The Gentleman and the Boy

The Gentleman and The Boy

         " I can't believe it Mr.Shrowder, he just flat out smacked me," Laura blubbered through her tears.

         " I never thought Tim would do such a thing, he never seemed like a violent man," Laura continued through her tears.

         Laura and Tim have been dating for almost a year now; they've always had fights, but only small ones, nothing big enough to cause Tim to slap her. As Mr.Shrowder cleaned up the blood that was dripping from her mouth, he pondered over what possible reason his son thought he had to viciously slap Laura. His own flesh and blood slapped an innocent woman for just speaking her mind at only 18 years old too. " What should I do Mr.Shrowder, I mean I know he's your son, and I do love him so much, but I just don't know what to do," Laura cried.

         Mr.Shrowder thought about that question for a while, what should he tell her? Her green eyes were blood shot red and puffy from all her tears. Also a black and blue hand mark was forming on her plumb cheek. She looked so broken as she sat next to Mr.Shrowder, so lost, why on earth did she come to him Mr.Shrowder thought. "Leave him," Mr.Shrowder mumbled blankly.

         "WHAT!!" Laura gasped.

         "I said leave him, I don't care if his is my son, you don't need a man who doesn't respect you enough to control his temper," Mr.Shrowder stated.

         " Leave him and never look back, hitting a woman is never acceptable and don't you ever tolerate a man who beats women, you understand Laura," Mr.Shrowder continued.

         " Yes, I understand Mr.Shrowder, thank you," Laura, wept as she hesitantly got off the brown leather couch.

          " You can come and talk to me anytime, and please call me Bennie," Mr.Shrowder implored.

         As Laura walked out of his broken down cottage, Bennie wondered what he was going to do about his son. If only his wife Alice was still here, she would definitely know what to do. Bennie quickly got off of his couch and burrowed into his tattered jean pocket to dig out his phone. He couldn't believe he had to have this talk with his son, what was wrong with Timothy. As Bennie tried to punch in Tim's number he realized he didn't belong in this decade. Tim gave him the new IPhone 5 for his birthday. Ever since that day every task on his phone has become an unpleasant challenge. Bennie was starting to feel older than 48. "Yeah dad umm, I'm kind of busy right now can I call you later," Tim answered.

         "No you can't call me later, drop what you're doing right now and meet me at the gym in 20 minutes," Bennie requested bluntly.

         As Bennie quickly changed his baggy and worn out clothes he knew how he was going to teach his son to respect women. He only hoped his anger with Tim wouldn't make him beat Tim to death. Ten minutes later he crawled into his broken down Jeep and made his way to the local gym, where he was going to hopefully teach Tim the most important lesson of his life. The town was blanketed with snow, like an actual winter wonderland that people see in movies or read in books. Finally he arrived at the local gym with Tim shivering outside in the cold. Good, I hope he freezes to death Bennie thought to himself.

" You mind telling me what the hell we're doing out here, I'm freezing my butt off," Tim quivered.

         "Lets just get inside and we will talk about it," Bennie stated.

         Tim scoffed in his frustration; this was probably not what he wanted to do on his Friday night. Bennie took out the gym keys from his coat; the owner of the gym gave him the keys after he died, to use it whenever he sees it fit. When Bennie opens the door it seems like nothing has changed since that crusty old man died, the boxing ring was still intact and was the focal point of the gym.

         "Now are you going to tell me what we're doing here," Tim insisted.

         "We'll talk in the ring, now get in there or I'll lose my patience," Bennie persisted.

         Tim glared at Bennie and quickly climbed into the middle of the ring. As Tim turned around to face his father, Bennie imprinted his fist against Tim's nose, breaking it. Timothy stood there in utter shock as blood rushed down his nose. "WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU, WHY THE HELL DID YOU PUNCH ME!" Tim wailed.

         "YOU LIKE BEATING ON WOMEN, YOU LIKE SLAPPING PEOPLE WHO ARE WEAKER THAN YOU, WELL LETS SEE HOW YOU LIKE IT!!" Bennie roared.

Bennie punched his son in the shoulder over and over again, until Tim curled up into a ball on the floor. Tim's eyes grew wide with fear and shame. "Dad let me just explain okay, Laura slept with someone else, she cheated on me okay I just lost my temper," Timothy stammered with both hands out as a sign of surrender.

         "I DON'T CARE IF SHE SLEPT WITH THE ENTIRE FOOTBALL TEAM, YOU NEVER PUT YOUR HANDS ON A WOMAN, YOU TAKE OUT YOUR ANGER HERE NOT ON LAURA'S FACE!" Bennie barked.

         "DO YOU THINK I EVER HIT YOUR MOTHER? NO BECAUSE I HAD RESPECT FOR HER, I HAD RESPECT FOR WOMEN IN GENERAL! A MAN WHO HAS REPSECT FOR WOMEN KNOWS TO NEVER EVER LAY HIS HANDS ON HER, WHAT KIND OF MAN ARE YOU TIMOTHY!" Bennie ranted.

" ONLY COWARDS HIT WOMEN, ARE YOU A FUCKING COWARD TIMOTHY SHROWDER!" Bennie continued.

         Tim began to get teary eyed and just stared at Bennie, two seconds later Tim's head lowered pathetically to the ground." No father," Tim sniffed.

         "Good, you will tell Laura you're sorry and how unforgivable your actions were, then you will leave her alone because you do not deserve her. I am ashamed of you and your mother would be ashamed of you, our son would never slap a woman, and you go back to your dorm and take a good look at yourself in the mirror. Take a look at the boy you just became," Beanie grumbles.

         Bennie walks off the ring and out the gym; slamming the front door so hard it causes Tim to flinch. "FUCK!!" Tim shouts as it echoes through the dead silence.

The cold and dark gym engulfed Tim in his regret and sorrow as he clutches his shoulder. Leaving Timothy alone in the dark to ponder his actions and what it means to be a man.