Storiesonline.net ------- Thunder and Lightening by Lazlo Zalezac Copyright© 2004 by Lazlo Zalezac ------- Description: The angry young man grows up to be the angry middle-aged man. Now he's stuck in a dead-end job, married to a woman that detests him, and children that don't even know him. A close encounter with death makes him realize that he deserves more than what life has dealt him. Can he get it? Codes: MF slow rom cons het safe ------- ------- Copyright© Lazlo Zalezac, 2004 ------- Chapter 1 The rage boiled up to the surface as Jerry leaned across his desk and hit the surface of it with his right fist. He yelled, "What do you mean we are out of anti-freeze? We're a car parts place and shouldn't ever be out of anti-freeze!" Mike looked over at his boss, terrified at the sight presented to him. Jerry was a huge man, but there was no way that anyone could call him fat. Not a weight lifter or athlete, Jerry had been cursed with a large build that had filled in with muscle. His upper body looked more like that of a gorilla than that of a human. When he was angry, his face turned dark and the vein in his forehead throbbed. His gravelly voice, loud under normal circumstances, reached volumes during an angry outburst that hurt ears. Jerry being angry wasn't a rare occasion, he was angry more often than not. Stammering, Mike answered, "I'm a salesclerk, not a stock manager." "Excuses. I don't accept excuses!" "This is bullshit. I quit!" Mike stormed out of the office, angry and afraid, wanting to put as much distance as he could between him and Jerry as quickly as possible. He knew that he would probably die if Jerry were to hit him. He didn't trust Jerry not to hit him, particularly when he was this angry. Jerry sat down on his chair and snarled at the door. His rage felt that the coward wasn't worth the effort to chase him down. When the telephone rang, he picked it up and, irritated at the interruption, answered, "What?" Mr. Sinclair, his boss, was taken aback by the less than friendly greeting. He said, "Jerry, this is Al. I hate to say this, but you didn't get the promotion." Still furious at Mike, the bad news only served to fuel his rage. Jerry asked, "Why in the hell not?" "You have too high of an employee turn-over rate." "That's bullshit. There isn't another manager that's been here as long as I have," argued Jerry. This day was going from bad to worse. There was no way that he was going to be able to explain to that harpy of a wife that he didn't get the promotion. Al was quiet and then said, "They don't want to risk that same kind of turn over of our managers if you get promoted. Sorry, but that's the decision." Blood boiling, Jerry slammed down the receiver and sat at his desk staring at the door. He felt like breaking it into a thousand little pieces and knew that he could do it. Once in high school, a kid had been picking on him by calling him the Hulk and he had retaliated by chasing the kid through the school. The kid had ducked into a classroom and locked the door terrified that he was going to get killed. The principal had stopped him after he had beaten down the door into the classroom by battering it with his bare fists. The memory left a sour taste in his mouth and reminded him that he needed to control his temper. Sammy, the kid that worked in the store after school knocked on the door and slowly opened it. Looking around the door, he said, "Mr. Smith, Mike just left. I'm all alone here and there are customers waiting." "God damn. What are you doing talking to me? Go out there and take care of them," shouted Jerry at the closed door as Sammy had already left. He sat there in his chair for a minute and then swore, "Damn kid. Doesn't know his ass from a hole in the ground. I better get out there and salvage the situation." Jerry went through the customers quickly, taking their orders and filling them with ease. The line of customers dwindled and then disappeared as closing time approached and passed. Sammy didn't stick around after the store closed because a nasty summer storm was brewing on the horizon and he had to pedal home on his bicycle. Jerry closed up the store wondering who was going to work the counter tomorrow. Mike's quitting made him three people short and he hadn't had anyone come in the store looking for a job in four months. Swearing, he went through the store checking the inventory to determine if he needed to order anything. It took him an extra hour to write down the things that he needed to order immediately. He would have to call in the order in the morning, but at least he could do it first thing and they could ship it out that day. It was thundering by the time that he left the store. Black clouds hung low to the ground, swirling in anger. Turbulent winds created a menacing atmosphere of impending doom. Jerry looked up at the sky, growling at it as though he dared it to rain on him. He muttered, "With my luck it'll probably hail." After getting into his car, he sat in the seat trying to fight down the rage enough to make the trip home. He hated the drive through the bumper to bumper traffic of rush hour. Eight of the twelve miles home were on a highway that was too small for the traffic it carried and had been since the day it was built. He didn't want to live in the neighborhood where his house was located, but his wife had insisted because it was a better neighborhood. Better than what, he didn't know and didn't care. The bitch had gotten her way; it wasn't the first or last time that had happened. What he wanted didn't matter. He started home, but less than a mile from the store the traffic came to a complete halt. The sky continued to threaten rain, but that wasn't the problem. Two cars had a minor fender bender and that had backed up traffic even more than usual. Jerry laid on his horn, giving vent to his anger even though he knew that it wouldn't change the situation. The man in the car next to his gave him the finger. Jerry almost climbed out of his car to let the man know what he thought of getting the finger. Instead, he just honked his horn even more. Twenty minutes later, he edged around a disabled car even as one of the tow trucks hauled away one of the cars. The rain had not started, but the clouds grew ever darker as the sound of thunder seemed to shake the car. He couldn't see any lightning bolts, but the clouds occasionally lit up. The tow truck was moving down the road well below the speed limit and he swore in frustration, "Son of a bitch, use your accelerator! Damn, I'm never going to get home at this rate!" The towed car hit a pothole and the back end bounced off the road. The fender, hanging loose after the accident, fell off the car and skittered down the road. Jerry slammed on his brakes trying to avoid the bumper, but he had been crowding the towed car and it just wasn't possible to avoid it. There was a horrible clang as car and bumper made contact. Swearing, Jerry managed to pull the car off the highway before it started smoking. Once there, the engine turned over for the last time. Furious, Jerry threw the door of the car open and walked around to the front of the car. The bumper hung out from under his car. Getting down on his hands and knees, he saw that the bumper had gone through the oil pan. The rage within him, always held back by the thinnest of threads, burst free. He pulled the bumper out from under the car and bent it in half before throwing it onto the hood of his car. Calming down a little, he swore, "The engine is totally shot." A lightning bolt hit a light post less than ten feet away and the thunder knocked him to the ground. At that moment, the clouds tried to establish a record on how fast they could dump water on the ground below. Jerry was soaked to the bone by the time he picked himself off the ground and made it back into his car. Leaning forward, he rested his head on the steering wheel. Seated there, he could feel the rage seething within him. Oh how he hated the rage. It was his constant companion; always fighting to burst forth and wreck havoc on his life. He fought to keep it down, but knew that it was about to escape. Perhaps this time he would only damage his car. His thoughts were interrupted by a sudden knock on the window. Looking up, he saw an elderly man struggling to hold an umbrella against the gusts of wind. The poor old guy looked completely overwhelmed by the weather. Jerry lowered the window and heard the man shout, "You want a ride out of this weather?" The kindness shown him helped fight down the rage. It still was a half a minute before Jerry answered, "Sure." Rolling up the window, he followed the old man to his car and got in the passenger side. The old man took his time getting his seatbelt fastened and getting situated in his seat. With a friendly glance at Jerry, he said, "There's a nice little coffee shop at the next exit. How about I buy you a cup of coffee? You look like you could use a little break." Slumping in his seat, he rubbed his forehead striving to hold off a headache and to fight back the rage. Jerry answered, "Thanks." The man pulled out into traffic driving slow in consideration of the rain. At the next exit, he pulled off the highway and at the end of the exit drove into the parking lot of a small waffle house. The two men went inside and seated themselves at a table. Jerry was soaked and the water dripping from his clothes had made the seat wet as well. After the appropriate exchange with the waitress, she brought over a carafe of coffee before going over to wait on other customers. The old man poured two cups and slid one across the table for Jerry. After taking a sip of the hot coffee, Jerry slowly relaxed and said, "Thanks, I needed this. I was about to tear that car apart with my bare hands." The old man's body didn't give any hint as to how he might have looked when he was younger. With a little weight and a younger man's muscles, he could have been a very physical guy. The old man smiled and replied, "I used to be like you. All full of rage just waiting to bust loose. One day, I lost my temper and spent the next twenty years in the pen." "It's not going to happen to me," countered Jerry as his anger returned. "Right," replied the old man in a voice that conveyed total disbelief. It was the same tone of voice one would use with a drunk swearing he wouldn't drink anymore. He took another sip of his coffee, pulled three dollars out of his pocket, and, as he stood, said, "I'm going to go on my way now. You can call a cab and get a ride home from here." Ready to argue with the old man, Jerry bit back his retort as the old man turned and left the waffle shop. He swore, "Son of a bitch. Tell me something like that and then leave. The fucker tells me I'm going to spend time in the jail and won't stay to hear why he's wrong." After fuming for five minutes, he went to the pay phone and called a cab. When he was told that it was going to be a half an hour before a cab could show up, he growled at the dispatcher that they should get more drivers. He stomped back to the table and drank another cup of coffee waiting for the cab. Angry at the car for being wrecked, he decided that he'd just leave it where it was until tomorrow. If he were lucky, they'd tow it away and he'd never have to bother with it again. He looked at his watch and realized that he'd be home two hours late. His wife was going to throw a fit. Tense, he went back to the pay phone and called his wife. She didn't answer and he went back to the table even angrier. He thought, 'Damn bitch probably got tired of waiting for me and took the kids to dinner. I'll catch hell tonight.' He had finished the carafe of coffee and gone to the bathroom twice by the time the taxi showed up. The driver, a Pakistani, didn't understand English and it took Jerry five minutes to get across where he wanted to go. He was close to losing his temper, but managed to keep it in check. Twenty dollars later, he got out of the cab in front of his house and went in to face the family. Opening the door, he was greeted by the shrill voice of his wife, "Where in the hell have you been?" His hands clenched and the muscles along his back tightened as he answered, "I had a car accident." Without any evident concern for his welfare, his wife screeched, "You couldn't call and let me know?" "I called but no one answered." "I expect you'll want to use my car for the next few days. Shit, what am I supposed to do trapped in the house all day long while you're at work? I have tennis lessons tomorrow." He hadn't expected any real concern for his well being, but her total self-involvement fed fuel to his anger. His rage grew to the point where it was barely under control and he screamed, "Shut the fuck up, bitch!" "Did you get any news on the promotion? I'm tired of having to say that you are just the manager of an auto parts house." "I didn't get the promotion," replied Jerry as he struggled to keep the rage under control. He knew what would happen next and his rage beat on the door begging to be let loose. Livid, her face a pale white, she screamed, "You fucking loser! I could have married half a dozen guys that are more successful than you are. How dare you blow it! I'm not going to be able to show my face in public again. Everyone will say, there goes that woman married to the loser." As his face darkened and the vein on his forehead throbbed, his fist clenched. He bit his tongue to keep himself from losing it completely. He could taste blood in his mouth, but ignored it in his anger. Barely able to control himself, he asked, "What's for supper?" "We waited for you get home. When you didn't come home, we went out to eat," she spat the words back at him. With a sneer, she added, "Take care of dinner yourself. If you can't be successful, then don't expect me to work myself to the bone for your benefit." A vision of his fist flattening her face flashed through his mind. For a second, everything went black, but he fought his rage. Gaining control, he realized that he had taken three steps towards her without knowing it. He went to the closet and removed his raincoat and after slipping it on headed out of the house. As he slammed the door behind him, he heard his wife shout, "You need to talk to Billy. He got into a fight at..." Turning back to the closed door, he whispered, "You deal with it, bitch." Four blocks away was a shopping center with a Chinese Restaurant and he made that his destination. Trudging through the rain as lightning lit the way and thunder threatened to break his eardrums, he didn't pay any attention to his surroundings. It came as a complete surprise when he found himself in the shopping center walking past the restaurant. Entering the restaurant, he selected a booth and sat in the middle of the seat where he would have plenty of room for his broad shoulders. Resting his elbows on the table, he looked at his meaty hands. Most men's hands disappeared inside his when they shook hands with him. He hated his hands, feeling like they were representative of his over-large stature that made him a freak. He couldn't even count the number of names he had been called in his life. Apeman, Hulk, Gorilla, Monster Man, and Iron Man were just a few of the nicknames he'd heard. When the smallish oriental woman came to the booth to take his order, he said, "I should have been born two hundred years ago. I would have made one hell of a blacksmith." Confused, the waitress asked, "Did you say you want two number fours with hot tea?" Jerry shook his head and said, "No. I want the Mongolian Beef and Broccoli with iced tea." "Okay," replied the woman as she ran off to put in the order. She was terrified of this man and always dreaded his visits to the restaurant. He was so big and gruff that she felt like he could squash her like a bug and never even notice. She had seen him angry once and the sight was forever etched in her memory. Jerry stared at his hands, opening and closing them with slow controlled movements. The walk from the house in the rain had eased his rage to where it was well under control. His thoughts were interrupted when the waitress showed up with a bowl of won ton soup. He grabbed the soupspoon in his massive hands. It looked small in his hands as though a child should be using it. After taking a taste of the soup, he started talking to himself. "I'm miserable bastard. Where in the hell does this rage come from? Why can't I be happy like everyone else?" He took another sip of his soup and continued his dialog with himself. His deep voice rumbled across the room. "I know why. I'm too fucking big. People look at me like I'm some kind of freak." Pausing to take another sip of his soup, he struck the table with his other hand and exclaimed, "I'm not a freak." A family of four, seated at table near his, picked up their plates and moved to a table further away from him. Self-involved with his dialog, he didn't notice. He muttered, "No. I treat people like shit. Always on the verge of hitting them. Let's face it, I'm not a very nice person." The waitress, moving carefully, removed the empty bowl and set his dinner on the table. Without consciously noticing the change, he started to eat his meal using his spoon to shovel it into his mouth. "The old guy was right. If I don't do something soon, I'm liable to kill someone and get life in jail." Still using his soupspoon, he shoveled a mouthful of fried rice into his mouth. The dry texture made him realize that he had finished his soup. He changed to the fork and watched as it disappeared in his hands. "So what am I supposed to do about it? Fuck if I know." "I'd like to be a better person, but this damned rage of mine just won't let go of me. How can you be a nice person if everyone around you pisses you off?" His fist clenched and bent the handle of the fork. It was a simple matter to bend it back. "Shit, I should become one of those goody-two-shoes that goes around helping everyone. I've never tried that before." He laughed at the image of him helping little old ladies across the street by throwing a half dozen of them over his shoulders and getting cats out of a tree by ripping the tree out of the ground. That was replaced by the image of someone thanking him for his help. The laugher slowly died on his lips as a sobering thought came to mind. When was the last time that anyone had said anything nice to him? He couldn't remember there ever being an instance of that in his life. After a little time, he looked at his plate realizing that he had eaten the entire meal. He had even eaten the fortune cookie, paper and all. "I must be going crazy. The fucking headlines will read, Police Put Down Mad Gorilla On Rampage." He picked up the bill and looked at the total. Pulling a ten out of his wallet, he left it on the table and headed out of the restaurant. Outside, he looked at the rain and wondered what he should do next. He didn't have a car. His wife had probably locked him out of the house and his keys were still in the car that he had abandoned on the highway. Still talking to himself, he said, "There's that used car lot six blocks from here. The cars they sell are shit, but usually last at least a month." Heading to the used car lot, he walked on the sidewalk thinking about his situation. About a block from the used car lot, he stopped and looked up at the sky. Making a fist and shaking it at the sky, he shouted, "One day, someone is going to say something nice about me!" The only answer the sky gave was another bolt of lightning and a crash of thunder. The rain came down a little harder. At the car lot, the salesman didn't want to go out in the rain to help Jerry, but his greed overcame his reluctance. He ran out to the car that Jerry was examining. The tires were worn and the shocks were shot, but the paint was perfect. Drawn on the windshield in white shoe polish was the price, five hundred dollars. It was worth two hundred dollars at most. This was the bait car to get people in to shop. The idea was to bait people with a good looking piece of trash at a low price and then get them to buy one of the other cars that didn't look as nice, but ran better at twice the price. When the salesman arrived, Jerry asked, "Do you have the keys for this one?" The salesman fumbled through his key ring and found the key. He slipped into the car and started it up. A blue cloud of smoke billowed out from the back as the entire car rumbled. The muffler had a hole and the rings were shot. It would need a lot of work before it would be safe. Mentally, Jerry lowered the value of the car to an even hundred. He looked over at the car next to it and said, "Start that one." The salesmen went over to the other car and started it. It started right up, but a light blue cloud came out the rear. Jerry pressed down on the car and saw that the shocks were bad, but the tires would last for another five thousand miles. After a little negotiation, Jerry took the car out for a quick test drive. The brake shoes were bad, but they could be replaced fairly easily. He brought the car back to the lot and told the salesman, "I'll give you five hundred for it." "Are you crazy? That car is worth a thousand dollars," replied the salesman. He had a big fish and wasn't going to let it go. He thought that this big dumb oaf would finance the car and it would be repossessed within two months. He'd already sold this particular car three times and made twice what he bought it for in the process. His anger at being treated as though he was stupid slowly boiled to the surface, but maintaining control Jerry replied, "Only to someone that wants to commit suicide." He looked around the lot and, in the light of a flash of lightning, spotted a pick up truck parked in the back under a tree. He wandered over to it and saw that it was at least thirty years old. The tires were flat, the body was dented from hard use, and the bed appeared to be rusted out. Calling the salesman over, he watched as the man tried to start the truck. The half-dead battery had very little power, but the engine turned over a couple of times. The salesman frowned and said, "I haven't started it in a year. Let me get something to help it start." Jerry watched the man run off. While the salesman was gone, he examined the truck with a critical eye. The mechanical parts of the truck looked to be in pretty good shape, but the body was a total disaster. The salesman returned and popped the hood. After spraying some insta-start in the carburetor and connecting the jumper battery, he returned to the cab and cranked the engine. After a couple of turns, the engine started right up. Jerry looked at the gauges and saw that the battery was charging. The muffler needed to be replaced, but the engine didn't sound that bad. The salesman came back to where Jerry stood and said, "Can't believe it started." "I'll give you four hundred for it," offered Jerry. Considering that the truck had been in the lot for three years and this was the first time anyone expressed interest in it, the salesman wasn't about to argue. It took an hour to fill out all the required paperwork and after using his credit card, Jerry was the new owner of a broken down old truck. After filling the tires with air, Jerry drove it off the lot and headed towards his store. The brakes were a spongy and required some work, but the truck ran smoothly considering how long it had been sitting there. On the way to his store, he passed by his wrecked car. It was still parked where he had left it. He got off the highway and returned to the car in order to pick up his keys that he had left in the ignition. Looking over it, he decided that he would get it fixed after he fixed the truck. Between the Camaro and the truck, he preferred the truck. Even though the Camaro was over twenty-five years old, he knew it would be worth a fortune if he fixed it up. ------- Jerry groaned as he woke from his night's sleep on the couch in the back of the store. He had found the couch years ago, set out on the curb as trash by the previous owner. He had brought it to the store with the intention of having a place for his employees to sit when on their breaks. It turned out to be a fortuitous find; he had slept on it on more than one occasion. He suspected that the couch would be his bed for the next few weeks. Sitting up, he considered the events of the evening before. That lightning had really come close to hitting him. In what was becoming a habit of talking aloud to himself, he said, "She didn't care that I might have gotten killed last night. I don't care to go back to her." Having made the decision to leave his wife, he felt good about himself. The rage, which was always just below the surface, eased back a little. Sitting there, he realized that this was the second decision that he had made in a long time that put him first. The first had been the truck last night. He stood up and stretched feeling the muscles loosen. Going outside, he examined his purchase of the night before. Three of the tires on the truck had lost air, but the fourth was still good. In the light of day, the truck looked even worse than it had on the lot in the dark and rain. He smiled as he looked at the truck knowing what everyone else would think about it. Big stupid Jerry had made another bonehead decision. What he had thought was rust in the back of the truck was actually a rotted wood truck bed. He couldn't believe his luck. Patting the hood with affection, he said, "I'm going to call you Thunder." He checked his watch and saw that he would have to open the store in an hour. Glancing over at the donut shop, he sighed as he considered another donut breakfast with a cup of coffee. He had too many of those in his life and decided that would have to change soon. Talking to the truck, he asked, "How can you like yourself if you treat yourself like shit? Once I get you functional, I'm going to start eating real breakfasts." Locking up the store, he went down the street to the donut shop where he stood in line behind the regulars that stopped in for coffee every morning. The woman behind the counter glanced at him with disinterest and asked, "What will it be today?" "Two chocolate frosted and a large coffee." With her normal dispatch, she grabbed two donuts and threw them into a bag. A foam cup was quickly filled with coffee from a nearly empty pot. In one smooth motion, she grabbed a plastic lid and fixed it onto the cup. Setting the bag and the cup on the counter, she said, "Two fifty." Jerry pulled out three dollars from his pocket and slapped it on the counter. Grabbing his bag and coffee, he turned to leave the donut shop. The woman behind the counter called out, "You forgot your change." Deciding that the fifty cents didn't matter to him, he answered, "Keep it." As she slipped the coins into her pocket and turned to the next customer, he stepped outside and checked the sky. There wasn't a single cloud in the sky. As a man headed towards the door of the donut store, Jerry said, "It's going to be a hot one today. With all the rain last night, it's going to be humid, too." The man didn't answer, but looked at him as if he were crazy. He slipped around Jerry and entered the restaurant, relaxing only when there was a closed door between him and the large man. Jerry didn't notice and just repeated, "Yes. It's going to be a hot humid day today." Returning to the store, he unlocked the door and took a seat at the counter. Eating his donuts and drinking his coffee, he waited for the first customer even though it was still a half an hour before the store officially opened. As he ate and waited, he considered what he would do with the truck. The first business at hand was getting the brakes fixed and new tires put on it. He'd also have to make arrangements to have his other car towed, but he didn't really have a place for the car. He realized that he didn't even have a place for himself. His thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of Mike. Mike, seeing that Jerry was seated at the counter threw the store keys to the counter keeping his distance. He said, "I brought the keys back." Taking a deep breath, Jerry said, "Mike. I would like to apologize for last night. I was out of line." Stunned, Mike looked at Jerry for a long time not knowing what to say. In the entire two years that he had worked at the store, Jerry had never apologized. Finally, he stuttered, "Oh, okay..." Jerry had been hoping for more than that, but he didn't let it bother him. Instead, he said, "I would really appreciate it if you came back to work here." Mike slowly shook his head and replied, "Mr. Smith. I'm sorry but I'm not sure I can do that." Mike flinched as Jerry shifted in his chair. Settling down in his seat, Jerry took a sip of his coffee having seen the reaction of Mike to his movements. It hurt knowing that every move that he made was seen as a threatening gesture. After swallowing his coffee, he asked, "Do you have a job?" "No." Jerry thought about it for a moment and then said, "Type up your resume and send it around. While you are waiting for an answer, you can work here. If you get a call, you're free to leave for the interview. If you get a job, drop the key to the store in my hand and go." It was a fair offer and one that Mike didn't want to turn down. It was tough finding a job and he had bills to pay. He said, "I'll have to talk to my wife about it." Nodding, Jerry said, "Fair enough. You talk to her. If you can work today, I'll give you this weekend off so that you can take your wife and kids to the lake to do some skiing in that boat of yours." That was the best offer that Mike was going to get and he knew it. He shuffled his feet as he thought the matter through. He had sworn the previous night that he would never work for Jerry again. Finally, he said, "Let me talk to my wife." Knowing it was highly doubtful that Mike would come back to work, Jerry said, "Why don't you use the phone in my office to call her? It'll give you a little privacy." The phone rang and Jerry picked it up. It was the brake shop from the other side of town. They needed several sets of brake pads, rotors, and a couple gallons of brake fluid. Jerry wrote down the order and then hung up the phone. He looked up at Mike surprised to see him still there and said, "Go on and talk to your wife." Nodding, Mike went into the back of the store to make the call. While Mike was making the call, Jerry pulled the order. When he pulled the brake pads, he realized that the brake shop could repair the brakes on his truck and the tire store could replace the tires. He finished pulling the parts and put them in a bag for the runner who would arrive in fifteen minutes or so. The runner was a guy that ran a pickup service for a number of businesses in the area. The quiet in the store was broken when the runner stepped through the door setting the bells ringing. He was here to pick up the order that had been phoned in earlier. Jerry greeted him, "Hello, Howard. How many times am I going to see you today?" "Dozen, maybe more," replied Howard as he examined the contents of the bag. Satisfied that it was all there, he signed the paper for the pickup and left without another word. Jerry watched him go and realized that he had never had a conversation with the guy. He frowned at the realization that he wasn't a friendly person and left the counter. Going to the back door, he opened it and looked at his truck parked there. It was an absolute wreck and, for some strange reason, the more he looked at it the more he loved it. He said, "Well Thunder, after Mike gets off the phone, I've got some calls to make. We'll get you all fixed up." He returned to the counter and waited for Mike to come out of his office. It was a long wait and he figured that it meant that it was a very tough decision. Surprising himself, he hoped that Mike would stay. Mike came out of the office and fidgeted a moment before he said, "I'll stay, but I'd like to take my wife out to lunch if that's okay. I kind of promised her that last night." Picking up the keys, Jerry tossed them to Mike as he said, "That's a good idea." Turning to the phone, Jerry began wheeling and dealing with the owners of auto shops around town to get the essential parts of his truck functional. It was the first time that he had engaged many of the storeowners in conversation rather than taking orders and at times he felt a little uneasy. He ended up swapping parts for labor costs coming out well ahead on the deal since he was able to buy the parts at wholesale prices. He also arranged for his other car to get towed to the back of the store. While Jerry was on the phone, Mike went to the back door and stared at the truck parked there. He couldn't believe that Jerry was spending so much time on such a wreck. He came back into the store and said, "Mr. Smith. I'm not sure that you got such a good deal on that truck." "Call me Jerry. I never had a better deal in my life," replied Jerry with a smile. For the first time in a long time, he didn't feel the rage and it felt good. ------- Chapter 2 Jerry Smith slammed the telephone down and sat in his chair fuming. His wife had just come home from shopping and discovered that he had cleared out all of his clothes and tools. She had asked how he could dare do that to her considering how much she had supported him, given birth to his two children, and slaved in the house. She kept asking who the whore was he had found and had screeched at him that the neighbors would all know that he left her for some crack whore. Even though he was angry, his rage was still well under control. Sitting at his desk, he stared at his hands wondering why he had been cursed with such massive paws. They weren't good for anything except destruction. Never had he been able to use them to create something. If he worked on anything for any length of time, hard rough calluses would form. When his hands were callused, his wife would flinch in pain when he touched her body. Looking down at the desk, he realized he had failed to fax in his order for replacement parts. If Mike had done that, he would have yelled at him for an hour. It was his fault today and he just shook his head. Talking out loud, he said, "It's just not worth getting angry about it." He faxed in the order pushing the buttons on the fax machine with his fat fingers. Much to his surprise, the machine didn't jam like it usually did. The rage inside him seemed almost disappointed. Stepping out of his office, he went to the back door and looked over his truck. New tires and brakes made it safe to drive. After Mike came back from lunch, he'd take it out for a drive and see how it ran. Returning to the counter, he told Mike, "It's almost lunch time. I'll see you when you get back." Mike had heard him talking on the phone and was worried his boss would come out of the office angry. That Jerry appeared calm was very uncharacteristic and it made him wonder if the man had lost it somehow. Not wanting to provoke his boss, he said, "I'll be back in an hour." "Take your time," replied Jerry as he settled in the chair at the counter. It was a slow day, which was fine with him. Getting out a pad of paper, he started making a list of the things that he needed to do over the next few days. He guessed the first thing he needed to do was find a place to live. While the office couch was okay for a night or two, it wasn't appropriate for the long term. Shortly after Mike left for lunch, a man came in the store and stepped up to the counter. Having taken a moment to look over his truck, Jerry was at the back door and heard the noise. Looking around, the guy called out, "Anyone here?" "Coming," answered Jerry as he headed to the front of the store. Reaching the counter, he asked, "What can I do for you?" The man asked, "Are you Jerry Smith?" "Yes, I am," answered Jerry wondering how the guy knew his name. The guy wasn't dressed up enough to be a lawyer hired by his wife. "I've got your car out front. Where do you want it?" "Put it in the back next to the truck. Don't block the truck though." "By the way, I put the bumper that was on the hood in the back seat. Your car must have really hit it hard to bend it like that." Jerry frowned at the reminder of his actions the previous day. Shaking his head, "I'm afraid I bent it." "Sure as hell bent it," replied the tow truck driver with a grin at the understatement. The bumper was bent into the shape of a horseshoe. He had been puzzling over the bumper ever since he saw it lying on the hood of the car. He added, "I have no idea how a car could bend it into that shape." "I bent it," answered Jerry with an emphasis on the first word. About to make a smart-ass remark, the driver paled when he finally understood what Jerry meant. Looking at the huge man, he realized just how strong the guy had to be in order to have bent the fender. He said, "Oh shit!" Jerry frowned as he said, "I think I'm going to hang it on my wall as a reminder of what happens when I lose my temper." "I'll park your car in the back, just like you asked." The driver backed out of the building and returned to his truck. Jerry hadn't meant to scare the guy, but he wasn't going to lie to him either. After a minute, he realized that he would have to pay the guy for towing the car and headed to the back of the store with some cash from the register. Stepping out into the back, he watched the guy back the car next to the truck. The guy double- checked to make sure that the car wasn't blocking the truck. Jerry watched the driver remove the tow bar from the car. On the ground was a trail of oil that had been left by the car while it had been towed. Going back into the store he searched for something to put under the car to catch the oil. All he could find was a box, so he filled it with some newspaper to absorb the oil and threw in a generator that had been returned as defective to weigh the box down. Returning outside, he slid the box under the car as the driver waited for him to pay. Jerry went over to the driver and asked, "How much?" "Paying cash?" "Yeah." "Fifty." Jerry counted out fifty and handed the money to the driver. Accepting the cash, the driver asked, "What are you going to do with that old truck?" "Fix it up and drive it." "Looks like you have a lot of work ahead of you. Are you planning to show it or something?" asked the driver. He had towed a lot of cars in worse condition to folks intending to fix them up. Most folks never fixed them, but judging by the business this guy was in the chances were good that it would be restored to mint condition. Jerry looked at the truck and realized what it had come to mean to him. He answered, "That truck is me on the inside. All beat up, rusted, worn down, and left on the back of the lot to be ignored. Yeah, it'll be a lot of work fixing us up. When I'm done, I'll probably show it around. However, it is going to fulfill its function in life too." "Well, I wish you luck," replied the driver. Shaking his head, he returned to the tow truck and left. Jerry went back into the store to wait for customers. He took calls from repair shops, pulled orders, and piled them up on the counter. The runner came and went several times, picking up the orders to deliver. The time passed and he started to get hungry, but Mike wasn't back from lunch. The day before, he would have been furious. Instead of getting angry, he just went to the back door occasionally and examined the truck. His eyes didn't see it as it was, but how it would look when he was finished with it. Finally, he returned to the counter and sat down. There was a stand of key rings on the corner of the counter and he absently examined them. There were two that had lightning patterns on them, but were slightly different. He picked them up and examined them. Selecting one, he put the keys to the truck on it. Almost an hour and a half after he had left for lunch, Mike came rushing in followed by his wife. When he realized that his wife had followed him in, he turned and half whispered, "Get out of here. You don't want to see this." Jerry looked up at the commotion and said, "Ah, you're back. Did you have a good lunch?" Mike slowly looked over at Jerry and answered, "I'm sorry about being late." "Hey, I told you to take your time," replied Jerry. Grabbing his list and his keys, he stood and headed towards the back of the store. He called over his shoulder, "Watch the store. I'll be back in an hour or two." Mike watched Jerry walk out the back of the store. Turning to his wife, he said, "I don't think he's feeling okay." Jerry headed down the street intending to hit the burger joint where he usually had lunch. Rather than rushing there to get through the meal as fast as he could, he took his time and looked around for a change. For the first time, he noticed a little restaurant called the Crimson Rose Bistro tucked away a little off the main road. At the last minute, he decided to try the place and turned into the parking lot. The driver behind him honked his horn and shot him the finger. Jerry ignored him and pulled into a spot next to a Mercedes. Getting out of the truck, he looked down at himself taking stock of his clothing. He was wearing a pair of business casual pants and a white shirt. Neither one of them was dirty. Turning to the truck, he said, "There shouldn't be any problem with eating in a place with real silverware for a change." Entering the restaurant, Jerry was shocked to find it was filled with little two and four person tables. The majority of clients were middle-aged women with two or three to a table. There were two couples, both with men who looked to him to be a little dainty to be considered men. An attractive young woman in her late twenties came over to him with a pair of menus in her hand and asked, "Table for two?" "One, please," replied Jerry feeling very out of place. A puzzled expression came over her face as she looked at him. He wasn't the type of person who came into this kind of place. She led him to a table for two wondering if it was large enough for him. Seating himself on the small chair, he dwarfed the table making it look like he was balancing a plate between his legs. Lifting an eyebrow, she handed him a menu and asked, "Would you like something to drink?" Uncomfortable by the surroundings and the attention his arrival had provoked, Jerry answered, "Yes, please. I'd like an ice tea." The pretty waitress smiled and said, "I'll be right back with your tea." Jerry set both elbows on the edges of the table and leaned forward to read the menu. The first time through, he thought it was written in French. The second time he read it, he realized that it was English but he didn't recognize a single item on the menu. Puzzled, he stared at the menu trying to decide what he should do. 'What in the hell was Portobello Mushroom? Was it a kind of mushroom or was it a way of preparing them?' The waitress returned with iced tea served in a tall thin glass. After setting it on the table, she asked, "Did you decide what you want yet?" Taking a deep breath, Jerry gestured with a finger for her to come closer. When she leaned down, he whispered, "I guess you figured out that I don't really belong in here." His whisper was like a normal speaking voice and most of the women turned to look over at him. Cautious, she answered, "The thought did cross my mind." "It crossed my mind. In fact, that thought is still ricocheting around in that empty space called my skull." He waved a finger through the air as though it were a bullet ricocheting around in a small area. As she tittered at his reply, he spread his hands as he said, "Last night, I came pretty close to getting killed. This morning, I decided that I was going to live life a little more fully. Now, this place is something I would never have tried before, but I'm going to try it. After all, isn't trying new things part of living life to the fullest?" Tilting her head as though reassessing him, she suddenly relaxed and smiled at him. Laying a hand on his arm, she answered, "Yes, it is." "So in that spirit, I have to admit that I don't recognize a single thing on the menu. Why don't you pick out something for me to try?" He smiled up at her as he made the request. Her casual touch on his arm meant more than he could put into words. His honest candor was disarming and the woman found herself warming up to him. She asked, "What if you don't like it?" Jerry was quiet for a moment as he considered the possibility and then answered, "Then I learn something new." He reached over to the glass of iced tea and removed the straw. The glass was two inches in diameter and six inches tall. Holding the glass between two fingers and his thumb, he drained it in one swallow. The waitress had watched him down the glassful of tea and couldn't resist smiling when he said, "Interesting. I would never have thought of serving iced tea in a glass that holds a single sip." The waitress made up her mind that she actually liked this guy and patted him on the shoulder. With a smile, she said, "You stay right here. I'll fix you up with a lunch that you'll enjoy." In the kitchen, she emptied the water from one of the water pitchers and filled it with tea. She called over to the chef, "Make a Chicken Caesar Salad, but super size it." After the chef had finished, she came out of the kitchen carrying the salad and the pitcher of iced tea. The salad was three times the size they normally served. She set the plate in front of him and the pitcher of tea within his reach. Pointing to the dish, she said, "This is a Chicken Caesar Salad. It has Romaine Lettuce, Croutons, Parmesan Cheese, and is topped with sliced chicken. It's the only thing we have with meat and I figured you are probably a meat eater." Jerry smiled and commented, "It's a good sized salad. To tell the truth, I kind of expected the servings to be a lot smaller." The waitress bent down and whispered, "I asked the Chef to make it big. I figured you are probably a man who enjoys a good sized meal." Realizing that it was his large stature at work, a slight frown crossed his face. Then the idea that she had made the effort to make sure that he was satisfied with the meal cheered him up. Bursting into a heartfelt smile, he said, "Thank you. I appreciate that." She had seen the frown cross his face and wondered if there was a story behind it, but the smile was genuine and that warmed her heart. She said, "I'll let you eat." Jerry refilled the glass of iced tea and drank it down. Grabbing the fork, he dug into his food. The salad was very different than the typical lettuce with thousand island dressing that he usually had, but it was good. The chicken helped fill out the salad in a way he hadn't expected. As he ate, he examined his surroundings. There were little paintings of different kinds of flowers on the walls. The walls themselves were covered with striped wallpaper in a pattern that mixed strips of pale green, white, and light pink in a random pattern. The curtains around the windows were made of lace. Each table was covered with a linen tablecloth and had a small vase with a single flower stuck in it. The impression the room gave was very feminine and not the kind of place that he would have chosen to eat had he known what it was like inside. The women in the room whispered to each other in intimate conversations, chatted about stores located in various places, or discussed fashions. He couldn't hear the details of their talk, but he heard enough to form an opinion about the women around him. None of them worked. Instead, they lived off the sweat of their husbands. He never heard one of them express any kind of appreciation for what their husband did for her. When he finished the salad, he sat back feeling satisfied and full. The waitress had done a good job in selecting a meal for him. She showed up to remove the plate and smiled as she said, "Either you liked it or you really had to work to get all of it down." Jerry laughed at her joke and replied, "I liked it." She smiled at his reaction and said, "I'm glad. Would you like a desert?" "Normally, I would say no, but I've really enjoyed myself. Sure, I'll take a desert." She leaned down and asked, "Do you like chocolate?" Confused, he answered, "Yeah, I guess so." She whispered in his ear, "I have this killer chocolate desert. The women in here won't order it unless there are three of them to share it because it is so rich. You'll love it." Jerry looked at the waitress appreciating her efforts to make him comfortable. Smiling, he said, "I'll try it." "I'll bring out some coffee to go with it. Do you like it with cream or sugar?" "I drink it black," he replied. Jerry enjoyed the desert tremendously. He ate and drank his coffee from the massive mug she had given him, not knowing it was normally used as a soup cup. He watched as the women slowly emptied from the restaurant. It wasn't long before he was the last customer in the place. The waitress sat down in the chair across from him and said, "It's such a pleasure to see a real man eat. None of the picky questions about fat content, calories, carbohydrates, or brand names." Very surprised she had joined him at the table, he tried to come up with some sort of comeback. Weakly, he said, "I like food." She smiled at him and said, "I bet you would love my roast cooked with potatoes and carrots. I make brown gravy out of the drippings that tastes out of this world. I usually serve it with some corn on the cob and occasionally some spinach." "I didn't see that on the menu," replied Jerry wondering how he had missed that dish. She laughed as though he had made a great joke and replied, "I'd lose every one of my customers if I put that on the menu. No, I only cook that at home." "Well, it sure sounds good." "Thanks," answered the waitress. She was quiet as though she expected him to say something. Jerry sat there realizing that the burden of the conversation was on him, but he couldn't think of anything to say. After an awkward minute of quiet he said, "My name is Jerry. What's yours?" "I'm Jenny." "Well, Jenny. I've really enjoyed lunch today. Usually, I go to the burger place down the street and grab a burger before going back to the store. I'm very glad that I came in here for a change." "Oh, you work around here?" "Yeah, I'm the manager of the auto parts store four blocks from here." Jerry was embarrassed to say that after years of his wife telling him that it was a loser job. "Don't you hate the paperwork that goes with running a business? I swear, I spend four hours serving and eight hours doing paperwork," replied Jenny. Jerry had not realized she was the owner of the restaurant and his estimate of her went up another notch. He agreed with her, "You bet. I have a problem keeping employees, but that is due to my personality." "You seem nice enough to me," remarked Jenny. "I have a problem with my temper," replied Jerry. He shifted uncomfortably on the chair and added, "That's not good for someone my size." "What's wrong with your size?" asked Jenny. She had always been attracted to big men. Her father had been a big man and she adored her father. When things were scary, he would wrap his big arms around her making her feel safe and secure. "I'm a freak of nature," replied Jerry with a frown as he glanced down at his massive paws that were called hands. Jenny looked at her watch and said, "Oh my, I didn't realize it was getting so late. I've got to clear the tables before the dishwasher leaves." Jerry looked over at her wondering if she agreed with his assessment of himself and had changed the subject. When he looked at his watch, he was surprised at how late it was. He said, "I've got to run by the bank before I get back to the store. I better go. How much do I owe you?" Smiling at him, she said, "Don't worry about it. Next time you come back, I'll charge you double." He was about to argue, but realized that it was actually an invitation to come back. Grinning, he said, "I'll take you up on that. I'll be back Friday." Smiling, she led him to the door where she said, "I'm looking forward to it." Jerry went out to his truck and sat in the driver's seat happy. The rage had retreated a great distance. Sitting there reflecting on his lunch, he realized he had laughed and joked with an attractive young woman. Patting the steering wheel, he said, "Well, Thunder. You got new tires and new brakes today. It looks like I just got me a new friend. We're both well on our way to getting rebuilt." He started the truck, listening to the low rumble of the muffler and said, "Tomorrow, a new muffler." With a low roar, he pulled out of the parking lot and headed to the bank. Reaching it, he went in and stood in a line that was shorter than normal. He realized the reason the line was short was the time of day. Normally, he came in during the lunch hour and the line was horribly long. He filed away the information for later use. Reaching the counter, he hemmed for a moment and then asked, "What is the balance in my savings account?" After the getting the account information, the woman behind the counter looked up the amount. Squinting to make out the numbers, she looked at the screen and said, "You have $12,546." He took his slip and made out the withdrawal amount an even $3000. That would leave a quarter the savings each for his son, daughter, and wife. He slid the withdrawal form across the counter and waited for her to complete the transaction. Looking at the amount, she asked, "How do you want it? All hundreds?" "Sure, that would be fine," replied Jerry as he considered what he had to do for a long-term solution to the financial issues he faced. After she counted out the money, he asked, "Could you print up a history of my checking account for the month?" The teller frowned and then said, "Sure. It'll take a minute." The man in line behind Jerry grumbled. Rather than react negatively, Jerry turned and, smiled as he said, "Sorry about that." It was hard to tell if it was his size, the gravelly sound of his low voice, or his manner, but the man stopped grumbling about the delay. Jerry turned back to the counter to wait for the return of the teller. She returned with several pages detailing all of the checks that had cleared the bank since the last statement. He was shocked at the activity that so many pages represented. Mumbling his thanks, he walked away from the teller looking over the pages. He almost stumbled when he saw that his wife's tennis lessons were costing him two hundred a month. Looking down the list, he saw checks for forty dollars made out to the hairstylist that she went to every week. There was a payment for over four hundred to AmEx and he didn't even carry that card. There were checks to dress shops and other stores. He was a loser and she was spending over eight hundred a month living a good life while he worked? How was it that he had a weekly allowance of only twenty-five dollars and used most of that money eating lunch at the burger joint? He sat down in the truck and considered his circumstances. It was unusual that he wasn't angry at the injustice of what he saw on the print out, but he didn't even notice his atypical reaction. Instead, he just felt numb at the realization that he had been a chump. After sitting there for a few minutes, he smiled and started up the truck. He drove back to the store and parked his truck in the back. Getting out, he entered the store and dropped the papers on his desk. Going to the register, he returned the hundred he had taken earlier to pay for the tow truck. Mike watched him moving around the store, noticing the smile on Jerry's face. He couldn't recall seeing Jerry smiling. Jerry turned and noticed Mike watching him. He remarked, "I had a great lunch today. I tried that little place up the street." "What place?" "The Crimson Rose Bistro." Mike stared at Jerry for a full minute before he replied, "That's a chick's place." "Yeah. I discovered that. I'm going back Friday." Mike shook his head wondering what he had found to eat there. He had gone with his wife there once and he couldn't find a single thing on the menu to eat. The wife had loved the place, but they had never returned to it. He replied, "Okay. If you like that kind of place, I see no reason not to go back." Jerry smiled at the discomfort of Mike. He understood the man was thinking that he must have lost his mind to go to a place like that. Instead of following up on the conversation, he asked, "Does your wife work?" "No. She's thinking about going back to work now that the kids are going into school." Jerry asked, "Do you think that she would like to try handling the inventory here as a part-time job? She could work when the kids are in school and bring in a little money. You'll be able to go out to lunch together more often." Mike, who had just been talked into staying here until he found another job, stared at Jerry. Cautiously, he answered, "I'll tell her about the offer." Grabbing the pad of paper on the counter, Jerry replied, "Good. I guess I had better get to the inventory and see what we need to order." Wandering off to the back of the store, he walked down the aisle examining the shelves to see what was getting low in stock. As he worked, he realized it was about time to modernize the operation of the store here. Of course, since this was a chain he'd have to get permission from his boss to make the changes, but he didn't expect it to be too difficult to accomplish. After getting the list together of the items he would need, he went to his office and filled out the order forms. A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts. Looking up, he saw Mike standing at the door. Rather than getting irritated, he asked, "What's up?" "It's closing time." "Okay. Lock up the door and I'll see you tomorrow. Mention my offer to your wife," replied Jerry as he returned to his work. Mike walked away from the office confused by the new Jerry. Jerry didn't notice and as soon as he finished filling out the order form, went over to the fax machine. Carefully putting the paper in the feed, he dialed the number and waited for the fax to break down. It functioned perfectly. Satisfied, he put the forms into a folder and filed it in the file cabinet where he kept the order records of the store. Shaking his head, he realized too much of the record keeping for the store was manual. Returning to his desk, he attacked the pile of paperwork. He had reports to fill out concerning hours worked by each employee, sales figures for the previous week, and forms that covered other aspects of the business. Normally, he'd gripe about every form that he had to fill out. So much of the information was redundant. Half of the forms consisted of filling in the store details such as its address. Normally, he did this work during store hours, but with the shortage of employees he had to watch the counter much of the time. At least today he didn't have anything else to do except work. There wasn't even a television set here for him to watch until he went to sleep. Working with an unusual diligence, he finished all of the paperwork for the week before heading out for dinner. Dinner was a simple affair, eaten at a chicken place. They had a buffet and he could usually make a considerable dent in it. It was one of the cheapest dinners that he could find. This evening, he took his time and enjoyed the food despite the fact that it was typical fried chicken. Tonight, he kept his thoughts private, 'This was a pretty nice day. How did that happen?' Taking another bite of chicken, he thought, 'I know why. I took my time today, met a nice lady, put some money in my pocket, and did my work.' His plate empty, he returned to the counter and refilled it. A little boy stared, open mouthed, at the amount of food that he piled on the plate. Rather than apologizing, Jerry looked down at the boy and said, "I'm big." The little boy looked up at him and said, "You're huge." Jerry laughed as he carried the plate back to his chair. Compared to the little boy he was huge. In fact, compared to everyone he was huge. As he sat down, he thought to himself, 'Perhaps it is time that I accept the fact that I'm huge and stop apologizing for it.' ------- Chapter 3 Mike pulled into the parking spot next to the beat up old truck. Getting out, he noticed Jerry was underneath the rear examining the muffler. Going over to him, he bent down and said, "It's about time to open the store." In a loud voice, Jerry answered, "Go ahead and open. Everything is ready for you." Mike went in the back door and opened the store while Jerry continued his survey of the undercarriage of the truck. He hadn't seen a truck with a wooden bed in years and was struggling to figure out how to fix it. It looked simple enough, but he knew that looks could be deceiving. Satisfied that he had a good idea how to go about fixing it, he crawled out from under the truck and took stock of his clothes. He needed to change and two days without a shower was a day too many. Going into the store, he looked around and saw Mike was already dealing with a customer. Rather than interrupt, he went into his office and got a change of clothes and a towel. Wrapping the clothes in the towel, he set it on his desk. Returning to the counter, he watched as Mike finished taking care of the customer. When the customer was gone, he said, "I'm going to the Y to take a shower. Can you watch the store?" "Sure," replied Mike as he turned back to the counter. He wondered if Jerry was serious about his wife coming to work in the store. Jerry returned three-quarters of an hour later wearing a fresh change of clothes. Entering the back of the store, he set his dirty clothes in a paper sack and carried it into his office. He called out, "Mike, I'm back." He didn't wait for a reply as he closed the door. Today, he had to locate a place to live since living in the office was beginning to get a little old. While there, he noticed the pages he had gotten from the bank the previous day. He decided that maybe the first thing that he needed to do was resolve his financial situation. Sitting at his desk, he started going over the record of the checks. It only took him a few minutes to get totally immersed in what he was doing. At first glance, it looked like he could take nine hundred dollars a month without impacting anyone except his wife's idle time. His concentration was interrupted when Mike knocked on the door. Looking up, he said, "Come in." Mike slowly opened the door and peered into the office looking nervous. This was a very tough thing for him to do, but he needed to remind Jerry about the discussion concerning his wife. Apologetically, he said, "Karen is here to talk to you about the job you offered." At the reminder of his conversation about hiring Mike's wife, he grinned over at Mike. He said, "Great. Send her in." A few minutes later, Mike's wife entered the room just as Jerry finished clearing his personal papers from the desk. Jerry said, "Hello, Karen. Have a seat." Karen nervously took a seat opposite the big man. She knew that Jerry was a big man, but until now she had never really dealt with him one on one. Sitting this close to him, she could understand why Mike was terrified of him. Voice shaking a little, she said, "Mike told me something about a job." "Yes. I was wondering if you would like to manage the inventory of the store. It is a part-time job, but has some nice benefits. You'll be able to come to work with Mike, take your lunches together, and work around your kid's school hours." "I don't really know that much about auto parts," she answered nervously. Jerry was quiet for a moment before he replied, "That might be a problem. Of course, you don't have to know what things do and most of the items have the names on the boxes. I'd teach you, but have recently come to the conclusion that I'm not a very good teacher. I don't have the patience for it, but I'm sure that Mike would be happy to help you out." "I've been taking computer classes at the community college," said Karen hoping that it would be a good reason to hire her. "We don't have a computer here, but I've been thinking it is time to change that. You could probably take charge of that effort since I have no clue about computers." "Oh," replied Karen wondering if she were up to the job. Finally, she said, "I'm not sure that I can learn all that stuff." "Bah! If I can learn it, so can you. The job pays $8.00 an hour to start. If you stay six months, it will go up to $9.00 an hour." "Are you saying that you'll take a chance on me?" "Yes. When can you start?" "How about tomorrow?" Jerry sat there for a moment considering the answer. Tomorrow would be good, but today would be better. Satisfied that she was going to come to work, he decided not to push his luck. He smiled and dug through the desk drawer for an application and a W-4 form. Handing them to her, he said, "Why don't you fill this out? Mike has late lunch today, so maybe you will want to hang around and go to lunch with him." Karen looked down at the forms he had handed her. They were standard forms and wouldn't take long to fill out. It was only eleven in the morning. She looked up and said, "Great. I'll fill them out now." "Use my desk, I'll talk to Mike and see how things are going in the store." Wandering out to the front of the store, he saw Mike waiting to hear the news. Split in his opinion as to whether his wife should work here, Mike didn't want to hear from her that she had been turned down. Even worse would be the possibility that Jerry would have him break the news to her. Seeing the look on Mike's face, Jerry said, "She's filling out the paperwork now and will start tomorrow. I'm going to head out for an early lunch. I'll be back in about an hour and a half. I have some errands to run." Over lunch at the burger joint, Jerry examined the classified ads looking for a cheap place to live. He didn't need much, just enough room for a bed, a kitchen, and a bathroom. Wolfing down his burger, he circled a couple of places that were close by and seemed reasonably priced. As soon as he finished eating, he picked up the paper and headed out. The neighborhood had seen better days and those days had been long ago. It had been taken over by the poor and elderly. The street, or what passed as a street, was filled with potholes and lined with old cars that belonged on the lot of that horrible used car place where he had bought his truck. The few teenagers he had seen, all of whom were black, looked angry. He parked in front of the house listed in the advertisement. A couple of windows were broken, the steps were half rotted, and the house needed painting. It was in bad enough shape that his truck looked new compared to it. Shaking his head, he debated what to do. Stepping out of the truck, he went up to the house. A teenager, perhaps fifteen, came over to where he stood and said, "Kinda white to be thinkin' of livin' here." Without turning to look at the kid, Jerry replied, "Kinda young to be out of school." "Shit, what's that got to do with anythin'." School didn't start for two weeks, so the insult didn't mean anything to the kid. "Is this a safe neighborhood?" The kid shrugged his shoulders and looked around before he answered, "Depends." "Depends on what?" asked Jerry believing he knew the answer to his question. "Whether you're black or white." Jerry turned and stepped up to the kid. Putting his hands on his hips, he faced the kid directly letting him get a glimpse of his full size. Raising an eyebrow, he asked, "Do you think I'll have any trouble that I can't handle?" Taking in the monster standing before him, the kid gulped and then replied, "Don't think so." "Good. Tell me a reason to move here." "You'll have me for a neighbor," replied the kid with a smirk. Looking down at the boy, Jerry burst out laughing and said, "I think you've talked me into it. Where do I find the owner of this dump?" "He's got the real estate office six blocks north of here," replied the kid wondering if this guy was serious about moving into the neighborhood. He'd be the only white within a half a mile. As a last resort, he asked, "Are you sure you want to live here? This is a slum if you haven't noticed." "I noticed and don't care," replied Jerry. The two of them stood there for a moment in silence, Jerry stood examining the house while the kid examined Jerry. Coming to a decision, Jerry said, "I'm going to the real estate office. You say it is six blocks from here?" "Yeah, take the street there to the left and you'll hit it. You can't miss the place. He's the only one with a fancy car in the whole area." Jerry followed the directions and found the office without a problem. Parked out front of office building was a silver Lexus. Considering that he had driven past clunker after clunker on the way there, the presence of the Lexus was almost a shock to the system. The sign in front of the building said, "Robert Benson Property Management." A pasty-faced little man with a very bad toupee was seated behind a desk talking on the telephone. Jerry hated him at first sight without being able to put a finger on why he reacted to the man in such a fashion. After the man hung up the telephone, he asked, "What can I do for you?" "You have a property on Grayson Lane for rent." "Yes, I do." "I'd like to rent it." "It's not in a very good neighborhood," replied Robert, surprised that a white man wanted to rent the house and unsure that he wanted to rent it to him. He much preferred to rent to folks who knew better than to screw with the landlord. Blacks and Mexicans knew that little lesson. If they hadn't learned it elsewhere, they learned it here. "At two hundred a month, I like the price," replied Jerry. "Okay. It'll be a two hundred dollar deposit with two months rent up front," answered the guy. With a sly look on his face, Robert asked, "Looking for a little out of the way place to bring your girlfriend, huh?" Jerry shot a nasty look at the greasy little man. The guy didn't seem to care and just said, "I guess it is none of my business." "Right," answered Jerry. He pulled out his wallet pocket and removed six hundred dollars. Handing it over to the man, he said, "I need a receipt and a lease." The man bent down to fill out the lease. As he worked, Jerry asked, "You gonna fix the windows on the place?" "You're renting it as is," replied Robert as he bent to his work. Jerry had expected that as an answer and knew that even if he made improvements to the house the guy would end up keeping the deposit. This guy was a slumlord, profiting off the poor. Jerry could feel the rage coming to the surface as he thought, 'I'm one of the poor and had better get used to it. I have to live off eight hundred a month. That's probably more than most of my new neighbors.' Robert handed him the lease and said, "Sign it." Jerry took the time to read over the lease. It was the nastiest lease he had ever encountered. A week late with rent and the owner could change the locks on the door and confiscate everything inside the house. It was illegal, but who among the tenants could afford to contest it in court. Growling, he signed the lease. Before handing it back, he said, "Receipt for my six hundred." "Oh, yeah," replied the man. He filled out two receipts, one for the deposit and one for two months rent. As he handed them over, he said, "You're gonna love living in that neighborhood. Lots of young black pussy there that'll fuck you for a few bucks. Hell, I bet some of them would appreciate the chance to fuck you instead of me for the rent." The rage welled up in Jerry at the way the man talked about using people and his hands slowly curled up into a fist. Fighting back the rage, he handed over the crumpled lease and said, "The keys." Robert handed him the keys and watched as Jerry stiffly walked out of the building. It was lucky he didn't know how close he had come to seeing a demonstration of Jerry's strength since Jerry had wanted to tear the man in half. Jerry sat in the truck as the rage slowly retreated. Talking to the truck, he said, "I was hoping that I wouldn't feel that rage anymore. Maybe I'm wrong, but there was something different about it this time." He started the truck and drove back to the house he had rented. Pulling up in front of the house, he looked over at it and said, "Thunder, this is your new home." Getting out, he fished the keys to the house from his pocket. Unlocking the front door, he opened it and stepped back as a foul smell billowed out. Holding his breath, he went into the house and opened windows to let it air out. Two of the windows had broken panes and he left them closed. The place was filthy with trash piled up on the floor. Garbage that had been in the kitchen had turned into a science experiment. Coughing, he said, "I guess I'll be spending another night or two in the office until I get this place cleaned up." Getting out of the house, the kid turned up and looked at him. Surprised at seeing the guy back, the kid said, "I thought you were fooling about renting this place." Jerry frowned as he thought about it. He tended to be a rather literal guy who did what he said. He replied, "I don't fool about things." The kid nodded his head, as he believed the guy was telling him the truth. After a minute he said, "I'm Abraham Lincoln Spencer." "I'm Jerry Smith. Can I call you Abe?" "Makes me sound old," answered the kid even though that was what everyone called him. "Nothing wrong with that," replied Jerry as he looked over at the kid with a neutral expression. "Okay, if I can call you Jerry." "Sure thing," answered Jerry as he stood back from the house. With a smile, he said, "You didn't tell me the owner was such a nice guy." "Nice guy?" asked the kid incredulous. Everyone hated the landlord with a passion. In fact, he was surprised that no one had killed him yet. Stepping back, he challenged, "You whites all stick together." "Yeah, we do. In the five minutes I was there, I felt like ripping off his head and shoving it up his ass." Abe looked over at Jerry for a minute and said, "Oh, you don't like him." "Right. That's one slimy asshole." Abe didn't reply in any way except to smile a little more broadly. The more he talked to this guy, the more he liked him. It was going to be interesting to see how the other people in the neighborhood took to the guy. Of course, considering the size of Jerry it would be just as interesting to see how he would take to the people in the neighborhood. Jerry said, "I'm heading back to the job." "Aren't you going to lock up the house?" "Why?" "Someone might steal something," answered Abe looking over at the wide open door. It was just inviting anyone to come in and take whatever he or she wanted. "I hope they do," replied Jerry. "There's nothing in there that I want." "They'll take the fridge." Jerry looked down at Abe and replied, "Just let people know that if they take the appliances, that I'll play basketball using their body as a ball." That Jerry could carry out that threat was not lost on Abe. He'd spread the word knowing that it wouldn't do any good until more people saw the guy. Shaking his head, Abe answered, "They won't believe the threat until they see you." Jerry laughed and said, "Then I expect they'll return them to me." Abe stood there laughing as Jerry drove off in his truck. It was going to be fun having this guy as a next door neighbor. He was going to create quite a stir amongst the people here. Jerry drove carefully down the street avoiding the potholes. The city probably wouldn't fix them, so he was just going to have to be careful driving around here. It was twelve blocks to the store and he made the trip in eight minutes. As he drove, he decided that if Abe was old enough and was willing, he could ride a bike to the store and work part-time as a stock boy. Entering the store, Mike and Karen were seated at the counter talking with each other. They didn't expect Jerry back for another thirty minutes, so they were talking about what she could expect working there. Jerry, not realizing they hadn't heard him, asked, "You guys ready for lunch?" Mike turned in surprise and said, "Sure." Karen couldn't believe how jumpy her husband was around Jerry, but then she had never seen Jerry angry. She answered, "Ready to go." "Mike, I'll see you when you get back. Karen, I guess I'll see you in the morning after you get the kids off to school." "Sure," replied Mike. At the same time, Karen replied, "Right." Jerry watched as the pair left the store together, but drove off in separate cars. Jerry looked down at the receipts and saw they had a pretty good lunchtime crowd while he was out of the store. Most of their business was from auto repair houses around town and discounted, but the walk-in home-fixit crowd bought the high profit items. The next person to enter the store was the shipping company. It took him several trips with the dolly to unload the twenty boxes containing his orders from last week. He signed the bill of lading and watched as the man left to make his next delivery. Staring at the twenty boxes, he realized that he could have used Karen here today rather than tomorrow. Sighing, he went over and started to unpack them, putting each item on the shelves in the proper place. He was interrupted three times by customers as he worked, but he completed restocking the shelves by the time Mike returned from lunch. Mike noticed the empty boxes and said, "You could have waited until I returned." "Nah. I enjoyed the effort." Mike just shrugged and went behind the counter. Curious, he examined the schedule and saw that he was scheduled to work Saturday. Without thinking about the possible consequences of his statement, he said, "I see you have me down for Saturday on the schedule." Jerry walked over and scratched Mike's name off the schedule as he said, "Sorry. I didn't make the change." "I didn't mean it like that," replied Mike. "That's okay. Relax, you're too tense." Mike looked at the schedule and said, "You don't have me down for Monday." Jerry looked over at the schedule and nodded his agreement. He said, "That's right." "Do you want me to work Monday?" The question surprised Jerry and he was almost ready to answer that he could have that day off as well when he realized that Karen would be working Monday. Smiling he said, "I'll tell you what. Why don't you start working Mondays and taking off Saturdays from now on?" "Are you sure?" "Well, I figure your wife will be working weekdays. You might want to work those same days and have the same days off." Mike looked at Jerry and said, "Okay. Sounds good to me." "Great. I'm thinking about hiring a stock boy. Do you think you can train him?" "I suppose. It's not hard. You sure we need one? Sammy usually does that." "I think Sammy is about ready to start working the counter all of the time. I figure the new guy can take care of some of the things around the store in addition to the putting up stock," replied Jerry. Mike shook his head and said, "We still need two full time people." Jerry smiled as he thought about the neighborhood into which he had just moved. Somewhere around there, someone had to want a job. Working for him had to be better than fucking the landlord. He replied, "Don't worry about that." The hours passed. Sammy came into work and joined Mike at the counter. Jerry went into the back and finished going through the records of his checking account. He calculated how much money was required to pay the household bills. Frowning, he realized that less than a quarter of his money was going to pay bills. Not quite able to believe the numbers, he checked a second and a third time. The house payment was low since he had bought the house twenty years ago when he was just a salesclerk at the store. He added together how much money his wife was spending on herself. She was spending almost three thousand on her hobbies and personal interests. He split the three thousand into four parts. He was left with eight hundred for himself. Smiling, he realized that the lifestyle of his wife was going to take a major turn for the worse. Deciding it was time to start weaning his wife off his money tit, Jerry picked up the telephone and called his bank. After a few minutes he was put in touch with the bank manager. It took some time for him to make clear what he wanted to do, but the bank manager was unable to help him. Instead, he suggested that Jerry contact a lawyer. Jerry didn't have a lawyer and didn't even know how to go about getting one. Frowning, he decided to put it off for another day. He didn't even know what credit cards his wife was using that had his name on them, but they had to be stopped before she realized he was done with paying her way through life. Walking out of his office, he was surprised to find Mike and Sammy closing up the store. Sammy turned to Jerry and said, "Time to go home." Jerry realized he had a home to which he could go, at least for a little while this evening. When the other two left the store, he locked up and went out the back to his truck. Getting in, he drove by the burger place and had another burger. From there, he went to the local grocery store and bought a hundred dollars worth of cleaning supplies. He wondered if it was enough, but didn't let the thought hold him back. Driving down the street keeping a sharp eye out for potholes, he made it to his house in ten minutes. As he parked the truck along the curb, he looked around the neighborhood taking it in all. There were two dozen kids running around and riding on bikes. Adults were out in the yards talking to each other. A group of teenage boys were leaning against a car watching him get out of his truck with interest. Jerry got out before he spotted Abe sitting on the porch next door. Abe's head was turning from one group of people to the next hoping to catch their reactions. One of the teenage boys stepped away from the car and sauntered over to Jerry. Frowning, he looked at the large man as though assessing him. Jerry reached out offering to shake hands. The teenager looked down at the hand for a second and then grabbed it squeezing as hard as he could. Jerry's hand closed around the kid's hand appearing to swallow it in the process. The kid said, "I heard a strong white man was moving into the neighborhood. Not sure if I like that, if you catch my drift." Jerry looked down and noticed that his front tire was right against the curb. Reaching down to the bumper, he lifted the truck and pulled the front a few inches from the curb before setting the truck down. Turning to look at the teenager, he said, "We'll have to talk about it someday after we've gotten to know each other a little better. First impressions are important, but not all that important." The kid looked at Jerry and then stared at the truck. It was a small truck, built in the mid-fifties and not as heavy as most modern cars. Still the demonstration was effective. The other teenagers who had stayed back by the car across the street shifted nervously and whispered to each other. The kid nodded, "You're strong. I'll give you that." Jerry didn't respond, but went to the passenger door of the truck and pulled out the cleaning supplies he had purchased. As he lifted the bags, he said, "The name is Jerry Smith." "I'm Martin Luther Spencer," replied the black kid. Nodding to indicate that he had heard Martin, Jerry started to walk up the path to the front door. As he went, he said, "You must be the older brother of Abe." Intrigued, Martin followed and asked, "How do you know my brother?" "He's half the reason I moved here," replied Jerry as he climbed the steps to the porch. The steps creaked as he stepped on them and it was clear they wouldn't support his weight if he carried anything heavy. "Why?" "I like him," replied Jerry as he looked into the house. If anything, it was dirtier than it had been when he had walked through it earlier. Newspapers were spread all over the floor, old towels, broken toys, and other debris left by who ever had been the previous occupant were scattered about the floor. A number of people had trooped through the house while he had been gone. Abe had warned him it would happen, so he wasn't surprised. Martin froze with narrowed eyes staring at Jerry's back. Suspicious of the white man, he asked, "Are you a faggot?" "Nope. Are you?" "Fuck you, man. You're the one saying you like my little brother." Jerry turned and looked at Martin. Shaking his head at how his statement had been misunderstood, he replied, "Your little brother tried to talk me out of moving here. Honesty like that is pretty rare. He's a good kid. Someone ought to make sure he makes it to school every day." Martin relaxed a little and looked back at his friends hanging around the car. He didn't know what to make of this guy moving into his neighborhood. Finally, he said, "Anyone that hurts him is going to have to answer to me." Entering the house, Jerry dropped the cleaning supplies by the front door and pulled out the box of trash bags. As he pulled a bag out, he said, "Good for you. I think I like you too. Now go give your report to the kids hanging around that car across the street. I've got to start cleaning up before it gets too dark to work." Martin stood there looking at Jerry as he opened a trash bag and started picking up the litter spread on the floor of the very small living room. Puzzled, he turned and went back across the street. A few minutes later, Jerry heard a noise behind him. Looking over his shoulder, he saw Abe standing at the door. "Hi, Abe. Met your brother. He's a nice guy." "You mean that in the same way you talked about the landlord?" "No. I mean I really like your brother. He cares about you and I can respect that," answered Jerry as he tied off the bag and went to get another one. "You sure confused him," replied Abe as he turned to watch his brother talking to his friends. He knew that half of them used drugs and hoped his brother wasn't involved with drugs, but that was highly unlikely. Everyone in the area smoked grass, but there were more than a few crack addicts in the area. Turning to look at Jerry, he said, "Some people think you are here to open a crack house." "No. I'm here to live," replied Jerry wondering why they would think he would do that. Abe was quiet as he watched Jerry fill another bag with trash. After a few minutes, Abe said, "Only time whites come here is to take something from us." "Sad that you believe that. Even sadder if that is true," remarked Jerry as he thought about it. The rage inside was very quiet. ------- Chapter 4 Jerry drove back to the auto parts store after a busy morning. It wasn't even eight and he had eaten a good breakfast of bacon and eggs at the local diner and visited the YMCA. At the YMCA, he had taken a shower, shaved, and generally groomed himself with extra care -- even taking the opportunity to polish his shoes. On returning to the store, he searched through his clothes carefully selecting the best outfit he had. He dressed taking time to make sure everything looked good together. Satisfied with his morning activities, he settled into his job with a peace of mind he hadn't felt in a long time. The telephone rang and Jerry answered it even though the store wasn't supposed to open for another ten minutes. As he was taking down the order, Mike entered the store and looked around knowing he was going to have to teach his wife how to do inventory later that day. This was going to be her first day on the job and he wondered how it would go. Hopefully, Jerry wouldn't lose his temper. Jerry hung up and handed the order over to Mike as he said, "They're calling early today. Why don't you pull orders and I'll take the calls. When your wife comes, she can help you and get to know the inventory a little." "Sounds reasonable to me," answered Mike as he read over the order. The phone rang and Jerry answered it. He started writing down the order trying to remember if they had everything in stock. At one point, he put the customer on hold and asked Mike if they had a particular part. When told they didn't, he returned to the phone and said, "I don't have one of those. I can order it for you, but it'll be Monday before we get it in." When the guy at the other end of the line said that he would check some other places, Jerry said, "I'll tell you what. I'll look around and see if I can find one locally. I'll call you back and Howard can pick it up for you." Mike had come back with the order that he was pulling and overheard Jerry. He couldn't believe that Jerry had made that offer. When the call was over, Jerry went to work on the phone to locate the part. On his third try, he located someone that had it and placed an order for it. He also sent over the rest of the order. Satisfied that they would have it ready, Jerry called his customer back and let them know that the entire order was at another store waiting for pickup. Turning around, he looked up in time to see Karen enter the store. He said, "Good morning. Ready to start working?" She smiled at the friendly greeting and replied, "Sure." "I asked Mike to have you help pull some orders this morning so you can get familiar with the stock here in the store. Take your time and pay attention to Mike. He knows all there is to know about everything in stock." Karen looked over at her husband and said, "Sure. What ever you say." Jerry turned back to the phone as it rang again. He picked it up and took down another order. At this rate, it was going to be a record day. He called over his shoulder, "Mike, here's another one." At fifteen past eleven, Jerry turned to look at Mike and Karen as they pulled the last order he had taken. He waited until they finished before he asked, "Would you mind taking your lunch a little early? I've got some business to take care of during lunch and would like to take a little longer than usual." Glancing over at his wife, Mike answered, "Sure. No problem." "Okay, I'll see you in an hour," replied Jerry as he turned back to the counter. Less than an hour later, Jerry pulled out of the parking lot for the short drive to the Crimson Rose Bistro. When he had just about reached it, he swore, "Oaf, you should have gotten her some sort of present." He drove past the restaurant to a flower shop several blocks down the street. Entering it, he looked around trying to figure out what kind of flower she might appreciate. He was debating between some simple bouquet of simple flowers and a rose, when he recalled the name of the restaurant was Crimson Rose. Of course she would like a red rose. Stepping up to the counter, he looked down at the elderly lady at the cash register. He physically dwarfed her and felt like he could carry her around on the palm of his hand. The contrast almost made him reconsider buying a rose for Jenny. How would a young lady like her react to getting a flower from him? She'd probably think he was some sort of stalker. What had she really done? She'd been nice to a freak who had wandered into her place. Still, she had made him feel real good. The lady at the cash register cleared her throat and asked a second time, "What can I get for you, sir?" "A Crimson Rose," answered Jerry. He low gravelly voice managed to convey the nervousness that he felt. The elderly woman smiled and asked, "Is this for a sweetheart?" The question gave him a moment's pause. He answered, "Maybe. It's for someone that was nice to me." She asked, "Do you want it wrapped in paper with Baby's Breath?" Frowning since he didn't know what the question meant, he finally answered, "No babies. I'll just give it to her plain." She laughed at his comment, recognizing he probably hadn't ever bought flowers before. With stiff presses of her arthritic fingers on the keys of the register, she rang up the purchase and said, "That'll be five dollars." Shocked at the price of a single flower, he handed her the five dollars. She led him over to a pail of roses to let him pick out the flower. Looking over the bucket of red roses, he asked, "Which one is closest to Crimson in color?" The elderly lady pulled out one of the darker purplish red roses and handed it to him. He smiled and said, "Thank you." The stem of the rose disappeared in his hand, even though he held it between his forefinger and thumb. Afraid of breaking it, he carried it to the truck and set it on the passenger seat with care. It didn't take him long to return to the restaurant. Once he had parked, he reached over to grab the rose. In his nervousness, the long stem snapped in his hand. For a long minute he stared at the broken rose wondering what he should do. If it hadn't been so expensive, he would have returned to the flower store to buy another one. Picking up the rose much more carefully, he carried it with him into the restaurant. When Jenny saw him, she came over and said, "I was so afraid that you weren't going to come here today. I set a special table for you." Surprised at her reaction to seeing him, he held out the rose. Gruffly, he said, "I bought this for you. It had a longer stem, but my clumsy hands broke it." Smiling, she gently took the rose from his hands and said, "Oh, this is wonderful. I love roses. How did you know I love roses?" "From the name of the restaurant," answered Jerry with a slight smile. She hadn't reacted negatively to his gift and that pleased him significantly. "Silly me. I didn't even think of that. Why don't you sit at that table over there while I put this in some water and get you some iced tea?" Jenny smiled and hurried away to the kitchen. Jerry walked over to the table she had pointed out and noticed the glass on this table was much bigger than the glass he had used the last time here. He watched as Jenny came out of the kitchen with the rose in a small vase. Making a big deal out of it, she set it on the little stand where she kept the reservations. The stem looked a little shorter than when he brought it in, so he decided the damage he had done wasn't that important. She made on obvious effort to show off the rose. Smiling she came over to his table and asked, "How do you like your beef?" "Medium rare," answered Jerry. Smiling at him, Jenny said, "That's what I figured. I've got a Caesar Salad and I'll put a nice sliced Rib-Eye steak on it instead of the chicken. You strike me as a beef kind of man. Does that sound good?" "It sounds great." "Oh my. I forgot your iced tea. I'll be right back," said Jenny as she rushed back to the kitchen. In the kitchen, she stopped just inside the door and fussed with her hair. Talking to herself, she said, "Grow up, Jennifer. You're acting giddy as a schoolgirl. He's married you fool. He even has a wedding ring on his hand." Amazed at the effort she had put into this lunch, Jerry didn't know what to think. She was a very attractive woman. It was hard to believe she had thought about his needs in the manner she had. He frowned at the thought that he was probably just another customer to her. Jenny came out with a pitcher of iced tea and filled his glass without saying a word. He watched her carefully, taking in her nice full lips, the aristocratic nose, her hazel eyes, and her delicate ears with little sapphire earrings. With her brown hair, held back with a headband, she was just too pretty to be interested in a monster like him. From deep inside, he could feel the rage stirring hoping this was going to turn out bad. He swallowed heavily and said, "Thank you very much." In a more professional tone of voice, Jenny said, "Your salad will be ready in a minute or two. The Chef has to cook the steak." "It sounds to me like he doesn't get to do that very often," remarked Jerry hoping to break down the sudden awkwardness that seemed to have descended between them. His comment took her by surprise. Jenny laughed and said, "You know, I don't even know if he knows how to cook one. I probably should have asked." With an exaggerated wink, he replied, "Maybe I should have ordered the chicken." "Not on your life. I made a special effort to find a steak for you," replied Jenny not realizing the import of what she said. "In that case, I'll enjoy it even if it is burnt to a crisp," replied Jerry. Jenny looked at him and said, "You know. I bet you would, too." The restaurant wasn't as crowded this day as it had been on Wednesday, but the customers still required her attention. Blushing slightly, Jenny took her leave and went to take care of her other customers. A number of refills of tea, dessert orders, and bill payments took most of her effort. In the mean time, she managed to come by with his salad and watched his expression at getting it. Jerry watched Jenny take care of business, recognizing she was very good at her job and understood her customers far better than the average waitress did. She moved through the room with ease, taking care of everyone with special attention to the individual. Of course, he didn't know if service like hers was common in places like this. His experience with higher-class restaurants was not quite that extensive. He figured his wife probably went to places like this all of the time. When the restaurant quieted down, Jenny returned to his table to check his progress eating the salad. He had almost finished his iced tea and she refilled his glass. After swallowing, Jerry said, "You are a very amazing woman." Not knowing what motivated the complement, Jenny replied, "Thank you." Looking around the room, he said, "You make everyone feel special, even me. I have no idea how you do it." When he had included himself in with the rest of the customers, Jenny realized that something else was being said. It was almost as though he didn't expect to be treated nicely. Her eyes glanced to the ring on his finger and replied, "Believe me, it's a whole lot easier dealing with you than the rest of my customers. You've got an honest appetite and I like men with honest appetites." The assessment puzzled Jerry. He had never thought of himself in that manner. As he tried to work through it, she returned to dealing with customers. He finished his salad while watching her work. The restaurant was slowly clearing up, as women paid their bills and left talking about the exhausting shopping excursions that waited for them. He watched a couple leave, the man was horribly thin and looked like he couldn't lift ten pounds. Jerry decided the guy probably didn't even know what a monkey wrench was. Three women came in the restaurant claiming to be there for a dessert rather than a full lunch. Jenny seated them at a table near his since it was one of the few that were already set. He listened as the trio talked about the problems in their lives. One of them was complaining that her manicurist had to reschedule her appointment and how it broke up the rest of her day something horrible. Jerry sat there listening, shocked at how trivial these things were compared to real problems. Jenny came by his table and whispered, "They won't be here long. They'll ravage the chocolate dessert and then leave feeling guilty. I'll bring you one too, so you can show them how it is supposed to be enjoyed." Unable to prevent himself, he guffawed in a volume that immediately attracted attention from the rest of the women in the place. Jenny laughed and said, "I'll be right back." Looking over at the trio of women next to him, he could see his presence there bothered them. Deciding it was because he reminded them that there were men in this world who were supporting them rather than his massive appearance, he didn't feel the rage rising. Thinking about his rage, he wondered if it was too embarrassed to burst forth in this highly feminine environment. When Jenny came to the tables with the desserts, the women cooed and fussed about how nice it looked. Interspersed with their positive comments were negative comments about how many calories it contained and how they'd gain ten pounds eating it. When she presented Jerry with his desert, he looked at it and said, "This looks is wonderful. I can't wait to eat it all." The three women shot him ugly looks, jealous at his disregard for the caloric content of the desert. Jenny smiled and gave him a wink, letting him know that she appreciated his comments. She returned to her customers, settling bills and slowly clearing out the customers. It was soon down to the trio of women and Jerry. The trio of women wolfed down the dessert in a dainty manner. They were each taking lots of little bites, but were more focused on the desert than each other. They stopped eating when there was still half of the desert left on the plate. At that point, they started talking and occasionally taking a taste of the desert. Having a little fun, Jerry took last spoonful of the desert and as he lifted it to his mouth, said, "This tastes so good. I think I'll order another one." The looks the women gave him threatened murder. It wasn't long after he finished his dessert that they left while making comments about how they needed to work off all those sinful calories. As soon as they left, Jenny seated herself across the table from Jerry and smiled. With a twinkle in her eye, she said, "That was priceless. You paid for your meal with that single comment." "I had a feeling it would upset them," replied Jerry with a grin. He could imagine how his wife would have reacted had he done that while dining with her. "Well, I get so tired of delivering a great dessert and hearing half of the comments be negative," replied Jenny. She imitated the women that had just left. "This is so fattening. It must have five thousand calories. It's sinful and shouldn't be served." "I can see how it would get to you after a time." "When I took it off the menu, you should have heard all of the comments and pleas to bring it back," sighed Jenny. "Must be tough. Damned if you do and damned if you don't." "Tell me about it. I really enjoy watching you dig into your food and enjoying it. You didn't say a single negative thing about the meal." "It was a great meal and I enjoyed every bite of it. You seem to handle the other customers well," remarked Jerry. "Oh, I understand them well enough. The prices on the menu are three times what they should be. Why? They wouldn't come here if the prices were low. It is a great status symbol that they can afford to overpay for their meals." Jerry nodded, as that had been his assessment as well. His reason for returning was entirely different. The reason he was here was sitting across from him twirling a stray strand of hair between her fingers. He said, "That must help tips." "Not at all. They calculate the tip to the penny and will short-tip if there is the least little thing wrong with the meal," she replied. With a snort, she said, "You should see them argue over the bill. They calculate exactly how much each woman owes. Men, on the other hand, just split the bill three ways and go on their way." That assessment of the difference between men and women surprised Jerry. These women were acting like money didn't matter to them, but then fought over every cent. Shaking his head, he asked, "Sounds kind of contradictory to me." "Yeah. They are so happy spending their husband's money, but they want the other women to be just as guilty in the process." Jenny sat there shaking her head. "You don't sound like you like them all that much," remarked Jerry. "Just catty, I guess," replied Jenny. She worked for a living and only had her income to spend. She was careful with every penny, but envied the ability of these women to buy things when they desired. She shook her head and said, "I guess I'm jealous." That statement bothered Jerry much more than anything she could have said. He remarked, "They don't seem to care much about their husbands except as a money source." "Yeah and that's a shame." "True. I used to be one of those husbands until this week. Realized that I was being used and I getting nothing out of it. Hell, I wasn't even getting to rub bodies with her. When I told her that I was in an accident, she reacted by telling me how it would interrupt her lifestyle because I would need a ride to work," replied Jerry. He was quiet for a moment and then said, "She didn't even care that I might have died." The statement that he had almost been killed that week reminded Jenny why he had come into the restaurant in the first place. She couldn't believe his wife didn't show the least amount of concern for him and wondered if this was some sort of pickup line. Shaking her head, she said, "I can understand why you left her." Licking his lips, he said, "There's more to the story than that, but I realized I needed to take care of myself first." Jenny looked over at him realizing that he wasn't as married as the ring suggested. Of course, he could be lying to her. It wasn't the first time a married man lied to her and it probably wouldn't be the last. She wondered what was going to happen next. Jerry glanced at his watch and said, "As much as I hate to leave such an attractive companion, I have an appointment to keep." Nervous, Jenny asked, "Will you be coming back here?" "I'll be here Wednesday." "Wednesday?" "Yeah. I will be taking Monday off to finish moving into my new place. It's a mess and I figure it will take tonight, tomorrow night, all day Sunday, and most of Monday to get it into shape to move into it." "It can't be that bad," replied Jenny in surprise. She figured this guy would be able to live anywhere comfortably. "The owner locked the previous tenants out. He went in and took all of their possessions that were worth anything and left the rest. He didn't even throw out the trash that was in the kitchen," replied Jerry. Abe had told him about it after he had finished cleaning out the living room. "Sounds like a horrible person," replied Jenny. "Oh, he's a real piece of work alright. He told me that I'd love living there because all of the women in the neighborhood had low morals. Of course, he put it a lot more crudely than that." Jerry still got angry thinking back to when he had signed the lease. Jenny sat there looking at Jerry amazed at the slight flash of anger that crossed his face. For the first time since she had met him, she realized he could be a very scary man particularly if his anger was directed at her. She asked, "What did you say?" "Nothing. I just left before he got me too angry. Even a few more comments and I would have used his head as a soccer ball," answered Jerry. Shaking his head, he added, "I feel horrible saying that. One of these days my rage is going to get me into trouble." Studying him carefully, Jenny couldn't believe how hard this guy was on himself. Anyone with a conscience would be angry at hearing someone refer to all women as sluts. She said, "You're too hard on yourself. Anyone would be angry at that." "It's different with me," replied Jerry. He thought back to years of fighting his rage and how easy it would be to lose the battle. All it needed was to escape just once and there was no telling what would be the result. He added, "In case you haven't noticed, I'm a big man. In fact, I'd say that I'm monstrous." "Monstrous?" asked Jenny very surprised at the harsh characterization of himself. Jerry didn't answer as he stared at his hands. He didn't mean for the conversation to take such a horrible turn. He felt as if he was coming off like a whining baby. Changing the subject, he asked, "So how was it that you came to own this place?" "I graduated from college and couldn't find a job. After drifting around a bit, I came to the conclusion that if no one would hire me that I would have to hire myself. Since I had waited on tables through school, I decided I would give this a try. It took almost a year before I hit on the right combination to attract the rich wives crowd, but it has paid off." "That's very gutsy of you," replied Jerry. He couldn't imagine just opening a business like that. The chances for failure of a small business were very significant. His respect for her increased significantly. They both realized at the same time that it was getting late. Jerry had meant to leave ten minutes earlier and she needed to get the tables cleared. He was tempted to ask her out for dinner, but that would have to wait until he resolved some aspects of his life. It was two hours before closing when Jerry returned to the auto parts store. Before entering the store, he stood next to the truck looking it over. He had meant to get a muffler, but it didn't happen. Patting the truck, he said, "Some days, you are lucky if you just make it through the day. I had such hopes for today, but nothing came of them." Jerry was disturbed by what he had learned at the attorney's office. What he had thought would be a fifteen-minute visit had turned into two hours and had cost him a fortune. The up side was that the lawyer, after going through the check records, had increased how much a month he would have to spend. The down side of the visit was that the divorce process was going to take eighteen months, maybe more. Monday, the papers for a separation would be delivered to his wife. Inside the store, Mike had been waiting most of the afternoon for Jerry. He was not happy about the late return of his boss, having expected him hours before. He had to run the store all afternoon and wasn't used to having the responsibility of watching over a new employee and a high school kid. His wife had stayed late so Jerry could double-check her work, but finally had to leave to pick up the kids from her mother. When Jerry entered the store, Mike said, "I'm glad you're back." Fully aware that he had returned far later than intended, Jerry replied, "Sorry about that. I was at the attorney's office." "Attorney's office?" "Yeah," replied Jerry without explanation. He glanced around the store and saw things were at least under control there. He looked over at Mike and noticed the paperwork in his hand. He asked, "So, how is your wife working out?" Frowning, Mike answered, "Well, we went through as much of what she would be doing as I understood. However, I didn't do a very good job when I was doing it." "Actually, you did a fine job. I just didn't do my part," replied Jerry as he settled into the chair behind the counter. There had been more than a few things he missed when training Mike to do the job. "She stayed here so you could discuss this, but had to go home to pick up the kids," said Mike as he handed over the order forms his wife had filled out. "I should have called. I apologize for that. Things just took longer than I thought they would." With a frown, Jerry looked over the papers without saying a word. There were a few items she had put on the order form that he had ordered the previous day. He guessed they didn't check against those orders before filling out the form. With a pen, he crossed a couple of items off the form and then set them down on the counter. He would fax them in before the store closed. Looking over at Mike, he said, "She did fine for her first day." "I noticed you crossed out some of the items she put down to order," remarked Mike wondering what he had failed to tell his wife. He had checked her work and found it to be correct as far as he could tell. "Yeah, I forgot to tell you that I ordered some stuff in the middle of the week." Mike was quiet as he realized he had blown it for his wife. Taking a deep breath, Jerry let it out with a sigh. Mike asked, "Are you disappointed? I didn't think to tell her to check for outstanding orders." Jerry scrubbed his face with one massive paw and replied, "I'm not disappointed in you or your wife. I just didn't have a very good afternoon." "You seemed kind of excited about lunch," said Mike, curious why Jerry had been so anxious about leaving early for lunch. His wife had speculated Jerry was having an affair because he had dressed up for lunch. It had been a long topic of discussion, but Mike couldn't believe that there would be a woman who would want Jerry as a lover. "Oh, the lunch was the high point of the day," remarked Jerry with a smile. Jenny was a nice person in addition to being very attractive. She understood how difficult it was to earn a living. His wife had never worked a day in her life, even when he was just a struggling salesman. "Oh," replied Mike not knowing how to find out more. If his wife had been here, she would have gotten the whole story. Jerry sat down behind the counter and leaned over it using his elbows to support himself. After a minute, he said, "We're still short two full-time people. There are a lot of unemployed people in my new neighborhood and I was thinking I would look around there for someone to work here full time." Focusing on the fact that Jerry was talking about a new neighborhood, he almost missed the statement that he would be looking for a fulltime employee. Mike said, "Whoever you get probably won't have any experience." "Hell, I'd be surprised if they knew what a clutch looked like," replied Jerry. He rubbed his chin and said, "We'd have to train who ever I get." "Sounds like a lot of extra work," replied Mike hoping they could find someone with experience. "That's true." Mike was silent as he thought about the consequences of bringing in a new person. The only job opening they had was the assistant manager position. He wondered if it was fair for him to have to train his next boss. "The job has a lot of responsibilities." "Not that many," remarked Jerry. He changed the topic back to the newest employee when he asked, "So tell me how Karen's first day went?" The shift in conversation was jarring for Mike. He answered, "It's hard to say. I started with her helping me pull orders. It took her some time to figure out where everything was in the store. She'll have to work at it for a while, I think." "Good. That's a good introduction to doing inventory work. She gets a very hands-on understanding of the inventory." Jerry hadn't thought of doing it that way, but she would be able to walk down the aisles and notice if something was low without needing to go through all of the sales records. "Well, it sure helped me out today. We were swamped," said Mike. "It's the end of the summer. Everyone is getting their cars fixed for the last trip of the summer." The first few days after the first hot spell or cold spell were always the same. In summer, it was radiators, water pumps, and air conditioners. In winter, it was headlights, batteries and alternators. At the end of the summer season, it was everyone trying to fix the problems before they went off for Labor Day. "We were lucky. Two crates of coolant were delivered right after you left." "Ah, that's good," replied Jerry. They probably broke even on them since he had paid a fortune for overnight shipping. It was worse to not have things in stock than to not make money on them in this business. "We'll get your wife, a new stock boy, and a full-time salesman trained." ------- Chapter 5 Sunday threatened to be a real scorcher, but Jerry was hard at work while the temperatures were still reasonable. He had filled four trash bags with paper, rotten food, and kitchenware. He was washing the counters when he heard a noise behind him. Without turning around, he said, "Hello Abe." "You sure workin' here," replied the black youth as he scratched his neck. He had always considered his mother to be a terror about dirt, but she had to take a backseat to this guy. "I plan to eat in here," replied Jerry. Seeing the look on the kid's face, he said, "There are enough germs in this room to kill an army." "Germs? You worry 'bout germs," asked Abe thinking that this guy sounded just as bad as his mother. "Yeah, imagine that. Big man scared of something he can't see," Jerry answered in a joking voice. "My momma always talks 'bout germs." "Smart woman. You've ever had the shits for a week?" "No." "Your mother is the reason why," replied Jerry with a smirk. In a way, Abe was like a lot of kids in the sense that if they didn't see the danger, then it wasn't really there. Bending to his work, he scrubbed at a particularly tough spot. "Guess so. I always thought she was crazy." "So what are you doing today?" "Nothin'." "Want to help me?" asked Jerry anticipating a negative answer. "You crazy?" asked Abe as though Jerry had asked him to fly. "I didn't think so," replied Jerry. He poured more of the cleaning powder on the counter and wet the cleaning pad at the sink. As he went back to work scrubbing, he said, "I'm looking for a stock boy at the store." "You calling me a boy?" asked Abe in an offended manner. "No. That's what the position is called. I need someone to unpack the stock and put it on the shelves," answered Jerry surprised that Abe had taken offence. That's how he had started in the auto parts business. "You talkin' 'bout a job?" "Yes, I am. Two hours a day, Monday through Friday." "How much does it pay?" "Five fifty an hour," replied Jerry without looking at Abe. He wondered if the kid was going to take the job. Abe stood where he was thinking about what he could do with fifty-five dollars a week. It sounded like a lot of money for a kid that was fifteen. Shrugging his shoulders, he said, "I guess so." "Guess so, what?" asked Jerry. "I'll take the job." "I didn't say I was offering it to you," replied Jerry. "Why not? 'Cause I'm black?" asked Abe getting angrier by the minute. "The job is yours on two conditions." "Aw shit! Here it comes. My brother said you were a faggot." Jerry turned to look at Abe in surprise. The people in this neighborhood really didn't trust whites. Shaking his head, he replied, "Fuck you kid. All I was going to say was that you had to go to school everyday." "Why would you want that?" asked Abe puzzled. He was still trying to figure the angle that this guy was taking. "I'm not training you for a career if you can't get promoted. Without a high school diploma, I can't make you a fulltime salesman when you turn eighteen." "Shit. Why would I want to be a salesman?" "It starts at about thirty-six a year," answered Jerry. At that pay, he could move out of this neighborhood and start a family. "Thirty-six a year? What's that?" "That's thirty-six thousand a year," replied Jerry knowing that amount of money would tempt Abe more than anything else he could offer. "That's a lot of money." "Well, you might decide to go to college. Probably make more money that way, but I don't know much about that. I've never been to college." The truth was that he never thought he was smart enough for college. Jerry wiped down the counter trying to get all of the powder off the surface he had just cleaned. This was the part of this job he never seemed to be able to do well. It was easy enough to get lots of cleaning powder down, but tough to get it off. The countertop was clean enough to see it was a light blue speckled pattern. Shaking his head, he said, "I thought it was yellow under all that crap." Abe was leaning against the door into the kitchen thinking about what Jerry had said. There had to be a trick in all of this, but he didn't know what it was. Finally, he said, "I'll talk to my brother." "Might want to talk to your mother, too." "What's my momma got to do wit' this?" asked Abe. "She can say no and I won't hire you," replied Jerry. Jerry turned his attention to the stove with built-in oven. Whoever had lived in this house before him had loved to fry food. There was old baked-on grease that covered the whole surface and the wall around it. Spraying the entire inside and outside with the oven cleaner, the smell almost drove him to his knees. Eyes watering, he headed out of the kitchen. Eyes tearing, Abe swore as he backed out of the room, "Shit, man. I can't believe you did that." Jerry grabbed the six-pack of cokes and headed towards the front door as he answered, "Let's sit on the porch and drink a coke." "I'll be there before you," cried Abe as he rushed out of the house. Once outside, he wiped his eyes clearing the tears out of them. Jerry left the house and sat down next to Abe. Ripping a coke off the plastic holder, he tossed it over to Abe and then took one for himself. For a long time he examined what passed for a lawn. Crabgrass, dandelions, and thistle broke up the bare spots. There was one oak tree that provided some shade. After a minute, he asked, "Think there would be any problem with keeping my car on the lawn?" "Shit, ain't no one gonna complain about that around here," replied Abe looking at the houses across the street. Several of them had cars in the yard. He looked over at Jerry and asked, "You worried about someone puttin' another dent in the heap of yours?" "No. I want to work on it under that tree over there." Abe closed one eye and looked at Jerry. "I thought white dudes had nice cars." Jerry laughed at the comment and pointed over to his truck as he said, "That's the best car I'm ever going to own. It's a real beauty." "Are you crazy? That's a wreck. Someone ought to shoot it and put it out of its misery." Opening the coke, Jerry took a long sip from it before he replied, "I'll bet you money that you'll be begging to borrow my truck a year from now." Abe shook his head in the negative confident there was no way that he would want to borrow that wreck. They'd laugh him out of the neighborhood if he were to show up driving something that looked so bad. He didn't even think it would be running in a year. "You're one crazy white man." They sat together on the porch watching the activity around the neighborhood. Old folks sat on the porches, rocking in their chairs. The few young kids were riding bikes in the middle of the street unconcerned about cars. Martin and his friends were sitting on a curb talking about what they were going to do. Young women were busy with housework. There weren't many men around who acted like fathers. Finished with his soda, Jerry stood up and returned to the house to finish cleaning the kitchen. The odor had died down a little and he went to work wiping the grease off the stove and the residue out of the oven. Stepping back to look at the result, he said, "I had no idea they sold stoves painted gray." Examining it closer, he saw that someone had painted it a gray color in the past. It looked like hell, but was basically clean. He wondered how many of the burners worked. There was only one way to find out so he turned on all of the burners, but nothing happened. The oven worked, but he would have to check that it came up to a hot enough temperature to cook anything. He decided that it would be a problem to solve another day. Shrugging his shoulders, he went to work on the other surfaces in the kitchen. For the next three hours, he did nothing except scrub the kitchen clean. By the time he was done, most of the surfaces actually shined. Standing at the doorway, he was pleased with the progress made on the room. Returning from a late lunch, the temperature had reached the high nineties and looked like it might break triple digits before the afternoon ended. Entering the house, he found it was broiling inside. Of course, there wasn't even a window unit to cool the house down. Stepping out to the porch, he noticed all of the elderly neighbors were sitting on their porches using folded newspapers as fans to cool themselves. Seated on the porch, he leaned over and pulled his work list out of his back pocket. The yellow paper was folded into eighths. Unfolding it, he looked over the list trying to decide what he could do in this heat. Cleaning the bedroom or bathroom wasn't possible in this heat. Looking over at his truck, he decided the only thing he could do was work on it. The doors of the house were open in the hope that what little breeze might exist would help push some of the heat out. Rather than lock it up, he decided to leave them open while he ran to the auto parts shop. Going out to the truck, he noticed the old folks watched him while shaking their heads. He didn't know why they reacted in such a negative fashion to his presence. Perhaps, it was because he was a white living in the neighborhood. Alternatively, it could be because he left the doors wide open. Rather than heading directly to the parts store, he swung by a hardware store to buy a sheet of plywood. Until he rebuilt the wood bed of the truck, the plywood would have to serve. At least that way, he could haul lightweight things around in the back of the truck. When he reached the auto parts store, he got out his power saw and cut the board to size. He wasn't too careful with the fit, but it was good enough to function for a while. He threw the scraps in the back of the truck to use elsewhere, including fixing the step to the porch. Making several trips into the store, he loaded the truck with his tools. Once the truck was filled, he went into the store and looked up the parts for a 1956 F-100 Ford Pickup Truck. He loaded the truck with all of the easily replaceable parts, including a new battery. At the house, he parked the truck under the oak tree, driving it over what was laughingly called a curb. Sitting on the porch waiting for his return were Abe and Martin. Jerry didn't greet them, but went to the back of the truck to remove his toolbox. Martin came over to see what he was doing. When he reached the shade of the tree, he stopped and asked, "What are you doing?" "Fixing my truck." "Nice toolbox." "Thanks," replied Jerry as he glanced down at it. The tools were the only things that were his throughout his marriage. Everything else belonged to the others in the family. It was the family television, the family house, and the family pet. The dog had died two years ago and he was the only one in the family who missed it. The conversation died as Jerry lifted the hood of the truck and looked at the engine. The engine was built in the days before all of the electronics, pollution control, and air conditioners had been added to cars. There was room to get at every part of the engine, even with his huge hands. He started by replacing the battery. The old one was long past its prime and he didn't want to be stuck somewhere unable to start the truck. After that, he rebuilt the distributor and then replaced the ignition wires and spark plugs. Getting out the strobe, he started the car and adjusted the timing. The truck began to purr like a tiger although the tappets were rattling a little. Removing the cover, he adjusted the gap on the tappets setting them back to book value. The lifter rods were all in good shape, a fact that surprised him. He was replacing the cover when Martin commented, "You really know cars and shit, don't you?" "Yeah. I like these old cars the most. A man can really work on them. It doesn't require a computer or any of the fancy equipment." "My mom's car doesn't work." "What's the matter with it?" asked Jerry as he examined the belts. He had brought belts just in case they needed to be replaced. The ones on the truck were old, but not too worn. Picking up the wrench, he loosened the bolt on the generator to replace them any ways. "Shit, I don't know." "If you knew, you could fix it." "I don't have the tools," replied Martin as he looked down at the toolbox. "Well, if you were to find out what was wrong with it and wanted to fix it yourself, I see no reason you couldn't bring the car over here and work on it while I'm working on this one." "No shit?" "No shit. Of course, you'd have to buy parts." "How much did all this stuff you're putting into this car cost?" "About a hundred. I get an employee discount that lets me buy them at wholesale." "Must be nice." Jerry slipped the old belt off the pulleys and threw it down on the ground. After slipping the new belt on, he pulled the generator so that the belt tightened. As he tightened the bolt on the generator mount, he said, "I'm looking for a fulltime salesman." Martin had been about to walk off when Jerry hadn't replied to him immediately, but stopped in mid-step and turned around to look at Jerry. He asked, "You're looking for a full-time salesman?" "Yes, I am. Of course, they have to be qualified for the position." Martin frowned and said, "Yeah right. Got to have experience and all of that kind of shit." "High school degree or equivalent." "I graduated High School this year." Jerry didn't say a word, but checked the tightness of the bolt. Satisfied that it was tight enough, he put the wrench back in his toolbox. Looking up at Martin, he asked, "Well?" "You'd hire me?" "Possibly, but you'd have to convince me that you want the job. Believe me, it is a real job. It requires you to show up when you are scheduled, dress in business casual clothes, and work hard." Jerry grinned in a manner that looked almost feral as he added, "I'm not an easy boss. I don't tolerate drunks or druggies working for me." Jerry checked the oil and found it was a little low and definitely required an oil change. He had the oil, the filter, and everything else required for changing the oil except an oil pan to drain the old oil into. The quick change in town was cheap and would use his parts since they'd have to order them from him anyway. He noticed Martin wasn't talking and wondered which of his conditions had put doubts in his head. He removed the hoses and replaced them with new ones. After checking the radiator, he topped it off with a little antifreeze. He noticed that it had little metal flakes floating on the water. Someone had used 'stop leak' to hide a radiator problem. He'd have to replace it before long. Martin broke the silence when he said, "I'd do a good job for you, but I don't have the clothes." Jerry smiled and replied, "I suppose you would probably pull parts for the salesman until you learned the inventory and lingo. Then you could probably work on the phone until your first paycheck. By then, you'd have enough money to afford an outfit." Martin listened and asked, "So you'd hire me?" "Yes, I probably would. You'd have to fill out an application and I'd check your references. We'd have a formal interview where I could see you function in a business environment." Jerry was enjoying this discussion since he was getting to see Martin's mind at work. "So what does it pay?" "About thirty-six a year." He slammed the hood closed with a resounding clang. The amount agreed with what his little brother had told him earlier. That was a lot of money for a guy fresh out of high school with no experience. After a few minutes, he asked, "So if I want this job, what am I supposed to do?" "Show up Monday morning and apply for it." "What about my brother?" "He stops by after school and applies for the stock boy job." It didn't take him long to change the windshield wipers. "School hasn't started yet." "Oh," replied Jerry as he thought about it. He had been assuming that school had started already. Stepping back, he patted the hood of the truck and said, "Thunder, you've got to be feeling pretty good about now." "You talkin' to your car?" "Better than talking to myself," replied Jerry with a smile as he climbed into the driver's seat. He started the truck and listened to the engine, pleased with the sound of it. There was still the low rumble of a bad muffler, but no clatter from the tappets. Revving the engine, he grinned as the engine responded to his command. Letting the engine return to idle, he turned it off. The engine stopped without dieseling, another good sign. Looking over at Martin, he said, "Not bad. This truck is five years older than me." "What good is that?" "Good? Well, it makes it a collector's item. When it is fixed up, it will be worth a lot of money. Of course, I won't sell it." Jerry felt that selling the truck would be like selling a part of himself, particularly after he put in all of the required time to fix it. "Shit, there are a lot of old cars around here." Jerry looked down the street at the cars parked outside the houses. A few of them could be worth fixing up for sale, but the money wouldn't cover the time spent doing the work. Of course, the increase in self-worth that could result might be invaluable. Nodding, he said, "Some of them would be worth fixing. You'd be surprised at how much work it would be." Jerry bent down and packed up his tools. He picked up his toolbox and headed towards the house with it. When he reached the step, the wood almost gave out from under him. Shaking his head, he went back to the truck and pulled out the scrap plywood that remained from his hasty patch of the truck bed. It didn't take him long to trim one of the pieces of scrap to fit the step and nail it in place. Abe and Martin watched him work, rather surprised that he fixed anything in a house he didn't own. Abe asked, "Why are you fixing that?" "So I don't hurt myself." "Shit, you just walk around it." "It took me five minutes to fix it up. I won't get hurt, you won't get hurt, and the effort was nothing. Why leave it broken?" Abe looked at Jerry in confusion as the big man picked up his toolbox and climbed the step. It continued to groan, but it didn't give. He carried his toolbox into the house and dropped it in the smaller of two bedrooms. The room was a mess, but most of it was just old clothes scattered around on the floor. He noticed a stack of Polaroid pictures on the floor and bent down to look at them. The top one showed a close up of a black cunt. He tipped the stack with his right toe and saw it was just one of a series. Raising an eyebrow, he decided he'd come back to look at them when he had a little more privacy. It took several more trips to carry the rest of his tools into the house. Once that task was completed, he joined the two teenagers on the porch. Abe said, "You're gonna have to lock up the house from now on or those tools will disappear." "Really?" asked Jerry as if he didn't know that would be the case. "You can bet money on it," replied Martin. "They'd take it knowing that I'd hunt them down?" asked Jerry curious how the two would answer. "Your big size only makes you a bigger target for a bullet," replied Martin dryly. Jerry burst out laughing at the direct answer. It was interesting how some people saw ways to make everything equal when others saw only inequality. The thought struck him that the converse was true as well. There were lots of people who saw only inequality when equality was the rule. His reaction puzzled Abe and Martin, since they didn't find the comment all that funny. Both had seen too many people die as a result of bullets. Abe asked, "What's so funny? He was serious." "I like you two. You and I see the world in very different ways," replied Jerry. "Hey, we see the world as it really is," replied Martin. "You see one reality. I see another." "Yeah, you see the white world and it is just a rosy place. You're living in the black world, now." There was a certain amount of anger in his voice when he said it. Having looked for a job all summer, the best job he could get was manual labor or working a cash register in a store somewhere. The anger in the voice of the teenager was not lost on Jerry. He understood a person being driven by rage. The question was how the guy would handle it over time. Jerry answered, "Right." The two black kids looked at each other, sharing a look suggesting that Jerry was going to learn a lot over the next few weeks. He stretched and then said, "It's starting to cool down. I expect the house will be cool enough to work in pretty soon." "Wait until winter. You'll be wanting some of that heat," Abe joked. "Are you saying I made a mistake moving into this dump?" "Shit, you know it." "Hot in the summer and cold in the winter with bugs all year round." Martin watched Jerry to see his reaction and was disappointed when all he did was shrug his shoulders. No matter what they said to him, he just shrugged it off as though it wasn't a problem. Jerry stood and looked in the house. The air was still hot in the house and it would be hours before it cooled down enough to be comfortable. It was getting close to dinnertime and he still had to buy a mattress. Entering the house, he locked it up and returned to the porch closing the front door behind him. Looking down at the two boys, he said, "I guess you two might be by the store tomorrow." Both of the boys just shrugged their shoulders as though indifferent to the offer. In reality, both were speculating on their chances of getting the jobs he had described. As Jerry walked towards his truck, which was still parked under the oak tree, he called over his shoulder. "Opportunity only knocks once. Look before you leap. Don't look a gift horse in the mouth. Beware of Greeks bearing gifts." Abe turned to his older brother and asked, "What the fuck does that mean?" "Hell if I know." Jerry drove the truck across his lawn and onto the street. He waved to the two kids as he drove off while laughing at the looks on their faces. As he drove, he said, "Thunder, who do you think is going to have the biggest change in their world view?" Stopping at a mattress store, Jerry was about to order a mattress, but saw a futon in the store. The idea of a chair that folded out into a bed and wasn't a sleeper sofa intrigued him. The more he thought about it, the more he liked the futon and bought it on the spot. The salesman helped him carry the box containing the parts out to his truck and the futon mattress that went with it. From the mattress store, it was a quick stop at the hardware store. He bought a new doorknob with a lock for the bedroom where he kept his tools. Abe and Martin were not kidding about the chances of someone walking off with his tools. He didn't want to make it easy for whoever might want to do that. Dinner was a simple affair at the local diner. While eating, he thought about Jenny and how she had taken special care of him at the restaurant. She was attractive, smart, and motivated. He liked her, but he just wasn't good enough for a woman like that. There was no way that she could possibly be interested in him. As he ate, he thought about his circumstances. He was living in a $200 a month rat-trap, driving an old car, fantasizing about a girl a lot younger than him, and walking away from a wife, kids, and middle class house. He was stuck in a job from which he should have been promoted years ago and with no real prospects in the future. Who was he kidding? His wife was right, he was a loser. He looked at his hands taking in the newly formed calluses. If he were to touch a woman now, she'd scream in pain and all he'd done was spend a little time working on the car. By the time he was finished with the bodywork on the car, his hands would have the texture of lava rock. Thinking about the two kids in the neighborhood, he realized he had been very flippant with them. The temporary high of leaving his wife was ending and now he was thinking about the consequences. His rage rose at the thought of how he had screwed up his life. He returned home after eating, still angry with himself. The drive home didn't take long and he parked the truck in the street in front of his house. The elderly neighbors were still sitting on the porches of their houses, waiting for it to get cooler. He picked up the box in which the futon was packed and carried it to the house. Setting it down on the porch, he unlocked the front door. A blast of hot air hit him in the face and he swore aloud, "I should have bought a damned fan." He picked up the box and carried it into the living room. Opening the box, he spread the parts on the floor and retrieved his toolbox. It took him a half an hour to assemble the futon frame. The mattress was still in the back of the truck. He walked out and retrieved the mattress. Setting it on the frame, he sat down using the futon as a sofa. It was comfortable and could actually fit two considering his width. He lowered the back and then lay down on the futon. It was a perfect size for him. Retrieving the new doorknob from the truck, he installed it on the door of the bedroom. Setting the toolbox in the bedroom, he closed the door and locked it. His tools were now a little safer, but not entirely safe. Returning to the living room, he looked around. Putting the futon into the sofa position and taking a seat, he considered his surroundings. He didn't have curtains on the windows, the bathroom was still toxic, there were no sheets for the bed, and the house was hotter than he could possibly have predicted. Looking up at the ceiling light, which was just a bulb screwed into a socket, he watched the bugs circling around the bare bulb. There were no screens on the windows and he would have to live with the bugs. With a frown, he realized that he was going to be sleeping on the couch in the store again. Angry at his self perceived incompetence, he thought, 'I can't even get a home set up properly.' ------- Chapter 6 Sleeping on the couch was getting old and Jerry swore that last night would be the last time he would do it. It was later than usual when he finally climbed out of the bed. In ten minutes, Mike would be showing up to work. He dressed, but not in business clothes. He had decided he would start taking Mondays off since Mike would be free Saturdays. He had just gotten the store ready to open when Mike arrived. Stepping in, Mike said, "Taking the day off?" "I was thinking about it." Mike was silent for a moment and then asked, "Are you going to show my wife some of her job responsibilities?" The question reminded Jerry he actually had a lot of business to take care of that morning. He expected Abe and Martin to show up for their job interviews, he had to train Karen for her job, and he needed to show Mike some of the duties of being an assistant manager. He answered, "I'll be right back." Going into his office, he changed into business casual dress. He accepted that he was going to have to work at least the morning, but he needed the afternoon off to accomplish his other chores so he could move into the house that night. Coming out of his office, he called to Mike, "I'm going to get some donuts. I'll be right back." "Okay." Jerry went out of the store and over to the donut shop. It was ten minutes before he returned with a pair of chocolate covered donuts and a cup of coffee. He set them on the counter as he took a seat on the chair. Looking over at Mike, he said, "After I'm done eating, I'll go over some the responsibilities of being an assistant manager with you." "Pardon?" asked Mike confused. "Oh, did I forget to mention that?" "What?" "That you're getting promoted to assistant manager." "Yes, you did forget to mention it." "Well, I figured it was about time. You're going to be taking on a lot of responsibilities training people and running more of the store," replied Jerry. "When is it effective?" "Today." "Oh." A silenced descended on the pair. Jerry considered what was going to happen that morning. He turned to Mike and said, "This morning, two black kids are going to come into the store to apply for jobs. One is fifteen and the other is over eighteen. Give them job applications and then interview them. Expect a little attitude from the older one. He doesn't quite believe it is for real." Mike examined Jerry closely and asked, "Why aren't you interviewing them?" "Because I already know them and I want them to go through a formal interview with a stranger in a real business environment. They have to convince someone other than me that they want the job." "So what will you be doing?" "Oh, I'll be training your wife," replied Jerry with a smile. A similar smile broke over Mike's face. He said, "Now that I've gotten a promotion and a raise, she doesn't need to work anymore." "Consider yourself demoted," replied Jerry hiding a smile by taking a bite out of one of the donuts. "Okay, she'll stay." Jerry took another bite of donut and nodded his head unable to answer with the food in his mouth. The telephone rang and Mike answered it. For the next few minutes, Mike was busy on the phone taking down an order. While he was busy, Jerry finished his donuts and drank most of his coffee. When Mike hung up, Jerry said, "I'll pull orders and you take the calls." It was about an hour later when Karen showed up at the store. Stepping behind the counter, she whispered to Mike, "Mom didn't want to take the kids today." "We'll figure out what to do. Don't worry." Jerry came out and said, "I just found out that school hasn't started yet. Who's watching your kids?" Nervous, Karen answered, "My mother." "When does school start?" "Next week," replied Mike wondering if this was going to be a problem. "Well, why don't you work today, Wednesday, and Friday. If your mother can't take care of the kids one of those days, bring them in here. We'll concentrate on the ordering procedure until the kids are in school," replied Jerry as he thought through the work that would have to be done over the course of the next week. Mike and Karen looked at each other in surprise. The word 'reasonable' had never been applied to describe Jerry. He had always been a tough boss and didn't allow other people's problems to interfere with them doing their job. After a moment, Karen replied, "That would be great." "Good. Let's get to work," replied Jerry. He took a final sip of his coffee and dropped the cup in the trashcan. Karen followed him to the office and sat in the chair across from him. For the next hour, Jerry explained the procedure for submitting orders. She wrote down everything he said and double-checked that she understood all of the instructions. In the front of the store, Mike took care of all the calls and pulling orders. It kept him busy and when Martin and Abe showed up he was a little less than attentive. Rushed, he handed them the applications, pointed to a couple of chairs and told them to fill out the applications. The two kids felt like they were being given the bum's rush and glanced at each other with a little anger. Mike finished pulling an order as another call came in. He set the order on the counter and answered the phone. The two had finished filling out the application before he was finished with his call. Taking the applications to the counter, they set them on the counter in front of Mike. They stood at the counter expecting Mike to acknowledge them, but he continued to take the order. When he hung up, he looked up and said, "Take a seat. I'll be right back. I've got to pull the order and get it ready for the runner." Mike disappeared into the back of the store without waiting for an answer. Martin turned to Abe and said, "We're getting fucked over." "Shit and I thought Jerry was an okay guy," replied Abe. "He's white and doesn't give a shit about us blacks," answered Martin. The two of them returned to the chairs and waited, getting angrier by the minute. After five minutes, Mike came out of the back of the store with a box and set it on the counter. He had just set the box down and picked up the applications when the runner came into the store. Mike set the applications down and dealt with Howard. Martin felt like Howard had cut in line and that he should have been taken care of before the guy who had just walked into the store. He walked to stand behind Howard glaring at him as he took in the guy's appearance. Howard was blond haired, blue- eyed, and well built; he looked like a California Surfer from a television commercial. Martin frowned and shook his head getting even angrier. When Howard left the store with items from the counter, Martin said, "You bigoted bastard. You took care of the white guy when we were here before he was." It was lucky Jerry had warned him that Martin would probably have a little attitude or else Mike would have kicked him out of the store without a second's hesitation. Instead, he pointed to a sign on the wall next to the cash register and asked, "What does that say?" Martin looked at the sign and answered, "Customers come first." "Are you a customer?" "No. I'm here for a job," replied Martin. "The guy that was in here represents about fifty of our customers." Martin looked at Mike for a minute with a frown and then said, "Oh, I didn't know." The telephone rang and Mike said, "Customers come first." Mike picked up the telephone and started writing down the order. Martin stood there for a full minute and then went back to the chair. Looking over at Martin, Abe said, "I guess he showed us." Martin shot his brother a glare and sat there quietly. When Mike got off the phone, he picked up an application and read the name off as he said, "Abraham, would you go down that aisle to the door marked office and let Mr. Smith know that I'm swamped out here." Abe stood up and looked down the aisle not knowing what to do. Looking over at his brother, he shrugged his shoulders and headed down the aisle. As he went, he looked at the shelves amazed at how much stuff there was on them. The store looked small from the front, but it went back a long way. The aisle ended and he found the office to his left. Knocking on the door, he waited until he heard Jerry's gruff voice shout, "Come in." Opening the door, he stepped inside the office surprised to find Jerry and an attractive woman in the office. When the guy up front had referred to Mr. Smith, he hadn't connected that with Jerry. Seeing his neighbor standing at the door, Jerry asked, "What is it?" "The guy out front told me to tell you that he's swamped." Nodding, Jerry said, "Thanks. Tell Mike I'll be out in a few minutes." Abe stood there for a moment as if he wanted to say something. Noticing he hadn't moved, Jerry said, "Go on." Abe stepped out and closed the door behind him. Pausing to consider Jerry's behavior, he didn't know what to make of him. He was a lot colder here than he was around the house. Puzzled, he returned to the front of the store. Mike was nowhere to be seen. Turning to his brother, he asked, "Where did he go?" "Went down one of the aisles," replied Martin. "What do you think?" "I think I ruined any chance of getting a job here," answered Martin. He had taken the fact that Mike had called on Abe as a sign his brother still had a chance at getting a job, but that he didn't. Jerry came up to the counter with the woman following behind him. The telephone rang and Jerry answered it. For the next few minutes, he took the order. When he was finished, he handed the order to Karen and said, "Pull this order. If you see Mike, let him know I'm covering the counter and he can use his new desk to interview the candidates." Abe and Martin looked at Jerry with wide eyes. They had both figured that since he was the manager that he would be interviewing them. Martin became even more convinced he had blown the interview and was ready to leave. About that time, Mike came up to the front of the store with a box full of parts. He set them on the counter and said, "Karen is pulling your order. Might take her some time to find everything." Jerry said, "I'll have to sic the assistant manager on her if she screws up. For now, I'll check her to make sure she got all of the right parts." "Right," answered Mike as he envisioned interesting ways in which he could punish her if she made a mistake. He picked up the applications from the counter and asked, "Which of you two should I talk with first?" Martin said, "Take Abe." Mike led Abe to the office and interviewed him for the job of stock boy. It was a relatively simple job and Abe answered his questions with candor. It was easy to tell the young man was rather surprised by the process of being interviewed. He sent him out with instructions to send his brother to the office. A very subdued Martin entered the office and looked around, taking in the sparse décor. There was only a single decoration on the wall and it was a tool calendar with a very attractive scantily dressed woman holding up a wrench in a suggestive fashion. Mike said, "Have a seat." Martin sat down in the chair and looked at Mike. After the episode in the front, Mike understood how easy it was to lose one's temper at an employee. In this case, it was a prospective employee. He leaned across the desk and said, "If you ever call me a racist ever again, I will shove my foot so far up your ass that you'll be able to bite my big toe off. Do you understand me?" The anger with which Mike had delivered his threat shocked Martin. He answered, "Yes, sir." "Now that the little matter in the front is taken care of, convince me that you want to work here," Mike said as he leaned back in his chair. Martin replied, "I figured after that episode out front that I didn't have a chance at having a job here." "So why are you still here?" asked Mike with a smile. "The hope that I still had a chance." "What do you know about the job of being a salesman here?" While he had been angry for most of his time waiting in the front, he had taken the opportunity to watch what Mike, and then Jerry, had been doing. It looked simple enough. Answer the phone, look up the parts in a book, write down the order, and then pull the parts. He was about to say that, when he thought better of it. With a smile, he answered, "The customer comes first." At the answer, Mike laughed and nodded his head. Leaning forward, he said, "We are the largest auto supply store in the city and have over fifty auto repair shops that order parts from us. They will call four or five times a day to order parts for cars they are repairing. It can cost them fifty dollars an hour to have a car sitting in a bay waiting for a part. We pride ourselves on delivering parts in the shortest time possible. That is why we are the biggest auto supply store in the city." Martin sat back and did some mental math. He whistled and said, "That's two-hundred to two-hundred and fifty orders a day." "You've got the idea. That means that we work our asses off around here and when we are short-handed, we work even harder." Martin was quiet and then smiled broadly. With a grin, he said, "If you hire me, then you won't be so short-handed." Mike laughed and said, "I have to talk to Mr. Smith and we'll get back to you to let you know our decision." Standing, Martin went to the door. He stopped as his hand reached for the doorknob and said, "If you don't mind, I'd like to stay here until you and he make up your minds." "Why?" "Because I can start working today," answered Martin. He knew he was taking a chance, but he had nothing else to do. Going home to sit on the curb swapping stories with the other guys didn't seem all that attractive to him. "Okay. Go out and sit in the chair. I'm not sure when I'll have a chance to talk to Mr. Smith, but we'll try to get around to it as soon as possible," replied Mike. "Thank you," replied Martin as he left the office. As he walked down the aisle, he realized that he hadn't blown the job and there was still a chance. He felt that Jerry liked him enough to send him here and that the interview went well with Mike. Entering the front of the store, Martin saw that his brother was waiting by the door ready to leave. Taking a seat, he said, "Abe, you can go home without me. I'm waiting here to find out if I'm hired. If so, I'll start work." Jerry had hung up the phone just in time to overhear what Martin had said to Abe. The kid had surprised him, demonstrating a real desire to work here that he hadn't realized was present. Abe said, "Hey, I'll wait with you." Mike came out from the back of the store and stood next to Jerry at the counter. The phone was quiet, so the two men went down the aisle to talk. Jerry asked, "So what did you think of Martin?" "He's got nerve and wants the job." "Think he'll work out?" "Going to be tough, but he learns quickly," answered Mike with a smile. "It only took him one experience to discover that the customer comes first." "Are you willing to train him?" "Yes, I am." Nodding, Jerry said, "What about Abe?" "That's a no-brainer. He looks like a good kid." "That's what I thought, too," replied Jerry relieved that he wasn't alone in his impression of the two kids. He asked, "Do you want to tell them?" "Sure," replied Mike pleased to be delivering good news to someone. He went to the front of the store and gave the news to the two kids. Jerry went to the counter and waited for the telephone to ring. He watched how Martin and Abe took the news they had jobs. Martin was subdued, but Abe gave a good shout of excitement. Jerry laughed at the reaction of Abe and was about to say something when the phone rang. He answered the phone and went to work. After hanging up, Jerry looked around to discover Mike, Abe, Martin, and Karen surrounded him. Smiling, he said, "I'll stay here until after Mike and Karen get back from lunch. Until they go, I'll answer the phone and Mike will show the rest of you how to pull orders." For the next two hours, Mike taught the new employees about the inventory as he watched over them while they pulled orders. Jerry took orders and passed them back to the others. Howard came and went several times. Finally, it was lunchtime and Mike brought his troop of followers up to the front of the store. Jerry said, "Mike, why don't you and Karen go to lunch. When you get back, I'll take my day off." While Mike was gone, Jerry continued to take orders and used Martin and Abe to pull orders. After they pulled an order, he checked it carefully to make sure that they had pulled everything ordered and each thing was the correct product. It took them far longer than was acceptable and there were a few errors, but that was to be expected. With the two of them, he was able to give each one of them half of the incoming orders so the delay was not significant. After about thirty minutes, he called out to Martin, "Why don't you go out for lunch? Come back in half an hour so that you're available when Mike returns." Rather embarrassed, Martin answered, "I'll have to walk home to eat and then walk back. The walk alone would take about forty minutes." Jerry pulled out a ten and handed it to Martin. He said, "There's a taco shop across the street. Run over there and get something to eat. Bring something back for Abe." Looking at the ten, Martin said, "Okay. I'll pay you back on payday." There was nothing to do except nod his acceptance of those terms. Jerry said, "See you in half an hour." Looking over at his brother, Abe said, "I'll take three tacos." When Martin had left, Abe was alone with Jerry for the first time that day. He asked, "Why did you have the other guy interview us?" "He's the assistant manager and will be dealing with you guys as your immediate supervisor. If he had felt he couldn't work with you, then we wouldn't have hired you." The ringing of the telephone interrupted the discussion. Jerry answered the phone and took down the order. Understanding what was going to happen next, Abe waited for him to hand over the order so that he could pull it from the stock. Martin returned from his excursion within just a few minutes carrying a bag full of tacos. He and his brother took turns eating and pulling orders. Jerry watched them, as they would occasionally take the few free minutes to whisper with each other. It was entertaining trying to determine what was going through their heads. A little less than an hour after Mike had left for lunch, he returned. Jerry had just hung up the phone and had an order in his hand. Gesturing for everyone to gather, he said, "I want to go over what everyone needs to do for this afternoon." Mike nodded as the two kids watched Jerry carefully. Assured that he had everyone's attention, Jerry said, "Mike, you are in charge and will close up. I know you know the procedure. Before they go, make sure they fill out the W-4 forms. Since Martin is going to be a salesman, he needs to learn to pull orders, so keep him doing that for the rest of the day. The store is a mess, so I think Abe should sweep it down, take out the trash, and straighten the displays. Sammy should be here by the time the truck arrives this afternoon, so have him train Abe with the stocking duties." The suggestions made sense to Mike. He replied, "No problem. Have a nice day off." "Right," replied Jerry realizing his day off had turned into little more than half an afternoon away from the store. It was two hours later that he returned home with all of his purchases. The best purchase of the day was a free standing air conditioning unit that had a small exhaust pipe that could be vented to the outside. It was on wheels so he could move it from room to room as needed. He had purchased a plate of glass to fix the broken windows. He had also purchased linen, lots of sheets to use as curtains and on the futon. His first order of business was to get the air conditioner set up and working since the house was insufferably hot. The air conditioner was amazingly simple, all he had to do was remove it from the box and plug it in. He ran the vent hose out of the window through one of the broken panes. Turning it on, it took a minute for cool air to start pouring forth. He closed all of the doors to other rooms so that the living room would cool down as fast as possible. Locking the front door behind him, he sat on the porch cooling off. The mid-nineties temperature outdoors felt cool compared to the temperature in the house. He pulled the yellow folded paper from his pocket and, after opening it, examined the list of tasks he needed to do for the day. There was still the new muffler and the oil change for the truck on the list. In addition, he needed to do some grocery shopping and stop by the auto parts store to pick up his clothes from the office there. Heading out to his truck, he drove off to perform those errands. It would give him time for the house to cool down before he went to work on the broken windows. The first stop would be the muffler shop, since the truck was actually in need of repair. He still had the muffler parts in the rear of the truck, knowing that none of the muffler shops would carry mufflers compatible with this old truck. The interesting question was where he should take the truck to be repaired. Should he take it to a place that did a lot of business with his store or to a place that didn't do any business with his store? He decided to select a place that didn't do business with his store. At least this way, he could turn it into a business call in the hope of getting another customer for his store. Jerry pulled into the drive of the Happy Muffler, a shop that had just recently opened and was owned by a local man. Getting out of the truck, he walked up to the garage and stepped in to look around. The place was clean, far cleaner than any professional garage that he had ever visited in the past. There was a guy about twenty standing under a car working on the muffler. Walking over to the tool bench, he examined it with a trained eye that knew tools. Although every tool on it was clean and gleamed, he could tell that none of them were new. The kid noticed him and came over to where Jerry was standing. Clearing his throat, he asked, "Can I help you?" "Yes. I'd like to talk to the owner," answered Jerry. He looked at the kid and noticed he wore latex gloves on his hands. "You're talking to him," replied the kid. "My name is Jerry Smith. I'm the manager over at the Auto Supply House on Main Street." "If I want to do business with you, I'll call you," replied the kid as he returned to the car on the lift. Laughing, Jerry said, "Actually, I brought my truck over here to get a muffler repaired. I had to bring the parts because I'm sure that you don't have them in stock." The kid turned around and came over to Jerry. With a calculating look on his face, he asked, "So you are a customer?" "Yes I am," replied Jerry. "Thought you'd turn this into a sales call and kill two birds with one stone. I can accept that. Let me see your truck." Jerry led the kid out of the garage to where his truck was parked. The kid looked over the truck and saw the muffler parts in the back. Nodding, he said, "You're right. I don't have those parts in stock. I've got to finish the car I'm working on now and then I'll get to yours. It'll be about an hour before I'm done with your car." An hour was a little more than Jerry had expected, but he said, "Sure. Go ahead." The kid returned to the garage and returned to work. Jerry followed him and watched him work. The way the kid worked was strange. Every movement was precise, deliberate, and considered. Setting a tool down was accomplished only after wiping it off and the placement was precise, even if he picked the tool up a minute later. The work the kid did was first-class though and Jerry recognized the guy wasn't in this to make money. He watched as the guy rolled the table with his tools over to the workbench and replaced each one where it belonged. For each tool, he took the precaution of wiping it off before replacing it. After all of his tools were back in their place, he lowered the car and backed it off the lift. Rather than driving his truck to the same ramp, the kid drove the truck to another lift at the far end of the garage. Getting out, he went over to the lift and raised the car. Jerry watched him work, puzzled with what he was doing. He raised an eyebrow when the kid started washing the undercarriage of his car with a power washer. The kid was very thorough in how he cleaned the undercarriage. After cleaning it, he drove the truck to the other lift and removed the parts. For several minutes, it was as though he was very confused by what to do with them. Finally, he laid them out on the floor in the order in which they would be installed. For the next thirty minutes, Jerry watched in amazement as the kid removed the old muffler and installed the new one. He had seen hundreds of mechanics at work, but never one that approached the job in this fashion. It was almost a relief when the guy finished. However, before lowering the truck, the kid called out, "Would you come over here for a moment?" Puzzled, Jerry went over to where the kid was waiting for him. The kid pointed out some rust on the frame and said, "You have some rust damage here and here. This panel needs to be replaced. Your bed is rotten and needs to be replaced. There's some damage to the frame, here, here, and here." Jerry looked at each spot where the kid pointed. The amount of damage on the undercarriage was pretty small compared to what he expected to find. He said, "That's not too bad." Shuddering at the characterization that the damage wasn't too bad, the kid said, "I can fix that for you, but it would take two days. I'd have to work on it over the weekend when the shop is closed." "I plan to do most of the work myself," replied Jerry. Seeing the relief on the kid's face, he added, "That's why I bought it. I need a project to get my mind off my other problems." Smiling, the kid nodded and said, "I can understand that. I opened this place for therapy." "Therapy?" Frowning at the unintended slip, the kid said, "I have an obsessive compulsive disorder. I use it to help repair cars, since I can't stand things out of place." "Ah, that explains it. I've never seen such a clean garage," replied Jerry. He looked over the newly installed muffler and examined every weld, discovering that each was textbook perfect. Nodding his satisfaction at what he found, he said, "You do excellent work. It's good when you can turn a liability into an advantage." The kid looked at Jerry for a minute with the same calculating look he had given him previously. As he peeled his latex gloves off his hands, he asked, "So it doesn't bother you that I'm crazy?" "Crazy? I wouldn't call it that." Accepting the answer, the kid lowered the truck and backed it out of the garage. He parked it in front of the office, perfectly between the lines. Entering the front office, he sat down at a clean desk to calculate the bill. Jerry wandered over there, realizing the kid wasn't going to come back to the garage until the paperwork was finished. After he had paid for the work, the kid said, "My name is Eddie. I'll give you a call if you leave your business card." Jerry pulled out one of his cards and set it on the desk. Eddie picked it up and carefully put it into his rolodex. Jerry asked, "Any special needs when my runner delivers any parts?" The question surprised Eddie and he smiled at the unexpected accommodation of his special needs. He answered, "Yes. I'd prefer if he handed the parts to me one at a time. No one can store them to my satisfaction except me." "I'll be sure to tell Howard that," replied Jerry. He knew they wouldn't get the volume of calls from this place as the other shops in town, but this was the place he would recommend people to use. ------- Chapter 7 Monday had been a much better day than he had expected. The entire day, he did not have one episode where his rage threatened to ruin his day. His house was now livable, although he had worked late into the night cleaning the bathroom. The air conditioner had cooled the house down nicely and the futon was a far more comfortable bed than expected. The kids from next door had not visited him after work and he had thought that was strange. He had just finished dressing while eating a pop tart when there was a knock on his door. Going over to answer it, he opened it to find the smiling face of Martin. He grunted, "Morning." "I was wondering if I could get a ride with you." "Sure. Come in while I get ready for work. I've got to polish the old fangs before they rot and fall out. Hate to go through the rest of my life gumming my food." Laughing at the obvious joke, Martin looked around the room while Jerry went into the bathroom. The lack of furnishings took him by surprise. The bed, the air conditioner, and three bags of clothes were all that were in the room. He noticed that the windows had been repaired. When Jerry came back in the room, Martin said, "You really fixed this room up." "Thanks." "Is this all you got?" "Yeah. I have to pick up a mini-refrigerator, a microwave, a hot plate, and a coffee pot, yet," replied Jerry. He planned to stop by one of the discount stores after work and pick them up. He asked, "Did you have breakfast?" "Yes. I figured I'd have to walk if you didn't give me a ride." "Okay. Let's get to the store." The pair left the house, with Jerry locking the door behind him. When he started the truck, Martin said, "Wow. It's quiet. What did you do?" "I replaced the muffler and got an oil change." It seemed like the truck ran even smoother now that it had been repaired. He felt the same way about himself. He was running smoother than ever before. Taking care to avoid the potholes, he drove to the office. "I can see why you would keep it. It runs pretty nice." Smiling at the assessment, Jerry answered, "It's got a long way to go yet. I've got to fix the engine on my other car." "Your other car?" "Yes. The Camaro parked behind the store," answered Jerry. He was going to have to fix the Camaro before doing any more on the truck. The bodywork would prevent him from driving the truck for at least a month. Martin had noticed the car, but hadn't thought anything of it. To his eye, it was just another old car that didn't run. Shrugging it off, he said, "Oh. I saw it, I didn't think much of it." Jerry smiled and continued to drive. He asked, "So what did you think of your first day?" "You work hard." "Yes, I do. I know it looks easy, but it is a lot of work. You'll earn your money," replied Jerry wondering if Martin was going to see this job through to an appropriate end. "Yes, but it is a good living," replied Martin. His brother and he had spent most of the night talking about their jobs. Somewhere during the course of the conversation, Martin realized that his childhood was over and that it was time to start acting like an adult. Jerry glanced over at Martin and said, "You have to put the anger behind you to get ahead in this world. Mine has kept me back for years." Martin wondered what Jerry had to be angry about. As far as he could tell, this guy had it all. At least, he had more than Martin did. He didn't know how to answer, so he kept his mouth shut. He took a moment to examine the Camaro while Jerry parked the truck next to it. It looked a lot like a car that was sitting on blocks a couple of streets from theirs. He asked, "Is the Camaro worth fixing up?" "Yeah. It would be worth a bit of money if it were restored to mint condition," replied Jerry. He wasn't sure what he was going to do with the Camaro. He was half tempted to soup it up. Entering the back door, the incessant ringing of the office telephone was the first thing that they heard. When Jerry walked past the office to the front of the store, Martin asked, "Aren't you going to answer the phone?" "Not until the store is ready to open," answered Jerry. He went to the register and checked the money in it. Once that was done, he did the twenty other small tasks that were part of the process of opening the store. Only after he unlocked the front door and took the telephone off the answering machine was he ready to head back to the office. Martin asked, "What am I supposed to be doing?" "Wait for Mike. I'll pick up the calls in the office until he comes in." Shutting the door behind him, Jerry looked at the telephone on his desk. It was still ringing and that meant that it could only be his wife. With that realization, the rage within started to boil, fighting to come out. He picked up the handset and answered, "This is Jerry Smith at Auto Parts House on Main Street." "You fucking bastard. How dare you serve me with separation papers?" The shrill voice and content of the greeting identified his wife better than her saying her name. He held the receiver away from his ear as she continued her rant. "I never should have married a fucking gorilla! You know that's what you are! You're a fucking gorilla. You've fucked me over for the last time. My lawyer says that I'm entitled to half of our assets, but you can bet your sweet ass that I'm going to get all of them." Jerry was gripping the phone so hard that the plastic started creaking. Realizing that he was about to lose his temper, he set the phone down on the desk. He could still hear the general tone of her rant, but he couldn't make out the individual words. Looking down at the squawking handset, he smiled wondering why he had never thought of that solution before now. Opening a drawer, he got out the paperwork that needed filling out that day. There was a knock on the door and he shouted, "Come in." It was Mike, who stuck his head in and said, "I'm here. We'll take the calls up front." "Okay," replied Jerry with a smile. He looked down at the handset on his desk he could hear his wife redouble the volume of her shouting. Mike noticed and asked, "Who is it?" "My wife," replied Jerry with a smile. There was a small buzz from the desk that sounded like his wife shouting, "Who are you talking to?" Shaking his head, Mike left the office; closing the door behind him as he went. Jerry picked up the handset, which had gone silent, and said, "Hello?" "Who in the fuck were you talking to? How dare you ignore me, you fucking ass hole!" Jerry set the handset down and started to work on the paperwork, pausing occasionally to make sure that she was still ranting. When she finally began to wind down, he picked up the phone and asked, "Did you call me for some reason other than to yell?" There was a low growl from the other end of the phone. Finally, she said, "Are you going to see the kids?" "Only if they actually want to see me," replied Jerry with a frown. The kids didn't give him the time of day when he was at home. Sitting up straight in his chair, he added, "I won't waste my time or their time if they don't want to be with me." "You heartless bastard! You miserable creep! Don't you love them?" Jerry was tempted to put the handset back on the desk, but the silence that followed her question forced him to reconsider. After a minute, he replied, "I don't know them. The only time you let me talk to the kids was when you wanted me to yell at them." There was a long moment of silence on the other end. She asked, "Did you love me?" "That doesn't matter. I detest you, now," replied Jerry as he hung up the phone. The rage inside seemed disappointed that it wasn't given a chance to run free. Sitting back in his chair, Jerry considered the conversation. It was a sad fact that he knew more about Abe and Martin than he did about his son, Bill, and his daughter, Melissa. He wondered if he should make an attempt to see his kids sometime soon. It would be hard to arrange without having to deal with the wife first, but there were provisions for visits with the children in the separation agreement. Growling, he got up and went to the front of the store. On the way, he walked past the boxes of stock that Abe had not unpacked yet. Despite the large number of boxes, it was clear that Abe had made significant progress in restocking the store yesterday. Musing about it, Jerry decided that Sammy must have given him a hand with it. Getting up to the front of the store, he grabbed the order that Mike was holding up and went to pull the order. Martin saw him filling a box with parts and asked, "What are you doing? That's my job." Jerry laughed and said, "We all take turns answering the phone and pulling stock. It helps break up the day." "Oh. I thought it was something that the low guy did." Jerry shook his head at the misunderstanding and said, "No. We all do it. Sitting on that chair all day will give you a sore butt. Running around pulling orders all day will give you sore feet." "You can say that again. My feet hurt something awful last night," replied Martin. "Well, you'll get used to it and it won't be so bad in the future. Mike will show you how to look up parts in the book during some of the quiet times. Before long, you'll be taking orders over the phone." The news that his job would be like what he saw Mike doing didn't surprise Martin as much as he thought it would. Jerry had more or less told him that before he had hired him and he had watched Mike at work when applying for the job. The two of them returned to pulling parts. It was in the middle of the afternoon when Jerry returned to his office. His wife had been calling almost hourly, but he had ignored the phone until he had learned that his boss had tried to call him. His rage, which had been hiding for the past few days, decided that this was the time to make itself known. The next time the phone rang, he had gone back to his office and answered it knowing that it would be his wife. Left hand clenched in a fist, he picked up the handset. The first words that he heard were, "You shit. I just went over the money that you are giving me every month. I'm going to have to give up tennis lessons and the gym! You selfish son of a bitch. How dare you do that to me?" The question struck Jerry funny and his rage was forced to retreat as he burst out laughing. He dropped the phone as he fell back into his seat as tears came to his eyes. Every time that he almost had himself under control, he would hear his wife scream, "How dare you laugh at me? Fucking Gorilla." When he finally got himself under control, he answered, "Did you think that I was working just so you could go to the gym and take tennis lessons? Do you realize that I only had twenty-five dollars a week spending money and that all of it went to lunch because you were too fucking lazy to make me a lunch?" "You fucking jerk! You don't care about me!" Jerry laughed and answered, "You got that right. I don't care about you at all." "You are the most selfish man I've ever met! You only think about yourself. My mother told me that I shouldn't marry a fucking gorilla because they aren't evolved enough to be civilized!" The princess was riding high on her royal horse given to her by the queen mother. He despised his mother-in-law and so had his wife's father. It was a fact that he wasn't surprised when the man had committed suicide the day after he retired. She had filled her daughter with the idea that men were there to serve them. He replied, "Your mother knows best. She drove your dad to suicide. Well, you aren't going to do that to me. From now on, all communications between us will have to go through our attorneys." His wife screamed in rage. Knowing that there would be nothing further except for harassment, he hung up the phone. Sitting at his desk, he wondered how he had managed to put up with her for all those years. A very nervous Jenny came into the auto parts store and looked around spotting Mike at the counter. Looking over at the attractive woman, Mike asked, "What can I do for you?" Unsure if Jerry had told her the truth about where he worked, she said, "I thought this was where Jerry worked." "Jerry who?" asked Mike, not sure if she meant his boss. "He never told me his last name, only that he was the manager of the auto parts store down the street from my place," replied Jenny thinking that this had been a major mistake. Abe waltzed into the store and stopped to look at Jenny with an appreciating stare. He was about to say something, when he saw Mike shake his head and choose to get to work. As he slipped into the back of the store, Mike said, "Get Jerry. He has a visitor." With a grin, Abe turned to look back at Jenny and then headed towards the back of the store. Strolling down the isle, he was thinking that Jerry had real good taste in women. When he passed by his brother, the two of them gave each other high fives. At the office door, he knocked and then opened the door without waiting for an invitation. When he stuck his head in the office, Jerry glared at him, but he just said, "Boss, you've got a female visitor and she' a real pretty one." Although less than ten minutes had passed since he had talked to his wife, he was sure that she was his visitor. Fists clenched, he rose out of his chair and stomped to the door ready to throw her bodily out of the store. Shocked at the red color of his boss's face, the vein throbbing on his forehead, the tight lips, and his narrowed eyes, Abe backed out of the way. The rage had seen its chance and it took it. Martin, pulling an order, saw Jerry walking down the isle towards the front of the store. It was almost beyond his comprehension that anyone could look that angry. He stepped well out of the way of his boss. Barely able to see beyond his rage, Jerry was ready to kill. The rage was unleashed and ready to do harm. When he reached the counter, the sight of Jenny took a minute to register. Mike and Jenny stared at Jerry for a full minute as the anger slowly drained from his face. It was as though all of the blood drained from his face as he realized that he could have hurt Jenny if he hadn't recognized her. Once the blood drained from his face, it just kept going. Jenny screamed at the sudden collapse of Jerry. The look of anger on his face was etched into her memory as well as the flash of relief that crossed his face when he saw her. Mike was not fast enough to catch Jerry before he crashed onto the floor like a tree felled by an axe. It took Mike and Martin both to carry him to the couch at the back of the store. Nervous and unsure that she belonged there, Jenny followed them as they half-dragged Jerry to the couch. It was several minutes before Jerry regained consciousness and the first face that he saw belonged to Jenny. He mumbled, "I'm sorry. I thought you were my wife come here to harass me some more." Jenny stared at the big man on the couch, unable to believe that a woman had affected him that strongly. Looking down at him, she put a hand on his and said, "She must have really been mean to you to invoke that much rage." A shiver went through his body at her touch and the realization of what he had done. Rather than deny the rage, he replied, "The rage has always been there. I've been fighting for years to keep it under control." Recalling the look of rage on his face and taking into account his size, she wondered how successful he had been. The last thing she needed was to get involved with a man that beat women. Terrified at what the answer might be, Jenny asked, "Did you ever hit her?" "No. If I had hit her, she would be dead. I broke a lot of things in the house though," replied Jerry figuring that he had just lost any chance with Jenny. Although she was acting concerned, he knew that his rage had cost him a possible future relationship. "I bet," replied Jenny with relief. She understood that he was probably right about what would have happened if he had ever hit his wife. At least he had demonstrated some control in the past. Despite that, his rage made him a very dangerous man. "I haven't felt the rage to that degree since the night I left her." That was the night that he bent the fender that was still sitting in the back of the Camaro. The few days spent without feeling the rage had made today even worse. It had weakened his control over it. Curious as to what could have provoked such a strong emotion, she asked, "What happened today?" "Harassing calls. My wife is angry that she may have to quit her tennis lessons." The thought that his wife didn't care that she was losing a husband and lover, but a meal ticket angered Jenny. She could understand his rage, but the raw intensity of it was terrifying. Did she want the hassles of having a friend that could be so scary? What was she getting into? Her own doubts made her wonder more than his behavior. As he slowly recovered, it was as though the rage was embarrassed. It retreated leaving him uncertain and weak. He asked, "Why did you come here?" "I wanted to make sure that you were coming tomorrow." The question made him think about how his behavior may have affected her view of him. He replied, "If you would have me, I'd love to come tomorrow." She appreciated that he gave her the option of withdrawing her offer, but she didn't feel right about actually withdrawing her invitation. After his demonstration of rage, she wasn't exactly comfortable about having him part of her life. With less enthusiasm then she meant, she said, "Sure. I'll see you tomorrow." "Okay," replied Jerry as he saw the fear in her eyes. It wouldn't have mattered if she hadn't been afraid, he would have seen fear there regardless. Deciding that she wanted to have time to think about what she would do about tomorrow, she said, "Well, I better get going." "Okay. I'll see you tomorrow," replied Jerry knowing that he wouldn't be going there for lunch tomorrow. He would send her some flowers apologizing and let her get on with her life without the problems that he represented. Jenny nodded and then left the store to return home. Jerry sat up on the couch and thought about what he had done. Along with the self-recriminations, his rage returned to simmer beneath the surface. Ready to explode, he fought the rage. Looking up, he saw the looks on the faces of Mike, Martin, and Abe. Mike had seen glimpses of the rage before, but never to the extent of today. The two brothers had never seen Jerry angry and were amazed at the sheer power of it. Looking around, Jerry said, "I guess we had all better get back to work." As Mike and Martin returned to the front of the store, Abe stood looking at Jerry. Concerned, he asked, "Are you okay?" "No, but there is nothing we can do about it right now," answered Jerry as he thought about what he had done. Shaking his head, he added, "I guess you had better start stocking the shelves. I've got some calls to make." Abe nodded and returned to the stack of boxes containing auto parts. Taking a deep breath, Jerry returned to his office. A small bump was growing on the back of his head where he had hit it on the floor when he had fallen. Picking up the telephone, he called the lawyer that he had retained to arrange for a restraining order to keep his wife from calling him at work. After that nasty chore was over, he called the flower shop and ordered some flowers to be sent to Jenny the next morning. The two calls had exhausted Jerry. Glancing at the clock, he saw that it was still several hours before the store closed. It was hard to say if that was a good thing or bad. On one hand, he wanted to be busy doing something. On the other hand, he just wanted to get out of there. The clock chose his course of actions for him. Standing, he headed out to help Abe with restocking the shelves. For the next two hours, Abe and Jerry unpacked box after box of auto parts. Most of the items were light, but a few were heavy. It was with some satisfaction that Jerry carried the heavy parts, feeling his muscles work on something positive for a change. As closing time approached, most of the stock had been unpacked although there were still a number of boxes left. As Mike locked up the store, Abe came over to Jerry and said, "If I stay here another hour or two, I can prob'ly finish." Jerry nodded as he thought about it. If Abe worked a few extra hours twice a week, that would give the guy a day off without affecting the number of hours that he worked. They would get another delivery, a much smaller one, on Thursday. If Abe stayed late on Thursday, he could actually get Friday off. After considering the matter, he said, "Sure. I've got to teach Mike some of the paperwork that goes with being an Assistant Manager." The next two hours after closing passed easily. Mike learned about filling out the employment figures for the state, the sales forms that were faxed to corporate headquarters, and hourly figures for payroll. Running a business was mostly filling out paperwork for the powers that be. There were city, county, state, and federal forms that had to be filled out weekly, monthly, and annually. Mike was shocked at the amount of work that was required to properly fill out all of the forms. It was no wonder that Jerry spent at least a third of every day in the office. The poor guy had been dealing with papers rather than kicking back and daydreaming. After Mike left, Abe came in the office and said, "I'm all done here. Martin went home two hours ago. Can I could get a ride from ya?" "Sure, if you don't mind waiting an extra fifteen minutes. I have something to take care of first," answered Jerry. One of the items that had been delivered in the shipment that week had been a tow- bar for towing vehicles. Jerry went to the storeroom and picked it up enjoying the stress of carrying it in his muscles. While there, he picked up a trailer hitch to put on the truck. Abe followed him, curious as to what he was doing. He was going to tow the Camaro back to the house so that he could start to work on it that weekend. It didn't take him long to hook up the tow bar to Camaro and to attach the trailer hitch to the truck. It took a little more time to back the truck up to it and connect the tow bar to the trailer hitch. Abe got into the truck and waited for Jerry to finish closing up the store. As he was sitting there, he was dreaming of getting a new pair of sneakers with his first paycheck. He'd really impress the guys at school with them. His daydreams were interrupted when Jerry climbed in the driver's seat. Getting ready to go, he turned to Abe and said, "I'll have to drive home slowly. Hope that doesn't bother you." "No, that's okay." Settling into his seat and starting the truck, Jerry commented, "I bet you can't wait for your first paycheck so that you can buy a bike to get around faster." "I'm going to get some sneakers," replied Abe. Pulling out of the parking lot, Jerry said, "I know a bike isn't as flashy as a pair of expensive sneakers, but it will last a lot longer and prove more useful." Frowning, Abe looked at Jerry wondering what point he was trying to make. He asked, "What are you telling me?" "I'm not telling you anything. I'm suggesting that you take care of your real needs first and worry about showing off later," answered Jerry. Changing the subject, he asked, "Did Sammy tell you about how you get bonuses?" "No," answered Abe. Shaking his head at the failure to let his employee know the expectations placed on high school employees, he answered, "Well, a single F or two Ds will get you fired. A D will reduce your bonus by a quarter an hour. A C doesn't affect your paycheck at all. A B will get you an extra nickel an hour. Each A gets you a dime an hour. So if you get five A's in a grading period, that's fifty cents an hour. We calculate the number of hours that you worked during the grading period and multiply it by your bonus rate. The next week, you get a check for that amount." Abe looked at Jerry in shock. It seemed a little extreme to fire someone for a single F or two Ds. He said, "Wow, that seems a little rough." Smiling, Jerry drove the truck slowly down the road avoiding potholes. He answered, "I don't know. You'll work ten to twenty hours a week. I figure there are eight weeks in a grading period. That means that straight As gets you an extra eighty dollars. You're getting paid to study. That's not bad." "You really emphasize school." "That is company policy and has nothing to do with me. Personally, if I had a choice you'd get fired for a single C," remarked Jerry. He glanced over at Abe to see what affect his words had on his young passenger. Abe stared at Jerry for a full minute thinking about what he had said. "Why ya feel that way?" Inside, Jerry could feel the rage stirring as though it was just as interested in the answer as Abe. Concentrating on the road, he answered, "I like to think that young people should have more options about their future than I had." "What's that mean?" "It means that I was a B and C student in high school. When I graduated, I just stayed in the Auto Parts business because I didn't really have any choice about it. I'm in my early forties and I've never done anything different. After a lousy marriage and long hours at work, what have I accomplished? I'm your next-door neighbor in a slum neighborhood," answered Jerry. The rage curled around his stomach, tightening like a boa constrictor. "Shit man. That's rather harsh." "Harsh," laughed Jerry trying to push away the pain. Shaking his head, he said, "You don't even know what harsh means." "Hey, you make good money." "Money has little to do with it. You saw that beautiful woman in the store. I blew that opportunity because of my rage," replied Jerry as the rage climbed up and constricted his chest so that it was hard to breathe. Not knowing what to say in response, Abe wisely said nothing. He watched the road and wondered about his neighbor. His suggestion about buying a bike actually sounded rather reasonable, but he could hear what the guys at school would say. Of course, it would change a twenty-minute walk to school to five minutes and the thirty-minute walk to work down to less than ten. Still, the kids at school would really give him a tough time. He was about to blow it off, when he realized that it would take him almost forty minutes to walk to work from school. They arrived at the house. Rather than parking in front of the house, Jerry drove up onto the yard to park the Camaro under the tree. It took him a very short time to disconnect the Camaro from the truck. Abe watched and then said, "Well, I'm going home. I'll see you at work Thursday." "Great. Have a nice day off," replied Jerry. Despite the late hour, the sun was still shining. He opened the back door of the Camaro and pulled out the bumper from the back seat. Holding it up, he was shocked at the damage he had done to it in his anger. Abe had seen him pull the bumper out of the back of the car. Freezing at the sight of the mangled hunk of metal, he asked, "What in the hell happened to that?" "I got angry," replied Jerry staring at the bumper. At that moment, he decided to hang it on the wall of his living room as a constant reminder of what happened when he allowed his rage full reign. "Shit, remind me never to piss you off," replied Abe with wide eyes as he recalled the anger that he had seen that afternoon. Seeing the look on Jerry's face, he turned and went home. ------- Chapter 8 The week passed slowly as nothing of significance happened. Mike had taken over some of the duties of assistant manager, Martin was learning how to look up orders, and Abe had finished putting up the stock. Mike's wife, Karen, was learning her job and trying his patience at the same time. He wasn't a good teacher and he knew it. Overall, the atmosphere at the store was better than it had been for years. Stepping out onto the front porch, Jerry looked around the neighborhood. The old folks were on their porches watching life pass by as kids played in the street. Stretching, Jerry went over to the Camaro and opened the hood. The engine compartment was a mess. Returning to the house, he brought out his toolbox. He went to work removing every part that was attached to the engine. It was going to take him most of the day to do it properly. He hadn't done much more than to start on the job before Martin came over to where he was working. Looking up at his neighbor, Jerry asked, "What can I do for you this afternoon?" "I want to learn how to fix a car," replied Martin feeling a little uneasy about intruding. "Which car do you want to learn on?" asked Jerry. "Uh, yours?" "Nope. How about your mother's car?" "I guess so," replied Martin as he looked at the old monster parked in front of the house. "Okay. You get in and steer. I'll push it. We'll park it on the other side of this tree," said Jerry. The pair walked over to the twenty-five year old Caddy. Jerry looked at it and said, "Not a bad looking car. It needs some bodywork, chrome, and new roof. You'll definitely have to redo the interior to get it back to good shape. It's rather large for the streets today, but you'll be able to trade it for a new low-end car and perhaps pick up another old one to fix up. We'll have to see about the mechanical parts of the car, first though." There was a moment of silence as Martin considered that. He looked back at his house and wondered what his mother would say to that. For now, she was stuck taking a bus to work. Nodding, he got behind the wheel. Stretching, Jerry went behind the car and shouted, "Put it into neutral and release the brakes. I'll push." Leaning forward, Jerry started pushing the car. This was a heavy monster and it took all of his strength to get it moving. Slowly he got the car rolling, his muscles reveling in being challenged in a feat of continued strength. Martin steered the car away from the curb and into the middle of the street. The kids cleared the way, watching in amazement at the sheer strength of the man pushing the car. It sped up even more. Turning the wheel, Martin drove the car over the curb. The sudden jarring of the car almost tripped Jerry, but he recovered for about ten more steps. In a spectacular fall, he tripped over the curb reaching out to catch his fall with his hands. His hands slid across the ground for a yard before he came to a stop. The grass and dirt slowed the car down to the point where it stopped before it reached the tree. As soon as the car had stopped, Martin pulled the parking break and ran out of the car over to where Jerry was picking himself off the ground. Excited, he asked, "Are you okay?" "Forgot about the curb," replied Jerry. He looked at his hands expecting them to be all torn up by his fall, but outside of a little redness there was no sign that he had fallen. They should have been torn up, but the calluses had protected them. Shaking his head, he said, "These bones of mine are encased in leather." "Anything broken?" "No. Stubbed my toe, but there isn't much you can do about that," replied Jerry. He walked over to where the Caddy was parked and said, "Let's move it up about five more feet. No need to be working on the car in the sun." It didn't take them long to get the car positioned under the tree. Walking around the car to the driver side door, Jerry said, "Open the hood and let's take a look at what you have." Martin got out of the car and went to the hood. It took him a minute to figure out how to open the hood. When he opened it, he found that some animal had built a nest in the engine compartment. Shaking his head, he said, "This is a mess." "I suggest the first thing you do is get rid of nest. Looks like a rat or something decided to live there for a while," remarked Jerry looking over the collection of sticks and leaves that had been carried into the engine area. As Martin removed his shirt and went to work on the car, Jerry returned to working on his. As he removed each part, he carried it around to the back of the car and put it in the trunk. Since he didn't have a garage, the trunk would have to suffice as a place to store the parts. He had just removed the battery when Martin declared, "That's done. Now what?" Jerry went over and pointed out all of the easily removable parts. The air filter, battery, and distributor cap were the first to go. For the next three hours, the men worked side by side, each on their own car, and talking occasionally about what needed to be done. As they worked, a small crowd of teenage boys gathered to watch what they were doing. In this neighborhood, fixing a car passed for grand entertainment. Jerry gave one of the kids ten dollars and sent him to the store to buy a couple six packs of soft drinks. It was forty minutes before he returned, but the drinks were still cool. Passing drinks around to all of the observers, they took a break to replace the fluids lost by sweating. Standing around, Martin said, "This is hard work. I'm bleeding on every knuckle." Looking down at his paws, Jerry saw that his hands were developing calluses beyond those that he had the day before. He held out his hands for Martin to examine and said, "In a few weeks, you won't recognize these as hands." "Shit, man. That ain't normal," remarked Martin as he looked over the hands. A number of the boys standing around nodded their agreement. "I know," replied Jerry. The physical work had pushed the rage well into the background, but turned his body into something just as monstrous. At the end of the afternoon, both cars had been stripped to where the only thing remaining in the engine compartments were the engine blocks. Jerry stepped back and said, "I'd say that is enough for today." "What? We've still got a couple of hours that we can work," replied Martin. He had thought they would actually get the cars working that day. "We need to get a hoist to help pull the engine. After that, we have to break the engine down and replace all of the parts that are out of spec. That will take a whole day for each engine." "How do you know that I need to replace any parts?" asked Martin confused. As far as he knew, Jerry didn't even know what was wrong with his mother's car. Smiling at the obvious confusion expressed by Martin, Jerry said, "You wanted to learn how to fix a car. Best way that I know of is to completely rebuild one." "Oh. So how long is this going to take?" replied Martin. "A couple of weeks, I would imagine. We've got to finish the engine and put it back in. After that, we'll rebuild the carburetor and generator. Then we'll spend some time checking every part as we put it back on the engine. Then, you get to hold your breath as we see if it starts." The amount of work was daunting and he wondered if he was willing to go through all of that effort to get the car fixed. Almost as though Jerry was reading his mind, he said, "You've got to finish what you started. In this shape, it is worth about a hundred dollars. Fix it and you'll have something worth about eighteen thousand." A number of the kids that were still hanging around looked at each other in surprise. The idea that they could get money fixing something up was a novel concept to them. Martin nodded to himself and said, "I didn't realize how much work I was getting into." "That's life," replied Jerry as he looked over his audience. He continued, "I know that sucks, but it is true. Too often we get involved in something without being aware of the full effort that is required and without knowing the long term consequences." One of the kids asked, "So why bother doin' anything?" Shaking his head, Jerry replied, "There's no easy way to get through life. Everything you do has consequences." "Shit, I don't want to do hard work," replied the kid. "The easy way leads to the hardest work in the long run. Of course, I don't expect you to believe me," replied Jerry with a sigh as he looked at the kid. It seemed highly unlikely that this kid would change his opinion anytime in the future. Grasping at a last straw, he said, "The best way is to find something that you like to do and make money doing it." "I like smoking grass," joked the kid. "I like fucking, but there are some things that are better not pursued as a career," replied Jerry with a shake of his head. His comment caused everyone to laugh, but it was an uneasy laugh as people thought about what he had said. Now that they had finished working on the car, the crowd of watchers slowly dispersed. When it was only Martin and Jerry, the young black man said, "I figured you'd have taken Joe's head off when he said that he liked to smoke grass." "You think he would listen to a white man?" "Not really." "I'd rather keep him open to future dialogs than slam him down now. You never know what the future will bring." Jerry slowly turned and walked to the porch. Taking a seat, on the step, he watched as Martin came to join him. He asked, "Where's your little brother?" Martin shook his head and said, "He borrowed ten bucks from Mom and left the house early this morning. I've got no idea what he's up to." Curious, Jerry didn't make a comment. He hoped that the kid wasn't doing anything crazy, but it wasn't up to him. Shrugging, he said, "I hope that he doesn't get in trouble. I like the kid." "He told me about the bonus program based on grades," replied Martin. A rather muted Abe had told him about the program. He knew his brother well enough to know that his brother would want to get a bonus, but that it would be hard for him to do. The other kids in the school didn't think that much of working hard on schoolwork. "It's going to be tough for him. I get the impression that a lot of the kids around here don't think much of working hard," remarked Jerry. "Are you saying that you think Blacks are lazy?" asked Martin rather disturbed by the comment. "Not really, just echoing the comments made by our audience after we finished working on the car. Of course, their attitude isn't all that unusual. Hell, it seems like my own kid doesn't believe in working hard," remarked Jerry. "You have a kid?" "Two." "Where are they?" A sense of sadness fell on Jerry as he answered, "They are at home with their mother." Not having a father in his life, Martin didn't know what he thought about the situation. Curious, he asked, "Do you want to see them?" "I don't know. They've never really cared to see me in the past and I don't know much about them." Admitting that out loud was one of the hardest things he could do. Wearing a strange expression on his face, Martin replied, "Shit. I don't know who my Daddy was. Still, it would be kind of nice to meet him some day." "What would you say to him?" asked Jerry. "Where the fuck have you been my whole life?" answered Martin with a little anger in his voice. Calming down, he asked, "What else am I supposed to ask him?" Laughing, it was easy to understand how that would be the logical question. However, life wasn't that simple and the absence could be explained by a thousand reasons. The one the kid didn't want to hear is that his father didn't care enough to be bothered. Jerry answered, "Yeah, I suppose that is a reasonable question. So I guess you think I should invite the kids over here?" "I wasn't saying that," replied Martin. He spat on the ground in front of him and then said, "I guess it wouldn't be a bad idea anyway. You don't work tomorrow and school doesn't start until after Labor Day. Bring them over tomorrow." There wasn't any reason not to do that. Of course, getting in touch with the kids was going to be tough, particularly without having to talk to his wife. Looking over at Martin, he asked, "Would you mind making a telephone call for me?" "You haven't got a telephone?" "No. We'll have to go someplace where there is a telephone." Shaking his head, Martin asked, "Why do you need me to make the call?" "I don't want to talk to my wife." Remembering the raw anger on his boss's face after the other day, Martin could understand why it might be for the better if Jerry didn't talk to his wife. Nodding his head, he said, "Sure, I can do that." The pair of them went to the store so that Martin could make the call. While Martin explained to Bill that he could meet his father at the mall tomorrow morning, Jerry searched the catalogs for the parts he would need for the Camaro. With a list in hand, he went through the stock to see if he had the parts. He was going through his money faster than he had budgeted and was going to have to slow down his spending a bit. Martin returned from the front desk and said, "I told your son that you would be at the mall tomorrow at ten. He didn't make any promises." "That's about what I expected." Sitting in the mall drinking a coffee and eating a cinnamon roll, Jerry watched the people walking past. The time was getting close to ten and the stores were preparing to open. The mall walkers were starting to clear out of the mall, only to be replaced by the early shoppers. There were a number of mothers with children of all ages waiting for stores to open to buy back-to-school clothes. As a general rule, the older the child was, the less happy they were to be with their mothers. Taking a sip of his coffee, he noticed his son slowly wandering in his direction. Waving to get the attention of the boy, he waited to see if his son saw him. For the first time, he noticed how threadbare his son's clothes were. His son saw him, but didn't speed up his approach to the table. In fact, it appeared as though he was about to change his mind about coming over to the table on several occasions. Jerry pointed to the cinnamon roll on the plate across from him. It was still hot and the frosting was melting into the kind of gooey mess that made eating them half the battle and most of the fun. Bill slowly made his way to the table and sat down without saying a word. Jerry said, "I'm glad you came, Bill." A grin flickered over the face of his son at the adult form of his name as opposed to the 'Billy' used by his mother. He shrugged in the manner of a teenager and said, "I almost didn't come here." That was understandable. Jerry had no idea what his wife was saying about him at the house, but it would have been pretty bad. He replied, "I understand. I guess your sister decided not to come." Bill snorted and said, "She's at home with mom." "I guess things have been pretty unpleasant there." "Unpleasant? It's been sheer hell there. You'd think you had killed someone from the way they are talking about you," replied Bill in a tone of disgust. As the only male in the house, it was hard listening to how horrible men were. His mother didn't think too much of men and he had always been the recipient of that attitude, only now it was a hundred times worse. "I'm not going to talk bad about her. It just isn't worth the energy." Taking a bite of the cinnamon roll, Bill ate quietly working up the energy to ask the questions that had bothered him the most. After swallowing, he realized that he wanted something to drink. He croaked, "Got anything for me to drink?" Pointing to a cup, Jerry answered, "I bought you a coffee." Surprised at the adult choice of drink, Bill took a sip of the hot liquid and couldn't decide if he liked it or not. After another minute, he asked, "What happened the night you left?" "I was in a car accident and arrived late at home." "Were you okay?" asked Bill surprised by the statement, as it was the first that he heard of his father being in an accident. "Fortunately, but the engine of my car was totaled. The car accident wasn't anything compared to getting knocked on my ass by the lightning bolt that struck less than ten feet away from me." The events of that night were still fresh in his mind. "Wow! So what happened when you got home?" "Let's just say that she didn't care that I almost died. It was leave or kill her. I figured it was better for everyone that I leave," replied Jerry with a sigh. They sat there quiet, each lost in their thoughts. Both ate some more of their cinnamon rolls and drank their coffee. Although he looked calm, Jerry was afraid of the questions that Bill would ask. Bill was slowly working up to ask the question that bothered him the most. Finally, he said, "How come the only time you ever talked to me was when you were yelling at me?" "Whenever I wanted to talk to you, your mother would say that you were busy studying or doing something and I shouldn't disrupt your studies. The only time she really allowed me to talk to you is when you were in trouble. By that time, I was too angry to talk nicely with you. I guess I pretty much sucked as a father," answered Jerry. His deep gravelly voice conveyed greater sadness than Bill had ever heard before in his life. "Oh," replied his son realizing that there wasn't much for him to say. After a minute, he asked, "So where are you living?" "I'm living in a slum," replied Jerry with a smile wondering what would be the reaction of his son. Not believing his father, Bill said, "Right. So can I see this slum?" "Sure, we can go over there after I finish my coffee," replied Jerry as he took the last bite of cinnamon roll. He watched as his son finished his roll and drank some of the coffee. It was clear that the boy didn't know what to think of the coffee. They left the mall and headed over to the truck. Bill was shocked at the old truck and said, "What's with this piece of junk?" "That's Thunder, my new truck." "That wasn't new the day they built it. It's got to be a hundred years old." Laughing at the exaggeration, Jerry replied, "It's only forty years old and it's a fine truck. You won't recognize it once I get it fixed up." "Does it run?" asked Bill as they got into the truck. He was concerned that it would break down in the middle of nowhere and they would be stuck there. The gentle purr of the engine after he started it, brought a look of surprise to Bill. It actually sounded better than the old Camaro. Shrugging his shoulders, Bill said, "It starts." That Bill hadn't believed him became clear as they drove up to the house in the old truck. Nervous, he looked around the neighborhood taking in all of the Blacks. The elderly were on the porches, the kids playing in the street, and the teenagers hanging out around one of the cars parked on the street. Parking the car in front of the house, Jerry said, "Here we are." The first thing Bill noticed was his father's car parked under the tree and the Caddy parked next to it. Turning to his father, he asked, "What's up with the cars?" "I'm fixing the Camaro and the kid next door is fixing his mother's Caddy," answered Jerry. Going over to the Camaro, he lifted the hood and pointed at the bare engine block. With a shake of his head, he said, "The bumper that fell off the car in front of me took out the oil pan. By the time I was able to make it off the road the engine had eaten itself. I won't know how bad it is until I take the engine apart." Staring at the car, Bill said, "I didn't know you knew how to work on cars." "Once I married your mother, I had to quit. She didn't like the idea of her husband working on cars in the garage. She thought it would make us look like white trash," replied Jerry with a sigh. He'd had to give up fishing too, since according to her only poor whites went fishing. "Can you teach me?" asked Bill. "Sure. We'll find a good car for you and let you rebuild it. By the time you're done, you should be old enough to drive," answered Jerry surprised at the interest his son was showing in cars. "Wow!" The two went into the house together. Stopping in front of the living room wall, Bill asked, "What's with the bumper?" "That's what I hit with the Camaro." "Sure did total it." Shaking his head, Jerry answered, "No. I did that after I pulled it out of the engine. I guess I was a little angry." Eyebrows raised, Bill didn't say a word. He had seen his father lose his temper on many occasions and it was definitely a terrifying sight. It didn't seem possible that a human could bend a bumper like that, but he had seen his father pull a metal fence post out of the ground that had been set in place with concrete. Seeing the expression on his son's face, Jerry said, "I haven't hit anyone since I was in Junior High." He didn't know if that was true, but he had never seen his father hit his mother regardless of how angry she had made him. Thinking back on it, he realized that his father had never spanked him, regardless of what he had done. In a way, that was an amazing testament to his father's self control. Nodding, his son replied, "I believe that." There was a knock on the door and a very surprised Jerry went to it to see who would be stopping by. Opening the door, he found a smiling Abe standing there. Surprised, he said, "Come in Abe. My son is visiting." Abe came into the living room. The two young men studied each other, as though sizing up the other boy. Jerry said, "Bill, this is my neighbor Abe. Abe, this is my son Bill." Nodding his head, Bill said, "Nice to meet you." "I kinda expected you to be as big as your father," replied Abe surprised at the stature of the boy standing in front of him believing that the boy was his age. "I'm big for my age. I'm only thirteen," replied Bill understanding how Abe could have been confused. "Damn, you are big for your age. I though you were fifteen," replied Abe, "I hope you don't have the same temper as your father." The statement was like a knife getting stuck in the stomach for both of them. Jerry knew that his son had been in a lot of fights at school. It seemed to him that every week his wife would send him in to yell at the boy for fighting. For Bill, he knew that he had the same temper as his father and it was a source of trouble. He replied, "I guess I do." "Damn. Let me know if I start to piss you off then," replied Abe with a good-natured smile. He added, "I've seen your dad a little angry and believe me, I don't want two of you going off on me." Shaking his head, Jerry asked, "So what can I do for you?" "Oh, I was thinking about your advice about getting a bike," replied Abe. "I think that's not a bad idea, but I decided that I would get a moped." "A moped?" "Yeah. It's like a bike, but has a motor. I went out and priced them Saturday. I can pick up a used one for a hundred dollars. I even put a ten dollar down payment on it at the motorcycle store." "That sounds like a good idea," replied Jerry with a nod. "Yeah, you can start driving one of those at fourteen since the top speed is only thirty miles per hour." Abe had given a lot of thought about buying the moped. Getting a bike wouldn't have been as impressive to the guys at school, but the moped would blow their minds. At the same time, it was actually a better form of transportation than a bike. The only thing that Bill heard was the fact that he could drive one at fourteen. That was in a couple of months and would make the perfect birthday present. He said, "I would like one of those." Smiling, Jerry was impressed with Abe's initiative. He asked, "Do you want me to come check it out and make sure that it is in good shape?" "You'd do that for me?" "Sure. I bet Bill would be interested in seeing one of those mopeds himself." The offer was more than he expected. He had come over to find out when he would get paid so that he would know when he could pick up the moped. Nodding, he said, "That would be great. What I really came over to ask was when I was getting paid so that I could tell the guy when I would come pick it up from him." Feeling a little foolish, Jerry replied, "Payday is Friday. You'll get paid for your work last week. If I remember correctly, you put in about twenty five hours." "Right. So that should mean I get paid a hundred and thirty seven dollars." Shaking his head, Jerry said, "I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but you didn't take into account taxes." "Taxes?" asked Abe. "Yeah. There's social security and Federal Income Taxes. The social security will come to about twelve dollars. The Federal Income Taxes will be about twenty dollars. You'll still get about a hundred dollars," remarked Jerry. "That's not fair. I worked for that money," replied Abe. Smiling, Jerry said, "Wait until your brother sees his paycheck." Still chuckling at the thought of Abe and Martin becoming Republicans and demanding tax relief, he led the two young men to his truck. After getting directions, he took them to the motorcycle shop. The primary products sold there were Honda Motorcycles, but they had a number of used cycles and mopeds as well. The three of them got out and looked around the lot. Abe led Jerry to a back area where an ancient moped was leaning against the back fence. Jerry bent down and examined the bike carefully. It was an old moped built in the early seventies. The bike had seen better days with scratches and paint peeling from the front. The brakes looked old and worn. Getting on the bike, he started peddling and engaged the engine. The engine didn't want to start and once it did, a huge plume of smoke shot out the engine. Returning the bike to where it had been, Jerry turned off the engine. The salesman had come running from office to see what was going on. Spotting Abe, he smiled and said, "Oh, you're back. Ready to pick it up?" Shaking his head, Jerry asked, "Why are you selling this moped to him? It's in horrible condition." "It's also only a hundred dollars," replied the salesman. "The brakes will cost seventy dollars to replace. The engine needs to be rebuilt and the parts alone will cost two hundred. The tires need to be replaced, that will be another hundred," replied Jerry. Bristling, the salesman replied, "Hey, I told the kid that it was in poor condition and was being sold as is. I run an honest shop here. It's a good bike and if he puts the money into fixing it, he'll get that money back." Glancing over at Abe, he saw the young man nod in agreement. Mollified somewhat, Jerry said, "You got any other mopeds or scooters here?" The salesman looked around for a moment and then said, "I've got an old Honda step through somewhere around here. We're asking eight hundred for it." The three of them followed the salesman to a nice cherry red scooter. Jerry asked, "Is it street legal for a fourteen year old?" "Yeah, he'll need to wear a helmet driving it on the street," replied the salesman. He started up the scooter and let Abe drive it around the lot. It looked like a small motorcycle. Watching Abe smiling as he drove it, Jerry could tell that he really liked the bike. Turning to the salesman, he asked, "So what is the minimum price we can buy it?" "Eight hundred. The price in not negotiable." "Can we get him a loan?" asked Jerry wondering how he could get the bike down to a price where he could pay for it. "He's fifteen. It's not possible." "How about if I co-sign?" asked Jerry getting a funny look from his son. Nodding, the salesman said, "It would have to be for twelve months." "Okay. There's a new one over there. How much is it?" "That's fifteen hundred after all is said and done," answered the salesman. "Let's get the bike that Abe is driving around and the new one for my son," replied Jerry looking down at Bill to see his reaction. Bill's eyes grew huge as saucers at the idea that he was getting a scooter. "Wow!" shouted Bill as the news sunk in. He was getting a new scooter. ------- Chapter 9 Abe and Bill wanted to ride back to the house in the back of the truck with the scooters, but Jerry wouldn't let them. For Abe, the bike meant a seventy-five dollar a month payment for the next year and a reason to keep working. For his son, it was a sign that his father did care about him. Jerry smiled as he thought about the happiness that the bikes would bring. Pulling up in front of the house, he parked the car and helped Abe get his bike off the back of the truck. The poor kid was so excited that he could hardly stand still and was ready to ride off in it. Jerry said, "Whoa, there! You've got to get a permit first and for that you need to study the booklet they gave you at the motorcycle shop." "Damn!" Laughing at the exuberance of the young man, Jerry said, "Why don't you two study the book together? When you are convinced that you can pass the test, I'll give you a short test and when you pass that we'll go get your permit." The two young kids sat down on the futon and studied the driver's manual with their heads bent over as they read each paragraph aloud. While they were doing that, Jerry brought the scooter that he had bought for Bill and put it in the bedroom with his tools. While there, he noticed the stack of Polaroids and picked them up. He shuffled through the pictures appreciating the body of the woman that had posed for them. Only a few showed her face. Deciding it would be best if neither of the kids found the pictures, he put them on the shelf in the closet. Returning to the living room, he watched for a moment as the boys studied the motorcycle driver's manual. Clearing his throat, he said, "You'll have to get your mother to come with us, Abe." "I know. We just covered that part of the manual. She has to sign some papers." "When will she get off work?" asked Jerry. "She'll get home about three," answered the young man. Bill looked up from the manual and said, "I have to be home about six or mom will kill me." "No problem," replied Jerry thinking that he would try like hell to get the kid home before five. That would leave an hour for unforeseen events. The more he thought about it, he decided that he would get his son home early in the afternoon. Working out the logistics, he said, "After you guys have finished studying that, I'd like to take my son out to lunch. When your mother gets home, you bring her over and we'll go get you a license." Both boys agreed with the plan and went back to reading the manual. Jerry wandered into the kitchen and brewed a pot of coffee. The kitchen was barren compared to the majority of kitchens. He had bought a set of dinnerware that provided a basic setting for four, silverware for six, and glasses for eight. There was the coffee maker, microwave, hot plate, and mini-refrigerator that completed his kitchen. There weren't any pots, pans, or mixing bowls. Without a kitchen table, there was nowhere to eat. When the coffee finished brewing, he poured three cups and carried them out into the living room. After handing each of the boys a cup, he sat down on the floor enjoying the cool of the air conditioner and the heat of the coffee. It was nice sharing the house with his son. They hadn't argued or fought once. The boys finished going through the manual and set it down on the floor. Turning to Abe, Bill asked, "Do many blacks ride motorcycles?" Jerry almost choked on his coffee, but didn't say a word. Abe was silent for a while before he answered, "I guess not." "So I guess you'll be a trendsetter, huh?" Laughing at the idea of being a trendsetter, Abe said, "Shit yeah. I'm gonna be da big man on campus." Sitting back watching his son and Abe interact was a pleasure for Jerry. He had liked Abe the moment he had met the boy and it was clear that his son had liked him as well. Rather than interrupt, he let the two boys talk about teenage topics of which the mysteries of girls figured highly. Not surprisingly, his son was a lot less knowledgeable about the fairer sex than Abe. Two years of age difference tended to have that effect. Still, Bill came with some interesting insights from watching his sister interact with the boys. After an hour of relaxed conversation, Jerry said, "Hate to break this chat session up, but I'm beginning to get a little hungry." Picking up the manual off the floor, Abe said, "I'll head home and study some more. I'll be back when my mother gets home." "It's been nice meeting you, Abe," said Bill. "Hey, dude. I'll be seeing you around, won't I?" "Yeah, I think so," answered Bill as he glanced at his father for confirmation and receiving it in the form of a nod of the head. The day had been very unexpected and he was still trying to sort out events in his mind. It was rather difficult to consider his father living in this neighborhood and having friends not much older than him. He had never thought of his father as a friendly sort of person. As Abe went to the door to leave, Jerry said, "I know it is going to be tough, but don't ride the scooter until we get your license." Nodding, Abe said, "Yeah. I read that if I get a ticket now then I won't be able to get a license for six months. That would really suck." Smiling, Jerry said, "Yes, it would suck." Once Abe had left, father and son looked at each other wondering who was going to be the first to say something. Jerry broke the silence when he said, "I know it has been kind of strange visit. I hope that hasn't disappointed you." "I'm not disappointed, but I am hungry." "Are you up to some Mexican Food? There's a nice little place not too far from here that serves pretty good food." "That sounds good to me." Taking the time to lock up the house, Jerry led his son to his truck. A few minutes later they pulled into the parking lot of a Mexican Restaurant. This place was on the other side of the area where he lived, the part of town that was totally Hispanic. At this restaurant, the help didn't speak English and the food was authentic. Climbing out of the truck, Jerry said, "This is a good place for us to eat and talk. Most of the people here don't understand English." Bill shrugged his shoulders and went into the restaurant. It was hard to ignore the fact that it suddenly got very quiet the moment they walked into the place; giving the impression that they were trespassing where they weren't wanted. His father just looked around the room searching for an empty table, but folks quickly looked away once they took in his size. They might be trespassing, but no one was going to make a comment about it. Seating himself, Bill followed after him and asked, "Do you eat here much?" "This is about my third time here. Why?" Jerry asked, surprised by the question. Glancing around the room and taking in all of the stares, Bill said, "It doesn't look to me like people are all that happy to see us here." People turned to face their plates when Jerry looked around, suddenly interested in their meals. As a result, Jerry didn't see that he wasn't really wanted. Shrugging his shoulders, he replied, "Doesn't look that hostile to me." They were there for a few minutes before the waitress showed up at the table. Bored, she asked, "Que?" "Dos, Tres Tacos, por favour. Dos, Tea." Raising an eyebrow, Bill said, "I didn't know you spoke Spanish." "That was it," laughed Jerry at the suggestion that he spoke Spanish. Sitting back, he said, "You know something. I know very little about you. I don't know what you like or dislike." "I hate school," replied Bill shaking his head. Although it was the kind of thing that most kids would say without really meaning it, Bill was very serious. He detested school and the kids at school. "You're big like me. The new kids want to prove how tough they are by fighting you. The other kids mock you, treating you as though you were stupid and without a brain in your head. Nobody feels comfortable around you because they're afraid that you'll get mad at them and rip them a new asshole," replied Jerry. "Did I get that right?" "Nailed it," replied Bill shocked that his father was able to summarize his situation so clearly. "I guess things haven't changed much about school since I was there," replied Jerry with a trace of sadness in his voice. He understood the hurt and pain that came from being large. The waitress came and set iced teas on the table. She didn't say a word, but Jerry said, "Gracias." "Do I have to return to school?" asked Bill. In seven days, he was going to return to school and the continued misery that school meant for him. "Yes, there's nothing more important than school." "I was kind of hoping that since you understood about how horrible school was that you would let me stay at home," replied Bill. Even as he said it, he knew that it was an unrealistic expectation. "No. I couldn't do that." There was a long pause in the conversation as both of them thought their own thoughts on the matter. When the waitress brought over the tacos, Bill stared at the dish. It wasn't like the normal taco. Instead, it was a soft corn tortilla with a smattering of tomatoes and some herb that he didn't recognize with some chunks of beef on it. Looking at his father, he asked, "This is a taco?" "Yes. It's the real thing. Try it." Jerry picked up a taco, rolled it up and took a bite. Following the example of his father, Bill did the same thing. He was surprised at the flavor as it was as far from the tacos that he knew as an enchilada was from a burrito. Swallowing, he said, "Hey, I like this." "Good. I thought you might," replied Jerry before he took another bite of his taco. He made a low humming noise from deep in his throat signaling how much he was enjoying it. The noise brought a funny look from his son since it sounded more like a bear growling than a noise of appreciation. Returning to the previous subject, Bill asked, "So what can I do to have a better year at school?" "How about you find a friend?" Scoffing, Bill replied, "Not much of a chance of that." Thinking about it, Jerry realized that the first friends he had made were Abe and Martin. Shaking his head, he thought about how Bill could go about identifying people that might give him a chance. He said, "You know that someone is going to want to fight you in the first week of school." "Right. I'll probably have a fight the second day of school." That had been true last year and the year before. Shaking his head at the very negative assessment, Jerry said, "Maybe you can use that to your advantage." "How?" The disbelief in the young man's voice was unmistakable. "If you walk away, everyone is going to call you a coward. Right?" "Yes." "If you hit back, you'll get in trouble and help propagate the mean guy image. Right?" "That's right. I'm damned if I do and damned if I don't," replied Bill thinking about his situation. "So what happens if you do nothing?" asked Jerry not really having an answer to that question. He had never done that when he was in school. "I'll get the shit beaten out of me," replied Bill in scorn. "I know that, but what else will happen?" The question stunned Bill as he sat there thinking about it. If he were just to stand there and let someone beat the hell out of him, it would definitely be told throughout the school. He wondered if he could allow someone to hit him without responding. Shrugging, he answered, "I have no idea." "Neither do I." "So you are suggesting that I just stand there and take it?" "The decision is yours. If you were to do that, I'd be sure to wear a cup. You and I both know the first thing those idiots try to do is kick you in the balls," replied Jerry. The days of schoolyard fights returned in their full ugly details. Even thinking about it awakened the rage. Sitting across from his father, Bill said, "It still makes you mad when you remember high school." "Yes. The only one that would have anything to do with me was your mother. I married her after high school." Thinking back to those days, he realized that his wife had married him because she thought she could control him. She was right. He was so desperate to have someone in his life that he put up with her for eighteen years. Sighing, he said, "Don't make the same mistakes that I made." "So what am I supposed to do while some guy is beating me up?" "You might make sure that you don't get hurt. After it is over, look around at the people to see who is looking at you with respect or admiration. They'll be your friends," suggested Jerry. Nodding, Bill went to work on his second taco. As he ate, he realized that he actually liked his father and that his leaving the house was probably the best thing that could have happened. At home, he would never have a chance to talk to his father like this. After swallowing, he asked, "What do I do if this doesn't work?" With a wink, Jerry replied, "You beat the shit out of the next guy that tries to fight you." The two of them laughed and went back to eating. Occasionally, one of them would chuckle at some idea that flitted through their mind. The meal passed peacefully. When they had finished and sat back to sip their teas, Jerry said, "I didn't realize it, but I haven't had a meal with someone in ages. It's nice having company over lunch." "Same here," replied Bill looking sad. He lived a pretty miserable life. At home, his mother and sister treated him like he was dirt. At school, he was an outcast that ate alone at his own table. Thinking about it, this was the best day he had in years. "As much as I've enjoyed your company, I'm afraid that I'm going to have to take you home now. I don't want your mother to know about this, I fear that she'll try to destroy it." It was a somber assessment of his mother, but Bill agreed with his father. If she knew that he and his father actually liked each other, she'd throw a fit. "I understand. I won't say a word about the scooter." "How about we get together Mondays after school? I can pick you up there and we can have an afternoon together." The idea appealed to Bill and he nodded his agreement. Smiling, he said, "That would be great. I guess rather than dropping me off at home, you could drop me off at the mall." After paying the bill, Jerry took Bill back to the mall where he had met his son earlier that morning. Traffic was picking up around the mall as mothers went shopping for back to school clothes. Driving back to the house, Jerry noticed a SUV stuck in the middle of a three-lane road. The cars behind her were honking their horns and shouting things. Pulling over to the shoulder of the road, he got out and approached the car, much to the irritation of the driver that was forced to stop for him to cross the road. Others honked their horns at the delay. The driver, a woman in her late twenties, was sitting in the car with a baby in a baby seat. It was easy to see that she was upset at being stuck in the middle of the road and had no idea what to do. When she saw Jerry coming towards her car, a look of fear crossed her face. The guy was huge and if he wanted to hurt her, there was nothing that she could do to stop him. With a quick movement, she hit the door locks, but her windows were open a crack. As he approached the car, he could hear the locks. It was obvious that she was afraid him. Rather than get too close and scaring her further, he shouted, "Put it in neutral and release the brake. I'll push your car. You'll have to turn the key to the on position so that you can steer it over to the shoulder. Once you're on the shoulder, hit the brake." The woman shouted, "The car is hard to steer." "Put a little muscle into then," replied Jerry. Stretching, he bent down and put his hands on back of the SUV. Taking a deep breath, he started pushing. Despite the weight, it wasn't as hard to push as the Caddy had been. The woman slowly steered the car so that it was moving in the direction of the shoulder. The car slowly sped up as Jerry continued to push. When it was moving fast enough, he walked behind the car. The driver in the lane between her and the shoulder of the road honked his horn in irritation. After a single look from Jerry, the driver stopped and let her move across his lane. When the car reached the shoulder, Jerry stopped and headed back to his truck. He was in it by the time the woman had stopped her car. Driving past, he waved goodbye to her and went on his way. Returning home, he had an hour to kill before he expected Abe to show up with his mother. To kill time, he went into the room where he had stored the new scooter and looked over it. It wasn't the top of the line model, but it was definitely good enough for his son to use to and from school. Standing in the room reminded him of the photographs. Going over to the closet, he retrieved the pictures and took them to the living room. He felt guilty looking at them, as if he was peeping into someone's window, but he couldn't resist the temptation. There were thirty pictures in all. The top one was of the woman's cunt spread open in a gynecological shot that showed lots of pink. This was the first time that he had ever really seen a picture of a black cunt before. Outside of the color of the surrounding skin, it looked the same as every other cunt he had seen - all one of them. The next picture was nearly identical to the first picture and he realized that he was looking at the pictures in reverse order. Turning over the stack, he started on the top picture. The picture showed an attractive black woman in her mid-thirties standing in a cheap shirtdress. He examined her and tried to make up a story about how she ended up in front of the camera. Flipping over the next picture, it was of the same woman with about half of the buttons undone on the dress. There was a slight hint of a white lacy bra where the dress was open. He looked over the woman moving her age down a little and decided that she was much more attractive than he initially considered. The third picture in the series showed her removing the skirt dress. Her full figure was shown to better advantage in this picture. He smiled as he looked at the picture wondering who she was and where she was today. Looking through the stack, each picture revealed more of her body. When the lacy bra was removed, her breasts hung down showing the effects of gravity. The picture of her well-rounded rear showed the classic Black form. For the first time, he could understand the attraction that a large ass might have for a man. The final pictures showed her in very explicit poses in which she bared her cunt to the camera. When he reached the picture that he had first seen, it looked much sexier than when he had first looked at it. He had a raging hard-on by this time and looked over the whole sequence of pictures one more time. He returned the pictures to the bedroom and was about to head to the bathroom to jack off into the sink when there was a knock on the door. Adjusting himself so that his erection wasn't so obvious, he went to the door and answered it. Abe was standing there with a grin holding up the manual. Behind him was his mother. Shocked, Jerry looked at her a second time and realized that he had just found the model in the pictures. It took him a second to recover. Stepping back, he said, "Please come in. I was just about to..." Abe said, "This is my mom. Mom, this is Jerry Smith." Abe's mother looked at her son and shook her head. She didn't need some white guy calling her mom. Extending a hand, she said, "I'm Sharon Spencer." "I'm pleased to meet you Ms. Spencer," replied Jerry as he still struggled to regain his balance. It was strange talking to her when just a minute ago he was about to jack-off after looking at pictures of her. "So formal. Just call me Sharon." Jerry nodded and said, "Just call me Jerry." Bouncing in excitement, Abe asked, "Can we go now?" Recognizing the impatience of youth, Jerry smiled and said, "Sure, Abe. Let's go." As he locked the door of the house, Sharon said, "I want to thank you for giving both of my boys jobs." In a voice that was far more gruff than intended, he replied, "I'm not giving them anything. I made an offer of employment and now they are working to keep the jobs." She realized that he wasn't going to accept any credit for what he had done. The stories her sons had told her about this white guy confused her. He didn't seem to want anything from them, but was helping them out in ways that she never expected from a white man. Shrugging, she replied, "They are good boys." "Martin is a man and Abe is well on his way to becoming a man," replied Jerry. Reaching the truck, he was at a loss of what to do. Was he supposed to hold the door open for her? Fortunately, Abe took care of the situation and opened the door for his mother. She slid in the seat of the truck taking the middle position. Abe got in beside her. Still off balance, Jerry got into his side of the truck. Starting the engine, he said, "Off we go." It was a thirty-minute drive to the department of motor vehicles despite the fact that it wasn't anywhere near rush hour. As they traveled, Sharon quizzed her son on the driver's manual offering the occasional trick question. Jerry almost laughed when Sharon asked, "According to the driver's manual, how many times have you had sex?" Abe was about to answer, but realized that it wasn't a question that was going to be asked on the driver's test. He replied, "Oh, mom!" Jerry chuckled and continued driving. It was with a little relief that they arrived at the DMV. Parking was always a problem and he had to drive around the parking lot twice before he spotted a car leaving and pulled into their slot. Getting out, they went into the DMV office. It doesn't matter where in the country a person goes, but there is no place like the DMV office except perhaps the Social Security office. There were long lines, signs that meant nothing, and grumpy people standing around looking bored. A smattering of chairs were occupied by overweight mothers surrounded by loud screaming kids. Jerry felt that finding the correct line on the first try should guarantee a driver's license. It took five minutes to locate the correct line. While Sharon and Abe were checking out the lines, Jerry noticed a stack of application forms on a table. He grabbed one of each form figuring that in the time required to get to the front of the line that Abe would be able to fill out each one and submit which ever one was the correct one. Handing the stack of forms to Abe, he said, "Fill them all out. One of them has to be the right one." Everyone in line around Abe laughed at the logic. An old woman crooned, "Don't worry. They don't put the right ones out." The woman's comment brought even more laughter. Sharon said, "We'll wait in a chair until you get up front and then I'll bring your birth certificate up to you." "Sure mom." Jerry and Sharon returned to the waiting area and sat on two chairs separated by an empty chair. Turning to the black woman, Jerry asked, "So what do you do for a living?" "I work at the Hilton." There was an edge to her voice that puzzled Jerry. "Oh, what do you do there?" "I'm a maid." The sentence was delivered in a flat tone of voice that suggested she was not proud of her work and dared him to make a negative comment. "Okay," replied Jerry in a very flat tone of voice. He had no idea how to respond to that. "What do you mean by that?" "Nothing, I just said okay," replied Jerry surprised at her overly sensitive reaction to his acknowledgement. Sharon stared at him knowing that he didn't think much of her. What did a white man know about being a single mother and trying to hold down a job? Nothing, that's what. When she said that she worked in a hotel, he probably thought she was a hooker or something. She said, "You didn't need to say anything. I know what you were thinking when you said okay." "You knew that I was asking myself the question as to what is the appropriate reply to that occupation?" "Huh?" Asked Sharon not quite understanding what he said. "What are you supposed to say when someone says they are a maid? I mean, that's not the kind of job that you say, 'Oh my, that's so interesting', or something to that effect." Jerry sat and looked directly at Sharon as though expecting an answer. Shock and surprise showed on her face before it was replaced with laughter. She answered, "I never thought about it like that." "So what is the proper reply?" Deciding that she liked this guy, she said, "I guess the proper response is, 'That sucks.'" "Okay. That sucks," replied Jerry with a grin. He turned in his seat to face her a little more directly and said, "It must be rough trying to hold down a job and taking care of two teenage boys. I'm not saying that they are bad, but I imagine they have their mischievous moments." "Mischievous moments? Hell, I'm lucky I'm not a grandmother already." Jerry laughed at that and said, "My boy is thirteen and I imagine that the fun days are only about to begin." Sighing, Sharon said, "The kids in our neighborhood are a lot more sexually active than the kids in white neighborhoods. They have too much time on their hands and not enough supervision. Half the girls in the neighborhood will be knocked up before they are eighteen. None of the boys will take responsibility for the babies. Hell, most of the time the girl doesn't even know which of the boys is the father." "That sucks," replied Jerry aware that he was being given an insight into the neighborhood that very few people were given. "It sure does. That's how I ended up with my two boys." Nodding in a nonjudgmental fashion, Jerry said, "You've done a good job raising them." They sat quietly for thirty minutes until Abe hit the front of the line. Sharon went over to deal with providing them her son's identification and to sign the papers that were required of her. While they were taking care of that, one of the black women sitting near them asked, "Is she your ho?" "Pardon?" "She your ho'?" Jerry shook his head and ignored the woman. What kind of a question was that? He didn't even know what it meant. Sharon returned while Abe was taking his test and the pair of them waited for him to finish. It was getting close to closing time by the time he had finished. Coming over to where they were sitting, he held up a new driver's license as he said, "I passed." ------- Chapter 10 Jerry was sitting behind his desk going through paper work when the telephone rang. Picking up the handset, he said, "Hello. This is Jerry Smith at the Auto Parts House on Main." "Jerry, this Al," was the answer over the phone. Jerry sat up straighter at the introduction knowing that an early morning call from Mr. Sinclair was not a good sign. "Oh, Mr. Sinclair. What can I do for you?" "I was going over the Employment report that you sent into the Federal Government and noticed that you now had a woman and two blacks working for you." Puzzled, Jerry replied, "That's right." "That's great. We've been wondering how to improve our diversity numbers and you came through for us," replied his boss in a voice that indicated surprise at the accomplishment. "Mike's wife was looking for a job and I hired her. I offered the job to the two kids that live next door and they accepted. Didn't really do anything special other than make the offer when I found people who were looking for work." Jerry was confused by the conversation. There was a long moment of silence on the phone. Finally, Al asked, "How are things going with your employees?" "Karen is learning how to manage the inventory. Martin is still learning where all of the stock is and how to look parts up in the book. Abe is a real good kid and has taken to being a stock boy without any problems. Sammy is doing good, but he's a senior this year so we may only be able to keep him for one more year. Mike is learning his responsibilities as Assistant Manager. I'm still looking for one more full time salesperson, but I don't think that will be a problem." Jerry was sure that there was some reason why Al was so interested in the employees. "I meant. How are you doing with them?" "Fine. Better than ever, I would say." There was an awkward pause as his boss tried to figure out how to say it, but there wasn't a nice way. He said, "The last employee that left complained about your temper and threatened to testify on behalf of anyone that sues us concerning your treatment of employees." The news struck Jerry like a fist to the stomach. Speechless, he didn't know what to say as he envisioned his future at the company coming to an abrupt end. Taking a couple of deep breaths, he finally said, "I guess you'll want me to leave." "Nothing like that, yet. I'm going to come down to your store this afternoon and talk to your employees to find out how things are going. We'll have to see what we can do to improve things there," replied Al. Things had been so nice the day before. He had talked to his son for the first time ever and helped Abe get a scooter. The house he was renting was nice even though it was run down and he actually liked the neighbors. Jerry shook his head and replied, "Do you want me to make sure that everyone stays here until you come?" "If you wouldn't mind. Once I get there though, I'll have to ask you to leave so that they won't be intimidated by you." Jerry sat there considering what he had been told. Suddenly, he realized that his boss must have flown in last night to be able to come in the afternoon. This was far more serious than he first thought. He replied, "Okay. Everyone is scheduled to come in today except Sammy. I'll have to call his mother to let her know that he is needed this afternoon. I can't make any promises about him showing up though. He may have other plans." "That's fine. I can always stop by his house later this evening," remarked Al. The call ended shortly after that, leaving a stunned Jerry sitting at his desk. There was nothing to do except to tell everyone what was happening. Walking out to the front of the store, he found everyone working. Mike was on the phone, Martin was pulling orders, and Karen was going through the purchases of the previous two days. When Mike hung up, Jerry said, "Take the phone off the hook for a minute." Surprised, Mike did as he was asked without asking a question. Jerry shouted out, "Would everyone please come to the front of the store?" It took a minute, but everyone was soon gathered around him at the front of the store. Looking down at the ground, Jerry said, "My supervisor is coming here to interview everyone that works in the store. I hope that you will be brutally honest with him, as he needs to have a clear picture of what is going on inside this store. Don't sugar coat your answers or try to hide anything. I want you to know that no one here is in any trouble. Okay?" Everyone looked at each other in concern, wondering what would bring the district supervisor to the store. It was Mike that broke the silence. "What's going on?" "He wants to find out what kind of manager I am. As I said before, please be brutally honest." Jerry didn't want to say that, but he knew that if he did anything that might even hint at intimidating them, he'd be gone before the end of the day. Looking around the room, he said, "Now, I want you to get back to work. It's just a normal day around here, but please don't leave until Mr. Sinclair comes." Walking a little faster than he intended, Jerry went back to the office. Once there, he picked up the phone and called Sammy's mother at home. It only took him a minute to convey the message and get word that Sammy would be by the store around lunchtime. He sat back in his chair and waited, knowing that he wasn't going to be able to concentrate on his work. Outwards, he looked calm, but on the inside all he wanted to do was to track down the rage and strangle it once and for all. For a change, the rage had retreated and was hiding, leaving him feeling weak and uncertain. There was a knock on the door and his stomach dropped. Taking a deep breath, he said, "Come in." Martin stuck his head in the door and flashed a smile as he said, "That pretty lady from the other day is here." Confused, Jerry followed Martin out of the office and to the front of the store. Once there, Martin grabbed the order that Mike was holding up in the air and headed to the back to pull the parts. Jenny was standing in front of the counter with her hands on her hips in an angry pose. Nervous, he licked his lips expecting to get the kind of lecture that his wife would give him. Terrified, he said, "Hello, Jenny." "The roses were nice, but I didn't like the note that came with them." "I'm sorry. I didn't want to ruin your life and figured that it was better that way," replied Jerry looking down at his hand rubbing the callous that had formed on a knuckle from fixing the car. "You figured it was better to dump me after telling me that you would be there Wednesday for lunch?" Stepping forward with a single awkward step, with his heart breaking and voice trembling, he answered, "Listen Jenny. You are a wonderful woman. I've got a terrible rage inside me that I can just barely control. You don't need me messing up your life." The awkward and scared man that was standing before her was nothing like the angry man that had scared her the previous week. She could see that every word he said was hurting him. She turned towards the door and called out over her shoulder, "I expect to see you at the restaurant tomorrow for lunch." Raising a hand, he watched her leave unable to come up with a reasonable answer. Turning to head to the back of the store, he noticed that everyone was watching him with curiosity in his or her eyes. In his normal gruff voice, he said, "I guess I've got a lunch date tomorrow." "You can say that again," replied Martin shaking his head and returning to work. When Martin and Karen stepped out of the way, Jerry saw his boss standing there. He didn't know if his boss had seen the entire thing, but he didn't want to ask. Looking at his boss, he said, "I'll get out of the way now. What time do you want me back?" "I'll call you at home," replied Al. This was another awkward topic. "I don't have a telephone at the moment. You can tell Abe or Martin any messages that you need to send to me." Al looked surprised at Jerry and then nodded his head as he said, "Okay. I'll swing by your place after I'm done here." "Yes, sir," replied Jerry as he headed towards that back of the store. At the house, Jerry had nothing to do except clean. There were two bedrooms that he hadn't cleaned yet, although his tools and son's bike were stored in one of them. After changing into jeans and a work shirt, he went to work. For the next couple of hours he picked up the trash and put it into the plastic trash bags; swept floors; and cleaned windows. When he took a break after scrubbing down the first bedroom, he heard the unmistakable sound of Abe's scooter coming down the street. He went to the front door and waved to Abe. Surprised to see Jerry at the house, Abe pulled up and stopped the scooter. Removing his helmet, he beamed as he said, "This is incredible. I really love this scooter." Laughing, Jerry replied, "Really? I couldn't tell. You look as sad as if your dog died." "Hey!" Abe knew his neighbor was kidding. Still curious about why Jerry was at home, he asked, "What you doing here?" "Got an unexpected day off. However, they need you at the store. You might want to get there early and earn a little money," suggested Jerry. "Did the shipment come in yet?" "No, but it will be there soon." Smiling, Abe put on his helmet as he said, "I'll go up there and see what I can do to help. Have a nice one!" The young man didn't wait for a reply from Jerry. As soon as he was on the scooter, he was driving it down the road. Watching him weave around the potholes, Jerry knew that Abe was happy. At least the kid had a better-looking future than he did at the moment. Returning to the house, he went to clean the last bedroom. He had already done a little to clean up the room, but it was still a mess. Lots of old clothes, papers, and other debris was scattered around on the floor. The closet was empty except for the photographs of the Sharon. Once everything was bagged and the floor swept, Jerry sat on the floor looking at the pictures wondering what he should do with them. He was concerned about throwing them away. The bag might rip and some of the kids in the neighborhood might find them. It didn't feel right to keep them. Shaking his head, he put them back on the shelf. The next half an hour was spent carrying the trash bags out to the curb for pickup. He wasn't sure what day they picked up the garbage, but the bags would disappear after a day or two. Finished cleaning, he checked his watch and saw that it was lunchtime. It would be irresponsible for him to leave the house when his boss might be coming by, but he needed to eat and there was no telling what time his boss would be done at the store. Frowning, he headed to his truck and went to the local burger joint to get some takeout. Back at the house, he sat on the floor rather than his futon. He didn't want to get any food on his bed. The burger and fries satisfied his appetite, but the uneasiness brought about by waiting for bad news left the meal sitting heavy in his stomach. He almost went out for some of the pink stuff to settle his stomach. With nothing better to do, he unfolded the futon and lay down on it thinking about his life to this point. There was very little doubt in his mind that he had screwed up royally. Leaving his wife was the only bright spot that he could find, but he didn't know how he would support himself and his wife without the paycheck that came with this job. Getting fired for being abusive to employees would keep him from getting another job with the same kind of pay. He laughed and said aloud, "I'll have to ask Sharon about a job as a maid at the hotel." A knock on the door shocked him awake and he scrambled out of the futon. It took him a second to fold it back up so that it looked like a sofa. Getting control of himself, he went to the door and opened it. To his surprise, it was Sharon instead of his boss. Seeing the look on his face, Sharon said, "Every time I come over here you look surprised. Is it me or something else?" He blushed as he recalled that the last time, he had been heading to the bathroom to jack off from looking at naked pictures of her. Stuttering, he replied, "I was expecting my boss to come here to fire me." Surprised, she looked at him for a moment trying to figure out what kind of response was appropriate. Smiling, she said, "That sucks." Recalling the discussion at the DMV, he relaxed and said, "Yes, it does. Would you like to come in?" "Sure." She came in and looked around the room, noticing the lack of just about everything that one normally found in a house. She said, "You want to show me around the place?" "Ah, I think you see everything there is to see. I basically live in this room." Raising an eyebrow, she said, "You've got a chair, an air conditioner, and a bent fender on the wall." "Yes. I'm afraid so. Are you ready to be overwhelmed by the kitchen?" "Sure, lead on." She looked around the kitchen spotting the coffee maker, mini- refrigerator, and microwave. At least the kitchen was spotless. She asked, "Is this it?" Nodding, he said, "I have two bedrooms. One is completely empty and the other has a couple of things in it." "I'll look at the bedroom." Trying to figure out what kind of crazy white guy had moved in next door to her. She figured that he must have put everything in the bedroom. He unlocked the door and showed her the room. She saw a pile of his clothes, some tools and the scooter. There was nothing else in the room. Even the closet looked empty. Looking over at Jerry, she said, "You have too much junk. You need to throw some of this stuff away." Laughing, Jerry said, "I was thinking about having a garage sale." Returning to the living room, Sharon sat on the futon and stared at the bumper hanging on the wall. There had to be a pretty interesting story behind it, but she was almost afraid to ask. For all she knew, it was some sort of crazy white man art and he'd think she was stupid for not recognizing it. Jerry stood at the door of the bedroom debating about the pictures. Coming to a decision, he went in the room and picked up the stack of photographs. He came out and faced her sitting on the couch. Licking his lips nervously, he said, "I was cleaning up the room and found some photographs. Ah... Well, I think that you might want them." Puzzled, she asked, "I would want some photographs?" Turning his head so that he wasn't looking at her, he thrust the pictures out to her. Confused, she took them from him and started to look through them. Not knowing what to do, he stepped away looking everywhere except at her. When she reached the end, she burst out laughing as she said, "That holier than thou bitch." Surprised by her reaction, Jerry looked at her and, in one of those moments when all of ones vocabulary leaves them, said, "Huh?" She laughed at his obvious confusion and said, "You thought these were of me. I can understand why you were so embarrassed yesterday." "Aren't they?" asked Jerry confused. The woman in the picture looked exactly like Sharon. "No. That's my older sister." She laughed and slapped her thigh as she pointed at him enjoying his discomfort. "I have an idea that you might have enjoyed looking at these pictures. Am I right?" Jerry stood there for a moment embarrassed and then said, "Well..." She placed the pictures back in his hand as she said, "You can keep them." "Why?" Confused, he looked at the pictures in his hand. The top picture was again the spread open cunt. Embarrassed, he turned the stack over. "I kind of like the idea of a white guy jacking off while looking at dirty pictures of my big sister." Those pictures explained why her sister was so desperate to get back into the house after the landlord had locked her out. Jerry sat down on the floor across the room from Sharon still trying to make sense out of this. He had not expected this reaction at all. Looking up at her, the smile on her face was infectious. Grinning, he said, "Well. I'll do my best to make you happy." Standing up, she went to the door. Once there, she turned and said, "I like you, Jerry." Before he had a chance to respond, she was gone from the house with the door closed behind her. For a minute he sat there thinking about what had happened and wondered if she understood what she had suggested. If he were jacking off to those pictures, it would be her that he would be thinking about. He stood up to return the pictures to the bedroom when there was another knock on the door. Finding himself holding a stack of pictures of a naked Black woman, he looked around the room in a panic trying to find a place to hide them. Not finding one, he went over to the bedroom door and slid them under the door. Returning to the door, he was once again embarrassed to find Sharon at the door. She smiled and said, "In all of the excitement, I forgot why I came over. You wouldn't happen to know where Abe is at?" "He's up at the store. I suggested that he could go up there early." "Okay, thanks." She turned and headed over to her house. He shut the door and returned to the bedroom door. Unlocking it, he picked up the pictures and put them to the shelf where he normally kept them. Returning to the living room, he sat down on the futon and considered what his options would be if he got fired. The future didn't look too good to him. Looking around the room, he wondered what he would do to occupy his time if he were to get unemployed. There was the Camaro to finish fixing and then there was the truck. Paying for the parts might be difficult, but he could finish both of them in a couple of months by working on them fulltime. They'd be worth some money when he was done with them and that would offset being unemployed. Lost in his thoughts, he jumped when there was a knock on the door. Getting off the futon, he opened the door to find Al Sinclair standing on the porch looking around the neighborhood. His boss had stopped to look at the two cars under the tree in the front yard and the old truck parked in front of the house. Jerry said, "Come in, Mr. Sinclair." His boss came into the house and looked around the living room stopping for a moment to gaze at the bumper mounted on the wall. Shaking his head, he took a seat on the futon. Jerry sat down next to him and said, "Well, I guess you've talked to all of them." Al was silent for a moment and then said, "You know. I came here prepared to have to fire you, but I don't think that is necessary." "Pardon?" asked Jerry. "First that scene with the young lady touched me far more than you can imagine. I didn't know at the time that you were separated from your wife, but I could tell that you really cared for that young lady and was trying to do what you felt was the right thing. Maybe there is a rage inside you, but you demonstrated a stand-up, John Wayne kind of character in how you dealt with her." Stunned, Jerry stared at his boss unable to believe that his boss had compared him to John Wayne. Not knowing what to say, he just sat there. Al continued, "After that little scene, I talked to the people at the store and what I found was rather surprising. Seems that about ten days ago, the day after I told you that you weren't getting the promotion, you changed into a nice guy. Mike swore up and down that he'd never seen such a change in a person." "I told them to be honest. I don't think Mike told you everything." "Oh, you mean last week when you came storming out of the office ready to kill?" Nodding, Jerry said, "Yeah, that." "We'll get back to that a little later. For now, I'd like to say that you treated Mike in a good way after he quit. You offered him his job back under very generous terms, promoted him, and changed his schedule so that he could spend a little more time with his family." Licking his lips, Jerry said, "Well, I was desperate." "His wife said that you've been real gentle in teaching her the business. You haven't gotten upset once with her, even when she made mistakes. Now I've heard stories about you and that doesn't sound like you." Scratching his chin, Jerry considered that. Somehow, things didn't seem as urgent or critical lately. Nodding, he said, "I guess so." "That was nothing. Those two guys you hired talked about you like you walk on water. Martin said that you gave him a chance to have a real job, something that he didn't think was possible. You've been taking him to and from work, teaching him the business, and helping him fix his mother's Caddy." "He's a good kid." "Then there's Abe. You co-signed a loan for that little scooter that he's driving around. Then you drove him and his mother to the DMV so that he could get his license. That's a real neighborly kind of thing to do." Jerry smiled and said, "Abe did his best to try to talk me out of moving into this neighborhood. I liked him from the start. He's a smart kid. One of these days, he's going to go to college." "You really like them, don't you." Nodding, Jerry replied, "Yes. I do. I've even gotten to know my son lately and I like him too." Al leaned back in the futon and said, "You've changed. Maybe leaving your wife was what you needed, but what ever the reason it's a good change." "Thank you, sir." Al frowned and looked him straight in the eye. He said, "There's still the matter of your anger. That's not good and it looks like you aren't in control of it yet." "I know," replied Jerry. Deciding that he had nothing to lose by being honest, he added, "I don't know what to do about it. It's cost me so much in the past and it just can't continue." Smiling, Al said, "I'm relieved to hear you say that. I want you to make an appointment with an anger management specialist. The company will pay for it. I think if you can work through this, you might be able to rise up a management level." "They have such a thing," asked Jerry who had stopped listening after he had heard about the anger management specialist. "What? An anger management specialist?" "Yeah, there are really people that do that?" Al laughed and said, "Yes, there are." "Wow, I never would have thought of that." He frowned and said, "They must be expensive." "I guess you didn't hear me say that the company would pay for it," replied Al as he watched Jerry struggle with the idea. Nodding, Jerry said, "I think I'll have my son go there too." Al stood and turned to look at Jerry. "It sounds to me like this rage of yours is a major thing in your life." Jerry pointed to the bumper and said, "The last time I let my rage loose, I bent that into its current shape." Al swallowed heavily not realizing that Jerry was capable of such strength. He wondered what would have happened if he had angered Jerry. Seeing the look on Al's face, Jerry said, "I'm big and strong. The rage seems to triple that strength. I haven't hit anyone since my school days, but I've torn up inanimate objects something fierce. This anger management idea is the greatest thing I've ever heard about." Al relaxed realizing that Jerry was not upset in the least. Changing the subject, he said, "Would you like to have dinner?" "Sure, that would be nice. Ah, maybe I should change my clothes." "That would be a good idea." Jerry changed into his business casual work clothes in the bedroom. Coming out, he said, "Okay, I'm ready to go." He followed his boss to the rental car parked on the street. Before they reached it, Al stopped by the pickup truck and said, "This is a real classic. Are you going to fix it up?" "Yeah. I'm planning on restoring it. It needs a little body work and a new bed, but I'm going to get the Camaro fixed before I start to work on it." "I noticed that you're pulling the engine on it. What happened to it?" Jerry looked at his boss and said, "That's a long story. I'll tell you about it over dinner." For the second time that week, Jerry had company over a meal. He told his boss the story about his accident and how the bumper played a role in it. He finished the story by saying, "Then this huge bolt of lightning struck the light pole right next to where I was standing. Talk about loud, I thought I'd go deaf from the thunder. It actually knocked me down on the ground. Well, that night I bought the truck and figured that I'd call it Thunder." Al had listened to the story and said, "Let me guess, you call the Camaro Lightning?" The suggestion made perfect sense to Jerry and he replied, "I didn't think of that, but that is the cars name from now on. I can now proudly say that I own Thunder and Lightning." Al laughed and shook his head as he realized that when Jerry was relaxed, he was a pretty nice guy. He asked, "So what are your plans over the next year for the store?" Jerry leaned forward and said, "Well, Karen has a little training on computers. I was going to have her investigate computerizing the inventory system. I figure that we can probably reduce the amount of stock in the store if we can track our sales better and set thresholds on the stock so that we can order as soon as we run low." Surprised at the idea, Al said, "It might take a lot of effort to get the information into the computer to begin with." "Yes, it could. I'm sure that we can find a way to speed up the process," replied Jerry. He added, "It's just that when I go to the grocery store, they have everything computerized. I know that they have a lower profit margin than we have, but deal with a larger volume. The cost should be lower for us since we have a lower volume of sales than the grocery store." "Why don't you work on the idea and see what you find out. When you have the facts, get in touch with me." Al took a sip of the after dinner coffee considering Jerry. If he was able to get his anger under control, he could go far in the company with ideas like that. ------- Chapter 11 Jerry slowly eased the engine block back into the engine compartment of the Camaro, pleased with how easily the repair had gone with Martin helping him. Crawling under the car, he tightened the motor mounts. The hard part of the repair was done. Next weekend, he would start working on putting the rest of the engine together. Crawling out from under the car, he looked up at Martin. With a grin, he said, "Since you and I both have tomorrow off, we'll do your engine tomorrow if that's okay with you." "Sounds great to me," replied Martin amazed at what he had learned over the course of the day. All of the parts that they sold out of the store started making sense to him. He had heard people say that the rings on their car were shot, but now he knew what they were, where they were located, and what it meant when someone said they were shot. "Good, I'll pickup my son tomorrow and he can help us as well." "Getting along with him?" asked Martin. Standing up from the ground, Jerry looked around for a rag. At the moment, he was angry with himself for throwing away all of the clothes that had been left in the house. They'd have made great rags for use when working on the car. Finding the scrap of cloth that he had used earlier, he started to wipe his hands off. Looking over at Martin, he said, "Yeah. To tell the truth, I met him for the first time last week, too." "Huh? I know you lived with the kid. What do you mean that you'd never met your son before?" asked Martin. He had made the call to invite the son the meet Jerry at the mall. "We lived in the same house for thirteen years, but had never really talked until last week," answered Jerry clarifying his previous answer. He wondered if he was ever going to have a chance to actually sit down and talk to his daughter. It was actually doubtful since Bill had said that she was just like her mother. There was no reason for her to even want to know her father. Martin shrugged and said, "I don't know who my father is. Even though you didn't talk, at least he knew who you were." There was some truth to that, but the question was the difference between who he was and how his wife presented him in the house. "I don't know if he knew me when I lived there. My wife never said anything nice about me. As far as she was concerned, I was a loser and no better than white trash." "That's harsh," replied Martin. If Jerry was the manager of the store and that meant he was a loser, what did working for him make everyone else in the store? "What did she want that you didn't give her?" "A new car every year, membership in country clubs, a house in the Hampton's, and God only knows what else," snorted Jerry. The woman had never worked a day in her life and had a very twisted sense of reality. Looking up, he said, "She figures that an average working man makes half a million a year." "Shit, she should come here sometime," Martin joked as he looked around the neighborhood. He added, "I think if you took all of the money everyone in this area makes and put it in a pot, you wouldn't come anywhere near that fuckin' amount." There was probably a great deal of truth in that statement. A third of the neighborhood was on social security while half of them were working menial jobs. It was hard to say what the final sixth of the neighborhood did for money although prostitution and drugs were not that uncommon. "You might be right. I don't know how much money the people around here earn. I do know that it is barely enough to cover the basics." Shaking his head, Martin said, "It's not that bad. We have kids who wear shoes that cost a hundred and fifty dollars. I'm sure you've noticed all of the gold chains people wear around here." Jerry threw the rag over to Martin so that he could wipe his hands and get the majority of the grease off his hands. Martin started wiping his hands as Jerry said, "I guess a lot of people confuse their wants and needs. How come you aren't wearing expensive shoes or gold chains?" "Mom." Laughing aloud, Jerry said, "She doesn't look that tough to me." "You ain't had her washin' your mouth out with soap for swearing," rebuked Martin. "Hell, you and your brother swear more than I do," replied Jerry surprised at the revelation. "Bullshit. You've never heard either one of us take the Lord's name in vain," replied Martin as he looked at Jerry as though challenging him to say otherwise. The comment made him realize that people had different ideas about what it meant to swear. The vulgar language used in this neighborhood was viewed as color, intended to make their statements more interesting and flamboyant. "That's true." Martin looked down at the engine seeing it in a totally different way than he had the day before. The day before, it had been just a hunk of metal. Now, it was a machine that produced power according to principles that he understood. It was as though someone had cast a magic spell, changing him, the car or both. Looking at the grease on his hands, he wondered if the spell couldn't have been a little cleaner. Announcing his presence with the little whir of the scooter, Abe rode into the yard, coming to a stop by the car. He looked at the two adults standing by the car and asked, "You done for the day?" "Yes, we are. What's up, little brother?" "Mom wanted to know if you two were interested in eating dinner anytime soon?" Since Abe had gotten the scooter, it was if the guy had forgotten to walk. Jerry asked, "You drove from your house to here, just to ask that?" "Fuck no, I'm on my way to the store to pick up some greens," replied Abe with a grin at the suggestion. "When will dinner be ready?" asked Martin. "It'll be 'bout an hour after I get back from the store. She just wanted to know whether to cook for three or four," answered Abe with a smile at Jerry. Puzzled, Jerry asked, "What's with the smile?" "She said that you had nothin' in your kitchen when she checked out your house. Figured you needed some real down home cookin'." Grinning, Martin teased, "Giving my Momma a tour of your house? You dog!" "Oh, come on guys. She came over looking for Abe." The two brothers shook their heads at the obvious discomfort being exhibited by Jerry. Martin said, "He's got a whole string of women trying to feed him. There's that pretty little lady that came into the store Tuesday. Now he's got Momma trying to feed him." "It's that skinny-assed body of his, all skin and bones. They all figured he's so skinny they just have to feed him." Jerry looked at the two young Blacks with amusement. No one had ever called him skinny before and he doubted that anyone would ever again. Shaking his head, he said, "I'll come. Let me clean up before I come over there." "Oh no! He's gonna get clean before comin' over. Must want to impress Momma!" The teasing tone in Abe's voice let everyone know that he wasn't serious. Despite having wiped his hands on the rag, his hands still retained a little of the grease and oil on them. Smiling, he held out his hands towards Abe as though he was going to wipe them off on his face. Laughing, he said, "I'll just clean my hands off on you!" Abe backed up laughing and elbowed his brother. His brother held out his dirty hands and said, "I'm next!" Running off, Abe returned to his scooter and drove off shouting over his shoulder, "You have to catch me first." Jerry laughed as his young neighbor drove off and waved him away as though he was too much trouble. Martin had watched Jerry interact with his brother and asked, "You really do like him, don't you?" "Yes, I do," replied Jerry without hesitation. He looked down at his grotesque dirty hands and added, "He's a good kid. I hope that we can keep him out of trouble." The idea that some white guy would actually care about his little brother really surprised Martin. He never thought that whites would even bother to learn anything about a Black, much less actually like one. Blacks had to learn about Whites and had to pretend to like them, as that was the only way that a Black could succeed around Whites. At least, that is what many of the kids he had grown up with had said. It never occurred to him that there could be real feelings between the races. The weird thing was that he liked Jerry despite the fact that he was white and his boss. Jerry didn't act like the proverbial 'The Man' who was trying to keep him down. As far as he could tell, Jerry was helping him learn the job and worked beside him the whole time. His thoughts were interrupted when Jerry broke the silence. "I better start cleaning up." Martin looked down at his own hands and replied, "Yeah, same here. Better change my clothes too. These are pretty dirty." "I told you to wear old clothes that you wouldn't mind having to throw them out when we are done." "Shit, I pulled these out of the trash can," replied Martin with a laugh. The statement wasn't far from the truth. "Wear them tomorrow because looking at that motor, you're going to get a lot dirtier working on that engine," commented Jerry as he looked at the motor. The oil had been sitting in it for a long time and they were going to have to work to clean out the residue. "Sure thing. I'll see you in about an hour." "Right," replied Jerry as he went into his house. The cool air in the house was a shock to his system after a long day working in the hot humid outdoors. His clothes were damp from sweat and the cool air chilled him. As he walked towards the empty bedroom, he unbuttoned his shirt removing it about the time that he reached the door. Tossing his shirt on the floor, he finished undressing in the empty bedroom leaving his clothes in a pile on the floor. They would be dry by the time he put them on again the next morning. Walking naked out of the bedroom, he headed into the bathroom to scrub the dirt off his hands and then wash the sweat off his body. Intending to ask him to bring some drinks over to go with the dinner, Sharon stared through the window at his naked body. She had known that he had hairy arms, but his naked body was still a shock to her. His hair was so thick on his back that it looked like a rug rather than a human back. The hair continued on down his legs, thick like fur. Blushing in embarrassment, she returned to the house forgetting her errand. Jerry scrubbed his hands with a stiff brush and lots of soap working the grease out from the cracks and crevices formed by the calluses. It seemed like he was wearing the bristles off the brush rather than removing the grease, but in time his hands had become clean. Satisfied with the result, he turned on the shower spinning both knobs wide open. There was only cold water since the hot water heater in the house didn't work. He rushed under the water braced for the shock. It took a minute for him to acclimate to the water temperature. Lathering up, he looked down at his cock seeing that it had shrunk under the assault of the frigid water. He knew that the situation would only get worse when winter came, the water and the house would be much colder. The shower was as short as possible while allowing him to get clean. He turned off the water and stepped out onto the towel that he had used the day before, hair and body still wet. The towel absorbed the water that dripped off him as he reached for a clean towel. He scrubbed his body with the towel, leaving the hair on his body damp. It was impossible to dry off completely with that much hair on his body. Letting his hair air dry, he wandered through the house. Stopping in the kitchen, he pulled a soft drink out of the kitchen to replace the fluids lost sweating. As he drank half of it in one large gulp, he realized that he should probably take something over with him when he went to dinner. Normally, one took wine over to give to the hostess, but he didn't know if that would be appropriate with the two boys unable to drink it. He decided that he would go to the store and buy some soft drinks. At least he knew what the boys liked and assumed that their mother would like the same. The trip to the store ate up the time from when he finished washing to when he was supposed to arrive next door. He had gone to the local convenience store and faced the normal long line of people. The fact that he couldn't understand the man behind the counter didn't bother him nearly as much as it once did. It was just another poor slob trying to do the best he could to get by in a tough world. Jerry knocked on the door carrying a sack containing six-pack of Pepsi, a four-pack of wine coolers, and a cake. It seemed to him that this was a reasonable compromise between showing up with wine for dinner and soft drinks for the two boys. When Martin answered the door, he looked at the sack and said, "I thought Mom didn't have a chance to tell you to bring drinks." "I just figured it would be bad manners to show up empty handed," replied Jerry totally unaware that Sharon had even considered coming over. He decided that she must have come over while he was in the shower and he hadn't heard her knock on the door. "Come on in. We'll be eating soon." Jerry came into the house. The house was very much like his, two bedrooms, a living room, and a kitchen with room for a table. The living room was filled with furniture; all of it well used but not in bad shape. Blankets covered any worn spots. There was a large television and a nice stereo system with a large number of CDs on a shelf next to it. If life is tough, it helps to have entertainment in the house to take the edge off the worst times. He asked, "Do you have cable?" "Nah, Mom can't afford it," replied Martin as he considered contributing to the bills now that he worked so that they could have cable. "I can understand that. I can't even afford a television yet," remarked Jerry. "Shit, you need a television? I can find one of those for you at way below retail prices." The television would be stolen merchandise; Jerry had no doubt about that. Still, the idea of getting something in the house that would give him something to do beside stare at the wall at night was attractive. Shaking his head, Jerry replied, "I don't think I could live with myself if I were to buy a stolen television." "Fuck," swore Martin perturbed that Jerry would assume that it would be a stolen television. He asked, "Why in the hell not?" "If it belonged to someone else, then I'd feel really bad for the previous owner since their home would have been violated by some thief. If it were stolen out of a store, I'd feel bad for the storeowner who is just trying to earn a living to feed his family. I'd feel bad no matter what." Martin shook his head and said, "Maybe we can find one at a pawn shop. Would that let you watch it in peace?" "Yeah, I could watch it in peace," answered Jerry as he considered the idea of purchasing a television from a pawnshop. He would never have thought it of without the suggestion from Martin. Looking up at Martin, he smiled as he said, "I would never have thought of going to a pawnshop for a television." "Never?" "Never." "Shit, if you're gonna be poor then you had better start thinkin' like a poor man," replied Martin looking at Jerry as if the man were a fool. Ignoring the look that Martin was giving him, Jerry replied, "If you want to stop being poor, you had better stop thinking like a poor man." Sharon called them into the kitchen for dinner. Jerry carried his paper bag with him and set it on the table. Looking over at Sharon, he said, "I brought some drinks and a dessert. I hope that's okay." The comment made Sharon blush, which if Jerry had not been looking at her he would have missed. As it was, her reaction confused him. She recovered enough to ask, "What did you get?" "I brought soft drinks for Abe and Martin and wine coolers for you and I. While I was at the store, I picked up a chocolate cake." He looked around at the two boys and said, "I hope that is okay. I know they are both under the legal drinking age." "That's great. I haven't had a wine cooler in ages," replied Sharon surprised by his considerate behavior and realized that she hadn't needed to go over to request that he bring something over. That thought reminded her of what she had seen through the window of his house. The three men sat down around the table as Sharon brought out a wonderful pot roast with carrots and potatoes. It was a real home cooked meal with meat that fell apart under the fork. She had cooked up a pot of turnip greens complete with strips of bacon. Jerry couldn't believe how good the meal tasted. He ate with an appetite that befitted a man his size. The dinner conversation flowed easily and with lots of joking on everyone's part. Jerry drank a single wine cooler, fearing the loss of control that alcohol could trigger. For Jerry, this was the first relaxed evening he had spent with others in years. The rage had been pushed well into the background. Returning home, Jerry was surprised to see the front door of his house wide open. Entering it with great care to be quiet, he heard a noise from the room where he stored his tools. Walking over to block the door, he saw the young man that had talked about smoking grass as his future occupation. The kid was bending down to pick up the toolbox. It was only thing of value in the entire house. Jerry cleared his throat as he positioned himself in the center of the door knowing there was no way the kid could get past him. At the sound, the kid turned and saw Jerry filling the doorway. A very real look of terror crossed his face as he looked at Jerry seeing just how large the man actually was. Frantically, he searched for something to use as a weapon. His hands fumbled with latch on the toolbox seeking a hammer. A scream of terror ripped through the night as Jerry walked over and picked the kid up by his belt. Belt loops popped, not intended for the purpose of holding up the full weight of the kid. Bent over at the waist, the kid thrashed around, his arms and legs unable to connect with anything. Shaking him, Jerry bellowed, "What the fuck am I supposed to do with you?" The kid screamed, believing that he was going to get killed by this monster. Jerry shook the kid, stressing the belt and rattling the kid even more. With another bellow, he asked, "What the fuck am I supposed to do with you?" As the kid screamed in terror, Jerry accidentally dropped him to the floor. The kid bounced and then tried to scramble away. Jerry bent down and picked him up using the belt again. His action was accompanied by another scream of terror. A wet spot appeared on the pants of the kid as his bladder let loose. Jerry carried the kid out of the bedroom and through the house. The kid's body hit a couple of the walls leaving dents and scratches. Unsure what to do with the kid, Jerry carried him to the porch. Standing there, he threw the kid into the middle of the yard. As the kid rolled to a stop, Jerry shouted, "If I ever see you anywhere near here, I'm going to turn you into a wet red spot." The kid scrambled away from the yard, tripping over himself as he went. His body was a mass of bruises, cuts, and scrapes. He was screaming even as he limped away; an ankle twisted from one of the falls he had taken in his mad dash to escape. Looking over his shoulder, all he could see was the mammoth outline of the huge man illuminated from the rear by the light coming through the door. The sight would give him nightmares. The screams in the dark of the night had brought entire block outside to see what was happening. A few of the old folks, dressed in night robes, stood on their porches while the rest watched through their windows. The teenagers had gathered at the edge of his property daring each other to help the kid. The crowed watched the proceedings, shocked at how far Jerry had thrown the kid. The other adults were gathered in their yards watching to see what the white man would say next. At least he hadn't called the cops, as that would have been the second worst thing he could have done. There was a lot of muttering as people wondered what would be the long-term consequences of the white man's actions. Abe, Martin, and Sharon came over and looked at Jerry standing on his porch looking huge and dangerous. They had watched him throw the kid into the yard, amazed at the demonstration of raw strength. Abe and Martin had seen him angry once and that was etched in their minds forever. Looking over at him, they could see that he wasn't angry. Kenny had been lucky, even though he probably didn't think so at the moment. Breathing heavily, Jerry was relieved that his rage hadn't gotten away from him. Even without the rage, he realized that he could be a very dangerous person. Looking around at his audience, he shouted, "Sorry folks. The show is over." In light of all the things that could have gone wrong, Jerry had handled himself well. Looking over at Jerry, Abe whispered, "At least you didn't call him a nigger." A shudder of anxiety went through Sharon as she said, "That would have been a horrible mistake." The comments brought a laugh of relief to Jerry as he looked over at the trio. He said, "I didn't even think of that. All I saw was a stupid punk kid." The trio relaxed a little, but looked around the block at some of the angry faces hidden in the dark. Someone was going to say that Jerry had been too rough on the kid and try to make an issue of it. They wouldn't appreciate the big man hurting the kid even if he had broken into the house. Big white men were not supposed to beat up young black kids. Jerry didn't care that he had been rough, it was more important to him that he hadn't been murderous. The Spencers returned to the house satisfied that there was nothing more to be seen here. The family chatted quietly, wondering what was going to happen. Martin wasn't exactly thrilled at the idea of the man getting chased out of the neighborhood. There was still a lot that he could learn from the man, including automotive repair. Abe was prepared to defend his friend against the outrage of the neighbors. Turning his attention to the front door, Jerry inspected the damage caused by the kid when he had broken into the house. He had kicked the door open and, in the process, ruined the frame. It took him about twenty minutes to fix the frame. It wasn't repaired completely, just enough to keep the door closed. Examining his repair, he knew that he needed to get a deadbolt to secure it in the future. Muttering to himself, he said, "I'll have to stop by a hardware store tomorrow." He went into the house and checked the door of the bedroom. The frame was broken on it also. The interior door was much weaker than the other door. The kid had just busted his way into the place without caring about any damage that he might cause. Checking around the room, he was satisfied that the kid didn't get away with any of his tools. Another twenty minutes was spent fixing the door. Although it took time and effort to repair the damages, he appreciated the chance to fill the evening with something to do. Living alone was a lot harder than he had expected. The evenings were the worst time of day for him since there was nothing for him to do. The inactivity caused the time to pass with a slowness that was excruciating. Returning to the living room, he sat on the futon and stared at the wall wondering what kind of project he could undertake to fill his evenings. He stood up and walked around the house looking at the overall condition of it. The fact of the matter was that it should have been condemned as unfit for human occupation. The floors bowed, the wallboard was rotten in places, there were stains on the ceiling from where the roof leaked, and the appliances didn't work. Having seen the house next door, he knew that this house wasn't unique in terms of its condition. It wasn't worth his money to fix this house to a great condition, but it was worth his time to fix it enough to live in comfortably. He needed to put a little sealant around the windows and doors to keep out the draft. Some weather stripping would help keep the house a little warmer in the cold weather as well. Thinking about it, he decided that would take him a couple of weeks of effort. The last room he visited was the room where he stored his tools. He went over to the closet and removed the stack of Polaroid pictures. As he held them in his hand, he realized that every time he had tried to masturbate while looking at them something had interrupted him. He stripped out of his clothes, dropping them on the floor. Walking around the house naked, he went into the bathroom carrying the pictures with him. Sitting on the toilet seat, he flipped through the pictures one at a time. He took his time to study each picture, appreciating the female form shown within the pictures. With each picture, his cock stood up more erect as he imagined that he was the photographer and Sharon was the subject. His hand snaked down and started pulling on his cock, but the calluses tended to be unpleasant. There wasn't any lube in the house so he soaped up his hands and stood at the sink. He used the strokes that assured that he would come in the fastest time possible. Eyes closed, he imagined that Sharon was spread open in front of him. His come shot out into the sink, leaving little rivulets of thick cream as it ran down the curved sides. Soapy water dripped from the end of his cock into the sink. The cool of the basin contrasted sharply with the heat of his hand around his male member. The soap burned the hole at the end of his cock. He opened his eyes and looked at himself in the mirror. It didn't matter if he was fourteen or forty, he was still embarrassed and ashamed of masturbating. Looking down at his cock, he saw that the last few spurts hadn't been strong enough to make it into the sink. His hand was covered with globs of come. Turning the tap to get a reasonable flow of, he washed his cock and hands. His erection was subsiding, but it wasn't entirely gone. The cold water shrank his member, leaving the head swollen and the shaft thin. It was always like that after jacking off. Swirling water around the sink, he washed away the traces of come. This was the part of masturbating that he hated, cleaning up afterwards. In that respect, he felt like women must have it easier. Turning the tap, he shut down the flow of water leaving the room quiet except for the sound of his breathing. Using a bath towel, he dried off. Stepping out of the bathroom, he walked around the house naked enjoying the freedom of living alone. In the past, he always had to wear clothes around the house. Before the kids were born, his wife thought that it was perverse to walk around without clothes. She didn't undress in front of him and they only made love in the dark. After the kids, the excuse was that it would harm the kids to see him naked. He even had to wear pajamas in bed, just in case the kids came in the bedroom. Now he could walk around naked as much as he wanted. It wasn't that he was a nudist, but there was something freeing about being undressed on occasion. With nothing left to do, it was time for him to get to bed despite the early hour. Unfolding the Futon, he spread a sheet over it and lay down. Sleep didn't come immediately as his mind replayed the past week. It had its ups and downs, but overall it was a good week. He hadn't broken anything when possessed by his rage, had lunch with a pretty young lady, and had made real progress on getting his car fixed. It could have been much worse. Getting up in the morning, he headed to the bathroom for his morning piss. Seat up, he stood at the toilet to drain his bladder. His piss shot out in two directions and he struggled to get his stream under control. That was another consequence of jacking off, his first piss afterwards went everywhere. Looking down at the mess he made, he swore and went to get a mop. It took him a few minutes to clean up the floor and a few more to put up the cleaning supplies. He swore, "Damn, this morning isn't starting out good at all." Going through the rest of his morning activities, it wasn't until he went to brush his teeth that he noticed the stack of pictures on the sink. He grabbed them and took them back to the closet thinking that it would be best if nobody found them. It was almost a shame to get dressed, but he had a lot of work to do that day. This was Labor Day. Even though the auto parts store was closed, other stores were open and running specials. One of the hardware stores was open early and he decided that he would stop there to pick up some things before getting his son from the mall. It was going to be a busy day. ------- Chapter 12 It was almost eleven before Jerry arrived from the mall with his son in tow. Knowing that his son was going to get his clothes dirty while working on the car, Jerry had bought him a new outfit while at the mall. His son, Bill, was overjoyed at getting new clothes. It turned out that Bill only got enough clothes to replace what he had worn out or outgrown. Often, his wife had bought him used clothes from thrift stores. Jerry was angry when he heard that and hadn't realized that his wife had been treating his son like a second class citizen. Pulling up in front of the house, Jerry was surprised to see Martin waiting for him. The two got out of the truck and went to the Caddy. Martin greeted him by saying, "I thought we were going to start earlier." "Sorry, had to buy some clothes. Martin, this is Bill. Bill, this is Martin." The two examined each other and decided that they could get along. Jerry went into the house and brought out the toolbox. In minutes, the three of them were working to get the engine out of the car. Jerry and Martin worked on the engine while Bill handed them tools, watching what they were doing. Working on a car was a totally new experience for him. The day was threatening to be a real scorcher. Before long, all three of them were sweating under the hot humid air. Jerry looked up after they had been working for an hour and said, "We don't have an audience today." Glancing around, Martin noticed some of the guys sitting by the car across the street. They were shooting negative looks in his direction at the perceived sucking up to the white man. He said, "I think a few people are upset about how you treated Kenny." "Who?" "The kid last night. His name is Kenny." Martin avoided looking at his friends. "A lot of people are upset." Surprised by that, Jerry asked, "Why? I didn't kill him." "I think people were a little shocked that you threw him twenty feet. You're a big man and Kenny is pretty small. You're white and he's black. Around here, that makes him the victim." "It doesn't matter that he was breaking into my place?" "Not at all." The flatness of the voice conveyed as much information as the answer. "What do you think?" There was a long silence as Martin thought about it. "I don't know." Eyeing the young black, Jerry wondered how it was possible that he didn't know what he thought about it. Changing the subject, he said, "Let's get to work on that engine." For the next two hours they took the engine apart, examined individual parts as they were removed, and cleaned up the sludge left by the oil that had been too long in the engine. It was dirty work as grease and oil seemed to leap from the engine to the men. They washed the parts in a small pan of kerosene, scrubbing the engine block with kerosene to get rid of the sludge that had built up on it. Engine solvent would have been better, but this was a poor man's operation. Martin was amazed at the difference in the condition of the engine they were working on with the engine of the previous day. The parts were less worn, but much dirtier. With the engine clean, the men went to work cleaning their hands. Washing their hands with kerosene and then with soapy water, they managed to get most of the oil and odor of kerosene off their hands. The three went to the porch and sat down to take a break from their work. Sweat poured off their brows, trickling into their eyes burning them with the high salt content. The heat and humidity was taking its toll on them. Much longer without fluids and they would get ill. Jerry stood up to go in the house to get some soft drinks when the biggest man he had ever seen, other than himself, came strolling up the walk. The man was dark black with his head shaved. Sweat was beaded on his brow and bald head. The sleeves were ripped off his shirt, showing arms bulging with muscles. These weren't the kind of muscles that one got at a gym, but the kind that came from doing hard physical labor. The shirt was pulled tight from the muscles that rippled under it. Studying the man for a moment, Jerry went into the house and picked up the soft drinks. As he returned to the porch, he passed Bill heading into the house. Stepping out, he noticed that Martin had moved out of the way. The neighbors were gathering to watch what would happen. A tense expectation of violence settled on the neighborhood. Holding up a can, Jerry tossed it underhand in a slow arch to the black without saying a word. Sitting down on the porch, Jerry patted the place next to him. The black man stared at Jerry not knowing what to make of him. He did know that if it came to a fight, neither one of them would win. When nothing happened, Jerry said, "Have a seat." Wary, the black man sat down next to Jerry and opened the can. Taking a sip, he looked out at the street observing all of the people watching them. He couldn't believe the white guy sitting next to him was actually a little bigger than he was. In a low voice that carried the threat of harm, he said, "You beat the shit out of my neighbor last night." Jerry took a sip of his drink and didn't answer right away. After sighing, he said, "I feel like a bandy rooster at a cock fight. People are throwing you and I at each other to see what will happen." The black man stared at Jerry wondering where he was going with it. Looking at the neighbors, he could sense the undercurrent of excitement at the possibility of a fight between titans. The analogy was accurate, but it didn't change the reason he was there. "So?" "I'd rather disappoint them." "That doesn't change the fact that you beat the shit out of Kenny." "I caught the kid trying to steal my tools. I picked him up by the belt and threw him out of the house. I'll admit I dropped him once on the way. The way he was thrashing around, he hit the wall a few times," replied Jerry with a look that suggested that Henry could take it or leave it. He took a sip of his drink, trying to act a lot calmer than he felt. "He said that you beat the shit out of him." He narrowed his eyes as he stared at the white man. Implicit was a challenge for him to call the kid a liar. Jerry didn't bother to look at the man sitting next to him. He could see Bill looking out the window at the men, fear written on his face. "What would happen if you hit that kid?" "Shit, one serious punch from me would kill that little fucker." Jerry smiled and turned to look at the man seated next to him. "You don't think the same thing would happen if I hit him?" "You'd kill the son of a bitch, too." Satisfied that the two had reached an understanding, Jerry extended a hand and said, "I'm Jerry Smith." "I'm Henry Buckman," replied the black man. He reached over and shook hands with Jerry. Their grasps were firm, but it wasn't a test of strength. Henry finished the drink and set the can down with a hollow ring. Standing, he said, "Thanks for the Pepsi." "Thanks for talking with me," replied Jerry. He knew how close they had come to serious violence. Both men knew that. Henry nodded and walked away, pausing to look at the two cars under the oak tree. A thoughtful look crossed his face and then he left. Jerry watched as the neighbors, disappointed that nothing had come of the meeting, returned to their normal activities. Martin came back to the porch and took a seat while Bill came out of the house. No one said anything for a long time. Bill that broke the silence as he asked, "Could you have taken him?" Grunting in a non-committal fashion, Jerry answered, "Both of us would have ended up in the hospital." Surprised at the answer, Martin turned and stared at Jerry. He couldn't believe the factual tone of voice used by Jerry in giving the answer. Looking across the street, the crowd had dispersed. "Looks like everyone is gone now that the show is over." "Yea, nothing like the possibility of a fight to bring out an audience." A silence settled on the three. Bill handed Martin a soft drink and opened one for himself. Jerry had already finished his, so he waited for the other two to finish theirs. Martin said, "You were lucky. If Henry hadn't been satisfied, the whole neighborhood would have turned against you." Jerry shook his head acknowledging that there were things about living in this neighborhood that he hadn't figured out and doubted that he would ever figure out. It seemed strange to him that he would have to explain throwing a thief out of his house. Turning to Bill, he said, "School starts tomorrow. Are you ready for it?" "I guess so. I'm still not so sure how that idea we talked about is going to work out," answered Bill. He was worried about getting into a fight and not fighting back. Jerry slapped his leg, wanting to improve the general mood of everyone. It was time for him to start taking a more active and positive role in his son's education. This was a responsibility that he had not met for a long time having let his wife run everything dealing with the kids. He said, "I tell you what. You keep a journal of how many hours you study each marking period and I'll pay you for your grades." "Pay?" asked Bill very interested in the possibility of getting money. "Yes. I'll pay you a dollar an hour that you study for each A, fifty cents an hour for each B. If you make a D, you get nothing," answered Jerry. "Let me get this straight. I write down in a journal how many hours I spend studying and then you'll pay me a dollar an hour for each A and fifty cents an hour for each B. What about for a C?" "Nothing. You can do better than a C and we both know that," replied Jerry. His son wasn't going to end up as a B and C student facing a dead end future. Maybe a little money would motivate him. His mother wasn't going to motivate the kid. "Okay. So what do you want in the journal?" "How about the time and subject studied. If you spend an hour on a history report, just write one hour and history report." Martin listened rather amazed that Jerry would spend that kind of money. He asked, "What about you Jerry?" "Pardon?" "You are trying to better his grades and future. What are you doing for your future?" The question stunned Jerry. Going back to school at his age didn't seem like a realistic thing to do. He was still searching for an anger management therapist, but he wasn't having much luck. Tomorrow he was going to call his doctor and see what he could recommend. Was that enough? Perhaps it was time for him to learn how to use a computer. A nudge from Bill brought Jerry back to the present. Looking over at his son, he asked, "What?" "Martin is ready to get back to work on the car." The three of them returned to work on the engine. It took time, but they reassembled it replacing all of the parts that needed changing. When the engine had been replaced and Jerry had finished tightening the motor mounts, it was nearly dinnertime. They stood around the front of the Caddy looking at the engine pleased with a job well done. They had attracted an audience by the time they had finished. It seemed that there wasn't enough to do around the neighborhood so that watching them work on the car was the best entertainment around despite the misgivings about the evening before. It shocked him to think that watching other people fix things was unique and novel in the area. Martin left to return home and clean up. He was going to eat and get some rest so that he would be ready for work the next day. Jerry and Bill made the trips necessary to bring all of the tools back into the house. Scrubbing their hands over the kitchen sink to remove all traces of grease and oil, they shared a friendly silence. Once the hands were clean, Jerry said, "Take a shower and put on your new clothes. I'll keep these here in case we work on a car together again." The day had been a revelation for Bill. In the course of the afternoon, he had learned all of the tools in the toolbox. He'd never been exposed to tools before and it felt like a manly thing to know. It was as if he had gone through some minor rite of passage, led through it by his father as fathers had always done for their sons. Jerry went to the mini-fridge and removed two soft drinks. He opened one and handed the other to his son. Bill accepted his and drank it down, replenishing the fluids that had been sweated out over the course of the afternoon. With a parting belch, he headed to the front of the house to get his clothes. Carrying them in the bag in which they had been purchased, he went into the bathroom to shower. Removing his shirt and pants, Jerry went into the living room and sat down on the floor. The sound of the water in the shower reminded him that he wasn't alone in the house, even if was for just another hour or so. It felt good to have company. He wondered what to do about dinner and decided to take the kid to an all you can eat buffet. It was about that time that he realized they had skipped lunch. Bill came out of the shower, dressed in his new clothes and stopped at the bedroom where his scooter was stored. Only a month more and he would be driving it around. Looking at it, he knew that as soon as he showed up at home with it, his sister would be getting a new one and a better one just to put him in his place. He didn't really care, it was enough to be the first to get one. Going into the bathroom, Jerry showered. He laughed as he stood under the cold water knowing that he couldn't blame Bill for using all the hot water. He lathered up and rinsed off as fast as he could. There was nothing worse than a cold shower and he was going to have plenty of them over the next few months. Jerry came out dressed and feeling fresh. Bill was slouched down on the Futon with his legs crossed at the ankles and his hands laced behind his head. As far as he was concerned, this was a great place and was much better than home. At least here he was accepted for who he was. "Are you up to Chinese Buffet?" "You bet," answered Bill as his stomach growled at the reminder of food. "We're going to put a real dent in their profit tonight, my son," quipped Jerry relaxed and ready to go eat. "I'm hungry enough to eat a horse." "After tonight, they just might have to serve horse." The two of them laughed as they made their way to the truck. Climbing in, they drove off with Jerry taking care not to hit any potholes. Coming in their general direction was Abe on his scooter. Jerry slowed down and stopped to wait for Abe to pull up. Abe stopped and grinned over at Jerry. He said, "I heard that you met Henry today." "He was that little feller that came by?" asked Jerry with a grin. "Oh, that's a good one," replied Abe as he wondered how Henry would react to that characterization of him. He said, "I better get home for dinner before my Mom sets the table. She'll tear me a new one if I'm not there." As Abe rode off, Jerry turned to Bill with a smile and said, "I like Abe. He's a good kid." The statement bothered Bill more than he would admit. It seemed to him that his father preferred Abe to him. It was obvious that he spent more time around Abe than they could spend together. Jerry started the truck as he said, "This is great. Me and my son are going out to eat dinner together." The words reassured Bill as he looked over at his father. The smile on his face was genuine and that meant a lot to the boy. Sitting in the truck, he looked over at his father watching him drive. The Chinese Buffet was not very busy that night. Apparently, most people coming home from their Labor Day trips had picked up carryout. Those that had stayed at home were cooking out on their grills. As it was, the restaurant was basically barren. They loaded up their plates with food and sat down at a table. They didn't talk much, spending most of the time eating and refilling their plates. Dinner didn't last long enough. Before long, it was time to take Bill home. The trip there was made in silence as both thought their private thoughts. Jerry drove to the house in which his wife still lived. Looking at the lawn, he realized that she had not mowed it since he had left. He said, "Let me guess. She makes you take out the trash." "Yes," replied Bill with a sigh. His sister didn't have to do a thing around the house. His mother called her the princess and treated her like it. She got new clothes almost every week. He was lucky if he got bargain basement clothes that fit. As far as he could tell, he was the beast in a life that had become some twisted parody of a fairy tale. Jerry shook his head wondering what he could do to make things easier for his son. He could imagine the hell that his son was experiencing living in that house. Of course, a slum wasn't the best place to raise a kid, but it had to be better than at that house. Until a judge ruled on custody, things were going to have to remain this way. As Bill was about to leave the truck, Jerry turned to him and said, "Son, tell me how school goes the next few days. I know it is going to be rough, but hang in there. Remember, the kid that looks at you with respect can become a friend." Bill turned around and hugged his dad. The move took Jerry by surprise; he'd never been hugged by one of the kids before. Getting out of the car, Bill said, "Thanks, Dad. I'll call you at work after school." "Great. I'll look forward to your call," answered Jerry. He watched as the kid returned to the house, observing how the boy became tenser the closer to the front door he got. It reminded him of when he used to return home from work, his shoulders knotting up as he opened the door. The sight of his son acting in the same manner pained him. He pulled the truck to the curb in front of his new house. A large dark shape moved on the front step attracting his attention. Looking around, he noticed a number of the neighbors watching him and the house. He had a feeling that he knew who was sitting on his front porch. Shrugging his shoulders, he got out of the truck and approached the house with wariness. As he got closer to the porch, his guess that the person on the porch was Henry Buckman was confirmed. Stomach tightening, he walked over to the big man wondering if all hell was going to break loose. He extended a hand and said, "Hello, Henry." The black man slowly rose from the step and shook his hand. "Hello, Jerry." The two men stood there looking at each other for a moment. Finally, Jerry asked, "Would you like to come in?" "Nah, out here is fine. Houses too hot this time of year." "I've got air conditioning," replied Jerry. "Shit, that's worse. I'll never want to go home." A deep rolling laughed emerged from deep within his chest as his white teeth flashed in the dark. "Would you like a drink?" "Got any beer?" "No. I'm afraid not," replied Jerry. He didn't know how to say that he didn't like to drink because it made it too easy for his rage to escape. Instead, he said, "Not always a good idea for a big man to drink." "You're right," agreed Henry. "I'll take a Pepsi if you got any left." Jerry unlocked the door and entered the house looking at the ruined doorframe. He had forgotten that he was going to install a deadbolt this evening. Picking up two cans of soda, he returned to the front porch. Henry was looking at the doorframe and shaking his head. Looking up, he asked, "Kenny do this?" "Yeah." Jerry handed a can over to the man. The damage had been rather significant and he knew that the repair job was pretty sloppy. It wasn't difficult to rebuild the frame and do the job right. Considering the late hour, it wasn't going to happen that night. "Did a shitty job repairing the damage." "I know. I was in a rush. This morning I bought a deadbolt, but I'm going to have to do a better job on the repair before I install it." Jerry acknowledged the shoddy workmanship that he performed the night before. "Why didn't you do it earlier today?" "I had promised Martin to work on his car today. I also wanted to take care of my kid." "Sounds good to me," Henry nodded as he thought about it. It was nice to know that the man kept his word to others even when it might inconvenience him. Moving over to the step, he sat down popping open the can; holding it away from his body in case it sprayed. Jerry joined him, his actions a copy of the other man. Jerry held the can to his forehead, reveling in the cold and wet feeling. Henry said, "I'll come over tomorrow evening and we can fix it then." "Sounds good to me." "This is my neighborhood," remarked Henry, "and I like to keep it quiet. I'm one of the few people who actually owns their own house rather than rent it from the slime ball. I know there are some folks that use drugs and there's not much that I can do about it. When people start getting violent though, I come down on them like a ton of bricks." "I've noticed that it is pretty quiet around here." Henry nodded at the characterization of his neighborhood. Looking over at Jerry, he said, "Your moving in here was a bit of a problem for me. I figured that we would have more than a little tension." Chuckling, Jerry replied, "You can blame Abe for me moving in here. He did his best to talk me out of it." "I've seen him driving his little scooter around. Heard you helped him get it." "Just co-signed the loan for him. He was the one that went out and found one." "I put the word out that if anyone screws up that little scooter, that I would personally take offense," replied Henry. He had seen the changes in the boy over that past few weeks and liked what he saw. Not many of the boys in this area had a strong male presence in their life. There wasn't anyone to teach them how to use tools, take care of things, or behave in a healthy manner. "Does he know that?" "Probably, but no one will talk about it," said Henry. "I'm glad you're looking out for him." The idea that someone would break the scooter had never occurred to Jerry. The men sat there for a minute without saying a word. The cicadas filled in the silence with their calls. Henry said, "That Caddy. How much will it be worth when you're done fixing it?" "About eighteen thousand," replied Jerry. It was going to take a lot of work to get it in that condition. Henry whistled and said, "Martin will be able to sell it and buy a new car with enough money left over to fix up another one." "That's right. Of course, I imagine he'll buy a new car before that one gets fixed." It was old news in the neighborhood that Martin was working for Jerry at the auto parts store. "Why would he buy one before he finishes working on this one?" "That's his mother's car for one thing. He's still walking to and from work. There's a lot of work to do on it yet. Exhaust system is shot, it needs body work, a new top, and an interior. It won't be worth much for a couple of months." "Hum, I didn't think of that," remarked Henry realizing that he should have thought of it. Changing the topic a bit, he asked, "I could pick up another Caddy that is about the same condition as that one over there. I could get it for a grand. Do you think that is a good deal?" "Are you going to fix it or have it fixed?" asked Jerry. "I'll fix it myself." Henry was a trash man and proud of it. Although the politically correct term was Sanitation Engineer, he felt that trash man was a better description. He often picked up stuff and repaired it for sale. Old tables, chairs, desks, lamps, and other things brought in good money when refurbished. Although the job of throwing trash into the back of the truck paid well, it only constituted half of his income. "Well, it will cost you about five thousand in parts. Another couple of thousand will go for the finishing such as touches, paint, fabric, roof, and chrome. The real question is -- what is your time worth? You could end up spending more than two hundred hours on it," answered Jerry. He knew it was a non-answer, but it hopefully gave him a clue. "Well, that tells about what I need to know. Any special tools required?" Jerry shrugged as he answered, "I can lend you some of the specialty tools. Timing light and that kind of stuff. Some you'll have to rent. Things like a metal inert gas wire-fed welder are just too expensive to buy. Even I rent them when I need one." "Hell, I never even heard of that kind of welder," remarked Henry as he tried to imagine what it might be. "I'll help you with that," replied Jerry. He decided that he would buy the car. There wasn't too much to do around here except gossip and Henry listened to gossip with a trained ear. He knew the good people and the bad ones. He watched the ones that were in-between the closest. Abe and Martin were both good kids. Changing the subject again, he asked, "So how come you are helping Abe and Martin?" "They asked," answered Jerry. He asked, "Why?" "Just curious, that's all." Henry stood up and looked over at the car for a moment. He said, "Well, I better get back home. Got to be early to work tomorrow." "Take it easy." "Always do," replied Henry as he walked into the dark. The big man moved with a grace that belied his size. Jerry sat on the step of the porch for a minute and then headed into his house. Closing the door behind him, he turned on the light in the living room. The cool air from air conditioner blowing on his sweaty shirt brought goose bumps to his arms. He was tempted to turn off the air conditioner, but realized that the room would heat up before long. As he slowly undressed, he realized that he had made another friend in the neighborhood. There were three types of people that he found it difficult to be around. Big men like him tended to end up in pissing contests to see who was stronger and meaner. Small wiry guys wanted to show how tough they were by taking him on. Smart guys tried to make him look like he was a stupid jock. Getting on the Futon, he thought about the days faced by his son. Tomorrow the smart kids would harass him. The next day, one of those wiry guys would try to prove how tough he was by picking a fight. He'd be damned if he fought and damned if he walked away. He hoped that Bill would call him tomorrow and they'd talk some more then. ------- Chapter 13 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. ------- Chapter 14 Life had settled into a comfortable pattern for Jerry. When the weather had turned cold, he had purchased an electric heater that kept the living room warm enough to be comfortable. He was driving the Camaro to work, to the therapist, and on errands. Mondays were spent working on his truck and the bodywork was nearly finished. The only real major work to be finished was to paint it and to replace the bed of the truck. It was beginning to get a little too cold to work on it, but he felt confident that he would finish it before the real cold weather arrived. Tuesday nights were spent late at the store taking care of paperwork as Abe worked late stocking the store. The young man had really become a hard worker and very thrifty with his money. He made the payments on the scooter on time and took a great deal of pleasure out of ownership of it. Jerry had feared that Abe would spend his money on showy items, but he hadn't counted on the boy's mother. Sharon rode herd on the boy, watching him for the least sign that he was screwing up. Wednesdays were spent at the store taking care of personnel related issues. Mike had learned his responsibilities as Assistant Manager and was now taking charge of scheduling people to work. Every Wednesday, Mike hung the new schedule up on the wall and worked with him to submit the corporate paperwork. Jerry found that Karen was managing the inventory better than it had been managed previously. He took those nights as opportunities to eat a great meal out. Thursday's lunches were spent at the Crimson Rose chatting with Jenny. She had set aside a special table for him with man size plates, glasses, and silverware. After the lunch crowed disappeared, the two of them would chat for an hour. He was sure that she wanted him to ask her out, but he just didn't feel right about it. The nights were spent in therapy. To his great surprise, therapy was not as horrible as he had imagined and he had identified a lot of the triggers that caused his rage to emerge. Fridays were spent at the store. He worked the whole day trading off the time at the counter with Mike and Martin. At night, he usually fixed a simple meal at home spending the time after dinner in the company of Henry Buckman. He and the large black man had many things in common besides being big. Henry was a wonder at working with wood while Jerry was talented with metal. Together, they were building a couple of indoor water fountains that could be mounted on the wall. Saturdays were spent at the store dealing primarily with walk-in customers. Taking some advice from Karen, he had installed a coffee maker in the display area of the store. Customers were invited to take free cups of coffee while shopping and waiting for service. Usually Martin and Jerry worked the counter together. The experience of fixing a car had given Martin the ability to help give advice to customers about their repair work. As a result of those minor changes, Saturday business had picked up. The day of the week that he really looked forward to was Sunday. His son would come over Sunday and they would work on the truck together while Martin worked on his car. The day always flew by so fast that it was over before it felt like it had even begun. School had changed in a subtle way for his son. He now had three friends with whom he spent a great deal of time, avoiding the unpleasantness of his home life. The simple act of thanking Woody and Sandy for their support had opened a great friendship among all three. Larry had joined the group a little later, thankful to have three friends in a new school. Woody and Sandy were both good students and the four of them often got together to work on group projects where possible. It was Thursday and Jerry was waiting for Mike and Karen to return from lunch so that he could go to the Crimson Rose for lunch. His schedule for this day was packed. After lunch, he had to go to court about some of the conditions of separation, since his wife was not happy that she had to cut back on her excessive lifestyle. Then he had his evening session with the therapist to address his rage. The phone rang and he answered it. After jotting down the order, he held it up. Martin pulled the order out of his hand and headed to the back to pull the parts. Looking over at all of the packages of parts, Jerry could see that business had improved. Howard was making more runs a day then ever before. Even with the increased number of runs, there were more boxes waiting to be delivered on the counter. Howard came into the store and looked at all of the packages waiting on the counter. The number of deliveries was unusually high. Carrying another box of parts, Martin came out from the back and said, "Hey, surfer delivery dude." "Hey, preacher man," replied Howard with a grin. This was a friendship that Jerry would never have imagined. The two of them often took their lunch breaks together and traded quips with rapid-fire speed. Mike often commented that unleashing those two on the public was more dangerous than letting loose a fox in a chicken coup. Martin asked, "Lunch?" "It'll take an hour to deliver all of this stuff," replied Howard. He bent over like an old man and put an arm on his back as he quipped, "You'se workin' me to death massa." "Life's a bitch when youse workin' for the man!" "Lazy man at that!" "I'll wait for you to finish this run," replied Martin with a laugh. "Deal, now help get this junk to the car," requested Howard. Jerry was laughing as the pair went out the door carrying several boxes of parts each. The last thing he heard as the door close was Martin quip, "Junk? This here's grade A prime made in America parts." Still laughing at the pair, Jerry saw Mike and Karen enter the store. Chuckling as he walked, Mike said, "That was a good one. If people like you are making those grade A made in America parts, I'd go for those grade C made in La-La Land parts." Karen said, "Those two are a riot together." Jerry said, "I've never heard either one of them talk like that without the other one there. Martin is usually a pretty serious kid." Mike replied, "I didn't even know that Howard smiled." Looking at the clock, Jerry said, "I've got to go. I won't be back today. I've got court after lunch." "I'll close up and make sure that everything is ready for tomorrow." "Great," replied Jerry as he headed towards the back door. He stopped in the bathroom to straighten his clothes and double check his appearance in the mirror. It wasn't that he was vain about his appearance, only that he wanted to look presentable for Jenny. The short drive down the street barely taxed the huge engine of the Camaro. He didn't really like breaking in the engine with city driving since the stop and go traffic put a significant strain on the new parts. He pulled into a parking space between a high-end BMW and a silver Jaguar. Standing next to his car, he gave voice to his low opinion of the woman that frequented the Crimson Rose Bistro. "They had better be outstanding fucks to deserve cars like this." Jenny greeted him with a smile and led him to his table. Leaning down, she said, "I've got the makings for a good Caesar Salad with slices of steak. Does that sound good to you?" "Sure does," replied Jerry. Even though months had gone by with him coming to her place, he was still amazed at how much care she put into making sure that a good meal was available for him. It had taken some serious negotiations, but he paid for his meals at price that was fair for both of them. After she went to tell the chef to cook his meal, Jerry took the opportunity to look around the room at the women. His scheduled appearance in court had given him a very sour attitude towards women that lived off their husband's hard work. It was hard to keep his disdain for them off his face. Listening to the conversations around him, he was particularly interested in a table where the women were discussing their sex lives. He listened in shock at the coarseness of their descriptions of, and the obvious disdain for, their husband's needs. Two of the four women had lovers on the side and were describing with great enthusiasm the kinds of things their lovers did for them. As they talked, he realized they were doing things for their lovers that they weren't doing for their husbands. When Jenny returned with his salad and iced tea, he smiled up at her appreciating her hardworking ethic and independence. She could see the approval on his face and smiled in return. The lunch crowd was finishing their lunches. This kept her busy delivering deserts and taking care of bills. Between dealing with customers, she cleared tables knowing that her customers didn't appreciate having to look at a messy table. Jerry watched her work the room as he ate his salad. He watched as one of the women had difficulty paying her portion of the bill. She didn't have cash to pay for the meal and two of her credit cards had been rejected. Jenny was forced to accept a check after suffering from a blistering dressing down by the woman. Jerry could tell that Jenny was convinced that the check would bounce and had to accept that she would end up eating the cost of the meal. Jerry watched the interplay wondering if the woman had just been dumped by her husband and was only now waking up to the need for fiscal responsibility. He finished his salad as the last customers left. It wasn't until then that he actually relaxed. Jenny joined him at the table with a sad shake of her head. She said, "Stiffed on another bill." "I noticed you taking a check for the meal," replied Jerry. "Yeah. It'll bounce. They always do when I have to take a check after two credit cards get rejected." She shook her head and added, "It amazes me at how righteous they are when it happens. They act like I'm supposed to be happy about buying them lunch." "Do you get many of them like that?" "I get about nine of those a month and costs me over two hundred a month. It would cost more if I had a liquor permit. A lot of them drink their lunches when they don't eat here." Surprise by the vehemence in her voice, Jerry said, "It sounds like you don't like them." Shrugging, Jenny replied, "In a way, I think of a lot of them as though they are high priced hookers. I wonder what they do for their husbands that makes them worthy of the money they spend." Speaking from personal experience, there was bitterness in his voice, as Jerry answered, "Nothing, they do nothing." The tone of voice in which he had made his pronouncement reminded Jenny of the situation with his wife. She wondered if he was telling her the truth about being separated. If he was, then why hadn't he asked her out? Months had passed and he still hadn't made any attempt to change the relationship between them. She asked, "Are you really separated from your wife?" The question took him by surprise. Looking up at her, he replied, "Yes." "Then how come you haven't asked me out?" In a way, she was hurt by his apparent lack of interest in pursuing a relationship with her. The question stunned Jerry. He didn't know how to answer that he had no experience dating. For a full minute, he stuttered as he started with one answer and then changed it before he even got out the first few syllables of his answer. Finally, he sat back and, in a voice that conveyed resignation, said, "I would like to ask you out, but I don't know how." Incredulous, Jenny stared at the huge man in front of her. It made her wonder how someone that big could be so tentative and fearful. She asked, "Where would you like to take me, if you were to ask me out?" "That's part of my problem. I have no clue where I would take you. A bar doesn't sound right. A restaurant doesn't really make sense since you own one. That would be rather like a busman's holiday. I haven't even been to a movie since I was a teenager," answered Jerry as he stared at his iced tea. After a minute, he said, "I couldn't even invite you to my place. You'd take one look around the neighborhood and run for the hills." "Surely your home isn't that bad," replied Jenny. Smiling, Jerry said, "I live eight blocks from here. Just head for ugly and drive for six blocks. Make another turn towards uglier and drive two more blocks." Jenny laughed at his directions, but understood exactly what he meant. She drove several miles out of her way, just to avoid that area of the city. If his directions were anywhere near accurate, the only way she'd go there is with a bodyguard. She asked, "Are you kidding?" "No, I'm not." "Aren't you afraid of living there?" "Not really. In fact, I rather enjoy it. You've met Abe and Martin at the store. They're my neighbors. I have a friend, Henry, who is almost as big as I am and lives two blocks away. Half of the neighborhood hangs out in my front yard on Sundays when Martin, my son, and I work on the cars." "Isn't it dangerous?" Jerry was silent for a moment before he answered, "Well, one of the local drug users and, sometimes pusher, was shot the other night. A kid by the name of Kenny." It was a shame about Kenny, but the kid was headed towards trouble. He had kept his distance after Jerry had caught him trying to steal his tools, but Henry had kept him informed of what kinds of things the kid was doing. Henry had done his best to keep Kenny out of trouble, but that wasn't sufficient. Now he was lying in a hospital bed recovering from a gunshot wound. "A shooting?" "It was a couple of blocks away," answered Jerry even as he wondered how he could be so accepting about something that happened that close to home. Maybe he was changing to fit into the neighborhood more than he had realized. Nodding, she said, "I guess I can understand why you wouldn't invite me to your home." "So anyway, that's why I don't ask you out. I don't know where to take you and I don't know how to ask." "Well, I like movies and I don't mind eating out on occasion." "Okay, so I'll ask you to dinner and a movie as soon as I figure out how to ask you," replied Jerry. Amazed at the direction of the conversation, Jenny stared at the large man as he sat across the table from her rubbing the calluses on his hands. It was a gesture that she had come to recognize as nervousness. It was all but decided that he would take her to dinner and movie, it was just a matter of him saying it to her. Jerry sat at the table trying to work up his nerve to ask her on a date. She had been helpful enough to let him know what kind of date she would enjoy. He reached, with a hand that trembled, for his iced tea glass, needing a sip of tea to relieve his dry-mouth. After taking the edge off his sudden thirst, he took care to set down the glass. The last thing he wanted to do was spill the rest of his tea. Gathering his courage, he asked, "Would you go out with me?" "Sure," replied Jenny with a smile. It was amazing at how difficult that had been for Jerry despite the fact that she had basically made it as easy as possible for the man. Now the trick would be to get a day and time for the date. She asked, "Did you have any specific day in mind?" Jerry considered when he would be available. Tomorrow he was meeting with Henry to work on the fountain. The first chance would be on Saturday. He asked, "How about Saturday night?" "That's fine." It took her ten minutes to get all of the details about the date from Jerry. The process had been almost humorous and she really had to restrain herself from laughing at him. Each question that she had asked was answered only after a minute of careful consideration. It was easy to tell that he wasn't a married man seeking an affair. No man seeking an affair would be so awkward when asking a woman out on a date. Jerry left a little late, but made good time in getting to the courthouse. His lawyer had briefed him on what he could expect to happen. In particular, the judge would want to see their financial records to determine what their real financial needs were. He handed his books over to the lawyer having documented his expenditures with great care. The proceedings were a disaster for one of the participants, namely his wife. She had lost control over her hatred and disdain for men while the judge was reviewing her financial records to see what her real economic requirements were. The judge had examined her records with great care, pronouncing that two thousand dollars a month for eating at restaurants was a little excessive. Because he had questioned her expenses, she had told the judge that he had no right to dictate how she spent the money owed her by the lazy gorilla that had been her husband. After calling the judge a typical male chauvinist pig, he had warned her to that he was going to find her in contempt. Her rant then turned to focus on Jerry. As she unleashed a vulgar stream of nasty comments in his direction, the judge couldn't believe what he was hearing. In his opinion it was spouse abuse. Jerry had stared at the ceiling, remembering what his therapist had told him about insults, "They tell more about the person saying them than the target." By the time the hearing had finished, the judge had ruled in Jerry's favor and awarded him more money a month by reducing his payments to his wife. It wasn't much more money, but it helped. His wife had been found in contempt when she protested the decision in very crude terms. He had left with his lawyer while her lawyer was arranging bail. Dinner had been a short stop at a burger joint where he ate at a booth next to a window. He watched as dark, boiling clouds gathered overhead shutting out the sunlight an hour before sunset. The light turned an eerie green color that brought a shudder down his back. Throughout the meal, the clouds got thicker and darker moving closer to the ground. He left for the therapist wondering when the storm was going to bust loose. When he arrived at her building, the sky looked even more threatening and the air was dead still. Remembering back to the night when he was nearly struck by lightning, he raced into the building not wanting it to happen again. The time spent with the therapist concentrated primarily on the events of that afternoon and how Jerry had managed to keep the rage at bay. He felt good about how he had reacted to her tirade. She had managed to say every trigger phrase that normally released his rage from its cage. The therapist was quite pleased with his progress, but warned him not to get too confident. Leaving the therapist's building, Jerry was surprised that it hadn't begun to rain. He looked up at the sky amazed as lightning flashed across the sky rather than downwards towards the ground. Little funnels hung down from the clouds, precursors of tornadoes. Driving home, he kept an eye on the road and one on the sky. Driving down the street where he lived, he noticed all of the old folks standing on their porches watching the sky. He parked his car and went to his porch to watch the boiling clouds wondering when it was going to start raining. The tension in the still air was unbearable. Martin, Abe, and Sharon joined him on his porch staring at the sky the entire trip from their house to his. Abe gave voice to the thought that was on everyone's minds, "This ain't natural." It was ten minutes later that the sky burst loose with everything that it had. A horrible gale nearly blew them from the porch while torrential rains fell. Lightning bolts reached down to the ground, lighting up the sky enough to illuminate a funnel cloud that ripped though buildings several miles away. The wind was hard enough to blow the rain horizontal. The four ran into Jerry's house to wait out the storm and listen to the news reports. As Sharon sat on the futon between Abe and Martin, Jerry turned on the television to the local news station. A tornado was being reported to the north of the city and another was headed towards the city. Martin said, "Shit, if a tornado comes through this part of town there won't be a thing left." Sharon nodded her head and said, "We're fucked." They huddled together watching while the weather radar showed the progress of the storm as it moved in their direction. Jerry thought about the cars under the tree in the front yard and said, "This wind is liable to cause the tree out front to fall, even if we aren't hit by the tornado." "Shit, that'll destroy our cars." Martin sounded more upset about the chances of the Caddy getting destroyed than about the possibility that he could die in this storm. Jerry shook his head at the irony of it. He had tied his recovery to the restoration of the truck so that now he felt that if something bad happened to the truck it was as if it happened to him. In a voice that didn't convey confidence, Jerry said, "We'll make it through this storm all right and so will the cars." A weak knock on the door surprised everyone. Jerry went over and opened the door only to find a soaking wet Bill collapsed on the porch shivering from cold and shock. Picking up his son with a gentleness that contrasted with his size, Jerry carried him into the house. Abe closed the door behind him and stared at his friend. Martin asked, "What the fuck is the matter with his arm? It's bent the wrong way." Jerry looked down at his son taking in the arm, bruises on his face, and lack of proper attire for this time of year. As fear for his son grabbed him by the heart, he shouted, "I better get him to a hospital right now." Abe held open the door while Martin ran into the rain to get to the car. Jerry carried Bill in his arms and set him in the front seat of the Camaro while Martin held the door open for him. Soaking wet, he got into the driver's seat and started the car. Martin had run back to the house and waved from the door. Jerry's stomach was twisted into knots as he steered the Camaro down the dark street trying to avoid the potholes. The windshield wipers couldn't keep up with the rain making if feel as though he were driving through a solid wall of water. The electric power to the entire area went out before he reached the main street casting the road into darkness. With hands clenched tight on the steering wheel, he navigated down the dark roads avoiding downed power lines and fallen trees. Tears flowed down Jerry's cheeks as he kept glancing over at his son. The kid was pale and shivering from the cold even though the heater in the car was on full. The only other sign that he was alive was the occasional groan of pain. When lightning flashes illuminated the interior of the car, he could see new bruises developing on the Bill's face. He tried to talk to Bill to let him know that everything was going to be all right, but each time he looked at the boy he wondered if he would survive. The half-hour drive to the hospital took nearly an hour. When he finally reached it, he was drenched in sweat from tension. He pulled into the emergency room and carried his son into the room. He shouted, "I need help here." The hospital was fully staffed to provide emergency services to victims of the storm and moved with great efficiency to take care of Bill. Jerry followed behind them saying, "I don't know what happened to him." The doctor examined Bill and then looked up at Jerry with anger. Turning to the nurse, he said, "Call the police. This child has been abused." The words struck Jerry dumb as he tried to process what the doctor was saying. For a moment he stood glued to the spot, staring at the doctor with a blank expression on his face. Someone had abused his kid? The worry about his son and the tension of the drive had sapped his strength. When his rage tried to emerge he had nothing left to give and toppled over in a dead faint. Jerry woke on a hospital bed looking up at a police officer. The first words from his mouth were "How's my son?" The officer looked down at Jerry and didn't answer the question. In the flat factual tone used by police everywhere when interviewing a suspect, he stated, "So tell me what happened." "I don't know what happened to him. I was at home with my neighbors watching reports about the storm on the television when I heard a knock on the door. When I opened it, he was laying on the porch," replied Jerry. The officer asked, "Do you expect me to believe that story? You're telling me you didn't know your son was out in the storm?" "He doesn't live with me. He lives with his mother about fifteen miles from my house. I don't even know how he got to my house," replied Jerry. He rubbed his forehead feeling a huge bump where he had hit it when he had fainted. He asked, "Can you tell me how my son is doing?" "The doctor will have to do that," answered the officer, as he looked at Jerry with a thoughtful expression. He left the room to talk to the doctor to see if the kid's condition agreed with the story that Jerry had told. As Jerry tried to get up to follow, he collapsed back on the bed feeling as weak as a kitten. It was almost thirty minutes later before the doctor came into the room where Jerry was stretched out on the bed. Jerry asked, "How's my son?" "He woke, but I sedated him after a short conversation with him. He's been seriously injured, but they aren't life threatening. It would appear that his mother hit him with a baseball bat breaking two of his ribs and his arm. The rest of his injuries would appear to be as a result of falling off his scooter in the storm." A thousand questions raged in his mind. Could his son have actually driven his scooter almost an hour from home with a broken arm and in the middle of a storm? Why didn't his son go over to the home of one of his friends? How could a mother actually do that to her own son? Jerry tried to sit up, but couldn't. He asked, "What's wrong with me? I feel weak." "We administered a muscle relaxant," answered the doctor. When Jerry had fainted, the doctor had been positive that the big man had hit his kid. Everyone, including the policeman, agreed that it would be better if the guy couldn't get up once he came out of the faint. He added, "It will wear off shortly and then we'll let you see your son." Jerry asked, "Could you send the police officer back? I want my ex-wife arrested." The doctor looked down at Jerry and said, "That's already in progress. A counselor will be here shortly to talk to you." Jerry felt like he was tied to the bed although the rope that bound him was gravity. Never in his life had he felt so weak. It was even tough to adjust the light blanket that covered him. He was far more exhausted than he thought possible. Unable to help himself, he fell asleep. Eyes struggling to make out his surroundings, Jerry realized that he was still in the hospital. He wiped the sleep from his eyes and looked around. Bill was asleep in the bed next to his. Sleeping in the visitor's chair, Martin emitted soft snores. He sat up and climbed out of the bed. Moving over to his son's bed, he looked down at the boy taking in all of the bandages and the cast on his arm. A half an hour passed with him looking down at Bill. The snoring had stopped and the silence in the room was broken when Martin said, "How are you doing?" Jerry turned and gestured towards the door feeling that it would be better to talk in the hall than take the chance of waking his son. Martin understood and went into the hallway with his boss and neighbor. Jerry looked at Martin and asked, "What are you doing here?" "Shit, I couldn't get the sight of that poor kid out of my mind last night. We waited for you to get home, but you never returned. I just had to see how he was doing," answered Martin. "I appreciate you coming all the way here," replied Jerry. The fact that Martin came to the hospital touched him far more than he knew how to say. This was the first time in his life when he had to face something unpleasant without being alone. "We figured he rode his scooter to the house. Abe and I looked for it, but we couldn't find it anywhere." Martin looked down at the floor knowing how devastated Bill would be to loose the scooter. Abe had talked about that most of the evening. "Don't worry about finding the scooter. I'll get him another one even if I have to tie that bitch of an ex-wife to a bed and charge people a dollar to fuck her." The anger in his voice was difficult to miss. Martin trying to get a lighter tone in the discussion asked, "A dollar?" "You think that is too much?" The black man laughed at the question. He said, "By the way, I talked to the cop last night and told him what we knew. He said that I verified what you told him." "Did he tell you what happened?" asked Jerry. "No." A moan from the room brought a halt to the conversation. Jerry went in and stood by the bed. Bill opened his eyes and looked up at his father with a weak smile. He asked, "How did you find me?" "You made it to the house," answered Jerry realizing his son didn't remember getting to the house. He asked, "Why didn't you go to one of your friends?" Bill looked away as he replied, "I was too embarrassed." "Why?" As tears appeared on Bill's cheeks, he answered, "A guy has to be a real loser to have his mother beat him like this." A sound of disbelief came from behind him as Martin reacted to the words. He didn't know his father and his mother might be poor, but he knew his mother loved him. The thought came to mind that a dollar might be too much. His rage flared as Jerry heard the answer. In a very stern voice that allowed no argument, he answered, "Don't ever believe that. Your mother is a sick bitch that hates everything male. She's a sick twisted woman and you're a victim of that." Turning to look at his father, Bill said, "Thanks, dad. I just have to learn how to believe that." The words tore at his heart, as he understood that it was the truth. As gentle as possible, Jerry leaned down and hugged his son, making sure that he didn't stress the broken ribs or arm. He knew that it was up to him to make things right for his son and that it was going to take time. ------- Chapter 15 "So how did you get here?" Martin smiled and pointed across the parking lot to the Caddy. The Caddy didn't have license plates or an inspection sticker. He didn't even have insurance on the car. He answered, "I drove the Caddy." "Damn, you're going to get tickets galore trying to get that car home." Shrugging off the cost, Martin replied, "I'll pay them if I get stopped." "No you won't. I'll go get the truck and the tow bar. We'll tow it to the muffler shop and then back to the house." "Didn't think of doing that," replied Martin. He was amazed that Jerry thought about his problems even though the white guy was the one with real problems. "Aw, don't worry about. It's nothing. Let's head home and get something to eat." They'd make it back home in time to open the store. He'd work in the morning and take some time off in the afternoon to deal with child services. Hopefully, he would be returning home with his son. The drive back to where they lived was quiet as each considered what they had seen and heard in the hospital. Martin shook his head and said, "Man, a mother shouldn't ever do that to her own kid." "No one should ever do that to a kid," replied Jerry. Even when his rage had burst loose of its bounds, he had managed enough control over it not to harm anyone. Sure he had broken things like fences, walls, chairs, and doors, but things didn't feel pain like people. "Damn right," replied Martin. He knew that a lot of kids in his neighborhood had mothers that weren't afraid to hit their kids, but they very seldom actually hurt their kids. They stopped at a chain restaurant and had a quick breakfast of eggs. As they ate, Jerry said, "I'm going to be busy most of the day. We really need to get another person to work in the store. Right now, if someone takes a day of vacation we're left short handed." Surprised, Martin looked at Jerry unable to believe what he was saying. He asked, "You are actually going into the store today?" "Sure, I've got responsibilities there. I'm opening the store this morning. Mike and Karen will be in a little later." Martin didn't know what to say about that. If this had happened to him, he'd have taken off work to deal with everything. It wouldn't have mattered to him if the store had to remain closed for half an hour. He shoveled some more of his breakfast into his mouth, chewing thoughtfully. It was easy to wonder what differences it would have made to his beliefs if he had a man like Jerry in his life when growing up. Finally, he said, "I'll open the store this morning." Jerry laughed and said, "You forget. You are supposed to open the store this morning with me. There's a reason why we have two people scheduled to open the store." "Shit, I never really thought about it," replied Martin. Looking over at the young man sitting across from him, Jerry decided it was time to share some of his philosophy about running a business. There was no telling what was going to happen in the future and the young man should be prepared to accept more responsibility. He said, "The sign over the counter says that the customer comes first. I take that very seriously. The store opens on time. The store closes after closing time. Orders are pulled quickly. The phone only rings once before it is answered. Each of those things require that we do things a certain way." Taking a sip of his coffee, Martin nodded and said, "I never really thought about that." Jerry said, "We went from the third largest auto parts dealer to the largest in this town over five years. I'm afraid that I was the weakest link in the growth of the store." "Why?" "I took things too seriously and reacted to any limitations of the staff with anger. I realize now that was bad. It made people more afraid of screwing up. They'd make more mistakes and then would try to cover them up." It was clear to Martin that the big guy was harsher on himself now than on others. He said, "I like working for you. It seems to me that you are very fair." Smiling, Jerry said, "Oh, I always treated everyone equally. The problem was that it was equally horrible. I've worked hard to keep from getting angry and to treat everyone a little better." "You've done a pretty good job of that as far as I can tell." After a quick trip to the house where each man changed into their work clothes, they made it to the office to open the doors on time. Jerry said, "Why don't you take the counter? I need to move around a bit this morning." Considering that Martin had slept in a chair and didn't get that much sleep, he was more than willing to take the counter. It was a slow morning, probably a result of the storm the night before. It was likely that people were taking care of storm damage that couldn't wait over auto repairs that could be postponed. Mike and Karen came in a half an hour after the store had been open. They noticed the tired expression on Martin's face and the tension in Jerry. It was obvious that something had happened and they both assumed that it was because of the storm. Mike asked, "Did you guys get hit with that storm last night?" "We had lots of wind and water, but no real damage. Jerry's roof leaks, but ours actually stood up to the storm pretty well," answered Martin with a yawn. He apologized, "Sorry, I didn't get much sleep with all of the excitement last night." "Yeah, that was quite a storm." Martin gestured towards the back where Jerry was pulling parts. In a low voice, he said, "His ex-wife hit his son with a baseball bat last night. The kid showed up on the porch in the middle of the storm. We spent the night at the hospital." Carrying the box of parts, Jerry came out of the back. Seeing that Mike and Karen were here, he said, "Martin, why don't you take a nap on the couch? You look beat and won't be any good to us later when we'll really need you." About to argue, Martin reconsidered and said, "Sure." Turning to Mike and Karen, Jerry said, "I have some personal issues to take care of today, so that means we are going to be running a little short handed. I have to leave before the lunch breaks, so that means short lunches for everyone." Mike nodded as Karen said, "Sorry about your son." Jerry shrugged his shoulders, uncomfortable with receiving sympathy. He grunted, "He's a good kid and will get through this." Recognizing that Jerry felt uncomfortable about the topic, Mike asked, "So what are your plans for today?" "I've got to get in touch with my lawyer to get custody of Bill and make sure that the bitch is charged with assault with a deadly weapon. Then I've got to get him out of the hospital and take him home." Karen asked, "What about your daughter?" Shocked that he hadn't even thought about his daughter, he knew that she would never live with him. All attempts to talk to her in the past had failed. Shaking his head, he said, "I'll have to see if her Grandmother will take care of her." The comment caused Mike and Karen to exchange a glance, shocked that Jerry wouldn't try to take care of the girl. Did he hate her that much? Unsure of himself, Mike asked, "Why don't you take care of her?" "She won't even talk to me. It's pretty clear to me that she hates me as much as her mother does," answered Jerry saddened at having to admit that aloud. He noticed the look that crossed Karen's face, unable to believe that a daughter could possibly hate her father that much. Jerry said, "I always thought that little girls were supposed to love their fathers, but that never happened in our house. My wife grew up thinking of her father as a low life that brought home the money. My daughter is the same way." The couple didn't know how to respond. Shaking his head, Jerry headed to the back office to make the necessary telephone calls. The first call was to the hospital to find out when they would be discharging his son. That would determine everything else that he did that day. The result of the call was that his son would be released around noon, but that he should show up a half an hour early to take care of all the details that hadn't been handled the night before. They wanted him to talk to a counselor about the injuries to his son. After hanging up from the hospital, he called his lawyer realizing that this call was going to cost him a fortune. He was racking up lawyer hours almost as fast as he racked up work hours for himself. When the lawyer answered, Jerry said, "Hello Tony. This is Jerry Smith." As if anyone could mistake that deep gravely voice, Tony replied, "What can I do for you?" "My ex-wife hit my son with a baseball bat last night after returning home from the hearing. He rode his scooter to my house through the storm and I took him to the hospital. He's got two broken ribs and a broken arm." "My God! How did he manage to make it all the way to your house?" asked the lawyer incredulous at the feat. "He's incredibly strong for his age," answered Jerry. There was a pregnant pause and then he said, "I want to make sure that my wife goes to jail over this. I need to protect my son from her. My daughter should go live with her grandmother." The lawyer took notes and then said, "I'll make some calls and see what I can do. You can expect to be in court this afternoon. Is there a number where I can reach you?" "I don't have a telephone." "You had better pick up a cell phone and call me back," replied the lawyer. If he could get a judge to listen to the case, then they would have to act fast. Jerry added getting a cell phone to his mental checklist of things to do that day. He had no idea how long it would take to get one, but he knew that it would have to be after ten when the stores opened. He replied, "Okay. I'll do that when the stores open." "Good. Call me when you get it. Until then, I've got some phone calls to make," replied the lawyer. Jerry sat back and considered his options. He picked up the phone and called his boss to make his weekly report. He was tempted to ask for a temporary replacement, but didn't know if it would be a good idea. His boss answered, "Hello, this is Al Sinclair." "Hello, Mr. Sinclair. This is Jerry Smith," replied Jerry. "You're calling early today." "Well, some personal issues came up and I have to take care of them later today," answered Jerry. "Oh, what happened?" asked his boss wondering if Jerry had lost his temper. The reports he was getting were positive and he didn't like the idea that Jerry would blow it. "My ex-wife took a baseball bat to my son last night. I have to arrange things so that I can take custody of him today." The simple factual manner in which Jerry related his story was striking in that there was no anger or rage expressed by the man. Al said, "Well, you better take care of your problems." "I called to tell you that Karen was going to purchase a computer and install it here at the store. We'll be seeing what we can do after we get some of the bugs worked out." This whole process scared Jerry more than he would be willing to admit. Computers were a complete mystery to him, but he recognized the need for them in business. "Sounds good," replied Al, surprised at how together Jerry sounded considering the circumstances. He asked, "So what do you know about computers?" "Nothing and this whole thing scares me to death," replied Jerry honest about his feelings about the entire process. Al laughed at the honest appraisal as he jotted down a note to call the therapist to find out about the progress of Jerry's treatment. So far Jerry had done everything that he said he would do and that had impressed Al. It made him wonder how much of the rage was due to the ex-wife. He said, "Stick with it and let me know how it works out." "Sure thing," answered Jerry. He went to the next item on his list and said, "Sales are up five percent over the past month compared to the same time period last year." "Five percent?" "Yes. I'm rather concerned with that figure," replied Jerry as he went over his notes. He had done a little investigation into the sales figures now that he was spending more time at the store. "Concerned? Why?" Al was surprised at the assessment. Jerry leaned forward to read some figures off his sheet. He answered, "The population in this area has increased by about six percent and that accounts for most of our growth. However, we've seen a trend where people are leasing more cars in this area. That means that the dealers are performing the repairs and we don't have distribution within the dealer network. I'm beginning to think that we may have reached a maximum in our business growth." The analysis stunned Al and he sat back to think about it. He jotted down another note and said, "I'm going to forward your observations to the headquarters. You're the first one that has looked at the issue of leasing and the impact on our sales." "Well, it's just an observation and I'm not sure how accurate it is. As I mentioned, the figures concern me." "You're right to be concerned. I'll investigate it," replied Al. He asked, "Is there anything else?" "I'm still looking for a full time person," answered Jerry. "We are having the problem in a couple of the stores. Quite frankly, we don't understand why that is the case," replied Al. "Kids are looking at computers rather than cars," commented Jerry. When he had been a kid, every boy was interested in cars. Today, they talked about computers with the same passions as people used to talk about cars. "You could be right." The call ended and Jerry checked the clock. It was approaching ten and he needed to get to a phone store. There was one more call that he had to make before leaving the office, but he realized that once he got a cell phone that he could make the call then. After a minute of internal debate, he decided that it was time to get a phone. Standing up, he headed out of the office to the front of the store. Reaching there, he said, "I'm leaving now. I'll try to be back before closing time, but I'm not sure if I'll make it." Mike nodded and said, "I'll take care of things here." "Thanks," replied Jerry as he headed towards the back. On the way, he stopped by Martin and said, "If you give me your car keys, I'll tow your Caddy to a paint shop." Martin said, "Leave it until Monday. You've got enough on your mind." "The parking fee will be staggering," replied Jerry. "Don't worry. Go pick up your kid and get him settled at home." "Alright," replied Jerry with relief that he wouldn't have to take care of that little item. With a new cell phone in hand, Jerry arrived at the hospital while talking to his lawyer. His wife was already in jail and a quick hearing concerning the welfare of the children had been arranged for three in the afternoon. His mother-in-law had been contacted to attend the hearing and she was more than happy to take care of his daughter. It was interesting that she had no desire to take care of his son. Until then, he had temporary custody of the children and was going to have to swing by his daughter's school to pick her up for the hearing. At the hospital, he met with an individual from social services concerning the welfare of his son. This had led to another conference call with his attorney and a supervisor of the social worker. As a result of that discussion, social services had agreed to support his bid to get custody of the boy. Life had suddenly become very complicated for Jerry. When Jerry entered the room, Bill was sitting up in his bed watching television looking bored. A smile came across his face when he saw his father come in the room. He said, "Hey Dad!" "Hi Bill. How are you feeling?" "It hurts to breathe, but other than that I'm okay." "Your arm?" "The pain killers have stopped that pain. It is just that my ribs hurt every time I move, laugh, or talk." Jerry sat down in the visitor's chair and said, "Well, I guess you might want to know what is going to happen today." Looking worried, Bill replied, "Yeah. I do." "Your mother has been arrested for assault and is currently in jail. According to the separation papers, she has custody of you and your sister. We are going to court today so that I can get custody of you and so that your grandmother can get custody of your sister." Jerry watched his son for his reaction. When he heard that his mother had custody of him, the boy had paled. When he heard that his father was going to court to get custody of him, the look of relief was obvious. The news that his sister was going with his grandmother had lifted his spirits. "That's great news," replied Bill with a sigh of relief. He hadn't looked forward to being injured around his older sister. He had no doubt that his sister would hurt him on the first available chance. "You don't seem upset that your sister is not moving in with us," remarked Jerry wanting to get a little more of the story about what was happening in the house. "She hates men and has become a real bitch lately. I don't know if you've seen my scooter, but she took a hammer to it out of jealousy. When you left mom, that was the end of her dreams of a new sports car." The news struck him like a fist to the stomach. If he had stayed at home, his daughter would have gotten a better car than he had. The thought irritated him more than he could express. That she took a hammer to his son's scooter only proved that she was just as ugly as her mother was. He said, "Don't worry. She's going to get child support and that is all we'll do for her. Your mother is going to jail and you won't have to deal with her. I'm sorry that things reached this level. I really didn't know." "Well, I never told you," answered Bill. "The nurse is coming in a few minutes and we'll leave here. We have to pick up your sister at school. Do you want to stop by your school and get your books? I'm afraid that you are going to be pretty bored for the next few days." "That sounds good. Report cards come out today," said Bill with a smile. He knew that he had two A's and possibly another. The nurse came into the room pushing a wheelchair. Going over to the bed, she said, "You'll have to stand up and walk over to the wheelchair. I'll help you, but you've got to take care not to move too sharply." With the kind of skill that came from lots of practice with other patients, she helped Bill get into the wheelchair. He grimaced as he sat down, but didn't seem the worse for wear. Jerry watched him move feeling more pain than his son. He put his jacket around his son's shoulders to help keep him warm. The nurse pushed the wheelchair to the hospital entrance while Jerry went to get the Camaro. Pulling up in front of the building, Jerry got out and opened the door for his son. Bill stood up and climbed into the Camaro on his own although the effort did cause him some pain. Once in the car, Bill said, "You should have brought the truck. I think it would be a little easier to get into." "I know, I thought about that," replied Jerry. He said, "Not enough room for you, your stuff, and your sister." "I didn't think about that." They pulled away from the hospital and headed towards the junior high school. Jerry was sure that the principal didn't know about the events of the previous evening. It didn't take long to arrive at the school. After pulling into a visitor's parking spot, Jerry helped Bill out of the car. The poor kid was moving slow, but could walk without much difficulty. They made their way to the front entrance of the school building. It was lunchtime and a few of the braver kids were outside eating sack lunches despite the chill in the air. One of the kids spotted Bill and came over in a quick step. Eyes wide, the kid asked, "What happened to you?" "I got hit by a baseball bat," answered Bill without boasting. "Jesus, when did that happen?" "When I got home from your house last night," answered Bill. He'd had a fun evening playing video games with his friend and had come home to find his mother smashing everything in his room. The kid glanced at Jerry and then asked, "Was it your mother or your sister?" "My mother," replied Bill looking down at the ground. "We were worried when you didn't show up to school this morning. I was sure that you had a wreck on your scooter." Seeing that Bill had friends at school that worried about him really struck Jerry far more than he could have imagined. That was something he had never experienced going through school. He noticed Larry coming out of the building. When Larry saw Bill, he headed directly over to the boy. Jerry bent down and said, "Bill, why don't you stay here and talk to your friends? I'll go inside and talk to your principal." "Thanks, Dad." As Jerry walked away, he heard Larry say, "Wow, your dad is pretty nice." The comment brought a smile to his face as he navigated the halls of the school. Entering the principal's office, Jerry told the receptionist, "I need to talk to Principal Haroldson." The woman knew exactly who Jerry was from his previous visit. The absence of Bill had caused a lot of excitement in the office. The presence of his father probably meant that big trouble was on the horizon. She went to the microphone and paged the principal who was currently walking through the halls of the school making sure that nothing bad happened during the lunch break. It was five minutes before the principal showed up in the reception area. He frowned on seeing Jerry standing at the receptionist's desk and, with a gesture of his head, indicated that Jerry should follow him into his office. Once there, he pointed to a chair for Jerry and sat down. Shaking his head, he started the conversation, "I assume you are here because I called social services about your son?" The question took Jerry by surprise and he answered, "No. I didn't know that you did that. I talked to social services this morning at the hospital about the situation with my son and they didn't mention that." "Oh." The principal didn't know what to say in response to the information. "I came here to let you know that my ex-wife is in jail for assaulting Bill with a baseball bat. She is not to be allowed contact with him." "Where is he now?" "He's outside talking to his friends, Larry and Woody. I thought it would be good for him to get a little moral support from them," replied Jerry knowing that he would have sold his soul as a teenager to have anyone with whom he could share his problems. "They are good kids. Larry had a rough start, but he's found his niche in school and is happy here. I must say that your son seems to have undergone major changes this year. His grades are good, he hasn't been in a fight, and he's participating in some school events," replied the principal. Bill had been a real trouble student and many of his teachers had started the year disliking the kid. When he had started submitting outstanding homework, many of them felt that he was cheating. The first month of school had been tough for everyone, but Bill had come through it well. "I'm glad to hear that. It's going to be tough next week as I figure out how to get him here on time and pick him up from school." "I'll let his teachers know and we'll give him a little extra leeway," remarked the principal. It pleased him that the father was taking his parental duties with far more seriousness than the mother did. He had called social services after learning that Bill was missing from home and she hadn't bothered to find him. Jerry said, "I want to pick up his assignments. We may need to replace his textbooks." "That's a problem." "I'll know more by Monday," replied Jerry as he wondered how difficult it would be to replace textbooks. "I'll send the secretary around to get his assignments," said the principal as he went through a stack of report cards. Pulling out one, he handed it over to Jerry and said, "You might want to show him this." Jerry looked at the envelope containing the report card and said, "You may have just cost me a fortune." At the puzzled look from the principal, Jerry explained, "He's been keeping a log of how much he's been studying. I have to pay him per hour for his grades." "Now that's a way to motivate a kid to study," replied the principal with a chuckle. "Well, I couldn't stand over him and make him study. The whole effort that he put into getting those grades came from him," replied Jerry. From the principal's perspective, it was a pleasure to deal with a parent that took real interest in their child. It wasn't that Jerry had done much, but he had done the right things. He had supported his son when he needed it and provided positive motivation. He left the room and took care of getting the homework assignments from the teachers. The receptionist would be back in half an hour. When the principal returned, Jerry asked, "Would it be okay if we ate lunch here while we are waiting for the homework?" "Sure," replied the principal. He added, "Not many parents come and have lunch here, so expect to get lots of stares." "I'm used to getting stared at," replied Jerry thinking about the effect that his large size had on others. Jerry went outside and found Bill talking to Larry, Woody, and a young lady that he assumed was Sandy. She was at the age where her body was maturing faster than the bodies of the boys around her. It was hard to tell how developed she was since she wore baggy clothes that hid her body. Joining them, he said, "I got permission for us to eat in the cafeteria. Would your friends like to join us?" The young girl turned and looked at Jerry through half-lidded eyes as if she were assessing him. It was the most adult examination that Jerry had ever received from a person her age. She said, "Our classes start in five minutes." "Then I imagine that you might want to walk to the cafeteria with us. Bill is moving a little slowly and painfully. I'm sure that he would appreciate talking to his friends to take his mind off his problems," replied Jerry. Sandy stepped back and stared at Jerry for a minute as the other three boys were waiting for her to say something. It was clear in this group who was in charge and Jerry wondered if that was good. She smiled and said, "That would be great." As they moved into the building, the kids talked while Jerry followed behind them. He was a little concerned about Bill hooking up with a manipulative woman, but refrained from making a judgment about Sandy for the time being. One of the kids in the hall called out, "Hey big boy! I see someone finally kicked your ass." Jerry was surprised by the reaction from the four kids. Woody spun around and pointed his finger at the kid that had made the comment as he shouted, "You shut your mouth, Jimmy! I know things about you that you'd hate to have spread around school." As the kid burned a bright red in anger, Larry stepped forward and, in a threatening tone of voice, said, "You better think twice about what you do next." Sandy had moved over to Bill and said, "Hey, don't let that asshole get you down." Jerry was shocked to see all three kids come to his son's side in such a unified show of support. Woody dealt with the verbal insults, Larry backed him physically, and Sandy supported him emotionally. Jerry wondered how his life would have been different if he'd had that kind of support in school. It was almost enough to bring tears to his eyes. At the door to the cafeteria, Woody said, "We had better get to class. It's good to see that you're up and about." As the three kids started to leave, Jerry said, "Hey kids. Thanks for watching over him." As Woody and Larry went on their way, Sandy turned and looked at Jerry for a minute. Shaking her head in disbelief, she went on her way. ------- Chapter 16 Seating himself in the futon, Jerry shook his head trying to clear it. The previous day his son was officially given into his custody and new support arrangements were made in light of that fact. After the hearing, he had returned home and gotten his son settled on the Futon before returning to work. After work, he had bought a new bed and mattress for his son. The evening had been spent with Henry assembling the bed frame and getting the mattress set up. That morning had started early, as he had to make breakfast for his son and himself before going into the office. Martin and Abe came over shortly after they ate. Abe was planning to spend the morning with Bill. That was a major relief for Jerry as he headed to work with Martin since it meant that his son would not be alone his first day at home. Work had been total chaos ending with them setting a sales record for a single day of business. It had been so busy that he had Martin bring him tacos from across the street for lunch. The food had sat heavy in his stomach and his feet were sore by the end of the day. It was with a real relief that he had locked up the store to go home. Jerry had gone into his desk and counted his cash. He still had two thousand dollars left from what he had taken from the savings account. He pulled out five hundred hoping that it was enough to get his son some clothes figuring they would go to the mall the next day. He left for home anticipating a nice evening at home. His musings over the day were interrupted when Bill asked, "Don't you have plans for tonight?" "Oh, shit! I forgot about Jenny. I'm supposed to be over to pick her up in an hour," replied Jerry. Bill grinned at his father and asked, "So where are you going?" "I'm going to have to cancel it," answered Jerry. As much as he wanted to go out with Jenny, he didn't think that he would be good company. In addition, he didn't want to leave his son at home alone in the dark. "I don't think that would be a good idea," replied Bill. Abe had told him about how his father had been seeing this woman once a week for lunch, but that this was going to be his first date with her. Abe and Martin had bets on how it would go. Surprised at getting dating advice from his fourteen-year-old son, Jerry asked, "Why?" "It's your first date with her," replied Bill as though that explained everything. Jerry got out his wallet and looked through it for her telephone number. Once he had located it, he dialed her number. After four rings, she picked up and said, "Hello." "Hi. This is Jerry." "Oh, what's up?" There was an awkward pause while Jerry tried to decide what he wanted to do. On one hand, he wanted to go out with her and, on the other hand, he didn't want to leave his son at home alone. Finally, he blurted, "Could I bring my son on our date?" There was a long moment of silence on the other end of the phone. Finally, Jenny said, "Sure, I guess that would be fine." "Thanks a lot," said Jerry. Looking over at his son, he said, "We'll be there in an hour." "I'm looking forward to it," replied Jenny although the tone of her voice didn't support her statement. She wasn't exactly looking forward to an evening with a kid. After hanging up, Jerry looked at Bill and asked, "Have you ever been on a date?" "No!" "Neither have I," remarked the large man as he looked down at his massive hands. He washed there was something he could do about the calluses, but knew it was hopeless. He had forty minutes to get ready for the date. Looking up at the surprised expression on his son's face, he said, "I didn't date your mother. I went where she told me." "Oh." "So if I start to blow it tonight, kick me under the table." Bill laughed and shook his head. Then he realized that he was coming with his father on the date. To clarify that, he asked, "I'm coming?" "Yes, so you better get dressed," replied Jerry. "I don't have anything to wear," replied Bill. His blue jeans were filthy, but were all that he had to wear. His shirt had been ripped to work on his arm. Hitting his forehead, Jerry exclaimed, "I was going to take you by the house tonight to get your stuff. I guess we'll have to stop and get you some clothes on the way to her house." This dating business was much more complicated than he had thought it would be. Flustered, he said, "I'll get washed and dressed and then we'll go." Without waiting for an answer, Jerry ran into the bathroom leaving an amused Bill behind. After a very quick shower, he ran into the bedroom and changed into clean clothes. It only took him fifteen minutes before he was ready to go. Standing at the door, he asked, "Are you ready, Bill?" "Sure, I guess so," replied Bill. He had taken the opportunity to wash a little while his dad was getting into his clothes. He couldn't shower, but he had taken a sponge bath earlier that day. The pair went out into the yard and looked at the two vehicles parked there. Turning to Bill, Jerry asked, "Which car?" "Is she a nice lady?" "Yes, she is," replied Jerry. "The truck would be best," replied Bill. He had thought it would be better for the three of them to ride in the truck rather than have to have her or him climb into the back of the Camaro. He didn't think his ribs would enjoy trying to get into the backseat. "Okay," replied Jerry as he headed towards the truck. He held the door open for his son knowing that it was difficult for him to open the door with a broken arm and busted ribs. They drove to the closest place that sold clothes and ran inside. It took them fifteen minutes to pick out three pairs of blue jeans and a couple of shirts with large enough sleeves to let him wear them over the cast. Socks and underwear took almost no time to select. Jerry checked his watch feeling that they could make it on time to Jenny's place. The biggest time loss occurred when they went to pay for them. Even though they were second in line, the woman ringing up the orders seemed to take a full minute per item. He could feel the rage rising as the time dragged by. It collapsed when Bill put a hand on his arm and, in a reasonable tone of voice, suggested, "If she's nice, she'll understand if we're a little late." The reminder came just in time. Turning to his son, he said, "Remind me to write this down." "Huh?" "I'm going to an anger management specialist. We are keeping track of the things that trigger my anger so I know what to avoid," answered Jerry. "That's a good idea. In a way, that's what Sandy does for Larry and me. After we get done losing our temper, she asks us questions about why we got mad. I'll tell you, I find that I'm losing my temper a lot less now." Bill was silent for a minute as he considered his friends at school and the way they supported him even when he was down. Looking up at his father, he asked, "Will I have to change schools?" "Worried about moving away from your friends?" "Yeah." "We'll do the best we can to keep you there." Jerry knew that wasn't much of a promise, but it was the best that he could do at the time. By this time, the lady had finished with the person in front of them and went to work on their purchases. She didn't speed up, but Jerry let it slide. Nodding as he thought about it, he said, "I'll do what I can." "Thanks, dad." The sound of his son thanking him was like music in his ears. He replied, "You're welcome, son." The pair turned to watch the woman ringing up the orders. Jerry started laughing as she took the time to fold each item of clothes before putting it into the bag. He knew that as soon as they picked it up and let Bill rummage through it to change his clothes, they would be a mangled mess. It took ten minutes for her to ring up the few items that they had purchased. Jerry was glad that he had cash, as he couldn't imagine how long it would take to pay with a check. The two went out to the truck and got into it. Jerry and Bill looked at each other when the flaw in their plan became obvious. Jerry gave voice to it when he said, "How do we get you into those new clothes?" Frowning, Bill said, "Maybe I can change at her house." Deciding that was the best that he could do, Jerry started up the truck and headed to Jenny's place. He glanced at his watch and realized that he would be ten minutes late. Frowning, he said, "I never thought this dating business was this tough." "So what are you doing on this date?" "Dinner and a movie," replied Jerry happy that Jenny and he had resolved that over lunch. "Oh, where are we going to eat?" asked Bill as his stomach rumbled. "I don't know." "Uh, what movie are you going to take her to?" asked Bill. Even he knew that the man was supposed to do the planning for a date. "No idea," answered Jerry as he licked his lips nervously. "Dad, you better make some plans real quick. The least you can do is pick out a restaurant and put off deciding on a movie until you arrive there. Use me as an excuse for having to change your plans at the last minute," suggested Bill. Palms sweating, Jerry's mind worked furiously trying to come up with a place for dinner. He normally went to chain restaurants, fast food, and the Crimson Rose Bistro. If she didn't own the Bistro, that's where he would have wanted to take her. He asked, "How about Italian?" Bill answered, "Sure, there's a good Italian place by the mall." "How do you know?" asked Jerry surprised at his son's knowledge of restaurants. "Mom never cooked once you left," answered Bill. They arrived at the house and sat in the truck looking at the front door. Shaking his head, Jerry said, "Maybe this is a mistake." "Too late to back out now. She sees you sitting here," remarked Bill as he looked at the house seeing the attractive woman standing at the window. Jerry got out of the car and swore, "Damn, I should have gotten her flowers." "Dad, admit it. You aren't ready for this date." The assessment was too true to deny. It only took a moment for him to open the door and help Bill out of the truck. He reached in and grabbed the bag of new clothes so that his son could change into them before they went to a public restaurant. There was no way he would dare predict what kind of impression he was making on Jenny. Turning, he saw that Bill was already halfway to the front door. He closed the door and rushed to catch up with his son. The door opened before they reached it. Jenny stood at the door wearing a very nice red dress that showed off her figure in a very spectacular manner. The contrast between her attire and that of Bill's filthy clothes was shocking. Her face fell as she looked at him and then at Jerry who was acting very nervous. He had just really looked at her and was tongue-tied at the thought that this beautiful woman was going on a date with him. Jerry said, "Jenny, this is my son Bill. Bill, this is Jenny." Jenny looked at the young man and only then realized that a fresh cast was on his arm. She said, "Hello, Bill." "Hi, Jenny. Sorry we are late. I'm afraid that we had to stop and get new clothes for me." Bill could see that Jenny wasn't very impressed. Jerry asked, "Could he change in your bathroom? I'm afraid that I messed everything up today." Jenny, wondering what she had gotten into on this date, backed into the house and said, "Go ahead. I'll show you where it is." Bill followed her into the house while Jerry stood outside holding the clothes. He couldn't hear what was exchanged between Bill and Jenny, but he did hear her giggle when Bill called back, "Dad, I need the clothes." "Come in, Jerry. I don't bite." Jerry stepped into the house and looked around finding no one there. Jenny came out of the hallway and grabbed the bag from his hand before disappearing again. It was a few minutes later when she reappeared. Frowning, she asked, "What happened to him?" "Thursday night his mother beat him with a baseball bat. She broke his arm and two ribs. He showed up on my porch in the middle of that horrible storm after having ridden his scooter most of the way to the house," answered Jerry. His voice conveyed his concern for his son and his anger at his ex-wife. "All that happened Thursday night?" "Yeah. It's been a wild couple of days," answered Jerry. "So what happened to his mother?" Frowning, Jerry replied, "I had her arrested for assault with a deadly weapon. Yesterday, we went to court and I got custody of him. We moved him in after the hearing." "Wow, it sounds like you had a busy day yesterday." "I guess," replied Jerry. He looked at his hands as he said, "I'm sorry about our date. I had to work today and had left him alone in the house all day. I just couldn't do that to him all evening too." "You worked today?" "Yes. I'll admit that the date kind of slipped my mind, but we had to get him some clothes and... Well, let's just say, I'm totally clueless about dating." Jerry stared down at the floor feeling very uneasy. Jenny looked at the big man realizing that although he was big and rough looking, inside was a vulnerable little boy that was only now learning how to make his way through adult relationships. She smiled at him and said, "Why don't we have dinner and just relax? It sounds like you've had a rough day and can use an easy night." Unable to believe how nice she was being about everything, Jerry said, "That's great. I'll make it up to you, I promise." Bill came out of the hallway wearing his new clothes. The shirt was overlarge, but that was necessary for the cast. In this good hand, he held the bag. His old clothes were hung over his cast. Smiling he said, "This is the second new outfit that I've had this year." Jerry realized that he had bought two outfits for his son since he had left the house. The only way to interpret that statement was that his wife hadn't bought the kid any new clothes yet this year. The time would come when Bill and he would have a long talk about the treatment they had suffered at the hands of his ex-wife. "You have a tag. Let me get it for you," said Jenny as looked over Bill's new clothes. She bent down and removed a label from the shirt that was hanging under the cast. Bill watched her with wide eyes. Seeing the expression on his face, she asked, "What?" "You're nice to me." "What do you mean?" "You're nice to me," replied Bill. He'd never had an adult woman make any kind of fuss over him. His mother barely tolerated him and his grandmother totally ignored him. Jenny looked at Bill in shock realizing that he was starved for attention. Her eyes flicked between Bill and Jerry. Both of them had suffered horribly from women in the past and she could see that they needed a giving woman in their lives. In a way, that realization took a tremendous pressure off of her. She ran a hand over his short cropped hair and said, "I'm surprised that a big strong guy like you doesn't have a ton of girls at school that like you a lot." Bill stared at her, lip trembling at the praise that had come unsought. Slowly he turned to his father and said, "Maybe we should get to the restaurant." Jerry took the dirty clothes and the bag from Bill. With a wink at Jenny, he said, "I think that would be a good idea. I've heard your stomach growling." Almost on cue, Bill's stomach growled. As the three of them went to the car, Bill said, "Dad was right, you are nice." Jenny blushed as she followed them to the truck. Both of them had a very disarming way of coming to a compliment that took her by surprise. Jerry was embarrassed that his son had said that, but he couldn't help but agree. At the truck, Bill asked, "Would you mind sitting in the middle? It hurts my ribs to scoot along the seat." "No problem," said Jenny as she climbed into the truck. Bill got in next to her and Jerry closed the door. Getting in the driver's seat, Jerry said, "I'm sorry to drive you in this truck, but it was better than the Camaro for him. When I get the paint job done on the truck, it'll look a whole lot better." After a pause, he added, "I guess that doesn't help much now." Jenny had seen the truck and the Camaro. Although she had expected him to show up in the Camaro, she had realized that he could have arrived in this one. She smiled and said, "I understand." Bill looked out the window of the truck and broke out into a smile as an idea came to him. He asked, "Dad, can I use your cell phone?" Surprised by the request, Jerry fished the cell phone from his shirt pocket and handed it to Jenny. She took it and handed it over to Bill with a puzzled expression. Jerry tried to come up with something to say to Jenny, but his mind kept coming up with a blank. Finally, he said, "I've never tried this place before, but Bill recommended it." Jenny replied, "That's okay. I remember the day that you came into my place the first time." The comment made Jerry break into laughter. He must have looked like an idiot trying to figure out the menu. He said, "I remember that day very well. I kept looking at the menu wondering what language it was." Thinking back to that day, she asked, "So what item on the menu threw you for a loop?" "Everything." Jenny laughed and shook her head. She wondered how long it would be before Jerry would relax. Although she only knew him from her place, he was a usually a good conversationalist. It didn't take long for Bill to make a couple of calls. When he was done, he handed the phone back to his father via Jenny. As the truck approached the mall, Bill said, "Dad, could you drop me off at the mall? My friends are going to be there and I thought I'd hang out around there with them while you are eating dinner. I can get something to eat at the mall." Jerry leaned forward and looked around Jenny at his son, realizing only after he had done it that it looked like he was staring at her chest. His face colored at the thought, but he wanted to make sure that he could see the expression on his son's face. He asked, "Are you sure you want to do that?" "Yeah. You don't need me on your date." Bill smiled and was about to tease his father when he realized that he didn't know how his father would react. He was going to drop it, but thought about what Abe would say in this situation. "It's hard to kiss your date with your son watching." Jenny laughed while Jerry blushed. He knew exactly how it was that Bill had come up with that comment. He smiled as he growled, "You've been around Abe too much." Jenny knew about Abe from conversations during lunch. One of these days she was going to have to meet this kid. He sounded like an interesting character. In fact, most of the people that Jerry talked about were interesting characters. Seeing that his father had reacted without getting angry, Bill replied, "Hey, you introduced us." "When I do something stupid, I really do something stupid." Giving up, Jerry sat up straight and drove over to the mall. Stopping outside one of the entrances, he noticed Larry leaning against a post as he waited for Bill. Jerry got out and opened the door for his son. Moving slowly from the pain, Bill climbed out as Larry approached the truck. The kids greeted each other with minimal talk. Reaching into his pocket, Jerry extracted his wallet to give a twenty to his son. Handing the money to Bill, he said, "You kids have fun. I'll be by to pick you up at nine. Is that okay?" "Sure, Dad. Have fun!" called Bill while he walked with Larry to wait for the other kids to show up for a Saturday night at the mall. Jerry returned to the truck. As he pulled away from the curb, he said, "We've got an hour and a half for dinner." An uneasy silence descended in the truck as Jerry made his way to the Italian Restaurant. As he pulled into the parking lot, he said, "You know. I didn't even ask if you like Italian food." Jenny replied, "I love Italian." The restaurant was busy. It was always busy on Saturday nights and the pair had to wait at the bar for a table. The bar was crowded and noisy. Poor acoustics made it difficult to hold a conversation. Jenny drank a glass of wine while Jerry drank a glass of iced tea. The conversation was forced and stilted as Jerry struggled to find things to talk about. Finally, Jerry sat back and said, "My favorite color is red." Raising one eyebrow and looking at him wondering what he was saying. "Red is a nice color." Jerry laughed at the inane comment that he had made. "I meant to say that your dress is pretty and that I like the color, but I guess I'm a little nervous. Somehow, I can talk to you at the Crimson Rose, but my brain is shutting down here. I guess the idea that this is a date makes me nervous." The explanation was honest and came from the heart. She leaned forward and fondled her hair. "The whole purpose of a date is to boast and brag about yourself so that you impress the other. I take it that you aren't used to boasting or bragging." "I guess I'm not used to talking about me," replied Jerry as he thought about it. He wondered what he had to boast or brag about. There was his strength and big size, but he didn't view those as assets. "What would I boast about?" She laughed at the raw honesty of the question. "I don't really want to hear boasting or bragging. I'd rather hear about what all is going on in your life and how you feel about them." "My life is a real mess. The ex-wife has complicated things tremendously and I'm still trying to figure out how to deal with all of it. The high points of my life are that work is going well, I like where I'm living, I'm enjoying fixing up my two old cars, I'm seeing you, and I'm getting closer to my son." Jerry was quiet for a minute and then said, "You know, I guess things aren't as bad as I sometimes think they are." "I'm pleased that you include me in your list of high points." Jerry hadn't even realized that he had said that, but it was true. He did look forward to seeing her at lunch and had wanted to take her out on a date. He replied, "One of the highest points. It's right up there with getting to know my son." Their name was called to let them know that their table was ready. After grabbing their drinks, they followed the hostess to the table and were left with menus in hand. The conversation took a back seat as they went through the process of examining the menu and selecting their meal. A few minutes later the waitress arrived and took their order. When the waitress left, a moment of silence was left. Jenny said, "You were telling me about getting to know your son." "Well, when I lived at home I was isolated from the lives of my kids. Now, I'm getting to know him and I'm really impressed with the kid." "What impresses you the most?" asked Jenny. "Well, he was battered two days ago. Yet, he takes it upon himself to get an excuse so that we can be alone on the date. I can't imagine what we would talk about with him here. I know that he took an Abe moment to tease me, but I would have done the same thing to him on his first date." Jerry laughed as he pictured the future when his son started dating. He grinned, "I'll even get to drive him to the date." Jenny giggled and said, "Well, don't be too hard on him." The conversation flowed from there. They discussed what kinds of things they were doing outside of work. When Jerry realized that he was dominating the conversation, he backed off and allowed Jenny to tell more about her life. He learned that she had a disastrous affair with a married man and was only now getting over it. The time passed too quickly. It was with real regret that the hour approached nine and they had to leave to pick up Bill at the mall. As they walked to the car, Jenny slipped her hand in his. Her first reaction was surprise at how hard and rough his hands were, but that was replaced by the sense of strength that his hands conveyed. His first reaction was complete shock that she would take his hand and keep holding it. His stomach churned as he wondered about kissing her at the end of the date. He commented, "I like this." She knew that he was referring to holding hands with her. When he opened the truck door for her, she turned and kissed him. He was very surprised at the passion she managed to put into it. This wasn't a simple peck on the check type of kiss and caused both his upper and lower head to swell. Breaking the kiss, she said, "We can't have Bill's sacrifice be for nothing." The lighthearted statement broke through the fog that had descended in Jerry's mind. A great big smile of relief broke over his face as he said, "I really like that." She giggled as she climbed into the truck. He closed the door and went to the driver's side. It was at that time that she did something that he had never seen another woman do. In particular, she leaned across the seat and unlocked his door for him. It was a considerate move that was as surprising as the kiss. After picking up Bill, they took Jenny home. Summoning his courage, Jerry actually made the move to kiss her when he walked her to the door. It was much easier since she had already made the first move. It was a short kiss because they had an audience in the car. Still, it was more than Jerry had expected for the whole evening. As the pair drove away, Jerry asked, "Did you have a good time with your friends?" "Yes," answered Bill. Looking over at his father, he asked, "Did you have a good time with your girlfriend?" "Yes, I did. Thanks." ------- Chapter 17 As the smell of coffee filled the house, Bill came staggering out of his bedroom rubbing the sleep from his eyes and yawning with a muted roar. Despite being sleepy, he had been looking forward to this day for a long time. At long last he was getting his cast removed. He glanced in the kitchen, not wanting to go into the cold room but it was difficult for him to resist the coffee and the French Toast. Bracing himself, he went into the kitchen and sat down at the table where Jerry had set a cup of Coffee and plate of French Toast for him. Looking over at this father, he said, "Today's the day." "Yes, it is." This was his day off and he had plans to be busy the whole day. Those plans included taking Bill to school and then picking him up to take him to the hospital to have the cast removed. "I'll be so glad to get this off," said Bill as he looked at the cast. It was covered with signatures and witty remarks. The kids at school and in the neighborhood had signed the cast to show their support. Although Bill wouldn't say it, the signatures meant a lot to him. Last year, he wouldn't have been able to get even one. The pair ate breakfast, each thinking their own thoughts about the day in front of them. Monday's were the best school day of the week for Bill. That was the only day of the week that he didn't have to get to school early so that his father could get to work on time. It meant a hot breakfast and no time spent in the library. Usually, the time spent after school included some sort of father son activity. Last week it had been a movie. The cast put a damper on the kinds of things they could do together. Bill finished first and took his plate to the sink. He rinsed it off so that it would be easier to wash. Going back to the table, he grabbed the cup of coffee and headed to the bedroom to get ready for school. He would be ready in plenty of time to make it to school. Jerry pulled away from the school after waving bye to his son who was joining his friends outside. His first stop was going to be picking up a new scooter for his son to replace the one that had been lost the night of the great storm when he had driven over to the house. He was looking forward to seeing the look on his son's face when he was presented with the new scooter. He turned on the radio of the truck. It was an AM radio with the old fashion mechanical knobs. As the drone of talk radio filled the air of the cab, Jerry drove along taking the scenic route that took him through older neighborhoods with tree covered lanes. The highway would take him a quarter of the time, but he wanted to enjoy the morning. Everything was fine until he reached one of the few busy intersections. When he stopped his truck at the traffic sign, an older model Toyota driven by a woman putting on her make-up came up from behind him and passed without even slowing at the stop sign. As the car ran into the intersection a Saturn hit her broadside behind the passenger door. The crash was thunderous as glass and metal flew through the air. Jerry watched in disbelief as the events unfolded in front of him, appearing to him as if everything was moving in slow motion. Automatically, he turned off the engine of the truck as he reached for his cell phone. He had made the call to 911 even before the cars had finished spinning. Carrying his cell phone, he left the truck to see what he could do to help the occupants of cars involved in the wreck. Before he had closed the door of the truck, an SUV crashed into the Saturn. Jerry froze, concerned about entering the road as other cars came to abrupt stops with a squealing of tires. When the 911 operator came on line, he started telling her what was happening. Even as he spoke, others were leaving their cars to render aid. As he described the situation to the operator, he realized that he was totally clueless about how to help them. He answered the questions of the operator even as sirens screamed the message that all was not well. The first official car on the scene was a police cruiser and Jerry let the operator know that the police had arrived. After a minute, he hung up the phone satisfied that he had done what he knew had to do to help the situation. When he went over to the police cruiser to wait, a fire truck pulled up to prevent fires from breaking out. With the arrival of officials, many of the people that had rushed to render aid returned to their cars. Jerry knew that as an eyewitness, the police would want to question him so he waited out of the way of the action. It seemed to take a long time before ambulances started arriving. He watched as a number of firemen gathered around the Toyota trying to get the door open to get access to the woman inside. Watching, he realized they were going to have a very tough time getting the door open. He headed over to help. With each step, he recalled the words and insults thrown at him by his ex-wife trying to wake the rage inside. The rage, surprised to be called upon, responded and he could feel his muscles swelling with power the closer he came to the car. A low growl emerged from his throat, catching the attention of the rescuers. Under normal conditions they would have moved to stop him, but they backed away upon catching sight of his red face, throbbing vein in his forehead, and the angry expression on his face. Reaching the car, he put a foot against the crumpled backdoor and grabbed the door. Ripped metal tore through the skin on his palms, turning his hands a dark red. With a roar, he pulled on the door lifting his body off the ground as he put every ounce of his weight and all of his strength into removing it. The sound of metal ripping cut through the air shocking all those watching him. His roar intensified as he pulled off the door and then lifted it into the air before throwing it onto the ground. Once the door was off, he staggered back away from the car and collapsed on the ground as his strength drained from him. The stunned silence was broken when a fireman said, "Fuck me!" Another fireman said, "I'll cancel the call for the jaws of life." Resting on the ground with his knees in the air and crossed arms on the knees, Jerry leaned forward to rest his head upon his arms in a picture of complete exhaustion. Closing his eyes, he breathed heavily trying to recharge his body. A weak trickle of blood dripped from his hands onto his pants. One of the ambulance personnel came over and knelt next to him. Tapping him on the shoulder, the man said, "Let me take a look at your hands." Jerry held out his hands, flexing his fingers, for the paramedic to examine his palms. There were several cuts in the fleshy part of his palm, most of them were insignificant although one cut had sliced a small vein. Jerry said, "Give me a minute to catch my breath." The paramedic said, "It will require two stitches to fix the bleeding. We'll give you a ride in the ambulance." Jerry shook his head and said, "I'll drive my truck. I still need to talk to a policeman since I witnessed the whole thing." "You weren't involved?" "No, I wasn't," answered Jerry as he looked back towards his truck wondering if he was going to have a chance to drop it off to be painted today. "You sure looked angry at the woman in the car," replied the man as he recalled the expression on the face of Jerry as he marched towards the car just a few minutes ago. "Had to get angry to get the door off the car," replied Jerry as he dropped his head forward again. He could feel his strength returning slowly but surely and he felt a strong desire to drink a glass of orange juice. One of the policemen came over to take his statement while the paramedic wrapped the hand to last until he made it to a doctor. It was a relatively short story and Jerry was finished telling it by the time the paramedic told him that he was done working on the wound. Jerry left the area to head to the hospital, but stopped at a corner clinic when he realized he could get the stitches there. It would be a lot faster than driving all the way to the hospital and waiting for others that were in more desperate shape than himself. It only took thirty minutes to get his hand cared for by the doctor at the clinic. Leaving the clinic, Jerry checked his watch and saw that it was almost eleven in the morning. He had planned to purchase the scooter by this time. His little scenic drive had ended up costing him two hours. There was no sense complaining about it, so he headed directly to the Honda shop. The salesman remembered him from his first visit to the place. It didn't take long for him to pick out a new blue scooter for his son. This time, Jerry wrote a check to pay for it rather than take out a loan. He was still making payments on the first scooter and only had three more months to go before the loan was paid off. After loading the scooter into the back of the truck, Jerry called Martin. When the young man answered, Jerry said, "Hey, Martin. I'm heading to the house now. I need to change clothes and then we can get your Caddy from the auto detailing shop." Irritated at the delay in picking up the car, Martin answered, "I've been waiting here for two hours. I was beginning to think that you had forgotten me." Jerry said, "I'll explain when I get there." The drive back to the house didn't take long and Martin was waiting in the front yard for him holding the brand new license plates. Jerry could understand the young man's impatience. The restoration of the Caddy was finished and he hadn't seen it since they had towed it to be painted. After the painting, it had been towed to an auto detailing shop to get the interior redone. They had installed new carpets on the floor, new seat covers, and new roof liner. They were also supposed to repaint the interior and replace the dashboard. Pulling up to the curb, Jerry got out of the car. Martin let loose a loud whistle when he saw the bandages on his hands and the blood on his pants. He asked, "What in the hell happened to you?" Picking up the scooter from the back of the truck, Jerry grunted, "There was an accident and they needed the door taken off a car." As Jerry sat the scooter on the ground, Martin asked, "And so you pulled the door off?" Pushing the scooter to the house, Jerry answered, "Yeah." Shaking his head in disbelief, Martin followed his neighbor up to the door of his house, giving him a hand in lifting the scooter onto the porch. After watching how easily Jerry lifted the scooter, Martin could believe that he'd rip the door off a car. Martin asked, "So did that save someone?" "I don't know. They were waiting for the jaws of life," replied Jerry. He didn't know if his actions had helped or not. He hadn't even thought to ask the paramedic about it. Pushing the bike into the center of the living room, Jerry looked around deciding that he would leave it there for Bill to discover when they came home that night. Martin looked over the scooter and said, "Nice. He's going to like it." Jerry went into his bedroom and, as he changed clothes, replied, "Yeah. I hope he likes it. I know he hasn't said anything, but he thinks that I'm angry with him for losing the first scooter. Hard for him to realize that I was happier that he got away from his mother who would have killed him. I think that scooter probably saved his life and the fact that he lost it doesn't matter a bit." Martin called back, "Well, he'll enjoy riding it around here. You do realize that we'll never see him and Abe again." Jerry laughed as he pulled on a clean pair of pants. He called, "I'm not worried about that. I think the two boys get along just fine and help keep each other out of trouble." "Are you kidding?" Jerry's laughter filled the room as he buttoned his shirt. "Okay, so the cast kept them out of trouble." He slipped on his shoes and left the bedroom. Smiling at Martin, he asked, "Are you ready to see your car?" "I've been ready to see the car since the first day that we started working on it," replied Martin. There had been delays as they had searched for a new dashboard. The plating company had waited for replacement knobs. He could only imagine how the car looked. "Let's get out of here," said Jerry as he opened the door. The drive over to the auto detailing shop seemed to go by fast for Jerry and slow to Martin. When they pulled into the parking lot, Martin practically jumped out of the truck before it was stopped to find the Caddy. Jerry watched with amusement as Martin walked past the Caddy not recognizing the car. Jerry walked around the Caddy examining the paint job and looking inside at the detailing. The car looked like it had just been driven off the showroom floor. Martin asked, "Where is it?" Jerry said, "Here." "Damn! That's fucking incredible," replied Martin as he looked over the car. When he had last seen it, the paint was flaking, the roof fabric was torn and weathered, and the interior was rotten. Looking up at Jerry, he said, "Is this really the same car that used to be parked in front of our house?" "Yes, it is," answered Jerry seeing the pride at a job well done filling Martin. The young man stood up straighter as he walked around the car. Martin opened the car door and looked at the interior. Everything was clean and polished, sparkling as if it were new. His eyes watered at the thought that he had brought this about. Looking over at Jerry, he said, "Let's pay and get out of here." "Sure," replied Jerry. He went to the truck and picked up the license plates. He had forgotten to bring a screwdriver to attach them and hoped that they could do that for him. The pair went inside and talked to the man that had done the work on the interior of the car. Harold had re-upholstered the seats and was waiting for them inside the office. Standing up with a smile, he said, "Well, what do you think of it?" "It's better than I ever could have imagined," answered Martin still looking out the window at the car. The man noticed the license plates that Martin held in his hands and said, "Let me have one of the guys in the back put them on your car." Handing over the license plates, Martin turned to Jerry and said, "My momma is going to be so proud to see that car." "Yes, she will." Martin looked down at the bill and said, "It's not as much as I thought it would be." "It adds up though," replied Jerry. Martin had already written several checks to pay for the parts, paint job, and chrome plating. Looking back out at the car, Martin replied, "It was worth every penny." Harold returned and Martin proceeded to pay for the work performed. Jerry walked around the office at the pictures on the wall of some of the cars that had been restored in the past. He noticed that the Caddy appeared in one of the pictures and smiled knowing they had done a first class job on it. He turned when the man said, "I had a customer in that was willing to pay twenty-five thousand for your car." The amount was a lot higher than Jerry had expected. Martin asked, "Twenty-five thousand?" "Yep, I thought that was a pretty good price," replied Harold with a smile. Having driven the car to the hospital, Martin knew that the car was impractical for modern size parking spaces. He answered, "I'll have to think about it for a couple of days." "There's no need to hurry. This coming Sunday, there's an antique car show in front of city hall. You might take it up there and see what kind of offers you get." Martin thought about the chance to show off the car to an appreciative audience and nodded his head. Looking over at Jerry, he said, "I just might do that." Martin followed Jerry to the auto paint shop enjoying driving the Caddy. He felt ten feet tall as he maneuvered the car through the streets. People pointed at the car, surprised to see the classic car moving through the traffic dwarfing the other cars around it. Jerry pulled into a parking spot in front of the shop. The owner, a guy by the name of Eddie, came out and looked over the truck. Shaking his head, he said, "Nice job on the bodywork." "Thanks," replied Jerry as he patted the truck on the hood. Eddie walked around the truck examining it carefully. After his first circuit around the vehicle, he said, "Nice. The bed needs to be replaced, but that won't be too difficult. The metal strips will have to be painted. A good finish on the wood would really make the exterior shine. I've got a guy that can replace the bed. He'll stain the wood and seal it real good. Would you like me to have him do that?" Jerry had intended to do that himself, but after thinking about it he said, "Go ahead. I think that Thunder could use a couple of special touches here and there." "Thunder?" "Yeah, that's the name I've given the truck. I bought it the same night that I was blown off my feet by the thunder of a lightning bolt that hit just a few feet away from me," answered Jerry. "I take it you aren't going to sell it when you're done fixing it up." "No way," replied Jerry. Eddie walked around the truck for another circuit as he looked at the work. He checked out the interior and asked, "You going to get the interior done?" "You bet. When I'm done with this truck, it is going to be the finest looking car on the road." Martin smiled and looked over at his car thinking that he could argue that point. Eddie looked over the car trying to imagine how he would paint it if given a free hand. He had done a lot of business with Jerry's shop over the years. He rubbed his chin and said, "I'll make a deal with you." "What?" "I'll give you a custom paint job for the same price as a simple paint job if you let me sign the work," replied Eddie. He added, "Leave it with me and I'll take it over to get the chrome plated and then over to the detailing shop. I'm sure they'll give you the same deal if you let me sign their work too." Jerry knew that Eddie was very good at his job. That was why he brought the car all the way across town rather than a place that was closer to home and cheaper. If Eddie was willing to sign his work, then that meant he had something really special in mind for the truck. Knowing that he'd be a fool if he let that opportunity pass him by, Jerry extended his hand and said, "Deal. Take real good care of Thunder for me." Eddie smiled and shook hands with Jerry. With a broad grin, he said, "I'll see you Sunday when you come to pick it up." "So quick?" "Yep. I want you to show it off on Sunday. There's an antique car show down by city hall. Come down there and pick it up when the show is over," said Eddie with a grin. He could see the finished truck in his mind and knew that it would outshine anything there. Martin looked over at Eddie and said, "We'll be there. I'm showing off the Caddy." Eddie said, "That was a real pleasure to work on. You guys did a great job on that one too. Are you selling it?" "Yes, I think so. It's just a little too big to drive around the city." "Yeah, you're right. That one belongs with a collector. You'll get top dollar for that. Fully loaded like that, a lot of collectors will be interested," remarked Eddie. "It's almost too nice to sell," replied Martin. The pair left the shop with Jerry getting a ride with Martin. On the way to the house, they stopped at a restaurant to get a bit to eat. It was well after lunchtime and the men were hungry. Martin had a hard time finding a spot to park the Caddy and ended up having to take up two spaces in a spot where he would have plenty of room to back out. The back end of the Caddy stuck out four feet more than any of the cars around it. Getting out, Martin said, "Sure is a big ass car." "Looks sharp, though," replied Jerry with a smile. As they walked over to the front door, they passed an elderly couple that was leaving the diner. The old man said, "Look at that old car. Reminds me of the one we had years ago." "I sure did love that car," replied the woman. Martin smiled and went into the diner feeling proud of his work. They sat down at a table, reviewed the menu, and ordered their lunch. After the waitress delivered their coffees, Jerry asked, "So how do you feel?" "I feel great," replied Martin. It was odd, but he was feeling something that he had never felt before. It took him a long time to identify the feeling. It was a sense of accomplishment. He had taken a rusted old hunk of metal that had become home for a rat and turned it into a thing of beauty through hard work. "I feel really good." Jerry smiled at the difference he was seeing in the young man sitting in front of him. Before they started working on the cars, he tended to think of him as a kid. Now he saw a man that had learned an important lesson that would carry with him for the rest of his life. He said, "I'm glad. You did a really good job on that car. You should be proud of yourself." "I'm going to buy a camera today and get some pictures taken of the Caddy." As the waitress set their burgers in front of them, Jerry shook his finger and said, "You really ought to get a professional photographer to take a picture of it. That's a great looking car and you could probably get the picture published in a car magazine." "You think so?" The idea was surprising. "Yes, I think so," replied Jerry as he started to put together his burger. He wondered as he piled the onion on top of the lettuce and tomato if he should have gotten the chili-cheese burger. He liked them, but they tended to give him gas. The idea of publishing a picture of his Caddy was very attractive. Martin was silent as he thought about the suggestion and tried to imagine opening a magazine to find a picture of the car. Smiling, he said, "Yeah. That would be nice." Jerry waited in the Camaro for Bill to get out of school. It didn't take a genius to know when school let out as kids came pouring out of the building en masse. It usually took Bill a little longer than the other kids as he struggled to carry his books with one arm in a cast. When the initial flood of kids let up, he spotted Bill coming out the door. Bill looked around for a minute before spotting the car. With a broad grin, he waved and headed directly to the car. It was nice to see his son that happy on school grounds. On the way to the car, Bill turned at the sound of a shout from his friend and waved to Woody. Rushing, he made it to the car and climbed in. Happy, he said, "I'm ready to get this cast off." Pulling away from the curb, Jerry asked, "Where are your books?" "I'm ahead on my homework and can take the night off," replied Bill with a grin. He had worked all of the problems in the chapters they were covering in class over the weekend just so that he could enjoy this day. "So what are the plans for tonight?" "Well, I thought we'd hit the Chinese Buffet and then head home for a nice quiet evening," answered Jerry. The plans under-whelmed Bill since he was expecting something a little more exciting for the night. He asked, "So did you take the truck in to be painted?" "Yeah. We picked up Martin's Caddy. You'll want to see it tonight," said Jerry. "I don't see how good it could be. It didn't look all that great before," remarked Bill. It was true. The body had been a patchwork of different colors as rust spots had been removed, dents fixed, and missing metal replaced. They had even replaced a door that was a different color from the rest of car. The top had been in shreds and discolored from years under the brutal punishment of weather. The interior had been ripped and decayed. "You'll see," replied Jerry. In a way, this would also be a good lesson for Bill. A young man needed to see the consequences of what hard work could accomplish. He explained, "I think you'll be impressed. Martin worked hard to rebuild a solid base. Sometimes that base doesn't always look great, but when you do the finishing work the attention to detail taken on the base shines through. You can't hide the flaws of a bad base." "I never thought about it in that fashion," replied Bill thoughtfully. "I think the same thing goes for people. You're young yet, but you've been injured real bad. I don't mean your arm. I mean your spirit. With a little hard work, we can repair the damage that's been done to you by your mother." Jerry was quiet for a moment and then continued, "I'm a lot older though and I've been hurt a lot more than you. The damage is a lot deeper. For me, it's going to take a lot of work and I can only hope to repair some of the worst parts of the damage." "Are you saying that we are damaged goods?" asked Bill rather upset that his father saw him as a flawed young man. The idea hurt him more than he could put into words. "Yes, I am," replied his father. He glanced over at his son and could see how upset the boy was getting. He added, "Do you remember how things were a year ago?" "Yeah. They pretty much sucked," replied his son. "That's right. You didn't have a friend in the world. You were a mediocre student and hated going to school. It was seven hours of misery that you just barely survived for five days a week. Most of the time you were angry at the world around you. Your family life sucked with a mother that valued Melissa more than she valued you. Hell, you had a father that only yelled at you." Jerry paused to glance at his son seeing that the young man agreed with him. He continued, "What about now?" "Things are a lot better," replied his son recognizing the differences that twelve months had made in his life. "That's right. You have four very good friends. Your grades are outstanding and you are participating in school events. Hell, you haven't been in a fight since the second day of school. I don't think you've been all that angry the last few months." "True," replied Bill. There were a lot of other positive things in his life. He was wearing new clothes now. His father treated him like an adult, allowing him to drink coffee in the morning and asking his advice at times. He missed the scooter, but that was the only real negative in his life. "So I'd say that we are rebuilding the base. You're a lot happier person today," replied Jerry. Bill sat in the car and thought about it for a while. He glanced at the bandages on his father's hands and wondered what the story was behind them. He hoped that his father hadn't lost his temper again. Recalling that his father had said that his case was even worse, he asked, "What about you?" "Me? I've undergone even more changes than you have. It's been rather painful at times. I used to dislike going to work and hated going home. I lost my temper on almost a daily basis. Today, I needed to lose my temper and actually found it rather difficult. You might not believe this, but I had never had a friend until I left your mother. Now, I'm on good relations with the people that work with me. I count Abe and Martin as friends. I really enjoy my time spent with Henry Buckman. Hell, I even have a girlfriend. Most important of all, I found that I had a son that I truly like and love." Embarrassed at the emotional element of his father's comments, Bill changed the subject, "You had to lose you temper today?" For the rest of the drive to the hospital, Jerry told his son about witnessing the accident and what he had done. If anyone else had been telling the story about ripping the door off a car, Bill wouldn't have believed that such a thing was possible. Having seen some of the things his father had done in the past, he knew that his father had told the truth. ------- Chapter 18 Even at the best of times, hospitals are depressing places. This particular hospital had done a lot of renovation to make the atmosphere less depressing. New carpets, brightly painted walls, comfortable chairs, and living plants fought against the worry of people concerned for themselves or relatives. There were even large tanks filled with brightly colored fish. The decorations were losing the battle, but the atmosphere wasn't as bad as it could have been. Bill and Jerry walked down the maze of hallways to find where they were supposed to go to get the cast removed. Lost, Jerry spotted the peppermint-striped uniform of a Candy Striper. The woman didn't fit the fantasy of a young sexy Candy Striper that would take mercy on a man stuck in bed by giving him a handjob. When the woman turned it was clear that she was in her early eighties. A grimace came over his face when he thought of her giving him a handjob. Ugh! The woman was actually very nice and gave him directions on where they needed to go. Thanking her, Bill and Jerry continued their adventures through the labyrinth halls of the hospital. Bill joked, "Not exactly my idea of a Candy Striper." "You can say that again." His voice contained far more disgust than he had intended. Bill laughed aloud, the tension at visiting the doctor eased by the humor of the situation. Although he was looking forward to getting the cast removed, the idea of having them saw it off his arm also brought pictures of a saw blade ripping though his arm. They found the room and checked in with the receptionist who told them it would be ten minutes before they would be seen. When the doctor removed the cast, Bill stared at his arm in shock. The skin was a bleached white covered by black hairs. It looked disgusting. The doctor looked over the arm, pleased with how it had healed. He said, "Now, bend your arm." Bill moved his arm, finding that that elbow was very stiff and that the muscles were very weak. Comparing his two arms, the left arm was visibly thinner. He said, "It feels stiff and weak." "That's normal. You haven't used it in months. Take it easy on the arm and don't stress it too much over the next few months," replied the doctor. Satisfied with the arm, he slapped Bill on the back and, in a joking voice, said, "Stay away from people swinging baseball bats." The doctor had meant it humorously, but hadn't realized that was how the arm had been broken. Bill frowned and looked down at the ground at the reminder. Jerry said, "That's how it broke." "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize that it was a sports accident. You can play baseball if you want." "It wasn't a sports accident. His mother hit him." "Oh, I really apologize. I didn't know," replied the doctor. His voice contained a mixture of embarrassment and anger. He was embarrassed at having brought up painful memories and angered at the idea that a mother would do that to her son. He added, "You don't seem as emotionally battered as most children that have been abused." The comment resonated with the discussion that he and his father had on the drive over to the hospital. Bill smiled and said, "Things have gotten a lot better for us lately." The doctor glanced over at Jerry and saw him nodding in agreement. He wondered what the story was behind these two. Jerry asked, "So what now?" "You go home and have fun," replied the doctor. As they left the hospital, they ran into the paramedic that had treated Jerry earlier that day. Irritated, he stepped in front of Jerry and asked, "Did you just get that fixed?" "No. I stopped by a clinic right after I left you and they stitched me up," answered Jerry surprised at the irritation in the paramedic's voice. "Oh. I asked about you and they said you had never showed up. I was rather pissed about that." "Sorry, I didn't know that I was supposed to get treated here." Jerry was surprised at the reaction of the man. "So what are you doing here?" Bill raised his arm and said, "The doctor removed my cast this afternoon." "Oh," replied the paramedic as he recognized what the pale skin that covered under-developed muscles meant. The cast had covered the arm from palm to shoulder. He said, "Well, I'm glad that you had the cut taken care of." Uncomfortable at the attention, Jerry said, "Thanks for worrying about me." "Well, you might want to know that you probably saved the life of that woman trapped in the car. She had a horrible cut on her leg and would have bled to death if you hadn't removed the door," replied the paramedic. He was still impressed by the demonstration of raw power shown when he had pulled the door off the car. He added, "Quite a number of people are looking for you." "Why? Did I do something wrong?" asked Jerry surprised to hear that people were looking for him. He wondered if he was going to get sued for pulling the door off the car. "You're a hero," replied the paramedic. Looking down at his bandaged hands and the huge calluses that were built up on the skin that showed, Jerry didn't feel like a hero. He muttered, "If I can't use my strength to help someone, I might as well be dead." The pair walked into the Chinese Buffet to be greeted by the hostess. Like many of these places, they were to pay for their meal before taking a seat. With a very strong accent, she asked, "Two?" "We're here for the Bill Smith party," answered Jerry with a wink at Bill. He had already paid for six meals before picking up Bill. "Oh, they are waiting for you in the side room over there." Bill stared at his father wondering what was going on. As far as he knew, it was just his father and him having a quiet meal. When they went into the side room, he was surprised to find Woody, Sandy, Larry, and Jenny waiting for him. He ran over to his friends, shouting, "What are you guys doing here?" Larry replied, "Dude, we're here to celebrate getting the cast off." Bill gave a gesture with two thumbs up, something that he hadn't been able to do for a long time. Woody whistled and said, "Wow, man. Your arm sure is pale." Teasing, Bill put his arm by Woody and said, "Yeah, almost as pale as you dude." As the kids laughed and joked, Jerry went to stand beside Jenny. Pleased to see his son so happy, he put an arm around her and hugged her close wanting to share his pleasure. Jenny looked up at him, feeling secure and protected in his arms. She smiled and said, "You're happy." "Yeah, it's been an incredible day." He smiled when Bill burst out in laughter at some joke made by one of his friends. Looking down at Jenny, he said, "He's so happy." "Why don't you get something to eat and I'll watch over them. We've already started eating," said Jenny. "Good idea," replied Jerry. He bent down and kissed her on the forehead before releasing her from his embrace. As he went to get a plate, she watched him walk away marveling again at the sheer size of the man. Her eyes were drawn to the bandages around his hands. The news that day had talked about the mysterious man that had saved the life of a woman by ripping the door off the car within which she was trapped. She didn't need to ask if Jerry had been the hero, she knew he was the one that had done it. There weren't many men that fit his description. A few minutes after his father had gone out to get something to eat, Bill followed his father out the door. He found his father loading up his plate with Pork Lo Mein and went over to him. When Jerry noticed his son standing beside him, he said, "This food looks so good." Bill smiled and said, "Thanks dad. This was a nice surprise." "Hey, what are fathers for?" replied Jerry with a smile. The best surprise was yet to come and he could hardly wait to see what his son thought of that. Bill smiled as he answered, "Raising their son's allowance." Jerry burst out laughing and shook his head. Shaking his head, he said, "Better load up a plate and get back in there before your friends forget who you are." "Aw, Dad. They won't forget me. You maybe, but not me," replied Bill with a grin even as he went to get a plate. He knew that his friends wouldn't forget him. Stepping down the buffet counter, Jerry added some beef and broccoli to his plate. It was overloaded with food by the time he was done. His stomach rumbled in anticipation of getting filled. He stopped by Bill and said, "I'd say this is a four trip meal." Grinning at the long-standing joke about going to fill their plates repeatedly, Bill said, "You bet." Returning to the side room, Jerry sat next to Jenny. She looked at his plate and asked, "Did you get enough?" "Well, I've got three more trips to fill up on," replied Jerry with a grin. Jenny smiled at the big man seated across from her. He had a healthy appetite and wasn't afraid of indulging it on occasion. He looked across the table at her plate and said, "Looks to me like you are ready for a refill." The comment surprised her as she was used to being on dates where she wouldn't eat much. Being around Jerry, she knew that she could be herself and eat to her heart's content without raising a comment other than that she looked happy. She stood and said, "I'll be back with more." The difference between Jenny and his ex-wife was amazing. His ex-wife wouldn't ever let herself relax and enjoy the moment. With Jenny, he knew that she'd seen too much of that in her work and wouldn't allow herself to fall into that trap. Jerry winked at her and said, "That's my girl." That made Jenny feel desired and appreciated. She stopped by Bill on her way and put a soft hand on his shoulder. She leaned down and wrapped her hands around his chest as she said, "Glad to see you got the cast off." "Thanks," replied Bill still surprised whenever an adult woman was nice to him. The hug felt very good to the attention-starved boy. "Now you can put your arms around the girls and make them happy," teased Jenny. Winking at Sandy, she added, "I bet all the pretty girls at school can hardly keep their hands off a big young man like you." As Bill blushed, Sandy laughed at his discomfort in a friendly fashion that was actually supportive. She had come to like Jerry, although it had taken her a long time to decide that the big man wasn't a brute. It didn't take her more than five seconds to decide that she liked Jenny, particularly when she saw the effect that the woman had on her friend. In a teasing voice, Sandy said, "Oh, Bill. Let me touch you!" As his friends made normal teenage comments about what Sandy had said, Jenny went out to get another plate of food. Unlike Jerry, she didn't put much food on a plate and took more time eating what she did take. This let her make as many trips to the buffet as Jerry without totally killing her figure. Returning to the side room, she watched Jerry as he sat smiling and watching his son deal with his friends. It was easy to see that the father was so happy with the changes that had come over his son. She recalled that first day when she had met Bill. Fifteen minutes late, he had worn filthy clothes and had to change at her house. Her first impression had not been good, but that had changed very quickly. The misery that was just below the surface at the knowledge that his mother had attacked him with a baseball bat had touched her. His concern that his dad could have a nice date with her spoke of a very good character. She sat down across from Jerry and said, "He sure looks happy." "Yeah, he does," replied Jerry with a wistful tone in his voice. When he was Bill's age, he would have killed to have a dinner surrounded by friends that teased him and supported him in such a caring fashion. In a very quiet voice, she asked, "You never had a day like this for yourself, have you?" "No," replied Jerry. Deciding to change the subject, he looked up and said, "By the way, the guy doing the paint job on my truck is going to deliver it to me at an antique car show this Sunday. Claims that he can get it completely finished by then." "Really?" asked Jenny in surprise as she wondered what it would look like once it was finished. It wasn't that she was pretentious, but being taken out in either the Camaro or the truck was not her idea of being treated nicely. The truck was an eyesore that was only a little better looking than the Camaro. "I promise you that you won't be embarrassed being seen in it." Jerry understood that she didn't really like being seen in either of his cars. Both cars looked like rejects from a junkyard, but that would change when they were painted and the interiors repaired. He asked, "Would you like to go there with us?" She took a bite of her food as she thought about it. She didn't know the first thing about cars other than the insurance cost too much, some cars cost more than others, and sitting in traffic was a headache. Curiosity about antique cars forced her to say, "Sure. I think that would be interesting." "Great. I'll find out when it starts and give you a call," replied Jerry. He shoveled another mouthful of food in to his maw and watched Jenny happy that she had said yes. "Are you taking any of your son's friends?" asked Jenny as he looked at the other end of the table. Bill and Larry were headed out of the room to get another plate of food, pushing each other in the manner of teenage boys having fun. The idea of taking Bill's friends hadn't occurred to him. Looking over at her, he wondered if she wanted him to extend the offer to them or not. Shrugging his shoulder, he answered, "I haven't thought about that. Do you think I should?" "Why not?" "I don't know," replied Jerry thinking that he hadn't any better clue as to her preference. Shrugging, he answered, "You might enjoy it being just the three of us or you might prefer if he goes off with his friends." "What do you want?" asked Jenny, surprised that he was so indecisive. Breaking out into a smile, he answered, "I got what I want. A Sunday spent with my son and my girlfriend." She sat back in her seat surprised at his answer. This was the first time that he had called her his girlfriend and they hadn't even had sex yet. The petting sessions were hot and heavy, leaving her wet between the legs and him walking away bent over. The problem was that she always initiated the sessions. It was as though he was terrified of making any physical demands upon her. The thought came to her that after the show, Bill might go to the movies with his friends giving them a little time alone. She took his hand and replied, "Let his friends come with him. I'm sure that he would enjoy a whole day with them." "Okay," replied Jerry. "It sure is nice of you to think of his fun." "He's a great kid," replied Jenny. She wondered how he would react if he knew what was really in her mind. Rather than risk saying anything, she turned her attention to the food on her plate. The kids at the other end of the table were working on desert and he realized that he hadn't been eating. He dug into his meal, happy at the plans for Sunday. He had just finished his second plate when a man came into the room and looked around. Jerry stood up to get another plate of food when he spotted the man watching the kids. He stepped over and said, "I'm Jerry Smith, Bill's dad." "Oh, hello. I'm Dave Woodward," replied the man. He pointed over at Woody and said, "Don is my son." Jerry hadn't known that Don was Woody's real name, but didn't let on that he hadn't known it. Gesturing over at the boys, he said, "Your son's a good kid. Why don't you have a seat with us until he's ready to go?" "That would be nice," replied Dave. Jerry led him over to the table and performed the introductions. It didn't take him long to return to the buffet counter and fill up another plate. He had stared at the boiled crab legs with envy, but looking at the bandages on his hands he knew that he couldn't eat that tonight. Another parent was in the room when he returned. He took a moment to collect himself and said, "Hello. I'm Jerry Smith, Bill's dad." "I'm Arnie Thomas. Sandra is my daughter." "Ah, come on over and join us. I think she's eating dessert right now." The pair of men went to the table and Jerry performed the introductions. Jenny talked with the two men, giving him a chance to eat a little more. His interest perked up when he heard Arnie ask, "Did you see the Camaro out there?" Swallowing, Jerry answered, "That's mine. It looks a little rough, but next week I'm taking it in to get repainted and the interior restored." "That's a classic. My first car was a Camaro just like that," replied the man with a wistful touch in his voice. He said, "I bet it is going to look outstanding when you get it painted." Jerry was about to tell them about the antique auto show when a woman came over to the table and introduced herself. "Hello. I'm Alice Hunt." Jerry replied, "Ah, you are Larry's mother. I'm Jerry Smith, Bill's father." Arnie looked up and said, "Hello Alice. Nice to see you again." "Hi Arnie. Hi Dave. So we've finally met the mysterious Jerry." The statement struck Jerry as odd, but he had just taken a bite of food and couldn't respond. Jenny saved him the trouble. "Mysterious?" Alice answered, "We've all met each other except for Jerry. From the way that his son talked about him, it was hard to believe that he existed." "Me?" Arnie said, "Yeah. You are as big as he said." "It was nice of you to invite his friends here to celebrate removing his cast. I hope it was a surprise," said Alice. "He was very surprised." Jenny answered for Jerry because he had just taken another bite of his food. The waitress came into the room and looked around at all of the people. At first she looked upset that there were more people eating than Jerry had paid for, but realized that they weren't eating. Jerry gestured her over and asked, "Could you get them something to drink while they are waiting for the kids to finish eating?" "Sure thing," replied the waitress, her accent making it hard to understand. She turned to the others and took their orders while Jerry took the opportunity to eat a little more of his food. After the waitress left, Alice asked, "What happened to your hands?" Jerry looked at the bandages on his hand and answered, "Oh, I cut them pulling a door off a car this morning. They're okay." "Jesus, my wife has been looking for you all day," replied Dave realizing that he should have added two and two to get four. All of the necessary clues were sitting in front of him. How many guys walking around town were as big as this guy was? How many of them had bandages on their hands? "Huh?" Arnie laughed and said, "His wife is a news reporter." "So why would she be looking for me?" asked Jerry looking around in puzzlement. Jenny reached across the table and took one of his hands in both of hers. She said, "You're a hero. The story has been on the news all day long. Everyone is talking about the unknown man who pulled the door off the car allowing rescuers access to the beautiful woman in distress. They all credited you with saving her life." "The stories have been filtering in all day. My wife was telling me that a woman called into the television station to say that a man that fit that description had pushed her car off the road when it had stalled and then disappeared. An old man called about a similar man changing his tire when he had a flat. Said he just showed up, changed the tire, and then left." Dave shook his head at the stories. Jerry took a sip of his iced tea and didn't say a word, but felt the reassuring tightening of Jenny's grasp on his other hand. He said, "My apologies to your wife, but I'd rather have it remain the work of an unknown man." His attempt at modesty was shattered when Bill shouted, "Hey Dad. I was telling Woody about you pulling the door off that car and he tells me that you are the hero they've been talking about all day. Way to go dad." Dave smiled at Jerry and said, "I don't think you are going to be able to duck this." Jerry looked over at Jenny and received a reassuring nod. Resigned to facing the inevitable attention, he said, "I guess you can call her." The look on his face was so forlorn that Jenny had to laugh. She squeezed his hand and said, "It won't be that bad." Where was a guy that could walk on water when you needed him? He feared that only such a feat would get the attention off him. He grinned and said, "That's right. You'll be standing right next to me." "Oh no you don't," replied Jenny shaking her head and releasing his hands to hold her hands up between them. Everyone around the table laughed with the exception of Dave. He was on a cell phone talking to his wife wearing a great big smile. Jerry wondered how she would reward her husband for getting the scoop on the story of the day. From the smile on his face, it was pretty clear that he was in for a good time that night. He waited until Dave hung up and said, "While we are waiting for Dave's wife to show up, I wanted to mention that there is an antique car show this Sunday. Jenny, Bill, and I are going down there and I wanted to invite the kids to come along. My next door neighbors Caddy is going to be shown there. My truck should be there." Shaking his head, Dave said, "We're going there. My wife is covering it." Alice said, "I don't see any problem with Larry going there with you guys." As the adults worked out the details about how to get all of the kids to the show, Jerry was quietly thinking about getting interviewed. He didn't like the idea of being on television. He didn't have long to think about it as a woman came rushing into the room. She spotted Dave and then came to a sudden stop when she saw Jerry. There was no doubt in her mind that Dave had found the unknown man. She came over and introduced herself. "Hello, I'm Helen Woodward. You must be Jerry Smith." "Nice to meet you Helen. This lovely lady across from me is Jenny." Helen barely acknowledged Jenny, keeping her attention focused on the large man sitting in front of her. She asked, "Where would you like to be when I interview you?" "How about here?" asked Jerry gesturing around at the table. "It would be best if you are standing," replied Helen. "You pick a spot," replied Jerry. Helen looked around the room as a man carrying a video camera entered. She turned to the cameraman and asked, "What do you think about shooting it against that wall?" "Need to stand about five feet in front of the wall," replied the man as he checked the light in the room. It took a few minutes for them to get set up for the interview. Jerry watched them with misgivings. The occasional word of encouragement from his girlfriend and son was the only thing that kept him from running out of the room. When they said they were ready, he stood up and walked over to stand beside Helen. Standing beside Jerry, Helen appeared to shrink. It was only at that moment that she realized just how big he was. Swallowing, she said, "You are huge." "Yeah. I often have that effect on people," replied Jerry with a frown. The cameraman interrupted, "I have to move the camera back a little to get all of him in the shot. I didn't realize that he was so big." They had to wait while the cameraman moved back. When he was ready, he said, "You can go now." Helen checked her appearance in a small mirror and asked the cameraman, "Am I good?" "Good," he replied. Holding a microphone in front of her, she said, "I'm standing next to Jerry Smith. He's the man who rescued the young woman in the car this afternoon by tearing the door off the car thereby allowing medical assistance to be rendered to her." Turning to Jerry with her news reporter smile on her face, she asked, "Would you like to tell us what happened?" Jerry said, "Well, I was right there when the accident happened. I'll tell you the truth, I had no idea what to do. I picked up my cell phone and called 911. When the police arrived, I waited to tell them what I witnessed. They were having difficulty getting access to the woman in the Toyota, so I went over and helped them." She said, "You say that you went over and helped them. The story is that you ripped the door off the car." "Yes, I tore the door off the car. That's the only thing that I knew how to do. I didn't know how to render any kind of first aid or anything." replied Jerry with a shrug. She looked at his hands and said, "I notice that your hands are bandaged." Jerry held his hands up and looked down at them as he turned them over slowly. The calluses around the knuckles turned into calluses along the length of his fingers. The white dressing contrasted with the rough skin. "I cut them on the jagged metal when I grasped the door. There was a bit of blood, but no real damage. These paws of mine can take a bit of punishment." "You seem to take being able to tear the door off a car as an everyday kind of thing," said Helen. He frowned and said, "If you hadn't noticed, I'm kind of large. Being able to do things like that comes with the territory." Helen asked, "So how does it feel to know that you saved the young woman's life?" "I don't know. I didn't really save her life. The paramedics did that." "Such modesty is rare today," replied Helen. "I'm not modest. I just didn't do anything special. Anyone else would have done the same thing if they were strong enough." "How do you feel about being a hero?" "To tell the truth, I don't think I am one," answered Jerry with a simple smile. He knew he was coming across as an ignorant monster, but didn't know how to change that impression. He looked at the camera and said, "Heroism is putting oneself in harms way for another. I was never in any danger. At best, I was helpful." Smiling, Helen said, "This is Helen Woodward talking with Jerry Smith, a modest giant of a man with a heart of gold." Jerry looked at her thinking to himself, 'A monster of a man with a belly full of rage.' The expression on his face did not reflect his thoughts. Instead, he looked thoughtful. After a second, she said, "Okay, cut it." The cameraman put down the camera and came over to Jerry. He said, "Nice interview." "Thanks." "You were outstanding," said Helen. "I've got to tell you that you came across really well." "Thank you," replied Jerry. He noticed his son smiling at him giving him an okay sign. Jerry winked back as though this was an everyday kind of thing. For a moment, he wondered what his ex- wife and his daughter would think of the interview. ------- Chapter 19 During the drive to the house, Jerry was worried about how Jenny would take to the neighborhood. Jenny was trying to put on a brave face at going into such a dangerous part of town. Bill sat in the back watching the scenery pass by totally oblivious to the tension in the front seat. Jerry said, "Don't worry about the neighbors. You've already met Martin and Abe at the store." Trying to hide her concern, Jenny smiled back and said, "I'm not worried." "Right," he replied knowing how worried she was. It was his opinion that her presence could trigger a riot once everyone saw her beauty. Hadn't the beauty of Helen started a war? Of course, that wasn't the kind of thing he could joke about with her. He pulled up in front of the house and parked at the curb. Getting out, he went around the car and opened the door for Jenny. She climbed out and then turned to lever the seat forward so that Bill could exit the car. When everyone was standing by the car, Jerry asked, "What do you say that we go next door for a minute?" Jenny frowned as she looked around the neighborhood taking in the run down houses. Curtains moved as the old people across the street watched what was happening. She watched as Bill looked over at the house next door and stared open mouthed at the black Caddy that was parked in the yard. He exclaimed, "Wow, look at the Caddy." The comment caused her to look over at the car. Jerry took her by the arm and led her over to the car. Martin had heard them pull up in the car and came running out of the house eager to show off his car. With a wink, he said, "Hey, you brought her over here to see the car? I'm impressed." Jerry explained, "Martin fixed up the Caddy. It wasn't anywhere near this nice when he started. He did a great job on it." Jenny looked at the car impressed with it. She exclaimed, "It looks brand new. I'd swear it was just driven off the showroom floor." Martin grinned and opened the door of the car. He said, "Take a look inside." As Jenny looked inside the car, Susan came out of the house and went over to Jerry. She hugged him and said, "Thanks for helping him fix up that car. I couldn't believe it when he drove up in it. I told him he had to park it in the yard so that no one would hit it by accident." Jenny had turned and looked at Susan when she had greeted Jerry in such a friendly fashion. The look she gave the black woman was not exactly nice and it was lucky that the recipient didn't notice. Jerry said, "Jenny, I'd like you to meet Susan. She's the mother of Abe and Martin. Susan, I'd like you to meet Jenny, my girlfriend." The reaction of Susan was immediate and honest. She turned to Jenny and hugged the woman just as strongly as she had hugged Jerry. Stepping back, she said, "So I finally got to meet the woman that caught Jerry." "Caught Jerry?" "Oh yeah. I'm sure there are hearts breaking all over town," replied Susan. She put an arm around the other woman and led her away talking softly. The kindness that Jerry had shown her sons had helped shape both of them into better men. He had served as a male role model in a part of town where that was rare. Martin smiled at the women walking away and said, "Oh my. Momma's gonna find out all the juicy gossip now." Jerry blushed and looked down at the ground. After a second, he looked up and asked, "Where's Abe?" "He's in the house." While Bill was busy looking at the Caddy, Jerry asked, "Would you mind getting him?" Martin slapped his forehead realizing that Bill didn't know about the surprise waiting for him in the living room. He said, "Sure. Give me a second." As Martin went into the house, Jerry went over to where Bill was checking out the car. Putting a hand on his son's shoulder, he said, "You helped do that. I'm assuming that you and Abe will want to fix up cars for yourselves." Bill looked up at his father and smiled at the thought of driving around in a classic car that he had restored himself. He replied, "I'd really like that, Dad." "Good. We'll talk to Abe and then start looking for a couple of cars. Next week, I take the Camaro in to be painted and the interior repaired." Abe came out of the house and joined them at the car. He was grinning from ear to ear knowing the surprise that waited for Bill in the house and couldn't wait to see the look on his friends face. They stood around discussing the Caddy and the offer by Jerry to rebuild their own cars. One of the retired men from across the street came over. Walking slowly, using a cane to support himself, he looked like a man on a mission. Jerry turned and saw the man approaching surprised to see one of the elderly people actually cross the street. He went over to the man and said, "Hello, I'm Jerry Smith." The old man worked his mouth for a second before answering, "I know who you is. Bin watching ya for a while." It wasn't exactly a friendly tone of voice, but Jerry smiled and said, "Okay." "Ya did good learnin' that boy how ta work on cars," replied the old man. While his words were nice, his voice wasn't friendly. He used his cane to momentarily point at the car. "She's a beauty." "Martin did a great job on it," Jerry replied looking over at the car for a minute. Almost reverently, Sharon came over with Jenny to greet the old man. Smiling, she said, "Mr. Atkins, It's so nice to see you." At least now Jerry knew the man's name. It seemed to him that the man didn't like him. He looked over at Jenny and winked, getting a smile from her in return. A deep rich voice rang out as Henry Buckman arrived, "Hello everyone." Mr. Atkins turned and looked at Henry. A grin came across his face at seeing the huge black man appear. With real respect in his voice, he answered, "Hello, Henry." "Mr. Atkins. Are you giving Jerry a hard time?" asked Henry knowing the old man very well. "Nah. Nevah thought that havin' a cracker here 'bouts id be good. He bin provin' me wrong," answered Mr. Atkins with begrudging respect. Jerry smiled at the assessment. Henry put a hand on Jerry's shoulder and replied, "He's a good role model for a number of the boys around here. He and I are trying to fill your boots." Mr. Atkins nodded and said, "Did a damn good job on dat car. Marty did good work." Henry asked, "Is there anything we can do for you?" "Kin I sit ba-hine the wheel, for a sec'," asked the old man looking over at the car with envy. In his day, black men drove cars like that to make the statement that they were just as important as whites even if that was all they could afford. Dress nice, drive a good car, and carry yourself with pride. Martin had been listening to the conversation. It was quite an honor to have Mr. Atkins notice you in a positive fashion. He came over and said, "I'd be proud to have you sit behind the wheel for a while." Watching Martin take the old man over to the car, Jerry smiled at the simple pleasures that had resulted from the young man's hard work. When the old man sat behind the wheel, it seemed to him that Mr. Atkins had sat up straighter and looked prouder. Henry said, "Look at him. He's so proud." Not knowing which man to whom Henry was referring, Jerry replied, "Martin is so proud of himself that he's about to burst. Mr. Atkins looks real dignified sitting behind the car." Henry laughed and said, "Sorry about Mr. Atkins. He doesn't care much for whites." "No problem," replied Jerry. He grinned and said, "I'd rather be disliked because I'm white than because of my size." The comment caused Henry to nearly double over in laughter at the statement. He knew exactly what his friend had meant and shared that same sentiment. He quipped, "Same here. Never heard anyone else say that they preferred racism." Jenny looked at both men in surprise, unable to believe that they would take that attitude. Sharon looked puzzled at the statement and the reaction of Henry. She complained, "I don't understand." Looking over at Sharon, Henry realized that she didn't understand. With a sudden seriousness that contrasted with his previous laughter, he answered, "If you are disliked because of race, that means there are still a lot of people that will like you. When you are disliked because of your size, nobody likes you. Even other big men leave you alone." Jenny looked from one man to the other. They were both very big strong men who looked threatening at first glance. That was particularly true when serious or angry. In a flash of insight, she realized just how tough life could be when you were large. She said, "That's so sad. I like big men." Sharon burst out laughing and said, "I like big men too, particularly when certain parts are big." Jenny, laughing at the comment, watched as Jerry and Henry both blushed at the comment. In his deep gruff voice, Jerry answered, "I wouldn't know about that." Mr. Atkins headed back across the street. On his way, he stopped by Henry and said, "Ya keep watchin' out for the kids, ya hear me." Henry answered, "Yes, sir. And you take care of yourself Mr. Atkins." Jerry said, "Nice to meet you, Mr. Atkins." The old man walked across the street grumbling to no one in particular. It was clear that he was of two minds about having Jerry in the neighborhood. He hadn't approved of how the big man had thrown the kid out of his house that one night. White men just weren't allowed to do that kind of thing to black kids. Trying to minimize the negative attitude of the old man, Martin said, "Don't mind him." "I do mind him," replied Jerry suddenly becoming the center of attention. He said, "He cares about the kids around here. That makes him a good guy in my book and you pay attention to the advice of good guys." A very pleased Henry burst out in a smile, his white teeth providing a great contrast with his dark skin. Jenny put an arm around her boyfriend amazed at how understanding he was. She wondered how long it would be before they took the relationship to the next level. The more she learned about him, the more she loved him. Martin was thoughtful as he walked along. He mumbled, "Never thought about it like that." Pleased to see that his friend had taken Mr. Atkins in stride, Henry said, "Yeah. That's a good way of putting it." It was getting dark and there was still the surprise waiting for Bill in the house. Jerry said, "Hey, let's go over to my place for some cokes." As the group trooped over to the house, Abe and Bill trailed along trading jokes about his weak arm. The boys were having a good time being themselves. Abe was having difficulty keeping the scooter a secret. Bill was happy about having had such a good day. Jerry opened the front door and ushered everyone into the house before Bill and Abe reached the porch. Abe stopped at the door to let Bill into the house first. Everyone watched as Bill came into the room and spotted the new scooter. Mouth open, he moved in slow motion towards the scooter as his eyes took in the sight. His heart raced as he realized that he had a new scooter. Suddenly he turned and launched himself at Jerry. Grabbing his father in a great big hug, he cried, "Thank you dad." There were times when Jerry really enjoyed being a father and the relationship that he had with his son. He put his arms around his son and hugged him tightly amazed at how his son had thought to thank him first before even touching the bike. He answered, "What are fathers for?" Pulling back, Bill wiped the tears from his eyes and answered, "Raising my allowance?" Abe laughed at the joke relieved that the emotional moment had passed for the most part. He felt a little tightness in his chest and didn't feel very manly. He looked around and noticed that Jenny and his mother were both wiping tears from their eyes. Even Henry was watching with a soft look on his face. Martin put a hand on his shoulder and, in a quiet voice, said, "Your friend is very happy." "Yeah," replied Abe. "I remember how happy you were when you got your scooter," remarked Martin. It was a timely reminder of how happy he had been. If his scooter had been lost under the circumstances in which Bill had lost his, he would have been just as emotional getting a new one. He smiled and said, "It's time for the Salt and Pepper scooter gang to take to the road." Everyone laughed at that announcement as Sharon replied, "Oh no you don't. No gang talk around this house." Jerry brought out a cake and a couple six packs of cola as Bill and Abe examined the new scooter. The evening turned into a party with the males in the living room talking about the bike, cars, and work. Jenny and Sharon went into the kitchen. Sitting at the table, Sharon asked, "Did you find the Polaroids, yet?" "No," replied Jenny wondering what the other woman talking about. "Oh, good. I don't want you to get the wrong idea about them," replied the black woman. "Wrong idea about what?" "My sister used to live in this house until she was locked out by the landlord. When Jerry moved in, he found a stack of Polaroid pictures of my sister in various states of undress. Some of them were very explicit." Jenny didn't know how to respond to the news. Reserving judgment, she said, "Oh." It was clear to Sharon that Jenny wasn't quite sure what to make of the news. She said, "Jerry tried to return them to me, thinking that they were pictures of me. You should have seen him standing there blushing and unable to look at me." Jenny very well knew the sight of Jerry being off-balance around women and she laughed at the image. Much warmer, she said, "So what did you do?" "I laughed and told him to keep the pictures." "You didn't?" asked a shocked Jenny. She would have taken the pictures away in a minute. "Oh yes I did. My big sister is a holier than thou bitch that never failed to use a chance to rub my youthful indiscretions in my face. I'll admit, I get off on the idea of a white guy jacking off over her pictures," replied Sharon much more defensive than she had intended. "Oh, so he still has them?" "As far as I know, he does," answered Sharon with a smile. The idea that Jerry was looking at naked pictures of another woman disturbed Jenny more than she was willing to admit. He hadn't attempted to sleep with her and yet he might be jacking off to the pictures of another woman. In a way, it hurt. She said, "I don't know how I feel about that." "Girl friend, look at it as an opportunity. Just think of how you can use those pictures to work him up into a real sexual frenzy." Sharon practically shivered at the idea and said, "Now I just have to find some way to get Henry to notice me." The idea of using pictures of another woman as a means of exciting Jerry moved her mind into unexplored territory. It was so bad, that she almost missed the statement about Henry. She leaned forward and said, "I've been working on Jerry for more than six months." "Working?" Looking at the door to see if anyone could hear her, she whispered, "We haven't even been to bed yet." Shocked, Sharon sat back and exclaimed, "Shit. I always thought that jokes about white folks being sexually repressed were just jokes. I'd have been all over him by now." Shrugging her shoulders, Jenny didn't know what to say. She knew that Jerry was very worried about touching her with his rough hands. To be honest, she worried about what it would be like to have his calluses rubbing her sensitive vagina. Confessing one of the barriers, she said, "He's worried about the roughness of his hands." She knew that his hands were rough, but that didn't slow Sharon down at all. She said, "His tongue ain't that rough. You better start banging him before some other young lady moves in on him." Jenny laughed in embarrassment, nodding her agreement at the black women's assessment. She wasn't all that comfortable discussing sex with another woman, but Sharon treated it like it was a normal act of life. She noticed the time and said, "Hey, we better get in there and turn on the television." "Why?" "To hear Jerry's interview," replied Jenny impatient to see him on television. It would be interesting to see how he looked on television. Wondering why Jerry would have given an interview on television that day, Sharon said, "Okay." The pair wandered into the living room. Without saying a word, Jenny went over to the television and turned it on just in time to catch the news teaser about Jerry. As everyone turned around to look at the television, Jerry asked, "Do we have to watch that?" Grinning at his father's discomfort, Bill said, "All those in favor of watching my dad's television interview say aye." Everyone, with a single exception, called out, "Aye." "All those opposed say nay." Jerry's lone voice called out, "Nay." "The ayes have it," declared Bill with a laugh that was joined by everyone. By the time everyone calmed down the news story had started. It started with Helen interviewing the witnesses that had seen him rip the door from the car. There was a picture of the car and the door lying on the ground where he had thrown it. Then she interviewed the paramedic that had treated him. Finally, they ran the interview she had with him. Watching himself on television was a very strange experience for Jerry. The contrast in the physical build of the petite reporter with his large build was jarring. She looked like a little girl standing beside him. His greatest fear was that he would come across as a stupid gorilla, but to his surprise he sounded like a thoughtful man. After the interview was over, Jerry went to the television and turned it off. Henry said, "Nice job. It helps give us big guys some good press." "Thanks," replied Jerry. The boys and Sharon had watched the interview open-mouthed. They stared at the image of the mangled car and the twisted bent door lying on the ground. It looked like Jerry had caused more damage to the door than the accident. When it was over, Abe looked at Jerry and said, "You really kicked ass on that door." Jerry laughed at the comment and said, "I had better take Jenny to her car so that she can get home." Everyone took the hint, but it still took five minutes before the house was cleared. Turning to Bill, Jerry asked, "Do you want to go with us?" Glancing at the hopeful expression on Jenny's face, Bill smiled and answered, "No. I need to get to bed." Jerry took Jenny out to the car and held the door open for her. She climbed into the seat and waited for him to get in the driver's seat. Once there, Jerry started the car and slowly pulled away from the curb. As he drove around the potholes, Jenny said, "Bill had a pretty nice day. You should be proud of yourself for making it that great." Embarrassed at the comment, Jerry replied, "I did what I could." "Sharon and I talked about you," said Jenny with a smile as she thought about some of the comments the black woman had said. Wondering what they could possibly talk about, he asked, "What did she tell you?" "Oh, she told me about some pictures that you found." Jerry almost lost control of the car. Slowing down, he turned to look at her and asked, "What?" "She told me about the pictures you have of her sister." Shocked, he could hardly form a coherent reply, but at least his face, burning a bright red, was hidden in the dark of the car. "Why?" "So that I wouldn't get upset when I found them," replied Jenny with a smile. He wondered why Sharon thought that Jenny would find them. They were in his house, locked in the room where he kept the tools. Then he realized that Sharon had assumed that Jenny would be spending the night some time in the future. "Oh. Did she say anything else?" Curious how he would react to some of the other things that Sharon had said, she answered, "Yeah. She said that I had better drag you into bed before some other woman beat me to it." "What?" asked Jerry, his voice breaking. He stopped the car at the corner realizing that he was about to run a stop sign. The last thing that he wanted was to be in an accident like the one that morning. He turned to look at Jenny and repeated his question. "What?" "I only told you that because I think she's right," replied Jenny with a smile. Stunned, he stared at her wondering if she was playing with him. Clenching the steering wheel in his hands, he said, "I know that women don't enjoy sex. You don't have to do that to keep me around." "Pardon?" "Look, you don't have to sleep with me to keep me around. I don't want to impose my urges on you," replied Jerry in a tone that bordered on pleading. His ex-wife had told him how horrible sex was for women. After years of marriage, he had come to believe that sex was degrading to women and that they only did it because they had to do it. He couldn't even remember the last time that he had sex, but he didn't want to lose this relationship because he couldn't keep his cock in his pants. "Impose your urges?" asked Jenny shocked at his statements. "Yes, I don't want to force you into sex," replied Jerry. "Now you listen here, Jerry Smith. I don't know what your ex-wife told you about sex, but most women enjoy it a lot. I know because I'm one of those women that enjoy it. I've been waiting for you to put the move on me for months and was beginning to worry that you didn't find me attractive," she said with much more passion than she had intended. Even as the words came out of her mouth, she was wondering why she was telling him that. "Are you serious?" She wanted to scream at him to make him understand. Instead, she ripped her shirt open, popping the top three buttons in the process. Looking at him, she said, "Look at my nipples. They're hard and erect at just the idea of you kissing them." It would have been a much more effective demonstration of her feelings if she hadn't been wearing a bra. As it was, a shudder went through his body as he stared at her bra-encased breasts. He reached out and caressed her breasts with the back of his hand, as it was the least rough part of it. The hard nubbin of her nipple was obvious. A sob fought its way up his throat as he said, "You're serious." With a tender look, she took his hand in hers and held it to her breast. Her voice soft, she said, "Yes, I'm serious. On our next date, I want a little time alone with you." He couldn't keep his eyes from her and nodding, emotionally numb at the implications. The car started to slowly creep into the intersection. Jenny said, "You had better pay attention to the car. Take me to my car and we'll talk there." Jerry looked out the windshield and realized that half of the car had drifted into the street. Pushing the brake, he said, "Oh. Maybe you had better drive." She took his hand from her breast and put it on the steering wheel. She said, "Drive me to my car." Jerry turned as much of his attention to driving as he could. Operating the car only got about a third of his attention, as most of it was spent reviewing the conversation. He glanced over at Jenny. She was holding the shirt closed as they drove through the city streets. It was tempting just to look at her, but the other cars on the road demanded that he pay attention to the other drivers. He pulled into the parking lot of the strip mall where the Chinese Buffet was located. He stopped next to her car and parked it. Hands shaking, he turned off the engine and looked around the lot in the silence that followed. Their cars were the only ones in the parking lot. After taking a deep breath, Jenny said, "Lean your seat back." "Pardon?" "Lean your seat back." Wondering what she wanted to do, he wanted to question her. Instead, he tilted the seat back. She pushed him back into the chair. Her shirt swung open, but she didn't pay any attention to that. Instead, she slipped a hand down to his hard cock and rubbed it gently through his pants. She moaned as she traced its outline with a finger. Jerry was too scared to move, afraid that if he did anything that she would flee. With a quaver in his voice, he said, "You don't..." She covered his mouth before he had a chance to say anything else. With her other hand, she undid his belt. It took both hands to undo his pants and unzip the zipper. She finally freed his erect cock. Wrapping a hand around it, she stroked the length of it with slow languid movements. Jerry was close to hyperventilating, as he had never had a woman do this to him. His body shook under her touch and he moaned, "I'm going to come." She kept up her smooth strokes along his cock, giving more attention to the head of his cock. It was amazing to her that such a big strong man was totally under the control of her hand. She wondered what he would do if she sucked his cock, but chose to save that treat for a later time. Jerry cried out as tears welled up in his eyes. When his hips thrust up off the seat, she covered the end of his cock with her other hand. It quickly filled with his come. When he started to move his hand down to stop her, she let go of his cock and sat back in her chair. She wiped the come off her palm onto her shirt, knowing that it was a lost cause since she had ripped the buttons off it. Leaning over, she kissed him with a gentle touch. Still shaking from the experience, he said, "I love you." "I love you, too," replied Jenny wondering if it was post-orgasmic bliss that was talking or if he really meant it. It took two attempts to sit up and raise the seat so that he could look at her. His cheeks were wet with tears as he said, "You didn't have to do that." "I wanted to do that," replied Jenny as he took his hand and kissed the calluses on his knuckles. After a minute, she stopped and looked up at him. She said, "I have to go home now, but I hope to see you for lunch on Thursday." Jerry was speechless and stared at her with his mouth frozen open and wide eyes unable to believe that she had wanted to jack him off. She took advantage of his open mouth and kissed him, slipping her tongue into his mouth. That woke him up and he responded with a passionate kiss. After the kiss, she gave his cock a good bye pat and, with a smile on her face, said, "You're a lovely cock." She left his car and got into hers while holding her shirt closed. Jerry watched her drive off. He was still in shock at what she had done for him. After five minutes, he fastened his pants. The drive home seemed to take fly by and he found himself entering the house without really knowing how he got there. After a quick shower, he lay in bed thinking about the events of the day. It had been a busy day and tomorrow would come early. The door to Bill's bedroom opened, breaking the silence of the night. In a soft voice, Bill called out, "Thanks for the best day of my life, Dad." Jerry smiled and replied, "What are Dads for?" "Raising my allowance." The answer floated into the room as the door closed. ------- Chapter 20 Sunday morning Jerry drove to city hall with Bill and Jenny in the car. Restored cars lined the road on the side of the street on which the city hall stood. The street was closed to allow people to walk around and look at the cars. It was hard to see the cars because of the crowds of people surrounding them. "Lots of people here," said Jerry looking down the street. This was his first time to come to one of these events and he was rather impressed with the turnout. An officer stopped him and asked, "Are you showing this car?" "It's not done yet," replied Jerry confused by the question. "We're here to look at the other cars." "Okay, then you need to turn right and find a spot to park." Jerry followed the officer's directions and it was a couple of blocks later that he found a spot where he could park the Camaro. Pulling in, he said, "I'm sorry. It looks like we have a bit of a walk ahead of us." From the back seat, Bill said, "We can always go back and show off this car." As Jenny frowned at the idea, Jerry laughed and said, "Not yet. I don't want to show it off until after it is finished." He got out of the car and held the door open for Jenny. She exited and got out of the way as Bill climbed out of the back. Shutting the door, Jerry put an arm around Jenny. With a smile, he said, "Let's go find the old truck and see what kind of attention Martin's car is getting." The three of them walked up the street. Jenny occasionally bumped her hip against Jerry's hip just to remind him that she was there. Bill moved ahead and then waited for them to catch up. He was excited and wondered how he was going to find his friends in the middle of the crowd of people up ahead. When they reached the street, they found a booth set up in front of the steps of city hall with a number of trophies. Stopping to look at the trophies, Jenny asked, "What's with the trophies?" "I have no idea," answered Jerry looking around to see if he could spot anyone. A woman came over to the booth and took a seat behind the table. Jerry asked, "What's with the trophies?" "The cars are going to be judged around noon. We'll hand out trophies for the best cars being shown here." Bill looked at his father and said, "Wouldn't it be great if you or Martin got a trophy?" Jerry laughed at the idea and said, "That would be nice, but I wouldn't count on it." The three of them continued on down the walk, checking out some of the cars. There were a couple of early model Fords. One of them really shined and outclassed all of the others there. Jerry bent down and asked Bill, "Do you want to fix up one of those?" "No way. That's too slow," replied Bill. He appreciated the look, but it wasn't a practical car. They went down the street looking at the vintage cars parked along the road. Jenny found it fascinating that people took such care to restore these cars. Occasionally, one of the owners would tell a story about the car. The stories ranged from the history of its manufacture, tales of the owners, and the work that was performed to restore it. Most of them had a series of photographs that showed the car through various phases of restoration. After leaving one of the more talkative owners, Jenny said, "I had no idea about this whole culture of people that love these old cars." Laughing, Jerry said, "Have you seen any that you would love to own?" "Several," replied Jenny with a smile. There was a large crowd around one of the cars and Jerry pointed over to it. "Let's check that one out." "Must be pretty nice considering all of the people around it," remarked Jenny. She had already noticed that the nicer cars had larger crowds of people around them. They made their way over and found Martin in the middle of the crowd. He spotted them and shouted, "Hey! Come on over here." Together, the three of them made their way through the crowd and found Martin's Caddy at the center of attention. Jenny couldn't believe how sharp the car looked. In the morning light, the Caddy looked even better than that evening when she had first seen it. Jerry said, "Looks like the Caddy is a hit." "Sure is," replied Martin. He looked around at all the people and said, "I can't believe how many people are checking out that car. Makes me wish I had taken a picture of it before we started working on it." Jenny snuggled against her boyfriend and said, "That's a sharp looking car. After seeing it, I can understand why they compare all of the best things to the Cadillac." Hugging her back to let her know that he was thinking of her, Bill asked, "Where's Abe?" Pointing over to a tent, Martin answered, "He's over there getting something to eat." "Great. I can't wait to introduce him to my friends from school," replied Bill. Turning to his father, he asked, "Can I get Abe and look for my friends?" Jerry checked his watch and saw that it was ten thirty. Nodding his head, he answered, "I'll meet you here at noon." "Great," replied Bill as he slipped through the crowd in search of people his own age. Jenny laughed at his excitement as she watched him leave. Jerry and Jenny talked with Martin for a little while and then headed out to find Jerry's truck. An old time rock and roll band was setting up and the sign said that music was to begin at eleven. Knowing how all women loved to dance, Jerry said, "Maybe we can come back and dance a little to the oldies." "You dance?" she asked surprised by the suggestion. Laughing at her surprise, he answered, "Not really, but I can try to flail around like everyone else." She giggled at the image that his comment invoked in her mind. She replied, "I hope they play the twist. Everyone can dance to that." Feeling happy, he picked her up in his hands and swung around holding her out at arm's length. The ease with which he did that took her breath away. More than that, it made her wet between the legs. When he set her down, she threw herself into his arms and said, "I love it when you do things like that." He hugged her having no idea what effect his action had on her and said, "Let's find my truck." They walked down the center of the street passing by a number of cars that were clearly not theirs. There was another Ford F-100, but it was a different year and looked rather plain. Jenny stopped and asked, "Is this yours?" "No, wrong year," replied Jerry. "I hope yours looks better than that one," she commented. It really was rather plain and didn't seem to be much of an improvement over the truck before it been painted. They continued up the street and started to walk past a rather large crowd gathered around a car, not intending to look at it. Jerry said, "I don't think a pick up truck would attract that kind of crowd." He stopped when he heard someone calling out his name. Turning around, he didn't see who it was. Pointing over to the crowd, Jenny said, "There's some guy over there waving at you." He looked in the direction that she was pointing and saw Eddie waving to him. He said, "That's Eddie. He's the guy that I hired to do the paint job on the truck." They went over as Eddie was shouting, "Everyone clear a path here! Out of the way." As the crowd parted before the yells of Eddie, the pickup truck came into view. Jerry stopped as he looked at his truck. Jenny put a hand over her mouth to cover it as she stared incredulous at the truck. The body had been turned into a canvas, with storm clouds threatening rain upon the ground below. It was a dark picture with subtle shades of black, deep blue and dark purple defining the clouds. The bottom of the clouds glowed as lightning lit them. Looking at it, you could almost hear the low rumble of Thunder generated by the storm. Ground level was portrayed with dark on dark giving hints of trees bent in the wind, rough waters on a lake, and grass blown flat in an open field. The effect was three- dimensional, making it appear that the clouds extended into the truck. It was magical. Jerry slowly walked around the truck, taking in the details of the paint job. Across the rear of the truck was the word, "Thunder." Beneath that were the signatures, in a deep red, identifying Jerry Smith as the restorer, the paint shop, the metal plating shop, and the auto detailing company. He reached the open door and took in the interior of the truck. It was gorgeous with a soft gray seat cover. He ran his hand over the fabric amazed at the texture. He looked in the back at the truck bed. The wood had a brilliant sheen. "It's gorgeous," said Jenny, still nestled in his arm, as she stared in awe at the transformation. Before, she had been embarrassed to be seen in the patchwork truck because it looked bad. Now, she would be embarrassed because the truck would be the center of attention every where they went. Almost afraid to touch it, Jerry whispered, "Thunder, you are great." Eddie had walked around the truck following behind them watching the reaction of his client with a grin. For years he had wanted to paint that particular scene and the opportunity to do it had been too hard to resist. It pleased him to know that his creative vision was appreciated. Jerry turned around and extended a hand to Eddie as he said, "That's an amazing job you did. You captured the spirit of Thunder beyond anything that I could have imagined." "I'm glad you like it." "Like it? I love it," replied Jerry. The truck had been his therapy to rebuild himself. Seeing the truck in such excellent condition made him wonder if he hadn't improved to the same degree. He hugged Jenny closer overcome with emotion. Smiling, Eddie asked, "Would you like to watch the car while I go get some more business cards? I'm almost out of them already." "Sure," replied Jerry. Almost immediately he was besieged with questions about the restoration. Handing out cards of the businesses that had done the final work, he did his best to answer their questions. Jenny went over to the tent and bought some soft drinks for them to sip while talking to the crowd. She couldn't believe the interest surrounding the truck and regretted her previous disdain for it. While she was returning to the truck, she ran into Bill and his friends. She waved them down and called, "Bill! Come over here." The kids gathered around her, a little irritated at having their explorations interrupted. She recognized the impatience of youth and decided to keep it brief. Pointing over at the large crowd, she said, "Your dad's truck is over there. You might want to check it out." Bill looked over in the direction that she had pointed and said, "Sure. We'll be there shortly." Enjoying herself, she leaned down and, giving him a wink, said, "It's a real chick magnet." Blushing, Bill listened to his friends tease him about how he needed every advantage that he could get to attract girls. He replied, "We'll be over there soon." She smiled and walked back to the truck. For the next hour, she sipped her coke and answered questions about the truck. It amazed her that she was in the middle of a car show. The variety of people that stopped by was tremendous. Old couples recalling the cars of their youth, middle aged couples longing for the distinctive styles of the past, and young kids interested in cars came stopped and looked at the truck. The questions people asked her were wide- ranging and varied. It was just a little before noon when the kids showed up to see the truck. The reaction among them was one of stunned silence. They had all seen the truck the previous week when Jerry had dropped off Bill before school. None of them could believe the transformation. Abe was stunned, finding that all he could do was stare at the car. He recalled his earlier words that the truck should be shot and put out of its misery. He went over to Jerry and nudged him. In a voice that admitted a change a heart, he asked, "Can I borrow the truck for my prom?" Jerry, laughing, answered, "Wait until you finish your car." "That's way too much work," replied Abe with a smile. Winking, he said, "You know me, I'm lazy. I'm thinking about a career in the porn business." "Nobody would pay to see that skinny ass of yours," replied Jerry in a teasing tone of voice. Abe looked over at the truck and said, "It's really sharp looking. Jenny was right. It is a babe magnet." Jerry looked over at Jenny with a smile. He had found her without a babe magnet and that felt good. Their discussion was interrupted by the arrival of Helen and her cameraman. Woody had gone and brought them over to see the truck. Jerry turned around and said, "Hello, Helen. Nice to see you." Smiling at him, she replied, "Hello, Jerry. Woody was telling me that this was your truck." "Yeah," replied Jerry. "We're taping some of the nicer cars here. Would you mind if we film your car?" Jerry had forgotten that she was working. The reminder of the fact made him uncomfortable, as it would be the second time that his privacy was intruded upon by the press. Pride in his car forced him to answer, "Sure. Go ahead." He watched as the cameraman struggled to film the car in a fashion that showed it in its full glory. As the man worked, Helen said, "I really appreciate the interview you gave me earlier this week. I'm afraid that as a working mother, I seldom get an exclusive interview. Usually, I'm covering flower shows, boat shows, or events at the zoo." The past week had been strange, as he was recognized just about everywhere he went. He didn't like the attention, feeling that he hadn't deserved it. At least the attention was positive for a change and, all in all, the attention hadn't been that bad. Shrugging, he said, "I hope it helped your career." "It did," replied Helen with a smile. She added, "You are a rather remarkable man. I look at the truck and can't believe that anyone could do something like that. You rescue someone and don't get a swelled head. I can tell you are a great father and, based on the looks that your girlfriend gives you, I'd say that you are a pretty good boyfriend." Jerry grunted and said nothing about her assessment. He didn't see it the same way. There was a still a rage within that could break loose and wreck havoc. The episode with the car had been a case where he had been able to call upon it in a positive manner, but that was an exception. Jenny replied for him. "He doesn't trust himself with his strength." "You don't say," replied Helen as she looked at Jerry while speculating what that meant. She decided that the large man was much more complex than she had initially considered. Eddie returned with a large stack of business cards and looked at the cameraman taking pictures of the car. With a grin, he stepped over to Jerry and said, "Consider the paint job free. This kind of publicity would have cost me a fortune." "Thanks. I'll be bringing Lightning over to be painted tomorrow." A surprised look crossed Eddie's face as he asked, "Lightning? What kind of car is it?" "A Camaro," answered Jerry. "Sweet." Eddie was already picturing in his mind what he would do with the Camaro. If the quality of work was the same on it as on the truck, it would be an outstanding restoration. Thunder and Lightning, what a pair of paint jobs that would be. Looking around, Jerry realized that he had lost track of the kids in all of the excitement. He asked, "Jenny, do you know where the kids are?" "Yeah, they followed Abe over to look at a couple of restored motorcycles. Arnie took them over there." It took a minute for him to recall that Arnie was Sandy's father. It was nice to know that other parents were watching out for the kids as well. He replied, "I didn't see him." "He was across the way at the 49 Ford. Sandy said that they would come back after checking out the motorcycles." "They have a Ford 49 over there?" The news that someone had restored a 49 sparked the interest of Jerry. That was the classic car that saved the Ford Motor company in 1949. Looking across the street, he could make out the car. It was a splendid example of the 49 and he wondered how his son would feel about restoring one of them. Jenny smiled at the interest of the males in the cars around her. She wondered how Sandy was surviving the day surrounded by car mad teenage boys. She slipped away and found the kids all looking at motorcycles. Abe was very excited while Sandy was completely bored. Jenny leaned over to Sandy and whispered in her ear, "Would you like to get away for a bit and drink something while listening to the music?" "You bet," replied Sandy relieved at the chance to get away from all the car talk. Jenny asked, "Boys, can I borrow Jenny for a little girl talk?" Attentions fixed on the motorcycles, the boys answered, "Sure." Jenny and Sandy headed over to the tent where hotdogs and hamburgers were cooking over charcoal. The smell was enough to make a person hungry. After glancing at each other and recognizing the look of hunger, Jenny asked, "You want to share a burger?" "Yeah, that would be great. But if I eat a whole one, I won't be able to eat with the boys," replied Sandy as she moved to the beat of the music from the grandstand on the other side of the street. They waited in line and got a burger with two soft drinks. There was a table off in a corner that was empty and they made their way to it. Sandy's clothes hid her figure, but Jenny could tell that there was an attractive young woman under it. With shoulder length brown hair, green eyes, and a ready smile, the girl probably had boys swarming around her. Sitting down, Jenny said, "Three guys and one girl. You must get a lot of attention." "Not really. The guys and I are friends. I'm afraid that the other boys in school are afraid of getting beaten by Bill and Larry if I get upset. Of course, no one is as quick with a barb as Woody. I have no idea where he got his sharp tongue, but when he gets mad the other person is ripped to shreds," replied Sandy. "So is there a particular boy that you are interested in seeing?" Jenny cut the burger in half and handed one of the halves over to Sandy. Accepting the burger, Sandy blushed. Her face turned a bright red as she answered, "Yeah, there's this one boy." "Do the other boys know that?" asked Jenny curious about the kind of relationship that existed among them. She took a bite of her burger. "No! They'd tease me forever." "You guys tease each other about generalities, but when one of you needs help everyone is there for them. Jerry told me about the first day when Bill came back to school with his broken arm. He was so proud of all of you." Jenny had heard the story several times from him and it never changed. The kids stuck up for his son on the worst day of the kid's life. "You really like Bill's father, don't you?" "Yeah, I do. I've never met anyone that is so nice to me and others around him." "I didn't trust him at first. I thought he was a bully and I was afraid that he would hurt Bill," replied Sandy. She recalled the first day when she had met Jerry. He looked like a monster. His deep gruff voice grated like sandpaper on her ears. The comment made Jenny laugh. She looked down at the last bite of her burger as she countered, "Jerry doesn't trust himself. He's terrified of being a bully and hurting someone." "I realize that now." She still wasn't sure what she thought of Jerry. The story about ripping the door off the car was a mixture of frightening strength and good hearted humility. The way he told the story was just as contradictory. What he said was incredible, but the delivery was so matter of fact. She asked, "Are you going to marry him?" "I don't know," replied Jenny with a sigh. She wondered if she was going to have to ask him to marry her at the rate the relationship was developing. "For a big man, he isn't very assertive," remarked Sandy. The statement took Jenny by surprise. It was a very accurate assessment of her boyfriend and that a fifteen-year-old girl was able to come to that conclusion was remarkable. She smiled and said, "You're very perceptive." "Thank you." Their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of Jerry with the rest of the boys. He stopped by the table and noticed the empty plate that had held their burger. Shaking his head, he picked up the empty plate and said, "Wish that people would clear the table when they leave. Would you two like a burger?" Smiling at him, Jenny replied, "I think we'll share one, if that would be okay with you." "No problem. Let's see, that's seven burgers, five cokes, and eight french-fries." He looked around at everyone to see if there were any objections. "Uh, that should be six burgers," replied Sandy as she counted people. There were seven of them around the table. "Seven," he said, "Martin is coming over to join us." "Oh," replied Sandy feeling a little embarrassed. She had never heard of Martin before and wondered if Bill had an older brother or something that she hadn't met. Noticing her reaction, he said, "Sorry, Martin is Abe's big brother and is showing a car across the way. I should have said something about including him in the count." "No problem," replied Sandy. She turned to look at Abe who appeared to be proud of his brother. Meeting the young black kid was a new experience for her since her school was entirely white with a few oriental kids in the mix. In her opinion, he was vulgar because of the language that he used. Other than that, she thought he was a nice kid. The difference in age between Abe and her group made it harder to judge if he was as vulgar as he appeared. Jerry asked, "Who's going to help me carry the food back to the table?" Abe was the first one to volunteer, followed closely by Bill and Larry. The four of them left to stand in line to get burgers. A few minutes later, Martin showed up at the table and said, "Hello, Jenny. Where's that scrawny guy you're dating?" The comment brought laughter to the rest of the table, particularly Sandy. Jenny answered, "He's getting food." "I better go over and help him carry it back to the table," replied Martin. "No need. He has lots of volunteers already." Jenny gestured to a chair and said, "Take a seat. This is Sandy and Woody, two friends of Bill. Everyone, this is Martin." As he took a seat, Martin said, "Nice to meet all of you." "So how is the show going for you?" A bright wide smile spread across his face as he answered, "Great. That lady that interviewed Jerry took pictures of my car. She said that it might be on the news tonight." Woody looked up and said, "That's my mom." "She's a real nice lady," replied Martin. He looked across the table at Woody and winked as he said, "Of course, mom's are always nice until they tell you to clean up your room." Woody laughed and said, "Ah, she's not that bad." Martin got serious for a minute and said, "I think I found a buyer for the Caddy. It's so hard to let go of it after all the work that Jerry and I put into it." Able to see that the young man was not particularly enthusiastic about selling the car, Sandy asked, "You're selling it?" "That was the idea the whole time we were working on it. I was going to sell it for enough to buy a new car for my mother and use the rest of the money to restore another car for me. It's not really a practical car for driving around town. It's just too big." Martin hadn't realized just how much of himself went into the car. "So will you buy a car for your mother?" asked Sandy surprised by the idea that the man would buy a car for his mother. She didn't know that the car was his mother's originally. "Yeah, it's actually her caddy. I'm getting more than we thought we would get. I'm thinking about picking up two cars and another old clunker to fix," replied Martin. He wasn't sure what kind of cars he would get, but all they needed was transportation. "Speaking of your mother, where is she?" asked Jenny. "She said she was coming down here with Henry," answered Martin with a smile. Henry was a very respected man in the neighborhood and the fact that his mother was interested in him was, as far as he was concerned, a positive thing. He winked and said, "Might have a daddy soon." "And you are okay with that?" Martin shrugged and said, "It'll be good to have a man around the house. Actually, I guess she and Abe would move in with him since he owns his own place. I'll probably keep the house until I'm ready to move on." "Why stay there?" asked Jenny. That he would want to stay in a slum area struck her as odd. "This scrawny white neighbor of mine recommended getting in a good financial position before moving. After watching him, I've come to the conclusion that he's right." Martin had come to value Jerry's opinion on things. Every time he referred to Jerry as the scrawny guy, a titter of laughter broke out around the table. The group of four returned to the table carrying plates of burgers, fries, and soft drinks. Their arrival was met with lots of activity as the food and drink was passed around. Jerry sat down between Martin and Jenny. Reaching over to pat Martin on the stomach, he said, "Getting fat there, buddy. I don't know if you should be eating a burger." Martin was about as thin as a man his height could be without being sick. He laughed and replied, "Right." Silence settled around the table as they ate. As the food disappeared, the conversation around the table returned. Abe said, "I think I would rather restore a motorcycle than a car." Jerry and Martin both looked over at Abe in surprise. Martin asked, "Why a motorcycle?" "I like riding the scooter and feel that I would love riding a motorcycle," replied Abe. Jerry asked, "What does your mother say?" "Uh," stuttered the young man, "I haven't asked her." Knowing that his mother would worry about him riding a motorcycle, Jenny said, "You better tell her before you start getting a bike." Grinning, Martin said, "Don't you know that blacks don't ride motorcycles? We leave that to crazy white folks." Everyone, with the exception of Abe, laughed at the comment. The conversation turned to Bill when Abe asked, "Did you see any cars that you would like to restore?" Shrugging, Bill replied, "I saw a couple of them that I liked. There's something that I find rather attractive about those early fifties cars. They look big without any straight lines. I like the rounded corners." Returning from lunch, Martin was surprised that his car had been awarded one of the trophies. He walked down the way to let Jerry know, only to find Jerry coming his way to tell him that he had won a trophy for his car. ------- Chapter 21 Jenny looked over to her left at the sight of Jerry driving the pickup truck. She wanted to slide over on the seat to sit closer to him, but that was impossible. On the seat between them was the trophy that had been won by the truck. He was so proud of the trophy and rightfully so. It represented the culmination of a lot of work. She knew that Jerry tended to think of this truck as an extension of him. Rebuilding the truck had been therapy, with each improvement of the truck representing an improvement in him. She had witnessed his anger once and it had scared her, but she had seen him come to peace with his strength. The differences between the man that she had met that first day in her restaurant and the one sitting next to her now were very subtle. At a stoplight, she looked out her window at a car stopped next to them. It was obvious to her the guy was jealous. The envy with which the driver was looking at the truck was written all over his face. A woman in another car was really looking it over as though trying to appraise the owner. It almost made her laugh as she remembered thinking at one time that she was embarrassed at being in the truck because it looked so bad. Now she could see half the men would have traded cars with them in a second. She turned to Jerry and said, "This truck is causing quite a stir." "I noticed that," he replied with a very happy smile. He had seen more to the truck than anyone else had when he had first gotten it. Now people could see his vision and they liked it. He knew that they liked it and had awarded his vision with a trophy. "Quite a few people have been pointing at us." "It was nice of Woody's parents to take Bill to the movies and dinner this evening," said Jenny. That had been the luckiest thing that had happened to her and a plan had immediately come to mind when Bill asked if he could go with Woody. Jerry was going to take her home and then she was going to take him to bed, at least that was her plan. Unaware of her plans for him, Jerry asked, "What do you want to do for dinner?" Her plans hadn't included dinner and she scrambled to update them to take that into account. Grasping for straws, she decided that they could stop by the grocery store and get the fixings for a simple meal to cook at her house. She asked, "How about I cook some pork chops, baked potatoes, and corn?" "Sounds good," he answered, "but I don't want to make you go through all that trouble." "It's no trouble," she countered, "we can stop by the store and pick up the ingredients. I'll start the potatoes and we can relax for a while." It seemed very reasonable to Jerry and he said, "Sounds good to me. I just don't want you to go to all of that trouble on my behalf." Exasperated that his consideration was going to foil her plans, she replied, "It's no problem." Jerry pulled into a shopping center that she pointed out to him and parked the car. He took the time to park a good distance away from all other cars in the lot. The last thing he wanted was for the truck to get dented the first day he was driving it around. He apologized, "I'm sorry about parking so far from the door." "I understand," she replied with a smile. She understood that it would be shame for the truck to get dented on its maiden day in public. She wasn't about to admit that it killed some of the time that she wanted to use for other purposes. Together, they went into the store and walked through the aisles, holding hands and looking for the ingredients for the meal. Jerry carried the basket as Jenny dragged him straight to the aisles where the items she wanted were stocked. It didn't take long to locate the pork chops, the potatoes, and a large can of kernel sweet corn. She didn't run, but she did move at a fast pace. In fact, it took longer to pay for the goods than it took to locate them. The drive back to the house took five minutes and Jenny was very relieved to see that they had made it in such good time. On entering, she turned on the lights despite the fact that it was still light outside and closed the curtains to the living room. She didn't want the neighbors to see what she was going to be doing in the house this evening. Jerry stood just inside the door holding the bag of groceries, shifting from foot to foot, uncomfortable at her actions. He recalled the handjob that she had given him the other night. Looking at the closed windows, he wondered if she didn't want the neighbors to see him and felt hurt at the thought that she might be ashamed of him. Ignoring his discomfort, Jenny said, "Okay, let's put those groceries in the kitchen. I'll start the baked potatoes." Jerry put the bag down and handed her the two potatoes from the bag. Grabbing them, she went over to the sink and scrubbed them with fast staccato motions. Jerry noticed her rapid nervous motions and said, "Hey, relax. We have plenty of time to eat before I have to go pick up Bill." Searching for an excuse, she said, "I usually work fast when I'm preparing food. Remember that I own a restaurant." "Oh, okay." Jerry looked around the kitchen impressed with its layout. Compared to his kitchen, it was crammed with stuff. He went over and examined the blender wondering what use it was to her. He turned in time to see Jenny put the potatoes, wrapped in foil, into the oven. Twisting a knob, she turned on the oven by selecting the baking temperature. She smiled and said, "They have to stay there for forty-five minutes or more before they are done. Why don't you go in the living room while I get into something more comfortable?" "Sure," replied Jerry although he was confused about what could be more comfortable than blue jeans and a blouse. Returning to the living room, he looked at the closed curtains feeling certain that she was embarrassed that the neighbors would see them together. Trying to put the thought out of his mind, he sat down on one side of the couch, taking up almost half of it despite the fact that it was intended for three people. When Jenny returned, his mind shut down at the sight of her. All thoughts that she was ashamed of him to the point that she didn't want the neighbors to see him fled his mind. She didn't want the neighbors to see what she was wearing. The robe she wore came down to the middle of her thigh and it was clear that she wasn't wearing much, if anything, underneath it. He sat up straight and tried to say something, but his mouth didn't seem to obey the signals from his brain. All that came out of his mouth was, "ah." She smiled at him, enjoying his reaction to her, and asked, "Do you like?" "Uh." "You don't like?" She teased him by turning in place, giving a view of her from all angles. His mouth was open and his eyes were wide. He rubbed his hands on his pant legs to remove the sweat from his palms. His face was flushed, not from anger but from desire. "Uh," answered Jerry with his heart beating, the pulses of blood pounding in his ears. His mouth still wasn't working correctly. It was amazing how difficult it was for him to say yes. His cock tried to stand up at attention, but his jeans were in the way. "Is it too much?" She lifted the hem of the robe up a couple of inches. "Uh," replied the big man having to bend a little to accommodate his erection. It was getting painful and he wanted to adjust himself, but was afraid to do so. "Do you think I should take it off?" asked Jenny enjoying his reaction. She had never had such an effect on a man before. "Ah," he squeaked. His forehead broke out in a sweat as his lips went numb and throat dried up. "You do think I should take it off?" She played with the small tie that held the robe closed. "Please..." It took some effort, but he was able to get out the first word of his response. He wasn't able to get out the rest of the sentence. He had wanted to say, 'Please, you don't have to do this if you don't want.' What he had said reflected what he desired more than what he had intended to say. As she dropped the robe, revealing her naked body, she turned in place slowly allowing him to take in her whole body. She watched his hands shake and could see that he was in pain from his erection. She suggested, "You might want to get out of your clothes." With his mind on idle, he stood and started to remove his clothes knowing that he would do anything that she asked. She watched him strip amazed at his body. It was almost completely covered by a coat of hair. She could see the muscles moving under the skin, particularly on his back where he was tense. When he finally dropped his briefs, she came over and rubbed her hands along his body. His erect cock was already leaking pre-come just at the sight of her. She took his hand and kissed his calluses, knowing the effect that her actions had on him. He hated his hands and to accept his hands was to accept the worst about him. She smiled and said, "Follow me to my bedroom." Walking with stiff movements, as though he were a robot, he followed her to the bedroom. His cock bobbed as he moved. She lay down on the bed and looked up at him with obvious nervousness. In a whispered voice, she pleaded, "Make love to me." In spite of his initial desire to jump on her and start thrusting his cock into her, he held himself back. There was no way that he was going to touch her with his sandpaper hands. That left him with his lips and tongue. Moving with surprising slowness, he climbed onto the bed and kissed her while supporting his body with his arms. The kiss, tentative at first, developed into a passionate expression of his need for her that left her breathless. He kissed his way down to her neck, covering every inch of skin encountered on the way. It was time consuming, but the pleasures that both received were overwhelming. Jerry had never had the opportunity to make love to a woman when he was able to see her in the light of day. He reveled in every detail, wanting to kiss it and capture it with all of his senses. For Jenny, this was heavenly and long past due. She had never had anyone pay that much attention to her body. It was as though he were worshipping every square inch of her body. When he reached her nipples, she was ready to scream out that it was time for him to take her. She resisted the urge to scream, but not the urge to get his lips on her nipples as fast as possible. Her hands were roaming across her body, then his, and then hers again. One of her hands snaked down so that she could finger her clit. After just a minute of touching herself, she came. As she moaned her pleasure, he continued to suck her nipples. She felt it in her cunt. He worked his way down her body, kissing the flat expanse of her stomach without missing any of it. When he finally reached that mysterious triangle, he wondered if she would freak out if he kissed her there. As he inhaled that private scent of a woman, he took the moment to look at her cunt. The lips were swollen and her passage open in readiness for his cock. When she forced his head down, he gave her cunt a lick with his tongue. It was his first experience with tasting a woman's juices from their source and his whole body shuddered in recognition that this was what he had waited for his whole life. As his tongue danced around her clit, she came again. She grabbed his head and shouted, "Oh, God! Fuck me! Now! Shove your cock in my cunt!" Amazed at her dirty language and convinced of her real desire, he positioned his cock between the lips of her cunt. Slowly, afraid of hurting her, he worked his cock into her. Her legs wrapped around his body drawing him in closer. She wrapped her arms around him, squeezing him in her desire to envelop his entire being and not just his cock. As her desire was transmitted to him through her actions, tears started forming in his eyes. She continued to murmur encouragement to him as she said, "Yeah. Fill me just like that. Oh God! That's so good." Her words as much as her actions touched him far deeper than he could ever express. He thrust into her not wanting the moment to end and yet desiring the release his body demanded. His body won out as he shot jet after jet of come into her. If asked, he wouldn't know if he had been on her for a minute or an hour. All time had stopped for him. Jenny knew the moment he came by the sudden rigidity of his body and the low deep-throated groan that he emitted. She didn't come from the penetration, but then again she hadn't expected to come at all and didn't need it. The raw strength of his flexed muscles was enough for her. The act hadn't lasted as long as she hoped, but that was understandable considering how much time he spent leading up to it. He collapsed on the bed beside her, knowing that his weight would crush her if he were to do otherwise. Pulling her close, he held her as though he never wanted to let go. She enjoyed the cuddle. She could tell that he wanted to run his hands over her body, but resisted the urge. In a way it was good as she didn't think she could take his rough hands at the moment. It did make her wonder if she would ever feel him caress her body. Looking up at his face, afraid that she would find that he had gone to sleep, she saw tears were running down his cheeks. Never had she seen such a reaction from a man in bed before. Jerry felt like a thirty-five year old virgin. He had never experienced sex like that before in his life. She actually spoke to him, encouraged him, and moved with him in bed. That was nothing he had ever experienced before. In a soft voice, he said, "I can die happy now. I never experienced such bliss in my life before this moment." 'Wow!' His words ripped through her mind like a miniature tornado. She had wondered what he would say and hoped with desperation that it wouldn't be to ask if he was good in bed. Instead, he had given her the best after sex complement that she had ever heard delivered anywhere, including the movies. She purred, "That's the nicest thing I've ever heard anyone say." He held her wondering how he had been so lucky to find a woman that actually liked sex. As far as he knew, it was unheard of for a woman to enjoy it. His ex-wife had never allowed him to see her body and she would lie on the bed motionless complaining the entire time that he was on top of her. Her idea of encouragement was to ask if he was done yet. He hugged Jenny again and said, "How was I so lucky to find you?" Jenny loved being held in his embrace. His strength reassured her and made her feel protected, comforted, and secure. She answered, "I'm the lucky one." As much as she loved cuddling after sex, she knew it was time to prepare dinner so that he could pick up his son on time. Sitting up, she said, "Let's take a shower together." He stared at her in surprise, thinking to himself, 'What a marvelous woman.' He answered, "I would love that." In the shower, they took turns washing each other. Jerry was careful that only the wash cloth touched her delicate skin. Despite soap, he feared that his hands would ruin everything. She noticed how he avoided touching her directly, but chose to pretend as though she didn't. It was amazing that a man of his strength could be so gentle. Jerry dried her using a big fluffy bath towel. He took the time to appreciate every part of her body. The delicate roundness of her ass, the gentle swell of her breasts, and the feminine figure was a source of visual delight that he feared would end as soon as she was dry. She dried him without as much attention to his body, but with more attention to the man inside. Once they were done, Jenny led him out of the bedroom. When he had paused to get his clothes, she had asked, "What are you doing?" "I was going to get dressed," he replied thinking that she must be disgusted with his body by now. "I want to see you like this." "You want to see me naked? Don't you think I'm ugly?" he asked convinced that she would want him to cover himself. "Ugly? Not at all," she answered. Not for the first time, she asked herself, 'What could that bitch of an ex-wife have done to him to cause him to act in that fashion?' To make her point, she added, "I like looking at your body." "Oh. I just thought," he replied without knowing how to finish the sentence. He had assumed that she would want him to cover his body as quickly as possible. In the kitchen, Jenny donned an apron and started cooking the rest of the meal. The baked potatoes had been in the oven for a lot longer than she had intended. She had not expected him to take an hour pleasing her. In her experience, first times were usually the worst and lasted thirty minutes tops. If this was the worst that he had to offer, then things were going to get a lot better. The idea made her weak at the knees. Jerry sat in a chair watching her cook. The apron was tantalizing as it left her back bare, but covered most of the good bits in the front. She had the kind of ass that he loved, heart shaped and firm. Her legs were proportioned well for her height. Others might find them a little thick, but they were solid. He didn't know how many times in the past that he had wished to see a woman walking around the house naked. This was so different from anything he had experienced with his wife that it was hard to convince himself that it was real. She caught him gazing upon her and asked, "Do you like the view?" "I love it," he replied. Hanging his head, he confessed, "I've never seen a naked woman before except in pictures." She returned to cooking wondering how a married man could possibly not have ever seen naked women except in pictures. It was obvious that he wasn't lying to her. She shook her head and turned over the pork chops to cook on the other side. The corn was done, so she spent the next few minutes putting it into a serving bowl. Jerry came over to carry it to the table. It was a scene of domestic tranquility as Jenny cooked and Jerry set the table. Removing the pork chops from the frying pan and piling them on a plate, she turned off the stove. She removed her apron with a practiced grace once she had finished cooking. The act made Jerry wonder if she normally cooked in the nude. The apron covered all of the sensitive spots. Over dinner they talked about Bill and the other kids. Jenny said, "I really liked Sandy. She's a very mature and aware young lady." "Bill really likes her. I don't mean that in a boyfriend girlfriend type of way, but as friends." Jenny understood how Bill would value his friends very highly. Over the past few months she had come to see just how affection starved Bill and Jerry were. Every time that she thought about the bitch Jerry had married, her blood boiled. As far as she was concerned, Bill was an outstanding young man and would grow up to be a good citizen. She replied, "I understand. Did you know that Sandy is interested in a boy? She thinks that Bill and Larry scare all of the boys away from her." "I can see how that could happen," replied Jerry thinking about it as he ate some of the baked potato. It was thoroughly cooked and he now understood what Jenny meant when she had told him that it was almost impossible to overcook a baked potato. "She won't tell the boys because she's afraid that they'll tease her." "Well, they do tease each other a lot. I guess she's right to be concerned," replied Jerry. After having been isolated for most of his life, he didn't understand all of the nuances of relationships. He was totally lost in this relationship and was letting Jenny dictate the pace of activities. "I don't think Bill would tease her about something that was really important to her. Would you tease me about something that was important to me?" Jenny asked the question knowing exactly what he would answer. "Never." Jerry looked across the table at her. Her beauty again struck him, particularly when she smiled at his answer. Awed, he said, "You are so beautiful." "Thank you, but don't change the subject," replied Jenny. She gave a little shake that caused her breasts to sway and watched as his eyes followed them. For an average breasted woman, it was nice to see his fascinated reaction to them. She continued to tease him over dinner, shaking her breasts on occasion and rubbing them on others. She couldn't see the effect she was having on him until he stood up to help her clear the dishes. His cock signaled his attraction by standing up for her. Realizing that he was waving his erection around, he immediately sat down to hide it. He apologized, "I'm sorry." "Sorry? Why are you sorry?" Embarrassed, he blushed and then answered, "For having an erection." She set the plates down on the table and knelt between his legs. In slow motion, she leaned forward and sucked his cock into her mouth. The action took him completely by surprise and he didn't know how to react. His cock reacted for him and almost immediately was ready to come. He groaned and said, "I'm going to come." He thought that his words would cause her to stop, but she redoubled her efforts. It was amazing to him that she would do that. When she looked up at him with the head of his cock in her mouth, it was too much. Unable to control his body, he erupted in her mouth. He fell back in his chair, as his head lolled forward with his eyes closed. When his breathing returned to normal, he opened his eyes to find her looking up at him with a smile on her face. She said, "I like your cock. I like it erect and happy to see me." He reached down and put his hands on each side of her head. He kissed her with all of the passionate love that he could summon, wanting to convey to her how much her act had meant to him. The kiss tasted funny, but he didn't care even though he knew the reason. He broke off the kiss and said, "It'll be erect and happy to see you just from thinking of you." She giggled at the idea of him walking around with an erection all day long. She kissed his nose and said, "That's what I want to hear." The drive to pick up his son from the movie theater was filled with thoughts about what he had experienced that day. The trophy was still lying on the seat beside him, but very few of his thoughts were concerned with it. His mind was still at Jenny's house and how active she had been in bed. It blew his mind that he had found a woman that enjoyed sex. It had taken her some time to convince him that she had enjoyed giving him the blowjob, something that he thought was impossible. He pulled up in front of the movie theater finding Bill waiting for him along with his friend Woody. He didn't see Dave anywhere and, not wanting to leave Woody waiting alone, parked the truck in the nearest parking spot. He walked over to where they were waiting. Bill waved to his father when he spotted him and called out to him, "Woody's dad is here. He went in to use the bathroom and will be back in a few minutes." "Okay. So how was the movie?" asked Jerry trying to think of something to talk about. His mind kept returning to Jenny and he didn't feel that it would be appropriate to shout out that he had just experienced the best sex of his life. "Very funny. I haven't laughed that hard in ages." Woody added, "Yeah. It was great." "I'm glad that you kids had a good time," replied Jerry thinking that they couldn't have had nearly as good of a time as he had. "It was a great day. I really enjoyed the car show, dinner, and then the movie," said Bill. There were times when the changes in his life were almost overwhelming. Full days like this one where he didn't have to apologize for being who and what he was tended to affect him still. These were the times when he worried that things would fall apart and he'd lose his friends and have to move back with his mother. Jerry could only agree that it had been a very good day. Much like his son, he wondered when the good times would come to an end. His rage had not raised its ugly head in ages and that was when he was most susceptible to unleashing it without control. Nodding his head in a serious manner, he said, "It was a good day." Jerry waited until Dave returned from that bathroom before heading out. He didn't like the idea of leaving a young kid alone in front of a mall, even if his father was inside. There were just too many things that could go wrong, particularly when all of the stores in the mall were closed. After a few minutes of conversation with Dave, Bill and Jerry returned to the truck. In the truck, Bill looked at the trophy for a minute. He hadn't really seen it earlier, since there were too many people around and they had rushed to get dinner in time to make it to the movie. He asked, "Are you going to take a picture of your car and show the picture and the trophy at the shop?" "I hadn't thought of that." "It would be good advertising that you guys know cars," replied Bill. It was actually a pretty good idea. Considering how many parts that he had bought at wholesale prices, that was the least that he could do in return. He replied, "That's a very good idea." They were quiet for most of the ride home. When they were almost home, Bill asked, "So how did your date go with Jenny?" "It was a very nice evening," replied Jerry thinking that it was strange to be talking to his son about this topic. Usually it was the parent asking the kid about their date. "I like Jenny. Are you going to marry her?" It was a good question and one that Jerry didn't know how to answer. At the present time, he couldn't marry her because the divorce wasn't final. It wouldn't be final for another eight months. He answered, "I don't know why she would want to marry me." "She's crazy about you," replied Bill. It was very obvious to him that Jenny cared a lot about his father. "You think so?" Although he was denying it, Jerry believed that was the case as well. It was incomprehensible to him that she would have sex with him if she didn't like him. She was a good woman. "She's nice to both of us. Sandy really liked her," answered Bill. When Sandy had told him that Jenny was a great woman, it had surprised Bill. She didn't trust adults easily, particularly since she had been pulled out of an abusive home. The only other adults that she had absolute trust in were the mom and dad that had adopted her. Jerry, not knowing how rare it that was, replied, "Jenny liked her too." "Jenny is special." "Do you like Sandy?" asked Jerry. He wanted to double check before he mentioned that she might have an interest in another boy. "Yeah, she's great." "No," Jerry said, "I meant like a girlfriend." "Nah. I think she likes this other boy." Jerry drove along thinking about what Jenny had said about the three boys scaring away any boy that was interested in Sandy. He asked, "Do you think that maybe you and Larry might be scaring the boy that she likes away?" Bill was silent as he thought about the question. The group of four was strong together. They watched out for each other, they helped each other, and they supported each other. For some of the other kids in school, that made approaching one of them a lot harder since they would have to deal with all four of them. After a lot of thought, he answered, "Yeah. I guess we do." "I wonder what you can do to help her out. Who knows, if you help her she might help you with girls you are interested in." Bill was silent as he wondered about that. There was a girl that he really liked, but he was too shy to approach her. Woody, Larry and he had discussed girls once when Sandy wasn't around. The one thing they all agreed upon was that none of them liked Sandy like a girlfriend. He asked, "What would you do?" "I don't know. I never had friends when I was your age." "Make up something," replied Bill with a smile. He looked down at the trophy and thought about how much work had gone into getting that trophy. The strange thing was that it wasn't even what his father was trying to achieve. "I suppose you might include the boy in some activity. Maybe you guys could disappear for a little while leaving them alone," replied Jerry. He had no idea if that would work. He added, "Of course, I'm making this up as I'm going along." "I understand," replied Bill. He asked, "So are you going to marry Jenny?" "I thought I already answered that question," answered Jerry with a laugh. He decided that he would send her flowers in the morning and have them delivered to the Crimson Rose Bistro. "You ducked the question! Quack, quack," retorted Bill. "I guess I did at that," replied Jerry. Curious, he asked, "Do you want me to marry her?" "Hey, she's a better mother than I ever had before. She actually likes me. At least, I think she does," answered Bill. He looked out the window as he thought about his mother. She had never even pretended to like him. "You're thinking about your mother, aren't you?" "Yeah." ------- Chapter 22 It was a Wednesday night when Bill came home for school sullen and quiet rather than his normal chipper self. He moped around the house without saying much of anything, giving one-word answers to any question he was asked. Observing the subdued behavior of his son, Jerry became worried that something bad had happened. The worst thing that he could imagine was that Bill had gotten into a fight with his friends. He asked, "Are things okay with your friends at school?" "Yeah," replied Bill in a flat listless voice. Concerned, Jerry asked, "Did everything go okay at school?" "Yeah." Again the tone of his voice was listless. Jerry could tell that something was bothering his son and he had no idea what could have happened. He commented, "You seem kind of down today. What's the matter?" Bill wasn't going to answer, but he decided that maybe his father could help him. Digging into his backpack, he pulled out a book and handed it to his father. Looking away from Jerry, he said, "I read this book today." Looking at the book, Jerry recalled having read it when he was in high school. The book was a masterpiece of literature, Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men. He didn't remember much of the story, but recalled his reaction to it. The book had made him angry when he read it then, but he didn't know how he'd react to it today. Rather than commenting, he said, "Let me read it tonight." "I read Grapes of Wrath and thought I would read another book by the same author. I'm sorry that I did that," replied Bill. In a way, he had hoped that his father would have an instant answer for him. When that didn't happen, he became even more depressed. Recognizing that his son needed cheering up, Jerry suggested, "How about we go get some Mexican Food?" "I guess that would be okay," replied Bill without his normal enthusiasm. The pair went to the restaurant in the truck. The trip was subdued with Bill staring out the window the whole way there. After parking the truck, they headed for the door. One of the customers leaving the restaurant pointed to the truck and gave an okay sign. That happened to him a lot when he took the truck out and he returned a thumb's up sign in response. Bill walked on as though he hadn't noticed anything. The regulars were getting used to the fact that the large white man was going to visit the restaurant regardless of how they felt about it. As a result, his entrance didn't cause the kind of silence that used to be the norm. The waitress, recognizing them, brought over iced teas and asked, "Dos Tres Tacos?" Jerry looked over at Bill who shrugged and replied, "Si, gracias." After the waitress delivered the food, Bill ate without conversation. It was not a very pleasant meal and Jerry knew that the book must have upset his son a lot. He said, "Bill, I don't remember the story. I'll read the book and then we can talk about it. Okay?" "Sure," replied Bill realizing that there might have been a very good reason why his father hadn't a ready answer to his problem. If he knew the story, he would have known what to say to make him feel better. After the meal was finished, the waitress came to the table with another individual. She talked to the other individual in Spanish, who then translated what she said. "Sonya says that you run a business. Is that true?" "Yes," replied Jerry wondering what she wanted. After a minute of conversation between the waitress and the translator, the man turned to Jerry and said, "She says that her cousin needs a job. He speaks English very good and will work hard." "Does he have a high school diploma?" "Si. Ah, yes," replied the translator. He added, "He has a little college." Jerry nodded, pleased to hear that the guy had a little college, and said, "Have him come by the Auto Parts House on Main Street around ten in the morning." The translator turned to the waitress and talked to her for a moment conveying the information that Jerry had given him. Her face lit up at the news and she thanked Jerry profusely in Spanish. Jerry smiled and nodded, not understanding a single word that she was saying, but getting the gist of it from her manner and tone of voice. He hoped the guy worked out because they were still short a full- time person. As he thought about it, he realized that he could possibly improve the business among Hispanic auto repair shops. After paying for their meal, Jerry and Bill returned to the house. Once there, Bill went into the kitchen to work on his homework while Jerry sat down to read the book. The evening passed quietly as each went about their individual pursuits. The more that Jerry read of the book, the more depressed he got. Around ten, Bill came out of the kitchen. Seeing that his father hadn't finished the book, he said, "I'm going to bed now." "Okay, we'll talk in the morning," replied Jerry as he looked up from the book. He was almost finished with it, unable to put down the story. The story struck too close to home. Two men were trying to pursue a dream to improve their lives. The large man, unable to control his strength, destroyed that dream. It was no wonder that Bill was depressed, since Jerry himself became depressed as a result of reading it. The character of Lennie, the big man in the story, was too familiar. With the smallest provocation, Lennie would unleash his strength damaging even the things that he cared most about. When he read about Lennie choking the woman because he was afraid, a shiver of revulsion ran down his spine. As a big man, Jerry knew how easy it was for the rage to escape. He knew that if he ever failed to control it, then incredible damage would result. Finishing the book, Jerry found that he wanted to rip it to shreds. He remembered why it had angered him when he had read in school. Not only had he been subjected to the insults of his fellow classmates, he had to be insulted by a book that portrayed big men as dangerous idiots. Rather than ripping up the book, he set it aside and prepared for bed. As he undressed, he stared at the book wondering what he could tell his son in the morning. Once the Futon was configured as a bed, he turned off the lights and lay down staring at the ceiling. It took him a long time to fall asleep, as his mind wouldn't let go of the story. In the middle of the night, he woke out of a dream in which he was strangling Jenny in the same manner in which Lennie had strangled Curley's wife. He shot out of bed breathing hard and sweating. The dream had been too real. He swore he felt her neck in his massive paws. Sitting down on the edge of the Futon, he held his head in his hands as he struggled to breathe. The tension in his back nearly paralyzed him. It took him five minutes to recover from the nightmare. After staring at the book for a moment, knowing it to be the source of his dream, he swore, "Fuck, that was horrible." After a minute spent recovering further, he became aware of groans coming from Bill's room. He knew that Bill was in the midst of a bad dream and went to the room. Sitting down on the edge of the bed, he shook Bill awake while he said, "Wake up. It's just a bad dream." Bill came awake, his eyes opened wide in horror at the dream. Frantic, he looked over at his father and cried, "I dreamed that Woody was going to kill me because I strangled Sandy." Hugging his son, he replied, "You didn't strangle Sandy and Woody isn't going to shoot you. We aren't like Lennie." Very upset by the dream and the message that he had taken from the book, Bill cried out, "But we are." "No we're not," countered Jerry trying with quiet desperation to believe his own words. "We're nothing like him. Sure we are big and strong, but we understand our strength. Lennie didn't." Sitting up in his bed, Bill said, "I'm not sure that we are that different." "Yes, we are," replied Jerry in as comforting a voice as he could manage. He sat there for a minute trying to figure out what he could say that would comfort his son. Considering that he had the same dream, what could he say that would change his son's mind about the hopeless feeling that the dream created within the boy? Sighing, he said, "I had the same kind of dream." "Really?" asked Bill looking over at his father. "Yeah, I dreamed that I strangled Jenny just like Lennie did the wife," answered Jerry wondering if admitting it was wise. Thinking about it, he realized that they worried about their actions and didn't try to pretend that they didn't happen. He added, "You know, Lennie kept petting the puppy even after he had killed it. He didn't understand what he had done or why he had done it. After killing other pets, he wanted another one without learning his lessons from the past. He didn't worry about killing his pets in the future. We understand what we do and we worry about our actions in the future. I think that makes us very different." "Huh?" "You ever totally loose your temper?" asked Jerry realizing that he was close enough to an answer that would satisfy both of them. "Not in ages." "Why?" "Because I'm afraid what will happen if I do," replied Bill as understanding started to illuminate the darkness in which he had found himself. He smiled and said, "Thanks dad." "What are dad's for?" "Raising my allowance," replied Bill with a grin. "You've been around Abe too much," Jerry joked as he patted his son on the shoulder. He could tell just by touch that his son had relaxed. Standing, he said, "I'll go back to bed now." "Okay." Jerry returned to his bed and settled down to sleep. This time, he fell asleep much quicker. His reassurances for his son had reassured him as well. No one had told him that being a Dad had such rewards. Morning came too early and he wandered into the kitchen to start the coffee. His sleep the first half of the night had been disturbed by nightmares, but after the discussion with Bill he had slept much better. It was almost enough to be refreshed, but not quite. Yawning, he spooned coffee into the filter and then filled the brewer with water. Once the coffee was started, he went to his son's door and knocked on it to wake him. Returning to the kitchen, he pulled out two bowls, spoons, cereals, and milk. They would have a cold breakfast this morning so that he could get Bill to school early enough so that Jerry could reach the store in time to open it. He remembered that he was going to have the cousin of the waitress coming into the store to apply for a job. Realizing that Bill hadn't gotten out of bed, he returned to the bedroom and knocked on the door. Through the closed door, he heard Bill complain, "Leave me alone." Knocking on the door with much greater force, Jerry replied, "Time to get up! School! Fun! Cereal! Coffee!" "Do I have to?" "Yes, you have to get up now." It was unusual for Bill to protest that much in the morning, but he could understand his son's behavior. He couldn't have gotten a good night's sleep because of the nightmares. Jerry returned to the kitchen and poured two cups of coffee. He looked at the cereals and picked the one loaded with sugar. No self-respecting adult would choose that one, but it was his favorite and he didn't care what anyone thought. Filling the bowl with cereal, he added milk and started eating. Bill shuffled into the kitchen, yawning and stretching with a roar. He looked at the cereal his father was eating and picked up the box of healthy cereal. Yawning again, he set the box down and took a sip of his coffee. The hot liquid woke him and he went back to fixing his cereal. He commented, "They ought to call that cereal Super Sugar Junk Food." Shrugging off the comment, Jerry replied, "I like it." "I know you do," replied Bill. It amazed him that his father ate that junk almost every morning. He started to eat his cereal, realizing that he was running behind schedule. After the first few bites, he paused and said, "Thanks for what you said last night. It helped a lot." "I'm glad," replied Jerry after swallowing the latest spoonful of cereal. He said, "Today is Thursday." "Yeah, it's our long day," replied Bill. This was the day of the week that he had to wait at the therapist's office while his father talked to her about his anger. It meant that they wouldn't be home until almost eight that night. "Where do you want to eat tonight?" "How about the Chinese Buffet?" If Bill had answered with any other place, Jerry would have worried about him. Every Thursday, Bill wanted to go to the Chinese Buffet. The fact was, it was the best food deal in town and the quality was pretty good. Jerry laughed and said, "We're eating breakfast and talking about dinner." They finished their breakfast and took their bowls to the sink to rinse them out. Once the bowls were thoroughly rinsed, they each took their coffee cup and went to dress. Bill went to his room and Jerry went to the spare room where he kept his clothes. As he pulled his clothes out, he realized that he should probably move into the bedroom. Dressed and ready to go, Jerry waited by the door. When Bill came out of his room with his school backpack, Jerry handed him the book. Bill looked at it and then slipped it into his pack as he said, "I guess it is a good book." Surprised by the comment, Jerry asked, "Why do you say that?" "If a book can have the kind of effect that it had on us, it must be good," replied Bill. "You're right. I didn't think of it that way," replied Jerry. They walked out to the truck for Jerry to take Bill to school. As he walked, he thought about the book. It played upon the myth that big men were strong but too stupid to control their strength. From experience, he had decided that it wasn't that big men were too stupid to control their strength, but were often too weak to control their stupidity. Jerry pulled into the parking lot of the Auto Parts Shop. It was five minutes before opening time and he was the first one to arrive. He entered the store through the back entrance, glancing around to make sure that all was well. As he walked to the front of the store, he noticed that the store had been improving in appearance over the past few months. Abe and Sammy had taken to dusting the shelves before restocking the goods after a suggestion made by Karen. It was a well-coordinated team of people that he had gathered together in the store. Abe was a hard worker who listened to all suggestions on how to do his job better. Mike had taken to his duties as Assistant Manager and actually enjoyed performing them. Karen had installed a computer to take care of inventory and was preparing to fill it with data. Martin had a good rapport with the customers and enjoyed his work. Sammy was nearing the end of high school and had told Jerry that he would work through the summer before leaving for college. The lack of another fulltime person meant that no one had been able to take a day off in ages and he hoped to correct that problem. Opening the front door, he went to the cash register and checked the money in it. Turning off the answering machine, he sat down to take calls. Martin walked in the back door and called out, "I'm here." "I'm up in the front of the store," called Jerry. Martin came up to the counter wearing new clothes that really looked sharp on him. Standing beside Jerry, he said, "Today's the day." "What's that?" "Sold the Caddy last night and we're picking up new cars today." Martin looked proud of himself at the news. He had gotten more for the car than he had thought possible, particularly considering the state in which it had been when he started restoring it. His mother and he were going to pick up some practical cars at a reasonable price. "What are you going to buy?" "Mom is going to get a simple Toyota sedan and I'm going for a truck. Having been around you, I've come to realize that there are a lot of advantages to having a truck." Jerry had been a major factor in his life and he tended to model his decisions after the kinds of things that Jerry did. His mother was supporting Jerry's view of financial management. The clincher was that Henry Buckman echoed Jerry's advice on many occasions. Jerry was quiet for a minute as he thought about it and then said, "That'll cost you more than you got from the Caddy." That was an understatement. He figured it would cost an additional five thousand dollars to buy both cars. He replied, "I know. I've been saving two thirds of the money I've earned here. I felt that it would be better to use the money to make sure that my mother had a good car and that I had something that would last for a number of years." "Smart," replied Jerry. He was going to ask for more details, but the telephone rang calling them to work. For the next hour, the telephone rang almost continuously. Mike and Karen showed up and relieved Jerry. He didn't have a chance to warn Mike that someone was coming for an interview before a young Hispanic male entered the store. He assumed that it was the job applicant. The young man was wearing neat black pants with a white long sleeved shirt and a solid black tie. His black hair was cut short in a business fashion. The most remarkable feature was the pair of glasses that he wore. The lenses weren't very thick, but the frames looked like frames on safety glasses, black plastic that was thick and heavy. Jerry noticed that the young man had shown up fifteen minutes early. Martin was at the counter and as soon as he hung up, he held up the order for Mike. Once Mike had grabbed the order, Martin asked, "May I help you?" The young man looked around for a second, seeking the big man that his cousin had told him to talk with at the store. Noticing that a huge man was watching him from an aisle filled with auto parts, he said, "I'm here to apply for a job." Martin bent down and rummaged under the counter for a minute before he found the applications. Grabbing one, he held it out for the young man to take. He said, "Fill this out and when Mike is available you can talk to him." The young man went to a chair and filled out the application. Jerry went over to the counter and waited for Mike. The telephone rang and Martin turned to answer it. When he hung up, he handed the order over to Jerry. The young man looked up and saw that Martin appeared to be in charge and decided that Jerry wasn't the one his cousin had talked with the previous night. While filling the order, Jerry met up with Mike as he pulled an earlier order. Smiling, he said, "We have a young man here to interview for a job. When you are done with that order, talk to him. After that, I'd like a chance to talk to him as well." "Sure thing," replied Mike. He was beginning to get tired of not having a day off. The weather was turning nice and he wanted to spend a little time enjoying it with his family. Jerry pulled orders while Mike interviewed the candidate. As he worked, he noticed that Karen had started putting barcodes on the shelves. This whole process of computerizing the stock worried him. He was afraid that he wouldn't be able to accommodate the changes. Karen was confident that everything would work out all right, but she was a lot younger than he was. He carried an order to the front counter in time to see Howard enter the store. The blond haired man saw that Martin wasn't on the phone and called out, "Hey, preacher man. White guy in the house!" "Hey, surfer dude!" "Are you going to take me to car shop tonight?" "You bet," replied Martin with a smile. The other night they had been to a party where a car salesman had told Howard how they dealt with different kinds of people differently. It was common practice to take advantage of women and blacks, making the assumption that they knew little about making large purchases. White men that seemed to know a lot about cars were usually treated pretty well. "You know that the first question that I'm going to ask is where does this key thing go." Howard laughed at the look on Martin's face. "I thought that was my line," retorted the black man. He grinned and said, "If you say that, I'm going to have to say, 'Massa, I's suppose ta drive that automo-thingy for you'se.'" As Howard laughed, he replied, "I'd like to see you say that with a straight face in front of your mother." Jerry stood there watching the pair talk. Even as they bantered, they were still performing their jobs. He would have loved to watch Martin deliver that line in front of his mother. She'd have had a bar of soap in his mouth in a minute. Mike signaled that he had already talked to the young man. Jerry turned to see the young man that had applied for the job standing beside Mike. The young man was staring at the scene unfolding in front of him. There was a shocked look on his face as he heard them trading racial jokes with such ease. Smiling, Jerry came over and said, "I'm Jerry Smith, the manager of the store. It's my turn to interview you." Surprised to learn that this man was the manager, the young man followed him to the back office and took the seat gestured at by Jerry. He looked back at the door and asked, "Is that common?" "What?" asked Jerry fully aware of what the young man meant. "For people around here to joke in such a racist manner," replied the young man. The big man scared him and he was concerned about how it would be to work for him. If the guy was a racist like the big guys that had picked on him when he was in high school, then he didn't really want to work here. "Those two happen to be best friends. The only one they talk to like that is each other," said Jerry. After he had taken his seat behind his desk, he picked up the application and read the name of the young man on it, Carlos Hernandez. Leaning back in his chair, Jerry added, "Carlos, the first rule in working here is that the customer comes first." "That makes sense," replied Carlos. He still wasn't easy about the conversation that he had overheard. Sensing the continued unease of the young man, Jerry said, "The second rule is that all employees must respect each other." "Respect?" asked Carlos surprised to hear that from Jerry. What he had witnessed could not be called respect. "Yes, respect. Believe it or not, Howard and Martin both respect each other. In fact, Howard is going with Martin to pick out a new car tonight. Howard is the surfer dude and he wants to make sure that the car salesman doesn't rip off Martin. Like I said, they are close friends." Carlos nodded as he thought about it, but he retained his doubts. He said, "If you say so." "You'll see in time that some people have strange ways of interacting with each other." After a pause, Jerry added, "The third rule of working here is no druggies or drunks." Carlos bristled and asked, "Are you saying that to me because of my race?" "No. I'm telling that to you because I tell that to everyone that wants to work here," answered Jerry. "Okay," replied Carlos as he realized that this interview wasn't going well. The interview with Mike had gone much better. He wondered if he had already blown the job with his suspicious attitude. Jerry looked down at the application and said, "I notice that you have a little college under your belt." "Yes, I do," replied Carlos thinking a little college was the right way to describe it. Jerry said, "Tell me about college." "I started out the first semester going to school full time using money that I had saved over the summer. I had hoped that I would be able to work enough to pay for the next semester, but I was a little short in the spring so I went part-time. I was able to get one course over the summer. Last year, I could only afford two courses a semester. So after two years of going to the community college, I'm still a freshman," replied Carlos. He was proud of the fact that he was paying his own way through school, but ashamed to be taking so long. Jerry frowned and leaned on his desk with both arms folded. He looked down and studied the surface of the desk. Looking up, he asked, "You'd like to continue to go to school, wouldn't you?" "Yes, but I figure I can do it part-time," replied Carlos. "It might take me ten years, but I'm going to make something out of myself." There was a real sense of pride in the young man and Jerry wouldn't be surprised if the kid made good on his statement. Jerry stared at the desk trying to decide what to do with the young man. He looked down at the application and noticed that the kid was working as a dishwasher at one of the restaurants. Looking up, he asked, "Would you mind stepping out of the office for a minute? There's a couch out there for you to sit on." After Carlos stepped out of the office, Jerry stuck his head out and shouted, "Mike, could you come here for a minute? Let Karen pull orders for a few minutes." Jerry returned to the office and sat down behind his desk to wait for Mike to show up. It was a few minutes before Mike entered the office, closing the door behind him. Jerry asked, "Would you hire him?" "Sure. He seems like a smart young man to me. I think he would be a real asset. He wants to work with computers and we can definitely use some help in that area." "I agree that he'd be an asset. I'm just not sure that hiring him fulltime would be fair to him," replied Jerry. "Really?" asked Mike surprised by the comment. "Yes. Let me see what I can work out with Mr. Sinclair," answered Jerry. He sighed and asked, "Do you really agree that he would be a good hire?" "Yeah, I do. He seems driven to me and I'm sure that he'll finish college one day," replied Mike wondering why Jerry was so hesitant about hiring the kid. "Thanks," said Jerry when Mike confirmed what he thought about the applicant. "No problem," replied Mike as he opened the door and left the office closing the door behind him. Jerry picked up the phone and called his boss. After a fifteen- minute call, Jerry hung up with a smile on his face. His boss had gone for the idea without a single negative comment. He got from behind his desk and went to the door. Opening it, he called out, "Carlos, would you come back in here?" Carlos entered the room and waited while Jerry went back to his desk. He didn't sit down until Jerry gestured to the chair. Jerry, sitting on the edge of the desk, said, "The position that we are looking to fill is a fulltime sales position. I don't think it would be fair to you for you to take that full-time position." A hurt expression flashed over the young man's face as he heard the assessment. Numb, he asked, "Why?" "I think it will hold you back from what you want to do," answered Jerry. He looked down at the floor as he collected his thoughts before looking back up at Carlos. He said, "I called my boss about this situation and he agreed with my suggested solution to this problem." Confused, Carlos asked, "Solution?" "Yes. I'm prepared to offer you a job working three days a week at three-fifths salary. That would give you two or three full days a week and evenings to go to school with sufficient money to pay for your courses. I imagine that if you are thrifty, there will be some left over for you," stated Jerry. Carlos sat back staring at Jerry in shock. That was the last thing that he had expected after how the interview had gone. The man had offered him a dream. On second thought, he realized that it wasn't a dream he had been offered; it was the chance to pursue his dream. He said, "Thank you." "Aren't you curious how much it pays?" It had to pay better than washing dishes at a chain restaurant competing for a job with undocumented workers. He said, "How much?" "Twenty-one thousand a year," answered Jerry as Carlos sagged in his chair breathless at the amount. ------- Chapter 23 "Dad," said Bill as his father entered the house from work, "Abe came over and said we were invited over to dinner tonight." Jerry settled heavily into his chair, tired from another busy Saturday. It didn't help that he had been out late the night before. He answered, "That's nice of Sharon. I better go to the store and pick up some drinks." "Abe said that you shouldn't bother bringing anything over. She's happy about her new car and wants to thank you for teaching Martin how to fix up old cars," replied Bill. He grinned as he added, "Abe mentioned that Henry would be there too." The comment made Jerry grin, as he was well aware that Sharon was actively trying to entice Henry into something a little more permanent than the big black man was interested in having. He said, "It'll be nice to talk to Henry." "You guys talk all the time. You were over at his house until midnight last night," countered Bill. He had ridden his scooter over there and seen the latest indoor wall fountain the two men had built. It was really an outstanding piece of work. "Hey, Henry wanted to deliver the wall fountain to the customer today. We had to finish it," said Jerry. The fountain was bringing in ten thousand dollars. After taking into account the cost of materials, they'd make four thousand each. This was their third one and they had learned a lot after the first two. "I think Abe's mom would be happy if Henry was over at her place on Friday nights," Bill joked. He had listened to Abe tease his mother about catching her kissing Henry. She had to threaten him with a severe beating before he had relented. Jerry replied, "Is Abe upset about the idea of his mother dating Henry?" "Hell no. Henry is an important guy around here," replied Bill. He had noticed that all of the kids in the neighborhood stood up straighter around Henry and everyone called him sir. The comment brought a smile to Jerry's face. Everyone respected Henry in this neighborhood. The fact that he and Henry were friends had eased a lot of tension in the area and prevented some of the hotheads from acting violent. He was about to comment when he heard the sound of a scooter pull up in front of the house and saw the reaction of his son. "Go ahead." Bill smiled and headed out of the house. Within a minute, Jerry heard the sound of the scooter starting and the pair driving off. After changing his clothes, he grabbed a coke and went out to the porch appreciating the spring weather. His comings and goings were no longer news. The elderly across the street either ignored him or waved to him. He waved back to those that noticed him. The sky was a clear blue broken only by little tufts of white clouds. A jet contrail cut through the sky and appeared to glow magically. The oak tree was sending forth leaves that in a few weeks would provide lots of shade. The front lawn was still a disaster area, but he wasn't about to go through the hassle of planting grass. He had never entered the backyard because it was a wild mess of weeds. For all he knew, there could be a body hidden in it. His private musings were interrupted by the arrival of Henry. The huge black man asked, "Got another one of those?" "Sure do," replied Jerry as he started to rise. "Don't bother getting up. I'll help myself." A minute later, the black man settled on the porch beside Jerry and opened the can. With a grin, he took a sip and then said, "That neighbor of yours wants to tie me down." "A scrawny guy like you? I wonder what she sees in you," remarked Jerry with a straight face. "Women go crazy over my bald head," replied Henry just as seriously. Both of them broke out laughing with the ease of men that had traded a long-standing joke. Jerry noticed that Mr. Atkins was crossing the street and heading towards them. "I wonder what Mr. Atkins wants." Henry looked up and saw the old man shuffling his way across the street. Even as Jerry stood, Henry said, "We should probably meet him halfway." The pair of men walked to the street presenting a sight that would frighten people who didn't know them. Over five hundred pounds of muscle walking side by side, both looking threatening by nature and prejudice. Frowning, Mr. Atkins stopped and said, "Boys, there's a meetin' at ma house tonight at eight. Both ya be dere. Bring that olda boy from next doo' ov'r wit ya." Respectful, both Jerry and Henry replied, "Yes, sir." Mr. Atkins turned with a frown on his face and headed back across the street. The two big men stood there watching him go with puzzled expressions. Before the old black man made it to his porch, Jerry and Henry returned to the porch. After sitting down, a very worried Henry said, "Some big must be happening." "Why?" "The only time Mr. Atkins holds a meeting at his house is when something ugly is about to happen. Last time was when there were all them riots in town when the cops killed that kid. This was the only area where there wasn't a problem. He called us together to make sure that folks stayed in their houses," replied Henry. "Smart man," replied Jerry. "Hell, he was scared. He's seen stuff in his life that most of us can't imagine," replied Henry. Shaking his head, he said, "To tell the truth, I'm surprised that he invited you to attend." Stories had been told in the area about Mr. Atkins and he had listened to them trying to better understand his neighbor. The stories suggested that his father had been hung by the KKK and that he had been forced to watch his mother get raped one night when they went to see a movie. He had bowed to whites his entire life, hating them with a passion the whole time. Jerry understood rage, but not hate. He figured they were close enough that he could deal with a man that hated, even if he was the subject of that hate. Nodding his agreement, he said, "Me too." The pair sat there thinking their own thoughts. Jerry asked, "What do you think Martin is going to say when he finds out that he's been invited?" "I'm not worried about him. I'm more worried about his mother is going to say," answered Henry. He looked over at Jerry and said, "It's not good when you get invited. It's time to act like a man. If you fail Mr. Atkins, nobody will listen to a word you say after that." The sound of scooters broke the silence that had fallen over the men. Jerry looked over and saw the boys returning from the store with bags of groceries strapped onto the rear carrier. They pulled up in the front yard and came to a stop in front of the men. Abe said, "Mom's expecting you over at the house for dinner now that we are back." Jerry stood and locked the door of the house. Henry and he walked next door while the boys rode their scooters thirty feet to park them at the door. Abe held the door open for everyone after announcing their presence to everyone in the house. Henry shook his head and said, "You sure are lazy. Riding that bike such a short distance." "Hey, we had groceries." "Where are they?" asked Henry with a smile. The two boys looked at each other for a second and went back outside after realizing that they had forgotten to bring the bags in the house. Martin came out in the living room and greeted them, "Come on into the kitchen. Mom is setting the table." The two large men entered the kitchen and it suddenly got a lot smaller. Sharon looked at them and said, "You two sit at the ends where you'll have plenty of elbow room." The men sat down at the table to be out of the way. The boys returned with their two bags of groceries and set them on the counter. Sharon said, "You boys wash your hands and then sit at the table out of the way." Jerry winked at Henry and said, "Sounds to me like you need a man around here to keep the kids under control." Henry held up a hand to hide his mouth from Sharon and, with exaggerated motions, moved his mouth to say, "Thanks a lot, buddy." Sharon grinned but didn't turn around, pretending to be busy with cooking. She said, "The thought never crossed my mind." Jerry burst out laughing at the look on Henry's face. Neither one of them believed her for a minute. The boys returned from washing their hands and sat down at the table. Martin came in and helped his mother carry the food to the table. It was a spectacular meal with fried chicken, greens, mashed potatoes, gravy, and corn bread. The food was piled high on the plates. After she and Martin sat down, she said, "Dig in guys." Sharon stared in shock at the chaos that ensued. Forks spearing pieces of chicken flew out as spoons filled with potatoes and greens were used to load individual plates. It was a madhouse of activity as everyone grabbed food and piled it on their plate. She burst out laughing as she said, "This looks like a boarding house scene out of a movie." Jerry laughed as he took a slice of corn bread. Together, Abe and Bill replied, "We're growing boys." Henry shook his head and filled his glass with iced tea. Once plates were filled with food, everyone started to eat. The only sounds to be heard were forks scrapping across the plates and groans of contentment as bellies filled. Henry and Jerry refilled their plates and ate some more as Sharon watched. After clearing their second plate of food, the two large men sat back with contented sighs. Jerry said, "That was outstanding." "You feed a man that kind of food and he's not going to want to leave," said Henry. Almost as soon as the words were out of his mouth, he started blushing as he realized what he had said. Abe, one never to let an opportunity to tease someone pass, said, "Mom, sounds like your plan is working." Martin winked and said, "The fastest way to a man's heart is through his stomach." Sharon threw her napkin across the table at Martin, but didn't comment. Jerry changed the subject and asked, "So what's the news on the bike?" Abe sat up and said, "I found a 1938 Indian Sport Scout on the web at the library and won a bid on it for two fifty. It's in pretty bad shape and missing some parts, but I know that it'll fix up real nice." Sharon smiled and said, "He gave me the money to pay for it earlier today. It's supposed to be shipped to us at the end of the week." Henry said, "Never heard of an Indian Sport Scout." "Oh, they were the main competitor of Harley-Davidson in the early days of motorcycles. I like the way they look." Abe started talking about the Indian motorcycle company and the kinds of bikes they had built. It was easy to tell that the young man had researched the motorcycle. That didn't surprise Jerry as he recognized that the young man really was interested in motorcycles. Sharon had balked, but given in after she realized that if he had spent the time and effort to fix up the motorcycle himself that he wouldn't be reckless when he drove it. When Abe wound down, Jerry turned to Bill and asked, "Did you look for a car on the web?" "Yeah, I did. I found a nice 1952 Pontiac Chieftain." "Sounds to me like we have an Indian theme going on here," replied Jerry with a grin. He was very familiar with the car and would buy it. Bill grinned and held up his hand, palm side out, as he said, "How! Him Scout. Me Chief." Abe turned to Bill and said, "Chief, Big black man already been scalped." Henry broke out in laughter and said, "Young brave or chief try to scalp this big man, he get bottom paddled." Laughing, Martin stood and said, "I hate to say this, but I've got to go. I'm meeting Howard tonight." Jerry glanced at the end of the table catching Henry's eye and said, "You might want to call Howard and let him know that you're going to be late." "Why?" asked Martin surprised that Jerry would interfere in his life without being asked. Henry answered, "Because you've been invited to a meeting at Mr. Atkins' house." All laughter stopped around the table at the announcement. Abe stared at his brother with his mouth open, unable to believe what he had heard. Martin slowly sank back into his chair, as his legs threatened to give out on him. Bill looked around the room puzzled by the reaction of everyone. The silence was shattered when Sharon said, "Shit. You can't be serious. He's still young." "Mr. Atkins specifically told us to bring him with us when we came over at eight tonight." If the news about Martin being invited was a shock to Susan, then the news that Jerry had been invited was the equivalent to an atom bomb being detonated in the living room. She looked over at him and asked, "He invited you?" "Yes, he did." Abe swore, "Shit. We better find a bomb shelter." Still confused, Bill asked, "Huh?" Martin shook his head in disbelief and looked over at Jerry. He said, "Any idea what this is about?" "None." Henry concurred, "No idea." Frustrated, Bill asked, "Would someone tell me what is going on?" Henry turned to Bill and answered, "Mr. Atkins is the unofficial law and order in this part of town. When he calls a meeting in his house, that means that the shit is about to hit the fan." "Mr. Atkins doesn't like whites," added Jerry. He paused and corrected himself. "That's not quite correct. Mr. Atkins hates whites. They hung his father and raped his mother when he was a kid. That he invited me over despite the fact that I'm white suggests this is really bad." Sharon looked over at Jerry in surprise. She hadn't known that he knew a little of the history of Mr. Atkins. "You knew?" "I figured it out from little odds and ends that people said about him," replied Jerry. Shrugging, he said, "He has a right to his feelings and I can deal with that. I understand rage and figure hate is pretty close to it. It isn't the person that it is aimed at that is to blame, just the history that instilled it." Henry looked across the table at Jerry pleased with what he heard. If Mr. Atkins got angry with Jerry, he knew that Jerry wouldn't hold it against him. There were some things that you just had to accept even if they weren't your fault. His attitude would earn him some respect in the neighborhood. Martin had listened to the exchange with wide eyes. He had just learned details about Mr. Atkins that he had never known and they explained a lot about how the old man acted. In a soft voice, he said, "Let me call Howard." The atmosphere in the room reminded Jerry of a funeral. The men were solemn sitting in their chairs without talking. All eyes focused on Jerry when he entered, as though to say that he would have to prove himself this day or his time in this neighborhood was over. A few looked at him wondering if he was the reason that this meeting was being called. A number of them nodded a greeting in the direction of Henry, but Jerry didn't get that kind of reception. Mr. Atkins sat in his chair with a frown as if he were passing a kidney stone at the idea of having a white man in his house. Looking at Jerry, he pointed to a kitchen chair directly opposite of his to indicate where the large man should sit. Jerry nodded his head and sat in the chair. Seeing that no one else said a word, he didn't talk. From his chair, Jerry looked around the room taking in the furnishings. The room was crowded with chairs including some brought in from the kitchen. The carpet was old and worn, but not dirty. The average style of furniture dated back to the fifties and was covered with the nicks and scratches accumulated over forty to fifty years. It made him wonder what his house would look like to others when he was eighty something. He took a minute to examine the men in the room. Martin looked worried and sat on the edge of his chair. Henry was his normal large self, but was trying to look bigger. An overweight black man sat in a chair with his hands folded over his belly and breathing hard. A couple of men, possibly brothers, were moving their hands nervously. They were both thin, but muscular. Two other men struck him as average guys. They sat there looking around wide- eyed at being there. A small elderly black man entered the room and looked around. Spotting Jerry, he asked, "Wass da cracker doin' heah?" All eyes turned to Jerry even though it was Mr. Atkins who answered, "I toll 'em ta come." The elderly man sat down in a chair and glared at Jerry with distrust. The silence returned to the room. Jerry glanced over at Mr. Atkins and saw that the old man was studying him. He wondered if the old man was trying to judge his reaction to being called a cracker. Jerry didn't smile or frown, but kept his face neutral deciding that it wasn't worth making an issue of the attitudes of two old men. When everyone started shifting, uncomfortable by the tension in the room, Mr. Atkins hit the floor with his cane. Without preamble, he said, "Day's puttin' a drug house on da corna." It took a minute for Jerry to figure out that the old man had said that someone was setting up a crack house on the corner of the block. The idea that they would have a crack house on his street angered him. The others expressed their displeasure, but Jerry remained silent trying to figure out where he fit into this whole discussion. Mr. Atkins asked, "Cracka', wha' ya tink ya shud do?" Again, it took Jerry some time to understand that he was being asked for his ideas on how to react to the situation. Jerry answered, "I'll do what everyone here thinks is right." The other old man cackled and exclaimed, "A cracka takin' ordas from a nigger! Tha's rich." Mr. Atkins asked, "Wha' ya tink a takin' ordas from niggers?" Jerry knew the two old men were baiting him. He looked at each man in the room directly in the eyes as though assessing each. Sitting forward, he answered, "I don't see any niggers here. I see neighbors and I think neighbors should work together." Henry sat back and laughed in relief at the answer. His laughter was joined by that of others and the tension in the room evaporated. Mr. Atkins said, "It's got ta go." The other men in the room voiced their agreement with that sentiment. The real question was how to go about it. The fat guy said, "Can't call the man on them." Jerry frowned trying to figure out what that meant. It was clarified when one of the two average looking guys said, "That's right. Can't call the cops on a brother." The guy next to him said, "We tell them to leave." "What if they don't leave?" asked Martin worried about what was being suggested. The old man said, "We sho 'em thas we's serious." Jerry didn't like the direction the discussion was headed. He wondered how they would show who ever owned the crack house that they were serious. It would be so much better if they would call the cops and let them handle it. Showing anger for the first time, Mr. Atkins said, "We beats the sheet outta em." Henry, already knowing the answer, asked, "And if that don't work?" Mr. Atkins answered, "I kill them." Jerry sat back shocked at the old man's answer. It was the first sentence that the old man had spoken that he understood without effort. Martin's eyes were huge like saucers. He was unable to accept that they were discussing killing someone. All of the other men looked at each other and nodded their agreement. Jerry frowned and asked, "Why are you the one that will kill him?" "I'm old," replied Mr. Atkins. The fat man explained, "He won't be the one that pulls the trigger, but he's the one that will take the blame. He believes that he won't live long enough to have to go to prison." Jerry looked around the room wondering which of the men would be the one that pulled the trigger. He knew that no one in that room would ever tell him. Mr. Atkins asked, "Who's gonna go wit me to talk at em?" Deciding that if big enough men were there, that they could avoid escalating it to the next level Jerry raised his hand. Henry nodded, happy that Jerry hadn't balked, and raised his hand. The fat man raised his hand. Martin looked around and raised his hand. Mr. Atkins said, "Not ya, boy. You'se gonna watch an learn." "Yes, sir," replied Martin wondering what he was supposed to learn. "Day's be dere ta-mar-ra," said Mr. Atkins looking around the room, "be heah when day come." Returning home, Jerry opened the door and found Bill watching television. He frowned and said, "Why don't you go over and talk to Abe for a bit?" Bill looked at the faces of the three men and decided that it would be best if he didn't argue. Nodding his head, he said, "Okay." Martin and Henry sat down on the floor of the room and looked over at Jerry. The big man looked around and then asked, "What in the fuck is this all about?" "Closing down a crack house," replied Henry. "I'm not talking about closing down a fucking crack house, I'm talking about the fact that we're talking about killing someone!" replied Jerry in an angry voice. He had a good job and this was not something in which he wanted to be involved. The same held true for Martin and he didn't want the young man involved. Henry looked over at Martin for a minute and said, "Martin, I'm spending the night at your house. You are going to be by my side all night and all day until this goes down." "Why?" "So you don't tell anyone what I'm about to say," replied Henry. Jerry listened and realized that there was more going on here than met the eye. He looked over at Martin who said, "I'm supposed to watch and learn. That's what Mr. Atkins said." "Exactly. For now, I want you to listen," replied Henry. After a nod from Martin, he continued, "About now the guys who are opening the crack house have found out about what was discussed in the meeting. Tomorrow when we talk with them, it is up to us to make sure that they believe we are serious." Jerry smiled and said, "I get it. When they know we are serious, then they'll believe that we'll kill them." "Right. If they don't leave after our little chat, we're going to have to beat the shit out of them to convince them that we are serious. They'll leave before the situation reaches the point where it is necessary to kill someone." Henry looked over at Jerry to see how he was taking the news. Jerry understood that, but there was still the chance that the guys wouldn't leave. Escalating it to the level of killing was a major step and one that it was highly unlikely the bad guys would believe they would be willing to take. "So what if they don't leave?" "I'm pretty sure that they'll leave. A decade ago a dealer that didn't leave got killed. Everyone in the area knows that, with the exception of some of the younger kids around here and you." Jerry knew that didn't answer the question and asked, "Suppose they are really stupid and stay?" Henry looked up and said, "Then I guess Mr. Atkins will do something." Jerry shook his head and replied, "That's what I'm afraid of." Martin, Jerry, and Henry sat on the porch watching the activity in the neighborhood. The fat man from the meeting the previous night meandered up the street, pausing on occasion to check out some sight that appeared interesting to him. Reaching Jerry's place, he stopped to check out the truck and nodded his head as he examined it. His curiosity satisfied, the man waddled over to the porch and sat down beside Martin. The porch complained at the additional weight. Jerry looked over at the man, thinking that it would be totally beyond belief if the man's name was Albert. Since introductions hadn't been made the previous night, Jerry said, "I'm Jerry Smith." The fat man looked over at him and replied, "I know." Henry laughed and said, "That's Otis." "Nice to meet you, Otis." Jerry wondered what the story behind the fat man was. It was obvious that he commanded considerable respect among the men in the neighborhood. Otis shifted and asked, "Would you be helping us if your son wasn't living here?" "Of course," replied Jerry thinking about Abe. Some of the other kids in the neighborhood were good kids as well, despite the fact that they viewed themselves as losers. He pointed to the house next door and said, "There are other kids that would be affected." Otis shook his head as if he couldn't believe the answer. He looked over at Henry and saw that the black man was nodding his head supporting what his friend had said. Otis replied, "Sure is strange for a white man to care so much about a bunch of black kids." Jerry shrugged and turned to watch the activity across the street. Martin felt like he should defend Jerry, but a glance from Henry prevented him. Jerry considered what they were about to do and didn't like it one bit. The police were there to handle situations like this and what they were going to do was pretty close to illegal. Asking them to move was one thing, beating them was another, and killing them was another yet again. The first he could do, but the others were beyond him. This was vigilante justice. When a Lexis pulled up at the house on the corner, Jerry frowned as he realized that his landlord was probably the person behind the drugs in the neighborhood. His hands formed into fists, knuckles cracking in the process, as the rage threatened to rise within him. He muttered, "I'm gonna use his head for a soccer ball." Grinning at Jerry's reaction, Otis said, "Don't be angry. Angry won't do. You gotta be mean to do this." Henry growled when he saw Joe and Kenny walking down the street towards the house on the corner. Kenny was the kid that had broken into the house in an attempt to steal Jerry's tools. Martin had grown up with both of those kids and the thought that he was involved in this made him sick to his stomach. Jerry didn't know that much about Joe other than the fact that he was around when Kenny had been shot. Jerry realized he should have suspected that those two kids were a part of setting up the crack house. Henry said, "That fucking Kenny. You'd think he'd learned his lesson when he got shot by that dealer." Mr. Atkins stood up from his porch across the street and started walking down the block towards the corner house. His progress was slow and he had to walk around the potholes rather than step in them or over them. The three big men stood up to join Mr. Atkins. Jerry paused and then handed his cell phone to Martin saying, "Just in case." Martin looked at the cell phone and swallowed heavily. This was just too real for him to handle. He watched as the three big men made their way across the street. A chill went down his spine as he thought about trying to face them down in a major confrontation. Those three guys working together could probably throw a small car ten feet. The men caught up with Mr. Atkins and made their way to the front of the house. Kenny and Joe came out to the porch. Kenny asked, "What cha' want?" Mr. Atkins, looking over the kid with disgust evident on his face, answered, "Don't wan' no drug house heah." ------- Chapter 24 Having delivered their message to the two boys, Mr. Atkins turned and started to walk away. Robert Benson came out of the house and stared at the back of the old man. He shouted, "This is my fucking neighborhood and I'll kill you if you fuck with me." Jerry turned to stare at the greasy little man as his muscles tensed making him look even larger. There was raw unadulterated hate in his eyes as he stared at the slimy bastard. Robert looked at him and snarled, "Your lease is terminated." Kenny looked at Jerry and said, "You're a fucking dead man. Don't think I've forgotten about you." Jerry was about to reply when Mr. Atkins shouted over his shoulder, "Ya been warned." Mr. Atkins continued to walk away. Otis and Henry slowly turned to follow. Jerry paused to look at all three of the drug dealers in the eye to let them know that they were serious. He turned to join the other men only a step and a half ahead of him. Kenny stared at the back of the large man, angered that he would be discounted so easily. As he pulled a gun, he screamed, "Fuck you!" Jerry hadn't taken more than one step when there was a loud pop behind him followed by the feeling that someone had kicked him on the left shoulder blade. Incredulous that anyone would dare hit him, he turned to see which of the three had that kind of nerve. Kenny held a gun in his hand staring at Jerry unable to believe that the guy hadn't fallen to the ground. Upon seeing the gun, the rage within cackled as strength flowed into Jerry's body. His left arm didn't work correctly, but he reached out with his right hand and grabbed the hand holding the gun. Giving a shout, he threw Kenny all of the way to the street feeling the kid's arm come loose from the socket and bones cracking from the strength of his grip. Kenny bounced before coming to a stop and lay there in the middle of the street. Otis waddled over and stood on the kid's stomach as he looked down on him. He didn't care if the kid could breathe or not. With a growl, he said, "You done fucked up boy." When Kenny had flown through the air past Mr. Atkins, the old man had turned to find out what had happened behind him. He looked at the red spot on the back of Jerry and realized that the big man had been shot. In a voice that carried down the block, Mr. Atkins shouted, "911." At the other end of the porch, Henry was throwing Joe against the wall as a gun fell to his feet. Terrified at the look on Henry's face, Joe was screaming at the top of his lungs hoping that someone would come to his rescue. Jerry turned to face the landlord now that the rage within had awakened fully. This time, the pain had left it totally unfettered. Free from control and restraint, the rage screamed, "Destroy!" Robert with a snarl fixed on his face stared Jerry right in the eye, as he fired his pistol at nearly point blank range. The bullet entered Jerry's abdomen, hitting the place within which his rage lived. Shocked, Jerry felt the rage sream as his lifeblood drained away and his strength started to ebb. The rage, with its last gasp, took over. His head ached in time to a steady beeping noise that wouldn't stop. He tried to open his eyes, but they didn't obey his commands. He wished the beeping sound would stop or, at least, get quieter. He heard other noises, the soft squeak of tennis shoes on linoleum, the whisper of hose encased thighs rubbing together, and a nervous cough from a distance away. He wondered where he was. Knowing that he couldn't live the rest of his life with his eyes closed, he gave another attempt to open them and succeeded. A bright light forced him to close them immediately. After a second, he tried again finding that the light wasn't so bright. His eyelids fluttered before he became accustomed to the light. Everything was fuzzy and he still couldn't tell where he was. Exhausted from the effort, he closed his eyes and fell into an uneasy sleep. It was the kind of sleep where one isn't exactly conscious of what was going on around them, but not deep enough to be totally unaware. Time passed, but he had no way of knowing how much time passed. He slept experiencing bizarre dreams where Jenny talked to him about Bill. He opened his eyes again, fighting the brightness of the light in the room. A low growl assaulted his ears, making him wonder if there was a wild animal in the room until he realized that he was making the noise. The damn beeping noises continued unabated. He tried to lift his head, but the effort was too much for him. He emitted another low groan. Bill came over to the bed and looked down at his father with a worried look on his face. As concern battled with excitement at the change in condition of his father, he said, "You're awake." His mouth and throat wouldn't work enough to give an answer. He felt weak as a baby. This was such a weird sensation that he didn't know what to do. Bill watched his father struggle to answer and said, "I've called the nurse." A large woman came into the room and checked his vital signs talking to him the entire time. It was too much of an effort to follow what she was saying and he stopped trying. He turned his attention back to Bill seeing the worried look on his face. A straw appeared in front of his face as the nurse said, "Take a small sip." Jerry tried, but most of the water ran out of his mouth. The little that made it down his throat only wet his thirst rather than relieving it. He made a second try with better results. When he went to make a third try, the nurse pulled the straw away from his mouth. He couldn't lift his head to follow it. Bill said, "Jenny is here, but she stepped outside for a minute to talk to your doctor." There was nothing more Jerry wanted than to learn how his son was doing, but his tongue felt swollen and any attempt at talking resulted in the generation of random noises. His back and stomach hurt as the memory of what had happened slowly returned. He couldn't remember anything past the moment when he was shot in the stomach. Only now did he realize that he had also been shot in the back. A woman wearing a white coat came over the bed and examined a chart while looking at him. Bill said, "He hasn't said anything. Is he okay?" The woman ignored Bill as she played a flashlight in front of Jerry's eyes. The bright light hurt. She smiled over at Bill as she said, "The infection is lessening and he is awake. That is a good sign." When the woman moved, Jerry could see that Jenny had been standing behind her. He tried to say something, but all that came out was more noise. Frustrated, he frowned and gave up. Searching inside, he sought to find the rage hoping that he could tap into its strength, but there was nothing in the pit of his stomach except pain. He closed his eyes wanting to gather his strength, but he fell asleep again. This time his sleep was more restful and his awakening less jarring. When his eyes opened he looked around the room. This time it was dark and he was alone in the room. A cough welled up in his chest and when it burst loose, he thought his entire body was getting ripped apart. He shouted in response to the pain, an act that hurt almost as much as the cough. The loud noises emerging from the room brought a nurse. She looked at him and could see the sweat on his face and stepped over to feel his forehead. His fever had returned. She left the room to get the doctor. A middle aged black man wearing a white coat entered the room and examined Jerry with the typical distant manner common to doctors. He asked, "Have you got your voice back yet?" The question gave Jerry pause, as he hadn't tried to say anything. Opening his mouth, he croaked, "Where am I?" "You're in the hospital," replied the doctor. Turning to the nurse, he requested additional antibiotics. The answer prodded his brain into working harder. It only made sense that he would be in a hospital after getting shot. He asked, "How long have I been here?" "Eight days," replied the doctor as he looked over the chart. Glancing up, he said, "You're lucky to be alive. Not many people can get shot four times and survive." The news was too much for Jerry to take. How could he lay in a hospital bed for eight days? He had been shot four times? He only remembered the one shot to the stomach by that scum landlord. His eyes closed as he tried to reconstruct what had happed to him, but there were major blanks in his memory. Once again he fell asleep. It was daylight when he woke and raised his head to see his situation. His left arm was bound up in a cast while his right arm was filled with needles, tubes, and wires. A tube under his nose itched. A noise attracted his attention and he looked in the direction from which it had originated. Mr. Atkins, dressed in a suit and tie, sat in the chair watching Jerry. In a very rough and broken voice, Jerry asked, "How are you doing, Mr. Atkins?" "I's doin' good," replied the elderly black man. Shaking his head as he looked over Jerry, he said, "Looks like you'se doin' betta." "What happened?" Mr. Atkins said, "Day shot you sumtin' bad. Ya tore dem up good." "I'd say they tore me up good." Jerry coughed a couple of times. Each cough was accompanied by pain that shot through his back, chest, and abdomen. He had a sour taste in his mouth that threatened to make him sick to his stomach. Mr. Atkins chuckled at the comment and shook his head. He replied, "If'n ya tinks ya looks bad, ya shoulda seen dem. Dem doctors couldn't put dat cracka back ta'gather." Despite knowing that Mr. Atkins was well respected in the community, Jerry really wished that he spoke better. His heavy accent and strange pronunciation made it almost impossible to understand what the old man was saying. Less a question than a statement, Jerry asked, "I killed him?" "Yessa, ya killed em. Da cracka and da dealer." Jerry's stomach clenched at the idea of having killed two men. The action caused a wave of pain to shoot through his body. He must have killed Kenny when he threw him to the street. Jerry said, "I didn't want to hurt anyone." "Sheet, ya saved ma life," the old man said while shaking his head at the memory of that afternoon. Jerry had stepped between him and the gun stopping a bullet in the process. He'd never thought that a white man would do something like that for him. "Ya took da bullet fer me." Trying to follow what Mr. Atkins was saying nearly drove Jerry crazy. All the talk about taking a bullet for the old man didn't make sense. He didn't remember anything like that happening. Even though it hurt to talk, he said, "I don't remember anything." Mr. Atkins stood and walked over to the bed. Standing there, he looked down at Jerry and said, "Thank ya." Not knowing what he was getting thanked for, Jerry replied, "You're welcome." Turning away from the bed, the old black man shuffled out of the room without saying another word. Jerry was left wondering if he was under arrest for killing two men. He really hadn't meant to kill Kenny. All he had wanted to do was disarm him. A nurse came in after she had figured out that Mr. Atkins was telling her that Jerry was awake. She held up a cup with a straw for him to drink. The cool water soothed his throat. After several sips, he asked, "What time is it?" "It's a little after four. Your other visitors should be here soon," answered the nurse with a smile as she adjusted things around the bed. She said, "We'll be moving you out of intensive care tomorrow." "Where will I be going?" asked Jerry wondering what was going to happen to him. He watched what she was doing, but didn't understand half of the actions she performed. "I imagine a private or semi-private room," answered the nurse. She finished what she was doing and asked, "Would you like to watch television?" "Sure," replied Jerry thinking it would help pass the time. The nurse left the room after turning on the television to a cable news station. It was time for the economic news and he watched it feeling that it was incredibly boring. As the news crew droned on endlessly about the health of various companies, he considered his situation. Not remembering what had happened convinced him that it was pretty dire. Bill came into the room and shouted, "Hey, Dad. You're awake." "Hi Bill. How are you doing?" "Me? I'm fine. What about you?" asked Bill surprised that his dad was worried about him. He had worried about his father from the moment that he had heard the gunfire. Martin had kept him from running down the street to his father. "I don't know. Nobody has told me anything," answered Jerry. He added, "I've been worried about you. Where have you been staying?" Bill smiled, it was reassuring to know that his father continued to think about him even in his current condition. He answered, "I've been staying at home with Henry. Abe's mom takes me to school and Jenny has been picking me up." "That's nice of them. I hope that you haven't been giving them any trouble." "Only a little, but nothing they can't handle," Bill joked with a wink. Henry was so much like his father that it was scary. He had the same sense of responsibility. Jerry chuckled, but it hurt enough to choke it off. He asked, "How's school going?" "It's fine. Made an A on my test yesterday. Sitting here watching you sleep gave me a lot of time to study. Woody, Sandy, and Larry have really been great," answered Bill. While his father had been in the hospital, they had worked hard to cheer him up. He had spent one night with Woody over the weekend and they had played video games most of the time. It had been a nice break from sitting in his house worrying about his father. Sighing, he added, "Everyone's been great, but I've missed you." "I'm sorry to have worried you," said Jerry. A noise by the door attracted Jerry's attention and he looked over in that direction seeking the source. Jenny, watching with moist eyes, was waiting at the door allowing the father and son to talk. He called over to her, "Come in." "Maybe I'll go out in the hall so she can say hello properly," said Bill with a lopsided grin as he made kissing noises. Jenny came in and hugged Bill with a naturalness that said it wasn't the first time she had hugged him. In a teasing voice, said, "The last time I tried that, he fell asleep on me." "That's right. You must be old news by now," replied Bill teasing Jenny. During the time when his father had been in the hospital, the two of them had come to know each other very well. Giggling, Jenny said, "You rascal. I'll get you back for that." "I'm sorry about falling asleep on you. I don't know what was the matter with me," replied Jerry. He had a hazy memory of that event. He coughed again wondering what was the matter with him that he was coughing so much. "I'll forgive you, but you'll have to beg a bit," said Jenny with a smile. The smile faded as she said, "You were in pretty bad shape. At first, it was the wounds, but then septicemia settled in your abdomen. Once you got through that, you came down with pneumonia. It was pretty touch and go there for a while." "I hope that I didn't worry you." "Worry me? You get shot four times and I'm not supposed to worry?" Jenny's voice rose giving testimony to her emotions as days of worry swept over her. She took a deep breath to get control over her emotions and said, "I'm sorry. I was so worried about you." Jerry didn't know what to say to Jenny. He felt bad that she had worried about him, but the idea that she cared so much about him felt so comforting. Eyes misting he said, "It's nice that you worried about me. Never experienced that before." The comment tore at Jenny and Bill. She tightened her hug on Bill, comforting them both. Bill said, "A lot of people worried about you. Henry has been here every night and Mr. Atkins has been here during the day. All of the Spencers have come by every chance they get." The three talked about what had been happening over the past few days. Jerry continued to be weak, his concentration wavering when he grew tired. Over the course of conversation, he didn't learn any more about what had happened that afternoon, but he did learn more about the arrangements that had been made for Bill. Several hours passed before Jenny left, saying that Martin and Henry would be coming by to pick up Bill. She kissed him goodbye. Henry arrived at the hospital and entered the room. Looking over at Jerry, he asked, "Ain't it about time for you to get your scrawny ass out of that bed?" Despite the pain, Jerry laughed and retorted, "Look at who is calling who scrawny." Coming to stand by Bill, Henry put a hand on the kid's shoulder and asked, "Would you mind getting some coffee for us?" Bill looked up at the big man, realizing that he wanted to talk with his father in private, and answered, "Sure." After Bill left, Henry looked at Jerry and said, "Mr. Atkins told me you didn't remember what happened. He thought you would like to hear the story from me." "Thank God. I've been wondering what happened." Henry told the story from the very beginning, covering the parts that Jerry remembered and adding details that he hadn't realized at the time. After Kenny had shot him in the back, he had thrown Kenny into the street. Kenny had suffered a broken arm and a dislocated shoulder. When Otis had stood on Kenny, he had broken a couple of the kid's ribs. Henry said that Joe had pulled a gun on him and he had thrown the kid against the wall a couple of times. Joe ended up with a concussion as a result of the treatment. Henry had just turned when he saw Robert pull a pistol and shoot Jerry. He had watched in shock as Jerry picked up Robert with a single hand and threw him head first into the dirt. It seemed for the moment as though everything was quiet. Mr. Atkins had come up to see what damage had been done when two other men had come out of the house with guns. Jerry had reacted by stepping between them and Mr. Atkins, taking a third bullet in the process. This had been to the gut as well. Even after getting shot, he had thrown one of the men to Henry. Jerry had hit the last man with a backhanded blow to the head that had snapped the neck just before he collapsed from a final bullet to the leg. The cops had arrived about the time that Jerry had dispatched the final gunman. Panic had reigned after that as neighbors came running out of their houses protesting the arrests of everyone including Henry, Otis, and Mr. Atkins. Things had been heating up until Mr. Atkins had silenced the crowd with a single shout, giving control back to the police. The investigation had lasted most of the day with the police finding significant quantities of drugs in the house. Mr. Atkins made the case that the men had gone to ask them to close the crack house when the boys had opened fire upon them. The police had been satisfied with the evidence and released them without taking them away. The paramedics had treated Jerry as soon as the ambulance arrived. Things had been touch and go for a long time. The gunshot wounds had torn up his abdomen. His intestines had been hit and that had led to a major infection. His stomach had been shot and the bullet responsible had just barely missed his spine. Jerry listened to the story amazed at what had happened. He knew that there had been another casualty of which Henry wasn't aware. The rage within had died during the fight. He didn't know if that was a good or a bad thing. It had been with him his entire life. Henry said that Bill had tried to come to his rescue when the first gunshot had been fired, but Martin had held him back receiving a black eye in the process. Martin had understood and wasn't angry, sure he would have fought just as hard to come to the rescue of his mother. The update had reassured Jerry significantly. At least he had acted out of self-defense, only losing control over the rage after getting shot and having a second gun pulled on him. He said, "Thanks, Henry. You're a good friend taking care of me and Bill like this." "Hey, no problem. You kept a lot of us from getting killed," replied Henry. He was silent for a moment and then said, "They had planned to kill Mr. Atkins, but Kenny decided to shoot you first." Bill returned with two cups of coffee, handing one to Henry before sipping from one himself. He sat down and asked, "Did you tell him about Martin?" "Yes, I did." "I was sorry afterwards, but he wouldn't let me come to help you. He says that he understands, but I feel real bad about it." "You tried to protect me and he tried to protect you. That's what friends do. They protect each other," replied Jerry, receiving a nod of approval from Henry. The look on Bill's face suggested that was exactly what he needed to hear. It was an hour later that Henry left with Bill saying that they had to eat dinner and get back to the house. Martin stopped by the hospital. It wasn't until he had seen Martin, that Jerry even gave a thought to work. Martin told him that they had hired Carlos just in time, but that Mr. Sinclair had come down to help manage the store while he was in the hospital. In response to the news, Jerry asked, "What does Mr. Sinclair say about this mess?" "He hasn't said anything to me. He was impressed with the shape that the store was in when he came in. Mentioned something about it being one of the best run stores in the chain," answered Martin. Mr. Sinclair had arrived with the expectation that the store would be a shambles. Instead, he had found Martin taking orders, Mike pulling them, and Karen going over the inventory. The paperwork in the office was up to date. "Well, I hope he doesn't fire me." A voice from the door interrupted them, as Mr. Sinclair entered the room and said, "Read the newspaper article about the event. Either you have a good publicist or people in your neighborhood really like you." "Must be the former," Jerry joked and tried to laugh, but the pain in his stomach stopped him. "I doubt that." Mr. Sinclair moved over to one of the chairs and sat down to watch Jerry. The big man had surprised him. A year ago an ex-employee was ready to sue him for creating a hostile workplace. Now the people who worked for him backed him to the hilt. Before it had looked like a normal store, but now it sparkled. The employees were talented and confident of their abilities. They didn't hide their mistakes or blame others for problems. Jerry asked, "How is the store doing?" "Busy. Carlos was able to pick up another repair shop as a customer. Karen has the inventory system ready to go for daily use. She's populated the database and is training Abe and Sammy how to check in stock when it arrives. I was really impressed with her setup," answered Mr. Sinclair. He had been pleased when he learned how Jerry had handled the whole situation. He had not only given Karen the responsibility for installing the system, but had given her the authority as well. "She's a smart woman," replied Jerry. He smiled as he said, "We'll see if she can train this old dog on how to use the system." "Seems to me that you'll have lots of time to read the instruction manual now," said the boss with a chuckle. Jerry wasn't use to hearing Mr. Sinclair joke. Getting serious, he said, "Your staff is pretty sharp. I particularly enjoy Abe, he's a good hard worker." Martin smiled at the assessment of his brother. His brother had been growing up a lot over the past year. His grades had improved and he was taking his responsibilities much more seriously. As a result, he had developed a sense of self that allowed him to resist peer pressure. His choice of a motorcycle had demonstrated that independence of thought. He commented, "Jerry has been a good influence on him. He's rebuilding an antique Indian Motorcycle." Jerry had forgotten about that and asked, "He got it?" "Yeah, it's a real wreck." Mr. Sinclair sat back and asked, "What is the deal with restoring all these old vehicles?" After glancing at Jerry, Martin answered, "I don't know about Jerry, but it is an important lesson for Abe and me. We live in a neighborhood filled with old junk and felt hopeless that we didn't have anything new. Jerry helped me rebuild that Caddy and all of a sudden I had taken something worthless and turned it into something that was very valuable. In the process, I learned a valuable skill and a lot about myself." Mr. Sinclair thought about it and realized that Jerry had used the cars as a way of teaching self-respect. He replied, "I never thought about it that way." The three talked some more but Jerry was having trouble following the conversation. His eyelids kept fluttering as he fought off the desire to fall asleep. After a while, he lost the battle and nodded off. Martin looked over at Jerry and said, "He's fallen asleep." "Yeah," replied Mr. Sinclair. He looked at Jerry in the bed. The big man looked a lot smaller and much more vulnerable now. He asked, "Tell me something. How do you really feel working for him?" "I'm probably the wrong guy to ask about that," replied Martin. "Why?" "I can't separate how I feel about him outside of work and at work," replied the young black man. Less than a year ago, he had been unemployed. Now he had a job, a new car, his mother had a new car, and he had savings. The two cars were a result of work performed outside of the job. "I guess you like him." "Oh yes. In a way, he's the father that I never had. He always has a positive word of support when things aren't going well. He uses a low-pressure sales approach, giving advice only when asked and not expecting me to follow it. He's strong, but is scared to death of misusing that strength. I think that is a good thing," replied Martin in a thoughtful manner. He wondered where this conversation was heading. "Would you say he's a good leader?" "I'm not sure what that means," answered Martin as he thought about it. Leadership was a rather different kind of concept in his neighborhood. Most of the leaders were people that were strong enough to force their point of view, physically if necessary. A few other people, like Mr. Atkins, led by reputation based on a past willingness to use force. The answer surprised Mr. Sinclair and he didn't know what to think of it. Clearly it was an honest answer. Nodding, he said, "Interesting." Jerry stirred as a nightmare of the experience flitted through his mind. He shook as though trying to ward off some danger. He uttered a groan and then settled down returning to a peaceful sleep. Martin shook his head and said, "So strong and yet brought down by a couple ounces of lead. It makes you think, doesn't it?" "Yes, I would say so. What are your plans for the future?" Shrugging, Martin answered, "I've been thinking about going to school. Jerry is always talking about the lack of opportunities that he had because he hadn't continued his education. He really pushes education and uses himself as an example of what happens if you don't take it seriously." "So what would you study?" Martin said, "I'm thinking that I'll take business courses." "Why?" "I like this business, but I'd like to go a little further in it than Jerry. I don't mean to talk bad about what he's done, but it would be good to be more than a manager of a local outlet when I hit forty." Martin and Jerry had talked about that many times while restoring the cars. "What makes you think you can go further than Jerry?" asked Mr. Sinclair curious to learn who had motivated him in that direction. "Jerry said so," replied Martin. ------- Chapter 25 It was summer before Jerry returned to the store. He used a cane to walk and moved with the kind of care associated with old men. His left arm and half his upper body was in a cast to allow his shoulder blade heal. His bullet wounds had healed, but on occasion the scar tissue pulled when he moved. Despite the fact that he had lost body mass, he remained a big powerful looking man. Entering through the back door, he was greeted by everyone and welcomed back to the shop with coffee and donuts. It was a bittersweet occasion for him. Looking around the room, he could see that a number of improvements had been made in the store. Mike was standing to the side looking proud of the store. Jerry looked over at Mike and said, "The store looks great. You've done a wonderful job running it in my absence." "Thanks, Jerry." Mike beamed at the praise. Relying upon the support of his cane, Jerry slowly walked down the length of the store. His eyes picked out the changes that had been made around the store. He paused about halfway down the aisle and commented, "You moved the faster moving stock up towards the front of the store. Smart." Mike said, "Well, we looked at the sales figures generated by Karen and established that we could do that without any difficulty." "I had thought about doing that, but couldn't figure out a way to do it without impacting business," remarked Jerry. "We stayed an hour late a couple nights a week and made the changes." "Very smart," replied Jerry thinking that he wouldn't have been able to motivate people to work overtime like that, particularly when they were short staffed. Mike was turning out to be a better manager than he was. He made his way to the front of the store and looked around at the sales desk. A computer terminal had been added to the counter. He watched as Martin took an order. The young man typed the part numbers into the computer, printed up the order, and then handed it off to be pulled. Carlos picked up the order and headed to the back. Karen said, "It prints the bill, updates the inventory, and flags parts that need to be ordered. We have a complete record of what each customer orders." "Nice," said Jerry as he watched the system work. Although he had read all of the manuals, he was very concerned that it was beyond him. He hoped that his understanding of the programs was sufficient to use them. He asked, "Do you think I can learn how to use it?" Karen laughed and answered, "I know you can. I tested it out on my husband and I've determined that it is idiot proof." Jerry laughed at the obvious joke about her husband and looked around at the lobby. The coffeepot was still in its place. Pictures of the truck were on the wall, along with the trophy it had won. Looking out in the parking lot, he stared at the truck sitting there on blocks. Martin and Mike had parked it there to act as an advertisement. It was gorgeous and he would go out later to visit it. The sight of the truck reminded him that he had to pick up the Camaro. Martin was smiling at him when he turned to look at the store. He said, "It's a beauty, isn't it?" Jerry answered, "Yes, it is. I'll visit with it later." Carlos entered the room and said, "Hello, Mr. Smith." "Hello Carlos. Please call me Jerry. I'm sorry that I wasn't here for your first day at work," replied Jerry. Carlos smiled and said, "Don't be sorry. I have enjoyed working here." "That's good. How's school going?" Carlos broke out in a big grin and answered, "Very well, sir. My grades are good and I'm making progress on earning the degree." "That's great," replied Jerry. He was pleased that the work arrangement was serving its purpose. Mike asked, "Would you like to go into the office and catch up on some paperwork?" Groaning at the thought of walking all the way to the back of the store rather than at having to work on paperwork, Jerry said, "I guess." Walking with a slow and careful pace, he headed to the office followed by Mike and Karen. Opening the door, he was surprised to find that his desk had a computer on it. He frowned as he hobbled over to his desk and looked at the computer. This was the computer that he dreaded meeting. Looking up at Karen, he said, "Let me guess, you've computerized everything." She smiled and said, "You'll like this. Most of your paperwork will be done in an hour rather than two days." Jerry wondered if the business had passed him by since he was shot. He had read the manuals and studied them with due diligence, but he had never touched a computer. Had the time spent studying the manuals allow him to use the machine? It was time to find out. Sitting down in his chair, he said, "Okay, I guess I should have you show me what I need to know." For the next two hours, Karen explained how to use the computer. Jerry listened carefully and tried it using hunt and peck typing with one finger. The keyboard threw him for a loop, as he found that he had to search for the keys. After ten minutes, he knew that he was going to have to practice typing before he would become comfortable using a keyboard. After a while, she stopped talking while he experimented with using the computer. Before long, he was pulling up views on the business that surprised both Karen and Mike. Looking up after displaying a graph of sales by part categories, he said, "This is amazing." "So you like?" asked Karen. "I like it a lot," answered Jerry as he pounded on the keys for a minute while mentally cursing the fact that it was difficult finding the proper keys. Another graph came up on the screen. Pointing to it, he said, "These three places have been reducing their orders from us over the past few months. The money amount is about the same, but the number of actual orders is down. It might be time to make a sales call and find out if there is a problem." Mike looked at the chart and said, "I didn't notice that." Karen looked at the chart with a puzzled expression trying to figure out how he had displayed that information. After a minute, she realized that it wasn't one of the canned charts that she had programmed. Shocked, she said, "You've been studying the manuals that I sent over." Winking at her, Jerry replied, "Yes, I studied them in quite a bit of detail. You have to remember that I didn't have anything else to do." "So you taught yourself how to write queries without a computer?" "Yes," replied Jerry. For several months, he had laid in bed with nothing to do except read and study the manuals. For the first month, the manuals had been unintelligible, but his stubborn persistence had finally paid off. He had spent the last month identifying the kind of information that he would like to explore. He was happy that his understanding of the material was correct. Mike looked over at Karen and shook his head. Here he had thought that he would be ahead of Jerry on this, but the big man had done his homework. He asked, "So when were you going to tell us?" "Once I knew that I could handle it," replied Jerry as he looked at the chart. He looked up and asked, "Can I print this?" Karen leaned over and showed him how to print the document. She smiled and said, "I take it you are going to want the data in hardcopy most of the time." "What does that mean?" asked Jerry exposing the fact that he had major gaps in his understanding of the computer. "It means that you'll want to print it out to use it," answered Karen. Jerry had surprised her by figuring out the system from the manuals. This was particularly surprising since he hadn't known what half of the terms meant when she had explained to him the software that she was planning on purchasing. "I don't really need it, but I want to put it on paper to show others" replied Jerry. He looked at the printed copy and smiled. Handing it to Mike, he winked and said, "You have some sales calls to make." "Okay," replied Mike, as he looked at the sheet uncertain that he knew what to do with it. He had no idea what he was supposed to do when on a sales call. "You've never made a sales call, have you?" "No," replied Mike. "We'll make a couple of them together this week," said Jerry. He didn't know what the future held for him, but his recent brush with death forced him to realize that he hadn't done Mike any favors by not training him to take him over. He added, "You might consider training Martin on some of your job duties." "Why?" Shifting to get more comfortable in the chair, Jerry said, "I did a great disservice to you. I should have trained you how to do my job. You had to learn a lot to take over the daily operation of the store and that shouldn't have been necessary. Mr. Sinclair came down here to help out the first few weeks. You'd have really impressed him if you had known how to take over in my place without his help. I apologize for that." Mike hadn't thought about it, but Jerry was right. For quite a while he was trying to do two jobs when he could have trained Martin to do parts of his job. He had fallen into the same trap. Embarrassed, he said, "I didn't think of it that way. I should have turned to Martin to help me out." "Hey, it's hard to remember you're draining the swamp when you're up to your ass in alligators. I imagine that you saw quite a few alligators over the past couple of months." Jerry gave him a friendly grin and a wink when he finished. Mike laughed and replied, "That's true. I was lucky that Mr. Sinclair came down to help out." Jerry sat back in his chair, his cast getting in the way of relaxing. His shoulder was beginning to bother him. He said, "You did a good job. Both of you did a good job." Mike stood up a little straighter and put his arm around his wife. He said, "Well, I better get out front and relieve Carlos so that he can get an early lunch." Jerry said, "I'll be out there in a minute. I'm afraid that I'm going to have to sit at the counter for a little while." Mike chuckled as he left the room. Once the door had closed, Karen said, "He was so worried that you wouldn't like some of the changes around here." "I'll admit that it is a little disconcerting to return to work and find that it has changed in your absence, but I couldn't expect things to stay as they were," answered Jerry. Undoubtedly, there were some things that he wouldn't like but he'd give them a chance. He had made changes in the past and had to undo them when they hadn't worked out. Jerry rose out of his chair and grabbed his cane. His leg was stiffening up on him from sitting too long. He had just about reached the door when the office phone rang. Karen answered it and then handed the phone to Jerry. Jerry picked it up and said, "Hello. This is Jerry." "Hello Jerry. This is Al," replied Mr. Sinclair. "Ah, Mr. Sinclair. How are things going?" "I called to see if you were still there," replied Al, "and to find out how things were going on your first day back." "Karen just filled me in on the computer system." Jerry looked up for a moment and then asked, "Could you hold on a moment?" "Sure." "Karen, could you help out Mike in the front so that Carlos and Martin can get lunch?" "Sure," replied Karen knowing that his request was just an excuse to get her out of the office. When she had left, Jerry said, "Sorry, I just wanted to get Karen out of the room so that we could talk about business." Mr. Sinclair was surprised and said, "You've been there for three hours and already have some business comments." "Yes. First of all, I think Mike has done a really good job of running the shop in my absence." "I agree." "I'd like to give him a bonus," replied Jerry. "I've already got one ready for him," said Mr. Sinclair pleased that Jerry had thought about it as one of his first actions. "Oh, that's good. I hope it's a good one," remarked Jerry. "It is." "Second, Karen has done an outstanding job computerizing the store. I'd like to give her a bonus," said Jerry. Mr. Sinclair didn't say anything immediately as he thought about it. Instead of answering directly, he asked, "It's rather new. Don't you think you might want to wait on that?" Jerry worked his way back to his chair and answered, "I've already used it to identify three stores where our sales are lagging. I can tell you just about anything that you want to know about our sales and inventory." "You sound pretty confident," replied Mr. Sinclair. "I'll tell you what. I am so sure of it, that I bet I can find enough ways to improve our business in a week that the system will pay for itself," replied Jerry. It was a sure bet as he had already identified a couple of areas of improvement that would improve the profitability of the shop. He wondered why they hadn't gone to computers long before that. "You're pretty sure of yourself," replied Mr. Sinclair. He hadn't considered Jerry to be the kind of guy that would support computerization of the store with such intensity. Usually that was a trait of a younger employee. "I am sure of it," replied Jerry. "I'll tell you what. You send me some information that you got out of the computer at the end of the week and I'll decide if she gets the bonus then." "That's reasonable." Jerry had identified a brand of parts that sold at a faster pace than all other brands. If they could negotiate the price down on that line of parts, then the profitability of the shop would increase. He couldn't compare the sales figures of the past with the current figures except manually. "Is that all?" asked Mr. Sinclair. "No, I would like to hire another half time employee," answered Jerry. "Would you like to tell me why?" "No one has had a vacation in almost six months. I need to let them get out of the store for a week or so each," replied Jerry. He had noticed the tired looks on the faces of his people when he had come in. Mr. Sinclair rummaged in his desk and pulled out the list of things that he had wanted to cover with Jerry once he got the store under control. The first item on the list was giving the people a break from working. They had been working overtime ever since Jerry had been injured. He checked off the item from the list and realized that the bonus for Mike was another item on the list. He said, "That's a good idea. I was going to suggest that myself. How are you going to find someone?" "I'll ask Carlos to ask around the college. I'm sure that he'll find another student that needs some financial support," answered Jerry. He had given the idea some thought before bringing it up. "Sounds like a plan," replied Mr. Sinclair. "Are you sure that you just got back to work today?" Jerry laughed at the question and answered, "I'll admit I was thinking about some of this while laying in bed." "Okay, I'll be calling back in an hour to make sure that you've gone home. You're only supposed to work half time for the next two months." "Yes, sir," replied Jerry. His voice had conveyed far less pleasure at doing that than any other item they had discussed. Mr. Sinclair hung up convinced that Jerry wouldn't go home when he was supposed to leave. Jerry climbed out of his chair and made his way to the front of the store. For the next half an hour, he learned how to use the computer at the register. It was actually pretty simple and he was soon handling the calls. Martin and Carlos returned from lunch. They had gone to the restaurant where Carlos's cousin worked. Howard had gone with them prompting a few jokes about the Three Amigos. Mike and Karen left for lunch saying that they would return in an hour. Jerry worked the counter handing off orders to Martin and Carlos. There was a slight delay in printing up the order, but that wasn't that big of a deal. The store was running smoother than ever before. It made him wonder what he was doing there. It seemed to him that Mike was ready to run the store without him. All they needed to do was to train Martin to take over as Assistant Manager. It was a humble feeling to realize that you were replaceable. When Howard came in to pick up the next set of orders, Jerry asked, "Could you drop me off at the Crimson Rose Bistro?" "Sure." Jerry called out, "Martin, Carlos, I'm leaving." Martin came out and answered, "Sure thing. I'll see you later." Jerry followed Howard out of the store. He was unable to help him carry anything since his shoulder was in a cast, he had to use a cane, and his leg tended to cramp up on him. It left him feeling helpless and he didn't like the feeling at all. Howard was able to make two trips to the car before Jerry made it there and eased himself into the passenger seat. Slipping into the driver's seat, Howard said, "Man, it's a miracle you're still alive. Shot four times and you still took care of three of the five gunmen. That's amazing." About to ask how Howard knew that, Jerry recalled that Martin would have told his best friend all about it. Jerry said, "I don't remember any of it." "Sure," replied Howard in a tone of voice that suggested he didn't believe a word of it. Howard pulled up to the door of the restaurant and Jerry got out while thanking him for the ride. His ride just waved and went on his way. After checking his pockets, Jerry made his way to the door and went into the restaurant. He spotted Jenny taking an order at one of the tables filled with three women. It looked to him like they were debating about ordering the chocolate desert. Looking around the restaurant, he could see that it was full except for one little table in the corner. The interior had not changed over the past few months since she had been busy looking after him. He appreciated her concern and the care she had given him, but that hadn't prevented him from worrying that the time she spent with him would ruin her business. Judging by the crowd, it looked to him like business was still good. When Jenny turned around, she spotted him at the door and raced over to greet him. She refrained from throwing her arms around him and kissing him, knowing that it would upset her clientele. She knew that he would understand her behavior, they had discussed it in the past. Smiling she said, "I was wondering if you were going to come today." "I had to see my favorite gal on my first day back to work," replied Jerry with a smile. She pointed over to the table in the corner and said, "Have a seat. I'll bring out some iced tea for you." Jerry smiled as she rushed into the kitchen. There was a nice swing and sway to her walk that he hadn't seen in a long time. He made his way over to the corner table, getting a variety of looks from the women in the room. Some of them wrinkled their noses as though he smelled. He didn't care about their reaction. Settling into the table, he waited for Jenny to return. It was less than a minute later that she came to the table with a large glass of iced tea. As she set it in front of him, she said, "Sorry it took so long. It's been a while since a real man has been in here." The rumbling laughter that rolled from him turned heads in the whole room. "No problem." "I told the chef to start a Chicken Caesar Salad, extra-large," said Jenny with a smile. It was so good to see him away from the house. She had stopped by every day after picking up Bill from school. Now that school was over she came by after work. Jerry winked and said, "Reminds me of the first time that I came here." It was an old joke, but one that comforted because of its consistency. He had no idea how much it meant to her to see him walking around again. It didn't matter to her if he was moving slow since that would pass with time and exercise. For now, he was coming back and that made her happy. She glanced over the restaurant with a practiced eye and could tell that a table was ready to get their bill. Sighing, she said, "I have to get back to work." Jerry watched as she went from table to table working her magic. During one of the trips to the kitchen she returned with his lunch. He started to eat, paying little attention to the food and more attention to her. Watching her was his favorite pastime. It wasn't the big things that he noticed, but the little things. She would occasionally chase an errant strand of hair with her little finger and tuck it behind her ear. When faced with a little problem, she would suck in her lower lip while she decided what she would do. There was the nervous little patting down her clothes when she turned to greet someone, as though she was double-checking to make sure she was presentable. The lunch crowd slowly thinned until he was the last one in the room. She came over to the table and sat down, happy to be done with the customers for the day. With a twinkle in her eye, she said, "I hope you enjoyed watching me." "Yes, I did." "I don't think your eyes left me the whole time you were eating," remarked Jenny. She appreciated the fact that he liked looking at her. She enjoyed looking at him. Jerry reached into his pocket and brought out a small jewelry box that Henry had dropped off at the house the night before. Opening it so that she could see the contents, he asked, "Will you marry me?" Jenny stared at the gold ring with the small diamond. Her eyes misted and her hand flew to her mouth trembling as it covered her parted lips. Tears ran down her cheeks as she tried to find her voice. With her other hand, she reached out to touch the ring as if to make sure that it was real. It was. She cried out, "Oh, yes. I'll marry you." He took out the ring and slipped it on her finger even as her hand shook. He kissed her hand. She leaned over the table and hugged him, kissing him repeatedly. In her excitement she forgot about his wounds and pulled him so that it stressed his shoulder. He gritted his teeth so as not to cry out from the pain. She sat back in her chair crying tears of happiness, unable to say anything as emotions had stolen her voice. Holding her hand in his massive paw, he said, "We'll have to set the date for a time after my divorce is final." "Oh, yes. I'll marry you," she replied still in shock. He laughed at her comment and said, "I love you, Jenny." For the next thirty minutes, they exchanged the kind of talk practiced by lovers through out the ages as they told each other of their feelings. Jenny was shocked by his proposal and kept looking at the ring. Every other sentence was, "I can't believe it." It was getting late and she had to clean up the restaurant so that the dishwasher could leave for the day. Jerry wanted to help, but his left hand was limited because of the cast and his right hand was needed for the cane. He watched her clear the tables. Once all of the dishes were removed, she went to each table and removed the linen table clothes. Never having watched her close up the dining room, he was not aware of how much work it was to get the place ready for the next day. She replaced all of the tablecloths, the napkins, and silverware. Taking her time, she removed all of the flowers from the vases and put them into a box. Noticing his attention and puzzled expression, she explained, "I take them home after work so that I have fresh flowers in the house every night." "That's lovely," remarked Jerry. He hadn't thought about what she would do with the flowers. "Yes, I enjoy them. That's why I started setting out flowers. I realized that my clients would expect them and I could use them afterwards at home," said Jenny. The flowers were paid for by the restaurant, but brought her personal pleasure. Together they left her place of business. She drove him to his house, since he was not able to drive a standard. When they reached the house, they went up to the door. She waved to the neighbors in greeting, getting waves in return. A pair of scooters was parked in the yard and Jerry maneuvered around them. The detour reminded him of how weak he felt and how slow he moved. By the time they reached the door, Bill and Abe had opened it. The pair of them started impersonating him, walking bent over as if they were using a cane and were a hundred years old. Jenny laughed at their antics while Jerry pretended to growl. Holding back a smile, he said, "One of these days I'll get even." Bill straightened up and asked, "So did you?" "Yes, I did," replied Jerry knowing exactly what Bill was asking. They had discussed the proposal the day before. "So do I have a new mom?" Understanding that the question concerned the engagement, Jenny answered, "Yes, you have a new mom." Bill shouted in joy and hugged Jenny tightly. Letting go, he grabbed Abe and, in an excited voice, said, "We have to tell your mother. She'll be so happy to hear that." The two boys ran next door to deliver the news as Jenny and Jerry laughed at their enthusiasm. There was no doubt that Sharon would be over in a few minutes to share her excitement with Jenny. She'd want to see the ring and find out how he had proposed. Jenny said, "It looks like I won't have a problem with my future step-son." "It's all an act. He actually hates you and believes that you are going to turn into an evil stepmother." She frowned and then realized that Jerry was teasing her. The frown turned into a grin as she replied, "You're just jealous that he likes me more than you." "Nah. You're much more likable than I am." Giving him a gentle hug, she let him sit down in his chair. She could tell that he was getting tired. He adjusted his pillows so that his shoulder wasn't stressed and relaxed. It was only then that he realized how difficult the day had been. Sharon arrived and entered the house without waiting for them to invite her. She shouted, "Girl, you got to show me the ring." Giggling, Jenny held out her hand with the ring in the gesture that women everywhere use to show off engagement rings, arm straight and the hand dangling down. Jerry smiled watching the two women giggle and talk. He was pleased that they responded to the event with the appropriate excitement. The women went into the kitchen to drink coffee while Jenny gave all the details about how he had proposed. The sound of animated talk from the kitchen pleased Jerry as the house rang with happy sounds rather than the shouts and arguments of his old house. The only negative in his life was his daughter, Melissa. Every week he had tried to talk to her, but she had hung up the phone on him each time. She had even told him that she was sorry the guys that shot him were such bad shots. He wondered if she was a lost cause and dropped off to sleep as his exertions of the day took their toll. ------- Chapter 26 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." ------- Chapter 27 In two different cars, Jerry, Jenny, Henry, Bill and Abe pulled up in front of the auto-detailing shop to pick up the Camaro. It was the first time Jerry was to see it since he had been shot and he could hardly wait to see how it looked. Eddie was waiting for them next to the car, but he didn't look nearly as happy to show off this car as he had been with the truck. The paint job was amazing. Using the dark on dark technique that Eddie had used for the truck, the scene of a lightning bolt striking a tall building in a cityscape looked three dimensional. As they approached to within ten feet of the car, each of them stopped to stare at the picture in amazement at the quality of it. The only person who didn't look pleased was Eddie. He looked over at the picture and shook his head as though displeased with it. There was something that bothered him about the car and he didn't know what it was. The paint job was exactly what he had wanted to capture, but there was something wrong. He had spent days looking at the car from every angle trying to figure out what it was. After a few minutes, Jerry stepped up and walked around the entire car taking in the final product. The car was beautiful. The interior had been restored to a condition that was better than new. Coming back to Eddie, he said, "It's gorgeous. You did a nice job on it." Eddie rubbed the back of his neck as he looked over at Jerry. Frowning, he said, "The first couple of days, I loved it. The longer I've looked at the car, the more convinced I became that there is something wrong with the paint job. I don't know what it is, but there's something wrong with it." Surprised at the self-criticism of his work, Jerry looked back at the car. He walked around the car looking at it closer trying to identify what would cause Eddie to say such a thing. The paintjob was outstanding and he couldn't see anything wrong with it. Across the back were the signatures of the shops that had done the finishing work and the name of the car. He didn't see anything wrong, but Eddie was right. After a few minutes, it seemed like there was some kind of itch at the back of his brain telling him that something wasn't right. Jerry walked around the car again, looking at it carefully. Everything looked right, but something about it bothered him. From the back of the car, Abe called out, "Hey, I thought lightning didn't have an 'e' in it." Eddie ran to the back of the car and stared at the name of the car. Sure enough, he had misspelled the name. Slapping his forehead with the palm of his hand, Eddie saw that Abe was right. He groaned at the thought of the work that would be required to correct the problem. Everyone gathered behind the Camaro staring at the misspelled name. Bill said, "It's not that obvious." "You're being nice," growled Eddie as his face glowed red from embarrassment. He wanted to crawl into a hole and hide for the rest of his life. No one in the business was ever going to let him live this down. Jenny and Henry exchanged looks wondering what Jerry was thinking as he stared at the back of the car. The tension in the air seemed to grow the longer that Jerry stood there without saying a word. Henry moved over to Eddie just in case Jerry lost his temper. The big man knew that he could probably keep Jerry from causing too much damage, particularly with his arm still in a cast. For his part, Jerry stared at the lettering trying to figure out how he was supposed to react. In the past, his rage would have seen this as an opportunity to run wild. There was nothing in the pit of his stomach but an empty hole. The rage was well and truly gone. Surprising everyone, Abe commented, "I think it's a good name." Everyone turned to stare at Abe, but the young black man didn't look uncomfortable with the attention. Puzzled by his announcement, Jenny asked, "In what way?" "We all know that Thunder knocked him on his ass, but since then he's dumped a lot of the shit in his life that was holding him back," answered Abe. Jerry nodded as he thought about what Abe had said. One of the things that he had dumped was the rage and he did feel lighter as a result. Lightening was a play on words, although unintentional. He wondered if he could live with it. Of everyone there, Eddie was the most upset. Jerry had treated him well and allowed him to use the truck to improve his business. He felt horrible about having ruined the job and there was nothing to do except fix it. It went without saying that there would be no charge for the paint job. He said, "I'll fix it. Don't worry about that." Henry was watching the big man, trying to figure out what was going on in his head. His friend wasn't reacting in a manner that he expected. If the big guy had broken out in laughter, he would have understood. He would have understood anger, but this silent and thoughtful reaction had him confused. Jerry looked over at Eddie and didn't say anything for a long time. Finally, he said, "I like it like this." Abe smiled in agreement even though Jenny, Henry, and Bill looked at him as if he had lost his mind. Eddie looked angry. The idea that the big man was trying to keep from hurting his feelings was an insult. Bill countered, "If you keep it, people will think you are a big dumb oaf that can't spell." Henry, well familiar with that reaction, nodded his head in agreement as he said, "That's true." Shrugging his shoulders, Abe countered, "So what? The ones that think he's a big dumb oaf are wrong. Shit, we all know he's just a big oaf." Laughter boiled up from the pit of his stomach and Jerry was powerless to hold it back. His loud guffaw carried through the air, infecting others as if it was a contagious virus. Eddie had proved the most resistant to the laugh, but found that he was chuckling along with everyone else after a minute. Hardly able to stand, Jerry found himself gasping for air after five minutes of solid laughter. Every time he looked over at Abe, he broke out in laughter again. Tears were forming in his eyes as he laughed. Jerry patted Eddie on the shoulder and said, "I'll keep it like this." Shaking his head, Eddie said, "Look, I'll fix it." "No, I like it," replied Jerry. The more he thought about it, the more he liked the name. Abe was right about the name. Lightening, rather than lightning, was the proper name for the car. He had undergone a huge change in which he had shed a number of the things that had weighed him down and held him back. Worried about him loosing his temper when someone made fun of him, Jenny asked, "What will you do when people make jokes about it?" "I'll laugh if it is a good joke and explain things to them if it is tasteless," answered Jerry. Having accepted the modified name of the Camaro, Jerry walked around it taking in the paint job. He liked the images presented and came to like the car even more. He opened the driver side door and examined the interior. It was beautiful beyond anything that he could have imagined. They had followed the same gray color scheme in the Camaro that they had used for the truck. Looking over the dashboard, he noticed an expensive sound system had replaced the old radio that hadn't worked. Surprised at the discovery, he asked, "What's with the radio?" Smiling at him, Jenny said, "I bought it for you as a little present." "Wow. You didn't have to do that," replied Jerry choked up at the thought of the gift. No one had ever given him a gift before. Sure, his wife used to give him gifts on Christmas, but they were things like lawn mowers and other home care goods. "Maybe you can loan the car to me when I go cruising for chicks," replied Henry with a grin. He winked at Jenny to let her know that he was kidding. He didn't want her reporting back to Sharon that he was already thinking of stepping out on her. Jerry laughed and replied, "Keep talking like that and Jenny is going to take away the keys. I'll be stuck driving her little Nova." Laughing, Jenny said, "I'll drive it and turn this car into a regular Man Trap." Abe quipped, "Dye your hair blond and no one will question the name of the car." "Ugh, that's horrible," exclaimed Jenny with a look of horror on her face. She knew that a whole series of blond jokes were about to start. Abe and Bill nudged each other with their elbows and started trading blond jokes. They knew a ton of them and would occupy themselves for an hour if Jenny let them. Unable to help herself, she laughed at the punch line for the joke about the blond bank robber that tied up the safe and blew the guard. Turning back to look at Jerry, she smiled at the grin that was plastered to his face. After paying for the work done on the car, the group split up. Abe and Bill went shopping with Jenny to get some new clothes for school. Martin headed off to pick up parts for Abe's motorcycle and Bill's Buick from a local junkyard that claimed to have a couple of the parts they needed. Jerry got in the Camaro with Henry. The Camaro had an automatic transmission and he could drive it even with his cast. It was with a great deal of pleasure that Jerry sat behind the steering wheel. As they drove down the street listening to the music, Henry said, "Let's pull into the drive-in burger place for lunch." Jerry smiled at the chance to show off his restored car. He replied, "Sounds like a plan to me." More than a few heads turned as they pulled into a parking spot at the burger place. A couple of teenagers got out and looked over the car. Henry smiled at his friend and asked, "How long do you think it will take them to notice?" Jerry laughed and said, "Considering the state of education today, I doubt they ever will." Henry shook his head at the comment and said, "You're a little rough on the kids today, aren't you?" Shrugging his right shoulder, Jerry replied, "I guess I blame the schools for helping to create kids like Joe and Kenny. With a good education, they would have known better." "Hey, they had the same education that Abe and Martin got," countered the big man. He felt guilty about how Kenny had turned out. For the past five years he had been trying to get the kid to grow up and act responsibly. He grumbled, "I let them down." "No, you didn't. You gave him every chance to straighten up." Jerry shook his head thinking back to when he had first met Kenny. He said, "The first time I met Kenny, he said that he wanted to sell grass for a living. I probably should have taken his head off at the time, but I let it slide with a warning that making an easy living tended to be a lot harder than working at a tougher job." "I told him the same thing myself, but he didn't want to listen. He thought he was smarter than everyone else," commented Henry. The sad fact was that Kenny was smart. His mother had told Henry that the kid had the highest IQ in the school. Everything came easy to the kid, too easy in fact. Asking the kid to work was an insult. "I'm still sorry about it all. He's going to be doing some time in prison," said Jerry. One of the kids looking over the car knocked on the window to get their attention. Henry rolled down the window and asked, "What can I do for you?" "Did you know that Lightning is misspelled?" asked the young man in a timid voice. "Well, the name of the car is Lightening and not Lightning. It's the picture that's wrong," commented Henry winking at Jerry. Jerry said, "Yes, this car represents a major load taken off my shoulders. I'm a much freer man because of this car than I was before I fixed it up. You might say that it was the straw that broke the camel's back and forced me to re-examine my life." The kid stood at the window listening to the explanation with a puzzled expression. Finally, he said, "You're an adult. You can do whatever you want." Both Henry and Jerry burst out laughing at that. Henry replied, "Son, you've got a lot more freedom right now than both of us put together." "Say what?" Jerry said, "Listen, you've got all kinds of choices to make. That's freedom. We've made our choices and have to live with the consequences. We've already sold our freedom." The kid stood there for a minute with a confused expression on his face. After a minute, he said, "Gee, all I wanted to say was that you had a nice car." Knowing the kid was confused by the conversation, Jerry said, "Thanks. I appreciate it." The kid wandered off to tell his friends about the strange guys in the Camaro. It wouldn't be until several days passed that he would think about what the two men had said to him. At the moment, their words meant nothing to him. Everyone knew that adults could do whatever they wanted. Jerry watched the kid walk off and shook his head. Henry voiced what was on his mind when he asked, "Do you think the kid understood what we were talking about?" "No. I'm pretty sure that he looked at us, considered our size and thought that we could do anything that we wanted," commented Jerry. He thought it was ironic that kids wanted to grow up so that they could do anything they desired; never realizing that each choice they made restricted their own actions far more than what their parents could possibly impose. Thinking about the kids that were out shopping with Jenny, Henry said, "You know, it wouldn't be a bad idea to tell the boys that." "You're right," replied Jerry. After a pause, his stomach growled and he said, "I'm getting hungry." Jerry leaned out the window and pressed the button to order. When the voice over the speaker acknowledged him, he didn't need to ask Henry what he wanted to eat. Without hesitation, he ordered, "Two burgers, two medium french-fries, and two large shakes. One vanilla and one chocolate." The two men enjoyed their lunch once it was delivered. Other people came by the car, examined the paintjob and went on their way after making comments about the car. Less than a third of them noticed the spelling of the name. One idiot actually made a comment about blacks not knowing how to spell, but Jerry put him in his place. Of course, he could hear the guy's comment as he walked away that the fucking gorilla couldn't spell either. When they had finished eating, Jerry turned to his friend and said, "I've never thanked you for installing the hot water heater." The big black man looked at Jerry and said, "No problem. I couldn't believe that you and Bill lived there for a whole winter without hot water." "It never really bothered me. To tell the truth, I didn't know how long I would be living there," replied Jerry. At the look from Henry, he added, "I didn't want to make the house any more valuable for that bastard landlord." "Putting a Band-Aid over a hole in the wall would double the value of those houses," quipped Henry with a short bark that passed for laughter. He grinned and then asked, "Ready to buy some Band- Aids to fix up that house?" After exchanging a look with Henry, Jerry started the car and they headed off to a hardware store. It was time for them to fix some of the other minor problems around the house since it looked like Jerry was going to buy it for the tax payment. As they pulled in front of the house, Jenny was outside sweeping off the porch. She had beaten them back to the house after shopping with the two boys. It had been a disappointing trip. The boys had picked out their shirts and pants without even looking around at their options. There were times when she wished that Bill were a girl. At least then she would have someone that enjoyed shopping for clothes. Appreciating the view of Jenny sweeping the porch, Henry said, "You've got yourself quite a woman there." "I know," replied Jerry, "she's more than what I deserve." Henry parked the car and turned to face Jerry with a very serious expression on his face. Over the past few weeks, Jerry had been very hard on himself and Henry wasn't quite sure what to make of it. He suspected that Jerry was having trouble taking care of himself and felt like a burden on all of the people around him. Looking his friend in the eye, he said, "You've got to lighten up on yourself, Jerry. You're a good man. You may not believe me, but even Mr. Atkins says so." Jerry shook his head as if he didn't believe it. He still looked in the mirror and saw a horrible monster. His calluses were slowly disappearing, but his hands remained paws. Although he had lost weight during his stay in the hospital, his basic skeletal structure remained the same. He was still a very big man that looked like a monster. "If you keep this up, the next time there's trouble you'll get yourself killed. I'm surprised that you weren't successful last time," said the large black man as he shook his head. "What? You think I was trying to get killed?" asked Jerry surprised by the implications of the statements made by his friend. "Yes, I do. Four shots were fired in four different directions and you were in front of each one. The way I figure it was that you felt that you were the least valuable person there and the most expendable." Jerry frowned at the assessment of his actions that day. He couldn't really argue, as he didn't remember anything that happened that day. He grunted, "I'll have to think about it." "Listen. Jenny is madly in love with you. Abe thinks that you are some sort of super hero put in the slum to clean things up. Martin thinks of you like the father that he never had. Sharon is fond of you. You're my best friend." Turning, Henry opened the door to the Camaro and stepped out. He waited for Jerry to get out of the car before he said, "Take care of yourself. Too many people will be hurt if something happens to you." Frowning, Jerry stared at the ground between his feet overwhelmed by what his friend had said. He wasn't used to sharing his feelings with others, except for the rage. The rage had insisted on sharing itself with everyone around him at the least provocation. Now that it was gone, he was left with gentler emotions. Lamely, he answered, "Okay." "I've got to go take care of Sharon. We got us a couple of quiet hours around the house and they are just too rare to let pass by," said Henry with a smile. He hoped that his words would have an effect on his friend. As Henry walked next door, Jerry realized that he owed his friend a great debt. He called after him, "Thanks, Henry. You're a good man." The big black man, without turning, waved a hand over his head as both an acknowledgement and a farewell. Jerry smiled at the thought of what his friend was going to be doing all afternoon. Looking over at Jenny, he smiled at the thought of what he would be doing all afternoon. Jerry stood in his front yard examining the sight it presented to him. Abe's motorcycle was spread out all over one side of the tree. The engine was in the trunk of the Pontiac Chieftain parked on the other side of the tree. Abe and Martin had already rebuilt the engine and carburetor. Most of the frame was ready to be reassembled, but they were missing the gas tank. The front fender that Abe had was in pretty bad shape and probably couldn't be fixed. Martin was looking for the front fork and the front fender. Abe was working hard to get the bike completed before his next birthday. He wanted to start riding it as soon as he could. There were only a couple of months to go and it was going to be difficult for him to finish it in time. The Pontiac Chieftain was nowhere near as close to being restored. They were still getting ready to pull the engine, but Bill was stuck with working on the body until Jerry was strong enough to help him with the heavy work. At the rate they were restoring the car, they'd probably be finished with it in time for Bill to learn how to drive on his learner's permit. Jerry could imagine the look on the guy's face at the DMV when Bill went for his driver's test in the classic car. He went to the front of the car and looked at the ornament on the hood. It had the classic Chieftain ornament that actually looked like an Indian head. When the headlights were on, the ornament would light up. When the car was first on the market there had been the sales slogan that said, "Let the Chief light your way." Of course, Jerry didn't remember that from when he was young. The car was already old before he was born. Bill had found that fact somewhere on the internet and claimed that was just a little more of the charm of the car. Bill had spent a lot of time on the internet looking for this car. The first Pontiac Chieftain that Bill had found had been sold by the time that Jerry had gotten out of the hospital. It had taken his son another month to locate this one. For the most part, the body was in pretty good shape, but the chrome parts were pitted fairly badly and there was a lot of chrome on that car. Martin was hoping to pick up some replacements at the junkyard, but it was unlikely they could replace all of the parts. It wasn't a disaster, but Jerry was hoping they could replace as much as possible. Jerry felt bad that he wasn't able to help Bill as much as he wanted. He cursed the cast and all of the limitations it placed on him. It would be a couple of months before it would be removed and that was a couple of months too long. By then, the weather would be getting cold and they wouldn't be able to work on the car with any kind of regularity. Jerry went over to the porch. Jenny had a grin on her face as she announced, "I left the boys at the mall. They're going to get a little something to eat and then go to a movie." "Wanna christen the Camaro?" With a wink, Jenny said, "Sure, big boy. It's been a long time since I made out in the back of a car." The next Sunday, Jerry, Bill, and Abe were outside working on their individual projects. Abe had removed everything from the frame of the motorcycle and it was ready to be taken in for painting. He stepped back and looked at the bike. Since Martin had found a new front fender and gas tank, all of the pieces for the bike were present. The parts that were supposed to be painted were ready to be taken into the paint shop. He looked over at Jerry and said, "That's the last of it. All of the pieces are here and in pretty good shape." "It looks good," commented Jerry. "Thanks, I can't wait until after it is painted. The engine is rebuilt and there's not too much to do except put it back together again." Bill came over to the bike and looked at the pieces. He asked, "What color are you going to paint it?" The two young men had discussed that many times. Bill wanted him to paint it a solid black, but Abe was considering the original colors, red and green. The flat colors wouldn't look as flashy as solid black, but the result would have a stately nostalgic feel about it. He answered, "I'm going with the original colors." "You know, you might be right," replied Bill as he looked at the picture of a restored motorcycle. He commented, "The colors do grow on you after a bit of time." "Martin is going to take me to the paint shop tomorrow. Would you like some help on the car?" "Sure," replied Bill. The two young men returned to the car and went to work replacing some of the missing metal from the body with the metal inert gas wire-fed welder. Jerry had showed Bill how to use it and now he was repairing the damage that rust and time had perpetrated upon the body. The two boys were wearing welding masks. Jerry stood back, wearing welding goggles as he watched Bill carefully build up another bead of metal along the doorframe. He'd have to use the sander to restore the surface to the proper shape, but that was to be expected. For the most part, there wasn't much damage to the body that a little bondo wouldn't fix. Bill started to work the welder a little too fast and Jerry warned, "Don't go too fast. You have to go at the right speed." "Sure," replied Bill as he went back to the proper pace. He had learned a lot about working with metal from his father over the past month. Since his father couldn't work on the metal sheeting for the indoor fountains, he had taught Bill how to do it. As a result, Bill now knew how to cut metal with a torch, bend it to shape, and close seams with a good weld. It took nearly an hour, but the missing metal on the front door was replaced. Removing the welder's mask, Bill turned off the welder and stepped back to admire his work. His hair was sweaty, his clothes were dirty, and his hands filthy, but the young man stood tall with pride at a job well done. Jerry smiled as he watched his son examine the work he had done. "Good job," he commented. Abe helped Bill put up the welder so that Martin could return it to the rental agency the next day. Once that job was done, Bill got out the sander and went to work smoothing out the surface. Abe stepped back and watched the sparks fly as the sander took off the metal at a steady pace. Jerry watched his son work. He felt a lot of pride for Bill in light of the skills that the young man had learned over the past month. Jerry went back to the porch and sat down thinking about how much his son had changed over the past year. He realized that Bill could get a job at a bodywork shop with the skills that he had already developed. It would be a good paying job for a kid his age, but Jerry wanted more than that for his son. He wanted his son to go to college and to make something more of himself than a grease monkey. The cell phone clipped to his belt started playing 'Hail To The Chief.' He glared over at Bill, knowing that his son had changed the ringer on him. Half the time when the phone rang, he had no idea what tune would play. Fishing his cell phone out of its holder, he answered, "Hello?" "Jerry, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but your mother-in-law died," answered Tony, his lawyer. His stomach churned at the news even though he had never liked the woman. It didn't matter how he felt about her; he still didn't want to hear that anything bad had happened to the woman. He had no idea about the impact that the death of Melissa's grandmother would have on his daughter. He said, "I'm sorry to hear that, Tony. How's Melissa taking it?" "She's not as upset about her grandmother's death as one would expect," answered Tony. The lawyer representing Jerry's ex-wife was already with the girl and she was furious about having to live with her father. As far as he knew, she wasn't concerned about her grandmother's death. He added, "Well, I hate to have to tell you this, but you have custody of Melissa now and she's not happy about having to move in with you." Jerry thought about how all of his attempts to communicate with Melissa had been rebuked by her. There was no way that she would want to live in his house. She wouldn't like living with him, she wouldn't like the house, and she wouldn't accept living in the neighborhood. He stated, "I know, Tony. She's not going to be happy about this at all. What about her mother?" "She's in jail on a DWI." The news that his ex-wife was in jail surprised Jerry. He hadn't heard anything about what she had been doing since they had filed charges against her for beating Bill with a baseball bat. The news that she was driving around while drunk only confirmed his impression of the mental stability of the woman. Looking around the neighborhood, Jerry wondered how his neighbors would react to Melissa. Jerry asked, "Where is Melissa?" "She's at her grandmother's house with your wife's lawyer. They're waiting for you to come pick her up." Sighing, Jerry considered his situation. There wasn't much he could do. At least he had his Camaro and could drive over there without having to beg for a ride. He said, "It'll take me a little while to get there." Hanging up the phone, Jerry looked over at Bill and Abe. He didn't know what to tell his son. Bill was not going to be happy living around his sister again. She had taken a hammer to his first scooter and beat the hell out of it. That was only the crowning touch of a life spent abusing her brother. He said, "Bill, I need you to move your stuff out of your bedroom and put it in the bigger bedroom." Walking up to the house, Jerry was concerned about what he would find inside. Ever since he had left his ex-wife, he had tried to arrange a meeting with his daughter but she had refused every offer. With the death of his mother-in-law and the fact that his ex- wife was in jail, she didn't have a choice except to deal with him. He had hoped that they would have a chance to get to know each other in a more relaxed fashion. His lawyer, Tony, was parked in the driveway and walked over to join Jerry. Shaking his head, he said, "I'm sorry about this." "It's not your fault," commented Jerry. "She's not very happy about having to live with you," warned the lawyer. He had never heard such a hateful rant since Jerry's ex- wife had unleashed her vindictive tirade in the courtroom. "I imagine she has a lot to say about me," remarked Jerry with a sad tone in his voice. Although it was hard to admit, he had known that she didn't think highly of him even when he was at home paying all of the bills. Her mother had poisoned her soul with her attitude about men in general and Jerry in particular. Tony knocked on the door. After a minute, the other lawyer opened it. The poor man looked as if he had just gone twenty rounds with a heavy weight boxing champion. He looked at Tony and then at Jerry while shaking his head the entire time. With a grimace, he said, "Come in." From behind him, there was a screech in an angry female voice, "Don't let that fucking ape in this house!" ------- Chapter 28 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." ------- Chapter 29 Yawning, Jerry scratched his bare belly as he poured water into the coffee maker. Once the pot was empty, he slipped it onto the heater pad and turned on the brewer. Turning away, he wandered over to the cabinet where he had his breakfast foods and looked it over trying to decide what to cook. He grabbed the pancake mix. The coffee was finished by the time that he had finished preparing the batter. He poured a cup of coffee and sat at the table drinking it. Bill wandered out of his bedroom and poured a cup for himself. Sitting at the table, he yawned and then said, "Good morning." "Morning," replied Jerry. The pair of them sat enjoying the first cup of coffee of the morning. Jerry finished his and said, "Time to get started on the pancakes." Bill yawned before getting up and going over to the cabinet to get the plates. A companionable silence settled on the room, as the two of them went through the process of preparing breakfast. Jerry made the pancakes while Bill set the table. Glancing over at the table, Jerry said, "There's three of us now." "Shit, I forgot," grumbled Bill as he got another table setting. "Well, it looks like we have someone that can help with the dishes from now on," commented Jerry with a smile. Now that there were three of them in the house, the work could be distributed a little better. "Right, when pigs fly," replied Bill. He knew the princess wasn't going to do a thing around the house. "No deadwood allowed in this house," replied Jerry as he stirred the batter. Looking like a picture out of a fashion magazine, Melissa breezed into the kitchen wearing a pair of pink silk pajamas and a matching silk robe. She froze on seeing her father and Bill, taking in their attire. She shouted, "Gross." Jerry turned to look at her trying to figure out what had disturbed her. It was hard not to notice the outfit she was wearing. It probably cost as much as his entire wardrobe. He asked, "What?" "You guys are in your boxers! That's disgusting," commented the girl. Bill put a hand on the waist of his boxers and replied, "I can take them off if that would make you feel better." "Oh God, you are sick," commented Melissa as she frowned at her brother with an expression of disgust on her face. Jerry and Bill laughed at her reaction. The big man turned back to the pancakes that were finished cooking on the frying pan and piled them on a plate. He poured more batter on the frying pan and, once finished with that, turned to face Melissa. He said, "This is my house and it is run according to my rules." "And if I choose not to live by your rules?" "I don't know, but I can tell you that you won't like it," commented the big man. He didn't know what he would do, but he was sure that Sharon could provide lots of ideas. Melissa said, "You are just going to have to learn how to treat a lady." "Grow up, Mel. There's no one to impress here," replied Bill. "There's coffee in the coffee pot," offered Jerry hoping that once she got some coffee into her that she would be a little less edgy. A stray thought flitted through his mind that she was going to have to learn how to act like a lady before she would get treated like a lady. She noticed Bill taking a sip of his coffee and frowned. Putting her hand on her hip, she declared, "He's too young to be drinking coffee." "Why? It's got the same amount of caffeine as a soft drink and none of the sugar," countered Jerry. Bill smiled and took another sip of his coffee as he watched his sister struggle to come up with something to counter the argument. A half dozen expressions crossed her face before she gave up and went over to the coffeepot. Taking one of the cups from beside the pot, she filled it with coffee. Once her cup was filled, she asked, "Where's the cream?" "Milk is in the fridge," answered Jerry as he added more pancakes onto the pile already on the plate. "Milk? Are you kidding?" She turned to look at her father, unable to believe the kind of conditions under which he expected her to live. Her room was the size of the closet she had at her grandmother's house. The house was decrepit and unfit for human occupation. The neighborhood was dangerous. Bill gave his father a look that conveyed exactly what he thought of his sister. Looking at her, he waved his arms like the robot in Lost in Space as he said, "Warning! Warning! Princess in the room." "Oh, shut up," retorted Melissa. She took a sip of her coffee and frowned as she realized it wasn't the gourmet coffee that her grandmother served. "Hey, none of that stuff in this household. You'll act in a respectful manner towards each other," interrupted Jerry. He looked at both kids to make sure that he had their attention and then went back to pouring the last of the batter onto the frying pan. "So what do you do around here?" asked Melissa. "Mondays are dad's day off. We have a hot breakfast, work on the car in the morning, and then spend the afternoon doing something together," answered Bill. He wondered if the program was going to change much with Melissa moving into the house. In a voice that suggested how lame she thought their day would be, she said, "I hope the rest of the week isn't that exciting." Bill let her sarcasm slide off his back as he replied, "Well, Thursdays are kind of busy." Jerry came over to the table carrying the plate full of pancakes and set it down on the table. Stepping back, he said, "Breakfast is ready." He sat at the table and started to load up his plate. Bill followed suit, piling three of the pancakes on his plate. The males of the household were busy putting margarine and syrup on their flapjacks before Melissa had even sat at the table. She stood in place staring at the two of them for a full minute. Finally, she asked, "Aren't you going to wait for me to sit at the table?" "Why?" asked Jerry as he cut off a piece of the pancake with the edge of his fork. "Haven't you ever heard of a thing called manners?" asked Melissa. Men were supposed to stand around the table until the woman seated herself. Bill looked up at his sister and shook his head as he recalled how things had been when he lived with his mother. He wasn't allowed to eat until they both showed up at the table. Usually that meant the food was cold by the time his sister seated herself at the table. He answered, "Lighten up. This is breakfast and I'm going to eat it before it gets cold." Melissa flounced into her chair and pouted at their treatment of her. This was intolerable. She said, "Pass the pancakes." "They're right in front of you," observed Bill as he pushed the margarine in her direction. He watched his father push the maple syrup in her direction as well. "Oh! All right!" she exclaimed as she pulled the plate closer. She raised an eyebrow on seeing the margarine and the fake syrup, but didn't bother to comment. It followed that if they didn't have cream for coffee, they wouldn't use real butter and maple syrup. Jerry got up and fetched the coffeepot. Returning to the table, he refilled his cup, topped off Bill's cup in response to a nod from the boy, and gestured to Melissa to see if she wanted more. She ignored him as she would a servant. He returned the pot to the brewer and then went back to the table. Sitting down, he took a sip of his coffee before turning his attention to the pancakes. When Jerry finished his stack of pancakes, he sat back and watched the kids eating. Bill was attacking his food with his normal healthy appetite. Melissa was picking at the pancakes as though she expected to find bugs in them. After taking a sip of his coffee, he asked, "What would you guys like to do this afternoon?" "How about a movie?" asked Bill. "Shopping," answered Melissa. Bill looked over at his sister and replied, "Wednesday we do the grocery shopping." "I wasn't talking about groceries," replied Melissa. Jerry said, "That reminds me. Now that you're living here, I guess I'm responsible for setting your allowance. How does twenty a week sound?" Melissa stared at Jerry as if he had grown horns. She was in absolute shock at the paltry amount of money he had suggested. In a very serious voice, she said, "Add a zero to that and you'll be close to the allowance I've been getting since I was twelve." Shocked at her attempt to fool his father into giving her a larger allowance, Bill looked at Melissa and said, "Mom was only giving us five dollars a week." "That was your allowance. My allowance was a hundred and fifty." "That's not fair," charged Bill as his eyes turned wet. Even though he knew that his mother had treated him horribly, it still shocked him to learn just how inequitable his treatment had been. "You're a boy and if you needed more, then you should have gone out and earned it. I'm girl and different rules apply," retorted Melissa. Jerry had listened to the exchange speechless. He believed her when she said what her allowance had been. There was no way that he was going to give her more money than he took for the week. He said, "This is an equal opportunity household. Everyone gets the same pay for the same work. Right now, the going rate is twenty a week." Bill smiled as Melissa stared at her father in shock. She asked, "Are you serious?" "Very," replied Jerry, as he looked her in the eye to let her know just how serious he was about the matter. There was no way she was getting an allowance bigger than that. She stood up to face Jerry; her arms hung down by her sides with her hands clenched into fists. Her face was livid with raw hatred for Jerry. Picking up her breakfast plate, she threw it at him and stormed out of the room. The plate caromed off Jerry's face, hitting him edge on, to land on the floor where it shattered into three large pieces and several smaller ones. Jerry stood up in surprise and winced when he heard her bedroom door slam. Bill stood and asked, "Are you okay, dad?" Rubbing his cheekbone to ease the throbbing, Jerry answered, "I'm fine. The plate hit my cheekbone." "Dad, she's dangerous," said Bill remembering how she had treated him in the past. The fact was that she terrified him and he didn't want to be left in the house alone with her. Jerry looked down at the floor taking in the broken plate. When Bill went to pick it up, he said, "Leave it there. She won't eat until she cleans up the mess she made." "You're asking for trouble," said Bill with a worried look on his face. "I won't be held hostage by a woman ever again," stated Jerry with grim determination. His face softened as he looked over at Bill and added, "I'll talk to Henry about taking you in for a few days while Melissa and I come to an understanding. I don't think you should be left alone with her." "I agree one hundred percent on not being alone with her. Can't you put her in a home or something?" asked Bill staring in the direction of her bedroom door. "Nope, I can't do that," replied Jerry. He didn't know what the law was about situations in which children assaulted their parents, but he doubted that it worked in the favor of the parents. After lunch, the pair left the house after trying to get Melissa to clean up the mess she had made in the kitchen. She had refused even after Jerry threatened to leave her in house while they went to the movies. The discussion had been difficult as she wouldn't open her bedroom door and Jerry respected her privacy by not charging into her room. The frequent sounds of things hitting the door made Jerry glad that it was closed. Jerry returned from spending the afternoon at the movies with Bill and his friends. When Woody learned that Melissa had moved in with them, he offered to let Bill spend the night at his house for a couple of nights. Woody's parents didn't have a problem with that, so Jerry had left Bill with Woody. He was confident that the boy was in good hands and far safer than he would have been at home. Jerry stepped into the house and looked in the kitchen. The broken plate and the remains of her pancakes were still on the floor. Melissa appeared to be in her room, but he wasn't going to open the door to find out for sure. He didn't have to knock, the door flew open as she threw herself at him waving a kitchen knife. It was dumb luck that the knife struck his cast. It was a terrifying minute before he was able to grab the weapon and wrestle it away from her. She continued to attack him. Throwing her across the room, he shouted, "Are you out of your fucking mind?" She stood up and took a deep breath as she faced him from across the room. Angry, she shouted, "I thought you were one of the niggers come to rape me!" "What?" He asked his question in an attempt to understand what she was saying. "A nigger came to the door this morning and asked for Bill. Now that they know a white woman is in the neighborhood, they're gonna rape me. All those niggers want is to rape white girls," she shouted. She had spent the entire day huddled in her room clutching the knife convinced that a horde of angry blacks was coming to rape her. "Jesus, you're just like your mother," swore Jerry in disgust. "Don't try to make me feel better," she countered, not realizing that his comment wasn't a compliment. She spat, "You brought me here just so that you could torture me." Staring at the floor, Jerry was at a loss concerning what he could do with her. If she had attacked any of the kids in the neighborhood, they'd have killed her. He had no doubts about that. He asked, "What did you tell Abe?" "Who's Abe?" "The young man that asked for Bill," answered Jerry afraid of what he was going to learn. "I told the nigger to get the hell away from here," she answered. She nodded her head to emphasize just how correctly she had acted. Jerry said, "He's one of Bill's best friends." "So?" she asked while looking at him with a puzzled expression. She couldn't imagine that anyone would want a black friend, it just wasn't done. As far as she was concerned, she had done Bill a favor by chasing the boy away. The complete lack of control over her actions reminded Jerry of Lenny in the book that had bothered Bill and him so much not that long ago. She was going to destroy their dreams and not even know what she was doing until everything came tumbling down around her. He wanted to shake her awake, but knew it would do no good. Jerry bent down and picked the knife off the floor. It was the largest kitchen knife that they had. Examining the blade, he noticed the drop of red at then very tip of it. He looked down at his cast and saw the puncture through the cast material. He swore, "You stabbed me." "Well, it was your own fault," she charged. If he hadn't left her there all alone, she wouldn't have had to defend herself. She said, "I'm hungry." There weren't many things that she could have said that would have surprised Jerry at that point. He said, "You didn't clean up the mess you made in the kitchen." "I'm not your maid. Get your crack whore girl friend to clean it up," she replied. Opening the door, Jerry said, "Come with me." "No." "Okay, you can stay here, but you're going to be here all alone when it gets dark." The threat worked and Melissa followed her father out to his car. She climbed into the passenger side after realizing that he wasn't going to open the door for her. Once she was in the car, Jerry drove off to the hospital. He didn't know how bad he had been cut. Even if it was a pinprick, the fact that he couldn't clean the wound through the cast concerned him. He had septicemia and pneumonia already this year as a result of getting shot. The last thing he needed was some flesh eating disease working on him under his cast. As he drove, he pondered his situation finding it bleak. In her first full day at the house, she had assaulted him twice. His face under his eye was swollen and had turned an ugly purple color from the plate she had thrown at him. Now he had been stabbed through his cast. He asked, "Aren't you even the least bit upset about having stabbed me?" "No. Why should I? It was your fault," she replied. She sat in the car with her legs tightly crossed and her arms rigidly folded around her chest. Whenever he made a turn in the car, she fell over. Each time she fell over, she glared at her father for not driving in a suitably smooth manner. They reached the hospital and all was going well until he told the admissions nurse that he had been stabbed. Suddenly the police were present and he was being questioned about the circumstances under which he had been stabbed. When it became clear that Melissa was going to be taken away, Jerry fumbled with his cell phone and called his attorney. The nurse took him to one of the treatment rooms where they removed the cast to get access to his cut. The cut was a minor puncture that required two stitches to close. As the doctor was stitching him up, his attorney came into the treatment room and said, "They are prepared to take her to juvie for the night, although they are considering sending her to the psycho ward for observation." "Why?" "She was verbally abusive to one of the black police officers and appears to have no remorse for her actions." His brow furrowed as he considered the kinds of things that she would say to a black police officer. Considering the kinds of comments that she had made over the past twenty-four hours, he was sure that her words had been less than acceptable. He asked, "Why weren't you able to get her to shut up?" "I wasn't there. Her attorney was present during questioning, but she ignored his advice. Apparently, she felt that if she explained the circumstances to a real police officer that they would understand why she stabbed you. Cutting her allowance justified striking you with the plate and a young black man knocking on the door was a definite threat against her life. She stabbed you because you were endangering her." Tony felt sorry for Melissa's attorney. He had done everything to protect his client, but she was totally oblivious to what she had confessed. From everything that he had heard, the girl was a sociopath. Jerry winced as the doctor finished tying off the second stitch. Jerry said, "She's just like her mother. The only one that she is concerned about is herself." "I knew you were getting a problem, I just didn't realize how much of a problem," said the lawyer. Jerry watched as the doctor wrapped his wound. Looking up at his attorney, he asked, "What can I do?" "Not much that you can do. You are responsible for her until she is eighteen. That's another year and a half. I hate to tell you that she's going to cost you a fortune between now and then." "Why?" "This little episode will cost you a couple of thousand dollars by the time everything is totaled," replied Tony. The cast was soon replaced and Jerry was sent on his way. As he left the treatment area, a policeman and his ex-wife's attorney met him. Looking from one to the other, he didn't like the expressions on their faces. The attorney broke the silence, "I've been fired." The officer said, "She threatened to kill you if you took her back to your house." "I'm her father and can't throw her out on the street. I can't move just because she's not happy there," said Jerry. "We are going to have take her to the juvenile hall and let a judge figure this one out," stated the cop. He didn't like these kinds of calls. He added, "I know you're her father, but you have to understand that some of these kids really mean these threats against their parents." Jerry stepped out of Jenny's house wearing his new suit purchased at a chain that specialized in clothes for large and tall men. He felt better about his appearance then ever in his life. It was perfectly tailored. They had even modified the coat so that he could wear it over his cast while still looking sharp. Jenny locked the door behind him and turned to look at him. Licking her lips, she said, "If we didn't have to pick up your kids and go to the funeral, I'd drag you back into the house and have my way with you." A large grin crossed his face as he replied, "You'd drag me?" "Okay, I'd strip naked and entice you back into the house," she teased. "I wouldn't want you to expose yourself like that to the neighbors. You'd only have to promise to get undressed to entice me back into the house," admitted Jerry with a lecherous grin. "And why wouldn't you want me to expose myself like that?" she said with a pout and acting as though she were hurt. Jerry winked as he answered, "All of the old men would have heart attacks from seeing such loveliness and I'd have to fight off the young men wanting to ravish you. It's not that I mind protecting you from those young men, but the idea of all those poor widows just breaks my heart." Jenny laughed and grabbed his good arm. She pressed her body against him with a sigh and said, "We can't have that." She took the bag with the black dress for Melissa from him as they made their way to her car. They were taking her car since it would be a little easier for the four of them to get into and out of than his Camaro. Jerry held the door open for her, appreciating the view as her black dress rode up her legs when she entered the car. She caught him looking and smiled when he blushed. She giggled and said, "You're so cute when you blush." It always unnerved Jerry when she made comments like that. He just shuffled for a moment not knowing how to respond. He realized he looked pretty stupid standing beside the car holding the door open and closed it with a little more energy than he had intended. When he finally settled into the driver's seat, he looked over at Jenny thinking how good she looked. With a sigh, he said, "I don't know why I'm going to this thing." "You're doing it for your daughter," replied Jenny patiently. They'd had this conversation several times. It bothered her that he wasn't too thrilled about attending the funeral for the sake of his daughter. The idea that he didn't really love his daughter upset her tremendously. Of course, she had been shocked to learn that his daughter had stabbed him and had no remorse about having done it. She loved her dad and couldn't imagine why Jerry's daughter didn't love him. "I guess." Jerry started the car and headed to the juvenile facility to reclaim his daughter from the legal system. They were releasing her back into his custody. The judge had accepted her lawyer's argument that she was upset about the death of her grandmother and not entirely in control of herself. The judge had ordered her kept in the juvenile hall until the morning of the funeral as a warning of what she could expect if she didn't learn to control herself and to attend group counseling so that she could come to grips with her grief. As he drove, he thought about what he could expect for the next year and a half. The future didn't appear very bright. With a frown, he asked, "Could you take in Bill for a couple of days? I really don't trust her to be around him." "You talk about her as if she is an ax murderer." Jerry took a deep breath and slowly released it. In a quiet voice, he said, "Don't judge me too harshly, but I think she is a psychopath." Shocked that a father would say something like that about his own daughter, Jenny stared at him speechless. It was a full minute before she was able to reply, "That's a horrible thing to say about your daughter." "Never mind," replied Jerry. The rest of the drive was made in silence, but Jerry kept glancing at Jenny. She stared out the passenger window wondering if she had been mistaken in her assessment about the character of the man beside her. How could a man say such things about his own daughter? The relationship between a father and a daughter was a special one. His words tarnished that relationship for all fathers and daughters. Jerry pulled into a parking spot outside the facility and turned off the engine. He asked, "Do you want to come in?" Coming to a decision that she should protect the daughter from the father, she answered in a tight voice, "Of course." Jerry held the door open for her and watched as she got out of the car. This time, there was no sexy show of legs. Clutching the bag with the black dress for Melissa, Jenny walked beside Jerry without holding his hand. When they reached the door, he held it open for her and she passed through without comment. Jerry watched her walk past thinking that his daughter had just cost him his relationship with the woman he loved. All he wanted to do was run away and cry. Jenny sat in a chair leaving several empty chairs between her and Jerry. She was fuming at the idea of a father calling his daughter a psychopath. After waiting for ten minutes, Jerry stood and paced around the small waiting room for his daughter. Finally the door opened and his daughter stepped out. For one second, the two of them just stared at each other. He hadn't seen her without makeup in six years and she had never seen him in a suit. He noticed the black eye and wondered what had happened to her. He stepped towards her as he said, "Hello, Melissa. What happened to your face?" Her face contorted as she shouted, "You fucking gorilla. It's all your fault that I was here." "My fault?" asked Jerry not entirely surprised by her comment. "You shouldn't have told that bitch of a nurse that you were stabbed." "But I was stabbed," countered Jerry. Melissa put her hands on her hips and shouted, "So what? They put me in jail! You should have lied or bribed the judge. Mom is right! You are a poor excuse for a man. A real man would have kept me out of jail." He stared at her thinking back to that night. She had stabbed him. She had insulted the black police officer. She had ignored the advice of her lawyer and practically forced the police to take her away. Giving up, Jerry said, "I brought a black dress for you. Why don't you go into the ladies room and put it on?" "So you brought a black dress for me to wear. Oh my, I'm speechless. Why would I want to wear a black dress?" Melissa hated wearing black. With her pale features, black clothes made her look like a Goth girl and, as far as she was concerned, nobody that had any taste wanted to be seen looking like that. Besides, black was such a depressing color. "To go to your grandmother's funeral?" Jenny had watched the exchange in shock at the behavior of the daughter. She was willing to give Melissa the benefit of the doubt until the young woman replied, "I'm not going. I'd rather go home and soak in a hot bath." "It's your grandmother's funeral," said Jerry with an expression on his face that conveyed his dismay at her total lack of any kind of emotional commitment to the woman that had taken care of her for the past year. "Look, she's dead. She doesn't care if I go or not," she answered looking at him with an expression challenging him to come up with a counter argument. She wasn't kidding about not wanting to go to the funeral. Unable to control herself, Jenny exclaimed, "I'm so sorry that I doubted you." Knowing that he would hate himself for what he was about to say, Jerry took a deep breath and then said, "Your mother will be there." ------- Chapter 30 Melissa pulled the black dress out of the bag and took one glance at it. She didn't have to look at the label to know that it wasn't a designer dress. With as much disdain as she could muster, she asked, "Where did you buy this dress? The hardware store?" Jenny was very tempted to answer that she had bought the dress at Whores-R-Us on the understanding that it was where Melissa bought all of her clothes, but she controlled her anger. Instead, she answered, "It doesn't matter." Putting as much sweetness into her voice as was possible, Melissa retorted, "It might not matter to a trailer park slut like yourself, but I assure you that it matters a lot to ladies such as myself. Unlike you, I have standards about what I wear." Turning, Jenny marched out of the bathroom before she acted on the temptation to do something that she might regret later. As the door closed behind her, she muttered, "She can go naked to that funeral for all I care." "I'm sorry, Jenny." Jerry had never been so ashamed of anyone in his entire life as he was of his daughter at that moment. Her behavior convinced him that she had no love for anyone except herself. Trembling in anger, Jenny marched up to Jerry and said, "That girl is a total bitch." "Melissa takes after her mother," commented Jerry as he hugged her to him. He could feel the tension in her body. It matched his tension and he knew that Melissa was the cause of it. She was so much like her mother. "How can anyone be that hateful?" asked Jenny holding onto the big man with all of her strength. In less than five minutes, the girl had called her whore, slut, tramp, white trash, trailer park bimbo, home wrecker, and gold digger. She couldn't believe the profanity that came out of that young girl's mouth. A woman with less strength would have been in tears. As it was, Jenny wondered if she would have to put up with that foul creature if she were to marry Jerry. The thought was almost enough to make her question the wisdom of marrying him. Melissa came out of the bathroom and asked, "Can't you even pretend to be a lady for five minutes?" As Jenny bristled, Jerry answered, "Melissa, watch your mouth." She rolled her eyes and asked, "Did you bring my makeup case?" Surprised by the question, Jerry answered, "Your what?" "My makeup case, you fucking moron. I have to put on makeup before I go out in public," screeched Melissa at her father. She had a black eye, given to her by one of the black girls that had been locked up with her, and she had no intention of going out in public without covering it with makeup. A little incident in which she had called the girl a nigger had prompted a violent response. "Sorry, I didn't think of that," replied Jerry not used to thinking about the beauty needs of a woman. He had been lucky that Jenny had taken it upon herself to pick up a dress for the funeral. "Can't you do anything right?" The girl rolled her eyes and looked off to the side with her arms crossed tightly across her chest. Jenny attempted to make a peace offering by saying, "I suppose that we have time to stop by a pharmacy to pick up some makeup on the way to getting Bill." "I'm not putting that cheap shit on my face," argued Melissa. Jerry had enough and, with considerable anger in his voice, said, "We're going now." "Not until I get some makeup," replied Melissa while giving her father a challenging look. Jerry, with a tight smile on his face, stepped forward and grabbed his daughter by throwing his good arm under her ass. With a smooth motion, he stood with her draped over his broad shoulder. The action stressed his old wounds, but he ignored the discomfort. Turning to Jenny, he said, "Let's go get Bill." Melissa screamed at him to put her down. She beat on his back with her fists and kicked her legs. Ignoring her movements, Jerry left the facility carrying her to the car. Reaching the car, he stared at the door handle wondering how to open the car door. Awkwardly, he knelt down and opened the door with the hand sticking out his cast. It was hard, but he got the door open and threw his daughter into the back seat. With a growl, he said, "Stay or I'll get a rope." Jenny had been taken completely by surprise when Jerry had grabbed the girl and refrained from laughing only with great effort. She ran into the bathroom and picked up the clothes that had been discarded by Melissa. The girl might not be upset about throwing away her clothes like that, but the waste would bother Jerry. Throwing the dirty clothes into the bag, she raced out to catch up with Jerry. She made it to the car in time to hear Jerry say, "I haven't decided. I just might throw you in the trunk. Of course, I'd feel sorry for the spare tire that has to be in there with you." Melissa was enraged by his treatment of her. Men were supposed to be doormats for women, but he wasn't acting like a doormat. She glared at her father and said, "You're a fucking bastard. I hate you." Jenny smiled over the hood of the car at her boyfriend. His demonstration of strength had a definite effect on the area between her legs. She said, "You're my bastard and I'd love for you to throw me over your shoulder like that." Feeling the tension leave his body, Jerry laughed and said, "I'll keep that in mind." Melissa was not amused by Jenny's statement. She glared at the older woman, disgusted that any woman would allow herself to be toted around like that. It only convinced her further that Jenny was white trash. On the drive over to pick up Bill, Melissa kept up a constant stream of abuse from the backseat. Amazed that his rage hadn't returned, Jerry said, "Little girl. Your mouth is writing checks that your ass is going to have to cash. You stay here until I get Bill. If you run off, I'm not chasing you down." Jerry got out of the car and went up to the door to pick up Bill. When he was gone, Jenny turned to Melissa and said, "Listen to me, Melissa. The world described by your mother is fantasy. You're living in the real world now. You better listen to your father, do as he says, and stop shooting off your mouth. He's not going to let you get away with that kind of behavior." "He can't do anything," retorted Melissa fully confident of her answer. "If he doesn't know what to do with you, I'll tell him how to handle the situation. You run off, we'll call the police and report you as a run-away. When they catch you, I'm going to make sure that he's delayed picking you up. I promise you that you can expect to spend another night in jail. If you destroy something around the house, I'll rip up half of your clothes." "You wouldn't dare," retorted Melissa in shock that another woman would take her father's side. "Just try me," challenged Jenny. She didn't want to see Jerry hurt by the malicious little monster seated in the back of the car. The tone of voice in the woman's voice convinced Melissa more than her words. She stared at the woman finding it hard to believe that she let a man dictate what she did. In an incredulous voice, she said, "You have to control men. They might be stronger than women are, but they are mentally weak and lazy. They are sheep that have to be told what to do. Didn't your mother explain that to you?" Jenny broke out laughing at the younger woman. Shaking her head, she said, "You really have no clue at all about men and women." "Bitch," retorted Melissa. She crossed her arms and stared out the window in time to see Bill come out of the house. She was surprised to see that he had a couple of friends that were patting him on the back and joking around with him. For a moment she wondered how he had managed to trick people into liking him. He was one of the losers and there wasn't a chance of him going anywhere in the world. Bill entered the car with a smile on his face. Ignoring his sister seated beside him, he looked over at Jenny and said, "Hi, Jenny." "Hello Bill. Did you have a good time with Woody?" "It was great. We played Nintendo, went swimming over at Sandy's, hung around the mall, and watched a bunch of videos," replied the boy with enthusiasm. Melissa interrupted, "Billy boy, aren't you going to say hello to me?" "No," replied Bill curtly before he turned back to Jenny. Smiling, he asked, "So what have you been doing?" "Sharon and I went shopping. That was lots of fun," replied Jenny. The two women had gone out to find a black dress for Melissa. Once they had found a dress for the girl, the two went looking at wedding dresses. Sharon was getting married in a month and still hadn't found a dress for the wedding. Bill wasn't all that interested in shopping, but knew that Jenny enjoyed it. He asked, "So what did you get?" "Well, we bought a dress for your sister and then we started looking for a wedding dress..." Her answer was cut off and replaced with a scream when Melissa reached out and grabbed a handful of her hair. Jerry had been getting into the car when Melissa had yanked Jenny's hair. Instead of getting into the car, he ran around to the other side to rescue his girlfriend. Bill reacted without thinking and slammed his right fist into Melissa's stomach in a broad backhand swing. The girl crumpled in her seat letting go of Jenny's hair. Before Jerry was able to get the door open, Bill had pushed Melissa back and was hovering over her with his fist back ready to pummel her. Jerry threw the door open and Melissa tumbled out, landing at his feet. Roughly, Jerry picked her up and headed towards the back of the car. He shouted, "Open the trunk!" Jenny appeared at his side and said, "Don't put her in the trunk. I'll sit in the back with Bill." Angry, Melissa glared at Bill and shouted, "He hurt me!" Bill appeared next to his father and waved his fist in Melissa's face as he growled, "If you ever touch Jenny again, I'll kill you." Jerry snapped, "Melissa, you are lucky this time. Get in the front seat and don't even say a single word. Bill, don't threaten your sister. " "It wasn't a threat. It was a promise," countered Bill ignoring the angry look his father gave him. He was staring at Melissa with absolute hatred in his eyes. Melissa hadn't believed her father when he had said that he would throw her in the trunk of the car earlier, but based on his actions she found herself believing the threat. When he let her go, she was going to yell at him. After one look at Bill, she slipped into the front seat without arguing. The drive to the funeral home was quiet. Bill sat in the back glaring at his sister and holding Jenny's hand. He was sitting right behind Melissa ready to reach out and throttle her if she did or said anything. He had lived with her abusive comments and behavior for years, but wasn't going to allow Melissa to do the same things to Jenny. Jenny watched Bill and Jerry as looks of anger crossed their faces. She patted Bill's hand with reassurance occasionally. She believed that he was upset about having to be around his sister. She didn't realize that the boy was more concerned about keeping her safe from his sister. Jerry drove mechanically. His mind was racing in a futile effort to figure out what to do with Melissa. The past three days had been absolute hell for him and she had been the root cause of all of it. He wondered if there was any hope for her. Melissa, her stomach hurting from the earlier blow to it, sat in the front seat plotting how she would get revenge on Bill for striking her. Thoughts of destroying his scooter came to mind, but she knew that he would be protecting it from her. She thought about it and knew that she'd have to come up with something much worse to have the desired effect. When they arrived at the funeral home, Jerry's ex-wife was standing near the door smoking a cigarette. Before Jerry had a chance to put the car into park, Melissa had jumped out the door. She hit the ground running while she screamed, "Mommy." Jerry sat in the car staring at the pair of women as they went through the ritual of exchanging air kisses. The sight of his ex-wife disgusted him. She had let herself go over the past year and looked twenty years older. She retained the cruel twist to her smile when she looked in his direction. After knowing Jenny, he wondered how he had ever thought his ex-wife was attractive. Bill broke the silence when he said, "Mom looks like shit." "Yes, she does." The three of them got out of the car and went up to the door of the funeral home. As they reached the door, his ex-wife said, "Well, if it isn't the gorilla and his crack whore. What are you doing here?" Jerry stopped and looked at his ex-wife. In a somber tone of voice appropriate for attending a funeral, he answered, "Bill and I are here to pay our respects to your mother." The three did not wait for a response before heading into the funeral parlor. Inside, they took seats in the back row of the room where the service would be held. The room was empty. Jerry wasn't exactly surprised that they were the only ones there. The time for the service came and a minister came into the room. Jerry looked around and saw that they were the only ones there. He whispered, "We are the only ones here." Jenny looked around the room confirming that Jerry was correct; they were alone in the room. She wondered why the ex-wife and daughter were not in the room. They sat through the service with Jerry holding an arm around Bill's shoulder to comfort the young man. The woman may have been nasty to Jerry, but she was Bill's grandmother. Bill sniffed, trying to hold back his tears. He may not have particularly been happy with how his grandmother treated him, but he had still loved her. For years he had hoped that he could do something that would make her proud of him, but that had never come to pass. His sister, on the other hand, could do no wrong. Even in his grief, he felt bitter about the unfairness. When the service ended, the three of them went to the gravesite. The weather was still and humidity made the cemetery oppressively hot. They waited as the minister gave the graveside service with Bill standing between Jerry and Jenny. Jerry had his hand on the boy's left shoulder and Jenny had hers on his right shoulder. When it was over, Jerry said, "I know you loved her son." Bill sniffed and said, "Yeah, but I don't think she loved me." Jerry frowned and wondered what to say. He decided that the truth was best. After a minute, he said, "Don't feel bad. I don't think she was capable of loving a male." "Just like Mom and Melissa," commented Bill with a sad shake of his head. "I'm not sure that your mother is capable of loving anyone," corrected Jerry. He stood by the graveside thinking how horrible it was that the old woman had been buried without her daughter or granddaughter in attendance. It was ironic that the two members of the family that the woman had actively disliked had been the only ones that attended her funeral. He wondered if there was any hope for Melissa. With her heart breaking at the exchange between father and son, Jenny pulled Bill into a tight hug without saying a word. The tension in his back slowly lessened as he took comfort in her tight embrace. When she released him, tears were streaming down their faces. Jerry rocked in place feeling awkward, but not knowing what to say or do. Bill followed his father and Jenny to the car. He thought about how lucky his father had been to find Jenny. Bill had learned from her that not all women were as selfish and self-centered as the women in his family were. She gave him hope that one day he would meet a nice girl. When they reached the car, Jenny looked around for Melissa. The girl was nowhere to be found. She asked, "What are you going to do about Melissa?" Looking around the parking lot, Jerry saw that Melissa was nowhere in sight. It was obvious to him that she had left with his ex-wife. He answered, "I'm going to report Melissa as a runaway and then I'm going to take the two people I love the most in this world to lunch." Bill looked over at his father and said, "I know where they are." "Where?" "They've gone to get the will," replied Bill. He ran a finger under his nose and then added, "After you left, Mom used to talk about how all of her money problems would be over when grandmother died." "What a bitch," commented Jenny unable to believe the character of Jerry's ex-wife. She put her hand to her mouth as she realized that she had said it aloud. The woman was Bill's mother and it wasn't right to talk bad about her in front of the boy. She apologized, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say it." Sighing, Bill said, "We were all thinking it." Jerry pulled out his cell phone and called the police. It didn't take long to report his daughter as being a run-away. After agreeing to stop by the station to sign the appropriate paperwork, Jerry smiled and said, "Let's get something to eat." "Chinese Buffet!" "Seafood!" suggested Jenny. Jenny's suggestion made Bill reconsider his previous choice. Smiling, he said, "Seafood." "Seafood it shall be," summarized Jerry immensely happy at the choice. He didn't want to eat Chinese Buffet that day. He knew that Jenny enjoyed it, but not as a regular place to eat. He smiled while he opened the door for Jenny and, leaning down so that his mouth was next to her ear, whispered, "I love you, Jenny." It was a quiet trip to the seafood restaurant. Each of them was lost in their own thoughts. When they reached the restaurant, Jenny said, "I was thinking about the will. You and your wife aren't divorced yet. If I'm not mistaken, that means that you get half of the inheritance." Jerry didn't like the direction of Jenny's thoughts and wondered if she was just as greedy as was his ex-wife. He looked over at her in concern and asked, "So?" "I was just thinking that you could use that to expedite the divorce. I'm sure that she would give up a lot of her claims to keep as much of that inheritance as possible." Turning to face Jenny, Jerry couldn't believe what she had said. It sounded to him as if she were suggesting that he use the inheritance to coerce his wife into capitulating to his demands. He asked, "How?" "Look. I know that you could care less about the money and just want to get rid of your wife. If what you told me about your mother-in-law is correct, then she left behind a house and a fairly good savings account. You said that her house was worth a lot more than you could get for your old house. Your wife will give you your old house and your retirement account without complaint if she is getting the better deal. You end up with what is yours." Jerry nodded his head thinking about what she had said. It made sense that his wife would ease off on her demands in order to get as much money as possible. Thinking over the possibility, he pulled out his phone and made a call to his attorney. He was smiling by the time that he hung up and could imagine the scream of frustration that his wife would give forth when she heard from her lawyer. The three of them left the car and entered the restaurant. They had a nice quiet meal in which Bill talked about his memories of his grandmother. He had loved her, but had never understood why she didn't seem to care for him. It broke Jerry's heart as he heard about the kinds of things that she had said and done to his son. Jenny had to leave the table to avoid breaking out in tears upon learning about the kind of treatment given Bill by his grandmother. It was two days later when Jerry sat down across from his attorney, wondering how much this conversation was going to cost him. He felt as if the majority of his income was going to the attorney rather than into feeding and housing his family. So far, the divorce had been emotionally and financially draining. Most likely, this visit was about the divorce. On the other hand, he knew that it could be related to Melissa. His daughter was costing him even more money. He had picked her up from jail that morning and dropped her off at his house. She was actually glad to be at the house after sharing a cell overnight with a very butch looking woman who had been arrested for assaulting her lover. Gruffly, Jerry asked, "What did you need to see me about?" Smiling at his client, Tony answered, "We've reached an agreement on the terms of the divorce. I want to verify that you agree with them. Once that's done, we put it to the judge, you sign, and then you're free." The news about having reached an agreement surprised Jerry, since he didn't think he'd ever hear those words. He smiled as he considered that he would be able to marry Jenny sooner than expected. He asked, "So what are the terms?" "You get the kids, the house, your cars, your savings accounts, and your retirement accounts. She gets her mother's house, her mother's accounts, her car, and all of the items from your house." Frowning, Jerry asked, "I get the kids? She didn't contest custody of Melissa?" "No. She said that she wanted to get what is hers and to be done with it." Tony hated custody battles, but this was one of the strangest in which he had ever been involved. The mother had poisoned the daughter against the father, but didn't bother to try to keep custody of the kid. Her desire for money overwhelmed all other considerations. Jerry stared at the lawyer in shock. This was the last thing that he had expected, since he was positive that she would fight to keep custody of Melissa. It would take a lot of lying to himself to be convinced that he was willing to fight that hard to keep custody of Melissa. The girl had been nothing but trouble ever since his mother-in-law had died. Melissa didn't know that her mother had given up custody of her without a fight and he sure didn't know how to tell her. With a start, he realized that if he told her that she wouldn't believe him. Hoping that she might have learned of it without his knowledge, he asked, "Does Melissa know?" "She's at your house and, as far as I know, your wife has not contacted her." "What should I tell her?" asked Jerry. "The truth," replied the lawyer with a grim look on his face. He knew that was the only way that Jerry would have any control over his daughter. She had to know that her mother had abandoned her without a fight. Jerry was quiet as he considered what he had to tell his daughter. He knew that she wouldn't believe a single word that he said against her mother. He shook his head and said, "There's no way I can tell her that her mother wanted the money more than her." "It's the truth. I'll admit that it is an ugly truth, but it is the truth," replied Tony with a sigh. He looked up at his client, frowned as he considered his words, and then said, "She needs to know the truth." "I can't do that," countered Jerry. In his opinion, it was wrong for a parent to ever tell their child that they weren't wanted. Tony countered, "You can't afford not to tell her that." "I know," replied Jerry knowing that he wouldn't say a word about it. "I'll see you in two days when we get the paper work. Your wife wants to meet and get everything settled. Until the paperwork is completed, she can't move into her mother's house," stated the lawyer. It was two days later when Jerry, Bill, and Melissa showed up at the lawyer's office. Jerry hadn't discussed any details about the settlement with the kids. Pointing to the chairs in the waiting room, Jerry said, "Have a seat." Melissa believed that she would be moving in with her mother after the divorce was final. Her mother had promised her that on the day of her grandmother's funeral. She had even packed her suitcases and thrown a fit when Jerry wouldn't put them in his car. The girl seated herself in the lobby, barely able to contain her excitement at the prospect of returning to live with her mother. She knew that once they cleaned him out, they would both achieve the lifestyle to which they had always desired. At a gesture from the receptionist, he went to the office and entered. His lawyer, her lawyer, and the soon-to-be official ex-wife were waiting for him. He left the door open behind him so that the kids could hear what was said in the room. Looking at his wife, he asked, "Why didn't you fight for custody of Melissa?" "I wanted the money now," she answered with a grin, "and fighting you for her would have made it that much longer before I got it. She wasn't worth it." "You're right. I would have fought to keep her." Knowing that his ex-wife had conveyed the message to his daughter, Jerry closed the door. In a disgusted tone of voice, he said, "I'll sign the papers now." Jerry signed the papers and picked up the keys to the house. His lawyer had taken care of all of the details for transfer of title to the house. He handed the pen over to his wife and said, "You can sign now." She signed the papers without even looking in his direction. Once that was done, she crowed, "You are a stupid fucking gorilla. You have no idea how much money you lost in this settlement." Jerry opened the door as he said, "Yeah, I'm a stupid fucking gorilla. I do have an idea how much money I lost in this settlement. I also know that I got the better deal. I got the kids." "Ha," scoffed the woman with a smirk. She didn't care who heard her. "Do you want to see the kids?" asked Jerry knowing exactly how she would answer. "Not really," she replied. She was ready to leave on a major shopping trip complements of the insurance money left to her by her mother. "A representative will be over to your house to pick up Melissa's clothes and her car," said Jerry. There was no way he was taking Melissa anywhere near that woman. "What car?" asked the woman surprised by his demand. "The BMW. It's in her name," replied Jerry. "You can't take that car. It's mine. It's in the garage of my new house," countered his ex-wife. She wasn't going to let him get away with anything from that house. Jerry shook his head at the idea that she would steal a car from her own daughter. He turned to Tony in disgust and said, "Explain it to her, Tony." Jerry left the office and entered the waiting room. Bill was in tears having heard that his mother hadn't wanted to see him. Melissa was in a state of shock and looked as if she were about to faint any moment. Jerry hadn't wanted to tell her that her mother didn't really want her. It was better for everyone to let her mother say that. He went to them and said, "Come here kids." The kids flew to him. He threw an arm around Melissa as Bill hugged him tightly. Bending down a little, he whispered in Melissa's ear, "I'm sorry." As tears threatened to overwhelm her, she asked, "For what?" "That you had to hear what your mother said," answered Jerry. He hugged her closer as she burst into tears. He knew that her heart had been ripped out of her chest. Melissa had never thought of her mother as a shallow self-centered woman. For her entire life, her mother had served as a role model of an intelligent and attractive woman. She couldn't believe that her mother had abandoned her so easily, particularly to a man that they both considered to be a barbarian who epitomized the worst in men. Jerry held the kids until they stopped crying. It was at times like this that he hated wearing the cast. He wanted to wrap both his arms around his kids and comfort them, but he only had one arm. They needed to know that someone in this world loved them. When the kids stepped back, he said, "Let's go home and talk." He turned to find his lawyer standing behind him. Jerry gave the man a look that conveyed the hurt his ex-wife's actions had caused for all of them. His expression changed to worry as he realized that his wife might still be there. Tony shook his head and said, "Don't worry. She's left already." "Thank you," replied Jerry. "If it will make you feel any better, I agree with you. You got the better deal in the divorce." Tony shook his head and returned to his office. He was planning on going home and hugging his kids. Jerry looked down at the kids and gave them a weak smile. Trying to put a lot more positive energy into his voice than he actually felt, he said, "Let's go home." The kids walked out of the lawyer's office much closer to their father than when they had entered. Bill knew how much his father loved him and that his mother was a lost cause. Melissa, afraid for her future, wondered how her father would treat her. At least he hadn't gloated over the situation. At the car, Jerry pulled Bill over to him and gave him a great big hug. Kneeling next to his son, he said, "I love you." Bill sniffed, smiled, and then asked, "So are you going to raise my allowance?" Jerry laughed and tousled Bill's hair appreciating that his son was still able to joke. He was never more proud of his son than at that moment. Bill displayed the kind of resilience of spirit that would see him through this difficult time and through the difficulties that an uncertain future might throw at him. As Bill climbed into the back of the Camaro, Jerry put an arm around Melissa and said, "Melissa, I'll try to be a little more patient and understanding from now on. I hope that you can meet me halfway." Melissa pulled back and, with real despair in her voice, replied, "What choice do I have?" Jerry shook his head and answered, "I wish you had more choices, but that wasn't up to me to give you. When we get home, we'll talk about your choices. I'm sure there are a few left to you." "You mean I have choices?" "Sure you do. We all have choices. Some cost more than others do. Some are harder than others are, but you always have choices," answered Jerry. Divorcing his wife had been one of the hardest choices that he had made, but the rewards had been tremendous. Melissa got into the car without her normal anger. She hurt too much to be angry and sat in her seat, quiet and thoughtful. Bill watched her with narrowed eyes trying to gauge her mood, but it was one that he had never seen before. Shrugging his shoulders, he turned and looked out the window promising that he wasn't going to trust his sister further than he could throw his car. On their way home, they stopped by the old house to see what kind of shape that it was in. The outside of the house looked like a tornado had gone through the yard. Trash littered the uncut grass. There were more weeds than grass. It was clear that she had done nothing with the yard since Bill had left the house. The inside of the house was completely torn up. She had gone through the interior with a sledgehammer, taking out the walls, sinks, toilets, and kitchen appliances. Most of the windows were broken. They had to turn off the water to prevent further damage as broken sinks and toilets flooded rooms. The entire interior of the house would have to be repaired. Bill and Jerry took the devastation in stride, but Melissa stood at the front door looking at the damage in shock. It had been her hope that they would move back into the house and out of that horrid neighborhood. With a tremble in her voice, she said, "There was no need to do this. She got everything she wanted." Bill glanced at his father taking in the sadness that spread over his face. In a quiet voice, Jerry said, "No she didn't get everything she wanted. She wanted everything all to herself." ------- Chapter 31 For the first ten days after the divorce, Melissa had sat in the house in a state of numb shock. She ate when told to eat, slept when told to sleep, and stared at the wall the rest of the time. With just a few words from her mother, she had gone from princess to trash that had been thrown away. She couldn't wrap her mind around the enormity of it all. Jerry had stayed in the house every night since Melissa was terrified of staying in the house alone, particularly at night. However, he couldn't remain trapped in the house forever. She had to start taking care of herself. That evening, he announced that he was going over to Henry's house with Bill. It was Friday night and they had work to do. The choice between staying at home alone and going out in the neighborhood terrified Melissa. Only a little less afraid of being out in the neighborhood with her father, she followed Jerry and Bill out of the house. It was the first time in ten days that she had stepped outside. It was dark by the time she followed them down a driveway to a detached wood garage behind a house several blocks from where they lived. Even after the little time she had spent in the neighborhood, she recognized that this house was in better shape than those around it were. Ruining the image of a nice house with a white picket fence were several extension cords running out from the house to the garage. When he saw his friend, Jerry waved and called out, "Hello Henry. We're here to finish the fountain." Stepping out from behind the fountain, Henry replied, "Good to see you. I was wondering if you'd make it tonight." When Henry had stepped out, Melissa had her first look at the big man. She swallowed heavily taking in his size. He was the biggest black man that she had ever seen. She couldn't believe it when her father said, "Good to see you. We figured that a little runt like you wouldn't be able to load it in the truck without some help." Henry noticed Melissa peeking around from behind her father. Knowing the answer, he asked, "That your daughter?" "Yes," answered Jerry as he stepped away so that Henry could see her better. "Is she the one that called my girlfriend a nigger?" Jerry didn't answer, but looked over at Melissa to see her reaction. He and Henry had talked about that incident in depth. Henry was angry, but Sharon had calmed him down about it. He understood that Melissa's statements didn't reflect how Jerry felt about the people around him. He had even laughed when he heard that Jerry had given Sharon permission to slap the kid. Trembling in fear, she stared at the black man. She had known that her father was a big man, but having been around him that fact had not truly registered. Looking at Henry, she realized just how frightening it was to look at a big man who was angry. In a very weak voice, she answered, "I don't know who your girlfriend is." "It's Sharon," interjected Bill as he watched his sister squirm under the glare from Henry. "Oh, I guess I did," answered Melissa as she covered her mouth with her hand. She made a mental note to never make that guy mad at her. Judging by the look on his face, she realized it was too late. She swallowed when Henry flexed his arm muscles. "That's not a very nice thing to say to someone," commented Henry, his gruff voice rumbling from the garage. He narrowed his eyes as he looked over the young woman. She was attractive in a white middleclass cheerleader sort of way. He knew that the kids in this area would eat her up and spit her out for saying something like that to one of them. "I guess not." "You guess?" bellowed Henry. He took a couple of steps closer to her and then asked, "Don't you know?" Standing to the side, Bill smiled as he watched his terrified sister stare at Henry like a bird in front of a cobra. Jerry stepped out of the way so that she was facing Henry directly. Bill took a little pleasure out of seeing his sister realize that her father wasn't going to rescue her. Melissa, nearly scared enough to wet her panties, answered, "I know. It was a horrible thing to say to her." "Have you apologized to her?" asked Henry with a glare. He placed his hands on his hips and spread his legs shoulder wide. The pose only made him look larger and the muscles bulge out even more. Licking her lips nervously, she answered, "Not yet." "What are you waiting for?" The question took her by surprise and, without thinking, she answered, "I'm sorry." "Don't apologize to me. Apologize to her," corrected Henry. Shaking his head, he made a growling sound. "I will," she replied. "It had better be a good one. Can't be friends with you until you become friends with my future wife. You don't want me as an enemy," growled Henry. The animalistic nature of his voice conveyed a greater threat than the content of his message. She stared at him unable to believe anyone could be that huge. It wasn't that he was all that tall, although he was. It was that he was broad with muscles that seemed to be built on top of muscles. Two average men could stand side by side and only begin to match him. Her gaze shifted from Henry to her father. It was at that moment that she realized her father was the same size. Growing up around her father had made her oblivious to his size other than as a source of insult. Only now did she understand that if her father had ever really lost his temper with her mother, she would have been snapped in two like a toothpick. Bill stood off to the side watching the look on his sister's face. She had that look on her face that indicated she was seeing a big man for the first time in her life. Moving over to Henry, Bill asked, "Are we going to finish this thing tonight?" "You bet. Got to get some money to pay for the wedding," answered Henry with a smile. His easy conversational tone of voice when talking with Bill contrasted sharply with the tone of voice used with Melissa. Putting a friendly hand on the boy's shoulder, he led Bill over to the fountain. Melissa watched as Bill walked next to Henry without a concern in the world. Bill wasn't quite the same boy that he had been the night his mother had taken the baseball bat to him. She saw that he had grown. In fact, she realized that he was now bigger than most of the guys in her grade. Unable to help herself, she muttered, "Damn, he's going to be as big as the gorilla." Jerry looked down at Melissa and asked, "As big as whom?" "You," answered Melissa. "Ah, so I'm still the gorilla in your mind," commented Jerry shaking his head. He wondered how long it would be before she ever called him dad. "I don't know what else to call you," countered Melissa. Her whole life, her mother and she had referred to him as 'the gorilla' and now she didn't know what else to call him. "You could call me, dad or father," suggested Jerry barely showing any surprise that she didn't know any other way to refer to him. 'Dad' sounded too friendly and Melissa wasn't sure that she wanted to be that close to Jerry. That left 'father' as her other choice. She tried it on, "Okay, father." Jerry grinned and said, "That's nice." Melissa didn't know if she liked it or not. Life had thrown her a few curves over the past ten days and she was still trying to recover her balance. She had lost her grandmother, but that hadn't really bothered her as much as learning how little her mother cared about her. She had thought that they were the best friends in the world. She had wanted to be just like her mother in every way. After her recent experience, she wasn't sure that was such a good goal. Lost in thought, she didn't notice Jerry enter the garage. When she finally pulled herself together, she watched as the three males discussed the lighting fixture for the waterfall. When Henry moved out of the way, she saw what they had been working on for the first time. She froze in place as she stared at it. Stepping forward, she asked, "Where did you get that?" Looking over a Melissa, Jerry answered, "Bill and Henry made this one. It'll be done as soon as they finish wiring the light fixture." Mouth open, she asked, "Do you know how much that is worth?" Chuckling, Henry answered, "This one is worth exactly eight thousand dollars retail and four thousand from the factory." With a surprised look on her face at the fact that he knew how much it was, she said, "Bonnie's parents got one a couple months ago. It cost them sixteen thousand dollars." Henry asked, "Did it have a copper center overlaid with gold leaf?" "Yes," she answered confused by the fact that he knew exactly what her friend's parents had purchased. She had gone over to their house and stared at it in envy the night they had it installed on their living room wall. She had told her grandmother about it and they had gone out and ordered one that same day. Bill said, "That was the third one that Henry and Dad built." The announcement staggered Melissa, shocking her beyond anything that she had seen or heard over the past few weeks. Those wall-mounted waterfalls were rapidly becoming the hottest items in town and 'the gorilla' was one of the artists behind them. It didn't make sense to her. Henry ran a hand over the wood and said, "I do the woodwork. Jerry and Bill do the metalwork. This is Bill's first." She stepped closer and examined the dimpled copper plate that hung down the center and the polished wood frame. It was a work of art. Her brother had done that? It was hard to believe that her little brother had made that gorgeous piece of art. Confused, she said, "Wow. It's really pretty." Grinning at the unexpected compliment, Bill said, "Thanks. I'm still learning about metalwork. Dad's are usually more complex, but he can't do much until he gets the cast off." Deciding that she was going to show off her knowledge about these wall waterfalls, Melissa said, "Grandmother ordered one by the Sharjen Company. I understand that they are the best artists when it comes to these things. Do you know anything about their work?" Surprised, Jerry burst out laughing while Henry chuckled and turned his back to Melissa. As the laughter overwhelmed him, Jerry had to sit down on the floor as tears ran down his face. The grin plastered on Bill's face was so large that it actually hurt. Wondering if she was smart enough to figure it out on her own, Bill answered, "The two guys that own Sharjen named the company after their girlfriends, Sharon and Jenny." Confused by their reaction to her question, Melissa barely listened to Bill's answer. After a minute, she realized that there was something familiar about the names he had mentioned. It took her another minute to realize that Sharon was Henry's girlfriend and Jenny was her father's girlfriend. Mouth open, she asked, "You don't mean?" Nodding in appreciation of the cosmic joke, Bill said, "Yep. Grandmother ordered this one." Henry, trying to stifle a laugh, croaked, "Oh, the irony." "Who said that God didn't have a sense of humor?" asked Jerry as he held his side. He had a stitch from laughing too hard. Tears were running down his face as he gave himself over to the humor of the situation. It took almost a half an hour for the three men to collect themselves enough to continue working on wiring the lighting system. After Bill finished soldering the wires, he stepped back and announced, "It's done." Henry plugged in the cord. He watched as the lights came on and the water started to run down the face of the copper plate. The waved pattern of the central dimpled copper plate broke the flow of water into an intricate array of droplets that caught the light and reflected it. From the catch pool at the bottom, the sound of drops hitting the water gave forth the sound of a spring shower. Bill stepped back and looked at the results of all his hard work. With a smile plastered on his face, he said, "Yes." Jerry put his hand on his son's shoulder and said, "You did a good job, Bill." It wasn't possible for Bill to stand up any straighter than he could, but he felt as though he had grown a foot from his dad's praise. Henry, arms folded across his chest, rocked back and, smiling, said, "Outstanding." Looking down at his feet, Bill replied, "Thanks." Melissa had been sitting off to the side well out of the way working men. She was thinking about how her life had changed over the course of the past two weeks. Her grandmother had died, she had moved into a slum, angered all of the neighbors, spent two nights in jail, been abandoned by her mother, and had discovered that her father and brother had talents that no one had suspected. She looked over at the finished product. There were no doubts that it was a major work of art. Unplugging the cord powering the waterfall, Henry said, "All we've got to do is wrap it for shipping. Tomorrow, I'll take it down to the store and deliver it." Squatting down, Bill reached under the base of the wooden frame and turned the knob that would allow the water in the catch basin to drain into a plastic bucket. While the water drained, he picked up a towel and started drying the interior of the fountain. With a critical eye, he examined the surface of the copper looking for any scratches or other imperfections in the varnish that would allow the metal to oxidize. Jerry fetched the roll of masking tape while Henry cut some cardboard to make pads for the corners. As Henry worked, he said, "Melissa. Why don't you go in the house and get us some cokes?" The neatness of his house was not the first or the last surprise of the night. The conversation among the three men flowed as they discussed their goals. She listened to the talk, surprised by the kinds of things they thought were important. Perhaps the most surprising thing she observed was their obvious pride in their work. Melissa sat on the futon watching a television show while Bill and Abe were in the backyard clearing the trash from behind the house. The program was lame and she was bored out of her mind. She had done all of her assigned chores, hating them as she had performed what was expected of her. The only reason she had done them was to the break the monotony of sitting around the house. Bored, she went to the back window and watched the two boys working. They had their shirts off as they attacked the tall grass with a pair of weed-whackers. A couple of the neighborhood girls were watching them. They were posed and putting on a major display of their bodies to the teenage boys. The boys had noticed, but kept to their task feeling that it showed off their muscles without being too obvious. They knew that the girls would wait for them to finish. Melissa could see the girls lips move as they made comments about the broad shoulders of the two boys. It was clear that the boys were enjoying the attention being given them. She couldn't believe how the girls were basically throwing themselves at the boys and was tempted to go outside in order to tell them to run along. Sitting around the house all day was boring. She couldn't afford to go shopping and didn't have transportation to go to a movie. Since she had moved here, she couldn't even visit her friends. There was no way that she was going to have one of them come to this neighborhood. She'd never survive the humiliation of having them see where she lived. She glanced out the window at the girls again. She snorted as she realized that at least they were doing something to occupy their time. It was better to be out teasing the boys than to stand by a window watching them. She crossed her arms and frowned when she realized the girls weren't teasing the boys - they were making promises. A knock on the front door interrupted her thoughts. She answered the door to find Henry standing there with a large smile on his face. The smile faded as he looked at her. He asked, "Is Bill here?" "He's in the back with Abe," answered Melissa wondering what the big man would want with her brother. "Ah, thanks," replied the big man as he turned and headed around the corner of the house. Curious about his reason for stopping by, Melissa followed Henry around to the back of the house. The two girls that had been watching the boys suddenly stood up. They looked around with guilty expressions on their faces when they noticed Henry enter the backyard. Henry stopped and looked at the two girls. He greeted them, "Hello girls." "Hello sir." "Are you behaving yourselves?" asked Henry as he looked from one girl to the other. Melissa couldn't believe how respectful the girls were of Henry. She didn't know anything of the neighborhood dynamics or the important role that he had in it. The boys had stopped working and turned to greet Henry. Abe grinned when Bill nudged him in the side and whispered, "Let's hear you call him shit head." Abe whispered back, "They aren't married yet." Oblivious to the conversation taking place between the boys, the girls, transfixed in place, were practically wilting under the unwavering gaze of Henry. Together, they answered, "Yes, sir. We've been good." Henry relaxed a little and said, "I'm glad to hear that. Your mothers would really be upset if you got knocked up." Abe, realizing that his plans for that afternoon had just been thwarted, exclaimed, "Hey!" Even Bill had been expecting a little fun that afternoon. The younger girl, Shauna, had mentioned something about how fun it might be to try adding a little white meat to her diet. He wasn't naive enough to think it was anything other than a promise of sex. He said, "We weren't going to do anything." Turning to give the two boys a glare, Henry added, "And I'd hate to have to pull the heads off of those two boys." Melissa stared at her brother realizing that he would have been having sex with one of those girls later that afternoon if Henry hadn't stopped by. She stared at her brother wondering what a girl would see in him. The boys looked down at the ground knowing that anything they said would only get them into trouble. The girls shifted uncomfortably for a minute before the older one said, "I guess we had better be going home." Henry smiled as he said, "That might be a good idea." Abe and Bill called out, "Good bye." The girls smiled at the boys, frowned when they saw the look Henry gave them, and then replied, "We'll see you around." When the girls had left, Henry went over to the boys and said, "You two are way too young to be fathers. I bet neither one of you have any kind of protection." Bill didn't have any condoms. He hadn't even thought of getting condoms. He looked over at Abe and could see from the expression on his friend's face that his friend hadn't thought about it either. The boys shuffled their feet and wouldn't look at the big man. Henry said, "I can tell by the looks on your faces that I'm right." Bill argued, "We wouldn't have done anything." "You forget that I grew up in this neighborhood. It's summer time and you don't have to go to school. All of the adults are gone and you kids get bored with nothing to do. Then one day you discover that sex is free. It doesn't cost you anything to climb on top of some pretty girl. She's just as bored as you are and getting laid breaks up the day quite nicely. The next thing you know, a quarter of the girls around here are pregnant," commented Henry as he shook his head. He wondered how many of the girls would become trapped in this neighborhood because of unwanted pregnancies. Abe looked down at the ground and said, "But everyone else is doing it." "Boy, you know better than that," countered Henry. "I know. It's just that I... You know," explained Abe. He was young and horny. It seemed like the only thing on his mind most of the time were girls. Glancing over at the boys, Henry chuckled as he recalled his summers when he was their age. He had walked around with an erection almost all of the time. There was only one thing on his mind and that was sex. He replied, "I know exactly what you mean. I was your age once." Not realizing that Melissa was watching, Bill asked, "So if we get some rubbers? Could I, you know?" Henry was silent for a minute and then nodded. It was not worth the effort to keep them from the girls since they'd ignore him the first time that one of the girls lifted her shirt. He said, "I'll talk to your father about getting some rubbers for you." From behind him, Melissa shouted, "You can't be serious!" Not having noticed that she had followed him, Henry turned to face Melissa and looked at her for a minute. He set aside his anger at her for the moment and replied, "Yes, I am serious." Melissa stamped her foot and said, "You can't turn these boys loose with permission to have sex with sluts!" It was a difficult topic to discuss with the daughter of his best friend, but she was making it necessary. Henry said, "If these two boys use proper protection, they just might keep a couple of girls from getting pregnant. Maybe some of the other boys in the neighborhood might get the hint and use protection as well." Abe looked over at Bill and wiggled his eyebrows. He was happy about the direction the conversation had taken. He whispered, "Hey, it's okay with him if we get laid." Melissa argued, "They are minors! You can't tell them that it's okay to have sex. People are supposed to wait until they are married before they have sex." Shaking his head, Henry didn't bother to answer her. She was clueless about real life, particularly in a poor neighborhood. Instead, he turned to Bill and said, "I delivered the waterfall after work." That Henry would stop by to tell him that he had delivered the waterfall puzzled Bill, so he shrugged his shoulders and offered, "Good." Smiling at the obvious confusion of the young man, Henry held out a check. With a smile in his voice, he said, "Payday." "Payday?" "This check is yours," said the large man waving it around in front of Bill. Bill reached out and grabbed the check. With wide eyes, he read the amount written on it. Looking up at Henry, he asked, "Is this all for me?" "Yes it is," replied Henry with a chuckle. The disappointment from having the girls chased off had been replaced by an excitement of another kind. Abe asked, "How much is it?" "It's almost sixteen hundred dollars," replied the boy excitedly. A large grin spread over his face as he added, "This is more than enough to get the car painted." Henry said, "Jenny took out taxes and everything. It's a real paycheck, Bill." "This is so cool." Melissa heard the exchange and stared at her little brother. Several things didn't make sense to her. The first was that he had been surprised to see the check, thinking that he should have expected to be paid for his work. The second was that the amount was so large. There was no way that her brother should have been able to earn that much money. The third was that he was planning on spending it on the junk car that sat in front of the house. Bill seemed lost in thought for a minute and then said, "I guess I'll have to put this in my savings account." "That would be a good idea," answered Henry, pleased that the boy wasn't thinking of blowing the money on records and clothes. Stepping forward, Melissa said, "I'll take that into the house for you." "No you won't," replied Bill in a very harsh tone of voice. He wouldn't trust her with a penny much less a check worth that much money. He excused himself from the others and ran into the house to put the check in a safe place. Abe watched his friend beat a hasty retreat and said, "That's a pretty good paycheck." Looking over at his future son, Henry said, "Yes it is. Mine was the same size." At the expression of curiosity on Abe's face, Henry added, "I'm using it to take your mother on our honeymoon." "You're taking her on a honeymoon? Where are you going?" With a grin, Henry said, "We're driving down to New Orleans." Abe rubbed his hands together in excitement and said, "I've always wanted to go there." "You ain't going." The smile on Abe's face collapsed, but returned very quickly as he said, "Momma ain't gonna be home. Party time!" Henry rested a mammoth paw on Abe's shoulder and replied, "It might surprise you to learn that Jerry lives next door and I've already told him that he has an open invitation to any and all parties held in my house." "It's my mom's house," retorted a smiling Abe thinking of a loophole. "Not once we're married," answered Henry with a chuckle. He had been expecting this discussion and, with Sharon, had come up with this argument that would keep Abe out of trouble. She was going to let Abe understand the economic consequences of getting married. "Shit," exclaimed Abe with a frown wondering if that was true. Melissa piped up, "That's right. Everything is fifty-fifty. Your mother can quit working and get half of his paycheck." Turning to look at Melissa, Henry asked, "And what happens to the other half?" "You pay the bills," answered Melissa. Abe turned and looked at Melissa in shock. He had never heard anything like that and wondered if that was true. With a snort, he said, "Fuck, I'm never getting married. Whores are cheaper than that." Raising an eyebrow, Henry asked, "Who in the hell told you that?" Melissa looked over at Abe expecting him to answer the question. When he didn't answer, she said, "Answer his question, boy." Looking over at the white girl as if he wanted to pound her into the ground for calling him a boy, Abe said, "He wasn't asking me." Henry said, "Everyone around here knows exactly how much a whore costs and it sure as hell isn't half a paycheck." Melissa found her face turning hot with embarrassment. She answered the original question, "My mother told me all about community property. She said that the man has to give the wife half of his money and that he pays the bills." The pair of males broke out laughing at her statement. Chuckling, Henry said, "You do realize that your mother is a sick bitch." "Sick bitch? She sounds like an expensive whore," commented Abe shaking his head at the idea that a woman would take half of the money while the man was left with nothing except the bills. Bill came out of the house and saw that Henry and Abe were laughing at something that Melissa had said. The way that she stood with her fists clenched by her side let him know that she was about to lose her temper. He asked, "What's going on here?" "They're saying nasty things about mother," answered Melissa. She took a deep breath preparing to put the two blacks in their place. Before she had a chance to say another word, Bill commented, "Oh, yeah mother. Isn't she the woman that sold you out for money? I guess we are supposed to sing praises for her clear priorities." The comment stung Melissa like a slap across the face. As tears rushed to her eyes, she turned and ran back into the house. Bill watched her run with a look of satisfaction on his face. Henry turned to the young man and said, "That wasn't nice, Bill. You know that hurts her." Bill looked at Henry and Abe while shaking his head. He replied, "I wasn't going to stand by and let her call you racist names." The comment took Abe by surprise although he should have known to expect that. He asked, "She was gonna call us niggers?" "When she stands with her hands by her side like that, she's going to say the most hateful things you can imagine. Hell, she'll say hateful things that you can't even imagine. Yeah, she was about to call you that." "I woulda fucked her up good," snarled Abe. Shaking his head, Henry said, "You leave her alone, young man. She may have a foul mouth on her, but the only ones that you'll end up hurting are yourself and Jerry." Bill asked, "You don't think it would hurt me?" Frowning, Henry answered, "No. As much as it disturbs me to say it, you'd enjoy seeing her get fucked up." The answer had been given in a tone of voice that conveyed that Henry didn't think much of Bill at the moment. The tone, more than the answer, disturbed Bill. Rather than argue, he stood in place in a position of defiance. Dissatisfied that what was supposed to have been a good experience with Bill had turned sour, Henry said, "I've got to go and you two should probably get back to work." ------- Chapter 32 Jerry stepped out of his car and headed up to the door of the house. The clear laughter of Bill and Abe sounded from the backyard. It sounded almost hysterical. Curious as to why the boys were laughing so hard, he changed course and walked around the house. Bill was literally rolling on the ground holding his side. Abe had collapsed against the side of the house, tears coming down his face. A black girl wearing a large grin was standing by the side of the yard that hadn't been straightened up. She looked familiar but Jerry couldn't place her name. She took one look at him and the grin dropped from her face to be replaced by fear. Without saying a word, she ran off disappearing between the houses behind his. "What's so funny?" Abe, hardly able to answer, managed to say, "Shauna... she... Melissa..." A sinking feeling crept into Jerry's stomach as he imagined what had happened. He asked, "Did Melissa say something to Shauna that she shouldn't have said?" "Yes," replied Bill who managed to keep a straight face for a whole ten seconds before bursting out in laughter. He had a very clear picture of what happened. Now that he had the name, he knew that the girl that had run off when he came into the backyard was Shauna. The girl might be young, but she was strong. If she got into a fight with Melissa, then his daughter would be in pretty bad shape. He hoped that it wouldn't require a trip to the hospital. Worried about his daughter, he asked, "How's Melissa?" Abe, struggling to talk while laughing, said, "Green." His answer caused Bill to start laughing even harder. Unconcerned about the angry look from his father, he rolled onto his side trying to get control of himself. His laughter was beginning to hurt and he wanted to stop, but couldn't help himself. He calmed a little and lay there gasping for breath. Deciding that he would return to punish Bill for laughing at Melissa's misfortune rather than helping her with her wounds, Jerry went into the house to tend to Melissa. He froze on seeing his daughter crying on the futon. Shocked by what he saw, he exclaimed, "You're green!" Melissa sat up and looked at her father, tears running down her face. Half of her hair and just about every inch of exposed skin was green - dark green. She looked like a gecko lizard in misery. She whimpered, "They sprayed me with green dye. I can't wash it off." Putting a hand over his mouth, Jerry said, "Let me go talk to someone. I'll be back." As she sat in the chair with tears running down her face, Jerry bolted out of the house and ran halfway up the block. Satisfied that he had put enough distance from his daughter that she wouldn't hear him, he stopped running and started laughing uncontrollably. He couldn't help it. The fact of the matter was that he was relieved she had been uninjured, but she looked so funny sitting there. He wondered how much of her they had managed to cover. It took twenty minutes for him to control himself enough to even consider heading back to the house. He turned and looked in the direction of the house. A grin split his face and, out of fear of losing it again, he couldn't make himself return to Melissa. She would have to wait a few minutes more. One of the neighbor kids, after watching him carefully for five minutes, got up enough courage to walk over to him. Seeing that Jerry wasn't about to hit him, he said, "Hello, sir." "Do you know what Shauna did?" asked Jerry deciding that the kid's manner suggested that the boy knew more about what happened with Melissa than he did. "Shauna didn't do it alone. We held a trial and decided that she had to suffer. Every one in the neighborhood was in on the decision and contributed money to buy the supplies." "Are you worried that I'll get Shauna in trouble?" "Yes, sir." The look on the kid's face suggested that he really was worried about Shauna getting in trouble. Another bout of laughter tried to capture him in its grip. After a couple of minutes, he managed to bring the urge to laugh under control. He said, "It's too funny. I can't get angry. Let her know that I won't do anything this time." The boy grinned and said, "It was funny, sir." "What's your name?" "Benson," replied the kid wondering why Jerry would want to know his name. "Nice to meet you, Benson. You're a good kid to stand up for your friends like that," said Jerry. Judging by the way that the kid held himself, Jerry was sure that the boy was going to be one of the leaders of the community. It took nerve for the kid to approach him and he had done it meaning to protect others from Jerry's wrath. He wondered what Henry and Mr. Atkins knew about the boy. The kid, grinning at the praise, left to tell everyone else what Jerry said about the dye job. Watching him run off, Jerry pulled out his cell phone and called Jenny. When she answered, Jerry said, "Melissa has been dyed green by the kids in the neighborhood." Not sure that she had understood him correctly, Jenny said, "What?" "The kids in the neighborhood dyed Melissa green." "You're kidding!" replied his girlfriend trying to keep from laughing. She knew that it could have been worse, they could have beaten her to a bloody pulp. As the laughter threatened to reclaim him, Jerry replied, "Nope. I'm serious. Can you come over here and help?" "I'll be over in about an hour." Surprised that it would take her so long to come over, Jerry asked, "Why so long?" "It's gonna take me that long to stop laughing." The click over the phone indicated that she had hung up. Jerry understood and burst out laughing again. Holding his side, he finally quieted down. He talked to himself as he walked home. "Controlling laughter is even harder than controlling rage. Damn, even I have to admit that's ironic as hell." Arriving at home, he chose to deal with Bill and Abe rather than his daughter since he really didn't know what to say to her. When he went in the backyard, he saw that Abe and Bill had managed to get some control over their laughter. Jerry asked, "What happened?" Bill, seated on the ground and leaning against the house, answered, "Melissa caught Shauna and I kissing. She called Shauna a slut, but that didn't really bother Shauna. When I told Melissa to fuck off, she asked how much the... well, you know what she called her. She asked how much Shauna was charging me." "The one thing you don't call Shauna is a nigger. Shit, even the other blacks won't call her that," commented Abe shaking his head. It bothered him when other blacks called each other that word, but he didn't make a big deal out of it. Shauna, on the other hand, would rip the person a new asshole. "So what happened next?" Abe shook his head before he answered, "It was real weird. Shauna asked Melissa if orange was her favorite color. Melissa answered that her favorite color was green. After that, Shauna told Melissa that she would never forget what happens when you call a black person a nigger." "I thought for sure that Shauna was going to come back with a gun and blow Melissa away. I even told Melissa that she should stay in the house until Shauna cooled down, but Melissa wouldn't listen. She came out here in her bikini to work on her tan," said Bill continuing the story. "We were in the house when everyone came over and, I mean, everyone was here. We knew the shit was about to hit the fan and came out. They had her surrounded and I was sure that Shauna was going to start beating Melissa up." Jerry had to know and asked, "So what did you do?" "We went over to make sure that things didn't get too far out of control. I might hate the bitch, but I wouldn't want her to get killed," answered Bill with a shrug. At least that was better than Jerry had expected, but his lack of concern for his sister's welfare was still troubling. However, now was not the time to address that problem. He said, "You and I are going to have to have a long talk about your attitude towards Melissa. So what happened next?" Grinning, Abe held up an empty plastic bottle. The label said that it had once contained soda water. He answered, "They all pulled out these bottles. Each one was filled with green dye and carbonated water. They fucking sprayed her." "Hell, I was half tempted to join them," commented Bill starting to laugh at the memory. Melissa had stood there attempting to stare down the other kids, not quite realizing what they had in mind. When they started to shake the bottles with a thumb over the mouth of the bottle, she started to understand. When they sprayed, she had shrunk to the ground like the wicked witch of the west in the Oz story. "Did you?" Bill held up his hands to show the pads of his thumbs and said, "No green on me!" Abe winked as he made a motion that looked like someone holding a thumb over the mouth of a bottle and shaking it. He held up his thumb and Jerry could see that there wasn't any green on it either. Abe said, "Shit, he lives with her and I live next door to her. Ain't no way we're pissing that bitch off. She's fucking mean." Jerry looked over Abe and considered his language. Summer spent hanging around with the neighborhood kids had added a little more color to his language. Shaking his head, he asked, "Why didn't the other kids in the neighborhood ask you to join in?" Abe glanced over at Bill and then answered, "I guess they figured that with Bill being her brother, that he'd catch hell if he was involved. Everyone knew that Henry would skin me alive if I pissed you off at the family. Shauna was telling us about that when you came home from work." Jerry went into the house to talk to Melissa. She was still seated on the futon, but had stopped crying. Taking a seat beside her on the futon, he said, "I found out what happened." Melissa sniffed and ran her hands under her eyes. The skin on her hands were dark green that contrasted sharply with her bright red fingernails. She said, "They sprayed me with bottles of green dye." "Do you know why they did it?" The young girl looked at her father for a minute before answering, "I called that girl a nigger." Jerry nodded and said, "One of the kids in the neighborhood said they had a trial and decided that you had to be punished for doing that." "Aren't you going to call the police to have them arrested?" "No. We tried to warn you that you don't go around saying things like that. It bothers me that you even think things like that," answered Jerry knowing that Melissa wasn't going to like what he said. The fact was that he wasn't sure that spraying someone with dye was even a crime. "Do you think that I deserved this?" asked Melissa knowing what his answer would be before she even asked the question. Having plotted revenge on others many times, she was amazed at the creativity Shauna had shown. She'd have never come up with this as a means of getting even with someone. "Yes, I do. You're lucky that they didn't do something worse than that. Mr. Atkins promised me that they wouldn't maim or kill you. There's a lot of leeway associated with that promise." Melissa expected for him to feel like she deserved the punishment, but she was stunned at the news about the promise. She couldn't believe it. Her father had accepted a promise that they wouldn't main or kill her? Who was that Mr. Atkins person that could make such a promise? Confused, she asked, "Why would you accept that promise?" "Because it was the only way to keep you alive," answered Jerry. He stood and paced around the room trying to figure out a good way to explain the facts of life to his daughter. There were times when he really hated his ex-wife. Seeing once again what she had done to his daughter, this was one of those times. "As much as I like the people around here, I do understand the reality of this area. You have to understand that this can be a violent and dangerous place. One of the people that shot me was the same age as Shauna. He shot me because I threw him out of my house when he tried to rob it. I know that doesn't make sense, but it doesn't have to make sense. You go around calling people names, you're asking for trouble. That trouble can come out of the barrel of a gun," explained Jerry. Melissa stared at him. Incredulous, she said, "You mean she might have killed me for calling her a nigger?" "Maybe not her, but some kids around here would kill you without giving it a second thought. You were lucky. The only thing stopping them is that Mr. Atkins gave his word that they wouldn't do that." "Who's Mr. Atkins?" Jerry paced as he answered, "Mr. Atkins is the old man across the street and he is, for all intents and purposes, the law around here. To tell the truth, I'm surprised that he made that promise." "Why is that?" A grim expression appeared on Jerry's face while he looked Melissa in the eye. Even looking at the green girl couldn't diminish the seriousness of the subject. In a tone of voice that conveyed the seriousness of the subject, he answered, "His father was hung by the KKK. He was forced to watch his mother get raped by a couple of white men. If you ever call him a nigger, there's no power on this planet that could save you." The image of having to watch your own mother getting raped crashed through Melissa's mind. For the first time in her entire life, she thought about how someone else might have felt. Her mouth flew open and she gasped, "Oh, that poor man." "Don't feel sorry for him. He has risen above the events that shaped his youth. He's a far stronger man than I am." Noticing her raised eyebrows in response to his comment, he added, "He was willing to spent the rest of his life in jail to keep the kids in this neighborhood safe from drugs. I wasn't." "They shot you." Jerry glanced down at the cast that held his arm and shoulder blade. Grim, he replied, "That wasn't in the plans." A knock on the door interrupted the discussion. Pulling himself together, Jerry answered the door expecting, and finding, Jenny. The laugh lines around her eyes looked a little deeper and she grinned at him with a broad smile. Attempting to look around him, she asked, "Where is she?" Gesturing to the living room, Jerry let her in the house. On spotting Melissa, Jenny immediately went over to her. The young woman seemed very happy to see her. Jenny, after glancing over at Jerry, said, "Let's go into the bedroom so that I can see how bad it is." Once the women went into Melissa's bedroom, the tension that had been building in his back dissipated. Jerry went to the back door and gestured for the two boys to come into the house. He felt it was time to have a talk with them before they turned even crueler towards his daughter. As Bill and Abe sat down at the kitchen table with cokes, Jerry cleared his throat and said, "I don't want any teasing out of the two of you." "Aw, dad. She deserves everything they did to her," complained his son. "And she has paid the price to the person that she insulted. Don't make her pay more or you'll live to regret it." Bill wasn't convinced that he'd regret any minute spent making his sister miserable. She had made the first fourteen years of his life miserable and it only seemed fair for him to make the next two years miserable for her. Sitting back in his chair, he faced his father with arms crossed and a glare pasted on his face. In a direct challenge to his father, he said, "Bull shit." Jerry raised an eyebrow at his son's reaction. It wasn't the first time his son had challenged his authority. Rather than get angry, he took a moment to understand his son's attitude. Taking a seat at the table, he said, "I'm not sure who was hurt more by your mother, you or Melissa." "I can answer that. It was me," charged Bill furious that his father would think that anything negative had happened to Melissa. Jerry glanced over at Abe knowing that the discussion shouldn't include the young man, but he didn't know how to ask him to leave without coming across heavy handed. He sighed and said, "Bill, your mother hurt you, but she didn't destroy the person inside. You have friends, real friends." Abe nodded and said, "You do. Beside me, there's Woody, Sandy, and Larry. Shit, I think you could include Shauna in that number." At the nod of acceptance from Bill, Jerry continued, "I expect that some day soon, you'll have a real girlfriend like I have in Jenny. Do you accept that?" "Sure, I think that's true." Jerry stared down at the center of the table and, in a tired tone of voice, he said, "If we're not careful, Melissa will never have that. She'll never have a true friend. She'll never have a real boyfriend. Your mother killed Melissa's ability to really love anyone. She is a shallow woman who has no concept of what it means to feel anything except selfishness. I don't know if she's ruined beyond all chance of repair, but I have to hope. After all, she's my daughter. All that we can do for now is to patch her up enough to get by in life." "Fuck man, I wouldn't wish that on anyone," commented Abe. "Big deal," replied Bill. "Think about your grandmother, Bill. She died and there wasn't a single friend who showed up at her funeral. The family that did show up didn't really care about her. That's sad. I imagine that the day your mother is buried that neither you nor Melissa will show up at the funeral. I sure as hell won't. Your mother has no friends." Jerry paused to look at Bill. The look on his son's face was conflicted. On one hand, Bill was pleased that his mother would suffer for her actions against him. That was countered by the sentiment that no one deserved to be that alone. His son understood loneliness and knew the price it took on the soul. Bill frowned and asked, "So what has that got to do with Melissa?" "She's starting to understand what her mother has done to her. The choice is up to us. Shall we continue to destroy what little ability to love might remain in Melissa or will we nurture it?" asked Jerry. "Shit," swore Bill, "that's not fair. You're asking me to treat her like I care for her." Shaking his head while he considered the challenge ahead of Bill, Abe said, "Shit, I'm lucky I'm not part of this." "Not true, Abe. She's got to learn to respect people that are different from her. She's a racist, but not in a position where she can ruin lives. A few years from now, she'll be able to destroy people." "Fuck!" Jerry got out of his chair and picked up a coke out of the refrigerator. Returning to the table, he sat down and popped the top. With a tentative smile, he said, "I actually have to thank the kids that did this to her. They've given her a very real lesson." There was a noise behind Jerry, but he ignored it as he explained, "You can't judge a person by the color of their skin. Of course, a lot of people are going to be judging her because she's green." Melissa overheard the last part of what Jerry had said. She screeched, "Judge me because I'm green? What in the hell does that mean?" "Sure, what kind of person dyes themselves green. Only a social misfit airhead," commented Abe with a laugh. He had tried to control it, but the sight of her standing in her clothes with green arms, legs, and head was funny. He was tempted to call her the Bitchy Green Giant, but resisted the temptation. "That or some sort of extreme rock and roll punk," added Bill laughing at her appearance. He didn't really know what people would think of someone who was dyed green. There was one thing that he was sure of - a lot of people would be laughing at her. A stern look from his father caused Bill to sober a little, although it did not keep the grin off his face. He didn't bother to hide the fact that he was enjoying her humiliation. "Well, I'm not going anywhere," challenged Melissa. There was no way that she was going in public looking like a green version of a Smurf. Jenny interrupted, "You're forgetting the wedding this weekend." "I can't go," answered Melissa in horror. Jerry asked, "Have you apologized to Sharon yet?" The question took Melissa by surprise. She hadn't seen Sharon since the first night that she had arrived. Recalling the two interactions with Henry, she knew that she was going to have to do that sometime soon. She answered, "No." "Are you going to apologize to my mother?" asked Abe, narrowing his eyes out of anger. All of Jerry's comments about teaching her to view blacks as people fled upon remembering what the bitch had said to his mother. "Yes," replied Melissa taken aback by the raw anger in Abe's voice. She remembered her father saying that some of the kids in this neighborhood would kill her without a thought. Seeing the expression on Abe's face, she wondered if he was one of them. Jerry shifted in his chair to face Melissa more directly. His cast caught on the bottom of the table and he struggled for a moment to unhook it. Jenny noticed his problem and came over to him. Leaning down, she asked, "Are you okay?" "Yes. I just want to get this damned thing off," complained Jerry giving voice to his frustration. Abe was glaring at Melissa as he said, "You better do it soon." Melissa looked at Abe and was tempted to say something, but a quick glance around the room convinced her that it would be a mistake. She said, "I'll talk to her when the dye is gone." Shaking her head in disagreement, Jenny said, "You better go today, Melissa. Remember what we talked about." It seemed as all of Melissa's energy fled at the reminder. Jenny had told her that the longer she allowed bad feelings against her to fester, the worse the retaliation would become. Feeling completely defeated, she replied, "Okay, she can come over now." "No, you'll go over there," asserted Jerry. Judging by the look on her face, Melissa was not wild about the idea of going outside. At least she was smart enough not to argue, but nodded her head in compliance. She frowned and said, "Let me put my shoes on." Jerry looked around the room and realized that Sharon might need a little warning before a dark green Melissa showed up at her door. He said, "Abe, why don't you head home and let your mother know that she's coming over?" "Sure," answered Abe as he stood to leave. He paused and asked, "Can Bill come with me?" "Sure," answered Jerry. He watched the two boys run out of the house. Turning to Jenny, he said, "I worry about those two sometimes." "I know," replied Jenny running a hand along the back of his neck. The muscles were tight with tension. She rubbed his muscles trying to work some of the tension from them. Melissa came out of her room wearing her shoes. She looked at the couple and shook her head. She didn't understand what Jenny could see in her father. Jenny was pretty enough to land a doctor or a lawyer. She called over to the pair, "I'm going now." "Okay," replied Jerry without looking back at her. He was enjoying the massage that Jenny was giving him. When he heard the front door close, he asked, "So what did you talk about?" "We talked about letting wounds fester and how it wasn't good for the features. Nothing makes a face uglier than hate. I reminded her of how her mother looked," answered Jenny as she kneaded his neck. "Did you get a chance to say anything about the way she talks about blacks?" Jenny stopped massaging his neck and moved to sit in one of the chairs. She frowned as she recalled that portion of their conversation together. She sighed and then said, "She knows that it isn't a proper thing to say even when angry. She really believes that all other races are inferior to whites." "That's her mother's influence. She was a racist of the worst sort," replied Jerry. "She can't live in this neighborhood if she feels that way. She's going to slip and get hurt," countered Jenny. "Her mother destroyed the other house. It's going to take me a year to fix it up and that's once I have use of both arms. I just bought this place and I can't sell it." Jerry felt trapped in this situation. He knew that he would have to move back to the other house before long, but it had to be habitable before they moved into it. Her assessment of the situation was the same as his. She didn't know what to do anymore than he did. There was one option, but she didn't want to mention it. Looking at the misery written on his face, she gave in. "She could live with me." Jerry shook his head. That was the worst thing that could happen as far as he was concerned. In tone of voice that allowed no argument, he said, "That's not an option." "Why?" Jenny asked. She was surprised at the resolute tone of voice he had used. "Because she's poisoned inside," answered Jerry. He didn't want Melissa in a position where her poison could affect Jenny. He had no idea how it would emerge, but he knew that it would come out. He said, "It's better that it comes out at me rather than at you." Jenny nodded her head in agreement. She didn't believe that the girl was a threat, but knew that Jerry believed it. There was no sense arguing the point, so she replied, "If you say so." The loud rumbling of his stomach broke the silence in the room. Jenny asked, "What? Are you hungry?" "Hey, I got home from work and had to deal with this little crisis. I haven't had a chance to eat yet. In fact, none of us have had the chance to eat," answered Jerry with a grin. He asked, "Should we heat up some green beans picked by the Jolly Green Giant?" Jenny laughed for a full minute before she replied, "No. I think that you had better pick up something from Poncho's or a Mickey D's." Grinning, Jerry said, "You are ruining Bill's fun." "Poor Bill." The two of them sat around the table without talking. After five minutes, Jenny said, "If you want to go get some food, I'll stay here until they come back." "I might as well stay here and find out what they want to eat." Jerry pushed his chair away from the table and winked at his girlfriend. With a friendly leer, he asked, "Why don't you come here and sit on my lap until they get back?" "Don't mind if I do." As soon as she sat down, Jerry kissed her. Even though the cast dug into her side a little, she pressed tightly against him. He held her in his good arm and wished that his other arm could run over her body. Everything about having his arm in a cast was frustrating. After a minute of kissing her, even the cast stopped bothering him. ------- Chapter 33 The long awaited event was about to begin and Henry was as nervous as a cat at a dog show. He kept fidgeting with the sleeves of his coat, pulling on them as though he were plucking feathers. His stomach threatened to empty what little food he had been able to down at breakfast. He grumbled, "It's all your fault." Chuckling at the comment, Jerry glanced into the church to see if they were ready for them. People were seated, but the preacher wasn't up at the front of the room yet. Bill and Melissa were sitting next to Abe. The boys looked bored, but Sharon's sister and her husband were sitting between Abe and Martin to make sure that Abe didn't get into trouble. That was keeping Bill out of trouble, as well. Looking lovely as always, Jenny was seated next to Melissa. His daughter looked tense as she looked around the room. At least the dye had worn off and she wasn't green. Well, she was still a little green at the eyebrows, but that was hardly noticeable after the makeup. The peroxide job and then dying her hair brown had gotten rid of the green in her hair. Jerry thought she looked better as a brunette rather than a blond. Turning back to look at Henry, he saw that it was his big friend who looked a little green. Sweat broke out on the big man's head as his hands flew to his stomach. Henry groaned, "What did I do?" Jerry shook his head guessing what was going to happen next and grabbed his friend's arm. After reaching the bathroom, Henry took one look at the toilet and bent over to make an offering to the porcelain god. Cringing at the sounds of the big guy retching into the toilet, Jerry rubbed him on the back and said, "You'll be okay." Neither man heard the noise in the room behind them. The preacher had come in to get them and then stepped out again to give them a few minutes to recover. There was a reason he put grooms in his office. More than one had visited the attached bathroom before making their appearance at the front of the church. Stomach empty, Henry stood up and said, "Shit. What am I doing here?" "You're getting married to the second greatest woman in the world," answered Jerry with a grin. "Second greatest?" asked Henry still feeling a little sick to his stomach and a little confused by the answer. "Of course, my Jenny is the greatest," answered Jerry with a laugh. He went over to the medicine cabinet and opened the mirrored door. Just as he had expected, a bottle of mouthwash was perched on a glass shelf. No doubt the preacher kept it there so that he would have fresh breath when dealing with some of the more attractive parishioners. Henry noticed what Jerry was doing and joined him by the sink. He rinsed his mouth out with water from the faucet before taking the bottle of mouthwash from Jerry. Opening the cap, he took a swig of the liquid and swished it around his mouth. The strong astringent mouthwash was as good as a jolt of smelling salts in clearing his mind. He spat the mouthful of mouthwash into the sink. "She's the best woman in the world, no offense to Jenny," rebuked Henry. Chuckling in his deep voice, Jerry replied, "I might be your best man, but I guess we'll just have to disagree on this particular topic." Henry's chuckle joined Jerry's. The deep rolling sound carried into the church and the preacher entered the office. In a calm voice, he announced, "We're ready to begin now." "Alright," replied Jerry as he steered Henry towards the door. "Oh, God," replied Henry as he looked through the door at the crowd in the church. Laughing, the preacher said, "Talking to God is my job." Steering the big man with his one good arm, Jerry positioned his friend in the proper spot at the front of the room. It wasn't until Henry was in place that he figured out that the preacher had been joking. By then, it was too late to laugh aloud, but his lips curled into a smile. The two huge men standing at the front of the room were hard to ignore. A number of the attendees had not been aware that the best man was white and a small murmur of exchanged comments floated through the room. As Jerry took care of Henry, particularly when the big man started to sway, most of the people decided it was good that the best man was just as big as Henry. He'd squash a little guy if he tipped over and it sure looked like Henry was about to go down to most of the people in the audience. More than one bet was made about when he would faint. Music filled the room and everyone turned to watch the bride walk up the aisle. With a radiant smile, Sharon walked up the aisle looking gorgeous as all brides do. She hung onto the arm of her stepfather who marched with a proud step. Behind her was the maid of honor, a black woman who Jerry did not know. The progression up to the front of the church seemed to take a long time, but it was less than a minute. Jerry spent most of the ceremony keeping Henry upright and exchanging the vows. He did notice the amused grin on Sharon's face as Henry swayed and Jerry kept him from going over completely. When the time came for the ring, he produced it without a problem. Henry didn't seem to snap out of it until it came time for him to kiss the bride. At least he managed that part of the ceremony without any help from Jerry. That would also be the only part of the ceremony that Henry was able to remember. Following the Bride and Groom down the aisle, the Maid of Honor walked beside Jerry. She was about a foot smaller than Jerry and, in comparison, she looked very petite. About halfway down the aisle, she said in a stage whisper, "Damn, you're big." It struck Jerry as funny and he started to chuckle. His whispered response carried through the whole room, "Thanks little lady, you're a might bit on the small side." A number of people in the room laughed at the comment. Jenny grinned and shook her head thinking that he had no idea what he had said. She knew a little history about the Maid of Honor and her long fight with her weight. Being called little and small had to be a great compliment. Jerry just lumbered on down the aisle totally unaware of the effects of his words. There were times when Jenny just loved him to death. Jerry and Jenny found themselves sharing a table with Sharon's sister and brother-in-law, Cathy and George. The couple had a hard time looking at Cathy without blushing. It was difficult to look at her without thinking of the photographs found within the house and had served as a subject of a great night of sex. "So you are living next to Sharon," said Cathy attempting to start a conversation. Jerry replied, "Yes. I moved into your old house after you were forced out." A look of real anger crossed Cathy's face as she said, "Praise the Lord that that godless heathen landlord is dead. He was the devil." George snarled, "He stole something that was very important to us. You did the world a great service when you killed him." "I don't remember doing that," replied Jerry uneasy about his role in the death of another human being. He still didn't remember anything of that day past the time when he had been shot. "Well, I hope his soul rots in hell," said Cathy. Jenny looked over at Cathy understanding what was bothering the woman. She turned to look over at Sharon wondering how to rectify the situation. She wanted to kill Jerry when he asked, "You really sound angry at him. What did he take?" George answered, "Some pictures." "Oh," replied Jerry. He didn't know what to say now that he understood what the valuable possession was. The pictures were sitting safe in Jenny's house along with the pictures of Jenny in exactly the same poses. Changing the subject, Cathy said, "I'm glad to see that my sister has reformed and is getting married. It always bothered me that she had two kids out of wedlock." "That bothered you?" asked Jerry. He knew that Sharon had called her sister a holier-than-thou bitch, but he had discounted it as a symptom of sibling rivalry. No wonder Sharon had taken delight in the fact that some naked pictures of her sister had shown up. "Lord Almighty above, it bothered me. A good girl wouldn't have gotten knocked up like that." "I like the boys. She did a good job raising them," argued Jerry defending his friend. Jenny looked over at Cathy a little surprised at her attitude. "It wasn't their fault that their mother sinned," said Cathy. She realized that she sounded overly judgmental. She said, "Well, that was in the past. I'm happy to see her with Henry." Allowing the tension around the table to ease, Jenny said, "They really make a cute couple. You should have seen them the day when he proposed to her." "You could hear her scream of surprise all over the park. For a moment there, I thought she had stepped on a snake," commented Jerry. "So you guys go places with Sharon and Henry?" asked Cathy surprised that the white couple would go out in public with her sister. There was still a lot of prejudice in this world. "Not so much. I work Saturdays. Sharon often works Sundays at the hotel. When we all have a day off, we might go out for a picnic, movie, or something." Jenny said, "Jerry and Henry are together a lot. Friday nights they work together on their business. Sundays they usually do something, even if it is just sitting around the front yard talking while the boys work on their cars or motorcycles. If Sharon has a Saturday off of work, she and I go shopping while Jerry is at work." "I'm going to miss having Sharon and Abe living next door," said Jerry. It made him feel a little better knowing that Sharon was next door and could watch over his kids while he was at work. Abe was a good kid and it was nice that he was next door for Bill. Wondering how a white man happened to move into a black neighborhood, George asked, "So how did you end up living there?" "I left my wife and needed a cheap place to stay. I read about the house in a newspaper ad and stopped by to check it out. I ran into Abe and he talked me into moving in. One of the better decisions I've made in my life," answered Jerry. There had been a number of times when he wondered how things would have turned out if he hadn't moved into that house. "You really like living in that house?" asked Cathy in disbelief. Her memories of living in that house were horrible. She hated that neighborhood and the poverty of the people living there. Just thinking about that neighborhood was a reminder of the hard times they had gone through a year earlier. "Yeah, I do." "I hated living there because of that bastard landlord," commented George with a frown. The man could have given them a couple more days to come up with the rent. Instead, he had locked them out of the house and sold everything they owned. It was tough enough having been laid off of his job, but to lose everything else was just too much. He spat, "I'm glad that you killed him." Quiet settled over the table until Jenny said, "I need to powder my nose. Would you like to join me, Cathy?" Surprised to be invited to the powder room by a woman that she had just met, Cathy shrugged and answered, "Okay." Jerry watched as Jenny and Cathy went on their way to the bathroom. Confused, he said, "I never understood that." "What?" "Why they all go off to the bathroom together," answered Jerry. Chuckling, George replied, "One of the great mysteries. If we were to do that, everyone would figure we were comparing the sizes of our cocks." "That's probably what they are doing," replied Jerry with a chuckle. "What?" "Comparing the sizes of our cocks," said Jerry as he broke out into laughter. George started laughing and slapped his thigh. Shaking his head, he said, "Henry said that I would like you. He was right." The two men talked about cars, women, and life in general while the women were in the bathroom. After about fifteen minutes, Jerry commented, "They sure are taking a long time." "Ah, here's Sharon," said George as the bride walked over to the table. Sharon stopped at the table and said, "Did your ladies run off already?" "Yeah," answered Jerry, "maybe you can explain to me why it is that when one woman goes to the bathroom, all of the women at the table leave with her." Sharon didn't have a chance to answer before Henry showed up at the table. He set a massive hand on Jerry's shoulder and said, "It's all your fault." Wondering what the problem was, Jerry asked, "What's my fault?" "First, I get engaged because of you. Then, you hold me up through the whole ceremony so that I end up married. Now that I'm married, my bride is ignoring me by coming over here to talk with you," said Henry with a smile. "You're right. It was all a plot on my part," answered Jerry with a wink at Sharon. Looking up at his big friend, he said, "I wanted the two of you to get married so that she'd get interested in me. You know that old saying - the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. Now, I'm on the other side of the fence." Sharon laughed and retorted, "If that was the case, then I would have gone after Melissa. She's the greenest one that I've seen around here in ages." Everyone except George burst out laughing at the comment. Fortunately, Melissa was far enough away that she didn't hear the joke made at her expense. George asked, "What's this about some woman being green?" Jerry explained how the kids had decided to punish his daughter for insulting one of the girls in the neighborhood. George laughed through the whole telling of the story. Jerry thought the man was going to hurt himself from laughing so hard. When Jerry was done, George said, "Gives a whole new meaning to the term Colored Person." "Yes it does," commented Jerry. Sharon and Henry moved onto another table to talk to the Maid of Honor. George watched them walk off wondering if this was a sore subject with them. He asked, "So is she still calling people that?" Jerry shrugged his shoulders and answered, "I don't know. No one has said anything to me about it, but I don't think she's changed her opinion about people any." "I take it you don't hold the same opinions as she does." "That scrawny guy over there that married Sharon is the first friend I've ever had. I don't care what color he is, I'm proud to be able to call him a friend. He's a good person; one of the best I've ever met. My ex-wife was a horrible heartless bitch. She was white and one of the worst people that I've ever met. I guess what I'm trying to say is that the color of a person's skin doesn't tell you much about their heart." George considered the big guy sharing the table with him. He had heard about how the man had taken out people opening the drug house that was down the street from his old house. He also knew that Jerry had helped Martin and Abe get jobs. The boys talked about Jerry as if he was some sort of superman. It wasn't hard for George to understand why Jerry and Henry got along. He had known Henry ever since he was a kid and for years had thought the big guy was mentally slow. It wasn't that he thought the guy was stupid, but that he wasn't mentally facile. Since his sister-in-law had become engaged to the big guy, his opinion had changed over the past few months. Henry appeared to be slow because he was deliberate. Jerry demonstrated that same kind of deliberation when talking. It seemed as though his responses were just a half a second slower than expected. He nodded and said, "You two are a lot alike." Jerry looked at Henry for a moment and then said, "Yeah, but he has a better tan." George laughed and decided he liked this white man. The food was brought out and people went over to the tables to load their plates. The two men debated loading up a couple of plates or waiting for the women to return. George, married for a number of years, argued that the women wouldn't mind. Jerry wasn't sure and argued to wait for them. George loaded a plate while Jerry waited for Jenny. When the women returned, Cathy was upset that George hadn't waited for her to return before eating and Jenny wondered why Jerry hadn't gone ahead and eaten. Jerry decided it was one of those no-win situations. As they ate, Jerry asked, "George, what do you do for a living?" "I work construction, mostly putting up sheet rock," answered George with a frown. He added, "With the downturn in housing construction, there's not much work for me." Jerry hadn't been aware that there had been a downturn in housing construction. Joking, he said, "I've got a house that needs reconstructing." "And how," echoed Jenny recalling the total destruction of the interior of his house. "What happened to it?" Eyeing his food, Jerry answered, "My ex-wife went through the house with a sledgehammer and took out everything. All of the drywall is shot, the appliances have been wrecked, and most of the windows have been broken." Gesturing at his cast, he said, "I can't even work on it because of this stupid cast and I can't pay people to work on it until I get some more money." George suggested, "Why don't you get a second mortgage on the house?" Jenny paused as she about to take a bite of her pasta salad. She asked, "Why would he do that?" "I'm sure that the house has appreciated in value since Jerry bought it. He can refinance the house and use part of the loan to pay for the repairs. The house payments will be a little more than they were, but the amount he borrows will be spread out over thirty years so they won't be that much more," answered George. Cathy had stared at her husband open mouthed the whole time he had answered Jenny's question. Incredulous, she asked, "How do you know that?" "Lots of people do that to pay for improvements on their houses. If it wasn't for that, I wouldn't have worked as much as I have this year," answered George. Interest rates weren't great, but a few people spent the money to fix up their properties hoping to take advantage of contractors that were desperate for work. "I'll have to think about it," replied Jerry after swallowing a bite of ham. He'd been doing a lot of financial transactions this year. "Well, don't think about it too long. If the house is in as bad of a shape as you said, the longer you let it sit there the more it will cost to fix," cautioned George. "Why?" "Ever notice how quick a house falls apart when no one is living in it?" "I've heard that," answered Jerry. He wasn't sure if that was myth or a fact. George looked around the table and said, "It's true, but I don't really know why. I suspect that houses get lonely when they are left empty." Cars that weren't driven frequently were more susceptible to breaking down. That was because the oil broke down, rubber parts dried out, and the gasoline lost the volatile components. He wondered if there weren't similar reasons why houses fell apart faster. He took another bite of his food as he pondered what George said. He said, "I'll have to think about it. I just bought the house I'm living in and money is awful tight." "You could refinance your house and take enough of the appreciation to fix it and the other house," suggested Jenny. She realized that when they got married, they would have three houses. Renting two of them would bring in a nice little extra income. "I could do that?" asked Jerry. "Sure," answered Jenny. She looked over at her boyfriend wondering what he would decide to do. No matter what he decided, two houses and taking care of Melissa were gong to keep him busy. Everyone returned to eating his or her meals. Jerry ate quietly thinking about the options that had been presented to him. He wondered if someone would be able to live in the house while it was being repaired. After a moment of thought, he discounted that possibility. Then he started wondering about what changes he would make to the house and how much it would cost. Since all of the bathrooms and the kitchen were trashed, they would have to be totally redone. After finishing his plate, Jerry looked over at George and said, "Maybe you could come over some time and we can take a look at the house. I need you to give me some idea of what I've gotten myself into with the house." "I'd love to do that. I don't have a contractor's license, but I could probably give you some round figures as to how much it would all cost," replied George. It dawned on him that he could probably turn this into another job for a month or so. He looked over at Cathy thinking that she would like that. He asked, "When would be a good time to come over?" "I'm off on Sundays and Mondays. I guess next Sunday would probably be best since you won't have to take any time off of work," answered Jerry. Without waiting for a word from her husband, Cathy said, "He can come over tomorrow." "How about ten?" "That's good for me," replied George knowing that his wife wouldn't accept any excuse for him not to go. The rest of the afternoon was spent celebrating the wedding. The happy couple cut the wedding cake, the bride threw the bouquet, and the guests threw rice at the couple as they departed for their honeymoon. Jenny hadn't fought too hard to catch the bouquet, so she wasn't disappointed when another woman caught it. She had winked at Jerry and mouthed, "You're time is coming." Henry had noticed and shouted, "Jerry, you got a reprieve. If she had caught it, we'd be back here next week for your wedding." Everyone had laughed at that, Jerry hardest of all. Driving home, Jerry still chuckled when he thought about it. Melissa had stared at him as if he were crazy for chuckling to himself while driving. Finally, she asked, "What is that noise you're making?" "I'm chuckling," answered Jerry with a smile. He looked in the mirror at Bill sitting in the backseat and saw his son grin. "Oh, what's so funny?" "Just thinking about when that woman caught the bouquet," answered Jerry. Melissa was silent for a minute and then said, "You never used to laugh. Now, you seem to laugh about a lot of things. I don't always understand what is so funny, but you seem to find just about everything funny. Why is that?" Surprised by the question, Bill stared at his sister. He didn't think she had it in her to notice that his father was happy now. Sure, his father was still wearing the cast and that got him down at times, but for the most part he was happy. Bill answered, "Because he's happy. He wasn't happy before." "Why?" asked Melissa. She couldn't believe that it was just because of the divorce. Jerry pulled the car over to the side of the rode and parked it so that he could answer her question. Turning to face her, he said, "You two kids are a lot freer than I am. You haven't made any decisions that commit you to a future, yet. One day you will do something or decide something that commits you far more than you can possibly imagine. Starting a career, getting married, or even moving away from home puts demands on you for your time, money, and emotions. I know you don't believe me, but it's true." Melissa said, "What's that got to do with why you're happier now?" "I made some decisions years ago that didn't work out like I thought they would. I was stuck in a dead-end job, married to a woman who thought I was scum, had two kids who didn't know anything about me, and living in a place I detested. As a result, I was angry all of the time and angry men aren't happy." It was beginning to sound to Melissa like getting divorced from her mother was why he was happy. She didn't know if she liked that idea or not. Her mother wasn't her favorite person at the moment, but that didn't mean that everything was her mother's fault. She asked, "So you're happy because you divorced mom?" Shaking his head, Jerry said, "Not really. I'm happy because I took charge of my life again. I made some decisions, tough decisions that gave me back some of my freedom. Only one of those decisions was to divorce your mother. Not all of the consequences of my decisions have been good." Expecting to find a lever to use against her father, Melissa asked, "Like what?" "Oh, I'd say Bill's trip to the hospital was a side effect of my leaving your mother that I would have liked to have avoided," answered Jerry. "What trip to the hospital?" Rolling his eyes, Bill answered, "When mother hit me with a baseball bat and broke my arm and ribs. Of course, I don't blame dad for that. She was the one that hit me." Jerry smiled at Bill and said, "I wasn't blaming myself for that. I was just saying that it was a consequence of my decision to leave your mother." Melissa had forgotten about that incident although she had gone to live with her grandmother as a result of it. For her, it was just a nuisance. Her forehead wrinkled as she said, "I guess mom did get a little carried away that night." Shaking his head, Bill countered, "A little carried away? I hate to break it to you, but our mother is crazy. She's about fifty-one cards short of a full deck. She needs serious care in a wacky factory." As her anger rose, Melissa said, "Take that back." Jerry interrupted, "Melissa, calm down. Bill, don't say another word about your mother." Bill glared at his father, upset that his father was going to let Melissa continue to believe that their mother was the greatest woman in the world. Melissa turned to stare at her father. Once he had both of their attention, he asked, "Melissa, do you know the definition of criminally insane?" "No." "It's a mental defect that makes it impossible for a person to understand the wrongfulness of their acts or to distinguish right from wrong," said Jerry as he looked at his daughter. "So?" "Do you think that it is right or wrong to beat someone to the point where they have to go to a hospital because you are mad at someone else?" Melissa answered, "It's wrong. Everyone knows that." "Your mother beat Bill because she was mad at me. She put him in the hospital and he hadn't even done anything. Your mother doesn't believe that what she did was wrong. She justifies it by saying that she was having a bad day. She isn't even sorry about it." Bill was staring out the window of the car with his lips tight. Remembering that night still angered him. Melissa wanted to give her mother the benefit of a doubt, but it was hard. Jerry continued, "Your mother is willing to hurt anyone that stands between her and what she wants, even if it isn't hers to have." "No she isn't!" declared Melissa. "Did she hurt you because she thought that you were going to keep her away from your grandmother's money?" asked Jerry. Melissa's anger collapsed as she broke down and cried. The memory of how she felt when her mother discounted her so easily brought back the same feelings of hurt and worthlessness. What had she done so that her mother would dump her like that? Sobbing so hard that her shoulders shook, she said, "She always said that we would be together. She dumped me without a second thought. What did I do that was so wrong?" "You didn't do anything to deserve that kind of treatment. Your mother is the one with the problem," answered Jerry feeling sorry for his daughter. She had spoken the same words that Bill had used to express his anguish at getting beaten by his mother. At least Bill had trusted him enough to believe him. Melissa didn't like or trust him. Bill stared out the window cursing his mother. As much as he didn't like his sister, he understood exactly what she was feeling. Hating himself for doing it, he said, "Dad's right. You didn't do anything to deserve that kind of treatment." "Are you taking his side?" asked Melissa narrowing her eyes. "No. As much as it pains me to do it, I'm taking your side," answered Bill. Seeing the disbelief on her face, he added, "I've hated you all of my life. You've belittled me, you've hurt me, and you've made my life a living hell. You treat me, and you treat my friends, like we are soil on the bottom of your shoes. You walk on us and think nothing of it. Yes, I hate you. Despite all that, I don't think you deserved getting thrown away by your own mother." The hate and anger in his voice shocked Melissa, particularly since she had thought of herself as a loving sister. She had no idea that he hated her so much. She had treated him exactly how her mother had told her that men needed to be treated. All her life, she had been told that men needed and wanted that kind of treatment from women. Men would deny it, although they accepted that it was critical to becoming successful in life. Men would pretend that they didn't want to be told what to do or be appraised of their real worth. To keep up the pretense, a woman didn't treat men that way until after they were married. It was all part of the game, wasn't it? The doubt stunned her into silence. An even larger question suddenly raised itself in her mind. Was it possible that her mother had misled her? It was clear that her father wasn't pretending to be happier now. He was even more successful now than he was when he was married. He was co-owner of Sharjen and produced some of the greatest wall hanging waterfalls in the region. Other men and women acknowledged him as a leader in the community. He was a lot of things that he wasn't when he had been married. ------- Chapter 34 Jenny squealed in delight when Jerry marched into her house, picked her up, and carried her off to her bedroom. His cast was off and he had come to claim his girlfriend in the manner she desired. This particular visit wasn't unexpected. In anticipation, Jenny had made sure that things would go smoothly and wore no underwear beneath her clothes. When he tossed her onto the bed, she screamed in delight even as her hands moved up to remove her clothes. Undressing with clumsy fingers, Jerry stood at the foot of the bed looking down at Jenny amazed at the expression of lust written on her face. Having troubles with her blouse, she gave up and tore the front of her shirt open, sending buttons across the room. The sight of her bare breasts motivated him to do the same to his shirt. Fumbling with his belt, he managed to undo it. He dropped his pants and boxers in a single move, discovering when he went to pull them off that he hadn't removed his shoes. By the time he managed to slip out of his shoes, Jenny was naked with her legs spread on the bed. It took ten seconds for Jerry to kick off his pants and climb onto the bed. He reached down to remove his socks, but Jenny said, "Fuck the socks and start fucking me!" The woman disappeared under Jerry as he mounted her. His huge size covered her much smaller body. With her cunt being sopping wet, he encountered no problems entering her. He pounded into her in the manner that she wanted, possessing her with his sheer size and strength. She loved every minute of it, screaming out an orgasm even as he entered her. Her screams of pleasure followed every minute she was taken by the huge man. He grunted, growled, and moaned as he worked his way to orgasm and beyond. It hadn't been a marathon session, but he was sated and she was very satisfied. When he went to move off her, she held him down enjoying the feeling of being covered by his body. After a few minutes, they adjusted their positions such that he was spooned against her back with a large arm holding her tight to his chest. His hand cupped and fondled her breast, enjoying the feel of her hard nipple against the palm of his hand. She cooed, "God, I needed that so much." "You are too good for me," replied Jerry as his body slowly recovered from his exertions. He slid his hand between her legs feeling her juices and his come seeping out. "My big man," she said as she pushed herself harder into his chest. His cock nestled tight against her buttocks. She wiggled her ass enjoying the feel of it. It was time to spring his surprise on her. He said, "I can stay the night if you would like." "You can?" she asked pleased to hear it. Jerry had never spent the night before. "Yes, I can," answered Jerry. She twisted in his embrace so that she was facing him. After giving him a hard kiss, she said, "That's great." "I doubt we'll get much sleep tonight," he said as his cock reacted to her kiss and the hands that she had slipped down to fondle his cock. "Good," she giggled rolling onto her back in a clear invitation for him to resume his previous activity. The next hour was spent making passionate love. His strong arms lifted and moved her body around with ease, positioning her to give him easier access to all of her charms. She moaned her pleasure throughout, encouraging him with statements to the effect that he was to take her and make her his own. Amazed at her clear enjoyment of their activities, Jerry found he was trying to please her in every way that he could imagine. Lifting her body off the bed, he brought her pussy to his mouth and ate her. The fact that he was strong enough to hold her up in such a fashion triggered an orgasm in her. She kept moaning, "My big strong man." For the second time that afternoon, he mounted her. This time, he lasted for more than the few minutes of the previous time. When he finally came, grunting like an animal, they were sweaty, exhausted, and happy. Again, he spooned her and held her tightly to him. It didn't take them long to drift off to sleep. He woke feeling her moving out from beside him. Opening his eyes, he asked, "Was I smothering you?" "No, my big man," answered Jenny with a satisfied smile, "I have to wash up a little." "Taking a shower?" "Wanna join me?" Jerry followed Jenny to the shower. They took turns washing each other. When she reached the area that had been covered by the cast, she remarked, "Your arm is a little smaller than the other." It was true. He had lost a lot of strength in that arm and hoped that it wouldn't be long before he replaced the muscles that had atrophied away. He smiled and said, "I'll just carry you around until I get my strength back." "Deal," she replied with a broad grin. Shaking her head, she said, "I couldn't believe how you held me up while eating me out. God, I came so hard I thought I would die." Her words had come just as she was washing his cock with soapy hands. His cock reacted to the sensations and rose in honor of her attentions. He looked down at his cock, unable to believe that he was ready to go again. He said, "Better stop." She increased the hardness of her grip and jacked him off in the shower. It didn't take long for him to shoot his third load of the evening. They washed each other all over, stopping only when they ran out of hot water. Happy, Jerry dried her body with a large fluffy towel. He stopped to taste her pussy, explaining that he had to make sure that it was suitably clean. The effect was to get it wet all over again. Dry and temporarily sated, they wandered into the living room. On entering, Jenny squealed and pointed to the door. She exclaimed, "We left the front door open." Jerry went over and closed it, unconcerned if anyone saw him shut the door. He grinned and said, "Sorry. I guess I was a little excited." Laughing, she grabbed his arm and hugged it. She commented, "I'm not sure which one of us was more excited. God, that was great." "You are an amazing woman, Jenny. Have I told you how much I love you?" "Tell me? Oh, you showed me in the way that I love the best," answered Jenny. Even thinking back on the activities of the past few hours excited her. Ever since he had been shot, she had fantasized about him coming in and picking her up like that to take her like a strong man can take a woman. He reached down and picked her up, cradling her body in his strong arms. Years of being ashamed for his size, it was so nice to have a woman in his life that appreciated him for it. He didn't have to apologize for being large. After kissing her, he said, "God, I love you so much that I don't know how to say it." She was amazed that he could pick her up like that just to give her a kiss. Running a hand through his hair, she replied, "You don't have to say a word, just keep picking me up like this." Jerry laughed as he carried her over to the couch. He sat down with her settling into his lap. He bent his head down and kissed her breast. The pink areola topped by a stiff excited nipple announced her body's pleasure. She cooed. In response, he said, "You are so sexy." "I plan to make you back up your words with actions in a little while," she said with a giggle. "We've got all night." Curious about how he ended up with the entire night free, she asked, "Where are the kids?" The question provoked a frown. He answered, "Bill is staying with Abe tonight. Melissa is visiting her mother." "She's what?" screamed Jenny twisting around to face him. "Yes, she's visiting her mother," said Jerry. He had fought to keep it from happening, but there wasn't much he could do about it. Bored at sitting at home, Melissa had taken to calling her mother while he was at work. Jenny could see that the topic was upsetting Jerry. It wasn't a good sign that Melissa was visiting her mother. She wondered what would be the long-term consequences of this visit. Odd were good that they would be very bad for Jerry. She leaned forward and stroked his face as she said, "Don't worry. Everything will work out." Smiling at her concern, he said, "Don't worry about it. We've got tonight together." After an excellent evening and night spent with Jenny, Jerry drove the pickup truck over to his ex-wife's house. Not only was he feeling good as a result of the previous night, it felt great driving the standard transmission truck again. Despite his dour predictions about what he'd find at his ex-wife's house, even they couldn't put a dent in his good mood. He pulled up to the curb in front of the house, prepared to go to the door and face a major confrontation. Instead, he saw that Melissa was sitting on the front step with her overnight bag by her side. Without a backward glance at the house, she grabbed her bag and headed over to the truck. Getting in, she mumbled, "Let's get the hell out of here." It was obvious that she was upset, but he didn't know how to broach the subject. He knew that it wouldn't be a good move to sound rejoiced that the major confrontation hadn't occurred. He pulled away from the curb and headed up the street while trying to think of something to say. At the end of the street, he asked, "Do you want to tell me about it?" Her lips trembled, showing the degree to which she was upset. Fighting back tears, Melissa said, "She passed out fucking drunk last night by eight. I was left in the house doing nothing. This morning, she was drinking screwdrivers for breakfast." "I'm sorry," said Jerry realizing that the night must have been pretty bad for her to complain to him. He wondered if his ex-wife had a drinking problem before he left her, but he didn't recall any signs of that. The entire visit had been horrible for Melissa. Her mother gotten drunk and spent the night sprawled out on the couch, in a nightgown that showed more than it hid and with drool seeping out the corner of her mouth. That was bad, but the time before she had passed out was even worse. In her drunken state, the woman had said a lot of nasty things in trying to explain why she had dumped her daughter. The poor girl had listened as her mother patiently explained how money was so much more important than she was. It was incredulous to Melissa that her mother actually thought her words would make her feel better. When they got on the highway to head towards the house, she said, "She told me that I was part of her revenge on you. As long as I was living with you, I'd be costing you money. She even laughed about it, thinking that it was funny. She didn't understand why I was upset by that." "Hey, I got you and Bill in the divorce and that's what I really wanted. Don't forget that I wanted you guys. All she got was a little money and that will be gone soon," replied Jerry. Shaking his head, he added, "I'm sorry your mother treated you so poorly." Melissa thought about his last comment wondering if it was an apology or a real expression of sorrow. She decided that it was the former and said, "It's not your fault." Her comment surprised Jerry. He corrected her, "I meant that I feel sorry for you that your mother treated you so poorly. I can see that it hurt you a lot and I feel bad for you." "Oh," she replied. She wondered why he would care. If anyone should have cared, it should have been her mother. The problem was that her mother hadn't cared. She flashed on the image of her mother passed out on the living room couch. She had looked like a drunken whore in some low budget film. It had been obscene in a way that she wasn't able to express. Jerry didn't reply as he continued to drive to the house. His thoughts were on his ex-wife's behavior and her treatment of Melissa. He had expected Melissa to come home breathing fire and full of her mother's nonsense. The moody quiet Melissa was not what he had expected at all. "I saw the waterfall at the house. It looks real nice there," commented Melissa. She had wanted to tell her mother that Bill had made it, but changed her mind after her mother had insulted her a couple of times. She decided that it was better that her mother would never know who had actually made it. "Ah, where did she put it?" asked Jerry. "In the formal living room," answered Melissa. It had been the best place in the house to hang it. Recalling the living room, Jerry commented, "Good place for it." The conversation died out at that point. Jerry concentrated on driving through the traffic. It seemed like there wasn't such a thing as rush hour any more. In the early morning the roads were filled with people going to work. In the mid-morning, people were heading out to shop. At noon, the traffic was of people going out to lunch. Mid-afternoon the traffic picked up again as kids got out of school. In the evening, the roads filled with people returning home from work. After that, people headed out in their cars to eat dinner. Melissa noticed where they were and asked, "Can we go home?" "That's where I'm headed now," answered Jerry confused by her question. "No, I mean our real home. Not that horrible place you live now," said Melissa refusing to think of that horrible house as a home. It was a temporary living place, worse than a hotel, but better than the street. "Okay," answered Jerry. The exit he needed to take was coming up and he signaled his intent to move over to the right lane. A driver in the right lane sped up to keep him from changing lanes. Jerry slowed down, as did the other driver. Jerry swore and looked over at the other car trying to figure out what was the problem. The man was looking over the paint job of the truck. Jerry shook his head realizing that he could expect that problem from now on. "What a jerk," commented Melissa when she noticed what was happening. Looking out the window at the other driver, she gave the widely known one figure salute to the other driver. The man driving the car sped off returning the gesture. Jerry changed lanes just in time to take his exit. The rest of the drive to the old house went without a hitch. Jerry was about to pull into the driveway, but stopped short when he realized that a huge dumpster blocked the way. Instead of parking in the driveway, he parked behind one of the trucks parked along the curb. He smiled and said, "Looks like they are working on the house already." "I can see that," replied Melissa watching one of the men carry a large piece of wallboard to the dumpster. "Let's see how the work is coming," suggested Jerry as he climbed out of the truck. Melissa was slow to follow him out of the truck. She wasn't looking forward to seeing the interior of the house being dismantled. That house represented home to her and seeing it destroyed had broken her heart. Jerry stepped into the house and greeted George, "Hello, George. I see that the work has begun." George smiled and said, "The boss is over there. I think he would like to talk to you." Melissa stared at the interior of the house. The carpets had been removed, wallboard in the living room had been torn out, and the appliances in the kitchen removed. She walked around the house looking in the various rooms. In the main bathroom, the sink, toilet, and shower were gone. A man carrying a couple pieces of wallboard barked at her to get out of his way and she scurried to her old room feeling like an unwelcome guest in it. The carpet had been ripped out, but the walls hadn't been touched except for the damage done by her mother. She looked at the huge holes in the wall and shook her head. She couldn't help but ask why her mother had damaged her room. It seemed so unfair. She fled the room feeling as if she had been violated and caught up with her father in the kitchen. Another man who she didn't recognize was talking with Jerry. She arrived in time to hear him say, "Someone has to pick out cabinets and appliances for the kitchen." Jerry noticed Melissa and smiled. Turning to her, he asked, "Would you like to work with Jenny picking out stuff for the house?" Melissa stared at Jerry in shock, amazed that he would consider her suggestions. She asked, "What rooms?" The other man answered, "Kitchen, two bathrooms, living room, dining room, and the three bedrooms all have to be refinished. We're adding a den." Turning to her father, she asked, "I would work with Jenny?" "Yes," he answered wondering if that was going to be a problem. He expected Jenny to become his wife and, if they moved into this house, he didn't want her to redecorate everything. "You want me to decorate the house with your girlfriend?" "Yes, if you want to help out." Melissa was puzzled at the offer. She didn't dislike Jenny, but then she didn't really like the woman either. Even though Jenny had helped her out after being dyed green, she hadn't gotten over her opinion of Jenny as white trash. She wondered what would be the result of mixing white trash tacky and good taste together in a single house. She'd never heard of a decorating style called tasteful tacky. She frowned and said, "We can try, I guess." "Good," said Jerry, "she knows the budget that we're working against. I'm sure that you'll get along fine with her." Melissa raised an eyebrow at his optimism. Images of garish paintings on black velvet hanging on the wall flashed through her mind. She replied, "Well, I don't know if our tastes in décor really match." Laughing as he thought about the Crimson Rose and the attention to detail that Jenny had put into decorating it, Jerry said, "You might be surprised." "Okay," she agreed believing that she wouldn't be surprised at all by the woman's lack of taste in décor. There was one thing that she was positive about, Jerry had no taste in decorating a house. She still couldn't get over the fact that he had a bent fender hanging on the wall in his house. Jerry paused for a moment and then said, "Ask Bill how he wants his room done." "Why?" "It will be his room," answered Jerry. Visions of tacky shag carpet, leather furniture, and posters of naked women hung on the walls flashed through her mind. She shook her head and said, "He's gonna ruin the rest of the house." "You'll be surprised by your brother," replied Jerry shaking his head. The other man had listened to the conversation and interrupted, "All we need for the bedrooms are the light fixtures, carpets, outlet covers, and color for the paint." Melissa realized that she didn't really know what needed to be purchased to finish each room. She realized that having Jenny help her might be a good idea. She nodded and said, "Right. I knew that." The man smiled and added, "You'll need to get a copy of the floor plans from me so you'll know the size of each room." "Oh, yeah. I guess we will," agreed Melissa as she realized that the project was even bigger than she had thought. Jerry glanced down at his watch and said, "Hey, we better get going. I need to get to the store and make sure that things are going all right there." Following behind her father, Melissa was busy thinking about decorating the house. She'd be picking out carpets, wallpaper, light fixtures, and other stuff. Her mind was close to overloading with the project. She mumbled, "Yeah, it might be good to have Jenny working with me on this." Jerry heard her comment and said, "You'll be working together. She's got the final say on what gets purchased since she's in charge of the budget." "Sure," said Melissa. Jerry made his way back to the highway remembering how he hated this drive. He wondered if he really wanted to move back into that house. Although he wanted to stay in his current neighborhood, there were three problems with that plan. Melissa hated living there and would never tire of letting him know that. Bill wanted to continue going to their old school and that required him to live in that neighborhood. Jenny wouldn't want to live in that neighborhood, even though she had no problems visiting it. Melissa interrupted his thoughts when she asked, "Does Bill really hate me?" Surprised by the question, Jerry glanced over at her and saw that she really wanted to know the truth. He answered, "If I were a betting man, I'd have to bet that he does hate you." "Why?" asked Melissa confused at the fact that her brother hated her. "I would have to say that you never really treated him very nicely. Beating his moped with a hammer probably set his feelings towards you in concrete," answered Jerry. Melissa was quiet as she considered the answer. She didn't think that she had treated him that bad in the past. She asked, "What did I do that was so bad?" Shaking his head, Jerry asked, "What would you think of someone that treated you like you treated him?" "I'd hate them," answered Melissa automatically. Realizing what she had said, she added, "Of course, I'm a girl and girls get treated differently." "See, that's where you're wrong. You have to treat everyone just as well as you would like to be treated by them. It doesn't matter what gender or race they are. You have to treat everyone just like you want to be treated," commented Jerry realizing as he said it that his life had changed the day he started putting that into practice. When he stopped being angry and treating people poorly as a result of that anger, they started being nice to him. The concept was totally foreign to Melissa. She countered, "Some people are in better classes than others. You have to be nicer to the better classes." Jerry chuckled at the idea and knew that idea came straight from his ex-wife. She was always prattling about social classes and people knowing their places in society. He said, "The people that care about that stuff are assholes. If you want to bow down to someone because someone else thinks they are better than you are, then you've got a problem. You're just as good as anyone else. Of course, you aren't any better than anyone else either." "Huh?" "That's the American way," said Jerry with a grin. "Oh," replied Melissa. She knew that she was going to have to think that one over for a while. It didn't seem right to her that someone that went to the country club was just as good as the people living in a slum. It did strike her as ironic that she was now one of the slum crowd when before she could have been one of the country club set. Of course, it wasn't her fault that she was living there. She suspected that most of the people in that neighborhood believed the same thing she did, it wasn't their fault they lived there. After threading his way around the potholes in the street, Jerry pulled up to the curb. He stopped the truck and said, "I'll call Jenny and ask her to stop by the house after she closes up the restaurant this afternoon. You and her can do a little shopping this afternoon." "Thanks," said Melissa as she climbed out of the truck. Jerry watched her go into the house and then made his way to the store. It was nice that they now had a full compliment of employees. At least he wasn't stuck working from opening to closing every day. It had given him an early evening to get the cast removed and to spend with Jenny. It had also given him a late morning to pick up Melissa and check on the house. He parked his truck in the back of the store and entered through the back door. The first person he saw was Martin. He raised his arms and said, "I've got both arms again." Smiling at the demonstration of the good news, Martin said, "Good thing. We received that short block this morning. Someone needs to carry it out of the front of the store." Jerry joked, "I knew that the only reason I have this job is because of my strong back and weak mind." "You can say that again," Martin quipped with a wink. He turned with a laugh and went to pull some parts. As Jerry approached the front counter, Mike said, "I see you got the cast off. Just in time. A short block was delivered this morning." Jerry interrupted, "And someone has to carry it into the back." "You got it," Mike replied with a grin. Karen came from the back and saw Jerry. With a smile, she said, "You got your cast off. Great. A short block..." Shaking his head, Jerry finished her statement for her, "was delivered this morning and someone needs to carry it to the back." "Oh, you knew." Jose entered the front of the store and said, "Hey, there's a short block here." Giving up, Jerry walked around the counter to carry the short block to the back of the store. Instead of finding what he expected, he was surprised to see a cake with the figure of a strong man on it. He laughed at the joke and turned to look at everyone in the store. Martin had slipped up behind him to be present when he discovered the cake. Touched by the gesture, he said, "Okay, you got me. I don't know what to say. You all shouldn't have done that." "That's right," commented Mike with a grin. Karen said, "I've been dying to eat that all morning. Start cutting it up and give me a piece of it." The simple act of cutting and serving the cake gave Jerry far more pleasure than he would have predicted. Not only did the gesture of them providing the cake contribute to his feelings, but also it felt good to be able to use two hands again. As he handed out pieces of the cake, he was surprised to find Abe reaching for a portion. Putting the plate in the young man's hand, he asked, "Why aren't you in school?" Abe bristled and said, "School doesn't start until Monday." "I know," replied Jerry with a grin. "School doesn't start until Monday and I'm getting paid to eat cake. I'll probably have to have three or four helpings before I get back to laboring for my money. Life is so good sometimes," Abe replied after realizing that Jerry was joking with him. Jerry laughed at the young man and shook his head. He should have known that Abe would have a comeback. There were times when he really missed the fact that Abe wasn't living next door to him any more. He grinned and said, "Didn't you know that I clocked you out? You aren't getting paid." "What?" Abe asked sounding very upset. Mike, thinking Abe was actually upset, said, "Abe, he's kidding." Abe stepped back and ate a piece of his cake with a smile. When he swallowed his bite, he said, "That's okay. I'm not even supposed to work today. I just came by for some cake." Jerry nearly dropped his piece of cake at the comment. Thinking over the schedule, he realized that Abe was right. He looked over at the young black man grinning at him. He knew better than to try and match wits with Abe. Knowing the answer, he asked, "So what do you call Henry?" "Sir," answered Abe with a cringe. He'd been surprised when Henry had picked him up and held him upside down by his ankles after he had called him 'Shit head' as a joke. Since then, he had been a lot more respectful of the big man. "I told you he was smart," said Martin with a wink. ------- Chapter 35 Sunday night, a week before Halloween, Jerry was driving to the old house to check on the progress of the repairs. It was a little later in the evening than he had intended for the visit, but he had stayed around the house until after Abe had stopped working on his motorcycle. The young man had spent the entire afternoon trying to get the engine to start, but there was something the matter with it. Jerry didn't have a clue what the problem was or even how to go about fixing it. Knowing that Abe was getting frustrated, he had promised to take it to the bike shop for them to track down the problem. Hopefully, they would be able to fix it in time for Abe to get his driver's license on his upcoming birthday. As he drove, Jerry reflected on the quality of his life now that the divorce had gone through. Things had been rough for a while, but they were looking up. In three weeks, he would be marrying Jenny and they would move into the house. It would mean a major change in the tempo of life and he was looking forward to it. Bill could ride his scooter to school and Melissa would be driving soon. He wouldn't have to race out of the house so early in the morning or pick them up so late from school. Topmost in his mind was how life had settled into a simple routine. Every week was the same as the week before, but every day of the week was different and each was busy in its own way. Jerry liked the routine and took comfort in knowing what everyone was doing. Mondays remained hot breakfast day since it was Jerry's day off and he didn't have to take the kids to school early. After school, Jerry would do something with both kids. Usually they went to a movie, although on occasion they went ice-skating or to a video arcade. Wednesdays and Fridays had become hot breakfast days as well since he didn't have to open the store those mornings. The kids appreciated not having to go to school so early, but they had to stay after school until he could pick them up. For the most part, that wasn't a problem since Bill visited with Sandy, Woody, and Larry while Melissa participated in after school activities. Thursday nights were spent at the therapist. All three of them were going for anger management, although Jerry questioned the need for him to continue the visits. He hadn't felt the rage a single time since he had been shot. After they each had a turn with the therapist, they went out to dinner. Rather than Chinese buffet every week, the kids took turns picking out a place to eat. Friday nights were spent in Henry's garage building wall mounted waterfalls. Bill and Jerry worked together and found that they made a good team. Working as a team they were able to keep up with Henry. Melissa had taken to spending the evening at Henry's house visiting with Sharon. He was pleased that she was making the effort to learn a little about other races. Saturdays, Jerry worked and Bill stayed around the house while Jenny and Melissa went shopping. Saturday nights were date nights. Jerry took Jenny out, occasionally spending the night with her. Melissa went out with her friends; occasionally spending the night with one of her girlfriends or, at least, that is what she told Jerry. Bill stayed home alone, although Jerry did learn that his son frequently visited Shauna. To prevent unwanted pregnancies, he made sure that Bill always had some rubbers in the house. Sunday mornings passed with Jerry and Bill working on the car while Abe worked on his motorcycle. The three males enjoyed the time spent bonding under the guise of working on cars. Sunday afternoons were spent with Melissa behind the wheel of her used BMW while Jerry tried to pound holes through the floor of the car as he applied the non-existent brake in the passenger's seat. In amongst all of those activities, work on the house was continuing. Jerry stopped by every Monday while the kids were in school to check on the progress. Jenny and Melissa had surprisingly few arguments about decorating the house, much to everyone's amazement. The only one who wasn't surprised was Jerry. He watched as the two women started to bond. Melissa was learning that there were other kinds of relationships that could exist between men and women. The relationship between Bill and Melissa was best described as an uneasy truce in which a real peace treaty had never been signed. The potential for a major fight was always present just beneath the surface. Melissa took offense easily and Bill was just waiting for an excuse to explode in her direction. Jerry spent a lot of his time holding his breath expecting things to explode at any time. All in all, Jerry was happy with how his life was going. He nodded his head in satisfaction as he turned down the street to the house. The contractor had assured him that the house would be finished by the end of the week, but he didn't believe it. Last week there had been so much that remained to be done that it seemed impossible to finish it in time for the wedding. As he pulled up to the curb, Jerry noticed that the front door was open. It wasn't like the workmen to leave the door open after finishing up their work, but such things happened. He swore to himself while thinking that the door must have been open since Friday night. It made him wonder what had blown in the house over the course of two days. He stepped out of the truck and started towards the house. He hadn't taken more than five steps when one of the neighbors called out, "I've called the police." Jerry recognized the man and was surprised that he hadn't been recognized. He replied, "It's me." "I know. Your ex-wife just left here," replied the man, "and I just got off the phone with the police. I wouldn't go in there if I were you until after the police arrive." A horrible feeling settled over Jerry as he considered the news. He couldn't believe that she would actually come over to the house. He knew there was only one reason for her to do that and that was to destroy it all over again. It seemed as though his legs lost all their strength and he collapsed to his knees. Shocked, he said, "Fuck!" "She's a real bitch," commented the neighbor. He shook his head thinking back to when she was living in the house after Jerry had left. It had not been a pleasant time for the neighborhood. All of the neighbors complained about the yard, but she had responded with abuse. Jerry didn't have a chance to respond since a police car pulled up to the driveway. An officer got out of the car and looked at the two men in the front yard. One man was standing over another who was kneeling on the ground with his fists clenched. He put his hand on his gun and approached Jerry thinking that the neighbor had apprehended the suspect. As he drew close, he shouted, "Put your hands up in the air." Puzzled, Jerry looked over at the policeman. Realizing that the officer was serious, Jerry raised his hands as he explained, "This is my house, Officer." The neighbor said, "That's right. His ex-wife broke into it." "Who are you?" "I'm a neighbor. I'm the one who called you guys," answered the man. The policeman relaxed a little, but didn't remove his hand from the butt of his pistol. Pointing to the neighbor, he ordered, "Tell me what happened." "My son came home about thirty minutes ago and told me that a woman had broken into this house. I came out to check his story and saw that the door was open. I could see his ex-wife inside the house through the front window. I went home and called you guys. When I came out, she had driven off. A couple of minutes later, Jerry drove up and I told him that I had already called you. Then you showed up." "Where were you when all this was happening?" asked the officer turning to Jerry. "I was driving over here. I'm not living in the house at the moment. My ex-wife trashed the house when she moved out and I've been having a lot of work done on it to get it back into a condition where we can move in," answered Jerry. He looked at the open front door wondering how much damage his ex-wife had done. "Have you been inside, yet?" "No. I was waiting for you to arrive," answered Jerry. The officer went to the front door and looked in the house. He stood there for a minute and then called over to Jerry, "You need to come over here." Terrified at what he was going to find, Jerry stood up and walked over to the door. Even before reaching the door, he could see some of the damage through the front window. Angry, he shouted, "Fuck!" From the front door, he could see that his ex-wife had done a number on the inside of the house. With a can of red spray paint, she had written 'Gorilla' on the walls in huge letters. She had spilled one of the cans of paint left by the workers in the middle of the living room carpet. The carpet was ruined, but at least she hadn't stepped in it and tracked it through the rest of the house. Jerry followed the police officer from room to room looking at the disaster. She had painted every wall in the house. The carpet in the living room was ruined, as was the carpet in the master bedroom. The bathroom in the master bedroom was in ruins. Repeating her actions from when she had moved out, she had taken a hammer to the porcelain fixtures. Jerry knelt by the toilet and turned off the water. He found that he couldn't stand and sat down heavily on the wet floor. The policeman said, "She must really hate you." "That's the only emotion she knows," replied Jerry looking around the bathroom as his body went numb. He couldn't believe the damage she had done to it. Even the shower door hadn't escaped intact. "Let's go outside and get the detectives over here," commented the cop. As the cop turned to leave, Jerry said, "I can't stand up. Could you give me a hand?" The cop helped Jerry out of the house. He stumbled since he couldn't feel his feet. When they reached the yard, Jerry sat down again as his strength left him. His wet clothes mixed with the dirt forming a thin layer of mud. He didn't care about that. He realized that he hadn't seen the kitchen and his stomach tightened at the thought of what he would find in there. He looked over at the cop and asked, "What happens now?" "We'll arrest her and file criminal charges for B&E, vandalism, and destruction of private property," answered the cop. "What about the damage to the house?" "You'll have to deal with your insurance company on that. They'll probably pay for the damages and then file a civil suit against her to collect their losses." Jerry pulled the cell phone out of his pocket and dialed the number that he had hoped he would never have to call again. On the third ring, his lawyer answered. Jerry said, "Hello. This is Jerry." "What can I do for you?" "My ex-wife broke into the house and trashed it again," answered Jerry. "Oh Jerry, I feel for you. That woman is bad news. You need to call the police and then your insurance agent," replied his lawyer. "The police are already here." "Good. Call your insurance agent and have him get over there. The police will charge her for the criminal acts. The insurance company will sue her for the damages. There's not much that I can do for you on this one," replied the lawyer. "Okay. Thanks a lot," said Jerry. At least his attorney had verified what the cop had told him. He wished there were some way to punish her in a more personal manner. An image of her locked naked in a medieval stock while he charged people a quarter to fuck her flashed through his mind. After he hung up, he called Jenny to get the number for the insurance agent. She answered after what seemed like a hundred rings. Irritated, she answered the phone with a sharp, "What?" "Sorry to call so late in the evening, Jenny. This is Jerry. I need you to help me out here," replied Jerry taken aback by how she had answered the phone. "I was in the shower," said Jenny in a less hostile tone of voice, "and I've got shampoo in my hair. What's the matter?" "My ex-wife trashed the house," answered Jerry. He knew that Jenny would be just as upset about it as he was. She had put in a lot of time decorating the house. His answer was greeted with total silence. He waited a minute and then asked, "Jenny, are you still there?" There was another moment of silence before she answered, "I'm still here. How bad is it?" "Very bad," answered Jerry. He didn't even know how to quantify the damage to the house. In fact, he wasn't sure that he knew the full extent of damage. "What can I do?" asked Jenny. She was fighting off tears as she thought about what that woman had done to Jerry. They were going to get married in three weeks and had planned on moving into that house. "Could you call the insurance agent for me? I don't have his number with me." "Sure. Are you at the house now?" "Yes, I am," answered Jerry in a very tired voice. He felt as if someone had drained the life from his body. "I'll call the insurance agent and then go pick up the kids. We'll be over in a little while," Jenny said. Her mind was racing as she went through everything that had to be done. She added, "You should call the contractor and have him come over to look at the house, too." "Good thinking," said Jerry recalling that he had the contractor's number in his cell phone. It was one of the few numbers that he called almost as often as Jenny's number. After exchanging good byes, they hung up. Jenny was going to rinse the shampoo out of her hair and then call the insurance agent. Jerry immediately called the contractor. The detectives arrived while he was talking with the contractor. When he finished his call, they asked him a few questions but there was little he could tell them except his wife's name and address. It was an hour later when the contractor showed up at the house. He entered it and walked around examining the damage. Frowning, he came out of the house and went over to where Jerry was still seated on the ground. Jerry had not stood because he didn't trust his legs to hold him up. If there had been a time when the rage would have been justified in emerging, this was it. The absence of the rage made him feel vulnerable. The contractor squatted and said, "It looks pretty bad, but most of the damage is superficial. We're going to have to sand the walls to take off the paint -- otherwise it'll bleed though. The carpets are ruined and will have to be replaced. Both bathrooms need to be redone. She took a hammer to the dishwasher, oven, microwave, refrigerator, and the kitchen sink. They'll have to be replaced unless you are willing to live with dented appliances." Shaking his head, Jerry commented, "She undid two months worth of work in twenty minutes." "Yeah. It's a whole lot harder to build something than to take it apart," replied the contractor nodding his head as if he had stated a great truth of life. The insurance agent showed up. Getting out of his car, he went over to where Jerry was seated. Jerry finally managed to stand and greet him. After introducing the contractor and insurance agent to each other, the three of them went into the house to assess the damage. They were in the den that had been added to the house, looking at the wood paneling that had been painted over when a scream echoed through the house. Melissa shouted, "I'll kill that bitch." Jerry cringed at Melissa's voice realizing that he hadn't considered how the kids would react to the damage. Stepping out of the den, he found Melissa on the floor in tears. She was crying uncontrollably, her shoulders heaving as great sobs escaped from deep within her. Decorating the house had been the first real constructive thing she had ever done and seeing it ruined had wounded her deeply. Standing behind his sister, Bill stared at her in shock. He had never seen her care about anything to this extent. Confused, he looked up at his father and shrugged his shoulders trying to convey his lack of understanding. Jenny knelt beside Melissa and was rubbing her shoulders making little noises intended to sooth the young woman. Jerry went over to Melissa and said, "Melissa, it can be fixed." "She destroyed all my hard work. It'll never be the same," replied his daughter, with pauses between each word as she sobbed. Never in her life had anything come to mean so much to her as fixing up the house and returning to live in it. "You'll see that it'll be fixed," reassured Jerry as he put a hand on her back. Seeing that his words had not registered, he repeated, "It'll be fixed, don't worry about that." Very surprised that she cared so much, Bill commented, "Damn. I didn't believe you had it in you, Melissa. I'm shocked to see that you to care so much about something." Melissa turned on Bill and spat out, "You must be enjoying this!" "Not really," answered Bill. His puzzled frown suggested that he didn't really know how he felt about this. For most of his life, he had wanted to see her care about something and then see it destroyed, but the reality of the situation was not the thrill that he thought it would be. "Huh?" "I didn't think... Well, I guess it doesn't matter what I think," answered Bill. The fact was that he didn't know what he thought. The condition of the house had impacted him as well. He turned away feeling very young and awkward. The word 'Gorilla' assaulted him no matter what direction he turned. Jerry had watched the exchange with interest. He was surprised that Bill hadn't taken the chance to gloat over his sister's tragedy. It wouldn't have surprised him if Bill had used the occasion to point out that now she knew how he felt when she had taken a hammer to his scooter. That his son had turned away clearly ill at ease with the situation was good. Jerry said, "Melissa, she didn't do it to hurt you. She wanted to hurt me." "You aren't a gorilla," replied Melissa while staring at the writing on the wall. As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she realized what she had said. It puzzled her. She wondered when she had stopped thinking of him as the 'gorilla' and started thinking of him as her father. There wasn't any clear event when she had said to herself, 'Ah, he's not a gorilla. He's my father." "You just haven't seen me eat a banana," commented Jerry with a grin. Jenny couldn't help giggling at the comment. Even Melissa looked up at him with a grin. She was surprised that her father could joke about it that way. Looking around the house, she knew that her mother had really intended to hurt him. She said, "It's still unfair." When Jenny went over to talk to the insurance agent to determine what was going to happen next, Jerry helped Melissa off the floor and hugged her. The young woman was surprised to find how much she enjoyed receiving a hug from her father. It made her feel protected, even amidst the destruction that surrounded her. After a minute, she pulled away and said, "Thanks daddy." Jerry didn't let the surprise created by her use of the endearment show on his face. He smiled and said, "I bet you and Jenny need to discuss what needs to be done next." "Sure," answered Melissa relieved at having something positive to do. She turned and walked over to Jenny to see what had to be done to fix the house. It was clear to her that they would have a lot of shopping to do to replace the things that had been destroyed. Jerry went over to Bill's bedroom, expecting and finding Bill looking at the walls of the room. Bill turned when he saw his father and commented, "She couldn't even spell Orangutan correctly. That was her little nickname for me." Jerry looked at the walls and noticed the misspelled word. The cruelty of his ex-wife was beyond anything he could imagine. While living with her for all those years, he had become numb to it. Only after being separated from it for so long did it really strike him afresh. Sighing, he said, "She's a nasty woman that only knows hate." "I was surprised by Melissa. She really did take pride in what she and Jenny were doing here. I didn't think she could feel pride," commented Bill. He had seen her react to the damage in the same way that he would react if someone had smashed up his car with a hammer after all the work he had put into it. His car wasn't done, but neither was the house. Jerry put a hand on his son's shoulder and said, "I'm proud that you recognized how she felt." Shrugging his shoulders, Bill said, "Wasn't anything special." "Sure it was. How do you feel about your sister now?" Jerry was curious about how his son would answer that question. He watched his son think about the question. "I don't know," answered Bill after thinking about it for a full minute. "Good answer," said Jerry relieved that his son hadn't stated that he still hated his sister. It was an improvement of sorts. Bill looked at his father with narrowed eyes and asked, "Aren't you going to tell me that I'm supposed to love her or some shit like that?" "I'd never presume to tell anyone how they are supposed to feel about another person," answered Jerry. He frowned as he looked around the room and added, "That's what your mother does." The comment struck Bill like a slap across the face. At that moment, he truly understood the true evil that his mother had done to Melissa. She had warped emotions from honest expressions of feelings to a tool to be employed to manipulate the people around her. He considered the long-term consequences that his mother had on his sister. Bill shuffled his feet in place and then said, "Yeah, I guess so." "Yeah," agreed Jerry. It was a quiet trip back to the house. For some reason that neither woman would explain to Jerry, Melissa had chosen to ride back with Jenny. Bill and Jerry were alone in the car driving through the dark night. Bill broke the silence when he asked, "What do you think of Shauna?" "She's a nice girl," commented Jerry. He didn't know what else to say since he didn't know that much about the relationship between his son and the girl. He had discussed it with Henry once, but his friend had said that it was likely Shauna was just having a little fun and that Bill was the lucky recipient of it. "I mean, you don't think it's weird that I'm seeing a black girl?" asked Bill. Smiling, Jerry said, "I think it's great that you're seeing a girl. I didn't have a girlfriend when I was your age." "Yeah, but what about the race thing," asked Bill. Although his father had never said anything to him about it, he wondered at times if his father thought poorly of him because he was dating a black. "You guys have races? Wow, I would have thought that you would have spent your time doing other things," commented Jerry. He looked over at the stunned reaction of his son and laughed out loud. The poor boy was trying to find out what his father thought and was receiving jokes in return. He smiled and said, "Hey, I said earlier that it wasn't up to me to dictate how you felt about others. I meant it. If you feel something special for Shauna, then you feel something for special for Shauna. What should you care if some people have a problem with that?" "Do you have a problem with it?" asked Bill. "Of course not. I just don't want to see you get her pregnant," answered Jerry. "Why? Because you don't want a mixed baby?" Jerry looked over at Bill and realized that his son was very insecure about the relationship with Shauna. He explained, "That's not it. You're still young. One of the things that traps kids in our neighborhood is that they get pregnant too young. It's nearly impossible for a person to raise kids and go to college at the same time. I'd like both of you to have every opportunity for a great future." Bill was silent as he considered the answer. Frowning, he asked, "So it doesn't bother you that she's black?" "It doesn't bother me that she's black," answered Jerry, putting it as plain as he knew how. The fact of the matter was that he hadn't thought about it at all. After a moment of thought, he added, "It seems to me like it bothers you a little." "I've never told any of the kids at school about Shauna. I'm not sure how they would react to it," said Bill. "What is the relationship between you and Shauna?" asked Jerry. The fact that Bill would hide the relationship suggested to him that it wasn't exactly a normal girlfriend-boyfriend relationship. It was a good question and one for which Bill didn't have a ready answer. She called him her fuck-buddy, but he didn't really know if that was a good thing. They had fun, but it was only sex. He answered, "I'm not sure. We have sex with each other, but we don't do anything else together. The other kids in the neighborhood know that we get together, but no one says anything about it. I know she's sleeping with another guy." "So the two of you are fuck-buddies?" The question shocked Bill. He asked, "That's what she says, but I'm not sure what that means." "It means that you get together for sex and nothing else. No attachments, no promises, and no commitments," answered Jerry. For a fifteen-year-old boy, that wasn't a bad relationship to have with a girl. Bill sat back in the seat and thought about it. There were times when he wanted the relationship to go a little further. He wanted to take her to a movie or with him when he went to visit his friends, but she wasn't interested in that. After a minute, he said, "Okay. I guess that we're fuck buddies. I can live with that." "You can?" asked Jerry with a grin. They reached the house without further conversation. Jerry parked the truck in the front yard and climbed out. Looking around the neighborhood, he realized that if his ex-wife had shown up here that she would have had a very different reception. The folks would have taken the law into their own hands rather than call the police. At least, that is what he chose to believe. Feeling a sudden urge to relieve himself, Bill ran into the house. Jerry followed at a more sedate pace, feeling far older than his calendar years. He sighed as he sat down on the porch to wait for Jenny and Melissa to arrive home. He wasn't there for more than five minutes when Bill opened the door and asked, "Would you like a Coke?" "Sure," answered Jerry appreciating his son's thoughtfulness. "Catch." Bill tossed him a cold can and returned to the house. He could tell that his father was feeling down and wanted to be alone for a few minutes. Jerry opened the can and took a long draw from it. The cold liquid coursing down his throat felt good. He thought about the damage to the house and his reaction to it. The sight had drained him physically and spiritually, leaving him weak rather than enraged. The pit of his stomach where the rage had once dwelt remained vacant. When Jenny pulled up in her car, Jerry stood to meet the two women when they came up to the house. Melissa stopped, gave him a hug, and said, "Thanks dad." "You're welcome," replied Jerry wondering what he had done. He watched Melissa go into the house and then turned to look at Jenny. "Confused?" "A little. What did I do to deserve that?" asked Jerry. Jenny smiled at her boyfriend and shook her head. He had no idea how the little talk and hug he had with Melissa back at the house had affected his daughter. There were times when her love for him threatened to overwhelm her and this was one of those times. She smiled and answered, "You were there for her when she needed you." "I didn't do anything special," said Jerry as he replayed the events in the house in his mind. All he had done was tell her that it would be all right and that they'd fix up the house. Walking up to him while putting as much sway into her hips as she knew how, she said, "I know, you were just being yourself." Watching Jenny walk up to him had a direct effect on his hormones. She was the sexiest woman that he had ever seen. He hugged her and asked, "What did I ever do to deserve you?" Having his arms around her melted her heart. She wished that they could spend a little private time together this evening. The events of the evening must have had a terrible effect on him and she wanted to take care of him like only a woman could. Her entire body ached with the need to comfort him. She smiled and said, "I'm the lucky one to have found you." They walked over to the porch and sat down, side by side in comfortable silence. Jerry said, "I'm sorry to have interrupted your shower. For a while there, I was in shock." "You don't have to apologize for calling me. I'm glad you did. You must have been crushed when you saw what she did." It was hard to admit how weak he had felt when he had seen the word 'Gorilla' painted across the walls. Taking a deep breath, he said, "She meant to hurt me. I'll admit that she succeeded. Of course, I wasn't the only one that she hurt." Jenny sighed as she thought back to her reaction. All of that hard work ruined in one malicious act by a bitter woman. "You're right." "You were hurt by it too," observed Jerry. "Yes, I was. Now I'm angry," said Jenny. She looked across the dark yard at the cars parked around the tree. Three weeks from that night they were supposed to move into the refinished house. Bill's car would have ended up in the garage where he and Jerry could work on it through the cold winter months. Those plans had been ruined. "Don't be angry," said Jerry. "Why shouldn't I be angry?" asked Jenny with a trace of irritation in her voice. She felt as if she had a perfect right to be angry. Her plans for the wedding were ruined. "We'll be moving in there soon enough," said Jerry. He looked over at Jenny seeing that something was bothering her that went beyond the simple damage to the house. He asked, "What is it that you are worried about?" "Our wedding," answered Jenny looking down at the ground. "We're still getting married, aren't we?" asked Jerry shocked that this could affect their plans. "We won't have a place to live," said Jenny on the verge of tears. "We have three houses to live in. So what if none of them are perfect? We'll get married and live together in your place or this place until our dream house is fixed," replied Jerry as he put his arm around her shoulder. He pulled her tight against him as though he feared ever losing her and was going to prevent it at all costs. Sniffing, she said, "I just wanted everything perfect." Laughing, Jerry said, "If you wanted everything perfect, why in God's name are you marrying me?" The comment was exactly what Jenny needed to hear. It started with a little smile that grew larger and finally turned into laughter. Relieved, she sought reassurance, "I guess the wedding is still on?" "Of course," answered Jerry. He kissed the top of her head and then added, "I love you so much." ------- Chapter 36 Jerry woke and wandered into the kitchen to prepare breakfast. The events of the previous night had shaken him far more than he was willing to admit even to himself. With the kids in school, he had been looking forward to an easy Monday. His plans had been to take Abe's bike to get fixed. As a result of the damage to the house, his plans for the day had changed to include stopping by the house to meet with the insurance assessor. Surveying the contents of the refrigerator, he decided that breakfast was going to be scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast. It had to be a simple breakfast since that would take all the energy he had. Sleep had not come easily to him. When he had fallen asleep, it wasn't a restful sleep. Nightmares of his ex-wife trying to destroy everything that he valued kept waking him. Once the coffee was started, he went to work frying the bacon. As he had laid the bacon in the frying pan, he was surprised to hear the sound of a motorcycle being started. Walking to the front of the house, he looked out and saw Abe revving the engine of his motorcycle. Going back into the kitchen to turn off the heat under the bacon, he was surprised to find Melissa at the stove. She smiled and said, "Put your pants on and go talk to Abe." "Thanks, Melissa," replied Jerry as he returned to the living room. Dressed only in his pants, he stepped out onto the porch. Abe was seated on the motorcycle revving the engine with a smile on his face. The bike was fully restored and looked as nice as the day it was first built. The young man had done a very good job in restoring it. In a voice loud enough to carry over the sound of the motorcycle, Jerry asked, "What are you doing?" Abe turned off the engine and said, "I realized last night what was the problem with the engine. Made the adjustment and it started right up." "You don't say," said Jerry. He understood Abe's desire to get the bike operational as soon as possible. His birthday was coming and he wanted to get the bike running in time to get his license. "Sorry to wake you," said Abe realizing that he had probably wakened everyone in the neighborhood. "It's a sharp looking bike. I've said it once and I'll say it again, you did a good job on it," commented Jerry while rubbing his arms to warm up. He regretted not having put on a shirt before coming outside. "Thanks," replied Abe. The front door opened and Bill, wearing only his boxers, staggered out onto the porch. The door closed behind him. Rubbing a hand through his hair, he said, "You got it running. That's great." Grinning at his friend, Abe said, "I'm not trying to make a big deal out of this, but the women around here are going to go wild over those boxers." Bill grinned and shuddered as the cold air finally registered. He was about to make a comment about driving women wild was his specialty when Melissa opened the door and called out, "Why don't you three come in and have some breakfast?" Surprised by the source of the invitation, Abe asked, "All three of us?" "Yeah. I scrambled a couple eggs for you too. Now get in here before breakfast gets cold," answered Melissa. She turned and headed back to the kitchen. Jerry headed into the house as Abe asked Bill, "What's up? She was nice to me." Watching his sister walk away, Bill said, "It's a long story. I'll tell you about it later." Around the table, everyone filled their plates with eggs, bacon, and toast. In front of each of them was a cup of coffee. All of them, with the exception of Melissa, drank it black. One small pint of cream sat on the table for Melissa's coffee. After Abe took a bite of eggs, Melissa said, "By the way, the bike looks good." Abe gestured to indicate that he was going to answer as soon as he swallowed the food in his mouth. Once he had swallowed his eggs, he answered, "Thanks." Abe took a bite out of his toast and Bill asked, "So what are you going to do today?" Again, Abe gestured while he chewed. He swallowed and answered, "Going to school and then getting some driving lessons." "We're going to school, too," said Bill. Jerry and Melissa shook their heads as they realized what Bill had done. Jerry winked at Melissa and looked down at his plate. Abe scooped up a fork of scrambled eggs and looked around to see if anyone was going to ask him another question. Everyone discretely looked down at his or her plate. After he shoveled the food in his mouth, a smiling Jerry asked, "Where are you taking your lessons?" Frustrated, Abe waved his hand as he chewed. Once he had swallowed, he asked, "Are you doing that on purpose? Every time I get some food in my mouth, you ask me a question." Jerry and Bill burst out in laughter because they had timed their questions that way. Bill asked, "What do you think?" "You are," accused Abe with more than a little amusement. He took a sip of his coffee and then said, "Yeah. The owner of the motorcycle shop where we bought the scooters agreed to teach me some of the finer points of riding a motorcycle." "Do you get to practice riding?" asked Melissa. She wished that she could get more time behind the wheel of her car. Her father took her out Sunday afternoons and Jenny let her drive when they went shopping, but it just didn't seem like enough time behind the wheel. "Yeah, I'm going to go out for a good ride this weekend. Henry promised me that Saturday we would head up to the lake to go fishing with Martin. I can ride the bike and he'd follow me out there in his car," answered Abe. Much to his surprise, he was enjoying having Henry around the house. Finishing his breakfast, Jerry moved back from the table and said, "You really did a great job on that bike. You should be really proud of it." "I am," said Abe. He attacked the food on his plate hoping that he could finish the food without another interruption. Jerry went over to the coffeepot and returned to the table with it. He refilled all of the cups on the table without asking. Melissa topped hers off with a dash of cream and said, "Thanks. I think this is a two cup morning." "You're welcome. I don't think any of us got a good night's sleep last night," commented Jerry as he carried the pot back to the brewer. Abe worked on finishing the breakfast despite the fact that he was curious what had happened the previous night. He had found it odd that everyone had disappeared without warning. Abe listened but didn't ask any questions, thinking he would learn more by not talking. Jerry sat down at the table and looked at his children. Melissa was surprisingly cheerful that morning. He wondered if it wasn't an avoidance reaction on her part. Bill was munching on his toast looking far more thoughtful for this time of day than usual. He asked, "Does anyone want to talk about it?" Nodding, Bill said, "I know why she did it." "Why?" asked Melissa wondering if there was something that actually triggered her mother's behavior. Abe wondered who she was and what she had done. He looked over at Jerry hoping that he would explain what they were talking about. He eyed the last of his toast and popped it into his mouth. He chased it down with a sip of his coffee. "The trial is Wednesday," answered Bill. Jerry wanted to slap his forehead, unable to believe that he had forgotten about the trial. He was supposed to take Bill to the courthouse to testify against his mother for hitting him with the baseball bat. It only took seconds to commit a crime, but it took more than a year for the snail they called the legal system to get the criminal to trial. Shaking his head, Jerry said, "I didn't even think of that, but you're right. That would set her off." Abe nodded realizing that he now knew who had done the deed. All he needed to know now was what she had done. Judging by the expression on Melissa's face, he decided that it had to have been something pretty bad. He couldn't keep the surprise off his face when Melissa warned, "Don't go within a hundred yards of that woman without a policeman standing by you." Bill snorted and replied, "I'm going be hiding behind Dad. I'm not a fool. That woman is a crazy bitch and she'd kill me in a minute." "You can say that again," remarked Melissa. Abe listened wide-eyed as Melissa proceeded to say some of the nastiest things about her mother that he had ever heard a person say about another human being. He knew that woman must have really done something nasty to get such a reaction out of Melissa. Looking around the table, he could see that none of them had been hurt. When Melissa had finally calmed down a little, Jerry decided that it was time to change the subject. Turning to Abe, he said, "Abe, I'm glad you got your motorcycle running. I was afraid that I wasn't going to be able to take it into the shop this morning. I've got to be over at the house most of the day." "Hey, I'm glad that things worked out alright," replied Abe. Melissa said, "Jenny is coming over to the house after work to see what we need to replace. We decided that I would stop by after school and we'd go shopping. I hope that's not a problem." "No problem. I guess that leaves me and Bill to find something to do this afternoon," replied Jerry as he thought about what he could do with Bill that afternoon. Bill grinned and said, "I never thought that my sister would end up spending more of her time at the hardware store than at a fashion boutique." "Hey, it's all part of decorating," she replied in defense of her actions. It took her a second to realize that he was teasing her. She looked at him with an expression of puzzlement on her face. "I know," replied Bill with a dismissive wave of his hand and a smile. Turning to his father, he said, "If she's going shopping, I'd rather spend some time here working on the car. I'd like to get it started." Realizing that his plans for Monday were shot, Jerry decided to go with the flow. Bill was making reasonable progress on restoring the car. Some of the bodywork had been completed, but they had decided to work on the mechanical parts of the car for the time being. He said, "Okay. If you get it started today, maybe we can get the brakes done this coming Sunday." "That would be great, Dad." Abe smiled and said, "Maybe you can follow me to my driving lessons." Nodding Jerry said, "I guess that's the plan. Melissa and Bill will stop by the house after school. She'll go shopping with Jenny and we'll come back here to work on the car after following Abe to the motorcycle shop." After everyone around the table announced their agreement with the plan, Jerry said, "Let's get to it." Jerry wandered through the house watching the men hard at work. It was already hard to see where his ex-wife had spray painted the walls other than as bare patches. The ruined carpet in the living room and master bedroom had been removed. It wasn't until he went into the new den that the damage was truly obvious. The wood paneling had been spray painted. The panels would have to be removed and replaced. He noticed that someone had already removed the outlet covers in preparation for the work that had to be done. He wondered when they would strip the walls, although he was tempted to do it himself. He shook his head as he examined the damage. This room was supposed to be his private retreat and the words Gorilla sprayed in five-foot letters hurt far more than he thought possible. It had been a glorious room. Jenny had taken particular care to assure that it had a strong masculine feel to it. George, Sharon's brother-in-law, entered the room and came up to Jerry from behind. Holding his claw hammer, he said, "It sure is a shame." Jerry turned and replied, "Oh, hi George. Yeah, it is a shame." "That bitch must really hate you," commented the black man. He went over to the wall and slipped the claw part of his hammer under one of the panels. With a grunt, he lifted off a bit of the panel. They had used liquid nail to put the panels in place and getting the wood paneling off was going to be ugly. Allowing some of his frustration a chance to express itself, Jerry reached over and grabbed the edge of the panel. With a roar he pulled the panel off the wall. The muscles of his back reveled in the chance to work. Once started, he couldn't stop. He tore panel after panel from the wall giving a roar as each piece was ripped down. When the last panel hit the floor, Jerry bent over breathing hard at the effort he had just expended and looked at the wreckage left behind. Panels littered the floor like a sheaf of paper caught by the wind. Standing at the door where he had retreated when Jerry went to work, George said, "Shit, remind me never to make you mad." "I'm not mad. Very frustrated, but not mad," replied Jerry. He looked down at his hands and saw that his calluses were returning. It wasn't natural for hands to toughen so quickly. Jerry bent down and put the panels into a pile. He picked up the pile and carried it out of the room. Although it was far heavier than he had thought it would be, the panels were difficult to carry because of their size. George had just stepped out of the way and watched the big man carry the entire load single-handedly. All work in the house stopped as Jerry carried the load of panels out to the dumpster. One of the younger workers followed behind and watched as Jerry lifted the load over his head and threw it into the dumpster with a yell of satisfaction. It had been an impressive display of strength. More important to Jerry, it was a chance to let off the tension that had been building ever since he had discovered the damage to the house. Satisfied, Jerry went to the back yard and sat down on the ground beneath the one small tree that grew in the middle of the yard. For all intents and purposes, the backyard was a very plain yard. The grass, never nice or luxurious, had turned brown with the autumn weather. There were no flowerbeds or a patio to break up the expanse of lawn. All in all, it could have been ugly if it hadn't been so plain. The sounds of hammers, saws, and an air compressor filled the air as the men returned to work inside the house. Jerry, listening to the noises of labor, thought about the changes that he would make to the yard. In his mind, a plan for a garden slowly formed. Included in the plan was the introduction of a patio, flowerbeds, and a water garden. He was still deep in thought when Melissa said, "What are you doing out here?" "I was thinking about putting in a garden back here," answered Jerry surprised to see his daughter at home so early. He glanced down at his watch and realized that he had just spent four hours under the tree. "I hope that your plans include a swimming pool," she suggested. "Not exactly, although I was thinking of including a nice wading pool with a waterfall in that corner over there," answered Jerry pointing to a corner in the far corner of the yard. "Really?" asked Melissa surprised at the grandeur of his plans. He kept surprising her with his sense of esthetics. The interior waterfalls had been a total shock to her. "Yes, I think that a swimming pool would be rather plain. You know, a large rectangular space inside a larger rectangular space. This backyard is dying to have the straight lines bent in an artistic manner," replied Jerry as he pictured the typical backyard swimming pool in his mind. "Why didn't you do that when we were all living here?" asked Melissa. It seemed to her that her father was a completely different person now. "Didn't have the money to do it. Your mother wasn't interested. I didn't want to be here. Take your pick of a reason, they're all reasonably close to the truth," answered Jerry with a shrug. Melissa understood that all of his reasons boiled down to the same one -- her mother. Her mother spent every spare dime on herself. Her mother wouldn't have wanted anything other than a conventional pool that she could show off to her friends with conventional pools. He didn't want to be here and put up with her mother's caustic comments about how he did everything wrong. She was about to comment when he said, "In that corner over there, I'd plant tall bushes in the back with flowers in front of them. Maybe three levels of flowers with rocks strewn about to break up the flowerbed a little. It would hide the fence and provide a lot of color." "Sounds lovely," she said wondering what prompted him to tell her that. "I think I would put in a chair swing over there and surround it with bushes. Young couples need a place where they can sit and do things with each other with a little privacy." Melissa frowned and said, "You and Jenny are getting married. What do you need privacy for?" "I wasn't thinking about her and me. You're dating and Bill will be dating girls from his school soon," answered Jerry looking up at his daughter. "Oh," she replied with a slight blush. "Young couples need a place where the passions can rise a bit. Young women need a place where they can say no and have it stick. A little private nook in the backyard can fulfill both needs," said Jerry. "Bill seems to be doing fine with his girlfriend at the other house," said Melissa. She wasn't sure how she felt about her brother having sex with a black girl. Ever since the girl had dyed her green, she was very careful to think of her with respect. It had been a very good act of revenge and one that won her admiration. "They are just fuck buddies," said Jerry. Even as he said it, he wondered if his daughter would understand what that meant. "I thought so," she replied understanding what he meant far more than he did. One of her girlfriends had a nerd who lived next door and they were fuck buddies. The only time the two acknowledged each other was in the bedroom. "You don't seem surprised," commented Jerry. "It's common enough," she said with a dismissive wave of her hand. Deciding that it was time to learn how her acceptance of other races was developing, Jerry asked, "What about the fact that she's black?" She shrugged as she answered, "It's just sex." It was not the reaction that he had expected, but it was safe enough not to worry about it. Changing the subject, he said, "I wonder what Jenny will think about my plans for the garden?" "She'll love it. She loves everything about you," answered Melissa. She had never known that a woman could feel as deeply about a man as Jenny felt towards her father. Every time they went shopping, Jenny was always commenting or wondering how he would like this or that. At first, Melissa thought it was an act. After a while, she had begun to wonder. By now, she had come to accept that Jenny really did think about his needs all of the time. "She's a wonderful woman," said Jerry with a soft expression on his face. Thinking of her warmed his heart. Softly, he added, "I'd move heaven and hell for her." Melissa stared at her father while she considered what he had said. Jenny, doing nothing more than loving her father, had accomplished effortlessly what her mother had tried to force her father to do for her. A soft word here, a thanks for each kindness shown, and loving support achieved what years of badgering, insult, and abuse had not. She said, "You'd really do anything for her." "Yes," answered Jerry, "I would. I know that she would do the same for me. When we get married, we're going to be partners in the marriage. I don't need a boss at home and I don't want to be the boss when I'm at home." Melissa sat down on the ground and covered her eyes with her hands. In a weak voice, she said, "I'm so confused all the time. Everything that I thought was true seems all wrong." Jerry's heart was breaking, but he didn't know what to say to help his daughter. Instead, he shifted over to sit beside her and put his arm around her. He pulled her close and just held her. She dropped her head against his shoulder and cried. Looking over at the house, Jerry noticed that Jenny was standing at the doorway with a smile on her face. At his look, she shook her head and stepped back into the house so that the moment between father and daughter wouldn't be interrupted. He could see Bill heading towards the door, but at what appeared to be a word from Jenny he turned back into the house. After ten minutes, Melissa shuddered and pulled back from her father. With a weak smile on her face, she said, "Thank you." "I wish I could do more for you," replied Jerry. There were times when he wished that all problems in life could be solved with physical strength. Melissa stood and said, "You've done enough." As he watched her go into the house, he muttered, "I just wish I could have saved you from her." A few minutes later, Bill came out into the backyard. Looking back at the house with a frown, he commented, "Melissa and Jenny are gone." "Okay, let's head to the house. I'm sure that Abe is waiting for us to pick him up." Jerry drove to the house with Bill in the seat beside him. Bill stared out the window watching nothing in particular. After a while, Bill broke the silence. "What was that with Melissa?" Glancing over at his son, Jerry wondered what was really on his mind. He answered, "She's going through a rough time right now." "She's becoming the queen bee again and I don't like it," spat Bill. It seemed to him that the past week had been spent worrying more about how Melissa was going to react to something than what he felt. The sudden rise of sibling jealousy caught Jerry by surprise. About the time that Melissa was getting her act together, Bill was falling apart. It took him a minute to frame a reply. "I can understand why you would feel that way. She's going through a rough time and requires a little extra care right now, but I don't want you to think that I've forgotten about you. You're going to be facing some pretty heavy shit soon. To tell the truth, I'm worried. The trial... Well, that's a rough one." It amazed Bill that his father was able to focus in on exactly the things that were bothering him. His sister was going through a rough time, but so was he. The fact was that he was beginning to have nightmares about the upcoming trial. In them, his mother would point at him and say that it was his entire fault. She would proclaim that he ran into the bat trying to get injured. Frozen in place, he could see his sister standing behind him with a baseball bat getting ready to hit a homerun with his head. He mumbled, "I'm worried about the trial." "Shit, so am I," agreed Jerry. He took the exit off the freeway and headed down main street. When they hit a traffic light, he turned to face Bill and said, "I'm amazed at how well you're holding up." "You are?" asked Bill. "Sure. You've been handling this like a real man. I have to say that I'm proud of you, but you don't have to face it all alone. Remember that I'm here and I want to help you with any difficulties that you face." The light changed and with it, Bill's mood changed as well. He felt the pride that his father had for him. He knew that he wasn't facing the trial alone and that meant more to him than anything he could express. He looked over at his father and said, "Thanks." "You're welcome." When they turned onto the street where they lived, they could see Abe waiting on his motorcycle. As soon as Abe saw them, he waved and started the bike. They didn't even have a chance to stop the car when Abe pulled out ahead of them. Jerry followed behind as Abe drove to the motorcycle shop. Looking over at Bill, he said, "Abe looks happy on the motorcycle." "Yeah. It's really a sharp looking bike," commented Bill. "We're going to have to get him a better looking helmet than what he's wearing now," said Jerry. "And a leather coat," said Bill. "I guess we should let Henry and Sharon know what we are getting him for his birthday." Abe pulled into the parking lot of the motorcycle shop and stopped the bike in front of the front door. People came out of the shop to check out his restored Indian Scout. It wasn't long before they had surrounded Abe and the young black man ate up the attention. Jerry pulled up next to him and rolled down the window of his truck. Waving over at Jerry, Abe said, "Thanks for following me here." "No problem. How's it ride?" "Great. I love it," answered Abe. He'd had lessons for the past month riding a loaner bike at the shop. Riding his very own bike for the first time was a special thrill. The reaction of the people at the bike shop was icing on the cake. He added, "I'll be by the house in a little while. I have to work tonight." "Okay, see you later," replied Jerry. He pulled away from the store and headed home. An hour later, Jerry was bent over the fender tightening the wires to the battery. Once he was satisfied that the battery cable was on tight, he shouted, "Try her now!" A second later the starter engaged and the engine turned over. The starter ground for thirty seconds, but the engine never started. He pulled a wire off a spark plug and saw it spark. He put his hand over the carburetor and felt the draw of air against his skin. It was getting a spark and plenty of air. That left getting gas as the problem. He shouted, "Stop it!" He picked up the can of instant start and sprayed a shot into the carburetor. Stepping back, he said, "Okay, try it again." The engine turned and then caught. It was running a little rough and very loud, but that was to be expected. They still had to adjust the timing and replace the muffler. Bill climbed out of the car and stepped next to his father. With a grin, he said, "It runs." "Sure it runs. You fixed it," said Jerry. He reached over and put his arm around his son's shoulders giving him a good shake. "We fixed it," said Bill feeling proud at receiving his father's praise, but recognizing that he hadn't done it alone. "Let's throw the timing gun on it," said Jerry. Bill stepped back and went over to the trunk of his Pontiac. It took him a minute to retrieve the timing gun from under a pile of hubcaps. Looking at the pile of parts stored in the trunk, he realized that there was a lot of work that remained to be done on the car. He closed the trunk and went back to his father. The next twenty minutes were spent tuning the car. By the time they had completed the task, the engine was running much smoother. It was loud, but that wouldn't change until it had a muffler. It was still running a little rough, but that would also end when they added the muffler. After turning off the engine, Bill joined his father on the porch. Accepting a cold can of coke from his father, he said, "I couldn't believe it when it started." "I had no doubts. You've done a good job." Bill took a sip of his coke and looked at his car. The body still needed a little work, the brakes were shot, the muffler was missing, and the interior was a wreck, but the car was coming together. It didn't matter. When he looked at it, he saw the car as it would become and the result would be outstanding. He smiled as he replied, "I couldn't have done it without you, Dad." ------- Chapter 37 Melissa stepped out of the house and looked up at the sky. A shiver ran through her body at the sight. The heavy clouds hung low in the sky threatening all beneath them. The gray light that managed to filter through the overcast sky washed away the color giving the world a black and white appearance. Despite her heavy coat, the cold air chilled her to the bone. She turned at the sound of Jerry and Bill exiting the front door. In a soft voice, she said, "I don't like the look of this day. Be careful at the trial." Surprised by her concern, Bill asked, "Are you worried?" "Yes, I am. I don't trust her," answered Melissa looking away from her brother. It hurt her to say that aloud to her father and brother. "We'll be okay," said Jerry putting a hand on Bill's shoulder in a gesture intended to reassure the young man. "I'd like to come with you," said Melissa thinking that her presence would prevent anything too bad from happening. Jerry thought about it for a moment. This was the first time that she had reached out to be involved in something concerning her brother. He said, "I don't see any reason for you not to come. I'll pick you both up from school at noon." "Thank you," said Melissa with relief evident in her voice. She had a very bad feeling about the trial. No one knew her mother better than she did and she had no doubts that her mother would try something at the trial. Jerry pointed to the Camaro and said, "Let's get you to school so that I can get to work in time to open the store." The drive to school passed uneventfully. After dropping off the kids, Jerry returned to the store. He couldn't wait for them to move to the house so that he wouldn't have to leave so early in the morning on those days when he had to open the store. A round trip across town during rush hour was not a great way to start the day. He imagined that the kids would enjoy not having to leave for school so early as well. After entering the store, he went through the process of preparing it for opening. It took a little longer to open the store since he now had to boot up the computers. As the machines booted, he went through the store checking the cash in the register, unlocking the door, and turning off the answering machine. He sat at the chair and watched the computer load the sales program. It took a few minutes before it replied with a confirmation that it had connected to the server. The store was ready to open. The noise as Martin entered through the back door shattered the quiet. Martin called out, "I'm here. Mike and Karen are on their way in." Having seen everyone drive up, Martin had told him nothing that he hadn't known. Jerry called back, "Good." Martin made his way to the front of his store and slipped into the chair beside Jerry. He looked tired and said, "Another day another dollar." "You look tired. How's school going?" Martin was worried about passing his classes. They were far more work than he had anticipated. High school had been a breeze compared to college. He answered, "I have a test tonight. I stayed up late last night studying for it." Jerry laughed at the fact that Martin was complaining about staying up too late. Before going to school, Martin would often stay out late looking for women and wouldn't complain. He asked, "So are you ready to start working part-time so that you can spend more time on school?" The young black man studied Jerry for a minute before he answered, "Not yet. I'm not taking a full course load." "Do what you think is best. We'll manage," replied Jerry with a grin. The telephone rang and Jerry picked it up to take the order. Martin waited by the printer for the printout to pull the order. Before it was ready, Mike had come up to the front of the store. He greeted Martin and waited for Jerry to get off the phone. When Jerry got off the phone, Mike said, "I've got a couple of things to tell you. First, I've got two candidates coming in for an interview this morning. They'll be in around eleven and I thought you'd like a chance to talk to them before you leave." "I won't have much time to interview them since I have to leave by eleven thirty if I'm going to make it in time to pick up the kids by noon," said Jerry. "Then I guess you should talk to them before me," said Mike wondering if he should have set up the interviews for a different day. "I guess so," said Jerry. "Second thing is that Mr. Sinclair called last night after you left and wanted to talk to you. He said that it wasn't necessary for him to talk to you right away, but that you should call him today." "Mr. Sinclair called? I wonder what he wants," Jerry mused. Wednesdays had become his normal day to report on the previous week's sales. "I don't know. Why don't you go call Mr. Sinclair now and I'll watch the phone," suggested Mike. The telephone rang and Jerry let Mike pick it up. He went into the office and pulled together the paperwork that he normally used when reporting on sales. The previous day he had generated a number of sales charts using the programs that Karen had developed for him. They showed the changes in sales figures on a daily, monthly, and annual basis. The numbers all looked good. Jerry dialed the number of his boss. When Al answered, Jerry said, "Hello Al. This is Jerry." "Ah, Jerry. It's good to hear from you. I tried to catch you last night, but you had already left," replied Al. The rustle of papers being shuffled could be heard over the handset. Jerry said, "I've got the weekly report ready for you." "We'll get to that in due time. Ah... Here it is," said Al. There was more rustling of papers before his boss continued, "I just finished going over the third quarter figures yesterday. First, let me say that you were the first one to get your figures into headquarters. Your paperwork looked great." "Thanks. I tried to be accurate," said Jerry a little confused by the conversation. "No, I don't mean that. I meant that your paperwork really looked nice. All of the figures were typed and there was no room for misunderstanding." "Oh," replied Jerry surprised by the comment. He had generated the report using the computer. "You may not realize this, but I spent almost three weeks trying to make out the numbers that people sent me. Fours that looked like sevens. Nines that looked like fours. You wouldn't believe how much work that is for me," said Al with a chuckle. After receiving Jerry's report, he was completely convinced that the computers were worth the investment. "I'm glad," said Jerry still confused. "Your numbers were the best in the chain. Your store had the greatest improvement in sales and the lowest inventory of any of our stores. The improvements in the inventory numbers are the most significant. You wouldn't believe how much money this company has sitting around as inventory that doesn't turn over fast enough." Jerry had realized that and said, "Well, the computer has really helped us in managing our inventory. We know exactly what we have, how many of each item we've been selling, and how much to order." "You'll earn yourself a nice little bonus based at the end of the year if you keep up the good numbers," commented Al Sinclair. He said, "When you open your paycheck this week, you'll find that you've already earned one on your performance for the quarter." "Wow, thanks," said Jerry surprised by the news. He couldn't recall ever getting a bonus for a quarterly report. "You should be pleased. We don't normally give out quarterly bonuses." The unusual nature of the bonus made him wonder how much it was. He said, "I'm honored." "I have another little request to make of you," said Al. Even over the phone, Jerry swore he could hear the smile on his boss's face. "What can I do for you?" "I'd like you and Karen to put together a full list of the equipment that you are using along with the programs. We'd like to try it out in another store and see if we get the same results at that store," said Al. Frowning, Jerry said, "I'll be glad to do that, but it will take a little training for people to be able to use it effectively." Al replied, "I fully expect that Mike and Karen will make a trip to install the computers and then train people on how to use it." The timing of the request was horrible. It was October and he was planning on getting married. He had hoped to take a few days off for a honeymoon. Halloween was coming and Karen would want to be around for her kids. After that it would be Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years. Everyone would want to take as many days off as possible to do his or her holiday errands. He asked, "When will you want all this?" "I figure it will take you a couple of weeks to get all of the information that we need. While you're doing that, I'll pick out a store to install it in. We'll have to purchase the equipment and software. That'll take a while. Don't really want to do the installation and training during the holiday season. I figure we'll be ready for it all at the beginning of the year," answered Al. Jerry's sigh of relief was audible over the phone and provoked a chuckle from his boss. Embarrassed, Jerry said, "Good planning." Rather than comment on the assumption that he'd do it wrong, Al said, "Besides, you're getting married soon. Hate to interrupt your honeymoon just so that you can cover the absence of your assistant manager." "Did you get your invitation?" "Yes I did. My wife and I will be attending," answered Al. The arrival of the wedding invitation the previous week had been a major surprise. "Good, I'll let Jenny know that you're coming," said Jerry. He glanced down at the stack of paper that he had to report and then at his watch. He hoped that he would get through this call in time to interview the candidates. Al changed the subject and asked, "How's Martin doing in school?" Surprised by the question, Jerry answered, "He's doing well. He said that he made straight A's on his midterms." "I was expecting to see him go part-time on us," commented Al wondering why Martin wasn't putting more time into his education. "Well, I offered it to him. He wanted to ease into school without getting overwhelmed. I can understand that to a certain extent," said Jerry. He added, "I expect that he'll go full time next semester." "Good. I'm glad to hear that. I was really impressed with that young man when I was down there after you had been shot," said Al. Although Martin had impressed him, he was more impressed with the support that Jerry was giving the young man. The future of the company needed a next generation of educated people running the business. He felt that it was important for the managers to start developing the future workforce. "I'm fully confident that Martin is going to do well. He's working hard on his education and he's doing a great job here. Mike has him trained to take over as Assistant Manager in case something happens to Mike or me," said Jerry. "Good," said Al, "I'd like you to do one other thing for me." "Sure, what is it?" asked Jerry thinking that today was the day of requests. "You've got all of your figures printed up that you're going to read to me, don't you?" "Yes." Al said, "I'd prefer if you would fax them to me rather than read them over the phone. I want to see what reports you are using to track your progress. If I have any questions, I'll call you tomorrow." "Sure thing," replied Jerry relieved to learn that he didn't have waste the time required to report his figures. The reports were very self-explanatory. They had to be for him to use them. "Great, I'll talk to you later," said Al. The phone call ended after Jerry said his goodbye. Sitting back in his chair, he considered everything that his boss had said. The morning was rapidly disappearing and he had too much to do. He went over to the fax machine and set it up to fax in his papers. Once the fax was reading the pages, he went to the door and called out, "Karen, I need to talk to you for a second." When Karen came into the office, he filled her in on the details of the request made by his boss. She looked surprised at the idea that she would be sent out to perform the installation along with Mike. Her surprise was also accompanied by pride at the recognition of her contribution by Al Sinclair. She said, "I'm surprised they didn't send you to train people instead of Mike. It was your idea." "Well, I'm sure there were a couple of reasons why he chose Mike," answered Jerry. The first reason that came to his mind was that his large size and gruff voice would probably scare everyone. "Yeah, I guess so. I mean, he knows that Mike and I are married. For us to travel together is probably a lot better than if you and I went together," she said. That reason had never occurred to Jerry. Thinking about it, it did make a certain amount of sense for a husband and wife to travel together. He grunted, "You're probably right. Beside, he knows that I'm getting married and setting up house with Jenny." "That's a good reason, too," said Karen with a smile. Jerry looked down at his watch and realized that he had a few minutes to kill before he was supposed to interview the candidates. He asked, "How's it working out with you working here?" "Great. Mike and I were talking about it the other night. With the kids in school, my hours here are perfect. Mike and I get time together, but I also get to be a mother. The work is good and the pay is great for a part-time job. It's nice to be able to have lunch with my husband," she answered. The couple had often speculated about what would have happened if Mike had not returned after quitting that one time. The promotion, pay raise, her employment, and Saturdays off had changed their economic situation and lifestyle considerably. "Good, I'm glad to hear that," said Jerry. He thought about all of the employees and how things were in their lives. Martin and Carlos were going to school, Mike had more responsibilities than ever, Karen seemed happy with her work, and Abe had turned into a hard worker. He guessed that the biggest change was for him, he actually enjoyed coming into work. There was a knock on the door and Jerry called out, "Come in." The door opened, but the man who had knocked stood in place staring at Jerry. Jerry recognized him almost immediately as Jeff Harding. Jeff had worked for him for about two months several years before and had quit after a particularly abusive session from Jerry. Jeff said, "Forget it. I'm not working for you again." Jerry turned to Karen and asked, "Would you excuse us for a minute?" She nodded and left the room, edging around the man at the door. When she was gone, Jerry said, "Please come in, Jeff." Jeff entered the room cautiously and looked around. This office was still the setting for his nightmares. The only change was that the Tool Girl calendar had been changed to an outdoors calendar. He said, "I'd heard that there was new management here. I wouldn't have come in if I'd known you were still here." "I can imagine. I was a pretty nasty bastard when you were working here," said Jerry realizing the irony of the situation -- he was just thinking about how much better things were around here for his employees. He gestured to a chair and said, "Have a seat." Jeff didn't want to sit down, but he did out of fear at what Jerry would say if he didn't. The big man's voice affected him like fingernails on a chalkboard. Slouched down in the chair, he sullenly stared at Jerry wondering what the big man was going to say. Jerry frowned at how poorly the interview was going. His past was coming home to haunt him. He noticed the effect that his frown had on the man sitting across the desk from him. Sighing, he asked, "Are you working now?" "No. I was laid off," answered Jeff. His words were delivered with bitterness. "If you turn down this job, will you lose your unemployment benefits?" asked Jerry trying to get a better understanding of the circumstances in which Jeff had found himself. "It doesn't matter, they're about to run out," answered Jeff. He was desperate to even consider working for Jerry again. Jerry thought about it for a minute and could see that the man didn't want to work here. The fact that he was still pursuing the job meant Jeff was in a pretty dire situation. Finally, he asked, "Why did you come here?" "I saw Mike and asked him how it was going here. He said it was great and that his wife was working here too. I figured that meant you were gone," answered Jeff. His guess had been given credence when he had seen the improvements inside the store and seen how happy everyone was at their jobs. The black guy was actively joking with the blond delivery guy. When he had worked there, no one joked. Believing that he would come to regret this decision, Jerry said, "I would understand if you didn't want to work for me again. Let me say this, if Mike agrees with me, then you have an unofficial offer. If you take it, we'll tender a real offer. If you choose not to take it, we'll tell anyone that calls that we had another candidate that we preferred." "Do you want an answer now?" asked Jeff deciding to treat it like he was actually being offered the job at the moment. "No. I still need to get Mike's opinion about it," answered Jerry. Jeff left after a few more minutes of uneasy conversation. Jerry had watched him go; his heart filled with misgivings about hiring the man. Jerry had changed, but he wondered if Jeff would nurse old wounds or forgive. A young woman, Sue Bellows, was the other candidate and she came in the office as soon as Jeff exited. The only word that came to Jerry's mind to describe her was perky. She had bright eyes, an easy smile, and an energy that was overwhelming. In his opinion, she was exactly the last kind of person that he would expect in this business. Surprised, he asked, "Why are you interested in the auto parts business?" Sue smiled as she answered, "I love working on cars. I'm restoring a '66 Mustang convertible at the moment." He could hardly believe that this diminutive young woman had a passion for restoring old cars, yet she talked about her Mustang for the next ten minutes with the kind of excitement that Bill demonstrated about his Pontiac Chief. It was clear that she knew auto parts. After she had waxed poetic about her car long enough to convince Jerry that she was the real thing, he asked, "Why would you want to work here?" "I heard from Carlos about how you are helping him go to school. I'm in college right now, but could use the extra money that a job would bring." Jerry decided that they could use her even if Jeff took the full time job. They talked for a few more minutes and then Jerry sent her out of the office. Once she was gone, Martin stuck his head in the door and said, "Hey, I hope you hire Sue. She's a great catch." Looking up at Martin, Jerry asked, "You know her?" "Yeah. Carlos and I told her that she should come here for a job," answered Martin with a grin. He wasn't going to mention that she was also Howard's girlfriend. "Sounds to me like she has a cheering section in the grand stands," commented Jerry. He wondered if Martin was going to be putting the moves on Sue as soon as she started working here. "Yeah, I guess so," replied Martin. "Could you ask Mike to come in here? I've got to leave soon," said Jerry. He glanced at his watch concerned that he was running late. He had to be at the high school at noon so that he and the kids could get a quick burger and make it to the court by one. Mike came in and sat down with a frown. After shifting uncomfortably for a few seconds, Mike commented, "Sue is a no- brainer. I think we should hire her. I thought that Jeff would be a good hire, but he's really got a grudge against you." "Yeah, I'm afraid of that myself. I'll have to walk on eggs around him," said Jerry. Shrugging his shoulders, he said, "You'll be managing him most of the time. I'll leave the decision to you." "Thanks, boss," quipped Mike. "I told him that if you agreed to hire him, that we'd make him an unofficial offer so that he could decide if he wanted to work here without jeopardizing his unemployment," said Jerry still feeling guilty about how he had treated Jeff in the past. The offer surprised Mike since he wouldn't have thought of doing that. He nodded and stood up to return to the front of the store. At the door, he turned back and said, "Let me think it over for a day." "Sure thing," said Jerry. He said, "You know, there are a couple of our other stores that need people. Might see if he's willing to relocate." "That's a great idea, I'll check into it," said Mike. Jerry glanced down at his watch and shook his head at the time. It seemed that he had just walked in the store and he was already late at leaving. Standing, he said, "I've got to run." Jerry stepped out of the back of the store and got into his Camaro. He paused to look up at the sky. The low hanging clouds continued to cast a sense of gloom on all that were beneath them. It reminded him of the day that his ex-wife had beaten Bill with the baseball bat. It was ironic that her trial for that action would occur on a similar day. It was a short trip to the high school where his kids were waiting for him, but the noontime traffic made it take longer than he had planned. Running late, he pulled up to the parking area of the school and went inside to get the kids. The office area was next to the entryway to the school. Bill and Melissa were waiting in the office looking worried or afraid that he had forgotten them. When Jerry went to sign the sheet that he was taking the kids out of school, he commented, "I wish you already had your driver's license. We could have met at the court house." Melissa only had a week to go before her birthday and she was looking forward to getting her license. She grinned as she replied, "Ah, I would have left little brother here at school." The joke surprised Bill and Jerry both. Together, they went out to the Camaro and headed towards the courthouse. When they had almost reached it, Melissa said, "I'm really worried about what mother will do." Jerry shrugged his shoulders without commenting. He had similar fears, but felt that she wouldn't do anything in a public place. There was no way that she was that crazy. Even if she did, he didn't doubt that they could handle it. He pulled into the parking lot and said, "We're here and there are a lot of people around. I wouldn't worry too much, kids." Nodding his agreement, Bill said, "Right. She might be crazy, but she's not that crazy." "If you say so," muttered Melissa. She looked up at the sky and shivered at the feeling of malice that the clouds conveyed. In a fearful voice, she said, "I don't like the look of the sky today." Parking the car, Jerry noticed the prosecutor walking through the lot. Getting out, he shouted, "Hey, Mr. Dawson." The prosecutor turned and saw Jerry waving to him. Knowing that he was going to have to talk with Jerry at some point, he decided that this was as good as any other time. He waved and headed over to the big man. When he approached, he noticed Bill and Melissa standing beside their father. Upon reaching them, he said, "It's good we ran into each other. Why don't we talk as we walk over to the courthouse?" Jerry rested a hand on the shoulder of Bill and put an arm around Melissa. Together, they walked beside the Assistant District Attorney. Since he had never seen a criminal trial, Jerry asked, "Would you like to explain to us what we can expect to happen?" "Not much. Odds are good that it won't come to a trial. We've offered a plea bargain with her attorney and now it is up to her to decide if she'll take it." An uneasy feeling settled in Jerry's stomach at the thought of a plea bargain. He asked, "What kind of plea bargain?" "One year in jail and five years probation," answered the man. That she would actually get jail time in a plea bargain surprised Jerry. Melissa greeted the news with a groan. Hearing her reaction, Jerry asked, "What's the matter?" "There's nothing to hold her back!" exclaimed Melissa. She looked around searching frantically for a glimpse of her mother. Her comment sent a chill down Jerry's back. The Assistant DA looked surprised at the reaction of the three people beside him. He had assumed they would be displeased for a different reason since most victims wanted far harsher sentences than were provided by a plea bargain. He asked, "What's the problem?" Before anyone had a chance to answer, Melissa let out a gasp. Pointing to the side, she said, "Here she comes." Jerry looked in the direction in which Melissa had pointed. His ex- wife was making her way towards them with a furious expression plastered on her face. Before she was even within fifty feet she screeched, "Prison? You're getting me sent to prison for hitting that little shit?" When she was within twenty-five feet, she pulled a pistol from her purse and aimed it at Jerry. Seeing that the crazy woman wasn't paying any attention to him, the Assistant DA took off at a fast run. His exit was totally ignored by everyone. The ex-wife was glaring at Jerry as though he was the anti-Christ and she was an evangelical preacher. Without giving it a thought, Jerry pulled the kids behind him as he ordered, "Stay behind me." Ignoring her father, Melissa interposed herself between her mother and father in the belief that she could talk her mother out of shooting her father. She screamed, "Mommy, don't do it." To Jerry, it was clear from the expression on the woman's face that she was insane. She glared at her daughter, angry that her daughter would interfere. She pleaded, "Oh, baby girl. Get out of the way. I don't want to hurt you, but I will if I have to." "Oh mommy," cried Melissa pleading with her hands clasped together, "don't do it." Angry with her daughter for being in the way, she screamed, "Now you're taking his side! You're gonna force me to hurt you, baby girl." Seeing the look on her mother's face, Melissa was sure that her mother would shoot her. Closing her eyes, she stood frozen in place with her entire body tense and rigid. Her hope that she could stop her mother from killing her father evaporated. There was no doubt in her mind that her mother was going to shoot her before turning the gun on her father and brother. Even if she were to survive this, she was going to be an orphan. Jerry stepped in front of his daughter. As he moved, Jerry realized that he was experiencing a cold anger rather than the wild rage that had plagued him in the past. His attention remained on protecting his son and daughter, even while knowing that his wife was going to kill him. His anger fed him strength reminiscent of that which had come to him when enraged. He wasn't going to charge his wife since that would force her to shoot. He stood solidly, rooted in place, hoping his strength would allow him to absorb the bullets long enough for her to empty the gun. The sound of a shot being fired caused Melissa to scream. Expecting to feel the pain of a bullet ripping through her body, it was a surprise that she felt nothing. A second shot was fired and she opened her eyes to see what was happening. Shocked, she found that she was looking at her father's back. It seemed to Jerry as though everything happened in slow motion. He hadn't heard the policeman call out to his ex-wife for her to drop the weapon, but she had. She reacted by turning towards the officer with her gun still extended. The policeman had fired the first shot, but it was wild. Jerry had no idea where that bullet went. The second shot had come from his wife. It had been directed between him and the cop. He hadn't reacted even as the third shot was fired. He watched, wide eyed, as his ex-wife crumpled to the pavement when the third bullet ripped through her chest. When her gun fell to the ground and skittered away from her, his paralysis broke. If she weren't dead, she would be soon. He turned and grabbed his daughter in a hug so that she couldn't see her mother lying on the ground. Carrying her, he stepped forward and pulled Bill into his embrace. He hugged both his children as tears rolled down his cheeks. Voice cracking, he asked, "Are you two okay?" A very disheveled Assistant DA returned limping. His knee was scraped and his pants were torn from tripping over a curb. He hadn't fled out of fear, but to get a policeman. Breathless, he looked down at the woman on the ground and the threesome standing in a group hug. Shaking his head, he said, "Thank god I found a cop in time." No one had noticed his absence or return. Focused on each other, they didn't hear a word the man said. Half in shock, Bill croaked, "I thought you were a goner." ------- Chapter 38 Jerry stared out the window of the restaurant watching the sky. The storm that had been threatening them all day had finally broken. It wasn't as bad as he had predicted. Rather than a thunderstorm, this was the kind of storm that led to a solid soaking of the ground without creating damage. There wasn't even any lightning. Their tensions over the trial had exaggerated their perception of its threat. Turning to face the kids, he said, "It's started to rain." His comment didn't spark any immediate response from the kids. Bill stared at his plate of fried shrimp. Melissa continued to turn a bottle of ketchup while staring off into space. He decided that the idea of stopping at a restaurant to recover from their ordeal and talk about what had happened was not working. After five minutes, Bill said, "That was fucking brave of you Melissa." The young woman didn't respond immediately, but did stop playing with the ketchup bottle. Looking down at her plate, she said, "I thought she wouldn't shoot if I was there." Jerry didn't know what to think of his daughter's actions. It had been brave for her to interpose herself between his ex-wife and him, but it had also been foolish. He knew that the same could be said of his actions. He should have told them to run away. He said, "It was very brave of you, but you shouldn't have exposed yourself to danger like that." Shrugging, Melissa didn't give forth a verbal response. She was finding it hard believe that her mother would have shot her for standing up for her father. Deep down inside, she knew the truth. She had to face the fact that her mother was dead and she didn't know what to think about that. The only thing that she did know for certain was that the men had done nothing to deserve getting killed. Bill dipped a finger into the cocktail sauce and then stuck the finger in his mouth. The sharp horseradish didn't register on his senses. It seemed to him that he was numb. He definitely knew that his brain wasn't working correctly. His thoughts kept returning to watching his mother approaching with the gun and calling him a little shit. He hadn't seen her dead body on the ground, but his imagination provided a picture of the scene. It was giving him a throbbing headache. Bill wasn't the only one with a headache. Rubbing her temples with the fingers of both hands, Melissa said, "I have a headache. Does anyone have an aspirin?" When neither of the males answered her, she repeated herself with greater irritation in her voice. "Does anyone have an aspirin?" "No," answered Jerry looking out the window again at the rain. He wondered what word described this particular kind of rain. It wasn't a drizzle, downpour, or squall. Was there even a word to describe a consistent steady light rain? He decided that there wasn't and then realized that the word was shower. Like a boom-a-rang that always returned to where it had been launched, Bill's mind returned to the events in front of the courthouse. He shook his head at the images that passed before his eyes. Foremost among them was the sight of Melissa stepping in front of his father. He said, "I can't believe you stepped in front of dad." Frustrated at the lack of response to her request for aspirin, Melissa asked, "Won't anyone give me some aspirin?" "Do you have any in your purse?" asked Jerry knowing that if anyone would have something for a headache it would be her. Embarrassed that she hadn't thought of her purse, Melissa opened it and rummaged through it looking for something to take for her headache. All she found was a bottle of Midol. Deciding that it wouldn't hurt, she shook one into the palm of her hand and swallowed it without water. Watching her take the pill, Bill decided that he wanted one for his headache. He asked, "Could I have one, too?" "It's Midol," replied Melissa. "Ugh," said Bill. He was quiet for a minute and then decided that it would be better to take a Midol than live with his headache. He said, "I'll take one any way." "You'll grow breasts," said Melissa lightly. Knowing better than that, he replied, "You'll never see me again if I do." "Why?" Bill attempted a grin while he answered, "I'll be too busy playing with them." Melissa frowned at the bad joke, but didn't react in any other fashion than to push a pill over to her brother. He picked it up and reached for his glass of iced tea. His hand started to tremble too much to hold the glass. Ashamed at the betrayal of his body, he set the glass down with a rattle before he spilled his iced tea. Hearing the rattle, Jerry looked over at Bill and saw the distressed look on his face. In a soft voice, he said, "Hey, it's okay. Your nerves are catching up to you." "I know. It used to happen to me after fights," said Bill. Although it hadn't involved any punches, kicks, bites, or scratches, he felt as if he had gone twenty rounds with a heavy weight boxer. He slipped the pill into his mouth and grabbed the glass with both hands. Holding it like a three-year-old, he tipped the glass and chased down the pill. The thought that he'd grow breasts almost made him laugh and choke on the tea. Quiet returned to the table. Jerry looked around the table at all of the uneaten food. Bill hadn't eaten more then three of his fried shrimp. Normally, Bill would have cleaned the plate of shrimp in minutes. Melissa hadn't touched her hamburger except to take two bites out of it. She had put a little more of a dent in her French Fries. He understood their lack of appetite since his French Dip had a single bite out of it. Shaking his head, he decided that coming to the restaurant had been a very bad idea. Fumbling in his shirt pocket, he pulled out his cell phone. Opening it, he tried to locate a number in the phonebook function. As he scrolled through the list of numbers, Melissa asked, "Are you calling Jenny?" "No, I'm calling the therapist," answered Jerry with a sigh. They weren't dealing with things very well and he couldn't think of anything else to do. He didn't want to see Jenny at the moment, but he didn't understand why his mind kept shying away from the idea of talking to her. He grunted, "I'm big enough to know that we aren't dealing with this very well." Surprised by his admission, Melissa watched him make the call wishing that he were calling Jenny. She had to admit that calling the therapist was the last thing that she had expected him to do. Running to a therapist wasn't the kind of thing that most people associated with a big strong man like her father. She had expected him to call Jenny and then for Jenny to recommend that he call the therapist. In a way, his actions impressed her even more. She considered what would have happened had her mother seen a therapist. It was quite possible that if her mother had gone to one, then she would still be alive. "Too bad she didn't see a therapist," muttered Bill giving voice to her thoughts. "I was just thinking the same thing," said Melissa looking at her brother in amazement. She was surprised that he was taking the high road rather than rant about what a crazy woman their mother had been. While Jerry was on the cell phone, the waitress stopped by the table to see how things were going. The young woman, still a senior in high school, had been working in the restaurant for less than a month. She had taken the job in an effort to earn enough money to pay for her car insurance. New to the job, she worked hard to make sure that her customers were happy. The waitress frowned at the sight of the plates full of cold food. All of the iced tea glasses were half-filled with diluted tea, watered down by the melted ice. Deciding that there was little hope of salvaging a reasonable tip, she said, "I take it the food wasn't any good." Melissa looked up at the waitress and said, "We're not really hungry. My mother tried to kill us all today." "The police killed her," added Bill staring at his plate. He thought about how different aspects of the events mattered to each of them differently. Melissa was shocked by the fact that her mother was willing to shoot her. He was shocked that his mother was gone out of his life for good. He couldn't deny that he was relieved that she was gone, but the idea that he was relieved made him feel bad about himself. The flat emotionless tone of voice in which the kids had delivered their statements was far more brutal than an emotional outburst might have been. The waitress stood at the foot of the table with a stunned expression on her face. She had no idea how to react to their statements; it wasn't something that was covered in the employee manual. Almost a minute passed before she said, "Oh." Jerry closed the cell phone and announced, "She'll see us at six. We've got three hours to kill." Bill groaned at his father's choice of wording. Melissa felt her stomach twist at the thought of sitting in that booth for another three hours. Tears welled up in her eyes. While dabbing at them with her napkin, she said, "I want to talk to Jenny." Wishing that he knew how to comfort the children better, he nodded. He didn't want to face Jenny, but would do it for Melissa's sake. Resigning himself to the inevitable, he said, "I'll give her a call." The waitress was still standing at the end of the table trying to decide what she was supposed to say or do. Finally, she asked, "Would you like your bill?" "Yes, that would probably be best," answered Jerry tiredly. Given an excuse to leave, the waitress ran away from the table. This had been the most upsetting experience of her life. She couldn't imagine how those two kids felt. All she knew was that she wanted to get home and hold onto her mother. Rather than get their check, she left the restaurant crying. As the door closed behind her, she decided that there had to be another way to earn enough money. Confused by her actions, the manager of the restaurant watched the waitress leave. It was obvious that she was upset and that the party seated in the corner had upset her. During the short time that she had worked at the restaurant she had been a very good employee. She showed up on time, was friendly with the customers, and took care of her tables. Although he believed that the customer deserved the best service possible, he knew there were some customers who were abusive. He looked at the family and headed over to find out what they had said to her. Jerry was on the cell phone talking to Jenny when the manager arrived at the table. Frowning, he looked at the long faces and the plates full of cold food. His anger evaporated to be replaced by puzzlement. Bill looked up at the manager and then looked out the window. In a soft voice, he asked, "Why is it that bad things always seem to happen to me before a storm?" The indifference of the young man to his presence and the awkward question confused the manager. The manager stood at the end of the table for a half a minute wondering if anyone would notice him. He cleared his throat. Bill looked back at the manager, not expecting an answer to his question. He saw that Melissa was wiping her face with her napkin. Bill put his arm around her and pulled her to him. Surprised by the unexpected gesture of caring, she twisted so that her face was against his shoulder and burst into tears. Feeling awkward, Bill held his sister allowing her to cry herself out. Jerry noticed the activity across the table and quickly finished his conversation with Jenny. That Bill would reach out to comfort his sister was a major leap forward in relations between the siblings. Separated from them by the table, he realized how bad a mistake it was to come to the restaurant. He slipped the cell phone into his pocket and watched them afraid to say anything to ruin the moment. The manager cleared his throat and said, "Excuse me, but is there a problem here?" Jerry stared at the man for a minute trying to figure out how to answer his question. There were lots of problems. His ex-wife had tried to kill him and the kids. They knew that she had been killed. The kids were upset and he didn't know how to comfort them. He was terrified of seeing his girlfriend. There was also a bright spot in the midst of all this misery. A real gesture of peace had occurred between the kids. He answered, "Yes, but it isn't a problem that you can solve." "What did you tell the waitress that caused her to run out of here in tears?" asked the manager with much more politeness than he had intended prior to seeing them around the table. "She wasn't crying when she left to get the bill," answered Jerry confused by the assertion that they had done something to the young woman. He glanced at Melissa and Bill, but she was still crying on her brother's chest. Bill was looking over her head with an embarrassed expression on his face. "Well, she was crying when she passed by me after leaving your table," declared the manager. "I guess the kids told her that their mother tried to kill us today," replied Jerry. He hadn't been paying attention to the dialog between the kids and the waitress since he had been busy arranging an appointment with the therapist. He added, "We'd really like the bill now." The manager didn't know the story behind these three, but he wanted them out of his establishment. He retreated to fetch the bill. The sooner they were out of there, the better. It didn't take long for Jerry to take care of the bill. He left a good tip despite the fact that none of them had eaten. He asked the manager to give the waitress their apologies if they had done anything to upset her. Leaving the restaurant, Jerry held his arms around both kids pulling them close to him to reassure them with his presence. Bill walked along numbly, his mind was not on the here and now. Melissa held tight to her father's arm as though afraid that she would fly off the planet if she let go. For the first time in her life, she appreciated his strength and size. Upon reaching Jenny's house, Melissa flew from the Camaro to the front door. Without knocking, she opened the door and entered the house. Still getting out of the car, Jerry watched her run. He didn't know why he was dreading talking to Jenny, but the idea of facing her terrified him. Turning to Bill, he said, "Let's give your sister a chance to talk with Jenny for a while." "Yeah, she needs to talk to a woman," commented Bill. Despite the moment of closeness in the restaurant, he understood the truth. His sister would always seek out the comfort, opinion, and approval of women before that of men. Jerry looked over at his son and smiled at the insight the boy had demonstrated. Despite the fact that it was still raining, he wasn't ready to go into the house. Putting an arm on the boy's shoulder, he said, "Let's wait for them in the back yard." Shrugging his acceptance, Bill said, "Sure, why not." The pair walked around the house to the backyard. Potted plants surrounded a small patio with two folding chairs. The plants looked dead, but were actually in their winter hibernation. In spring and summer, the patio was a very nice place to sit and talk. In the fall rain, it was the last place they should have been. Gesturing to one of the chairs, Jerry said, "Have a seat." Bill sat down in one of the folding chairs. He was hardly aware of the rain as he seated himself. He looked around the yard. It was small, but much better cared for than theirs. He wondered what wonders Jenny would do on their backyard once she married Jerry. That thought led him to think about his mother and what she had done around the house. From there, his mind returned to the events outside the courthouse. Jerry pulled over the heavy outdoor chair that Jenny had bought for him. It was massive enough to take his weight without collapsing. Sitting down, Jerry said, "I don't think I've ever been as afraid as I was this afternoon." "You were afraid?" asked Bill relieved that he wasn't the only one that had been scared. The fact that his sister had been brave enough to step between his mother and father shamed him. He felt that he should have been the one to step up and face his mother. Taking a deep breath that swelled his chest and then letting it out, Jerry tried to relax. It was a half-minute before he answered, "Yeah. All I could imagine was your mother shooting you or Melissa. The idea of losing either one of your scared me shitless. I was so angry, but all I could do was stand there between you two and her." "Why did you stand there?" asked Bill wondering if his father had been frozen in place out of fear. He had expected his father to storm over and squash his mother like a bug. He knew that his father could have done that. "If I had made a single move, she would have started shooting. I couldn't risk one of you getting hit," answered Jerry. Standing in place had been one of the hardest things that he had ever done. He was glad that the rage hadn't taken over. If it had, he would have charged like a bull at a red cape without concern for the consequences. For all he knew, both kids would have been killed. "Oh yeah. I didn't think about it like that," answered Bill. He realized that he hadn't thought about anything except that his mother was going to kill him. He had been frozen in place staring at her the entire time. Jerry looked over at Bill and said, "You were scared too." The young man looked away with tears in his eyes and nodded. Jerry saw that his son didn't trust his voice to answer. He said, "You had every right to be scared. If you had done what Melissa did, she'd have killed you in a second. She had every intention of killing both you and me. She didn't want to kill Melissa until she realized that Melissa was standing up for us." "I was so scared that I couldn't move," said Bill feeling like hell. "You didn't piss yourself. I'd say that's better than a lot of men would have done in your position," countered Jerry. He kept a serious look on his face to let his son know that he wasn't joking. All in all, the young man had kept his wits about him and control over himself. "You're kidding," replied Bill with a frown. "Not at all," answered Jerry. He knew his son was feeling like a coward and he felt that he had to justify the boy's actions so they wouldn't haunt him for the rest of his life. He said, "There's a lot of folks that would have crumpled to their knees and started begging for their lives. I don't think you were paralyzed with fear, but you didn't give into it. I'd say that you showed a degree of bravery today that's mighty good for a young man your age." The rain had let up a little, but they were still getting soaked. Bill sat in his chair wondering if his father was telling him the truth. In the movies, people knew what to do in that situation. He'd felt stupid standing there unable to think of some action to take that would resolve the situation. He took a deep breath and asked, "What should I have done?" "I'd have been a lot happier if both of you kids had run away," answered Jerry with a weak smile. Standing outside the courthouse, there had been all kinds of places for the kids to run. He sighed and said, "Ever since then, I've been thinking that rather than telling you to stay behind me that I should have told you to run." Realizing that his father was blaming himself for telling him to do the wrong thing, Bill asked, "Why did you tell us to stay behind you?" Jerry gave forth a laugh of derision that sounded like a cross between a snort and a bark. He said, "I was thinking that I could protect you. I thought I could stand there like some sort of human shield. I thought I could stand there even if she emptied her gun into me. Pretty fucking stupid idea, if I say so myself." "I saw you get shot four times. You could have protected us," answered Bill. "No, I seriously doubt it. Oh, I was angry and felt strong enough, but the fact of the matter is that I was scared and angry. I wasn't thinking very clearly," admitted Jerry with a sigh. The conversation was helping Bill much more than Jerry. His son was coming to accept that his lack of action wasn't motivated entirely in fear. He had followed his father's command to stay behind him and that had kept him from fleeing. Yet the father felt bad about having issued the command realizing only too late that it had further endangered his children. After berating himself for long enough, Jerry said, "One of the problems with being big and strong is that you start off believing that your size and strength can be the answer to all of your problems. After a while, you see that, more often than not, you end up in trouble and you get to believe that it only creates more problems." "So which is it?" asked Bill. He leaned forward to catch the answer as if it were the most important thing he was going to ever hear. "I'm beginning to believe that it's a balance between the two. Being big and strong can solve some problems, but not all of them. When you use your size and strength on the wrong problem, you get more problems," answered Jerry. He looked over at his son and watched him process the answer. "How do you know when to use your size and strength?" "Hell if I know. I'm still trying to figure that one out," answered Jerry. He threw his hands up in the air as if surrendering. The back door opened and Jenny stuck her head out to look at the two men. They were soaking wet, but seemed oblivious to their state. She recognized that it was a measure of how upset they were that they didn't care about the wet or the cool chill in the air. In a soft voice, she asked, "Would you like to come in and have some coffee?" Jerry glanced down at his watch and saw that he had an hour and a half before the appointment with the therapist. He answered, "Sure. We have some time before we head over to the therapist." "Can I go to the therapist with you?" asked Jenny. She had her fingers crossed in the hope that Jerry would say that it was okay. "You want to go with us?" asked Jerry very surprised by the request. "Yes. I'm affected by this just as much as you are. That woman tried to kill the three people that I love the most in this whole world. I have no idea what I would have done if I had lost any of you," answered Jenny. Her voice quivered with emotion. The effect of her words on Bill was immediate and overwhelming. He stared at her feeling like she had just handed him a million dollars and told him to have a good time. That she loved his father was obvious. He never doubted her feelings for his father. That she loved him was a shock. He suspected that she felt that way about him, but she had never come out and said it. He stood up and raced over to her. Throwing his arms around her, he held her and cried. Between sobs, he said, "I love you, too." The effect of her words on Jerry was just as staggering. She had done the unimaginable in admitting that the bad things that happened to him hurt her as well. She felt his pain, she worried about his welfare, and she cared about him. He felt horrible that he hadn't thought about how she would react to his ex-wife's actions. His voice cracked with emotion when he told her, "We'd love to have you come with us." Jerry watched as Jenny hugged a very wet Bill to her and rubbed his back. She spoke soothing words to him that were too soft for Jerry to hear. Her words helped calm down the young man. Seeing how his son clung to Jenny made Jerry realize how much his son needed a good mother figure in his life. While Melissa had known that she needed a proper female role model and asked to come here, the two men had been blind to their need. Jerry realized that they should have come here after the incident rather than going to the restaurant. After Bill released Jenny, he sniffed and then ran into the house. Jerry watched him run away knowing that he wanted to be alone for a minute. The young man was feeling emotions that had never had a chance to present themselves. Jerry felt the same way. Emotions that he couldn't name washed over him, leaving him speechless. He didn't know what to say to thank her for her words and the comfort given to Bill. "I understand," said Jenny giving Jerry a half smile that was both happy and sad. She looked at his wet clothes and wondered if he was going to get sick before the wedding. "I'm not sure that I do," replied Jerry confused by her statement. "After years of being abused by that woman, I'm not surprised that you didn't think of coming here," said Jenny. "I left her because she didn't care that I had almost been killed," said Jerry looking down at the ground once he realized what she meant. He wanted to hit himself for not trusting Jenny to react in a caring manner. He knew his earlier reluctance in seeing her originated out of the fear that she would have reacted with the same indifference his ex-wife would have demonstrated. "You were afraid that I wouldn't care," said Jenny shaking her head at the fact that any human being could suffer that fear about someone they loved. She wished that she had been able to give that woman a piece of her mind. The damage that she had done to Jerry and Bill was almost beyond her comprehension. "I'm sorry," said Jerry. "I understand," she replied. She stepped forward and put her arms around him; relaxing when his arms engulfed her with the strength that she loved. With her face nestled against his strong chest, she said, "I would have been afraid of the same thing if I were you." "No, you would have trusted me to react the right way," countered Jerry. He wanted to feel guilty, but it just wasn't possible for him. Too many years of indifference had made him doubt that anyone could really care about what happened to him. He knew that he would have been furious if someone had tried to hurt Jenny, but his reaction would have been to charge out of the house to hunt down and harm anyone that had hurt her. She smiled and gestured to the door with her head. In a light voice, she said, "Let's go inside. It's still raining and we're getting soaked." Her words woke him to the fact that it was raining. Stepping back, he looked at her and saw that the rain had turned her white shirt transparent. He could see her breasts through the wet material. Her nipples stood erect from the cold. Smiling, he picked her up in his arms and carried her into the house. Rather than stopping in the living room where Melissa was seated on the couch, he carried her into the bedroom. Once there, he set her down and said, "You need to change your shirt." She looked down and saw the effect that the water had on her shirt. In a delightful display of modesty, she blushed. The modesty was short lived as a wicked smile crossed her face. She said, "Do you really want me to change out of this shirt?" "Not really, but the..." He stopped not knowing how to bring the children into the conversation. Somehow, talking about them while staring at her breasts just didn't seem right. Jenny unbuttoned the white blouse and let it slip off her shoulders. She traced a finger around her stiff nipples drawing his attention to them. In a sultry voice, she said, "I'm not cold now." Laughing at her obvious tease, Jerry asked, "What did I ever do to deserve you?" "Good question. Now get out of those wet clothes before you get sick. I'll throw them in the dryer so they'll be dry in time to go to the therapist." Jenny went to her closet and pulled out a shirt and one of her robes. She handed the robe to him and said, "Put this on. We wouldn't want to shock Melissa and Bill." "Bill and I walk around the house in our boxers all the time. Melissa is used to it," said Jerry eyeing the robe. "With an erection?" asked Jenny with a grin. She could tell with just a glance that he didn't have an erection yet, but she was sure that with just a little effort on her part that she could cause one. Despite the fact that she was standing in front of him topless, Jerry didn't have an erection. He wasn't feeling very sexual at the moment. Too many contradictory emotions were packed into his body to support another one. It was obvious that despite her words, she wasn't really in the mood for much more than a little light teasing. Jenny put on her shirt while Jerry stripped down to his boxers. He tried to put the robe on, but it was way too small. With a grin, he handed it back to her and said, "There's no way this little robe is getting put on this body." Seeing how her big fluffy robe looked like a hand towel in his massive hands, Jenny had to laugh at the ridiculous image of him wearing it. She said, "Boxers it is. I'll give this to Bill to wear. He's not quite as big as you are." Jerry grinned and followed her out of the bedroom. Bill was in the bathroom. Jerry knocked on the door and said, "Take off your shirt and pants so that Jenny can dry them. We've got a robe here for you to wear." Bill opened the door and accepted the robe from his father. He looked at the feminine robe and his father in his boxers. Frowning, he said, "I'd rather just wear my boxers." "Okay," said Jerry deciding that it wasn't worth arguing about. Bill stripped out of his clothes and handed them to Jerry who immediately handed them to Jenny. She disappeared to put them in the dryer while the men went into the living room. Melissa looked at them in their boxers and rolled her eyes. She had given up on them having a sense of propriety about walking around in such a state of undress. Jerry sat down and asked, "Melissa, how are you holding up?" "Much better, I think," she answered. She looked at her brother and father sitting around in their boxers. There was something kind of reassuring about it. It was the kind of behavior that was normal for them and convinced her that things hadn't really changed for the worse. Sure, there were times when they were crude, rude, and disgusting, but they were always honest in how they felt. She decided that she'd take honest over the pretentious any day. In a much stronger voice, she said, "Yes. I'm holding up much better now." ------- Chapter 39 Bill drove up to the store on his moped and parked it around the backside of the store where it would be out of sight. He walked into the store through the front door and found Mike sitting at the counter. Giving him a wave, he said, "Hello, Mike. How's it going?" "Fine, Bill. Your dad is in the office," answered Mike gesturing towards that back of the store. With a grin, he said, "We're expecting Abe to show up in about twenty minutes." "Where's everyone else?" "Everyone else is back with your dad," answered Mike. The telephone rang and Mike turned his attention back to business. Bill walked to the back of the store to where his father's office was located. On the way, he passed by Martin who was pulling an order. He stopped and asked, "So how is Abe doing?" "He is pissed about having to work on his birthday," answered Martin with a laugh. "I'm sure he is," said Bill understanding how important birthdays were to people his age. The young man watched as Martin returned to work. Entering the office, Bill could see that it held more people than had ever been intended. Of course, his father and Henry took up the space that six people would normally occupy. His father was seated behind his desk while Henry occupied a corner of the room. Karen was seated at the other desk. Carlos was seated in one of the chairs leaning back and chatting with Sue, the new woman who had just started at the store. Sammy had stopped by the store, taking an afternoon out of college, and was talking to the other two college students. Two of the kids from the neighborhood, Denzel and Leo, were leaning against the wall, watching the others talk about school and work. Bill watched them for a moment and realized that the expressions on their faces conveyed unease at the environment. These young people had never been inside a real work environment and didn't understand much of what they were seeing or hearing. When the discussion had turned to inventory control, Denzel turned to Bill and asked, "What the fuck are they talking about?" Laughing at the question, and the way that it had been put forth, Bill gestured to the door and said, "Let's talk over by the couch." The three kids left the office in time to see Shauna arrive. She shot a worried look at Bill and then went over to Leo. The young black man put an arm around her and gave her a kiss. Denzel asked his question again, "What the fuck were they talking about?" "They were talking business," answered Bill. He ignored the interaction between Leo and Shauna, recognizing that she had made her choice. He explained, "From what I understand, having a bunch of stuff in the store waiting to be sold costs money, but you can't sell anything if you don't have stuff in the store. So I guess the big deal is to keep the right amount of stuff in the store so that you can sell it, but not so much that it costs you money." "Fuck, that sounds complicated," confessed Leo with a frown. Bill shrugged his shoulders and said, "I guess that is why Martin is going to college. He needs to understand that kind of stuff before he can become a manager." "Bullshit, they ain't gonna make no nigger a boss," exclaimed Denzel. His use of the word nigger earned him a dirty look from Shauna. Martin appeared behind the boys and, in a stern voice, said, "Hey, kids. Would you mind keeping the language a little less colorful? This is a place of business." Denzel stared at Martin as if he had a third arm or something. He retorted, "Talking like an Uncle Tom." The comment made Martin angry. Stepping up to Denzel, he grabbed the kid by the back of the shirt and dragged him out the backdoor. Leo shouted, "Martin's gonna kill him." Half convinced that they were going to see a fight, the other three kids followed them out the door. Once outside, Martin said, "You've got no fucking idea what you're talking about. This is a job and you do what the job requires or you don't work. It pays money. It pays good money. They don't give a shit if I'm black, white, or orange. They pay me to work." Denzel gave Martin a look as if the man was a fool. He countered, "Fuck, what you want to work for? All you got to do is get enough money to have a little fun." "You're a fool. You want easy money, great. The last guy in our neighborhood that wanted easy money is dead. He died when he was only two years older than you," said Martin wondering why the kid couldn't see the stupidity of his worldview. "Yeah, but he got a lot of pussy." Martin barked a laugh and replied, "You don't get pussy in the grave, asshole. I've gotten more pussy since he died than he got in his entire life." "But you're acting so white!" "You like living in our neighborhood?" asked Martin with scorn. "No, but it's the man keepin' us down that's the problem." "You're even dumber than you look. I'm getting good money to do my job for forty hours a week. Guess what? I work for a white guy and he isn't keeping me down. He's teaching me the business so that I can run it some day," replied Martin. He glanced over at the other three kids and noticed they were nodding their heads in agreement with him. "Forty hours a week? Shit, that's slavery." "Do you think the white guys don't want to sit around all day doing nothing? You bet they do, but they don't do it. They come to work for forty hours a week and make enough money so they don't end up living in shit holes like our neighborhood," said Martin. Anticipating the kid's next statement, he added, "Believe me, they work just as hard as I do here. Shit, Bill's dad works harder than me and he's running the store." "Yeah, but you're working for him!" "Pull your head out of your ass and look around for a change. The guy started as a stock boy when he was your age. Hell, he's been working in that store longer than I've been alive. Of course, I fucking work for him," retorted Martin. Dismayed at the density of the young man's brain, he turned and went into the store. The earlier shout by Leo had attracted Jerry's attention. Going out to investigate what was happening, Jerry had seen the three teenagers go outside. Instead of charging outside, he had stood at the door listening to the conversation. He'd heard what Martin said starting about the time when Martin was explaining how the man wasn't keeping him down. Rather than interrupt, Jerry had stayed inside. Jerry stayed by the door for another minute. On entering the store, Martin had been surprised to find Jerry standing by the door listening to what had been said. At first, he thought he might be in trouble for stepping out of the store without telling anyone, but Jerry had just winked at him and flashed him an okay gesture. Martin nodded and went back to the counter, leaving Jerry listening at the door. Surprised at Martin's treatment of him, Denzel turned to Leo and asked, "Can you believe that shit?" "Yeah, I can. He's right, you know," replied Leo. Martin had sold him on the comment about not getting laid when you're dead. He knew that you didn't get laid in prison either. The whole time that Martin had been talking, Shauna had thought about her future. Her mother had given birth to her while in high school and had dropped out of school to raise her. Since then, her mother had taken just about any job that she could get. Of course, most of the jobs available for a high school drop out were pretty bad. Money was always tight. Shauna had even caught her mother having sex with the landlord to pay the rent on one occasion. She knew that it wasn't the first time and hadn't been the last. Looking at Denzel like he was an idiot, Shauna said, "Look at the future I'm facing. If I don't get my shit together and get a real job, I'll be sucking cock and fucking for money for the rest of my life. Martin's right. I'd go in there and give everyone blowjobs right now if I could keep that from happening to me." Leo wasn't a stupid person and he had watched what was going on with Martin and Abe ever since Jerry had moved into the neighborhood. He'd taken the time to look up how much Abe's motorcycle was worth and had been impressed. He commented, "You know, Abe is doing pretty good for himself. He's been riding that scooter of his around while we've been walking or peddling our bikes. Now, he's gonna be riding that motorcycle and we'll be riding the bus for the next ten years at the rate we're going. Martin's got a brand new truck. My momma ain't ever had a new car in her whole life. You might think they're acting white, but I'm not convinced that's all that bad." Jerry had listened to the conversation thinking that Martin had started to help them, but it wasn't enough. He wished there was something he could do to finish the job. It was possible that he could move Abe over to part-time sales so that he could hire a new stock boy, but that would only help one of them. He wished that he could hire all three kids, but it just wasn't possible. Denzel needed it the most, Leo had the best attitude, and Shauna was the most desperate. While pulling an order, Martin glanced towards the back door and saw Jerry standing in the same place that he had been earlier. Rather than listening, the big man was thinking about something. It was obvious to him that Jerry was trying to figure out what he could do for the kids. Going back to work, Martin was confident that Jerry would end up helping all three kids, even Denzel. He thought to himself, 'Was it the man keeping them down? No, those kids were keeping themselves down.' Jerry opened the back door and asked, "Any sign of Jenny?" "No, dad." "Would you mind keeping an eye out for her? She's bringing the cake," requested Jerry. Looking at the other three teenagers, Bill said, "No problem. We'll watch for her." "Great," said Jerry as he returned to the store. He had expected Denzel to look at him with suspicion, but the kid had remained his normal self. It was just a few minutes later that Jenny pulled into the parking lot with Melissa in the car. The pair got out and opened the back of her car. There was a cake and a cooler of soft drinks in the trunk. Looking over at the three boys, Jenny asked, "Would you like to give us a hand?" Without the least bit of hesitation, Bill answered, "Sure. I'll help you." "Good. If you carry the cooler, I'll take the cake," said Jenny with a smile at her future stepson. When he reached the trunk, she wrapped an arm around him and pulled him in for a hug. Grinning at his obvious discomfort at the affection in front of the other kids, she said, "You're a good boy." Bill blushed and then reached into the trunk for the cake. Leo started to make a wise crack, but Shauna elbowed him in the side. Bill stood up and handed the cake to Jenny, letting her know by his thoughtfulness that he had appreciated the hug. As she accepted the cake from him, Jenny said, "Thanks." After Bill grabbed the cooler, Melissa dug into the trunk and removed three presents. There was one large flat box, a medium size cube, and a small box. It was awkward balancing all three of them. She turned and found Shauna standing next to her. Shauna said, "Let me give you a hand with those." Surprised by the gesture, Melissa said, "Thanks. If you could take the top two that would help a lot." "No problem," replied Shauna taking the top two presents. Before grabbing them, she believed that the big cube contained a bowling ball based on its size and had been thinking that it was a strange present to give to Abe. When it was far lighter than she had expected, she realized that it was a motorcycle helmet. Denzel was about to make a comment that he liked Melissa better when she was green when Leo hit him lightly on the shoulder. Anticipating his friend, he said, "Be nice." "Shit," answered Denzel. He wasn't really upset, but disappointed at the chance to make what he thought would be a joke. "Why don't you get the door for everyone," suggested Leo to his friend as he went over to the car. Winking at Shauna, he said, "Let me shut the trunk." Since moving away from the influence of her mother and grandmother, watching men and women interact fascinated Melissa. With a smile and a hug, Jenny had Bill doing all kinds of things for her without complaint. Leo was clearly interested in showing his girlfriend that he could do nice things without being asked. The fact that Bill respected Shauna's relationship with Leo surprised her more than anything else did. She wondered if Leo knew that Shauna and Bill had been having sex with each other. The break area where the couch was located had been transformed. Jerry had set up a small table to hold the cake, paper plates, and soft drinks. Jenny had set the cake on the table and was busy removing the box around it. Melissa and Shauna added the presents to the small pile that was on a chair. Leaning against the boxes of parts that had been delivered earlier that day, Jerry watched the activity with a broad smile. Abe was going to be surprised. Henry entered through the backdoor and, in his deep rumbling voice, observed, "Looks like everyone is here except for the birthday boy." "Who you calling boy? He's got more hair... ," started Denzel before coming to a halt upon catching sight of the look Henry was giving him. He grumbled, "No one has a sense of humor today." After setting down the stack of presents he was carrying, Henry put a hand around the back of the neck of the young man and pulled him over to his side. Bending so that his mouth was next to the younger man's ear, he explained, "There are times for some kinds of jokes and times for different kinds of jokes. Right now, it's time for polite jokes. There are ladies present." Awed by the sheer size of Henry, Denzel swallowed heavily and said, "Okay. I didn't think about that." Melissa and Shauna had stepped away from everyone to talk where they wouldn't be over heard. Jerry watched them as they whispered to each other, wondering what the two young women had to talk about. He smiled when they stepped apart from each other with identical puzzled expressions on their faces. It appeared to him that neither one of them understood the other, but at least it wasn't a hostile misunderstanding. Seeing that everyone was present, Jerry said, "I'm going up to the front to greet Abe when he comes in." The noise of people moving around so that they wouldn't be seen from the front of the store followed Jerry down the aisle. Reaching the front, he greeted Mike and Martin who were watching the counter. Mike grinned and said, "Abe wasn't very happy about having to work on his birthday." "I can imagine," said Jerry with a laugh. He added, "I plan to bust his chops a little when he comes in, so play along." "You're going to lose," commented Martin with a grin. "Lose?" "Trying to match wits with Abe when we all know you're defenseless. You're going to lose big time," Martin quipped provoking a laugh from Mike. Jerry just stood there shaking his head. A few minutes after four, Abe showed up riding his motorcycle. Jerry watched him park the bike by the front door where it was visible from the street. He smiled at the obvious pride that Abe took in his work. Before the young man had a chance to see him, Jerry replaced his smile with a frown. Disappointed at having to work, Abe entered the store spotting Mike, Martin, and Jerry at their normal places. He was about to say hello when Jerry grunted, "You're late." Surprised by the unfriendly greeting, Abe said, "I told you I was going to be late today." Jerry attempted a snarl and then said, "You got all kinds of boxes in the back that need to be dealt with." Feeling a little hurt, Abe said, "It's my birthday." "Really? How about that? The sooner you get back there, the sooner you can celebrate," said Jerry pointing down the aisle with his thumb. Shocked, Abe walked down the aisle to the back of the store like his dog had died. Even Martin had looked surprised by the way Jerry had treated him. He mumbled, "Not only do I have to work on my birthday, but I get treated like..." His comment was cut short by the sound of everyone shouting, "Happy Birthday." Abe looked around and saw everyone smiling at him. Shocked at the crowd of people smiling at him, he shouted, "Oh my God! I can't believe it!" Jerry's rumbling laugh filled the air. Realizing that Jerry had gotten him good, Abe spun around and, shaking his finger at the big man, said, "I'm going to get back at you." "Got ya!" "I can't believe you did that," replied Abe shaking his head. His friends and co-workers quickly surrounded him and led him over to the table. He looked at the huge pile of presents, unable to believe his eyes. Overwhelmed, he stood in place and said, "Oh, you guys. I can't believe you did this." As Abe laughed and joked with his friends, Martin stepped over to Jerry and said, "I couldn't believe you did that. Even knowing that everyone was here, I was shocked." "Did I go too far?" asked Jerry looking over at Martin. Watching his brother smiling, laughing, and jumping around, Martin answered, "Not at all." "I'll watch the front for a while. Go wish your brother a happy birthday," said Jerry before turning to head up to the front of the store. He walked up the aisle chuckling. Jerry pulled parts while Mike took orders. They could hear the laughter coming from the back of the store and knew that Abe was having a good time. Karen came up to the front of the store with two plates of cake. Setting one of them in front of Mike, she said, "Go on back and join the party, Jerry. I'll pull orders." "Thanks Karen," said Jerry. As soon as he reached the back of the store, Jenny handed him a plate. Sharon had arrived and was laughing as Martin explained what Jerry had done to Abe. Throughout the story, Abe was grinning, shaking his head, and saying, "I'm going to get him back." "You're so bad," teased Jenny with a smile. She knew just how much Jerry cared about Abe. "Can I invite you to my office for a second?" asked Jerry. "Planning on taking advantage of me?" asked Jenny with a wink. "Always," said Jerry with a smile. Inside the office, Jerry said, "That black girl, Shauna, is the one that dyed Melissa green." "Really? They were talking with each other in a friendly manner." "I was wondering if you could hire her for a couple of hours after school to help you straighten up the restaurant and do little odd jobs for you. Maybe give her a chance to learn a little about business," said Jerry. The request was totally unexpected and Jenny looked at him wondering what had motivated it. Puzzled, she asked, "Why?" Jerry looked down at the floor for a moment before he answered. "I heard her talking with the other kids. She said that she faced a life of prostitution if she didn't get her act together and get a real job. She'd do anything to get a break." The idea that a teenage girl could possibly believe that the only future for her was being a prostitute shocked Jenny. Her breath caught in her throat. Finally, she managed to say, "I can't do that at the restaurant. Everything is basically done by the time she'd get out of school. How about I have her help me with the books for the waterfall company?" Surprised that he hadn't thought of that, Jerry burst into a smile and said, "That would be perfect." Excited, Jerry went over to the office door and opened it. He called out, "Hey, Henry. Can you come here for a second?" "Sure," answered the big man. He patted Abe on the shoulder and headed over to the office. When Henry had joined them in the office, Jerry said, "Henry. I just asked Jenny about hiring Shauna to work for her and she suggested that Shauna help her with the books for the waterfall business. I was thinking that it might be a good idea if we hired Denzel to help with some of the construction work on the waterfalls." "Denzel? Not Leo?" asked Henry surprised by the choice. He figured that Leo wouldn't be nearly as difficult for Jerry to deal with as Denzel. "I'm gonna hire Leo to take over Abe's job," said Jerry with a smile. Seeing the expression on Henry's face, he said, "I know what you're thinking. I just believe that Denzel will listen to you a whole lot more than me. He needs someone like you in his life." Jenny asked, "What about Abe?" "I'm moving him up to part-time salesman," answered Jerry. Henry studied his friend for a minute and said, "You've thought about this, haven't you?" "A little. I didn't know what to do for Denzel until Jenny suggested using Shauna in the waterfall company rather than her restaurant," answered Jerry. The big man laughed when he realized what his friend was doing and said, "I think that Mr. Atkins is going to raise a statue in your honor if you keep this up. Some scrawny white guy gives five black kids a boost out of that neighborhood... Yeah, he's going to raise a statue." Seeing the shocked reaction on Jerry's face, Jenny burst out laughing so hard that it almost hurt her sides. It always amazed her when they made fun of the other's size. When her laughter subsided, she asked, "When do you want to ask them?" "How about after Abe opens his presents?" suggested Jerry realizing that he needed to talk to Mike. "Great," said Henry as he opened the door to rejoin the party. He held the door for Jenny and Jerry considering himself a lucky man. It was humbling to think that he had a friend like Jerry. Abe opened his presents. Henry and Sharon had gotten him a cell phone and an Amex debit card to use for gasoline. Martin had paid six months of his insurance, a gift that meant a lot to the young man. Working had made him appreciate the value of money. Jerry and Jenny gave him a leather motorcycle jacket with an Indian Scout logo on the back. Bill had given the helmet while Melissa, much to Abe's surprise, had given him a pair of leather riding gloves. Shauna gave Abe a key ring. It wasn't much, but it was a lot coming from her. Denzel gave him a gift certificate from the burger place while Leo gave him a gift certificate from Poncho's Tacos. The folks at the store had gotten together a little care package for the motorcycle. Jerry had ducked out for part of the time while Abe was opening presents to talk to Mike about hiring Leo. Mike had a chance to talk a little with Leo although the young man didn't realize he was being interviewed. For the stock boy position, it didn't matter much about automotive knowledge. He did ask about his school and outside interests. Getting the go ahead from Mike, Jerry was standing by when Abe finished with the presents. For Abe, this had been an exceptionally rich birthday and he had found the experience a little overwhelming. He took a moment to talk with his brother and noticed when Jerry approached Leo, put a hand on his shoulder, and then led him off to the front of the store. He turned to ask a question of Denzel and noticed that Henry was walking out the back of the store with his hand on the boy's shoulder. Puzzled he looked around for Shauna, but didn't find her. Wondering what was going on, he asked Melissa, "Where's Shauna?" "Jenny took her in the office," answered Melissa absently. "Oh," said the young man in response. He didn't know what to make of all his friends getting led away from the party. Melissa felt a little uncomfortable standing next to Abe without talking about something. She looked at the helmet that Bill had gotten for him and latched upon it as a reasonable topic of conversation. She said, "Bill said that he ordered that helmet on the internet." "It's a great helmet, top of the line. I can't believe he found one the same color as the motorcycle," said Abe picking it up and looking at it. He glanced over at Melissa and saw that she was a little uncomfortable. Changing the subject to something that he thought she would enjoy a little more, he said, "I saw you talking with Shauna a little earlier. I hope that you two are getting along." "She's pretty nice, actually. I have to admit that dying me green was an amazing revenge," said Melissa. "I would never have thought of it." Chuckling at the memory, Abe said, "Sure surprised me." In the front of the store, Jerry stopped and said, "Leo, I've got an opening for a stock boy. It's the same job that Abe has been doing for the past year. I'm promoting him to part-time sales. Are you interested?" Dubious, Leo looked at Jerry with a wrinkled forehead. He asked, "Are you offering me a job?" "Yes," answered Jerry. The simple answer burst through Leo's normal reserve like a hot knife through butter. The young man jumped up in the air and raised a fist as he shouted, "Hell, yeah!" Sitting at the counter, Mike was on the phone with a customer. When Leo reacted, he burst out laughing. Once Mike had recovered, Jerry overheard him tell the customer, "Just offered a job to a young man... You heard him... Yeah, he's a little excited." Chuckling, Jerry said, "You can start tomorrow. Come in after school, fill out an application and the tax forms, and then Abe will show you the ropes. Mike will explain the rules about working here and some of the benefits." "This is so great!" Jerry waited for the usual question, but Leo was so excited that he wasn't thinking about working. He was busy celebrating his good fortune by dancing in place. After a minute, a very amused Jerry asked, "Do you have any questions?" "I'm supposed to come here after school tomorrow, right?" asked Leo wondering by Jerry's question if he might have misunderstood something. "That's right. Are you sure that you don't have any other questions?" asked Jerry. "Like what?" asked Leo feeling very confused. His excitement ratcheted down a notch at the thought that he had missed something important. "Like how much you are going to get paid," suggested Jerry with a smile. Blushing at having missed the most obvious question that he should have asked, the young man answered, "Oh yeah. I forgot about that. How much am I getting paid?" "Five fifty an hour," answered Jerry. "How many hours will I work?" "About ten a week," answered Jerry. "Wow, that's not bad. Fifty-five bucks a week," Leo mused. Jerry patted the young man on the back and said, "Let's rejoin the party." "I can't wait to tell Abe that I have his job," said a very happy Leo. "I haven't told Abe that he's getting promoted yet," said Jerry. "Even better," said Leo, prompting Jerry to laugh. As they walked back to where the party was being held, Jerry said, "You might want to talk to Abe about buying his scooter." When they reached the back room, Jerry looked around. Jenny was talking to Sharon while Shauna was excitedly talking to Abe about her job. Sorry that he had to interrupt, he called over to Abe, "Abe, can I talk to you a minute?" "Sure," answered the young man. He whispered something to Shauna that prompted her to laugh before going over to where Jerry was waiting for him. "I gave Leo your job," said Jerry in a very serious voice. It was hard keeping himself from breaking into a smile. Grinning, Abe shook his head and said, "You got me once today. You're not getting me a second time." "I'm serious." Abe's confidence was severely undermined when he heard a very excited Leo exclaim, "I got Abe's job. I'm now the stock boy!" ------- Chapter 40 Standing next to the kitchen table, Jerry and Bill waited in the kitchen for Melissa to come out for breakfast. The table was set with a stack of pancakes at her place complete with seventeen candles. Bill smiled at his father and said, "Won't she be surprised." "I think so." Melissa came out of her room and entered the kitchen in dire need of a cup of coffee. She looked up and saw the two men standing by the table. Her mouth dropped open in shock. It took her half a minute to recover enough to say, "You got robes!" "Happy Birthday!" said Bill as he twisted and turned like a fashion model. Jerry ginned at the antics of his son and the surprised expression on Melissa's face. "I don't have to look at you in your boxers any more," exclaimed Melissa. She actually jumped with joy. Unable to contain her pleasure at that prospect, she said, "That's that best birthday present you could have gotten me." Grinning at his father, Bill said, "I told you she would like it." Melissa noticed the stack of pancakes with the candles sticking out of them. Her eyes misted at the idea that they had taken such an interest in her birthday. Recalling what they had done for Abe, she wondered what else they had planned for her. Touched, she said, "I love the candles on the pancakes." Jerry pulled out a lighter and lit the candles. Once they were all aflame, he and Bill stepped back to sing 'Happy Birthday.' She stood in place feeling the typical mortification that young adults feel on that specific occasion. Through it all, she was pleased. When they had finished, Bill said, "Blow out the candles and make a wish!" Making a wish that things would continue to get better, Melissa bent over and blew out all of the candles. Standing up, she grinned and said, "All right. That's one wish that I hope will come true." They sat down at the table and started in on their breakfast. Mondays were hot breakfast days and they appreciated the routine. For a short time, eating occupied most of their attention. When their appetites had been sated, Jerry sat back and emitted a long happy sigh. On cue, Bill asked, "So what's the plan today?" "Well, today is Melissa's birthday. So I thought we'd do a few things to help her celebrate it," answered Jerry. Wondering what her father had planned, Melissa looked up and asked, "So what do you have in mind?" "To start off, I thought I'd drop Bill off at school and then take you to get your driver's license." The news that he was going to let her skip school to get her driver's license was a major shock. Like most seniors in high school, the opportunity to skip school was just too great to pass up. She squealed and shouted, "Really?" "Yes, really. Then I thought that I'd take you out to lunch at the Crimson Rose," said Jerry. "You're finally taking me to Jenny's place?" asked Melissa with her surprise evident in her voice. As far as she was concerned, the plans for this day were good and getting better. Nodding his head, Jerry said, "You bet. After that, I thought we'd head over to the house. They're delivering the furniture today and I thought you might enjoy directing the delivery guys as to where everything goes." Melissa stared at her father upon hearing the great news. She hadn't known that the furniture was getting delivered that day. Once the furniture was delivered, they could move in! She screamed, "All right!" Bill grinned at his sister knowing how much the news about the house meant to her. Jerry waited for her to calm down. Once she was paying attention to her father again, he said, "After school gets out, we'll come back here. Some of the people in the neighborhood want to stop by and wish you happy birthday." "You're kidding. Some of the people around here want to wish 'me' happy birthday?" asked Melissa with emphasis on the 'me.' The suggestion that folks around there would want to have anything to do with her was totally unexpected. "You've met quite a few people around here. I know that things started a little rough, but they're good people who know how to forgive," said Jerry. Abe had been one of the prime movers in getting some of the kids to come over. "I never knew," said Melissa humbled by his description of the people around the neighborhood. It was true. She and Shauna had buried the hatchet. Despite herself, she found that she liked Abe and his smart mouth, even though she was frequently the subject of his quips. "Your day isn't over yet," said Jerry with a smile. He looked over at Bill and said, "You tell her the rest." "Dinner at the Bon Fromege. You've got reservations and the bill is all taken care of. I talked to your friends last Friday and they're going to be waiting for you there," said Bill. He knew how much she and her friends liked that fancy French restaurant. "My God! This is such a surprise," said Melissa as tears flooded her eyes. She couldn't keep herself from crying tears of happiness. At the worried look on Bill's face, Jerry winked. Picking up a clean napkin, he handed it to Melissa and said, "Bill and I are pleased to see you so happy." It dawned on Bill that although she was crying that they were tears of happiness. He relaxed and watched his sister struggle to say something. After blowing her nose into the napkin, she finally said, "This is so much more than I expected." Jerry looked at Bill with more than a little pride and said, "Bill has paid for your dinner tonight. He thought you'd like the chance to drive there yourself and enjoy an evening alone with your friends. That's his present for you." Melissa reached for Bill with an energetic lunge that almost knocked him out of his chair. She hugged him tightly and cried, "Thank you. Thank you." By the time that his sister released him, Bill was nearly on the verge of tears himself. He looked up to see his father watching them with a smile on his face. Bill, uncomfortable by the attention, said, "Happy Birthday, Melissa." Jerry reached into his pocket and pulled out a key ring. Handing it to her, he said, "It's time for me to give you your present." Looking at the key, Melissa asked, "What's this?" "Well, I didn't know how wealthy your grandmother was. The estate has passed to you and Bill to share. I talked to the lawyer and he told me that it would take about a year for everything to get cleared up, but that the house could be used until then. Bill and I talked about it. If it is okay with you, we thought that you'd like to keep your grandmother's house rather than sell it." Melissa's eyes had grown larger with each word that her father had said. If she understood what her father was saying, she was being given her grandmother's house. Swallowing, she asked, "What are you saying?" "Bill has agreed to get his half of the estate out of the stocks, bonds, and cash leaving you with the house and about a quarter of her money. The money should see you through college and pay for the upkeep on the house. For all intents and purposes, you are set up for the rest of your life if you take care not to blow the money," said Jerry. He had been staggered when he learned how much the kids were set to inherit. Melissa thought about it for a moment and then, afraid to learn the answer, asked, "Are you saying that I'm not going to live in the new house?" Laughing at the worried look on her face and understanding that it arose from a sense of abandonment, Jerry said, "No. You're seventeen years old and will live with us as long as you want. I'm just saying that on weekends and afternoons, you have a house of your own that you can go to. It has a swimming pool and a garage for your cars." "Cars?" asked Melissa, relieved to learn that her Dad wanted her to live at home with him. "Your grandmother had two cars," explained Jerry. Melissa was silent for a minute and then asked, "What about mom's sports car? What's happened with that?" "What car?" asked Jerry. He hadn't thought about his ex-wife's possessions other than what she had been given by her mother. Thinking about it, he realized that her car must be parked in front of the courthouse if it hadn't been towed away. "She had a Mustang convertible," answered Melissa. She looked at Bill and saw the effect that mentioning the name of the car had on her brother. She smiled and said, "When we find it, Bill ought to take it. The girls will love that." "Oh boy, Billy Boy's gonna get a chick magnet," Bill quipped with a grin and giving a giving a little disco-fever dance move. It would be almost two years before he could drive it, but it was nice thinking that a convertible was waiting for him. Jerry laughed at the Bill's joke and saw that Melissa was smiling as well. He said, "Anyway, that gets me back to your birthday present. You've got three cars, a house, and enough money for life. That didn't leave much for me to get you. However, I figured that you might enjoy going skiing between Christmas and New Years with some of your friends. I know they usually go to Aspen, so I'll cover your trip there." The young woman threw herself at her father and wrapped him in a hug. She was amazed that he was able to do just the right thing for her over and over. Every year, she had watched her friends go skiing over the winter holiday wishing that she could go with them. She stepped back and said, "Thank you, Dad." "Happy Birthday," said Jerry. Glancing over at the clock, he said, "Hey, we better get dressed so that Bill isn't late for school." The kids carried their plates to the sink and then rushed off to change clothes. Jerry took his time while getting his clothes and then going into the bathroom to change into them. As he changed, he thought about the strange position that he was in with regard to the kids. They didn't realize it yet, but they had far more wealth than he did. He chuckled to himself at the thought of asking Bill for an allowance. Bill and Melissa were waiting by the Camaro when he finally got out of the house. Looking at them, he said, "Hey, we need to take the BMW. How's Melissa supposed to take her driver's test if she isn't driving her own car?" Feeling a little foolish at their lack of foresight, both kids went over to the BMW. Melissa had headed for the passenger's seat until she realized that her father was getting in that side of the car. The prospect of driving through rush hour traffic to school was a little daunting. She started the car and pulled out of the front yard. Just before the front tire left the curb, she stopped the car and said, "I heard a redneck joke the other day." Surprised by the fact that she was mentioning a joke, Jerry asked, "What was it?" "You might be a red neck if you have more than three cars parked in your front yard," answered Melissa. She gestured behind her with her thumb at Bill's car, the truck, and the Camaro parked on the lawn. Jerry and Bill laughed at the joke as Melissa drove down the street dodging the hundreds of potholes that littered its length. As she made her way around a particularly bad pothole, she knew that driving a cone lined path would be simple compared to missing the potholes. Melissa pulled up to the high school feeling much more confident about her driving skills. When she parked the car, Bill leaned over the front seat and said, "Good luck." "Thanks," answered Melissa. "I'll meet you at the house after school," said Bill after getting out of the car and before shutting the door. "Okay," said Jerry. He watched as Bill raced off to meet his friends. Woody, Larry, Sandy, and a third guy were waiting for him. Jerry recalled that Sandy now had a boyfriend and decided that the guy he didn't recognize was the boyfriend. "He's got a large circle of friends," commented Melissa. She added, "The nerds, the geeks, the band, and the elites all like him. Even the football players wanted him to join the team as center. It surprised me when they accepted his decision not to join and remained friends with him." Not fully aware of the complexities of the social structure of high school, Jerry was clueless as to why she would be surprised. He guessed that you didn't turn down the football team. He asked, "Who are the nerds, the Greeks, the band, and the whatever you called the other groups?" She smiled at her father's lack of knowledge about the social hierarchy of high school, particularly when he called the geeks the Greeks. She pulled away from the curb. While navigating through the school zone, she answered, "The nerds are the brains that love computers, dungeons and dragons, and form Xena fan clubs. The geeks are those kids that want to be cool by copying the cool kids, but come across as fake. They try to fit in, but can't. The band, well, those are the kids that are in the band and really enjoy it. They are basically their own social group. The elites are the leaders on campus. That includes the football team, the cheerleaders, and the trendsetters." "Oh," replied Jerry knowing which group she belonged to based on her descriptions. Although Bill was a freshman and she was a senior, she had watched her brother moving through the school crowds on a couple of occasions. He greeted everyone and dealt with each person like an equal. The social misfits appreciated the honest attention and the elites liked his honesty. Melissa said, "I wouldn't be surprised if Bill doesn't end up with a cheerleader for a girlfriend. Who ever he ends up with, she's going to be a lucky lady. I think Shauna taught him a few tricks that they are going to enjoy." Deciding that she was headed into territory that he wasn't interested in exploring, Jerry said, "I don't want to know about that." She laughed at his obvious unease with the topic of his son's sexuality. She smiled and said, "Okay. I understand. I just thought that you'd like to brag that your son is seen as the neighborhood stud." Jerry groaned and said, "It's none of my business. So long as he uses precautions, he's a free agent." The thought came to her that her father had given her the keys to the house just to allow her a private place knowing full well that she could use it for that kind of activity. Looking over at her father, she realized that one of the things that she respected about him was the fact that he allowed her to keep her sex life private. The truth was that she hadn't had much of a sex life to that point in time. Yes, there had been a few dates, but her mother had instilled barriers to intimacy that she was only now breaking down. How many times had her mother told her to keep her thighs together until the man put the ring on her finger? She couldn't even begin to guess. Blowjobs? Forget about that. A lady, at most, would calmly jack a guy off into a handkerchief and she would only do that if it was necessary to keep his hormones under control. She pulled into the parking lot of the DMV and looked around for a place to park. It took her a few minutes to find one. She groaned on seeing that she would have to parallel park. Seeing the smile on her father's face, she said, "Good practice." He watched as she went through the proper sequence of actions. Without hitting the car in front or behind, she managed to get the car into the parking space. Nodding, he said, "Good job." That was another thing she liked about her father. He was always there with a compliment rather than a criticism. She smiled as she turned off the engine and said, "You do that well." "What?" "Give compliments," answered Melissa. She grabbed her purse and added, "Let's get in line." "I'll let you get in line while I wait with the screaming kids," said Jerry rolling his eyes at the prospect. Melissa laughed at the expression on his face and climbed out of the car. He followed behind watching cars pull in and out of the parking lot. In a way, he was envious. He wished that his store had that many people visiting it in a day. He could just imagine the bonus that kind of business would generate. Jerry sat down on one of the plastic chairs and looked around. He would have been willing to swear that the same people who had been there when he had brought Abe to get his permit to ride a scooter were still there. There was a fat woman with three screaming kids. A black woman was seated beside him with a hard bitter look on her face and reminded him of the woman who had asked him if Sharon was his 'Ho.' Now that he knew what she was asking, he would have reacted very differently. He watched as Melissa slowly advanced through the line. Once she reached the head of the line, he couldn't see her anymore. It was a few minutes after that when she appeared in front of him. A good deal of her excitement about being there had vanished. She said, "I have to wait until they call my name, then you and I have to take the car over to a place over by the side of the building." "You're going to do a great job, so relax," said Jerry. Standing in line had to be one of the most horrible things in life. This had been particularly bad since the man in front of her had a horrible case of body odor. She dropped down into the chair and said, "I really hate lines." "I'd tell you to join the club, but the line for membership is so long that you'd hate it." Melissa laughed at the lame joke and felt better. She leaned back and said, "Wow. I wish I had a dollar for everyone that comes through here in a year." The black woman sitting beside Jerry said, "You can say that again." In the past, Melissa would have made a point of ignoring the woman. Today, she leaned forward and said, "Just as good as winning the lottery." "Oh yeah. I'd be riding in a big car, wearing fancy clothes, and livin' in a mansion. Did you hear about that guy who won fifty million dollars the other day? Shit, I'd a died if my number came up." Melissa smiled and said, "It's kind of hard to spend that money if you die." The black woman laughed, the hard lines on her face disappearing for a moment, and replied, "Honey, I'd pull a Jesus Christ and rise from the dead for that kind of money." Laughing at the joke, Jerry said, "Wouldn't we all?" Jerry heard them announce Melissa's name over the loudspeaker. He turned to her and said, "They called your name." Melissa rose and turned to the black woman. Giving her a wink, she said, "I wish you luck on the lottery." "Thanks, honey," said the woman as she watched the pair head for the door. She shook her head at the thought that there were some nice white people in this world. Taking a deep breath, she went back to waiting. Jerry stood waiting for Melissa to return from her test. He had watched as she drove through the laid out course and parallel parked. Then she had followed directions and headed out into real traffic. When she returned, he could tell by the smile on her face that she had passed. She parked and climbed out of the car, bubbling over with excitement. She exclaimed, "I passed!" "I knew you would," said Jerry giving her a hug. Melissa stopped inside the door and looked around the restaurant. She didn't know any of the clients, but she recognized what they were like. She looked at the décor finding that it resonated with her feminine side. Looking over at Jenny, she said, "It's lovely." "Thank you. I'm glad you like it," said Jenny. She took them over to the table where Jerry usually sat and said, "I'll be right back." A few minutes later, Jenny made it back to the table and said, "I've asked the chef to prepare a little birthday treat for you. I hope you like it." "I'm sure I'll love it," answered Melissa wondering what was going to be served. It wasn't long before she found herself looking at Mesclun Salad with grilled chicken. It was exactly what she would have ordered for herself. Melissa leaned across the table and smelled the fresh flower on the table. Her eyes took in the floral prints on the wall. She ran her fingers over the lace covers and said, "I had no idea it was this nice in here. I'm kind of surprised that you eat here, though. Don't tell Jenny this, but it isn't exactly the kind of place that guys like." Jerry laughed at that and said, "We both figured that out the first time I came in here." Never having heard the story about how Jerry met Jenny, Melissa asked, "Why did you come in here?" Over lunch, Jerry recounted the events that led him to come to the Crimson Rose for the first time. Melissa listened to the story incredulous that her father had gone through such an experience. It was such a contrast to the story that her mother told about why he had left home. Spellbound, she listened to how he had come here to eat every week for months before ever asking Jenny out. She tittered when he relayed how suave he had been in asking Jenny out. She decided that it was a romantic story. They finished eating by the time that the restaurant had cleared out. Jenny sat down at the table and asked, "So how did you like your meal?" "Oh, it was great. That dessert was so rich. I can't believe that I ate the whole thing," answered Melissa. She didn't feel guilty about having eaten it. "I'm glad you enjoyed it," said Jenny. She had expected Melissa to protest the high calorie dessert and had been pleased when the young lady had eaten it with as much gusto as her father. Melissa had learned over time exactly how Jenny felt about her mother's attitude towards men. She recognized the type of women who frequented the Crimson Bistro and knew they shared the same attitudes as her mother. Confused by the contradiction of running a business that catered to women, who were the opposite of Jenny, Melissa asked, "What do you think of your customers?" "I try to keep my relationship with the customers professional. In fact, there's only been one customer that I've ever seen socially outside of the restaurant," answered Jenny. "Oh, who is that?" "Your father," answered Jenny reaching over grasping him by the arm. Melissa burst out laughing and said, "Okay. I should have known that." Jenny pushed a small envelope across the table and said, "Happy Birthday." Opening the envelope, Melissa gasped and then announced her pleasure, "This is so great. I've been dying to go there for ages." "What is it?" asked Jerry curious about what could make Melissa that happy. "A gift certificate to a day spa," answered Melissa. She shivered as she read the card aloud, "A massage, hair styling, manicure, pedicure, skin treatment, and even a lunch. I'll be in there all day!" The young woman embraced Jenny in a hug. It was a heartfelt act that both women understood. Jenny, eyes misting, said, "You're going to have a great time there. I've been twice and each time I felt like a princess by the time I left." Jerry looked at his watch and said, "I hate to break this up, but we need to get to the house for the delivery." "Oh, that's right. Everything is getting delivered today," said Jenny with a smile. After the deliverymen had left, Melissa walked through the house looking in each room. She stopped at the Master Bedroom taking in the balance between masculine and feminine elements. With the addition of a few lace curtains, it would strike the perfect balance. She knew that Jenny and Jerry would both be comfortable in it. Jenny would feel like a real woman in that room and her father would reap the benefits. She still blushed whenever she looked at the picture of the nude over the bed. The woman bore a superficial resemblance to Jenny, but the painting was old enough that there was no way that it could have been Jenny. She went on to Bill's bedroom. This room was almost Spartan in appearance, containing only a simple bed, a small desk, and a chest of drawers. It reflected him - simple, straightforward, and practical. She figured that he would be adding posters on the wall, but she still hadn't decided if the posters would be of women or cars. She had a private bet with herself that he'd choose cars. Turning, she went into her bedroom. The four poster bed with the canopy looked like the bed of a princess. She had a white desk, a make up table, and a three-shelf bookcase. The whole room, filled with white and lace, looked like something out of a fairy tale. She looked at the picture that her father had just hung on the wall. It showed a delicate fairy hovering in front of a flower. She had wanted the painting when she had seen it at the gallery, but didn't mention it. Jenny must have noticed and purchased it for her. From her bedroom, she made her way back to the living room. It was meant for the whole family and conveyed a sense of comfort rather than formality. The overstuffed chairs were covered with a neutrally colored fabric and faced an entertainment center. She could picture her father on the couch with his arm around Jenny who was curled up beside him. Bill would be sprawled across the chair. She planned on claiming the love seat. Stepping into the new den, she was amazed at the transformation that had occurred in the new addition with the introduction of the furniture. The wood desk, bookcases, and credenza looked rich and sophisticated. The red leather judge's chair behind the desk, the two stuffed red leather chairs in front of the desk, and the small red leather sofa gave the room the feel of an old fashioned library. She turned on the lights and watched as the wall sconces lit up the wood paneled walls and white ceiling. Jerry walked up behind her and saw the room for the first time. He couldn't believe his eyes and entered the room spellbound. He whistled as he slowly spun around in the center of the room. With awe in his voice, he said, "Amazing. Absolutely amazing. I can't believe how... I don't even know how to describe it. It's just..." Melissa smiled at his honest display of emotion and said, "It was Jenny. She put so much work into this room to make it just right for you. She loves you a lot." "I don't know what I ever did to deserve her," said Jerry. He went over and hugged Melissa. He added, "I don't know what I did to deserve you and Bill, either." Stepping back, Melissa wiped her eyes and sniffed. Getting control over her emotions, she said, "Jenny has an antique dinner table for the dining room that we'll move in. Add our personal stuff and the house is ready for us." "Just a few days to go," said Jerry making reference to the fact that he would be getting married over the upcoming weekend. "I'm looking forward to the wedding," said Melissa. Although there had been a time when she would have been angry, she really meant it. The more she had worked on decorating the house with Jenny the more she loved the woman. She was classy without being pretentious. "Jenny is going to be a beautiful bride. You're going to look very handsome in your suit." Bill shouted upon entering the house and seeing the living room. He raced around taking a quick look in each room until he reached his. The sound of his shout brought Jerry and his daughter out of the study. Melissa laughed as she watched Bill go into his bedroom. Standing at the doorway, he said, "It's perfect." Amazed that he would be so excited by so little, Melissa said, "It's a little barren." "No, it's perfect. Just like I wanted." Melissa smiled at his reaction. She couldn't believe how perfect this day had been. That reminded her that they were supposed to go back to the house. Rather than insist they leave immediately, she asked, "Hey, aren't we supposed to head back to the house?" The party at the house was a simple affair. Jenny had brought over a small birthday cake. Although the guest list was small, the tiny house was filled with people. Abe, Sharon and Henry came by bearing gifts and to wish her a happy birthday. They had gotten together and bought her a makeup case. Leo and Denzel stopped by and gave her gift certificates to the burger place and taco stand. Shauna had slipped her a little present and told her to open it when she was alone. Melissa had a blast telling everyone about taking the driver's test, lunch, and setting up the house. The kids were interested in what it felt like to be able to drive. The adults reminisced about when they had gotten their licenses. Surprising herself, she related best with Abe who had just gotten his license. Although the pending move to the house was foremost on her mind, she didn't mention it to anyone. She was looking forward to going back home, but understood how it would sound to the others. She didn't want to sound like she wanted to leave here and by extension leave them behind. When the guests left, Melissa collapsed on the Futon and said, "Wow. What a day." Sitting down on the floor, Bill grinned at his sister and said, "You still have dinner." "I know. Everything has been perfect. It's almost like it is too much," said Melissa. She looked around the living room and wondered when she had become comfortable living there. A little later, Bill, Jerry, and Jenny watched Melissa drive off to meet her friends for dinner. Jerry said, "I think she's happy." "I know she's happy," said Bill as his stomach growled, "and I'm hungry." "Let's get some tacos," suggested Jerry as his stomach growled at the idea of eating. Jenny shook her head at the thought of eating at Poncho's Tacos. She was half tempted to run to her car and follow Melissa. Frowning, she said, "I really can't face Ponchos tonight." Bill and Jerry both turned to Jenny in horror at the thought of actually going to Poncho's Tacos. Seeing the looks on their faces, she asked, "What?" "Oh Jenny. Have we got a treat for you tonight!" said Jerry realizing that he had never taken her to the Mexican Restaurant on the other side of the slum. ------- Chapter 41 Standing outside the church, Jerry held hands with Jenny while they waited for his parents to arrive. It had been more than eighteen years since he had talked to them and he was dreading this moment. The last time he had seen them was a few weeks after he had graduated high school. After a huge fight with his father, Jerry had left home and cut all ties to his parents. He hadn't even invited them to his first wedding. Smiling over at Jerry, Jenny could see the tension in his expression. In a soft voice, she said, "Don't be so worried." "You don't know them the way that I do," growled Jerry. Once his father had decided that Jerry was never going to stop fighting in school, he had given up on his son. They started fighting and the fights often got very heated. Jerry hadn't hit him, but had come very close on a number of occasions. His father, a much smaller man than he, hadn't had the same degree of restraint. He glanced at his watch and wondered if they were going to show up. A car pulled up to the parking lot of the church and an elderly couple got out. Jerry glanced at them and turned back to look for his parents. Jenny squeezed his hand and said, "Jerry, I think that might be them." Jerry looked around, but didn't see anyone except the elderly couple. He looked at them a second time. His stomach fluttered when he realized the old man and woman were his parents. Somehow, he had remembered his father as being much bigger than the man now approaching him was. His mother had been a vibrant woman and the gray haired woman on his father's arm barely resembled the mother he remembered. Unable to help himself, he said, "My God, they're old." His comment brought a smile to Jenny's face. She knew that he had been dreading this moment ever since she told him about having sent them an invitation to the wedding. With a light caress of his hand, she said, "Let's go meet them." Shocked at how small and frail his father looked, Jerry numbly walked to meet them halfway on their trek to the front door of the church. He stopped a few steps away and said, "Hello, Mom. Hello, Dad." His mother, glowing with happiness at seeing her son once again, immediately stepped to Jerry and hugged him. She stepped back, holding him at arm's length and said, "It's so good to see you again." Carl Smith looked at his son unable to believe that he was so large. Seeing Jerry reminded him of his father who had been just as big. The memories invoked were not entirely positive and he looked at his son with trepidation. With greater calm in his voice than he felt, Carl said, "Hello, Jerry." Turning to Jenny, Jerry said, "Mom. Dad. I'd like you to meet Jenny. Jenny these are my parents, Carl and Alice Smith." Smiling at the parents of the man she was about to marry, Jenny wanted to make a good impression. Nervous, she said, "It's a pleasure to meet you." Alice turned to look at Jenny with a very large smile. She knew who was responsible for the invitation to the wedding. She went over and hugged the younger woman. Her voice cracked as she said, "Oh, you're such a lovely young woman." As Alice and Jenny talked in soft voices, Carl and Jerry remained facing each other without moving an inch. Neither man spoke as they each sized up the other. Painful memories writhed in each man's mind, forcing them to relive past tensions, fights, and words that should never have been said. Finally, one memory forced its way to Jerry's attention. After taking a deep breath, he said, "My son and I go fishing occasionally. It reminds me of when you and I used to fish." His father faltered at the statement and then realized a key piece of information had been given him. Frowning in uncertainty that he had understood Jerry correctly, he asked, "I have a grandson?" "And a granddaughter," answered Jerry. "They are waiting inside the church to meet you." His father turned to Alice and, with real excitement in his voice, said, "Did you hear that? We have grandkids." "Really?" asked Alice with surprise. Proud of the children as if they were hers, Jenny answered, "Yes. They are such great kids. I know you're going to love them as much as I do. Bill is a strapping young man. I'm sure that he'll grow up to be as big as his father is. Melissa is an attractive young woman." Relaxing a little, Jerry said, "Come in and meet them. They're anxious to meet you." Inside the church, Bill and Melissa waited with trepidation. Both of the children were nervous about meeting their grandparents for the first time. Bill wondered if his new grandmother would be like his first grandmother. Nervous, Bill asked, "Are you ready to meet them?" "How's my hair look?" asked Melissa worried about making a good first impression. After a slight pause, a grinning Bill answered, "It's a perfect mess. Looks like you stuck your finger in a wall socket. All frizzed up and everything." Her hands flew to her hair to check it out. Frowning as she considered the cheerful timbre in his answer, Melissa looked at him and saw his smile. She ran her fingers through her hair trying to assure herself that her hair was in place. She charged, "You're kidding me, aren't you?" "You bet," answered Bill with an unrepentant grin. "You've been around Abe too much," answered his sister with a roll of her eyes. The opening of the door cut off his laughter. Together the kids stood to face the door. An elderly couple stepped through the door followed by Jenny and then Jerry. The children shifted nervously from one foot to the other as they studied their grandparents. They didn't know what to say. Jerry said, "Kids, I want you to meet your grandparents. This is my mother, Alice, and my father, Carl. Mom and Dad, these are your grandchildren, Melissa and Bill." Carl stepped forward and looked over Bill with a nod. Judging by the size of the young man, he wondered if he was just as much of a troublemaker as Jerry had been at that age. In a near whisper, he said, "You're big like your father." "Yeah, I know," said Bill looking over at his father with a grin. The idea of growing up as big and strong as his father was a source of pride, not dread, for the young man. Together, the two of them had come to accept their size. He flexed his arms to look even bigger without noticing the frown that flashed across his grandfather's face. There was a low rumbling noise from inside the chapel. After a moment, Henry's laughter echoed through the vestibule. He stuck his head out the door and said, "Hey you guys, the preacher says it is time for the rehearsal." "We're still waiting for Jenny's parents to show up. Can't have the rehearsal without her father to practice walking down the aisle with her," replied Jerry with a grin. Nodding his head, Henry asked, "Will I have to practice holding you up through the ceremony?" "Probably," replied Jerry. The laughter of the two big men echoed in the small room. Still laughing, Henry went back into the chapel to let the Reverend know that they had to wait a little longer. Eyebrows raised in shock at the size of the big man, Carl wondered if Henry worked at the church or if he was a friend. He asked, "Who's that?" Gesturing in the direction of the chapel, Jerry answered, "Ah, that's Henry. The little fella is my best friend and is the best man in our wedding." "He's your best man?" asked Carl wondering if all of Jerry's friends were that big. He had accepted a long time ago that his son was a violent man. It had been his hope that Jerry would change when he grew older, but after seeing Henry, he had a very good idea of what his son was doing for a living. All he knew was that it would scare the hell out of him if both of those guys were to show up at his house late at night. "Yeah, we have a little business together," said Jerry. As far as Carl was concerned, that clinched it. There was no doubt in his mind that they were in the business of roughing up people. He glanced over at his wife to see if she was ready to leave. Carl turned in time to see Jenny's mother and father enter the church. The man was almost as big as Jerry and despite his age, looked as if he could tow a car without a truck. He decided the man had to be the ringleader of the gang with Jerry and Henry as the enforcers. He shook his head in disgust. When her parents entered the room, an excited Jenny ran over to great them. She threw herself at her father. The man picked her up and spun her in the air with relative ease. She shouted, "Oh daddy. It's so good to see you again. I want you to meet my fiancee." The fact that Jenny was going to introduce Jerry to her father puzzled Carl. He watched in confusion as the introductions were made. From the way that everyone acted, it was clear that Jerry had never met his future father-in-law prior to that day. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Coltrain." "Call me Tom, Jerry," replied the big man in a friendly voice. He was impressed with the size of the man standing across from him. His little girl had always brought home big men, but Jerry had to be the biggest of them all. He was also a little older than he had expected. Jenny's mother said, "You can call me Sherry." "Alright, Tom, Sherry" said Jerry liking the big guy immediately. He hadn't really believed Jenny when she had said that her father was a big man. He gestured to his mother and father performed the introductions. Carl shuffled forward half-afraid of shaking hands with the man. He figured that the guy would crush his hand. The firm handshake was a surprise in the sense that it wasn't overly strong. He mumbled, "Nice to meet you." Tom compared the two men standing before him and wondered how Jerry could be the son of such an average sized man. He turned to Jerry and said, "So you're marrying my little girl." "Yes, sir," answered Jerry. "I'm still trying to figure out why she agreed to it. She's the most beautiful woman that I've ever seen. She's got a gentle soul and a caring nature. And smart. She's the smartest person I've ever met. Yep, it's a real mystery to me why she's marrying me." Pushing against him with little effect, Jenny said, "Ah, come on. Aren't we supposed to be practicing getting married?" Bill was about to pipe up with a comment about them already practicing the honeymoon, but Melissa hit him in the shoulder before he was able to say a word. He'd already made that joke too many times for it to be funny anymore. Jerry said, "Mom and Dad, the kids wanted a chance to get to know you. I hope you don't mind." Giving her son a big smile, Alice replied, "That would be lovely." Before going into the chapel with Jenny and her parents, Jerry suggested, "Why don't you go somewhere with the kids and talk with them in private while we are practicing? We can meet up at the buffet for the recital dinner at seven." "Sounds like a plan," replied Carl. He figured that with the kids away from their father, he'd find out the truth about his son. So far, he was convinced that his son was some sort of enforcer for a crime family. Brightening at the idea of going somewhere, Melissa suggested, "Why don't we go to our big house?" "Your big house?" asked Alice. "Yeah. We've got two houses. The big house and then the house in the slums," answered Bill. "The slums?" asked Carl wondering what they were talking about. "Well, that was the house that Dad moved into when he left the bitch," answered Bill. There was real venom in his voice when he mentioned his mother. "Dad bought the house after it was proved that the landlord was selling drugs and using the houses that he owned in a money laundering scheme," said Melissa. "Your Dad is mixed up with drugs?" asked Carl horrified at the idea of what his son had become. "Dad? Mixed up in drugs? Nope. Mr. Atkins went down the street to tell the drug dealers to move out of our neighborhood. Dad went with him and ended up getting shot four times. He nearly died, but he protected Mr. Atkins. He killed a couple of the drug dealers and put the rest in the hospital," answered Bill somewhat confused by his grandfather's question. "You do know what your Dad does for a living, don't you?" asked Carl seeking further proof that his son was some sort of underworld enforcer. "Sure. He's the manager of the Auto Parts House on Main Street," answered Bill. "He's the manager of an Auto Parts store," echoed Carl nodding his head sagely. He decided that an auto parts store would be a perfect front company for a criminal organization. He figured they sold parts that had been stripped off of stolen cars. He asked, "So Henry is a partner in that business?" "No. We have a small company that makes indoor waterfalls," answered Bill. "They are interior water sculptures," corrected Melissa shooting a look of feminine superiority in his direction. Bill shrugged off his sister's correction and added, "We just got an order for one that is going to be eight feet tall and twelve feet long. We're getting paid fifty thousand dollars for it. They're purchasing it for some office building up in Chicago." Carl looked at his grandson for a minute trying to figure out what he was talking about. He asked, "So Henry has another job?" "Yeah. He's a trash man for the city," answered Bill knowing that it wouldn't be long before Henry was making more money with the waterfalls than from his day job. The men talked while working on the waterfalls and Bill was smart enough to listen. He was learning things about being an adult that none of the other kids in school even dreamed about. "Sanitary engineer," corrected Melissa. "Henry says that he's a trash man. If you don't like that, take it up with him," countered Bill eliciting rolled eyes from Melissa. Alice steered the conversation back to the houses and asked, "So the big house is Jenny's?" Melissa shook her head and said, "No. We call Jenny's house, Jenny's house. The big house is the house that we grew up in. Dad got it back when he got divorced." "What were the grounds for divorce?" asked Carl. "Spouse abuse," answered Melissa, "or at least it should have been." On hearing that, Carl was ready to grab the kids and run out of there. He'd had a low opinion of Jerry and this was just the icing on the cake. He may not have known about his grandchildren until this minute, but he wasn't going to let them stay with an abusive father even if that man was his son. He asked, "Why aren't you living with her?" "Shit," scoffed Bill, "She's the one who was doing the abusing. Fuck her. We don't talk about the bitch." "Besides, the bitch is dead," added Melissa. Looking at the two kids, Carl was convinced they were hiding something. He didn't appreciate the language the kids were using. Bill looked at Carl for a minute with a puzzled expression. It dawned on him that his grandfather didn't have a very good opinion of his father. In order to confirm that suspicion, he asked, "You thought Dad was hurting us?" "Well, he's always been a violent man," answered Carl even as his wife tensed by his side. She had listened to everything the kids had said and thought her son was doing great. Angry, Bill replied, "Dad's the best. He protected Melissa and me when the bitch tried to shoot us. He'd have been killed if the police hadn't shot and killed her. He helped me at school when the kids were picking on me because I was big. Now, I don't get into fights anymore. I'm a good student and on the honor roll." "Dad's helped lots of people in our neighborhood. He's taught a bunch of them how to fix cars, earn a living, and get along with each other. Don't you dare say bad things about my Daddy," shouted Melissa surprising herself with her defense of her father and her claim about the neighborhood. Alice interrupted, "Kids, let's go to the big house. I'd like to hear some more about my son. He sounds like a great dad." Inside the chapel, the Reverend was showing Jerry and Henry where they were supposed to stand at the beginning of the ceremony. There were little masking tape crosses on the floor to indicate the proper location. Grinning, Henry looked over the spot carefully and announced, "Now if he faints face first, he'll fall that way. If he faints ass backwards, he'll fall this way. Let's see, standing here I should be able to catch him in either case." Sharon quipped, "Look who's talking about fainting - the big man, himself. Everyone was betting on which direction you were going to fall during our wedding. Lot's of folks are still mad at Jerry for catching you so many times." Jenny giggled while Henry had the grace to blush. Coming to his friend's defense, Jerry said, "Hey, it's best to be prepared. Of course, I probably should have found a bigger guy to be my best man. Henry looks a little weak to me." "For a scrawny fellow like you? Hah!" While the Reverend tried to get control over the situation, Tom turned to Sharon and asked, "Are they always like that?" She smiled at the question. Shaking her head, she said, "If you couldn't see them and overheard them talking, you'd swear that they were both ninety-five pound weaklings who get sand kicked in their faces. Sometimes I get the feeling that the only time they are comfortable with being so big is when they are together." The big man nodded and said, "I can understand that." "I bet you can. You aren't exactly the runt of the litter yourself," commented Sharon with a wink. Jenny sidled up to her father and whispered, "You're going to like Jerry. He's a good man, just like you." Grinning at her daughter, Sherry ran a hand over her husband's shoulders as she said, "I bet he can pick you up and carry you around the house like this barbarian does with me." Jenny giggled knowing that her mother loved that as much as she did. There was something earthy about it that started her juices flowing. As if she was sharing a great secret, she said, "He can and he does." "You've got to feel sorry for big women married to little men. They've got no idea what it's like when a man picks you up and carries you off," said Sharon looking over at Henry. She licked her lips and added, "Half the time, that's all the foreplay I need." The three women laughed while Tom blushed. It was the women's turn to blush while Tom laughed when they realized that the Reverend had been standing next to Jenny listening to the discussion. The Reverend shook his head thinking that most people approached the wedding with a little more seriousness than this couple. He cleared his throat and said, "If the bride, her father, and the maid of honor will come with me, I'll show you what you are supposed to do." While the four of them went to the back of the church, Sherry came over to Henry and Jerry. Looking over both of them, she said, "My, you are big men." Henry grinned and said, "Your husband's not that small." "Sharon, Jenny, and I all know about having a big man around the house. It's never dull," said Sherry with a wink. "Jenny's an amazing woman," said Jerry with a sigh. He still couldn't believe how giving she was. "You're going to protect and take care of her, aren't you?" "Ma'am, anyone or anything that wants to hurt her is going to have to go through me to do it. I assure you that's not easy," said Jerry. Looking to the back of the church at his bride to be, he added, "She's going to have the best life of anyone on this planet. I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure that everyday is better than the day before." "You meant that, didn't you?" asked Sherry surprised at the emotion in his voice when he had answered her question. "He does, ma'am," answered Henry on behalf of his friend. Sherry smiled and pointed to the aisle where Sharon was marching along in a stately pace. She said, "I think we are supposed to watch this part." Jerry turned in time to see Jenny going through the step-pause walk down the aisle. In a reverent tone of voice, he found himself saying, "She's so beautiful. I never thought that such a beautiful woman existed until I met her." Putting her hand to her face, Sherry discovered tears were running down her cheek. She wasn't sure if it was the sight of her daughter marching down the aisle or the words Jerry had said, but she was suddenly feeling very emotional. She dug a tissue from her purse and dabbed her eyes. She moved over to the pew and sat down thinking that there was a good reason that the mother of the bride sat through the ceremony. Henry watched Sharon walk down the aisle. Despite the fact she was wearing plain clothes, in his mind's eye he was seeing his bride in her wedding dress. He was tempted to run over to her and hug her. When she reached her place to stand, they looked at each other with love in their hearts. Henry wondered why he had ever been nervous about marrying such a wonderful woman. It took the Reverend several minutes to get everyone's attention so that he could step them through the next part of the ceremony. After they finished the ceremony proper, he told them, "You will then kiss the bride and then turn to face everyone while I introduce you as Mr. and Mrs. Jerald Smith." Seated beside her husband, Sherry piped up, "Then you pick her up and carry her down the aisle growling like a barbarian who's claimed his woman." "Am I supposed to carry her in both arms or throw her over the shoulder?" asked Jerry in as serious of a voice as he could manage. It was a rhetorical question. He knew Jenny preferred the over-the- shoulder carry because he could rub her ass while carrying her. She could kick her legs and beat his back with her arms without fear of being dropped. Tom slapped his thigh as he burst out in laughter. He liked his future son in law. The Reverend rolled his eyes wondering how long this rehearsal was going to take. Sherry grinned and answered, "Both arms. You will be in public after all and we must keep up appearances." The Reverend interrupted and explained that they were to walk down the aisle so that everyone could admire the bride. Winking at her mother, Jenny interrupted, "I'd rather be carried so that everyone is jealous of me." "Uh, let's do it the traditional way," suggested the Reverend. He turned to face Henry and said, "You and the bride's maid will follow them down the aisle." Grinning, Sharon asked, "Can he carry me?" Realizing that they were joking, the Reverend laughed and said, "Just do what they do." Shrugging, Henry said, "If you say so." "Are there any questions?" asked the Reverend. Jenny shook her head and looked around at everyone else. They all looked satisfied. She answered, "No questions here." Stepping over to Jenny, Jerry put his arms around her with a smile. He leaned down and kissed her. After breaking the kiss, he said, "I love you so much." A very nervous Jerry made another circuit around the room. He fidgeted with the sleeves of his suit as he walked. It had been tailored to fit properly and didn't bind or gap, despite his large size. He glanced at his watch and saw that there was still another ten minutes before the ceremony was to start. Only a minute had passed since the last time he had checked. Time seemed to run like molasses in winter. He groaned at the eternity that appeared to face him. He asked, "Is it hot in here?" "No," answered Henry with a grin. Watching his friend pace around the room, Henry chuckled and asked, "Not so easy when you're the groom, is it?" "I don't have any second thoughts," said Jerry sounding a little defensive. He recalled how Henry had been getting sick in the toilet while waiting. He stopped and faced his friend with a smile. He added, "I just want to get the show on the road." "Ah," commented Henry, "no butterflies in the stomach?" "None," answered Jerry. He resumed pacing and then said, "Okay, I've got a few butterflies but they're all small." "They'd have to be the size of condors for you to consider them normal sized." Henry laughed and went over to the mirror to check out the fit of his suit. It was the same suit that he had worn at his wedding. Jerry felt a sudden need to empty his bladder. His eyes flicked to the bathroom as he considered what to do. After checking his watch and seeing that he had plenty of time, he went into the bathroom. His urge was brought on by nervousness rather than need. It was a very unsatisfying piss. "Be a man and throw up. A little piss? Give me a break," Henry said. "You're just jealous, little man," Jerry quipped. He glanced at his watch and moaned upon seeing that only two minutes had passed. "Little?" asked Henry. There was only one person in this world that made fun of his size with such impunity. Grinning at Jerry, he asked, "Am I going to have to hold you up during the ceremony?" Before Jerry had a chance to answer, there was a knock on the door. Jerry headed over to the door, but Henry waved him back thinking that it was the preacher. With a few long strides, Henry went over to get it. Instead of the preacher, he found Abe standing there with a worried look on his face. Abe said, "Ah, good. You're here." Concerned by the worried expression on Abe's face, Henry asked, "What's the matter?" Abe looked around nervously before he asked, "Can I come in? I've got something important to tell Jerry." Starting to get worried, Henry said, "Come on in." Entering the room, Abe looked back at the hallway and said, "Close the door. I've got some bad news." Hearing something about bad news, Jerry wondered if there was something wrong with Jenny. All of his fears and doubts surged to the surface. Had she decided to cancel the wedding? Was she ill? He had to know. He raced over to Abe and asked, "What's the matter?" "There's some guy out there who claims that he and Jenny are married," answered Abe as he gestured to some undefined space behind him. ------- Chapter 42 "What?" asked Jerry in shock. "There's some guy out there who claims that he and Jenny are married," answered Abe. The news staggered Jerry just as surely as if he had been hit in the stomach with a baseball bat. His mind raced as he tried to remember if there was ever a time when Jenny might have hinted at being married before. He reached for support and found Henry beside him keeping him from falling to the ground. Feeling his knees weaken, he asked, "How can that be?" Grinning broadly, Abe made a gesture like he was shooting a gun and said, "Gotcha!" As Abe slipped out the door, Jerry bellowed, "Abe, I'm gonna skin you alive!" Henry stared at the closed door in shock unable to believe that Abe would do something like that on such an important occasion. It had been delivered in such a believable fashion. Shaking his head, he growled, "I'll be right back. I'm going to kill that boy." After a half minute delay, Jerry started laughing when he realized that the young man had been joking. Barely able to control his laughter, he shook his head and said, "Don't. He's just getting me back for his birthday." "Oh, yeah. He did promise to get you back," said Henry with a chuckle. There were times when it was a pleasure watching the interaction between Abe and Jerry. It was usually fun and confusing at the same time. "You've got to admit, it was a good one," said Jerry wondering how Abe had thought up the joke. Without a knock, the door opened. A very irritated Sharon stuck her head into the room and asked, "What in the hell did that boy of mine do now?" Still laughing, Jerry said, "Oh, he came in here and said that some guy was outside saying that he and Jenny were married." Shaking her head, she realized what Abe had done. She should have expected it, since the boy had been too cheerful all morning. With a half-grin, she said, "That boy's got the devil in him." "By the way, how did you know he had done something?" asked Jerry still chuckling. "Everyone heard you yelling at him," answered Sharon shaking her head. It was hard to believe that his low-pitched growling voice could carry that far. They had heard it through two closed doors. Henry leaned forward and gave her an affectionate kiss on the cheek. He said, "You might want to tell your sister to keep an eye on him during the ceremony." "You bet," said Sharon as she left. The Reverend arrived and asked, "What's the problem?" Henry explained what Abe had done. The Reverend, normally a rather reserved man, shook his head at the antics that had gone on so far in this wedding. The comments and jokes during the rehearsal had been bad enough. Practical jokes this close to the start of ceremony was almost over the line. He'd had a lot of grooms who would have passed out upon hearing something like that or gone into a murderous rage. Judging by Jerry's reaction the Reverend decided that the big guy was a lot more forgiving than most and reserved his judgment. Instead, he asked, "Any chance that he'll do something similar during the ceremony?" Jerry looked over at Henry. The two big men exchanged huge grins since they both knew the answer was a definite yes. Jerry was too busy chuckling to answer so Henry said, "You bet." "I'd be surprised if he didn't stand up with some objection to the marriage. Oh, it'll be a funny one and keep people laughing through the rest of the ceremony," commented Jerry chuckling at the kinds of things he could imagine Abe saying. "Like what?" asked the Reverend surprised by the easy way the man was discussing what others would consider an act that would ruin their wedding. He hoped the bride was just as understanding. Trying to imitate the kind of pose that Abe would adopt, Jerry said, "This ain't no Walt Disney movie. There's no way that the beauty should marry the beast." "Nah, he'll claim that it was up to him, the dashing hero, to rescue Beauty from the Beast," countered Henry. "It would have to be even better than that. He's probably been planning this since his birthday," said Jerry shaking his head. "Yeah. He'd probably declare her Little Red from the Riding Hood and you the evil wolf," said Henry with a chuckle. The Reverend frowned at the idea of the potential catastrophe and then asked, "What's the name of this young man?" "Abraham Lincoln Spencer," answered Henry giving Abe's full name. The Reverend glanced at his watch and said, "It's about time to start. Why don't you two get in position while I talk with the bride?" The Reverend was surprised to hear the Bride and the Bridesmaid discussing what remarks Abe was likely to make during the ceremony. He was shocked at how much alike their comments were to those made by the Groom and Best Man. After seeing that they were ready, he led them to the place they were to wait. Stepping in front of his friends, co-workers, and family, Jerry stopped to look at the crowd of people in the church. Seated beside his parents, Melissa and Bill were in the front row smiling at him. Bill gave him a thumbs-up sign to let him know that he was happy about the wedding. Melissa smiled and dabbed at the tears in her eyes. His mother looked happy and his father merely nodded in his direction. He didn't know how to interpret the nod. Abe, Martin, Cathy and George were sitting right behind Jerry's family. Abe started to make a gesture like he was shooting Jerry, but his aunt hit him on the shoulder. He turned to look at her, forgetting for the moment all about Jerry. Jerry winked at George. All of the people from the store were sitting behind them, including Al Sinclair and his wife. On the other side of the room were people that Jerry didn't know that well. The cook, the two waitresses, and the dishwasher from the Crimson Rose took up the back. A few of Jenny's friends who he had not yet met were seated behind her mother. Sherry was seated near the aisle with a space for her husband. Jerry nodded to her even as Henry whispered to him, "You're not quite there yet. Just a few more steps to go. Do I need to carry you or something?" Just about everyone in the chapel heard him. This provided a titter of laughter through the first few rows. Bill turned to Melissa and said, "Dad looks to be in a little better shape than Henry was when he was getting married." "Yeah, he's standing on his own," agreed Melissa with a wink. Forgetting where he was for the moment, Henry replied, "Hey, I was a little nervous." The words coming from the huge man surprised a lot of people. Jerry moved over to where he was supposed to stand. Realizing that Jerry had moved, Henry rushed to get into place. Once there, he whispered, "Sorry. I guess I'm not very good at all of this wedding stuff." "The only one that gets much practice at this wedding stuff is the Reverend," commented Jerry. His words brought a smile to Jenny's mother. In his deep voice, Henry said, "Amen to that, brother." Surprising them, from his position at the front of the room, the Reverend said, "Yes, Amen to that." The music suddenly changed and an expectant hush fell over the room. When his eyes turned to the back of the room, Jenny stepped into view. Jerry didn't notice anything else in the room. She was resplendent in her white gown. The veil covered her face, but it wasn't enough to hide her beauty. Jerry would swear that she glowed with an inner beauty while walking down the aisle holding onto her father's arm. Barely able to breathe, Jerry said, "She's so beautiful." When she reached the front of the room, her father stepped to the side. For a moment, there were three very large men standing at the front of the room. As he moved to his seat, Tom paused and looked over at the other two men. Despite having met them the previous night, it was difficult for him to believe just how big they were. Standing side by side, they took up as much room as four or five men would have taken. Jerry turned and gazed into Jenny's eyes. The veil softened her eyes. She gazed back, loving him and letting him see her love for him shining forth. Lost in love, they didn't hear much of what the Reverend had to say as he talked about the sanctity of marriage. Jerry knew that he was the luckiest man in the world to have found anyone capable of loving with the unselfishness of Jenny. Jenny was amazed that she had found such a good caring man. He was a gentle giant who could admit hurt and yet protected those around him with all of his strength. Jerry was unaware of the passage of time. It seemed as if seconds had passed since she entered the room, but it was already time for them to exchange vows. A wave of light laughter rose in the room when the Reverend announced, "If anyone, except Abraham Lincoln Spencer, has just cause as to why these two should not wed, speak now or forever hold your peace. Abraham Lincoln Spencer can just hold his peace." The young black man had the grace to blush although a retort about holding his peace filtered through his mind. It was too nasty and his mother would have killed him if he had said it. The roar of Henry's laughter filled the room. Sharon, standing in the traditional spot for the maid of honor, looked over at Abe and shook her head laughing at the look of innocence that her son was trying to project. Even Jenny giggled at the pronouncement. Even during the interruption, Jerry only had eyes for Jenny. Forgetting for the moment that he was in the middle of the marriage ceremony, he whispered, "I love you so much, Jenny. My heart feels too large for my chest." Jenny, knowing exactly how he felt, smiled at her beloved man and replied, "I love you." The Reverend gave them a moment and then continued with the exchange of vows. Jerry managed to echo the vows without error and say the 'I do's' at all the right times. Before he knew it, the ceremony was over and he was lifting the veil to kiss her. Her beauty struck him again. With trembling hands, he held her to him and kissed her. The Reverend proclaimed, "I now present to you, Mr. and Mrs. Jerold Smith." The kiss was not a simple peck on the lips, but a passionate expression of his love. It lasted a long time. Abe started to suggest that they get a hotel room, but a swat against the back of his head stopped him. He glared at his aunt for a half second until he caught the look on her face. After the kiss, a breathless and stunned Jerry said, "It's time to head down the aisle." "Carry me," she whispered with a twinkle in her eye. She glanced at her mother and saw her mother give her a wink in return. Grinning at the suggestion, Jerry picked up his new wife. Cradling her in his arms, he strode down the aisle feeling a thousand feet tall. She screamed with joy and wiggled her legs as he carried her away. Throwing her head back, she yelled, "Eat your hearts out ladies, I got me a big man!" The Reverend stood there with a wry grin on his face. He turned to Henry and said, "I've seen far more solemn ceremonies." "But I bet you've never seen a couple who love each other that much," countered the big man. His eyes showed signs of misting. Sharon came over to him and said, "I think we were supposed to follow them out." "What is it that butlers always say to guests?" Puzzled, Sharon thought about it for a moment before she answered, "Walk this way?" "Yeah. I think that's what Jerry said as he walked off," said Henry. Grinning, he bent down and picked her up. Henry carried her down the aisle with the same ease as Jerry had carried Jenny. Her first reaction was to resist, but his grin was infectious. She smiled and said, "I've got me a big man, too." Tom turned to Sherry and said, "I guess I'm supposed to carry you out too." "No. I'm supposed to be a dignified old broad," replied Sherry. She extended a pinky and rubbed the corner of her mouth with it in a parody of class. Tom laughed and retorted, "Wrong on all three counts. You aren't dignified, old, or a broad. You're my sexy Sherry mouse." "Well Tom Cat, in that case..." Tom stood up and lifted his wife with an ease that suggested he was a much younger man. He carried her down the aisle while she giggled like a schoolgirl. As he passed Cathy and George, George said, "Ain't no way I'm carrying you out of here. I'll break my back." A roar of laughter provoked by George's comment filled the room even as Jenny's parents exited. The Reverend stood at the front of the room shaking his head in wonder. After the previous night, he'd been half convinced that the ceremony would end with Jerry carrying her out. He hadn't expected the Best Man to carry out the Maid of Honor or the Bride's parents to follow suit. Still, the ease with which all three men had picked up and carried their wives out of the room was impressive. He had to admit that, even if it wasn't dignified. In the alcove where they were supposed to wait, Jerry continued to cradle Jenny in his arms while kissing her. She had her arms wrapped around his neck, reveling in the attention that he was giving her. His strength took her breath away. Henry had set Sharon on the ground and was passionately kissing her. All three of the women enjoyed how the ceremony had ended. Walking side by side and holding hands, Jerry and Jenny were the last to enter the hall they had rented for the reception. Their arrival was greeted with applause and comments about the groom carrying off the bride. Jerry blushed at the attention, but Jenny glowed with happiness. This was her special day and she was enjoying every bit of attention given to her. Jerry was pleased to see her so happy. Individuals wishing them well quickly separated them. Jerry reached out to keep her hand, but others intervened in their excitement. He was led from handshake to handshake greeting the guests and accepting congratulations. It wasn't long before Jerry found himself facing his father. Still uncomfortable in the presence of his father, Jerry said, "Hello, Dad." "I had a long talk with your children last night," said Carl. The conversation with Bill had given him a lot to think about last night. It was staggering to learn how wrong he had been about his son. He'd sat up half the night thinking about the past and his treatment of his son. "Oh, they're really good kids. I'm very proud of them," replied Jerry with real pride in his voice when he spoke about the kids. He stood there nervously, not knowing what to expect from his father. "It seems that I've been sadly mistaken about you," said the elder Smith. Listening to Bill describe what school had been like before Jerry had taken an active role reminded him of the calls that he used to receive about Jerry. The idea that smaller people would pick on a big person to establish a reputation was a major revelation for him. Bill's story had recast Jerry's entire teenage years in a new light. He felt guilty that he had not listened to his son. "Oh, I don't know. I wasn't exactly a model child," said Jerry with a shrug trying to hide hurts that he didn't want to explore on that day. "I really thought you had turned mean." "I did. I did become mean," replied Jerry with a sigh. It had taken some time, but junior high was when rage had been born. With each insult and fight, the rage had grown and burrowed ever deeper into his gut. By the time he had reached high school, it was impossible to get rid of rage. Feeling his stomach, he knew that it had taken a bullet to kill it. "Judging by how Bill has turned out, I realize that I could have done things differently," said Carl. He looked away from his son out of shame. Maybe if he had listened a little more, things might have turned out differently. He didn't know how to apologize or make things right. "Things were different in those days. The school principal was an authority you didn't challenge. Not even parents challenged the authority of the principal. The past is behind us and we can't change it," said Jerry looking at his father. He could see the pain on the old man's face. In a softer voice, he said, "There's the future though." "Future?" echoed his father. "Yeah. I think it would be kind of fun if you were to join us when we go fishing one of these days. Henry, Abe, Bill, and I occasionally borrow a boat from a guy that works for me. The four of us go fishing at the lake," answered Jerry. It was hard to talk around the lump in his throat. "I haven't been fishing since I quit taking you out," admitted his father. Those had been fun days and he missed them. He had withheld those fishing trips as leverage for steering his son down a less violent path. It hadn't worked for reasons that he had just learned about. For years, he had assumed that the times they had gone fishing meant nothing to Jerry. "So when we're planning a trip, how about I call you," suggested Jerry. Making that suggestion was the hardest thing he had done that day. "Sounds fine. Since I retired, I don't have that much to do," said the older man with more excitement than he had felt in a long time. Retirement had been rough on him -- far rougher than he had anticipated. It seemed like overnight he went from being an important busy man to sitting on the sidelines watching life go past. His wife complained that he was underfoot all of the time and just wished he'd go somewhere else at times. "Okay," said Jerry. He looked around and spotted Bill talking to Mr. Atkins. He wondered what the two of them were talking about, but the thought quickly vanished when Abe walked by. He grabbed the young man and called out, "Hey, Henry. Have you got that duct tape?" His father stared at Jerry wondering what was going on. He was surprised when Henry said, "Nope. Sharon has it. You want me to hold him while you tape him up?" Abe was laughing and wasn't putting up any kind of struggle. Jerry called back, "I can handle it." The young man asked, "I sure was surprised when the preacher said that I wasn't allowed to talk during the ceremony." Tom was somewhat confused by the large number of blacks at the ceremony. It seemed that Jerry was a friend with all of them. He recalled the special emphasis by the Reverend that someone wasn't allowed to speak during the ceremony and realized the black kid was the person mentioned. He asked, "What did you do?" Grinning, a very unrepentant Abe said, "Well, just before the ceremony I told Jerry that some guy was outside claiming to be Jenny's husband. You should have seen the look on his face." "What?" asked Tom incredulous. Jerry laughed at the reminder. Shaking his head, he suggested, "Abe, why don't you tell my father about your birthday? I'm sure he'll understand why you did it." As Abe and Tom talked, Jerry roamed over to the table where his boss and his wife were sitting along with Martin, Mike, and Karen. He sat down and thanked his boss for taking the time to come to the wedding. For the next ten minutes, they talked about the future of their business. Jerry made a special point to mention that Mike would have no problems running the store while he was on his honeymoon. Mike made a point of saying that Martin would be acting as assistant manager for the week. When Jerry left the table, Mr. Sinclair turned to Mike and commented, "He makes sure that everyone gets credit for the work they do." "Everyone except himself," replied Mike. Looking over at Mr. Sinclair, he explained, "He works harder than any of us and is making a real difference in the lives of a lot of people. He brought in Leo, the new stock boy, and promoted Abe." Martin said, "He's put other kids in my neighborhood to work. Shauna was afraid that she'd end up being a prostitute. Because of Jerry, she's learning bookkeeping. That's making a real difference in peoples lives." In the corner, Bill was listening to Mr. Atkins. Earlier he had approached elderly gentleman and asked, "How are you enjoying the wedding?" "Mi-tee fine. I'z proud tha' Jerry tho'ght ta' 'vite me," replied Mr. Atkins. "My Dad was very pleased that you chose to accept the invitation," said Bill struggling to understand the words of the elderly man. His accent and ancient dialect made it tough. "He respects you a lot." Mr. Atkins had looked at Bill for a moment and then asked, "Are ya jealous o' Abe and da' relationship he has wit' ya' dad?" "Nah. Abe's our friend. He and Dad joke around. We all have a good time," answered Bill surprised by the question. He wondered why Mr. Atkins would think that he would be jealous of Abe. Mr. Atkins nodded with a smile on his face. He knew that lots of kids would consider his father having a friend their own age as competition for their attention. Putting a hand on the boy's shoulder, he directed him to a corner as he said, "Come wit' me, boy. I've got some dings ta learn ya." "Sure," replied Bill wondering what Mr. Atkins could possibly want to tell him. Seating himself in the corner, Mr. Atkins gestured to a chair and said, "Sit down." "Okay." "You'se a big boy and one day 'ell become a big man," said Mr. Atkins. Noticing the look that Bill gave him, he clarified his statement. "Physical big. Bein' big means that ya'll be physical powerful. Wit' power, comes responsibilities." The one word that rang clear in his short speech was the word 'responsibilities.' At that, Bill sat up and paid closer attention. Nodding, he said, "Yes, sir." "Ya' gotta learn ya-self some contr'l. Can't git mad. Can't git angered. Gotta sta' cool. Folk 'ell look to ya fer lead-r-ship. A leader got ta be betta' en da rest. Gotta," said Mr. Atkins. The old man frowned and continued, "When I's a kid, life was tuff. Re-al tuff, boy. Daddy dun got hung by dem KKK boys. Saw dem boys do it. Sheet, I was mad. Tw'ernt e'en ya age, boy. Couldn't e'en do a damned ding 'bout it." "Shit," said Bill. "Late-a, Momma dun got raped by sum white men. I's furi-us 'bout dat. Couldn't do a damned ding 'bout it. Day'd a hung me lik' my dadda," said Mr. Atkins. Eyes wide open, Bill listened to the old man. He couldn't imagine living through the things described by Mr. Atkins. Shaking his head, Bill asked, "What did you do?" "Shit. Nutin' I culd do," admitted the old man. He sighed and said, "Latta, I got angered. Hated fuckin' white men. I's jus' a lil' boy, but talked big. Afore long, lots a color'd folk look'd ta me for lead- r-ship. I led 'em. Cause a me, lots of dem got hurt. Summa dem were kilt, 'cause a me. A leader gotta be da' best and boy, I weren't da best." "You're a good leader. Everyone looks up to you," said Bill knowing how people in the neighborhood felt about Mr. Atkins. "Twern't back den. No sir-ee. Learnt o'er time what it meant ta be a leader. Learnt dat ya' can't git mad. Learnt ya gotta keep contr'l. Ya' gotta learn ta th'nk furst 'bout dem dat foller ya," said Mr. Atkins. He looked at Bill expecting the young man to say something. When the young man didn't say anything, he added, "Nows yo'se da young buck dat folks gonna be lookin' at ta lead 'em. Ya gonna be da big man." "I don't think of myself as a leader. I'm just a kid, sir," said Bill. The idea that people would be looking to him as a leader was rather scary. He wasn't sure that he was up to it. "Ain't a leader, yet boy," said Mr. Atkins, "Not time fer ya, yet. Ya will be, tho'." "So what should I do?" A smile broke over Mr. Atkins' face at the question. It only confirmed what he already knew about the young man. He answered, "Ya listen ta' ya' Daddy and ta' Henry. Listen 'n learn, boy." "I already do that, sir," replied Bill confused by the answer. "Yessir, I kno's ya do. I bin watchin' ya. Ya jist didn' know why," replied the old man. He winked and said, "Now, ya knos why ya sh'uld do it." "I'm going to have to think about this," said Bill. He felt as if he were missing something important. He glanced in the direction of his father and decided that he was going to talk to him about this conversation. "I like Abe. He's a good boy. Got a mo'th on 'im tho," said Mr. Atkins pointing in the general direction of the young black man. He looked at Bill and said, "I talk'd to ya, but not Abe. He's a good boy, but he's na' ready. He's two year elder dan ya, ba' not ready. He talks too much, but he's learnin' to lis'en. Gettin' close to time fer 'im, but not yet. Ya' 'lready know ta listen. Good leader gotta watch, listen, an' learn." Bill thought about what Mr. Atkins had said. Bill liked Abe, but wondered why Mr. Atkins felt that Abe wasn't ready to become responsible and accept a leadership position within the community. Bill frowned and said, "Abe's got a different style. He listens and learns. He recognizes good advice and follows it. He's a leader though. No one else in his school has a motorcycle, but he does. Others are thinking about doing the same. Sure, he might play a joke occasionally, but they're never mean and diffuse the tension." Mr. Atkins smiled and patted Bill on the shoulder. He said, "Ya's right. Pro'ly time fer me ta talk ta 'im. I'm proud a ya." A few minutes later, Bill left the corner thinking about all the things that Mr. Atkins had told him. He was sure that he missed a lot of what the man was trying to tell him. It was a shame that it was so hard to understand what the man was saying. The first person he ran into was Henry. The big man bent down and asked, "Did he have the talk with you?" "Yes, sir," answered Bill. Still feeling a little confused by all that the old man had told him, he added, "I'm not sure that I understood it all." "I know what you mean, but you'll think about it. One day, you'll wake up and realize that you got it," replied the big man with a chuckle. Almost like a switch getting flipped, Henry got very serious. "Less than a dozen people in our neighborhood have gotten that speech. I'm one of them. He only tells people about leadership when he's positive that they will become leaders. He expects great things from you. We all will expect great things from you." "What did I do?" asked Bill wondering why he had been singled out. "It's not so much what you've done, but the kind of person you've become. I expect he'll be talking to Abe soon," said Henry with a grin. He looked over at Martin and wondered if Mr. Atkins would ever have the talk with him. Martin had never shown much promise until Jerry had taken him under his wing. Now, the kid was already a leader. Henry decided that it didn't matter if Mr. Atkins ever gave him the talk. In a way, he had already acknowledged Martin when he included him in getting rid of the drug house. "I can't say," said Bill looking over at Abe and recalling the last thing the old man had told him. A good leader knows when to say nothing. Henry patted him on the shoulder and said, "Go join him. I'm sure that he's about talked the ears off your grandparents." Laughing, Bill went over to the table to join Abe and his grandparents. He sat down and joined in the discussion about restoring motorcycles and automobiles. It wasn't long before they were talking about the cars his grandfather thought were classics. The boys enjoyed hearing about the impressions the cars made upon people when they were first introduced to the public. Jerry went around the room returning frequently to Jenny for a hug, touch, or a kiss. He felt like a comet in orbit around the sun. He could put some distance between him and her, but he kept coming back to be close to her. He loved her so much. It was on one of those orbits around Jenny that he noticed Melissa sitting alone. He went to join her. Sitting down, he asked, "How are you doing?" "I'm fine," answered Melissa without much conviction. "You look sad," commented Jerry. He put an arm around and held her close. "I watch you and her together and I think... Well, I think it's like some kind of love story movie. That woman used to tell me that those kinds of movies were fiction. She'd tell me that people don't love each other like that," explained Melissa. She looked across the room at Jenny and saw how happy she looked. Jerry didn't say anything. He just hugged her closer to him and let her continue her thoughts. Jenny had told him there were times when a hug was worth a thousand words. He hoped this was one of those times. "I worry that I'm not going to ever be as happy as Jenny is," said Melissa admitting her greatest worry. Jerry hugged her tighter and then whispered, "Melissa, you're going to meet a handsome young man one of these days and you'll glow with happiness." "You think so? You don't think I'm just like that woman?" asked Melissa. Her lower lip quivered as she asked the second question. "No. You aren't like her. Despite all of her efforts to turn you into a carbon copy of her, she failed. You're Melissa, an attractive young woman with a mind of her own. Don't ever forget that," said Jerry. He looked over her head, rubbing her back as she cried against his shoulder. When they announced that it was time for the food to be served, he walked over to the table leading a much happier Melissa on his arm. He took his place at the head table next to Jenny. Melissa sat next to him and patted his shoulder as she said, "Thanks Daddy." "My pleasure. What are Dad's for?" From the other side of Melissa, Bill piped up, "Increasing our allowances?" Realizing that her father wanted to spend a moment with Jenny, Melissa winked and then started talking to Bill about what constituted a fair allowance. Jerry smiled and turned to face his bride. Gazing at her, he said, "I love you so much that it hurts." "Hurts? Sounds horrible," said Jenny with a grin. With a voice laden with false concern, she batted her eyelashes and suggested, "Maybe I ought to turn into a horrible witch so that you'll hate me. That way it won't hurt." Jerry laughed and replied, "Don't. I enjoy the pain too much." She leaned over and kissed him. The kiss removed the rest of the world from Jerry's consciousness. By the time they broke the kiss, plates of food had been set in front of them. With a lover's sigh, he said, "I love you." "I love you too." He rested an elbow on the table and then rested his chin in his palm. Looking over at her, he said, "I can't believe that we're married." She wiggled her left hand, giggled, and then said, "I believe it. I've got all the proof I need on this hand." ------- Chapter 43 Jerry woke in the morning with his arms around Jenny. His morning erection pressed against her, snuggled happily in the crack of her ass. His hand cupped her breast. He loved the fact that she insisted they sleep nude together in bed. It was a minor thing, but illustrated the huge difference between this and his first marriage. A sigh of happiness escaped from him. Six months of marriage had not diminished the passion he felt for her. "You're awake," whispered Jenny making it sound more like a question than a statement. "Yeah." "Good. Now put that hard cock to use," she said with a giggle. She'd been lying there for five minutes fantasizing about him waking. After placing his hand on her breast, her hand had been busy between her legs. "Your wish is my command," Jerry quipped with delight as he ran his hand over her body. Her enjoyment of sex was a constant source of amazement to him. Every morning since getting married, they woke and enjoyed each other. Jenny rolled onto her back and spread her legs in an obvious invitation for him to mount her. Instead of accepting her invitation, Jerry turned his attention to her breasts. He loved her breasts and she never denied him a chance to appreciate them. She held his head to one breast and then gently guided him to the other. His hand came up to fondle the nipple of the abandoned breast. He kissed his way down her body until he reached her pussy. His tongue went to work exploring the hidden folds of her lower lips. His ex-wife had never allowed this, deeming it disgusting. Jenny had taught him how to perform oral sex and he had paid close attention to her instructions. He enjoyed everything about going down on her. The taste was heavenly, but that was icing on the cake compared to her reaction to his attentions. Watching for the subtle clues as to when she was ready for him to move to her clitoris, he reveled in her body as it twisted and thrashed beneath him. When she was ready, he moved to her clitoris and began tracing out the alphabet with his tongue. She came before he reached the letter 'k.' Her legs snapped tight around his head holding him in place between them. Jerry put his lips against her sex and hummed knowing the prolonging effect that had on her orgasm. Jenny relaxed and he went back to work tracing out the rest of the alphabet with his tongue. His efforts were interrupted again when he reached the letter 'u.' Two orgasms in the course of going through the alphabet demonstrated how excited she had been even before he even began. By the time he finished tracing out, z, she was crying, "Fuck me. Fuck me now." Always happy to obey such a command, Jerry moved up and covered her body. She helped guide his cock into her. Her impatience overwhelmed Jerry and he began the slow entry into her. She grabbed his hips to pull him into her faster. He slowly worked up to a hard fast pace, enjoying the feel of her hot moist passage around his hard cock. "Oh God, that's heavenly," moaned Jenny. Her moans were soon replaced by little screams of pleasure. She loved the feeling of being covered and taken by her big man. It made her feel protected and loved. Jerry came with a low roar a few seconds before Jenny emitted her scream of pleasure. Rather than rolling off her, he stayed covering her with his large body. She enjoyed it and would have protested in an attempt to keep him in place. With her arms and legs wrapped around his body, she cooed, "This is so good. I wish I could keep you like this all day." "And why shouldn't we?" asked Jerry knowing the answer. Every morning they had the same conversation. "Because we got kids to feed and businesses to open," replied Jenny sadly. She really wanted to stay like that for another few minutes. "I declare this a cold breakfast day," said Jerry, "and that means we can stay here a little longer." "Goody," she squealed and hugged him harder. Jerry was in heaven. He didn't want to leave her arms, much less her presence. Any fears that he might have had about her turning into his ex-wife upon getting married had disappeared. She loved him, she wanted him, and she did everything in her power to take care of him. Although it seemed impossible, it only made him love her even more. The time in each other's arms passed and it was time for them to face the rest of the world. Jerry said, "I guess I should get up now." "Yeah," she replied with a sigh. Jerry entered the dining room, showered, shaved, and dressed, to find the rest of the family seated around the table with bowls of cereal in front of them. Smiling, he said, "Good morning." Smirking, Bill said, "Ever since we moved back here, Dad's gotten lazy. It seems to me that he sleeps in an extra half hour every morning." The comment caused Jerry to blush when he recalled what he was doing during that extra half-hour. Without missing a beat, Jenny replied, "Oh, he was plenty energetic this morning." Melissa tittered at her father's embarrassed reaction knowing that Bill had been trying to get exactly that reaction. It amazed her how the newlyweds acted with each other. Her dad seemed to be twenty years younger and a whole lot happier. Jenny came out this morning glowing. Giving her father a break, she asked, "So what are the plans today?" As Jerry sat down, he answered, "Today's Friday. Work for us and school for you two." Jenny said, "I was thinking that I'd come here after work and prepare something to eat. When Bill gets out of school, we'll drive over to the slum house and wait for you. Melissa could spend some time with her friends and then come over to the house. We'll have a nice little dinner before you go over to Henry's." "Sounds good to me," said Bill. Earlier that week, Melissa had written the largest check of her life getting her swimming pool set up for the season and the heater serviced. The pool was ready for use and she hadn't had a chance to try it out. She suggested, "Why don't you come over to my house and cook there? You wait for Bill here and then come over. I'll meet you there. We can swim while things are cooking." "Sounds even better to me," commented Bill looking forward to an after-school swim. "That does sound like fun," said Jenny. She tried to remember where she had put her old bathing suit. "Great," said Jerry while adding the milk to his super sugared cereal, "sounds like a plan to me." Jenny turned to Melissa and asked, "What are you going to do after dinner?" "I've got a date tonight," answered Melissa. The announcement brought a sudden silence to the table. It was the first time she had ever mentioned having a date. Bill was the first to recover and asked, "Who?" "Ben Sanders," answered Melissa with a smile. She knew the guy was considered a geek, but he had been very understanding when she had dinged his car in the parking lot at school. One thing had led to another and before she had been aware of what was happening, she had agreed to going to a movie with him. "Ben? He's shy. How did he ever work up the nerve to ask you out?" asked Bill surprised at the identity of her date. Ben was terminally shy. As far as he knew, Bill was one of the few people at school that Ben even talked with on a regular basis. "I have no idea. We were talking in the parking lot and the next thing I knew I was agreeing to a movie," answered Melissa with a shrug. "I'm impressed. He's really a nice guy," commented Bill. He found it even more impressive that his sister was going out with someone who wasn't in the elite clique on campus. He would have bet money, and hence lost it, that she wouldn't date outside that group. "How do you know him? He's a senior," queried Melissa amazed at her brother's knowledge of people on campus. It seemed to her that everyone on campus knew him. "He helped me on my history paper. He's really into old photographs and located those civil war pictures I included in my paper," answered Bill. "Huh?" "You didn't know that he wants to be a photographer?" asked Bill. "No, I didn't," she replied. The information was good to know. At least she had a topic of conversation that might hold her through any rough patches in the date. She said, "I'll ask him about that." Jerry and Jenny watched the exchange between the two kids with interest. Jerry asked, "So what time will you be coming home?" "I'm not really sure. Probably around eleven or so," answered Melissa. She wasn't about to announce that it was her first date and she was nervous about it. It was a pleasant drive to work that morning. Jerry had taken the old truck. He enjoyed the reactions of the other drivers as they passed or drove beside the truck. Even after two years, it still had an impact when someone saw it for the first time. Pulling into the parking lot, he parked the truck where it could be seen from the street. It wasn't that he enjoyed showing it off, but that he was really proud of it and enjoyed showing people that an old car or truck was a work of art. He went to the front door and unlocked it, finding that Martin was already at the front desk booting the computer. The young man looked up at the noise of the door opening and said, "Good morning." "Morning. You're here early," said Jerry. "Woke up early and had nothing to do," replied Martin as he stepped around the counter to the coffeepot. A fresh pot of coffee had just finished brewing. He poured a cup and handed it to Jerry with a smile. "Thanks," said Jerry. He looked around and saw that the store was basically ready to open. It was fifteen minutes before opening time. He commented, "Good job on getting the store ready to open." "Thanks, boss," replied Martin with a smile. He returned to the counter and watched the computer go through the startup screens. He commented, "Looks like Mike and Karen are going to be busy installing the computer systems for the next few months." "Yeah, I'm proud of them," said Jerry. He sat down in the chair next to Martin and took a sip of his hot coffee. He put the cup on the counter and said, "They are really changing the way the company operates." "They are? How about you?" "I'm just an old fashioned manager of a small business," replied Jerry with a smile. He winked at the younger man. "Right." "How are your classes going?" asked Jerry. Martin had gone to three-fifths time this semester. He worked six half days a week and attended classes in the afternoons and evenings. "They're going well. I'm enjoying working half days instead of working full time. I'm taking a full course load, so that doesn't give me much free time. Still, my grades are good, the money is good, and I'm dating occasionally," answered Martin. His social life had taken a minor hit, but it didn't disturb him nearly as much as he thought it would. "Three and a half years to go?" asked Jerry. "Three. I've already signed up for summer school," replied Martin. He had investigated exactly how many courses he had to take to get a degree in business and plotted out how he could graduate in the least amount of time possible. "Ah, that's good," replied Jerry. He was pleased with how hard Martin was working on his education. Part of the agreement for the special part-time employment was to maintain a 3.0 or better. Martin was definitely doing better than required, as was Carlos. "Carlos is doing well," said Martin. The young Hispanic man was graduating the community college that semester. He only had two years left and would spend them at the local state university. It was a change that made Carlos nervous, but Martin was sure his friend would handle it without a problem. "I'm glad to hear that," said Jerry. He wondered what he was going to do when both of them graduated college. It was about time for Mike to move up in the company and he'd need a new assistant manager. Of course, that would mean Mike and Karen would have to move to another store for Mike to get a manager position. He didn't want to choose between the two young men as to which would get the job. "Looking forward to having a Saturday off?" asked Martin. "Yeah," said Jerry. He had asked Mike to adjust the schedule this week so that he could spend the day with his family. Mike had gone one further and said that he would start swapping Saturdays off. He hadn't thought about starting to take Saturdays off. "What are you going to do?" "Jenny is closing on the sale of her house tomorrow," answered Jerry. The sale of the house had taken longer than Jerry had anticipated, but Jenny was unwilling to compromise very much on the asking price. For a short period of time, he had assumed that she hadn't wanted to sell it. That idea was quickly squashed when she nearly exploded after he suggested she keep it. She had remarked that it was the time of year and that in the spring the housing market would pick up again. Based on what happened, it appeared that she was right. Martin recalled Jenny mentioning something about that. He joked, "After that, I bet you go out and blow all that money on a shopping spree." Jerry laughed at the idea and was about to follow up with another suggestion when the telephone rang. Martin picked up the phone before it had even finished ringing. Jerry glanced at the clock and saw that it was five minutes after opening. It looked like it was going to be a busy morning. He stood and waited for the order to get printed. For the hour before Karen and Mike showed up, Jerry pulled orders while Martin took them. It was a busy morning. When Mike came in, he went to Jerry and said, "I'll pull orders for a while." "Thanks. I'll take care of some of the office work for a change," said Jerry with a grimace at the idea of the work that waited for him in the office. Al Sinclair had requested that he design new reports for the stores that utilized the information in the computer. Jerry had been sweating over that job for the past month. Karen looked up when he entered the office and handed him a sheet of paper. She asked, "Is this what you wanted?" Looking over the sheet, Jerry was very impressed with what she had done with his idea. Sitting back, he examined the graph and smiled. "That's perfect. It's easy to see how much it cost to operate, how much we sold, and how much we made." Karen said, "I noticed that the operating costs are seasonal." "That's right. Differences in costs to heat and cool this old building," replied Jerry looking over the sheet of paper. Nodding his head, he said, "This is a treasure trove of information." "What next?" asked Karen. Jerry picked up the stack of four reports they had designed. Looking them over, he couldn't imagine what else his boss would want to know about the store. Shaking his head, he asked, "What do you think is missing?" "I'm clueless," she replied shrugging her shoulders. "I guess the only thing I can come up with is the accounts report I use to direct my sales calls. You know which one I mean. The one that shows each customer account with the amount they ordered that month, the month before, and for that month a year before," said Jerry. After a moment of reflection, he said, "No. That's a little too detailed for the head office. "You're probably right," answered Karen with a smile. She watched the big man wrestle with his doubts. She'd come to appreciate the side of Jerry that worried so much about little details. The other day she had caught him faxing the other three reports to see in what condition they had arrived. He wanted to make sure that all of the lines on the graphs were visible after faxing. After seeing the results, she stopped arguing that the lines were fine and doubled their widths as he had requested. "I guess I should call him now," said Jerry waving the sheets of paper around. "I'd say so," said Karen watching him examine the sheets a final time. Sighing, Jerry picked up the phone and dialed his boss. On the third ring, Al answered, "Hello?" "Hello, Al. This is Jerry Smith." "What can I do for you?" "I've finished designing the monthly and quarterly reports for you," said Jerry. "Good, fax them to me," said Al. Jerry held out the reports in Karen's direction and then waved at the fax machine. She picked up the hint. She grabbed the papers out of his hand and went over to the fax machine. In the meantime, Jerry said, "Karen is faxing them even as we speak." Knowing how Jerry ran his office, Al said, "Speaking of Karen. When she's done faxing the reports, could you ask her to leave the room?" Surprised by the request, Jerry answered, "Sure. I think you'll be pleased with the reports we've designed. I've got to say that Karen has put a lot of work into making sure that everything is perfect." "I'm sure she has," replied an amused Al Sinclair. It seemed to him that every time Jerry did something, he was the first to point out who on his staff had helped him. A more important realization dawned on him at that moment -- Jerry's store was the only one in his district where he knew the name of every employee in the store, what job they did, and what contributions to the chain they had made. Karen gestured to Jerry that the pages had been faxed. Jerry relayed the message, "Al, Karen just let me know that the faxes have been sent." Al covered the phone and called for his secretary to bring in the faxes. Jerry covered the phone and said, "Karen, can you excuse us for a minute? I'm sure that Mike and Martin could use a little company." Knowing that she was being sent out of the room, Karen smiled. It was usually a good thing when Jerry and Mr. Sinclair needed privacy. She said, "Sure thing." Jerry watched her leave and turned his attention back to the phone. He could hear Al shuffling a few pages, but couldn't judge the reaction. He was startled when Al exclaimed, "These are great! I can see everything I want to know about the store on four pages. These are monthly reports. Where are the quarterly reports?" "The quarterly reports are the same except that the data is over a three month period rather than a month." "Outstanding. I knew you could do this," said Al pleased at the result. "I'm relieved to hear that you like them," said Jerry. The relief in his voice carried over the phone. "Were you worried?" "A little," answered Jerry. "Karen out of the office?" Even knowing the answer, Jerry looked around the office before he answered, "Yes, she is." "Good. I've talked with management here about what has been going on in your store," said Al. "What's going on here? Is something going on here that I don't know about?" Jerry asked worried that he had missed something important. Al laughed and replied, "I hope you know about it. You've had the greatest improvement in sales in the chain. You've modernized your operation and helped transition that to half of the stores in my district. You've had zero turnovers for two years and no reports of on-the-job accidents." "Oh, that. I've got a good crew," replied Jerry. He waved his hand to include everyone and then realized that Al couldn't see the gesture over the phone. "Yes, well. I talked with our management team and we'd like to promote you up here to the main office. We'd like to put you in charge of modernization for the entire chain," said Mr. Sinclair. The news stunned Jerry speechless. He'd given up on the chance of ever getting promoted. In fact, he'd never given it a thought after that night when he walked out on his ex-wife. "Are you still there, Jerry?" asked an amused Al. "Yes, sir. Just a little surprised," said Jerry. "You'd be moving into an executive position," said Al. Barely able to process the news, Jerry numbly echoed, "Executive position." "Yes, my secretary will be faxing the information you'll need to know when we get off the phone. We'll start negotiating the salary after you've had a chance to look at it. You'll want to come here with a lawyer so that your interests are protected." 'Negotiating the salary?' wondered Jerry. The idea that he would have to negotiate for his salary was totally foreign to him. Not knowing what to say, he said, "Okay." "Congratulations are in order. You'll want to think about promoting someone to take your position and then help select who will be the assistant manager," said Al. "Sure, that makes sense," said Jerry. "I look forward to having an office down the hall from you," said Al, "I'll talk to you Monday, okay?" "Sure, that makes sense," replied Jerry struggling to come to grips with the news. Al chuckled realizing that Jerry was probably in a state of shock. He said his good-byes and hung up the phone. Jerry sat in place for five minutes still holding the phone to his ear. Realizing that Al had hung up a long time ago, he set the phone down and stared off into space. It was an hour later that Karen knocked on the door. He looked up and answered, "Come in." "Everything all right in here, Jerry?" asked Karen. She had expected him to call her back to the office when he got off the phone. There was still work to do regarding the inventory. "Oh, sure. Sorry. I'm just a little distracted," said Jerry. He looked around the office for a moment trying to decide what to do. Carlos was working that afternoon. He was scheduled to come in about the time that Martin left for school. He made up his mind and turned to Karen. He asked, "Could you ask Mike to call Sue and see if she can come in today? I need to step out of the office for a while." "Is everything okay?" asked Karen concerned about him. "Oh, yeah. Everything is fine. I just need a little time alone," said Jerry. "Okay." It was an hour later when Jerry left the store. He sat in his truck considering what to do. It was past lunchtime and he decided the first thing he should do was to eat. Starting the truck, he pulled out of the parking lot and headed in the direction of the Crimson Rose. Before he reached the Crimson Rose, he changed his mind and drove past it to the burger place. He didn't want to tell the news to Jenny until he knew what he thought about it. At the burger place, Jerry ordered a burger to go and then drove to his house. The family called it the slum house, but to Jerry it was his house of healing. He'd found his way to it when he hadn't been a whole person and within its walls he had healed his soul. He'd healed his relationship with his children in this house. He'd recovered from a gunshot in this house. He stepped into the house and set the bag with his burger on the kitchen table. Thinking about all of the good times, he tore open his bag and removed his burger from the wrapper. Using the torn bag and the wrapper as a plate, he started to eat his burger. After a couple of bites, he set it down and reached over to the refrigerator. Stretching, he opened the door and pulled out a soft drink. Evoking a satisfying hiss, he opened the can. He took a swallow and set the can down with a self-satisfied belch. The meal wasn't much, but it was appropriate for the place and his mood. After finishing his burger, he went out and sat on the front porch to think about his problems. The old folks across the street nodded in his direction and then ignored him. He was used to it and smiled at the consistency of the neighborhood. It only reminded him even further why he wouldn't sell this house for all of the money in the world. It didn't matter if he only used it once or twice a week, just knowing the house was here was important to him. He was still sitting on the porch when Jenny drove up with Bill in her car. Melissa arrived before the two had gotten out of the car. It took Jenny a moment to get the crock-pot that held dinner out of the car. Bill got out holding a grocery bag. The three of them walked up to the porch as a group. Their hair was still wet from the time spent in the swimming pool. Jerry stood to greet them. "Hello, Dad," announced Bill when they had closed the distance. "Hi. Did you guys have fun swimming?" asked Jerry. "The water was warm, but it was freezing when we got out," answered Jenny. With a concerned look on his face, Jerry said, "Turn around Jenny." Confused, Jenny turned around wondering why he had made that request. After she had turned back to face him, Jerry gave a sigh of relief and said, "Oh, good. I was worried that you had frozen your ass off, but it's still there." Jenny wanted to hit his arm, but she was carrying the crock-pot and had to settle for a playful retort, "You're horrible." Bill and Melissa laughed at the antics of the adults. They were still laughing when followed Jerry and Jenny into the house. As they entered, Jerry asked, "What did you cook?" "Your favorite, beef stew," answered Jenny. After the kids had left for school, Jenny had considered her plans for cooking and decided make a stew in the crock-pot. She'd be able to enjoy the time with the kids in the pool rather than sweat in the kitchen. "Beef stew? That's great," replied Jerry. It would be a good meal that would carry them through a night of hard work. The family gathered around the table while Jenny heated some rolls in the oven. She moved comfortably around the kitchen. She had set it up for her comfort after the family had moved out, since eating dinner at the slum house on Friday nights was more the rule than the exception. Bill and Jerry still worked on waterfalls every Friday at Henry's house. Shauna and Jenny worked on the books while the men worked. This Friday was payday. As the family sat around the table, Jerry looked at his family happy with what he saw. Jenny was smiling, Bill was eyeing his food with a hungry look, and Melissa was primly putting a napkin on her lap. It was such a comfortable sight, that he hated to make his announcement. Taking a deep breath, he said, "I talked with Al Sinclair. I've been promoted to an executive position." Looking over at Jerry, Jenny burst into a large smile and shouted, "That's great. I'm so proud of you." "Way to go, Dad," said Bill giving his father a thumbs-up sign. "Outstanding," said Melissa. "I guess," said Jerry realizing that they didn't get the downside of the news. "You don't look happy," commented Jenny with a frown. "We'd have to move," said Jerry in a flat emotionless voice. ------- Chapter 44 "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!" ------- Chapter 45 Jerry stepped out of the lobby of the hotel and looked at the building across the street. He had a meeting with the executives of the company in twenty minutes. It would take five minutes at most to cross the street and go up to the third floor. Sighing, he decided that it wouldn't hurt to be fifteen minutes early. He went to the crosswalk and waited for the light to change. While waiting, he fidgeted with his new suit. Jenny had insisted buying it for him. Upon selling the house, she had money to spend on him but no idea what to get for him. Right after closing on the house, she had taken him shopping. After hours at the mall, she gave up and settled for getting him a new suit. He had resisted, but she had argued that he was going to be talking to the executives of his company. She was proud of the way he looked and wanted him to impress them. The light had just changed when he heard the unmistakable flap- flap sound of a flat tire. He started across the street while watching an elderly woman turn into the drive of the office building. Her car was the one from which the sound originated. Reaching the other side of the street, he could see the passenger side rear tire was flat as a pancake. As he approached the car, the woman stepped out and asked, "Could you help me young man?" Jerry froze as his mind raced through his options. He glanced at his watch and saw that he still had fifteen minutes. He knew could change the tire without being late to his meeting, but he was wearing the new suit. The odds were good that he'd get it dirty. The elderly woman repeated, "Could you help me young man?" Knowing that Jenny would understand if he got his suit dirty helping out a little old lady, Jerry came to a decision and answered, "Yes, ma'am. Could you pop the trunk so I can get your spare tire?" "Thank you," replied the woman as she walked over to the trunk. It took her almost a full minute to get her key in the keyhole and the trunk open. While she had fiddled with the key, Jerry removed his suit coat and laid it on the grass where it would stand a reasonable chance of remaining clean. Going over to the trunk, Jerry removed the spare tire, the jack, and the lug wrench. The older car used one of the classic bumper jacks. Jerry set the jack down and fitted the lip under the bumper. Looking up, he asked, "Could you set the parking brake, ma'am?" "Oh, of course," exclaimed the woman. Flustered, she headed to the door of the car. Jerry worked the jack until it was tight against the bumper. Rather than lifting the car, he went around to the flat tire and removed the hubcap. It was filthy and his hands turned black. Shaking his head, he loosened the lug nuts using his strength to power the lug wrench to break their tight hold. Once all were loosened, he used the jack to raise the back end of the car. Ten minutes later, he lifted the flat tire into the trunk and closed the door. His hands were filthy and his new shirt had a smear of dirt on it. Frowning, he looked down at his shirt and thought to himself that Jenny would kill him if she saw him in that state. She took such pride in his appearance. Looking over at the elderly woman, he said, "It's fixed. You can go on now." "Let me pay you something, young man," replied the woman. "No, that's okay," said Jerry holding up his hands in an obvious gesture of refusal. "Come now. All young men tend to be short of money. Lord knows that was true when I was young," replied the woman. "No ma'am. I don't need your money," said Jerry as he bent down and carefully wiped his hands on the grass in the miniscule hope of removing some of the dirt. It didn't help much. He picked up his suit coat by holding the label between his thumb and forefinger. Checking his watch, he saw that he still had two minutes to make his meeting. He knew that he'd be late by the time he washed his hands and made it up to the office. The woman approached holding out a five-dollar bill in a hand that trembled from age. Jerry shook his head and said, "Ma'am. Give it to your grandkids." "You're such a nice boy," said the old woman as she nodded and put up her money. Jerry smiled at being called a boy and imagined the reaction Henry would have when he told him the story. He headed towards the door of the office building with a grin on his face. He glanced at his watch and swore. The short exchange with the woman had eaten up more of his time and he was now late. After washing his hands and putting on his suit coat, Jerry headed towards the office. Jerry stepped into the office and found a receptionist behind a simple desk. An older gentleman, who Jerry estimated was in his early sixties, was seated in one of the chairs in the waiting area. Putting on a weak smile, Jerry said, "I'm Jerry Smith. I have an appointment with..." Interrupting him, the old man exploded, "You're late." Jerry turned to face the man and noticed that he bore a strong resemblance to the picture of the CEO of the company. He stuttered and answered, "Yes, sir." "You're clothes are dirty." "I know." "What's your excuse?" asked the man watching Jerry. His eyes narrowed as though he were judging the big man. Jerry didn't want to use changing the tire as an excuse, since it wasn't really an excuse. He had stopped to help the old lady knowing that it was likely going to make him late and mess up his clothes. If the CEO was the type who wanted him to take care of business first and people second, then Jerry didn't think he'd care. Looking back at the man, Jerry answered, "Excuses don't change things. I was late and my clothes are dirty. I apologize for making you wait." The old man looked at Jerry finding it hard to get over how big Jerry was. He shook his head incredulous at the answer given by the large man. Breaking into a smile, he said, "I owe Al three lunches this week because of you." "Pardon." "We noticed you crossing the street and saw the woman with the flat tire. I bet Al that you wouldn't stop to help the old woman. He won that bet. Then I bet that you'd take the money rather than argue her out of it. He won that bet. Then I bet you'd use it as an excuse for being late. He won that bet," explained the old man shaking his head at the idea that such men still existed in this world. Years ago he had given up hope on the younger generations. It seemed to him that they were all self-involved. Extending a hand, he said, "I'm Mike Harrington. I'm pleased to meet you Jerry Smith." Jerry shook the man's hand and replied, "It's nice to meet you and I'm sorry for being late." "Come onto the conference room. The rest of the executive team is waiting to meet you," said Mike. The elderly man led the way through a pair of polished wooden double doors. As he headed towards the double doors, Jerry noticed an interior waterfall hanging on the wall of the lobby. He smiled as he remembered working on that one. They had created it a couple of months before he had gotten married. Amazed at the co-incidence of finding his own work in the lobby, he followed Mike down a hallway to a conference room. Entering the room, Jerry looked at everyone and saw how they were seated on one side of the conference table. Al winked at him while Mike pointed to a chair and said, "Have a seat." Jerry pulled out his chair and waited to sit down until after Mike went to the end of the table and took his place at the head of the table. Al broke the silence and asked, "So how many lunches do you owe me?" "Three," replied the old man with a smile. "Good." Jerry sat down and faced everyone across a table feeling a little intimidated by the arrangement. He recognized everyone from pictures that had appeared in the company newsletter that he received every month. For the next few minutes, they went through the process of introducing themselves. At the end of the table was Mike Huntington, CEO of the company. To his right sat Mike Huntington Junior, the CFO of the company. His role was an artifact of the history of the company as a family owned enterprise. Seated next to him was Catherine Demmings, the Vice-President of Personnel. Albert Sinclair was to her right in his role as Vice- President of Sales. Seated next to Albert was the corporate lawyer, Jacob Meyers. Mike asked, "Where's your lawyer?" "I didn't bring one," answered Jerry noticing the look of surprise that crossed everyone's faces. He smiled to cover his nervousness. "Al did tell you to bring one, didn't he?" asked Mike concerned. "Yes, he did. I figured I didn't need one, sir," replied Jerry. He suppressed the urge to shrug. A look of concern crossed Jacob's face as he said, "I doubt that you can handle the legal aspects of the contract. I'd suggest you get one." "I don't need one," replied Jerry. He turned to face Mike at the head of the table. Biting his lower lip, he struggled to put his thoughts in order. He said, "I came here because I want to do what is right for the company and me. You're trying to get the wrong man to do the job. I'm not a CIO, sir." "You're turning us down?" asked Mike incredulous. "Well, in a way," said Jerry. Al frowned and leaned forward. He asked, "What do you mean?" "Look. I hired Karen and she put together the system for us. I don't know how to put this, but I don't know anything about computers or modernization. I'd suggest hiring her, but she's not ready for such a position," said Jerry. Mike sat back in his seat and stared off into space for several minutes. Everyone else around the table waited to hear what he had to say. Finally, he leaned forward and said, "You could have called us on the phone and told us that. I believe that you came here because you have an idea. What do you have in mind?" "Give the job to Al and his district to me. Bring Karen here to work for him and transfer Mike to one of the local stores," answered Jerry, the words tumbled over themselves on their way out of his mouth. "Why Al?" asked Mike Junior. "He knows what is required to do the job. Al watched over the whole process of exporting the system to the other companies," answered Jerry wondering if he had stumbled into some sort of corporate politics. The fact was that Jerry had been too busy as a new husband to follow what Mike and Karen had been doing in rolling out the computer systems to the other stores. All he had done was cover their absences in the store. Al raised an eyebrow at Jerry at the idea of giving up his district. He used that district to test sales ideas for the rest of the company. Being the district manager put him closer to the action and he wasn't sure that he wanted to give it up. He declared, "You want my district." "Yes, sir," answered Jerry. He knew that district managers in this company stayed at their stores. It was the only promotion he could find that wouldn't require him to move. The money wouldn't be as great as becoming an executive, but he had decided the money wasn't as important as losing the life he had created. Catherine Demmings replied, "It's a fair proposal although your district is the smallest one in the company. What is it, one and a half states?" "Yeah," replied Al wondering if he had just lost his district. Mike Harrington looked at Al for a moment and then asked, "What do you know of these people he wants us to promote?" "I've been having Karen do the installations and Mike training the other managers on how to use them. They are both good hard workers," answered Al. "What position does Mike have?" "He's my assistant manager," answered Jerry. "You've had an assistant manager training managers on how to run their stores?" asked Mike looking at Al with a raised eyebrow. "He's familiar with the software, understands the business, and I felt it was better that he and his wife travel together," replied Al wondering suddenly why he was trying to justify a business decision that had been successful. "Now, don't get upset. I was just wondering how an assistant manager knows enough to explain the business value of the program," said Mike. Jerry leaned forward and in his deep rolling voice said, "All of my people are trained to take over the positions of the person above them. Mike can take over the store at a moment's notice. I've been taking him on sales calls and include him in all of my meetings with vendors." "What about the rest of your staff?" asked Mike. "Martin and Carlos can take over as Assistant Managers, even though they are two-thirds time employees. Sue has just about finished learning inventory control. Abe could move into sales full time as soon as he graduates high school. Leo has mastered his job and I'm thinking about training him to do a little part time sales," answered Jerry. "Let me understand this, you could leave the store today and there wouldn't be any problems with continuity. Your assistant manager would take over your position, you've got two part-time employees that could take over as assistant manager," asked Mike. "That's right. Learned that was important when I was shot," answered Jerry. Mike sat back and stared at the big man sitting at the conference table. He recalled discussions about the manager who had been shot while breaking up some sort of drug ring. It wasn't until Jerry mentioned getting shot that he had connected him with the incident. At the time, he had expected Al to spend several months at the store covering for the manager, but he'd been there for less than a week. The room quieted down while Mike considered what Jerry had told him about his staff. Catherine shifted nervously in her seat while she tried to read the expression on Mike's face. After a minute, she turned her attention to Jerry. Little things about his operation came back to mind. She hadn't heard anything about his training program for his employees, but knew that his store had no turnover in the past couple of years. She recalled that his store had the best minority representation of the entire chain. She also recalled that he had instituted the employee college program. Junior looked over at Al thinking about the reports that Jerry had been generating for him. Al had been justifiably proud of the reports that Jerry had developed. As CFO, he knew the value of good clear financial reports. He wondered if Jerry understood all that he had done for the chain. Breaking the silence, Al leaned forward and said, "You don't want to move." "That's right," answered Jerry with quiet certainty in his voice. Hearing a chance to negotiate, Jacob Meyers asked, "What's keeping you there?" "Well, I've got a lot of ties to the area. I have the big house and the slum house. I'll never sell the slum house. My daughter has a house that she inherited from her grandmother," answered Jerry. The lawyer knew that property could easily be bought and sold despite any objections that Jerry might have. It wasn't unusual for a company to buy a house from an executive to expedite a move. The reference to a slum house was a little odd, but he chose to ignore it. He asked, "Is that all?" "My son is in high school and I'd hate to pull him out before he graduates. My wife has a business there. I even have a part-time business there," answered the big man. Dealing with businesses was a lot more complicated than buying and selling a house. Wondering if there was a conflict of interest, the lawyer in Jacob fully emerged when he asked, "What kind of business?" "Henry and I make interior waterfalls. You've got one of ours hanging in the lobby," answered Jerry with more than a little pride. Mike re-entered the conversation when he asked, "You made that waterfall?" "Yes, sir," answered Jerry. He settled back in his chair and added, "Henry does the framing. My son and I do the metal parts. We've hired a couple of the kids from the neighborhood to help Henry and to keep the books." "Which neighborhood?" "The slum," answered Jerry. "So you got another couple of kids in that neighborhood jobs?" asked Al. "Sure. They're good kids. Didn't have much of a future there for a while, but they're coming along. Shauna was afraid that she'd end up a prostitute before we hired her. Denzel believed that whites were keeping blacks back. He's getting over that belief now that he's working for a company run by a black man. He's discovered that business is business," said Jerry. He barked a laugh when he commented on Denzel's discovery about the realities of business. "That makes five kids you've helped in that neighborhood," commented Al. "You keep referring to that neighborhood as a slum. You don't really mean a slum, do you?" asked Junior. Al interrupted, "Yes, he does." Mike waved a hand to get control of the meeting. Once he had everyone's attention, he said, "Jacob, I'd appreciate it if you'd take Jerry out to an early lunch. I need to talk a little with the rest of the team. Take him to the country club for lunch and come back around two." Not used to being employed as escort, Jacob frowned as he answered, "Sure." Outside, Jerry said, "I'd like to go across the street and change my shirt, if that is okay with you." "That would be fine," said Jacob. The pair of men crossed the street. Jerry led Jacob up to his hotel room and proceeded to change shirts. It wasn't until Jerry had removed his shirt that Jacob could see the scars on his back where he had been shot. It was an ugly wound and Jacob stared at it in amazement. It was one thing to hear that someone had been shot but quite another to actually see the evidence. He commented, "You were actually shot!" When Jerry turned to face the lawyer, his stomach wound became obvious as well. Jerry answered, "Yes. I don't remember it though. Well, I remember the first one in the back and the one in the stomach. Can't remember the others." "How did it happen?" "I was part of a delegation that went to ask the owner of a crack house to shut down the house. When we turned to leave, one of them shot me in the back. After that, I don't really remember much," answered Jerry. There was no way that he was going to explain about how Mr. Atkins went there to threaten them with death if they didn't. He continued to put on a clean shirt. "Why did you do it?" "What do you mean?" "I take it this happened in the slum. That's where crack houses are, so why bother," replied Jacob. He knew it was rather heartless, but one had to be a realist. "Sure, there are crack houses in slums. There are also families, lots of families who are trying to get by the best that they can. Having a crack house in the neighborhood makes it even harder for the families," answered Jerry. He finished buttoning his clean shirt. "So you instigated it?" "Me? No way, I was against the whole thing. I was there with the unofficial mayor of the neighborhood trying to keep what happened from happening. I figured a big guy like me standing there would intimidate everyone," said Jerry. He stepped over to where he had put his suit coat and picked up it. Shaking his head, he said, "I learned that the size of a man means nothing to someone holding a gun. Stupid me. At least I'm not so stupid that I don't learn from my mistakes." "What does that mean?" "It means that I won't be asking any drug dealers to stop selling drugs in my neighborhood," answered Jerry with a laugh. Jacob was still trying to make up his mind about Jerry. His first reaction was based on the reports about Jerry. They'd all suggested a very diligent and intelligent man who was revolutionizing their company. Then he'd seen the man and he couldn't keep from thinking of him as a big dumb ox. After talking to him a little bit, he realized that Jerry was a complex man, probably the most complex he had ever met. "I'm ready," said Jerry. "Oh, sorry. I kind of drifted off there for a minute," said Jacob. "Do you really want to eat at the Country Club?" asked Jerry. The idea of going there to eat really bothered him. Joining a Country Club was something his ex-wife had always wanted him to do. He'd been to a couple of them in the past and always felt that it was a lot of money to spend for very little in return. "Not really," replied Jacob surprised that the big man didn't want to go to the club. Most visitors enjoyed the idea of being around the movers and shakers who were members. He paused for a moment thinking about where they could go to eat. Finally, he said, "How about barbecue? You could change back to your dirty shirt and leave your suit coat here. We'll come back in time for you to change and make it to the meeting on time." "How about if you get sauce on your shirt?" asked Jerry. "I keep a spare change of clothes in my office," answered the lawyer with a smile. He added, "It's an old trick." Over a lunch of barbecued brisket, the two men talked about life, money, and business. Jerry told Jacob about Henry's thoughts concerning the minimal differences in trash between rich and poor. Jacob was impressed that the big man listened to insightful observations regardless of the social status of the source. It also gave him insight into how difficult it would be to convince Jerry to move away from his home. By the time the bill arrived, Jacob felt like he had a good handle on the character of the man seated across from him. After pulling out a twenty out of his wallet to cover the lunch, he said, "There's no amount of money that we could offer you to convince you to move here, is there?" "No," answered Jerry. "We'd have to convince you that it would be better for the hundreds of employees in this company for you take this job. Am I right?" "Probably," answered Jerry wondering if he had just doomed himself. He frowned at the thought that others in the company would be negatively affected by his decision. "I could probably make that argument, but I wouldn't do that because I doubt it would be true. You picked the right person to take charge of modernization," said Jacob. "Al is a good man and I owe him a lot. He offered me a chance at a time in my life when I really needed it," said Jerry thinking back to when Al had told him the company would pay for him to visit an anger management specialist. He'd taken over payment of the visits when his son started going to the therapist as well. It was difficult for Jacob to know how the other employees viewed the executives of the company. He imagined that most of the employees didn't even know who they were. Those that did, were either indifferent or had complaints. The only time they got much feedback was when there was a change in benefits. It made Jacob feel good that there were those in the company who had positive impressions of them at the home office. "We'll get back early enough for you to change your shirt," said the lawyer glancing down at his own shirt. Sure enough there were a few splotches of sauce on it. If he'd been wearing his tie, it would have caught the sauce. He said, "Looks like I'll have to stop by my office to change my shirt, too." Jerry and Jacob returned to the office. They were on time even though Jerry had stopped in the hotel to put on clean clothes. Jacob left Jerry in the lobby while he went to his office to change his shirt and put on his tie. While waiting for Jacob to return, Jerry went over to the waterfall to see how well it was holding up with daily use. He was pleased to see that it was as good as new. Jacob returned and said, "They are ready for us." "Great," answered Jerry. He hoped to be informed that he was the new district manager. The men walked down the hall, relaxed and content after their good meal. When they entered the room, it was clear that they were the only ones who were relaxed. Everyone seated at the table looked tired. The table was littered with the remains of sandwiches that had been brought in for them to eat while working. Jacob frowned and took his seat while gesturing for Jerry to take his seat. Jerry sat down looking around the room. Al looked over at Jerry with a tight smile. Junior was frowning and Catherine looked neutral. He wondered what had happened while he was out enjoying a good lunch. Leaning forward, Mike said, "The problem is that there is only one of you." "I'm not sure that I understand," said Jerry. "We argued about who would get you," said Al. "Oh. Who won?" asked Jerry wondering what it meant that they were arguing over who would get him. Mike said, "Well, no one and all of them. Here's the deal. You'll get the district. It is the smallest district in the chain so that doesn't really help us much. Mike and Karen will move here as you suggested, but that will leave you a little short staffed. That's not really a problem, but you'll be settling into your new responsibilities." Jerry smiled at having gotten everything that he wanted. The smile started to disappear when he realized that Mike was not finished laying out his decision. He asked, "And?" "We decided to institute a new manager trainee program," said Mike. Turning to Catherine, he said, "Would you explain it to him?" Catherine nodded and said, "I really like the way that you've trained your people to move up a job level at a moment's notice. We want you to train our assistant managers who are due for promotion. We'll have them work in your store for three months as an assistant manager and then three months as a manager." "You want me to train people?" asked Jerry shocked by the suggestion. That was going to give his store a great deal of turn over. He said, "I can't imagine there are many people to train." "Explain it to him." Sighing at the magnitude of the problem facing her, Catherine said, "Our managers are getting older. Over the next five years, we're going to lose about twenty of them. We are having problems hiring people to work in our stores who are willing to stay in the company as a career. The situation is going to get worse with time." "I didn't realize that," said Jerry although he did recall Al mentioning the difficulties in hiring people. He didn't realize the problem was as big as Catherine suggested. "I like how you have been putting people through school to get training in business. We were discussing it and realized that hiring three or four college kids at two-thirds time would solve a lot of our problems. A few would want to stay on in management positions. The major difficulty would be the cost of such a program scaled across the entire company. We're going to have to work out the details, but I'm pretty sure that we'll find a solution in your approach some where," said Catherine. "So what was the argument over who got me?" asked Jerry still confused by the earlier statement. Junior said, "We're not done telling you all the parts of the deal." "There's more?" asked Jerry wondering if his visit here had been that good of an idea. "We're going to use your district to try out some new accounting software that Al is going to be installing here," said Junior. He looked over at Jerry and said, "We're going to centralize our accounting system." "You now answer to three people. Catherine, Junior, and me," said Al answering Jerry's question before he had a chance to ask it again. Jerry looked around the table for a minute wondering how he was going to possibly balance working for three people He sighed and said, "I should have brought a lawyer with me." ------- Chapter 46 Little tendrils of fog were rising off the surface of the lake as the morning sun climbed into the sky. Birds flitted from tree to tree pausing long enough to sing a song announcing a boundary of their territory. Ripples, centered near the cattails, were created when fish jumped out of the water after the bugs that skimmed the surface. Four cabins were lined up fifty feet from the shore of the lake. The log cabins blended into their surroundings with an open area to the lake and trees on the other side. Standing on the porch of one of the lakeside cabins, Jerry sipped his coffee while enjoying the sights and sounds of nature. He'd been awake for fifteen minutes, but it was already a good day. Looking at the fog rising off the lake reminded him of a time when he had gone fishing with his father as a kid. Smiling, he thought about all of the trouble Jenny had gone through to rent the cabins for his birthday. Henry, Sharon, and Abe were in the cabin next to theirs. None of them were what he would call camping people, but the cabin was a nice tradeoff providing the comforts of a hotel room while being in the middle of nature. He was looking forward to a day of fishing along the shore. He figured that Henry and Abe would be awake soon and they could head down to the lake's edge while the fish were still active. He thought to himself that if they caught enough fish, they might be able to hold a fish fry that night. That would be fun. He took another sip of coffee and wondered who was staying in the other two cabins. The sound of the door of the cabin next to his opening caught his attention. Curious as to the identity of their neighbors, Jerry turned to watch. Shock crossed his face when he saw the man step out. He shouted, "Dad?" "Hello, son. It's a good morning for fishing, isn't it?" "What are you doing here?" asked Jerry amazed at the co- incidence that his father would just happen to rent the cabin next to his. "If your mother and I remember correctly, it's your birthday today. Thought we'd hold a little barbecue out here. Might make it a fish fry if we catch enough," replied the man with a grin. A giggle from behind told Jerry that Jenny had arranged for his father to join them on this trip. Turning to face her, a huge grin split his face as he took in the sight she presented to his eyes. She was wearing a thick flannel nightgown that was so far from sexy that it was sexy. Shaking his head at the idea that she would put so much effort into making him happy, he said, "You little vixen. You set this up, didn't you?" "It's your birthday. I figured that we'd have a little party here for you," replied Jenny with a smile. Jerry picked her up in a bear hug and kissed her to convey his appreciation for everything she had done for him. Jenny squealed in delight. Setting her down, he looked at her and said, "I love you so much." "I love you too my big teddy bear," answered Jenny. The difference between being called a big teddy bear and a gorilla nearly brought a tear to his eyes. It went beyond the difference between the names to the manner in which they were delivered. Jenny could call him a gorilla and make it sound sexy. There were times when he couldn't believe how happy he was with his life. Never in his life would he have imagined that a woman would go to all of this trouble just to celebrate his birthday. It touched him deeply. Jerry's dad stepped over to the cabin. Patting his son on the back, Carl said, "Happy birthday." "Thanks Dad. I'm glad you came," said Jerry. The past few months had seen a tremendous improvement in the relationship between the two men. Three generations of Smith's went fishing together once a month on a borrowed boat. They didn't always catch something, but they did return home happier men. Bill particularly enjoyed the fact that he had a grandfather. Quite a few Saturdays were now spent with the three men in the garage restoring Bill's car. It was basically done except for the paint job. The greatest surprise had been Jenny's involvement in the restoration. She had purchased a heavy-duty sewing machine and had taken charge of replacing the seat covers. Jerry was so proud of her that he couldn't put it into words. The sound of a boat motor slowly grew in volume. Jenny smiled and stepped back towards the door. She knocked on the door. After a minute, Bill wearing a robe and Melissa wearing a flannel nightgown stepped out onto the porch. Bill was still rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. Smiling, Jerry said, "Good morning, kids." "Happy Birthday, Dad," chimed the pair together. "Thanks," said Jerry with a grin. Gesturing to the surroundings, he added, "It sure is a glorious day, isn't it?" Ignoring the rhetorical question, Carl said, "My that sure is a big boat." Jerry turned to look at the lake to see what his father was talking about. He was in time to catch sight of the largest houseboat that Jerry had ever seen entering the inlet. While the fact that it was entering the inlet was odd, the size of the boat chased all other thoughts from his mind. He commented, "I bet Jenny's father, Henry, and I could all stand on one side of that monster without tipping it over!" Standing behind Jerry so that he couldn't see the expression on her face, Jenny said, "I bet you're right." The boat headed straight for the dock in front of the cabin. Jerry stepped forward trying to make out who was piloting the boat. For a moment, he wondered if he was having a problem with his eyes. The man at the wheel was proportioned to the size of the boat. Either the boat wasn't as big as he thought or the man at the wheel was huge. It took a moment, but he realized who was piloting the houseboat. He exclaimed, "That's your Dad!" "Happy Birthday, honey," said Jenny pleased at the success of her surprise. She'd known that Jerry was getting tired of borrowing a boat to go fishing. She also knew that the big men in her life didn't feel very comfortable in a regular sized boat. Boats tended to be a little unstable when three large men shifted around in them. When her father had found the houseboat, she couldn't resist buying it for Jerry. "That's mine?" asked Jerry open mouthed. He turned to look at Jenny unable to believe what he had heard. "Yes, it is dear," said Jenny fully expecting to get picked up and kissed. Her expectations were immediately met as Jerry picked her up, spun her around, and kissed her. His excitement and pleasure was obvious to everyone there. Her reaction to his pleasure was just as obvious. The kids watched their father with smiles plastered on their faces. They were pleased to see their father so happy. Bill had helped repair the engines, making trips to the lake with his grandfather while his father was at work. Melissa had restored the interior of the cabin with some help from Henry. When Jerry finally put Jenny down, she said, "Bill fixed up the boat and Melissa restored the cabin. Your father stocked it with fishing gear." Jerry picked up both kids, one in each arm, and hugged them. Barely able to talk from the emotions he was feeling, he said, "Thanks, kids. This is amazing. I can't believe it. I don't know what to say. I mean..." Laughing at how his father was babbling his happiness, Bill said, "We got the idea, Dad." Tears rolled down Melissa's cheeks. She couldn't remember being this happy in her entire life. She hugged her father back with all her strength. She looked up at her father and saw that there were tears in his eyes. An emotional dam burst loose within her and she started crying uncontrollably. Jerry set Bill down, but continued to hold Melissa. Jenny hugged Bill and watched with wet eyes as father and daughter came to peace. Jerry's father put an arm around Jenny and whispered, "He's so happy." Happy was an understatement as far as Jenny was concerned. His reaction was exactly what she had hoped for when she purchased the boat. Someone had once told her that the perfect gift was an item that a person wanted but would never buy. She knew that he wanted a boat, but would never buy one for himself. After a few minutes, Melissa regained her control over her emotions. She whispered, "Let's go see the boat." Jerry set her down, straightened up, and wiped his eyes. It took him a minute to get his emotions under control. Sniffing, he turned to everyone else and said, "You heard her. Let's go check out the boat." Leading the way to where Tom had docked the boat, Jerry looked over the monster. It was twelve feet wide and twenty-five feet long. The cabin, set in the middle of the boat was eight feet wide and ten feet long. The controls for piloting the houseboat were visible above the cabin, which rose six feet from the deck. He whistled and asked, "How did you ever get it here?" "The guy who used to own it, built it here on the lake. It's too big for any of the roads, so it's stuck here," answered Tom as he climbed down the ladder on the front of the cabin. Turning around to look at his son-in-law, he added, "It's a real beauty inside." The front of the boat hung out four feet in front of the pontoons and came up to the shore. There weren't any railings around the edge, so boarding was a simple matter of stepping from the dock to the boat. Jerry stepped onto the boat expecting it to react to his added weight, but the boat was solid and didn't rock or dip. The broad flat area in the front of the boat was perfect for sun bathing and fishing. Jerry walked over to the front door of the cabin and opened it up. Stepping inside, he looked around at the cabin in amazement. Somehow, in that little space there was enough room for a small galley, bathroom, storage pantry, kitchen table, and bed. Curtains covered the side windows. The galley was filled with new appliances. The counters, cabinets, and linoleum on the floor all looked to be new as well. He opened a couple of the cabinets and saw that the pots, pans, plates, and cups within them were all new. It looked very luxurious. Turning to Melissa, he asked, "You picked all this out?" "Yes, Jenny gave me carte blanche to decorate," answered Melissa. She'd even spent her own money on fixing up the interior of the cabin. She pointed to the table and said, "The top comes off the pedestal. When you remove the pedestal, the tabletop fits on the ledge below to form another bed. That up there folds down to form a third bed." "Nice," said Jerry looking at the table. "You're supposed to be able to sleep six in here, but with you and Henry I'd lower that down to four. If granddad joins in, I'd lower it down to three but I'd hate to be the one that sleeps on the lower bunk." Her comment caused a burst of laughter from everyone gathered there. The low rumbling laugh of Henry was the first indication to Jerry that his friend had made his way onto the boat. Jerry called out, "Hey Henry. Check this out." "I've already seen it, Jerry," replied the big man still chuckling over Melissa's observation. "He did a lot of the wood work inside the cabin," said Melissa. She smiled over at Henry and said, "He was a miracle worker. You wouldn't believe what condition this was in when we got it." Jerry moved to Henry in order to thank him, but stopped when Henry pulled Abe towards him by the neck. In his low rumbling voice, the big man said, "Brought you a present. This is an anchor. Just tie a rope around his neck and throw him overboard." Looking up at Henry, Abe objected, "Won't work, I can swim." "If he climbs out, just break his legs and throw him back," added the big black man with a grin. Jerry laughed at the suggestion and Abe's reaction to it. Henry hugged the young man close to him. Abe didn't fight it, but basked in the attention from the big man. He'd come to enjoy having a father even if it meant he had to behave a little better. Bill had gone around the cabin and entered through the back door. Winking at Melissa, he said, "Come on Dad, you have to see the rest of it." "You did a great job in here, Melissa," said Jerry hugging his daughter. "Thanks, Dad. I'm glad you like it," answered Melissa. She glowed in reaction to his praise. Jerry followed Bill out to the back of the houseboat. The back of the houseboat was set up as a porch with lawn chairs, small tables, and a railing that went around the edge. A cloth cover provided protection from the elements. Sherry was seated in one of the chairs drinking a cup of coffee in a foam cup from a donut chain. She waved to her surroundings and asked, "Isn't this great?" "It sure is," answered Jerry looking around. There was enough room for a dozen lawn-chairs and a couple of small tables. Jenny said, "My parents bought the patio furniture for the houseboat." "I don't know how to thank you and Tom," said Jerry. As Jerry turned around to take it all in, Bill and Melissa took seats next to Sherry. There was a box of donuts and after a gesture from Sherry, Bill reached in and grabbed one. Within a half a minute, Abe was grabbing a donut as well. Sherry grinned and said, "I bought lots of them, boys. Don't be shy." "No one ever accused me of being shy," said Abe before taking a bite out of his donut. "I find that hard to believe," replied Sherry with a grin. The irony was not lost on Abe and he winked back at her. She had met Abe for the first time at the wedding and found she enjoyed talking with the young man. Two very large outboard motors hung on the back of the boat. Jerry leaned over and looked at them. The motors were slaved together by a complex mechanism. From the fresh welds, he could tell that Bill had rebuilt the mechanism. He tried to trace the wires that controlled the motors, but they disappeared under the boat. Noticing what his father was doing, Bill said, "It took me forever to repair the mechanism for turning the engines. The wheel is up on the cabin and the guide wires run through the front wall of the cabin." "It looks good," commented Jerry. He ran a hand over the welds and said, "Very nice work indeed." "Thanks," replied Bill sitting up straighter in his chair. Jerry turned around and found that his mother had joined them on the boat. She was drinking a cup of coffee and raised the cup in a toast. She said, "Happy Birthday, Jerry." "Thanks, Mom." Sharon stepped out of the cabin and said, "Hey Birthday Boy. This is some row boat, isn't it?" "It sure is," replied Jerry. Looking at the three people dressed in their robes and nightgowns, Tom said, "Why don't you guys get dressed and come back. We'll take her out on the lake." There was a sudden rush of activity as Bill, Melissa, and Jenny ran off to change into more appropriate clothing. Sherry said, "Come on over here and get a cup of coffee and a donut." Jerry went over and found that there was a holder with a half dozen Styrofoam cups of coffee next to a large box of donuts. He grabbed one of the cups wondering when he had set down the cup of coffee he had been drinking earlier. Shaking his head at his inability to remember, he took a seat before taking a sip of coffee. The hot liquid felt good in his mouth. Henry and Sharon sat down together and held hands. Tom settled into the chair next to Sherry with a grin. Tom said, "My little girl did a great job in buying this boat and fixing it up." "She sure did," said Jerry as he stared at the plastic top of the cup. Looking up at Tom, he said, "I really don't know what I did to deserve her. She's an angel." Sherry smiled and said, "Well, she feels the same about you." "I wish I knew what I could do to make her as happy as I am," said Jerry. Sharon shook her head at his comment. She said, "That's the happiest woman I've ever met. I thought she was gonna bust with happiness when you turned down that promotion. For a while there, I thought she had won the lottery." Jerry took a sip of his coffee as the conversation flowed around him. Although the houseboat was a present for him, he knew that everyone would enjoy it. Bill and he would go fishing. It was large enough to bring everyone that he knew. He knew that Bill would want to invite his friends from school for a day out on the lake. While they were fishing, Melissa and Jenny could relax in the sun working on their tans, reading, and talking. Melissa could even bring that boy she was seeing out for the day. His father interrupted his thoughts when he said, "I imagine the whole family will enjoy this boat." Nodding his head in agreement, Jerry replied, "Yes. It'll be very nice not to have to borrow a boat to go fishing. In fact, I was worried about that. With Mike and Karen moving out in a couple of weeks, I was wondering where we'd borrow a boat." "Why wouldn't you buy one?" asked Tom. "I don't feel right about spending that kind of money on myself. I'd feel guilty for cheating my family by spending the kind of money required to buy a boat," answered Jerry. Looking around at the boat, he knew she spent far more on this than his wildest dreams could conceive. Henry laughed and said, "Now you don't have to worry about that. The only question you've got to answer is what you're going to get her for her birthday." Jerry laughed and was about to reply when he heard his family boarding the boat. Instead, he said, "I guess it is about time to take this out for a little spin around the lake." Smiling, Abe said, "Should I put on the water skis?" Everyone looked at Abe for a minute unable to believe that he could even make that suggestion as a joke. Henry said, "He's a natural born boat anchor." "And you wonder why I tell people that I found him abandoned by his real mother on my doorstep one day," commented Sharon with a grin. Abe stuck his tongue out at his mother. Jerry laughed while he followed Tom through the cabin and to the ladder to the roof. Before climbing up the ladder, he paused to examine it. Tom said, "Don't worry. It is plenty strong enough to support our weight. So is the roof." Jerry climbed up the ladder and stepped onto the roof of the cabin. A small pedestal rose close to the front of the roof. Built into the pedestal were the steering wheel and a control panel. Jerry looked over it for a moment and then turned the key to the engines. He pressed the button for the starter and listened as the motors turned over. After a few seconds, he heard the motors catch and released the button. After hours of boating around the lake, Jerry was seated on a lawn chair situated between Henry and his father on the port side of the houseboat. He was relaxing in the sun by drinking a soft drink and watching his bobber float on the surface of the lake. Behind him, Abe and Bill were arguing about who would catch the biggest fish. Considering the amount of noise they were making, Jerry didn't give either one of the boys a chance of ever catching a fish. Henry sat beside him with his line in the water. Listening to a titter of laughter from the back of the boat, he said, "I can't believe your father-in-law chose sitting back there over fishing. I guess he's having fun. It's clear the women are having fun teasing him." "Jenny said he's back there checking out Sharon in her white skimpy bathing suit," said Jerry with a wink. Henry laughed at the idea of Tom even trying to make eyes at Sharon in front of Sherry. Carl said, "I sure like Jenny. She's a great lady." "I've got to say this, meeting and marrying Jenny is the best thing that's ever happened to me," said Jerry without the slightest hesitation or doubt. If asked, he would have said that getting to know his children was the best thing that ever happened to him. There were a lot of things in his life that fell into that same 'best' category and he would have been honest about each and every one of them. "You've got a good future ahead of you. You're married to a great lady. You've gathered your family around you and, for some strange reason that no one understands, they actually like you. You turned down a hell of a promotion and got a hell of a promotion in return. Two houses, a part-time business, and now this boat. If I didn't like you so much, I'd be envious," said Henry with a chuckle. Of course, he wasn't going to mention that his life had improved significantly as well. "Yeah, it is pretty good, but don't forget having some great friends even if one of them is a boat anchor," said Jerry provoking a bark of laughter from his friend. Jerry considered what Henry had said. He had never dreamed that life could be this good. In truth, it was better than good, it was great. There were lots of things in his life for which he should be thankful and he knew it. His thoughts went back to the day when he had driven his Camaro home from work and hit a bumper. He could still see the lightning strike that had nearly killed him. He could still hear the thunder that knocked him on his ass. He tried to pin down the moment when his life had changed. Was it when he walked out on his wife? Was it when he bought the old truck? Was it the day he wandered into the Crimson Rose? Was it the day he was shot and the rage died? He couldn't pin it down. So many events had brought him to where he was at that moment. He'd been given a wake up call by the thunder. Ever since then, he'd been sloughing off the bad things that made him miserable. He thought about the typo on the name of his Camaro, Lightening. With a quiet sigh, he said, "Thunder and Lightening." "What is that?" asked his father not understanding the reference. "That's the story of my life," answered Jerry secure in the knowledge that his friend understood the reference. A real sense of contentment filled him as he repeated, "Thunder and Lightening." "So where are you in the story now?" asked Henry curious what his friend would answer. "In a fairy tale, this is about the time when they'd say that they lived happily ever after," said Jerry. He looked down at the water in time to see the bobber disappear from view. He yanked on his fishing rod to set the hook as he prepared to have the only kind of fight he was willing to accept. The fish put up a magnificent fight. ------- The End ------- Posted: 2004-11-12 Last Modified: 2006-05-14 / 09:53:06 pm Version: 1.10 ------- http://storiesonline.net/ -------