Thunder and Lightening Chapter 39 By Lazlo Zalezac Copyright (C) Lazlo Zalezac, 2004 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!"