"The Punch"

By T. Trolley

For us old-time Cleveland Browns fans, there have been some memorable, deeply disappointing events that have occurred during the history of the football team that could only be described in two words. For example, John Elway's famous 98-yard TD march that kept the Browns from a Super Bowl has become known as "The Drive." Earnest Byner's fumble as he was headed into the end zone that was recovered by Denver the following year and kept them from another Super Bowl berth was known as "The Fumble."

But even more impressive, more memorable and so much more personal was something that occurred during a fight my former girlfriend was in with another female co-worker -- something I will always remember as "The Punch."

My girlfriend at the time, Teresa did not like Leslie -- that was for sure. Teresa, a pretty 5-2, 145 lbs. Caucasian brunette who was 32 years old and looked like Dolly Parton from the neck down with her 40DD-29-39 figure, had been employed at a Detroit lawfirm as a secretary for about five years. Teresa was proud of her accomplishments as a single mother as she had, in her words, "succeeded in a men's world." Teresa was also very protective of her employers, being grateful for the trust they had put in her when she came to the city and was hired with very little experience behind her.

Leslie, on the other hand, was 42 years old and had been hired recently as a typist. She was 5-6, about 160 lbs. and was a light-skinned African-American. It didn't take long for Leslie to talk to her fellow typists about either joining or creating a union. This really angered Teresa, who never got along with Leslie from the start as there was a little bit of racial tension in the air since all of the firm's secretaries were white while all of the typists were black. Also, Teresa was a true company woman while Lisa was somewhat of a rabble rouser who didn't trust the white establishment and sided with the unionist tradition of Motown.

Though both women were different in many ways, they did have some similarities. For one, both came from streetfighting backgrounds and were certainly not afraid of standing their ground and mixing it up if need be. Teresa was "strong for a woman" but so was Lisa. Both were very tough and streetwise but were also very feminine -- depending on what the situation called for.

Also, Leslie lived in the same apartment complex as I did. One surprisingly warm Saturday in November, Teresa and I were going to go Christmas shopping. She and I left my apartment and we were walking down the hallway when I remembered I hadn't locked the apartment door. I went back as Teresa continued walking down the hall. I locked the door and began to follow Teresa, who turned the corner.

Suddenly, I heard some arguing and then yelling. I turned the corner and there was my Teresa, arguing with the larger African-American Leslie who had been leaving her apartment just as Teresa came by and the two literally ran into each other!

Teresa almost immediately went after Leslie! I knew it didn't take much to set Teresa off when she was angry and apparently Leslie did something to tick off my Hazel Park Princess! A fight had suddenly erupted between my little Teresa and the huge African American Leslie, right there in the apartment hallway!

And they were really going at it! They were throwing fists right and left as I looked on from down the hallway! Teresa's ferociousness as a former streetfighter had boiled over and had come to the forefront and, being younger, she was quite energetic and was a real sight to see! But Leslie was taller and seemed stronger in her upper body and wasn't backing down one inch!

The two women had thrown punches at each other for about a minute at a feverish pitch when suddenly something I will always remember as "The Punch" landed. It was so memorable and was so impressive and so astonishing that it fit into the same category for me personally as "The Drive" or "The Fumble" that I have previously referred to.

As Teresa was gritting her teeth, throwing fist after fist at Leslie, she tilted her head ever so slightly to the right. This exposed her cute jaw to any blows that Leslie might throw.

And thus, suddenly -- seemingly out of nowhere -- Leslie threw a frightening right cross! The quick, lightning-like blow struck Teresa flush on her unprotected jaw on its left side! I heard a small "crack" when the black girl's closed fist connected with the left side of my girl's jaw!

Later after talking to Teresa about "The Punch," I realized what amazing things go through a woman's mind when she is involved in a one-on-one physical battle against another woman. According to Teresa, "Everything happens so fast -- at times in a split second." And in one of those split seconds, "The Punch" hit the left side of Teresa's chin when her mouth was slightly opened. And anybody who knows anything about boxing knows that when a boxer gets hit in the jaw with his or her mouth opened, the chances for a dislocated, fractured or even broken jaw increase dramatically. Thus, when Leslie's fist hit her in the jaw, the impact resulted in not only tremendous pain for Teresa but also a concern -- not only from Teresa but also myself -- that Leslie may have busted my Teresa's jaw!

I watched Teresa as her lips pursed, her eyes fluttered shut and she involuntarily reached for her injured jaw, frowning in pain!

Teresa told me after the fight that she didn't know what hit her when "The Punch" cracked into her jaw since she was caught completely by surprise and off guard! She told me that it felt like "an electric jolt" went through her jaw as she momentarily blacked out and saw a starry flash!

Thoughts whizzed through her mind as she soon realized that she had been hit as the pain was beginning to sink in! She was feeling woozy and her eyes were closed with lights flashing in her head! For a moment, she worried that she had been knocked out! If that was the case and she fell, she wondered what Leslie would do to her since she would be incapacitated at Leslie's feet for who knows how long? Would Leslie climb atop her back and inflict even more punishment upon her, even though she was knocked out? Or would Teresa simply go down and retain her consciousness but be easy prey for her opponent, who would be free to finish the job on her --as Teresa's boyfriend looked on?

Teresa pulled her hand from her jaw and blindly proceeded forward into her opponent, hoping and praying her adversary didn't know how badly she was hurt! The blow had disoriented Teresa momentarily and her only hope, she later said, was that she would regain her senses before her opponent tried to finish her off!

Luckily for Teresa, Leslie wasn't able to follow up or capitalize and Teresa not only recovered but survived, using her anger and fury to counterattack and drive Leslie back into her apartment with an amazing flurry of fists. Leslie closed the door quickly on Teresa, leaving the cute and attractive Hazel Park resident in control of the battlefield and thus was the technical winner of the fight!

The fact that Teresa did technically win the fight was very important to her ego and I was quick to point out that she had won -- even though Teresa's jaw hurt so much that she thought it might be broken, fractured or dislocated. As we went back to my apartment to ice her jaw down to see how bad it was (turns out it swelled up a bit but was just badly bruised), I kept telling her how proud I was of her and how she had chased a woman bigger and heavier than her back into her apartment due to her constant barrage of fists. Yes, it was true that she didn't hurt Leslie nearly as much as Leslie had hurt her. But when the smoke had cleared, it was Teresa who had physically forced Leslie to retreat from the battlefield of the hallway, giving Teresa sole possession of the field of honor as Leslie locked herself up in the safety of her own apartment.

But even I later wondered if Teresa had really won that fight. It reminded me of some of the battles of the American Civil War in which the North ended up forcing the South from the battlefield, but the cost in Union lives was so great that it was questionable as to if the Federals had really won after all. However, given that the defnition of winning a battle was possession of the field after the smoke had cleared, then one could say that Teresa did actually win the fight.

Yet, though Teresa had by definition technically won, only one part of that fight stands out for me to this day. And that was the best and most impressive move of the fight that nearly finished my Teresa -- "The Punch."