Chapter 3 - Smackdown
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(5 Pm, Pacific Time)
The truck came back from the Rona, loaded up with all the wood needed to fix the deck. The hope was that once the deck was done, the family could grill burgers and hotdogs and have a barbeque on the deck, and socialise with the neighbors.
Kenny drove the truck up, and also had a 12-pack of Molson Canadian beer in the extended part of the cab. He pulled the truck up, and backed it into the driveway to make it easier to unload the wood.
"Ok, that's that. Wanna start unloading the boards?" Kenny asked his son.
"Sure, dad." Zakk got out of the passenger side and walked to the back of the truck to pull out the easier loads, the smaller 2x4s. Kenny grabbed the beer bottles from the backseat, and brought it to the garage and placed it in his beer fridge. He was greeted by Josie, who didn't have the best look on her face.
"Hey babe." Kenny didn't know what had occured before.
"Kenny, Your daughter had an incident on the dock earlier. She's crying in her room."
"What happened?" Asked a concerned Kenny.
"Some boys were picking on her." Josie replied.
The first thing that Kenny did, was rush up the stairs to talk to his young daughter about what happened. He knocked on his daughter's door, and he could hear her crying. He calmly walked into the room and saw she was fully clothed and holding a workout towel to wipe her eyes.
"Ronda, what's wrong?" asked Kenny.
"I got touched by some boys, and I beat one up...And he said he was coming to get me." Ronda sobbed.
The first thing that Kenny did was go up and comfort his daughter, as he understood that boys could be jerks and that she was a beautiful target. He hugged her and held her.
"It's ok, baby. You're going to be fine." Kenny did what he could to comfort his daughter.
"They wouldn't leave. They just wouldn't go...so I hit one...I was so angry..."
"Hey...you hit one? Then you are my daughter." Kenny kept his daughter in his arms.
"They tried to undo my bathing suit." Ronda added.
"Perverts." Kenny gritted. "How old do you think he was?"
"I don't know, maybe 12, maybe 14."
"What was he wearing?" Kenny asked.
"He was dressed like a church boy." Ronda replied.
Kenny took a deep breath and came to terms that his daughter just punched a polygamist's son.
"Ok, you just don't worry about it, OK? Let your dad handle it." replied Kenny.
"What are you going to do?" Ronda asked between cries.
"I'll deal with it. You don't worry about it. Listen...you made me proud when you said you punched the boy in the face, was it the face?"
"Yeah." replied Ronda
"You're awesome." Kenny smiled. "My daughter is on the track to becoming a strong young woman. You did the right thing. Boys aren't supposed to just touch girls like that."
Kenny hugged his daughter again and allowed her to catch her breath again.
"You know what I said to him?" asked Ronda.
"What?" Kenny smiled a bit.
"He said some bible verse about women submitting to men...I can't remember it..."
"Colossians 3:18?"
"Yeah...so I said to him...Ronda 3:18 says I just whooped your ass!"
Kenny began to laugh.
"I never knew that watching wrestling would be beneficial to you!" Kenny began to laugh a bit, and his daughter began to laugh through her tears. "Actually...the verse is "Wives, submit to your husbands and husbands submit to your wives...whoever that boy is...he took it badly out of context."
Kenny wanted to get to the deck with his son.
"Hey, when you're ready to come down, there's some boards downstairs with your name on them, and 10$ an hour for sanding them."
"When i'm ready?" asked Ronda
"When you're ready. I gotta get back down there. Zakk's probably waiting for me."
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(11 Pm, Eastern time)
The night in Florida was beautiful and the skies showed several stars dubbed in with a tiny paintbrush.
Clark sat in the hot tub and looked up in the sky at all the stars, and the city in the distance. He was joined by his wife, wearing a slim red one-piece swimsuit, and holding a bottle of wine and 2 glasses. She worked her way into the hot tub and sat right next to Clark while inspecting his muscular frame, which she loved doing every time Clark took his shirt off. He smiled at her, and looked up into the sky.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" asked Clark.
"A man-built metropolis...if you say so." Replied Diana.
Diana wasn't too much into the urban scenery but she could understand the beauty in it.
"If not the city...how about the skies?" asked Clark.
"They're beautiful." Diana cuddled up to Clark while the hot water bubbles massaged their backs. The lovers had done this many times before but they still loved doing it.
"Can I talk about Steve to you?" asked Diana.
"Our son? Absolutely." replied Clark.
"He seems to be going through some tough stuff lately. I feel for him." Diana sighed.
"He's a young man. Kids his age are starting their ascent to manhood. It's not an easy road." replied Clark.
Diana wouldn't know about a boy's ascent to manhood...but she remembered her ascent to womanhood. It wasn't easy at all, and being an Amazon in a world of pigs was tough. Being a young man with a beautiful mother in a world of pigs...that's beyond impossible.
"But it's about me, too. He got into that fight because of me." Diana felt a bit guilty.
"He loves you, alright. I don't know how to handle this, Diana. This is between you and him. All I can do is give my opinion."
"Ok then, what's your opinion?" asked Diana.
Clark took a bit of a pause and made sure he worded his opinion right.
"He's got a beautiful mom and all the boys are jealous, so they make fun of her to make him feel like crap. Simple and plain." Clark said.
Diana took a sip on her wine and tried to think of something. But she couldn't and drew a new subject.
"I wonder how Bruce is. And Cassandra...and Kenny. I miss em, you know?"
"They haven't found us yet, and Bruce hasn't talked in about 2 years now." replied Clark.
"It's Kenny i'd worry about more. He might think that letter meant that I thought he was stalking me or something. I mean, I did say not to come looking for us."
"He's what, in his 40's now?" asked Clark.
"Yeah, he would be." replied Diana.
"I'd think he's put that long out of his mind...chances are he's got a family now too, and he's let go of you as his mother." Said Clark, bringing a bit of comfort in that department.
"But as a friend...I hope he never forgets that. And if we cross paths, i'd love to sit down for a cup of coffee and reminisce." added Diana.
"If anything, a man's best friend for his whole life is his mother, y'know? She's the first one there to be with him and she's always rearing him and raising him. then, he lets go of her and flies the coop. Didn't Kenny say he lost his mother when he was 17?" asked Clark.
"Yes he did...poor guy." Diana sighed.
"And then you came along, and you filled in the gaps that his mother missed. And then you said goodbye. He's always going to feel like you're his mother...but he's not going to cling to you like you are. I mean, he must know you have feelings too and he wouldn't want to step on them."
"You would know, would you?" asked Diana
"I loved my mother back on Krypton, and my adoptive mother here on earth...but I had to say goodbye sometime. I'd think by now, if he does see you again, it's not going to be a sad session when you seperate." Clark gave Diana his next opinion and then a question. "What about your girl, Cassandra?"
"She's been a personal trainer, last I heard. She held that UFC title for like what, 3 years? Then some other girl came along and broke her arm for it. She never got it back after that."
"You ever try and catch up with her?" asked Clark.
"I'm still hoping we can meet, maybe through Bruce or something."
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(8 Pm, Pacifc time)
Kenny and his 2 kids had been busy at work, sanding down all the boards that were necessary for the patio to look it's best - the old patio was rotten and hadn't seen service in quite some time. There was also the idea that Kenny wanted to put a hot tub in there too, for those cool nights to sit and relax, but that would have to happen in time, as Kenny wasn't exactly stacked with money.
About 2 hours and 1 beer into the job, the incident that had occured with Kenny's daughter was about to come back at him.
"Good work on the boards guys, doesn't it feel good to get stuff done?" asked Kenny
"My hands are hurting." replied Zakk.
"But the money that i'm gonna put in those hands won't though." Kenny looked up at the doorway. "Hey honey, can you get me another beer?" He asked.
Josie opened up the fridge and passed her husband his second beer.
"Thanks babe, you're my hero." Kenny smiled at Josie, who smiled right back at him.
"How are the kids doing?" asked Josie.
"My hands hurt, mom." replied Zakk.
"My hands hurt too, son, but it'll be worth it." Kenny showed off his blistered hands...which really didn't hurt but he wouldn't want his kids to know that.
Kenny took his arm, and twisted the bottle cap on it, and took a swig of an ice cold Molson canadian.
"You drunk yet, dad?" asked Zakk.
"Son, one beer an hour isn't going to get a person drunk. It's 2 or 3 beers an hour sittin' on a couch watching hockey...we've been sanding for about 2 and a half hours now, i'm sweating in this Ozzy shirt, this is the second beer." Kenny defended his actions, even if as a father, he didn't need to.
"Oh..."
"Glad you can do your math, the school system's doing it's job." Kenny joked
Then, Kenny could hear a vehicle pulling up out front, and the sounds of a door opening and closing.
"Hello, the house!" yelled out a voice. Kenny figured he should go and welcome the guest.
"I got it, just keep sanding." Kenny picked up his beer and walked to the front of the house while his kids looked up to watch their father go to the front. When Kenny got there, there was a man standing there with slacks and a light blue dress shirt, and he didn't look very happy at all standing in front of an old GMC savana. Kenny's hope of meeting a nice neighbor disappeared without a trace.
"Can I help you?" Kenny asked.
Kenny's beater jeans, Steel toe work boots and beat-up Ozzy Osbourne shirt didn't look very welcoming to the man.
"What's this I hear about your daughter, beating up my son for no reason?" The man demanded to know.
Kenny figured this situation might get a bit hairy, so he was glad he brought the beer bottle up to the front in case he needed it to help make a statement.
"I'm afraid you've gotten your facts mixed up, sir. My daughter claims that the boy i'm assuming is your son, tried to undo her bathing suit top, and she hit him because of it." replied Kenny.
"My son wouldn't do such a thing, and even if he did, he didn't mean any harm." replied the man.
Kenny had to handle this in a calm way - the way his friend Diana would've handled it. Calm and peaceful. But there was only so much that he would take, but he did his best to be patient about the situation.
"Well, maybe your son didn't mean any harm, but you have to understand that my daughter probably felt violated after your son did what he did, I mean, how would your son feel if my daughter tried to pull his pants down?" asked Kenny.
"The fact is, she hit him, she assaulted him, and that would be classified as assault for the RCMP. Do you want to get them involved in this?" asked the man
"Oh, we should." Replied Kenny "Maybe we should get them involved in that little compound you have up in those hills. I bet they'd love to visit." Kenny took a swig of his beer.
The man was trying to scare him, but you couldn't scare a man who knew fear in and out. And if he fell victim to this man, he would've let his mother figure down, even if she wasn't there to support him.
"That's private property." the man defended his home "And you're lucky that we don't call the RCMP." The man pointed at Kenny's beverage "By the way, public drinking is a crime."
"...oooh." Kenny interrupted, and took another swig of his beer to show he didn't give a rat's ass about what the man was trying to imply.
"I could call the police right now, and have you thrown in jail. Are you drunk? Can you say the alphabet backwards?" asked the Polygamist.
"No, but I could whoop your ass backwards." Kenny joked.
By this time, Kenny's wife and kids had come to the front to see what the problem was, and Ronda held onto her mother during the whole conversation.
"Listen, In our peaceful community, we can settle things like men without the RCMP. I won't call the RCMP if your daughter comes up to our community, and apologizes, and takes care of the damage she caused."
Oh boy, Kenny knew how that would end, so he had a quick reply.
"I have a better idea...why doesn't your son come down here, and apologize to my daughter about sexually harrassing her? I mean, my daughter has feelings too, you know? She's not just some concubine for a man to use and abuse." replied Kenny
"In New Bountiful, we have a justice system, and we fulfill it to the letter. Now your daughter has broken the rules, she assaulted a male. That's not right, not in the Lord's eyes, and not in the eyes of our prophet Monson, now we can do this the easy way, or the hard way...what's it going to be?" This guy obviously figured Kenny would just bow over like the rest of the community had, as they were all scared of the place up in the hills. But Kenny wasn't scared, and like his mother figure, he was not going to submit without a conflict.
"Here's the third way." Kenny got up close to the man to intimidate him "You go back up into the hills, and you never come near my family again...son." Kenny began to walk back to his patio job. But not before the man was about to say the sentence he would soon regret.
"Your daughter...I can't be held responsible for when she gets raped like the whore she is."
Oh boy, that was it. Kenny stopped dead in his tracks, still holding the bottle of Molson Canadian. No one, Absolutely no one, called his daughter that.
"Is that so?" Replied Kenny.
Kenny took a nice long swig of the beer, began walking back to the man, and then after he finished swigging the beer, he threw the beer overhand style at the man's face at point blank range, and knocked him over!
"You pig!" Kenny began stomping on the man's arms and legs with his steel toe boots. The man began to yell out, and Kenny's kids and wife began to yell at him.
"Daddy, stop!" Ronda began to beg her father.
"Get him, dad!" Zakk yelled out, while Josie held Ronda closely. Josie heard the man's words and wasn't going to try and stop her husband from handing out justice. Ronda was her daughter too, and she was just as offended at the fact someone would go as far to call her daughter such a mean name.
Kenny kept stomping the man in his chest, everywhere but his head. He wanted the man to understand you didn't mess with his family, and you certainly didn't call his daughter that name, no matter how tough you thought you were.
Eventually, other neighbors in the neighborhood saw their new neighbor beating on the man. Eventually, one of them ran out to pull Kenny away from him and hold him back from killing the man. But Kenny wasn't done using his mouth for war.
"Who the Hell you think you are, son? You think you can just come and pick on me!? You think you can own me like some prag?! Well, look at you now, you pussy! I stood up to you and exposed you for the piece of trash you are! You're my prag! Now be a man, and get up! GET UP! Gutless piece of shit!" Kenny swore up a storm, and he didn't care if his children heard it.
And with that, Kenny was held off by his neighbor and left the man in a pile of his own regret. The neighbors had all seen the incident go down, and wondered whether their neighbor was going to be a problem.
The community sheriff helped the beaten man up and called for the local ambulance to come and get him. But the man refused help, and got back into his Van, hurting from the beating he had taken, and drove away sheepishly into the setting sun.
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