A Crime-Fighter

"Damn! That thing is heavy. It feels like punching a bus."

"It weighs about that. Hit it as hard as you possibly can."

She reared back and put her shoulder into a punch that would have laid out most light heavyweights. The bag might have moved a bare millimeter.

"OK, it's heavy. It's very, very heavy. I'm not going to read you here, you obviously want to make a point. Go ahead."

I took the gloves and I reared back as she had done and I hit the bag with a loud WHOP! The bag swung away several inches and then began to slowly pendulum back and forth.

"Make that stop for me, will you?" I asked.

She leaned out and put a hand on the bag. Nothing happened, except her hand moved back and forth with the bag. She leaned into the bag and put her shoulder against it. Her timing was wrong and it knocked her on her butt. The slow swinging was not affected in the slightest.

Neeka got to her feet.

"Point taken. If you hit me as hard as you hit that bag, I'd be a greasy spot on the wall, padded or not."

"So I need to get a lot better at pulling my punches but still striking quickly before I can trust myself to actually try and hit you with any force behind it."

"Thank you. I promise not to try to take your head off next time you drop your guard. Let's work up to that gradually."

"Good. Let's take a break before we move on to some gymnastics."

We sat on the mat with our backs to the wall and rested. I noticed that Neeka was staring at the bike, like she couldn't wait to get back on it.

"You seem more into this than you used to be," I observed. "You're more aggressive, more determined, more committed. What's up?"

"I know I can never be as strong or as powerful or as fast as you. But I realized the other night when I was waiting for you down by the railroad tracks that I don't have to be. When those two hoods came along and tried to hit on me, I realized that I could probably have dealt with them myself. I was ready to take them on before the radio scared them off. I had the confidence to do it.

"Before, I was doing this for you, because I wanted to help. I was willing to be your driver and your communications link and I was fine with that. Now, I think I could be more of a partner. I don't have to be as good as you to do that, I just have to be better than them. And that's a big difference."

"You've got the bug. You want to be a crime-fighter."

"You're damn right. I want to be an ass-kicker and a name-taker!" she declared.

"Good for you!" I said, catching her enthusiasm, "I'll knock down the doors and you kick their butts!"

When I had calmed down and Neeka had her breath back, she took off the pads and we practiced some tumbling. Then I jumped up and climbed across the monkey-bars on the ceiling. While I was hanging by my toes, I saw Neeka looking up at me.

"Would you like to try this?" I asked.

"Yeah. But I can't climb that high with the pegs yet."

I dropped to the mat beside her. I made a basket with my hands and flexed my knees

"Here. Step here and I'll boost you up."

She hesitated a second before putting her foot in my hands. When I felt her hands on my shoulders, I heaved up with my legs and my arms. Neeka went soaring into the air. At the top of her arc, she caught hold of the bars and hung there.

"Oh wow! This looks higher from up here than from down there."

"Don't look down," I told her. "Keep a tight grip on the bars and swing from one to the other."

She swung across the ceiling and back, then she tried to pull her feet up and hook her toes over the bar as I had done. It took her a couple of tries and a good bit of swinging of her feet, but she managed it. When she let go of the bar and hung head-down, her loose t-shirt fell down around her head.

"That's a good look," I said. "You're a chandelier."

She pulled the t-shirt off and threw it at me. "Just don't stick a light-bulb in my mouth," she laughed.

When she tried to reach back up to grab the bar her feet were hanging from, she couldn't make it. She wasn't strong enough to pull her weight up from that position.

"Uh, a little help, here?"

"Just let go," I said. "I'll catch you."

"Oh sure. What's Plan B?"

I stood directly underneath her and put my arms straight up. She reached down as far as she could and stretched out her hands. Our fingers were just a few inches apart.

"Can you do a handstand?" I asked.

"On the mat, yes. I'm not sure about like this."

"Just go as rigid as you can and drop to my hands. I'll catch you and take your weight. If you can't keep the handstand, just let your legs drop and land on your feet."

"Oh, right. I don't suppose there is a Plan C?"

"Sure. You let go and try not to break your neck when you hit the floor."

"Let's try Plan B."

"I thought you might. I'm ready when you are."

Neeka stiffened and spread her fingers. She dropped right into my hands and I caught her on balance. We wobbled a little, but she stayed in a handstand while I lowered my hands to my shoulders. A that point, she felt safe enough to drop her feet to the floor.

"That was great!" she said. "We should join the circus."

"Check the bus schedule to Sarasota!" I laughed.

"Let's try another."

"OK, here's one the Cheerleading Squad always wanted to do, but no one was strong enough to do it. We start off the same way, but you spin around and stand on my hands."

"Great!"

The mount was a little shaky, but Neeka was soon standing on my hands with her head twelve feet in the air.

"This is wonderful! I feel like a giant. It's easier than I thought it would be."

"Do you want to try being on the bottom?"

"Right. No thanks. Let me work up to that and we'll try it, though."

"OK, stand still, now. I want to see if I can do a press."

I lowered her feet to my shoulders and pressed her back up again. She only weighed twenty pounds more than me, so it wasn't that hard. Balancing her was tricky, though.

We tried several more tricks like that. She stood on one foot, then the other. I tossed her up to the ceiling and caught her when she dropped back. She had a lot of fun and I got the workout I needed while throwing her up in the air.

"One last trick, then we're through," I said. "Jump up and kick your feet out in front of you and I'll catch you in my arms. You've seen this one, I'm sure."

"Gulp! OK, here I go."

She dropped right into my hands and I held her like a baby.

"That was fun!" She said, putting her arms around my neck... "Thanks!" She kissed me, and when I didn't put her down right away, she kissed me again.

We were on the mat in each other's arms without even thinking about it. She knew exactly where to touch me and exactly when to do it to make me hot. In return, I broadcast love on every brainwave until we melted into a heap of gasping, clutching, moaning flesh.

Just as we were about to reach the point of no return, I fought back out of the fugue of arousal and emotion.

"Wait! Stop! Ungh!" I moaned. "This is almost too good. If we don't stop now we'll be here all day."

"Yeah," Neeka agreed raggedly. "We're getting too good at this. You're getting stronger. I mean here." She pointed between my eyes. "It's so overwhelming. I can just let go so easily and feel nothing but you loving me. It's intoxicating. I just want to fall in and sink. It's like we're one person."

"Positive feedback," I said. "We'll have to be careful that it doesn't get out of control."

"What would happen then?"

"I don't know, but I sure want to find out. Sometime when we have the time to try it. Maybe with a spotter to make sure we don't get completely lost in each other's mind."

"Bambi."

"The perfect choice. She has a strong voyeuristic streak. She'd be flattered to be asked and she'd love being there with us. That's partly why I want to try to involve her in the party. She deserves to be included."