One day Johnny was dusting what Al referred to as the chandeliers, but were really the lamp shades in Erwin’s living and dining rooms. Al was stretched out on the couch watching him.
Johnny was a spritely looking boy who probably had missed a few meals. He was a skinny kid, but his face was still bright, and that’s probably where all the mischief resided.
“How come,” Al says. “Every time I see your friend Bart it looks like someone took the boots to him? Are you beating on him or something”?
“Naw. That’s his old man,” Johnny replied.
“Well, how come”?
“He’s just mean, that’s all’.
“Mean!” Al repeated, and then he thought of how fearful Bart’s Mom looked when the committee showed up at her door. “Does he beat on Bart’s Mom too”?
“Beats on both of them. When he’s of a mind to”.
“Is that so”?
“Yup,” Johnny said, stopping to admire his dusting. “Done!” he said.
Al looked over lazily at Johnny’s work.
“Did you dust the light bulbs”?
Johnny looked perplexed. Why would you dust a light bulb? “No,” he said.
“You have to dust the bulbs,” Al said. “Otherwise they’ll explode. Start over, and do it right this time”.
“No they won’t explode!” Johnny protested.
“They will!” Al retorted. “They will. Now, none of your backtalk. Dust them bulbs”.
“You Suck, Al”!
“Why you!” Al said, kicking at Johnny from the couch and missing him by at least 3 feet. “Don’t make me get up”.
“You’re too lazy to get up,” Johnny quipped, which prompted Al to faint getting up and caused Johnny to jump back and find a lamp shade with a light bulb to dust.
Later that evening when Al was washing the dishes, he saw Earl come out and start tinkering on his car. It looked like he was going to change the oil or something. Al dried his hands and without a word to Lisa who was drying, casually made his way out of the house, letting the screen door slam behind him.
“Evening Earl,” Al said as he approached the car.
“Evening,” Earl said, looking at Al and then turning his attention back to his car.
“I want to talk to you about your kid,” Al said.
Earl looked up already mad. “What about him? Has he been making more trouble?” he said, almost as a threat.
“No,” Al replied. “You’ve been beating on him. The missus too, from what I’ve seen”.
Earl shrugged. “So what if I am? You here to tell me how to run my family”?
“I suppose I am,” Al replied, his southern accent matter-of-fact “I’m here to tell you your beating on them stops now. Today”.
“What I do with my family is my business, not yours,” Earl snarled. He was holding a big crescent wrench and his grip tightened around it. Now, it’s best you get off my property”.
Al, who had been leaning on the upraised hood of Earl’s car, let his hands drop and stood upright, looking prepared in a relaxed sort of way. When Al took a mind to it and stood up straight, he was a rather imposing figure. He was a good six feet tall, and being a country boy, had done his share of physical labour growing up. His shoulders were wide, round, and muscular and he had big ropey biceps and forearms. Beefy thighs too. You readily surmised Al would be a force to be reckoned with, when he was standing straight in front of you in a t-shirt, like he was doing with Earl that evening.
“Listen here, Earl,” Al said. “I don’t want to get into it with you, but you’re forcing my hand. Now you got to stop this. You hear me? That ain’t no way to treat your family. I don’t care if you agree with me or not, I’m here to tell you those licken’s you’ve been handing out to your kid stop now. If I see that kid walk by one more time, all bruised and misused, I don’t know what I’ll do, but it won’t be good for you. I’ll getcha”.
Earl measured the young man standing before him. Al was looking back at Earl, not at all concerned with the wrench in his hand. Earl knew if he attacked, Al would destroy him. The young man was all business. He lowered the wrench and nodded his head slightly in submission. “Get off my property,” he said.
“Alright,” Al said. “Remember what I told you. I’ll come back if I have to”.
“You what?” Ethan asked.
“I went and had a talk with Earl about beating on his family,” Al replied. “That’s how we deal with things down South. When a fella acts up, you have a talk with him and make sure he sees things straight. I didn’t have time to put a committee together if that’s what you’re gettin at, but I took care of business, I’ll guarantee”.
“What happened?” Kelly asked, having overheard part of the conversation as she and Lisa entered the room.
“Al threatened Earl,” Ethan replied.
“Mr Maley?” Lisa asked.
“That’s right!” Al replied. “I did it! I’ll tell you what. That man is abusing his family over there, and I felt the need to intervene. He don’t care. Sending his kid out into the neighbourhood all bruised up like that. He was daring someone to do something. Well, I went over and did something”.
“Al,” Ethan said. “You should have talked with someone first. We could have figured out the best way to approach the situation. By going over there, you’ve interrupted the life pattern of an entire family. Now, Earl’s going to react. You might think this is over, but it’s not.There will be consequences, and the neighbourhood should have been informed before you did anything.
“Now Ethan,” Al drawled, with his lazy southern accent. “I can handle Earl. Something had to be done and you know it. It would have been negligent of me to watch him smack his family around without doing something. I was acting on my civic responsibilities”.
“You were acting on violence,” Ethan replied. “You going over there and threatening Earl will have consequences. You may as well have punched him in the face, and with every action there’ s a reaction. Earl is going to react to this. We’ll have to keep a close eye on things and see what comes of it”.
“Read the Good Book, Ethan,” Al said, not willing to give up on his righteousness. “An eye for an eye. I was only following scripture, like any good Christian”.
“You’re the one who needs to read the Bible,” Ethan corrected. “Jesus told us to turn the other cheek. An eye for an eye comes from the Old Testament. Christ said to turn away from violence”.
“Now Ethan,” Al replied. “We was just two good ole boys talkin things out. Nothin wrong with that”.
“No,” Ethan claimed. “There’s lots wrong with that. What happens if Earl flips out and takes it out on his family because of you? This is a neighborhood problem. One person can’t come up with a proper solution. Everyone must be involved, and they will come up with the right response. Group thought and discussion should have been put into this before doing anything. We would have come up with a plan that weighed the consequences of an intervention. Tomorrow, we’re going to have to let the neighbours know what happened and get them involved”.
As with everyone else in the house, Al went along with Ethan’s decision. The next day, they talked to the neighbours and told them how Earl was being physically abusive with his family and what Al did in response. Everyone agreed to meet at Erwin’s that evening to discuss the issue.
“So Al threatened Earl last night?” Edward John asked, turning the conversation towards the purpose of the meeting.
“Yes,” Ethan replied, “and I think Earl’s going to feel provoked into doing something. I’m afraid for his family. I think as a community, we need to be involved and advocate for Mrs Maley and Bart”.
“What do you want us to do about it?” Edna, the woman who spied from her bedroom window the girls peeing in Erwin’s backyard, asked. “It’s not our problem”.
I think it is,” Ethan countered. “Our neighborhood is part of our home. That’s why we’ve acted on neighborhood issues before. We want harmony in our homes. Who among us would feel comfortable at night, if we knew Helen and Bart were being beaten up and we didn’t do anything about it? Not me, nor Al. I know you folks. You couldn’t either. This is our social responsibility and I know that’s the way you see it too”.
“I felt Earl was heavy handed with his boy,” Albert Finnigan said, referring to the day they spoke with Bart’s and Johnny’s parents. “I agree we should do something”.
“What?” Mrs. Lang asked.
“I suppose we could talk to Helen. Let her know we’re here for her and young Bart”.
“That might be easier said than done,” Edna stated flatly. “Helen might not want to talk about it. It’s not easy to admit you married an idiot. I should know”.
“Yes, Edna,” Albert pressed on. “But we must let Helen know there is support for her here in the community. A place where she can turn, if need be. I imagine the poor woman doesn’t know what to do”.
“I agree,” Ethan agreed. “So what should we do? I think we need to act quickly”?
“Well, I’m in favor of us making contact with Helen,” Albert continued with his idea. “Perhaps we can send a delegation over in the morning”?
“A small delegation!” Al quipped. He had something against organized groups as he had demonstrated with Earl.
“Yes, “Albert agreed. “A small delegation”.
That is exactly what they did as a community response. Perhaps due to the sticky, sweet, gulab jamun Priya served them, the neighborhood committee forgot to assign a small delegation to visit Helen the next morning, so the whole works of them went over. When they got there, they discovered Earl had moved out the night before, abandoning the family. All he said to Helen was she better not try to find him.