Fyre's Fight Journal, Chapter 28: Urban Ambush
It's been a little more than a week since my showdown with Lily where I won the chance to face Jolene in the cage for her championship. I'm all healed up and ready to look for some trouble since I have over a month to get ready for that fight. Naturally, I need to keep my edge. So, I'm wearing my 'catpin' hoping to find a "sparring" partner.
Today, I'm venturing into the city to check on a possible project at an under construction.. well more like abandoned commercial building. It's not in the best neighborhood but it should be nice enough once I'm finished since it's an old building with a lot of character.
I'm dressed in a white tank top and sports bra, blue jeans and faded red ball cap with my ponytail hanging out of the back. The ground crunches beneath my brown boots with every step. It's late morning and the early summer Texas sun is already sweltering- especially up here on the 5th floor with no roof or any decent shade to provide any relief, other than my trusty cooler full of water. Thankfully I'm only taking some measurements and coming up with ideas, not doing any real work.
I hear some twigs snap as I make my way back down to my jeep and get my phone that I had forgotten. I can feel a pair of eyes on me but I can't see who they belong to. Probably some kid, I think to myself as I go back into the building. I don't go directly back up but hide around a corner to see if anyone follows me. Looking through a hole where a window used to be, I see a tall, slender black woman skulking past my jeep.
There's a bright glint of sunlight reflecting off the strap of her red halter top. I'm being stalked by a woman with a catpin. I continue to hide in the shadows until the woman enters the building and begins to creep up the stairs. I see the tight light gray jeans clad huntress disappear around the corner before I begin to tail her. Once she gets up to the top floor and I'm not there her posture changes.
"You scared, blondie?" The woman calls out, going from stealthy to challenging. She continues to walk around the open air of the roofless structure. "I saw your pin... come out and play... or don't come back, bitch."
I finally step out into the open behind her. "I'm here now, sweetie... it's your turf. How do you want to do this?" I ask sauntering towards the dark skinned woman confidently.
The woman does her best to not to look startled as she turns and struts to me but I can tell I startled her. We stop with, maybe, a yard between us before the tall woman speaks again. "Topless... barefoot... until one of us quits. I win, you don't come back. What do you want if you win?"
"I win, you make sure I don't have any problems here... oh, and I take your panties... deal?" I answer.
"You're a trophy hunter, eh?.... seems like I'm running into more of those lately... fair enough, I won't mind adding to my collection. You've got yourself a deal.... I'm Tamika by the way." She replies before beginning to untie her sneakers.
"The name's Kelli..." I say as I begin to plug the information into the app on my phone. Its official now. This woman and I are going to hurt each other. I start to take off my boots and remove my shirt. The sun is warm on my bare skin which shines with perspiration even though we haven't started yet.
Tamika finishes removing her shirt and jewelry. Then she confirms everything on her phone. I begin to set up my phone to film the action. "Why you doin' that?... the drone is only three minutes away." She says with a dismissive tone.
"The what?" I ask confused.
"Damn, bitch... when's the last time you fought? They started sending these things out to film about a month ago... do you ever read the update notes... or do you just click the 'accept' button?... of course, maybe you just don't rate one" Tamika says smirking. Something tells me that this woman fights a lot and she thinks that I do not. And drones? Interesting.
We stand across from one another nonchalantly warming up, the sun beating down on us. We're fortunate that this building works well there's not much around and definitely nothing tall enough for anyone to able to look down and see us. The floor is in decent enough shape- strong enough to hold but still flimsy enough to have a little give to it. It won't be as forgiving as a ring or mats, but tolerable enough- even if the dirt and grit make it feel a bit like sandpaper beneath my bare feet.
I size up my opponent. She's quite a bit taller than me, 5'10" or so, but she probably only weighs 120 pounds. I can see the definition of nearly every muscle of her body as well her hip bones. Her naturally curly hair is loose and free, hanging to just below her shoulders. She has dark brown eyes and her face is wide. She isn't pretty or elegant like Candace but looks rough and ready... she has the look of a woman that enjoys hurting another woman. The slender woman's dark skin shines with sweat and the nipples of her very small breasts are hard as diamonds.
I hear the whir of the drone as it arrives and Tamika readies herself. I do the same. Then I hear the robotic voice of the drone begin to count down from five. A recorded sound of a bell sounds and the tall woman and I begin to move laterally. I feel the combination of dirt and other debris on the floor against my bare feet with every step. I know that, between the heat and trash on the floor, the ground is not where I want to fight this woman.
I quickly eat a couple of jabs. I realize that the taller woman knows how to use her sizable reach advantage as I feel my lip swell. I cautiously keep circling looking for an opening. Moving in and trying to land good solid shots, only to take two or three for every one I connect with. I am usually significantly better than most women when it comes to going toe to toe, but Tamika seems to be quite the boxer. If I'm being honest, she is better than me. Even if she doesn't have much power.
With the sun beating down on us and the topless black woman landing combination after combination for every single punch I that I'm able to score, I begin to fade. I already know that I have a fat lip and a soon to be black eye, but what is really taking its toll are the body blows. The punishment to my ribs and belly are already making every breath hurt.
Across from me, the taller woman is relatively unfazed so far. Her skin is shining under the oppressive sun and I have managed to give her a pretty good mouse under her left eye but she is otherwise looking like she did when we started. It does me no good to sugarcoat it, I'm getting my ass kicked. I have to figure something out and soon.
A jab, hook combo sends me staggering backwards a few steps. She might not have any power to speak of, but the cumulative effect of her punches are taking their toll. The flat chested woman stands up and smirks. "Had enough yet... bitch?" Tamika asks, barely even breathing hard.
It's now or never, Kelli. I tell myself as I get ready to commit to a change in strategy. I cover up as best I can, absorbing a couple more punches as I get in close enough to latch on to the taller woman's hair. Reactivity, she does the same and I feel the familiar pain of my hair being pulled. It's a welcome change from the feeling of her fists battering my body and face.
It's clear that, even after the beating I'm taking, I'm the stronger of us. I'm able to use her hair and yank the taller woman down to my level. With her off balance, I let out a growl and charge forward driving the slender woman back first into a brick wall. Holding her against the wall, I slam the bitch's head into the wall. That stuns her and gives me a chance to take control.
My hand goes to her throat, holding the taller woman against the wall and opening her body up for an attack. Instinctively, Tamika keeps pulling my hair, well more like grabbing it and trying to use her long arms to push me away. I won't be denied, however, and with my free hand I send several hard punches towards her midsection, my knuckles sinking deep into her flat stomach. Hearing her groan and feeling her panic- even so slightly, lets me know I still have a chance.
Tamika begins scratching and clawing at my arms, trying to get my hand off of her throat. Next, I fire a knee that connects a few inches below her belly button, buckling her knees. With a shriek, I then slam the taller woman to the ground.
We pause for just a moment from the impact, lying there, chest to chest, panting in a crossbody pin on the dirty, gritty floor. I keep the skinny woman pinned to ground and climb on top of her, straddling her belly. As much as I wanted to stay off of the ground, I feel comfortable here now. The taller woman's reach is nullified and now I'm the one in control. She is still able to protect her face but I'm hammering the dark skinned woman's ribs, repaying for the damage she inflicted on me earlier.
Tamika is clearly on the defensive as I try to put her away. Going for the quick finish, I clamp my hands around her throat. Her brown eyes bulge as I tighten my grip, but she doesn't panic. The lanky woman's hand reaches up and begins to push up on my chin, sending my eyes skyward.
Growling, I maintain my grip, throttling the tall woman. Next, I feel Tamika's knuckles slam into my already battered ribs over and over again. I feel my hands loosening as she pounds away at my bruised and defenseless flanks. Finally, I have to let go of the choke. I try to pin her arm and continue to keep her underneath me.
Tamika takes advantage of the moment and uses her longer body to arch and buck me off of my perch, sending us into a catball on the hot, sandpaper-like surface. We roll around, gripping and scratching at each other. exchanging the top position back and forth until our jeans are ripped and our knees and elbows are scratched and bleeding.
With the sun beating down on us, we begin to fight dirtier and more desperately. Faces are spat in. Nipples are pinched and tits are twisted. I grind her face into the gritty ground, she throws dirt into my eyes. Breathy grunts of "bitch", "whore", and "cxnt" flow from our lips in between our gasps and groans of pain.
As the fight grinds on, we both fixate on an old broken 2x4. We fight for control of the three foot length of wood. All four of our hands are on it and we wrestle for position with our legs entwined. When one of us gets on top, we try to press the 2x4 down, across the neck of the other woman. Back and forth we go. Neither of us are able to completely lock the choke in but, I'm bigger and stronger. The longer this goes the closer I get to overpowering Tamika and finishing this fight.
The slender woman must have realized this and she hops to her feet the next time she rolls to the top position. I hold on and we get back to standing. Tamika and I yank and pull the 2x4 in a violent tug of war. Eventually, she is able to wrest it from my grip. Using the wood as a weapon, the dark skinned warrior jabs it into my belly, dropping me to my hands and knees.
The blow hurts and before I can recover, I feel the impact of the 2x4 as it cracks across my back and shoulders, knocking me flat. "Give.. up... bitch... you're done!" Tamika snarls as she stands over me and I weakly grab at her feet.
"No... no.." I groan back. Between the nastiness of this fight, the heat and that last, crushing blow from the 2x4, I'm down... hell, I'm nearly out, but not yet and I'll be damned if I'm gonna let this skinny bitch win.
The tall woman kicks me in the ribs a few times before grabbing my hair. "Listen ... you fucking ... dumbass.... I'm trying to... let... you off... easy..". Tamika drags my aching body to to my feet. Next, she flings me against a brick wall and holds me against it.
She buries her knuckles deep into my belly several times before she grabs my chin, forcing me to look at her. "Bitch... you... ready to ...quit yet? She snaps between her heavy breathing.
I answer by reaching up, latching on to one of her small tits and sinking my nails into the soft flesh. The taller woman screams and retaliates with a headbutt that nearly knocks me down. As I regain my focus, I feel her pressing my chest to keep me against the wall. I raise my head just in time for her fist smash into my jaw, sending me spinning to the ground.
"How 'bout now, cxnt?.... or you want... more?" Tamika taunts as she looms over me, motioning me to get up again. Laboriously, I crawl back to feet. Thankful that the slender woman is content to stay standing and not go for the finish on the ground.
The only remaining thought in my head is to keep fighting. My ribs sting with every breath, my entire face hurts and I can barely see through my swollen eyes but I keep moving forward.
I cover up and do my best to let my arms and shoulders absorb the furious flurries of fists as Tamika tries to finish me. I get close enough to to unload a hard hook to the skinny woman's visible ribs and follow it with another to her jaw that sends her staggering backwards.
This time she is the one shaking her head and clearing some cobwebs. I can tell that one rocked her. With her hands back up and ready she begins moving towards me again. "Bitch... if you... aren't smart enough... to stay ... down... I'll make it so ... you can't ... get up!" Tamika growls.
I can feel her rage as she attacks in a fury. She's fighting much less like a boxer now and more like a brawler, swinging hard, not choosing her shots- not being careful.
We stand in the open air of the roofless building, baking under the cruel sun trading punches. She is still hitting me more often, but I'm starting to hurt her. Finally, one of my hooks to her belly doubles her over. Next my knuckles collide with her jaw and she drops to the gritty floor.
I watch as Tamika struggles to get off of the ground. "Now... who... can't... get... up?" I bark through my panting. The dark skinned woman glares at me and refocuses. I can see she's hurt but too pissed off not to get back to her feet.
To my best estimation, we've been going at it for close to twenty minutes. Between the violent brawl and the heat both of us are in bad shape. We stand across from each other, both of us are bleeding, scratched up. Our bodies are streaked with grime and sweat. Our faces swollen and bloodied. I see a wild, primal look in Tamika's eyes, or at least, the part of her eyes that she is still able to keep open and I feel that same look reflected back at her from me. That look that says "this ends now".
With mutual cavewoman-like shrieks we launch ourselves towards one another. We latch on to one another's hair, scratching and hitting anything we can find. Doing whatever we can to hurt the other woman. We dance all over the open floor dodging debris and hurling curses as we fight to take control of the fight.
After a wild minute or so, we tumble back to the dirty floor. We briefly roll around in a catball before I am able to clamp my legs around the skinny woman's thin stomach. Tamika twists to escape and I am able to get to her side. My opponent lets out a groan and goes rigid with resistance when my thicker legs lock in the body scissors. I can see the strain in the woman's face as she fights the overwhelming urge to give up.
"Say... it... bitch!" I command, squeezing and pulsing my thighs for maximum effect. I feel Tamika's torso tightening every muscle as she strains against the power of my legs.
"... never... cxnt!.." she grunts through gritted teeth. I keep the pressure on and the slender woman falls onto her back, prying and clawing at my denim-clad constrictors. Even through my jeans, her nails dig in enough to illicit a scream from me.
I feel her fading but she continues to hold out. After fighting for so long my legs, which are easily my best weapon, are exhausted. I know I have to get to a better position to finish this woman off. I latch onto her wrists, unlock my ankles and, as quickly as I can, try to move my hips onto her belly. Tamika tries to stop me but I am able to overpower her and secure my mount.
Wasting little time, I slide into my specialty- the grapevine hold. The taller woman's long legs are sprawled and stretched. I press my hips into her belly as I pin her hands next to her head. Even though Tamika is too tall for me to stretch to her limits, I am still able to hurt her.
I hear her groans as my legs spread her long legs to the point of pain. I feel her chest struggling to lift mine as our bare breasts press against one another with my heavier body lying on top of hers. After several minutes, I feel her body surrender by relaxing her muscles and flattening out.
"Give up... Tamika... you're the... one who is... done... say it" I whisper confidently as my head hovers inches above her ear. I feel her body tense up and then relax again as she realizes it is in futility before she answers.
"Never..." she answers again, sounding more like she is trying to convince herself rather than me. Her body is beaten but it's going to take a little longer to break her will.
"Suit yourself... I can do this all... fucking day" I whisper back harshly while flexing my muscles again to apply more pressure for effect.
I know that patience is a virtue that I tend to fail more than succeed in aspiring to, but I hold the line this time. I know that every little pebble between her back and the floor must feel like it's growing. I know the heat of the floor on her skin might feel like she is being slowly grilled. The sandpaper like surface has to dig painfully into her skin every time she tries to make a move. I know every breath is harder than the last. Time is on my side and if a sunburned back is what this win will cost me, so be it.
I feel the beads of sweat trickle down my body and on to hers as we bake under the Texas sun. Tamika growls and I feel her begin to push and flex with all of her muscles. I slam her back down with authority and her body falls flat once more. I stare down at her to see the tears welling in the corner of her eyes. "I give.... you win.... Kelli..." she sighs after exhaling deeply.
I struggle back to my feet one last time and plant my foot between Tamika's smaller tits doing my best to strike a victory pose. I become aware of the whirring of the drone as it records the moment. I suppose that was enough for the site as I hear the whirring fade as the slightly creepy robot-like camera flies away.
"Good... that thing kinda gives me the willies.." I say. "But... we still have one more piece of unfinished business, Tamika..." I manage to find my phone as I'm finishing the thought. I'm a bit more reinvigorated after my win and have my confidence back as I saunter proudly to my defeated foe.
"At least the drone is gone... and you earned these fair and square...." the dark skinned woman slithers out of her jeans before removing an unexpectedly frilly red thong. Not what I was expecting. "... take your damn picture.." Tamika sighs as she sprawls out again at my feet.
I stand over her one last time holding my trophy for a smiling selfie for my private collection. In the phone's screen I can see how beat to hell my face is but here I am, the one with my foot on the chest of another naked woman- totally worth it.
I look around and manage to find a small sliver of shade next to a wall. Tamika finally puts her jeans back on and takes up a piece of wall near me. As luck would have it, we ended up close to where I left my cooler. I fish out two bottles of water and offer one to the woman with whom I just had a brutal fight with. We toast the two water bottles and start to drink.
"Thanks, blondie...you're a tough bitch... and I mean that as a compliment" she says.
"Thanks... you too.... you're almost as tough" I chuckle for a moment. "Oh hell it hurts to laugh" My comment cause both of us to crack up, which hurts even more.
We chat a bit more until we think we are both able to walk down five flights of stairs. "Well, at least this old building will mean a little more than just a paycheck now... Of course, I'll still have these long after that." I chirp with ornery smile while twirling her red, frilly thong around my index finger, reminding her that while we're friendly, I did defeat her. "Oh... and do you need a ride or something?" I ask remembering that I saw her show up on foot.
"Sure, my Mercedes is parked about a half block away." Tamika continues after she sees me raise my 'inquisitive' eyebrow. "I'm not really from here... it was all bullshit, I do it as a cover... I'm a Managing Director at a Big Four accounting firm downtown.... I do this as a hobby and take off every so often to find a fight. I saw you at the convenience store down the street and you looked like somebody I saw on the wall of a woman I fought recently"
"Candace?!" I blurt out, reactively.
"That's her... I thought you looked like her blonde opponent... I'm good with faces and it was next to a pair of bottoms. So, I know how that went."
"I hate to say it, but that was one of the worst ass kickings I've ever had... How did you fair? And why was she fighting you, I thought she already had her win over a black opponent?"
"Well, she has picked up a new style now, so she's working though her 'specimens' again... and she is still undefeated..." Tamika says, her mind wandering back to whatever happened between her and Candace as mine wonders about a rematch with 'the collector' and whatever style she has moved on to.
Bringing the conversation back to the matter at hand, I change topics. "So if you're not from around here, how are you going to make sure I'm not gonna have any trouble around here?" I say with a wry smile.
"Those were the stakes, I'll stand by it. I've beaten enough women around here that I can make it happen... even if it means fighting one of the locals again... I don't think I've lost around here until today." She says as we begin our descent down the stairs.
I gather all of my stuff with some assistance from Tamika and we hobble down to my jeep while talking about our shared hobby. I drive her to a nearby parking lot where her car is parked. I wish her well. She replies "Good luck, blondie... I hope you keep winning until I get a rematch" as she gets into her Mercedes. "I know a place that pays pretty well downtown if you're interested."
Back home, soaking in the bath I hear my husband and the munchkin come in the house. I sent Jake the victory selfie earlier so he was kind enough to take her to the park and get dinner to buy me some time to get cleaned up. I slip on my robe, pull off the ice packs and put a mud mask on so my daughter won't know that her nearly middle aged mom was in a fist fight earlier in the day.
Later that night, I relay the entire episode to Jake and we watch the video. I love watching him watch me, I swear he watches with nearly as much intensity as I try to fight with. Which makes it pretty easy for me to find the energy for a little celebration after reliving my fight with Tamika. Curled up in my husband's chest, basking in the afterglow, my thoughts drift to Jolene and the upcoming title fight at Billy's.
After my win today and my celebratory romp, I'm feeling confident in my skills and my relationship. That bitch doesn't stand a chance. In a few more weeks I will be taking that title from her. Until then, I think I'll try to steer clear of any more adventures.
