The Rebel

By Nathan Johnson

Nathan Johnson's The Rebel is the compelling tale of a successful businessman who was once a rebel. Protagonist John Cooper reflects on his childhood and adolescence, born into a family in which his mother is his only ally, growing up in a household in which his guilt is always assumed and his older brother is always considered right.

John Cooper is "trying to make the best of a bad situation" as a misunderstood child, becoming an accidental rebel, punished for defending his friend in a fight and becoming friends with Butch Jones, a gang ringleader, in order to avoid going home. The more he is around Butch, the more trouble in which eleven year old John becomes involved, with escapades that range from stealing to smoking and drugs. As the gang progressively becomes more violent and encounters trouble with the law, his father, whose problems are becoming progressively more serious, enrolls him in a juvenile detention center to attempt to straighten him out.

The tense relationship between John and his father culminates in his father's attempt to murder him, consumed by hate and rage, powerfully underscored by Johnson's dialogue; "'I've always hated you. You're going to realize I am your father. I brought you into this world and damn, I'm taking you out!'" The story follows Cooper as he gets older, starts a relationship, struggles to break the cycle of abuse, and eventually discovers the true meaning of being a rebel.

Johnson fuses the play-like dialogue with prose explanations, giving the reader various media for understanding the story and gaining deeper insight into the life and mind of John Cooper. Johnson's portrayal of Cooper's life, troubled youth, and strained relationship with his father is heartrending, providing readers with a unique perspective on what drives young people to become rebels and join gangs.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Nathan Johnson
• Release date: Sep 16, 2011
• ISBN: 9781465913050

Nathan Johnson

Nathan Johnson's was born Sept. 2, 1971, in Irving, TX. He grew up in Cedar Hill, TX and graduated from Cedar Hill High School. While there, he became interested in writing. He graduated in 1991 from Cedar Hill High School. He finished writing "The Rebel" in November 1991. After seven years of writing as a hobby, he took a break and focused on his education and career. He recieved an Associate Degree in Business Administration from Mountain View College in May 2000. In Aug. 2001, he started working for Immigration & Naturalization service (Later Department of Homeland Security), where he's currently employed. His passion was always present and after several years of employment, he resumed his favorite past time. In Jun. 2011, he self-publshed "The Rebel through Createspace.com and later smashwords.com. For the next two years, he began writing another novel called "Touch of Evil, Part 1." It was published through createspace.com and smashwords.com in June and July 2013, respectively. Shortly after, Tate Publishing decided to publish a manuscript of "The Rebel" he'd submitted. "The Rebel" was released through Tate Publishing on Jan. 7, 2014. He's currently working on "Touch of Evil Part 2."

Book preview

The Rebel

Nathan Johnson

Copyright 2011 by Nathan Johnson

Smashwords Edition

THE REBEL

Part One

The Mistakes of a Parent: The Life of John Cooper from August 1957 to December 1961

August 1957

Hello, most of you don’t know me. Don’t worry, you will after I explain my case to you. My name is John Cooper. I am a successful businessman now but I was once a rebel, not one that necessarily caused trouble like you’d see one do. No, I was a rebel against my family values and was trying to make the best of a bad situation. It started when I was born on Mar. 27, 1949, in Birmingham, Alabama. I believe God put me on the earth to work toward good values in my family and in my home. I have an older brother, James, born May 14, 1947, and a younger brother, Joe, born Jun. 24, 1959. At the time, I felt James, and later Joe were spoiled and my dad blamed me for everything. I remember in the summer of 1957, James/I was on our way to the pond to fish. He never liked me tagging along:

Me: Hey James, where are you going?

James: Away from you.

Me: Why would you want to get away from me?

James: Because you’re an idiot.

Me: I haven’t done anything to you to deserve a comment like that! All I did was ask you a simple question!

James: Daddy!

Daddy: What the hell is going on out here? I’m trying to watch TV and I don’t have time for this!

James: "John is trying to pick a fight with me and I called you before I hit him!

Daddy: Okay John, go to your room and stay there until I tell you to come out! I want no part of this crap between you and James.

Me: Don’t you want to hear my part of the story?"

Daddy: NO! Go to your room, NOW!

It never failed. Every time James/I had this type of discussion daddy made me spend up to five hours in my room. There was always someone I had on my side, so I didn’t worry too much. That was Mama. When she got home, she’d bail me out:

Mama: Hello, where’s John? I usually see him running toward me when I get home. In fact, anytime he doesn’t I know you’ve done something. Now, what is it this time?

Daddy: I made him go to his room. He tried to start an argument with James and I didn’t want any part of it.

Mama: "Lord have mercy, why do you have to make poor John suffer all the time? We both know that James usually starts it. He probably asked him’ What do you need’ or ‘where are you going?’

Daddy: I really don’t give a damn! I never wanted John anyway, but you insisted and I was too dumb to put my foot down!

Mama: I’m going to get him out of that room and let him play, like a normal eight year old boy. Before I do, I’d like to say that you’re a terrible father and stink to the point of disbelief!

Daddy: I’ll only punish him worse you’re covering for him! He hasn’t even learned the beginning of how to deal with life yet!

I heard the argument from the bedroom and loved every minute of it. She told him exactly how she felt and I agreed; he was a lousy father. He didn’t care about anything but himself. I always trusted mama in that regard. Every time I got sent to my room I’d just have to wait for her to tell me it was okay to come out. My daddy was mean and I knew I would have to get away from him someday. An example leading up to this is explained on the playground a few months later. A bully by the name of Bruce Jones was trying to get my friend Jimmy to eat dirt.

Brewer Elementary School- January 1958

Bruce: What’s the matter, Jimmy, are you afraid to eat dirt? Oh come on, I’ll give you my whole week’s lunch if you do.

Jimmy was very shy and didn’t like to fight. Bruce was the school bully and not well liked. When I saw him rub his face in the dirt I jumped in:

Me: Hey fool, unless you want me to go upside your head with my fist, you’d better leave him alone! You know I don’t like to see my friends being bullied and you know I won’t put up with it.

Bruce: Who do you think you are, you punk?!

Me: I might be John Cooper. Who might you be, as if I don’t already know?

Bruce: If you don’t get out of here, punk, can I call you punk?’ I’ll make you wish you hadn’t interfered!

Me: Boy, you just made a huge mistake!

Bruce: Oh yeah? Well, take this!

Bruce tried to hit me, but I blocked his punch and hit him several times until he went down. Then, I pinned him and asked him a few questions:

Me: Now, are you going to leave Jimmy alone?!(Holding him down on the ground harder and harder, not allowing him to move until he finally agreed and then we went back in).

Thirty minutes later, the Principal Jack Baines called me into