Thunder and Lightening
Chapter 26
By
Lazlo Zalezac
Copyright (C) Lazlo Zalezac, 2004

It was a beautiful Sunday morning when Jenny pulled into a picnic 
area at the local lake. Jerry still couldn't drive and it was beginning 
to frustrate him. It was hard to accept that he couldn't take care of 
himself or do any of the simple things that he had always taken for 
granted. His leg had healed and he could walk without the cane, 
but he still wore a cast on his shoulder and left arm. The cast made 
it impossible for him to steer and shift at the same time. It was one 
of the downsides of manual transmissions.

Henry pulled into the space next to theirs as Sharon waved at them 
from the passenger seat. Sharon, Abe, and Henry got out of the car 
and looked around at the picnic area. There were two cement 
picnic tables separated by forty feet. Next to each table was a 
barbecue grill. It was a nice quiet site, isolated from the other 
picnic areas by a small stand of oak trees. Jerry walked over to 
Henry and looked over the water. This was his first picnic and just 
the idea that he was on a picnic pleased him more than he could 
put into words.

Coming up behind him, Jenny wrapped an arm around Jerry's good 
arm and leaned against him. Abe and Bill were moving around 
checking out the sights. This was a novel experience for both of 
them and the urge to act like kids combated with their desire to act 
like adults. Jenny said, "Let's unload the car so that we can relax."

"That's it. Make the men work on their day off," replied Jerry with 
a fake groan. 

Jenny laughed and hit him lightly on his good shoulder. She said, 
"You can always get the boys to do it."

Getting the hint, Henry called out, "Boys, unload the picnic gear."

The two boys groaned, but went to the task with the energy of 
teenage boys. It didn't take them long to carry the food to the table 
and put the bag of charcoal next to the grill. When the boys had 
finished, Jerry made a sound like a cave man and, in a guttural tone 
of voice, grunted, "We go burn meat now!"

Jenny and Sharon laughed as Henry, imitating Jerry, added, "We 
burn meat good!"

The little gathering of adults broke up with the women going to the 
picnic table to set out the food as the men went to pursue the manly 
art of cooking meat over a fire. The boys went over to a grassy 
area and started throwing a Frisbee back and forth. They missed 
catching the saucer shaped disk as often as they caught it.

Over at the grill, Henry piled the charcoal briquettes into a nice 
hill. This charcoal was the kind that didn't require lighter fluid to 
ignite. Jerry watched and said, "I can't wait to get this blasted cast 
off."

"I can understand that. Still, it's amazing that you're still alive. 
You're lucky they were using .22s rather than .45s," replied Henry. 
He put a match to the charcoal and small flames started where the 
match touched the charcoal. There wasn't the flare up that was 
typical of lighter fluid. In a way, it was disappointing. He said, "It 
just isn't the same without the startup flare of fire."

Jerry couldn't agree more and replied, "Yeah, I know what you 
mean. It makes barbecuing seem too safe."

The large black man looked over at Jerry and shook his head. He 
said, "I figured after your experiences, you'd rather live a little 
safer."

"Hey, I've been sitting on my ass for so long that anything would 
be an improvement. I can't drive. It takes me twenty minutes to get 
dressed in the morning. I can't wash the dishes."

Henry knew that his big friend was frustrated. It was hard for him 
to imagine being unable to use his strength on need, much less 
being unable to do simple everyday tasks. Men who were used to 
being strong felt particularly vulnerable when weak. He asked, "So 
what's happening on the legal front?"

"They've confiscated all of Benson's assets in the neighborhood 
because they are associated with drugs. My lawyer has just about 
negotiated a deal with the government agency that took over 
houses that they sell them to the current renters."

"How come they took the houses?"

"Benson was using them in a money laundering scheme associated 
with selling drugs. He was claiming higher rents than people were 
paying and declaring property improvements that had never been 
made," answered Jerry. He wasn't fully aware of all the things that 
had been going on, but his lawyer was working hard on the issue.

"So how much are the houses going to cost?"

"From what the lawyer was saying, it should be under $5,000."

"Shit, everyone should be able to buy the house for that price," 
remarked Henry surprised at the price. He couldn't believe that 
Jerry was working that hard on behalf of his neighbors. 

"That's what I thought. I figure that if people own their homes, 
then we won't have anymore crack houses opening in the 
neighborhood. I'd like to keep creeps like Benson out of the area."

The men fell silent thinking their own thoughts as they watched the 
charcoal burn down to glowing red coals that were soon covered 
with a thin layer of gray ash. Jerry was thinking about the changes 
that would occur within the neighborhood. Henry was thinking 
about the character of the man beside him. 

Satisfied that the coals were ready, Henry spread them into a nice 
even layer across the bottom of the grill. He placed a layer of 
aluminum foil over the grill. While Henry was getting the grill 
ready, Jerry walked over to the table and asked, "Where's da beef?"

Jenny laughed as she handed over the plate of hamburger patties to 
Jerry while juggling a pair of cokes. After Jenny placed the cokes 
in the sling supporting his cast, he carried the burgers over to 
Henry. Jerry was left holding the plate while Henry placed the 
burgers on the foil. Once the plate was empty, Jerry tried to figure 
out what to do with it now that he was stuck with the empty plate 
and two cokes in his sling. Smiling at him, Henry reached over and 
took a coke. With a broad grin that showed off his white teeth, he 
opened the can and then said, "Hum, this coke sure is cold. Too 
bad you can't hold the plate and drink your coke at the same time."

Growling, Jerry took the plate back to the table and fished the coke 
out of the sling. He had to set it on the table and then open it one 
handed. Picking up the can, he returned to the fire as he grumbled, 
"One of these days I'm going to get you back."

"Just giving you a hard time because you've made my life a living 
hell," replied Henry with a grin.

"How did I do that?" asked Jerry confused by the statement. 

"Ever since you proposed, Sharon has been after my ass to propose 
to her," answered the black man. He shook his head and said, "I 
thought I was strong until I met that woman. Damn, she's 
tenacious."

The comment brought a smile to Jerry's face. He asked, "So when 
are you going to ask her?"

Henry looked around and saw that Sharon was over at the picnic 
table talking to Jenny. In a half whisper, he answered, "Today."

The answer took Jerry by surprise since he hadn't realized the 
relationship had progressed to that point. He replied, "That's great."

Henry said, "We'll see. The whole idea of getting married scares 
the hell out of me. I keep wondering if I'm making a mistake."

Well aware of what constituted a mistake, Jerry smiled at his friend 
and replied, "I'll introduce you to my ex-wife. Then you'll know 
that you've picked a good one."

Henry turned the burgers to let them cook on the other side. The 
aroma of cooking beef filled the air making the men hungry. Henry 
called out, "The burgers will be done soon. Is everything else 
ready?"

Sharon answered, "Everything is set out."

Jerry returned to the table and set down his coke so that he could 
carry the plate over to the grill. Grabbing the plate, he returned to 
the grill and held it out for Henry to put the burgers on it. The day 
couldn't come too soon when the cast would be removed. It was 
exceptionally frustrating not to be able to do even some of the 
simplest tasks. 

The pair of men returned to the table with the burgers. Jerry called 
out, "Boys, lunch is ready!"

The two young men came running to the table hungry and ready to 
eat. They looked over the food piled on the table with feral eyes 
that conveyed the hunger in their stomachs. Sharon and Jenny had 
prepared perfect picnic foods and the boys were not disappointed 
by what they found there.

The boys were hoping they would get to go fishing after lunch, so 
they could hardly wait to eat. Jerry was looking forward to fishing 
more than anyone else was. It had been years since he had gone 
fishing and he planned to resume with a passion once his cast was 
removed. Bill said, "Let's eat and go fishing."

Looking in the direction of the adults, Abe suggested, "Maybe we 
can fish while we're eating."

Henry laughed at the impatience of youth and replied, "You've got 
to take a little time to enjoy these burgers. You don't get the chance 
to eat a spread like this very often. There's lots of time to go 
fishing."

Everyone piled their plates high with potato salad, coleslaw, and 
pickles. There was barely enough room left on the plates for the 
hamburgers. As they ate, they talked about little things. Sharon 
was telling Jenny how much she loved the car that Martin had 
bought with the money from the sale of the Caddy. Henry and 
Jerry discussed the next water fountain that they would make while 
trying to figure out how they could speed up the process. Bill and 
Abe talked about fishing, summer vacation, and their restoration 
projects.

Lunch passed quickly and as soon as everyone was done eating, 
Abe said, "Let's go fishing."

Jenny smiled at the two young men and knew that wild horses 
wouldn't hold them back from going fishing. She said, "You boys 
can go and we'll clean up here."

There was nothing slow about the reaction of Abe and Bill to 
Jenny's permission. It didn't take them long to get the four poles 
and two tackle boxes out of the trunk. They even beat the men to 
the side of the lake. Jerry sat down on the ground as Henry took 
care of preparing the poles and baiting the hooks. Awkwardly, Abe 
and Bill cast their lines into the water, watching as the bobbers 
settled down. 

Henry explained, "You boys have to sit here real quiet and watch 
those bobbers. When the bobber goes under the water, you reel it 
in."

For a long time, no one said anything while they watched their 
bobbers and thought their thoughts. The silence was interrupted 
when the women came over to where the men were fishing. Sharon 
put her hands over Henry's eyes and said, "Guess who!"

"Must be Busty from over at the Titty Bar," replied Harry trying to 
keep a straight face.

Sharon moved her hands down to his throat and acted like she was 
going to strangle him. He laughed and then teased, "Definitely 
Busty from the Titty Bar."

"I give up," laughed Sharon. 

Henry turned to look at Jenny for a second as he considered what 
he was going to say to her. With a smile on his face, he asked, 
"Why don't you watch my pole for me? I'd like to take a walk with 
this amazon woman who has just tried to throttle me."

Wiggling her eyebrows at Sharon, Jenny answered, "Sure. I'll 
watch your pole."

Picking up on the joke, Sharon interjected, "You better make sure 
that you're watching the right pole."

Jenny giggled and answered, "Darn, you're taking all the fun out of 
this."

Jerry watched Henry stand up and gave him a wink understanding 
what the black man was going to do. Henry nodded back as he put 
an arm around Sharon and led her away. It was easy for him to see 
that the large man was nervous about what he was going to do, 
although it appeared that Sharon had not noticed it. 

Observing a little movement in the water, Jenny sat down next to 
Jerry and, with a giggle, asked, "So which pole am I supposed to 
watch?"

"Tough question. I know which one I'd like you to watch, but you 
promised Henry that you'd watch his. It is the one right in front of 
you," he replied looking at her the entire time.

"Oh, so I guess your pole is the one with the fish on it."

Jerry looked over to where his bobber was supposed to be, but it 
was deep underwater. He shouted, "Bill, grab my pole and reel in 
the fish!"

Bill reached over and started reeling in the line. He hadn't set the 
hook and by the time the fish was close enough to grab, it jumped 
out of the water and then landed without the hook in its mouth. It 
was gone in a flash. The excitement that it created lasted a lot 
longer than the entire event. Bill was disappointed not to land the 
fish. Apologizing, he said, "I'm sorry. I guess I don't know how to 
reel in a fish."

"Hey, it's your first time. You didn't know to set the hook. My fault 
that I didn't tell you that." It had been years since Jerry had been 
fishing and he had forgotten to explain to the kids how to fish. In 
fact, all of what he remembered was only then coming back to him.

"So how do I set the hook?" asked Bill. Abe turned to listen to the 
answer. This was his first time fishing, too.

"You have to yank back on the line using a motion like this," 
answered Jerry as he demonstrated one handed. He said, "You 
should use two hands to do it, though."

"So it's your fault that it got away?" asked Bill wanting to make 
sure that everyone knew who was at fault.

"Hey, now you can talk about the one that got away. Hold your 
hands apart to about the size of the fish that you saw," suggested 
the father with a lopsided grin.

Bill held his hands out about seven inches apart wondering why he 
was doing it. Jerry said, "Oh, I think that fish was twice that big."

Smiling as he realized what his dad was saying, he held his hands 
about three times as far apart. He said, "I think it was about this 
big."

"It's always the big ones that get away," said a grinning Abe as he 
picked up on the joke.

With an artificial sigh, Jenny said, "Isn't that the truth."

"Hey," replied Jerry, "you weren't saying that last night!"

"Gross. I don't want to hear about that kind of stuff!" complained 
Bill while making a face at his father.

"If you think that is bad, you should hear Henry and mom when he 
spends the night. Shit, there are times when I want to get sick," 
retorted Abe. 

The boys were about to get into a competition of extreme 
exaggeration when a loud scream cut through the air. It sounded 
like a woman reacting in surprise to almost stepping on a snake or 
something. Everyone jumped except Jerry, who burst out laughing. 
Jenny asked, "What's so funny? It sounded like someone was hurt."

"I think Henry just proposed to Sharon."

"What?"

"I think Henry just proposed to Sharon."

Jenny hit him on his good arm and shouted, "You knew that he 
was going to propose and you didn't tell me?"

Giving her his best thousand watt smile, he answered, "I didn't 
think you wanted to know."

Jenny let loose with a scream and stood up ready to tell him off 
before she realized that he was teasing her. She could hear little 
screams of excitement coming from Sharon as she made her way 
back to the picnic area. Jenny turned and ran to meet her halfway 
making similar little screams as she ran. Sharon was pointing to 
her finger and the ring that adorned it with excitement. 

Jerry turned to look at the two women gesturing and talking 
excitedly. Henry was walking back alone, having been left behind 
by his excited fiancee. He was giving forth a deep rolling laugh as 
he watched the women dance around sharing the news. 

He sat down next to Jerry and said, "I'm going to interpret her 
scream as a yes."

While Jerry laughed at the comment, Abe looked over at Henry 
with a frown. Not quite sure of what to make of the new 
relationship with Henry, he hinted, "So, I guess I'll have to start 
calling you dad."

A thoughtful Henry looked over at Abe, realizing that he wasn't 
just getting a wife but also two sons. He hadn't really given much 
thought to raising a teenage boy even though he had been dealing 
with the kid for almost a year. Rubbing the boy on the top of his 
head, he said, "I don't think you have to call me anything in 
particular. I'd prefer that you call me what you think is appropriate. 
If you think dad is better than Henry, then go ahead and use dad."

Unable to hold back his smart mouth, a smiling Abe asked, "So 
what if I want to call you shit head?"

Henry gave the boy a smile right back. Used to the irreverent 
manners of Abe, he answered, "No problem. I'll just hit you up side 
the head each time you call me that."

Bill grinned and said, "Oh, poor Abe. He's got an evil step-dad."

For the next few minutes the boys traded evil stepparent jokes 
while the older men laughed. After the discussion calmed down a 
little, Abe asked, "Does Martin know?"

"Not yet," answered Henry hoping that Martin would take the 
news like an adult. 

"So when are you going to tell him?" asked Abe, hoping that he 
would get the honor of doing it.

Nudging Jerry with an elbow, Henry answered, "I thought we'd 
never tell him. It sure would be fun to keep him guessing."

Abe laughed at the idea of his brother not knowing about the 
engagement. He turned to Bill as they speculated how long they 
would be able to keep Martin in the dark. They knew it wouldn't be 
long, not with the way that Sharon was acting. 

Jerry turned to look at Jenny and Sharon chatting, but his gaze 
settled on Jenny. The sun was shining off her hair, her jeans 
showed off her figure, and her shirt accentuated her breasts. Once 
again, the beauty of Jenny overwhelmed him. With a sigh, he said, 
"She's so beautiful."

Henry looked over at the two women and replied, "Yeah. Your 
girlfriend ain't bad looking either."

"We're a couple of lucky guys," commented Jerry shooting a grin 
at his friend. 

The males sat by the edge of the water, watching the fishing poles 
and thinking their thoughts. Abe was thinking about having a 
father in the house and was trying to figure out what that would 
mean. Bill was thinking about how his life had changed to the 
point where he was able to share the happiness of a friend. Henry 
was wondering what kind of trouble he signed up for by asking 
Sharon to marry him. 

Jerry sat by the edge of the water thinking about his injuries. His 
shoulder blade was not healing well and it would be a while before 
the cast would be removed. His leg had healed quickly since the 
bullet had passed through muscle without creating too much 
damage. The two wounds to his abdomen had healed for the most 
part, but the little pit in his stomach where the rage had lived 
remained empty. 

It was strange to think that the absence of the rage would bother 
him, but it did. It wasn't that it was a friend whose absence made 
his life a little emptier. It was just that the rage was the only 
constant in his life and its absence made him feel uncertain. The 
physical consequences of his injuries had weakened him, but he 
wondered if losing the rage had made him weak. 

The world around him went dark as a pair of feminine hands 
covered his eyes. A pair of warm female voices asked, "Guess 
who?"

"It must be Bambi from the titty bar," answered Jerry playing off 
the joke that Henry had used before.

Next to him, Henry answered, "Busty from the titty bar?"

As the hands moved from his eyes to surround his neck, Jenny 
asked, "Who?"

"Definitely Bambi from the titty bar," answered Jerry in time with 
Henry.

Sharon said, "You guys are in trouble now. Jenny and I are gonna 
hunt down Busty and Bambi."

Not believing the threat for a moment, the men chuckled. Jenny 
asked, "Any luck?"

Jerry answered, "Yeah, Henry caught a good one."

When Henry and the boys turned to look at Jerry wondering what 
he meant, he pointed to Sharon and said, "Of course, he was using 
expensive bait complete with a diamond."

Sharon burst out laughing at the idea of Henry having been the one 
doing the catching. Jenny winked at her as she shared the same 
thought. If anyone had caught anyone, it was Sharon that had 
caught Henry. Sharon decided to make that point and reel him in 
for a little tender loving care. Grabbing his hand, she pulled him 
away from the lake. 

Jenny sat down next to Jerry and put an arm around his back. She 
leaned her head against his shoulder as she said, "Sharon is so 
happy."

"Really? I hadn't noticed," commented Jerry with a grin. He looked 
over his shoulder and saw that Sharon was expressing her 
appreciation with great enthusiasm and that Henry wasn't 
complaining. 

Their discussion was interrupted when Abe's bobber disappeared 
under the surface of the lake. He jumped up excited and pulled on 
the rod. A few cranks of the reel revealed that he had a little 
sunfish on the end of his line.  He held the pole up so that the fish 
was hanging in the air while he leaned forward to examine it.

At the sight of the little fish, Abe and Bill cracked up laughing. 
Jerry looked over and said, "It's always the big one that gets away."

It only took Abe a minute to return the fish to the water and bait 
his hook. Throwing his line back in the water, he sat down as he 
said, "It might have been small, but it is the biggest one we've 
caught today."

For the next thirty minutes, all four of them were kept busy as the 
sunfish started biting. It seemed as though at any given time, two 
of them were busy pulling a fish out of the water. None of them 
were big enough to keep, but the boys wouldn't leave this fishing 
trip empty handed. They would leave with memories that would 
last a lifetime. A boy's first fishing trip should include the 
excitement of catching a fish. 

After wresting with the pole, his cast, and a very excited sunfish, 
Jerry gave up trying to fish. Instead, he sat back and watched the 
boys excitedly pulling fish after fish out of the water. The green 
backs and orange bellies of the fish glowed in the sun as the water 
sparkled in the sunlight. 

It reminded Jerry of when he was a kid and had gone to a bass 
tournament with his father. They had left the dock early in the 
morning with fifty other boats roaring away at full speed. Their 
boat was not a bass-boat with an oversized engine and they were 
quickly left behind. Instead of racing to the other side of the lake, 
they had pulled into a little cove not far from the dock.

The morning had been a cool and the water warm. Little wisps of 
fog lifted off the surface of the lake while he and his father fished. 
Jerry was still learning how to use the latest fishing reel and spent 
most of the time untangling the rat's nest that resulted after each 
cast. He didn't care about that. The important thing was that he was 
actually fishing with his father.

His father caught one reasonable size bass after they had been 
there for an hour. After another hour, his dad had given up on that 
area and moved over to another spot. They had tied the boat up to a 
sunken tree and were going to fish from there. They'd been there 
for about thirty minutes when Jerry caught a nice three pound large 
mouth bass. It had won him a nice third place in the junior 
category of the tournament. His dad had been so proud of him. 

That had been the last good time that he had with his father. After 
that, he started growing and it seemed like overnight his large size 
led to fights at school. His father hadn't understood why his boy 
was always in trouble. After his father had to leave work to pick 
him up from school upon getting expelled for three days, his father 
refused to take Jerry fishing again until he went a grading period 
without being sent to the principal's office. That never happened 
and the relationship with his father was ruined for good.

Jerry looked at his son, watching as the boy was laughing and 
joking with Abe and Jenny. The sight of his son enjoying himself 
while surrounded by friends and family warmed his heart. He 
swore that he would stay friends with his son and understand when 
the boy's temper flared. His son was going to have the childhood 
that he had always wanted. The idea made him feel good.

Attuned to the moods of her boyfriend, Jenny had noticed how 
Jerry was watching Bill fishing. She smiled and put a hand on his 
shoulder as she whispered, "He's having this happy moment 
because you're in his life."

"Thanks, Jen."

"You're welcome," answered Jenny. 

Jerry turned back to see what Henry and Sharon were doing. The 
couple was over by Sharon's car kissing passionately. Jerry could 
see that Henry had his hand under her shirt and was massaging her 
breast. They were both very excited. When her shirt slipped up, he 
could make out her breast covered by the large hand of the black 
man. His mind flashed to the Polaroid photographs in his room. 
His cock reacted to the memory that the sight invoked.

Jenny glanced over at the couple and then back at Jerry when he 
shifted to ease the discomfort caused by his swelling cock. She had 
seen how Henry's hand had lifted the shirt, exposing her friend's 
breast. She leaned over with a smile and said, "Maybe tonight 
you'll show me the Polaroids."

"You know about them?" Even as he asked his question, he 
remembered her telling him that she knew about the pictures. 

"Of course I know. I told you that she explained to me about how 
you had them," answered Jenny with a smile. 

"And you want to see them?" asked Jerry incredulous that she 
would want to see pictures of a naked woman. Jerry looked over at 
her with his surprise clearly showing on his face.

"I want to recreate them with me as the model," answered Jenny 
with a giggle. Based on his reaction to her comment, she knew that 
the pictures had to be pretty hot. She decided that the odds were 
pretty good that he'd stay awake tonight despite the tiring activities 
of the day.

Jerry grinned and said, "We'll have to stop and pick up a camera."

The idea of actually getting photographed while naked excited 
Jenny and concerned her. She knew that the photographs could 
easily end up in the wrong hands, after all Jerry had the pictures of 
Sharon's sister. She glanced down at his crotch and could see the 
outline of his erection. The sight convinced her that the risk might 
well be worth it. She would keep the pictures.

She replied, "Sounds good to me, big man."

The fish finally stopped biting and the boys had settled down. 
Henry and Sharon returned from their make-out session and joined 
them on the ground. Jerry and Jenny exchanged winks about their 
plans for the evening.  

That evening, Jenny and Jerry had a little fun with a Polaroid 
camera in the bedroom of his house. They recreated every pose 
from the pictures that Jerry had found. By the time that Jenny was 
posed on the floor naked while holding her pussy open for him, 
Jerry was in pain from his erection. 

Jenny was more than happy to relieve the pain. She had to be on 
top since he couldn't support his weight with an arm in a cast and 
other positions were awkward. While most women enjoyed the 
superior position, Jenny preferred being covered by her man. Jerry 
might look forward to the day when his cast came off so that he 
could do normal every day activities, but she was looking forward 
to being taken by him that night. Despite the fact that she was on 
top of him, she enjoyed the act as much as ever.

Afterward, as they lay together on the blanket that Jerry had put on 
the floor, Jerry could hardly keep his eyes off her. It didn't matter 
how often she told him that she enjoyed sex, the pleasure that she 
exhibited during it amazed him. He said, "Jenny, you are an 
amazing woman."

Jenny purred as his hand ran over her body. One of the advantages 
of his time spent recovering was that his calluses had disappeared. 
She said, "I was lucky the day you walked into my restaurant."

He knew that she didn't really enjoy being on top of him all of the 
time, but accepted it because of his physical condition. If he could, 
he would have pulled the cast off and ravaged her like she wanted. 
He pinched her nipple as he said, "When I get this cast off, I'm 
going to make love to you like you love it. I'll cover you and hold 
you tight to me as I pound into you."

His words made her catch her breath. He knew what turned her on. 
With a groan of pleasure, she said, "You know how to punch all 
my sexual buttons."
