Chapter 1: The Beginning of the End

It was a long summer. Only to be surpassed by the quickness in which it ended.

Long in that the first months of summer vacation were like so many before, uneventful. It was easy to know why it was uneventful, he didn’t do anything. He is what is called a homebody, spending almost all of his summer vacation at home watching TV or playing video games. If he went out it was to the Quickie Mart for his Mom, or with his parents to visit relatives, or, God forbid, go on some lame vacation, alone, with his parents.

But that was okay, staying at home, inside for the summer is what he wanted, what he enjoyed. There was no option for hanging out with anybody, most if not all the kids his age were girls, and, well, they scared the hell out of him. He was known as the kid who never shuts up, but put a girl anywhere around him and he wouldn’t say a word. Truth be told, he would freeze up. And as for guys, what friends did he have? There were three guys his age in the area that his Mom would allow him to walk to, Stevie, Frankie, and Keith.

Keith was, okay. He was unlike Stevie and Frankie in that he never bothered him, didn’t say much to him at all. As he thought about it, Keith really never paid attention to him at all; it was as if Keith looked at him as a King would look upon a peasant, with disdain, someone beneath contempt. It really didn’t matter how Keith felt about him in any case, he was happy that the torment that Stevie and Frankie placed upon him was not joined in by Keith.

Yet, the summer ended quickly. In a flash, he met a new friend, got a girlfriend, and found his voice when he stood up to Frankie and Stevie. Though in the later, it caused him the loss of the new friend. He was tormented about what happened between him and Alex, and what Alex forced upon him. It wasn’t one thing, but many little things that get to him. He didn’t want to get involved with girls as they terrified him, but somehow that day at the movies changed him, gave him the confidence to talk to girls, one in particular.

It happened in that instant when everyone began screaming, yet the only scream he heard was Cindy’s. As everyone raced out of the theater, his focus was to ensure that Cindy got out quickly and safely, and after exiting the theater he subconsciously took her in his arms and held her.

It was her shaking that made him aware of what he had done. and he was both shocked and profoundly happy to be holding a girl in his arms. As he stood there it became more than just holding her, it was several things, he was protecting her, comforting her, and in some small way letting everyone know that he wanted to something more than a friend, that there was something deeper. All of these things, these new emotions, came out of nowhere. It surprised him.

And soon after he got home that day he came to realize that the catalyst for the day’s events came from Alex. Alex caused all of these things; he got him into all kinds of shit. And that is when he began to resent Alex. He didn’t want any of this. He didn’t want to get involved with Cindy; he’s just a kid for crying out load!

And the crap he got into with Stevie or Frankie! He just wanted to enjoy life and not have to worry about girls and fighting and any other shit that Alex was sure to get him into!

It took time, and Cindy pushing him, to get past his anger at Alex. After a few weeks of High School, he came to find that it wasn’t Alex that should be the focus of his anger, but himself. It came to him because of the two idiots Stevie and Frankie.

He thought, well hoped is more like it, that High School would be different than grammar school. And it was. There were different types of kids in the school for sure, but none seemed to be in the same class as Stevie and Frankie, meaning that there were no other bullies. He only had to contend with Stevie and Frankie.

He endured their taunts, the pushing around, and their threats of violence. At times during the torments and pushing around, he would see Alex, watching but not getting involved. He was happy that Alex didn’t get involved. He didn’t want things to get out of hand; he wanted to take care of this himself.

It was at home when things were quiet as he laid in bed, that he could look back on recent events that the reality of what has transpired came to him, The, truth of words, the actions of individuals, the misleading emotions, all came together. He began to see the fear that Alex talked about, of facing it, embracing it, and overcoming it. What was an ass kicking to him? If he gave as good as he got maybe they would leave him alone.

These were the things on his mind as the tormentors, named Frankie and Stevie, ripped into him. As in other days he let the words fall on deaf ears, but when Stevie mentioned Cindy’s name, he snapped. He dropped his books and lunged at Stevie, taking him to the ground where he began yelling at him to NEVER mention Cindy’s name again. Before Stevie could say anything, Henry began punching him about the face. They were not wild punches, but timed, calculated, and on target with Stevies face. He was at a half dozen before a teacher had pulled him off.

As he surveyed the people around him, all were shocked at the ferocity of the attack he perpetrated on Stevie, except for a couple of people who were holding Frankie from jumping in. Alex and Keith. They had his back. He smiled at Alex as the teacher pulled him away to the principal’s office.

Alex yelled load enough for him to hear, “Good for you Henry. Good for you.”

A weeks suspension from school, two weeks of detention, and grounded for four weeks at home. But Stevie and Frankie never bothered him again. A small price to pay.

For the most part, his life had not changed greatly because of this incident, other than Frankie and Stevie leaving him alone. His friends did not see him differently, though some were surprised at the ferocity of the attack, and they agreed that it was a long time coming.

The biggest change came from people who didn’t know Henry, or the history with Stevie and Frankie. Their perception of Henry was one of a quiet, shy, and passive boy of meek acceptance of the torment from Stevie and Frankie. With the attack he was seen as someone of a volatile nature, prone to go off at the least provocation. This perception was his shadow through most of the school year. It was not something he was happy about, but there was little that Henry could do.

After his suspension from school and two weeks dentition that Henry had an opportunity to talk to Alex. He started slow, talking of himself of who he was, what he liked and didn’t like about himself, and how Alex’s influence had brought him out of his shell. It wasn’t that he did not appreciate Alex pulling him out of his shell; it was the unexpected changes, kind of like what you know and what you don’t. Cutting to the chase, Henry said not to push him, that he would make his own decisions. Over the next few weeks their friendship was back on track.

The best of the summer though, was Cindy. He wasn’t looking for a relationship, it just came about, an unexpected change to his life of solitude. The falling out with Alex gave him to spend time with Cindy one-on-one before school started, giving them a chance to feel each other out, and become comfortable together.

What was strange for Henry was how easily he became comfortable around her. His inability to put words together when talking to girl seemed to fade away, that he could forget that she was a girl and talk to her in complete and understandable sentences was beyond his comprehension. If he had thought about it when she was with him it might have been a different story, but as these thoughts would come to him a night it was a moot point.

His demeanor at home was not lost on his Mother, who became concerned at the changes she began to see in her son. He was happier than she could ever recall, and with Henry no longer content with staying home, she found herself alone more often than not.

She would question him as to where he was off to, looking for signs that he was doing something, forbidden, such as drinking or drugs or smoking. She knew it wasn’t girls, she knew how he was around them. It was the farthest thing from her mind. But Henry’s response was he was hanging out with Alex. Either swimming in his pool, working out in his garage, or out for a run through the forest preserves.

Her little boy was growing up, and she was having a hard time adjusting.

For his part, Henry kept what was going on in his life to himself. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust his Mother; it was that she could be, overbearing. And as it stood at this point in time there was no way he wanted Cindy to meet his Mother. His Dad was OK, but defiantly not his Mother.

His parents were, OK. His Mother, Ellen, was the ruler of the roost, so to speak. Nothing was done or agreed to without her involvement and approval. She could be loud, abrasive, pushy, and unapologetic. Well that was not true. Take out the could part. She was loud, abrasive, pushy, and unapologetic about it.

His Dad is, well, the easiest way to describe his Dad is to picture Henry in thirty years. He was good to his family always thinking of them first and providing all the comforts possible.

He was a Senior Project Manager for an IT consulting firm in Chicago. He traveled much of the time, two to three days a week, but was home for the weekends. But there was a different part of his Dad that Henry found out one weekend. It was the day before Christmas, his Dad had just got home from a business trip to Denver, and he was sitting in the front room with a glass of wine when his cell phone rang.

Answering the phone, he took a sip of his wine and listened to the other person on the phone. After a minute or two he placed his glass on the table, rubbed his chin before breaking into the conversation.

Henry was taken aback by his Dad; he was forceful, direct, and uncompromising as he talked on the phone. It must have been a conference call because for several minutes he talked to several different people, articulating precise details to where the project was where it was heading, and what had to be done before January 1st. The call concluded, he picked up his wine, to a sip and sat back down as if nothing had happened.

Chapter 2 »