Thunder and Lightening
Chapter 22
By
Lazlo Zalezac
Copyright (C) Lazlo Zalezac, 2004

It was a Wednesday night when Bill came home for school sullen 
and quiet rather than his normal chipper self. He moped around the 
house without saying much of anything, giving one-word answers 
to any question he was asked. Observing the subdued behavior of 
his son, Jerry became worried that something bad had happened. 
The worst thing that he could imagine was that Bill had gotten into 
a fight with his friends. He asked, "Are things okay with your 
friends at school?"

"Yeah," replied Bill in a flat listless voice. 

Concerned, Jerry asked, "Did everything go okay at school?"

"Yeah." Again the tone of his voice was listless. 

Jerry could tell that something was bothering his son and he had no 
idea what could have happened. He commented, "You seem kind 
of down today. What's the matter?"

Bill wasn't going to answer, but he decided that maybe his father 
could help him. Digging into his backpack, he pulled out a book 
and handed it to his father. Looking away from Jerry, he said, "I 
read this book today."

Looking at the book, Jerry recalled having read it when he was in 
high school. The book was a masterpiece of literature, Steinbeck's 
Of Mice and Men. He didn't remember much of the story, but 
recalled his reaction to it. The book had made him angry when he 
read it then, but he didn't know how he'd react to it today. Rather 
than commenting, he said, "Let me read it tonight."

"I read Grapes of Wrath and thought I would read another book by 
the same author. I'm sorry that I did that," replied Bill. In a way, he 
had hoped that his father would have an instant answer for him. 
When that didn't happen, he became even more depressed.

Recognizing that his son needed cheering up, Jerry suggested, 
"How about we go get some Mexican Food?"

"I guess that would be okay," replied Bill without his normal 
enthusiasm.

The pair went to the restaurant in the truck. The trip was subdued 
with Bill staring out the window the whole way there. After 
parking the truck, they headed for the door. One of the customers 
leaving the restaurant pointed to the truck and gave an okay sign. 
That happened to him a lot when he took the truck out and he 
returned a thumb's up sign in response. Bill walked on as though 
he hadn't noticed anything.

The regulars were getting used to the fact that the large white man 
was going to visit the restaurant regardless of how they felt about 
it. As a result, his entrance didn't cause the kind of silence that 
used to be the norm.  The waitress, recognizing them, brought over 
iced teas and asked, "Dos Tres Tacos?"

Jerry looked over at Bill who shrugged and replied, "Si, gracias."

After the waitress delivered the food, Bill ate without conversation. 
It was not a very pleasant meal and Jerry knew that the book must 
have upset his son a lot. He said, "Bill, I don't remember the story. 
I'll read the book and then we can talk about it. Okay?"

"Sure," replied Bill realizing that there might have been a very 
good reason why his father hadn't a ready answer to his problem. If 
he knew the story, he would have known what to say to make him 
feel better.

After the meal was finished, the waitress came to the table with 
another individual. She talked to the other individual in Spanish, 
who then translated what she said. "Sonya says that you run a 
business. Is that true?"

"Yes," replied Jerry wondering what she wanted.

After a minute of conversation between the waitress and the 
translator, the man turned to Jerry and said, "She says that her 
cousin needs a job. He speaks English very good and will work 
hard."

"Does he have a high school diploma?"

"Si. Ah, yes," replied the translator. He added, "He has a little 
college."

Jerry nodded, pleased to hear that the guy had a little college, and 
said, "Have him come by the Auto Parts House on Main Street 
around ten in the morning."

The translator turned to the waitress and talked to her for a moment 
conveying the information that Jerry had given him. Her face lit up 
at the news and she thanked Jerry profusely in Spanish. Jerry 
smiled and nodded, not understanding a single word that she was 
saying, but getting the gist of it from her manner and tone of voice. 
He hoped the guy worked out because they were still short a full-
time person. As he thought about it, he realized that he could 
possibly improve the business among Hispanic auto repair shops. 

After paying for their meal, Jerry and Bill returned to the house. 
Once there, Bill went into the kitchen to work on his homework 
while Jerry sat down to read the book. The evening passed quietly 
as each went about their individual pursuits. The more that Jerry 
read of the book, the more depressed he got. 

Around ten, Bill came out of the kitchen. Seeing that his father 
hadn't finished the book, he said, "I'm going to bed now."

"Okay, we'll talk in the morning," replied Jerry as he looked up 
from the book. He was almost finished with it, unable to put down 
the story. The story struck too close to home. Two men were trying 
to pursue a dream to improve their lives. The large man, unable to 
control his strength, destroyed that dream. It was no wonder that 
Bill was depressed, since Jerry himself became depressed as a 
result of reading it. 

The character of Lennie, the big man in the story, was too familiar. 
With the smallest provocation, Lennie would unleash his strength 
damaging even the things that he cared most about. When he read 
about Lennie choking the woman because he was afraid, a shiver 
of revulsion ran down his spine. As a big man, Jerry knew how 
easy it was for the rage to escape. He knew that if he ever failed to 
control it, then incredible damage would result.

Finishing the book, Jerry found that he wanted to rip it to shreds. 
He remembered why it had angered him when he had read in 
school. Not only had he been subjected to the insults of his fellow 
classmates, he had to be insulted by a book that portrayed big men 
as dangerous idiots. 

Rather than ripping up the book, he set it aside and prepared for 
bed.  As he undressed, he stared at the book wondering what he 
could tell his son in the morning. Once the Futon was configured 
as a bed, he turned off the lights and lay down staring at the 
ceiling. It took him a long time to fall asleep, as his mind wouldn't 
let go of the story.

In the middle of the night, he woke out of a dream in which he was 
strangling Jenny in the same manner in which Lennie had strangled 
Curley's wife. He shot out of bed breathing hard and sweating. The 
dream had been too real. He swore he felt her neck in his massive 
paws. 

Sitting down on the edge of the Futon, he held his head in his 
hands as he struggled to breathe. The tension in his back nearly 
paralyzed him. It took him five minutes to recover from the 
nightmare. After staring at the book for a moment, knowing it to be 
the source of his dream, he swore, "Fuck, that was horrible."

After a minute spent recovering further, he became aware of 
groans coming from Bill's room. He knew that Bill was in the 
midst of a bad dream and went to the room. Sitting down on the 
edge of the bed, he shook Bill awake while he said, "Wake up. It's 
just a bad dream."

Bill came awake, his eyes opened wide in horror at the dream. 
Frantic, he looked over at his father and cried, "I dreamed that 
Woody was going to kill me because I strangled Sandy."

Hugging his son, he replied, "You didn't strangle Sandy and 
Woody isn't going to shoot you. We aren't like Lennie."

Very upset by the dream and the message that he had taken from 
the book, Bill cried out, "But we are."

"No we're not," countered Jerry trying with quiet desperation to 
believe his own words. "We're nothing like him. Sure we are big 
and strong, but we understand our strength. Lennie didn't."

Sitting up in his bed, Bill said, "I'm not sure that we are that 
different."

"Yes, we are," replied Jerry in as comforting a voice as he could 
manage. He sat there for a minute trying to figure out what he 
could say that would comfort his son. Considering that he had the 
same dream, what could he say that would change his son's mind 
about the hopeless feeling that the dream created within the boy? 
Sighing, he said, "I had the same kind of dream."

"Really?" asked Bill looking over at his father.

"Yeah, I dreamed that I strangled Jenny just like Lennie did the 
wife," answered Jerry wondering if admitting it was wise. 
Thinking about it, he realized that they worried about their actions 
and didn't try to pretend that they didn't happen. He added, "You 
know, Lennie kept petting the puppy even after he had killed it. He 
didn't understand what he had done or why he had done it. After 
killing other pets, he wanted another one without learning his 
lessons from the past. He didn't worry about killing his pets in the 
future. We understand what we do and we worry about our actions 
in the future. I think that makes us very different."

"Huh?"

"You ever totally loose your temper?" asked Jerry realizing that he 
was close enough to an answer that would satisfy both of them.

"Not in ages."

"Why?"

"Because I'm afraid what will happen if I do," replied Bill as 
understanding started to illuminate the darkness in which he had 
found himself. He smiled and said, "Thanks dad."

"What are dad's for?"

"Raising my allowance," replied Bill with a grin.

"You've been around Abe too much," Jerry joked as he patted his 
son on the shoulder. He could tell just by touch that his son had 
relaxed. Standing, he said, "I'll go back to bed now."

"Okay."

Jerry returned to his bed and settled down to sleep. This time, he 
fell asleep much quicker. His reassurances for his son had 
reassured him as well. No one had told him that being a Dad had 
such rewards.

Morning came too early and he wandered into the kitchen to start 
the coffee. His sleep the first half of the night had been disturbed 
by nightmares, but after the discussion with Bill he had slept much 
better. It was almost enough to be refreshed, but not quite. 
Yawning, he spooned coffee into the filter and then filled the 
brewer with water. Once the coffee was started, he went to his 
son's door and knocked on it to wake him. 

Returning to the kitchen, he pulled out two bowls, spoons, cereals, 
and milk. They would have a cold breakfast this morning so that he 
could get Bill to school early enough so that Jerry could reach the 
store in time to open it. He remembered that he was going to have 
the cousin of the waitress coming into the store to apply for a job. 

Realizing that Bill hadn't gotten out of bed, he returned to the 
bedroom and knocked on the door. Through the closed door, he 
heard Bill complain, "Leave me alone."

Knocking on the door with much greater force, Jerry replied, 
"Time to get up! School! Fun! Cereal! Coffee!"

"Do I have to?"

"Yes, you have to get up now." It was unusual for Bill to protest 
that much in the morning, but he could understand his son's 
behavior. He couldn't have gotten a good night's sleep because of 
the nightmares. 

Jerry returned to the kitchen and poured two cups of coffee. He 
looked at the cereals and picked the one loaded with sugar. No 
self-respecting adult would choose that one, but it was his favorite 
and he didn't care what anyone thought. Filling the bowl with 
cereal, he added milk and started eating. 

Bill shuffled into the kitchen, yawning and stretching with a roar. 
He looked at the cereal his father was eating and picked up the box 
of healthy cereal. Yawning again, he set the box down and took a 
sip of his coffee. The hot liquid woke him and he went back to 
fixing his cereal. He commented, "They ought to call that cereal 
Super Sugar Junk Food."

Shrugging off the comment, Jerry replied, "I like it."

"I know you do," replied Bill. It amazed him that his father ate that 
junk almost every morning. He started to eat his cereal, realizing 
that he was running behind schedule. After the first few bites, he 
paused and said, "Thanks for what you said last night. It helped a 
lot."

"I'm glad," replied Jerry after swallowing the latest spoonful of 
cereal. He said, "Today is Thursday."

"Yeah, it's our long day," replied Bill. This was the day of the 
week that he had to wait at the therapist's office while his father 
talked to her about his anger. It meant that they wouldn't be home 
until almost eight that night.

"Where do you want to eat tonight?"

"How about the Chinese Buffet?" 

If Bill had answered with any other place, Jerry would have 
worried about him. Every Thursday, Bill wanted to go to the 
Chinese Buffet. The fact was, it was the best food deal in town and 
the quality was pretty good. Jerry laughed and said, "We're eating 
breakfast and talking about dinner."

They finished their breakfast and took their bowls to the sink to 
rinse them out. Once the bowls were thoroughly rinsed, they each 
took their coffee cup and went to dress. Bill went to his room and 
Jerry went to the spare room where he kept his clothes. As he 
pulled his clothes out, he realized that he should probably move 
into the bedroom. 

Dressed and ready to go, Jerry waited by the door. When Bill came 
out of his room with his school backpack, Jerry handed him the 
book. Bill looked at it and then slipped it into his pack as he said, 
"I guess it is a good book."

Surprised by the comment, Jerry asked, "Why do you say that?"

"If a book can have the kind of effect that it had on us, it must be 
good," replied Bill. 

"You're right. I didn't think of it that way," replied Jerry. 

They walked out to the truck for Jerry to take Bill to school. As he 
walked, he thought about the book. It played upon the myth that 
big men were strong but too stupid to control their strength. From 
experience, he had decided that it wasn't that big men were too 
stupid to control their strength, but were often too weak to control 
their stupidity. 

Jerry pulled into the parking lot of the Auto Parts Shop. It was five 
minutes before opening time and he was the first one to arrive. He 
entered the store through the back entrance, glancing around to 
make sure that all was well. As he walked to the front of the store, 
he noticed that the store had been improving in appearance over 
the past few months. Abe and Sammy had taken to dusting the 
shelves before restocking the goods after a suggestion made by 
Karen.

It was a well-coordinated team of people that he had gathered 
together in the store. Abe was a hard worker who listened to all 
suggestions on how to do his job better. Mike had taken to his 
duties as Assistant Manager and actually enjoyed performing them. 
Karen had installed a computer to take care of inventory and was 
preparing to fill it with data. Martin had a good rapport with the 
customers and enjoyed his work. Sammy was nearing the end of 
high school and had told Jerry that he would work through the 
summer before leaving for college. The lack of another fulltime 
person meant that no one had been able to take a day off in ages 
and he hoped to correct that problem.

Opening the front door, he went to the cash register and checked 
the money in it. Turning off the answering machine, he sat down to 
take calls. Martin walked in the back door and called out, "I'm 
here."

"I'm up in the front of the store," called Jerry.

Martin came up to the counter wearing new clothes that really 
looked sharp on him. Standing beside Jerry, he said, "Today's the 
day."

"What's that?"

"Sold the Caddy last night and we're picking up new cars today." 
Martin looked proud of himself at the news. He had gotten more 
for the car than he had thought possible, particularly considering 
the state in which it had been when he started restoring it. His 
mother and he were going to pick up some practical cars at a 
reasonable price. 

"What are you going to buy?"

"Mom is going to get a simple Toyota sedan and I'm going for a 
truck. Having been around you, I've come to realize that there are a 
lot of advantages to having a truck." Jerry had been a major factor 
in his life and he tended to model his decisions after the kinds of 
things that Jerry did. His mother was supporting Jerry’s view of 
financial management. The clincher was that Henry Buckman 
echoed Jerry's advice on many occasions. 

Jerry was quiet for a minute as he thought about it and then said, 
"That'll cost you more than you got from the Caddy."

That was an understatement. He figured it would cost an additional 
five thousand dollars to buy both cars. He replied, "I know. I've 
been saving two thirds of the money I've earned here. I felt that it 
would be better to use the money to make sure that my mother had 
a good car and that I had something that would last for a number of 
years."

"Smart," replied Jerry. He was going to ask for more details, but 
the telephone rang calling them to work. 

For the next hour, the telephone rang almost continuously. Mike 
and Karen showed up and relieved Jerry. He didn't have a chance 
to warn Mike that someone was coming for an interview before a 
young Hispanic male entered the store. He assumed that it was the 
job applicant.

The young man was wearing neat black pants with a white long 
sleeved shirt and a solid black tie. His black hair was cut short in a 
business fashion. The most remarkable feature was the pair of 
glasses that he wore. The lenses weren't very thick, but the frames 
looked like frames on safety glasses, black plastic that was thick 
and heavy. Jerry noticed that the young man had shown up fifteen 
minutes early. 

Martin was at the counter and as soon as he hung up, he held up 
the order for Mike. Once Mike had grabbed the order, Martin 
asked, "May I help you?"

The young man looked around for a second, seeking the big man 
that his cousin had told him to talk with at the store. Noticing that a 
huge man was watching him from an aisle filled with auto parts, he 
said, "I'm here to apply for a job."

Martin bent down and rummaged under the counter for a minute 
before he found the applications. Grabbing one, he held it out for 
the young man to take. He said, "Fill this out and when Mike is 
available you can talk to him."

The young man went to a chair and filled out the application. Jerry 
went over to the counter and waited for Mike. The telephone rang 
and Martin turned to answer it. When he hung up, he handed the 
order over to Jerry. The young man looked up and saw that Martin 
appeared to be in charge and decided that Jerry wasn't the one his 
cousin had talked with the previous night. 

While filling the order, Jerry met up with Mike as he pulled an 
earlier order. Smiling, he said, "We have a young man here to 
interview for a job. When you are done with that order, talk to him. 
After that, I'd like a chance to talk to him as well."

"Sure thing," replied Mike. He was beginning to get tired of not 
having a day off. The weather was turning nice and he wanted to 
spend a little time enjoying it with his family. 

Jerry pulled orders while Mike interviewed the candidate. As he 
worked, he noticed that Karen had started putting barcodes on the 
shelves. This whole process of computerizing the stock worried 
him. He was afraid that he wouldn't be able to accommodate the 
changes. Karen was confident that everything would work out all 
right, but she was a lot younger than he was. 

He carried an order to the front counter in time to see Howard 
enter the store. The blond haired man saw that Martin wasn't on the 
phone and called out, "Hey, preacher man. White guy in the 
house!"

"Hey, surfer dude!"

"Are you going to take me to car shop tonight?"

"You bet," replied Martin with a smile. The other night they had 
been to a party where a car salesman had told Howard how they 
dealt with different kinds of people differently. It was common 
practice to take advantage of women and blacks, making the 
assumption that they knew little about making large purchases. 
White men that seemed to know a lot about cars were usually 
treated pretty well. 

"You know that the first question that I'm going to ask is where 
does this key thing go." Howard laughed at the look on Martin's 
face. 

"I thought that was my line," retorted the black man. He grinned 
and said, "If you say that, I'm going to have to say, 'Massa, I's 
suppose ta drive that automo-thingy for you'se.'"

As Howard laughed, he replied, "I'd like to see you say that with a 
straight face in front of your mother."

Jerry stood there watching the pair talk. Even as they bantered, 
they were still performing their jobs. He would have loved to 
watch Martin deliver that line in front of his mother. She'd have 
had a bar of soap in his mouth in a minute. 

Mike signaled that he had already talked to the young man. Jerry 
turned to see the young man that had applied for the job standing 
beside Mike. The young man was staring at the scene unfolding in 
front of him. There was a shocked look on his face as he heard 
them trading racial jokes with such ease. 

Smiling, Jerry came over and said, "I'm Jerry Smith, the manager 
of the store. It's my turn to interview you."

Surprised to learn that this man was the manager, the young man 
followed him to the back office and took the seat gestured at by 
Jerry. He looked back at the door and asked, "Is that common?"

"What?" asked Jerry fully aware of what the young man meant.

"For people around here to joke in such a racist manner," replied 
the young man. The big man scared him and he was concerned 
about how it would be to work for him. If the guy was a racist like 
the big guys that had picked on him when he was in high school, 
then he didn't really want to work here.

"Those two happen to be best friends. The only one they talk to 
like that is each other," said Jerry. After he had taken his seat 
behind his desk, he picked up the application and read the name of 
the young man on it, Carlos Hernandez. Leaning back in his chair, 
Jerry added, "Carlos, the first rule in working here is that the 
customer comes first."

"That makes sense," replied Carlos. He still wasn't easy about the 
conversation that he had overheard. 

Sensing the continued unease of the young man, Jerry said, "The 
second rule is that all employees must respect each other."

"Respect?" asked Carlos surprised to hear that from Jerry. What he 
had witnessed could not be called respect. 

"Yes, respect. Believe it or not, Howard and Martin both respect 
each other. In fact, Howard is going with Martin to pick out a new 
car tonight. Howard is the surfer dude and he wants to make sure 
that the car salesman doesn't rip off Martin. Like I said, they are 
close friends."

Carlos nodded as he thought about it, but he retained his doubts. 
He said, "If you say so."

"You'll see in time that some people have strange ways of 
interacting with each other." After a pause, Jerry added, "The third 
rule of working here is no druggies or drunks."

Carlos bristled and asked, "Are you saying that to me because of 
my race?"

"No. I'm telling that to you because I tell that to everyone that 
wants to work here," answered Jerry. 

"Okay," replied Carlos as he realized that this interview wasn't 
going well. The interview with Mike had gone much better. He 
wondered if he had already blown the job with his suspicious 
attitude. 

Jerry looked down at the application and said, "I notice that you 
have a little college under your belt."

"Yes, I do," replied Carlos thinking a little college was the right 
way to describe it. 

Jerry said, "Tell me about college."

"I started out the first semester going to school full time using 
money that I had saved over the summer. I had hoped that I would 
be able to work enough to pay for the next semester, but I was a 
little short in the spring so I went part-time. I was able to get one 
course over the summer. Last year, I could only afford two courses 
a semester. So after two years of going to the community college, 
I'm still a freshman," replied Carlos. He was proud of the fact that 
he was paying his own way through school, but ashamed to be 
taking so long.

Jerry frowned and leaned on his desk with both arms folded. He 
looked down and studied the surface of the desk. Looking up, he 
asked, "You'd like to continue to go to school, wouldn't you?"

"Yes, but I figure I can do it part-time," replied Carlos. "It might 
take me ten years, but I'm going to make something out of myself."

There was a real sense of pride in the young man and Jerry 
wouldn't be surprised if the kid made good on his statement. Jerry 
stared at the desk trying to decide what to do with the young man. 
He looked down at the application and noticed that the kid was 
working as a dishwasher at one of the restaurants. Looking up, he 
asked, "Would you mind stepping out of the office for a minute? 
There's a couch out there for you to sit on."

After Carlos stepped out of the office, Jerry stuck his head out and 
shouted, "Mike, could you come here for a minute? Let Karen pull 
orders for a few minutes."

Jerry returned to the office and sat down behind his desk to wait 
for Mike to show up. It was a few minutes before Mike entered the 
office, closing the door behind him. Jerry asked, "Would you hire 
him?"

"Sure. He seems like a smart young man to me. I think he would 
be a real asset. He wants to work with computers and we can 
definitely use some help in that area." 

"I agree that he'd be an asset. I'm just not sure that hiring him 
fulltime would be fair to him," replied Jerry. 

"Really?" asked Mike surprised by the comment.

"Yes. Let me see what I can work out with Mr. Sinclair," answered 
Jerry. He sighed and asked, "Do you really agree that he would be 
a good hire?"

"Yeah, I do. He seems driven to me and I'm sure that he'll finish 
college one day," replied Mike wondering why Jerry was so 
hesitant about hiring the kid. 

"Thanks," said Jerry when Mike confirmed what he thought about 
the applicant.

"No problem," replied Mike as he opened the door and left the 
office closing the door behind him. 

Jerry picked up the phone and called his boss. After a fifteen-
minute call, Jerry hung up with a smile on his face. His boss had 
gone for the idea without a single negative comment. He got from 
behind his desk and went to the door. Opening it, he called out, 
"Carlos, would you come back in here?"

Carlos entered the room and waited while Jerry went back to his 
desk. He didn't sit down until Jerry gestured to the chair. Jerry, 
sitting on the edge of the desk, said, "The position that we are 
looking to fill is a fulltime sales position. I don't think it would be 
fair to you for you to take that full-time position."

A hurt expression flashed over the young man's face as he heard 
the assessment. Numb, he asked, "Why?"

"I think it will hold you back from what you want to do," answered 
Jerry. He looked down at the floor as he collected his thoughts 
before looking back up at Carlos. He said, "I called my boss about 
this situation and he agreed with my suggested solution to this 
problem."

Confused, Carlos asked, "Solution?"

"Yes. I'm prepared to offer you a job working three days a week at 
three-fifths salary. That would give you two or three full days a 
week and evenings to go to school with sufficient money to pay for 
your courses. I imagine that if you are thrifty, there will be some 
left over for you," stated Jerry. 

Carlos sat back staring at Jerry in shock. That was the last thing 
that he had expected after how the interview had gone. The man 
had offered him a dream. On second thought, he realized that it 
wasn't a dream he had been offered; it was the chance to pursue his 
dream. He said, "Thank you."

"Aren't you curious how much it pays?"

It had to pay better than washing dishes at a chain restaurant 
competing for a job with undocumented workers. He said, "How 
much?"

"Twenty-one thousand a year," answered Jerry as Carlos sagged in 
his chair breathless at the amount.
