<! Susan's Bad Day>

<! By Mongoose750, (Mongoose750@yahoo.com)>

<! Susan Davidson has had a bad day. >

Susan Davidson has had a bad day.

From the time she arose in the morning (where she overslept), she had arrived late for her first class at the Midwestern College she attended. Then, she was hit with a pop quiz on a subject she was not prepared for in her second class, and was almost sent to the edge of dreamland in her third class by a guest lecturer whose oratory skills were about as exciting as chewing bubble gum (and that was her favorite class!). The day grew progressively worse as she showed up late for work after her classes were over, only to find out that she wasn't scheduled to work that day.

But what really topped the day off for Susan was when she arrived back to her dorm room and saw a message left on her answering machine by her boyfriend David. What normally would be a very uplifting blessing to brighten her rotten day was turned into a waking nightmare when the message David left was that he had to break up the relationship with her. To say that the news hit Susan like the proverbial ton of bricks was an understatement. Susan and David had met at the university when they were sophomores, she was an education major while he was pursuing accounting, and they have been inseparable ever since. In fact, they decided to marry after they graduated, which was a semester and a half away (this was the middle of the spring semester).

Trying very hard to fight the verges of panic, Susan called David at the boarding house where he lived and his place of employment with no success. Where would he be, Susan thought, he couldn't have dropped out of school, his grades were too good. In fact, the relationship was going too good to just break it up like this. What happened? More importantly, why? This didn't make any sense. Like most couples, they did a lot of things together such as see movies, eat at the finest restaurants that two college students can afford, etc. They even found a nice Baptist church that they attended regularly and made plans to marry there. Contacting the pastor and informing him of this crisis came to mind, but she then realized despite her efforts to not panic, that happened to be the very thing she was doing. She noticed she was pacing back and forth, pulling her hand through her long blonde hair. What she needed to do was to clear her head, find out how to deal with this matter. Therefore, she grabbed her gym bag and went off to the gym.

In-between her studies at school and working part-time, Susan was a bodybuilder and amateur kickboxer, having been involved in both these activities for the last six years. In fact, she was one of the highest ranked kickboxers in the state in her weight class in a tri-state amateur league. To help pack muscle on her 6-foot, 180-pound frame, she lifts weights to make sure her punches and kicks keep that power that she's known for. She won most of her victories by knockout. As a result, her body wasn't skinny, but slim and radiating with power. Her trainer has told her if she keeps it up, that tri-state championship crown may be hers someday. Besides using her exercise as a necessary part to keep up with the competition, it was also an excellent way to relieve herself of the stresses of the day.

Unfortunately on this day, it was not to be. While she was either sparring or pumping iron, Susan may have been there in body, but if one looked at her blue eyes, they could see that her mind was miles away, causing her to perform her exercises like a programmed robot. Other people working out at the gym saw this difference and wondered what was wrong. Susan's trainer told her to cut her practice short that day and to head for home because her heart was not clearly in her work. After she showered and changed, Clarice, one of Susan's closest friends who also works out at the gym approached her and asked her what's wrong.

It was at that time that the dam burst.

Not able to keep it in any longer, Susan sat down on the steps leading up to the gym and cried, telling Clarice all about how her day was rotten from the moment she got up that morning to the biggest surprise of all coming from David's message on her answering machine. Clarice was also a good friend of David, and she was also very surprised to hear what happened. Hearing all the details of the phone message and the way it was done, she told Susan that David normally does not do things that way and there must be a reasonable explanation why he did what he did. It may take a while, but the answer will come. In the meantime, stay strong.

Susan thanked Clarice for listening, and her advice, and got into her car to drive home. Little did she know that during her encounters at school and at the gym, she was being watched.

Another one of Susan's favorite activities is hiking. Behind the university is a state park with plenty of hilly woodlands. It was her favorite place to go when she wanted to pray, meditate, or just enjoy the beauty of nature. Since staying at home waiting for the phone to ring may be a little like slow torture, she stopped at her place long enough to change into her favorite hiking clothes and to retrieve her walking stick, a carved masterpiece of oak that she bought at a crafts fair in Gatlinburg, Tennessee two years ago.

Her hiking clothes consist of a blue cotton oxford shirt with the long sleeves rolled up, green khaki shorts that extend to the knee, and bare feet. The two reasons Susan goes hiking barefoot are twofold. One, it was an effective way of toughening her feet for kickboxing. When facing an opponent in the ring, one did not want any hindrances, least all a tender foot. The second reason is to Susan; shoes are a necessary evil. If it was up to her, she would not wear any at all, except in extreme circumstances like snow or hot lava. Without being a total rebel, she'll wear shoes at formal functions, work (most of the time) and church. But when she can get away with it, including quite a few days at school, the shoes are the first thing to go. Socks are no problem, she likes those, but in order to be in contact with all of nature, shoes get in the way.

When she approached the state park and reached the entrance to her favorite hiking trail, she found Clarice waiting for her.

"I knew you'd be here," Clarice said.

"What brings you here?" Susan said. "You don't normally go hiking."

"No, but I wondered if this time you wanted somebody to tag along."

"I appreciate that, I really do, but I rather make this journey alone."

"I understand. Hey, if you like, I can wait for you until you're finished. Then we could go grab a bite to eat."

"That sounds good," Susan said. "I don't know if I'd be ready to go back home right away anyway. You sure you want to wait? I might take awhile."

"That's why I brought my load of homework with me," Clarice replied. "By the time you come back I should be finished with all of it."

"Well don't you think of everything."

"By the time I finish my homework and you finish hiking, we'll both be hungry. While you're hiking I'll try to find the nicest place to go that doesn't require shoes."

"Thanks Clarice, that's sounds like a plan."

As Susan proceeded on her hike, she started to feel better. Though the pain in her heart is at the moment a dull ache, her mind has become clear with the seeds of a plan of action to encounter David, and if not get things reconciled, at least achieve some type of closure to the relationship. Still, this whole deal has brought up more questions then answers.

Susan was so focused on her ordeal; she was oblivious to what was going on around her. When she reached the pathway that would send her to end of the hiking trail, she was encountered by three men who blocked her way. Susan was surprised by this, because not too many people go hiking on this trail at that time (around 6:30 in the early evening), and dressed in unbuttoned flannel shirts, ragged T-shirts, blue jeans and sneakers, they did not look like the hiking type.

"Well, look at who we have here, Susan Davidson," the man in the middle (the lead guy) said.

"Do I know you three?" Susan asked.

"No, but a friend of ours told us all about you, and sent us out here to meet you," the man in the middle said.

"Yeah, he sent us out here so we can play with you," the man on the left said.

Susan wasn't scared; in fact, fear was the last thing on her mind. She felt bothered that these three men interrupted her deep thought. Though those last two remarks would come back to her later in her thoughts, at the moment she just wanted to be left alone. She was also aware of the fact that a little hike in the woods was the farthest thing on their minds.

"Please, I would like to finish my hike and go home. I have had a long day," Susan said in a calm, but very serious tone.

"I had a long day," the man on Susan's right said, mocking her voice. "Well, it's about to get a lot longer."

"You see, we have had a long day too," the middle man said, "and seeing you here has made it a whole lot brighter. We just can't wait for the fun to begin, can we, Todd?"

"No, we can't, Joe," Todd, the man on her left said. "Especially when we take a good look at what you got underneath that nice shirt of yours."

This is really great, I don't have time for this, Susan thought. This was the icing on the cake. First she overslept, then her day at school was lousy, she came to work on the wrong day, her boyfriend suddenly breaks up with her, and now these three losers show up, wanting to "play with her." Her temper was seething.

"I'll ask you again, please move out of my way," Susan said, a little more sternly than before.

"No, we will not move out of your way," Todd said. "We're the ones giving the orders here. You do what we say." He said this to her while he started poking her with his right hand's index finger.

That was a bad mistake.

Susan quickly grabbed Todd's finger with her left hand and abruptly bent it backwards. The sudden crack was heard by the other three present, followed by a blood-curdling scream a few seconds later as Todd jumped around, holding his injured digit.

The man on the right, who Susan found out later was George, quickly recovered from seeing what happened to Todd and took one step toward Susan, to advance on her. Susan launched a side kick that hit George in the right femur, or thighbone. George's reaction was one of surprise as at one moment he was going after her, then the next moment he realized he couldn't walk anymore. He still had a look of surprise on his face as he fell against a nearby tree, wondering why he can't get his leg to work.

"Get her," Todd screamed. "Get that bit- uh!" He was unable to finish his sentence because Susan knocked him out with a left cross that sent him to the forest floor. Susan's father has taught her that people should always treat her with respect, and not to allow anyone, man or woman, to call her the b-word. "That's what you call a female dog, and you honey, are no dog, you're a woman." Her dad once said. As Todd fell, Susan thought her dad would be proud. After she quickly glanced at the two injured parties, she set her eyes on Joe.

Joe was stunned at the sequence of events that unfolded before him. It seemed to him like the proverbial car wreck where time seems to slow down even though the accident itself only took a few seconds. In the space of maybe five seconds, this woman has disabled two of his friends, one on the ground knocked out with a broken finger, while the other had either a broken or a dislocated bone in his leg so he couldn't walk. These were rather tough guys too. Then he realized that this woman was still there, slowly coming towards him, an intense look in her eyes. Joe didn't take any chances. He pulled out a six-inch switchblade, waving it back and forth, showing Susan that he was serious.

While using a six-inch switchblade seemed like a suitable defense, and extended Joe's reach, Susan's three-foot oak walking stick extended her reach further. This was evidenced when her stick knocked the blade out of Joe's hand. Unarmed, Joe vaguely remembered that she was a kickboxer and put up his hands to guard his face while attempting to bounce around on his feet.

If Susan wasn't so serious, she would be laughing at this moment. When people think of kickboxing, many misconceptions pop up. Two of those are when you bounce on your feet, you become an instant Mohammed Ali, and that kickboxers always kick high, as in above the waist and to the head. The truth is, a large portion of training in any type of boxing is maneuverability. There is a reason and rhyme to a boxer's shuffle. If a person is just bouncing around, like this poor fool, they will wear themselves out. Second, it's only in the movies and action shows on television that have kickboxers and martial artists always aim their kicks for the head. A kick that high can be effective if it hits the planned target. Otherwise, the kicker is left off-balance for a second or two, which in serious competition could be costly. Besides, with kickboxing, you have a bigger range of targets to aim at on your opponent, even more so with Muay Thai, a form of kickboxing that uses the elbows and knees along with fists and feet.

Knowing all that, Susan figured it would be child's play to take this man apart. To relieve Joe of his useless bouncing, she aimed the ball of her left foot to the side of his right knee. The blow was not hard enough to incapacitate, but hard enough to bruise and hamper mobility. The blow had the expected effect; Joe dropped his guard and changed his movement from bouncing to hopping as he favored his knee. Then remembering that the woman was still there, he quickly raised his hands to guard his face.

It didn't matter, because that was not Susan's next target. With flashing speed, she stepped in and gave Joe a hard right to the side of the ribs. While the last blow was meant to bruise, this one was designed to perform more damage. Joe suddenly stopped in his tracks, realizing that after that last blow that something wasn't right. He thought he felt something give when she hit him on his side. Through his pain, he tried to find a reason for all this. He was told that this was supposed to be an easy mark. Through his pain, he looked up at Susan in amazement and shock.

Susan hit Joe with a right cross and knocked him out.

She looked down at her unconscious foe, and then glanced around at the other two. Todd was still out like a light, while George was lying on the ground, pleading at Susan with whimpering eyes not to hurt him anymore. Susan ignored him.

Normally, according to most self-defense guidelines, the "victim" at this point is supposed to run away to safety or contact the authorities. Maybe under other circumstances she would call the police. However, these three assailants have happened to catch her at the end of a very bad day, plus some "friend" sent them after her, plus they actually wanted to rape her. She wanted answers and she was sure she would get them, but most of all, she wanted satisfaction.

She looked again at Joe, the ringleader. She had an idea. Close to where Joe laid, was a tree with a low-hanging branch that broke off. The nub of that branch was perfect for her purposes. She draped Joe over her shoulder, carried him over to the tree, and then fashioned his loose hanging flannel shirt so it would hang his arms over the branch. Joe's feet were still on the ground, giving him the ability to kick at her, but for what she had in mind, it wouldn't matter. She then drugged Todd over to the tree, then told George to drag himself over to that spot, lest he lose the use of any other body parts. Taking Todd's flannel shirt, she tied him to another nearby tree. Though she didn't see him as a threat, she didn't want the possibility of him running away and getting free or asking for help. Todd was starting to come to after she finished tying him. When he regained consciousness, Susan crouched down and spoke to him.

"I'm only going to say this once. If you don't keep your mouth shut, the same thing is going to happen to you," Susan said, nodding over at his hanging friend.

"The same thing? What are you talking about?" Todd said, then stopped when Susan turned around and headed towards Joe, who came to.

"Hey, what's going on? Hey, let me go!" Joe said, struggling at his man-made bonds. "What am I doing up here?"

Susan stared at him for about a minute, then finally said, "we're going to have some fun," in a flat toned voice.

"What are you talking about? Hey girl, you better let me down or I'll-" He stopped talking for a moment when he saw Susan cracking her knuckles and stretching. "What are you going to do?"

Susan crouched into her fighting stance.

"No, no, not that! Look, I didn't really mean to ahh!"

Susan struck a punch to his right side again. She really didn't get a good practice when she was working out at the gym, so maybe some work on this improvised "punching bag" will take care of that.

For Joe, the next 15 minutes could be described as an eternity of pain. Susan practiced her best punches and kicks on the helpless victim. She also had the chance to try out some new combinations that she wanted to try next time she got in the ring. Roughly the only part of Joe's body that wasn't bruised or broken were his arms that were hanging, and his groin (the groin is an illegal target in boxing. Susan didn't want to start any bad habits in her boxing technique). As for the rest of Joe, both of his legs were badly bruised, his left knee was swollen, he had busted ribs on both sides of his body, two black eyes, a bloody nose, and a loose tooth. Susan had to remind herself every now and then that this was a human being (such as he was), not a real punching bag, so she made sure to hold back some, else the authorities would be looking for her.

Todd sat quietly, torn between two thoughts. One thought was to go help his friend, but from the carnage he'd just witnessed, he was sure he would be next hanging from that tree. The other thought, a little stronger than the other one, is to get himself loose and to run out of the woods as fast as he can. However, the knot she tied with his shirt was very tight, and the occasional glances she had gave him while pummeling Joe kept her from doing anything. George just laid there and winced, knowing that while he was unbound, there was nothing he could do.

The impromptu workout actually felt good, being able to release most of her frustrations. Now what? She can't leave them there. She imagined herself talking to her pastor, "three men tried to rape me, but I beat them and left them to die in the woods." No, that wouldn't sound too good. And she would feel bad about it afterwards, not the beating, but abandoning them.

"Where's your cell phone?" She asked Joe, still hanging from his perch.

"Back pocket," he mumbled.

Susan took the phone and dialed 911. She told them that there were three injured men in the woods by one of the hiking trails of the state park. She said that their injuries were serious, but not too life threatening. She made sure to remain anonymous through the details. They told her that an ambulance would be there shortly. She hung up, then in front of Joe's beaten face, she crushed the cell phone with one hand, then let the pieces fall to the ground in front of him and the two astonished men. She then picked up her walking stick and headed down the pathway leading out of the woods. She thought about giving a final threat, but she saw it was unnecessary.

Clarice was concerned when Susan finally showed up at her car. She was a half-hour later than she normally was on her regular hikes. At dinner, Susan told Clarice the whole story of what happened to her in the woods. She asked her to keep track of the local news to see if there were any reports of three men taken from the woods and sent to the hospital.

"Aren't you worried about what they might tell the police?" Clarice said.

"Tell them what? That I beat them up? They'd be better off telling them that some rival gang took them out there."

"I'm wondering about who sent them," Clarice said. "You don't think David would-"

"No". Susan said quickly. "He would never do something like that. I can't help wondering though if these two things are somehow connected."

"Like how?"

"I don't know. I aim to find out though."

After dinner, Susan came back to her place with a plan of action. First, later that night, she's going to go over to David's place and demand a reason for the breakup, then the following morning, she's going to try to find out who sent those goons after her, then deal with all involved parties responsible. She is going to put an end to this bad day.

Continued in Part Two.

Any comments, questions, or otherwise, send to shrewsberry@juno.com.