The Gymnast
by Jim Lake
(This is a new character, by Jim Lake)
John and Kenny made a nostalgic visit to their high school during Spring
Break. The former teammates stopped by to visit their ex-baseball coach,
bumped into a few teachers in the halls and reminisced about those happy days,
which suddenly seemed so long ago.
They were college sophomores now, cooler, smarter, more sophisticated. They
spent nearly half an hour sitting in the home dugout at the baseball field,
replaying the City championship they had won their senior year.
This Friday was a day off for students while teachers attended meetings. The
baseball team had practiced at noon and departed.
John and Kenny walked toward the football field, where both had played. Kenny
was a split end, but the team rarely threw the ball. John was a reserve
running back, who started half a dozen games his last year at free safety. But
baseball had been their sport, where both starred. John played center field
and batted cleanup. Kenny pitched and played second base.
They spotted a guy and a girl near the far end zone while they walked slowly
along the home sideline. Neither paid much attention to the couple until they
heard the girl exclaim, "Gotcha again Tim." The girl was sitting on the guy's
stomach, pinning his arms to the ground.
"Hey Kenny, John," they heard the guy yell half a minute later. The former
teammates turned toward the couple and recognized Tim. He had been a sophomore
on the baseball team when they were seniors, a left-handed pitcher who drove
hitters crazy with his offspeed stuff. He had saved two games in the State
tournament and won another when John hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the
seventh.
Neither John nor Kenny had seen Tim since they graduated two years ago.
The boys exchanged handshakes.
"This is my girlfriend," said Tim. "John, Kenny, this is Brandi."
Brandi stood 5-3 with short black hair and killer blue eyes. She wore a white
T-shirt with dark blue lettering and cutoffs. Her feet were bare.
Kenny's mind raced. He was positive he had never seen this girl before. But
how could he not remember someone so beautiful. She had broad shoulders and
beautiful, strong legs. John wondered the same thing.
Since she was dating Tim, they assumed Brandi had to be a senior. They would
have been surprised to learn that she was a mere freshman, just 14 years old.
They also would have been surprised to know that Brandi weighed 128 pounds.
Solid muscle.
Tim asked the older two boys about college and they chatted amiably for
several minutes.
"Hey, let's have a piggyback race," suggested Brandi. "You two against Tim and
me."
"That's not really fair," said Kenny. "John and I are pretty close to the same
weight and you're much lighter than Tim."
John weighed 188 pounds and Kenny 180. Tim weighed 171.
"Of course, that wouldn't be fair," responded Brandi. "But I'm going to carry
Tim."
"How could you carry him?" questioned Kenny.
"Easy," said Brandi. "I do it all the time. Now you two decide which one wants
to carry the other and we'll race from here to the other goal line."
John and Kenny figured this was some kind of joke. But then Tim jumped on
Brandi's back. She stood there, effortlessly supporting his weight.
"Come on now," urged Brandi. "Get together and let's race. One of you say
'Go.' "
John and Kenny whispered back and forth and finally Kenny jumped on John's
back. Trying to catch their opponents off guard, Kenny yelled "Go" and John
started running.
The boys took an early lead, but Brandi kept up, despite carrying someone who
outweighed her by more than 40 pounds.
John and Kenny were still ahead at the 50-yard line, but John was beginning to
tire. Brandi and Tim caught them at the 35. By the 25 John's legs felt like
lead. He slowed to a walk.
Brandi kept running at the same pace she had started, easily passing the two
boys. At the 10-yard line she turned to see John stopped at the 20, out of
gas, barely keeping Kenny on his back. Brandi walked backward the final 10
yards across the goal line with Tim still on her back. John collapsed to the
ground, never reaching the 15.
"That wasn't a real close race," needled Brandi. "I thought you boys might be
able to keep up with Tim and me. Maybe we should have given you guys a head
start."
John and Kenny were stunned. Tim was still riding on Brandi's back.
Finally, he slipped to the ground.
"How about another race?" said Brandi. "A relay race. Each of us runs 100
yards. You two against Tim and me again. Need a handicap?"
Kenny acted ambivalent, but John wanted to get even. He had been embarrassed
losing the piggyback race to the little girl.
"OK," he replied, staring at Brandi. "But I want to run against you."
"Sure," she answered. "You and I can run first, to the other goal line, and
tag Kenny and Tim."
"You're on," said John.
"You and Kenny go to the other end zone," Brandi told Tim. He did as she
ordered, Kenny walking along next to him.
About 40 yards away, out of earshot, Kenny asked Tim about Brandi.
"Where did you find her?" he asked Tim. "She's really something."
"Met her at a pool party last summer," said Tim.
"Helluva an athlete," said Kenny. "Helluva body, too. And a great face to go
with it. How did you get the nerve to ask her out?"
"I didn't," said Tim. "She asked me."
Brandi's family had moved to town in June, her farther transferred by IBM.
They had discussed their daughter staying behind, so that she wouldn't have to
leave her gymnastics coach. She was an elite level gymnast.
But Brandi's coach recommended another one in their new town whom he said was
equally qualified.
Tim had been immediately attracted to Brandi at the pool party. One look into
those deep blue eyes and he knew he had to meet this girl.
There were the inevitable swimming races, usually three boys and Brandi. She
beat the boys in the freestyle and butterfly races. She finished second in the
backstroke, losing only to a 6-3 kid who was a member of the high school
swimming team.
Tim, a poor swimmer, didn't enter the races. Soon after the last race he
introduced himself to Brandi, who was still in the water. She gave him a warm
smile that melted Tim.
Soon chicken fights started.
"Want to be partners?" Tim asked Brandi.
"Sure," she said. "Climb on my shoulders."
"What?" replied Tim. "I thought you were going to get on my shoulders."
"Why, don't you think I can hold you?" she questioned.
Tim didn't know what to say. Brandi turned her back to him and slipped lower
in the water.
He felt awkward, but didn't want to miss the chance to get to know her better
so he climbed on her shoulders. She immediately stood up, easily supporting
his 170 pounds.
"Come on boys," Brandi challenged everyone. "My guy and I will take on any
team here."
They went undefeated, beating all the girl-on-boy teams with no problem. At
the end they fought two boy-on-boy teams. One of the guys on top was stronger
than Tim, but Brandi proved to be a rock. Even when the other guy nearly
knocked over Tim, she kept her balance and wouldn't let Tim fall.
When the fights were finished, Brandi gave Tim a hug and a kiss, then asked
him out for the following Saturday night.
"One of you guys yell, 'Go,' " John yelled when Kenny and Tim reached the far
goal line.
Kenny did and John and Brandi started running. John led by a couple of steps,
but was unable to pull away from the young girl. John was running fast as he
could, veins sticking out in his neck. But he was unable to shake Brandi.
Brandi, running barefoot, caught him at 30, passed him at the 20 and beat him
by five yards. John tagged Kenny.
Brandi had already tagged Tim, but the girlfriend and boyfriend had a little
surprise for the other team. Tim never moved. Brandi just pivoted and started
running back up the field with Kenny chasing her. She was going to race both
boys by herself.
Brandi quickly stretched her lead to 10 yards over Kenny. He had been caught
off guard running against Brandi instead of Tim. But he told himself to be
patient, pace himself. She had to tire.
Brandi led by more than 10 yards at the 50, showing no signs of slowing down.
Kenny tried to go faster but failed to gain any ground. Instead, she was
pulling away.
She crossed the other goal line almost 20 yards in front of Kenny. He was
gasping for air. Not her.
Tim and John jogged back to join Brandi and Kenny, who was lying on the
ground, exhausted.
"Guess I'm too good for you guys," she stated.
"I don't believe that," said John. "How could you beat both of us?"
"Don't feel bad, but it was pretty easy," laughed Brandi. "Want to test me in
anything else."
"You wrestle?" laughed Kenny.
"Sure, I'll wrestle you," said Brandi in all seriousness, surprising Kenny and
John. "But I'm afraid I'll only embarrass you again. We can have a handicap
match if you want."
"What do you mean, handicap?" asked Kenny.
"You get to start on top with my arms pinned to the ground," said Brandi. "If
I can't escape and pin you in five minutes or less, you win."
"You're joking," said John.
"Try me," said Brandi. "I'll bet you 20 dollars I can escape and pin Kenny in
less than five minutes. No. That's too easy. I'll do it in three minutes."
"You're on," said Kenny.
Brandi pulled a $20 bill out of her pocket and handed it to John. Kenny,
surprised that the 5-3 girl wanted to go through with this, followed her lead.
"John, you're wearing a watch," she said. "You keep time. If I can't escape
and pin him in less than three minutes he wins the money."
She lied down on the grass, placing her arms flat above her head.
Kenny climbed on top of her. If he hadn't seen her beat him and John in the
piggyback race, he probably wouldn't have taken her seriously. This girl was
14 and she was going to wrestle a 20-year-old college sophomore and give him a
handicap.
Instead of just pinning her arms to the ground, Kenny scooted forward a little
and put each of his knees on one of her biceps, securing the hold.
"You sure you got me?" teased Brandi.
"There's no way you can get up," responded Kenny.
"You say 'Go' John," she said.
John did and Brandi quickly pulled up her right leg, put her foot in front of
Kenny's neck and flipped him backward. She jumped to her feet and was on top
of Kenny so fast he was defenseless.
Brandi grabbed each of Kenny's ankles and forced his legs backward behind his
head, pinning his shoulders. Kenny struggled furiously, but couldn't move
against her superior strength.
Brandi sat down on Kenny's legs, forcing his feet back to the ground behind
his head. He was completely helpless. He flailed away with his arms, but only
swatted weakly at Brandi's muscular arms.
"Looks like I got you Kenny," she laughed. "Does this qualify as a pin, one,
two, three, four, five. Give?"
Kenny struggled fruitlessly for a few more seconds, then conceded.
"You win," he said.
"Time?" Brandi asked John.
"Twenty-seven seconds," John replied sheepishly.
Brandi stood up, pulled Kenny to his feet and asked if she had hurt him.
Kenny stood there speechless. He couldn't believe what had just happened to
him, totally humiliated in wrestling by a 14-year-old girl.
"You guys want to go double-or-nothing?" asked Brandi.
"What do you mean?" John asked suspiciously. After watching the little girl
destroy his buddy so quickly, he wasn't sure he could beat her and certainly
wasn't willing to bet on it.
"I'll wrestle both of you at the same time," said Brandi. "If I can't pin the
two of you, or make you both submit, in less than three minutes you win. Now
where can you get a better offer than that?"
John and Kenny stared at each other. This was impossible, one little girl
wrestling both of them at the same time. And all they had to do was last three
minutes to win back their money.
"What if we just run away from you?" asked Kenny.
"Go ahead and try," said Brandi. "You already know I'm faster than you two.
I'll just run you down, tackle you and pin you. You don't think I can do that
in less than three minutes?"
"Do we still get a handicap?" asked John.
"Sure," she said. "I'll lie flat on my stomach. You two can both climb on top
of me, stand on me, put me in any hold you want. You know I'll still beat both
of you. Fast."
"You're on," said John, anxious to prove her wrong at something.
Brandi pulled two $20 bills from her pocket and handed them to Tim. He had
seen Brandi beat two boys in wrestling at the same time once before. But
neither was as big nor as old as John and Kenny.
John took off his watch and handed it to Tim to time the match.
Brandi fell to the ground on her stomach.
"Come on guys," she said. "Better get some good holds on me or this going to
be over in less than one minute."
John and Kenny consulted for a few seconds. Then John sat down on Brandi's
back, pulled both her hands behind her and pinned them to her back. Kenny sat
down on her massive thighs, facing in the other direction and pinned down her
ankles.
"You sure you got me now," said Brandi. "One of you call call 'Ready' and the
match will begin. Ready to time this Tim?"
The scene looked almost ridiculous, two college boys using all their strength
to hold down a 14-year-old girl.
"Ready," said John tentatively.
The next 30 seconds were a total blur to the guys.
Brandi began whipping her feet back and forth, easily pulling them out of
Kenny's grip. Although he was sitting on her thighs, she launched her right
foot back into his face three times. The first hit him in the forehead,
stunning him. The second bloodied Kenny's nose, forcing him to put both hands
to his face. The third blow struck him on the side of the head with her left
foot. Kenny fell off her, in severe pain.
John, with his back to Kenny, didn't know what had happened, but heard his
buddy moan. He turned to see Kenny on his side, covering his nose with his
hands.
A distracted John had loosened his grip a little on Brandi's hands without
realizing it. She ripped her hands to the sides, freeing them from John. She
instantly stood up with John on her back, trying to hold on.
Kenny had just stood up when Brandi, still supporting John on her back,
delivered two rapid fire kicks with her bare right foot to Kenny's midsection.
He gasped for her and fell to the ground.
Brandi then purposely fell backward, landing on top of John and knocking the
wind out of him. She quickly lifted John up across her shoulders and turned in
quickly in an airplane spin.
She threw a dazed John to the ground next to Kenny. She sat down between them,
wrapped hers muscular legs around Kenny. She then put John in a full nelson
and shoved his face into the turf.
Neither guy had any fight left. Brandi had proved too strong and too tough for
both college boys.
"This was easier than I thought," she asked. "Do you give, Kenny?"
"I give," he replied immediately. "Please stop squeezing. You're going to
break my ribs."
"And how about you John? Had enough?"
"You win again," said John, forced to admit that a 14-year-old girl had
totally dominated him and Kenny. He had tears in his eyes.
"What's the time?" she asked Tim.
"One minute and 32 seconds," he replied.
"Looks like two college guys are no match for a high school freshman," she
laughed. "Men are so weak."
Brandi collected the money from Tim and stuffed it in her shorts.
John and Kenny remained on the ground, badly beaten and totally exhausted.
"How could someone so small and cute be so strong," stated Kenny, not looking
for an answer.
"Oh I was just warming up guys," she said. "I didn't really show you much. You
two look pretty tired. How about a ride back to your car."
Neither John nor Kenny knew what she meant, but they weren't in position to
argue.
Brandi pulled each boy to his feet. She then walked behind Tim, put her head
between his legs and lifted him on her shoulders.
"Come here John," she said. "You jump on my back."
Half an hour ago John wouldn't have believed this possible, a little girl
carrying two much bigger guys. Now he didn't doubt her for a second.
He walked behind Brandi, who had Tim resting comfortably on her shoulders, and
hopped on her back.
"You're next Kenny," she said. "I want you to jump up into my arms."
"What?" said Kenny.
"Jump into my arms," she repeated. "I need a little workout today and you guys
didn't really give me one in running or wrestling. So I'm going to carry the
three of you to the parking lot."
Kenny didn't believe it, but did as he was told. He jumped and Brandi caught
him in her arms.
"Everyone comfortable?" she asked.
"I've never seen a feat of female strength like this," said John. "You knew
you were going to beat us in wrestling, didn't you."
"Guys, when I was 12 I pinned a 30-year-old man who was 6-4 and 250 pounds,"
she said. "Then I carried him over two miles on my back. Won $200 for that
little show."
Brandi stood there supporting the three guys, a total of weight of nearly 540
pounds.
Slowly she started to walk, carrying the load without any apparent difficulty.
Gradually she increased her pace, walking at her normal speed. She walked for
over three minutes, down a flight on concrete steps, before reaching the
parking lot.
"Which car is yours?" she asked.
"The dark blue one," said John, pointing to the other end lot, nearest the
main entrance to the school, another 50 yards away.
Brandi stepped barefoot onto the asphalt and walked as steadily as she had on
the grass, still carrying all three guys. When she reached their car, she let
go of Kenny and John dropped off her back. Tim stayed in place, still riding
his girlfriend's broad shoulders.
"Next time we meet I'll give you guys a chance to get your money back," she
told John and Kenny. "I'll wrestle you both blindfolded."
She turned and walked away, to the other side of the parking lot and lowered
Tim to the ground on the passenger side of his car. She pulled the keys from
her pocket, opened the door for her boyfriend, then closed it behind him after
he got in the car.
She turned, walked to the driver's side and before putting the key in the
lock, waved goodbye to John and Kenny, who were still staring at her in awe.
Both knew that even if she wrestle did them blindfolded simultaneously, they
couldn't beat her.
