To Find a New Dawn, Part Two

After becoming a member of the Elite Guard, Aurora claims her prize

By Mongoose750 (mongoose750@yahoo.com)

[Author's Note: This story is another departure from my usual kick-butt fare. Any violence in this story is implied (in other words, you'll hear about it, but won't read about it firsthand. This is actually a love story with some of the mushy stuff. Don't worry, the next story I'll get back to kicking butt and whacking people across the head.

Those who aren't familiar with the characters may want to read part one first, located in the bookshelf under my name.]

Hello, it's me, Leonard Chamberlain again (and again, I'm no relation to Wilt, though it would've been nice). Three months ago, I was the leader of a small gang in the suburbs of Central Indiana. I'd say we were pretty tough, but because of my bachelor's degree in Economics and Finance, we were pretty tough and pretty well off, financially speaking.

Well all that changed when yours truly and four of my toughest fighters were invited by the Daughters of Athena (DOA for short) to participate in a contest that would earn us five thousand dollars or a thousand per person if we won. All we had to do was to defeat this woman, named Aurora in combat; simple, right? Now Aurora was 5'4" and built with muscles of steel. She was an expert in judo, boxing, and kickboxing. I found out it was actually her who invited us because some time ago, one of my men, Lenny, thought it would be fun to slip a drug into the Diet Coke# of one of Aurora's friends. As a result, the woman almost died. Aurora obviously didn't take that too well and hunted down Lenny and beat him within an inch of his life. I remember at the hospital, the idiot kept on telling us that four or five members of a rival gang did it.

Oh, I forgot to tell you that Aurora was auditioning for the Elite Guard, the DOA's feminine version of the Marines. Anyway, to pass her test, she had to defeat five people in combat. Since we were the gang that Lenny belonged to, Aurora figured she'd beat five birds with one stone and take us on.

We didn't' stand a chance. Aurora took us apart like a child playing with Tinkertoys#. I only received a large bruise on my leg, a sore jaw, and a splitting headache. I was one of the lucky ones. Broken bones, dislocated arms and minor concussions were what the others received, except for one other, and that was because some giant woman who called herself the Russian Bear made a deal with Aurora that he wouldn't get beat too badly. In fact, after Aurora was finished, she came by, slung the guy over her shoulder, and left. I haven't seen him since.

Not long after our beating, Aurora and a close friend of hers, Tanya, hunted down and destroyed the rest of my gang. She left me with a warning that if she saw me involved in any more gang activity, she'd destroyed me. I believed her.

There's a little more to it, of course, but you'll need to read my details of the first account to get the rest.

At the risk of sounding like a clich#, that beating had changed my life. With no gang to mess with, I focused my energies on improving myself. I quit the part-time job I had that was dead end and paid peanuts, and was hired by a company that was more suitable for my financial skills. Next, I became a member of my mother's church. As they say, I gave my hand to the preacher, but gave God my heart, and my life changed even further. As a matter of fact, I was going to be ordained as a deacon. I also have gained a new girlfriend. For a month or so, I was seeing Dora, the woman who acted as our host to the Elite Guard auditions. We were getting along great; then one day she received a lucrative offer from an architect firm in Cincinnati, Ohio. She was torn between leaving and staying. I just told her, "Follow your dreams." We still keep in touch from time to time. Later, I was now seeing Nancy, an old friend from high school. We were doing okay.

It was a Sunday afternoon after morning services had just ended. The church had a large lake in front of the main parking lot. It was where I liked to park. After church, a bunch of us always got together to go to the local steak house for lunch. As soon as we said "Amen," we try to get there fairly quickly, at least before the Methodists eat everything.

I had just opened my car door when I saw a familiar figure standing in front of the lake. It was Aurora. She was dressed in a plain brown sweatshirt and straight-leg blue jeans. As usual, she wore no shoes. As soon as she saw that I noticed her, she started walking toward me.

"Hello Leon," she said.

She hadn't changed much from the last time I saw her. Even though she was wearing bulky clothes, I knew she still had the sculptured muscles underneath. That was covered by light brown skin over a well-proportioned figure. Her black hair was still in bangs, short and straight, not going any further than the nape of her neck. And she still had those large brown eyes, a product of her mixed parentage (Afro-American and Chinese) that could tell you what she's thinking or feeling without saying a word.

I stood there, with the open car door between her and me. You need to understand, the last time we saw each other, she showed me color pictures of how her and just one other woman trashed the rest of my gang. That also came with a veiled warning of what's to come if I pursued that life again. That was forever behind me, but for all I know, she might have changed her mind.

"Er, hi," I said, hesitantly. I looked at her eyes, and I might have been imagining things, but they looked warm, like she was glad to see me?

"What were you doing?" She asked, as she ran her finger along the hood of my car. Her voice sounded warm too, but I still had the car door between her and me just in case.

"I just came from Sunday worship. You should try it sometime," I said.

"That reminds me, I want to congratulate you on your upcoming ordination. I think that's great. No, I meant what were you going to do before you saw me?"

"Wait a minute, how did you find out about my ordination?"

"Your mother told me."

"My mother?"

"Yes, we buy our groceries from the same supermarket. She's a very nice woman."

Mothers. Leave it to them to broadcast your accomplishments like it was the six o'clock news.

"Oh," I said.

"So where were you going?"

I saw this as my chance to bring this conversation to a close.

"To the nearby steak house. I'll need to hurry or else I'll miss out on having a good seat. If there's anything you need to tell me, you'll need to tell me now," I said.

"Sure Leon," she said. "I came here to "take' you."

""Take' me? Take me where?"

She giggled, which scared me a little, considering when I usually heard the word "take" in reference to a person, it generally wasn't good.

"No, that's "take,' as in making a claim," she said.

"So you're "claiming' me for what?"

"My boyfriend."

Okay, I was really scared now.

""Taken' is a phrase they use in the DOA when they want a particular man. The way I'm going about it, I prefer to be a little more chaste about it."

"More chaste?" I said. This was really getting weird.

"Yes; trust me, you don't want to hear the stories and methods I've heard others in my group capture and tame their man."

"You're probably right," I replied, thinking of Paul being captured by Tara the Russian Bear after Aurora's addition was over. "Aurora, correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't you just a moment away from breaking my face almost three months ago?"

Aurora nodded, then reached out and put her hand on the car door. I tried moving it, but once again, I underestimated her strength. She walked around the car door to my side, smiling warmly.

"Yes, three months ago, that was the case. But times change Leon; I've changed, you've changed, even more than I've anticipated. The past is far behind us now; the future is a different story," she said.

At this time, I was pinned subtly against my car. Now was as good as time as any to pull out my trump card.

"Aurora, I already have a girlfriend," I said, a little proud of myself that my voice didn't quiver.

"Ah yes, there is that. Nancy is her name, right?"

"Yes; is there a way you can "untake' me, you know, release your claim on me, make it null and void?"

"Yes there is, but it involves hand to hand combat," she said.

After a moment's reflection, I was right; that was a chill that ran down my spine. I wasn't sure what caused it, the idea of having to fight her again, or how low and husky her voice became when she said the word, "combat."

"I promise I won't use any kicks or punches," she said, "besides, who knows, you might like it."

She then placed her right hand gently on my cheek. I jumped back like I received an electric shock. Again remember, she had broken jaws as well as knocked my lights out with that hand.

She laughed. "Oh Leon, I wouldn't hurt you," she cooed.

"Leon?" Another voice said from nowhere. After a second, I realized it was my mother.

"Mom?" I replied, half relieved, half embarrassed. There are some situations you do not want to your mother to see. A close romantic moment with your girlfriend is one; a similar moment with a woman who is not your girlfriend is clearly another. Oddly enough, she didn't notice.

"I'm glad I caught you," mom said, "they changed the deacon's meeting from Wednesday to Monday night at the same time. Hello Aurora."

"Good afternoon, Ms. Chamberlain, how are you?" Aurora said.

"I'm fine Aurora, how about yourself?"

"Pretty good. How was church?"

"It was great. You need to visit us sometime."

"I plan to."

My mother finally turned back to me. "You joining us for lunch?" She asked.

"I plan on it," I said, feeling a little comfort that a third party was there.

"Aurora, would you like to join us for lunch?"

"Thanks, but I have other plans," Aurora said. "Perhaps the next Sunday."

"That would be great, I hope to see you then. I'll see you at the steak house, Leon."

"See you in a few minutes, mom," I said.

"Bye Ms. Chamberlain," Aurora said.

After my mother was out of earshot, I turned (well not that there was far to turn; she was still right in front of me) to Aurora and said, "You know, maybe you should visit our church services; it'll at least give you something to do other than walk around the lake on Sunday mornings."

Aurora just gave me a smug look and said, "At my church we also have services on Saturday evenings. I attended a service last night so I could come here and take care of business with you."

"Oh."

"Perhaps you should tell Nancy that. Where is she?"

"She works on Sunday."

"I see; is that every Sunday?"

"What are you implying?"

"You know your mother doesn't like her?"

"What do you expect, she's my mother! No woman is good enough," I said.

"It's more than that; Nancy is not what she seems."

"Care to explain that?"

"No, Nancy is not my concern right now."

"Then what is your concern?"

"For you to come with me."

"I thought you had other plans."

"You are my other plans. Come with me, Leon."

"Where are we going?"

"To coin a phrase, we're going to "hang' for a little while."

"Why should I go with you?"

Aurora paused for a moment, then smiled again. "Because you won't know what you missed if you don't go," she said.

I had to admit she had me there.

She reached out and took my hand, pulling me gently away from my car. "Don't worry about the steak house; I'll fix us lunch at my place. My vehicle is over here," she said.

As soon as she pulled me from my car, she locked and shut my driver's side door. Before I knew it, we were approaching a blue minivan. That thing was loaded! It had satellite radio, mobile DVD player, and a killer stereo system. I sat there, a little blown away, until Aurora caught my attention with a question.

"I noticed you listen to classical and smooth jazz; which would you prefer?" She asked.

"How do you know what I like?" I asked.

"I peered in your car," Aurora said. "You need to stop being so paranoid around me. If I planned to hurt you, I would've done it a long time ago; I wouldn't go to all this trouble to take you out."

"Okay," I said as the sounds of the jazz group Hiroshima piped through the speakers. I would live in my car if the music system sounded this good!

"I'm glad you like my minivan, it's very practical. I had to have the music system put in separately; the factory system didn't cut it. It looks like you agree," she said, smiling.

"Yeah," I said, barely acknowledging what she said. It wasn't until we hit a pothole that I realized the van was moving. Before then, my eyes were almost closed soaking in every bit of the music. It sounded like the band was playing in the back seat.

We traveled from my church and my familiar neighborhood to a part of town I wasn't very familiar with. We finally parked in front of a group of condominiums. She stopped the van and turned it and the music off, snapping me out of my musical bliss, and making me realize where we were.

"Okay, trip's over," Aurora said. "You can listen to the rest of the concert at my place."

We got out of the van, and walked to one of the condos. As soon as we set foot inside, Aurora said, "Welcome to my abode, Leon."

"Nice place," I mumbled, as I looked around. In one corner of the living room, I saw a computer system that was like her van, loaded. With my new job, I'm just starting to acquire these things. I was starting to realize what I've missed when I was running around playing gang leader.

"The basic functions on it I use for work. The bells and whistles are for me," she said.

"You work at home?" I asked.

"Yes, Tanya, who lives next door, and I saw all the nonsense our parents had to deal with working for somebody, so we made a pact with each other to eventually be independent businesswomen. It was hard work in the beginning, but it eventually paid off."

"I see," I said looking around. I was headed toward the bookcases when I suddenly kicked something. I looked down, and they were a pair of dress shoes; the backless type that a woman could slide her foot in and out of with no problem. I picked them up and dangled them in front of Aurora.

"Shoes?" I said. "I was beginning to wonder if you actually owned any."

"If it wasn't for church and occasional presentations, I wouldn't own any at all. I forgot to pick them up from last night," she said as she took the shoes from my hand, walked to her bedroom, opened the door and threw them in, giving no concern to where they landed.

When she walked back into the living room, I asked, "Aurora, I know you like going without shoes, but aren't you the least bit concerned about uh, uh . . ."

"Foot odor? Have a seat Leon," she said, gesturing toward her sofa. As soon as I sat down, she plopped down beside me, and dropped her feet in my lap. "Tell me Leon, what do you smell?"

By reflex, I turned my head away, but Aurora took the instep of her foot and pulled my face back toward her.

"What do you smell, Leon?" She repeated.

"But your feet, they're dirty!" I complained.

"Of course they're dirty, I've been walking around the lake, silly! Just take a whiff and tell me what you smell."

I inhaled and told her, "Er, I can smell that vanilla air freshener you have in the house, I can smell your perfume ' Jasmine, isn't it?"

"Yes, very good."

"And that's it."

"You know what causes foot odor Leon? Bacteria that comes from sweaty feet that wear shoes and socks all day."

After she said that, she took the first two toes of her left foot and untied my left shoe.

"Hey!" I said, scrambling to retie my shoe.

Aurora got up from the sofa. "I'm going to the kitchen to fix us some lunch, Leon. In the meantime, make yourself at home, kick your shoes off," she giggled as she went into the kitchen.

I contemplated taking the remote on the coffee table and turning on the large screen TV that was in front of me, but instead I got up and wandered toward the two bookcases. One bookcase had a nice variety of fiction and nonfiction novels. The second bookcase wasn't as full, carrying only twenty books, ten on each shelf. Absentmindedly, I pulled out a book of poetry from the first shelf of the second bookcase and pulled out a book from the second shelf. I glanced at the front of the book of poetry. The author was Tanya Andrews. Tanya was the name of Aurora's close friend; however I didn't think any more about it, Tanya was a fairly common name. Then I saw the picture at the other end of the dust jacket. It was Tanya! She wrote these books? That was pretty good.

I glanced at the other book, a historical novel, thinking Tanya wrote this as well. She had me impressed. The first few pages of the novel were pretty good, then I glanced at the front to see what the title was. I gave the book's cover a double take when I saw the author's name.

You got to be kidding me!

I flipped to the end of the dust cover on the book. It was her picture ' and she was smiling! I looked at the author's name again ' Aurora Adams ' then looked back at the dust cover with her picture on it. I struggled to put two and two together.

"Yes, that's right, I wrote that book," Aurora's voice said behind me. "I see you already saw one of Tanya's books. I'm afraid neither of us had wrote a best seller yet, but we're working on it."

"Where did you find the time to write a book?" I barely stammered out.

"The same way I find time for everything else, Leon. Actually I came in here to ask you what you wanted to drink; fruit juice, water, or my famous old-fashioned lemonade."

"I'll take lemonade."

"Okay, have a seat at the table in the dining room and I'll be right out with your lunch. I'll also explain to you how I find time for all these things."

I sat at the dining room table where she delivered a thick steak and a large baked potato, and a salad. As soon as she placed my plate in front of me, I got ready to dig in (I was quite hungry), but I noticed Aurora was staring at me.

"Aren't you going to bless your food?" She asked.

"You bless your food?" I said.

"Yes, don't you?"

"Er, yeah." I laid down my fork and bowed my head, feeling silly and embarrassed. After Aurora gave the blessing, I sampled the steak. It was delicious.

If Aurora was trying to impress me with her cooking, it worked. The last time I had food this good outside of my mother was when I was at that place in Indianapolis a several months ago. Of course the fact that she and Tanya each wrote a book, let alone ten each, already blew me away.

"So how did you find time to write a book?" I asked her, dying to know the answer.

"A snippet of time," Aurora answered. "Tanya and I had this english professor in college who wrote many books, some of them award winners, as well as being a guest lecturer at many places. Someone asked him the same question about where he found time to write. He replied, "God has already given us twenty-four hours in a day; he's not going to give us any more. So if we still want to do those things we want to do despite our busy day, we just have to use the bits and pieces of time we have left. It's a matter of investing an hour, a few minutes; a snippet of time to put toward these things.' We tried it, and as you can see, it works. Tanya was so inspired by it, she wrote a poem about it. It was in that book you had. Would you like some desert?"

"No thanks," I said, patting my tummy. "I'm stuffed."

"Well go ahead and sit down and relax on the sofa while I clean up. I'll be with you in a minute."

She didn't have to tell me twice. If I allowed myself, I could've dozed off, but I fought to keep myself awake. Aurora appeared to be a woman full of surprises. She runs her own business, she writes books, she cooks a great meal, and she can kick butt too. My mom would be impressed with her.

Aurora was right about my mother though. For some reason, my mom did not like Nancy. She was always polite to her, but as her son, I could tell it was a little strained. Now that I think about it, I don't think Nancy was too crazy about my mom either. My mom wouldn't chew me out about Nancy, she would just ask me questions like why did she always have to work on Sundays, or if she ever asked me about how my day at work went. Not real nosy questions, but the type that will make you think, real sneaky. She had no problems with Dora, and she seemed to think the world of Aurora. One day we were shopping for some stuff at a home improvement store, when she blurted out of the blue, "Why don't you ask Aurora out?"

I stood there stunned. My first response almost was, "Because she'll beat me up, mom," but I stopped myself. Instead, I said, "I'm seeing Nancy now, mom."

My mother said, "Oh," and that was it. I gave her a funny look that asked her where that question came from, but who knows what runs through a mother's mind?

Aurora walked into the room and sat beside me, tucking one bare foot under her and faced me, giving me her full attention. Her slight smile made me a little uncomfortable, so I started talking to fill up the dead air.

"Thanks for the meal, it was great," I said.

"You're welcome," she replied. "It gets expensive eating out all the time, so why not learn to cook at home, where it's cheaper, and in some cases, even better."

"Good idea; but I don't think I'll try that anytime soon."

"You won't have to," she said in a quiet voice.

I knew where this was going, so I quickly changed the subject.

"Let me ask you something," I said.

"Sure."

"I remember you told me the initial reason you joined the Elite Guard, because of what Lenny did to your friend and all; but since the gang, my gang is destroyed, why are you still with them?"

My ploy worked; the light in her eyes dimmed, as she had to shift gears t answer my question. She paused for a moment, then spoke.

"Have you heard of LS Chang?" She asked.

"Yeah I have," I said. The stuff I heard about this woman bordered on urban legend. From what I heard, LS Chang was a female judo master who was so deadly, the toughest criminals would run to the other side of the street when they saw her coming. She would challenge the gang leaders in her neighborhood to hand to hand combat at her dojo. Sometimes she would go to the gang's hideout and either challenge them there or take on the whole gang. After she won, the remaining gang members would become members of her "gang," joining her in cleaning up the streets. At the last account I heard, her dojo was the largest in the area, halfway filled with former gang bangers.

I thought it was mostly wild rumor until I ran into guys who had seen her in action, and more particularly guys from those former gangs who managed to escape LS and her posse. They would plead for sanctuary, ask to join my gang, or try to form a larger gang of their own to take her on. To the first two questions, I was rather careful who I protected and who I allowed to join my group; and I had no desire to take on someone I don't know and had no beef with, especially if she's as fearsome as I heard. As long as she kept to her turf, I had nothing to worry about. Now that I left that world behind, I definitely had nothing to fear.

"She ranked up there with the bogeyman back in my gang leader days," I continued.

Aurora grinned. "Yeah, she became something of a role model to Tanya and I. We would hear of what she was doing in her neighborhood, and we wanted to follow her example; we just weren't sure how to do it. We didn't have a dojo, and we weren't willing to go into gang hideouts on our own with no backup. One day we ran into the DOA, who offered to help us with our goal. It's not the same following as LS's, but we get the job done."

"You and Tanya are pretty close, aren't you?"

"Tanya and I have been close friends since we came out of the womb. Our families have been good friends with each other for a long time, so when we were born, we almost had no choice but to stick around each other."

"That's pretty cool."

"So Leon, do you always ask questions?"

"Sure; my mother said you don't know if you don't ask," I said.

Aurora leaned back on the sofa, her brown eyes still gazing at me. "That's wise advice," she said quietly, "but there's a time for asking questions, and a time to get to know each other better."

After she said this, she smiled warmly as she continued looking at me. I noticed the room temperature rose up a few degrees, then I realized a few seconds later it was me. I must have been watching her for about a minute before I snapped myself out of it and quickly rose from the sofa.

"Aurora, look, I can't do this. I'm seeing someone," I said.

Aurora swung both legs onto the sofa, crossed her feet, and laid back, putting her hands behind her head. "Ah yes, there is that," she said.

"I don't run around on whoever I go out with, I don't think it's right."

"I don't think it's right, either. I just wanted to talk, nothing wrong with that. Sorry if that made you uncomfortable."

"Oh, sorry about that. I'm just jumpy, I guess."

Aurora laughed softly. "Anyway, Nancy is not what she seems," she said.

"That's the second time you said that," I said. "What is it about her that doesn't click?"

Aurora shook her head. "If I told you now, you would not believe me," she said. "You know where I live now. If you want to find out the truth when you feel you're ready to hear it, just drop by here anytime. I'll be at home most of this week working or writing or working out. Then I will tell you."

I replied that I was ready to hear the truth now, but she said that in my present state of mind, I would be more apt to deny it.

She swung her feet to the floor and stood up. "Come on, let's take you back to your car."

The ride back to my car was a little quiet, mainly because I wondered what the deal was with Nancy, partly because I got to hear the rest of the CD of what I listened to on the way to Aurora's place. Maybe Aurora was playing head games with me because she wanted me instead. Of course I was still trying to wrap my head around the concept that she wanted me in the first place. As we got to my car, it almost seemed like she read my mind.

"Leon, despite how I feel for you, I only want to tell you about Nancy because you need to know, not to play any games with you," she said. "When is your ordination?"

"Sometime next month, I think," I said. "They are still trying to find a day and time that does not interfere with anything else, and it also depends on how well I studied."

"Well when you have a specific time and date, call me. I would really like to come and give my support."

"Okay I will. Thanks for lunch, it was really delicious."

"Thank you."

"I, I'll see you around," I said as I got out.

"Bye Leon. Wait!"

Aurora's statement stunned me for a moment. I peered back in the vehicle to see what she wanted. She appeared to be struggling with some internal conflict.

"You will be seeing Nancy tonight, correct?" She asked.

"Yes," I said.

"Ask her how work went today."

"Ask her how work went? Why?"

"You'll see. Bye Leon."

As she drove off, I wondered why she wanted me to ask Nancy about how work went. In the time that Nancy and I saw each other, her job at the department store in the shoe department has been a thorn in our side, or more specifically, my side; she didn't seem to have a problem with it. She didn't make that much money, yet they have her working all the time, especially on Sundays. She told me that she hasn't been at her own church since she worked there, her manager told her they're too short-handed to give anyone a better schedule. Whenever I ask her why hasn't she found another job with better hours, she'd tell me that she was too busy working to look; besides, they depend on her. After work, she's so worn out, she doesn't feel like going out, so we settle for sitting over at her place watching movies. Small wonder she was able to look me up a few weeks after Dora went to Ohio. We've tried my place, but she made my mom very uncomfortable for some reason. She said she hoped to be off for my ordination, but it'll be on a day-by-day basis.

At any rate, I was supposed to see Nancy later that evening at her place, and I already have the movie picked out. It was a good romantic movie or "chick flick" as some guys would call them. I hoped she'd like it.

To give you a proper description of Nancy, she stood about 5'9," with a slim, bordering slightly on skinny build, and had chocolate brown skin. She had long black straight hair that went past her shoulders; she normally kept it in a ponytail. Although we went to the same high school, and graduated the same year, our paths never crossed; then again, we attended a pretty large high school. There was also a little roughness about her, but I figured that was attributed more to her limited education (she said she had no desire to attend college).

Later that evening when I came over, she apparently already changed out of her work garb into something more comfortable. She was wearing the blue running pants and gray hooded sweatshirt I bought her for her birthday (most women want jewels or perfume, she wanted sweat clothes, go figure), white socks and running shoes. Expecting this, I wore my royal blue jogging outfit, which was ironically enough, the same outfit I was beat up in three months ago. No hidden meaning there, it was the only outfit I had that was clean.

It would've been nice to tell you that Nancy and I enjoyed the movie, and we had a nice time together, but that's not what happened. First off, the movie, which had an excellent actor and actress in it, and nominated for ten Oscars, was a great movie in my book, but only received a rating of "okay," and "pretty unrealistic" from Nancy. As a matter of fact, Nancy seemed like she was a million miles away. I tried to get some conversation going, but I was better off getting water from a stone. Finally, since I was all out of topics to talk about, I went ahead and asked the question Aurora mentioned to me.

"So Nancy," I started, "How was work today?" I said as I leaned back on the sofa. Instead of getting the standard answer, I got something totally unexpected. Where she was tired and sleepy before, she suddenly sat up, eyes wide open.

"Uh yeah, work was fine, why do you ask?" She said.

"You always seem tired and wore out after you come home from work; I just wondered if today was one of those days," I said, suddenly feeling like I was being defensive.

"Yeah, work really wore me out. Look Leon, I'm about to doze off here, so let's call it a night. I'll call you tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay," I said as I picked up my movie and kissed her on the cheek.

Now things were getting confusing. Why would a simple question about work freak her out so much? Though I succeeded in putting it out of my mind, Aurora's statement that Nancy "wasn't what she seems" came back to haunt me. By the time I came home, I told myself I would start getting some answers tomorrow.

After work, I didn't bother with coming straight home like I normally did; this time I drove over to Aurora's condo. I believe I was now ready for the answers.

When I rang the doorbell, I received a reply of "come in," from Aurora, and I opened the door. I started to get the feeling I was expected to arrive. I was starting to get tired of everybody (okay, a few people) being a step ahead of me.

Aurora was pumping iron when I came in. Dressed in a black sports bra and biker's shorts, and barefoot as usual, she was working up a heavy sweat as she slowly worked her body. I remembered how mesmerized I got from seeing her muscles move before, so I made it a point to look elsewhere.

"Hello Leon," she grunted in-between sets.

"Hi," I said, examining the wallpaper. "I believe I'm ready for those answers."

"Okay." She put her weights down and walked toward me. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, why do you ask?" I said, looking at her figurines and noticing a gray longhaired cat staring at me from the other room.

"Oh, no reason; you seemed to be acting like you never saw a sweaty person before."

I saw her peeking her head into the corner of my eye, smiling. When I looked over at her, she had a serious expression on her face. She knew why I was looking the other way, and was enjoying it.

"Here's what we'll do," she said, wiping her face with a towel. I could've sworn she flexed her arm muscles slightly when she did it. "First, I'm going to take a shower and throw on some clean clothes. Then we'll go to the mall and the store where she works."

"Wait a minute, we're going to go see her at work?" I said, a little confused. "I already know she works tonight."

"No, you're going to go see her at work."

"Aurora, I don't' understand. I could've dropped by where she works and talk to her."

"Leon, you of all people shouldn't doubt my tactical planning. You came here to seek the truth, and I'm here to reveal it to you. Just follow my lead, okay?"

That shut me up. One thing I knew about Aurora was that she always had a reason for what she did.

"Okay, we'll play it your way," I said.

"Thank you. You must have come here straight from work; I have some leftovers in the refrigerator, help yourself."

She quickly walked off toward the bathroom, leaving me to raid the fridge. As I helped myself to the leftovers (actually despite this affair, I was hoping I'd get to eat more of her food. Mom had lately been too busy to fix anything, and Nancy can't cook), I was wondering what "deep dark secret" Nancy was supposed to be hiding. I wouldn't have bothered with this plan except for the strange behavior that she'd shown the night before, and when I sat down and thought about it, quite a bit the last few weeks. I decided not to reflect on it for the moment and instead enjoy the food I had in front of me, so I munched away.

"Leave any for me?"

I looked up and saw Aurora, dressed in a jogging outfit similar to mine, except it was red and black, and worn with no shoes (but you guessed that by now, haven't you?).

I felt a little guilty, and said, "Uh, no."

"That's okay, I ate earlier. Your mother was concerned about your meals since she's been too busy to cook lately. From the way you devoured everything, I guess you've been starving. We'll have to work on that later, let's go."

Aurora then drove us to the front of the mall, where it was closest to the retail store where Nancy worked.

"Okay Leon, now you go in and look for Nancy, like normal," she said.

"Er, what do I say if I see her?" I asked, feeling dumb.

Aurora started laughing. "She's your girlfriend, you should know! You came by to say hello. Besides, since she's your girlfriend, do you really need a reason?"

"She's told me not to drop by, it drives her manager nuts."

"I see. Out you go."

Feeling even dumber than before, I climbed out and made my way into the store and to the shoe department where Nancy worked. A petite blonde who looked like she was fresh out of high school intercepted me.

"May I help you?" She asked.

"Yes, is Nancy working here tonight?" I said.

"No, she's off tonight. May I leave a message?"

I talked quickly as my face grew pale. "No, no message. Thanks, bye."

I wandered back to Aurora's vehicle partly in a daze, mentally going on over her work schedule. Maybe it was an error, I thought, a simple misunderstanding. She's probably at home getting some much-needed rest.

"She wasn't there," I said as I got in. "What's next?"

"Now we go to Nancy's house," Aurora said.

"Okay, to get there-"

"I know how to get there," she said as she pulled out of the parking lot.

"How do you know?"

"I'll explain everything to you. Right now, we're going to Nancy's house."

We drove to Nancy's house. We saw her parent's cars, but not hers. I was starting to become rather uncomfortable.

"Where to now?" I said, slightly irritated, not at Aurora, but at the growing feeling I've been had.

"Here," she said as she pulled the minivan to a neighboring subdivision. We parked across the street from a house ' where Nancy's car was parked.

"Now what?"

"Now we wait." She proceeded to answer my unspoken question. "It shouldn't be long, it'll be getting dark soon."

"What does that have to do with-"

I stopped when the outside light of the house came on. Then the door opened. It was Nancy. If the immediate situation wasn't suspicious enough, there were two more things that were out of place. One, the dress she wore wasn't one I seen before. She once told me she didn't have a decent dress in her wardrobe. She was right; the women in my former gang dressed more modestly than that. I'd be surprised if she didn't catch a cold, since there wasn't much to that dress; she might as well be naked, which led to my next point. Two, she appeared to be straightening it as she stepped outside. Next came a black man about my height and build, wearing only a robe.

"I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation to all this," I said, surprised that those very words came out of my mouth.

Aurora gave me a look that said, "you've got to be kidding," then said verbally, "Oh yeah? Explain this."

She pointed at the two, who were now kissing each other deeply (she never kissed me like that). Not only that, but their hands explored places they didn't need to go, though it was apparent they did. After a long moment, they separated, said goodbye to each other, and then Nancy trotted off to her car, pulled out a trench coat and threw it on, then pulled out of the driveway and drove home like she had an appointment to meet.

"I've seen enough, let's go back," I said.

Aurora said nothing on the drive back; I was too busy bouncing between shock and rage to say anything. When we got back, to her place, she directed me to sit on the sofa while she sat in an easy chair across from me.

"So now you see why I shown you the way I did. I didn't want to leave you any doubt as to what was going on," Aurora said.

"How did you know?" I asked.

"I wouldn't expect you to know since you've been out of the loop, but since your "permanent retirement' from gang leading, Tanya, myself, and other members of the Elite Guard have been destroying the other gangs in the neighborhood. Tell me, did that man look familiar to you?"

I thought for a moment, and then it hit me. "Andr#, Andr# Patterson, leader of the "Cobras,'" I said.

Andr# truly met the definition of the word "thug." Sounds funny coming from a former gang leader using that name, but where I had decent beginnings, almost everything about Andr# was street. He was born on the street, raised on the street, and even talked "street," which was one of the reasons we didn't get along. He thought I got an education to prove I was better than everyone else; I just thought he was a stupid punk, plain and simple. For years, he claimed to be a "man of vision," and said one day he will bring all the gangs together to bring the city to its knees. Loosely translated, that meant he planned to take over the other gangs by cunning or by force, and become the Hoosier equivalent of a Mafioso.

It didn't bother me, because as far as vision goes, he's as blind as a bat. He also talked a better game than he played. He threatened to one day take over my gang and replace me as leader. I looked at him and told him I'll be ready. I haven't heard from him since. He also considered himself a "player." Well he was "playin'" all right, with my girlfriend!

"It gets worse. In my spare time, what little there is, I perform surveillance on prospective targets. Lately, Mr. Patterson had been making some noise in the neighborhood about running the streets, so I thought I'd keep an eye on him. Eventually I found out he got himself a new girlfriend, and it made me angry when I found out who she was. I wanted to break her in two," Aurora said.

There was no argument there; she could break Nancy in two. Not much of a comparison; a skinny woman who was on fad diets all the time with no physical activity versus a woman who has a black belt in judo, and was well-versed in boxing and kickboxing, with muscles in her arms and legs like steel cables? I saw what she did with four physically fit men; I shudder to think of what would happen in a fight between the two.

At the moment, thinking was something I had a hard time with, yet there were questions that needed to be answered. I was hurt, no question about that.

"So you watched him for a while?" I asked.

"Not long. It won't be long taking him down either. The man is mostly talk. Still, it'll be a pleasure to get him and his gang off the street. Four or five of us should be more than enough. I didn't see him and Nancy together until they started going to that house last week," Aurora said.

"Hustling and selling drugs must be paying off for him to get a house," I said sarcastically.

"I checked up on that. That's not his house. He doesn't even live there. It belongs to his cousin who works for a living. He took a two-week vacation, and left Andr# to watch the house."

There was one burning question left. "I don't understand," I said. "Why not just dump me and go with him? It would make things easier."

"I thought about that too. I boiled it down to two things, economics, status, and needs."

"Economics, status, and needs? How's that?"

"You have a good paying job, a career. Nancy has a job at a retail store, a dead-end job. Andr# has no job, except when he sells, begs, borrows, and steals. So if need be, she has access to funds when she or he needs them."

"Now I really feel used. Those "sudden emergencies' that occurred lately now make sense. What's the deal with looks and needs?"

"With your job and education, you basically fit the profile that parents and well-meaning friends would like to see in a good boyfriend. When they see you with her, they figure she made a good choice, and her parents don't have to worry about whether she's being treated right."

"Okay, that's two down," I said.

"I assume since your conversion and plans to be a deacon, premarital sex has been a no-no."

"It's one of the few things mom drilled in my head that stuck; "If you're ready to take it out of your pants, you're ready to get marry her.'"

"Obviously Nancy didn't follow that philosophy."

"Obviously. But why me?"

"You'll have to ask her. Or I can beat it out of her if you like."

I put my head in my hands. "I don't know what to do," I said.

Aurora came over, crouched down and pulled my hands down and looked up at me with her warm brown eyes.

"Yes you do, Leon," she said. "You need to tell her what you know, short of finding her with Andre, and tell her it's over."

Aurora's advice, while sound and justified, sounded too cut and dried to me at the time.

"And then come running to you?" I blurted out.

"I would be lying if I said otherwise," she whispered. "But regardless of what I want, you still need to confront her. I was going to tell you as soon as I found out; it just happened to be at the same time I was going to talk to you about other things."

I got up to head for the door. "Well I better go, big day tomorrow," I said.

"Yes, big day. Good night, Leon."

"Good night, and . . .thanks."

"You're welcome. I'll see you soon."

On the way home, my mind was swimming with everything that happened that day. Add that with feeling angry, used, betrayed, and you had what made for a potentially sleepless night. I guess the "macho" thing to do would be to beat Andre to a pulp, and win Nancy back. However my mother gave me some more good advice; if you have to fight to keep a woman, she's not really yours in the first place. Second, that type of nonsense only works in the movies. If I beat Andre up, it probably would result in me being made out to be the bad guy, and Andr# winning Nancy's sympathy as the "victim." Of course that feeds the assumption that Nancy was worth fighting for, and after pulling a stunt like this for a while, I'm not sure that's true.

No, Aurora was right. The thing I needed to do was confront her and break it off. The next question was how to do it without admitting I spied on her. Then I realized that Aurora already provided that answer for me. Boy, that woman thinks of everything. Nancy running around with Andr# also answered my questions about other things I wondered about, like if she worked so much, why did she have so little to show for it?

I thought I would have a restless night, but to my surprise, I had a decent night's rest. That was a good thing; I had a lot to do the next day, along with demanding some answers.

Nancy and I were supposed to meet at an out of the way place for dinner after I got off work. An out of the way place; that figures, considering what's going on. Nancy and I rarely went out in public. I guess we went out just enough to make her look good. Why raise questions? Now that I think about it, she didn't appear to go out in public with Andr# either. Of course, seeing what they do when they meet, why bother with all that formality of going to a restaurant or a movie or even someone's house? They could just go find some bushes and enjoy themselves.

Yeah, I was a little bitter. Who wouldn't be?

Anyway, we were eating our food when Nancy saved me the trouble of bringing up the subject.

"I heard you looked for me at work last night," Nancy said, sounding suspicious.

"Yeah, I just dropped by," I replied.

"Why?"

"Why not? I just dropped by to say hi. Nothing wrong with that, is there?"

"Leon, I don't want you hanging around where I work because it makes my manager crazy."

"I wasn't hanging around, I was dropping by. Your manager wasn't there. Some new kid was there."

"Oh, Beverly? She'll go straight to the manager and tell her to try to get me fired."

"Why is that?"

"She doesn't like me!"

"Why?"

"I don't know! She just does, okay?"

"Okay. So where were you?"

"So you're checking up on me now?"

"No! All I know is you told me according to your schedule that you were working last night. I dropped by and said hi, and you weren't there. You didn't call like you said you would either."

I heard it said that women could tell when their husbands or boyfriends are cheating on them. I think I know what they mean. In the space of a second, Nancy's mood and attitude instantly changed from what I thought was a decent, church-going woman to someone I would expect to find on the street. It was like a mask was taken off. This must be what my mother and Aurora saw beneath the surface.

"For your information, it's none of your business where I was," Nancy said, raising her voice. "You don't own me. It's my business where I come and go, I don't need you telling me where I'm supposed to be. If I feel you need to know where I am, I'll let you know."

Despite the fact that her little outburst had drawn the attention of nearby tables, I remained calm.

"But you did," I said.

"Well I was not feeling well, so I went home," she replied, a little bit civil.

"That's interesting, because I didn't see you there, either."

Nancy's eyes registered surprise ' the type of surprise that occurs when one is caught.

"I continued. "Now you can either give me this speech about wherever you go is your business or you can just tell me where you were. The truth this time."

Nancy stared at me for a moment, and then her eyes narrowed and gave me a look that appeared like she just stabbed me and wanted to twist the blade in further.

"You want to know where I was? Very well, I'll tell you where I was. I was with Andr# Patterson last night, that's where I was," she said, her voice dripping with acid.

Even though I knew, even though I saw the whole thing the night before, it still hurt to hear it coming from Nancy's lips. I didn't know what else to say but the one question that has haunted me."

"Why?" I said.

"Because he's the man you used to be, a real man," she said.

"What do you mean by that?"

"When I saw you in high school, and out in the street, I saw a rebel, a man who went by his own rules, a man who lived a life of excitement. Now I see you've sold out, living a boring life like everybody else, doing nothing but all that church stuff."

There were two things that struck me about what she said. The first thing was even though that was what she said, it wasn't the exact way she said it. I cleaned it up a little bit to be read in polite company. It wasn't language you'd expect from an alleged church-going girl. The second thing was that Nancy was never attractive to me. She was attracted to the old me, the "great" gang leader.

"Let me tell you about how "exciting' life as a gang leader," I said. "Whenever I saw a police car or even heard a siren, I would try to hide, because I wasn't sure if they were looking for me. I had to be careful where I walked, because of the possibility of being attacked by rival gang members. You think being a gang leader is given respect? When people find out you're a gang leader, they either run from you in fear or look at you and treat you like the scum you are. I stopped telling people who I was so I could be treated like a human being. And I had to lie to my mother every night as to where I went and what I did. If you want to call that "exciting,' then I'll take "boring' every time."

"So you're a "momma's boy,'" Nancy replied.

"If you mean I'm now doing something that would make her proud of me? Then yeah, I'm a "momma's boy' and proud of it."

"It figures, you wouldn't give me any, either."

"Give you any what?"

"You know what. Since you wouldn't put out, I had to find someone else to meet my needs."

"You told me you'd plan on waiting until you married."

"You really believe that church stuff, don't you?" Nancy said.

"In case you forgot, I'm going to be ordained as a deacon soon," I replied.

"They do it too."

"How would you know what they do? You haven't been in a church for months. You're always "working,' or at least, that's what you told me."

Nancy huffed, but didn't say anything.

"What I'm wondering is if Andr# is so "exciting,' why didn't you just break up with me, then go with him? Wouldn't that make it easier?" I continued.

Again, Nancy said nothing.

"Oh, I see. I may be boring, but at least I have money. I guess that explains all those "loans' you took from me."

"Leon, no, I could-"

"No, tell you what, you can keep the loans, and you can keep Andr#, since you two seem to be so happy together. As for me, I'm gone. Good bye, Nancy."

Then I got up and left, oblivious to Nancy calling after me, pleading for one more chance. I can take being dumped, but I don't like being played for a fool. Before I reached the car door, I heard Nancy calling from the front door of the restaurant.

"Leon, come back! We can work something out!"

First she treats me like I don't matter, now she "wants to work something out." Figure that out. She never even told me she's sorry. It dawned on me that I left without paying at least my half of the bill. That's okay, Nancy could handle it, she's a workingwoman.

I also realized that I was driving around with no place to go. I was too keyed up to go home, so I drove to the only place I could think of ' Aurora's condo.

When I arrived at her place and rung the doorbell, the way she said, "come in," again sounded like she was expecting me to drop by. Anyway, when I came in, she was working at her computer, doing what appeared to be several things at once. She was dressed in a plain orange scoop neck T-shirt and straight-leg blue jeans that were cut mid-calf. I would comment on her footwear, but you can guess what she was wearing by now, can't you? By this time, the bottoms were well traveled, nice and black.

She didn't look up as she said, "Good evening Leon, have a seat," and gestured toward a chair in front of her desk. I sat down and patiently waited a few minutes until she was finished.

"Okay Leon, I'm finished," she said as she sat up and looked at me.

Next thing I know, I'm spilling our the whole scenario of what just happened in detail, down to what Nancy called out to me as I was leaving. After I finished, she leaned back in her chair and asked, "So you and Nancy have officially broken up?"

"Yes," I answered.

"Good."

I thought I detected a tone of delight in her voice, but before I could say anything, she got up from her chair and walked in front of her desk.

"It turned out that Nancy has been doing a little more than spending time with Andr#," Aurora said.

"They're sleeping together, what more could she do?" I said, still a little keyed up from what happened before.

"Hang out with his gang."

"Huh?"

"One of the women on my team has also been doing some surveillance work on Andr#'s activities. Nancy has been participating with the Cobra's on many occasions."

"Oh no."

"It gets worse. Remember how we agreed that Andr#'s plans were nothing but a bunch of hot air? Well, thanks to Nancy's encouragement, he's now working to make those dreams a reality. His gang and another smaller one just consolidated. They appear to have started a protection racket with a few small shops on the outskirts of the neighborhood."

I sat back and sighed. This was like some strange nightmare, like my past had come back to haunt me indirectly through my now ex-girlfriend.

"I can't believe when Nancy met me, she was actually in love with the "old me,' not who I am now," I said.

Aurora glared at me, her eyes more intense.

"Then she's a day late and a dollar short. The "old you' died that Friday, three months ago in Indianapolis," she said, "along with the core of your gang. If she were with you at that time, she probably would want to go with you and even fight by your side. And we both know what would've happened to her then."

There was a brief silence in the room. I remembered how Aurora single-handedly took apart myself and four of my best fighters then later broke up the rest of my gang, "broke" being the operative word with the victims. I was fortunate to be let off with a sore jaw, a splitting headache, a bruised thigh, and a stern warning that I would be "destroyed" if I got involved in gang activity again. Seeing the image of what Nancy would look like after Aurora got her hands on her, even after what she had done seemed a little scary. We are talking about a lady who can dislocate a man's shoulder with her bare hands and break bones with one kick. I know, I've seen her do it.

Aurora looked at me again and softened. "Forgive me, I'm not always patient in situations like this, and I forgot she was once close to you, even if what she was close to was a ghost," she said as she walked over to a window. She propped the toes of her right foot, and bent over, performing a few stretches. I don't think the exercise was meant to impress me; I think it was more of a stress reliever.

"That's okay, I see your point," I said. I got up to leave. Getting everything off my chest relived me of stress, but I almost wondered if I gave it to her. I had one more question I needed to ask. I would find out sooner or later, so I might as well ask now.

"So when will you attack?" I asked.

"We strike tomorrow," she said as she started stretching her left leg. After she finished, she put her leg down and turned to me. "Chances are Nancy will be with them."

"Okay. Well I'd better be going." I started toward the door, feeling Aurora's eyes on me. She expected me to say something else ' and she was right.

"Uh, Aurora?"

"Yes, Leon?"

"Don't, uh, don't beat Nancy up too bad, okay?"

She paused, and looked down for a moment. After a few seconds, she looked back up.

"Okay, we won't. Good-bye Leon."

"Bye."

The next day, I went to work like always, stayed late, and came straight home, only stopping to pick up an order of Sweet and Sour Chicken from a nearby Chinese restaurant. My mother was again working late that night, so I had to fend for myself. When my mom came home, she said hello, kissed me on the cheek, and said good night, heading up the stairs to her bedroom. Evidently she was tired. Good thing they pay her well.

I was pooped myself, but I didn't want to turn in just yet. Besides I knew I would start thinking about the gang battle if my mind remained idle. On TV, I found an old movie ' a Jackie Chan movie of all things ' to watch while I ate my meal.

Around ten p.m., the doorbell rang. We live in a safe area, but then again, we don't get visitors at ten o'clock at night on a regular basis, so I slowly opened the door.

It was Aurora. She looked like she just showered and changed not too long ago, wearing a red sweatshirt and pants. She had a manila folder tucked under her arm.

"Good evening Leon. May I come in?" She asked.

"Yeah, sure Aurora, come in," I said.

"It is finished."

"Already? I thought you guys would start late."

"That's what they all think. It really confuses them when you hit them in the light of day."

"What time?"

"Between 6:30 and 7."

"So by the time I got home from work, the fight was going on?"

"No, the fight was over. It took me more time to take pictures afterward than the fight itself. Did you check your answering machine when you got home? I called as soon as we were done."

I looked back at the answering machine. The message light was blinking.

"Oops," I said. "I worked late tonight, I forgot all about it."

"That's okay, I wanted to have the pictures I've taken on my digital camera printed out before I came over and told you about it. Besides, the er, outfit that I wear in the Elite Guard is not something I want very many people to see me in."

"Why, what do you-"

"I'll tell you later. Someone read one too many comic books, I'll leave it at that."

And then she pulled out the manila folder. The last time she did that, it was pictures of the remainder of my gang beaten and bloody. Since it was Andr#'s gang, it made me feel a little better.

"You going to sell these pictures to the local paper?" I asked.

"Thinking about it. Now here's a picture of Andr#; I demanded the honor of facing him myself," Aurora said.

I'm glad she told me it was Andr#, because I wasn't sure I could recognize him in that condition. I'm not sure his mother could either.

"Did he make you mad?" I said.

"He said a few things to me that I will not repeat. He had a worse mouth than Pedro did."

I remember the things that my former gang mate Pedro said to her, and what she did to him. If Andr# was worse, he's lucky to be alive.

"And here's two of his right-hand men. Tanya took care of them. Only one kick each," Aurora continued.

Her friend Tanya must have a kick like a mule. If she kicked those guys any harder, they would be looking at their own backsides.

As she showed me her "war pictures," we were both seated on the couch where I was watching TV, which was also the only light in that room, except for a lamp. It may have been a trick of the light, but I could've sworn she was moving closer to me with every picture shown. After she finished, I asked her where was Nancy.

"We let her go," she said. "Nancy may have been the spark, but Andr# was the engine. My guess is she'll go drifting until she finds another loser to hook up with. We almost had to put her down; she swings a mean switchblade. She almost nicked one of my girls."

Nancy fought with a switchblade too? Where did she learn that?

Dismissing the question, I leaned back on the couch. "Well, at least it's over," I said.

Aurora placed a hand on mine and gave me another one of those looks. "Not completely, there are other things to discuss," she said.

"Other things?"

"Yes. For instance, I announced to you that I've made a claim on you; however there was someone in the way. Now that said someone is out of the way, things have changed considerably."

"Oh yeah. You're used to getting your own way, aren't you?"

"No, I'm used to working hard to obtain the things I want," she said, smiling and staring directly at me. But before I could squirm, she got up and gathered her pictures.

"However, now is not the time. I will give you a few days to grieve over your last relationship, and then I will come back for you. Good night, Leon."

I was barely able to say bye before she left.

That woman never ceased to amaze me. Not long after she leads a task force to wipe out Andr#'s gang, took pictures of the carnage, dropped by my place to show them to me, letting me know she honored my request not to harm Nancy, then reminded me that we still have "unfinished business" and plans on taking care of it after I recover for a few days. In so many words and actions, she just told me that she planned on winning her prize, which was me. I suppose I should be flattered, but as always I have some questions to ask Aurora before she stakes her "claim." But at that moment though, I was looking forward to a few days free of drama.

My mother took the next day off to take a break from her crazy schedule at work. She also realized that she hadn't seen much of me the last couple of days and made it up to me by fixing a big breakfast, a scrumptious dinner, and playing catch up on each other's lives. She also worked on cleaning the house.

Over breakfast, I told her what happened between Nancy and I. of course I left out the gang-related angle; miraculously my mother never found out I was in a gang, and I wanted to keep it that way. I also left out Aurora's involvement as well. I assumed her role in the Elite Guard was not public knowledge. I had to wonder what type of outfit she had to wear that she wasn't crazy about wearing in public?

Anyway, my mother expressed her sympathy about how tragic the relationship ended. I had to go to the restroom to relieve myself, so I got up and walked down the hall. Before I went in, I saw the silhouette of my mother suddenly pump her fist and whisper "Yes!" I did not ask when I came back, but I believe I was 98 percent sure that gesture referred to my breakup with Nancy. I also think that news put her on Cloud Nine all day. Mothers, what can you do? At least she didn't say I told you so.

Speaking of Nancy, I found out later she quit her job and moved out of town to live with her sister in Greenfield, a suburb of Indianapolis. I wondered if Aurora said something that put the fear of God (or maybe the fear of Aurora) into her, that made her pack up and run out of town. She was supposed to be working at a factory in town. Maybe those long hours at the assembly line will keep her out of trouble. At least she's making more money than retail.

There was still a big part of me that was hurt by what she did, yet there was a small part of me that missed her too. I saw looking back that we were going nowhere, and breaking up was a definite possibility anyway with the result of being good friends. But at the risk of going into pop psychology, I hated how it ended. However, with my upcoming ordination coming due, I needed to put that behind me and focus on the future.

The parking lot by the lake at my church was not only my favorite parking spot, it was also a place where I liked to go and sit and think. That Saturday afternoon, I was seated on a large rock directly in front of the lake with a pile of small stones beside me so I could skip them across the water.

I was really getting into it when I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. I turned my head, and saw Aurora walking towards me. She was wearing a gray tank top and shorts with blue trim. Over this, she wore a blue warm-up jacket that was barely zipped up. She wore her usual footwear, which was none at all. She had her hands in her jacket pockets and a warm smile on her face.

"Hello Leon, it's time," she said.

"How did you know I was here?" I asked.

"Your mother told me. She said you always came out here when you need to sit and think. Well I think your time is up."

I knew what she meant when she said it's time, but I wasn't going that easy.

"You said that you would give me a few days to grieve my last relationship," I said.

"You've had enough time. More than enough time in my opinion. Let's go."

I wasn't giving up without a fight. "And why should I go with you?"

"Two reasons," Aurora said. "One, I'm attracted to you, the man you have become."

"Okay, what's the second reason?"

"Because you're attracted to me; you're attracted to my muscles."

This explained the reason for her outfit. As soon as she said the word "muscles," she slightly flexed the muscles in her legs, arms, and chest that was visible inside the open jacket. Caught off guard, I gazed on this sight just a second too long, then I tore my eyes away to look at the lake in front of me. Aurora just walked in front of me and kneeled down so her eyes looked directly into mine.

"What gave you that idea? Is it one of those techniques the DOA taught you?" I said.

"No, it's because I'm a woman, I know these things," she cooed. "Come with me Leon, and I guarantee I'll make you forget about Nancy."

My arguments were fading fast. "W-why should I go with you?"

Aurora's smile widened, knowing she'd won.

"Because you won't know what you've missed if you don't go," she said.

I had to admit she got me with that one, just like the last time. She knew it too; she turned around and started walking toward her car, expecting me to follow. And that's what I did. I found myself dumbly getting up and trailing after her. As soon as we got in her van, we went to her place.

When Aurora entered the living room, she walked over by the large screen TV and picked up a videotape.

"The only thing I have in the way of entertainment is a recent kickboxing tournament. Have you heard of Susan Davidson?" She asked.

"She's one of the contenders for the Tri-State Championship, isn't she?" I said.

"Yeah, this is a tape of her last bout, I haven't had the chance to see it yet; I was on a mission. Her next fight should be the big one."

"Pop it in."

I wasn't a diligent follower of boxing or kickboxing, male or female, but Susan Davidson had a huge following in Indiana between men and women alike. A few of my former gang members had some of her posters put up at our hideout. Even Pedro had one, though he had it hidden and would not admit it to a single soul. I learned the hard way not to schedule a gang meeting during one of her matches. I was one of the few people in the area who had not seen her in action. I understood that she was very powerful in the ring.

After she loaded the tape, Aurora walked over to the sofa, sat in the middle, and patted the seat next to her. I walked over to sit down and watch the match.

That had to be the quickest match on record. First I saw Susan for the first time in the flesh, or as fleshy as you can get on video. That Amazon is huge! What do they feed this woman? Maybe it was the flesh of her losing opponents, I don't know. Anyway, the match was scheduled to go five rounds. The bout started with the two kickboxers exchanging a few punches, then Susan stunned her with a left jab, and then threw a right kick to the jaw, and it was over. If I blinked, I literally would've missed it. Fortunately there were a few other bouts after that; otherwise the commentators would've been hard pressed to make up for vacant airtime.

I glanced down at the coffee table, and saw this big gray pile of fur sitting in front of me. It turned out to be a long-haired gray cat with bright green eyes. The cat chirped at me, and I responded by scratching it between the ears. The cat purred loudly.

"I see Silky likes you," Aurora said. "I wondered how he would act with the arrival of another man in my life."

By this time, Silky jumped in my lap and wanted a little more of my attention. I couldn't think of a response, so I just kept petting him.

"I have dinner in the oven, so we'll have some time to get more acquainted," Aurora said.

I smirked while I was petting Silky. "It sounds like you know enough about me already. What more do you need to know?"

"Look at me Leon."

It's a little hard to describe the commanding presence Aurora had. She spoke softly, so it wasn't like a drill sergeant giving orders. It was like she would say "do this," and before you realize what's happening, you find yourself doing it. Of course those expressive brown eyes magnify the effect even more.

I found myself slowly turning my head away from Silky and into Aurora's face, which was closer than it was before. As soon as our eyes made contact, she moved even closer.

"I want to see your eyes sparkle," she said softly.

Suddenly I became tongue-tied. "What? You want to see ' what are you talking about? I don't see how-" I babbled.

"Kiss me Leon."

She took her strong right hand and pulled my head close to hers, then kissed me deeply. I don't claim to be an expert on kissing, I mean everybody kisses differently, but Aurora's kisses will take you away to another world. I guess you'll have to take my word for it. After what seemed like an eternity, she pulled away and spoke to me again.

"Now, tell me about Nancy," she said.

"Who?"

When I realized what I said, I sat there shocked, while Aurora fell back on the sofa laughing.

"I told you I'd make you forget about Nancy," she said.

I had to admit she did. I don't think I would've remembered my name after that kiss. I tried to sit up, but Aurora placed her hand on my chest and pushed me back in my seat.

"Uh-uh; you can't resist me Leon, don't even try," she said as she moved close to me once again. She was right, of course, but did she have to be so happy about it?

She stroked my face as she prepared to kiss me again.

"Since I know a lot about you, and you know a lot about me, let's talk about us," she said as she kissed my lips again.

Epilogue

It has been two months since Aurora and I had started a relationship, and I have to say I am happy. Aurora said she's happy, and my mother is very happy. She has said to me on more than one occasion, "I knew you two would be together." The way those two get along with each other, I wondered if the two conspired to get us together all along. One day I asked her.

"No son, I wouldn't do anything like that," she said, acting shocked.

Uh-huh.

Anyway, my ordination went great; I passed with flying colors. The training got a little rough, but Aurora was a great encourager. She sat in my corner, and she cheered the loudest (next to mom) when the decision was unanimous. She considered the event so important, she even went to the trouble of wearing shoes. Of course they were the first things to come off when we had the fellowship afterwards, but still, I was impressed. Actually, seeing her with shoes seemed an odd sight to me, but after the event was over, it was back to her barefoot self.

I still get a little uneasy when she goes on missions for the DOA. I know her and Tanya along with the rest of the Elite Guard can handle whatever situation comes their way, but I guess it's similar to what spouses of policemen have to deal with.

Most of all, I'm just amazed that I'm hooked up with a wonderful woman like Aurora in the first place. Months ago, she was moments away from breaking my face, now she caresses it with her strong hands. I said that to her once while we snuggled up on the couch while watching another kickboxing tournament on TV. She said the Lord moves in mysterious ways. I said he does, but why did it have to be so painful? We both laughed at that one.

One evening while she was out on another mission, and I was reading a book at home, Dora called. As I said earlier, we keep in touch from time to time. She congratulated me on my ordination and wished she could've made it, but she's been swamped at work. She said aside from being busy, things are great. I told her about what happened with Nancy, and she wasn't surprised. I asked her why didn't she warn me.

"Come on Leon, advice from an ex-girlfriend on who you were seeing at the time? Do you know what that sounds like?" She asked.

"Okay I see, you didn't want to seem like a jealous ex-girlfriend, got it," I said.

"But I would have personally kicked her butt if I found out what she did to you, whether you were dating her or not."

I then told her how close that was to becoming a reality from Aurora and how we were now seeing each other.

"Aurora, huh? I knew she'd snatch you up after I left," Dora said.

"How did you know that?" I said.

"During the auditions, I had the chance to talk to several of the contestants. After she beat you up, she told me you had a lot of potential, if you kept your nose clean. We both agreed your gang-banging days were over after she knocked you out."

"You both agreed?"

"Yeah. Leon, you were too sweet a guy, and much too smart to be leading some gang, especially with your education. Gang leaders are thugs who can't spell education. I knew there was a change after she whacked you one. Later, when you told me you were becoming a deacon, I knew the change was complete."

"Really?"

"If I didn't accept this job in Cincinnati, it would be me who would be holding you right tonight. But Aurora is kind, compassionate, smart, and able to keep you in line if you think of getting into any more trouble."

I laughed. "Don't worry Dora, I felt her fists and feet once, that was all I needed."

"I'll need to visit you two sometime so I can make sure she's treating you right."

"Geez Dora, you need a date! Aren't there any good men in Cincinnati?"

"There may be, but I'm too busy to meet them. So instead, I'll have to think of the one who got away."

"I'm flattered."

"And I'm jealous," Dora laughed. "Seriously I'm happy for the both of you. In the meantime, I need to turn in, I have a busy day tomorrow. Tell Aurora I said hello, and I'll talk to you soon. Bye, Leon."

"Bye Dora."

As I hung up the phone, I reflected back on all that happened. Approximately six months ago, I was given a clean slate. Now that I have a new life, a new career, and a new woman to share it with, I'd say my future looked pretty bright.

For comments and suggestions, or story ideas, send e-mail to shrewsberry@juno.com.