that when Irena got her hands on Billy, it wouldn't be pretty.

The Marketplace casino stood out in its location like a pearl before swine. It looked like whatever funds the neighborhood received went toward the upkeep of the casino at the cost of the houses, tenements, and projects crumbling around it. Still, it hasn't stopped the steady flow of customers walking through the doors.

"This reminds me of the movie, The Wizard of Oz, where things were in black and white, then suddenly turn into color when they go to Oz," Billy said as they parked the minivan. "Except they put the colored castle in the middle of black and white Kansas."

"Now, now, Billy, it's not that bad," Wendy joked. "The casino is one of the main employers, and part of the casino's proceeds go towards the educational needs of the area."

Billy gave her a skeptical look. "Toward education, huh? Yeah, I can see that."

"George, give him the stats."

"According to my findings, the casino takes in quite a bit," George said, recalling what he found. "Little, if any at all, goes toward education."

"But the mayor said it would," Georgette added with a smirk.

"A man of his word," David remarked.

"I would normally ask if we're taking away from needed funds for the town, but I see too many people coming in for that," Billy observed.

"Enough politics," Wendy replied, "time to review our game plan. We go to the first three tables and stay there, either until we're finished, or something else comes up. If more than one person even looks at you funny, you tell us and we'll all go ' together. Any questions?"

"Maybe we should leave for the Enchanted Kingdom tonight instead of the morning," Billy suggested.

"I'll think about that. Ready? Here we go."

Like well-oiled machines, they reached their respected tables, and like well-oiled machines, they executed their system flawlessly. Each team member played lookout for their partner as they raked in the cash. As Wendy was playing blackjack, Billy noticed a blond woman in a black cocktail skirt with matching jacket smiling his way a couple of times. She also watched the other men at his table, and a few others, but she seemed to zero in on him. Maybe because he made the mistake of waving back. She started strolling his way. Billy didn't have to be a professional gambler to see what she was doing; as if he didn't have enough woman problems. Turning her away shouldn't be a problem, but he told Wendy about it anyway.

"Long blond hair and black cocktail dress?" Wendy asked.

"Uh, yes," Billy agreed.

"Then we're out of here. Gather the others. Good job."

A confused Billy gave the signal to the other two teams, who promptly stopped their game and collected their winnings. As they left, Billy looked back to see the blond woman standing there with a sour look on her face. Her eyes especially flashed fire when she looked in Wendy's direction. While they cashed their winnings, Billy asked why the sudden exit.

"Do you remember the Greek myth about the sirens who sang pretty, but led men to their deaths?" Wendy asked.

"Yes," Billy replied.

"Well the last few times I've came over here to check things out, I would see her lurking around the blackjack tables, looking for a winner. When she found one, a male preferably, she would cling onto them like glue. The two men I've seen her with were robbed and beaten later that night. The next time, she saw me and acted like I was her new best friend. She invited me up to her place for a drink. I told her, being a good Baptist and all, that I don't drink. When she suggested something else, I told her I didn't do that either."

"Do what?"

"Don't ask. Anyway, when she persisted, I said I was on to her. She said, "Okay,' and left, but I suspected she would have it out for me next time we met."

"Huh, and all this time I thought she was a lady of the evening trying to come on to me."

"No, she's a little more than that, though it wouldn't be a surprise if she was. Couldn't blame her there," Wendy remarked.

It took Billy about half a minute to catch the hidden compliment, but before he had time to dwell on it, address it, or anything else, they were headed out the door.

"Okay Billy, you stick with Gina, David, Naomi, and Jack. George, you cover the rear, Georgette, you cover the right side, and I'll take point," Wendy instructed.

"What's this?" Billy asked.

"This formation would be called a "nucleus inside a floating triangle,'" Jack said.

"Formation?"

"Yes; our three premier martial artists, Wendy and the Techno-Twins are our first line of defense, giving us a chance to get away and find help, or help out ourselves," David explained. "More than likely, anyone who messes with us will either get beaten by George, get their head kicked by Wendy, or get it ripped off by Georgette."

"Oh I see," Billy replied. "This way we helpless non-martial artists are safe."

"What do you mean "we,' paleface," Naomi remarked, laughing. "I've been learning some tai chi from George, and krav maga from Georgette, on top of my own self-defense skills, while Gina has been taking muay thai lessons from Wendy."

"So since you men ' except for George - don't know squat on fighting, we're protecting you," Gina added.

"I still have time for another student," Wendy added, directing her remark to Billy.

"Do you even have time?" Asked Billy.

"I'll make time."

"I'll get back to you on that."

There was parking near the casino, but it was reserved for regular long-time customers. In other words, for those with money to burn, like businessmen, people in high office, and the stinking rich with nothing better to do, with valet parking, they can stop at the front door and come in. For mere mortals who have to hustle and scrape for a living, there were two parking garages that filled up almost as fast as the casino opened. That left the rest to find parking lots, vacant streets, or an enterprising homeowner or merchant with some parking space, who'll be more than happy to let you park your vehicle, for a nice fee, of course. Some homeowners have made a cottage industry by providing parking for casino visitors.

The journey to and especially from the casino led through some neighborhoods, back ways and alleyways, if one wanted to get there quickly and were fearless enough to deal with the hazards that lie in the shadows. Everyone else took the well-lit streets.

Wendy and company parked five blocks from the parking lot of a storeowner who promised their van would be safe. With a twenty-dollar tip offered to him, he would make doubly sure it was safe. On the walk back, as they passed by a small wooded area, two thugs in jeans and leather jackets appeared. They were both fairly tall, and each had one hand inside their jacket, as if they may be packing a weapon.

"Taking off with your winnings, eh?" The first one said, a blond haired man who seemed to have a nervous tic in his neck, and looked like Tom Cruise.

"Yeah, don't you think you should share the wealth?" Added a man who styled his hair and tried to sound like ' Elvis.

Just my luck; we're being mugged by celebrity impersonators, thought Billy.

"Please, oh please don't hurt us!" Georgette pleaded, waving her hands in a sign of surrender.

"Yes, we'll give you anything you want," George continued, sounding equally pathetic.

What happened next was almost too fast for Billy to follow. Georgette lunged forward, causing the Tom Cruise wannabe to pull his left hand from his jacket, revealing a knife. He thrust it forward to ward her off. Grabbing the assailants' left wrist and the back of his collar, Georgette pulled him down to be met with a knee thrust into the solar plexus. Placing the knife arm behind the mugger's back, she powered him down face first into the sidewalk, where she used her knee to pin his arm to his back. For added effect, she took the man's knife and placed the blade beside his ear. The mugger suddenly realized he had nowhere else he needed to go right away, so he stayed there.

The sinister Elvis clone discovered his friend was in trouble, but he wasn't sure what to do. He thought he saw movement out of the corner of his eye, so by instinct, he threw a high punch with his right arm. George stepped in, closing the gap. As he caught the punch, he swept his right arm, until it entangled Elvis' neck. He then hooked his leg behind the attackers' leg, and kicked his foot while he slammed his body to the ground in a corkscrew motion. While the Elvis pretender lay stunned, George reached into his jacket to pull out a small revolver and switchblade.

Wendy had barely enough time to congratulate the twins on their performance when suddenly there was a long slow clapping of hands in a drawn out applause. The group looked around trying to find the source of the sound. Finally someone emerged from the shadows in front of the group. It was the same blond woman Billy saw earlier. She regarded them with a smug look on her face.

"It looks like you took care of my "henchmen' rather efficiently. Well done," she said in a sultry alto voice.

"No, unlike those two men you had them attack the last couple of times I was here, we're not that easy to rob. Now if you would kindly step aside, we have places to go," Wendy said as she stepped forward, but the woman rose up a hand, stopping her.

"First off, I'm not here to rob you," the woman corrected, "and second, it wasn't my men who beat those guys you heard about, it was me."

As she said this, she started to remove her jacket. Underneath, she wore a white sleeveless, V-neck blouse, but what caught everyone's attention was that the blouse sat on the frame of a bodybuilder. Large, shapely biceps poked out from the blouse, and they appeared to be well defined from the way she slightly flexed them when she placed her jacket on a grassy spot near a tree. Next, she slipped off her shoes, which were black low-heel slides. As she rested her bare feet on the ground, she stretched her legs a little, revealing the muscular definition there, too.

The woman's legs reminded Billy of three women he knew: his girlfriend, and his friends Janelle Edwards and LS Chang-Spaulding. All three women had powerful legs, but in his opinion, Irena's was more shapely and built for speed, where Janelle and LS radiated power. The later two looked like they could crush walnuts between their thighs. This woman who easily stood between LS's 5'2" and Janelle's 5'11", seemed to follow their example.

Among the group's thoughts, there was no doubt; those two men didn't stand a chance.

If the woman's true form surprised Wendy, she didn't show it. "So what do you want?" She demanded.

"Why, I want you, Wendy," the woman replied.

It normally took quite a bit to floor Wendy, but that remark succeeded. "What?" She said as she quickly leafed through her memory to see if she made the mistake of giving her name at their prior meeting.

"Oh, I know plenty about you, and Georgette too," the woman continued, as an equally floored Georgette looked at her, while her victim groaned. "You can let them go now, they served their purpose. Run along men, you earned your pay tonight."

Georgette slowly released her victim. As he got up, he looked at her, expecting Georgette to hand his knife back. The look she gave him caused him to reconsider as he left. A similar situation happened with George. He gave the Elvis pretender a look that said you must be kidding as he asked for his weapons.

"It's not real," the man mumbled.

George looked at the gun. It was a starter's pistol. Briefly, the thought of smashing the gun against his head ran through his mind, but instead, he handed the gun back. He kept the knife.

"And Elvis has left the street," David remarked.

"How do you know who I am?" Georgette demanded.

The woman softly smiled. "You're not the only one who tours the FFC circuit," she said. "Don't worry, you're not the one I desire tonight." She again set her sights on Wendy.

"So what's the deal, did I defeat a friend, or close relative at one of the clubs, uh-" Wendy asked.

"Not at all. I saw you take on some big bruiser at the fight club not far from Quarters last year, and the name is Mystique, by the way. Anyway, when I saw you, I knew I had to have you. Since you seem to visit these places during the summer, I knew it was only a matter of time before I'd see you again. I wanted you one way or the other, and since you turned down my offer for a drink, I guess I'll settle for the other. I thought tonight I'd get your attention by hitting on your boyfriend-"

"Excuse me, but I'm not-" Billy began, but Wendy waved him to silence.

"And since that didn't work, you hired those two clowns to slow us down?" Wendy finished, sounding irritated.

"Wow, long legs and brains too!" Mystique remarked. "Yes, that's correct, and it worked, not the way I expected, but it worked."

"Why don't you just find another sucker to rob," David remarked, gaining a dirty look from Naomi.

"For the record, I did not rob these guys. They hit on me. When we left the casino, they had the nerve to ask me "how much,' like I'm a prostitute or something. After I took care of them, I took my "fee.' What they also didn't tell you was they still had enough to travel home, and pay for a real hooker. Again, I don't want your money; I just want to feel those legs," she replied, gazing at Wendy's legs.

Betty didn't speak to Billy often about the people she was forced to fight, but Billy remembered Betty telling him about the one type of opponent that gave her the creeps. Those would be either the predatory lesbians, or those "whose doors swing both ways" as she put it. Perhaps it was the nature of her job, she theorized, but there seemed to be something about her that drew these types of women out of the woodwork. What creeped her out the most was these women planned to take what they wanted (that is, her), regardless of whether she was conscious or not. She was further convinced of how unnatural the mindset and practice was, by her reaction. Her first impulse was to "keep whacking them across the head till it flies off." Remembering Betty reveal that part of vulnerability stuck with him, but he never thought he would encounter any women like that.

Something else Billy observed was Wendy's reaction. On this evening she was wearing blue micro-fishnet hose with clear low heel slides, which matched perfectly with her dark blue skirt and white blouse, but that wasn't what caught his attention. During the early part of Wendy's discourse with Mystique (about the time Mystique removed her jacket), while everyone else was too stunned to move, she subtly slid her feet out of her shoes. That reminded Billy of the last scene in the movie Kill Bill, Volume One. Regardless of the reference, this was going to turn ugly real fast, unless something could be done.

"You want to "feel these legs,' huh? Well take a good look at them, because this is the closest you're going to get to them while you're conscious," Wendy breathed, her purse now dropping beside her discarded shoes, and arms rising to a ready stance.

Billy lunged in-between the two would-be combatants, and said, "Hey, it doesn't have to go down like this."

"Billy," Wendy said steadily, "I've got this. Please step back."

"Mystique, right?" Billy continued, ignoring Wendy's statement. "Now as nice and firm as Wendy's legs may be, I'm sure they're not the only pair of legs like that in the Female Fighting Clubs; there's a wide variety."

Mystique took a step closer to Billy, looking him in the eye. He saw she was quite attractive in a sinister kind of way. "What's this? The loyal boyfriend playing the white knight, coming to the rescue of the fair maiden?" She asked.

"I'm not her boy-"

"Look, I take what I want, don't tell me about "choices.' Maybe after I'm done with her, I'll have you as a snack; you'd be tasty."

"I've got your "snack' right here, you-" Wendy said as she advanced forward. This time, it was Billy who stopped her with a hand motion.

"All right, look at it this way," Billy continued, switching to a new tactic, "There's about eight of us to one of you. Is this wise?"

Mystique looked Billy over, and then said, "I'd squeeze you like toothpaste."

"Maybe so, but you saw the twins in action, plus you know how Wendy fights. Can you handle that, plus the others all at once?"

Mystique stood and paused for a moment, looking at Billy, then the others. "Later, Wendy," she said as she collected her shoes and jacket, and walked off into the darkness.

They watched her walk off for a few moments, and then Wendy whirled on Billy, eyes blazing.

"Billy," she began, "that had got to be the dumbest, craziest, most insane idea that I've-" Then she grabbed him, kissed him on the forehead, gathered her purse and shoes without putting them on, and walked off, with the rest of the women following suit.

The men gathered around Billy, who momentarily forgot how to move his legs.

"Hey, are you all right?" David asked him.

"Give me a moment," Billy replied.

"Man, that woman was big!" George remarked.

"Real big," Jack added.

Billy took a deep breath. "Well, I may never look at a tube of toothpaste the same way again."

"Frankly, I think I would have rather been mugged," David said.

Naomi was prepared to sock him in the shoulder until she realized she agreed with him.

Outside of that, it was real quiet inside the van. There was the possibility of attending a Female Fight Club nearby, but no one dared voice the idea. Wendy sat in the passenger seat beside Gina, the driver. She had one leg crossed, and was absentmindedly pulling on the hose around her foot.

As they reached the hotel, Wendy said, "Billy was right, we're leaving tonight. We'll check in at the other hotel and sleep there. Gina, I can drive."

"I'm fine, Wendy; it'll be no problem," Gina replied.

"Okay then, let's get going."

A little bit later, as Billy was zipping up his suitcase, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in," he said.

Wendy came in, this time dressed in a gray hooded sweatshirt, blue jeans, and black footies. It looked like she may do some napping on the way to the other hotel.

Sitting on the bed, she said, "Billy, I wanted you to know that was a very brave thing you've done tonight."

"Thank you. I had no doubt you could take her, but I think it would've gotten ugly, and there was no need for that," Billy replied.

"I understand. So I don't have the only pair of legs that are "nice and firm,' eh?"

"Hey, I was under pressure, I had to say something."

"I see. Well, I'll see you at the van. And Billy, one more thing."

"Yes?"

"If you ever, ever put yourself into harm's way like that again, I will take these "nice and firm' legs and kick your head clean off your shoulders. You're lucky Mystique didn't rip it off for you. I'll see you in a bit."

That same evening, Irena was adding more wax to her BMW's finish. There was an ice cream social at church, but she declined, deciding instead to ready herself for the road trip the next day.

Irena felt with some cars, you shouldn't just play anything on the stereo system; some cars should only play what was suitable for them. For example, one does not play hip-hop in a Rolls Royce anymore than one shouldn't listen to opera in a Yugo. As she placed the final coat, she had the radio tuned to a classical music station, where a Russian composer was featured. The car was shiny enough to show her reflection. Irena smiled at her handiwork when her cell phone rang.

She figured it was Betty asking where she was, but to her surprise, it was another friend, Susan Davidson.

"Hello?" Irena asked.

"Our grand church is giving out free homemade ice cream, and none of the mechanics are here. What's up?" Susan asked.

"I was waxing my car."

"Waxing your car? It must be some car! Free ice cream, including your favorite, Oreo Crunch, and you're missing it. Is Betty helping you on this?"

"No, you don't know where she is, either?"

"No."

"Well, maybe she's with Kym."

"No, Kym just came in the door. She's taking no prisoners either; she's piling on the ice cream. Oh, now she waves at everybody," Susan observed.

"I guess so, since she heard you talking about her," Irena replied. "I'll see about showing up later. As for Betty, maybe you should give her a call."

"Yeah, I think I will. Hey Kym, we were just talking about you ' hey!"

"What happened?"

"Kym slapped ice cream on my nose! Can you believe that?"

"From hearing Janelle laugh in the background, I'd say I do. Now go find David and behave yourself; I'll be there shortly."

"I am behaving myself!"

"Sure, comrade. Bye-bye."

"Bye ' ah! Janelle, stop that!"

Irena sighed. She better go; less suspicion can be raised that way. Besides, that woman who made the Oreo Crunch ice cream makes it specifically for her, so how could she refuse? Also it appears that Kym and Janelle were teaming up on Susan, so she wanted to see the fun. Her trip wasn't until noon the next day anyway. She'll deal with William, and then she'll find out where Betty went. She mentioned she was picking up parts that afternoon, but she shouldn't be gone this long.

One crisis at a time, Irena thought as she threw a tarp over her car and entered her apartment to change clothes.

The group was drained by the time they arrived at the Enchanted Kingdom that night.

"We'll hit the casinos around dinnertime tomorrow. Let's use the day and last part of the evening to enjoy ourselves," Wendy said. "Good night."

She was greeted with grunts and mumbles as everyone staggered to their room. The long day, plus the adrenaline rush wore everyone out.

Billy hung on long enough to unpack his suitcase and to hit the pillow when he collapsed on the bed in his room. His one sobering thought before he passed out was what would happen if Mystique called his bluff. Then the image of a squeezed toothpaste tube appeared, and all went black.

The next morning, all that happened the previous evening seemed like a bad dream. Only the late hour everyone rose, and memories of a blond muscle-bound woman lingered in everyone's mind.

The Enchanted Kingdom in comparison to the Marketplace was like night and day. The casino was located in a better neighborhood, or at least in an area where the powers that be took care of the neighborhood as well as the casino. Parking was plentiful and so were the shows and other entertainment. Wendy gathered the group together for brunch, and then told them to go out and enjoy themselves until they met again for dinner. And that's what they did.

Billy did a few things with the gang, then he broke away to listen to a few jazz groups perform a mini-concert. Her heard a new group called Silkworm, and he liked them so much, he bought their debut album.

[By the way, the story behind the band Silkworm, and the lead singer, along with his girlfriend who plays keyboard, can be found in A Very Special Love Story in my bookshelf (I wrote it so long ago, I had to look it up to confirm the title). Another shameless plug ' Mongoose.]

After that, he retreated to back to his hotel room to play with his new laptop computer. Now that things slowed down a little, he could see what bells and whistles it had. After he linked into the Internet, he ran across a story about two men who were badly beaten not far from the Marketplace casino. That didn't surprise him until he found the two men fit the description of the two men who tried to mug them. According to the word of two eyewitnesses, they argued with a huge blond woman in a white blouse and black skirt, with no shoes about demanding more money, when the woman became enraged and began to beat both men. The eyewitnesses fled the scene, and called the police. The mystery woman trotted off into the darkness by the time the police arrived.

"Better you than us," Billy remarked as he surfed to a site that had more pleasant things on it than assault. After he surfed, he put the computer up, and took a short nap. When he woke up, he changed and joined the rest for dinner.

"Where were you?" Wendy asked as they sat down for dinner. "I turned around and you were gone. I was beginning to think Mystique got you." She gave a sly smile, which told Billy he wasn't in the doghouse anymore, concerning her at least.

"I saw a few jazz bands, and I retreated back to my room to take a short nap," Billy replied. "Funny that you mentioned Mystique though." He told them about the news story he read.

David raised his hand. "I make a motion that we do not return to the Marketplace," he said.

"Actually, I already marked it off the list," she remarked. "As a general rule, I don't usually have muscular female psychopaths that have the hots for me come after me, and I like to keep it that way."

"What about the fights at the FFC?" Jack asked.

"Which one? Outside of her stomping grounds, she can't pinpoint where I'll be. If I do run into her, I'll make her regret it; simple."

"Not if I get her first," Georgette added.

"Frankly, she gave me the creeps," Gina said.

"Me too," David remarked. "For a moment, I thought she was going to eat Billy."

"Well let's check our menus to see if we can find something more tasty than yours truly," Billy said, changing the subject.

The rest of that evening went very smooth. So smooth, they reached their goal early. As they cashed in their winnings, the question was raised again on what to do with the rest of the evening. The answer, like earlier that day, was whatever they wanted. Billy however still felt a little tired, so he went back to his room.

Sipping a bottled water as he sat on the couch in his room, Billy thought about all the money he won, and what to do with it. Except for electronics and his car, Billy was never a big spendthrift. He could go ahead and buy a house, except he wasn't ready for a house yet. In fact, he didn't need to do anything with it right now. He could just leave it in the bank and let it gain interest.

There was a knock on his door. By reflex, Billy said, "Come in." He wondered for a split-second if that was wise. Soon he received his answer.

It was Wendy. She had changed into something a little more casual. She wore a black tank top, covered by an oversized white oxford shirt, and black bicycle shorts. She was also barefoot.

"Hello Billy," she said, her voice a little lower and quieter than usual. She pulled off her dress shirt and sat next to Billy.

"Hi Wendy, where are the others?" Billy sputtered out and tried to move back, before realizing he was as far back as he could go, and getting up wouldn't be easy, thanks to how Wendy was seated.

"Let's see. Gina and David went to see a show, the twins went to a movie, and the rest went to a concert. So that just leaves you and me," Wendy replied, ticking off the points on her fingertips. "By the way, just in case you get sleepy, the bedroom is right behind you, if you need to crash. Convenient, huh?"

The woman thinks of everything, Billy thought. Out loud, he said, "Where are your shoes?"

"Billy, in the time we've been together, surely you've noticed I don't like shoes very much. I'm not as bold as your sister in that regard, but I share the same sentiment."

"Oh. So what can I do for you?" Billy mentally kicked himself. That was the wrong thing to say.
"Well I was sitting in my hotel room, all alone, then I realized you were sitting in your hotel room, all alone. So I came over so we wouldn't be alone anymore. Simple, huh? Now as to what you can do for me . . ." She placed a hand on Billy's leg.

"Wendy, I have a girlfriend," Billy said, using his ace in the hole. That was a tactic that worked with most women. Then again, Wendy was not most women.

"And yet, she never comes with you to these things. I suspect she wouldn't understand, or would not like what you're doing. I, on the other hand, am here, and I like you . . ."

Billy felt like a bird hypnotized by a snake. Wendy moved even closer, and her hand was placed on his chin in a gentle, but strong grip. Seeing her face coming closer to kiss him, Billy quickly prayed that something, anything would come in the nick of time.

And then his cell phone rang.

Thank you, God. Billy snatched up the phone, checked who it was, then quickly switched to speakerphone, all in the space of three seconds. "Hello Irena," he said.

"Hello William. What are you doing?" Irena returned in greeting, her voice heard by Wendy as well as Billy.

"I'm just relaxing in my hotel room. What are you doing?"

"Why, I'm here to pick you up and take you home."

"What? Take me home?"

"Yes. Go to your front window and look down."

Despite himself, Billy gave Wendy a confused look as he opened the shades to the window, and looked down at the valet parking lot. "I don't see anything," he said.

"There's a black BMW sedan in front of the entrance. You should see me waving my hand out of the sunroof. I can see you now."

Billy almost jumped from surprise. "When did you get that car?"

"I rebuilt it a while ago. I liked it too much to sell it. It really handles curves, too."

Wendy very discretely peeked out the window. Nice car, she thought to herself.

"Looks good," Billy said. This may not have been the rescue he had in mind.

"Thank you. Now go pack and check out; I'll see you in a few minutes." Irena ended the call.

"I better go," Billy said to Wendy as he made the beeline to his suitcase.

"I'll tell the others . . . your girlfriend picked you up. I'll see you later, Billy," Wendy said as she grabbed her shirt and made a quick exit. Irena appeared to be just waiting in the car, but she wasn't going to take any chances on meeting her face to face.

Billy didn't know he could pack so quickly. Before he realized it, he found himself almost running out of the hotel, remembering just in time to check himself out. As he approached the BMW, he saw Irena dressed in a half-sleeve, black blouse and black skirt; no shoes, of course. She gave a sweet smile as he got in.

"Hello William," she said warmly.

"Hi," he replied as he buckled himself in.

The slap to the back of his head would have sent him into the dashboard if his hands weren't in front of him to stop himself.

"Ow! What was that for?" Billy yelled, rubbing his head.

"Betty says sometimes you need "a whack across the head,' so I'd figure I'd try it," Irena replied.

"She didn't mean it literally!"

"She could've fooled me," Irena said as she peeled out of the parking lot.

Wendy peered out the front window from the safety of her room at the BMW that just burnt rubber leaving the hotel. Irena wasn't happy.

The role of "boyfriend stealer" was a new one for Wendy. She normally believed couples are couples until they break up; until then, do not interfere. Of course, there were exceptions, and Billy was an exception. At first she thought Irena was angry because of her, then she corrected herself. It was obviously what Billy was doing that ticked her off. Even with the memory systems in place, some people still considered what they do as gambling. Irena should be more fired up about that to ignore anything else . . . hopefully. Billy would be in too much hot water as it was to mention that she made a move on him. She was so close too, after all this time. Well at least his sudden absence will be easy to explain.

The car ride was almost as quiet as the tomb. Except for the slight humming of the car, and the faint strains of Vivaldi coming from the car's stereo, neither Irena nor Billy said a word. Irena chose not to speak for a time, and Billy was wise enough to keep his mouth shut. He glanced out the passenger side mirror to see the lights of the city slowly fade in the distance. When those lights were only a pinprick, Irena spoke.

"William, what were you supposed to be doing?" She asked, being as calm as a dormant volcano that was planning to erupt.

"I told you, I was relaxing in my hotel room, and-" Billy stopped when Irena turned and looked at him. Suddenly facing Mystique didn't seem so frightening.

"No, I mean what are you doing practicing this foolishness." Irena turned back to face the road.

"What foolishness? I don't -" Billy began, but trailed off when Irena glared at him again.

"William Bradley Conrad, you know what I am talking about," she said, her voice rising in volume with her Russian accent a little thicker than normal. "Your friends have told me. Do not presume me as stupid. It's taking all I have not to pull the car over, and throttle you on the spot. I'm sure I could get away with it, too. It would be a while before they found the body -"

Not daring to think about that cryptic remark, Billy said, "Okay, you know, so what's the big deal?"

"It is gambling, William! Back in Russia, we call people who regularly attend casinos many things, but prosperous, able-bodied, or living weren't one of them."

"But this isn't Russia, Irena."

"No, but that doesn't mean the management will play by the rules, let alone play nice when they figure out your system of gambling."

"It's not gambling!" Billy argued.

"Memory system or not, it's still playing the odds. Unless you and the rest of the group are clairvoyant, you're still gambling."

There was a moment's silence, and then Billy said, "I made a lot of money."

Irena delivered a cynical glance before returning her gaze on the road. "Is that supposed to impress me? If I desired money, I'd go after that Microsoft# guy, or marry a rock star," she said.

"I think that "Microsoft guy' is already married," Billy interjected.

"My point is, if I wanted money, I would've done other things to get it, like work only on luxury cars, or fight in the cage matches for a few more seasons and gain endorsements. I've met people who only pursue money, and they're one of the most miserable people I've met. You don't want to be one of them."

"Earn endorsements, huh?" Billy replied.

"Yes; continue my fighting career until some sponsor thinks I could sell their product, whether I use it or not, do cheesy commercials, things like that. There have been a few fighters and other athletes who've ruined their lives for money as well."

"Yeah, you would know all about money, endorsements, and other things in the "fight game,' wouldn't you?" Billy remarked.

This time, Irena gave him a puzzled look. "What are you talking about, William?"

"While I've been out of town, "gambling' and stuff, I took some time out to think about things. When we started dating, and we shared a few things about each other, you'd tell me about your plans, your sister, how your parents are doing, the beauty of a Russian winter, all that. But when I ask even one question about your past fighting career, you clam up and say "I don't want to talk about that now,' "Let's change the subject,' or "Maybe later.' And like a perfect gentleman, I didn't push it. The women seem to know all about it, and the men, their boyfriends knew, but not me, your boyfriend. But when I said one thing, just one thing that was in error to what you did, I am being "disciplined.' You know, until the guys shown me the DVD's, I thought it was something shameful, like wrestling in chocolate pudding or something. You never hit me as the type, but what was I to think?"

Irena was silent.

"Maybe something bad happened, maybe you were injured. I don't know what it was, but I didn't do it, and I don't deserve to be punished for it," Billy continued.

"No, you don't," Irena said quietly.

"What's that?" Billy asked, not hearing what was said.

"Where are you parked?"

"At the college, north parking lot."

The rest of the drive back was in silence. Despite the tense situation, Billy felt a little relieved to get things off his chest. Irena was as quiet as the tomb once again, and her expression was about as grim. Once they reached the place where Billy was parked, Billy spoke first as they parked.

"Tell you what, I'll give you a day or two to think about this, and then I'll move on from there," he said.

"What are you saying?" Irena asked in a tone like someone waking up from a dream.

"What do you think I'm saying? You obviously don't want to talk about things now, so I'm giving you a chance to explain at a later time. I guess you could say you're being "disciplined,' but at least I gave you a time frame instead of being left wondering. If I don't hear anything, or if I do, I'll know what to do."

"Know what to do? About what?"

"What do you think, Irena? Have you ever thought about how I'm handling things? It's late; I'm going home and going to bed. I'll see you at church, Irena."

Irena sat in her car and watched Billy pull out of his parking space, and drive away. Even then, after he was long gone, she stared in the direction he left.

"Wait," she said softly.

The next day, after church was out, Betty came out of the sanctuary to look for Susan. She found her standing beside her fianc# David's car, pulling off her shoes and throwing them in the backseat. The six-foot blond kickboxer smiled as Betty came near.

"Hey Betty, are you eating with us?" She asked.

"Sure," Betty replied as she took Susan by the arm and pulled her away. "Excuse me, David, but Susan's riding with me today."

"Okay," David said, wondering what was going on this time. "Hey Jesse, I'm suddenly without a passenger. Want to ride with me to the steakhouse?"

Back at Betty's car, Betty pulled off her own shoes as she slid behind the wheel.

"So what's up, Betty? You know, you could talk to me after we get there," Susan said as Betty started her car and pulled out of the parking lot.

"A little reminder, Susan. The next time someone follows up on one of your ideas, you may want to remember that fact to avoid some embarrassment," Betty replied.

"Ideas? What do you ' oh! I'm sorry, I forgot," Susan smiled sheepishly.

"Forgot? Maybe Janelle was right, you have taken too many kicks to the head."

"So when did she say that anyway?"

Ignoring the question, Betty continued. "I had eight messages on my voicemail asking where I was; the last was by Janelle, who threatened to send out a search party for me unless I called her back. Then she proceeded to question me about my whereabouts. I told her I was out getting parts and I became "occupied' with other things. Fortunately she bought it, because I didn't have any other explanation to give her."

"Well sorry again; you know how the girls like to look after you. So what did you do?"

"Have you been listening?"

"No, no, what did you do?"

"Oh. Well we met halfway, where we ate at a nice restaurant, saw a race at a small racetrack, and then saw a movie about a retired stockcar racer returning to the track. Very accurate."

Susan displayed a sly grin. "And then what?"

Then we said goodnight and went home."

"Is that all?"

"That's enough. Look, I know what you were thinking; that we would fall in love, get married, and we'd have at least 2.5 kids waving their toy wrenches and working on their friend's Big Wheels. Well for right now, that ain't happening."

"Why not?" Susan asked, with a trace of disappointment in her voice.

"There are a few reasons. The first one is we're both busy auto mechanics," Betty explained, waving away Susan's attempted response. "I know, I know, you make time. But add distance to that equation, and it gets harder. Two, he has a nosy mother and two overprotective sisters to contend with; one of them is my sensei. If that isn't bad enough, I have you yahoos to look out for."

"Oh come on, Betty, we were just concerned."

"I know, and normally I appreciate that, really; however, if what happened last night is any indication, a normal date may be a problem. I prefer to be more discrete with my relationships. Third, I would have to deal with a heavy load of competition."

"So? If anyone messes with you, just "whack them across the head.'"

Betty smiled a little. "One of the competitors likes to pick Jon up."

"Oh, she likes to take him places, eh?"

"No, she literally picks him up, and carries him where she wants them to go."

Susan was stunned. "So how big is this woman?" She asked.

"She's a little blond powerhouse, built like Janelle, and just a little shorter than Irena."

"Really? I can see she doesn't take no for an answer."

"And that's just one of them. A wise person once told me there are two things you shouldn't be competitive with: nuclear war and relationships."

"Never thought of comparing those two."

"If you handle either of them in the wrong way, you get burned. You just let them come to you ' the relationship, that is, not the war."

"Nice. Who told you that?"

"My mom. Actually, my mom and dad. It apparently worked for them, so -"

"So what do you two do then if there's nothing going on?" Susan asked.

"We talk about everything that's going on around us. That alone takes up the bulk of our time. Of course we talk about cars too."

"Speaking of things that are going on, how's Irena and your brother doing?"

"I don't know," Betty replied.

"You don't know? How do you not know what's going on with your brother?"

"My brother and I have an open door relationship," Betty explained. "If the door is open, I come in; if it's closed, I don't."

"What kind of relationship is that?"

"The kind that allows for plausible deniability. People can't get out of you what you don't know, and when you have people trying to get information about one through the other, it works very well."

"I never heard that before."

"And yes, Billy and I are close. That's one of the little codes we use."

"So what are the others?"

"You'll never know. Anyway, the last I heard about Irena, she pleaded on your behalf to prevent Janelle and Kym from giving you an ice cream bonnet."

"I don't know how that came about. I was talking to Irena on the phone when Kym put a dab of ice cream on my nose. Then Janelle put a drop down my back."

"Maybe it's when you said Kym was "taking no prisoners,' and "piling it on,' regarding the ice cream," Betty remarked.

"I didn't mean it that way!"

"I know that, but you don't know if she knew that. What are you thinking, girl? It's the first time she visits our church, and you remark about her eating. You're cute, which allows you to get away with a lot, but you're not that cute. You may want to apologize next time you see her."

"I didn't think of her being sensitive about her size."

"I'm sure she's not, considering what she does. When you eat that ice cream, you do all that cardio, and burn it off. With her, she just goes and pumps iron, turning it into muscle. So before she picks up a Buick and squashes you with it, just say you're sorry."

"Okay, and Janelle-"

"You should know by now that Janelle doesn't need much of an excuse to give you grief. You're like the little sister she never had to pick on."

"Well I still owe her for spraying me with a water hose at Loretta's place. Nobody else picks on me like that."

"That's because you're a six-foot woman who can kick like a mule," Betty sighed, "and has the muscles of a fitness model or bodybuilder. Janelle is about as big if not bigger, and she knows how, ah, pickable you are."

"'Pickable?' Wait a minute-"

"And Billy and Irena were there; different sides of the church, respectively, but they were there. Feel free to ask them what's going on, but if you value your neck, I wouldn't recommend it."

"But maybe we-"

"Oh look, it's David and Jesse, waiting for us. Hmm, the way David is glancing at his watch tells me we took a while getting here. We better go."

"You know, Jesse is unattached."

"Haven't you done enough, woman? Get out of the car."

As the two women entered the entrance, Susan said to David, "Honey, Betty said I'm pickable. What do you think?"

"What?" David replied.

"Never mind. Hey, after we eat, how about we do a little lay counseling with a couple of friends of ours?"

"What? No!"

Betty heard Jesse suppress a snicker, and she couldn't help giving a small smile. She hoped her brother and sister and Irena could get things resolved soon, and also that David can save Susan from herself.

When she arrived home, Betty saw Billy sitting on the sofa watching a show about computers on the science channel; or at least appeared to be watching. She could tell his mind was elsewhere. Their parents were out visiting friends, so that gave them some time alone. Tossing her shoes in a corner, Betty sat down on the sofa and faced her brother.

"Billy . . ." she began.

Billy turned around. "Betty, how much has Irena told you about her experience in the cage fights in Russia?" He asked.

"Ah, not much at first. Later, she started giving me the gory details. It's not as nice a story as Susan's kickboxing ' if you can call punching and kicking each other's head off nice."

"Well she told me squat, and she had the nerve to find out about my business."

"Well you need to tell her so."

"I did, after she picked me up and drove me home."

"Wait a minute. She picked you up?"

"Yeah; she pulled up in front of the hotel and called me. If I didn't come, she probably would've came and got me."

"How did she find out, I didn't tell her. Then again, I didn't know."

"I don't know, maybe she found a way to bug my cell phone. After she chewed me out, I let her have it with both barrels. Now I have her being "disciplined.'"

"To ask a silly question, what were you doing that she was so upset about?" Betty asked.

Billy sighed and told her, leaving out the two passes Wendy made toward him.

"That is pretty risky, Billy," Betty said. "Casinos aren't crazy about that type of thing, even if it is technically legal. I have to say I couldn't blame her for being upset."

Billy started to reply, but Betty stopped him.

"But at the same time, it's no fair for her to leave you in the dark with the other stuff. So she messed up first. But Billy, blackjack? You're horrible at cards."

"The memory systems Wendy taught me put me on a level playing field."

"Uh huh. So how much have you won so far?"

Billy leaned close and told her. Betty shot back, wide-eyed.

"That much? What did you do with it?" She asked.

"Paid off my car and bought a new laptop computer. I put the rest in the bank. Hey, you need any money? I know you put an addition on your garage lately," Billy said.

"No, I'm good. I bartered with Loretta on that. If you see a fire red Thunderbird coming your way, that was my payment to her. As long as I can turn a wrench, I'm fine. Rebuilding a few classic cars has me sitting pretty good, but not as good as you."

"I achieved what I wanted to do, so I guess I'll just leave it in the bank."

"Not a bad thing. Look Billy, she may have a strange way of showing it, but Irena really cares about you. Since this isn't a problem she could solve with a turn of the wrench or applying a leg lock, it's a little difficult. She'll come around." While she explained, Betty's hand went between the cushions unintentionally.

"What's wrong, sis?"

"I don't know, let me . . ." She pulled hard, revealing a deck of cards wrapped with a rubber band. "The deck of Old Maid cards!"

"See, I told you I didn't hide them!"

Irena Bresnev was steamed.

Her relationship with Billy may be irreparable, she had come to realize that; but he was exposed to a world he had no business in, and for that, someone was going to experience some serious pain.

Back in her native Russia, despite the numerous reforms the country had undergone, there were still a few dark spots that remained. The gaming houses and casinos were one of them. Growing up, she would occasionally hear of how the management of a particular casino would treat a customer who would seem to be "too lucky." Even rarer, she had heard of those heavy in debt or of a constant irritation to a particular casino would simply "vanish." The lesson was not lost on Irena. She would not even buy a lottery ticket.

Even though the Mafia did not own the majority of casinos and gaming houses in the US, Irena suspected that some of them might have their own private way of dealing with perpetual winners. Despite how careful they were, all it took was one person with a good memory who could put two and two together.

Irena was civil as she worked that Monday. She recalled during her last encounter with the local Female Fight Club in town, seeing the meeting times on the front door. If Wendy and that Georgette woman kept their skills sharp (and if they visited other clubs, that would be a must), they probably attend either the club down the road, or the less fearsome one nearby. Irena decided to visit the latter.

As soon as she got home, Irena showered, then changed into her sleeveless silver leotard. Throwing a long jacket on, she jumped in her truck and drove off. When she arrived and entered the Battle Barn, many of the women moved out of her way. Maybe it was because of the way she strode in like royalty, or maybe it was the determined look she had in her eye. Or maybe it was the fact she trashed a few of them several months earlier. Regardless, they gave her a wide swath.

One woman did not move immediately. It was Leah, one part of the kickboxing duo who was over that branch of the FFC. She stood 5'9", had a slim build, blond hair, and was wearing her tennis whites: white polo shirt, white tennis skirt, white tennis socks, and tennis shoes that were so bright, they could've shone. She stood just enough to block her, but enough to sidestep her if she didn't stop.

"And what do you want?" Leah said, hands on hips.

"Nothing to do with you. You are not the one I seek," Irena replied in kind.

"And who is "the one you seek?'"

Irena managed to see Wendy sitting by herself in a corner, legs crossed. Irena pointed.

"Her."

"Oh, her. Well you're in luck; we're still scheduling matches right now. We were going to draw names, but if you want to fight her, fine. Maybe you two will annihilate each other."

Irena barely noted the last statement as she said, "Thank you," and walked determinedly toward Wendy.

Wendy was decked out in dark blue bicycle shorts and a yellow T-shirt wit a V-neck and black embroidery across the shoulders. She was sitting pensively, studying the yellow toenails of her right foot before she crossed her right leg over her left. She looked up and regarded Irena with a quiet grin.

"Hello Irena, what's up?" Wendy said.

"What is "up' is you and I will have some words, and then we will fight," Irena replied. "You exposed William to a forbidden lifestyle that could be potentially dangerous, and I wouldn't even doubt it if you tried to take my William away from me."

Irena said the last part, looking Wendy over. With her attractive looks and fine muscle tone, especially the legs, Irena could see the taller woman as possible competition.

"First, I used the appropriate safeguards to ensure we wouldn't be "exposed' to anything dangerous," Wendy began, softly. "Second, our lifestyle is not what you'd call forbidden or illegal; we only do this a few months out of the year. And finally, you have a very loyal boyfriend."

Irena was caught off guard. "Very loyal?" She said.

"Yes, he would not turn his head toward anyone. Believe me, I've tried."

"So you admit that you tried to take William away from me."

"It's not something I normally do, but when I saw you two were having problems, I tried to make my move. It wasn't something I planned to do at first, but -" Wendy shrugged.

"How did you know we had problems? Did he tell you?"

"No, Irena; we're women, we know these things."

Irena nodded her head. "True. Why?"

"I've had a crush on the man since high school. When I saw him again, he still had those qualities I adored. He even resolved a potential conflict one night after leaving a casino."

"He did what?"

Wendy explained the incident with Mystique, and how Billy halted further conflict. Irena's eyes went wide.

"He did that? He could've gotten himself hurt!" Irena exclaimed.

"Tell me about it. About four of us are properly trained in a martial art, yet this man, defenseless as a lamb, saved the day for us. Later, I thanked him, and threatened to kick his head off if he did it again," Wendy said.

"Good, he needed that."

"It infuriated me, but it made me love him more."

"Yes, that is William all right."

"Do you always call him William?"

"He's always struck me as a William."

"Huh, I never thought about that. Look, for what it's worth, I'm sorry I made a move on him, and all that. I'll stay away from the garage too, if that's what you want."

Jenn, a muscular redhead of 5'4" in a black swimsuit came over and said, "Leah wanted to know if you two were going to fight or not."

Irena paused, then said, "No, I'm not fighting anybody tonight."

"Wendy?" Jenn asked.

"I don't know, I've been waiting about twenty minutes for a pairing. Maybe Leah is available?" Wendy replied with a smirk.

"Okay, I'll tell her." And Jenn walked off.

"Wendy, what do you know about Jenn?" Irena asked.

"Only that she's Leah and Diana's flunky, though people who are built like that aren't generally flunkies. You think something's up?"

"Yes, I just don't know what."

Jenn shortly returned. "Since Leah is the only one managing things tonight, she will not be fighting tonight," she said. "You may have to sit this one out, Wendy."

"Uh huh. Where's her partner in crime?" Wendy asked.

"Diana is doing something with her boyfriend tonight."

"Really? So they do go out. I thought he and Leah's boyfriend just sit here and leer at us women fighting. Hey, why aren't you fighting?"

"I'm the executive assistant, I'm too busy to fight. Besides, Leah and Diana are teaching me kickboxing."

Wendy and Irena gave her a strange look. "You're kidding," Wendy said. "You have more muscle than the two of us combined. Why do you need lessons?"

"Learning a martial art is not all about strength, Wendy, you know that. I got to go, I'll see you two later." Jenn trotted off toward the office.

"Kickboxing lessons? Now I know something is going on," Wendy said. "Those two can't kickbox their way out of a wet paper bag."

"I know, I've fought them before, along with the rest of the women here," Irena replied.

"Are you talking about that gang fight they won because the other side had an illegal fighter?"

"Yes," Irena sighed. "The whole thing was a setup. Anyway, our new mechanic saw Jenn fight once at the other fight club. She's supposed to fight like Wai Lana, if you know who she is."

Wendy looked shocked. "The kung fu woman? Then what is she doing here? The only reason I'm wasting my time here tonight was because it was on my way home."

"I don't know. Hey Wendy?"

"Yes?"

"Feel free to drop by the garage whenever you need to."

"Thank you. McDuffs' was getting a little too pricey."

"McDuffs'? Did someone put a gun to your head? Don't go there! If you do, we will have to fight."

"Okay, I'm convinced."

Leah came storming over to the two women. "I thought you said you were going to fight," she said to Irena.

"Well I changed my mind. I am entitled to do that. This woman here had been waiting for almost a half hour for someone to spar with. Why can you not accommodate her?"

"Well let me break it down to you Ruskie; the dancers for this party are either selected by random or by the management, which in this case tonight, would be just me. The pairings themselves are based on certain criteria, such as skill level, experience, and stuff like that. It would also depend on the number of fighters we have for that night, and tonight we don't have enough. Perhaps our esteemed Maui Thai fighter would be better accommodated by those snobs down the road from us."

"But I came here to learn great knowledge from you and Diana, oh mighty esteemed teacher," Wendy said sarcastically.

"What?" Leah replied.

"We heard of you and Diana sharing your kickboxing expertise with your executive assistant, though God knows why she would be doing so," Irena said, stepping closer to Leah. "And if you call me "Ruskie' again, the Cold War would be nothing compared to what I would unleash on you. Or perhaps you like lying unconscious."

What happened next was a staring contest between the two women. Irena was now more steamed at herself instead of Wendy, but she would be more than happy to take her frustrations out on Leah. Leah, remembering the last time Irena saw her was when she was knocked out (by a tai chi practitioner of all things), was still embarrassed and angry about it. Yet she did not want to engage Irena because of her skills. Yet she couldn't back down either. To save face in front of the others, she had to stand her ground. Wendy, who secretly wanted a piece of Leah and/or Diana, breathlessly waited for Leah to do or say something stupid so Irena could lay her out on the floor. The other women on the other side of the arena started to notice the confrontation.

Then Jenn appeared. "Leah, it's time to start, the others are waiting," she said.

"Huh? Oh, okay, thanks Jenn," Leah said as she abruptly turned and headed toward the center of the arena.

"Hey, what about me?" Wendy asked, more as a taunt than an actual question.

"I don't care what you do," Leah yelled over her shoulder.

"Ladies, normally you're welcome here, but tonight it might be a good idea if you leave," Jenn said with an apologetic look on her face.

"Sure, there's nothing going on here anyway," Wendy said, getting up. Jenn escorted both her and Irena to the exit.

Once they reached the door, Irena turned and said, "Jenn, that's your name, right?"

"That's right," Jenn said, smiling.

"May I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"Why are you here, I mean what's your real angle here?"

Jenn's smile faded to a thoughtful expression as she cocked her head to the side, then regained her smile as she replied, "I'm an executive assistant; I'm here to make things run smoothly. I'll see you ladies later, okay? Bye-bye." She closed the door.

"Yeah, there's something going on," Wendy remarked. "You can see it on her face."

"I looked at her eyes; there's a deep intelligence in them," Irena said.

"That still doesn't explain why she's here."

"At the shop, we have a running theory that she's planning to take over the Battle Barn."

At this, Wendy laughed out loud.

"You don't think she can do it?" Irena asked.

"No, I want to see it; I want to be there when it happens," Wendy said. "Those two skags have it coming, and if I don't have time to do it, someone should."

"Time? What do you mean?"

"There are a few ways of obtaining leadership of a FFC, but the two most popular are election, and . . . hostile takeover."

Irena's eyes grew wide. "You mean you can fight for it? How do you know this?"

"As an esteemed businesswoman, I have a few connections. One of the reasons Leah and Diana don't like me very well is I know how they got here. Tell you what, there's a homemade pie and ice cream kitchen not far from here. Come with me and I'll tell you all about it."

Irena halted in her steps. "I didn't bring any money, and-," she pointed to her feet.

"Oh, I go there barefooted all the time; they won't care. Come on, it's my treat."

"And he thought you were one of those bimbos who wrestle in jello?" Wendy asked.

"Yes; I underestimated his ignorance," Irena replied, taking a quick bite of her cherry cobbler. "I wanted to put him in a headlock and squeeze his brains out. May I try a piece of your chess pie?"

"Only if you let me try a piece of your cherry cobbler."

"Now that I think of it, I may have been a little too hard on him. It's just that it was a part of my life for so many years, and I took it very seriously. I guess when he said what he said, it just made me pop a gasket."

"Pop a gasket?"

"I'm sorry, I'm starting to use Betty's expressions. Flew off the handle, there we go."

"I like the "gasket' term. I've run into one of those mud wrestlers once at a Female Fighting Club somewhere in Ohio. This girl had some major work done," Wendy pointed to her chest.

"Major work?" Irena asked.

"Yeah, body work. Frankly, I don't know how she could stand upright. Not too much upstairs either. She actually considered doing a few fights in the FFC to keep her in shape for her night job."

"What did you tell her?"

"I told her it wasn't the same thing, while looking at those two big targets. Fortunately for her, she saw the light after she watched a brutal match. "Gee, all we do is roll around in the mud,' she said."

Irena sniffed. "My mother said if a man doesn't like you as you are, he's not worth the trouble."

"Good advice. Look, Irena, just tell Billy, er, William a little of what you went through at the cage matches, and how important it was to you, he'll understand. As for the casino thing, just leave that to me."

Irena suddenly had a guilty grin on her face. "I think I ate all of your pie," she said.

Wendy laughed. "That's okay, I'll get you a whole chess pie on the house. Hey, I think they're closing up shop here; let me get it real quick."

Soon after, they said their goodbyes and went home. In her truck, Irena mused she must be mellowing with age. Years ago, she would have preceded to pound Wendy on a moment's notice, never mind if what she heard was true or not. But she learned the world is not necessarily a big combat zone, and the most deadly submission holds can't solve everything, except in a ring. No, she wasn't that impulsive, was she? In any case, she had some explaining and apologizing to do when she saw William. The question was, will William see her? Perhaps if Wendy came through on her end, that'll be possible.

She also couldn't wait to tell Betty, and Kym what she found out about Diana and Leah, and the Female Fight Club, or clubs as she found out. That should be intriguing.

The next day, Billy drove to the university for the gang's usual meeting. They had one more casino to visit before the first phase was over, and just in time, too. Things have gotten rather crazy at his last outing. First he risked his neck to save the group from a woman who desired Wendy, and would've ate him for lunch, then the next day, Wendy attempted to make another move on him, only to be saved in the nick of time by Irena showing up to take him home. As soon as he got in the car, she smacked him on the back of the head, and told him he could be laying in a shallow grave someplace if he kept attending these casinos. Well at least with Irena, he got a few verbal shots in, enough to make her back up for a moment.

Now as he walked to the room where they've been meeting, Billy started to wonder if he was a closet masochist. What he should do was go off someplace for a couple of days so both women could leave him alone. Why not, he could afford it.

When he opened the door, all he saw was Wendy sitting on the teacher's desk in a black T-shirt, gray cuffed dress shorts, and barefoot ' something that she's been doing more and more. There must be something in the water of this town that makes women take their shoes off, Billy thought. His sister Betty hated shoes since she left the womb, so at least she had an excuse.

"Have a seat, Billy," Wendy said. As she sat down, she began. "I violated one of my key principles Saturday night; keeping business and personal matters separate. Well, I had a crush on you since ninth grade, which didn't help things any."

"So it is true!" Billy exclaimed.

"Yeah, so I apologize. It also makes what I have to say more difficult."

"What's that?"

"I can't let you come with us during the second phase."

"But we've done fine despite the, well, you know," Billy argued.

"Yes, but one of the reasons is Irena well kill me. I like living a long life."

"I can handle her."

"Billy, she drove all that way to get you. That's serious. I'm not saying we can't see you again; you can hang out with us and do stuff, you just can't go to the casinos with us, that's all. And you can't handle her, she fought those cage matches in Russia, ten times tougher than what those fighting clubs here have to offer."

"So I'm kicked off the team is what you're saying," Billy said. "I can still go to parties, cookouts, whatever, but no casinos. That's fine; I've won plenty of money, and I don't want to run into Mystique again anyway."

"Yeah, she probably is keeping an eye out for you, but she doesn't know who you are, so you're pretty safe. Any questions?"

"Well I have one. Just curious, you understand."

"Okay."

"Why did you wait so long? I mean, if you were interested in me since high school, why? Were you married or something?"

Wendy gave Billy a warm smile. "I was shy, if you can believe that. By the time I worked up my courage, you attended college out of town. When I found out you came back, and I was going to make my move, I found out Irena got to you first. When I saw you two were having problems, I decided it was now or never," she explained.

"How did you know we had problems?" Billy asked.

"I'm a woman, Billy; we know these things. And no, I never married. Too busy."

"I found it a little hard to believe that the same businesswoman who was on the lunch ladies' hit list was too shy to talk to me," Billy laughed.

"I was, and that's my story, shyness and bad timing."

"Well you don't need to sound so final -"

"Billy, I'm a woman, I know. Don't dispute it. And now, I have a question for you."

"Shoot."

"If . . . if I got to you first, do you think it would work?"

Billy thought for a moment, but he knew he didn't have to take that long.

"Yes," he said. "Yes, I think it would."

"I think so too. Well, I have some paperwork to do at home, so I must be going. Goodbye, Billy."

"Goodbye, Wendy."

Billy walked to the door and started to turn the knob, when Wendy called, "Billy?"

"Yes?"

As he turned, Wendy grabbed his face, and gave him a big, long, soulful kiss on the lips. When she finally let go, Billy found himself short of breath, and he momentarily forgot where the doorknob was, or for that matter, the door. Wendy cradled his head again and spoke to him almost in a whisper.

"I waited a long time to do that," she breathed. "Billy, if anything happens between you and Irena, I will be waiting, all right?"

Billy finally discovered the power of speech. "Yes, well uh, bye," he stammered and left.

Wendy waited until the door closed, and whispered "Bye, Billy," as she grabbed some tissue she brought for this occasion.

Always prepared, that's me, she thought as she used the tissue.

"You know, if you continue to have these men-only cookouts, the women will become very jealous," LS Chang-Spaulding said to her newlywed husband, Lewis. She was a 5'2" stocky, but solidly built Chinese-American woman who recently opened her second judo dojo. She was dressed very casual with her long hair in a ponytail, and wearing a black tank top, blue jeans, and barefoot. "They are already starting to talk."

"But Love, I'm doing this to know the guys better. Why should their girlfriends be upset?" Lewis asked.

"You forget dear, they tasted your cooking. They think their men are getting spoiled. Of course, I sleep with the cook, so it does not bother me, but they are wondering when the women get their turn."

"Would this committee be led by your cousin, by any chance?"

"Oddly enough, no. She is family, so she has no problems; she would just come over any time. No, I believe it is Velvet. Remember when she had that party at her place and you made the food?"

[Back in Barefoot Heroines, somewhere near the beginning ' Mongoose.]

"Ah yes, that's where I was getting tricked into marrying you," Lewis recalled. LS pushed him.

[Also back in Barefoot Heroines. She was a sneaky little bugger ' Mongoose.]

"You were not tricked, you just needed a push. But if you do not want Velvet and her team of angry women knocking on your door, you may want to invite everyone next time," she replied.

"I'm sure you'll protect me."

"I am sure I will be out of town when that happens. I am sure Kim will do it for a price, and good luck in trying to track Jasmine down."

Lewis pulled something out of the oven. "Okay, I'll do it. But I'm not fixing anything special tonight, just a few appetizers," he said.

"Look at them, my husband," LS replied as she looked at the deck. "What you would call an appetizer, they would call a meal, and they eagerly await it. No matter. I have some work to do in my office. Go have your fun, but later tonight, it is my turn." She kissed Lewis on the cheek and left.

Lewis watched LS walk away, and asked himself why he took so long to get married. The benefits were definitely worth it. Clearing his head, remembering that it was still afternoon, and evening was a while off, he brought his latest creations to the men outside, where Billy was giving an edited account of what happened to him over the weekend.

"So that's what happened," Billy said to the other men as he eyed Lewis' hors d'oeuvres.

"I want to hear the part where you got smacked on the back of the head again," Benjamin remarked.

"I want to get this straight; around the Marketplace casino, there's a blond she-hulk lurking who has the hots for Wendy, and for some reason did not rip you in two like she could've?" Jessie asked.

"Yeah, and no, I don't know what I was thinking," Billy replied.

"Well I want to know what you guys think of my little treats here," Lewis said, serving the others.

"Uh Billy, you may want to get one to go," Kevin said, pointing toward a familiar pickup truck pulling in the driveway.

"Not again," Billy mumbled to himself as his arm froze before he could put the appetizer in his mouth.

"What did you do this time?" David asked.

"I haven't done anything yet! I mean, nothing! It's only been a few days ago, I'm innocent!"

Irena appeared on the deck, flashing her familiar smile. "Good evening comrades. How are you?" She said.

"We're fine. Would you like an appetizer?" Lewis offered.

"Normally I would be pleased, but William and I have other plans," she replied as she plucked the appetizer from Billy's hand and placed it back on the tray.

"We do?" Billy said.

"Yes, we do. Come with me." She took Billy by the arm, and led him to her truck. He gave the men a confused look as they drove off.

A minute later, LS came out to meet her husband on the deck. "Was that Irena? I thought I heard her truck," she said.

"Yes, that was she. She came by, grabbed Billy and left," Lewis replied.

LS shot him a quizzical look. "What did he do this time?"

Billy wasn't sure what would happen next. He started to mentally gear himself up for round two of their argument, but to his surprise, Irena had no remarks, or anything else, just a smile.

"Where are we going?" Billy asked.

"You'll see," Irena replied.

For some reason, that bothered him more. Maybe she found a place to leave my body before she left town, he thought.

Again to his surprise, they ended up at Hamburger Heaven. Irena handed him a twenty-dollar bill.

"My treat. I'll take the Old Fashioned Platter. Go ahead and give our orders and find a seat. I'll be right back," she said.

As Billy took their food to a table, he mentally ran through his mind to tell her that though this was a nice gesture on her part, this changed nothing. It would wipe the smile from her face, but it had to be done. He took a sip of his drink when suddenly a red gi, shorts, and red boots, similar to what they use in collegiate wrestling, landed on the table, not far from their food tray.

"What's this?" Billy asked.

"This is the gi, shorts, and boots that I wore when I started taking Combat Sambo," Irena started as she sat down. She said it with a tinge of pride, and justly so. Her gi still fit.

"Sambo?" Billy responded suspiciously.

"Oh, it has nothing to do with the ethnic slur. It stands for Samozaschita Bez Orujiya, or Self Defense Without Weapon. It's similar to judo. I started practicing it in high school, and I was college champion two years in a row."

"Really?" Billy said, picking up one of Irena's boots. "And you wore these? I can't imagine you wearing regular shoes, much less these."

"That was the reason I stopped after college; I couldn't stand those things on my feet any longer. As I figured, I fought better without them."

"So you took Sambo-"

"Combat Sambo, there's three different styles."

"Combat Sambo, then you fought in the cage matches, and then arrived to the states."

"Not exactly. There's a beginning and middle part to that story that I need to add."

"Irena, you told me plenty already. I don't-"

"No William, you deserve to hear this. It would make things much more clearer once you know. Please let me do so."

Billy studied her face. "All right," he said.

Irena sipped her drink before she began. "I was raised in a rough neighborhood, so I was introduced to fighting early. I found that I was good at it, and that I liked it . . ."

A few weeks later, there was another family get-together at the Conrad's household. Good food and conversation was had by all. After everyone's meal had settled, it was time for the games to start. Betty, Billy, and Irena were chatting with other family members, when Billy turned and saw four kids, two boys and two girls grinning evilly at him.

"Hi Billy," one of the boys said.

"Hi," Billy returned.

"Betty found the Old Maid cards," one of the girls said.

"So I've heard," Billy said.

"So would you like to play? We could spot you a few points," the other boy said.

"I see," Billy responded. "Thanks, but spotting me won't be necessary."

"Are you sure?" The other girl asked. "You know we play pretty rough."

"I'm sure," Billy replied, giving an evil grin of his own. "Bring it on."

Author's Note: Even though this is a work of fiction, mnemonics is not. It has been in use since the early Greeks used it to memorize vast stores of information. There are many books on mnemonics at your local library or bookstore, not to mention many sites on the Web covering the topic. One of these books is titled The Memory Book by Jerry Lucas and Harry Lorraine. It will help you memorize shopping lists, speeches, names, and yes, even cards. I've used some of the systems used in the book, and they do work. However, I've yet to develop a method to help me remember to do the dishes (ha-ha).

Though casinos do frown on people using these systems, if you want to try them, feel free. Just remember to send ten percent of the earnings to me. Notify me at makemongooserich@mongoosemoney.com.

If you have enjoyed this story, perhaps you may want to read other stories from the Barefoot Heroines collection. There are a variety of stories to choose from. They can be found at http://www.thevalkyrie.com/stories/mongoose/index.htm.

For comments, suggestions, or story ideas, email the author at shrewsberry@juno.com.

#2010, Barefoot Heroines, Inc.