Origins ' Love Story Chang

The story of how our little judoka got started

By Mongoose750 (mongoose750@yahoo.com)

Love Story Chang ' Spaulding sat at her table at the Chinese restaurant in the town she adopted as her new home.

Love Story (or LS for short) stood a stocky but muscular 5'2" with a pleasant oval face and long black hair. The Chinese-American wore a kimono with large white and purple squares covered with a slight floral design; and though she normally went barefoot everywhere she went, this day she decided to wear white tabi socks ' socks with a split between the big toe and the rest of the foot. She wasn't sure how barefoot friendly this place was, so she didn't want to make waves just yet. Of course she still wasn't wearing shoes, but with this garb, they'd be less likely to notice. Kimonos themselves were Japanese in origin, but LS always found them comfortable. She also found in married life, they were easier to disrobe than regular clothes, as she found out on her honeymoon.

LS smiled to herself on that thought when her dinner guest arrived. She too, to LS's surprise wore a kimono that was black with black embroidered patterns on it. Describing the woman herself, she stood 5'11" with a slim muscular build. Her face was a small oval with a mouth that appeared to be in what could be called a "perpetual smile." Her long black hair was pulled up into a bun, secured with two wooden chopsticks. She seemed to glide across the room as she reached the table, and like LS, she had no shoes. Well that wasn't completely true. She wore on her feet barefoot sandals, a piece of jewelry that wrapped around the ankle and the second toe. To anyone who didn't look closely, they would look like a fancy pair of sandals, until they looked underneath. In this woman's case, they were a silver chain decorated with black jewels.

As she sat down, LS said, "Well Janelle Edwards, I would say the look suits you. With some white face paint, I would bet you could pass as a kabuki dancer."

Janelle laughed lightly. "I remember when I was little, my mother put on some cold cream. Her face was covered with it. I came in without knocking one night. Scared me to death. Whenever I see a clown, kabuki dancer, or anyone who uses white face paint, I think of that," she said.

LS giggled.

"I'm not late, am I? I thought-"

"You are on time, Janelle. I am early. My new husband kept insisting on preparing our dinner, but I reminded him that he has other meals to make for his clients, and this evening was for us ladies."

"I wouldn't have minded, but he has a business to run. So what's the occasion that involves us ladies?"

As a waitress came by and supplied them with green tea, LS said, "I will go with the Kung Pao chicken ' more Kung, not too much "Pao.'"

The waitress, apparently gifted with a good sense of humor, laughed.

Smiling, Janelle said, "Chicken and broccoli, thank you."

As the waitress went away, LS continued, "To answer your question, I believe we owe each other a story."

"A story?"

"Yes, a story about our origins, how we came to be so acquainted with judo, and how we met our significant others."

"Please LS, Ben is my fianc#e, not my "significant other;' I never liked that term," Janelle replied, shaking her head.

"Why is that?"

"Because whenever I hear it, I'm tempted to say, "significant other what?'"

"I never thought of it that way. It is actually the second time I used it. The last time was around my parents, and while they did not say it, they gave me a look that probably said what you did. I am most curious as to how you and Ben met ' and I remember you gave me that same look that you are giving me now."

Janelle checked herself. "I'm sorry; is it that obvious?"

"My dear, everything on your face is obvious. Joy, pain, grief, anger, it is literally an open book. It is nothing to be ashamed of. I would not recommend becoming a spy anytime soon. Right now, I saw what looked like shock, concern, and something else I can not figure out yet."

"Sometimes I wish my emotions weren't so easy to read. I wish I was a little more reserved like you."

LS laughed. "There are people who have only seen my "sensei face.' Aside from my wedding and a few incidents, you probably haven't seen much variation in my moods during our adventure. I am really not that reserved. Now Kim, my cousin, that is someone who is reserved. I had people ask me what she was always mad about. The only time you see her open up is around me."

"Maybe reserved is not the word I'm looking for. You're not an "open book' like I am."

"Lewis can always tell when I am in deep thought or anxious to talk about something. I think he has a way of finding out, but I am sure he will not tell me. Look, I will tell you what; I will answer any questions you have about me, and then you can give me your life story. How is that?"

"That's fine, I suppose," Janelle said hesitantly.

"And what is said here, stays here," LS added.

"Thank you."

"But first, we eat. Here is our food."

When the food came, they gave thanks, and started eating. Midway through, Janelle took a sip of tea, wiped her lips with a napkin, and said, "So tell me the great story of how Love Story Chang slash Spaulding came to be."

"On that score, nothing was that great about it. I was born the youngest of four to a mother and father who are both teachers. My mother happened to be a closet fan of romance novels, which explains my unusual first name."

"First name? I thought with Love Story being two words-"

"That is what everyone thinks. I do have a middle name, but I would have you killed if I told you, so let us not think anymore of it. Anyway, everyone in our family practiced a martial art, and my family in particular practiced tae kwon do. I found judo was a better fit, and I loved it. And that was that," LS explained.

"Okay, let me ask a more detailed question. Actually two questions come to mind. I'll ask this one because it's something passionate to me. How did you become a barefooter?"

LS smiled. "A friend asked me that six months ago, and I had to think about it for a minute. As you know, tae kwon do and judo are done barefoot. Quite frankly, Kim and I got tired of putting our flip-flops on and taking them off. Kim's mother went without shoes most of the time, so Kim just took after her. When my parents realized I was not going to catch cold and die, they let me do it. As Kim and I grew older, we found we liked being barefoot; especially when found some guys like it. But the freedom and health benefits that come with being barefoot were so astounding, I asked myself why deal with shoes at all? I do not have back problems, my feet do not hurt, my posture is correct, and the muscles in my feet are strong because I actually use them, and not depend on shoes. Do you realize a sizeable portion of the average American woman's budget is spent on shoes that hurt them? I can barely keep shoes on for five minutes before I have to kick them off."

Janelle raised her hand. "Let me remind you that you're preaching to the choir on this one," she said.

"Sorry. I guess I am a little passionate about my feet as well. When I worked in the political sector, I wore shoes just long enough for appearances. After things got going, off they went. It made me popular too, of all things. When people asked about me by name, they had to think about it. When they say if they know the short woman with no shoes, they remember."

"Then I guess when you quit politics and opened a judo studio, in a way it was liberating to you."

LS looked down, flexing her socked toes. "You know it. I even plan to pass it on to my children."

"You and Kim grew up together, so I can imagine you two did the same things, but how was it that Jasmine remained a "tenderfoot?'"

"Appropriate name for Janelle. I know this story like yesterday. You already guessed I am sure, that Jasmine moves to the beat of her own drummer. Regarding life, she always liked to do her own thing. She always wore shoes outside until one day Kim and I actually convinced her to leave her shoes and socks inside and get an ice cream with us. She walked no more than five steps down the sidewalk when she landed her right foot on a small rock."

"Oh."

"We should have told her to walk on the grass since her soles were still tender. Anyway, she turned and ran back in the house. She came out a minute later in shoes and socks, and she's been that way ever since, despite our efforts."

"That's too bad. So she never tried it again?" Janelle asked.

"Not to my knowledge. Except for swimming, no one sees her feet."

"What about aikido and tai chi?"

"You can wear almost anything doing tai chi. For aikido, she wore socks until they invented aqua sneakers. Now she teaches, so she can wear whatever she wants. To her credit, she never wears heels."

"So she really is a tenderfoot!" Janelle exclaimed.

"I will let you take the risk of telling her that," LS said, "she is still deadly. Funny thing though."

"What's that?"

"She does not go barefoot, but three of her closest friends do. It used to be just two, but Caroline's unlawful incarceration brought her to her senses as far as shoes were concerned."

"Maybe there's hope for her yet."

"Kim thinks so, she has not given up. Me, I am too busy for lost causes. I will wait until she has children, and then I will convince them."

"Sneaky, I like that. Now how did you three become the three musketeers or "guardians' of your neighborhood?"

"A damsel in distress started it. Let me back up; our neighborhood was pretty nice, until gangs started to form. A few years later, the neighborhood became overran with them. When Kim and I entered our freshman year of high school, and Jasmine was an eighth grader, it began to reach its peak. One day we saw these gang bangers harass an older woman. They demanded her money, jewels, everything. This was in broad daylight, if that tells you how bad it was. When we saw it, we acted. We did not stop to think they were older, or if they knew how to fight. Kim and I already had our black belts, Jasmine was not that far along yet, but you have heard of her talents, so we knew something of what we were doing. It ended faster than I expected. I gave my thug the biggest throw I could think of. It knocked him out. Kim kicked her man four times in the face in about six seconds, so she laid him out. Jasmine watched a movie that featured Eagle Claw Kung Fu, and she saw me practice the other day. What she came up with was some weird arm lock she turned into a throw that threw the man on his head, knocking him out. Well not completely; she put a claw hold on his head and his stomach that made him scream before she slammed his head against the wall. That she caught from glancing at a professional wrestling match of all things. After that, we decided to take our neighborhood back. We increased the intensity of our martial arts workouts, which delighted our parents, Jasmine eventually found tai chi and aikido to practice, and for the next four years, we patrolled our neighborhood and high school, taking on thugs, gangs, bullies, muggers, even rivals who thought they could do our job better, but they needed us out of the way to do it."

"Wow. Have you three ever lost?" Janelle asked.

"Amazingly, no. Every now and then, Kim and I would sport an occasional bruise, but we always won. You ever hear the remark from some instructors that the traditional martial arts do not work today?"

Janelle rolled her eyes. "Oh yes, sometimes from my own students," she said.

"Well as you know, it works very well, as long as you leave out the fancy stuff you see in movies. Kano, the man who created judo, meant it as a martial art, not a sport; yet that is how many people see it. But of course, you already know that. I get quite passionate about judo too," LS remarked with a small grin.

"You'll get no argument from me. In fact, I guess you could say judo saved my life," Janelle replied.

"Oh really? How?"

"Not yet, we're still talking about you," Janelle said, wagging her right index finger.

"You tease. Anyway, the three of us made a difference. More people started standing up for themselves, and crime went down. Actually, it sometimes moved to the neighborhood next door, but what can you do? I can already guess the next question, so I will answer it for you. It came to an end, that is, our "guardianship' ended with graduation. Kim came over here to attend a school that was strong in accounting and away from her nosy mother."

"I sort of noticed that about her."

"You have, eh? That was the hardest part, keeping our activities secret from her. We had an easier time fighting our foes. My parents were no problem as long as I got my homework done and behaved myself. Kim's brothers and sisters, except for Jon were not hard. But her mother!"

"She's good, huh?"

"She is very good. Police officers, the FBI, and spies could learn something from her. She knew who would I would be dating before my mom and I did. How scary is that?"

"But Kim has a large family-"

"And she kept track of everyone, except Jasmine and Jon."

"The quiet ones, eh?"

"Well, being the youngest, they learned all her tricks. But we are getting off topic here. I attended school there in town, which left Jasmine to take care of things for awhile until she graduated."

"But the "war' didn't end for you, did it?" Janelle replied.

"No. Kim and Jasmine both said they were tired and wanted to go on with their lives. I could not fault them for that. I myself grew tired of roaming the streets. But I wanted to see my streets back the way they were when I was a child, so I pursued a different path," LS said.

"So you pursued politics, to make a difference."

"Yes. It was the biggest waste of time I have ever done. You have all these people strutting like peacocks, making all sorts of promises, and when they get elected, the first and sometimes only matter of business they work on is how to stay elected."

"Whoa, not too bitter, are you?"

"I worked with politicians on both parties, and on one or two occasions a third party, and I had some of them lie to my face about what they planned to do. After enduring a few years of this, I got out, opened my dojo, and eventually hit the streets again. If I knew what to do years ago, things would have been finished earlier."

"But the councilman would've stayed in office."

"Well once I handled his son, I knew we would be on a collision course with each other."

"But didn't he see what his son was doing?"

"With some people, even the former councilman, blood is everything. The two were alienated enough from each other before I entered the picture. And you know what the saddest part of the picture is? Not counting the current councilman, he had done more for the area's economy than the others before him. But I had to take him down. It was my swan song."

"Really?"

"Yes; because despite the success my "gang' and I had done, I wanted a life too. I wanted a family, a career, or rather, teach judo for judo's sake instead of war councils. That day when Johnson sent a thug after me during breakfast with me and Lewis, it was time to finish it."

"You almost finished him."

"Yes." LS paused, and recalled the memory. "A number of thoughts swam through my mind at that moment; my life with Lewis, the many lives that would be affected by his "dismissal,' even his son came to mind. But the overriding thought was how much better life would be if I wiped this man from existence."

"Thank God you didn't wipe him."

"It takes God a little while to penetrate my thick skull, so he sent Kim instead. I honestly believe if it wasn't for her, you'd either be seeing me behind bars, or we would be living a strained existence, burdened by our "dirty little secret.' Sometimes it scares me when I think about it."

"But it's over," Janelle objected. "There's nothing to worry about."

"It is not that simple," LS said as she saw the waitress return with a desert menu. "I highly recommend the blackberry cobbler, it is delicious."

"Order one for me, I'm going to the ladies room."

When Janelle returned, LS was sitting at the table staring out the window. When she sat down, LS immediately started where she left off.

"When Kim and Cao pulled me away from Johnson, I saw not only a beaten man, I also saw myself. It was one of those looking-glass moments. However you explain it, I saw what I almost became. Not a potential murderer; not then, but possibly later. Oh, let me think; are you familiar with the Star Wars saga?"

"Yes I am."

"Good; then I could tell you I was a moment away from embracing the dark side, and becoming Darth Vader. I also realized in order to save my neighborhood, I had to leave my neighborhood, else I would not be any better than Councilman Johnson; in fact, I would almost become Councilman Johnson."

"Yeah, that is scary," Janelle replied in a hushed tone. "But look on the bright side; you did take him out of office, and maybe you were the right woman for the job. Kim might have been too impulsive, and Jasmine might have been too pacifistic-"

LS suddenly reared back her head and laughed so loud, a few people sitting at nearby tables looked over and smiled. Janelle was taken aback.

"So she fooled you too!" LS choked out between bursts.

"What did I say?" Janelle asked.

"You suggested Jasmine was a pacifist," LS said as she calmed down. "That girl is the least pacifistic out of the three of us."

"But I can't picture Jasmine to be so aggressive."

"And that's what makes her dangerous. Ever since Caroline was falsely imprisoned, it took a spoken sworn vow from Jasmine, Rina, and Michelle to keep them from attacking the councilman or the policeman responsible for arresting her.

"And I know how Jasmine would do it too. She would sneak over to the councilman's house like we did, then torture the man until he confessed and ordered Caroline's release."

"She would do this by herself?"

"Yes, and I can say that because she has done it before. Keep in mind, you have never seen Jasmine when she was really angry or when one of her friends or family was really threatened. Someday, I would like to tell you the story about one kingpin who was accused of attempted rape, and his case was dropped."

"She didn't . . . kill him, did she?"

"No, but she made him wish he was, I am sure. Kim and I found out after the story on the news. He was heavily guarded, too."

"Why don't we go on to my next question. This is a little too grim for me."

"Good idea."

"How did you and Lewis meet?"

"We met in Physical Education class in ninth grade."

"Uh huh. Now tell me the whole story."

"Ah, the complicated part . . ."

Lewis Spaulding walked out tentatively onto the gym floor of the new high school. New to him, anyway since his family moved from the other side of town. Standing over six feet with a slim build, he figured the other classmates, particularly the boys would expect him to be a basketball player. He liked basketball, he just wasn't that great at it. Besides, he preferred running. As soon as he found out, he was going to sign up for the cross country and track teams when he heard about it. For now, he had to deal with the problem of being the "new kid." Then again, he wasn't the only freshman, so in a sense, the whole class was new kids.

Upon entering, the gym teacher told them to change into the T-shirts and shorts the school had provided for them. Once they had done so, they were to sit at a designated spot on the gym floor. After he changed, he noticed he had to walk practically to the other end of the gym floor. At least his name didn't start with a "Z."

On his trek to his spot, he noticed two Asian-American women sitting over in the "C" section. One was slim and fit, and a petite height, while the other was a little shorter and fa ' no, wait a minute. Despite the fact they were sitting Indian-style on the gym floor, he could see that both of them were in good shape. The second girl was stout, but that was muscle he saw on her, not fat, like a weightlifter. Nobody would mess with her. Despite their builds, that wasn't what caught his attention. Everyone else wore their gym uniform with the usual white socks and athletic shoes. These two wore no shoes at all. In fact, their soles were nearly black from the dirty gym floor.

"Hello," the shorter and heavier girl greeted him, flashing a smile.

"Hi there!" The other girl greeted in kind.

The dual greeting caught him off guard, but Lewis recovered and returned the greeting.

"Hey, just passing through," he said.

"Oh, so you belong with the "other' students," the slimmer one remarked.

"The "other' students?" Lewis responded.

"Yes, those whose last names don't begin with "C' or before. I'm Kim, and this is my cousin, LS."

"I'm Lewis; pleased to meet you. My family moved from the other end of town."

"Stick around with us, we will show you the sights," the heavier one known as LS said.

Giving them a brief onceover, Lewis said, "It looked like you forgot something."

The two girls looked at each other and giggled.

"No, my shoes are in my locker," Kim replied.

"I would say mine are at home, but my mother caught me before I got out the door," LS added.

"I told you to wear your black socks, and she wouldn't notice," Kim remarked.

"But they're all dirty!"

"Oh. My mom told me I probably could get away with it if we were in Hawaii, but Indiana has people who are a bit squeamish about it, so I had to wear them."

"My mother stood and watched me put both my socks and shoes on. I thought I was going to miss the bus."

"So if you both have shoes in your gym locker, why aren't you wearing them?" Lewis asked.

"Why do we have to wear them?" Kim replied with a smirk.

"Uh, well . . . because . . ."

"Uh huh."

"We will give you until the end of class. If you can come up with a good reason, we will consider wearing shoes for gym tomorrow," LS said. "That way you will have a whole hour to think about it, while we are doing ' what are we doing, anyway?"

"Calisthenics," Kim replied.

"Calisthenics, is that all?"

"We'll probably play some game afterwards."

"In any case, you can give us an answer when we are through."

The physical education teacher arrived, and told everyone to go to their assigned spaces.

"Better go. See you later," Lewis said.

"Bye," both replied.

As he left, Kim turned to LS and asked, "Why did you tell him we'll wear shoes if he finds a reason?"

"You misheard me, cousin. I said if he came up with a reason, we would consider it. That does not mean we will actually do it. Besides, if he does have a reason, he will come back," LS explained. "He is cute."

Kim smiled. "Yes, he is that."

Since he was in rather decent shape and a bit limber himself, Lewis had no problem with the beginning exercises. As he looked around at the rest of the class sitting around touching their toes, he found that LS and Kim did quite well. In fact, both did the splits while performing the exercise. They chatted with each other while others around them groaned and tried to catch their breath.

Soon, the warm-up segment was over, and Lewis took a sip from the water fountain, and leaned against a wall to rest for a moment when he heard a voice addressing him.

"So, have you found a reason yet?"

He turned to see LS and Kim smiling at him. How did they sneak up on him like that?

"No, I was too busy wondering what we're doing next," Lewis said.

"I hope we're playing kickball," Kim replied.

"There's my reason, you'll hurt your foot kicking that ball!" Lewis exclaimed.

Kim just gave him a haughty grin. "I can break boards with my feet, so a big rubber ball won't hurt me."

"You can break boards with your feet?"

"Kim knows tae kwon do," LS explained, "and she plays soccer barefoot too."

"I move faster that way," Kim added.

The PE teacher then made the announcement that they were playing dodgeball.

"Dodgeball? Cool!" Kim said. "I like that too."

"Join our team," LS said, "we will protect you."

"You two are good at dodgeball?" Lewis asked.

"Why LS, I think he doubts our abilities," Kim remarked.

"No, I think he doubts mine," LS replied. "He thinks everyone will pick on the poor little fat girl."

"I never said you were fat!" Lewis said defensively.

"Very good, because I am not. But you do doubt my prowess, do you not?"

"No, I never said that; I didn't say anything!"

"No, but your eyes did," LS said, looking deep into them.

"What? No, I never, I mean I-"

"It's okay, Lewis; just stick with us, and you'll see how dodgeball should be played," Kim replied, slapping a hand on his shoulder, while turning to a grinning LS and mouthing silently, "Behave yourself!"

In the hands of the two cousins, the game of dodgeball was a martial art. They threw the ball savagely and accurately, and those who thought LS would be an easy target soon regretted their opinion when they threw the ball. LS would easily sidestep or catch the ball, then deliver a throw that would knock the legs our from under a person. Lewis (and several other people) stood behind the two who were quickly established as the first line of defense or offense. As the semester went on, the PE teacher had to be careful scheduling dodgeball for the class. Team leaders had almost come to blows over the privilege of selecting either Kim or LS or both on their team.

After he showered and changed, Lewis chatted with a few of the guys in the locker room. He decided it was time to go out to the gym to await the bell that signified the end of class. As he set foot onto the gym, he heard a voice behind him.

"Hey."

Surprised for the second time that day from someone sneaking up on him, Lewis turned to see LS leaning by the entrance of the locker room. She was dressed in her street clothes except for her shoes that hung from her backpack. Her feet were now wearing white lo-cut athletic socks.

"Hey," Lewis responded almost defensively.

"So where are you headed?"

"History; a Ms. Weed is my teacher, I think."

"My class is along that way. Do you mind if I walk with you?"

"No, that's fine." Lewis looked at LS's socked feet. "I think you forgot something."

"Oh. Well I was in a hurry, and I did not have time to put them on," LS explained.

"Time? But you got out of the locker room before I did."

"So I did. Well you know that, but my next teacher will not. Besides, I have done it before, so it will not be a problem. Will that be a problem for you?" LS was looking into his eyes again.

This time, Lewis turned his head to avoid the stare. "Where's Kim?" He asked.

"She is helping someone with their math homework. Hey, the bell just rung, let us get to our classes."

"The truth was my class was a couple of rooms the other way," LS laughed as she took a sip of tea. "Until he finally found out, I would walk him to his class, then run down the hall to get to my class just before the bell would ring."

"So what's with this "look' you gave him? It sounded like it reduced him to mush the first time he saw it," Janelle remarked.

"Oh yes; Kim called it my "laser vision.' I can tell a person I am mad, sad, glad, or in a man's case, very interested when I looked into their eyes. Lewis was actually one of the few who could resist my glare, and believe me, I tried, many times over the years. It was not until I finally dated the man that I could work my "magic' on him."

"He avoided it for that long, huh?"

"It was frustrating. He would always manage to direct his eyes elsewhere, or become busy baking or something. Now that we are married, I can look at him and make him do anything I want," LS replied with an evil grin.

"Stop it girl, you're making me blush!" Janelle said.

"You blush? I do not believe that!"

"So I guess you started becoming close friends after that, and only friends even though everybody thought otherwise. I'll ask the question everybody else asked you: why did it take so long?"

LS glanced both ways, then leaned toward Janelle. "I will tell you this in strictest confidence, and you must tell NO ONE, unless I die first; but especially, unless I am already dead, do you not tell my cousin."

"I swear," Janelle said meekly. "But why look around? Kim isn't here."

"No, but she has made friends here, and she worked a mean grapevine back home. She got it from her mother."

"I think we're safe here. So what was the reason?"

"He resisted my gaze."

"That's it?"

"Janelle, I asked that question myself, and that is the only answer I came up with. I am not trying to brag, but if I saw a man I was interested in, I could come up to him, give him "the look,' and he would be putty in my hands. Not Lewis. I knew we were best friends, I could tell, no, I have told him almost everything, but yet, a small part of me . . . wondered."

Janelle took a bite of her desert, savored it, then said, "You know, there are other ways of getting a man's attention."

"And I almost used them all," LS replied.

In the summer between their junior and senior years of high school, Sean Cardinal and his sister Kathy, always held two pool parties like they had the last few years. The well-to-do household made it a point to have the daytime parties monitored so no undesirables or any alcohol or drugs set foot on the grounds. Still, it didn't dampen the spirits of the teenagers. They still had a good time.

Lewis was dating a fellow student by the name of Sheba. She was black, tall, and a forward on the school's basketball team. While she departed to see a friend, one of Lewis' classmates came by.

"Hey Lewis, when did you and LS break up?" He asked.

"We didn't. We didn't, because we never went together," Lewis replied. He was really getting tired of that question.

"Could've fooled me. Hey, I'm going to greet our hosts; I'll catch you later."

Lewis sat on the bench overlooking the pool. The last pool party held here was last summer, when LS approached him in a new swimsuit and asked how she looked. Her boyfriend at the time was with her, just when things weren't awkward enough. He was just thankful he was eating, because that gave him a way of escape. She caught everybody else's attention though. One guy even fell in the pool when he saw her. This time, Kim and her sister Jasmine will be with her, so maybe she'll show some restraint; plus, he had a date this time.

As soon as he thought that, three women entered the pool area. Kim wore a blue and red striped bikini with a white lace cover-up. The bikini was modest, not revealing anything, but still displaying the fit figure that carried it. Jasmine followed with a conservative yellow one-piece swimsuit with matching cover-up and yellow flip-flops. The girl is always color-coordinated, Lewis thought. This was also the first time he'd seen Jasmine in sandals of any sort. Following right behind was LS, dressed in a royal purple robe that went down to her bare ankles. Whatever she wore underneath was thoroughly covered. Somehow, that didn't look like a good sign. Following behind her like a puppy dog was Charles Stewart, a member of the wrestling team. He was black, stood 5'5", and built pretty solid. Maybe he could keep LS under control. He wore blue trunks with a tank top Indiana Pacers basketball jersey. From what he heard, Charles was one of the big catches on campus, so LS had apparently done well for herself. LS saw him, waved, and then directed the group toward where he was sitting. For some reason, he didn't like the look in her eyes when she saw him; this looked suspect.

"Hey Sheba, could you grab me a burger on your way back, with cheese?" He asked.

"Sure; I'll be there in a minute," Sheba replied.

Each time he took a bite into one of their burgers, he always thought of at least several spices he could add to accentuate the taste, but at least it will keep his mouth busy if LS was going to ask that infamous question.

"Here you are, hon," Sheba said, handing him the burger and a cup of lemonade to go with it. "I'd get you some baked beans, but they're out at the moment. They're making more."

"Thanks Sheba; this will do for now," He replied. Their baked beans were a hit. "Have a seat, I'd like you to meet-"

"Jasmine!" Sheba beamed. "How have you been? I like your swimsuit."

"Thank you, Sheba," Jasmine said graciously.

Good grief, is there anyone in town that Jasmine doesn't know, Lewis thought. Out loud, he said, "How do you two know each other?"

"She knows, or rather, teaches tai chi to my brother, the football player," Sheba said. That received a sound of recognition from everyone.

"Then you probably know Charles, the wrestler. This is Kim, Jasmine's sister, and LS, their cousin," Lewis continued. "And for you two, this is Sheba."

Charles and Kim greeted Sheba cordially, while LS delivered her greeting in a flat, neutral tone. What was that about?

The new arrivals set their things down, and Jasmine and Kim removed their cover-ups. Charles removed his shirt, to the joy of the ladies standing nearby, but LS kept her robe on.

A fresh shipment of baked beans and other goodies came in, and the ladies left briefly to fill their plates, while Charles and Lewis sat back in their beach chairs.

"So, one more year, man," Charles said with relief.

"Yeah," Lewis replied. "So what are your plans after you graduate?"

"I may be getting a wrestling scholarship at a few schools. Right now, any school will do, as long as it's decent. What about you?"

"Me, I'm headed to one of those culinary schools up north."

"Culinary, that's cooking. That's right, you taught one of our quarterbacks how to make brownies," Charles said with recognition.

"His girlfriend loved them too," Lewis added.

"Hey, maybe you can teach me so I can impress a few people."

For some reason, Lewis felt himself on guard. If Charles baked brownies to impress LS, why should he worry about it? They're dating, that's their business.

"We'll get together," he said.

The ladies returned, and everybody ate. As soon as she finished, Jasmine mingled with the other guests, and Kim went for a swim. Both couples remained, sharing small talk.

"So Sheba, what have you done over the summer so far?" LS asked. Lewis was pleased. Normally LS would've been rude, indifferent, or nearly scare off his past dates.

"Oh, a little bit of this and that, and a whole lot of nothing. How about you?" Sheba said.

"The same, except I also did a little bit of shopping, like I did the other day."

"Really? You find anything good?"

"Yes, I bought this swimsuit . . ." she started undoing her robe.

Wait a minute, Lewis thought vainly. Our dates are here; she wouldn't . . .

But she did, revealing a deep purple two-piece outfit. The top was shaped more like a sports bra, and the bottoms looked more like boy shorts, but the main part was that LS's physique was more defined. It was like every muscle could be clearly seen.

"How do I look?" LS asked in a sultry voice.

Though LS showed herself off to the three of them, those who remembered the last time she done that stopped and stared. Regarding his opinion, Charles did not hesitate.

"Whooee! My woman is looking fine!" Charles exclaimed.

"Looks like you spent some quality time in the gym. Looking good," Sheba remarked.

Lewis was going to stay silent, but LS wouldn't let him.

"And what do you think, Lewis?" LS asked, her eyes seeking to catch him.

But Lewis was taking notice of what was happening around them. It seemed like all men and women stopped to see the sight. Sean Cardinal was busy tending the grill before LS revealed herself, and he didn't realize how long he was staring until he smelled one of his burgers burning. Kathy stared, then turned and made a remark ' a good remark to her friends. She then handed a flip-flop to one of her friends, who then slapped her boyfriend on his bare shoulder with it. He snapped out of it, apologizing profusely. There were some women who covered themselves up, while others glared with jealousy. Another man was on the verge of delivering a wolf whistle, but was stopped when his lady friend slapped him across the back of his head. Charles looked at the hard body with a look that contained not a small amount of lust, and for some reason, Lewis found that bothered him.

"Looks good," Lewis quickly said as he grabbed his drink and gulped it.

Kim decided to take a few laps in the pool, so she missed the show until she reached the other end. As she climbed out to gauge how many laps she wanted to do, she saw a man leaning back in his lawn chair staring at something. Without turning around, he called out, "Hey Heather, have you ever thought about spending some extra time in the gym?"

He finally turned his head, and narrowly avoided getting hit by a flying hot dog. Still, it was enough to cause him to overturn his chair. He quickly untied himself and fled along the side of the pool. His pursuer was Heather North, a 5'4" blond woman who was a member of the school's softball team. The woman's medium build was in good shape, but her musculature wasn't as visible in her blue two-piece suit. She had a good arm though, which she demonstrated next by using tater tots in her arsenal to pelt her prey.

"I'll show you who needs to go to the gym!" Heather hollered as she chased her date.

"What was that all about?" Kim wondered out loud, then got back in the pool to swim some more.

Later, after things settled back to normal, Lewis approached LS privately.

"LS, why did you do that?" Lewis demanded.

"Do what, Lewis?" LS asked innocently.

"That, that thing with the swimsuit, that's what!"

"Well I just bought this outfit the other day, and I thought it looked nice. Do you think it looked nice, you said so."

"Yes, but that's not the point. Did you see Charles, he looked like he wanted to jump your bones right there on the spot!"

"Oh. So you are saying the way Charles looked at me bothered you?"

"No! Doesn't it bother you?"

"Well no; he likes my new swimsuit. Do you not like it?"

"I said I did, stop changing the subject!"

"And what is the subject, Lewis?" LS asked, fixing his gaze on Lewis.

"Never mind!" Lewis said, turning around and stalking away.

"Sheba is a nice woman," LS said to Lewis' back.

"Thank you!" He yelled, still walking.

"Just not for you," she added in a low voice.

"What?" Lewis asked.

"Is she going to college too?"

"Oh yeah; University of Indianapolis on scholarship."

"Good," LS replied, grinning. Mainly because she'll be too far from Lewis to continue a relationship.

"You were awful!" Janelle said, shaking her head. "Awful! So besides him being your best friend, you torture the man and scare off his girlfriends?"

"I can not say I was "awful,'" LS replied. "I never gone beyond "first base' with my dates; those who tried otherwise had the sore arms to prove it. I just wanted to get a rise out of him, that was all."

"Really?"

"That was what I thought. Truthfully, I thought Sheba was a real threat."

"Hey, I'm curious; that girl on the softball team, whatever happened to her?"

"Oh, Heather; yes, I have a funny story about her . . ."

Sean and Kathy still held their summer pool parties, even though they were now college students. Much to the disappointment of some of the guests, they were still alcohol ' free. But the siblings said, "Our pool, our rules."

Because the semesters at the culinary school were different, Lewis had to miss the party. However, LS, Kim, and Jasmine were able to come.

"I must compliment you on your parties," Kim said to the siblings. "They're always clean and fun."

"Thank you Kim," Kathy replied. "We found out no alcohol, no fights, no throwing up, no drama. Simple."

"Besides, I'm now the president of the Christian Student Union at school," Sean said. "It wouldn't be good for me to have a BYOB party at my house, unless the "B' stood for Bible."

"Do you ever get any wise guy who tells you Jesus drank wine?" Jasmine asked.

"All the time. My response is Jesus could hold his liquor."

After they laughed, Kathy asked, "Hey LS, where's your boyfriend at?"

"Boyfriend?" LS responded, confused.

"Yeah, Lewis. Where's he hiding himself these days?" Sean added.

"Lewis is not my boyfriend," LS said in a matter-of-fact tone. "We are just friends, that is all."

"Oh, okay; of course," Kathy replied, but from the brief look she and her brother exchanged, they knew better. Kim picked up on it and displayed a mutual grin.

"Lewis is still at cooking school. Their semesters run a little weird. He is doing very well," Kim said.

"I want to be first in line when he opens his own restaurant. That boy can cook!" Sean stated.

"I'm sure LS will provide you with reservations," Kim told Sean and Kathy in a low voice.

"What?" LS and Jasmine said.

"I said we'll be sure to provide reservations. Excuse me, I have a frog in my throat."

"Well while you're "clearing your throat,' we'll see to our other guests. Glad you're here," Kathy said as she and her brother greeted another guest.

"Now that I think about it, there was one little piece of drama that occurred last year."

"And what would that be?" LS asked, still suspicious of Kim.

"There was someone who kept throwing food at her boyfriend. I never saw anyone throw tater tots with such accuracy and power."

"Oh, that would be Heather," Jasmine said. "She's one of the star players on our softball team. She has a good arm."

"No doubt; I still remember that man yelping every time a tater tot hit him. What was that all about, anyway?"

"Her boyfriend, Chris I believe his name was, made a remark that she needed to go to the gym a little more often." Jasmine looked at LS.

"What? I do not know her. What would I have to do with her?" LS protested.

Jasmine was about to remark on LS's display the previous year, but instead, said, "Well speak of the devil."

Heather strode toward them. Her shoulder-length hair blew in the breeze. She was decked out in a khaki green tank top, blue jean cut offs, and barefoot. She gave a sly smile as she approached them.

"She's a little . . . bigger from when I last saw her," Kim told Jasmine.

"Hello Jasmine, good to see you; and I bet you're Kim, her sister," Heather began in her greeting.

"Hello," the two sisters replied.

Then Heather turned to their cousin. "And you must be LS, their cousin. Hello, I was looking for you," she said.

"Hello," LS replied hesitantly.

"I wanted to show you something," she continued.

"Okay, what is it?"

"This," and suddenly she displayed a double-bicep pose with the right leg extended in a toe point. She then switched to a few other poses displaying her musculature.

The sight caught the attention of one man who was walking, and kept walking ' until he fell into the swimming pool.

"Impressive," LS remarked, nodding her head.

"Chris recommending that I should spend a little more time in the gym was one of the few good ideas that came out of his head. I decided to try it, and here's the result."

"Where is Chris?" Jasmine asked.

"Oh we're not together anymore, I beat him up. He said one stupid thing too many."

"I'm surprised you didn't take him out with those tater tots last year," Kim said.

"Oh that's right, you saw that," Heather laughed lightly. "If he suggested it later in private, I would've taken it better instead of blurting it out in public, embarrassing me."

"No, that is not good," LS remarked.

"I'm going to chat with some folks I haven't seen in a while, but I just came by to see you, and to let you know you're not the only strong woman at this party. See you later."

As she left, LS turned to Jasmine and Kim, and asked, "And what was that about?"

"The one time I flexed my muscles in public, I got mixed results. The men saw me as prime rib while the women thought I was a freak," Janelle said. "I wanted to beat up the men and apologize to the women. I worked out in private after that."

"Jasmine explained to me what I did, and I felt so embarrassed," LS replied.

"At least Heather took it well."

"Yes, very well. She became a great player on her college's softball team, and one of the contestants in line for the grand prize."

"The grand prize?"

"Yes, my cousin Jon."

"He is cute, I'll admit."

"Every other woman in the neighborhood admits it. It drives Kim and Jasmine crazy."

Janelle smirked. "Overprotective, huh?"

"Oh you have no idea."

Janelle leaned forward. "We can talk about that later. I want to know the point in time when you realized Lewis was the man for you."

LS motioned for more tea. "Much later than I admitted, but I have a good reason for that."

"What?"

"Kim."

"How is it her fault?"

As more tea was filled in their cups, LS sighed. "You see, Janelle, my cousin has this annoying habit of being . . . right."

"Right about what?" Janelle asked as she took a sip.

"I won't say everything, but just enough things to annoy you. And you know what the most annoying thing is?"

"What?"

"She knows it."

"Oh."

"My dear cousin has had me and Lewis going down the aisle since the second week in gym class all those years ago. And like Jonah in the Bible, I ran. There were a few times, two or three, actually, where I wanted to show her what I really thought of her prediction, but one thing stopped me."

"And that was?"

"That she may be right, or is right, whatever."

"Well it worked out in the end, at least."

"Janelle, let me tell you one thing about me. I am polite, I am usually kind, I am normally open-minded, and my judo is good. Of course it should be, I have practiced it most of my life. But there are a few things ' just a few ' that I am very stubborn with. My faith is one of them, family and friends are another, and Lewis is or was definitely a third one. I didn't want to share him, yet I didn't want to date him. I did not want to date him, yet I would spend hours on the phone with him when he was away at school or visiting his family (oh, and they knew too). We did not date, but we would have breakfast, lunch, and dinner together. We did not date, but I could not picture living a life without him.

"At one time he received an invitation to join a health spa, but I forbid it because I did not like the people, the stuck up snobs there. He did not either, but I was more vocal about it. We would go on trips together, with separate rooms, of course. We would not, I repeat, would not get an apartment unless we could get two next to each other. The last one worked only because he lived directly above me."

"Offhand I would always say you two were almost practically married already, without being married," Janelle said.

"Neither one of us believed in living together, and we would not even if we did. One of my relatives had a baby, so I rushed over to see them. The first thing they said upon seeing me was "where's Lewis?' I argued the invitation said "family only.' And I remember that proud mother of a beautiful baby girl looked me in the eye and said, "he is family. Go get him.' I looked around, and everyone was telling me, "what are you waiting for?' So I got in my car, drove all the way back home, practically dragged Lewis out of his apartment, threw him in the car, and drove back. Then everybody was happy. My own family, Janelle."

"What about his family?"

"Almost as bad. He would just change the subject or feed them more food. They were easier to keep quiet. But I digress. Nicholas Bennett is the answer you are looking for."

Janelle displayed a confused expression on her face. "Who's Nicholas Bennett?" She asked.

"A very handsome black attorney from Indianapolis. We met when I was still involved in politics. I thought his mind was as attractive as the rest of him. He also liked my thoughts and ideas, and to put it bluntly, we were hot for one another.

"After work one evening, we saw a play, and then had dinner. Let me add that I did not tell Lewis any of this. We were normally open when it came to telling the other who we dated. We'd normally have some complaint or remark about the other's date, but we did it anyway. But this night, I did not tell Lewis a thing.

"The play was fantastic, and the food was delicious. Then we dropped by my workplace where my car was."

"Let me guess, so Lewis couldn't see you," Janelle added.

"Precisely. I even had an alibi ready, even though I really had no reason for one. We talked about many things, and then the subject of candy came up, particularly chocolate."

"I think I can see where this is going," Janelle said.

"You catch on quickly," LS continued. "As soon as I mentioned I like all things chocolate, Lewis appeared briefly in my mind. I have always had an attraction to black men, Kim does too, and one of the reasons was they are the color of chocolate. Lewis also knows about at least a hundred ways to fix chocolate. Of course Nicholas melted like chocolate when I gave him my look and the reference to that blessed confection, but it didn't stop there.

"You know those times in a relationship or date that you look at the man and mentally or verbally mention the good points? Well that was where things went terribly wrong. He put his arm around me, and we snuggled. He put a CD in his player-"

"Who was it?" Janelle asked.

"Luther Vandross."

"Oh my!"

"As we listened to "A House is Not a Home,' I thought this man was handsome, and a voice in the back of my mind said, "like Lewis.' I thought this man was intelligent, like Lewis. He had a good heart, like Lewis. I even went materialistic to shut my little voice up by thinking this man is an up and coming lawyer. Lewis at this point was doing well with his business, so I could not use that. I was getting scared. Finally Nicholas pulled me over and said, "I've always wondered what your lips would taste like.' I wondered the same thing about his, but then I realized it was not really his lips I was thinking about, it was Lewis'.

"I broke loose, apologized profusely, and left the car to run to my own. I sped to my apartment, ran up the stairs, locked the door, took the house phone off the hook, turned off my cell phone, dropped to my knees in the middle of my living room, and cried. I decided I was not going to be dating much anymore. I did only a few times after that, and the same thing would happen.

"One day, after I have already left politics to start my own dojo and my own plans for cleaning the streets, I said enough of this. The man you want in your life is upstairs, and everybody knows it but you. After you take care of this street scum who threatened your godchild, you take care of him, for the rest of your life."

"The rest of your life," Janelle repeated.

"You know, it has been said that senior citizens take less time in courtship because they know what they want by then. When I woke up, swallowed my pride and admitted Kim was right, along with everyone else, I knew this was the man I wanted to live with, bear our children, and grow old with."

LS realized the intensity of her voice was drawing attention, so she apologized to the nearby tables.

"You have nothing to apologize for, young lady," an older woman at one of the tables said. "You followed your heart."

"I guess I did," LS replied. Turning back to Janelle, she said, "Anyway, from there, I believe you know the rest of the story; the "gang' I organized, our adventure with the councilman, and my wedding. Since the day Lewis and I finally became a couple, I thank God everyday I did not mess this up because of my foolish pride."

"Wow. What was Lewis' take on all this?" Janelle asked.

"He believes while there are some things you work for, other things you can not, you let them come to you. Regarding me and our unusual situation, he was not sure what to do, so he kept working. Because of his efforts, his name became a household word over the internet and the state of Indiana, but he couldn't figure it out."

"I can understand the power of frustration. I have advanced in judo and have started and grew my dojo because of it," Janelle mused.

"Really? That is interesting; I can not wait to hear it," LS said as she drank her tea, missing the shocked expression on Janelle's face. When she finished her sip, Janelle returned to her standard facial expression.

"You've talked about your craving for "chocolate,'" Janelle said, maintaining to stay on the present topic, "so did Lewis always have "a taste for the Orient?'"

LS grinned. "I like that. Actually, his taste in women was rather broad. Red, yellow, black and white, all were precious in his sight. He would not step outside of religious boundaries; that was one of his guidelines. That became a problem when a Jewish chef pursued him once. But he had variety."

LS giggled and took another sip of her tea. "You must hear this story. Not long after that incident with my date, Lewis snuck off on his own one night."

"'Snuck off'"

"Yes, without my "permission,'" LS laughed. "Lewis normally ran his business at home, so I always knew where he was at. I was doing some paperwork regarding some exit poll or something; it was frustrating and took forever. Meanwhile, Lewis left out the back way where I could not hear or see him. I thought he was baking cookies."

She stopped when she saw Janelle holding her sides, laughing.

"You know how funny this sounds?" Janelle said.

"Yes I do, now. When I told Kim and Jasmine the same story, Jasmine laughed until her face turned red, and I thought Kim would lay an egg. At the time, I thought they were being cruel.

"Lewis was going out with another chef, of all things, that he met at a culinary convention. Sandy was her name and she looked similar to Sheba, except she had more of a runner's figure. They ate at a restaurant they both liked, and saw a movie. They had a good time. They were walking through the park talking, when Lewis looked at his watch, and said, "it's late, I better get home; LS will be worried about me.'"

"He said that out loud?" Janelle asked.

"Yeah, he could not believe it either. As you would expect, Sandy asked, "who's LS?' and he had to think of something fast. He finally told her "LS' was his neurotic cocker spaniel who will go nuts if he stayed out too late. The night went downhill from there.

"When he came home, he unlocked the front door to find me sitting in his living room in my nightshirt. We had copies of each other's house keys at that time for emergencies. After he came in, I stood up and said, quote: "it is late, Lewis. Where were you? I was getting worried about you.' He suddenly had a look of surprise on his face. It took me about an hour to get the story from him. I really gave him grief about the cocker spaniel explanation. He hardly dated after that, and I kept a closer tab on his whereabouts. The man could not draw breath without my knowing where he was."

"So you gave him the third degree?" Janelle asked.

"To put it rather mildly, yes I did," LS replied.

Lewis slowly trudged up the stairs to his apartment. It was late, close to one in the morning. Why, oh why did he say that? He could have said it was getting late, he had to work in the morning, but no, he had to say LS would be worried about him. And did his date believe his hasty explanation? Nah, if he were her, he wouldn't believe it either. In any case, it was good to be home. At least LS didn't find out about this.

As he opened the door, he saw his evening take another turn for the worse. LS sat on his couch in an oversized blue nightshirt, one leg crossed over the other, toes wiggling with the crossed leg swinging up and down. Reading the signs, he saw this was not going to be good.

LS rose up deliberately and stood facing Lewis. "It is late, Lewis. Where were you? I was getting worried about you," she said.

Lewis was surprised. He didn't expect it, but she said what he said word for word. Still, she didn't have to know what he was doing.

"So what are you doing up late?" He asked, attempting to steer her away from the subject. He smoothly took off his jacket and hung it in the closet, or tried to. He suddenly couldn't find the hangers.

"Before I went to bed, I came up here to see how your baking was going, and to remind you not to work too hard. I did not have to worry about that at least, because nothing was going on when I came up here. I could not smell a thing," LS explained. "But you do not turn in early unless forced to, so I came back down to my place, grabbed the spare key and returned. I became even more concerned when I saw a clean kitchen."

Lewis inwardly kicked himself for agreeing to the idea of holding each other's spare keys. It wasn't a bad idea at the time.

"In fact, the whole place was quiet," LS continued. "So I was not sure what to do. I thought about calling your cell phone, but then I thought, hey, maybe he has a good explanation for being gone at eleven o'clock at night, so I will wait here until he shows up. And here you are, two hours later. So, where were you?"

Lewis walked to his recliner and sat down. Maybe handling this coolly would be the way to do it. "I went out for a little while, that's all," he said.

"You went out," she repeated. "You went out." LS walked to the door, and Lewis thought she was leaving. Instead, she opened the door and looked at him.

"Let me show you something." LS stepped out in the hallway. "This is out." She stepped back in the apartment. "This is in." She closed the door hard enough to empathize her point. "Of course you were "out,' any moron can see that. My question is out where? And furthermore, why were you out late?"

"Really, LS, it's no big deal," Lewis replied as he attempted to rise out of his chair, but LS lightly, but firmly placed a hand on his chest and pushed him back down. Next, she placed a hand on each armrest and looked him in the eye.

"Where . . . were . . . you?" She demanded.

Lewis looked elsewhere to avoid her gaze, but it still felt like they were twin lasers burning into him.

"You are not leaving this chair, let alone this room, unless you tell me why you were out," she breathed. "And unlike you, I have to get up and go somewhere out of my apartment to work in the morning; so you had better tell me soon, or I might get upset."

Lewis couldn't take anymore. "I was on a date, all right? A little date!" Lewis blurted out. He felt rather than saw LS withdraw to the other end of the room.

"A date. Why did you not say so?" LS said much more subdued if not calmer. "That is all?"

Lewis blew out the air he didn't realize he was holding in. "Yeah, that's all. Sorry I didn't tell you sooner," he said as he got out of his chair.

"Sit down, Lewis."

Lewis sat down.

"Tell me."

"Tell you what? I already told you what I did tonight."

"No, tell me about your date."

"Oh, it was nice," Lewis admitted.

"No. Tell me about your date. It must be pretty good for it to last so long. Tell me everything."

"Uh LS, you have to get up in the morning, right?"

LS sat down on the sofa. "Then you better get started," she said.

And Lewis did just that. He found himself confessing to everything he said and did that night, even down to the remark of who LS was to his date.

"A cocker spaniel," LS mused. "Of all the hundreds of breeds of dogs, you chose a cocker spaniel. I would prefer a chow, perhaps a hound, a German Shepherd, a Doberman Pincher, a Golden Retriever; even a Pit Bull Terrier. But no, you chose a Cocker Spaniel. I thought you thought better of me than that."

"What's wrong with cocker spaniels?" Lewis asked.

"Cocker Spaniels are "yappers.' They bark at everything and everybody. And they have no bite."

"But LS, I came up with the first breed I could think of."

"No matter. Now the next time you go out on a date, you tell me whom it is. You don't need to tell me where you're going, I trust you'll go someplace respectful, and come home at a decent time. You run a business, you do not act like a teenager out of high school," LS began. "And one more thing. If you ever, ever, sneak out of this place and stay out late, you should spend the night someplace else, because you do not want to see me when you open this door at one in the morning. Is that clear?"

"But LS, I'm a grown man, and I think I-"

"Is that clear?"

"But LS-"

LS was standing in front of the chair, glaring at him.

"Is ' that ' clear?" She repeated slowly.

Realizing resistance may be fatal, Lewis gulped and said, "Yes."

"Good." LS marched to the door. "I will be here for breakfast in the morning. And for your sake, it better be a good one." And then she closed the door, hard.

It took Lewis half a minute before he realized he could get up and breathe normally again. He went to lock the door, but saw that LS had already done so. He slowly walked to the bedroom.

"Good thing she wasn't upset," he said aloud.

"He told me later that he was terrified of me the next three days. He was almost afraid to leave the apartment for his morning jog until I went to work."

"But you didn't hold it over his head, did you?" Janelle asked.

LS grinned slyly.

"Oh LS, you're awful!"

"I only did it for three days. I thought that was long enough for him to get the message. After that, I started being nice to him again. But he has not been out late since, and he made sure I knew where he went. And he was home when I expected him to be."

Janelle chuckled and shook her head. "Wow. Well, your life itself makes a rather interesting story, without the adventure we've been on a month or so ago," she said, rising in her seat. "We sat here so long, we're about to grow roots. This was a great dinner; we'll need to do this again real soon. I'll take care of the bill."

LS calmly took another sip of tea, a slight grin on her face. "We are not through yet," she said.

"Not through yet? What more is there?"

"You think I provided the two of us this block of time so I can hear myself talk? Sometimes when I think of all this, I can barely believe it myself, but I already knew this. Now it is time for you to tell me your story, your saga of how you got where you are, and especially your story of how you met your husband to be. Please, have a seat."

Janelle slowly sat down in her seat.

"Oh dear," she said.

End of Part One

Part Two: Janelle Edwards

[Author's Note: For those who may be familiar with LS's character, I sort of went about this backwards in a fashion. It was just interesting finding out what made her tick. For those who aren't familiar, Love Story Chang (Spaulding) can be found in the stories: And Now It's Time For a "Short' Story, The Thrill of the Hunt, and Barefoot Heroines. Reading those stories should make things clearer.]

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.

Any comments, suggestions, or story ideas, email the author at shrewsberry@juno.com.

#2009, Barefoot Heroines, Inc.