Thunder and Lightening: Chapter 36Home « Thunder and Lightening Index « Previous

- Chapter 36

Posted: April 18, 2005 - 11:04:08 am



Jerry woke and wandered into the kitchen to prepare breakfast. The events of the

previous night had shaken him far more than he was willing to admit even to

himself. With the kids in school, he had been looking forward to an easy Monday.

His plans had been to take Abe's bike to get fixed. As a result of the damage to

the house, his plans for the day had changed to include stopping by the house to

meet with the insurance assessor.

Surveying the contents of the refrigerator, he decided that breakfast was going

to be scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast. It had to be a simple breakfast since

that would take all the energy he had. Sleep had not come easily to him. When he

had fallen asleep, it wasn't a restful sleep. Nightmares of his ex-wife trying

to destroy everything that he valued kept waking him.

Once the coffee was started, he went to work frying the bacon. As he had laid

the bacon in the frying pan, he was surprised to hear the sound of a motorcycle

being started. Walking to the front of the house, he looked out and saw Abe

revving the engine of his motorcycle.

Going back into the kitchen to turn off the heat under the bacon, he was

surprised to find Melissa at the stove. She smiled and said, "Put your pants on

and go talk to Abe."

"Thanks, Melissa," replied Jerry as he returned to the living room.

Dressed only in his pants, he stepped out onto the porch. Abe was seated on the

motorcycle revving the engine with a smile on his face. The bike was fully

restored and looked as nice as the day it was first built. The young man had

done a very good job in restoring it. In a voice loud enough to carry over the

sound of the motorcycle, Jerry asked, "What are you doing?"

Abe turned off the engine and said, "I realized last night what was the problem

with the engine. Made the adjustment and it started right up."

"You don't say," said Jerry. He understood Abe's desire to get the bike

operational as soon as possible. His birthday was coming and he wanted to get

the bike running in time to get his license.

"Sorry to wake you," said Abe realizing that he had probably wakened everyone in

the neighborhood.

"It's a sharp looking bike. I've said it once and I'll say it again, you did a

good job on it," commented Jerry while rubbing his arms to warm up. He regretted

not having put on a shirt before coming outside.

"Thanks," replied Abe.

The front door opened and Bill, wearing only his boxers, staggered out onto the

porch. The door closed behind him. Rubbing a hand through his hair, he said,

"You got it running. That's great."

Grinning at his friend, Abe said, "I'm not trying to make a big deal out of

this, but the women around here are going to go wild over those boxers."

Bill grinned and shuddered as the cold air finally registered. He was about to

make a comment about driving women wild was his specialty when Melissa opened

the door and called out, "Why don't you three come in and have some breakfast?"

Surprised by the source of the invitation, Abe asked, "All three of us?"

"Yeah. I scrambled a couple eggs for you too. Now get in here before breakfast

gets cold," answered Melissa. She turned and headed back to the kitchen.

Jerry headed into the house as Abe asked Bill, "What's up? She was nice to me."

Watching his sister walk away, Bill said, "It's a long story. I'll tell you

about it later."

Around the table, everyone filled their plates with eggs, bacon, and toast. In

front of each of them was a cup of coffee. All of them, with the exception of

Melissa, drank it black. One small pint of cream sat on the table for Melissa's

coffee. After Abe took a bite of eggs, Melissa said, "By the way, the bike looks

good."

Abe gestured to indicate that he was going to answer as soon as he swallowed the

food in his mouth. Once he had swallowed his eggs, he answered, "Thanks."

Abe took a bite out of his toast and Bill asked, "So what are you going to do

today?"

Again, Abe gestured while he chewed. He swallowed and answered, "Going to school

and then getting some driving lessons."

"We're going to school, too," said Bill. Jerry and Melissa shook their heads as

they realized what Bill had done. Jerry winked at Melissa and looked down at his

plate.

Abe scooped up a fork of scrambled eggs and looked around to see if anyone was

going to ask him another question. Everyone discretely looked down at his or her

plate. After he shoveled the food in his mouth, a smiling Jerry asked, "Where

are you taking your lessons?"

Frustrated, Abe waved his hand as he chewed. Once he had swallowed, he asked,

"Are you doing that on purpose? Every time I get some food in my mouth, you ask

me a question."

Jerry and Bill burst out in laughter because they had timed their questions that

way. Bill asked, "What do you think?"

"You are," accused Abe with more than a little amusement. He took a sip of his

coffee and then said, "Yeah. The owner of the motorcycle shop where we bought

the scooters agreed to teach me some of the finer points of riding a

motorcycle."

"Do you get to practice riding?" asked Melissa. She wished that she could get

more time behind the wheel of her car. Her father took her out Sunday afternoons

and Jenny let her drive when they went shopping, but it just didn't seem like

enough time behind the wheel.

"Yeah, I'm going to go out for a good ride this weekend. Henry promised me that

Saturday we would head up to the lake to go fishing with Martin. I can ride the

bike and he'd follow me out there in his car," answered Abe. Much to his

surprise, he was enjoying having Henry around the house.

Finishing his breakfast, Jerry moved back from the table and said, "You really

did a great job on that bike. You should be really proud of it."

"I am," said Abe. He attacked the food on his plate hoping that he could finish

the food without another interruption.

Jerry went over to the coffeepot and returned to the table with it. He refilled

all of the cups on the table without asking. Melissa topped hers off with a dash

of cream and said, "Thanks. I think this is a two cup morning."

"You're welcome. I don't think any of us got a good night's sleep last night,"

commented Jerry as he carried the pot back to the brewer.

Abe worked on finishing the breakfast despite the fact that he was curious what

had happened the previous night. He had found it odd that everyone had

disappeared without warning. Abe listened but didn't ask any questions, thinking

he would learn more by not talking.

Jerry sat down at the table and looked at his children. Melissa was surprisingly

cheerful that morning. He wondered if it wasn't an avoidance reaction on her

part. Bill was munching on his toast looking far more thoughtful for this time

of day than usual. He asked, "Does anyone want to talk about it?"

Nodding, Bill said, "I know why she did it."

"Why?" asked Melissa wondering if there was something that actually triggered

her mother's behavior.

Abe wondered who she was and what she had done. He looked over at Jerry hoping

that he would explain what they were talking about. He eyed the last of his

toast and popped it into his mouth. He chased it down with a sip of his coffee.

"The trial is Wednesday," answered Bill.

Jerry wanted to slap his forehead, unable to believe that he had forgotten about

the trial. He was supposed to take Bill to the courthouse to testify against his

mother for hitting him with the baseball bat. It only took seconds to commit a

crime, but it took more than a year for the snail they called the legal system

to get the criminal to trial. Shaking his head, Jerry said, "I didn't even think

of that, but you're right. That would set her off."

Abe nodded realizing that he now knew who had done the deed. All he needed to

know now was what she had done. Judging by the expression on Melissa's face, he

decided that it had to have been something pretty bad. He couldn't keep the

surprise off his face when Melissa warned, "Don't go within a hundred yards of

that woman without a policeman standing by you."

Bill snorted and replied, "I'm going be hiding behind Dad. I'm not a fool. That

woman is a crazy bitch and she'd kill me in a minute."

"You can say that again," remarked Melissa.

Abe listened wide-eyed as Melissa proceeded to say some of the nastiest things

about her mother that he had ever heard a person say about another human being.

He knew that woman must have really done something nasty to get such a reaction

out of Melissa. Looking around the table, he could see that none of them had

been hurt.

When Melissa had finally calmed down a little, Jerry decided that it was time to

change the subject. Turning to Abe, he said, "Abe, I'm glad you got your

motorcycle running. I was afraid that I wasn't going to be able to take it into

the shop this morning. I've got to be over at the house most of the day."

"Hey, I'm glad that things worked out alright," replied Abe.

Melissa said, "Jenny is coming over to the house after work to see what we need

to replace. We decided that I would stop by after school and we'd go shopping. I

hope that's not a problem."

"No problem. I guess that leaves me and Bill to find something to do this

afternoon," replied Jerry as he thought about what he could do with Bill that

afternoon.

Bill grinned and said, "I never thought that my sister would end up spending

more of her time at the hardware store than at a fashion boutique."

"Hey, it's all part of decorating," she replied in defense of her actions. It

took her a second to realize that he was teasing her. She looked at him with an

expression of puzzlement on her face.

"I know," replied Bill with a dismissive wave of his hand and a smile. Turning

to his father, he said, "If she's going shopping, I'd rather spend some time

here working on the car. I'd like to get it started."

Realizing that his plans for Monday were shot, Jerry decided to go with the

flow. Bill was making reasonable progress on restoring the car. Some of the

bodywork had been completed, but they had decided to work on the mechanical

parts of the car for the time being. He said, "Okay. If you get it started

today, maybe we can get the brakes done this coming Sunday."

"That would be great, Dad."

Abe smiled and said, "Maybe you can follow me to my driving lessons."

Nodding Jerry said, "I guess that's the plan. Melissa and Bill will stop by the

house after school. She'll go shopping with Jenny and we'll come back here to

work on the car after following Abe to the motorcycle shop."

After everyone around the table announced their agreement with the plan, Jerry

said, "Let's get to it."

Jerry wandered through the house watching the men hard at work. It was already

hard to see where his ex-wife had spray painted the walls other than as bare

patches. The ruined carpet in the living room and master bedroom had been

removed. It wasn't until he went into the new den that the damage was truly

obvious. The wood paneling had been spray painted.

The panels would have to be removed and replaced. He noticed that someone had

already removed the outlet covers in preparation for the work that had to be

done. He wondered when they would strip the walls, although he was tempted to do

it himself.

He shook his head as he examined the damage. This room was supposed to be his

private retreat and the words Gorilla sprayed in five-foot letters hurt far more

than he thought possible. It had been a glorious room. Jenny had taken

particular care to assure that it had a strong masculine feel to it.

George, Sharon's brother-in-law, entered the room and came up to Jerry from

behind. Holding his claw hammer, he said, "It sure is a shame."

Jerry turned and replied, "Oh, hi George. Yeah, it is a shame."

"That bitch must really hate you," commented the black man. He went over to the

wall and slipped the claw part of his hammer under one of the panels. With a

grunt, he lifted off a bit of the panel. They had used liquid nail to put the

panels in place and getting the wood paneling off was going to be ugly.

Allowing some of his frustration a chance to express itself, Jerry reached over

and grabbed the edge of the panel. With a roar he pulled the panel off the wall.

The muscles of his back reveled in the chance to work. Once started, he couldn't

stop. He tore panel after panel from the wall giving a roar as each piece was

ripped down. When the last panel hit the floor, Jerry bent over breathing hard

at the effort he had just expended and looked at the wreckage left behind.

Panels littered the floor like a sheaf of paper caught by the wind.

Standing at the door where he had retreated when Jerry went to work, George

said, "Shit, remind me never to make you mad."

"I'm not mad. Very frustrated, but not mad," replied Jerry. He looked down at

his hands and saw that his calluses were returning. It wasn't natural for hands

to toughen so quickly.

Jerry bent down and put the panels into a pile. He picked up the pile and

carried it out of the room. Although it was far heavier than he had thought it

would be, the panels were difficult to carry because of their size. George had

just stepped out of the way and watched the big man carry the entire load

single-handedly.

All work in the house stopped as Jerry carried the load of panels out to the

dumpster. One of the younger workers followed behind and watched as Jerry lifted

the load over his head and threw it into the dumpster with a yell of

satisfaction. It had been an impressive display of strength. More important to

Jerry, it was a chance to let off the tension that had been building ever since

he had discovered the damage to the house.

Satisfied, Jerry went to the back yard and sat down on the ground beneath the

one small tree that grew in the middle of the yard. For all intents and

purposes, the backyard was a very plain yard. The grass, never nice or

luxurious, had turned brown with the autumn weather. There were no flowerbeds or

a patio to break up the expanse of lawn. All in all, it could have been ugly if

it hadn't been so plain.

The sounds of hammers, saws, and an air compressor filled the air as the men

returned to work inside the house. Jerry, listening to the noises of labor,

thought about the changes that he would make to the yard. In his mind, a plan

for a garden slowly formed. Included in the plan was the introduction of a

patio, flowerbeds, and a water garden.

He was still deep in thought when Melissa said, "What are you doing out here?"

"I was thinking about putting in a garden back here," answered Jerry surprised

to see his daughter at home so early. He glanced down at his watch and realized

that he had just spent four hours under the tree.

"I hope that your plans include a swimming pool," she suggested.

"Not exactly, although I was thinking of including a nice wading pool with a

waterfall in that corner over there," answered Jerry pointing to a corner in the

far corner of the yard.

"Really?" asked Melissa surprised at the grandeur of his plans. He kept

surprising her with his sense of esthetics. The interior waterfalls had been a

total shock to her.

"Yes, I think that a swimming pool would be rather plain. You know, a large

rectangular space inside a larger rectangular space. This backyard is dying to

have the straight lines bent in an artistic manner," replied Jerry as he

pictured the typical backyard swimming pool in his mind.

"Why didn't you do that when we were all living here?" asked Melissa. It seemed

to her that her father was a completely different person now.

"Didn't have the money to do it. Your mother wasn't interested. I didn't want to

be here. Take your pick of a reason, they're all reasonably close to the truth,"

answered Jerry with a shrug.

Melissa understood that all of his reasons boiled down to the same one -- her

mother. Her mother spent every spare dime on herself. Her mother wouldn't have

wanted anything other than a conventional pool that she could show off to her

friends with conventional pools. He didn't want to be here and put up with her

mother's caustic comments about how he did everything wrong.

She was about to comment when he said, "In that corner over there, I'd plant

tall bushes in the back with flowers in front of them. Maybe three levels of

flowers with rocks strewn about to break up the flowerbed a little. It would

hide the fence and provide a lot of color."

"Sounds lovely," she said wondering what prompted him to tell her that.

"I think I would put in a chair swing over there and surround it with bushes.

Young couples need a place where they can sit and do things with each other with

a little privacy."

Melissa frowned and said, "You and Jenny are getting married. What do you need

privacy for?"

"I wasn't thinking about her and me. You're dating and Bill will be dating girls

from his school soon," answered Jerry looking up at his daughter.

"Oh," she replied with a slight blush.

"Young couples need a place where the passions can rise a bit. Young women need

a place where they can say no and have it stick. A little private nook in the

backyard can fulfill both needs," said Jerry.

"Bill seems to be doing fine with his girlfriend at the other house," said

Melissa. She wasn't sure how she felt about her brother having sex with a black

girl. Ever since the girl had dyed her green, she was very careful to think of

her with respect. It had been a very good act of revenge and one that won her

admiration.

"They are just fuck buddies," said Jerry. Even as he said it, he wondered if his

daughter would understand what that meant.

"I thought so," she replied understanding what he meant far more than he did.

One of her girlfriends had a nerd who lived next door and they were fuck

buddies. The only time the two acknowledged each other was in the bedroom.

"You don't seem surprised," commented Jerry.

"It's common enough," she said with a dismissive wave of her hand.

Deciding that it was time to learn how her acceptance of other races was

developing, Jerry asked, "What about the fact that she's black?"

She shrugged as she answered, "It's just sex."

It was not the reaction that he had expected, but it was safe enough not to

worry about it. Changing the subject, he said, "I wonder what Jenny will think

about my plans for the garden?"

"She'll love it. She loves everything about you," answered Melissa. She had

never known that a woman could feel as deeply about a man as Jenny felt towards

her father. Every time they went shopping, Jenny was always commenting or

wondering how he would like this or that. At first, Melissa thought it was an

act. After a while, she had begun to wonder. By now, she had come to accept that

it Jenny really did think about his needs all of the time.

"She's a wonderful woman," said Jerry with a soft expression on his face.

Thinking of her warmed his heart. Softly, he added, "I'd move heaven and hell

for her."

Melissa stared at her father while she considered what he had said. Jenny, doing

nothing more than loving her father, had accomplished effortlessly what her

mother had tried to force her father to do for her. A soft word here, a thanks

for each kindness shown, and loving support achieved what years of badgering,

insult, and abuse had not. She said, "You'd really do anything for her."

"Yes," answered Jerry, "I would. I know that she would do the same for me. When

we get married, we're going to be partners in the marriage. I don't need a boss

at home and I don't want to be the boss when I'm at home."

Melissa sat down on the ground and covered her eyes with her hands. In a weak

voice, she said, "I'm so confused all the time. Everything that I thought was

true seems all wrong."

Jerry's heart was breaking, but he didn't know what to say to help his daughter.

Instead, he shifted over to sit beside her and put his arm around her. He pulled

her close and just held her. She dropped her head against his shoulder and

cried.

Looking over at the house, Jerry noticed that Jenny was standing at the doorway

with a smile on her face. At his look, she shook her head and stepped back into

the house so that the moment between father and daughter wouldn't be

interrupted. He could see Bill heading towards the door, but at what appeared to

be a word from Jenny he turned back into the house.

After ten minutes, Melissa shuddered and pulled back from her father. With a

weak smile on her face, she said, "Thank you."

"I wish I could do more for you," replied Jerry. There were times when he wished

that all problems in life could be solved with physical strength.

Melissa stood and said, "You've done enough."

As he watched her go into the house, he muttered, "I just wish I could have

saved you from her."

A few minutes later, Bill came out into the backyard. Looking back at the house

with a frown, he commented, "Melissa and Jenny are gone."

"Okay, let's head to the house. I'm sure that Abe is waiting for us to pick him

up."

Jerry drove to the house with Bill in the seat beside him. Bill stared out the

window watching nothing in particular. After a while, Bill broke the silence.

"What was that with Melissa?"

Glancing over at his son, Jerry wondered what was really on his mind. He

answered, "She's going through a rough time right now."

"She's becoming the queen bee again and I don't like it," spat Bill. It seemed

to him that the past week had been spent worrying more about how Melissa was

going to react to something than what he felt.

The sudden rise of sibling jealousy caught Jerry by surprise. About the time

that Melissa was getting her act together, Bill was falling apart. It took him a

minute to frame a reply. "I can understand why you would feel that way. She's

going through a rough time and requires a little extra care right now, but I

don't want you to think that I've forgotten about you. You're going to be facing

some pretty heavy shit soon. To tell the truth, I'm worried. The trial... Well,

that's a rough one."

It amazed Bill that his father was able to focus in on exactly the things that

were bothering him. His sister was going through a rough time, but so was he.

The fact was that he was beginning to have nightmares about the upcoming trial.

In them, his mother would point at him and say that it was his entire fault. She

would proclaim that he ran into the bat trying to get injured. Frozen in place,

he could see his sister standing behind him with a baseball bat getting ready to

hit a homerun with his head. He mumbled, "I'm worried about the trial."

"Shit, so am I," agreed Jerry. He took the exit off the freeway and headed down

main street. When they hit a traffic light, he turned to face Bill and said,

"I'm amazed at how well you're holding up."

"You are?" asked Bill.

"Sure. You've been handling this like a real man. I have to say that I'm proud

of you, but you don't have to face it all alone. Remember that I'm here and I

want to help you with any difficulties that you face."

The light changed and with it, Bill's mood changed as well. He felt the pride

that his father had for him. He knew that he wasn't facing the trial alone and

that meant more to him than anything he could express. He looked over at his

father and said, "Thanks."

"You're welcome."

When they turned onto the street where they lived, they could see Abe waiting on

his motorcycle. As soon as Abe saw them, he waved and started the bike. They

didn't even have a chance to stop the car when Abe pulled out ahead of them.

Jerry followed behind as Abe drove to the motorcycle shop. Looking over at Bill,

he said, "Abe looks happy on the motorcycle."

"Yeah. It's really a sharp looking bike," commented Bill.

"We're going to have to get him a better looking helmet than what he's wearing

now," said Jerry.

"And a leather coat," said Bill.

"I guess we should let Henry and Sharon know what we are getting him for his

birthday."

Abe pulled into the parking lot of the motorcycle shop and stopped the bike in

front of the front door. People came out of the shop to check out his restored

Indian Scout. It wasn't long before they had surrounded Abe and the young black

man ate up the attention.

Jerry pulled up next to him and rolled down the window of his truck. Waving over

at Jerry, Abe said, "Thanks for following me here."

"No problem. How's it ride?"

"Great. I love it," answered Abe. He'd had lessons for the past month riding a

loaner bike at the shop. Riding his very own bike for the first time was a

special thrill. The reaction of the people at the bike shop was icing on the

cake. He added, "I'll be by the house in a little while. I have to work

tonight."

"Okay, see you later," replied Jerry. He pulled away from the store and headed

home.

An hour later, Jerry was bent over the fender tightening the wires to the

battery. Once he was satisfied that the battery cable was on tight, he shouted,

"Try her now!"

A second later the starter engaged and the engine turned over. The starter

ground for thirty seconds, but the engine never started. He pulled a wire off a

spark plug and saw it spark. He put his hand over the carburetor and felt the

draw of air against his skin. It was getting a spark and plenty of air. That

left getting gas as the problem. He shouted, "Stop it!"

He picked up the can of instant start and sprayed a shot into the carburetor.

Stepping back, he said, "Okay, try it again."

The engine turned and then caught. It was running a little rough and very loud,

but that was to be expected. They still had to adjust the timing and replace the

muffler. Bill climbed out of the car and stepped next to his father. With a

grin, he said, "It runs."

"Sure it runs. You fixed it," said Jerry. He reached over and put his arm around

his son's shoulders giving him a good shake.

"We fixed it," said Bill feeling proud at receiving his father's praise, but

recognizing that he hadn't done it alone.

"Let's throw the timing gun on it," said Jerry.

Bill stepped back and went over to the trunk of his Pontiac. It took him a

minute to retrieve the timing gun from under a pile of hubcaps. Looking at the

pile of parts stored in the trunk, he realized that there was a lot of work that

remained to be done on the car. He closed the trunk and went back to his father.

The next twenty minutes were spent tuning the car. By the time they had

completed the task, the engine was running much smoother. It was loud, but that

wouldn't change until it had a muffler. It was still running a little rough, but

that would also end when they added the muffler.

After turning off the engine, Bill joined his father on the porch. Accepting a

cold can of coke from his father, he said, "I couldn't believe it when it

started."

"I had no doubts. You've done a good job."

Bill took a sip of his coke and looked at his car. The body still needed a

little work, the brakes were shot, the muffler was missing, and the interior was

a wreck, but the car was coming together. It didn't matter. When he looked at

it, he saw the car as it would become and the result would be outstanding. He

smiled as he replied, "I couldn't have done it without you, Dad."

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