<! Susan's Bad Day, Part Two>

<! By Mongoose750 (mongoose750@yahoo.com)>

<! Susan Davidson has had a bad day, but now it's getting better. >

Previously, in Part One ("Susan's Bad Day"), Susan Davidson, a college student, bodybuilder, and amateur kickboxer, has had one of the proverbial days from hell. After having a lousy day at school, and almost working on a day that she had off, she came home to hear a strange message from David that said he's breaking up with her. Shocked, and trying to figure out what to do next, she went on a personal hike to sort her thoughts. Near the end of her hike, she encountered three men who were sent by "a friend" who planed to rape her. After beating the stuffing out of the three men, she went with a close friend to eat dinner and try to figure out the reason for the attempt by the three men. After dinner, Susan came back to her place to prepare to go to her boyfriend's (ex-boyfriend's?) house to get an explanation. This is where the story takes place.

When Susan came home from dinner, it was just beginning to get dark. In a few minutes, the nightfall will be perfect for her plans.

If she told her close friend Clarice about what she planned to do, she would have tried to talk her out of it, calling her plan something that would have been thought up by a co-dependent. Knowing she did not have any issues that raised questions about her emotional health, the focus of her plan was to find out the answer to the question "why." Where she came from, Susan thought, when people break up, they have a reason! People do not get involved in great relationships and then break them for no reason. Regardless of whether the answer may be something she doesn't want to hear, at least she'll know.

First, she needed to dress for the occasion. Since she didn't want to be seen, she decided to dress in all black, a black tank top and black jeans that have a Capri cut around the legs, snugly covering half the calf. She needed no shoes for this mission; they would just get in the way of what she planed to do. She then left her place, jumped in her car, and took off.

The boarding house where David lived was on the other side of town, behind the sorority houses. Susan used to joke with David about the location, telling him to stay away from those "sorority chicks" as she called them. Reflecting on it, she hoped that scenario wasn't the case as she approached the house. She parked the car a few blocks away in a dark parking lot of a store that already reached closing time for that day.

David lived on the second floor of the house, which had a small balcony. Beside the balcony is a small tree that grew close to it. Susan remembered that David never locked the double doors of the balcony, in fact, some nights he left it open to receive a nice breeze when he slept at night. Looking both ways, she got on the lowest branch of the tree and started climbing. The process didn't take her long at all, though she kept on glancing over her shoulder to make sure the campus police aren't making any of their nightly patrols. She would be a little hard-pressed to explain why she would be climbing a tree at night outside someone's apartment.

After she reached the branch closest to the balcony, she swung down from it, landing onto the stone floor of the balcony. After she landed, Susan took a second to realize what an exhilarating workout that was. In fact, that was fun! Great for the upper body, and not as dirty as rock climbing. She made a mental note to try to include tree climbing into her regular workout. She padded over to check the balcony doors. It was open! After she opened the doors, she walked into the dark room. She remembered that David's car wasn't in its usual parking space, so he must still be at work. She checked the lighted dial of her watch. It was almost nine o'clock. That worked out great. That means he'll be arriving home in about 15 minutes. It won't be too long a wait, though she was prepared to wait all night if necessary. She sat in a black recliner by the balcony doors and did just that.

At about 9:10, David Reynolds entered his apartment. He was a black man of medium brown skin, which covered his six-foot, 180-pound frame. He had short black hair, and like Susan, he regularly worked out, though his regiment is not nearly as weight intensive. He ran around five to six miles, roughly the diameter to the university's main campus, every morning. David also had a jovial personality, one of those people who seemed to have a perpetual smile on their face (one of the features that attracted Susan to him). However, that wasn't the case on this night. He had the look of a man who made the biggest mistake of his life.

As soon as work was over, David wasted no time getting in his car and driving home. He didn't even spare any time to talk to his coworkers. Thinking about the choice he made earlier that morning, he cursed himself for being such an idiot. He knew he did it for her protection, but if he thought about it for another minute, he would have remembered that Susan was a woman who could take care of herself. With all her extensive training, she was probably stronger that he was. He'd hate to see someone get into a real fight with her; the results could be ugly. He wanted to take back his decision, to talk with her and make it right somehow, but this may not be one of those things that can be easily be taken back.

David's initial plan was to go straight through the apartment to his bedroom, not even bothering to turn on any lights until he got to his bedroom. The weight of the day's events had left him very weary. Perhaps after a good night's sleep, he could see if he could make things right somehow, but right now, he doesn't know how. As he passed through the living room, he noticed a light breeze that felt good. At least the night breeze is the only thing that went right today, he thought. Then it occurred to him, he left the balcony doors closed today.

Suddenly fearing the worst, David dashed to the light switch and switched it on, then was startled even more when he Susan sitting in his recliner, one leg crossed, staring at him.

"Hello David," Susan said.

David however, was not ready to give any type of greeting at the moment. Being alarmed at the possibility of a burglar in his place, then after turning the light on finding Susan sitting in the living room was more than he was expecting. He backed up against the wall to regain his bearings and to catch his breath.

Seeing this, Susan thought that David feared for his life, like he thought that she was going to assault him. She heard about some women like that, they couldn't take the breakup, even if it's justified or primarily her fault, and finding some way to exact vengeance on their ex-boyfriends for having the nerve to break up with them. Susan believed she had more maturity than that, and she thought David knew that as well. From the way he was leaning against the wall breathing hard, it was hard to tell.

"Come on, David, it's all right," Susan said. "You know I would never hurt you."

"It's not that," David said between breaths, "I thought someone broke in here. How did you get in anyway?" He then saw the branches overhanging the balcony. "Never mind."

"I figured I'd surprise you, not scare you," Susan said, getting up from the recliner. "If I knew this would put you on the verge of cardiac arrest, I would've tried something else. This appeared to be the best way of getting in touch with you."

"I know, I have not been the most accessible today," he said.

"In any case, I think you know why I'm here."

"You want to know why."

"Yeah. I just want to know. Is it another girl, something I said, my breath, what?" Susan demanded.

David let out a breath and sat in a blue recliner, which was located across from the black one. "It was none of those things. It was for your benefit. It, it's a long story."

Susan sat back in the other recliner, arms crossed. "That's fine, I have plenty of time."

"Okay," David felt another breeze, then glanced down at Susan's bare feet. He was always amazed at how tough they were. "Didn't that rough bark and stuff bother you when you climbed up here?"

"Come on David, you know me," Susan said. "Nothing bothers my feet. I'm waiting."

"There's this guy that I work with who is in one of the management programs; his name is Brian Decker. He attends classes here."

"Wait a minute, I know him," Susan said. "He tried to ask me out a couple of times. He thought I would jump at the chance because his family has money. He didn't try to tell you that he and I had something going on-"

"No, no, most intelligent people avoid him like the plague, except for those who are buddy-buddy with him so they can get a nice position at his family's company. For some reasons he likes to hang around me, even though I'm not in management, or have riches or anything like that."

"Everybody likes hanging around you David," Susan said, "even those who hang around like flies."

"Hey, I try to keep away from the man, but it's like he knows where I am at all times. When he finds me, he tells me all about his family's company, how much money they made this quarter, where he's going on vacation this summer, what he plans on doing with the company when he graduates, it's very annoying."

"Yes, he is a very annoying man," Susan said, "but what does that have to do with us?"

"Everything," David said. "Early on, I made it a point to never tell him about my personal life. I have no desire to tell him about mine, any more than I want to hear about his. But somehow, he found out that you and I were together."

"Well, as being one of the top-ranked kickboxers in the area, I guess it makes us a little popular," Susan said.

"Perhaps, but he also found out how long we were together, what our future plans are, what church we're going to get married in, etc. He also knew your daily habits, where you work out at, how you like to go hiking, things like that."

"I see," Susan said, starting to put two and two together.

"Yeah, it started to concern me too," David said. "He revealed things about us that I thought very few people knew. He knows about our respective families, and Susan, he knows about what we did on our anniversary."

"No!" Susan said. For the anniversary of their relationship the last year, instead of going out on the town like everybody else does on their anniversary, the two decided on doing something radically different. Late at night, they took a plane to Mexico to work at a mission for underprivileged children. They were there a week, and it was some of the most fun they ever had. Susan was nicknamed "Seniorita Muscles" because of the acts of strength she performed at the mission. One of these was helping dig a ditch for a new water pipe that was to provide the mission with running water, and giving piggy back rides to the kids no matter how heavy they seemed to be. They almost hated to leave. When they arrived back to the university, they made an agreement not to tell too many people outside of their closest friends. Not that it was a bad idea to share that with people, but it was also something special between the two of them. They figured they both had a lot (in things other than material goods), so why not share it with those who don't? This was also the anniversary where in the middle of the week they proposed to each other. They made a promise to go to that mission once a year. They were due for their next trip that upcoming summer.

"How did he know this?" Susan exploded.

"All he told me was "everything's easy when you have the means,'" David said. "He unloaded most of this stuff on me last night while I was working. Normally he just tells me what a lucky man I am to have someone like you. From anyone else, I take it as a compliment, but from him, it sounds more like I have something he doesn't, and he does not like that."

Susan leaned back in the recliner, shocked, and feeling a little bit violated. It's one thing when you allow people to know all about you, but it's another thing to have nearly almost all your confidential information discovered by someone who was almost a total stranger. But now the event that happened at the State Park makes a little more sense. "He threatened you, didn't he?"

"No, he didn't threaten me directly," David said. "He knew I wouldn't stand for that. So instead he threatened you."

"Threatened me?" Susan asked.

"Not outright in so many words. It was more in the form of hints like "I hate to see anything happen to her.' After a couple of days, I finally confronted him and asked him what his problem was. He told me that he asked you out once, but you refused him. "Nobody refuses me,' he said. I said, "okay, she did. There's a first time for everything.' I told him that there's other women out there who would be delighted to go out with him."

"You mean he's not interested in some air-head who likes money?" Susan said.

"Nope, he wanted you because you had the nerve to turn him down despite his money. I finally told him yesterday that you are mine now, so he'll have to look elsewhere. That's when he told me that you were in danger as long as you were with me. Before I got ready to hit him, he said that he wasn't going to do a thing, but there was some friends out there who might if I either threatened him in any way or I continued the relationship with you."

"So to protect me, you broke up with me,"

"Yeah, and I've been kicking myself ever since. Especially today, when he found out I broke up with you before I could tell him, he said that he wasn't interested in you any more."

"What?"

"Yeah, that's what I said. But he said perhaps I was right. There are more women more worthy of his attention. Maybe some of his friends may be interested in you. I didn't know what he meant by that, I just know it took two of my coworkers and a warning from my supervisor to keep me from jumping over my desk and throttling him."

"His friends, huh?" Susan said, remembering what the leader of those three men said about a "friend" sending them. "Then you don't know what happened."

"What happened? What do you mean?" David said, a little confused.

Susan got up from her recliner and stood in front of the balcony doors, looking out the window. "Three men tried to rape me today when I went hiking."

David sprang up from his seat. Three men raped you? Oh no, honey, are you all right? Why didn't you tell me-"?

Susan cut him off. "Hold on, David, I said tried. By the way, did you hear anything interesting on the local news earlier tonight?"

"Well, no except some gang story about three men found in the woods who had to be hospitalized with major injuries ' oh, that was you, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, that was me. I figured they would say something about gang violence instead of the fact that a mere woman beat them up."

"That one man said he was beaten by a baseball bat."

"Nope, I just used him as a punching bag while the others had to watch. It actually got all my frustrations out. Now I just need to find that weasel who's been bugging you and practice some of my back kick techniques on him."

"Thank God you're alright," David said. "I don't know what I would do if something happened to you." He walked to a nearby wall and leaned his forehead against it. "Man, I was so stupid."

Susan walked over to where David was. "David, I just have two things to say to you. The first one is we are a team. Problems like this we work out together, okay. You should have come to me when this jerk was popping off about how he thought you were "lucky to have me' and this other jazz." She cupped David's face in her hands and gave him a tender kiss. "The second thing is you belong to me, and you're not getting rid of me that easily." She then kissed him more deeply. David replied in kind.

"It's been a long day," he said.

"Yes, it has. I'm going to go home now, for a well deserved, good nights' sleep. I'll meet you for breakfast in the morning at the school's caf#. Then we'll have a talk about my next meeting with Mr. Decker."

"Honey, let me take care of him. He's not worth the trouble."

"That man tried to have me raped, David. Now more than ever, I want to meet him personally."

"All right," David said. "Hey, how are you getting out of here?"

Susan went out on the balcony and grabbed a nearby branch. "Same way I came in." She then started climbing down the tree, and then paused. "I love you David."

David walked to the edge of the balcony and leaned over. "I love you too, sweetheart. I'll see you in the morning."

He exhaled in relief. It's not everyday a big mistake is made, with it being rectified later that day. The problem of his coworker was still there, but at least he got his girlfriend back. He slept a lot easier that night.

As for Susan, she almost lost her grip on the last few branches because her vision blurred with tears of joy. After feeling joyful on the drive home, she felt very exhausted as soon as she stepped into the doorway of her place. She barely took enough time to change into her nightshirt before her head hit the pillow.

The next morning came too quickly for the sleeping student. Susan crawled out of bed, showered, and spent an hour finishing homework that she obviously didn't have time for yesterday. During that time, she dwelt on the events of the past day. More days like that she can do without. Her game plan for the day should be simple. First, have breakfast with David at the school's caf#, attend her classes like normal, then find Mr. Decker and have a little "talk" with him. She's not sure what to say; every fiber of her being wants to take him, rip his head off, and use it for target practice. He could be arrested for what he did; the problem being that there's no way he could be convicted. She could go ahead and file charges against the three who attacked her, but with the exception of the one with the broken finger (she should've broke more, Susan thought), they won't be attacking any other women real soon.

As far as dressing, Susan was in a rather casual mood, so she threw on a white tank top, blue jean shorts, and a red hooded sweatshirt that she zipped halfway. She really wasn't in the mood for wearing shoes (when is she ever?), but at the same time, she didn't want to "freak out" the server at the caf#. She put on some red Converse low-top shoes that were designed with no heels or "mules" as that type of shoe is normally called.

Susan met David at the school's caf# (one of the few places on campus that offers decent food, they agreed), and they both ordered a hardy breakfast. Both couldn't help noticing that despite the fact that their relationship has lasted for years, how on this morning it had a special newness about it. While they were eating, David asked her about having a meeting with Brian.

"I'm not sure if that is a good idea," David said. "I keep thinking of that sermon our pastor preached on revenge a few weeks ago."

"I remember what he said," Susan said. "'Vengeance may be a dish best served cold, but it will give you indigestion.' No, I was just going to tell him what I feel about this and warn him not to do it again. Besides, I'm not going to tie him to a tree, though I have to admit it's a rather tempting idea."

"You think those three guys he sent will admit that you beat them up?"

"Not without becoming a laughing stock. If I thought about it, I would've got one of them to talk while I was beating him. Now the authorities can't touch him, and the guys will admit themselves as the victims of gang warfare."

"That's a good one, since this neck of the woods doesn't have any gangs," David said. "I like to think that alone would scare him off, but he'll probably be smarting off at me at work as usual."

"Anyway, I also remember our pastor said in that same sermon that whenever possible, one should always take the path of peace," Susan said. "Maybe there's some way I can convince him of the error of what he did."

David laughed. "Like the way you "convinced" those three guys?"

"Well, attempted rape is not one of those things I would see as having a peaceful solution. Besides, I was defending myself, except for the part where I tied that man to a tree and beat the living snot out of him." Susan smiled. Although it's only been the trauma of a day that was horrible, it felt good to be happy about things retaining some degree of normalcy. She remembered the look on David's face when he came in his apartment last night before he saw her. It wasn't the look of a person who was happy about making a horrible decision.

"Actually, I like to see him before my classes start so I can get this over with," she said.

Like a study of contrasts, things were totally the opposite on the other side of the caf#. Brian Decker had the look of a man who feared for his mortal life. The previous evening, he received a call from one of his henchman (the one with the broken finger). He gave Brian a horrifying story of how the woman they were sent after broke his finger, dislocated the other man's leg, and made both of them sit down and watch while she hung the third from a tree and beat him half to death. They didn't confess any information to her, mainly because she didn't ask, and the way she beat them, it didn't look like she cared at the time either. Brian was relived that his name was not mentioned during the beating, but at the same time he realized that if anybody, male or female could do this to three attackers, it wouldn't be too pleasant what they could do to him.

Brian Decker, a 5'11 man of an average build, with fair skin and short brown hair and pampered good looks, was previously what could be called a "big fish in a little pond." Being the son of the wealthiest family in his hometown, he exalted in the life that a man with means can have. Besides having the best of everything in his town, the best car, the best clothes, he also had the best girls, sometimes fighting over each other literally to date him and perhaps win the opportunity of becoming the future Mrs. Decker. He was always surrounded with an entourage of "brown-nosers" who would plead their case to Brian on why they should be vice president or some esteemed position under him when takes over the family company.

When graduation day came, Brian, secure in the knowledge that any Ivy League school would be excited to have him, was suddenly given the shock of his life when his parents, both down to earth people, told him that he was filled with too much of his self-importance, and that he needed to "earn the right to a prestigious school." Until then, he is to spend a semester or two at a school where the "normal people" go. In the period of a few months, Brian went from the most popular and eligible guy in town to a mere regular college student in a city that almost never heard his name. Those few who had (mostly from his hometown), hang around him in hopes that they have a prosperous job waiting for them when they graduate and come back home. Most everyone else was not that impressed.

After a few semesters, Brian realized that the college he was sentenced to was a nice one, and decided that he'll get his MBA here. He also found out that this was the school his parents attended so it can't be all bad.

Concerning women, Brian usually had his pick, sometimes having a different date every day of the week back home. In college, his choices were larger, but he wasn't as busy in his social life. He figured most women when he told them of his family's company or wave a wad of money under their nose will melt like hot wax, so he had to limit his choices. There were too many airheads and money-grubbing sharks to make a bad decision. Then one day, Susan Davidson came along.

To Brian, she was one of the most beautiful women he'd seen in his life. Long blonde hair, very athletic figure (which in fact inspired him to exercise regularly), intelligent, and most important of all, she was not interested in him for his money, which led to another problem, she was not interested in him at all.

For a while after he met her at a school function, he gave her the usual impressive lines that won over a lot of women over the years; he's the heir of a prosperous company, he will be president of the company in the near future, he knows of ways to improve the company so it will become bigger, etc. To his surprise, Susan showed no interest and even looked bored. Finally, she quoted a biblical scripture to him, "What good is it for a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul?" then turned and left. Brian, whose knowledge of theology is only limited to church services on Easter and Christmas was left dumbfounded, saying "what? What?"

Since that time, after Susan didn't return any of Brian's calls except for one left on his answering machine that told him she was not interested in his money, go find someone who is. Brian was resigned himself to the fact that Susan was either very na#ve or one of those weird religious folks who think money is not that important. He received an internship at one of the local businesses in town in their management program. It was there he met David, a nice guy, pleasant to be with, but he also wasn't impressed by Brian's pedigree (he suspected David might be another one of those "weird" folks too).

One day after work, David's car wouldn't start. Brian offered to take him home, but David told him his girlfriend was going to pick him up. Out of curiosity, Brian peered out the window just to see who David's girl was. He was shocked to find out it was Susan! His then dormant interest and obsession was sparked anew.

Using many resources at his disposal, Brian hired several individuals, men and women to watch and find out as much as possible about the couple, particularly Susan. He then tried to use subtle ways to move David out of the way, such as to try to invite him to parties where he would have women to lure him away (he never came), give him too much work so they couldn't go out (they always adjusted their schedules, plus David learned not to tell Brian of their plans), even promising to make David vice president of the corporation when takes over (he wasn't interested).

Finally, out of desperation, Brian gave David a not too subtle threat. If David continued his relationship with Susan, something rather tragic might happen to her. After delivering this threat, and nearly getting punched out by David in the process, Brian hired three tough men from his hometown. Unknown to all but a few he uses these three whenever he needed some "dirty work" taken care of. His game plan was to have Susan roughed up a little bit, then he would somehow find her and give her the best care available. While Susan was being taken care of, it would give Brian a chance to woo her with his charms. She would see that he cared for her so much, he would be willing to take care of her and see how great a guy he is. No woman said "no" to Brian Decker.

If David had broken things up with her as planned, that would be great, if not, then he would be taken care of too. He was a nice guy, but all's fair in love and war, right?

However, things went totally wrong. Whereas he was able to persuade David to terminate the relationship for Susan's safety, the "easy part," where Susan would get beat up resulted in three of his best muscle lying in the hospital. Now he sat at the caf# with two of his remaining enforcers as he tried to salvage things. There shouldn't be any way Susan could put two and two together. Not unless Susan got back together with David and maybe . . . Brian's heart skipped a beat as he looked across the caf#. There he saw Susan and David ' together. They appeared to be laughing at a joke that the other said. Quickly he motioned to the two men to pick up what's left of their food so they could get out of the caf# as quickly as possible. The men were dumbfounded, but grabbed their breakfast and started to leave.

Susan and David had a good laugh at one of David's jokes, when suddenly as Susan looked up and abruptly stopped laughing. She started to rise from her table; her eyes focused on the three men leaving the caf#, particularly the one in the lead.

"What's wrong, Susan?" David asked.

"It's him," Susan said.

No sooner than she said this, she was several strides away from the table near the exit where Brian and his cohorts were headed. David found himself trotting after her.

"Honey, let me take care of this. It's partially my fault that this happened," David said.

"No," she said, "he's mine."

Susan took a few more strides toward the exit, then stopped and uttered in a voice that wasn't yelling, but in a tone that was intended for the party that was being addressed.

"Brian."

Brian stopped dead in his tracks, almost being bumped into by his bodyguards. He slowed turned behind him and saw Susan standing close to the exit. He judged from the look on her face that ignoring her was not an option. The three took a few steps forward; Brian flanked on both sides by his henchmen. To Susan it reminded her of the formation those three guys in the woods had. Well, it didn't help them then and it won't help them now, Susan thought. David came right beside Susan and was getting ready to say something, when she raised up her hand, silencing him.

"We need to talk." She said.

Brian forced himself to be calm and replied "sure babe, what's up?"

"First of all," Susan said, "I have never been, am not now, and never will be your "babe." You either address me as "Susan" or not at all."

Brian inwardly flinched at the realization that this woman has given him a direct order, but decided to ignore it. "Sorry. What's going on, Susan."

"I think you know what's been going on for the last couple of months, especially the last day or so," she said, sternly. "It needs to stop, now."

Again, Brian flinched. In the space of a minute, this woman has gave told him what to do. In Brian's world, nobody tells him to do anything with the exception of his parents. If there was a slight chance of winning her over, he would have to tell her that later. Meantime, he needed to come up with some type of reply that would absolve him of any wrongdoing; and he couldn't think of any. However, he wasn't the one who made the next response, Alan, standing on Brian's left (Susan's right) had worked with Brian on some "security and enforcement projects" for a long time, and he was very loyal and dependable. Hearing his boss talked to like this was not something he wanted to stand still for.

"If I were you woman, I would watch my mouth if I knew who I was talking to," Alan said.

"Excuse me, I was talking to Brian," Susan said. "As a matter of fact, if you two could leave so we could talk to Brian alone, I would appreciate it."

"You don't tell me or Brian what to do, you stupid cow," Alan replied.

Brian during this exchange took a good look at Susan. Her eyes had been focused on him since she called him out. Even during the exchange with Alan, she stared at him with a look that meant business. He noticed the change in her face's complexion, which turned from white to a light red, after Alan's remark. It was rather obvious what that meant. He was well guarded, but that "talk" can wait for another time, until he planned his strategy. That is, if Susan and David will let him. Besides, this spectacle was starting to draw attention.

"Hey, my girlfriend is no cow," David said, his temper showing. "Brian, call off your guards here so we can talk."

"Brian doesn't have to do anything, boy," the other man, Juan, said. "Besides, what can you do about it?"

"Oh, I can show you what I can do about it," David said, advancing on Juan. Susan grabbed his arm, stopping him.

"I don't care if these two hang around or not, Brian," she said, "but we are going to talk about all the pain and hurt, not to mention an attempted rape attempt by your three thugs yesterday. You have a lot to explain and a lot to answer for."

For Brian, everything had fallen apart. He realized his best course of action would be to persuade the couple to leave him alone or face the consequences. He could later explain that Susan and David tried to attack him, but his friends intervened. He nodded his head, and Alan grasped Susan's right arm.

"Move cow," Alan said.

What happened next took a matter of seconds.

During a small break in Susan's schedule two years back, she took the time to take a few self-defense courses, particularly some judo and Aikido lessons from some friends of hers who actively practice in those two martial arts. Being an accomplished kickboxer, the idea of defending herself against an attacker never became a real issue. But one day they theorized that some of their tricks may come in handy where kickboxing may not, such as close contact, so they taught Susan a few basic holds and throws.

Susan quickly grabbed Alan's arm and performed an over-the-shoulder throw, leaving the henchman stunned. Juan approached David, and they were about to face off themselves, but they never got the chance. Susan slid her left foot out of her shoe, and performed a sidekick that smashed the sole of her foot against her face, sending him flying into a nearby counter. The kick didn't knock him out, but the collision with the Formica table did. David stood there stunned and a little disappointed that Susan took out his opponent instead of him.

"I wanted to hit him," he said in a quiet voice.

"That's my job," she replied. "I train to hit people."

Even more stunned was Brian. He only seen and heard the results of what she did to his last three men, but that was nothing compared to what he just saw in the past ' how long was it? ' few seconds. Taking a quick evaluation of the situation, Brian took the only avenue available at that moment.

He ran.

Before he could think and act on it, Susan turned to David and said, "No, he's mine. I'm going after him."

"But Susan, we could-"

"He tried to have me raped, David. I'm not going to have him run and play for another day. We're going to get this settled." She then kicked off her other shoe and started walking after Brian. She could have ran after him, ran like the wind and caught him with no problem; but instead she walked just a determined, steady pace while Brian was running through the halls of the Student Center, stumbling over people and trash cans until he found freedom in the parking lot. He frantically looked over the row of cars parked until he saw his parked in the second row. He counted himself fortunate that he decided to meet with Alan and Juan at the school's caf# instead of arriving together. He needed to find out how they're doing some time later, but right now, he needed to get to his car and drive off as quickly as possible. With that look in Susan's eyes, she may try to kill him, and considering what she had done to all five of his men, she wouldn't have a hard time succeeding.

I'm not a coward, but I'm no fool, Brian thought as he ran toward his car.

He pulled his keys out and put them in the door's lock. As he was about to turn the key to open the door, he nearly jumped on the roof of his car when he heard Susan call his name.

"Brian."

Brian almost dropped his keys, but he barely managed to hold on to them as he slowly turned and saw Susan standing about ten or twelve feet from him.

"We need to talk."

Brian figured he would not have the few seconds needed to unlock his car to get in it (why didn't he have that automatic lock fixed? He asked himself). But if he could stall her for a moment or two, maybe he'll have a chance. She did say she wanted to talk, right? So perhaps a brief conversation will give him the time he needed. At this time he was circling around to the passenger's side of the car, so it would be between Susan and him.

"Okay, let's talk," he said, slowly inching toward the passenger's side door.

"I figured that there might be the slightest possibility you didn't have anything to do with what happened to me yesterday," Susan said, "but considering what your actions were a few minutes ago, that erased all doubt."

She still stood at a distance from the car, as Brian slowly put his keys to the door lock.

"What happened to you yesterday, I don't understand?" He said, vying for time.

"While I was hiking, three men came and told me that they wanted to "play" with me. They told me that a "friend" sent them to "have some fun" with me." Susan took a couple of steps forward.

Brian was turning the keys, unlocking the door. "Did they tell you who this "friend" was?"

"No, but at the time, I didn't' care." Then with sudden speed, Susan appeared alongside the passenger's side of the car. Using one hand, she shut the door that Brian opened, leaving him to run around the back of the car. "Then one of them had the nerve to put his finger on me. You know what I did?"

Brian made it to the driver's side of the car, then realized with horror that his keys were still stuck in the passenger's side door; or at least they were. Susan held up the keys looking at Brian with a slight smile. "You can't go anywhere without these, dearey. You can't run from me, I'll catch you. You might as well stay here and listen. I'd be mad if I had to chase you."

"Now Susan, we can-"

"I'm not finished!" Susan said. "That man who put his finger on me, you know what I did?"

Brian was too scared to reply. He was trying to find another avenue of escape.

"I grabbed his index finger and broke it, just like that," Susan snapped her fingers. "He screamed so loud, I had to knock him out so he'd shut up. The other man, George, I believe his name was, tried to make a move on me. I just kicked him in the hip and dislocated his leg, like this!" Susan executed a side kick that hit the passenger side door. She paused to look at her handiwork. "Don't worry, it won't cost too much to fix. After I hit George's hip, he fell down. He'll be out of the hospital maybe quicker than the man with the broken finger." She started walking around the car towards Brian.

Brian saw his chance. He ran to the other side of the car where the passenger door was. If his memory served him correctly, he may have an extra key stashed away so he can start the car and get out of there. At the very least, being in the car may give him some protection from this madwoman. All hope faded when he saw the door. It was dented, but dented in the area where it would make no difference whether it was unlocked or not. The dent was near the door lock where it interfered with and distorted the mechanism that makes the door open, close, and lock, though being locked is the least of problems. Only the mechanics at the nearby body shop can open it now.

Brian was stunned. How did she do this? She just took her bare foot and slammed it against the door and now it won't open? That was unbelievable. Suddenly he felt a hand grasp his right arm and jerk him down to the ground. He looked up and saw the face of Susan staring down at him. He didn't dare move to get up.

"Then, last, but not least, there was the ringleader, Joe. And would you know, he had the nerve to pull out a knife on me! I knocked the knife out of his hand, and then I knocked him out. Then I tied him up with his shirt and had him hanging from a tree. I drug the other two men over to where Joe was. Why? So they could watch. Ask me, Brian, ask me what they were going to watch."

"Wwhat wwere they-" Brian tried, but was too filled with fear.

"They were going to watch me use Joe as a punching bag. They watched me break ribs and knock out teeth. They watched me break his nose and cheekbone. I also blacked his eyes and severely bruised his leg. To tell you the truth, I don't remember all of what I did to him. I just know that he'll be in the hospital for a long time."

Brian saw her boyfriend David and some other people approach the parking lot. Maybe, maybe he can restrain her somehow from giving him the same type of damage she gave to Joe.

"And I can easily do the same to you, Brian," Susan said. "One punch, and I could break your jaw, your nose, or your ribs. That's with just my bare fists. Just imagine what my feet can do. If I haven't already, I can make you regret the day you ever crossed me or my boyfriend."

Brian was already feeling a little comfort in the fact that he had the best health insurance money can buy, and the access to one of the best doctors in the state. What he wasn't feeling comfort in is the physical state he might be in when he uses those resources. Days of basic cable and hospital food were dancing through his head.

"I can beat you to a pulp in about five minutes, before anyone could stop me," Susan said. "And you know what? No one would blame me, considering the stuff you did. But today is your lucky day. I'm not going to do any of those things."

That caught Brian's attention. "You- you're not?"

"No. You can thank my pastor for saving your skin today. He said revenge is a dish best served cold, but it gives you indigestion. Beating you might make me feel better now, but not in the long run. It wouldn't make me any better than any of your henchmen."

"But what about Joe," Brian asked, a little curious.

"The case with Joe was self-defense, plus him and his two friends tried to rape me, so I left them a message. That's a little different."

"I never asked them to rape you," Brian replied, a little relived that he'll get to make it through this day in one piece.

"Well they'll never think about it again. I will leave you with a little warning. If you get between David and me again, or if I hear a little hint of you interfering, whatever I did to Joe I will do twice as much to you. Do you understand?"

"Yes," Brian said. He also tried to say the words that he's sorry, but they wouldn't come easily. He usually didn't have to apologize for anything.

Susan tossed the car keys on Brian's chest, then turned and walked away. In front of her she saw David holding her shoes, and some of the crowd from the caf#, some concerned, but more disappointed that they didn't receive the final climax to their morning by seeing Brian get his deserved beating (he went through quite a few women at school). Still, this will still be a story they'll tell their friends about at lunch.

"I'm proud of you honey," David said. "You showed better restraint than I did."

"Beating the snot out of a helpless worm would accomplish nothing," Susan said. "When I enter the ring or encounter someone trying to do me harm, that's a different story. But in a case like this, I must show mercy. It's not up to us to perform justice, although, I don't know if I could restrain myself next time."

"Well, here's hoping there won't be a next time," David said, kissing her on the cheek. "Meanwhile, we have classes to go to. Hey, I have an idea. After we get through with everything today, why don't we go out for a nice big steak, then see a movie?"

"Yeah, it'll be nice to see someone else's drama for a change." Susan put her arm around David as they walked back toward the university. David handed Susan her shoes, but Susan pushed them back. "I haven't wore those things for the biggest part of this morning. I don't need them now, you keep them."

"Hey, what am I going to do with your shoes?" David said

"I don't care, you can wear them."

"I'm not going to wear your shoes! Hon, what am I going to do with you?"

"Just love me, David. That's all I ask."

Epilogue

A year after graduation and obtaining their respective careers, Susan and David got married. David was hired at one of the more upscale accounting houses in town. Susan was hired as a high school teacher in one of the toughest schools in the district. Despite the school's reputation for violence, Susan's classes was one of the best behaved in the school. Though she never mentioned it, rumors circulated of her kickboxing career and how one day she beat up a gang all by herself. Considering how it made some of the tougher kids a little wary when they entered her classroom, Susan figured it would be wiser not to change a thing.

Concerning Susan's kickboxing career, she did obtain the Tri-State title three years in a row. After obtaining the third title, she retired. When asked why, she said she wanted to concentrate on having a family, start coaching kickboxing herself, and open a rape prevention workshop (her motto for the workshop was "they won't touch your body if you can kick their butt."). As if they didn't have enough to do, they also teach Sunday School at their church, and they still make that yearly mission trip to Mexico.

As for Brian, it would be a happy ending if it were said from that day that he learned his lesson, however some people have to learn the hard way. But that's a story for another time.

The End.

Any suggestions or criticism just send them to shrewsberry@juno.com.