Thunder and Lightening
Chapter 28
By
Lazlo Zalezac
Copyright (C) Lazlo Zalezac, 2004

The lawyer at the door groaned as he wondered for the thousandth 
time how he had ended up with Melissa and her mother as clients. 
Shaking his head, he said, "You got the better client in this mess."

Smiling, Jerry could understand what the man meant. He nodded 
his head and said, "I'm here to pick her up."

"Come in," replied the lawyer as he opened the door. 

Jerry stepped into the house and looked around. Horrible memories 
of coming here on holidays returned to him. This place had been 
the scene of lots of abuse with him the subject of most of it. He 
wondered how many that times he had been called a loser inside 
the walls of this house. 

His mother-in-law had been a hard-hearted woman. He 
remembered the funeral after his father-in-law had committed 
suicide, leaving behind a note that he preferred death to spending 
his retirement at home. He had a glimpse into the true character of 
his mother-in-law when she had not been the least bit upset, saying 
only that her husband had always been a weak man and was better 
off dead.

He could hear his daughter moving around in the living room. It 
was clear that she was not happy about the situation. He walked 
into the living room and said, "Hello, Melissa. I'm sorry about your 
grandmother. I know that you cared about her a lot."

"Oh, shut up. You hated her, just like you hate all women," 
retorted Melissa.

It would have been very hard to say that he liked his mother-in-
law, but he didn't hate her. The woman was evil and he had 
avoided her as much as possible. He wasn't going to make an issue 
out of it even though he was sorry to hear that she had died. He 
said, "I'm here to take you home."

"You're here to take me home? The greedy bastard lawyer told me 
that I was supposed to live with you instead of going home to 
mother where I belong," challenged Melissa.

"I guess I should have said that I was here to take you to my 
home," corrected Jerry. He wondered if the rage would return, but 
there wasn't any hint of it in the pit of his stomach.

Melissa had no idea where Jerry lived. For all she knew, he lived 
in a palace while making her and her mother live in that horrible 
little suburban home. She snarled, "Your home. Right."

Sighing, Jerry said, "Let's get your stuff into the car and I'll take 
you home."

Standing in the center of the room, Melissa pointed to four 
suitcases and said, "There's my stuff. We'll have to get a mover in 
here to get the rest of it."

"The rest of it?"

"Of course, I have a whole closet full of clothes and a couple of 
boxes of stuff that I haven't unpacked yet."

"Oh," replied Jerry as he looked at her. She had no idea what her 
life was going to be like when she moved in with him. He doubted 
the closet would hold all of the clothes that were in the suitcases.

She looked at him tapping her foot for a minute and then said, 
"Well."

"Well, what?"

"Load my suitcases in your car," ordered Melissa.

"If you haven't noticed, I've been injured and can't lift things until 
cleared by a doctor," replied Jerry irritated by her imperial attitude. 
He added, "If you want to take them with you, you had better get 
them out to the car."

"What?" she screeched. How dare he suggest that she try to carry 
those heavy suitcases? Her mother was right. He was an unfeeling 
brute that abused women by making them do all kinds of things 
that ladies shouldn't ever have to do.

"You're young and healthy. A couple of suitcases shouldn't be too 
difficult for you," replied Jerry. 

"Mother was right. You are an abusive ape. How dare you even 
suggest that I lower myself to do this when you are perfectly 
capable of doing it? I know that you can carry them without a 
problem."

His ex-wife's lawyer shook his head at her words. He stared at the 
sixteen-year-old girl unable to believe that she wouldn't even carry 
her own clothes out to the car. If she had been his daughter, he 
would have grounded her for a week. Looking over at the big man, 
he realized that Jerry was willing to stay there all day until she 
took the suitcases to the car. He wanted out of there and said, "I'll 
put them in the car."

Jerry looked at the lawyer thinking that this was how his ex-wife 
and his daughter got men to do things for them. They both 
possessed an abusive sense of offence that forced people to do 
their will than suffer the constant stream of abuse that would 
follow a refusal. She was going to have a rude awakening in his 
neighborhood. 

The two lawyers carried the bags out to his Camaro. She froze at 
the sight of his Camaro and the fancy paint job. She screamed, 
"There's no way I'm getting in that piece of trash! I want to go in 
my car."

Jerry following along behind the lawyer wondered what kind of car 
his daughter had. He asked, "What kind of car do you have?"

Behind him, his daughter said, "Because you are divorcing mom, I 
had to get a used BMW. Can you believe that I had to settle for a 
car that is two years old instead of brand new? I'm never going to 
be able to show my face around my friends."

Smiling at the fact that her car was only two years old, Jerry said, 
"My Camaro is older than you."

"Oh, God. You wouldn't dare expect me to get in that tacky 
looking thing."

"It's that or stay here," replied Jerry, knowing how much she hated 
the Camaro. Her mother had hated that car when he lived at home 
and Melissa had adopted the same attitude towards it. Despite all 
of their complaints, when he suggested getting a new car his wife 
had a fit. He was actually glad now that he hadn't gotten rid of the 
Camaro.

"You are white trash," she exclaimed, echoing a refrain that his ex-
wife had given voice more often than he wanted to remember. The 
comment no longer bothered him. Perhaps he was white trash. 
After all, he was happier living in the slums than he had ever been 
all the while he was living in the middle class suburbs.

Seeing the kinds of abuse that Melissa was throwing in the 
direction of his client, Tony gestured for Jerry to step away for a 
private talk. Wondering what his lawyer wanted, Jerry followed 
him to the garage. Once they were out of earshot of Melissa, Tony 
said, "You're going to have a tough time with that kid. She's as bad 
as her mother."

Looking back at the Camaro, Jerry watched as Melissa started 
lecturing the other lawyer about something. He frowned as he 
answered, "I know this is going to be rough. I'm afraid that she's 
going to scream child abuse or sex abuse as soon as we are alone."

"I didn't think about that, but I wouldn't put it beyond her," 
affirmed the lawyer. 

Jerry thought about the situation for a moment and said, "She can't 
move back to her mother since she is up on charges of child abuse. 
I guess she could be told that moving into a foster home is always 
a possibility if she doesn't like living with me. Of course, some 
disinterested person might point out the kind of things that can 
happen in a foster home, particularly to a young pretty girl."

His lawyer looked at him with a smile and said, "I suppose a 
disinterested person could mention that to her."

The men returned to the car to see how packing the luggage was 
going on. Melissa was not happy with having to move in with Jerry 
and she let that be known to everyone. It wasn't until the lawyer 
spoke with her about the options that she faced that Melissa 
understood just what a precarious situation she faced. She even 
admitted that she had planned to charge her father with child 
abuse.  Getting into the car with Jerry she sat as far from him as 
possible. 

The look of horror on Melissa's face when they drove into the 
neighborhood was priceless.  Glancing over at her, it was clear that 
she didn't believe that she would actually have to live there.  Her 
reaction was one of mixed fear and disgust. It was clear that she 
had no experience around blacks. When she saw his house with the 
car and the motorcycle in pieces under the oak tree, she turned and 
stared at Jerry fully convinced that he was white trash.   

He parked the car in the front yard. His daughter turned to him and 
asked, "This is where you live? What are you, some kind of white 
trash?" 

"You bet," answered Jerry with a smile. 

Bill came running out of the house to find out what his father had 
done while he was gone.  The young man froze and stared at his 
sister in shock at the fact that she was at the house. He didn't know 
that his grandmother had died and that his sister was coming to live 
with them. The idea that his sister would come visit them in this 
neighborhood ran counter to everything he knew about her. 

Jerry got out of the car and opened the trunk to remove the 
luggage. When Bill saw the luggage his shock turned to horror at 
the idea that his sister was going to be living with them.  He knew 
that his happy life was going to go downhill with his sister living 
in the house.  Seeing the luggage and knowing his sister, Bill 
realized that something must have happened to his grandmother for 
her to be moving in with them. 

Almost afraid to learn the truth, he asked, "What happened to 
grandmother?" 

"I'm afraid she died," answered Jerry.

The young man turned and looked at his sister wondering how she 
was dealing with the news.  She did not seem as upset about the 
death of his grandmother as he would have expected. It was easy to 
see that she was angry that she had been forced to move into this 
neighborhood with him and his father. Knowing her as well as he 
did, it was likely that the neighborhood bothered her more than the 
death of her grandmother.

His sister, looking at her brother, said, "You had better start 
moving my luggage into my new room." 

Looking at the luggage in the back of a car, he knew that if he did 
as she had demanded, she would be dictating his life for the next 
five years.  Bill laughed and replied, "No, I think you ought to start 
moving your luggage into your new room." 

Melissa turned her father and shouted, "You tell him to move my 
luggage into my room." 

"No, in this household everyone has to pull their own weight," 
replied the father understanding what was going on between the 
two siblings. This was an attempt to position herself as Queen Bee 
in the household, with Bill as a worker bee. No one was going to 
be a second class citizen in this house.

Jerry and Bill returned to the house leaving Melissa in the front 
yard standing beside the truck.  When the two had entered the 
house, Jerry turned to Bill and said, "Melissa is going to live in 
your old room."

Although he had already moved his stuff out of his old room, the 
announcement struck Bill as very unfair that he should have to 
give up his bedroom for Melissa. For the moment, he feared that 
his life was going to return to being a second class citizen in his 
own house. He complained, "Why should I be the one to give up a 
room for her?" 

Jerry smiled and answered, "You give up the room so that you get 
the one with the lock on the door. I recommend using the lock at 
all times."  

In the front yard, Melissa contemplated what she should do. After 
ten minutes, it became clear to her that neither her father nor 
brother would return to carry her luggage into the house. She 
wondered how they could dare treat her in that fashion.  It was so 
unfair that she had to do work that the men were supposed to do. 

Angry, Melissa picked up one of her pieces of luggage and carried 
it into the house. She made a huge production out of carrying her 
suitcase, complaining the entire time about how heavy it was.  Bill 
watched his sister with a disgusted look on his face.

On entering the house, she stared in shock at her surroundings. 
There was almost no furniture, the walls were bare, and the only 
lights were the ones built into the ceiling of the rooms. She turned 
and stared at the mangled bumper hanging on the wall not knowing 
what to make of it.

This hellhole was going to be her home until she was able to 
escape. The she noticed Bill watching her. She barked, "Where am 
I supposed to sleep?"

"In my old room," answered Bill. 

The answer brought a smile to her face. It was the first that she had 
given since she had learned that she was going to have to move in 
with her father. The idea that her brother had to move for her 
pleased her a little since that was the way that things were 
supposed to be.  Men were supposed to step aside for women.

Jerry went into the larger bedroom and moved the bags that held 
his clothes out of the room. He put the bags of clothes in the living 
room under the futon where they would be out of the way. Having 
his daughter move into the house was going to be rough. Two 
bedrooms were not enough for a house with a teenage girl, a 
teenage boy, and a middle-aged man. 

The next few hours were spent getting a new bed for Bill. The 
three of them had gone to one of the large furniture warehouses in 
town and picked out a simple bed for Bill. Realizing that they 
didn't have any kind of dresser drawers in which to store their 
clothes, Jerry bought three assemble your own dressers. Jerry had 
to pay a young man with a pickup truck to deliver the bed to the 
house since he couldn't wait three days for the store to deliver the 
furniture.

It was close to dinnertime when they finished moving furniture 
into Bill's bedroom.  Jerry looked over at Bill and asked, "Are you 
up for Mexican food?" 

Bill answered, "Of course I am." 

Turning to look at his daughter, Jerry asked, "How about you?"

"Yes, I can do with some Mexican food," answered his daughter 
realizing that she was hungry.  It amazed her that the two men 
actually ate out, since that was something white trash didn't do. 
After a minute, it dawned on her that he actually might be referring 
to a fast food place.  She decided that this meant that they were 
going to go to Poncho's Taco Heaven, but she was hungry enough 
that she didn't care.   

The three of them went outside to get into the Camaro. Melissa 
looked around and noticed that besides the car that was taken apart, 
the motorcycle, and the Camaro there were no other cars.  She 
wondered if Jerry still owned that creepy truck that he had driven 
to pick her up in that one time.  If he did, then where was it? She 
wondered if his crack whore girlfriend was driving it around.  

Bill got into the back seat of the car and waited for Melissa to get 
into it. He didn't want her sitting behind him where he couldn't see 
what she was doing. Glancing over at the old car, she asked, 
"Whose old car is that?" 

Bill answered, "That's my car." 

"Sure is ugly."

Bill laughed and replied, "It is now. When I'm done with it, it'll be 
an amazing looking car. I'm thinking of painting it yellow with red 
flames, but dad thinks it would look better if it is painted burgundy 
red. He might be right.  You should see the job that he did on the 
truck."

Melissa scoffed, "What do you know about nice cars?"

"I know a lot about nice cars, particularly classic cars like mine," 
replied Bill. He wasn't going to let his sister badger him or make 
him feel like a second class citizen.  She had played that game with 
him his whole life. The time spent around Sandy, Woody, and 
Larry had shown him that he was as good as anyone else.

Jerry got into the Camaro and headed off towards the restaurant.  It 
wasn't a long drive, but Melissa stared in horror at the 
neighborhood through which they drove. She couldn't believe that 
people would live in such rundown houses or on streets that 
weren't properly paved. As far as she was concerned, these people 
were living like animals. Then the thought dawned on her that she 
was living just like them. She wanted to cry, but there was no way 
that she was going to give her father and brother the satisfaction of 
seeing her weak.  

Jerry glanced over his shoulder at Bill and said, "I see that some of 
the people of been fixing up their houses."

"Yes, even big Ottis was painting his house earlier today.”

“Now that they own their own houses, they're taking a lot more 
pride in their places. I'm glad to see the neighborhood is getting 
nicer." 

The discussion shocked Melissa.  She could not believe that this 
neighborhood was an improvement over how it had been earlier. 
She stared at a house that had a plastic bag taped over the window. 
What kind of person could live in a house with plastic bags instead 
of glass windows?  She didn't know and didn't want to know.  

When they pulled into the parking lot of the Mexican restaurant, 
she stared in horror at the kind of place that they were eating.  This 
wasn't a proper chain or a high-end restaurant.  This was a family 
owned place that spoke of poverty and people just getting by while 
making a living. She was thoroughly convinced that this would be 
a place that served lots of greasy food that tasted foul and old.  

The reception that Jerry received when he entered the restaurant 
was amazing. This was the first time that he had returned to it since 
he had been shot. The owner of the restaurant, on seeing Jerry 
enter, had run over to him thanking him for hiring her cousin.  
Almost every patron in the restaurant knew what Jerry had done 
for Carlos. Few of them could believe that an Anglo would pay a 
Hispanic that much money to work and go to school. It was almost 
too good to believe. The owner couldn't speak English, but her 
excitement, tone of voice, and general manner conveyed 
everything she had to say.  

Jerry was surprised when Carlos came over from one of the tables 
in the back and invited them to join him at the family table. 
Melissa and Bill were surprised by the reception, since neither had 
known what Jerry had done for Carlos. Although Bill had no idea 
why the family reacted in such a positive manner, he just figured it 
was something that his father had done. While the kids were 
puzzled by the greeting, Jerry was totally overwhelmed by the nice 
reception. 

After Jerry had introduced everyone in his family to Carlos, Carlos 
introduced them to the rest of his family. They sat down at the 
table even as food-filled plates were set in front of them. The 
discussion flowed freely between Jerry and the Carlos family. Bill, 
with the confidence that came from having been accepted by 
others, was soon engaged in conversations with the others at the 
table that were his age. He started talking about his car that he was 
restoring. 

Melissa watched her father and brother as they relaxed and joked 
with complete strangers. She wondered how it was that they could 
possibly lower themselves to deal with Mexicans.  Mentally, she 
corrected herself and wondered how they could possibly socialize 
with wetbacks.  Her mother and grandmother would have been 
horrified to see her sitting in a restaurant surrounded by wetbacks. 

She was surprised by the quality of food that was served at the 
table. The tacos were nothing like she had ever experienced. The 
enchiladas were delicious. Even the beans and rice were better than 
any other Mexican restaurant.  Despite the fact that she was 
uncomfortable with people around her, she did enjoy the food. As 
she finished her meal, she thought that it was a shame that it wasn't 
a trendy spot so that she could return sometime in the future.

Jerry and Carlos were talking about his education and the potential 
for his advancement in the company. Carlos served as a translator, 
letting others in his family know some of the things that Jerry said 
at the table.  Jerry realized that it would be valuable for him to 
learn Spanish. The Hispanic community was small, but growing. 

Bill was learning Spanish in high school and realized that this 
would be an excellent opportunity for him to practice.  Although 
his accent was horrible, the people at the table appreciated his 
attempts to communicate in their own language. An hour of 
immersion in Spanish conversation was worth a month of classes. 

Throughout the meal and the time spent relaxing at the table 
afterwards, Melissa was tense and uncomfortable. She wanted to 
leave so that she could return to a better class of people.  It wasn't 
long before she was nudging Jerry in his side and said, "Let's go." 

Jerry considered her request. This had been a far harder day for her 
than for him. She had lost her grandmother, had been forced to 
move into a neighborhood that she didn't like, and was now sitting 
around a table full of strangers. He could see that the emotions of 
the day were catching up with her. Rather than argue, he said, 
"We'll leave in a minute." 

Turning to Carlos, Jerry said, "I'm afraid that I have to leave now.  
My ex-wife's mother passed away today and my daughter is rather 
upset about it."

Although Jerry wanted to pay for dinner, Carlos' family would hear 
nothing of it.  They insisted that he had become family for having 
treated Carlos so well. Jerry was honored by their sentiment. 
Looking over the large table filled with happy smiling faces, he 
realized that he gained more friends today.  It is a very touching 
moment for the big man and his eyes misted over.

He thanked them for their sentiment and told them how much he 
appreciated their kindness and goodwill. It continued to amaze 
Jerry when he was able to make new friends. It seemed that once 
people got beyond his large size, they found the man himself to be 
nice. He never thought of himself as a nice man, only as an angry 
big man. The thought came to him that maybe he was the one who 
was fixated on the fact that he was big and that maybe others didn't 
really care. The idea was startling. 

They returned to the house and found Sharon waiting for them. She 
had seen the activity around the house earlier and wanted to 
welcome Jerry's daughter to the neighborhood. She smiled and 
said, "Hello. You must be Jerry's daughter." 

It wasn't until Melissa stepped out of the car and looked at Sharon 
that the black woman realized that she might not want to know the 
young woman. The look the younger woman gave her conveyed 
total contempt. She knew enough about Jerry's past to know that 
the relationship between Jerry and his daughter was not very good.

Jerry answered, "Sharon, I would like you to meet my daughter 
Melissa.  Melissa, this is my neighbor Sharon."  

Sharon, smiling at Melissa, said, "Welcome to the neighborhood." 

The young woman stared at the black woman wondering who she 
was and how she knew Jerry. She immediately decided the black 
woman was the crack whore that her mother was always talking 
about. The idea that anyone in her family would associate with 
blacks was very disturbing to her. She turned her back to ignore 
the older woman. Her body language and her lack of words 
conveyed the young woman's true feelings.  

Jerry shrugged his shoulders in apology. He didn't want to 
apologize for his daughter's behavior and he didn't want to 
confront his daughter with her the prejudice in public. However, he 
couldn't allow her to treat his friends in such a disrespectful 
manner. In a patient tone of voice, he said, "Sharon is a friend of 
mine. It's polite to say hello when you're introduced to a friend of 
your father."

"I don't have to talk with a nigger!" Melissa shouted.  

Stunned by her announcement, Bill, Jerry, and Sharon stared at 
Melissa with wide eyes. The young woman glared back as though 
to challenge them to say anything. The entire neighborhood 
became quiet as eyes turned to watch what was going on in the 
front yard. 

Even though the rage was gone, Jerry discovered that he still could 
get angered. In a low voice that conveyed his anger, he said, 
"Sharon, you have my permission to slap her."

Sharon shook her head in disgust at the woman standing in front of 
her. She couldn't blame Jerry for the actions of his daughter, but 
that a daughter of his could possibly talk like that disturbed her. In 
a cold voice, she replied, "Not this time."

Melissa had turned to her father and said, "How dare you give 
permission for a nigger to lay her hands on me! You may enjoy 
being around wetbacks and niggers, but I don't."

Knowing how the other kids in the neighborhood would react the 
first time she said anything like that to them, Bill said, "Mel, you 
are such a bitch. You are also so fucked."

Unconscious of their actions, Bill and Jerry stepped away from 
Melissa wanting to put as much distance between them and her as 
possible. Even Sharon backed away from the young woman as her 
eyes looked around the neighborhood. 

Shaking his finger at her, his deep gravely voice reverberated 
through the night air as Jerry shouted, "You better learn respect for 
people that are better than you. One of these days, you're going to 
realize that just about every damn person on this planet is better 
than you are. You had better apologize to Sharon right now."

His words had no effect on her. She looked around and realized 
that she was standing ten feet from everyone else. Wondering if 
this was some sort of rude behavior, she asked, "Why are you 
backing away?"

With a snort, Bill answered, "We don't want to get shot."

"What?" the young woman screeched while looking around in fear. 
She only then realized the effect that her words might have on the 
neighbors. The angry looks on the people in the neighborhood sent 
a chill down her spine. 

"You're lucky I don't have a gun. You'd be dead already," replied 
Bill in disgust. If his sister destroyed his friendships in this area, 
her life was going to be absolutely miserable; he would make sure 
of that.

Far angrier than he thought possible without the rage, Jerry barked, 
"Bill, take your sister in the house."

Bill went to the front door and unlocked it. He went inside not 
looking to see if his sister entered with him. As far as he was 
concerned, if she chose to stay out there then it was her problem. 
Jerry watched as his daughter followed his son into the house. She 
walked as if she were a princess and was the victim in this entire 
episode.

Shaking his head, he said, "I apologize Sharon. She's just like her 
mother."

"I can understand why you left your ex-wife. God, that girl is one 
mean spirited bitch," replied Sharon shaking her head as the anger 
slowly dissipated. Afraid of saying things that she would regret 
later, she said, "I'm going home."

Head down in defeat, Jerry watched her walk off. He was afraid 
that he had lost a good friend. Looking up, he spotted Mr. Atkins 
across the street watching him to see what he would do. Jerry 
walked across the street fully expecting the old man to return to his 
house.

Approaching the old man, Jerry nodded and said, "Mr. Atkins. I 
need advice."

"Wha' cha want?" asked the old black man, his accent making it 
difficult to understand his reply. He stared at the large man 
wondering what he really wanted from him. There was no way that 
a white man would actually come over to ask for advice from an 
old black man.

"What should I do with her?" asked Jerry looking back at his 
house.

"Nutin ya kin do. She's rotted to da core.  Da kids 'ill hav' at 'er, 
tho," answered the old man shaking his head. Jerry had given him 
hope that things between blacks and whites were improving. It 
bothered him that Jerry's daughter had crushed that hope. 

"I'm sure they will. I can't blame them when they get mad," agreed 
Jerry. The kids in this neighborhood could be very violent when 
insulted. He shook his head and said, "She's just begging to get 
hurt."

"I'll 'ave a talk wid 'em dat dey ain't to kill or maim 'er."

The answer, once he figured it out, was not what Jerry had 
expected, but he wasn't going to argue. The old man was doing 
him and his daughter a very large favor by telling the kids not to 
kill or cripple her. There was no way that he could protect her from 
the other kids in the neighborhood. She was going to have to learn 
how to live with the consequences of her mouth. 

Nodding, he replied, "Thanks. Still, what should I do with her? I 
can't just throw her out on the street."

"She's ya kid?"

"I'm afraid so," answered Jerry sheepishly.

"Why she not bin her' b'fore?" asked the old man.

"Would you want her in your home?"

"Sheet no," replied the old man with a look of horror on his face.

"Same here," replied Jerry as he looked over at the house in 
disgust.

Mr. Atkins cackled at the comment and the look that Jerry had shot 
in the direction of the house. He was relieved to learn that Jerry 
didn't secretly agree with his daughter on the matter of race. He 
said, "Nutin' ya kin do. She's a bad seed."

"She's just like her mother."

Mr. Atkins asked, "How'd ya hook up wit her momma?"

"A thirsty man will drink a glass of piss if that's all he has," 
answered Jerry. He wasn't proud of his marriage with his ex-wife. 
He had lied to himself during the majority of the relationship and 
was still paying for that lie to this day.

Mr. Atkins burst out laughing. Jerry was concerned that the 
uncontrolled laughter of the old man was going to cause him to 
injure himself. Wiping tears from his eyes, Mr. Atkins said, "Sheet. 
Know wha' cha mean. He'll e'en call it, lem'nade."

The pair of men laughed for a moment. Jerry said, "It's hard to 
admit that you've been a fool. It's hard to deny when the 
consequences of that foolishness follow you for the rest of your 
life. I hope Sharon will forgive me and Bill."

The old man looked over at the house next to Jerry's. After a 
minute, he said, "Don' worry none 'bout Sharon. She's a goo' 
woman."

"Thanks. You're a good man, Mr. Atkins, and I value your advice."

The old man watched as Jerry lumbered back across the street. 
Tears came to his eyes, as that was the nicest thing that a white had 
ever said to him. Jerry was a physically big man, but he was even a 
bigger man inside. In a soft voice that didn't carry to Jerry, Mr. 
Atkins said, "Ya a good man, too."
