On my return to college, swimming and volleyball tryouts took place during the first week of classes. Swimming was always my preferred sport and I easily qualified for a spot on the team.
Always a marginal volleyball player on the high school level, volleyball on the collegiate level is an extraordinarily demanding and physical sport. Small nagging injuries, such as bumps and bruises are very common and can last an entire season.
However, it requires a tremendous amount of team work and it's the team, not the individual, who wins or loses. It was the camaraderie of the participants that attracted me to the sport in the first place.
I met Kelly the first day of practice and I immediately developed a crush. I'm convinced that my "puppy love" for her drove me to try my best and it was an absolute surprise to me when my name was on the roster for the upcoming season.
After my injury at one practice, Kelly treated me like her friend and sister. However, I was deathly afraid of spoiling our friendship by making overtures of love to her. None of this went unnoticed by our teammates, especially one in particular.
Maria Santos was a tall Hispanic beauty with a blazing hot temperament. A fierce competitor with the heart of a lioness, she could be both brutal and gentle to her fellow teammates. More than a few times during practices I was the recipient of her verbal abuse.
Maria possessed a hard and defined muscularity that was the envy of her teammates, except Kelly. I usually kept my distance as did most of the others but Maria had many admirers.
Surprisingly, there was little or no friction between Maria and Kelly. As different as night and day, there was a genuine respect for each others talents. Prima Donna types are generally not tolerated on a well oiled team and ours was no exception.
After our first victory, Maria invited the team to a party at her off campus apartment. I was nervous about attending and very late when I arrived but Maria greeted me warmly.
"Hey, little Chica!" she said amiably and gave me a high five.
The party was in full swing and after several mugs of beer, I was more relaxed and chatted with my teammates. I saw Kelly on the opposite side of the room engaged in conversation with a handsome guy and thought it best not to intrude.
Salsa dance music blared from the stereo and Maria made us line up for instruction. With a fluid gracefulness, she demonstrated the basic moves but most of the team was already "six sheets to the wind" and the results were hilarious.
Maria was laughing so hard she couldn't continue. Finally, she raised a glass of beer and we toasted to the success of the team.
Barb caught most the action on her camcorder and it was shown at every subsequent party that year.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Kelly leave with the same hot guy. Except for a brief hello, we hadn't spoken at all the entire evening. My heart dropped to my gut and I felt like crying on the spot.
However, before I had any chance to pine for Kelly, Barb was at my elbow.
"Maria's in the kitchen playing Texas Hold Em and she just cleaned out Ariel and Lisa." She stated exuberantly.
"Hmm, I see." I mused to myself.
Several years ago I developed a serious interest in playing poker when I saw Annie Duke play at the World Championship on TV.
Fascinated by card games from a young age, I learned to play poker and routinely liberated money from my male cousins during holiday visits. As soon as I turned eighteen, I entered several on line tournaments anonymously.
None of my teammates were aware of my proclivity with cards when I entered the kitchen and asked if I could play.
"Sure little girl. Do you have any money?" Maria said with eagerness and a jaundiced eye.
I took a small wad from my pocket and threw it on the table. Maria's face broadened to a grin.
"Hey! Make room for Cory!" she bellowed and pushed two teammates out of the way.
I was seated across from Maria and purposely lost the first two hands, bolstering her ego.
"You play cards about as good as you play Volleyball." Maria chortled as she scooped up the winning pot.
Even with good cards I kept my betting modest and won a couple of hands. Slowly, I turned up the heat, bluffed two girls and won a sizable amount of chips.
About a half hour later it was just me and Maria. We traded a few winning hands but her stack of chips was dwindling fast.
Barb dealt the next hand and I had two queens with the flop yet to show. Maria bet fifty bucks and gasps went up from the observers. I called and the flop gave me another queen.
Maria bet seventy bucks and I called. The turn card was an eight and with two eights on the table I had a full house. Maria went "all in" with a hundred sixty two bucks and I called.
Our hands were revealed and Maria had a full house with fives and eights. My full house was better with queens and eights but the final card could give her four fives.
When the river card was a two, I jumped up in triumph. Maria was fuming and guzzled the rest of her beer as I gathered up my winnings.
For the rest of the party, Maria regarded me with cool detachment. I had stolen her thunder and I knew that in someway, she would make me pay.
Several girls had stripped to their spaghetti strap T's and were arm wrestling.
"Want to give me a try little girl!" Maria asked innocently after she defeated a beefy girl named Brin.
The sight of Maria's sculpted muscular arms shook me to my core. The girl had some serious guns. My arms looked puny in comparison. I shook my head "no" but she wasn't taking no for an answer.
We locked arms and Maria's bicep swelled into a spider web vein covered softball. As I struggled to avoid defeat, she appeared to be amused by my feeble attempts.
With bone crunching ease, Maria slammed my hand against the table. She was exacting retribution for her gambling losses in a display of raw physical power.
When Maria demanded another match then another, my protests fell on deaf ears. After her third and decisive victory, my hand and arm ached with pain.
Maria was tenderly rubbing my sore appendage in an effort to placate my damaged ego. But, she wasn't done with me just yet.
"Hey! Let's wrestle, just for fun." She demanded.
"You're kidding, right? Obviously, you're a lot stronger than me!" I exclaimed emphatically but again my words fell on deaf ears.
Maria was clearing a spot in the living room. Effortlessly, she moved chairs and the sofa out of the way. Barb was the last person at the party except for me and she was saying goodnight.
"Don't be too hard on her Maria. We need her on the team!" she declared with enthusiasm and exited the apartment. Suddenly, I was alone with Maria and feeling a little panicked. Like a terrified rabbit, I bolted for the door but she tackled me before I got out of the living room.
Maria's sinewy body and remarkable strength ground me into submission. She was frightfully strong and used her muscles to crush my resistance.
Maria sat on my defeated body and using her powerful hands painfully gripped my arms.
"Make a muscle!" she commanded sternly.
