Hey everyone, I hope you all had a great Halloween. I had a pretty good one but it was really quiet. I only saw a few people out, I guess its because of the swine flu ick.
Anyway, here's my entry for the fifth challenge by the wonderful suburbs. I decided to do something different. There are four brothers you know.
There were reasons.
Everyone who has ever had a sibling, whether a brother or a sister knows this.
Siblings will always argue, tease and taunt their sibling. Why? Sometimes because its funny. Sometimes it's for revenge.
For him, it was for attention.
Frankie Lucas loved his brothers.
He loved annoying them, teasing them and of course taunting them. All three were just easy prey, he couldn't resist sometimes. Even rock stars had personal secrets, which he found out and used against them of course.
He loved they were famous too. All their fans loved him as well. He was still a child and it made him 'cute.' Hey when your nine and a bunch of fourteen year olds girl want, life isn't too bad.
He also hated them. He hated they were famous, despised it sometimes.
Especially when it cut into his time. Frankie was a man with plans after all.
Today, for instance, he loathed their fame. It was Halloween morning, which meant by sundown he was supposed to be getting tons of candy.
It usually made a kid like him excited. What kid didn't love sugary snacks given out for free?
That and you got to wear a cool costume and be a hero or a monster for a night. Halloween was definitely awesome for kids like him.
That is until 2009. Frankie dragged himself out of bed feeling like an old man instead of a active little munchkin.
It was Saturday morning, he should have been smiling watching crazy cartoons eating sugary cereal. In other words, he should have been happy.
Frankie miserably walked to the dining room table and sat down. He put his head in his arms and sighed, pushing away the bowl of cereal waiting for him.
"I'm not hungry mom" he mumbled. Sandy looked up at him and smiled.
"Sweetie, I know your bummed but your friend Alex called and said you could go with him and his family" Sandy Lucas said.
Frankie picked his head up and gave her a forced smile. "Yippee" he said with fake enthusiasm.
"Frankie, moping isn't going to change things, go have fun" Sandy said.
Frankie just stared blankly. "I don't think I'll go this year, I'll just save my costume" he answered. Frankie wasn't in the mood for fun anymore.
He pushed away from the table and went upstairs. The room was empty and it didn't help Frankie's mood.
He picked up a remote and a set of drums came down over his brother Nick's bed. He went behind them and hit the drums softly with one of the sticks.
"Stupid band, stupid brothers, stupid Halloween" he muttered hitting the drum. He made up a rhythm and the sound helped him calm down, if only a little.
He got bored of playing and ran to the bed behind him which belonged to Joe.
He curled up and to his amazement, he felt tears fall from his eyes. He rarely cried, unless he was really upset.
It was a dumb thing to cry about but it made him feel better.
Joe, Nick and Kevin were supposed to take him trick or treating. It was going to be the six of them. He wasn't surprised Stella and Macy were tagging along.
He didn't mind the girls though. They weren't his parents. Finally they thought he was old enough that only his brothers had to be with him.
Apparently, he still wasn't allowed to go alone. Frankie wasn't a dumb kid but their was no reasoning with Sandy and Tom. He was psyched though, his brothers were pretty cool.
Then they had to leave him. Why couldn't the concerts be next week he wondered.
"Stupid band, stupid brothers, stupid broken promises" Frankie muttered as he cried. He wiped his eyes and sniffled, feeling stupid for crying.
He sat up and sighed. He knew his mom was right. Like the saying, no use crying over spilled milk, there was no use crying over his stupid brother's fame.
With that he washed his face till he was sure there was no trace of his brief emotional trauma and went back downstairs.
"All right, I changed my mind, I guess I'll have some fun" he told his mom who was still sitting at the table, eating a second bowl of cereal.
Sandy chucked and pulled her youngest son in for a hug. Frankie groaned but hugged back. Only briefly though, he liked hugs as much as Nick.
Frankie made the call to his friend and the plan was set. Frankie didn't love it but it was better than staying home.
Unknown to him or his mom, the missing Lucas brothers had made a plan of their own. They were supposed to be doing some charity thing their dad had signed up for -and conveniently forgot about- a month ago.
The charity was from Thursday to Saturday night and they would leave Sunday so they could be at school Monday.
Kevin had woken up first though and looked at the date on his phone. He texted his brothers a quick message.
'I don't want to do this guys' he wrote. Kevin meant it too. He wanted to have fun. It was the one day of the year where you had a right to dress up and get free candy and Kevin hated to waste a good holiday.
The boys had separate rooms in the hotel and Kevin heard a knock on his door a minute after he hit send.
"Come in" he called out and the door opened to Nick and Joe, in their pajamas.
"You thinking about Frankie?" Joe asked holding up his phone and Kevin nodded. The munchkin had entered his mind as well.
"We promised him guys, this was his supposed to be his first year without mom and dad tagging along" Kevin said.
Nick sighed and shook his head. He loved all his brothers but he sometimes wish he could alter them. 'Why did Kevin have to be the sweetest?' He thought.
"So…we cancel?" he asked. "We disappoint our fans? It's one to a thousand guys" he added. He hated being the sensible one, but it had to be said.
Kevin just shook his head. "He may be one but he's our baby brother, I think he outshines a million fans" he said.
Joe nodded. "He's right Nick, yes we have a responsibility to the band but we also have a role as big brothers, family comes first" he said.
Nick was shocked. His brothers were making sense. He put up his hands in defeat.
"All right, let's do it then" he said. "Let's…celebrate Halloween" he added with a shudder.
Nick actually had looked forward to the trip. Finally a good excuse to avoid the dumb holiday. Dressing up to him was lame and too much candy just made you sick and made the dentist rich.
Nick really was a party pooper.
"Wow Nick, save some of that excitement for Frankie" Joe teased him. Nick stuck his tongue out at him in reply.
"All right, knock it off guys, we can't waste time" Kevin said and went to get dressed. The two nodded and left the room to dress.
Their dad wasn't thrilled with cancelling the last show but he understood. He saw Frankie's sad look when he left as well. It hurt him, as a father but he did have Frankie's brothers futures to deal with too.
Tom sighed and nodded. "All right, for the Frankster, I'll cancel the show" he said after thinking it over a few minutes.
The three smiled and high fived each other. It took a few hours but the three made it home just by four. They had called their mom but told her not to tell Frankie.
Sandy nodded with a smile. She had the best boys in the world she thought proudly as she hung up. She dialed Alex's house and explained the situation to his mother.
She agreed to let Alex go with the Lucas brothers alone after a few minutes of Sandy convincing her she had very responsible sons. 'Well, least Nick is' she thought with a chuckle.
Frankie had disappeared to his room after calling Alex. He came out at four and gaped at the table set for six.
"Mom…we having company?" he asked slowly. Sandy nodded.
"Who?" he asked and she shrugged. "It's a surprise, go put your costume on, they'll be here soon" she said. Frankie wanted to know who was coming though.
"I'm not telling Franklin, go put on your costume" Sandy said when he asked again. Grumbling, he obeyed and ten minutes later returned as a ninja.
"Now will you tell me?" he asked. Before Sandy could answer the doorbell rang.
"Why don't you go answer that" she said. Frankie opened his mouth and Sandy pointed to the door.
Grumbling, again, he obeyed. His eyes bulged when he got the door open as he grabbed some candy, thinking it was little kids starting early.
"Hey thanks, I was getting hungry" Joe said taking the candy from his hands.
"What….you…how…" Frankie stuttered, his mouth unable to form a sentence and Nick chuckled and ruffled his hair.
"We said we'd take you out little brother and a promise is something Jonas doesn't break" he answered. Frankie smiled and hugged him.
"Thanks…so much you guys" he said. Joe and Kevin joined the hug.
"Course, even a hundred screaming fans doesn't outshine you little man" Joe said thinking about what Kevin had said.
Frankie smiled at that as he broke off the hug. "Well of course, I am the coolest Lucas" he said and all three gasped.
The three older brothers glanced at each other and then at him.
"Uh oh" Frankie muttered. He backed off but his brothers were quicker. They tackled him and he screamed and laugh as their fingers tickled all his sensitive areas.
"Okay, I give" he yelled. The three shared another high five laughing.
Frankie sat up and ran to the kitchen. He came back with a can of silly string and erupted it.
Sandy walked in as the four threw the string at each other and with a stern look the mess was quickly cleaned.
"Okay, mom wins" Joe said and all three laughed.
"Mom always does" Nick agreed. The four went to the table and ate the dinner their wonderful mom prepared.
After dinner, all four boys cleaned up. By then it was a little after six and Frankie was excited again.
"All right, everything is clean, go get your gear, we have so many houses to hit" he whined.
"Settle down Frank the tank, we got time" Joe said and Frankie shook his head. He then began pushing all three to the stairs.
"Not enough Joseph, we only six hours before November hits and I WANT CANDY" he yelled the last part and all three boys laughed but quickened to the stairs.
The three hurried but it still took twenty minutes before they were downstairs and by then Frankie's friend and the girls were.
Mrs. Mahoney shook Kevin's hand as they came down. "Nice costume" she told him.
Kevin was Peter Pan, Macy had agreed to be his Wendy. Joe was Superman and Nick was Captain Hook.
Stella was Super girl. Alex was a ninja as well. He and Frankie were showing off their moves waiting for Jonas to come down.
It was another ten minutes before they were allowed to leave since both mothers wanted pictures.
So when Frankie let out an excited hoorah ten minutes to seven as they began their walk, everyone laughed.
"This is so much fun, I'm glad you boys came back" Macy said as Alex and Frankie dashed off to the boys neighbor. The five older kids walked slower.
Kevin nodded and gripped Macy's hand. "It's a nice night too, not too cold out" he answered.
The five got their candy and followed the two munchkins to the next house.
Joe stepped on some leaves that had fallen from the tree in the next yard. He put on a mischievous grin and picked a few up. With a chuckle he dumped them on Stella before running away.
"Joseph!" Stella shrieked. "Now I'm going to have to wash my hair again" she yelled as she tore after him. Joe only laughed as she threw leaves at him.
Kevin and Macy grinned at each other and joined in the fun. After all you're only young so many years.
Nick rolled his eyes as the four threw leaves on the street. He went up to the door the munchkins were at and watched them get their candy. He took one piece for himself and thanked the man.
The four stopped after a few minutes and laughed as they caught up to Nick and the boys a few houses down.
"Thanks for waiting guys" Stella said trying to get the leaves out of her hair.
Nick shrugged. "Were supposed to be on baby sitting patrol" he answered and everyone rolled their eyes.
Joe had found more leaves in the next yard and this time stopped everyone but Frankie, Alex and Nick.
The four grabbed handfuls of leaves and dumped them on all three. Another war then started, this time everyone pitched in.
Every few houses they did that. They made a mess but they didn't care. They had fun.
When they returned to the firehouse at eleven, -their curfew- they had a lot of candy and all had smiles plastered to their faces.
Most of the leaves were gone, so they didn't look too grungy. The parents noticed though but they didn't say anything. They were enjoying their children's happiness as well.
Because they knew childhood was limited. Halloween was for the young and tonight it made seven young people very happy.
Well that was long. It was fun writing this though. I had to make it silly, hope it got a chuckle out of you.
Hope you enjoyed your Halloween reader and my story. Thanks for reading, drop a review please.
