Through the Looking Glass

Darryl refused to give up. Dave was as tall as Darryl, but Darryl had at least fifty pounds of muscle on Dave. The steroids and the weight lifting had turned him into a scary looking man.

One afternoon as Darryl was walking past us, he tried to throw a shoulder into Dave who did some judo mojo, and sidestepped him. When Darryl met no resistance, he stumbled and fell ass over teakettle into a water puddle on the sidewalk.

We kept walking.

When I looked back my former boyfriend was sprawled on the sidewalk.

"What did you do to him?" I asked pretty sure I knew what the answer was.

He had shown me a few judo moves and I knew what he was capable of.

Dave chuckled. "I didn't touch him. I wasn't where he expected me to be."

I frowned. "He's getting worse."

Dave nodded. "That's the bad news. The good news is that he's targeting me instead of you."

"Why is that good news?"

"I grew up in a tough working class neighborhood. You learned how to fight if you wanted to survive. When he comes after me, I'll be ready."

There wasn't much I could do but trust that Dave knew what to do. In the following weeks I did notice that Darryl sightings had dropped to zero. Perhaps I would at last be free of him.

I spent the first week in May preparing for the ball.

Megan and I went shopping and I fell in love with a mint green gown that showed a bit more skin that I was comfortable with.

"If you like it, buy it," Megan urged. "You can pick up a jacket to wear with it."

"You don't think it's scandalous?"

She shook her head. "I'd wear that in a minute if I looked good in green. Actually, I'm jealous. Why do you get to go to the ball while I sit at home watching Saturday Night Live reruns?"

"It's amazing isn't it? This has been the most amazing semester. I have the perfect boyfriend, my stalker has disappeared, and as long as my face doesn't break out, I feel like Cinderella. I even have a ball to go to."

Things came to a head at the May ball. When Dave arrived at my door to pick me up, he stood there speechless.

Finally, he cleared his throat. "Lisa you look amazing, I love the way the green in your dress sets your green eyes afire. I knew you were gorgeous, but tonight you are hauntingly beautiful. " He handed me a wrist corsage. "This is for you."

I smiled, "I was expecting a corsage that you would pin onto my dress."

"I thought about that too, but decided that if I had to reach into your dress to pin it on you, we might never make it to the dance."

I looked him over, "You look nice and only a little bit uncomfortable."

He reached down and grabbed the outside seams of his pants pulling them wide. "I've never worn a pair of pants so baggy. The waist comes up to my ribs and I have to hold them up with suspenders. It's all hidden under this cummerbund. I never even knew what a cummerbund was before I rented this get up. I had to have the guy at the store show me how to wear it."

"Well, I think you look refined in your white dinner jacket," I took his arm and we walked to the dance.

Once inside the ballroom, Dave checked my wrap, and we went searching for his advisor to check in. He was talking with several of his colleagues.

"Dr. Hart, I'd like you to meet my girlfriend, Lisa Clark."

Dr. Hart smiled and took my hand. "I am so pleased to meet you, Lisa. I've noticed that Dave is a lot happier lately. I think I know why now."

He turned to me, "David, you must bring her to more department functions."

He tapped a woman standing next to him talking to another couple. "Nico, I'd like you to meet someone."

The diminutive woman turned and smiled.

"This is my doctoral candidate, Dave Harris and his girlfriend, Lisa Clark."

Dave bowed and said, "Sensei."

I said, "Dr. Wantanabi?"

"You make such a lovely couple. Let's dispense with titles for the evening," she smiled at each of us, "please call me Nico for the evening.

Dr. Hart looked between the three of us and chuckled, "I guess you all know each other."

Dinner was a pleasant affair. I chatted with my advisor and Dave chatted with his. We did talk a little about how Nico came about getting a black belt in judo, and Nico promise to drop the master-slave relationship of grad student and advisor if I decided to join the judo club.

When Dr. Hart left the table to find the men's room, Nico leaned in. "Is the guy threatening you and Lisa over there?" She nodded and I looked in that direction to discover Darryl sitting next to a tall blond with cropped hair. The woman had the lean look of an athlete. I guess she was another coach from the Athletic Department. Body language said that they were not into each other. They sat with another couple. The woman looked like your typical fluffy blond, but the guy looked like a lineman from the football team.

"Maybe he's found someone to replace me. How did you know that was him?"

"He keeps glaring at you and Dave. I see no affection between him and his date. I think they were both ordered to come here by the Athletic Department."

"He's got that thuggish looking guy with him," Dave gave my hand a squeeze, "let's hope they stay on their side of the room and we'll stay on ours."

When the band started up, Dave invited me to dance, and for a few lovely moments I was lost in the romance of dancing in the arms of a man who loved me. After an hour or so I went to the lavatory and discovered the fluffy blond sobbing while Darryl's date held her. I wanted none of that and returned to the table. Dave and I danced some more. Did I mention that he was a wonderful dancer?

Everything changed when David went stiff in my arms. When we swung around I could see what concerned him.

He nodded in the direction of the punch bowl. "Is your former boyfriend a mean drunk by any chance?"

I glanced over then shook my head. "I know that look. He's about to do something stupid."

I concentrated on not looking at him and I think it only made him angrier. He charged at us with his buddy bringing up the rear.

Dave shoved me back out of the way, and raised my hands, almost shouting, "I don't want any trouble here."

Dave stepped back when Darryl pushed him in the chest.

"Fight me, asshole!" Darryl bellowed. I could see the veins in his neck bulging.

Dave took a step back with his hands still raised. Again he almost shouted, "I don't want to fight you."

Darryl pushed David again, "I'm going to rip off you head and shit down your neck!"

Dave stepped back a second time.

Darryl shoved him again. The hall grew quiet as the band and everyone else watched the developing ruckus. A crowd of people gathered in a circle around us.

Dave retreated again, and Darryl he stepped forward to pursue him. What happened next occurred to quickly that I only saw the result. Darryl turned upside down and landed on the floor head first. The sickening clunk of his head hitting the wood echoed throughout the ballroom. Darryl didn't even moan, he lay there as limp as a wash cloth.

I turned and looked for Darryl's buddy to tell him that Darryl was down. Instead I saw Dr. Wantanabi laying on the floor with a drink spilled all over her. Not far from her was Darryl's buddy. He was rolling around on the floor holding his knee in such pain that he was crying.

I ran over and helped Dr. Wantanabi up. "Are you okay?"

She flashed me a quick smile. "Never better. When the police come, I will tell them that he pushed me out of the way," she pointed to the moaning moron on the floor, " and I think he tripped over my feet as I fell down. I poured the drink on me to make it look like an accident. Tell the police you only met me tonight."

Dr. Hart took her back to the table so she could sit down. A couple nursing school staff attended to Darryl and his whimpering buddy. I grabbed Dave's arm.

"What happened?"

Dave shook his head and gave me a bewildered look. "I don't know. One second he looked like he was ready to punch me, and the next he was laying on the floor. All I can think of is that the tripped."

The police arrived, and took control of the scene. They called ambulances and soon EMT's and gurneys were everywhere.

Dave and I sat at a table well away from Dr's. Hart and Wantanabi. Both David and my advisor wanted it that way. I was beginning to suspect that something was going on, but hadn't a clue what it was.

The cop who wrote up the report seemed skeptical also, and I guess that made sense. Two hulking athletes lay injured on the floor and the last two people to touch them were a tiny Japanese lady and a grad student.

He worked from person to person taking notes and asking questions.

"Now tell me what happened." He ordered Dave.

"He kept pushing me, and I kept backing up. I never touched him. The only thing I can think of is that he somehow tripped.

The cop wasn't satisfied. "Are you some kind of kung fu black belt?"

Dave shook his head. "I don't know the first thing about kung fu," He answered truthfully.

Suddenly, what happened was beginning to make sense. Dave has somehow used judo on him without anyone seeing.

The cop looked unhappy.

"All I did was hold up my hands and try to back away. You can ask anyone here if you don't believe me." Dave looked like a wide eyed innocent choir boy. I was beginning to enjoy the little story he was acting out in front of me.

He nodded. "I intend to interview everyone." He studied Dave's face to see if that thought bother him. It didn't. "Now tell me what happened to the guy who tried to circle around you."

"I don't know. When I looked around, he was laying on the floor and so was that lady sitting in the chair over there." He pointed out Dr. Wantanabi. Again, I wondered why he implied that she was a stranger. Whatever was going on, I would go along with them.

The cop questioned me next. I supported Dave's story and also mentioned that I had reported Darryl for harassing me. I gave the cop Darryl's name, and it came back that he had over fifty unpaid parking tickets, and another drunk and disorderly complaint.

Dr. Wantanabi handled the questioning masterfully putting on the best fragile, little old lady performance I have ever seen. She claimed in a thick Japanese accent I had never heard before that her back hurt and she needed to see her chiropractor in the morning. She also gushed all over the officer telling him how she respected the vital job that he did and that we were all safer because of him. The fact that every faculty person stood squarely behind Dr. Wantanabi and nodded their heads to everything she said helped.

The police officer left convinced that he had identified the bad guys and would inform them in their hospital beds.

The band struck up a melody and soon the attack was an unpleasant incident in an otherwise lovely night. I spent as much time as I could in the arms of my man. I did notice a small tremor in his hands. He was more affected by events than he was letting on. When the party wound down, Dave and I walked arm in arm across the campus to our building. We talked about the fine weather, the lovely dinner, and everything except about what happened.

When we got back to my apartment, I turned, "Tell me what you and Dr. Wantanabi did."

"If I told you, I'd have to kill you," he said with a grin.

"What a shame. I was thinking that it was way too warm to stay in this dress." I ran my hand up and down the shoulder strap holding it up.

Dave caught the hint. "There are a couple things I could tell you."

"Like what?" I innocently rubbed my breasts against his chest.

"While everyone was looking what Darryl and I were doing with our hands, I swept his foot. I kicked it out from under him as he was setting it on the floor. Since I wasn't holding his lapels to ease his way to the floor, he went over head first and knocked himself out."

He unzipped the back of my dress for me, and I let it drop to the floor.

"What else can you tell me, big boy?" I snapped his cummerbund, and gave him a long passionate kiss.

"Dr. Wantanabi, took out the guy trying to get behind me, she side kicked him in his knee. Probably snapped a ligment. That's why he was laying on the floor. It's a ju jitsu move."

I reached behind and unsnapped my bra. I slid it down my arms and dropped it atop the dress. Next I stroked his hardening cock through his pants.

"When did you plan this? And how did you know that Darryl would be at the dance?"

"We didn't plan it exactly. After Darryl tried to throw a shoulder into me on the sidewalk, I went to sensei and asked her for help. She showed me some really nasty moves that I didn't have to use. A foot sweep is the very first throw they teach you."

"I'm finding it hard to keep my train of thought." He tapped his finger to his temple like he had a sudden idea, "I know, let's talk about you."

I sashayed around behind him and pulled his jacket from his shoulders.

"You're wearing too much stuff. Let's get this cummerbund and pants off you."

I hung his jacket over the chair, then began pulling the studs to open his shirt.

He reached up to loosen his tie.

"Leave the tie," I pushed his hands away, "I've never made love to a man wearing a tie."

I pulled the shirt off him, threw it on the chair with his pants and cummerbund and returned to pull down his briefs. I picked up the pace; this was taking way too long.

When I had stripped him, I grabbed the tie and pulled him over to the bed.

"For defending my honor tonight," I clasped my hands and held them to my cheek fluttering my eyelids, "but really for staying beside me through all the Darryl incidents, I'm giving you free rein over what you want us to do tonight. I'm your plaything, big guy."

I lay on the bed looking as seductive as I could lazily stroking my breasts.

He sat down next to me and ran the back of his fingers along my cheek. That little tremor was still there.

"Could we cuddle for a while? I know it's not macho, but I want to lay here with you in my arms. We can negotiate later on, but right now I want you to lay on your side with your arm across my chest and your leg across my thighs. If you gave me a kiss every now and then, that would be nice."

He laid on his back and I cuddled in next to him.

"I was scared to death tonight," he whispered, "the only thing that kept me there was I had to protect the woman I love."

"I love you, too." I whispered as I kissed his cheek. "Now relax. Let me take care of you."