Thunder and Lightening: Chapter 33Home « Thunder and Lightening Index « Previous

- Chapter 33

Posted: March 14, 2005 - 01:31:10 am



The long awaited event was about to begin and Henry was as nervous as a cat at a

dog show. He kept fidgeting with the sleeves of his coat, pulling on them as

though he were plucking feathers. His stomach threatened to empty what little

food he had been able to down at breakfast. He grumbled, "It's all your fault."

Chuckling at the comment, Jerry glanced into the church to see if they were

ready for them. People were seated, but the preacher wasn't up at the front of

the room yet. Bill and Melissa were sitting next to Abe. The boys looked bored,

but Sharon's sister and her husband were sitting between Abe and Martin them to

make sure that Abe didn't get into trouble. That was keeping Bill out of

trouble, as well.

Looking lovely as always, Jenny was seated next to Melissa. His daughter looked

tense as she looked around the room. At least the dye had worn off and she

wasn't green. Well, she was still a little green at the eyebrows, but that was

hardly noticeable after the makeup. The peroxide job and then dying her hair

brown had gotten rid of the green in her hair. Jerry thought she looked better

as a brunette rather than a blond.

Turning back to look at Henry, he saw that it was his big friend who looked a

little green. Sweat broke out on the big man's head as his hands flew to his

stomach. Henry groaned, "What did I do?"

Jerry shook his head guessing what was going to happen next and grabbed his

friend's arm. After reaching the bathroom, Henry took one look at the toilet and

bent over to make an offering to the porcelain god. Cringing at the sounds of

the big guy retching into the toilet, Jerry rubbed him on the back and said,

"You'll be okay."

Neither man heard the noise in the room behind them. The preacher had come in to

get them and then stepped out again to give them a few minutes to recover. There

was a reason he put grooms in his office. More than one had visited the attached

bathroom before making their appearance at the front of the church.

Stomach empty, Henry stood up and said, "Shit. What am I doing here?"

"You're getting married to the second greatest woman in the world," answered

Jerry with a grin.

"Second greatest?" asked Henry still feeling a little sick to his stomach and a

little confused by the answer.

"Of course, my Jenny is the greatest," answered Jerry with a laugh. He went over

to the medicine cabinet and opened the mirrored door. Just as he had expected, a

bottle of mouthwash was perched on a glass shelf. No doubt the preacher kept it

there so that he would have fresh breath when dealing with some of the more

attractive parishioners.

Henry noticed what Jerry was doing and joined him by the sink. He rinsed his

mouth out with water from the faucet before taking the bottle of mouthwash from

Jerry. Opening the cap, he took a swig of the liquid and swished it around his

mouth. The strong astringent mouthwash was as good as a jolt of smelling salts

in clearing his mind. He spat the mouthful of mouthwash into the sink.

"She's the best woman in the world, no offense to Jenny," rebuked Henry.

Chuckling in his deep voice, Jerry replied, "I might be your best man, but I

guess we'll just have to disagree on this particular topic."

Henry's chuckle joined Jerry's. The deep rolling sound carried into the church

and the preacher entered the office. In a calm voice, he announced, "We're ready

to begin now."

"Alright," replied Jerry as he steered Henry towards the door.

"Oh, God," replied Henry as he looked through the door at the crowd in the

church.

Laughing, the preacher said, "Talking to God is my job."

Steering the big man with his one good arm, Jerry positioned his friend in the

proper spot at the front of the room. It wasn't until Henry was in place that he

figured out that the preacher had been joking. By then, it was too late to laugh

aloud, but his lips curled into a smile.

The two huge men standing at the front of the room were hard to ignore. A number

of the attendees had not been aware that the best man was white and a small

murmur of exchanged comments floated through the room. As Jerry took care of

Henry, particularly when the big man started to sway, most of the people decided

it was good that the best man was just as big as Henry. He'd squash a little guy

if he tipped over and it sure looked like Henry was about to go down to most of

the people in the audience. More than one bet was made about when he would

faint.

Music filled the room and everyone turned to watch the bride walk up the aisle.

With a radiant smile, Sharon walked up the aisle looking gorgeous as all brides

do. She hung onto the arm of her stepfather who marched with a proud step.

Behind her was the maid of honor, a black woman who Jerry did not know. The

progression up to the front of the church seemed to take a long time, but it was

less than a minute.

Jerry spent most of the ceremony keeping Henry upright and exchanging the vows.

He did notice the amused grin on Sharon's face as Henry swayed and Jerry kept

him from going over completely. When the time came for the ring, he produced it

without a problem. Henry didn't seem to snap out of it until it came time for

him to kiss the bride. At least he managed that part of the ceremony without any

help from Jerry. That would also be the only part of the ceremony that Henry was

able to remember.

Following the Bride and Groom down the aisle, the Maid of Honor walked beside

Jerry. She was about a foot smaller than Jerry and, in comparison, she looked

very petite. About halfway down the isle, she said in a stage whisper, "Damn,

you're big."

It struck Jerry as funny and he started to chuckle. His whispered response

carried through the whole room, "Thanks little lady, you're a might bit on the

small side."

A number of people in the room laughed at the comment. Jenny grinned and shook

her head thinking that he had no idea what he had said. She knew a little

history about the Maid of Honor and her long fight with her weight. Being called

little and small had to be a great complement. Jerry just lumbered on down the

aisle totally unaware of the effects of his words. There were times when Jenny

just loved him to death.

Jerry and Jenny found themselves sharing a table with Sharon's sister and

brother-in-law, Cathy and George. The couple had a hard time looking at Cathy

without blushing. It was difficult to look at her without thinking of the

photographs found within the house and had served as a subject of a great night

of sex.

"So you are living next to Sharon," said Cathy attempting to start a

conversation.

Jerry replied, "Yes. I moved into your old house after you were forced out."

A look of real anger crossed Cathy's face as she said, "Praise the Lord that

that godless heathen landlord is dead. He was the devil."

George snarled, "He stole something that was very important to us. You did the

world a great service when you killed him."

"I don't remember doing that," replied Jerry uneasy about his role in the death

of another human being. He still didn't remember anything of that day past the

time when he had been shot.

"Well, I hope his soul rots in hell," said Cathy.

Jenny looked over at Cathy understanding what was bothering the woman. She

turned to look over at Sharon wondering how to rectify the situation. She wanted

to kill Jerry when he asked, "You really sound angry at him. What did he take?"

George answered, "Some pictures."

"Oh," replied Jerry. He didn't know what to say now that he understood what the

valuable possession was. The pictures were sitting safe in Jenny's house along

with the pictures of Jenny in exactly the same poses.

Changing the subject, Cathy said, "I'm glad to see that my sister has reformed

and is getting married. It always bothered me that she had two kids out of

wedlock."

"That bothered you?" asked Jerry. He knew that Sharon had called her sister a

holier-than-thou bitch, but he had discounted it as a symptom of sibling

rivalry. No wonder Sharon had taken delight in the fact that some naked pictures

of her sister had shown up.

"Lord Almighty above, it bothered me. A good girl wouldn't have gotten knocked

up like that."

"I like the boys. She did a good job raising them," argued Jerry defending his

friend. Jenny looked over at Cathy a little surprised at her attitude.

"It wasn't their fault that their mother sinned," said Cathy. She realized that

she sounded overly judgmental. She said, "Well, that was in the past. I'm happy

to see her with Henry."

Allowing the tension around the table to ease, Jenny said, "They really make a

cute couple. You should have seen them the day when he proposed to her."

"You could hear her scream of surprise all over the park. For a moment there, I

thought she had stepped on a snake," commented Jerry.

"So you guys go places with Sharon and Henry?" asked Cathy surprised that the

white couple would go out in public with her sister. There was still a lot of

prejudice in this world.

"Not so much. I work Saturdays. Sharon often works Sundays at the hotel. When we

all have a day off, we might go out for a picnic, movie, or something."

Jenny said, "Jerry and Henry are together a lot. Friday nights they work

together on their business. Sundays they usually do something, even if it is

just sitting around the front yard talking while the boys work on their cars or

motorcycles. If Sharon has a Saturday off of work, she and I go shopping while

Jerry is at work."

"I'm going to miss having Sharon and Abe living next door," said Jerry. It made

him feel a little better knowing that Sharon was next door and could watch over

his kids while he was at work. Abe was a good kid and it was nice that he was

next door for Bill.

Wondering how a white man happened to move into a black neighborhood, George

asked, "So how did you end up living there?"

"I left my wife and needed a cheap place to stay. I read about the house in a

newspaper ad and stopped by to check it out. I ran into Abe and he talked me

into moving in. One of the better decisions I've made in my life," answered

Jerry. There had been a number of times when he wondered how things would have

turned out if he hadn't moved into that house.

"You really like living in that house?" asked Cathy in disbelief. Her memories

of living in that house were horrible. She hated that neighborhood and the

poverty of the people living there. Just thinking about that neighborhood was a

reminder of the hard times they had gone through a year earlier.

"Yeah, I do."

"I hated living there because of that bastard landlord," commented George with a

frown. The man could have given them a couple more days to come up with the

rent. Instead, he had locked them out of the house and sold everything they

owned. It was tough enough having been laid off of his job, but to lose

everything else was just too much. He spat, "I'm glad that you killed him."

Quiet settled over the table until Jenny said, "I need to powder my nose. Would

you like to join me, Cathy?"

Surprised to be invited to the powder room by a woman that she had just met,

Cathy shrugged and answered, "Okay."

Jerry watched as Jenny and Cathy went on their way to the bathroom. Confused, he

said, "I never understood that."

"What?"

"Why they all go off to the bathroom together," answered Jerry.

Chuckling, George replied, "One of the great mysteries. If we were to do that,

everyone would figure we were comparing the sizes of our cocks."

"That's probably what they are doing," replied Jerry with a chuckle.

"What?"

"Comparing the sizes of our cocks," said Jerry as he broke out into laughter.

George started laughing and slapped his thigh. Shaking his head, he said, "Henry

said that I would like you. He was right."

The two men talked about cars, women, and life in general while the women were

in the bathroom. After about fifteen minutes, Jerry commented, "They sure are

taking a long time."

"Ah, here's Sharon," said George as the bride walked over to the table.

Sharon stopped at the table and said, "Did your ladies run off already?"

"Yeah," answered Jerry, "maybe you can explain to me why it is that when one

woman goes to the bathroom, all of the women at the table leave with her."

Sharon didn't have a chance to answer before Henry showed up at the table. He

set a massive hand on Jerry's shoulder and said, "It's all your fault."

Wondering what was the problem, Jerry asked, "What's my fault?"

"First, I get engaged because of you. Then, you hold me up through the whole

ceremony so that I end up married. Now that I'm married, my bride is ignoring me

by coming over here to talk with you," said Henry with a smile.

"You're right. It was all a plot on my part," answered Jerry with a wink at

Sharon. Looking up at his big friend, he said, "I wanted the two of you to get

married so that she'd get interested in me. You know that old saying - the grass

is always greener on the other side of the fence. Now, I'm on the other side of

the fence."

Sharon laughed and retorted, "If that was the case, then I would have gone after

Melissa. She's the greenest one that I've seen around here in ages."

Everyone except George burst out laughing at the comment. Fortunately, Melissa

was far enough away that she didn't hear the joke made at her expense. George

asked, "What's this about some woman being green?"

Jerry explained how the kids had decided to punish his daughter for insulting

one of the girls in the neighborhood. George laughed through the whole telling

of the story. Jerry thought the man was going to hurt himself from laughing so

hard. When Jerry was done, George said, "Gives a whole new meaning to the termed

Colored Person."

"Yes it does," commented Jerry.

Sharon and Henry moved onto another table to talk to the Maid of Honor. George

watched them walk off wondering if this was a sore subject with them. He asked,

"So is she still calling people that?"

Jerry shrugged his shoulders and answered, "I don't know. No one has said

anything to me about it, but I don't think she's changed her opinion about

people any."

"I take it you don't hold the same opinions as she does."

"That scrawny guy over there that married Sharon is the first friend I've ever

had. I don't care what color he is, I'm proud to be able to call him a friend.

He's a good person; one of the best I've ever met. My ex-wife was a horrible

heartless bitch. She was white and one of the worst people that I've ever met. I

guess what I'm trying to say is that the color of a person's skin doesn't tell

you much about their heart."

George considered the big guy sharing the table with him. He had heard about how

the man had taken out people opening the drug house that was down the street

from his old house. He also knew that Jerry had helped Martin and Abe get jobs.

The boys talked about Jerry as if he was some sort of superman.

It wasn't hard for George to understand why the Jerry and Henry got along. He

had known Henry ever since he was a kid and for years had thought the big guy

was mentally slow. It wasn't that he thought the guy was stupid, but that he

wasn't mentally facile. Since his sister-in-law had become engaged to the big

guy, his opinion had changed over the past few months. Henry appeared to be slow

because he was deliberate. Jerry demonstrated that same kind of deliberation

when talking. It seemed as though his responses were just a half a second slower

than expected.

He nodded and said, "You two are a lot alike."

Jerry looked at Henry for a moment and then said, "Yeah, but he has a better

tan."

George laughed and decided he liked this white man. The food was brought out and

people went over to the tables to load their plates. The two men debated loading

up a couple of plates or waiting for the women to return. George, married for a

number of years, argued that the women wouldn't mind. Jerry wasn't sure and

argued to wait for them. George loaded a plate while Jerry waited for Jenny.

When the women returned, Cathy was upset that George hadn't waited for her to

return before eating and Jenny wondered why Jerry hadn't gone ahead and eaten.

Jerry decided it was one of those no-win situations.

As they ate, Jerry asked, "George, what do you do for a living?"

"I work construction, mostly putting up sheet rock," answered George with a

frown. He added, "With the downturn in housing construction, there's not much

work for me."

Jerry hadn't been aware that there had been a downturn in housing construction.

Joking, he said, "I've got a house that needs reconstructing."

"And how," echoed Jenny recalling the total destruction of the interior of his

house.

"What happened to it?"

Eyeing his food, Jerry answered, "My ex-wife went through the house with a

sledgehammer and took out everything. All of the drywall is shot, the appliances

have been wrecked, and most of the windows have been broken."

Gesturing at his cast, he said, "I can't even work on it because of this stupid

cast and I can't pay people to work on it until I get some more money."

George suggested, "Why don't you get a second mortgage on the house?"

Jenny paused as she about to take a bite of her pasta salad. She asked, "Why

would he do that?"

"I'm sure that the house has appreciated in value since Jerry bought it. He can

refinance the house and use part of the loan to pay for the repairs. The house

payments will be a little more than they were, but the amount he borrows will be

spread out over thirty years so they won't be that much more," answered George.

Cathy had stared at her husband open mouthed the whole time he had answered

Jenny's question. Incredulous, she asked, "How do you know that?"

"Lots of people do that to pay for improvements on their houses. If it wasn't

for that, I wouldn't have worked as much as I have this year," answered George.

Interest rates weren't great, but a few people spent the money to fix up their

properties hoping to take advantage of contractors that were desperate for work.

"I'll have to think about it," replied Jerry after swallowing a bite of ham.

He'd been doing a lot of financial transactions this year.

"Well, don't think about it too long. If the house is in as bad of a shape as

you said, the longer you let it sit there the more it will cost to fix,"

cautioned George.

"Why?"

"Ever notice how quick a house falls apart when no one is living in it?"

"I've heard that," answered Jerry. He wasn't sure if that was myth or a fact.

George looked around the table and said, "It's true, but I don't really know

why. I suspect that houses get lonely when they are left empty."

Cars that weren't driven frequently were more susceptible to breaking down. That

was because the oil broke down, rubber parts dried out, and the gasoline lost

the volatile components. He wondered if there weren't similar reasons why houses

fell apart faster. He took another bite of his food as he pondered what George

said. He said, "I'll have to think about it. I just bought the house I'm living

in and money is awful tight."

"You could refinance your house and take enough of the appreciation to fix it

and the other house," suggested Jenny. She realized that when they got married,

they would have three houses. Renting two of them would bring in a nice little

extra income.

"I could do that?" asked Jerry.

"Sure," answered Jenny. She looked over at her boyfriend wondering what he would

decide to do. No matter what he decided, two houses and taking care of Melissa

were gong to keep him busy.

Everyone returned to eating his or her meals. Jerry ate quietly thinking about

the options that had been presented to him. He wondered if someone would be able

to live in the house while it was being repaired. After a moment of thought, he

discounted that possibility. Then he started wondering about what changes he

would make to the house and how much it would cost. Since all of the bathrooms

and the kitchen were trashed, they would have to be totally redone.

After finishing his plate, Jerry looked over at George and said, "Maybe you

could come over some time and we can take a look at the house. I need you to

give me some idea of what I've gotten myself into with the house."

"I'd love to do that. I don't have a contractor's license, but I could probably

give you some round figures as to how much it would all cost," replied George.

It dawned on him that he could probably turn this into another job for a month

or so. He looked over at Cathy thinking that she would like that. He asked,

"When would be a good time to come over?"

"I'm off on Sundays and Mondays. I guess next Sunday would probably be best

since you won't have to take any time off of work," answered Jerry.

Without waiting for a word from her husband, Cathy said, "He can come over

tomorrow."

"How about ten?"

"That's good for me," replied George knowing that his wife wouldn't accept any

excuse for him not to go.

The rest of the afternoon was spent celebrating the wedding. The happy couple

cut the wedding cake, the bride threw the bouquet, and the guests threw rice at

the couple as they departed for their honeymoon. Jenny hadn't fought too hard to

catch the bouquet, so she wasn't disappointed when another woman caught it. She

had winked at Jerry and mouthed, "You're time is coming."

Henry had noticed and shouted, "Jerry, you got a reprieve. If she had caught it,

we'd be back here next week for your wedding."

Everyone had laughed at that, Jerry hardest of all. Driving home, Jerry still

chuckled when he thought about it. Melissa had stared at him as if he were crazy

for chuckling to himself while driving. Finally, she asked, "What is that noise

you're making?"

"I'm chuckling," answered Jerry with a smile. He looked in the mirror at Bill

sitting in the backseat and saw his son grin.

"Oh, what's so funny?"

"Just thinking about when that woman caught the bouquet," answered Jerry.

Melissa was silent for a minute and then said, "You never used to laugh. Now,

you seem to laugh about a lot of things. I don't always understand what is so

funny, but you seem to find just about everything funny. Why is that?"

Surprised by the question, Bill stared at his sister. He didn't think she had it

in her to notice that his father was happy now. Sure, his father was still

wearing the cast and that got him down at times, but for the most part he was

happy. Bill answered, "Because he's happy. He wasn't happy before."

"Why?" asked Melissa. She couldn't believe that it was just because of the

divorce.

Jerry pulled the car over to the side of the rode and parked it so that he could

answer her question. Turning to face her, he said, "You two kids are a lot freer

than I am. You haven't made any decisions that commit you to a future, yet. One

day you will do something or decide something that commits you far more than you

can possibly imagine. Starting a career, getting married, or even moving away

from home puts demands on you for your time, money, and emotions. I know you

don't believe me, but it's true."

Melissa said, "What's that got to do with why you're happier now?"

"I made some decisions years ago that didn't work out like I thought they would.

I was stuck in a dead-end job, married to a woman who thought I was scum, had

two kids who didn't know anything about me, and living in a place I detested. As

a result, I was angry all of the time and angry men aren't happy."

It was beginning to sound to Melissa like getting divorced from her mother was

why he was happy. She didn't know if she liked that idea or not. Her mother

wasn't her favorite person at the moment, but that didn't mean that everything

was her mother's fault. She asked, "So you're happy because you divorced mom?"

Shaking his head, Jerry said, "Not really. I'm happy because I took charge of my

life again. I made some decisions, tough decisions that gave me back some of my

freedom. Only one of those decisions was to divorce your mother. Not all of the

consequences of my decisions have been good."

Expecting to find a lever to use against her father, Melissa asked, "Like what?"

"Oh, I'd say Bill's trip to the hospital was a side effect of my leaving your

mother that I would have liked to have avoided," answered Jerry.

"What trip to the hospital?"

Rolling his eyes, Bill answered, "When mother hit me with a baseball bat and

broke my arm and ribs. Of course, I don't blame dad for that. She was the one

that hit me."

Jerry smiled at Bill and said, "I wasn't blaming myself for that. I was just

saying that it was a consequence of my decision to leave your mother."

Melissa had forgotten about that incident although she had gone to live with her

grandmother as a result of it. For her, it was just a nuisance. Her forehead

wrinkled as she said, "I guess mom did get a little carried away that night."

Shaking his head, Bill countered, "A little carried away? I hate to break it to

you, but our mother is crazy. She's about fifty-one cards short of a full deck.

She needs serious care in a wacky factory."

As her anger rose, Melissa said, "Take that back."

Jerry interrupted, "Melissa, calm down. Bill, don't say another word about your

mother."

Bill glared at his father, upset that his father was going to let Melissa

continue to believe that their mother was the greatest woman in the world.

Melissa turned to stare at her father. Once he had both of their attention, he

asked, "Melissa, do you know the definition of criminally insane?"

"No."

"It's a mental defect that makes it impossible for a person to understand the

wrongfulness of their acts or to distinguish right from wrong," said Jerry as he

looked at his daughter.

"So?"

"Do you think that it is right or wrong to beat someone to the point where they

have to go to a hospital because you are mad at someone else?"

Melissa answered, "It's wrong. Everyone knows that."

"Your mother beat Bill because she was mad at me. She put him in the hospital

and he hadn't even done anything. Your mother doesn't believe that what she did

was wrong. She justifies it by saying that she was having a bad day. She isn't

even sorry about it."

Bill was staring out the window of the car with his lips tight. Remembering that

night still angered him. Melissa wanted to give her mother the benefit of a

doubt, but it was hard. Jerry continued, "Your mother is willing to hurt anyone

that stands between her and what she wants, even if it isn't hers to have."

"No she isn't!" declared Melissa.

"Did she hurt you because she thought that you were going to keep her away from

your grandmother's money?" asked Jerry.

Melissa's anger collapsed as she broke down and cried. The memory of how she

felt when her mother discounted her so easily brought back the same feelings of

hurt and worthlessness. What had she done so that her mother would dump her like

that? Sobbing so hard that her shoulders shook, she said, "She always said that

we would be together. She dumped me without a second thought. What did I do that

was so wrong?"

"You didn't do anything to deserve that kind of treatment. Your mother is the

one with the problem," answered Jerry feeling sorry for his daughter. She had

spoken the same words that Bill had used to express his anguish at getting

beaten by his mother. At least Bill had trusted him enough to believe him.

Melissa didn't like or trust him.

Bill stared out the window cursing his mother. As much as he didn't like his

sister, he understood exactly what she was feeling. Hating himself for doing it,

he said, "Dad's right. You didn't do anything to deserve that kind of

treatment."

"Are you taking his side?" asked Melissa narrowing her eyes.

"No. As much as it pains me to do it, I'm taking your side," answered Bill.

Seeing the disbelief on her face, he added, "I've hated you all of my life.

You've belittled me, you've hurt me, and you've made my life a living hell. You

treat me, and you treat my friends, like we are soil on the bottom of your

shoes. You walk on us and think nothing of it. Yes, I hate you. Despite all

that, I don't think you deserved getting thrown away by your own mother."

The hate and anger in his voice shocked Melissa, particularly since she had

thought of herself as a loving sister. She had no idea that he hated her so

much. She had treated him exactly how her mother had told her that men needed to

be treated. All her life, she had been told that men needed and wanted that kind

of treatment from women. Men would deny it, although they accepted that it was

critical to becoming successful in life. Men would pretend that they didn't want

to be told what to do or be appraised of their real worth. To keep up the

pretense, a woman didn't treat men that way until after they were married. It

was all part of the game, wasn't it?

The doubt stunned her into silence. An even larger question suddenly raised

itself in her mind. Was it possible that her mother had misled her? It was clear

that her father wasn't pretending to be happier now. He was even more successful

now than he was when he was married. He was co-owner of Sharjen and produced

some of the greatest wall hanging waterfalls in the region. Other men and women

acknowledged him as a leader in the community. He was a lot of things that he

wasn't when he had been married.

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