The Second American Revolution - The Building of an Empire Read online

  Bell had rung, signaling the students to go to their next class.

  Jerrick ignored the hustle and bustle around him as students shuffled in and out of the classroom. He dissembled the motor and wires and placed them in the box, oblivious to his surroundings.

  As Jerrick looked up, the students in the calculus class began sitting down.

  Then the tardy bell rang, and the calculus teacher started the lesson.

  Jerrick stayed a little longer as his curiosity caught the best of him.

  Calculus teacher explained, “When a function has multiple pieces like a function within a parenthesis raised to a power, then you use the chain rule to calculate the derivative.”

  Teacher then wrote the function on the black board, y = 3(x2+1)3.

  Jerrick solved the problem easily.

  Jerrick rose from his chair and started to leave the classroom.

  Teacher was explaining the steps to calculate the derivative.

  Once Jerrick opened the classroom door, he turned to face the teacher and the class. Then he shouted, “the derivative is 18x(x2+1)2”

  Subsequently, he closed the door silently behind him.

  Unfortunately, Jerrick missed the calculus teacher’s frown, when he solved the problem and indeed, it equaled 18x(x2+1)2.

  Students gasped because a smart-ass sophomore just outsmarted them in the calculus class.

  ***

  Jerrick expanded his social life during high school. He made new friends and hung out with misfits; you might even call losers. They rebelled against authority and all of its representations. They were lazy, did poorly in school, and consumed copious amounts of alcohol and marijuana.

  Jerrick rarely drank beer because the hops’ bitterness was too much for him. However, pot was different. Jerrick wasn’t sure why he started smoking marijuana. Perhaps the school forced him to take Ritalin as a child. Nevertheless, he suspected marijuana represented the outcasts and misfits, and Jerrick wanted to belong to that group. At the heart of Jerrick’s core, he was a rebel. A revolutionary leader never follows a crowd.

  Of course hanging out with misfits was interesting too. They did some of the craziest shit together. Usual suspects were Larry, Jerrick, and Tommy. If the three left town, the crime rate would drop in half.

  ***

  One night in the 10th grade, Jerrick, Tommy, and Larry snuck out of their parent’s homes at 10 PM.

  Jerrick, Tommy, and Larry met down at the Black River under the Bell Road Bridge. River’s official name was the Macatawa River. However, all the locals called it the Black River because the river’s waters were dark, turbulent, and shiny like black obsidian stone under the moonlight. If a person accidentally dropped something into it, it would disappear into the murky waters forever.

  Bell Road Bridge was on the edge of the city’s limits, which had little traffic. However, the boys didn’t worry about the traffic. They looked for Holland’s finest, the Holland City Police.

  Small cities like Holland have low crime rates, so the police harass the drunks and teenagers. If the police caught the teenagers violating curfew, then the state would go after their parents, assessing large fines while enriching the city’s coffers.

  Under the bridge, Jerrick, Tommy, and Larry isolated themselves.

  During a cool October night, the chilly air turned the young men’s breathe into small clouds of mist.

  Full moon reflected off the river’s waves, breaking the moon’s image into shimmering shards of light.

  They lay on their backs on the concrete foundation with Larry in the center. Jerrick lay to his left while Tommy lay on the right. Concrete’s coldness penetrated through their clothes.

  Larry was the oldest and the leader. Although Larry was not an athlete, he had a muscular build. He let his dark-brown hair and scraggly beard grow long. His rugged, good looks attracted women here and there.

  On the other hand, Tommy was skinny and appeared to be underfed as a child. He let his black hair grow long. He grew a beard once, but his beard poked out in patches on his boyish face.

  Jerrick's appearance was somewhere in between. He was not skinny but not as muscular as Larry. However, he was an average looking guy. In a room of 100 women, ten women would find Jerrick attractive, especially capturing the hearts of the heavier ones.

  Jerrick would get a scribble here and there in a lonely teenage girl’s diary while Larry would get several pages. Of course, once Jerrick said something too intelligent, those women would flee as if he had escaped from an insane asylum. Unfortunately, women in Michigan are attracted to the dumb, athletic types.

  Larry pulled a joint from his pocket and lit it up, inhaling deeply. An acrid, pine-tree smell of marijuana filled the air around them.

  Then Larry passed the joint to Jerrick while Larry coughed out the smoke. “This is some good shit,” Larry replied in a muffled, harsh voice.

  Jerrick eagerly grabbed that joint and asked, “What kind of shit is this?”

  “Sensimilla! Supposedly, this grower used genetically modified seeds from Amsterdam,” Larry replied.

  “That shit is supposed to be the best,” Tommy chimed in, fitting in with the group.

  Then Larry pulled out some tweezers and smoked the rest until it disintegrated into nothing.

  Larry, Tommy, and Jerrick were very high. Although the concrete foundation had an angle of 40 degrees, the boys thought they hovered several feet off the ground.

  Tommy replied completely stoned, “Wow; look at the water, the moon in the water. Ohhhh! Wow!”

  After an hour, the boys weren’t quite so high anymore.

  Larry stood up, stretching his legs.

  Jerrick also rose slowly to his feet and asked, “What do you want to do?”

  “I’m hungry and thirsty,” Larry replied. He coughed several times and added, “Let’s go look for something to eat.”

  “Are you crazy? Nearest store is two miles away,” Jerrick argued as if this knowledge would stop Larry.

  Larry pointed at a row of piers with boats, “What about over there?”

  Although the piers were hidden under darkness, several, white boats stood out.

  “I’m hungry too,” and Tommy got up.

  Boys glanced at the pier where the river bended and changed direction. They saw the outline of several boats bobbing up and down from the small waves of the river.

  Then, the boys began walking in single file. Larry walked first; Jerrick followed second while Tommy followed last.

  The boys walked a bumpy, treacherous path along the river. Larry tripped on a branch but quickly regained his balance.

  One misstep, then a person would be getting a cold, muddy river bath. Of course, Larry knew this path well. Indeed, two years ago, he tripped and fell into the dirty water, face first. Then he had a long, cold humiliating walk home.

  Boys, however, made it to the first short pier, bone dry; nobody took a dirty bath that evening in the river.

  Boys walked on the pier and hopped into the speedboat that someone tied to the end of the pier. Boat gently swayed as each boy climbed aboard.

  Then they saw several fishing rods and tackle boxes, but the boat had no munchies.

  In a fit of rage, Larry threw the fishing rods into the river. Then he glanced toward the boat’s front, studying the controls.

  Larry whispered, “You guys won’t believe this. Keys are still in the ignition!”

  Tommy and Jerrick both turned and stared at the boat’s steering wheel. Under moonlight, they saw the silver glint of a key.

  Before Tommy and Jerrick had spoken, Larry untied the boat.

  Jerrick asked apprehensively, “What are you doing?”

  “Let’s go for a spin!”

  Larry sat behind the steering wheel while Tommy climbed into the front passenger seat, and Jerrick sat in the second seat behind Larry.

  Boys let the boat drift a little down the river.

  Then Larry
turned the key in the ignition.

  Engine made several loud clicks but refused to start.

  Then Larry paused a minute and tried again.

  Boat’s motor roared into life.

  As Larry increased the throttle, the boat lurched forward, taking off across the water.

  For a few seconds, Jerrick worried about their misdeeds. Someone near the river could hear the loud boat motor and call the police. In these parts, men often went fishing under a moon lit sky with a 12-pack of beer chilling in a cooler.

  If the police caught them, the police would charge the boys with vehicle theft, marijuana possession, and curfew violation.

  Jerrick looked around and didn’t see any lights or commotions or any other human activity.

  Occasionally, Jerrick heard a dog barking in the distance over the roar of the engine.

  Then Jerrick calmed down and stopped worrying as adrenaline pumped through his veins. Adding the high from the genetically modified marijuana from Amsterdam, they were gods, hopping across the water.

  They took turns driving the boat.

  When Jerrick drove the boat, the cool wind blew Jerrick’s hair back as the powerful motor propelled the boat forward.

  Then Jerrick turned sharply and made loopy figure eights while the boat bobbed up and down from the river’s waves.

  After an hour, the boys drove the boat to the Bell Road Bridge. Larry took it cool and turned off the boat’s motor, steering the boat onto the shore as the boat’s bottom scraped the riverbank.

  Both Tommy and Jerrick jumped off the boat and scampered home like scared rats.

  Larry sauntered home, acting as if he did nothing wrong. He would be shocked if someone accused him of any crime that night. How could someone accuse Larry of a crime? He didn't do anything tonight except hang out with a couple of good friends.

  ***

  Jerrick and his friends started the 11th grade.

  Before the first day of school, they planned to teepee the high school. In Michigan, the schools start at the end of August, when Michigan’s summers are hot and humid with temperatures soaring into the upper 90s.

  Larry, the ringleader, called Jerrick, Tommy, Brian, Richard, Tim, Ed, and so on, telling them to meet at nine o’clock in the woods next to the high school’s baseball field. He said, “Bring as much toilet paper, bleach, and eggs that you can carry.”

  Everyone showed up.

  Jerrick arrived a few minutes late, but he saw Bruce brought a large army duffel bag filled with toilet paper.

  They sat in a large circle on the edge of the baseball field, giving communion to their God, Mary Jane. All the malfeasants wore shorts while the tall, prickly grass made their legs itch.

  Malfeasants started the ceremony in good spirits. Several people pulled out joints, smoking them and passing them around.

  At 11 o’clock, they stood up, brushing the debris and grass from their legs. Then they formed a line like soldiers, picking up their arsenal in unison and marching single file into the battlefield at the front of the high school.

  Then pandemonium broke out.

  Jerrick grabbed a couple of rolls of toilet paper, flinging them high into the large oak trees.

  Kids threw rolls of toilet paper everywhere.

  Some members wove toilet paper into the bushes as if they were decorating a Christmas tree.

  Someone grabbed bleach and poured it across the lawn.

  Larry used charcoal to scribble on the doors, “Seniors Rule!”

  They must admit. They were clever for a bunch of druggies. They were all juniors, so the school administration would blame the seniors for this vandalism.

  Although the misfits brought a large quantity of supplies, the mayhem lasted for 15 minutes. However, the rush and marijuana stretched minutes into hours.

  After the supplies had run out, the group began leaving.

  Jerrick turned and glanced at the school. Giant oak trees in the front looked like weeping willows with white vines swaying in the wind.

  They threw so much toilet paper; it looked like it snowed on the school property in late August.

  Next day, Jerrick woke up groggy as the rattle of his alarm clock pricked his head with needles.

  Jerrick slid out of bed and walked to the kitchen.

  His mom slaved over a stove.

  “Mom, I don’t feel good. Can I stay home from school?”

  “You’ll miss the first day.”

  His mom scrutinized him from head to toe as her hand moved the spatula in the frying pan, scrambling the eggs. Jerrick was a little pale and unkempt so he must be sick.

  Then his mom added, “Okay, but no computer games. Also no novels. Read something better.”

  “Okay mom,” Jerrick replied while almost halfway to his room.

  Although his mom’s cooking filled the house with scents of eggs, bacon, hash browns, and toast, Jerrick needed more sleep than nourishment.

  He awakened several hours later and ate a healthy breakfast that his mom left on a plate on the counter.

  His mom left a note on the kitchen table, ‘Jerrick. I went to the store. I love you, MOM.'

  After breakfast, he headed into his room to read a book on social psychology, which he bought last week at a garage sale. Jerrick scoured the garage sales for cheap college textbooks.

  He read up to Chapter 4, when Larry called him.

  Larry stated in his usual cheery voice, “Hey dude; what’s up?”

  “Not much, I was just lying around.”

  “I know; I didn’t see you in school. You skipped again.”

  Jerrick asked, “What happened?” He knew the school principal was furious.

  “Principal and teachers were mad. In the first period, the principal said over the intercom that all students must go outside and pick up that mess. If we do not clean it up within an hour, we’ll lose our open lunch and other privileges. So, all the students went outside and pick up the toilet paper. You missed it. It was great!”

  “Ah man, I shouldn’t have skipped!”

  “What are you doing tonight? Let’s get high!”

  “Larry, I can’t. My mom doesn’t work tonight. I must stay home because I told her I was sick.”

  “Alright. Later man!”

  “Later!”

  Then they both hung up.

  Jerrick’s mother quickly burst through the door, “Jerrick, who was that on the phone?”

  Jerrick almost jumped because he immersed himself in a book; he didn’t hear his mom return from the store. She was in her bedroom, when Larry had called.

  “That was Larry. He told me about the first day of school.”

  “Larry? You know I don’t like you hanging out with him. Can’t you find better friends?”

  “Mom, Larry is okay once you get to know him.”

  “Me and your dad think something is wrong with Larry. That boy ain’t right!”

  “Mom, Larry is my best friend.”

  “Okay! Okay!” Jerrick’s mom didn’t want to argue and asked, “Would you like something to drink?”

  “A Pepsi with plenty of ice.”

  “You didn’t say the magic word!”

  “Pleeease mom, may I have a Pepsi?”

  Jerrick’s mom smiled and closed his bedroom door. She went to the kitchen and poured a soda for her only son.

  Next day in school as Jerrick walked to his locker, a passing face here and there frowned at him angrily. Some students weren’t pleased to see Jerrick.

  Then one student, Jimmy, walked by Jerrick and uttered, “Thanks asshole for the mess yesterday!”

  Jerrick kept walking as if he didn’t hear the student’s comment. What could he say?

  Strangely, every student knew who tee-peed the school except the administration. It was no mystery. Somehow and in some way, when something happened, Larry, Jerrick, and Tommy were at the center of it. A person didn’t need a degree in rocket science to identify the suspects! Howe
ver, the school administration never questioned them!

  ***

  Although Jerrick liked hanging out with Larry, sometimes Jerrick avoided him.

  Larry was personable, friendly charismatic, and the center of a party. Unfortunately, he could be a nut. If Larry had one too many beers at a party, he would turn around and punch the face of the biggest guy in the room. Although Larry wasn’t a small man, he always picked fights with much bigger men, the size of a refrigerator with legs. Then of course, Larry would get his ass kicked. He had a growing collection of torn t-shirts with blood splatters on them. After the fight had ended, a beautiful woman would always help Larry off the floor and nurse Larry's wounds with kisses and hot passion.

  Some nights Jerrick stayed home and curled up to a good suspense novel, spending the whole night reading it.

  Of course, Jerrick still daydreamed. He kept daydreaming, where he stood on a stage while millions of people stood in the crowd, savoring his every word. Jerrick spoke with great words and gestured with his hands to emphasize key points.

  Then, the crowd erupted into a loud chant, “Jerrick! Jerrick! Jerrick! …” Afterwards, the crowd’s cheers would die down, and Jerrick continued his speech.

  At this point, Jerrick didn’t hear all the words in his daydream, but the words would flow out. He would rise and become a powerful leader one day.

  Jerrick knew Larry and Tommy weren’t going to college. Jerrick was surprised because Larry was smart and would make a good businessman.

  Of course, Larry and Tommy planned to remain in their hometown and party as if they still attended high school. Although they became older, the high school girls were always the same age. Those two would plant themselves in Holland with IVs stuck in their arms, filling their veins with copious amounts of beer and marijuana.

  Jerrick debated whether to go to college. He knew from history that all U.S. Presidents in the 20th century went to college, except Harry Truman. Some considered President Truman to be a great leader. Out of all presidents, Truman had both the highest and lowest approval ratings in history, at least until the presidents after 2000. After 2000, U.S. presidents competed for the lowest approval ratings as the U.S. economy sank, and chaos and riots erupted across the great land.

  Jerrick had no choice about college. He knew something infected the Michigan economy because his grandmother told him many stories about old Michigan.