Thunder and Lightening: Chapter 20Home « Thunder and Lightening Index « Previous

- Chapter 20

Posted: December 07, 2004 - 01:37:13 am



Sunday morning Jerry drove to city hall with Bill and Jenny in the car. Restored

cars lined the road on the side of the street on which the city hall stood. The

street was closed to allow people to walk around and look at the cars. It was

hard to see the cars because of the crowds of people surrounding them.

"Lots of people here," said Jerry looking down the street. This was his first

time to come to one of these events and he was rather impressed with the

turnout.

An officer stopped him and asked, "Are you showing this car?"

"It's not done yet," replied Jerry confused by the question. "We're here to look

at the other cars."

"Okay, then you need to turn right and find a spot to park."

Jerry followed the officer's directions and it was a couple of blocks later that

he found a spot where he could park the Camaro. Pulling in, he said, "I'm sorry.

It looks like we have a bit of a walk ahead of us."

From the back seat, Bill said, "We can always go back and show off this car."

As Jenny frowned at the idea, Jerry laughed and said, "Not yet. I don't want to

show it off until after it is finished."

He got out of the car and held the door open for Jenny. She exited and got out

of the way as Bill climbed out of the back. Shutting the door, Jerry put an arm

around Jenny. With a smile, he said, "Let's go find the old truck and see what

kind of attention Martin's car is getting."

The three of them walked up the street. Jenny occasionally bumped her hip

against Jerry's hip just to remind him that she was there. Bill moved ahead and

then waited for them to catch up. He was excited and wondered how he was going

to find his friends in the middle of the crowd of people up ahead.

When they reached the street, they found a booth set up in front of the steps of

city hall with a number of trophies. Stopping to look at the trophies, Jenny

asked, "What's with the trophies?"

"I have no idea," answered Jerry looking around to see if he could spot anyone.

A woman came over to the booth and took a seat behind the table. Jerry asked,

"What's with the trophies?"

"The cars are going to be judged around noon. We'll hand out trophies for the

best cars being shown here."

Bill looked at his father and said, "Wouldn't it be great if you or Martin got a

trophy?"

Jerry laughed at the idea and said, "That would be nice, but I wouldn't count on

it."

The three of them continued on down the walk, checking out some of the cars.

There were a couple of early model Fords. One of them really shined and

outclassed all of the others there. Jerry bent down and asked Bill, "Do you want

to fix up one of those?"

"No way. That's too slow," replied Bill. He appreciated the look, but it wasn't

a practical car.

They went down the street looking at the vintage cars parked along the road.

Jenny found it fascinating that people took such care to restore these cars.

Occasionally, one of the owners would tell a story about the car. The stories

ranged from the history of its manufacture, tales of the owners, and the work

that was performed to restore it. Most of them had a series of photographs that

showed the car through various phases of restoration.

After leaving one of the more talkative owners, Jenny said, "I had no idea about

this whole culture of people that love these old cars."

Laughing, Jerry said, "Have you seen any that you would love to own?"

"Several," replied Jenny with a smile.

There was a large crowd around one of the cars and Jerry pointed over to it.

"Let's check that one out."

"Must be pretty nice considering all of the people around it," remarked Jenny.

She had already noticed that the nicer cars had larger crowds of people around

them.

They made their way over and found Martin in the middle of the crowd. He spotted

them and shouted, "Hey! Come on over here."

Together, the three of them made their way through the crowd and found Martin's

Caddy at the center of attention. Jenny couldn't believe how sharp the car

looked. In the morning light, the Caddy looked even better than that evening

when she had first seen it. Jerry said, "Looks like the Caddy is a hit."

"Sure is," replied Martin. He looked around at all the people and said, "I can't

believe how many people are checking out that car. Makes me wish I had taken a

picture of it before we started working on it."

Jenny snuggled against her boyfriend and said, "That's a sharp looking car.

After seeing it, I can understand why they compare all of the best things to the

Cadillac."

Hugging her back to let her know that he was thinking of her, Bill asked,

"Where's Abe?"

Pointing over to a tent, Martin answered, "He's over there getting something to

eat."

"Great. I can't wait to introduce him to my friends from school," replied Bill.

Turning to his father, he asked, "Can I get Abe and look for my friends?"

Jerry checked his watch and saw that it was ten thirty. Nodding his head, he

answered, "I'll meet you here at noon."

"Great," replied Bill as he slipped through the crowd in search of people his

own age. Jenny laughed at his excitement as she watched him leave.

Jerry and Jenny talked with Martin for a little while and then headed out to

find Jerry's truck. An old time rock and roll band was setting up and the sign

said that music was to begin at eleven. Knowing how all women loved to dance,

Jerry said, "Maybe we can come back and dance a little to the oldies."

"You dance?" she asked surprised by the suggestion.

Laughing at her surprise, he answered, "Not really, but I can try to fail around

like everyone else."

She giggled at the image that his comment invoked in her mind. She replied, "I

hope they play the twist. Everyone can dance to that."

Feeling happy, he picked her up in his hands and swung around holding her out at

arm's length. The ease with which he did that took her breath away. More than

that, it made her wet between the legs. When he set her down, she threw herself

into his arms and said, "I love it when you do things like that."

He hugged her having no idea what effect his action had on her and said, "Let's

find my truck."

They walked down the center of the street passing by a number of cars that were

clearly not theirs. There was another Ford F-100, but it was a different year

and looked rather plain. Jenny stopped and asked, "Is this yours?"

"No, wrong year," replied Jerry.

"I hope yours looks better than that one," she commented. It really was rather

plain and didn't seem to be much of an improvement over the truck before it been

painted.

They continued up the street and started to walk past a rather large crowd

gathered around a car, not intending to look at it. Jerry said, "I don't think a

pick up truck would attract that kind of crowd."

He stopped when he heard someone calling out his name. Turning around, he didn't

see who it was. Pointing over to the crowd, Jenny said, "There's some guy over

there waving at you."

He looked in the direction that she was pointing and saw Eddie waving to him. He

said, "That's Eddie. He's the guy that I hired to do the paint job on the

truck."

They went over as Eddie was shouting, "Everyone clear a path here! Out of the

way."

As the crowd parted before the yells of Eddie, the pickup truck came into view.

Jerry stopped as he looked at his truck. Jenny put a hand over her mouth to

cover it as she stared incredulous at the truck.

The body had been turned into a canvas, with storm clouds threatening rain upon

the ground below. It was a dark picture with subtle shades of black, deep blue

and dark purple defining the clouds. The bottom of the clouds glowed as

lightening lit them. Looking at it, you could almost hear the low rumble of

Thunder generated by the storm. Ground level was portrayed with dark on dark

giving hints of trees bent in the wind, rough waters on a lake, and grass blown

flat in an open field. The effect was three- dimensional, making it appear that

the clouds extended into the truck. It was magical.

Jerry slowly walked around the truck, taking in the details of the paint job.

Across the rear of the truck was the word, "Thunder." Beneath that were the

signatures, in a deep red, identifying Jerry Smith as the restorer, the paint

shop, the metal plating shop, and the auto detailing company.

He reached the open door and took in the interior of the truck. It was gorgeous

with a soft gray seat cover. He ran his hand over the fabric amazed at the

texture. He looked in the back at the truck bed. The wood had a brilliant sheen.

"It's gorgeous," said Jenny, still nestled in his arm, as she stared in awe at

the transformation. Before, she had been embarrassed to be seen in the patchwork

truck because it looked bad. Now, she would be embarrassed because the truck

would be the center of attention every where they went.

Almost afraid to touch it, Jerry whispered, "Thunder, you are great."

Eddie had walked around the truck following behind them watching the reaction of

his client with a grin. For years he had wanted to paint that particular scene

and the opportunity to do it had been too hard to resist. It pleased him to know

that his creative vision was appreciated.

Jerry turned around and extended a hand to Eddie as he said, "That's an amazing

job you did. You captured the spirit of Thunder beyond anything that I could

have imagined."

"I'm glad you like it."

"Like it? I love it," replied Jerry. The truck had been his therapy to rebuild

himself. Seeing the truck in such excellent condition made him wonder if he

hadn't improved to the same degree. He hugged Jenny closer overcome with

emotion.

Smiling, Eddie asked, "Would you like to watch the car while I go get some more

business cards? I'm almost out of them already."

"Sure," replied Jerry. Almost immediately he was besieged with questions about

the restoration. Handing out cards of the businesses that had done the final

work, he did his best to answer their questions.

Jenny went over to the tent and bought some soft drinks for them to sip while

talking to the crowd. She couldn't believe the interest surrounding the truck

and regretted her previous disdain for it. While she was returning to the truck,

she ran into Bill and his friends. She waved them down and called, "Bill! Come

over here."

The kids gathered around her, a little irritated at having their explorations

interrupted. She recognized the impatience of youth and decided to keep it

brief. Pointing over at the large crowd, she said, "Your dad's truck is over

there. You might want to check it out."

Bill looked over in the direction that she had pointed and said, "Sure. We'll be

there shortly."

Enjoying herself, she leaned down and, giving him a wink, said, "It's a real

chick magnet."

Blushing, Bill listened to his friends tease him about how he needed every

advantage that he could get to attract girls. He replied, "We'll be over there

soon."

She smiled and walked back to the truck. For the next hour, she sipped her coke

and answered questions about the truck. It amazed her that she was in the middle

of a car show. The variety of people that stopped by was tremendous. Old couples

recalling the cars of their youth, middle aged couples longing for the

distinctive styles of the past, and young kids interested in cars came stopped

and looked at the truck. The questions people asked her were wide- ranging and

varied.

It was just a little before noon when the kids showed up to see the truck. The

reaction among them was one of stunned silence. They had all seen the truck the

previous week when Jerry had dropped off Bill before school. None of them could

believe the transformation. Abe was stunned, finding that all he could do was

stare at the car. He recalled his earlier words that the truck should be shot

and put out of its misery. He went over to Jerry and nudged him. In a voice that

admitted a change a heart, he asked, "Can I borrow the truck for my prom?"

Jerry, laughing, answered, "Wait until you finish your car."

"That's way too much work," replied Abe with a smile. Winking, he said, "You

know me, I'm lazy. I'm thinking about a career in the porn business."

"Nobody would pay to see that skinny ass of yours," replied Jerry in a teasing

tone of voice.

Abe looked over at the truck and said, "It's really sharp looking. Jenny was

right. It is a babe magnet."

Jerry looked over at Jenny with a smile. He had found her without a babe magnet

and that felt good. Their discussion was interrupted by the arrival of Helen and

her cameraman. Woody had gone and brought them over to see the truck. Jerry

turned around and said, "Hello, Helen. Nice to see you."

Smiling at him, she replied, "Hello, Jerry. Woody was telling me that this was

your truck."

"Yeah," replied Jerry.

"We're taping some of the nicer cars here. Would you mind if we film your car?"

Jerry had forgotten that she was working. The reminder of the fact made him

uncomfortable, as it would be the second time that his privacy was intruded upon

by the press. Pride in his car forced him to answer, "Sure. Go ahead."

He watched as the cameraman struggled to film the car in a fashion that showed

it in its full glory. As the man worked, Helen said, "I really appreciate the

interview you gave me earlier this week. I'm afraid that as a working mother, I

seldom get an exclusive interview. Usually, I'm covering flower shows, boat

shows, or events at the zoo."

The past week had been strange, as he was recognized just about everywhere he

went. He didn't like the attention, feeling that he hadn't deserved it. At least

the attention was positive for a change and, all in all, the attention hadn't

been that bad. Shrugging, he said, "I hope it helped your career."

"It did," replied Helen with a smile. She added, "You are a rather remarkable

man. I look at the truck and can't believe that anyone could do something like

that. You rescue someone and don't get a swelled head. I can tell you are a

great father and, based on the looks that your girlfriend gives you, I'd say

that you are a pretty good boyfriend."

Jerry grunted and said nothing about her assessment. He didn't see it the same

way. There was a still a rage within that could break loose and wreck havoc. The

episode with the car had been a case where he had been able to call upon it in a

positive manner, but that was an exception.

Jenny replied for him. "He doesn't trust himself with his strength."

"You don't say," replied Helen as she looked at Jerry while speculating what

that meant. She decided that the large man was much more complex than she had

initially considered.

Eddie returned with a large stack of business cards and looked at the cameraman

taking pictures of the car. With a grin, he stepped over to Jerry and said,

"Consider the paint job free. This kind of publicity would have cost me a

fortune."

"Thanks. I'll be bringing Lightning over to be painted tomorrow."

A surprised look crossed Eddie's face as he asked, "Lightning? What kind of car

is it?"

"A Camaro," answered Jerry.

"Sweet." Eddie was already picturing in his mind what he would do with the

Camaro. If the quality of work was the same on it as on the truck, it would be

an outstanding restoration. Thunder and Lightning, what a pair of paint jobs

that would be.

Looking around, Jerry realized that he had lost track of the kids in all of the

excitement. He asked, "Jenny, do you know where the kids are?"

"Yeah, they followed Abe over to look at a couple of restored motorcycles. Arnie

took them over there."

It took a minute for him to recall that Arnie was Sandy's father. It was nice to

know that other parents were watching out for the kids as well. He replied, "I

didn't see him."

"He was across the way at the 49 Ford. Sandy said that they would come back

after checking out the motorcycles."

"They have a Ford 49 over there?" The news that someone had restored a 49

sparked the interest of Jerry. That was the classic car that saved the Ford

Motor company in 1949. Looking across the street, he could make out the car. It

was a splendid example of the 49 and he wondered how his son would feel about

restoring one of them.

Jenny smiled at the interest of the males in the cars around her. She wondered

how Sandy was surviving the day surrounded by car mad teenage boys. She slipped

away and found the kids all looking at motorcycles. Abe was very excited while

Sandy was completely bored. Jenny leaned over to Sandy and whispered in her ear,

"Would you like to get away for a bit and drink something while listening to the

music?"

"You bet," replied Sandy relieved at the chance to get away from all the car

talk.

Jenny asked, "Boys, can I borrow Jenny for a little girl talk?"

Attentions fixed on the motorcycles, the boys answered, "Sure."

Jenny and Sandy headed over to the tent where hotdogs and hamburgers were

cooking over charcoal. The smell was enough to make a person hungry. After

glancing at each other and recognizing the look of hunger, Jenny asked, "You

want to share a burger?"

"Yeah, that would be great. But if I eat a whole one, I won't be able to eat

with the boys," replied Sandy as she moved to the beat of the music from the

grandstand on the other side of the street.

They waited in line and got a burger with two soft drinks. There was a table off

in a corner that was empty and they made their way to it. Sandy's clothes hid

her figure, but Jenny could tell that there was an attractive young woman under

it. With shoulder length brown hair, green eyes, and a ready smile, the girl

probably had boys swarming around her. Sitting down, Jenny said, "Three guys and

one girl. You must get a lot of attention."

"Not really. The guys and I are friends. I'm afraid that the other boys in

school are afraid of getting beaten by Bill and Larry if I get upset. Of course,

no one is as quick with a barb as Woody. I have no idea where he got his sharp

tongue, but when he gets mad the other person is ripped to shreds," replied

Sandy.

"So is there a particular boy that you are interested in seeing?" Jenny cut the

burger in half and handed one of the halves over to Sandy.

Accepting the burger, Sandy blushed. Her face turned a bright red as she

answered, "Yeah, there's this one boy."

"Do the other boys know that?" asked Jenny curious about the kind of

relationship that existed among them. She took a bite of her burger.

"No! They'd tease me forever."

"You guys tease each other about generalities, but when one of you needs help

everyone is there for them. Jerry told me about the first day when Bill came

back to school with his broken arm. He was so proud of all of you." Jenny had

heard the story several times from him and it never changed. The kids stuck up

for his son on the worst day of the kid's life.

"You really like Bill's father, don't you?"

"Yeah, I do. I've never met anyone that is so nice to me and others around him."

"I didn't trust him at first. I thought he was a bully and I was afraid that he

would hurt Bill," replied Sandy. She recalled the first day when she had met

Jerry. He looked like a monster. His deep gruff voice grated like sandpaper on

her ears.

The comment made Jenny laugh. She looked down at the last bite of her burger as

she countered, "Jerry doesn't trust himself. He's terrified of being a bully and

hurting someone."

"I realize that now." She still wasn't sure what she thought of Jerry. The story

about ripping the door off the car was a mixture of frightening strength and

good hearted humility. The way he told the story was just as contradictory. What

he said was incredible, but the delivery was so matter of fact. She asked, "Are

you going to marry him?"

"I don't know," replied Jenny with a sigh. She wondered if she was going to have

to ask him to marry her at the rate the relationship was developing.

"For a big man, he isn't very assertive," remarked Sandy.

The statement took Jenny by surprise. It was a very accurate assessment of her

boyfriend and that a fifteen-year-old girl was able to come to that conclusion

was remarkable. She smiled and said, "You're very perceptive."

"Thank you."

Their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of Jerry with the rest of the

boys. He stopped by the table and noticed the empty plate that had held their

burger. Shaking his head, he picked up the empty plate and said, "Wish that

people would clear the table when they leave. Would you two like a burger?"

Smiling at him, Jenny replied, "I think we'll share one, if that would be okay

with you."

"No problem. Let's see, that's seven burgers, five cokes, and eight

french-fries." He looked around at everyone to see if there were any objections.

"Uh, that should be six burgers," replied Sandy as she counted people. There

were seven of them around the table.

"Seven," he said, "Martin is coming over to join us."

"Oh," replied Sandy feeling a little embarrassed. She had never heard of Martin

before and wondered if Bill had an older brother or something that she hadn't

met.

Noticing her reaction, he said, "Sorry, Martin is Abe's big brother and is

showing a car across the way. I should have said something about including him

in the count."

"No problem," replied Sandy. She turned to look at Abe who was appeared to be

proud of his brother. Meeting the young black kid was a new experience for her

since her school was entirely white with a few oriental kids in the mix. In her

opinion, he was vulgar because of the language that he used. Other than that,

she thought he was a nice kid. The difference in age between Abe and her group

made it harder to judge if he was as vulgar as he appeared.

Jerry asked, "Who's going to help me carry the food back to the table?"

Abe was the first one to volunteer, followed closely by Bill and Larry. The four

of them left to stand in line to get burgers. A few minutes later, Martin showed

up at the table and said, "Hello, Jenny. Where's that scrawny guy you're

dating?"

The comment brought laughter to the rest of the table, particularly Sandy. Jenny

answered, "He's getting food."

"I better go over and help him carry it back to the table," replied Martin.

"No need. He has lots of volunteers already." Jenny gestured to a chair and

said, "Take a seat. This is Sandy and Woody, two friends of Bill. Everyone, this

is Martin."

As he took a seat, Martin said, "Nice to meet all of you."

"So how is the show going for you?"

A bright wide smile spread across his face as he answered, "Great. That lady

that interviewed Jerry took pictures of my car. She said that it might be on the

news tonight."

Woody looked up and said, "That's my mom."

"She's a real nice lady," replied Martin. He looked across the table at Woody

and winked as he said, "Of course, mom's are always nice until they tell you to

clean up your room."

Woody laughed and said, "Ah, she's not that bad."

Martin got serious for a minute and said, "I think I found a buyer for the

Caddy. It's so hard to let go of it after all the work that Jerry and I put into

it."

Able to see that the young man was not particularly enthusiastic about selling

the car, Sandy asked, "You're selling it?"

"That was the idea the whole time we were working on it. I was going to sell it

for enough to buy a new car for my mother and use the rest of the money to

restore another car for me. It's not really a practical car for driving around

town. It's just too big." Martin hadn't realized just how much of himself went

into the car.

"So will you buy a car for your mother?" asked Sandy surprised by the idea that

the man would buy a car for his mother. She didn't know that the car was his

mother's originally.

"Yeah, it's actually her caddy. I'm getting more than we thought we would get.

I'm thinking about picking up two cars and another old clunker to fix," replied

Martin. He wasn't sure what kind of cars he would get, but all they needed was

transportation.

"Speaking of your mother, where is she?" asked Jenny.

"She said she was coming down here with Henry," answered Martin with a smile.

Henry was a very respected man in the neighborhood and the fact that his mother

was interested in him was, as far as he was concerned, a positive thing. He

winked and said, "Might have a daddy soon."

"And you are okay with that?"

Martin shrugged and said, "It'll be good to have a man around the house.

Actually, I guess she and Abe would move in with him since he owns his own

place. I'll probably keep the house until I'm ready to move on."

"Why stay there?" asked Jenny. That he would want to stay in a slum area struck

her as odd.

"This scrawny white neighbor of mine recommended getting in a good financial

position before moving. After watching him, I've come to the conclusion that

he's right." Martin had come to value Jerry's opinion on things.

Every time he referred to Jerry as the scrawny guy, a titter of laughter broke

out around the table. The group of four returned to the table carrying plates of

burgers, fries, and soft drinks. Their arrival was met with lots of activity as

the food and drink was passed around. Jerry sat down between Martin and Jenny.

Reaching over to pat Martin on the stomach, he said, "Getting fat there, buddy.

I don't know if you should be eating a burger."

Martin was about as thin as a man his height could be without being sick. He

laughed and replied, "Right."

Silence settled around the table as they ate. As the food disappeared, the

conversation around the table returned. Abe said, "I think I would rather

restore a motorcycle than a car."

Jerry and Martin both looked over at Abe in surprise. Martin asked, "Why a

motorcycle?"

"I like riding the scooter and feel that I would love riding a motorcycle,"

replied Abe.

Jerry asked, "What does your mother say?"

"Uh," stuttered the young man, "I haven't asked her."

Knowing that his mother would worry about him riding a motorcycle, Jenny said,

"You better tell her before you start getting a bike."

Grinning, Martin said, "Don't you know that blacks don't ride motorcycles? We

leave that to crazy white folks."

Everyone, with the exception of Abe, laughed at the comment. The conversation

turned to Bill when Abe asked, "Did you see any cars that you would like to

restore?"

Shrugging, Bill replied, "I saw a couple of them that I liked. There's something

that I find rather attractive about those early fifty cars. They look big

without any straight lines. I like the rounded corners."

Returning from lunch, Martin was surprised that his car had been awarded one of

the trophies. He walked down the way to let Jerry know, only to find Jerry

coming his way to tell him that he had won a trophy for his car.

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