Back Up Buddy!

I looked up and saw Buddy and three of his cronies walking up toward me. There were about twenty people waiting to see what was going to happen. I asked Gloria to stand back as Buddy approached me.

I had my little bat that I got from the ball game that Gloria and I went to in my right hand. I had my left hand behind my left hip.

"What the hell is that?" asked Buddy laughing.

"It's what my dad calls an equalizer. When the odds aren't fair an equalizer is needed," I responded.

"You're going to need more than that little bat to make this equal. I'm going to kick the shit out of you and then take care of your girl," he was laughing loudly.

He took two steps toward me and I brought out my can of mace that I had in my left hand. My dad told me to use the element of surprise when I could. I sprayed it right in the eyes of Buddy. He screamed out and took a roundhouse swing at me, just missing me. I sprayed the mace in his face again and when he put his hands to his face, I took my little bat and hit him behind his knee as hard as I could. He fell like a ton of bricks onto the pavement.

I quickly leaned over his body and kept striking him on his arms, one then the other. I was swinging my bat relentlessly. I didn't want to hit his head just in case I got arrested. He was screaming out as I maced him again.

He yelled for his three friends to come and get me off of him but, as they approached me, two men -- no, make that giant men - approached his friends and suggested they return to where they were standing. I'm not kidding you, these two guys were every bit of 6' 5" tall and I would guess they weighed near 275 pounds or more. They had their heads shaved and looked like twins. Boy, they were a couple of mammoth men. Buddy's friends didn't want any part of these guys.

I went to Buddy's legs and started swinging wildly at his thighs hitting one then the other. All this time Buddy was trying to protect himself and screaming out. I jabbed my little bat into his stomach and it made him raise his knees. I raised the bat as high as I could and was ready to come down on his crown jewels. From behind me I heard Gloria speak out.

"Don't do it, Joey. You've won the fight. Don't do something that you might regret later."

Buddy screamed out, "Please stop, please stop, Joey. I promise never to mess with Gloria again. Please don't hit me anymore," he said through red eye slits. His eyes were all red and puffed up from the mace.

"Apologize to Gloria now or you will wish you had." I still had the bat raised above his jewels.

"Gloria, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry for the way I talked to you. I promise never to talk like that to you again. I promise," cried out Buddy.

I lifted my bat all the way up and came down as hard as I could. I heard Buddy scream out but I never hit him. I intentionally hit the pavement between his legs. I broke my little bat on the pavement. I dropped it and walked over and hugged Gloria. The crowd kind of cheered for me and started breaking up. Buddy's friends came over and helped him up. It took two of them to help him walk. I know he could barely see.

I walked over to the two big men and held out my hand and thanked them for not letting Buddy's friends interfere. About that time Gloria came over and hugged the two big men.

"Joey, I want you to meet by two big twin brothers. This is Daniel and he's Donald," pointing to the other man. "I called them last week after what happened. They said they would come up this week to make sure no-one would try and hurt me. They have always been my protectors."

"Well, sis, it looks like you have a new protector now," Dan said smiling at me. "You did good, Joe. Most guys wouldn't have taken on a guy that big."

"He threatened my girlfriend. I couldn't let that happen at any cost," I replied.

Don stopped the men walking with Buddy. "Hey, Buddy! There's something that you should remember. No matter how big and bad you think you are, there is always someone out there, that is bigger or badder than you."

Buddy nodded his head and he and his friends headed into the stadium to get Buddy cleaned up.

Dan spoke, "Well, little sister, we have a game tomorrow and have to head back to Kentucky. Joey, it was a pleasure to meet you and take care of our sister. If you ever need help, remember we are only a phone call away."

Gloria kissed her brothers goodbye and the two of us headed over to the dance. My face was still bruised from the week before but when we walked in, most everyone cheered us. I felt kind of funny and took my girl by the hand and led her out to the dance floor. I held her tightly as we danced.

--------------

Life went on and Gloria did her school stuff and I went to the trade school and got a job as an apprentice electrician. I was then making some serious money only it was part-time due to school.

Gloria and I saw each other as often as we could but our schedules were pretty full. She caught up to me one day and asked me if I was going to keep a promise?

"What promise is that, Honey?" I asked.

"Are you taking me to my senior prom? It's in two weeks."

"I wouldn't miss it for the world," I replied.

The prom was great and Gloria looked like a super model only not so skinny. God, she was beautiful and I was her man. There really is a God.

We were dancing and having a good time. I saw Buddy out of the corner of my eye. I hadn't talked to him since our fight. He kept his promise to leave Gloria alone so I was happy.

While Gloria was talking to her friends Buddy approached me.

"Joey, I want to apologize for being such a fool. I just want you to know that I learned my lesson."

"Good, Buddy, thanks for the apology. I really do appreciate it."

"Joey, would it be alright if I asked Gloria for one dance?"

I knew Gloria overheard him as she walked back to me. I looked at Buddy and I looked at Gloria. "It's never going to happen, Buddy. Enjoy the prom."

I took a smiling Gloria back onto the dance floor and wrapped my arms around her.

----------------------

Gloria graduated and I was afraid we would be apart more than ever. One day I was kind of sulking when she came over to see me.

"What's the matter, Joey? Looks like you lost your best friend?"

"You're my best friend and I'm afraid of losing you. You'll be off to nursing school and I'll be at the trade school. I may hardly ever see you."

"You'll never lose me, Joey. What is that school next to the trade center you attend?" asked Gloria.

"You mean the community college?" I asked.

"Yes, that's where I'm going to nursing school. They have a great two year program and I'll be right there next to you, so we can see each other a lot more often."

Life was good for us. We did see each other often. Our only problem now was that we were in love and it was getting harder and harder not to make love. Our petting was as far as we could go without actual intercourse.

"Gloria, I want you so bad it hurts to be near you and not have you."

"Joey, I want you just as bad as you want me, but we decided to wait till we get married."

"Then let's get married. I will be done with my schooling in three months and I will have a full time job. You can continue to go to school and get your nursing degree. The best part is we can be together every evening and make love."

"I don't know, Joey. Are you willing to ask my parents? I wouldn't want to go against their wishes."

"Do you want to marry me, Gloria? Would you like to become my wife now and we can spend the rest of our life together?" I asked Gloria.

"Of course I want to marry you. I liked you from the day we met and little by little I fell in love with you. Let's go right now and talk to my parents. I know I could do it without their blessing but I don't want to hurt them."

We went to Gloria's parents' house and they were sitting in the living room.

"Mom, Dad, Joey would like to ask you something."

"What is it, Joey?" asked Mrs. Jones.

"I'm in love with your daughter and we would like to have your blessing to get married?"

"What? Married? Now? Gloria, you're not pregnant are you?" asked her mother.

"No, Mom, I'm not pregnant. It's kind of the problem."

"I don't understand. What's the problem?" her mom asked.

"Mom, I'm still a virgin. It's not something you usually tell your parents. Joey and I are in love and we promised to abstain from making love till our wedding night. Mom, I love Joey and I know he loves me. We don't want to wait any longer so we want to get married."

"Gloria, are you sure you're ready for marriage?" her mom asked.

"Yes, Mom, I'm positive. You got married at sixteen, Maria got married when she was eighteen. I'm nineteen and soon to be twenty. Yes, Mom, you raised me to be a smart girl and I know I'm ready."

Mr. Jones looked over at me. "Joey, what about you? I know you love her but are you prepared to support her?"

"Mr. Jones, in three months I will be finished with my training. I will automatically be a full time electrician when I finish. I will make more than enough money to support us. With Gloria still going to nursing school we know we will have to make a lot of sacrifices but we're willing to do it. Gloria said she wouldn't marry me without your blessing and that's why we are here. I love your daughter, Mr. Jones, and I promise to be a good husband and provider for her."

"You kids go take a walk or something while your dad and I discuss it. This is no small decision."

Gloria and I figured we gave our best argument and went for a walk. When we returned we were standing there while Mrs. Jones spoke.

"Gloria, your dad and I might have a possible solution for you two. If you are both willing to wait three months before getting married till Joey finishes his training and gets a full time job, we will pay for the wedding and you will have our blessing. You two have waited this long. Do you think you can wait three more months?"

"Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Jones, you've made us two of the happiest people alive. We have to go over and tell my parents now. Thank you again."

We made it through the next three months by not spending much time alone together. Gloria, her mom and my mom planned a small wedding for us. It was held at the local church and we had a reception at our parents' joint houses. They had tents and tables set up in the backyard for our family and friends.

When I saw Gloria coming down the aisle I had tears in my eyes. Now I knew what angels looked like. They had to look just like Gloria. After the service we went to the houses for our reception.

We had gifts and presents of money to help up set up house. We didn't have time for a honeymoon so my parents got us a weekend reservation at the nicest hotel near us. We had the honeymoon suite.

I wanted to mention something important to me. Different people were toasting us at the reception. Gloria got up and said she had a special present for me. I was totally surprised that she did this. She handed me this wrapped box which was about three feet long. I stood up and opened it in front of everyone.

In it was the broken bat that I had used in the fight. It was still broken in half but was mounted on a plaque and it was engraved with the words, "To Joey, my protector and my love, I will love you forever, with love, Gloria."

I started crying and leaned over and kissed my loving wife. It will be something that I will always remember. I had always wondered what had happen to my little bat.

At our hotel we headed right up and into the hot tub. We had our bathing suits on but not for long. I remember as we got out of the hot tub, Gloria said she had a hot little negligee to put on for me. I remember telling her: "Honey, wait till later to put it on. You aren't going to have it on long enough for me to see."

I lifted her up and carried her to the bed and we made love for the first time. Were we good at it? Who cares, we sure didn't. I can guarantee you that by the time our weekend was over we were great at it. I knew every inch of her beautiful body both by sight and by touch.

Epilogue:

All that happened ten years ago. We now have a nice house and four kids. Two girls, Jenny and Millie, and twin boys, Donald and Daniel. I felt I owed her brothers that much.

Gloria is a nurse for one of the local doctors and I'm a professional electrician with a union card and all. We are as happy today as the day we got married. Over our mantle hangs my plaque. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think of the decision I made that day. I'll always be thankful to my dad for that. If you're a man, you take care of your own.

We recently got an invitation to our ten year reunion. Gloria wanted to go see some of her old friends. The funny thing is we still live in town and she sees them all the time.

At the reunion while Gloria was talking to her friends, I turned and there was Buddy. I hadn't seen him in years. I heard he worked for a moving company in another town.

"So Buddy, how's it going?" I asked.

"I'm married to the woman over there and we have two kids. I guess life is okay."

I looked over toward his wife. She was short and quite heavy. I saw Buddy look over at Gloria who looked just as good now as she did ten years ago.

"Joey, can I ask a favor of you?" asked Buddy as Gloria was coming over to me.

"Sure, Buddy, ask away. I won't say I'll do it but what is it you want?"

"Can I have a dance with Gloria?" he asked.

I looked at Buddy and I looked at Gloria who was staring at me. "No, Buddy, Gloria is my woman and I intend to dance every dance with her. Nice to see you again, Buddy, have a good life."

I took Gloria out on the dance floor and kissed her as passionately as possible. I wanted everyone to know that Gloria was my woman, my wife.

*

Thank you for reading my story. I want to thank LadyCibelle and Techsan for their editing and suggestions.

Comments are always welcome

DG Hear