I have another story due for my fiction writing class in a couple of days, so I am using today's post, and possibly tomorrow's, to write about it. It is about a man who is unwillingly going to anger management classes. Tony has just run out of gas because he was too stubborn to fill up when he should have. "Abe" is Tony's nickname for the man. I think he's going to have an inner habit of nicknaming everyone. I was going to have this towards the end of the story, but I think I'm going to move it towards the beginning instead. Tony will be on his way home from a meeting, and the story will mainly be about this car ride with "Abe."
"This is just great!" Tony shouted and pounded on the dashboard. His fist stung from the impact of the hard surface, but he didn't care. The next gas station was miles away, and he didn't even make a gas container. He decided the best thing to do would be to call a tow truck or, even better, his wife to bring some gas or pick him up. Before he could make the call though, a red SUV pulled off to the side of the road and parked in front of him.
"Just what I need, some do-gooder to nose into my business."
He was just about to that he was fine and didn't need any help when his tongue got caught on the roof of his mouth. It was Abe, from his anger management classes, the annoying guy who wouldn't stop smiling. Tony rolled down his window.
"Well, hi, Tony! Fancy meeting you out here! What's the problem?" His voice boomed jolly like Santa Claus' and there was a smile streaked across his face.
"I ran out of gas," Tony answered sullenly, not wanting to spread his pride to the world.
"Oh that's a shame! But you're in luck. I'll take you to the gas station."
Tony knew that's exactly what Abe would offer to do. Rather than go through the same old conversation of "I hope it's not an inconvenience" and "Oh not at all," Tony answered, "Thanks. That's nice of you."
"Think nothing of it. Hop in." He walked back to his car and Tony followed him, getting into the front passenger side.
Abe buckled his seatbelt. "I know of a gas station about fifteen minutes away from here. I'll have you there and back within the hour."
Tony gave a quick, fake smile and leaned back in his seat.
"Where were you headed?"
"Home."
"Oh bummer you have to be delayed."
Tony rolled his eyes. "Yeah."
"I remember when I was about seventeen. It was my first car, an old cluncker of my dad's, and I had forgotten to fill up the tank because my dad hadn't reminded me. It was a long walk to the gas station," he laughed.
"Why would you laugh? I'd be furious."
"I can look back on it now and laugh, but before, I tended to hold onto grudges. I found out long ago it's much less stressful to let go of our strong emotions like that. They only weigh you down. Don't you find they do that?"
"Yeah, I suppose," he said in an unconvincing voice.
"Are you liking the therapy?"
Tony stared at him. What kind of a question was that? "It's going okay," he said warily.
"It takes a while to get used to them, once you do, you don't have to worry. They become a huge help. I know they have for me."
The man's positive attitude was making him sick "How long ago was it since you were at the classes?"
"Umm," he looked up at his ceiling for a minute, making Tony nervous and reaching out for the wheel to make sure the car wouldn't swerve, "I joined that program five years ago, and it's been the best thing that's helped my anger control."
"I can't picture you as an angry guy."
Abe laughed,"Oh I was, believe me! I used to yell all the time and threaten to hit people. I took my frustrations out through playing tennis. The course just taught me I can't get my way the whole time, and I can't let other people bring me down. Being angry just isn't worth it."
Tony smirked. "I don't know about that."
"And what about you? Why do you need the courses?"
"No one seems to appreciate my unique forms of expression."
That's about all I got right now. I'll see of I can do something better tomorrow.
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