The Lost Generation

 

If you're like most parents, you probably spend a tremendous amount of time and energy teaching about the importance of being a responsible child or young adult.  By emphasizing, explaining and encouraging the importance of their responsibilities repeatedly yet, it appears that you're talking to a stone wall because nothing is getting through to them.  The younger ones who don't listen when you tell them to don't leave their toys in the middle of the floor and to put them where they belong, clean their room, get off the phone and do the dishes, do their homework before playing outdoors or watching TV, stop picking on their brother or sister because you're angry and can't get your way and no dating on a school night!  The young adults know to let their parents know of their whereabouts when they are expected to be at a certain place but they won't take the responsibility or the initiative to do the right thing!  How often do our kids think they know more than their parents but whenever there is a crisis they've seemed to have gotten themselves into and can't get themselves out of suddenly, they forgot how grown they are! How often do parents hear their urgent call, “Mom!  Or Dad can you help me out of this situation?”  The constant scolding is endless, as parents try to provide guidance and instill good morals and values but sometimes a hardheaded child can be a rebellious child as kids today seemed to have acquired an immunity to punishments.  No matter how hard you drill them, you can't seem to crack that stone wall!  To add, sadly young adults seem to have lost their sense of reality and judgment by embracing fantasy, irrational thinking, welcoming hearsay and rejecting the facts, instead of being accountable for their actions and not be easily influenced.  They choose easy over hard, simplistic over complex and fast over slow. Eager to forego those simple thrills to achieve satisfaction and significance. Oh, they are competent and aware of their actions but because of another's intention of enticement, which should never be attributed verses rather than taking responsibility in making their own decisions. They can't seem to comprehend that their parents love them and want the best for them. They fell to realized that their acts are nothing new, the same stunts were once pulled by generations ahead of them, it was just on a different day during a different time but the concept was still the same. Only there was no standing in the corner alone or any time outs, their form of discipline was a good whipping on the backside. An appropriate form of disciplinary action directed by God himself according to scripture, in Proverbs 13:24 when it reads, “The one who will not use the rod hates his son, but the one who loves him disciplines him diligently. Meaning a wooden form of paddling by parents is acceptable and should often be used to correct a disobedient child. Also Proverbs 22:6 reads, “Teach a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it.” It's a good teaching method and immediately a child begins to learn, obey and understand the reasons for their misbehavior.

 

~~~

 

One day Marco, the little five-year-old tote-hog was constantly toting his toys from room to room all throughout the house. He literally had three rooms in such disarray his mother actually blew a fuse when she yelled, “Get your butt up and clean up all this mess you made! How many times I have to tell you when you've finished playing with your toys to put them away and not leave them in the middle of the floor! You could cause someone to trip and fall hurting themselves so put them away right now!” She snarled walking away when Marco quickly made an aggressive attempt to pick up his toys but became focused on a sudden interest in one of his toy Nintendo computer gadgets and began to play with it forgetting what his mother had instructed him to do. His mother later yelled for him to come to pick up his Lego building blocks from the family room when he immediately answered, “Okay, I'm coming!” Still, he failed to do what his mother told him to until shortly later, she was carrying a basket filled with dirty laundry when she slipped and fell on some marbles lying along her path towards her laundry room.  A very unfortunate situation and luckily she wasn't badly hurt just rather shaken up a notch and as her anger elevated, she immediately scolds him to put all of his toys in a big box then sent him to his room to wait until his father arrived home.  All of his toys were stored away for a while until he learned how to put them away when he finished playing with them.  After a week without playing with any of his toys, little Marco learned a valuable lesson, not only the spanking on his backside by father became relevant to him but the desire and lack of not being able to play with his great toys were quite heartbreaking. Both parents came together to address this matter so that their little boy will learn and understand the importance of being responsible in putting his belongings away so when he got the opportunity to play with them again, he will know exactly where they all belong. It wasn't until one evening of the following week his mother called, “Marco! Wash up and come down for dinner!” “Okay mom, I'll be right down!  I'm putting my trucks and tractors away right now!” He responded.  Subsequently, the adorable five-year-old was the least of their worries, the Shelton's had a total of eight kids and they were all of eight different personalities along with eight different issues and hangups but for Mr. and Mrs. Shelton, they never knew what each day would bring in their encounter with their kids.

 

~~~

 

One day, the connection these parents once had with their kids senselessly disappeared and suddenly the walls went up and the parent-teenager conflict began.  Their son Titan is an articulate ten-year-old and quite aggressive yet, deceitful in manner.  He was always having behavior issues in school as well as his encounters with his peers, often meddling and bullying his way to gain an advantage.  He was a good looking kid, quite robust in stature when he walked over to a little boy name Ian and demanded that he get out of his seat, which he alleged was his chair and when the little boy ignored him, Titan pushed him out of the chair landing on the floor.

 

“I said this was my seat punk!”

 

The little boy made an aggressive approached to retaliate when the two of them were nose to nose.

 

“Hey I didn't see your name on this chair and you have one more time to push me again!”

 

“Well bring it punk!!” Titan shoved him in his mouth. “Now say something else and I guarantee you won't be able to say another word because I'm gonna knock all of your teeth out your mouth and then take all your lunch money baboon face!” Titan growled.

 

“Try it loser!” The little boy barked.

 

Titan pushed Ian so hard he fell against a row of chairs then to the floor in the cafeteria. As the little boy tried to get up, Titan held him down hitting him in his chest and face causing a severe nose bleed when a couple of faculty members struggled to break up the melee.  Immediately Titan lied and said the little boy started the fight when several others yelled out saying, “It was Titan's fault! He started it!”

 

“Who said that? You're lying, but that's okay, I'll be back and you all better not be here!!” He snapped as Mr. Kenard abruptly grabbed him by the arm to lead him to the Principal's office.

 

“That's enough of that son!  I think you need to worry about if you're even going to be able to stay in school because you're in big trouble!”

 

“But I didn't do anything!  He started it!” Titan declared trying to jerk away from Mr. Kenard's grip.

 

“Well, we'll see what the principal decides after contacting your parents.”

 

Ian was immediately sent to the nurse's office to get his nose mended.

 

Meanwhile, Mrs. Shelton had arrived back home from grocery shopping when she received a call on her cell phone from her 17-year-old daughter whose name is Treasure.

 

“Hey mom, I have to stay over after school today because the deadline on the school newspaper has to be finalized today and there are still some inserts we have to add before it's completed for publishing, so I'm going to be late coming home this evening.”

 

“Okay well, how late will you be?”

 

“Well it's hard to say but hopefully within a couple of hours or so and I'm just estimating but it could be longer but don't worry mom, I'll catch a ride with Jana and we'll be right on when we finish.” She winked at Jana who was avidly listening to the fib she told her mother.

 

“Okay fine and Treasure come straight home, you hear me!”

 

“Yes, I hear you, mom.” She blew a bubble rolling her eyes towards the ceiling.

 

“Okay then, I'll see you later.” Her mother concluded.

 

“Bye, mom!” She quickly ended the call. “Give me a break! I thought I'd never get her off the phone!

 

“Girl your mother is so strict! I don't have that problem, hell most of the time my mother doesn't care to know where I am. Too busy having fun I guess!”

 

“Girl my mom tries to keep me on a leach! If she would ease up a bit I wouldn't have to pull stunts like this all the time but it's a good thing we finished the school newspaper yesterday or this wouldn't be possible today! Okay, so you got the address right?” She asked Jana quickly disposing of her bubble gum then smooth on her fuschia pink lipstick.

 

“Yea girl, you know I've got the address! It's at Alan's brother's condo. Alan has it for the weekend while his brother is out of town.” Jana acknowledged fluffing up her curls in the mirror.

 

“Okay, how do I look? Do I look hot?” Treasure had to know, she changed out of her jeans into a tight fitting short skirt the girl's restroom.

 

“Yea girl you look hot! He's going to love you in that short hot pink skirt! You are working it with that black jacket, you know he's gonna be all over you!”

 

“He better be or I'm going to be all over him!” She smirked.

 

“Girl Alan is hot and you know all the girls at school want him but he's only interested in you so you gotta let him know that you'll be his girl and make it happen tonight or you may lose him.”

 

“Well, that's not going to happen because can't nobody compete with this.” She glanced into the mirror with her hands on her hips admiring her cute little figure. They chuckled both sprayed some minty breath freshener into their mouth.

 

“I know that's right! Girl you just got to go for it!  I love me some Reggie and he can't get enough of me!  Girl, he whispered in my ear today after lunch and said, “I want to see you tonight”. And girl, he had that look in his eyes that drives me crazy and I can't wait to see him too!  I can't help but wonder what he and Alan got planned for us but we shall see very soon. I'm done so are you ready girl?” Jana eagerly asked.

 

“Yea, let's bounce girl!”

 

Meanwhile, after placing some meat into the deep freezer, Mrs. Shelton received another call on her cell and it was the principal's office calling to report Titan's inappropriate conduct.

 

“Fighting!! Well was he or anyone hurt? No that will be fine, I'll be there in 15-minutes to get him. Thank you!” She snarled quickly putting away the last of her grocery items then quickly grabbed her bag and keys and was on her way out the door when she was confronted by her youngest 13-year old daughter whose name was Echo arriving home from school.

 

“Hey, mom! Where are you going?”

 

“Hey dear, I've got to run! Titan is in so kind of trouble at school!”

 

“Again! That fool is always in some kind of trouble! Oh mom before you go, can I go to the movies with Jasmine and her sister tonight? The movie, “It lives Beneath the Earth” starts tonight!”

 

“We'll talk about it later Echo, right now, I've got other matters to tend too!”

 

“Aw ma, just say yes!”

 

“I tell you what, you can ask your father when he gets home. Oh when you get inside, take those towels out of the dryer, fold them and put them away!” I'll be back in a minute she demanded noticing the scowl on Echo's face before she drove away.

 

Upon kicking her shoes off and dropping her books on the floor of her room, she stormed downstairs towards the laundry room when she ran into her brother Stoney in the kitchen glancing in the refrigerator for a snack when he playfully shoved her as she passed him.

 

“Hey!” He spoke guarding against her quick retaliation.

 

“Stop it and hey yourself!” She snapped.

 

“What's wrong with you?” He asked her.

 

“Nothing and you better not be eating my peach yogurt!” She snapped again.

  

“Aw girl, don't crack, this is pineapple! Hey, where is mom going?”

 

“Titan went and got himself in some trouble at school so she went to bail him out again as usual.”

 

“Hahaha! My lil bro! Who he beat up this time?”

 

“I don't know and it's not funny Stoney! Everyone thinks that Titan is so big and bad, one of these days he is going to push up on the wrong person and get a beat down!”

 

“Nah, that's not going to happen to a champ! A champ always wins!”

 

“Well, you just keep believing that then.”

 

“Girl shut up, you think you know everything! Some things aren't in all those magazines you be reading.”

 

“It doesn't have to be! It's called common sense, something you seem to be lacking in that little brain of yours and being a year older than me, I thought you would have at least an ounce of it.”

 

“Girl forget you!” He pushed her head when she ceased from folding the towels on the kitchen table and voiced, “And if you push me one more time, you're gonna get a beat down!” She assured.

 

“Ooh, I'm scared now!” He teased reaching back into the frig for a can of soda then disappeared up to his room.

 

A half hour later, Zack the 16-year old lover-man pulled into the driveway driving his 18-year old girlfriend's new Kia.  She hasn't had the vehicle any more than a month and every time they are together, she allows Zack to drive. Mr. Shelton has warned him to stay from behind the wheel of that girl's new car until he is a licensed driver but cute little miss Chantelle wouldn't have it any other way.  She was madly in love with Zack and would do anything to keep him.  Mr. Shelton often wondered why she chose a boy much younger than her but apparently, Zack had what all the girls wanted. He was a gentleman, articulate, a charmer and very popular. However, he had passed his written test and soon he and Chantelle were planning to skip school one day so that he could use her vehicle to take the driver's test.  He and Chantelle got out to go inside when they found Echo sitting at the table folding towels when they greeted.

 

“Hey, lil sis!”

 

“Hey yourself! Hey Chantelle!”

 

“What's up Echo?” Chantelle smiled.

 

“Hard labor!  What you guys up to?” She asked watching Zack open the refrigerator to grab a couple of sodas.

 

“Oh just hanging out.  I've got a few errands to run and then catch my little brothers game tonight and I'm waiting to see if my babe will be able to join me, in fact, I can only stay a few minutes Zack, I've got to be going soon.” She glanced up at the clock on the kitchen wall.

 

“Yeah, I know baby, where is Mom?” Zack avidly asked.

 

“Oh, she's down at Titan's school.  He's in trouble again.”

 

“Oh yea, what did he do?”

 

“You know how he's always picking fights and meddling people so he got in trouble for it!”

 

“Poor dude, he thinks he's in trouble now, just wait until dad gets home. I guess mom will be there a while then. I'll be right back baby.” He told Chantelle before he dashed upstairs.

 

He entered his room and found Stoney laying across his bed watching TV.

 

“Hey man, what's up?” Zack greeted.

 

“Nothing man, what you in to?” Stoney inquired.

 

“Me and my girl about to bounce man. Mom ain't back yet so just tell her I'll be back alright.” Zack expressed quickly changing his shirt.

 

“Is Chantelle downstairs?” Stoney asked.

 

“Yeah, she's down there talking with Echo.”

 

“So what yall gonna do man? Y'all gon get some tonight?”

 

“Man, that's my business! And you need to get some business of your own!”

 

“I don't have a girl man!”

 

“Exactly!”

 

“Man these girls are so silly acting! Some act stuck-up then there are others who try to smother you!”

 

“Not all girls are like that man! There some good girls out there! You see the issue with you is that you don't know how to pick em. Like that girl Kyndall Morrison, now she's cute, sweet and I think she likes you man but you won't give her the time of day!”

 

“Man, how do you know she likes me?”

 

“I just know alright! Trust me, I got a good feeling about it!”

 

“Yeah but she's shy acting though.”

 

“So what, those are the best kind! Just step to her man and talk to her! Be smooth, you know, give her some of that Stoney action!” He smirked brushing his hair.

 

“You crazy man!”

 

“No my brother, I'm a lover! That's who I am! So don't hate the playa, hate the game! I gotta run and don't forget to tell mom what I said. I'm out!” Zack left the room and quickly he and Chantelle took off.

 

It was five thirty when Mr. Shelton arrived home from work when he heard his wife loudly chastising one of the kids and joined her in the harsh disciplinary action. After Mrs. Shelton finished with her scolding, Mr. Shelton stepped in and asked him, “So why were you fighting son?”

 

“This boy was picking on me, Dad! I didn't do anything to him!” Titan expressed.

 

“You know, I find it very odd that someone is always picking on you! Every day!  Why is that son?” His father inquired.

 

“I don't know.” He spoke softly.

 

“I can't hear you, son, speak up!”

 

“I said I don't know!” He downed his head.

 

“You don't know. Well you know what I think, I think you're down at that schoolhouse instigating and picking with other kids! You seem to don't know how to keep your damn hands to yourself and your mother and I are sick of this bully behavior of yours!  We send you to school to get an education not to fight!”

 

Titan was not trying to hear a lecture from his father and displayed no heed or wasn't receptive to what his father was saying to him.

 

“Oh, so you big and bad now, huh?  So you don't want to listen to what I'm saying to you, is that it?  Okay, then fight Me!” His dad demanded, slapping his fist.

 

“I don't want to fight you, dad!” Titan voiced.

 

“C'mon, you bad! Man to man! Let's see what you got.  C'mon hit me!” His dad slapped his fist again this time much harder.

 

“I don't want to fight you, dad!!” Titan spoke out.

 

“Why not? This is what you do every day...fight!  Isn't this what you enjoy?  So fight me!  What's wrong, son? Don't be a coward! Hit me!!”

 

“I can't!!”

 

“Why not? C'mon, don't punk out on me!  Put up your fist and fight me!!”

 

Mr. Shelton noticed that suddenly Titan started to whimper.  It was as if his soul was crushed.

 

“You can't even do it, can you? You copped-out on me!  But you like to pick on people less vulnerable.  That's a bully son!  I didn't raise to you to be a bully and it's all going to stop today!  Because I'm going to put something on your backside to help you remember that I mean no more fighting or picking and meddling other kids at your school!  So I want you to go out into the backyard and get me a branch off that big oak tree and bring it to me right now!”

 

“But dad I didn't do anything!” Titan beseech.

 

“I hear what

Impressum

Verlag: BookRix GmbH & Co. KG

Texte: Debbie Lacy
Bildmaterialien: Compliments: Roberto's fun Galleries
Lektorat: Debbie Lacy
Tag der Veröffentlichung: 03.11.2015
ISBN: 978-3-7396-2143-2

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To my family, friends, readers, and fans, thanks so much for your support! I hope you enjoy this story and may God bless!