Thunder and Lightening
Chapter 13
By
Lazlo Zalezac
Copyright (C) Lazlo Zalezac, 2004

Karen came into the office and went through the ordering 
procedure. About halfway through it, she growled and scratched an 
item off the order form. Irritated, she said, "We should really get 
this computerized. It's really easy to make a mistake with 
everything done manually."

It was an error prone process and one that usually failed if two 
people were working on it. The records required a person to keep 
track of what was on hand, what was ordered, and what had 
arrived. If you failed to know what arrived then it was possible that 
you'd run out of stock thinking that replacements were still on 
order. Jerry said, "Why don't you see what kind of system you can 
get for the store?"

"How much are you willing to spend on one?"

Jerry had no clue how much a computer cost and didn't know how 
to go about finding out. With a sigh, he said, "I'm clueless about 
this stuff. Check it out and give me a reasonable estimate. Use your 
common sense and find something that will work for us."

Karen looked over at Jerry and realized that he trusted her to do the 
job on her own. It was an awesome responsibility for a new 
employee. "Thank you, Jerry."

When the afternoon came, Jerry made sure that he was in the office 
working on paperwork to be there for Bill's telephone call. When 
the telephone rang, Jerry immediately picked it up hoping to hear 
from his son. Instead, it was his doctor with a recommendation for 
an anger management therapist. He took down the names and 
numbers of three therapists. After hanging up, he stared down at 
the sheet of paper. The whole idea of going to a therapist scared 
him more than anything he had ever done. The rage twisted itself 
around his stomach, threatening to burst loose if he made the call.

Moving in slow motion, he dialed the first number on the list of 
anger management specialists. The name of the therapist was N. 
Langley. He knew he needed the treatment, but he didn't know 
what it would involve. Images of electroshock therapy, insulin 
shock therapy, and lobotomies flashed through his mind. That was 
followed by an image of him on a couch while a guy dressed like 
Freud asked, "Tell me about your mother."

On the third ring, a woman answered the telephone. Assuming it 
was a receptionist, he said, "I need to make an appointment with 
the therapist."

"Let me get out my schedule."

Realizing that the woman was the therapist, Jerry didn't know what 
he thought about that fact. He wondered if a woman could help 
him with his rage. Could he talk about his problems to a woman? 
Growling at the thoughts, he wondered if he could talk about his 
problems to man. Which would be easier? He didn't know.

The woman's voice interrupted his thoughts, as she asked, "Are 
you still there?"

"Oh, yeah. Sorry, I just wasn't expecting a woman." Jerry realized 
as his deep voice rumbled over the telephone line that he sounded 
like a sexist pig. 

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone. 
After the silence had stretched to an uncomfortable level, she 
asked, "Would you prefer a male therapist?"

"To tell the truth, I don't know. I have no idea what to expect," 
replied Jerry. The rage uncoiled a little, sensing an opportunity by 
suggesting that the woman would make him cry and then mock 
him for his weakness. 

The woman didn't say anything in an attempt to force Jerry to 
initiate further discussion. Finally, he said, "I guess I had an image 
of Dr. Freud asking me about my mother."

The woman laughed and said, "I can do a mean impersonation of 
Dr. Freud, but I don't have the beard so it loses its impact."

The comment was so unexpected that Jerry burst out laughing. The 
rage recoiled as the fear of humiliation by this woman was 
replaced by a tentative sense of trust. Still a little uncertain, mostly 
about seeing a therapist, he said, "I guess I don't have a problem 
with seeing a woman."

"I can see you Thursday at seven."

"So soon?"

She laughed at his reaction and then answered, "Yes, so soon."

"Okay, I guess." Scheduling an appointment made this entire 
situation a reality to him. He forced himself to remember that he 
was doing this to learn how to control his rage so that he could 
keep his job. Maybe the therapy would allow him to let other 
people into his life, people like his son, Jenny, the boys next door, 
and his employees.

"May I have your name?"

"Jerry Smith," he answered realizing that he hadn't introduced 
himself earlier.

"Okay, Jerry Smith. I'll see you Thursday at seven."

"Sure."

Hanging up, Jerry sat at his desk replaying the conversation in his 
mind. He wondered how old she was. Her voice sounded young, 
but she was a doctor, so that meant she wasn't too young. Glancing 
at the list, he realized that she might not be a doctor. Then he 
realized that he hadn't told her why he had scheduled the 
appointment. 

By closing time, it was clear that his son wasn't going to call. He 
didn't know if that was good news or bad. This was the first day of 
school and his son expected it to be a rough one. He stayed late 
just to give the boy a chance to call, but the call never came.

It was past lunchtime and Jerry was about to head out to get a bite 
to eat when the telephone in his office rang. He stopped in the 
office and answered it. "Hello?"

A male voice said, "I need to speak to Jerry Smith."

"This is he," replied Jerry wondering who would call on the 
business line rather than the customer line. 

"I'm Mr. Haroldson. I'm the principal at Jefferson Junior High."

Rather than answering immediately, Jerry sat down on his desk 
considering what this call meant. He asked, "What's the problem?"

"Your son was in a fight and I'm going to have to suspend him."

"What happened?"

"He picked a fight with a smaller kid," replied the principal 
sounding angry. 

The automatic assumption that his son had started the fight irritated 
Jerry. He asked, "So is the smaller kid hurt?"

There was a moment of silence as Mr. Haroldson considered the 
question. Finally, he answered, "No."

Jerry replied, "It doesn't sound to me like my son hit him."

"That's what he says, but why would a smaller kid pick a fight with 
him?" The principal sounded like a prosecuting attorney who had 
just delivered last piece of evidence that would convict a felon.

"I don't think my son was fighting. If that other kid is still standing, 
it doesn't sound to me like my son was hitting him."

"I hate to tell you this, but your son is a bully."

The rage within started to boil as memories of never being 
believed by authorities returned.  He didn't know how many times 
a small guy picked a fight with him in order to prove that he was 
some kind of tough guy. Always the jerk ended up flat on the 
ground and bleeding. If the kid that picked the fight with his son 
wasn't laid out flat, then his son didn't hit back. He said, "I'll be 
there in thirty minutes. I'll want to talk to you when I pick up Bill."

After hanging up the phone, Jerry got into his truck to drive to the 
school. Glancing down at the gas gauge, he noticed that he was 
running on fumes and would have to stop to get gasoline. Rather 
than getting angry, he said, "I guess the principal will have to wait 
a little longer."

It was nearly forty-five minutes before Jerry pulled up to the 
school parking lot and found one of the visitor’s parking spaces. 
The drive over had been uneventful, but he kept thinking about 
how the principal had discounted everything his son had said. 
Entering the building, he was reminded once again just how large 
of a man he was when the kids all looked at him terrified. 

After finding his way to the principal's office, Jerry stepped inside 
the room and looked around for a second before seeing his son 
sitting on a chair with a black eye. His son looked up at him with 
fear in his eyes, concerned that his father wouldn't believe that he 
hadn't fought back. Jerry smiled and walked over to Bill. Making a 
production of examining the black eye, he said, "Nice shiner."

"Yeah, it kind of hurts," replied Bill as he touched the bruise with a 
finger.

"So did you impress anyone?" 

It was a good question. When the fight had started, a number of 
kids had gathered around to watch Bill destroy the kid. The kid had 
started by kicking him in the balls. Despite wearing a cup, Bill's 
hands had moved down to stop it. The action was purely reflexive, 
but he didn't follow through with his normal fist to the face of his 
attacker. The gathered crowed watched, disappointed, as he didn't 
react to the further attacks. 

When the principal broke up the fight, he looked around and 
spotted two kids looking at him with expressions that differed 
significantly from others. One was Woody, a well-known nerd that 
enjoyed computer games, chess, and reading science fiction. The 
other was Sandy, a girl that tended to blend into the background to 
avoid notice. He didn't know much about her. Bill answered, 
"Yeah. I think so."

"Good, now I want to talk to that principal of yours. You got a raw 
deal on this and we need to fix that now," Jerry said.

His stomach growled announcing his hunger. Although 
embarrassed by the growl, he was relieved to find that his father 
believed him. Bill smiled and said, "Okay."

The secretary had watched the exchange, staring at the huge man 
in the office. The principal had come out of his office as Jerry had 
talked with his son, brought out by the deep voice that carried 
through the walls of the office. He stared at Jerry, shocked at the 
size of the man. He immediately pictured Jerry pounding his chest 
like a gorilla just before it charged to tear apart an intruder. Voice 
cracking, he said, "I'm Principal Haroldson."

Jerry turned to see the man standing at the door. He took an 
immediate dislike to him. The guy reminded him of a kid that used 
to call him gorilla, ape-man, and Neanderthal. When he had finally 
lost his temper, he had hit the kid twice and was expelled from 
school for a week because of it. The memory chaffed as he 
followed the man into the office. 

Bill was left in the outer office looking at the secretary. Looking 
down at him, she shook her head believing that he was a bad seed. 
Many of the teachers would be happy if he were to get sent to 
another school. Officially, Bill was suspended from school for 
three days. If you wanted a reputation as a tough guy, then it wasn't 
a bad record to get suspended on the second day of school. That 
wasn't what Bill wanted, he had expected it so he wasn't that 
surprised. After talking with his father, he felt a glimmer of hope 
that his punishment was going to change. 

Inside the office, Jerry leaned across the desk and stared at the 
principal. He wasn't trying to intimidate the man, but to make sure 
that he had his attention. His low voice reverberated through the 
room as he asked, "So did you talk to the kid that attacked my 
son?"

"There was no need. I know all about your son and the fact that he 
is a bully. He did the same thing last year."

His rage sought a chance to strike out at the principal. Jerry asked, 
"So do I understand this situation correctly? You are suspending 
my son without any investigation into the circumstances or without 
due process?"

"No. I talked to him. It was obvious that he was lying to me and I 
suspended him," replied the principal getting angry. 

The rage grew within Jerry as it sought the chance to wreak havoc 
according to its nature. Jerry took a deep breath trying to control it 
and glanced around the room. Spotting the telephone, he reached 
over and picked up the handset. It didn't take him a minute to dial 
his lawyer. The rage inside cackled realizing that it was going to 
achieve its goal despite the disappointment that it would be done 
without violence. When the lawyer answered, Jerry said, "This is 
Jerry Smith."

"Ah, Jerry. What can I do for you?" asked the lawyer. 

"I'd like to bring proceedings against the Jefferson Junior High. My 
son was the victim of a malicious attack by another student. Even 
though my son did not strike back, they are suspending him 
without investigating the circumstances only because he was the 
larger boy involved. I want to seek damages and tuition to put my 
son in a private school." Jerry watched the face of the man behind 
the desk pale at the promise of a lawsuit. Even the rage was 
enjoying the man's reaction.

"Where are you?"

"I'm in the principal's office," answered Jerry flashing a smile at 
Mr. Haroldson. 

"Let me talk to him for a moment."

Jerry handed the phone to the principal, noticing that the man's 
hand trembled as he accepted the phone. Seating himself in one of 
the chairs in the office, Jerry crossed his legs and watched the 
telephone exchange. As little beads of sweat broke out on the 
forehead of the principal, Jerry couldn't help thinking that he was 
enjoying this way too much. It was as though he was achieving 
revenge against every school administrator that had ignored his 
pleas of innocence when he was a student. 

After a few minutes, the principal handed the phone back to Jerry. 
Holding the handset to his ear, Jerry said, "Hello."

His lawyer said, "He's reconsidered the suspension. I suggest 
waiting to begin proceedings against the school at the moment. If 
the problem persists, I'll be glad to bring the suit."

"Thanks," replied Jerry as he looked over at the principal.

After replacing the handset in the cradle of the phone, Jerry looked 
over at the principal. He was silent for a moment and then said, "I 
expect you will investigate this episode and punish the guilty 
party."

"I'll look into the matter," replied the principal.

Jerry smiled as he replied, "I'm going to take my son to lunch. 
When we get back, I hope that I'll hear the results."

Shocked that Jerry expected him to investigate the matter so 
quickly, the principal was about to object before he recalled the 
telephone conversation. Looking down at his desk, Principal 
Haroldson replied, "Okay."

Jerry stood up and left the room without a goodbye. Going over to 
Bill, he said, "Let's go to lunch."

"Am I still suspended?" asked Bill in disbelief. He was shocked 
that his father hadn't been able to resolve the problem. The sounds 
from the office had made him think that everything had been 
cleared up in his favor.

Jerry said, "The principal is going to investigate what happened. 
When we get back from lunch I expect that the guilty party will be 
punished."

Bill relaxed and followed his father out of the school satisfied that 
at least he was being given a fair chance. His mother would have 
come to the school and dragged him out by his ear, yelling the 
entire time that he was worthless. This had been a very different 
experience, one that had made him feel much better about himself. 

The pair sat at a table in a chain restaurant eating lunch, Bill 
devouring a hamburger and Jerry eating a plate of spaghetti. They 
were quiet as they concentrated on their food. Despite the positive 
outcome, Bill was still worried about what the principal was going 
to say happened. For all he knew, the principal would still find him 
guilty of something and he'd end up expelled. 

Jerry finished his spaghetti before Bill had finished his french-
fries. He looked across the table at his son thinking about how 
much courage his son had shown in the fight. Curious, he asked, 
"So what are you going to say to Woody and Sandy?"

Looking up at his father in surprise, Bill realized that he hadn't 
thought about what he was going to do now that the fight had 
ended. As a puzzled look crossed his face, he asked, "What do you 
suggest?"

"Just let them know that you appreciated their support."

"But they didn't do anything to stop the fight."

"What did you feel when you looked over at them?"

Smiling, Bill said, "A little better. It was nice to know that not 
everyone there was disappointed at the fact that I didn't cream the 
asshole."

"Then let them know that."

Woody and Sandy had never called him names. In fact, he couldn't 
remember ever having anything to do with them since they both 
kept to themselves. He dipped a french-fry into a pool of ketchup 
as he thought about it. There was a good chance that they could use 
a friend just as much as he needed one. Looking up at his father, he 
said, "Thanks Dad. Thanks for everything."

Jerry softened and answered, "Hey, what are fathers for anyway?"

"I've been studying already. I read the first chapters of each of my 
textbooks last night." He had sat down at home in his room after 
returning from school to read the assignments given out in his 
classes. There wasn't anything else for him to do at home, 
particularly since his father had left. Sticking his head out of his 
bedroom meant that he was likely to get yelled at by his mother. 

"That's good to hear. How's it going?"

"The material isn't that hard. I mean, I've never really sat down and 
read my schoolbooks like that."

The assessment surprised Jerry, as he thought his kid did all of his 
homework in the past. He asked, "You mean you haven't ever 
really studied before?"

"Not really. I always did the homework based on what the teacher 
said in class," replied Bill with a shrug. 

"So I guess you are going to work all of the problems within the 
book." It was more of a question than a statement.

"I don't know." He really hadn't give much thought about how he 
was going to study. The previous night was the first time that he 
had ever sat down and actually studied. He was traveling uncharted 
territory here and would have to find out what worked best for 
him.

As far as Jerry was concerned, this was a positive development. 
His son was beginning to study, he had not hit back in a fight, and 
he was talking to his father. These were all good signs that maybe 
his son was going to have better teenage years than he had. 
Winking, he said, "You'll figure something out."

"Thanks, Dad."

The sound of 'Thanks, Dad' was like music to his ears. That was 
the second time today his son had said that to him and it sounded 
good. Not wanting it to end, he knew that Bill needed to return to 
school and he had to get back to work. With a sigh, he said, "I 
guess we ought to head back now."

"Sure. That was a good lunch."

After taking care of the check, the two returned to the school 
taking their time. Bill led the way to the principal's office with a 
sinking feeling in his stomach. They had arrived while classes 
were changing and the halls were filled with thirteen and fourteen 
year old kids. The kids moved out of their way staring up at Jerry 
as if they had just seen Frankenstein's monster. Jerry was half 
tempted to roar, just to see what the reactions would be to it.

When they reached the office, Jerry noticed that there was a boy 
waiting in a chair. Bill nudged his arm and said, "That's him."

Jerry studied the kid with a little more attention. The kid was 
solidly built, but much smaller than Bill. This was exactly the type 
of kid that would try to make a reputation by taking out someone 
bigger. Jerry turned to the secretary and said, "Let Principal 
Haroldson know that we are back from lunch."

The kid looked up at Bill and asked, "Why didn't you fight back?"

"I'm tired of fighting," replied Bill with a shrug of resignation. It 
was the truth and easy to say. 

The principal came out of his office in time to hear the other kid 
shout, "Do you know how humiliating it is to lose a fight to 
someone that doesn't even fight back?"

Jerry glanced at the principal knowing that the truth was out and 
his son had been cleared. Bill, still not aware of his audience, said, 
"I'm sorry. I'm just tired of fighting."

Jerry smiled and patted his son on his back to encourage him. With 
pride in his voice, he said, "I don't think you're going to have to 
fight anymore son."

The principal called the three of them into his office. Jerry walked 
in with his son and stood at the back of the room leaning against 
the wall with his arms crossed. Although he hadn't taken the stance 
intentionally, the position made the muscles in his arms look even 
bigger. The two boys seated themselves in the two chairs in front 
of the desk. After a quick glance at Jerry, the principal sat at his 
desk amazed at how intimidating the large man was. After clearing 
his throat, he said, "After an investigation of the events that took 
place at lunch, it appears that Larry started the fight and Bill did 
not hit back. Do either of you have a comment?"

Knowing that saying anything would only make the situation 
worse, Larry sat staring at the floor. His dad had told him to pick 
the biggest kid that he could find and beat him up as a way to 
establish himself as someone not to aggravate. He glanced over at 
Bill, noticing that all of his blows had only caused a black eye. Bill 
had just stood there and took everything he had thrown at him. 

"No, sir," answered Bill looking directly at the principal. This was 
the first time that he felt confident in dealing with the man, 
knowing that most of his confidence came from the fact that his 
father would back him.

"Larry, I'm afraid that I'm going to have to suspend you," said the 
principal. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't have done that 
to the boy. He was new to the school and would have deserved a 
chance, but he had already established suspension as the 
punishment with Bill. There was no way that he was going to 
apply a double standard in front of the father that had already 
called a lawyer.

Feeling far more confident than ever, Bill said, "I don't think that is 
fair."

The comment took everyone by surprise, even Bill couldn't believe 
that he had actually said it out loud. Principal Haroldson asked, 
"Why?"

Committed to answering by having raised the issue, Bill said, "It is 
the second day of school and he is a new student."

Still stinging from the humiliation of the fight, Larry snarled, "I 
don't need you to defend me."

Bristling, Bill was about to answer when Jerry said, "Young man. 
This is your second day at this school and you have no friends 
here. Bill has offered you nothing but consideration despite the 
unpleasant events that occurred earlier. I'd say that what he is 
doing is a pretty nice thing, particularly since he was going to be 
suspended because of the fight."

The statement took some of the anger out of Larry as he realized 
that Jerry was correct. The principal was staring at Bill as if he was 
seeing the kid for the first time. He had expected him to be 
overjoyed that Larry was getting a suspension. He asked, "Bill, if 
you had hit him would you have admitted it?"

Knowing that if he had hit the kid, the kid would have been 
seriously hurt made the question easy to answer. Shrugging as 
though indifferent, Bill answered, "There'd have been no way to 
deny it."

There was more than a little truth to that statement. Sighing, the 
principal said, "Larry. I'm going to ask that you spend the rest of 
the week in detention. You'll have to show up to school half an 
hour early and spend the time in the library."

"Okay," answered Larry realizing that a detention was better than 
suspension. He didn't know how his parents would react, but he 
could deal with that. He glanced at Bill realizing the kid had done 
him a great favor.

Jerry asked, "Are we done?"

"Yes," replied the principal. He filled out two forms and handed 
them to the boys. Gruffly, he said, "Here are your hall passes. Get 
to your classes now."

The boys left the office, relieved to be out of there. Jerry watched 
them leave and then said, "Thanks."

"Well, I was a little mistaken about Bill," replied the principal. He 
didn't like admitting it, but he had seriously misunderstood what 
had happened earlier. He asked, "How did you know?"

"We had planned what he was going to do today," replied Jerry.

"What do you mean you planned it?"

Jerry sat down and said, "We both knew that someone would pick 
a fight with him today. After talking about it, we decided that he 
would do exactly what he did today. He wasn't going to hit back. 
In fact, he wore a cup just in case he got kicked in the nuts."

The revelation surprised the principal and he sat back staring at 
Jerry, incredulous that they had actually predicted the events of 
today. "How did you know?"

Jerry flexed his muscles drawing the man's attention to his body. 
He leaned towards the desk and answered, "That happened to me 
every year that I was in school until I seriously hurt someone. It 
has happened to him every year that he's been in school. There was 
no doubt that it would happen this year."

"That explains why he told me to call you at work rather than his 
mother at the house."

The comment made Jerry laugh. He said, "No, the explanation of 
that is totally different. I left my wife a little while ago and he has 
born the brunt of her rage about my leaving. She wouldn't have 
even let him say a word in his defense."

The principal had dealt with the woman many times in the past. It 
was clear that she always took the side against the boy. Even 
though that made his job a lot easier than dealing with the father 
had proved, her actions were unfair. Despite the initial threat with 
the lawyer, he had wanted the truth to come out. Taking a deep 
breath, he said, "I'll call you next time something comes up."

Jerry nodded and then said, "I'm sure that a few kids will start 
calling him names and he'll loose his temper. I'm hoping that won't 
happen, but it is almost a forgone conclusion."

"That's not a very positive outlook," replied the principal.

"Human nature isn't very positive. He's a big boy. I mean 
physically big and that scares a lot of kids that age. They react by 
calling him names. Believe me when I say that it hurts to be 
isolated and ridiculed because you are big." Jerry didn't really like 
talking about this.

The principal was silent as he thought about what Jerry had said. 
Lots of kids were teased, but didn't react with violence. Of course, 
few of them could react with violence that had the kind of effect as 
when Bill reacted. He replied, "Why do you think that they react 
because of his size?"

Sensing a perfect parting shot, Jerry stood up and went to the door. 
Once there, he said, "Think about how you react to me."

As Jerry left the office, the principal stared at his back not knowing 
how to respond to his parting comment. It was true that he felt 
nervous as hell around the man just because of his size. It was hard 
to remember how he would have reacted to Jerry when he was a 
kid. He did know that the thought had flitted through his mind to 
label the guy a gorilla. A kid wouldn't have the restraint required 
not to say it aloud. 

Jerry walked out to his truck with a jaunty step pleased with what 
he had done to help his son through a difficult day. He patted the 
side of the truck with fondness as he strode over to the door. This 
weekend, he expected to finish repairing the Camaro and would 
start on the truck. 

On the way back to the store, he stopped to help an elderly man 
change the tire on his car. It only took fifteen minutes, but the 
physical work felt good. This day had gone better than he could 
possibly have imagined. His son had turned to him for help and as 
a result had not been suspended from school. 

