Thunder and Lightening
Chapter 44
By
Lazlo Zalezac
Copyright (C) Lazlo Zalezac, 2004

"Move?" asked Bill with a slight frown. 

"Yes, we’d have to move," answered Jerry. He reached over and 
grabbed one of the hot rolls. He ripped it apart and grabbed his 
butter knife. His control slipped as he buttered the roll with far 
more energy than benefited the roll or the butter. He hated the fact 
that the promotion required moving. He didn't want to move.

Silence descended on the table. Bill and Melissa turned to watch 
Jenny, hoping to take a clue on how to react from her. Neither one 
of the children were willing to express their absolute hatred of the 
idea of moving. Bill had managed to create a huge circle of friends 
at school and Melissa was beginning to get her life together. 

Jenny watched her husband as he tore apart the roll and buttered it. 
She smiled as she watched him attack his food, guessing exactly 
what was on his mind. In a soft voice, she said, "You don't have to 
take it."

"What do you mean?" asked Jerry startled by the suggestion. His 
ex-wife would have butchered him if he had even suggested that.

"I mean that you don't have to take the job," answered Jenny. She 
glanced at the kids and could see the relief spread across their faces 
upon hearing her answer.

Jerry put down the tattered remains of his roll and stared at Jenny. 
He wondered why she would suggest that he not take the 
promotion. Did she consider him unworthy of it? It had been his 
hope that she would support him through this terrible decision. 
Cautious, he asked, "Why do you say that?"

"Your happiness means everything to me and I can tell you one 
thing for sure - you would not be happy if you take that promotion. 
You've made a great life for yourself and us in this town. Your 
friends are here. You have a wonderful little side business with 
Henry. I know how much you enjoy producing those interior 
waterfalls. You'd be miserable moving away from here. Even 
giving up this house would tear you up inside," answered Jenny. 
She shook her head and said, "You don't really want that 
promotion."

"I've just settled into high school. It sure would be tough moving 
away now," commented Bill hoping to reinforce what Jenny was 
saying.

"Don't forget that Jenny has the restaurant. She'd have to sell it," 
added Melissa.

Jerry looked from one person to the next trying to decide if they 
were serious. After a long minute, he asked, "Do you mean you'd 
rather have me be a lowly manager in a small town store than an 
executive of a national chain?"

"I'd rather have you happy than miserable," answered Jenny. 
Shrugging, she added, "It doesn't matter to me what job title you 
have."

"What about the money?" asked Jerry.

"You'd have to double your salary just to break even after we give 
up our businesses here," answered Jenny.

"Yeah, you'd have double that again to pay for finding another 
slum house with a smart ass kid living next door. That's not to 
mention getting shot while closing down a crack house so you can 
regain your heroic stature in the slum," Bill quipped with a wink.

The image of going through all of that again made Jerry laugh. He 
replied, "You're right. It would require a lot more salary to go 
through that again."

"Are you going to turn it down?" asked Jenny. Holding their 
breaths, Bill and Melissa leaned forward to hear his answer. 

Jerry shook his head and answered, "I don't know. It just doesn't 
seem right to turn down a promotion. I've never heard of such a 
thing."

Disappointed, his family sat back and sighed at his answer. Jenny 
said, "Promise me that you'll put your happiness first when you 
think about it."

"I'll think about it."

"Promise me!"

Smiling at Jenny, Jerry knew he couldn't deny her anything. He 
replied, "I promise."

"Good, now eat. I'd hate for you to lose your strength and drop me 
when you are carrying me off to do nasty things to my body," 
replied Jenny with a smile.

Looking at his roll, Jerry answered, "I guess I kind of tore this roll 
up."

As Jerry absently ate his stew, Bill watched his father with 
concern. One of the things his father had drilled into him was that 
when you worked with tools, you needed to pay attention to what 
you were doing. It didn't look to Bill as if his father would be able 
to concentrate. He asked, "Are you sure that you want to work on 
the waterfall tonight?"

Realizing that he had zoned out, Jerry looked up at Bill and said, 
"Well, I might not work that much tonight, but I'll definitely talk to 
Henry."

"That's a good idea," commented Jenny. She knew that the two of 
them would talk in the mysterious manner of men. Henry would 
help him come to the right decision.

Breaking out of his silence, Jerry turned to Melissa and asked, "So 
are you worried about your date?"

"Not really," answered Melissa avoiding the truth. She was scared 
to death about her date, but wasn't going to admit it.

"Take your cell phone along. Call one of us if anything unpleasant 
happens," said Jerry not believing her denial for a minute.

"Got it with me," replied Melissa with a smile. It was good to 
know that her father was there for her. She glanced over at Bill and 
noticed that he was smiling. Curious what he found so humorous, 
she asked, "What's so funny?"

"Just picturing Ben Sanders and how he would react to seeing Dad 
or me angry if he does something bad," replied Bill. 

"Oh, I didn't think of that," replied Melissa. Undoubtedly Ben 
would wet his britches at the sight of her brother angry. She didn't 
even want to think of what Ben would do at the sight of her father 
angry with him. 

Jenny patted her arm and said, "Be happy that you have two 
protective men in your life."

"Okay, I guess," replied the young woman. She didn't really know 
why she should be happy, but she accepted Jenny's advice.

Jerry winked at Melissa and said, "No young punk is going to take 
advantage of my daughter against her will and get away with it. I 
doubt that any will try if they have an idea of what is waiting for 
them if they do."

"Oh," replied Melissa realizing what Jenny meant. 

Everyone finished eating at about the same time. After everyone 
cleared their plates from the table, Bill and Jerry washed dishes 
while Jenny and Melissa chatted over coffee. Since moving out, 
Bill and Jerry took care of the slum house while Jenny tended to 
take care of the big house. It was an unconscious division of labor, 
but one that worked well for them. For Jenny, coming to the slum 
house was like taking a vacation away from the house. 

The men had just finished the dishes when there was a knock on 
the door. Melissa answered it expecting to find Shauna. Instead it 
was Abe standing there with a large grin on his face. Stepping into 
the house, Abe said, "Hey you guys, you have to see my new 
motorcycle."

Surprised at the announcement, Jerry and Bill came out of the 
kitchen. Jerry asked, "New motorcycle?"

"Yeah, I got a new one," said Abe.

"What's wrong with the Indian?" asked Bill wondering if Abe had 
wrecked it or something.

Abe shook his head and answered, "Nothing is wrong with it. I just 
don't feel comfortable leaving it parked in public. I keep thinking 
that someone is going to steal it."

"Really?"

"Yeah, the other day I found myself taking a bus because I didn't 
want to drive the bike to the mall. Kinda stupid, isn't it?" 
commented Abe with a sheepish grin.

"Not at all," said Jerry. He understood that growing up in this 
neighborhood made one very aware of crime. He stepped to the 
front door and added, "Let's see the new bike."

The whole family trooped outside to check out the motorcycle. It 
was a new Honda street bike that was painted a dark blue. Bill 
whistled and said, "Nice."

"Thanks," said Abe. He was proud of the fact that he had been able 
to arrange the loan for the bike himself, although Henry had co-
signed for it. The past few months he had come to understand the 
importance of credit. 

"Very nice," said Jerry as he walked around the bike. It was a basic 
street bike, functional but not gaudy. 

"Well, I wanted something basic. I figured that if I wanted to show 
off, I could always drive the Indian," said Abe. 

Melissa looked over at Abe and said, "You're all dressed up. Are 
you going on a date?"

"Yeah," replied Abe. He added, "I've become quite popular with 
the ladies at school. It seems they like being able to go on a date 
without having to take the bus."

"I can imagine," remarked Jenny with a smile. She knew there was 
a little more to the story than that. Abe had become quite a catch in 
this area of town. He was going places and every young woman 
within three miles knew it.

Curious, Bill asked, "So who are you dating?"

"Ah, you don't know her. Her name is Tanya Crowley," answered 
Abe. 

From behind him, Shauna laughed as she asked, "You are taking 
out Bookworm Crawler?"

The unflattering reference to Tanya produced a flare of anger in 
Abe. He turned to Shauna and said, "Her name is Tanya."

"I'm just surprised that you went for brains over beauty," said 
Shauna with a grin. She shook her head at the idea of Abe going 
out with the smartest girl in school. 

"Hey, she's pretty," argued Abe. He knew that by dating Tanya he 
was going to get teased by a lot of the kids at school. Tanya had a 
reputation as being very straight-laced and studious. In his school, 
that was not a good thing.

Melissa asked, "She's a nerd?"

Although she would never have thought to apply the term to a 
black woman, Shauna answered, "Yes, she's a nerd."

Tanya was the first woman who actually challenged Abe to be a 
better person. She asked questions that made him think. They 
discussed topics that went beyond sex, drugs, and music. He was 
even keeping up with political events so that he could hold his own 
in discussions with her. Defensive, Abe said, "She has plans for the 
future. She wants to go to college and study engineering."

Smiling, Bill said, "Melissa has a date with a nerd, too."

"Way to go, girlfriend," exclaimed Shauna forgetting for the 
moment that it wasn't just the two of them talking. She was 
surprised at the announcement that Melissa had a date. Leaning 
over to Melissa she said in a voice that was a little louder than 
intended, "So you're finally gonna have someone to replace that 
vibrator I gave ya for your birthday."

Melissa, bright red in embarrassment, shot a look at the black 
woman as if she wanted to kill her. She had kept the vibrator 
Shauna had given her for her birthday a secret. She replied, "They 
don't know about that!"

Completely shocked by the revelation, Bill exclaimed, "Vibrator? 
You got a vibrator!"

Surprising everyone, Jerry said, "Hey. It's her business, not ours. 
Drop it everyone."

His words stopped all further teasing of Melissa and brought a 
smile to Jenny. She appreciated the way that he wouldn't let his 
daughter be teased about something so personal. Deflecting the 
subject of conversation, she said, "I hope you both enjoy your 
dates."

Looking forward to a nice evening with Tanya, Abe said, "I'm sure 
I'll have a good time."

"There's no way she's putting out," countered Shauna.

Abe shrugged to indicate that he didn't care whether he got laid or 
not. The fact of the matter was that he had gotten tired of the girls 
at school who used sex in exchange for attention. The more he 
studied at school, the less content he had become with respect to 
just getting by on as little as possible. That discontent extended to 
easy sex. He replied, "So what? Pussy is cheap."

The young black woman was quiet for a moment as she considered 
what he said. In a very serious voice, she replied, "You're right."

Jenny said, "You're both wrong."

"Why do you say that?" asked Shauna. 

"There are costs and there are costs. Even if something doesn't cost 
you a dime, it can still cost you your life. There are always 
consequences. Just because you aren't the one paying the price 
doesn't mean that it is free," replied Melissa.

"You mean like getting VD or AIDS?" asked Abe although he 
knew exactly what she meant. The last few times in bed with 
willing young ladies had been fun, but something was missing. 
He'd left the bed feeling empty, as though he had lost something.

"Or the girl getting pregnant or even losing respect for yourself," 
replied Jenny. 

Bill listened to the discussion with interest. He'd had a sexual 
relationship with Shauna that had been exciting, but without a 
future. In some ways he still felt weird about the relationship. He'd 
had fun, but couldn't talk about it with anyone. There hadn't really 
been an emotional connection and it still bothered him. 

"Perhaps you're right," said Abe. 

Silence was the only response that Shauna gave. Jenny put a hand 
on her shoulder and said, "It's time for us to get to work."

"Yes, ma'am," replied Shauna. She glanced at Bill, Melissa, and 
Abe in turn while wondering what they thought of her. 

"I'd better head out on my date," said Melissa deciding that the 
serious atmosphere was making her feel uncomfortable. She 
paused and looked at Abe. He had surprised her once again. She 
was amazed that he was dating a nerd. 

"Me too," said Abe as he went back to his bike. He looked over at 
Jenny and said, "Thanks."

"You're welcome," she replied. 

Abe started his bike and in the sudden noise, it was difficult to talk. 
Jerry leaned over and kissed Jenny. She knew that he was heading 
out and returned his kiss with a wink. Grabbing Bill by the 
shoulder, he headed down the street on the short walk to Henry's 
house. Abe roared past on his new motorcycle, waving an arm as 
he went by them. Jerry said, "Abe looks happy on that bike."

Bill was silent as he thought about what had been discussed. After 
a minute, he said, "You know that Abe doesn't believe that pussy is 
cheap, don't you?"

"He said it."

"I know, but I don't think he meant it the way everyone took it," 
said Bill. He wasn't sure exactly what he believed, but he knew 
that Abe wasn't really that shallow.

"How do you think he meant it?" asked Jerry.

"I think he meant that it was easy to get laid, but what he wanted 
was a little more difficult than getting laid," answered Bill with 
uncertainty. He thought some more as they walked around a 
pothole in the street. After a minute, he said, "It was interesting 
that his comment diverted everyone's attention away from Tanya."

"And Tanya is the one who he is dating," continued Jerry with a 
smile. 

The pair arrived at Henry's house and made their way to the garage 
in the back. Henry was already cutting a new frame with Denzel 
helping him. The young man was nervous around the table saw, 
eyeing it with more than a little fear. It hadn't always been that 
way. Initially, he had acted as though the saw was nothing more 
than a toy. After a couple of weeks of watching the young man 
play with the saw, Henry had thrown a ham on the blade. Shocked 
at the waste of expensive meat, Denzel had watched as the saw 
ripped it apart. Henry's only comment was that it could have been a 
human arm. Since then, Denzel understood the dangers of power 
tools and acted with far more care around the tools.

Jerry called out, "Hello, Henry, Denzel."

Denzel didn't look up from the saw, but answered, "Hi."

Henry finished the cut and set the board over to the side. Turning 
off the saw, he turned and said, "I was wondering if you were ever 
going to show up."

"We were talking with Abe about his new motorcycle and his date 
tonight," replied Jerry. Jerry moved into the garage and picked up 
the anvil. With a grunt, he carried the anvil out of the garage. 
Although it was heavy, he enjoyed the feel of muscles working 
together. 

Denzel said, "I really like the new bike. I've been thinking that I'll 
get one now that I have a job and all."

Setting the anvil in place, Jerry asked, "How are your grades?"

"I got all B's and a C," answered Denzel. He would have been 
embarrassed except that it was the best report card he had received 
in several years. It had amazed him how much Henry and Jerry 
emphasized grades as part of working for them. 

Nodding, Henry said, "That's a real improvement. I'm proud of 
you."

"How do you feel about your grades?" asked Jerry as he went back 
into the garage to get the ball-peen hammer and a block of wood. 
He and Bill were going to dimple a piece of copper plate that 
evening. Bill put on his gloves and picked up the sheet of copper. 

"Pretty good, actually," replied Denzel. It had been a lot of work to 
bring the grades up to that level. He had been way behind in his 
classes and had spent the past six months catching up to where he 
needed to be. His past few tests had actually been low A's, but they 
had been offset by the low grades made earlier in the quarter.

Bill asked, "Did you talk to your math teacher?"

"Yeah, but she kind of blew me off," answered Denzel. 

"Do you want Jerry or me to talk to her?" asked Henry with a 
frown. He didn't like hearing about teachers who didn't respond in 
a positive manner when a student asked for help to better master 
the material being taught in class.

"That might help," answered Denzel. He knew the teachers thought 
of him as a smart-ass and screw-up. Shrugging, he said, "She's got 
a point. I was a fuck up for most of the year."

Henry and Jerry exchanged a look before Jerry said, "We'll both go 
there."

"Shit, she'll crap in her pants if both of you show up," commented 
Denzel. Noticing Henry pointing over to the lumber pile, he went 
over to select the next piece of wood they were to cut. 

Grinning at the statement, Bill placed the copper sheet over the 
wooden block on the anvil. He wasn't going to make a comment, 
but he had a good idea what his father or Henry was going to say.

"Sometimes you need someone to stand up for you when others 
doubt your sincerity about changing for the better," said Henry 
with a grin. He added, "It helps if they have a little credibility with 
the authorities."

Jerry and Bill turned to the piece of copper. With a steady pace, 
Jerry began to dimple the sheet of metal. Bill moved the sheet so 
that the new place to strike was always dead center. The muted 
ding of the hammer hitting the metal sheet filled the air. Behind 
them, Henry turned on the saw. Between the two sources of noise, 
all chance for conversation was killed.

The group made rapid progress on preparing the materials for the 
waterfall. Bill and Jerry took turns dimpling the metal sheet. Henry 
and Denzel worked side by side sanding down the frame. After 
several hours, Jerry called out, "Let's take a break."

Relaxing, Jerry and Henry took seats on a couple of chairs while 
Bill went to the house to ask Sharon for some soft drinks. Denzel 
watched as the two big men settled into their chairs. Jerry said, "I 
got offered a promotion today."

"Congratulations," said Henry.

"It requires me to move," said Jerry as he leaned down to rest his 
elbows on his knees and his chin on his clasped hands. 

Denzel was about to react to the announcement. He knew that if 
Jerry left, his job was history. He held his tongue and listened as 
Henry asked, "They're making you a district manager?"

"No, an executive in charge of modernizing their operations," 
answered Jerry shaking his head at the idea.

"I take it you don't want to move," observed Henry.

"Damn straight," replied Jerry stating plainly how he felt about 
moving.

"What's the pay?"

"I don't know. I have to negotiate for it," said Jerry. 

"Shit, that means it's a pretty important position," commented 
Henry. He'd heard about how top executives in large companies 
negotiated their compensation. 

"Yeah, I guess so," said Jerry.

"You'll be getting a six figure salary," commented the big man 
trying to imagine what it would be like to make that much money. 

Denzel stared at Jerry incredulous that anyone who had lived in 
that neighborhood was going to earn that much money. He was 
speechless when Jerry said, "Yeah. I expect that I could probably 
get around two hundred thousand a year."

"Sounds about right," commented Henry. 

"Shit man, you'll be living in a damned mansion," spouted Denzel. 

Shaking his head, Henry countered, "Denzel, what do I do for a 
living?"

"You're a garbage man," replied the young man curious why Henry 
would bring that up.

"That's right boy. Now, you might not think much of me being a 
trash man, but it gives me a different perspective on things," said 
Henry looking over at Denzel. 

Sensing that he was going to hear something significant, Bill sat 
down and watched Henry. The big man nodded in his direction 
before continuing, "You see, I pick up the trash behind the houses 
of rich men and poor men. Being a thoughtful man, I notice things. 
Would you like to know what I've noticed?"

"Sure," answered Denzel with more than a little skepticism. He 
wondered what kind of observations about rich folks that a garbage 
man could make. 

"There's not much difference in the trash that rich folks throw 
away and that the poor folks toss," said Henry. He slapped his knee 
to emphasize his point.

The statement struck Denzel as stupid. What did trash have to do 
being rich? Denzel frowned and then asked, "What do you mean?"

"I mean that I see the same kind of trash in both places. After you 
buy something, you take it out of the box, and then throw out the 
box. I see the same kinds of boxes in both places. That tells me that 
rich folks and poor folks buy the same kinds of things," explained 
Henry.

"Surely rich folks are buying shit that we can't," argued Denzel.

"Nope. They buy the same kind of things. Rich folk buy televisions 
and so do poor folks. The televisions might be a little bigger and 
more expensive, but it is still a television. The rich folks might 
even buy two of them. Same thing goes with stereos, clothes, and 
all kinds of other stuff. The only difference I see is in terms of 
quality and quantity," said Henry while watching the reaction of 
his younger audience.

Jerry nodded as he thought about it and realized his friend was 
correct. He didn't have anything at home that the people in this 
neighborhood didn't have. He remembered when Martin explained 
to him about going to the pawnshop to buy electronics for his 
home. 

Denzel said, "They buy shit like caviar."

"You want to eat fish eggs, boy?" asked Henry. He used the term 
'boy' when he wanted to make sure that he had Denzel's attention. 
He knew it irritated the young man, but it also got his attention.

"Fuck no," said the young man with a grimace on his face at the 
idea of eating fish eggs.

"So it would be safe to assume that you wouldn't be buying caviar 
if you were rich," said Henry. It was his way of pointing out that 
even if you could buy something it didn't mean that you 
automatically went out and bought it.

"Caviar is fish eggs?"

Seeing the expression on the young man's face, Jerry chuckled. 
Henry and Bill were having a hard time keeping straight faces at 
the look of disgust on the young black man's face. Jerry answered, 
"Yes."

"Shit, white folks are crazy. Who ever heard of eating fish eggs," 
said Denzel shaking his head in amazement. He wondered if they 
ate them scrambled, over-easy, or hard-boiled. That explained why 
white folks required maids -- they'd need a maid to crack enough 
of the little fish eggs to make a meal.

"I've never had caviar," said Jerry.  

"I didn't mean that you was crazy. Shit, you aren't a regular white 
guy," said Denzel.

The comment brought a chuckle to Jerry, Henry, and Bill. Winking 
at his friend, Henry said, "Yeah, he's not a regular white guy."

"I'm bigger than most," commented Jerry winking back at Henry. 
The large black man chuckled and shook his head. 

"You know what I mean. You're a regular guy," said Denzel. It 
took a moment for him to realize that he had come to think of Jerry 
as a person rather than as 'the man.' He wondered when he had 
changed his opinion of Jerry. 

Turning to Jerry, Henry asked, "So what are you going to do?"

"Jenny said that I don't have to take the job. She thinks that I 
would be miserable," answered Jerry. He took a sip of his drink 
and added, "I have to agree with her."

"Are you crazy?" asked Denzel shocked at the idea that someone 
could turn down a job that paid that much money. 

"I haven't decided anything, yet," replied Jerry with a shrug. 

As if arguing for him to take the job, Henry said, "Opportunities 
like that only come along once in a lifetime."

"That's true," said Jerry.

"Never come along if you're a black man," said Denzel as if he 
were an authority on the subject.

"It'll never come along with an attitude like that. You talk that way 
in front of your bosses and they'll fire you in a minute," said 
Henry. It was hard to believe, but Henry had become used to 
dealing with Abe and the young man picked up on things a lot 
faster than most kids picked up on them. Frustrated, he said, "You 
been listening to us talk about life and such around here for six 
months. Sometimes I wonder if you're ever going to learn a thing."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Most jobs are jobs where you make money for the company you 
work for. That's why they hire you. If you're a good and hard 
worker, you can make the company a lot of money. The whole 
purpose of a business is to make money. It only makes good 
business sense to promote good workers to a position where they 
can make even more money for the company," said Jerry. 

Nodding his agreement, Henry said, "You go into a job with the 
attitude that they won't promote you, then you do just enough to 
get by and earn your paycheck. Of course, they won't promote that 
kind of person. It's stupid to give a mediocre performer a 
promotion when there are harder workers all around them."

Denzel stared at Henry and argued, "You're a fucking garbage 
man. What do you know about promoting people?"

"Boy, think for one minute before you open your mouth. This is a 
business and we are making these waterfalls to sell. Although we 
enjoy making these things, Jerry and I are in it to make money. We 
got you, Bill, Shauna, and Jenny working for us. When we start to 
grow, we're going to have to hire more people. Who do you think 
we'll make a manager? The one that busts his ass and learns every 
aspect of the business or the guy that just wants to learn his job and 
get by?"

He leaned towards Denzel. Jabbing a finger in the young man's 
direction to make his point, Henry said, "And don't think for one 
minute that I’m a racist!"

