Chapter 1

I first saw her at the fitness center at my condo complex. I had lived here about a year and knew her for a new resident. As I walked in to exercise, I could hear her berating another resident.

Morris was not the most aggressive of men. He was polite and shy to a fault though he had a nice build and was very intelligent. Instead of telling her that she was off base, he was just taking her abuse. It went from his exercise style to his clothing choices and seemed to leave no item of his seemingly miserable life unscorched.

I also noticed that she was gorgeous. Her body had to be one of the best I had ever seen. Models and movie stars would love to have that body. Even her face was probably gorgeous though her expression wasn’t promising with its ugly expression and words as she abused Morris.

I didn’t know what set her off but quickly decided that I didn’t care. Morris was lying on his back with her standing almost over him. He looked to be in shock.

I walked up and got in her face. “Give it a rest! You just moved in and Morris has been here almost a year and has earned a reputation as a good guy. You, on the other hand, have just shown up and have earned a reputation as an absolutely terrible person! Find someone somewhere else to abuse.”

She was still standing over Morris. I pushed her to one side and helped him up with one hand while fending her off with my other.

She didn’t like that. Her face went redder. She was really angry now. She swung to slap me. My training kicked in and I grabbed her wrist and twisted it and the arm to which it was attached behind her. Continuing to hold it and her, I frog walked her to one of the soft walls and pushed her tightly against it.

“Don’t try it with me. I won’t tolerate it or you.”

I released her hand and moved out of the way. If anything, she was more angry now. The only good thing about it that I noticed was that it made her speechless.

She left in a huff. I thought that hers was red and cloud-like. That thought made me grin. I went through my workout as I usually did. Morris came up to me about half way through and thanked me for dealing with her. “She jumped me and I just couldn’t bring myself to do anything.”

“Don’t worry about it. It wasn’t a big deal. Some people are like that and bullying works until someone shows up who will handle them. I learned to handle bullies in a tough environment.”

Morris and I dried off later and left. I walked back to my condo noticing that I wasn’t followed. I knew I was in a good, safe area but it was still a habit to check my surroundings...

I spent a quiet evening and went to church the next morning. I enjoyed the service and even quietly prayed for the evil woman I had run into yesterday during the prayer time. I left and drove home after catching lunch with some members of my Sunday school class. We had a good time. When I got home, I changed into casual clothes and then sat on my couch to enjoy a quiet afternoon.

I planned to watch the NASCAR race though didn’t like the “stages” and the way they broke up the race. I still hadn’t figured out the current points method either. I realized I didn’t care any more since it would be different next year.

The race was about half over when my doorbell rang.

Looking through the spy glass, I saw two big guys about my size standing at the door. I shrugged. I opened the door and said, “May I help you?”

One said, “Asshole, you hurt Belinda yesterday!”

He then swung on me as his partner reached out to grab me. Both missed. I grabbed the talker’s arm and pulled him around in front of my body. “Guys, I don’t know what this is about and don’t know anyone named Belinda.”

“You hurt her in the fitness center.” His voice sounded strained which made sense since I was choking him some.

I now knew Belinda was the woman in the fitness center who was bullying Morris. I said, “I only stopped her from hurting someone there. Guys, this wasn’t a good idea. You two have a choice. You can leave with ‘no harm, no foul.’ The other option is to continue on your current course and I will have to hurt one or both of you.”

The other one said, “We’re going to put a hurting on you.”

I smiled slowly and said, “Go for it.”

He tried to hit me while I was behind his buddy. I moved his buddy to take a blow to the stomach. That folded him over. I pushed him into the swinger. What neither expected was that I followed his body with my own. I swung on “swinger” but I didn’t miss. He fell with a blow to his chin. I stood there looking around now that the initial flurry of activity was over. I saw “Belinda” watching from the street. They had both fallen off my stoop.

I stared at her and then went back inside. She didn’t look happy. I thought, fleetingly, that she had a gorgeous body coupled to a sick mind. The two guys stood after a little while. All three left. I was glad I had a garage. I didn’t want my vehicle damaged. I had noticed that Belinda was driving a mid-size sedan in blue. I would remember that just in case.

The rest of the afternoon was quiet. The race ended and I realized that I didn’t know and didn’t care who had won. I thought about going to the fitness center. After a moment, I decided to go. I wasn’t looking for a confrontation but wasn’t going to avoid one either.

Morris was there. We talked a moment. I warned him about Belinda telling him what was attempted at my front door. He said, “Steve, I appreciate what you did. Don’t get into trouble.”

I smiled. “I needed the exercise and practice though it was quickly over. Just be watchful, Morris. Bullies always want revenge when they lose. She’s lost twice now. She may hit on you as an easier target. She drives a mid-size blue sedan.” He nodded. We finished our routines and went our separate ways.

Monday, I went to work as usual. On the way home, I stopped by the nearby grocery store to pick up a few things. I was a passable cook but wasn’t willing to go to much trouble for just me.

I was walking down an aisle and heard a woman’s voice say, “Shit!”

I looked and saw Belinda. I pushed my cart beside hers. I said, “Don’t try siccing your boys on me again. I won’t be so gentle next time. Actually, the best thing is for you to leave me and mine alone. I’m more than willing to leave you alone.”

I couldn’t resist a dig. “After all, with your attitude, alone is probably your normal state of affairs.” I stopped there though was tempted to add that her type were left alone unless they were in heat.

Chapter 2 »