Chapter 3

Years went by. Margaret decided that the apartment was just too small for her growing child. The neighbors were also a problem. Not that they were bad neighbors; on the contrary, most of them fawned over the child as if she were their own grandchild. That was the problem; most of the other tenants in the complex were senior citizens or young adults living together or alone with no kids. Margaret wanted her daughter to live in a house, in a family-oriented neighborhood with good schools, close to a park so she could play with other kids.

She found such an area in the next town over, Peoria, Arizona. It was a small, but well kept house, and best of all, in an area with a community pool nearby as well as a large park with lots of grass and a playground and a ball field. It added about twenty minutes to her commute, but it was well worth it; nothing but the best for her "Katie."

As Katie got older she grew into a pretty girl, tall for her age, everyone assumed she took after her mother. They had similar features and could be seen jogging around the park in the evenings and on the weekends. No one ever brought up the fact that there wasn't a father in the picture. Everyone just assumed that Katie was just one of countless other children that came from a single parent home.

Katie was a real tom-boy. She loved to play sports, especially baseball. On the weekends, or when school was not in session, it was normal to see her playing alongside the neighborhood boys. She was always one of the best players and wasn't afraid to stand up for herself or her team if needed. Much to her mother's dismay, it was not uncommon for her to come home with a fat lip or a bloody nose after an altercation with a boy who thought of her as 'just a girl'.

"Katie, what am I going to do with you; you can't keep getting into fights with the neighbors, it's not lady like. Besides, one of these days you're really going to get hurt."

"Mom, don't worry about me, I can take care of myself; besides, you should see what he looks like," she said with a smile on her face. "I'll bet he comes to school on Monday with a black eye."

"Oh dear, please try to behave yourself; we can't afford to have you get in any trouble."

"Don't worry Mom; I only finish the fights, I never start them."

As the years passed, Katie was able to channel her competitiveness into sports; baseball, her first love, then volleyball and basketball. She was a fierce competitor and was not a good loser. In her mind, you would never achieve your goals if you accepted defeat. She always gave one hundred percent and expected nothing less from her teammates. It was this attitude that led to more than a few confrontations with her teammates; but they learned that if they followed her example they usually ended up as winners.

When Katie wasn't playing sports she was conditioning her body. By the time she was a freshman in high school, she had convinced her mom that she needed a place to work out. Margaret got her a membership at the local gym. At the gym they showed her how to use the various pieces of circuit training equipment. Katie would complete her workout every evening, and then would walk over to the weight room and observe how the serious members of the gym would work their bodies.

One evening she stood in the doorway admiring the chiseled body of one of off-duty instructors. After completing her set, the woman called her over.

"You've been watching me for the last couple of weeks; do you want to join me? You look to be in great shape, how tall are you?"

"I'm five feet ten."

"How much do you weigh?"

"About one hundred thirty five pounds."

"If you want to, you can work out with me. I'll show you how you can add about fifteen pounds of muscle to your body, become a lot stronger than you are now, and get more definition in your abs."

"I don't want to disrupt your workout routine."

"You won't; if I'm not mistaken, you are a lot stronger than you realize, all you need is a little guidance and someone to push you to the next level. Besides it gets rather boring working out alone all the time. What do you say; we can start tomorrow evening."

"OK, what time do you want me to be here?"

"7:00 would be good. By the way, my name is Joan."

"I'm Katie. Thank you for letting me do this."

"Katie, don't thank me yet. You'll find me a tough task master, but I will get results, you'll see."

Katie ran home that evening and told her mother about her new workout partner and her plans for the following evening.

"Just remember that school work comes first. I want you to get a good education, that means getting into college and you'll need good grades to get in."

"I know, Mom; I'll make sure my school work is done after school or before I go to the gym. I promise."

The next evening after dinner and after completing her homework, Katie ran the mile and a half to the gym. At 7:00 sharp she met Joan in the weight room.

"You ready?"

"I'm ready, Coach."

"Coach, I like that."

Joan put her through a series of exercises in order to determine her strength levels. She kept a notebook listing Katie's level on each and was impressed by her overall development.