Mad Women, Ch. 4
This is a work of fantasy and the human imagination.
“Would you want to fight her again?” Susan asked Dani. They were eating lunch at a diner a few blocks from the Abraham and Weiner offices. “She’s working in personnel administration at a bank on 36th street. It seems like she’s heard about your recent exploits.”
“I’m up for it want to if she is,” Dani answered. “I told that we could fight again any time she wanted.”
“Oh, I’ve been assured that that won’t be a problem.”
Three weeks before their lunch at the diner, Susan had approached Dani with a slightly different proposition. It seemed that everyone was talking about what had happened with the beautiful, busty redhead, Dani’s being beaten by her at the lodge and then her beating her at her car dealership a few months later—the bosses and their wives as well as the younger folks like Dani, the ones who sat at their desk all. And while the younger folks could only talk, the bosses and their wives had suggested a little contest. The wife of Mr. Weiner’s business partners had been taking boxing lessons, and when she had heard about the accomplishments of her husband’s newest star employee, she expressed an interest in trying out her skills for real rather than “playing footsies with a paid coach,” as she had put it. The husband, Mr. Bacon, was from an old money family. The wife, Amalia, was a German woman who had met her husband while he was vacationing in Jamaica, and she was very beautiful, Dani had heard, At 35, she was over 10 years older than Dani but considerably younger than her husband, as most of the wives of the top circle were. Susan assured her that Mrs. Bacon was very fit and was far from an upper class pushover. There were rumors that she had herself been quite active in competitive events when she was a younger woman. Dani had agreed, of course. Even if she hadn’t wanted to do it, turning down the boss’s wife was hardly the smart move for a young woman just starting in the business. And, having never boxed competitively before, at least not with gloves, she most certainly wanted to try it out.
The evening before their match, Dani was invited to dinner at the Bacons’ house. It was well outside the city, far enough that Dani took the train to what felt like the end of the line and then got a taxi to the address given her. She was to stay at their house overnight, and their bout would be at a nearby gym that Mr. Bacon seemed to have control over. The Bacons’ house was more like a mansion, even to Dani, whose parents had been pretty comfortable. A butler greeted her and showed her room, where she lay down until dinner was served. Wearing a black dress that showed off a fair amount of her impressive cleavage and shapely figure, she made her way to the dining room, where she found the Bacons and the few guests who would be witness to their bout the following day. Dani and Amalia moved toward each other immediately, greeting each other without the hug and profuse beatitudes common to meetings between women in this circle. And Dani sized up the German woman, of course, as Amalia did the same to her. Amalia was taller than average, taller than Dani, and she wore a simple but obviously very costly dress that would have seemed modest on most women but could only flatter her. She had dark brown hair that she wore short, just above her shoulders, and rather broad shoulders for a woman, not unfeminine, but a striking and unusual feature, and narrower hips than Dani, plus a deep and ample bosom. With her obviously strong arms and neck, she seemed more like an action figure than a trophy wife to a Manhattan millionaire. Dani knew then that she was going to have a much tougher bout than she had been expecting. And, she could not help but ask herself how her opponent saw her. A smaller woman, with a very sexy and feminine silhouette and a beautiful face, and a younger woman, but also one who had registered notable victories and made a strong impression on everyone in a short time.
Dani was seated toward one end of the long dinner table, near a few other young women, who might have been there as spectators or as possible future competitors. Amalia and her husband were seated across from each other in the center of the table—so that they would always be the center of attention, it seemed. Dani had never sat down to eat with someone she knew she would fight soon, and most certainly had never done so in front of an audience. Aside from the young women seated by her, there were about ten other dinner guests, including her boss, Mr. Weiner, and his wife, as well as Debleena Watt, whom Dani had noticed at the Weiner’s midtown apartment. Seated next to Debleena was a shockingly beautiful and very busty young woman, college aged, who seemed to be of Indian descent and whom Dani took to be Debleena’s daughter. Everyone at the table would be in the audience the following evening, she assumed, although it seemed entirely possible that there would be more guests at the fight itself. The Bacons were not the kind to divulge too much information to someone beneath their station, which was exactly how Dani felt sitting at that table that evening. She just had to get through the dinner, and then she would have the following day to eat and rest before their match in the evening.
“Dani,” Amalia called in a voice that was very slightly too loud. “Do tell us something about yourself. It seems that your own boss doesn’t know anything about you.” The staff had taken away the salads, and they had been sipping wine and waiting for the entrée to be served.
“I’m not sure there’s a lot to tell,” Dani said in her rough voice, which had always been slightly coarse, as if she had been shouting too much. “I’m from St. Louis. I went to Barnard, where I was an English major, and after graduating I got job at Mr. Weiner’s office. It seemed like a natural move, you know, from reading fiction to writing fiction.”
Most of the table chuckled at the joke, but Amalia did not. “And is your family originally from St. Louis?”
Dani felt every pair of eyes targeting her, not just because she was the new girl and not just because she would be fighting the hostess tomorrow night. She had grown up in a house that, however nice it had been in, in one of the old genteel neighborhoods in St. Louis, had been part of a row of houses on a city street. She was now sitting in a house that could have been the manor for an English estate, and she felt like she was being made into a trinket, a toy or a small pet you bring out to show your friends and then put away again.
“Why don’t you go first?” Dani responded. “Did you grow up here?”
Amalia’s smile faltered, for just an instant, and then it was back in place. “Of course I didn’t grow up in my husband’s house. What kind of question is that?”
“Maybe she’s confused about how things work in society,” Debleena interjected. “She’s had so little exposure to it.”
“I’m sorry for not being more clear,” Dani said. “I forgot that English isn’t your first language. I meant, did you grow up in a house like this?”
“Well, I grew up in Germany.”
“Yes, I can tell,” Dani interrupted.
At this point, Amalia’s face grew dark. “And where is your family from, again? Mexico, I thought you said,” Amalia asked, directing the question to Debleena.
“I thought it was Puerto Rico,” Debleena answered.
“My grandparents moved here from Colombia.” Dani’s eyes darted between Amalia and Debleena as she answered. She could feel her heart speeding up in her chest and, against her will, the color coming to her cheeks. She hated herself for letting these women see her becoming emotional. Well, she told herself, if feminine emotion was what they wanted, that’s what they would get.
“Oh, doing what?”
“My grandfathers both worked for the same coffee company, and they were moved to St. Louis when the company was expanding, to work distribution. And their kids met and had me?” Dani added, with what was meant to be a playful shrug. She knew exactly what Amalia was getting at, as did everyone else at the table.
“How romantic,” Amalia said in a flat tone.
“You haven’t told us about your family.”
“Ah, yes. Nothing as romantic as coffee importing, I’m sorry to say. My family moved from West Germany to Jamaica when I was a child, and I was working as a model and hostess for one of the resorts there. When I got supremely lucky and met the love of my life,” she said, smiling and reaching across the table to pat her husband’s hand.
“Well, modeling is rewarding work, I’m sure.”
“It can be yes, if you have the gift for it,” Amalia answered in a very pointed tone.
And that brought the conversation to an abrupt end. The staff brought out their entrees, and they all eat in relative quiet. Dani felt keenly aware of the guests’ furtive looks at each other, especially among the young women and Debleena and her daughter, and all of it at Dani’s expense. At last the dinner was over, and Dani retired to her room. She spent the rest of the evening and the following day either resting or walking the grounds of the estate alone. In the late afternoon, a drive took her to the boxing gym. There, Dani had an entire locker room to herself, where she changed and warmed up. Then, more waiting, until her second came and escorted her out to the ring.
Dani entered the ring before Amalia. She wore her gloves, a white robe, and a pair of sneakers. Her gorgeous hair, frizzy, brown with blonde streaks, was loose and it was as if it was floating around her head. The Bacons had provided a second for her, a young man who would give her water between rounds. They also had a ref, someone who worked at the gym and even wore the traditional striped shirt and black pants, an older man with a bald head and a mustache who helped her between the ropes with a kindly smile. Their small crowd, which consisted of the same people from last evening’s dinner as well as a handful of new faces Dani didn’t know, sat in the small set of bleachers along one wall, and they politely clapped for her. Dani acknowledged them with a brief tip of one gloved hand and then she went to her corner and began hopping up and down and stretching, working off her nerves. Soon enough her opponent Amalia came out of the other locker room and entered the ring as well, also wearing a white robe and sneakers, also wearing her darker brown hair loose. The ref wasted no time and signaled for them to come to the center with him. There, he went over the rules: 2 minute rounds with 1 minute of rest, fighters could be saved by the bell, and they would go until one of them could not answer a 10 count or voluntarily quit between rounds. While he spoke, the two women eyed each other without expression. He checked that they had their mouthguards in and reminded them that it was a boxing match, not wrestling. Then he sent them back to their corners, where they disrobed. Both women were topless and wore only a pair of bikini bottoms. Dani eyed Amalia’s large breasts, hanging free now, topped by large brown nipples, of the same impressive heft as her own, if a bit lower with age. And she noticed Amalia doing the same with her exposed chest.
The ref signaled for the bell, and the bout was started. Both women came forward cautiously and circled each other, gloves up. Dani threw a left but she came up well short and Amalia popped her in the face. Dani tried to get closer and the taller woman again made use of her reach, tagging her in the face with a right and a left and stepping to the side and away. Dani paused and regathered herself and settled back into circling with her. She loaded up for another go but Amalia hit her in the forehead. She then tried to throw punches into Dani’s torso but Dani blocked them with her gloves. As the German woman reloaded, Dani stepped in closer and got her with a hook to the side and a shot to her stomach. Amalia grunted but she responded in kind, loosing short quick punches into Dani’s midsection and then getting her in the face as she backpedaled away. Her stomach was hot and it and her face both stung from the blows and as she was regrouping Amalia suddenly rushed at her, throwing a wild right and then a left at her head. Dani skipped back and avoided the blows but she found herself back in the ropes now. Amalia closed on her and the two women tied up, arms wrapped around each other. Both of them popped the other in the side and back with small hits that did little but remind the other she was still there. The ref separated them and they circled again. Amalia threw a right and a left but Dani just stepped backwards and reset herself. Then the bell rang, ending the round.
The two of them sat in their corner as their seconds wiped down their face and back and gave them a mouthful of water, and then they were up and back at it. Dani stepped to her right, looking to land a left jab, but instead Amalia rushed her again. This time Dani could not get clear in time and she took a hard, clean shot to her face, followed by an uppercut to her bosom and a right and a left to her stomach. Instinctively she threw her arms around her opponent but Amalia stepped back, creating space between them, and she put one gloved hand behind Dani’s head and pulled down on it and threw punches up into her stomach and breasts. Dani took the shots but then Amalia threw an uppercut into her face and the force straightened her up and threw her back into the corner. She was leaning into the post, blinking and holding her gloves up in front of her face and not really aware of much in the world beyond that. The larger woman she was fighting came roaring at her and threw what felt like countless shots into her body. It felt like being in a car wreck with a semi. She was hit relentlessly in her sides, and when she without even realizing it lowered her elbows to protect herself Amalia hit her cleanly across the jaw. Dani stumbled with the force of the blow and Amalia followed it up with another from her other hand, into Dani’s face, and she slid down the ropes to the mat. She hit on her hands and knees. Above her, the ref had started his count, and she could hear her own breathing, gasps, and the clapping and cheering of their small audience. At 5, she was pulling herself up the ropes, and by 8, she was up and facing the ref. He wiped her gloves on his chest and looked into her eyes, checking that she was okay to continue, and then he stepped aside and motioned Amalia and Dani to come together again. As they did, it seemed to Dani that a female voice shouted “Knock her out” over the noise of the crowd. Dani backed and circled away as Amalia chased her, and then the bell sounded and the round was over.
Dani sunk gratefully onto her stool and spent the minute of rest getting her breathing under control, focusing on squeezing her heart to make it slow down, and then the time was up and she rose from her stool and clapped her gloves together as the ref signaled for the bell. Amalia yet again rushed at her, looking to overwhelm with her size and strength; she had established her advantage early on, and she was going to keep coming back to it until Dani made her change. She dashed forward, throwing rights and lefts, and Dani backed up and circled away from her. Again she came on, and this time rather than back up Dani ducked and stepped to the right, and as she did she got Amalia in the stomach with her left and clipped her in the lower back with her right. Amalia grunted but she spun around and immediately came at her again. Dani dodged the punches but it was a lot closer this time, and now as she backed Amalia just kept coming at her, peppering her arms and gloves as Dani shielded herself. Amalia just bore straight on and walked Dani that way right back into the corner. There, Amalia crowded her in, throwing everything she had. Dani lowered her head and covered up and weathered the storm. The ref stepped between them and backed Amalia up to reset them, and as he did, Dani heard that same female voice shout “Let them fight!” As soon as the ref signaled for them to start again, Amalia stormed right into her again, throwing all she had and crowding Dani into the corner. The punches slowed down and then Amalia was leaning on her, using her gloves to push down Dani’s, and the two women leaned on each other in the corner, both of them breathing hard and sweating, their hair stuck to their faces and necks. Then Dani surged forward, shoving Amalia back, aiming to throw a big uppercut on the taller woman. But Amalia was again too quick for her and as Dani’s arms came up she caught her in the breast with one punch, then another, and then she ripped into Dani’s sides, stomach, and bust with one after another. Dani felt like she was trapped between the post and the woman and just took them. At last, Amalia backed up. She was panting and her arms hung down at her sides. Dani tried to make herself throw something at her, but her body wouldn’t respond. Instead, Amalia just walked into her, using her body to push Dani back into the post in the corner, leaning on her, grinding her forehead into hers. The ref gave them a verbal warning and they both stood there, or leaned, sucking in air. Again, Dani heard the female voice shout “Let them fight!” The sweat glistened on their hot skin. Then Amalia took a step back and popped Dani in the face and the two of them both threw what they had. Dani got in a shot or two but she took harder ones and she got rocked. She was sagging back into the post as the bell rang. The ref got in between them but not before Amalia hit her one last time, a short uppercut into the face that knocked her head back so that she was looking straight up at the ceiling for a long instant.
Thankfully, Dani followed the ropes to her corner and plopped down on the stool. It seemed like there was a great deal of cheering coming from the audience. She was just as thankful for the cool water on her face and the back of her neck. And then the break was over and she rose for the start of round 4. Dani was expecting Amalia to rush her and this time she did the same, charging right across the ring. She got in close and got a punch on Amalia’s breast and one at her head but then the larger woman shoved her backward with both gloves and then while Dani’s arms were raised up from the momentum Amalia hit her in the side of the breast with a vicious hook. Dani was hurt badly, and as she lowered her arms to protect her chest Amalia got her in the face with a right and a left. The punches sent her stumbling backwards into the ropes. The larger German stayed on her and hit her with rights and lefts until she fell to the mat. She landed flat and lay dazed for an instant, but she was back on her feet by the count of 7. The ref again checked her and waved the women forward to continue boxing. As expected, Amalia was looking to finish her. Dani tried to counter but her arms and her body were moving after her mind told them to and she took one shot after another. Amalia was working on her stomach, her chest, her face, and while Dani was able to stay up she was driven relentlessly backward until she was once again in the corner. Amalia closed on her and the women were soon enough tied up. Arms interlocked, leaning and pushing on each other, sweating and groaning. Dani felt her shift her feet and hips and the next thing she knew she was tripping to the mat. She landed on her back and looked up to see the larger woman staring down at her, body tense. She thought Amalia might throw punches or kick her, but the ref stepped in. He held one arm up, stopping Amalia, and gestured to Dani to rise.
“Come on, ladies,” he said. “We’re boxing, not wrestling.”
“Yeah, come on, runt,” Amalia said. Her speech was muffled by the mouth guard, but it was clear enough.
“Knock the kanjari out!” the female voice shouted. Some element of Dani’s mind registered the familiar voice as Debleena’s.
He stepped out from between them and they clashed again. Dani hit her in the stomach and Amalia hit her right back. Then she whacked her in the bust and across the face and Dani went back down to the mat. She got up faster this time, at 5, but as the ref wiped off her gloves again she saw concern and some disdain, and she thought that maybe he was considering stopping the fight, if that was within his power. But he stepped back and waved for them to continue. As she expected, Amalia threw a wild haymaker, thinking Dani was finished. And when it came, Dani crouched under it and threw a wicked straight right into the pit of her stomach, just above her crotch. And then when Amalia tumbled forward, dropping to her knee, Dani rose up and nailed her in the jaw with a left. Amalia took it full force and fell over backwards onto her butt just as the bell rang.
“Look out down there,” Dani said as she stumbled back to her corner.
Between rounds, they glared at each other while sitting on their stools, both breathing deeply and leaning forward so that their great breasts hung freely. And then when the bell rang they rose and came straight at each other to rejoin battle. They met in the center of the ring and threw punches wildly without any defense. Blows landed to their faces, chests, and stomachs until finally, both exhausted, they fell into each other’s grip. Arms interlocked, they leaned on each other, gasping for air, sweating profusely, and threw slow weak punches into each other’s sides or backs as they could. Turning slowly, they shoved and pushed on each other but they couldn’t create anything. At last, the ref pulled them apart, and as they separated Amalia tapped Dani on the forehead with the end of her glove. It wasn’t a punch but rather an insult. ‘Come on,’ she gestured with both hands, nodding her head, and Dani nodded in response. Again they met squarely, throwing punches without defense. Dani nailed her with a big right at the onset and hurt her, so that Dani thought she could see her eyes roll back for an instant, and while Amalia was stunned Dani hit her again. But then when she threw another punch after that, Amalia came in under it and hit her hard in the breast. Dani locked up in pain and Amalia got her flush on the side of her face with her other hand. Dani was turned all the way around so that she was facing toward the ropes and away from Amalia, and the German took advantage. She shoved Dani in the back, hard, sending her into the ropes, and she followed her in. Dani hit the ropes and Amalia immediately was on her, pinning her there with her bodyweight. She got Dani in a headlock with her left arm and dragged her along the ropes. The hard rope burned Dani’s chest and she gasped in pain and wriggled and shoved herself free. But in the melee she ended up with her back to the ropes and Amalia holding there with one hand and hitting her with the other. The stronger German hit her several times before the ref was pulling on them, and as he did the bell rang to end round 5.
This time, Dani had to force herself off the ropes and across the ring to her corner. It felt like a mile. The cheering of the audience seemed impossibly loud given its small size. The flesh of her bosom burned and her face and stomach throbbed with pain and she felt like she’d run two marathons. Amalia looked tired, too, but the entire break she was smiling maliciously at Dani, and when the bell rang Amalia rose from her stool promptly and even with energy while Dani pushed herself up with her gloves against her thighs. As they came to the center, Dani began circling away and jabbing, trying to keep Amalia at bay, but she charged through it and slugged her across the face. Dani dropped to the mat, landing on her side. She watched the ref pushing Amalia back as the brunette tried to get at her while she was down. It took him a bit and Dani was thankful for the rest. With that help from Amalia, Dani beat the count easily enough, and the ref checked her and waved them together again. Immediately, Amalia hit her and knocked her down again. But this time, before the ref could restrain her, she stood over Dani, who was on her hands and knees, and she used her foot to shove her onto her side.
“Get up, runt, so I can hit you some more,” Amalia taunted her.
The ref was trying to get in between them but Amalia hit Dani on the head, not hard, really, but she did, and in doing so she had brought herself in close. With everything she had left, Dani rose to one knee and threw her right hand into Amalia’s crotch. She hit her squarely on her mound, and Amalia immediately doubled over, covering herself, her eyes closed and mouth open. Dani forced herself up to her feet, swaying, and she hit her across the face. It put Amalia down on the mat. The ref shoved Dani back against the ropes and was shouting warnings at her, but to Dani, his shouts and the cheering and yelling of the audience and her own breathing were all equal. She glared down at the woman on the mat, and when Amalia finally opened her eyes, she was glaring right back.
The bell rang, as if that mattered at this point. The ref gave Amalia a chance to recover and then got her stood up and brought the two of them together in the center. He began lecturing them about following the rules, but Amalia told him to shut up.
“Get out,” she told him. “We don’t need you to finish this. Do we, runt?” she asked Dani.
“Fine by me, bitch,” Dani answered.
So, the ref shrugged and climbed out of the ring. The two women squared off for one last round, with all rules obviously thrown out. As they circled, drenched in sweat, their hair plastered to their skin, their voluptuous breasts swaying slowly, they pulled off their boxing gloves and tossed them over the ropes. Their hands were still wrapped up and they both brought their fists up in loose guards, slowly bobbing and swaying, both exhausted but continuing on. Torquing her hips, Dani threw a straight right that slipped between Amalia’s hands and got her flush on the nose. She stepped back, blinking and wiping at her face with one hand, and Dani tried to dash in on her to get shots on her body, but at the last moment Amalia stepped aside. With one hand she got a handful of Dani’s hair and with the other she pounded her in the face, once, twice, three times. Dani took the shots and stumbled, falling to one knee, and still holding her by the hair Amalia dragged her over to the ropes. She put Dani’s head between the top and second ropes and pulled back on her hair, using her hair like a bridle, forcing Dani’s head up toward the ceiling and her naked torso to arc out toward the audience, her magnificent bosom topped by dark brown aureola. This hurt her considerably but from that position Amalia couldn’t hit her like she wanted to and so she relaxed her hairpull. As Dani sagged forward, leaning on the second rope, Amalia got her in a kind of headlock and began peppering her face with shots with her other hand. Again, though, the position prevented her from doing more damage and she relaxed the headlock to try to get to where she could put more behind the punches.
But Dani got her. As Amalia shifted, Dani whipped her elbow up and back, catching her in the bottom of her stomach, again making Amalia drop her guard to cover herself up. Dani was too hurt herself to take advantage right away, though, and she got herself free and, using the ropes, pulled herself up to her feet. Panting, dragging, the women stared at each other and then went for it. Amalia threw the first punch and Dani took it on her left arm and hammered a right over Amalia’s shoulder onto her ear. The larger woman flinched and Dani slammed a left fist into her breast and then a right into her side. Amalia threw another punch, a big wild looping swing, and Dani stepped inside of it and then she slammed her knee up between Amalia’s legs, striking home yet again. The German woman lurched forward, inadvertently falling into Dani’s arms, and Dani held her up with her right arm around her back and slammed punch after punch up into her stomach and large bosom. It was like Dani could feel the strength draining out of the other woman’s body, at last. She continued hitting her until Amalia slid down, trying to grip her body and then falling to her knees. Dani stood in front of her and hit her across the face with a right, turning her, but Amalia stayed upright, somehow, and she came back with a left and then another right and Amalia tumbled to the mat, collapsing on her back. She was staring up and trying to roll over onto her stomach to get up, but she couldn’t.
Dani stepped over her and, as she did, she looked out into the audience and locked eyes with Debleena, who seemed both enraged and aroused by the entire affair, and then Dani lowered herself so that she was sitting on Amalia’s chest, with her face framed between her thighs and her arms under Dani’s legs. Dani stared down at her like that, her own breasts rising and falling as she gasped for her. “Say you’re done, bitch,” she said at last, when she’d recovered enough.
“Fuck you,” Amalia whispered.
“Say it, or we can keep going,” Dani replied.
“Runt,” Amalia gasped.
Dani sat there, staring down at her, and then she rose and stamped her foot on Amalia’s stomach. As the other woman squirmed, Dani pulled her up by the hair. Amalia started raising her fists and Dani popped her in the face with a straight punch and then, while she was stunned, she went to work on her, rights and lefts to the face and the torso, driving her back until she was leaning on the ropes. Dani clocked her in the face one more time and then, with her opponent laid out, held up by the ropes like that, Dani pounded on her, alternating between her breasts and her face. Until finally, Amalia had had enough and she slid to the mat prostrate. Dani stood over her, leaning on the ropes, to see if she would stir, but she was finally done.
“Runt,” Dani gasped, and she climbed through the ropes and hopped down off the apron to the floor.
Afterward, Dani had been helped back to the locker room and then driven back to the estate. She was given an envelope of cash, as per their agreement, and she was surprised to discover that they’d included a sizeable tip. She’d been prepared to get stiffed and had told herself that she’d be lucky to get a ride to the train station, after the way the fight had gone, but evidently the Bacons were more than they’d seemed. Or perhaps it was Debleena’s doing. Either way, Dani was kept away from the guests, but she was given an entire day to rest and anything she wanted to eat, and then the driver took her all the way to her apartment in the city. And then, three weeks later, Dani was having lunch with her friend Susan and discussing a possible reunion with her coworker from college, Sydney.
