Swampland, Ch 5

By Kim

Selina Hu was sitting on the bar of the Lady Ace. It was the bar where she had first met Cristina de Luca and where she made her first mark on Orlando, specifically on the city’s public , such as it was. Dulphur was pouring drinks behind her. The bar was doing good business, and more than a few of the men were smiling at her and trying to talk her up. She was wearing shorts and a tank top and showing a lot of her brown skin, above and below, and she enjoyed letting them have a bit of a look. One tall, thin man with his fifth whiskey of the night put his hand on her muscular thigh and got knocked out by the blackjack Selina had put under the bar behind her, one precise swing that caught him above the ear. The rest of the bar laughed at his stupidity and two of his friends dragged him outside. It was pouring rain, as it had been all day, and they left him sitting up against the railing in front of the bar. Selina considered feeling sorry for him and decided against it.

It was three days since the fight between Cristina and Brandy and between Lilah and Renee, the black girl from Swampland. Selina knew her pretty well; they had gotten drunk once together and Renee told her about her coming down from Atlanta in search of work. Atlanta was a disaster, from Renee’s telling, run entirely by gangs that left foes and criminals swinging from streetlights as a warning. Selina had not been surprised by the girl’s showing against the redhead who had worked for Cristina. After the Sheriff had struck the new deal between the two women, sending Selina to work for Cristina and keeping the business arrangement as it had been set by the Mayor and his wife, Cristina told Lilah that she was being replaced by Selina. Lilah’s face and body were battered, and she packed up and left without opposition. She was living with her girlfriend now, Selina had learned, and Selina was certain that she was planning to get her revenge against Selina and Cristina both.

Some time before dawn, after breaking up two fights and one fucking, Selina took the money box and visited Cristina. She had spent the three days recuperating in bed, but now Selina found her doing pull-ups from the bar she had hung from the ceiling. She was wearing only a pair of shorts, and Selina stood watching the muscles of her back flexing as she moved up and down and listening to her groaning as she strained. And when she dropped to the floor and wiped the sweat from her arms and face she watched the swell of her breasts glowing and swaying with the exertion. The bruises on her arms, chest, stomach, and face had turned a dark blue, as if she had been covered in some patchwork of hatred. Cristina ran the towel over every bit of her upper body and her face gave no hint as to the pain it must have caused her. She was still beautiful covered in hatred and pain.

“Tonight’s take?” she asked. “How are we doing?”

“It seems that brawling in the street is good for business,” Selina answered.

Cristina smiled. “Violence spurs debauchery. And debauchery spurs violence. And on it goes.”

“Jealousy can spur violence as easily as whiskey.”

“We will profit from the one as well as the other.”

Selina put the money box in the trunk that was bolted to the floor and locked it. She waited for Cristina to slide the loose shirt over her head before continuing. “I fear that we will need to do something about Lilah and her little bitch.”

“I doubt that’s something that you actually fear.”

“She means harm to both of us, fear or not.”

“Of course she does,” Cristina said. “We will take care of her when she gives us reason and not before. I owe her that at least.”

Selina thought it was a mistake. “So how do we want to proceed with Brandy?”

“Were you happy working for her?” Cristina asked in response. She lay down on the bed, watching Selina closely as she did.

“It was good work. I got to meet interesting new people,” Selina said with a wink. “I didn’t enjoy watching over the whores. Fucking impossible. You have to keep them in line and keep them happy at the same time. I liked knocking their heads more than I liked petting them.”

“That’s funny. You struck me as a woman who rather liked the petting.”

“Brandy was surprisingly strict about that. She was surprisingly strict about a lot of things.”

“You admire her.”

“She’ll be standing down here when a lot of other people have fallen.” Selina sat down on the edge of the bed. “You want me to do something to prove that I’m with you now, and not her. That’s fair. But just tell me what it is and stop dancing around it.”

“I want you to do what you think best. I need a woman, not a robot.”

**************************

She was the manager of the Lady Ace now, while Cristina was out each night, on business that Selina was not yet privy to. She was wearing a long sleeve shirt and long pants to cover the last of the bruising. At one table was a game of poker and at the bar were a few old men halfway into the grave and looking to speed up the process. Selina had spent her time discovering Lilah’s plans. Lilah and her girlfriend Tara were looking to expand Tara’s general store to include more liquor sales. By telling the girls’ supplier that they had planned to ambush the first shipment and cut him out, Selina had made sure that the man wouldn’t sell to them and that no one else in town would either.

After midnight, Lilah and Tara came into the Lady Ace. Both women looked ready to kill. Lilah was both the looker and the leader of the couple, which Selina thought odd. She felt sorry for the two of them, confused and sad as they were in the midst of their self-righteous aggression. Some distant part of Selina wondered if she should feel bad for them as she hopped off the bar and blocked Lilah from Cristina’s office. The slender redhead tried to slide past her, but Selina put her hand to the wall, directly in front of her face.

“Get the fuck out of my way,” Lilah said.

“No, I don’t think I will.”

The two women locked eyes. “I’m going to talk to her, and I’ll knock you flat on your ass if I need to to do it.”

“I’d like to see you try.”

“I doubt that.”

“We didn’t come here for this,” Tara said from behind Lilah. “We just want to talk to Cristina. She’s fucked us over because she’s jealous that Lilah left.”

“Is that what you told her?” Selina asked. “Your girlfriend got fired. I’ve replaced her. Now take your piece of Irish ass out of here before I decide to stop being so nice, you dumb bitch.”

As soon as the words were out of her mouth Lilah was grabbing her hair. Selina hit her in the ribs and then in her medium-sized breasts. The girl still held on to her hair and Selina seized hold of her shirt and pushed her against the wall and then drove her knee up into her stomach and then hit a glancing blow to the head with the blackjack from the bar. All the strength went out of Lilah and Selina let go of her so that she slid to the floor, her face turning red as she clutched at her stomach. Selina drew back her foot to kick her but the other girl yanked her backward by the hair and the shirt instead. Tara put her against the bar. The wood hit Selina in the stomach and chest and as she looked up Dulphur was standing in front of her. She winked at him and whipped her elbow around, striking the other girl in the head. She turned and grabbed the front of Tara’s shirt in her fist and punched her in the nose. As she brought her fist back to hit her again a pair of arms clamped down over hers, hugging her. Lilah had gotten up to defend her partner, but she had no strength. Selina wrenched herself back and forth, trying to get free as Tara stood in front of her. The brunette slapped her across the face and hit her in the stomach.

“Had enough?” she asked.

“Keep on her!” Lilah yelled at her.

But Selina was already taking advantage. She kicked Tara between the legs, making contact against her mound with the toe of her shoe. And then as she dropped to the floor, Selina torqued her body around so that she was facing the bar with Lilah still holding her from behind. She put both her feet against the bar and shot her legs out, sending both of them flying into the table behind them. They broke through the table and fell to the ground in a heap. Lilah took the worse of it, and Selina turned and got on top of her, one leg between hers and the redhead lying in the broken wood. She slapped the girl back and forth until she stopped moving and then got up. Without a look at the bar patrons who were staring at them Selina stood over Tara, who was still lying prostrate where she had fallen.

“Told you I was going to stop being nice, you dumb bitch,” she said, and picking her head up by the hair with her left hand she slugged her across the face with her right. Selina turned, shaking the pain out of her hand, and saw Lilah getting to her feet. “Want some more?”

“We’ve just gotten started, your Oriental cunt.”

Lilah threw a wild punch that Selina dodged, but then she threw another punch to the breast that caught her unawares. Lilah followed that up with another slap the face. To escape the blow Selina rushed her and grabbed her hair. The two women grappled together for some seconds but then Selina threw her over her leg. Lilah landed on the floor and Selina stood bent over her. Lilah grabbed her hair but Selina pumped her fist down into her body, her stomach, breasts, her face. After punishing her body with her fist Selina kicked her in the stomach and then dragged her to her feet and put her against the bar.

“Looks you weren’t ready to start after all,” Selina said. The bar was holding Lilah up, her hair a mess and her eyes glazed over. She was still gasping for air. Selina hit her in the stomach and in the breast. “And it’s Asian, not Oriental, you ignorant bitch.” So saying her slugged her in the face and dropped her to the floor. Selina stood looking over the wreckage she had left, panting, and she pushed her hair back from her beautiful face and strode into the back office. “I’m taking the rest of the night off,” she said as she closed the door. “Get this fucking trash out of here.”

After Selina had washed her face off and changed clothes, she came back out to the bar to finish the night. Standing at the bar, with a whiskey in her hand, was Amy, the buxom redhead from Swampland. Her hair was hanging loose around her face, and she was wearing a tight black shirt that did nothing to conceal her impressive figure. Her beautiful face was all business, even as she laughed with Dulphur and touched him on his muscled arm. She finished her drank and asked him to pour her another in a voice that was meant to trick men into thinking that she liked them. Selina wondered if Dulphur had the sense to know how she was working him. As he poured her drink he took in a long look of her cleavage, and Selina decided that he was as worthless as Lilah had been.

“I’ll get her drinks for her,” Selina told him. “Go check the stocks.”

“Aw, we were just beginning to have fun,” Amy said. “I think that he likes me.”

“I’m sure that he likes you as much as every other man in this swamp likes you. What brings you down to this side of the street?”

“Maybe I was looking for some excitement. I heard you had some yourself tonight.”

“And you came down here just to check up on me? I’m lucky to have a girlfriend like you.”

“It looks like you could use a little help in that department. Among others,” she added, pushing her hair behind her ear. “Appearances matter. You have to take care of yourself, or some younger, hotter woman is going to come along and take what you have. Oh wait, you don’t have anything I want.”

“I’ve got a job. I have prospects. And I turn the heads of men who don’t spend all of their time drinking and stabbing people.

“I’ve got all three. And the first one you were good enough to provide for me. Thanks to your move down to the minor leagues, I’m Brandy’s right hand.”

“The right hand of a loser.”

“We’ll see,” Amy said. She drained her glass and stepped away from the bar. “I just wanted to check in, see how you were. And I see that you’re just as you always were, tasteless.”

Selina winked at her and said, “See you around.”

“That’s the one thing you can be sure of,” Amy replied.

******************************

A few days later, Selina left town in the middle of the night to ambush a shipment of gold coming through the swamp for Brandy Connor. She carried a knife worn horizontal across the small of her back and she wore tight jeans and a shirt that would have demonstrated her athletic and yet womanly outline had she any viewers. Her black hair was tied in a ponytail behind her with a few bangs framing her beautiful face. Her breasts for large for a Chinese woman, and when she had slid on her shirt she had wondered if she had some Swedish grandmother somewhere in her. Her green eyes were large and open and the Asian girls she had grown up with had always hated her for her open eyes and her curves. She had always preferred moving alone and the thought she had given her appearance on setting out that night was for herself and not for some man or woman who would have seen her. Those girls who had hated her when she was young had given Selina her first taste of fighting. She enjoyed the fighting and she enjoyed what she could gain from it, how she could establish herself with other women.

She followed a broken highway north out of the city. She walked all night and spent the next day dozing and waiting in an abandoned gas station. By dusk of that afternoon she had positioned herself at the edge of the swamp to the north of Orlando. A hard rain started as she sat under her tree, the water dripping onto her head and her body but she did not move. At last she saw three shapes in cloaks walking along the grass strip between the two lines of concrete. She let them go past and then followed at a distance. They were moving slowly and two carried a box between them. Over the rain she could hear them arguing over the weight of the box and whether they should have brought horses. They dropped the box repeatedly and then when one of the men started coughing they broke into an old two-story house that was alone on a large field well off the highway.

Selina waited outside under one of the windows until they had a fire going, crouched low. As she waited for their noise to die down she stared out at the highway over the hill and silent and dead in the rain. It rained and rained and her feet began to sink down into the mud and still she waited and watched the highway. At last she judged that the three had gone to bed. She pushed the door open and crept through the house. It had been ransacked many times over the years. Brandy’s men had used the last of the furniture for their fire on the concrete of the back porch. She could see its flickering through the great windows of the living room. Selina had known such houses where she had grown up in Chicago. The mansions built by the men who had owned the meat people ate and the coal that still powered their homes. She crept through the house and going out through the garage came around to the back of the house. The rain felt cool on her skin after the stale hot air of the house.

The years of abuse had broken out the glass around the patio long ago. The roof over the concrete floor was very large and the men slept out of the rain around the fire. Selina crept without sound all the way to them and then drawing the knife from behind her back threw back the blanket and found an empty bedroll. The other bedroll was the same. She stood next to the fire, feeling worse and worse, the knife still in her hand, and then she turned around. The cloaked figure was standing at the edge of the patio where Selina had entered. Selina turned to face the figure, knife held out, crouching and ready. It was Amy.

“Looks like you’re taking to your new job well. Sneaking around, stabbing people in the back, blending in with the dark.”

“Sorry, it looks like the cows have all wandered off for greener pastures. So you won’t be able to blend in as well,” Selina replied. “How’s it feel, stepping into my shadow? A bit small for you?”

“Only where it matters, honey.”

“When was the last time you were someplace that mattered,” Selina replied. “You were standing against the wall while I was at the Swampland, wanting my job but too much of a little bitch to try to take it from me. So you talked shit about me to Brandy to get rid of me behind my back. But now here you are, doing my work. Badly, of course.”

“I knew that you were following us. I knew you’d try this.”

“And yet all of your grand scheming has left you here to fight me. A fight you’re going to lose.”

“No, I’m going to stomp a hole in your face and leave you in the rain.”

“When I’m done with you, you’re going to be my little pet. Sorry, my big pet.”

Amy took a knife out of her cloak and backed out from under the roof and stepped down into the yard. Selina followed her. The light of the fire just reached them. She could see the smile come onto Amy’s face as she tossed her knife onto the patio and took off her cloak. In so doing she exposed her magnificent feminine body to the storm. She was dressed much as Selina was, but she had a much larger chest and wider hips, and already the cotton of her shirt was clinging to her breasts and her large nipples were showing through. Her red hair was plastered down around her face with its pointed, demonic beauty. While Selina had worked for Brandy she had always wanted to test herself against this woman and her voluptuous body, and Amy had never hidden her desire to put Selina in her place. Now each would have her chance. One would leave the rain-soaked yard the better woman.

The two women stepped toward each other. Their feet splashed puddles of water; the grass of the yard was to their knees. The big redhead was waiting for Selina to make the first move, and she did. She darted forward and slapped her across the face and then punched her in the breast. The other woman grunted and slapped her across the face in return. Selina’s head spun all the way around and the woman tackled her to the ground. Selina landed face down with Amy on top of her. She started hitting her in the side of the face immediately. The rainwater and muck and grass was splashing into her mouth and eyes with each blow. The weight of the bigger woman was on her. Selina reached back with her hand and grabbed hold of the first thing she could. It was the redhead’s ear. Screaming in pain and anger Amy got off of her and Selina got to her feet as quickly as she could.

It was not quickly enough. Amy slapped her across the face back and forth and then hit her in the stomach. The Chinese woman folded nearly in half over the fist and then she fell to her knees. Amy grabbed her hair and pulled back her head so that her face was pointing up at the black sky. In that moment Selina could feel the rain pouring down onto and she could see the flashes of light from the fire on Amy’s body and her face staring down at her, as oppressive as the rain. She had drawn back her fist and she meant to pound Selina’s face. Before she could, Selina hit her in the back of the knee. The big redhead stumbled and fell on her and the two women were on the ground together. They rolled back and forth in the watery mess, Amy still holding onto her hair. The two women slapped and grabbed at each other clumsily. Then Amy got her forearm around Selina’s head and wrenching her she drove her fist into her face. Selina took the blow on the nose and then instinctively she opened her mouth around the massive breast pressed against her face and bit down.

Amy’s scream filled the yard. She let go of Selina’s head and rolled away. She got to her knees, facing away, holding onto her breast and wincing, but Selina willed herself up and was on her before she could recover.

Selina leapt on her with a snarl. She rode her to the ground and then snaked her legs against the insides of the woman’s thighs, spreading her legs out so that she could not get her feet under her to roll or stand. She slapped and hit her in the head and the sides. Then she pushed her face into the water and grass and held her there. Amy flailed her hands in the air but then she braced herself and with a great push bucked the smaller black-haired beauty off of her. The two of them came together, face to face, hands going to pull hair. The mass of the larger woman drove Selina onto her back. They rolled back and forth, pulling hair and hitting each other. When Selina got free and away from her she stood, backing away. Amy rose more slowly with a heavy glare in her eyes. Both women were head to toe in mud and water and bruises. The rain continued to fall on both of them. They were breathing hard and their shirts were a ripped and rotten mess. Selina backed away as Amy stalked her, the arms and legs of the former like fleshbrown pistons and the latter a huntress with buxom figure.

Amy rushed her and Selina put a fist square in her mouth. The big redhead was stopped short and Selina moved in close, hitting her in the stomach and breasts. The woman was stunned but not enough. She brought her knee up into Selina’s stomach. All the air rushed out of Selina and as she bent over Amy ripped her shirt up over her head. The material tore away and Selina stumbled away topless. Her medium-sized breasts rose and fell with her breathing, her small brown nipples hard from the adrenaline of the fight. The sight of her firm and well-made breasts seemed to drive Amy mad. She tackled Selina to the ground and straddling her began mauling her breasts. Selina cried out from the pain and desperate she reached up for Amy’s hair but it gained her no respite. Then she ripped open Amy’s shirt and sunk her fingers into her massive breasts. Amy howled and then with a snarl she began curling her fingers into her breasts.

In a few seconds Selina had taken her hands off Amy’s breasts and was trying to pull the hands away. The big redhead was over her, staring down at her, and it was as if her face was framing the rainwater falling around the two of them as they fought. Selina got her feet under her and with a push she rolled the other woman off of her. Amy landed next to her and Selina swiveled her hips around and kicked her in the side. That put the bigger woman on her back. They lay like that, both of them gasping for air, and then they rose one last time. As she stood Amy slid off her ruined shirt, exposing her massive breasts. Her enormous nipples were like light brown feminine discs in the firelight. The two women stared at each other from under their ruined hair, their taught stomachs and muscular backs and their being themselves as they came together.

Selina slapped her across the face and Amy slapped her back. Amy hit her again in the face and then Selina hit her in the stomach and then with uppercuts to both breasts. Amy tried to hit her back but Selina blocked her wild looping punch and slugged her in the stomach. Then she wrenched her arm behind her back and yanking her hair so that her head was looking up at the sky she ran her into the wooden siding of the house. Her breasts flattened out against the ancient and rotten panel, the feminine flesh smashed flat. She groaned and went limp in Selina’s grasp. But Selina pulled her off and spun her around and put her up against the wall and then staring into her eyes with the last of the firelight in them she knew that she had beaten her spirit. Pinning her with her forearm across her throat Selina hit her in the stomach, over and over. As Amy slunk to the ground Selina dragged her forward by the hair. She put her on her back in the middle of the yard and straddled her. Amy moaned and coughed. Her breasts swelled against the insides of Selina’s thighs and the rough material of her jeans. Selina slapped her with rights and lefts, her head rocking with each blow. Then she grabbed hold of her breasts and squeezed, taking pleasure in the pain she was causing the redhead. Amy began moaning in pain and Selina began moaning as well as she pinched and turned her nipples.

“Ready to give, bitch?” Selina asked. The rain had finally stopped and it was the two women in the weeds and the mud. Water was running off of Selina’s luscious black hair and her proud breasts.

“Yes,” Amy gasped. “Please stop. You win.”

“And does that mean you’re ready to back to Orlando and be my little worker drone?” Amy closed her eyes tight and did not answer. Selina dug her fingers into her breasts. “Are you ready to submit to me, or do you need some more persuasion?” she asked, letting go of her breasts. She sat up straight, her hands on her thighs. Her confidence was rewarded with Amy’s nodding and the tears that were rolling down her cheeks.

“That’s what I thought,” Selina said, and she pulled Amy up by the hair and took her inside the decrepit mansion.

Still dragging her by her wet red hair, Selina led her up the stairs to the master bedroom and threw her on the floor. The first lights of dawn were coming in through the window. The bed was full of mold and what had been expensive chests of drawers were now a few nights’ worth of kindling. Amy squirmed and moaned, one hand over her chest and the other over her face. Both of them bruised and both of them sights of her being beaten by Selina who now stood over her. She ordered Amy to kneel before her, and when she hesitated Selina offered her another round instead. Amy got on her knees before her and slid her jeans down over her muscular, tired thighs and her calves. Then she kissed her, starting on one hip and following the line of her thong across the bottom of her stomach and to her other thigh. Selina fondled her ruined hair and traced the outline of her cheeks and jaw and the base of her neck.

Amy got to her feet and kissed Selina on one cheek and then the other and then on the mouth, holding Selina by the back of her head. Selina leaned into her so that their breasts were pressed together. She ran her hands lightly up and down the larger woman’s back and then leaning back she touched her index fingers to each of her breasts. She tapped her fingertips against the bruises on the ends of her breasts and Amy grunted with each point of contact. Selina stopped but Amy told her to keep doing it and as Selina prodded the bruised flesh Amy sighed deeply with her face pressed against Selina’s and grabbed both cheeks of her tight ass. Selina cupped her breasts with both hands, moving them up and down, and Amy kissed her full on the mouth. Selina felt all of her femininity pressing on her and she took it all in, this woman she had beaten and now controlled and who desired her, desired the absence of her, as someone who was not there. Selina allowed Amy to put her on her back and slide down her thong and then to trail kisses from her stomach across her mound to her lips and to start tonguing and licking her and Selina threw her head back in a silent howl.