Somebody Should Have Told You 

(but I'm not from around here)

Back home, in Sumter County Florida (where we lived most of our lives)- I rarely had to deal with treacherous people after my late teens - early twenties
(I'm talking mostly about other women here, but not just them).

I earned my reputation through years of weightlifting with the football team in high school, fighting at the roll of an eye, and being able to take one HELL of an ass-whipping from the father of my children & keep on standing. 

Most folks found it easier to NOT cross me than deal with my psycho ass, and that worked fine for me. 

The few exceptions to the rule learned the hard way, and learned fast that I am "the one with whom you do not want to fuck" - phrased from a memory of a book or movie long ago, who's name I no longer remember...

Anyway, point being, I didn't have to talk shit to anybody, I didn't have to prove shit to anybody, and life was pretty damn good.

At least it was peaceful...

But then, we moved away - far away - not just once, but 3 different states since the new millennium and in each new location, sooner or later I have been forced to realize
"these people don't know who they are messing with, I am not FROM HERE"

So I have work to do...

And it is dirty, and it is rough, & it is inevitable...

The decades of being prominently stamped as 

"One BAD-ASS Bitch" 

allowed me to let my guard down a bit, & my mind never considered that being
"not from here"
meant that no on here knows that I am (still) 

One BAD-ASS Bitch

 & as a result, lines have been crossed, advantages have been taken, & consequences must be paid  - I am reckoning once should do the trick, one offending party must be made an example of to establish the future behavior - because the town is small, the news travels 

fast, and the gossip never sleeps. 

So, one good ass-kicking ought to do the trick.

The two most deserving of the "honor" are, sadly out of my reach at the current time - a crucial error on my part which I also attribute to the
"not from here"

dilemma

"Back home" it was no big deal to wait for the absolute best moment and location to beat a bitch down - everybody knew everybody, & sooner or later, everybody went to the same places, so waiting was never a problem.

Here is different, I don't know many people - that was a decision I made thinking the fewer people you know, the less drama you will have to deal with. But that is not the case- instead you get side-swiped with drama from somebody you barely know, or even sometimes a complete stranger

So, where do they go? how do I find that "best moment & location" - not a clue. Makes it much harder to handle things, to say the least. I really don't give too much of a damn about the specifics, except that I have zero intentions of being arrested for kicking an ass that needed it, or for anything else, & am as unfamiliar with the local law enforcement as I am the rest.

So caution must be exercised, something else I am not used to and have little experience with. After years & years, it is a learning process all over again.

But I am smart - and I am PISSED OFF - so I am learning

Don't make the mistake of thinking this will blow over, that ain't happening

And since we are (practically) strangers, you are likely not going to know who I am til it's over.

I always tell people that the lessons in life we remember are the ones we learn the hard way

You are about to find out for yourself