Thunder and Lightening: Chapter 39Home « Thunder and Lightening Index « Previous

- Chapter 39

Posted: May 03, 2005 - 10:56:23 pm



Bill drove up to the store on his moped and parked it around the backside of the

store where it would be out of sight. He walked into the store through the front

door and found Mike sitting at the counter. Giving him a wave, he said, "Hello,

Mike. How's it going?"

"Fine, Bill. Your dad is in the office," answered Mike gesturing towards that

back of the store. With a grin, he said, "We're expecting Abe to show up in

about twenty minutes."

"Where's everyone else?"

"Everyone else is back with your dad," answered Mike. The telephone rang and

Mike turned his attention back to business.

Bill walked to the back of the store to where his father's office was located.

On the way, he passed by Martin who was pulling an order. He stopped and asked,

"So how is Abe doing?"

"He is pissed about having to work on his birthday," answered Martin with a

laugh.

"I'm sure he is," said Bill understanding how important birthdays were to people

his age. The young man watched as Martin returned to work.

Entering the office, Bill could see that it held more people than had ever been

intended. Of course, his father and Henry took up the space that six people

would normally occupy. His father was seated behind his desk while Henry

occupied a corner of the room. Karen was seated at the other desk. Carlos was

seated in one of the chairs leaning back and chatting with Sue, the new woman

who had just started at the store. Sammy had stopped by the store, taking an

afternoon out of college, and was talking to the other two college students.

Two of the kids from the neighborhood, Denzel and Leo, were leaning against the

wall, watching the others talk about school and work. Bill watched them for a

moment and realized that the expressions on their faces conveyed unease at the

environment. These young people had never been inside a real work environment

and didn't understand much of what they were seeing or hearing.

When the discussion had turned to inventory control, Denzel turned to Bill and

asked, "What the fuck are they talking about?"

Laughing at the question, and the way that it had been put forth, Bill gestured

to the door and said, "Let's talk over by the couch."

The three kids left the office in time to see Shauna arrive. She shot a worried

look at Bill and then went over to Leo. The young black man put an arm around

her and gave her a kiss. Denzel asked his question again, "What the fuck were

they talking about?"

"They were talking business," answered Bill. He ignored the interaction between

Leo and Shauna, recognizing that she had made her choice. He explained, "From

what I understand, having a bunch of stuff in the store waiting to be sold costs

money, but you can't sell anything if you don't have stuff in the store. So I

guess the big deal is to keep the right amount of stuff in the store so that you

can sell it, but not so much that it costs you money."

"Fuck, that sounds complicated," confessed Leo with a frown.

Bill shrugged his shoulders and said, "I guess that is why Martin is going to

college. He needs to understand that kind of stuff before he can become a

manager."

"Bullshit, they ain't gonna make no nigger a boss," exclaimed Denzel. His use of

the word nigger earned him a dirty look from Shauna.

Martin appeared behind the boys and, in a stern voice, said, "Hey, kids. Would

you mind keeping the language a little less colorful? This is a place of

business."

Denzel stared at Martin as if he had a third arm or something. He retorted,

"Talking like an Uncle Tom."

The comment made Martin angry. Stepping up to Denzel, he grabbed the kid by the

back of the shirt and dragged him out the backdoor. Leo shouted, "Martin's gonna

kill him."

Half convinced that they were going to see a fight, the other three kids

followed them out the door. Once outside, Martin said, "You've got no fucking

idea what you're talking about. This is a job and you do what the job requires

or you don't work. It pays money. It pays good money. They don't give a shit if

I'm black, white, or orange. They pay me to work."

Denzel gave Martin a look as if the man was a fool. He countered, "Fuck, what

you want to work for? All you got to do is get enough money to have a little

fun."

"You're a fool. You want easy money, great. The last guy in our neighborhood

that wanted easy money is dead. He died when he was only two years older than

you," said Martin wondering why the kid couldn't see the stupidity of his

worldview.

"Yeah, but he got a lot of pussy."

Martin barked a laugh and replied, "You don't get pussy in the grave, asshole.

I've gotten more pussy since he died than he got in his entire life."

"But you're acting so white!"

"You like living in our neighborhood?" asked Martin with scorn.

"No, but it's the man keepin' us down that's the problem."

"You're even dumber than you look. I'm getting good money to do my job for forty

hours a week. Guess what? I work for a white guy and he isn't keeping me down.

He's teaching me the business so that I can run it some day," replied Martin. He

glanced over at the other three kids and noticed they were nodding their heads

in agreement with him.

"Forty hours a week? Shit, that's slavery."

"Do you think the white guys don't want to sit around all day doing nothing? You

bet they do, but they don't do it. They come to work for forty hours a week and

make enough money so they don't end up living in shit holes like our

neighborhood," said Martin. Anticipating the kid's next statement, he added,

"Believe me, they work just as hard as I do here. Shit, Bill's dad works harder

than me and he's running the store."

"Yeah, but you're working for him!"

"Pull your head out of your ass and look around for a change. The guy started as

a stock boy when he was your age. Hell, he's been working in that store longer

than I've been alive. Of course, I fucking work for him," retorted Martin.

Dismayed at the density of the young man's brain, he turned and went into the

store.

The earlier shout by Leo had attracted Jerry's attention. Going out to

investigate what was happening, Jerry had seen the three teenagers go outside.

Instead of charging outside, he had stood at the door listening to the

conversation. He'd heard what Martin said starting about the time when Martin

was explaining how the man wasn't keeping him down. Rather than interrupt, Jerry

had stayed inside. Jerry stayed by the door for another minute.

On entering the store, Martin had been surprised to find Jerry standing by the

door listening to what had been said. At first, he thought he might be in

trouble for stepping out of the store without telling anyone, but Jerry had just

winked at him and flashed him an okay gesture. Martin nodded and went back to

the counter, leaving Jerry listening at the door.

Surprised at Martin's treatment of him, Denzel turned to Leo and asked, "Can you

believe that shit?"

"Yeah, I can. He's right, you know," replied Leo. Martin had sold him on the

comment about not getting laid when you're dead. He knew that you didn't get

laid in prison either.

The whole time that Martin had been talking, Shauna had thought about her

future. Her mother had given birth to her while in high school and had dropped

out of school to raise her. Since then, her mother had taken just about any job

that she could get. Of course, most of the jobs available for a high school drop

out were pretty bad. Money was always tight. Shauna had even caught her mother

having sex with the landlord to pay the rent on one occasion. She knew that it

wasn't the first time and hadn't been the last.

Looking at Denzel like he was an idiot, Shauna said, "Look at the future I'm

facing. If I don't get my shit together and get a real job, I'll be sucking cock

and fucking for money for the rest of my life. Martin's right. I'd go in there

and give everyone blowjobs right now if I could keep that from happening to me."

Leo wasn't a stupid person and he had watched what was going on with Martin and

Abe ever since Jerry had moved into the neighborhood. He'd taken the time to

look up how much Abe's motorcycle was worth and had been impressed. He

commented, "You know, Abe is doing pretty good for himself. He's been riding

that scooter of his around while we've been walking or peddling our bikes. Now,

he's gonna be riding that motorcycle and we'll be riding the bus for the next

ten years at the rate we're going. Martin's got a brand new truck. My momma

ain't ever had a new car in her whole life. You might think they're acting

white, but I'm not convinced that's all that bad."

Jerry had listened to the conversation thinking that Martin had started to help

them, but it wasn't enough. He wished there was something he could do to finish

the job. It was possible that he could move Abe over to part-time sales so that

he could hire a new stock boy, but that would only help one of them. He wished

that he could hire all three kids, but it just wasn't possible. Denzel needed it

the most, Leo had the best attitude, and Shauna was the most desperate.

While pulling an order, Martin glanced towards the back door and saw Jerry

standing in the same place that he had been earlier. Rather than listening, the

big man was thinking about something. It was obvious to him that Jerry was

trying to figure out what he could do for the kids. Going back to work, Martin

was confident that Jerry would end up helping all three kids, even Denzel. He

thought to himself, 'Was it the man keeping them down? No, those kids were

keeping themselves down.'

Jerry opened the back door and asked, "Any sign of Jenny?"

"No, dad."

"Would you mind keeping an eye out for her? She's bringing the cake," requested

Jerry.

Looking at the other three teenagers, Bill said, "No problem. We'll watch for

her."

"Great," said Jerry as he returned to the store. He had expected Denzel to look

at him with suspicion, but the kid had remained his normal self.

It was just a few minutes later that Jenny pulled into the parking lot with

Melissa in the car. The pair got out and opened the back of her car. There was a

cake and a cooler of soft drinks in the trunk. Looking over at the three boys,

Jenny asked, "Would you like to give us a hand?"

Without the least bit of hesitation, Bill answered, "Sure. I'll help you."

"Good. If you carry the cooler, I'll take the cake," said Jenny with a smile at

her future stepson. When he reached the trunk, she wrapped an arm around him and

pulled him in for a hug. Grinning at his obvious discomfort at the affection in

front of the other kids, she said, "You're a good boy."

Bill blushed and then reached into the trunk for the cake. Leo started to make a

wise crack, but Shauna elbowed him in the side. Bill stood up and handed the

cake to Jenny, letting her know by his thoughtfulness that he had appreciated

the hug. As she accepted the cake from him, Jenny said, "Thanks."

After Bill grabbed the cooler, Melissa dug into the trunk and removed three

presents. There was one large flat box, a medium size cube, and a small box. It

was awkward balancing all three of them. She turned and found Shauna standing

next to her. Shauna said, "Let me give you a hand with those."

Surprised by the gesture, Melissa said, "Thanks. If you could take the top two

that would help a lot."

"No problem," replied Shauna taking the top two presents. Before grabbing them,

she believed that the big cube contained a bowling ball based on its size and

had been thinking that it was a strange present to give to Abe. When it was far

lighter than she had expected, she realized that it was a motorcycle helmet.

Denzel was about to make a comment that he liked Melissa better when she was

green when Leo hit him lightly on the shoulder. Anticipating his friend, he

said, "Be nice."

"Shit," answered Denzel. He wasn't really upset, but disappointed at the chance

to make what he thought would be a joke.

"Why don't you get the door for everyone," suggested Leo to his friend as he

went over to the car. Winking at Shauna, he said, "Let me get shut the trunk."

Since moving away from the influence of her mother and grandmother, watching men

and women interact fascinated Melissa. With a smile and a hug, Jenny had Bill

doing all kinds of things for her without complaint. Leo was clearly interested

in showing his girlfriend that he could do nice things without being asked. The

fact that Bill respected Shauna's relationship with Leo surprised her more than

anything else did. She wondered if Leo knew that Shauna and Bill had been having

sex with each other.

The break area where the couch was located had been transformed. Jerry had set

up a small table to hold the cake, paper plates, and soft drinks. Jenny had set

the cake on the table and was busy removing the box around it. Melissa and

Shauna added the presents to the small pile that was on a chair. Leaning against

the boxes of parts that had been delivered earlier that day, Jerry watched the

activity with a broad smile. Abe was going to be surprised.

Henry entered through the backdoor and, in his deep rumbling voice, observed,

"Looks like everyone is here except for the birthday boy."

"Who you calling boy? He's got more hair... ," started Denzel before coming to a

halt upon catching sight of the look Henry was giving him. He grumbled, "No one

has a sense of humor today."

After setting down the stack of presents he was carrying, Henry put a hand

around the back of the neck of the young man and pulled him over to his side.

Bending so that his mouth was next to the younger man's ear, he explained,

"There are times for some kinds of jokes and times for different kinds of jokes.

Right now, it's time for polite jokes. There are ladies present."

Awed by the sheer size of Henry, Denzel swallowed heavily and said, "Okay. I

didn't think about that."

Melissa and Shauna had stepped away from everyone to talk where they wouldn't be

over heard. Jerry watched them as they whispered to each other, wondering what

the two young women had to talk about. He smiled when they stepped apart from

each other with identical puzzled expressions on their faces. It appeared to him

that neither one of them understood the other, but at least it wasn't a hostile

misunderstanding.

Seeing that everyone was present, Jerry said, "I'm going up to the front to

greet Abe when he comes in."

The noise of people moving around so that they wouldn't be seen from the front

of the store followed Jerry down the aisle. Reaching the front, he greeted Mike

and Martin who were watching the counter. Mike grinned and said, "Abe wasn't

very happy about having to work on his birthday."

"I can imagine," said Jerry with a laugh. He added, "I plan to bust his chops a

little when he comes in, so play along."

"You're going to lose," commented Martin with a grin.

"Lose?"

"Trying to match wits with Abe when we all know you're defenseless. You're going

to lose big time," Martin quipped provoking a laugh from Mike. Jerry just stood

there shaking his head.

A few minutes after four, Abe showed up riding his motorcycle. Jerry watched him

park the bike by the front door where it was visible from the street. He smiled

at the obvious pride that Abe took in his work. Before the young man had a

chance to see him, Jerry replaced his smile with a frown.

Disappointed at having to work, Abe entered the store spotting Mike, Martin, and

Jerry at their normal places. He was about to say hello when Jerry grunted,

"You're late."

Surprised by the unfriendly greeting, Abe said, "I told you I was going to be

late today."

Jerry attempted a snarl and then said, "You got all kinds of boxes in the back

that need to be dealt with."

Feeling a little hurt, Abe said, "It's my birthday."

"Really? How about that? The sooner you get back there, the sooner you can

celebrate," said Jerry pointing down the aisle with his thumb.

Shocked, Abe walked down the aisle to the back of the store like his dog had

died. Even Martin had looked surprised by the way Jerry had treated him. He

mumbled, "Not only do I have to work on my birthday, but I get treated like..."

His comment was cut short by the sound of everyone shouting, "Happy Birthday."

Abe looked around and saw everyone smiling at him. Shocked at the crowd of

people smiling at him, he shouted, "Oh my God! I can't believe it!"

Jerry's rumbling laugh filled the air. Realizing that Jerry had gotten him good,

Abe spun around and, shaking his finger at the big man, said, "I'm going to get

back at you."

"Got ya!"

"I can't believe you did that," replied Abe shaking his head. His friends and

co-workers quickly surrounded him and led him over to the table. He looked at

the huge pile of presents, unable to believe his eyes. Overwhelmed, he stood in

place and said, "Oh, you guys. I can't believe you did this."

As Abe laughed and joked with his friends, Martin stepped over to Jerry and

said, "I couldn't believe you did that. Even knowing that everyone was here, I

was shocked."

"Did I go too far?" asked Jerry looking over at Martin.

Watching his brother smiling, laughing, and jumping around, Martin answered,

"Not at all."

"I'll watch the front for a while. Go wish your brother a happy birthday," said

Jerry before turning to head up to the front of the store. He walked up the

aisle chuckling.

Jerry pulled parts while Mike took orders. They could hear the laughter coming

from the back of the store and knew that Abe was having a good time. Karen came

up to the front of the store with two plates of cake. Setting one of them in

front of Mike, she said, "Go on back and join the party, Jerry. I'll pull

orders."

"Thanks Karen," said Jerry.

As soon as he reached the back of the store, Jenny handed him a plate. Sharon

had arrived and was laughing as Martin explained what Jerry had done to Abe.

Throughout the story, Abe was grinning, shaking his head, and saying, "I'm going

to get him back."

"You're so bad," teased Jenny with a smile. She knew just how much Jerry cared

about Abe.

"Can I invite you to my office for a second?" asked Jerry.

"Planning on taking advantage of me?" asked Jenny with a wink.

"Always," said Jerry with a smile.

Inside the office, Jerry said, "That black girl, Shauna, is the one that dyed

Melissa green."

"Really? They were talking with each other in a friendly manner."

"I was wondering if you could hire her for a couple of hours after school to

help you straighten up the restaurant and do little odd jobs for you. Maybe give

her a chance to learn a little about business," said Jerry.

The request was totally unexpected and Jenny looked at him wondering what had

motivated it. Puzzled, she asked, "Why?"

Jerry looked down at the floor for a moment before he answered. "I heard her

talking with the other kids. She said that she faced a life of prostitution if

she didn't get her act together and get a real job. She'd do anything to get a

break."

The idea that a teenage girl could possibly believe that the only future for her

was being a prostitute shocked Jenny. Her breath caught in her throat. Finally,

she managed to say, "I can't do that at the restaurant. Everything is basically

done by the time she'd get out of school. How about I have her help me with the

books for the waterfall company?"

Surprised that he hadn't thought of that, Jerry burst into a smile and said,

"That would be perfect."

Excited, Jerry went over to the office door and opened it. He called out, "Hey,

Henry. Can you come here for a second?"

"Sure," answered the big man. He patted Abe on the shoulder and headed over to

the office.

When Henry had joined them in the office, Jerry said, "Henry. I just asked Jenny

about hiring Shauna to work for her and she suggested that Shauna help her with

the books for the waterfall business. I was thinking that it might be a good

idea if we hired Denzel to help with some of the construction work on the

waterfalls."

"Denzel? Not Leo?" asked Henry surprised by the choice. He figured that Leo

wouldn't be nearly as difficult for Jerry to deal with as Denzel.

"I'm gonna hire Leo to take over Abe's job," said Jerry with a smile. Seeing the

expression on Henry's face, he said, "I know what you're thinking. I just

believe that Denzel will listen to you a whole lot more than me. He needs

someone like you in his life."

Jenny asked, "What about Abe?"

"I'm moving him up to part-time salesman," answered Jerry.

Henry studied his friend for a minute and said, "You've thought about this,

haven't you?"

"A little. I didn't know what to do for Denzel until Jenny suggested using

Shauna in the waterfall company rather than her restaurant," answered Jerry.

The big man laughed when he realized what his friend was doing and said, "I

think that Mr. Atkins is going to raise a statue in your honor if you keep this

up. Some scrawny white guy gives five black kids a boost out of that

neighborhood... Yeah, he's going to raise a statue."

Seeing the shocked reaction on Jerry's face, Jenny burst out laughing so hard

that it almost hurt her sides. It always amazed her when they made fun of the

other's size. When her laughter subsided, she asked, "When do you want to ask

them?"

"How about after Abe opens his presents?" suggested Jerry realizing that he

needed to talk to Mike.

"Great," said Henry as he opened the door to rejoin the party. He held the door

for Jenny and Jerry considering himself a lucky man. It was humbling to think

that he had a friend like Jerry.

Abe opened his presents. Henry and Sharon had gotten him a cell phone and an

Amex debit card to use for gasoline. Martin had paid six months of his

insurance, a gift that meant a lot to the young man. Working had made him

appreciate the value of money. Jerry and Jenny gave him a leather motorcycle

jacket with an Indian Scout logo on the back. Bill had given the helmet while

Melissa, much to Abe's surprise, had given him a pair of leather riding gloves.

Shauna gave Abe a key ring. It wasn't much, but it was a lot coming from her.

Denzel gave him a gift certificate from the burger place while Leo gave him a

gift certificate from Poncho's Tacos. The folks at the store had gotten together

a little care package for the motorcycle.

Jerry had ducked out for part of the time while Abe was opening presents to talk

to Mike about hiring Leo. Mike had a chance to talk a little with Leo although

the young man didn't realize he was being interviewed. For the stock boy

position, it didn't matter much about automotive knowledge. He did ask about his

school and outside interests. Getting the go ahead from Mike, Jerry was standing

by when Abe finished with the presents.

For Abe, this had been an exceptionally rich birthday and he had found the

experience a little overwhelming. He took a moment to talk with his brother and

noticed when Jerry approached Leo, put a hand on his shoulder, and then led him

off to the front of the store. He turned to ask a question of Denzel and noticed

that Henry was walking out the back of the store with his hand on the boy's

shoulder. Puzzled he looked around for Shauna, but didn't find her. Wondering

what was going on, he asked Melissa, "Where's Shauna?"

"Jenny took her in the office," answered Melissa absently.

"Oh," said the young man in response. He didn't know what to make of all his

friends getting led away from the party.

Melissa felt a little uncomfortable standing next to Abe without talking about

something. She looked at the helmet that Bill had gotten for him and latched

upon it as a reasonable topic of conversation. She said, "Bill said that he

ordered that helmet on the internet."

"It's a great helmet, top of the line. I can't believe he found one the same

color as the motorcycle," said Abe picking it up and looking at it. He glanced

over at Melissa and saw that she was a little uncomfortable. Changing the

subject to something that he thought she would enjoy a little more, he said, "I

saw you talking with Shauna a little earlier. I hope that you two are getting

along."

"She's pretty nice, actually. I have to admit that dying me green was an amazing

revenge," said Melissa. "I would never have thought of it."

Chuckling at the memory, Abe said, "Sure surprised me."

In the front of the store, Jerry stopped and said, "Leo, I've got an opening for

a stock boy. It's the same job that Abe has been doing for the past year. I'm

promoting him to part-time sales. Are you interested?"

Dubious, Leo looked at Jerry with a wrinkled forehead. He asked, "Are you

offering me a job?"

"Yes," answered Jerry.

The simple answer burst through Leo's normal reserve like a hot knife through

butter. The young man jumped up in the air and raised a fist as he shouted,

"Hell, yeah!"

Sitting at the counter, Mike was on the phone with a customer. When Leo reacted,

he burst out laughing. Once Mike had recovered, Jerry overheard him tell the

customer, "Just offered a job to a young man... You heard him... Yeah, he's a

little excited."

Chuckling, Jerry said, "You can start tomorrow. Come in after school, fill out

an application and the tax forms, and then Abe will show you the ropes. Mike

will explain the rules about working here and some of the benefits."

"This is so great!"

Jerry waited for the usual question, but Leo was so excited that he wasn't

thinking about working. He was busy celebrating his good fortune by dancing in

place. After a minute, a very amused Jerry asked, "Do you have any questions?"

"I'm supposed to come here after school tomorrow, right?" asked Leo wondering by

Jerry's question if he might have misunderstood something.

"That's right. Are you sure that you don't have any other questions?" asked

Jerry.

"Like what?" asked Leo feeling very confused. His excitement ratcheted down a

notch at the thought that he had missed something important.

"Like how much are you going to get paid," suggested Jerry with a smile.

Blushing at having missed the most obvious question that he should have asked,

the young man answered, "Oh yeah. I forgot about that. How much am I getting

paid?"

"Five fifty an hour," answered Jerry.

"How many hours will I work?"

"About ten a week," answered Jerry.

"Wow, that's not bad. Fifty-five bucks a week," Leo mused.

Jerry patted the young man on the back and said, "Let's rejoin the party."

"I can't wait to tell Abe that I have his job," said a very happy Leo.

"I haven't told Abe that he's getting promoted yet," said Jerry.

"Even better," said Leo, prompting Jerry to laugh.

As they walked back to where the party was being held, Jerry said, "You might

want to talk to Abe about buying his scooter."

When they reached the back room, Jerry looked around. Jenny was talking to

Sharon while Shauna was excitedly talking to Abe about her job. Sorry that he

had to interrupt, he called over to Abe, "Abe, can I talk to you a minute?"

"Sure," answered the young man. He whispered something to Shauna that prompted

her to laugh before going over to where Jerry was waiting for him.

"I gave Leo your job," said Jerry in a very serious voice. It was hard keeping

himself from breaking into a smile.

Grinning, Abe shook his head and said, "You got me once today. You're not

getting me a second time."

"I'm serious."

Abe's confidence was severely undermined when he heard a very excited Leo

exclaim, "I got Abe's job. I'm now the stock boy!"

Your opinion is important:

Please cast your fair vote for:

"Thunder and Lightening"

Select Score 10 - Excellent 9 - Very Good 8 - Good 7 - Above Average 6 -

Average 5 - Fair 4 - Needs Work 3 - Poor 2 - Bad 1 - A Bunch of Jumbled Words

To Be Continued...

Go to Lazlo Zalezac’s Blog

If you enjoyed this work, take a moment to email the author. Your comments are

their only payment.

Name:(optional)

Email:(optional)

Your email address (so the author can respond)

To:Lazlo Zalezac

Subject:Thunder and Lightening

Message:

Posted: 2004-11-12

Last Modified: 2005-05-03 / 10:56:23 pmHome - Top