"The Thunderbolt"
Chapter 1: Colpo di Fulmine
"Colpo di fulmine. The thunderbolt, as Italians call it. When love strikes someone like lightning, so powerful and intense it can't be denied. It's beautiful and messy, cracking a chest open and spilling their soul out for the world to see. It turns a person inside out, and there's no going back from it. Once the thunderbolt hits, your life is irrevocably changed."—J.M. Darhower
Rick rushed into the front office of King County Middle School. His eyes briefly landed on his son and a group of boys sitting on the bench across from the front desk. From the looks of things, the boys had definitely been fighting. He recognized all but one of the boys.
Rick turned his attention to the secretary Jacqui.
"Hey Jacqui."
"Hey Rick. Been a long time since I saw you around."
"Been busy. The kids and the job keep me pretty tied up."
"It never ends."
"No it doesn't," he looked over to his son briefly before turning back to her, "What am I walking into?"
"Fight in the locker room. A little vandalism."
"A little vandalism?"
"Someone threw paint in the locker room. There were a few things damaged in the fight."
Rick pinched the bridge of his nose. Carl fighting and damaging property was not like him. Rick knew Carl wasn't going to be his sweet little boy forever. There was going to be a time when he made a dumb decision or got into some trouble but he had no idea that today was going to be that day.
"They're waiting on you," Jacqui said.
Rick sighed. Being summoned to the principal's office still filled him with a sense of dread even though he wasn't the one in trouble.
He walked towards the principal's office and knocked before stepping in.
All eyes were on him when he walked in. But his eyes immediately landed on her. Sitting in a chair across from the principal's desk was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. She wore a brown leather skirt that fell just below her knees. Her sheer cream blouse was unbuttoned enough to show cleavage but not too much. She had a brown tank top under her blouse that matched perfectly against her skin tone. Her dreadlocks were in a high bun with two locs hanging down in front of her face.
As Rick's eyes traveled up her body, he lingered on the necklace with the "M" initial. His tongue brushed across his bottom lip as he continued to stare her down. Their eyes met and Rick gave her a small smile.
"Have a seat Rick," principal Monroe said.
Rick turned his attention to her and nodded before taking his seat in between the two women already in the office.
"Andrea," he acknowledged her after taking his seat.
"Hey Rick."
Rick shifted in his seat, turning towards the mystery woman.
"Hi."
"Hello," she smiled at him.
Rick felt his heart skip a beat. Her smile took his breath away. He had to remember how to breathe. Rick didn't want to take his eyes off of her but he didn't want to make her uncomfortable by staring at her. His eyes dropped, breaking their connection before focusing on principal Monroe.
"I called you all here because there was an incident involving your sons," principal Monroe started, "There was a fight in the locker room. We spoke with all of the boys but we are getting different stories from them."
"Do you know what actually happened?" Andrea asked.
"From what we can gather, Louis, Gavin, Carl, Michael, and Steven were trying to prank Andre. Carl admitted to being the lookout. He said he heard yelling in the locker room and when he went in he saw all the boys fighting. He tried to break it up but Michael ended up hitting him and he began fighting as well."
Michonne shifted in her seat and scooted to the edge.
"These boys attacked my son?"
"They are saying Andre hit Gavin first."
Andrea looked at Michonne, "So her son started the fight?"
Michonne stared back at her, "I'm sure whatever prank your son and his friends tried to pull on my son was what started this whole thing."
Rick's eyes darted between both women. He wanted to interject but everything in him told him that was not a smart idea so he sat quiet.
"Ladies, there is no need to point fingers," Mrs. Monroe said.
"I'm just trying to understand why four boys ended up fighting my son," Michonne said in a measured voice.
"Andre said that Louis stole his pants and when he went after him the other boys were waiting. Gavin tried to throw paint on him and that's why he hit him."
Andrea softened. She realized in that moment that her son Louis was the most likely ringleader. He had asked her for money to buy paint for a school project. She should have dug deeper and asked him about the project instead of just giving him the money.
"I didn't raise my son to be a bully," Andrea said.
Michonne cut her off, "I didn't raise my son to be bullied."
Michonne let out a breath. She could feel herself getting upset. She was a mama bear and the fact that her son had to fight a group of boys put her in protective mode.
"We don't condone violence or bullying of any kind at this school," Mrs. Monroe looked at all three parents, "I'll be giving Carl a week of detention for his role in the prank and fight. I am taking into consideration that he tried to break up the fight. I'll be suspending the boys involved for the rest of the week."
"I'm not trying to place blame on anyone. I know Andre shouldn't have put his hands on anyone," Michonne interjected, " I don't think a suspension is necessary. My son has never been in trouble in his life. We just moved here. I don't want him getting a representation as some bad kid. I will speak with Andre about the fighting."
"What about detention for Andre?" Andrea asked, "The boys were messing with him. Had they not, I think it's pretty safe to say he wouldn't have lashed out and started hitting them."
Michonne appreciated her standing up for Andre.
"Is that an acceptable punishment for you, Ms. Hawthorne?"
Ms. Hawthorne. Rick committed her name to his memory. He was silently kicking himself for not properly introducing himself.
"I can live with that."
"Carl will help with whatever clean up is needed for the locker room," Rick stated. He figured he needed to add something to the conversation. He wasn't here to just stare at Ms. Hawthorne.
"Louis too," Andrea looked at Michonne, "I am sorry for all of this. I don't know what has gotten into Louis but I'll talk to him. Your son won't have any trouble out of my son anymore. I'll see to it."
Michonne nodded.
"Okay. Now that we have that settled. I'm dismissing the boys for the rest of the day. If there are no further issues or concerns, you are free to take your kids with you on the way out."
They stood and said their goodbyes and thanked Mrs. Monroe for her time. Rick stepped aside and let Michonne walk past him. He willed himself not to watch her walk away but he couldn't help it. Only a glance, is what he told himself. Rick looked at Michonne as she walked away. He tried to commit every inch of her to his memory. After a few seconds he dropped his eyes to the ground.
"I saw that," Andrea bumped his shoulder.
"Hush," Rick bumped her back, "Was I that obvious?"
"Yeah, you were," she started walking towards the door, "You should ask her out."
— —
Michonne stepped out of her four inch heels the moment she walked through her front door. She bent down grabbing her shoes as Andre walked pass her.
"Do you want to talk about what happened today?" She asked her son, stopping him before he could retreat to his room.
"Not really," he looked at his mom, almost pleading with her not to push the issue.
Her eyes met his, "We don't have to talk about it now if you don't want to."
He gave her a small smile, appreciating that she was giving him the time to figure things out.
Andre was still trying to wrap his mind around everything that had happened today. One minute he was in the locker room getting changed out of his gym clothes and the next thing he knew, some kid named Louis who he only shared two classes with was running off with his pants in hand. He hadn't even been at the school a full two months yet. He never had problems with this kid. They barely spoke to each other. But for some reason, today was the day that Louis decided to mess with him.
Andre had chased after him through two rows of lockers and was met with three other boys. One of them threw a bucket with paint towards him.
Seeing the other boys had put Andre in defense mode so he moved just in time. Only a little bit of red paint landed on him. Flight or fight kicked in and the next thing he knew, he had lounged towards the boy with the bucket. Andre landed three punches before he felt a sharp pain in his side. Louis had punched him in his side. His attention shifted to Louis and threw a left hook before kicking him in the stomach. The other boys jumped on him. He was outnumbered and probably about to lose but Andre was going to take at least one of them down with him. Louis had started all of this, so Andre focused on him. He blocked as many hits as he could and threw some at the other boys but every free moment he had, Andre made sure the hits to Louis landed.
Andre didn't know how long he was fighting the boys but he heard a voice yell, "Guys stop. Get off of him."
Whoever was trying to break up the fight got shoved out of the way. Andre then moved his focus to a different boy and started exchanging hits with him. Out of the corner of his eye, Andre could see that the shoving match had turned into a second fight. He was happy to have an ally. Still outnumbered, he liked his chances with a four on two instead of a four on one.
"But some time in the immediate future we will need to talk about what happened today," the sound of his mom's voice pulled him from his thoughts.
He nodded, waiting a moment to see if she had anything else to say.
"Can I go to my room?"
"Yeah," Michonne brushed one of his falling locs out of his face, "I'm going to start dinner in a bit. I'll call you when it is done."
Michonne watched Andre walk up the stairs and waited a few moments until she heard his door close. She pulled out her phone and checked the time. It was five o'clock somewhere. She needed a drink.
— —
Carl looked over at his father. The whole car ride back to the station was quiet. He didn't even turn on the radio. Carl's mind was racing. His dad was a reasonable man but this was unfamiliar territory for them. He had never been in trouble before. Carl knew that it was stupid to follow behind his friends. He didn't have a problem with Andre. They had four class periods together and he seemed cool. Now he probably hated him and he was sure that his friends hated him for trying to break up the fight.
Rick pulled into his parking spot and shut the car off.
"Can you say something?" Carl blurted out. The silence was killing him.
"What do you want me to say, Carl?"
Carl shrugged.
"Are you mad at me?"
Rick shook his head, "No. I am disappointed though."
"I'm disappointed in myself," Carl admitted.
"What happened? Why were y'all messing with this kid?"
"Sophia happened. Louis likes her. He didn't say that was his reasoning for wanting to mess with Andre but I know that's the reason. He has pissed since he saw them sitting together at lunch two weeks ago."
Rick smiled knowingly. It was always about a girl.
"That's not your fight."
"I know."
"Why would you go along with them?"
"I don't know," Carl shrugged, "I knew that it was a stupid idea but I didn't want to go against my friends."
"Always listen to your instincts. If you take nothing from me in this life. Remember that."
Carl nodded.
"Trust your gut. It doesn't matter if your friends want you to do something. If you know in your heart that it is not the right thing to do. Or if you have any doubts about it, stick with that feeling. It's better to be alone with your choices than to be standing in a group of fools with their choices."
Carl took in all that his father said.
"I'm not going to disappoint you again, dad."
"You may and that's okay. You're young and mistakes are a part of growing and learning."
Carl appreciated his father for understanding.
"I just have to finish up a few things and then we can head home," Rick said as he got out of the car.
Carl followed behind his dad as they walked into the police station. Rick grabbed an empty chair from one of the desk next to his and motioned for Carl to sit down.
"Where have you been? Sheriff Evans is looking for you," Glenn Rhee, Rick's partner said as he took a seat at his desk.
"Carl had a thing at school."
"Oh. Hey Carl."
"Hey Glenn."
Rick stood up and walked over to the sheriff's office and knocked on the door. He waited a moment to be invited in.
"You wanted to see me?" Rick stepped in and closed the door behind him.
"Yes. I have a new assignment for you."
"What is it?"
Sheriff Evans handed him a file, "There has been a string of arsons in the area. They caught the fourth one last night and there was a body inside the building. The fire department has been handling the investigation but now it has escalated and they wanted us to come in and help. They don't know if this person was murdered or just a casualty of the fire. But they are trying to get ahead of this thing."
Rick flipped through the file as sheriff Evans spoke.
"They are still combing through the scene. I set up a meeting for you and the arson investigator for tomorrow. They will brief you on everything and we will see where we need to go from there."