Thunder and Lightening: Chapter 14Home « Thunder and Lightening Index « Previous

- Chapter 14

Posted: November 27, 2004 - 12:35:23 am

Life had settled into a comfortable pattern for Jerry. When the weather had

turned cold, he had purchased an electric heater that kept the living room warm

enough to be comfortable. He was driving the Camaro to work, to the therapist,

and on errands.

Mondays were spent working on his truck and the bodywork was nearly finished.

The only real major work to be finished was to paint it and to replace the bed

of the truck. It was beginning to get a little too cold to work on it, but he

felt confident that he would finish it before the real cold weather arrived.

Tuesday nights were spent late at the store taking care of paperwork as Abe

worked late stocking the store. The young man had really become a hard worker

and very thrifty with his money. He made the payments on the scooter on time and

took a great deal of pleasure out of ownership of it. Jerry had feared that Abe

would spend his money on showy items, but he hadn't counted on the boy's mother.

Sharon rode herd on the boy, watching him for the least sign that he was

screwing up.

Wednesdays were spent at the store taking care of personnel related issues. Mike

had learned his responsibilities as Assistant Manager and was now taking charge

of scheduling people to work. Every Wednesday, Mike hung the new schedule up on

the wall and worked with him to submit the corporate paperwork. Jerry found that

Karen was managing the inventory better than it had been managed previously. He

took those nights as opportunities to eat a great meal out.

Thursdays lunches were spent at the Crimson Rose chatting with Jenny. She had

set aside a special table for him with man size plates, glasses, and silverware.

After the lunch crowed disappeared, the two of them would chat for an hour. He

was sure that she wanted him to ask her out, but he just didn't feel right about

it. The nights were spent in therapy. To his great surprise, therapy was not as

horrible as he had imagined and he had identified a lot of the triggers that

caused his rage to emerge.

Fridays were spent at the store. He worked the whole day trading off the time at

the counter with Mike and Martin. At night, he usually fixed a simple meal at

home spending the time after dinner in the company of Henry Buckman. He and the

large black man had many things in common besides being big. Henry was a wonder

at working with wood while Jerry was talented with metal. Together, they were

building a couple of indoor water fountains that could be mounted on the wall.

Saturdays were spent at the store dealing primarily with walk-in customers.

Taking some advice from Karen, he had installed a coffee maker in the display

area of the store. Customers were invited to take free cups of coffee while

shopping and waiting for service. Usually Martin and Jerry worked the counter

together. The experience of fixing a car had given Martin the ability to help

give advice to customers about their repair work. As a result of those minor

changes, Saturday business had picked up.

The day of the week that he really looked forward to was Sunday. His son would

come over Sunday and they would work on the truck together while Martin worked

on his car. The day always flew by so fast that it was over before it felt like

it had even begun.

School had changed in a subtle way for his son. He now had three friends with

whom he spent a great deal of time, avoiding the unpleasantness of his home

life. The simple act of thanking Woody and Sandy for their support had opened a

great friendship among all three. Larry had joined the group a little later,

thankful to have three friends in a new school. Woody and Sandy were both good

students and the four of them often got together to work on group projects where

possible.

It was Thursday and Jerry was waiting for Mike and Karen to return from lunch so

that he could go to the Crimson Rose for lunch. His schedule for this day was

packed. After lunch, he had to go to court about some of the conditions of

separation, since his wife was not happy that she had to cut back on her

excessive lifestyle. Then he had his evening session with the therapist to

address his rage.

The phone rang and he answered it. After jotting down the order, he held it up.

Martin pulled the order out of his hand and headed to the back to pull the

parts. Looking over at all of the packages of parts, Jerry could see that

business had improved. Howard was making more runs a day then ever before. Even

with the increased number of runs, there were more boxes waiting to be delivered

on the counter.

Howard came into the store and looked at all of the packages waiting on the

counter. The number of deliveries was unusually high. Carrying another box of

parts, Martin came out from the back and said, "Hey, surfer delivery dude."

"Hey, preacher man," replied Howard with a grin.

This was a friendship that Jerry would never have imagined. The two of them

often took their lunch breaks together and traded quips with rapid-fire speed.

Mike often commented that unleashing those two on the public was more dangerous

than letting loose a fox in a chicken coup.

Martin asked, "Lunch?"

"It'll take an hour to deliver all of this stuff," replied Howard. He bent over

like an old man and put an arm on his back as he quipped, "You'se workin' me to

death massa."

"Life's a bitch when youse workin' for the man!"

"Lazy man at that!"

"I'll wait for you to finish this run," replied Martin with a laugh.

"Deal, now help get this junk to the car," requested Howard.

Jerry was laughing as the pair went out the door carrying several boxes of parts

each. The last thing he heard as the door close was Martin quip, "Junk? This

here's grade A prime made in America parts."

Still laughing at the pair, Jerry saw Mike and Karen enter the store. Chuckling

as he walked, Mike said, "That was a good one. If people like you are making

those grade A made in America parts, I'd go for those grade C made in La-La Land

parts."

Karen said, "Those two are a riot together."

Jerry said, "I've never heard either one of them talk like that without the

other one there. Martin is usually a pretty serious kid."

Mike replied, "I didn't even know that Howard smiled."

Looking at the clock, Jerry said, "I've got to go. I won't be back today. I've

got court after lunch."

"I'll close up and make sure that everything is ready for tomorrow."

"Great," replied Jerry as he headed towards the back door. He stopped in the

bathroom to straighten his clothes and double check his appearance in the

mirror. It wasn't that he was vain about his appearance, only that he wanted to

look presentable for Jenny.

The short drive down the street barely taxed the huge engine of the Camaro. He

didn't really like breaking in the engine with city driving since the stop and

go traffic put a significant strain on the new parts. He pulled into a parking

space between a high-end BMW and a silver Jaguar. Standing next to his car, he

gave voice to his low opinion of the woman that frequented the Crimson Rose

Bistro. "They had better be outstanding fucks to deserve cars like this."

Jenny greeted him with a smile and led him to his table. Leaning down, she said,

"I've got the makings for a good Caesar Salad with slices of steak. Does that

sound good to you?"

"Sure does," replied Jerry. Even though months had gone by with him coming to

her place, he was still amazed at how much care she put into making sure that a

good meal was available for him. It had taken some serious negotiations, but he

paid for his meals at price that was fair for both of them.

After she went to tell the chef to cook his meal, Jerry took the opportunity to

look around the room at the women. His scheduled appearance in court had given

him a very sour attitude towards women that lived off their husband's hard work.

It was hard to keep his disdain for them off his face.

Listening to the conversations around him, he was particularly interested in a

table where the women were discussing their sex lives. He listened in shock at

the coarseness of their descriptions of, and the obvious disdain for, their

husband's needs. Two of the four women had lovers on the side and were

describing with great enthusiasm the kinds of things their lovers did for them.

As they talked, he realized they were doing things for their lovers that they

weren't doing for their husbands.

When Jenny returned with his salad and iced tea, he smiled up at her

appreciating her hardworking ethic and independence. She could see the approval

on his face and smiled in return. The lunch crowd was finishing their lunches.

This kept her busy delivering deserts and taking care of bills. Between dealing

with customers, she cleared tables knowing that her customers didn't appreciate

having to look at a messy table.

Jerry watched her work the room as he ate his salad. He watched as one of the

women had difficulty paying her portion of the bill. She didn't have cash to pay

for the meal and two of her credit cards had been rejected. Jenny was forced to

accept a check after suffering from a blistering dressing down by the woman.

Jerry could tell that Jenny was convinced that the check would bounce and had to

accept that she would end up eating the cost of the meal.

Jerry watched the interplay wondering if the woman had just been dumped by her

husband and was only now waking up to the need for fiscal responsibility. He

finished his salad as the last customers left. It wasn't until then that he

actually relaxed.

Jenny joined him at the table with a sad shake of her head. She said, "Stiffed

on another bill."

"I noticed you taking a check for the meal," replied Jerry.

"Yeah. It'll bounce. They always do when I have to take a check after two credit

cards get rejected." She shook her head and added, "It amazes me at how

righteous they are when it happens. They act like I'm supposed to be happy about

buying them lunch."

"Do you get many of them like that?"

"I get about nine of those a month and costs me over two hundred a month. It

would cost more if I had a liquor permit. A lot of them drink their lunches when

they don't eat here."

Surprise by the vehemence in her voice, Jerry said, "It sounds like you don't

like them."

Shrugging, Jenny replied, "In a way, I think of a lot of them as though they are

high priced hookers. I wonder what they do for their husbands that makes them

worthy of the money they spend."

Speaking from personal experience, there was bitterness in his voice, as Jerry

answered, "Nothing, they do nothing."

The tone of voice in which he had made his pronouncement reminded Jenny of the

situation with his wife. She wondered if he was telling her the truth about

being separated. If he was, then why hadn't he asked her out? Months had passed

and he still hadn't made any attempt to change the relationship between them.

She asked, "Are you really separated from your wife?"

The question took him by surprise. Looking up at her, he replied, "Yes."

"Then how come you haven't asked me out?" In a way, she was hurt by his apparent

lack of interest in pursuing a relationship with her.

The question stunned Jerry. He didn't know how to answer that he had no

experience dating. For a full minute, he stuttered as he started with one answer

and then changed it before he even got out the first few syllables of his

answer. Finally, he sat back and, in a voice the conveyed resignation, said, "I

would like to ask you out, but I don't know how."

Incredulous, Jenny stared at the huge man in front of her. It made her wonder

how someone that big could be so tentative and fearful. She asked, "Where would

you like to take me, if you were to ask me out?"

"That's part of my problem. I have no clue where I would take you. A bar doesn't

sound right. A restaurant doesn't really make sense since you own one. That

would be rather like a busman's holiday. I haven't even been to a movie since I

was a teenager," answered Jerry as he stared at his iced tea. After a minute, he

said, "I couldn't even invite you to my place. You'd take one look around the

neighborhood and run for the hills."

"Surely your home isn't that bad," replied Jenny.

Smiling, Jerry said, "I live eight blocks from here. Just head for ugly and

drive for six blocks. Make another turn towards uglier and drive two more

blocks."

Jenny laughed at his directions, but understood exactly what he meant. She drove

several miles out of her way, just to avoid that area of the city. If his

directions were anywhere near accurate, the only way she'd go there is with a

bodyguard. She asked, "Are you kidding?"

"No, I'm not."

"Aren't you afraid of living there?"

"Not really. In fact, I rather enjoy it. You've met Abe and Martin at the store.

They're my neighbors. I have a friend, Henry, who is almost as big as I am and

lives two blocks away. Half of the neighborhood hangs out in my front yard on

Sundays when Martin, my son, and I work on the cars."

"Isn't it dangerous?"

Jerry was silent for a moment before he answered, "Well, one of the local drug

users and, sometimes pusher, was shot the other night. A kid by the name of

Kenny." It was a shame about Kenny, but the kid was headed towards trouble. He

had kept his distance after Jerry had caught him trying to steal his tools, but

Henry had kept him informed of what kinds of things the kid was doing. Henry had

done his best to keep Kenny out of trouble, but that wasn't sufficient. Now he

was lying in a hospital bed recovering from a gunshot wound.

"A shooting?"

"It was a couple of blocks away," answered Jerry even as he wondered how he

could be so accepting about something that happened that close to home. Maybe he

was changing to fit into the neighborhood more than he had realized.

Nodding, she said, "I guess I can understand why you wouldn't invite me to your

home."

"So anyway, that's why I don't ask you out. I don't know where to take you and I

don't know how to ask."

"Well, I like movies and I don't mind eating out on occasion."

"Okay, so I'll ask you to dinner and a movie as soon as I figure out how to ask

you," replied Jerry.

Amazed at the direction of the conversation, Jenny stared at the large man as he

sat across the table from her rubbing the calluses on his hands. It was a

gesture that she had come to recognize as nervousness. It was all but decided

that he would take her to dinner and movie, it was just a matter of him saying

it to her.

Jerry sat at the table trying to work up his nerve to ask her on a date. She had

been helpful enough to let him know what kind of date she would enjoy. He

reached, with a hand that trembled, for his iced tea glass, needing a sip of tea

to relieve his dry-mouth. After taking the edge off his sudden thirst, he took

care to set down the glass. The last thing he wanted to do was spill the rest of

his tea. Gathering his courage, he asked, "Would you go out with me?"

"Sure," replied Jenny with a smile. It was amazing at how difficult that had

been for Jerry despite the fact that she had basically made it as easy as

possible for the man. Now the trick would be to get a day and time for the date.

She asked, "Did you have any specific day in mind?"

Jerry considered when he would be available. Tomorrow he was meeting with Henry

to work on the fountain. The first chance would be on Saturday. He asked, "How

about Saturday night?"

"That's fine."

It took her ten minutes to get all of the details about the date from Jerry. The

process had been almost humorous and she really had to restrain herself from

laughing at him. Each question that she had asked was answered only after a

minute of careful consideration. It was easy to tell that he wasn't a married

man seeking an affair. No man seeking an affair would be so awkward when asking

a woman out on a date.

Jerry left a little late, but made good time in getting to the courthouse. His

lawyer had briefed him on what he could expect to happen. In particular, the

judge would want to see their financial records to determine what their real

financial needs were. He handed his books over to the lawyer having documented

his expenditures with great care.

The proceedings were a disaster for one of the participants, namely his wife.

She had lost control over her hatred and disdain for men while the judge was

reviewing her financial records to see what her real economic requirements were.

The judge had examined her records with great care, pronouncing that two

thousand dollars a month for eating at restaurants was a little excessive.

Because he had questioned her expenses, she had told the judge that he had no

right to dictate how she spent the money owed her by the lazy gorilla that had

been her husband.

After calling the judge a typical male chauvinist pig, he had warned her to that

he was going to find her in contempt. Her rant then turned to focus on Jerry. As

she unleashed a vulgar stream of nasty comments in his direction, the judge

couldn't believe what he was hearing. In his opinion it was spouse abuse. Jerry

had stared at the ceiling, remembering what his therapist had told him about

insults, "They tell more about the person saying them than the target."

By the time the hearing had finished, the judge had ruled in Jerry's favor and

awarded him more money a month by reducing his payments to his wife. It wasn't

much more money, but it helped. His wife had been found in contempt when she

protested the decision in very crude terms. He had left with his lawyer while

her lawyer was arranging bail.

Dinner had been a short stop at a burger joint where he ate at a booth next to a

window. He watched as dark, boiling clouds gathered overhead shutting out the

sunlight an hour before sunset. The light turned an eerie green color that

brought a shudder down his back. Throughout the meal, the clouds got thicker and

darker moving closer to the ground.

He left for the therapist wondering when the storm was going to bust loose. When

he arrived at her building, the sky looked even more threatening and the air was

dead still. Remembering back to the night when he was nearly struck by

lightening, he raced into the building not wanting it to happen again.

The time spent with the therapist concentrated primarily on the events of that

afternoon and how Jerry had managed to keep the rage at bay. He felt good about

how he had reacted to her tirade. She had managed to say every trigger phrase

that normally released his rage from its cage. The therapist was quite pleased

with his progress, but warned him not to get too confident.

Leaving the therapist building, Jerry was surprised that it hadn't begun to

rain. He looked up at the sky amazed as lightening flashed across the sky rather

than downwards towards the ground. Little funnels hung down from the clouds,

precursors of tornadoes. Driving home, he kept an eye on the road and one on the

sky.

Driving down the street where he lived, he noticed all of the old folks standing

on their porches watching the sky. He parked his car and went to his porch to

watch the boiling clouds wondering when it was going to start raining. The

tension in the still air was unbearable. Martin, Abe, and Sharon joined him on

his porch staring at the sky the entire trip from their house to his. Abe gave

voice to the thought that was on everyone's minds, "This ain't natural."

It was ten minutes later that the sky burst loose with everything that it had. A

horrible gale nearly blew them from the porch while torrential rains fell.

Lightening bolts reached down to the ground, lighting up the sky enough to

illuminate a funnel cloud that ripped though buildings several miles away. The

wind was hard enough to blow the rain horizontal. The four ran into Jerry's

house to wait out the storm and listen to the news reports.

As Sharon sat on the futon between Abe and Martin, Jerry turned on the

television to the local news station. A tornado was being reported to the north

of the city and another was headed towards the city. Martin said, "Shit, if a

tornado comes through this part of town there won't be a thing left."

Sharon nodded her head and said, "We're fucked."

They huddled together watching while the weather radar showed the progress of

the storm as it moved in their direction. Jerry thought about the cars under the

tree in the front yard and said, "This wind is liable to cause the tree out

front to fall, even if we aren't hit by the tornado."

"Shit, that'll destroy our cars." Martin sounded more upset about the chances of

the Caddy getting destroyed than about the possibility that he could die in this

storm.

Jerry shook his head at the irony of it. He had tied his recovery to the

restoration of the truck so that now he felt that if something bad happened to

the truck it was as if it happened to him. In a voice that didn't convey

confidence, Jerry said, "We'll make it through this storm all right and so will

the cars."

A weak knock on the door surprised everyone. Jerry went over and opened the door

only to find a soaking wet Bill collapsed on the porch shivering from cold and

shock. Picking up his son with a gentleness that contrasted with his size, Jerry

carried him into the house. Abe closed the door behind him and stared at his

friend. Martin asked, "What the fuck is the matter with his arm? It's bent the

wrong way."

Jerry looked down at his son taking in the arm, bruises on his face, and lack of

proper attire for this time of year. As fear for his son grabbed him by the

heart, he shouted, "I better get him to a hospital right now."

Abe held open the door while Martin ran into the rain to get to the car. Jerry

carried Bill in his arms and set him in the front seat of the Camaro while

Martin held the door open for him. Soaking wet, he got into the driver's seat

and started the car. Martin had run back to the house and waved from the door.

Jerry's stomach was twisted into knots as he steered the Camaro down the dark

street trying to avoid the potholes. The windshield wipers couldn't keep up with

the rain making if feel as though he were driving through a solid wall of water.

The electric power to the entire area went out before he reached the main street

casting the road into darkness. With hands clenched tight on the steering wheel,

he navigated down the dark roads avoiding downed power lines and fallen trees.

Tears flowed down Jerry's cheeks as he kept glancing over at his son. The kid

was pale and shivering from the cold even though the heater in the car was on

full. The only other sign that he was alive was the occasional groan of pain.

When lightening flashes illuminated the interior of the car, he could see new

bruises developing on the Bill's face. He tried to talk to Bill to let him know

that everything was going to be all right, but each time he looked at the boy he

wondered if he would survive.

The half-hour drive to the hospital took nearly an hour. When he finally reached

it, he was drenched in sweat from tension. He pulled into the emergency room and

carried his son into the room. He shouted, "I need help here."

The hospital was fully staffed to provide emergency services to victims of the

storm and moved with great efficiency to take care of Bill. Jerry followed

behind them saying, "I don't know what happened to him."

The doctor examined Bill and then looked up at Jerry with anger. Turning to the

nurse, he said, "Call the police. This child has been abused."

The words struck Jerry dumb as he tried to process what the doctor was saying.

For a moment he stood glued to the spot, staring at the doctor with a blank

expression on his face. Someone had abused his kid? The worry about his son and

the tension of the drive had sapped his strength. When his rage tried to emerge

he had nothing left to give and toppled over in a dead faint.

Jerry woke on a hospital bed looking up at a police officer. The first words

from his mouth were "How's my son?"

The officer looked down at Jerry and didn't answer the question. In the flat

factual tone used by police everywhere when interviewing a suspect, he stated,

"So tell me what happened."

"I don't know what happened to him. I was at home with my neighbors watching

reports about the storm on the television when I heard a knock on the door. When

I opened it, he was laying on the porch," replied Jerry.

The officer asked, "Do you expect me to believe that story? You're telling me

you didn't know your son was out in the storm?"

"He doesn't live with me. He lives with his mother about fifteen miles from my

house. I don't even know how he got to my house," replied Jerry. He rubbed his

forehead feeling a huge bump where he had hit it when he had fainted. He asked,

"Can you tell me how my son is doing?"

"The doctor will have to do that," answered the officer, as he looked at Jerry

with a thoughtful expression. He left the room to talk to the doctor to see if

the kid's condition agreed with the story that Jerry had told. As Jerry tried to

get up to follow, he collapsed back on the bed feeling as weak as a kitten.

It was almost thirty minutes later before the doctor came into the room where

Jerry was stretched out on the bed. Jerry asked, "How's my son?"

"He woke, but I sedated him after a short conversation with him. He's been

seriously injured, but they aren't life threatening. It would appear that his

mother hit him with a baseball bat breaking two of his ribs and his arm. The

rest of his injuries would appear to be as a result of falling off his scooter

in the storm."

A thousand questions raged in his mind. Could his son have actually driven his

scooter almost an hour from home with a broken arm and in the middle of a storm?

Why didn't his son go over to the home of one of his friends? How could a mother

actually do that to her own son? Jerry tried to sit up, but couldn't. He asked,

"What's wrong with me? I feel weak."

"We administered a muscle relaxant," answered the doctor. When Jerry had

fainted, the doctor had been positive that the big man had hit his kid.

Everyone, including the policeman, agreed that it would be better if the guy

couldn't get up once he came out of the faint. He added, "It will wear off

shortly and then we'll let you see your son."

Jerry asked, "Could you send the police officer back? I want my ex-wife

arrested."

The doctor looked down at Jerry and said, "That's already in progress. A

counselor will be here shortly to talk to you."

Jerry felt like he was tied to the bed although the rope that bound him was

gravity. Never in his life had he felt so weak. It was even tough to adjust the

light blanket that covered him. He was far more exhausted than he thought

possible. Unable to help himself, he fell asleep.

Eyes struggling to make out his surroundings, Jerry realized that he was still

in the hospital. He wiped the sleep from his eyes and looked around. Bill was

asleep in the bed next to his. Sleeping in the visitor's chair, Martin emitted

soft snores. He sat up and climbed out of the bed. Moving over to his son's bed,

he looked down at the boy taking in all of the bandages and the cast on his arm.

A half an hour passed with him looking down at Bill. The snoring had stopped and

the silence in the room was broken when Martin said, "How are you doing?"

Jerry turned and gestured towards the door feeling that it would be better to

talk in the hall than take the chance of waking his son. Martin understood and

went into the hallway with his boss and neighbor. Jerry looked at Martin and

asked, "What are you doing here?"

"Shit, I couldn't get the sight of that poor kid out of my mind last night. We

waited for you to get home, but you never returned. I just had to see how he was

doing," answered Martin.

"I appreciate you coming all the way here," replied Jerry. The fact that Martin

came to the hospital touched him far more than he knew how to say. This was the

first time in his life when he had to face something unpleasant without being

alone.

"We figured he rode his scooter to the house. Abe and I looked for it, but we

couldn't find it anywhere." Martin looked down at the floor knowing how

devastated Bill would be to loose the scooter. Abe had talked about that most of

the evening.

"Don't worry about finding the scooter. I'll get him another one even if I have

to tie that bitch of an ex-wife to a bed and charge people a dollar to fuck

her." The anger in his voice was difficult to miss.

Martin trying to get a lighter tone in the discussion asked, "A dollar?"

"You think that is too much?"

The black man laughed at the question. He said, "By the way, I talked to the cop

last night and told him what we knew. He said that I verified what you told

him."

"Did he tell you what happened?" asked Jerry.

"No."

A moan from the room brought a halt to the conversation. Jerry went in and stood

by the bed. Bill opened his eyes and looked up at his father with a weak smile.

He asked, "How did you find me?"

"You made it to the house," answered Jerry realizing his son didn't remember

getting to the house. He asked, "Why didn't you go to one of your friends?"

Bill looked away as he replied, "I was too embarrassed."

"Why?"

As tears appeared on Bill's cheeks, he answered, "A guy has to be a real loser

to have his mother beat him like this."

A sound of disbelief came from behind him as Martin reacted to the words. He

didn't know his father and his mother might be poor, but he knew his mother

loved him. The thought came to mind that a dollar might be too much.

His rage flared as Jerry heard the answer. In a very stern voice that allowed no

argument, he answered, "Don't ever believe that. Your mother is a sick bitch

that hates everything male. She's a sick twisted woman and you're a victim of

that."

Turning to look at his father, Bill said, "Thanks, dad. I just have to learn how

to believe that."

The words tore at his heart, as he understood that it was the truth. As gentle

as possible, Jerry leaned down and hugged his son, making sure that he didn't

stress the broken ribs or arm. He knew that it was up to him to make things

right for his son and that it was going to take time.

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