There is F/F sex and girl fighting. If that doesn't appeal to you, read no further. Feedback always welcome.
A Valuable Lesson Learned
At some point in our lifetime, we are taught a valuable lesson or lessons by someone. Usually, teachers are the best source, but it can also come from another individual. It may be gentle or in my case, harsh. What we learn from it can sometimes make a world of difference. It did for me and while the journey was exceedingly rough at times, I haven't regretted it one bit.
My journey wasn't without cost and at the time it upset me, but, in the final analysis I concluded that it was the right thing to do.
As my life changed, I saw less and less of my circle of friends. On a chilly Friday one of the old members showed up at my townhouse for a girls evening of drinking, junk food and gossip. I sat in my kitchen with my longtime friend Becky. She was gazing at me with concern because I was sporting a very prominent black eye.
"Jesus Debra, what happened? Did you get in a fight?"
"No, not really."
"How did that happen?"
While Becky probed with more questions, but I kept evading, giving unsatisfactory responses. How could I possibly explain the dramatic changes in my life. My pride and surprisingly another very human drive/emotion refused to let me stop. I grabbed two beers out of the fridge and the bottle of Makers Mark Bourbon off the shelf.
"Cheers!" I said hoisting the shot.
Down the hatch it went with a beer chaser.
"I can't believe you like this stuff, but I find it...stimulating. This bourbon is awesome!" Becky stated.
"Yeah, I do enjoy it."
Another shot followed the first and I had that fuzzy warm feeling.
"Look Debs, I've known you since senior year of high school and this out of character for you." (Debs was her nickname for me) Why are you afraid to discuss it with me?'
Becky was right of course. Should I tell her? What would she think of me when I finished? Some parts were sure to shock her.
The soothing effects of the alcohol were bolstering my courage. The look of concern on Becky's face brought tears to my eyes. She more than anyone else deserved an explanation.
"Is it bad? Will it upset me?"
"Since we've known each other for a long time, I hope not. But I can't predict how you'll react."
With Becky's attention focused on me, I told my tale of discovery. When I finished, my dear friend was shocked to say the least.
"Well Debs ah...I never thought...ah...you were...ah...I don't know what to say?"
That's how we left it that night. Nothing more was forthcoming or needed to be said. But the genie was out of the bottle."
We must go back in time to get a good understanding of my motivations. I was the youngest of three children all of us girls. We were expected to participate in sports at every level and physical fitness was required. Every morning before school, one of my older sisters would lead us through vigorous calisthenics. Pushups, chin ups, pull ups and dips along with weightlifting when I turned ten and without a doubt, I was physically fit and very muscular for a female.
My father, a colonel in the Air Force, moved every three to five years depending on which base he was assigned. When I was twelve, my father was assigned to South Korea, and I loved it there. The people, the food and history fascinated me. My sisters and me went to the school for all base personnel with children of school age.
In my grade, was a girl that lived near me, and we would walk home together. Thea was sweet, and kind. We'd talk about our families, what we missed about the States, and we became friends. Often, we shared homework and would study with each other.
However, several months into the school year, I noticed that Lisa Kim was spending time with Thea. She was spending more time with her than me. She was class darling, tops in grades, socially accepted by everyone and excellent at sports. My ego was hurt, and I felt threatened by her. Of course, I had no reason to feel that way, but I was incredibly jealous, and I hadn't the faintest clue why? Finally, I was determined to confront Lisa. I walked home with her and as we took a short cut through an alleyway, I got up in her face. I wanted to fight her but where no one would see.
"So, you think yer hot stuff?" I asked with vehemence.
"No, I don't. Debra why are you acting this way? I thought we were friends?"
"Everyone likes you and looks up to you...like some role model! I know Teddy does."
"Why does that bother you? Everyone is friendly towards me; I can't help that."
The look of hurt on Lisa's face almost made me rethink why I wanted to fight her. But my pride was preventing me from seeing things clearly.
"Defend yourself because I'm gonna clean yer clock!"
"Debra don't do this or you're in for a world of hurt!" she stated succinctly.
I took a swing at Lisa but before I knew what happened, she tossed me around like a rag doll until I was lying on the ground. An elbow to my eye had it swelling up and I walked home in tears.
At home, I told my sisters what happened, and they had no sympathy for me.
"You got what you deserved." My oldest siter Michelle said and handed me an ice pack for my eye.
Later, I was in bed, sniffing back tears and wondering how a girl, a full head shorter and skinnier had beaten me up, without breaking a sweat. The more I thought about it the angrier I got, and I was determined to punch out Lisa Kim.
Well, the exact opposite occurred. After school, I confronted her again but with the same result. Lisa tossed me around like I weighed nothing and sure enough, I went home crying.
My sister Michelle was cleaning a nasty scrape on my knee.
"Debra, why are you acting like this? Lisa's your friend. So, what if she's the most popular girl in class and spends time with Teddy. Accept it and if I were you, I'd start by apologizing to her."
Of course, I didn't listen and for the next three days, Lisa kicked my butt. After five days of her moping the floor with my sorry ass, I asked for a truce.
Lisa smirked at me with her arms folded across her chest.
"Where did you learn to fight like this?"
I was breathing heavily while dear Lisa looked fresh as a daisy.
"I take Martial Arts classes, Taekwondo."
"Would you teach me how to fight like you?" I asked very humbly.
Lisa was all smiles and helped me to my feet.
"Sure! Come to classes with me. The instructor is wonderful..."
After that day, we became the best of friends. Lisa taught me a very valuable lesson, but I endured five good ass whooping's to achieve that. With her guidance, I practiced Taekwondo and later, Muay Thai and became quite accomplished in both disciplines.
After three years at the same base, my father was due to be reassigned but decided to retire after thirty years of service. He wanted to relocate to Collegeville, a Philadelphia suburb, where he and my mother grew up, courted, and married.
My mother died of cancer when I was barely two years old and except for photos, I don't remember her. My dad never remarried or even dated anyone seriously that I could recall.
When it came time to leave, I was terribly sad and hugged my dear friend with all my might.
"I'm gonna miss you, Lisa." I said bawling.
"Same for me Debra."
Tears tumbled down her cheeks too as we refused to let go of each other.
I settled into my new life, but high school proved to be challenging. As an Air Force brat, I had to make friends fast. Socially, I formed new friendships fast.
I decided on Penn State University for my undergraduate studies. At first, I thought of pursuing a teaching career but by junior year, I wanted to go to law school. I chose Villanova and never looked back. A well-known firm in Philadelphia offered me a position and I've been there since.
That's where I met my future fiancé, Evan, and coincidentally that's when all the trouble started. We'd been dating for two years when I became aware of a shift in our relationship. The list is commonplace among couples who are having difficulty in their relationship; he was working later than usual, not as romantic, emotionally more distant, sex less frequent and obligatory.
While dating among single colleagues was acceptable, the deteriorating situation was fast becoming unbearable. Every time I asked Evan if there was a problem he'd clam up. I was determined to get to the root of the problem, and it didn't take long. I realized that our difficulties arose when he hired a new legal assistant.
Andrea was a very pretty and one could argue beautiful, blonde with the "California Girl" look. She was medium height, hard bodied, smoldering green eyes and had most of the male associates salivating. I suspected that she was interested in Evan, but I naively thought that our relationship was strong enough to weather any storm.
It was on a Saturday, mid-June, when Evan told me something that made me seethe with anger.
"Hey, I'm gonna go on a golf outing with my college buddies over the Fourth of July weekend."
With our relationship on life support, I instinctively knew it was a lie.
"Are you taking Andrea?" I questioned with a bitter voice.
