It's Not Nice to Anger a Sumo Wrestler

But somebody did

In one of the auxiliary gyms at the midwestern college, Kelly Temple and his girlfriend, Vickie Sanders arrived. Kelly was a junior and a right guard for the school's football team. He stood at 5'11", and 200 pounds. He had short blond hair. Kelly was a junior too, and a cheerleader. With her long blond hair, she had the typical cheerleader build at 5'7".

Like a number of people on campus, they were invited to see the exhibition ladies sumo-wrestling match a week and a half ago. Like most of the people there, Kelly was impressed, but Vickie was not. In fact, she wasted no time making her way to the cluster of wrestlers and telling them their sport was no better than professional wrestling. She also said that she would challenge any wrestler (she was careful to leave out the heavyweights) to a sumo match, best of three matches. When she asked for takers on that wager, the wrestlers looked at each other and grinned. Apparently they received challenges like this all the time. Two of the lightweight wrestlers, two members of the gymnastic team, debated taking her on, but one woman raised her hand and said "I'll do it," in a bored voice. She gave Vickie the time and place. Vickie agreed, then Kelly wisely dragged her away before she started to lecture them on the benefits of good nutrition and exercise. Vickie's outspokenness had gotten them into trouble before.

"She's not here yet. Maybe she chickened out," Vickie said as they looked around. The center of the gym floor had one of those mats that were normally used for the school's wrestling team.

"Honey, we got here ten minutes early, of course she's not here yet," Kelly replied. "I'm surprised you even went back there and challenged those women."

"Well it's the principle of the thing. As a football player, you workout every day. As a cheerleader, I workout everyday. And now we have these women who do nothing but push each other around and call it a sport. For training, they probably do nothing but eat all day."

"Vickie, what did we say about making assumptions?"

"One of the women that night stood about six foot four, and she's huge! You can't tell me she got that way from taking Slim-Fast!#"

"Maybe you should've challenged her," Kelly muttered to himself.

"What's that?"

"Maybe you should've asked them what their training regiment is. It might surprise you."

"Doubt it," a voice said.

Both of them turned their heads as a door opened on the opposite side of the gym. In stepped an attractive, Vietnamese-American woman who stood about 5'5". Her body was of a heavy build that was not overweight, but sturdy, like a wrestler or weightlifter. Her medium-length black hair was pulled back, exposing an attractive face. She wore a blue sports bra and a mawashi, the traditional belt that was worn in sumo matches. She was also barefoot with blue toenails, but this didn't alarm Vickie so much as the belt did.

"Hello, I'm Pam," she said.

"You're going to wrestle in that?" Vickie replied, pointing at Pam's belt. Kelly meekly waved in greeting.

"Well it's a good thing I'm not a man, or I'm one of those underground women sumo wrestlers in Japan, because that's all I would be wearing," Pam stated with a smirk. "Relax, I'm wearing a bikini bottom under it. Are you going to wrestle in that?" She pointed to Vickie's gray sweatshirt, black sweatpants, white socks, and white athletic shoes.

"Yeah, what's wrong with it?"

"Nothing, I guess." Pam gave another smirk, looking at Vickie's shoes. "I bet you're a "tenderfoot,' aren't you?"

"A tenderfoot? What's that?"

"One who wears shoes all the time. I bet you wouldn't dare leave your bedroom door before at least putting some slippers on. I bet the thought of going barefoot makes you ill."

"Well I'm not a savage, I wear shoes all the time."

"Savage, right. A tenderfoot, you can always tell. You don't know what you're missing. Anyway, before we get started, there were a few things you said that night at our exhibition I'd like to address. You repeated some of these things when you arrived in the gym tonight. I heard you in the locker room. In fact, I'm sure if there were people in the locker room of the other gym, they would've heard you too."

Kelly moaned. He warned Vickie about talking too loud. Her voice carries.

"First, we workout strenuously several hours a day, at least five days a week. This includes agility, sparring, weight training, and cardio. Especially cardio. Our matches may not be long, but they take up a lot of energy. And yes, we do eat, but we work on turning every calorie into muscle. This is where we part company with the traditional male sumo wrestlers. Instead of taking a nap after we eat, making them heavier and uh, fatter, we lift weights, making us stronger. Sure it makes us bigger, but not as grotesque as you claim. Don't your defensive players do the same, uh, Kelly, is it?"

"Oh, yes, true," Kelly said hastily. He was too busy listening. Vickie deserved this lecture.

"Second, sumo has been a so-called "sport' for over three thousand years, longer than a number of civilizations. The sport alone contains roughly ninety different moves to disrupting your opponent's balance and getting them out of the ring. That's a little more involved than "pushing each other,' eh?

"And while Steffi is not here to defend herself, I can tell you no, she didn't get that way from Slim-Fast, she got that way from working out regularly."

"And what about you?" Vickie asked scornfully.

"What about me? I work out too, five days a week. I may not lift with my arms as much as your boyfriend here, but I bet I can run a fifty-yard dash as fast as some people on the track team, and I'm quite flexible. I can do the splits like a cheerleader or anyone on the gymnastics team. I am not a freak, I am an athlete, same as your boyfriend. Now if there's no more questions, are we ready?"

"How do we do this again?"

"Your task is to either take me off my feet, or get me out of the ring. Blows are not allowed."

"'My task?' What about you?"

"Oh I know what I'm going to do. Get ready."

Kelly walked to some nearby bleachers and sat down. He remembered his friend Lenny was going to challenge one of these ladies until he was jumped by some punks. In any case, this should not take long. He didn't know why his girlfriend had to act so cocky. She won't even admit she's wrong when she does stuff like this. He learned to just let her get it out of her system, then life will get back to normal again.

Both ladies walked to opposite sides of the circle; Pam sat in a squat waiting for her opponent to get into position. Vickie finally settled for getting into a three-point position, similar to a football player's stance. Pam just smiled to herself as she put both fists down on the mat as she squatted further and opened her legs.

"Kelly, would you be kind enough to say go, please?" Pam asked.

"Yeah, sure. Ready, set, go!" He said.

Vickie shot out of her spot, performing the standard amateur ploy of running, then giving a simple push. Pam just braced herself. To Vickie, the encounter felt like running into a boulder. She found herself bouncing off and staggering back a few feet. Pam just turned and walked back to her spot. Vickie was about to ask what the problem was when she looked down and saw the edge of the circle. It was already over. She'll need to try something else in the next match. Kelly managed to control himself from breaking out in laughter, but it wasn't easy. He wished he brought a video camera with him.

"One down," Pam said.

"One down, that was it?" Vickie argued. "You just stood there! Is there a fancy sumo name for that?"

"For what I did, no. But for what you did, we like to call it, "The Beginner's Bump.' It's what a lot of challengers like yourself do the first time you encounter us. Even we have been guilty of doing it the first time in training camps. It's like that three move checkmate in chess. Sometimes it works if the conditions are right, but usually it ends up being embarrassing for the challenger. You all right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Let's do it again," Vickie growled, shaking it off.

Pam shrugged and returned to her ready stance. Vickie decided to copy that stance. When Kelly yelled go, Vickie rushed forward quickly, but a little more tentative. She attempted to push Pam, but it was still like pushing a small tree. Pam lunged forward and grasped Vickie around the waist. She straightened her legs, lifting the cheerleader up. It was then a simple matter for the sumo wrestler to carry her the three or more steps outside the ring. She gently set her down.

"What . . . what . . ." Vickie huffed.

"What was that? That was a tsuridashi. If you wore a belt like I'm wearing, I would've gripped it by the sides and carried you that way; but I didn't want to give you a wedgie, so I did a bear hug instead. By the way, that's already two in a row, so I won. We can do a third match if you want, so its up to you," Pam explained.

While Vickie was thinking about it, Kelly couldn't hold it in any longer. He burst out laughing, catching the attention of both women. Vickie glared at him, but Pam was curious.

"What's so funny, Kelly?" She asked.

"Ha, ha, ha, wedgie. Ha, ha, ha . . ." He managed to squeeze out. Pam smirked.

"Yes, we're going to do one more match, but I don't want any of this pushing or being carried out of the ring. I want you to throw me," Vickie demanded.

"What?" Pam said.

"What?" Kelly said.

"Vickie, this mat is rather hard; you could get hurt," Pam replied.

"I can take it, question is can you?" Vickie said. "It's nothing for you to stand there, push, or pick somebody up and carry them, but how well can you throw me?"

"Vickie, I've thrown people heavier than me."

"But you've never took me on before. I bet you can't."

Pam looked over at Kelly, who just shrugged.

"All right, let's get it over with," Pam sighed.

They went to their separate spots and prepared to go at it again. To her credit, Vickie tried as hard as she could to push Pam or trip her. If Pam was affected, it didn't show. Finally, Pam performed a modified uwatenage by getting a grip on the outside of Vickie's arm, and a grip on the waist of her sweatpants, and threw her down on the mat. Pam tried to lessen the throw as much as possible, but gravity was still a harsh mistress, taking Vickie down hard.

Aside from the stars Vickie was seeing, her whole world consisted of the lights hanging from the ceiling. From a side view, Pam poked her head into her field of vision and asked, "Are you okay?"

Vickie decided to wait until she saw only one of Pam's heads before answering. "Yeah, I'm alright," she grunted.

"I tried to lessen the impact as much as possible, but unless you knew how to breakfall, it would still hurt. Now are you convinced about how much training it takes to be a sumo wrestler?"

"Yes," Vickie admitted, "But how are you at regular wrestling?"

"Oh Vickie, for Pete's sake!" Kelly exclaimed. "She already proved she's the real deal. She carried you and threw you, what more do you want?"

"I believe her," Vickie huffed, "but I kind of wondered how they would do at uh, normal wrestling."

"Honey, I'm sure, like "normal' people, she has places to go and people to see."

"Actually," Pam interjected, "our coach has taught us some "normal' wrestling moves and has us do some freestyle wrestling to keep us limber, blow off steam, and have fun. If I wasn't busy with sumo, I'd join the wrestling team. Many of our wrestlers have a martial arts background, so we get together and learn new moves. I warn you though, I am quite good, if I may say so. Regarding time, I can do a quick round, if you don't mind an extra guest." She cocked her head to the opening of the door. "Ah, here he is now."

As the door opened, a 6'4" black man walked in. he had the build of a football offensive lineman, which was because he was a football offensive lineman. He came to Pam.

"Hey Pam," he said.

"Hi baby," Pam replied as they briefly kissed.

Shock registered in the eyes of both Vickie and Kelly.

"Brad?" Kelly said.

"Hey Kelly, hey Vickie," Brad replied.

The first thing Kelly was about to ask was "what are you doing here,' but from the kiss, that was obvious. Vickie, to Kelly's amazement was subtler.

"So how long have you two been going out?" She asked.

"I'd say shortly after that exhibition match," Pam giggled, "like that night."

"Yeah, after I ditched the two friends I was with, we went out for pizza," Brad continued. "I had to get her quick."

"I told you I didn't want those other three guys; I wanted you, baby," Pam said.

"Yeah, but sometimes you have to eliminate the competition before they have a chance to strike."

Pam shook her head at the football analogy, and said, "We already got the sumo stuff out of the way; Vickie and I were going to do a round of regular wrestling."

Brad suddenly grew still. "You sure that's wise, honey?"

"Relax baby, I got this."
Vickie, who was waiting patiently (a minor feat for her at times) was surprised that Pam and Brad were seeing each other, but not shocked or offended that Brad broke up with Meagan, a fellow cheerleader. Though they got along civil, Vickie didn't like Meagan. She thought she was too much of a diva or prima donna, and had told Kelly so in private a few times. At least, she hoped, Pam was a better caliber of woman.

"Ready whenever you are," she told Pam.

"Okay, here are the rules ' wait a minute, have you ever wrestled?" Pam asked.

"Oh yes; me and the other cheerleaders like to tumble around a little bit every now and then. I'm also quite good, if I may say so."

"Okay, we wrestle until there's a pin or verbal submission, and no blows or hair pulling. Ready?"

"Yeah," Vickie replied as both women turned to Kelly.

"Oh, uh, go!" Kelly said.

As the two women engaged, Brad sat by Kelly.

"What happened with you and Meagan? I thought you two were doing pretty good," Kelly asked.

"Going out with her was like dealing with fine china," Brad replied.

"Isn't that a good thing?"

"No, it's like if you touch her the wrong way, she'll break. I was amazed she's still a cheerleader with all that physical contact."

"What physical contact? Aside from being lifted up and tossed occasionally, all they do is cheer and shake their pom-poms a lot. The real ones, that is, not the-"

"I know what you mean. But you'd think she'd ran a marathon after she got through with practice. Plus she wanted me to do everything for her because she's so "fragile.' What really did it for me was when I took her to my momma's for dinner."

"Your mom? What happened?"

"She wouldn't eat! She only ate some mashed potatoes and some salad. She didn't want to "blimp out.'"

Kelly shook his head. "I ate your mama's cooking. It's a crime to not eat it."

"That was it. My mama asked me later what she lived on. I said I don't know, I've never seen her eat more than a bag of popcorn."

"I bet you don't have that problem with Pam," Kelly joked.

Brad laughed. "You know it! When I took her to mama's, she asked for seconds and thirds. Mama was so happy. Pam said she wasn't worried because what she ate she would either burn off or turn into muscle."

"Yeah, she's pretty strong."

"She could carry me to one end of this gym and back."

"Really?"

"And she told me she's not the strongest woman on her team."

"Well I wouldn't want to mess with them."

"Yeah; I wish some people would have learned that. The best part about her is she doesn't "break." I'm a boyfriend, not a loyal servant."

"It looks like your girlfriend just trashed mine ' again."

The wrestling match was almost as quick as the sumo matches. Both women were facing off when suddenly Pam rushed in, lifted Vickie up, and sent her to the ground, where she then flipped her on her stomach. She locked Vickie's arms in a full nelson, while she locked her legs in a double grapevine. Even Vickie had to admit she was outmatched.

"Okay, I give up, let me go!" She said.

"Say please," Pam suggested.

"All right, please let me go."

"A little bit of manners goes a long way," Pam said. "A pity you gave up so soon. It was almost time for the bone breaking." She saw Vickie's shocked look. "I'm only kidding," she laughed, slapping Vickie's back.

"Yeah, let's not joke about that. I still think about what you did to Lenny," Brad said.

"You beat up Lenny? What did you do that for?" Kelly said.

"Dude, he was trying to beat me up. You want me to stand there and act like a punching bag?" Pam replied.

"But he said some punks from another school got him," Pam replied.

"No, I attend this school. But if it makes him feel better to say people from elsewhere got him, so be it. He just better think twice about touching me or even looking my way again."

When they first entered the gym, Vickie saw Pam as a poser, a pretender to the athletic community; now she recognized her ability and concerning Lenny, an ally. "How did it happen?" She asked.

"He challenged me like you did, and we met here. Brad was at a meeting, and wouldn't show up until later. We did three matches, which all ended up with me throwing him off his feet. I don't understand how he ended up on the defensive line with no balance. Anyway, he got mad, hit me in the stomach, pushed me down when he found out he didn't hurt my stomach any, and started to take his belt off. He started calling me a number of names I refuse to repeat, including "fat,' and said he was going to show me "what a real woman needs.'"

"What did you do?"

"I got up and punched him in the stomach," Pam replied. "I may not have a visible six-pack, but my core muscles are solid; can't say the same for his. Then I locked an arm and leg around him and threw him to the floor hard."

"A kakenage!" Brad exclaimed.

"Good to know you're learning your Japanese, babe," Pam replied with a wink. "I then sat on his chest, and as Brad's mom would put it, "beat the living tar out of him.' I started on his face, his ribs, and one of his arms. I was getting ready to take care of one of his legs when Brad came in and begged me to spare him."

"Lenny was a bloody mess when I came in and stopped her," Brad replied. "When she told me what he did, I let her go, but he was running to the door."

"Not before I tackled him and almost wrenched his left arm off," Pam smirked.

"I, I can't believe Lenny would do that," Kelly said in disbelief. "He's a classy guy, he couldn't do that."

Vickie turned to Kelly and said, "Yes, he would, Kelly. He has hit on all of the cheerleaders, including me. And those I know he went out with, he's very rough with. The ones I knew escaped, but it would've been only a matter of time. At least it would've been, before Pam took care of him."

"That's my girl!" Brad said, embracing Pam, who just displayed a slight grin.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Kelly asked. "I can't believe Lenny would do that."

"Because of what you just said, you can't believe it. Besides, did you ever wonder why I started asking you to walk me from cheerleader practice?" Vickie replied. "He wasn't going to hit on any of us with our boyfriends around, or if we hung around together, but as soon as one of us was alone, he'd go into action faster than our quarterback on an open field. I guess he was going to get Pam because her group is pretty popular now, and she was alone."

"Our coach told us that might be a problem after she heard about the attempted rape of a sumo wrestler in Indianapolis. The woman managed to get away, but our coach asked those with martial arts or wrestling backgrounds to teach those without those backgrounds to defend themselves if need be," Pam said. "The advice spread like wildfire to the other sumo teams. I already had a wrestling background."

"No disrespect, Pam, but I can't see too many people wanting to mess with you or most of the other sumo wrestlers around here. I know you told me Lenny tried something, but I think he was half-crazy to begin with," Kelly stated.

"Actually I take that as a compliment," Pam reflected. "He may have chosen me because as a middleweight, I'm a little more "bite-sized.' The lightweights are very quick, and of course, no one messes with the heavyweights."

Vickie came over and extended her hand to Pam. "Well you convinced me; you ladies are athletes," she said. "Now that I think of it, I'm glad none of the heavyweights accepted my challenge," she said.

"Oh they're not too bad; it's the lightweights you have to look out for. They're fast and vicious, and will slam you faster than anything. I didn't want to leave you at the mercy of the gymnasts who joined our team," Pam joked, accepting her hand and giving it a firm shake.

"Okay, now that everyone bonded, let's get out of here. Kelly and Vickie, come with us," Brad said.

"Where are we going?" Kelly asked.

"Why someplace to eat, of course!"

"Yeah, you two should get along great," Kelly replied in a low voice as the women headed toward the locker rooms. "All you can eat?"

"Oh yeah," Brad said as he slapped Kelly on the back.

"And tomorrow, I'm going to have a little talk with Lenny."

"Let it go man, you remember the coach's law on fights. I want to paste him too, but we'll be in more trouble than he would. Besides, if you saw the way Pam was whaling away on him, if I was any later, he'd be in traction or worse. It's taken care of."

"I guess it's not nice to tick off a sumo wrestler," Kelly remarked.

"You know it!"

Meantime, as Pam retreated to the locker room to shower and change, while Vickie came along to use the restroom.

"Vickie, I just want you to know if Lenny or anyone else gives you or the cheerleaders any trouble, let us know; we've got your back," Pam said.

"Thanks; apparently you ladies know how to take care of men like that," Vickie replied.

"I could tell you a few stories."

After she showered, Pam put on tan khaki pants cut mid-calf, a white T-shirt, and an ankle bracelet. She still wore no shoes.

"Will they let you in, even if you're-"

"Barefoot?" Pam interrupted. "You'd be surprised how many don't look down at your feet at places like this. Besides, we're talking about two football players and a sumo wrestler going to a restaurant. We're good for business; they'd be crazy to turn us away over a silly thing like shoes."

"Hey, I can put it away too," Vickie protested. "Hey don't look at me like that, I have a fast metabolism."

"Perhaps we should go to that Chinese restaurant and see how many egg rolls you can put away," Pam suggested with an evil grin.

"You're on!"

Later that evening, Pam strolled up to the front steps of her dormitory. Overall, it was a good evening. She got a little exercise, and made two friends. Kelly was a pretty nice guy, and Vickie was pretty nice too, once you got past her hyper-competitive streak. Pam couldn't find it in her heart to really slam her during those three matches. Like a lot of people, she was ignorant of what went into sumo wrestling; it's the very arrogant who deserved being slammed to the mat, like the man she nearly beat to a pulp not too long ago. She had her suspicions about Lenny when she took up his challenge, but she thought she could handle it. She did, but not in the way she expected. Considering he didn't immediately quit the football team, or go into hiding, but instead came up with a heroic sob story about him fighting street thugs, there was a possibility he may come back to settle the score. She did not tell Brad this. He was a real sweetheart, but he would feel duty bound to escort her everywhere; not that it would be a bad thing necessarily, but she could take care of herself.

It was still early in the relationship, but Brad was a man with a number of good qualities, and the potential for a relationship beyond mere dating was there. She wished she could've met his late father, and she loved his mother. She could cook! Not only that, she was a woman nobody messed with. Pam thought about the story Brad told her when his dad was away on business, and he and two burglars confronted his mom. They wielded switchblades, but they were no match for mama's cast iron skillet. A concussion and a broken jaw later, Brad called 911, and proceeded to call everyone he knew about how his mom used her skillet like a Jedi master.

Pam was still reflecting on that story when she thought she saw a stirring in one of the large bushes. A moment later, Lenny appeared, leering at her in the moonlight.

"Hello Pam, we have a couple of things to discuss," he said.

"The only reason we have "unfinished business' is because my boyfriend pulled me off before I could finish it," Pam replied.

There was a moment's pause before Lenny finally said, "You got lucky."

"Lucky, eh?" Pam mused. "I heard quite a bit about your "finesse' with the ladies. What's wrong, can't find a date?"

"You think you're really something, don't you? You, a fancy sumo wrestler going out with a star football player. I guess you're going to get married and make little brown plump, slant-eyed babies, huh?"

Now Pam was angry. "Lenny, get out of the bushes and leave here now!" She exploded.

"I'm going to beat you like a dog, no, wait a minute, you eat them where you come from, don't you?"

"I'm from Muncie, and I have a chow at home. Save your insults for someone who's not born in this country," Pam remarked.

"I'll make you so ugly, Brad won't want you anymore."

"The only thing that saved you last time was Brad, but now he's not here. You're mine now," Pam replied with a slight smirk.

"Oh yeah? Well think again, b-ahh!"

Again, just like their last meeting, Lenny underestimated Pam's speed and power. The sumotori or female sumo wrestler rushed him, slamming a shoulder into his chest, and grabbed his left leg to execute a classic, one-leg takedown. Lenny landed hard on his back, the small knife he had hidden, bouncing out of his hand. Once her prey hit the ground, Pam straddled him. She remembered from last time how much she hammered his ribs, so she resumed her punishment with piston-like punches. For variety, when he least expected it, she would deliver a hard slap that would rock him.

For Lenny, this was obviously not going the way he planned it. He wanted revenge on the only woman able to oppose him, but again he forgot her strength. He tried to buck her off, but each movement made his ribs feel like they were on fire. On top of that, she started directing her punches upward, hitting the upper chest and head. Being on a college campus, Lenny tried a last desperate attempt to save himself.

"Help!" He yelled, hoping campus security or anyone would hear him. Pam responded by pressing a forearm against his throat.

"Calling for help against little ole' me?" Pam hissed in his ear. "Surely I can't be hurting you that much, a big, strong football player like you." She pressed further with her forearm, making Lenny gurgle.

When it looked like Lenny's face would turn blue, Pam released some of the pressure and continued. "Back in my hometown, I had a friend who was raped by someone like you, except he was a basketball player. I wasn't as strong as I am now, but me and two of my friends weren't going to let this pass. So one day after practice, we caught him as he was about to enter his car. After we got through with him, well, let's just say he wasn't able to play basketball that year. We had him promise not to tell that we three girls did it, lest we finish the job.

"I heard about how you treat the women around here, especially the athletes and cheerleaders. And frankly, I don't like what I've heard; so you need to be taught a lesson."

Pam punctuated her point with a couple of left and right crosses to the face, and a few knees to the ribs. Lenny attempted to plead for mercy. Pam answered with another slap.

"You know, I must thank you for coming to meet me like this; it saved me the trouble of having to track you down. I really can't stand men like you."

Pam scooted up and situated herself sideways so she would have one knee on his right arm, and the other on his throat. After applying a few more blows to his solar plexus and choking him a little more, Pam bent down and whispered in his ear once more.

"You're not going to make it to practice tomorrow," she said, "or the next day. You're going to be out for a while. You'll be able to play football again ' eventually, but I want you to remember that if I hear of any woman on campus being mishandled by you, you will regret it. And those two friends of mine I told you about? They're sumo wrestlers too, and they're not as nice as I am. If you get by me, one of them will catch you.

"One more thing. I would rather you don't tell Brad about this. He's a very sweet man, and he'll become my husband one day. I really don't want to have him burdened with the tragic loss of a fellow player, okay? Now, let's finish this."

With a last surge of energy, Lenny bucked Pam off his stomach. His victory was very short-lived when Pam responded with a left straight punch to the face, causing blood to flow from his nose. She then leapt forward, cradling his neck in a reverse headlock, which she converted to a choke. With her free hand and knee, she delivered more blows to Lenny's side. Lest she unintentionally break his neck, Pam released the hold and stood up, only to deliver full-powered stomps to the body and face. When she was sure she delivered enough injury to one leg, an arm, and the face, not to mention several bruised or cracked ribs, she looked at Lenny's face, which was contorted in silent agony. Seeing she did enough, she placed a bare foot on his face, smothering him.

After he lost consciousness, Pam peered her head over the bushes. No one was around. She always liked this dormitory for its quiet location, and on that night, it would come in handy. She draped Lenny across her shoulders and carried him over to his pickup truck. She dumped the body in the back, making sure to leave one leg dangling over so someone could find him if he hadn't managed to drive off himself. She then examined herself. She had some grass stains on the knees of her pants, but nothing anyone will ask about. Sticking her hands in her pockets and humming, she walked back to the dormitory.

"It's horrible what happened to Lenny," one of the cheerleaders said.

"Who would do such a thing?" Another cheerleader responded.

It was a breezy spring day, one of those in-between days. Too warm for a jacket, but too cool for shirtsleeves. The football team and cheerleaders were both having a light practice on the football field, and to Vickie it seemed the only talk of conversation was the plight of Lenny. The underclassmen cheerleaders and the few who hasn't met him or knew him personally considered it a tragedy, while those who really knew him thought it was bad, but he probably got what he deserved.

Vickie sighed and took a seat on the bleachers. The football team was going through their paces without a hitch, she noticed, but the team was alarmed by the news; well except for two, maybe. Both Kelly and Brad thought he might have been attacked by thugs for real this time. Thugs, or someone's boyfriend.

Vickie leaned back and surveyed all of the friends, boyfriends and girlfriends of the football players and cheerleaders who sat on the bleachers. Finally her eyes settled on one familiar person. Pam sat there watching the football players, Brad in particular. Sitting with her were two other women, Vietnamese in descent as well, and they appeared to be sumo wrestlers as well, judging from their builds. All three were dressed in hooded sweatshirts, straight-leg blue jeans, and barefoot. The two women soon left Pam, and Vickie walked up the bleachers to greet her new friend.

"Hello Pam," Vickie greeted.

"Why hello Vickie, how are you?" Pam responded.

"I'm fine," Vickie said as she sat down beside her. "Did you hear about Lenny?"

"Yes I did. What a shame," she responded, deadpan.

"I heard Campus Security was going to clamp down on things, maybe institute a curfew."

"Yeah, you never know what can happen these days."

Vickie examined her friend more closely. "Why do I get the feeling you know more than what you're telling me?" She asked.

Pam gave a small smirk. "Lenny tried to attack me last night. He had a knife," she said.

"Oh no, are you all right? What happened?"

"I'm fine, I'm not hurt. As for what happened, I finished what I started. I threw him in the back of his truck after I finished."

"Oh. Does Brad know anything about this?"

"If he does, he hasn't mentioned it to me, not that I'm going to bring it up. He was afraid I was going to kill Lenny when he saw us that one time."

"Were you?" Vickie joked.

"Hey, he's still breathing, isn't he? If I were going to finish him off, I would've just broke his neck and threw him in the locker room. I could just tell people he slipped on a bar of soap," Pam replied, her smirk now a small smile.

Vickie couldn't help but snicker at the remark.

"Pam, your secret is safe with me," Vickie said, "and even though they may not admit it, there's quite a few women who feel better from his absence."

"Thank you, I appreciate that."

Vickie saw one of her fellow cheerleaders at the bottom of the bleachers motioning for her to come back down to help with a particular cheer.

"Uh oh, time to go," she said.

"Hey Vickie, when you're through with cheerleader practice, why don't you come to sumo practice with me?" Pam asked. "It's fun, and it'll pump those leg muscles right up. We'd be happy to have you."

Vickie paused and thought about it a moment. "I can come and stay a little bit to see you practice, but I think that's all," she said.

"That's all? Why's that?"

Vickie pointed to her shoes. "I'm a "tenderfoot,' remember?"

They laughed as Vickie descended the bleachers.

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

#2008, Barefoot Heroines, Inc.