My second fanfic EVER! I feel less nervous because my last one was able to get onto FanFiction with no problems. Only, I didn't notice 'til too late that I misspelled some of the words last time, although I could've sworn I triple-checked every single word. Oh well. Hopefully this time I won't make any spelling or grammar mistakes.
Okay, so it's Father's Day (in the story, not real life), but to make it more precise it's the first Father's Day Don Lino has to spend without Frankie. So he has to ask Lenny to replace Frankie in their annual Father-Son wrestling tournament. Enjoy, and please review.
X--X
It was exactly one week before Father's Day. Nineteen-year-old Lenny was just about to finish his shift at Sykes' and Oscar's Whale Wash. But before he could go home he had to ask a favor from Oscar, who was flirting with his girlfriend Angie in her office.
"Hey, Oscar!" Lenny said without giving either fish a warning. Both Oscar and Angie were freaked out by their best friend's surprise attack.
"Lenny," Oscar was now trying to get his breath back. "What is wrong with you? Ya don't just sneak up on a guy while he's talkin' to his girl!"
"Oscar, be nice to him!"
"Yes, Angie." Oscar would do pretty much anything to please his Angie. "Alright Lenny, ya have my attention. What's up?"
"Well…" Lenny needed time to think about how he would say it. "See, Father's Day's next week and I promised my Pop I'd spend the whole week hangin' out with 'im."
Oscar had a somewhat dumfounded look on his face, but Angie knew exactly where Lenny was going with all this.
"Tell me this means you want Oscar to give you all next week off and find someone to fill in for you." she said without even guessing.
Lenny nodded bashfully. Oscar was just about to say 'No way in halibut', but Lenny was lucky Angie was there.
"Don't worry about a thing, Lenny. Oscar would love to do that for you…Wouldn't you, Sweetie?" She said through her teeth.
Oscar sighed.
"Sure, why not?"
Lenny was overjoyed. "Thanks guys, I owe ya one."
"It's no trouble," Angie assured him. "You just have a great week off. Oh and tell your dad I said hi."
Without another word, Lenny swam off as fast as he could.
Oscar stared angrily at Angie.
"Ang, what makes you think you can do my job for me?"
Angie gave Oscar a dirty look that said 'You wanna repeat that?'
Oscar chuckled.
"W-What I meant to say was…Please don't kill me."
"Fine." Angie agreed, though form time to time she really did want to give Oscar what he deserved, right now was no exception.
X--X
The next day, Lenny was sitting quietly in his room reading a book when he heard someone knock on his door.
"Come in."
The door opened revealing his mom, Kathleen.
"Lenny?" she said, "Your father wants to see you for a few minutes. He wants to discuss what you two will do on Father's Day."
"Oh, where is he?"
"In his office." Kathleen replied.
Lenny put down his book and left the room.
When he got to Don Lino's office, he opened the door and saw Lino sitting at his desk. The older shark looked up from his large pile of paperwork to see who was visiting him.
"Oh, there you are Lenny." He greeted his son.
"Hey, Pop."
Lenny sat down in the chair across from Lino. "Mom said you wanted to talk to me about next week, what's up?"
"Well, here's the thing." Lino started, "You know that every Father's Day for the last twelve years, Frankie and I've entered that annual Father-Son wrestling tournament, right?"
Lenny nodded.
"But I can't do it with Frankie anymore because of...what happened a few months ago." Lino went on, "So I was just gonna ask you if you were interested in entering the tournament with me?"
After about twenty seconds of dead silence, Lenny finally spoke.
"You want me to wrestle you in front of every shark on the reef?"
"No, no." Lino said, "I don't want you to, it's just somethin' I've been doin' for a long time with your brother and I just think it's a great tradition."
Lenny put a little more thought into it and answered, "Well in that case, I guess I could give it a shot."
"You're sure you wanna do it? 'Cause if ya don't I'll completely understand."
Lenny smiled.
"Pop, this thing obviously means a lot to you and I don't wanna make you feel bad on Father's Day."
"You're a good kid, Lenny." Lino replied with a smile.
X--X
One week later, Father's Day finally arrived. Lenny woke up at nine o'clock, feeling extremely nervous about that day. In just three hours, he was going to be wrestling his own father in front of every shark on the South Side Reef, including his mom. But he told himself to look at the bright side; he was doing a nice thing for his dad on Father's Day, and that was all that mattered. He slowly got out of bed, and got himself ready for the day.
Five minutes later, Lenny met Lino in his office.
"Hey there, Kiddo. Ya nervous?" Lino asked him.
"A little bit." Lenny admitted.
Lino placed his fin on Lenny's back.
"That's okay." He said. "But I should probably let you know that I tend to get a little aggressive when it comes to wrestling."
Lenny gasped sarcastically, "No. You get aggressive? I never would've guessed."
Lino gave him a noogie.
"Anyway," Lino continued, "If at any time you wanna back out, I can just tell the referee to stop the match."
But Lenny didn't think that would be necessary. He was nervous but not so much that he would chicken out at the last minute. So the two of them ate breakfast and then headed for the wrestling arena that was a few miles away from their ocean liner.
They arrived at eleven o' clock and went into the locker room to get ready. Lenny felt more nervous than ever when he saw all the other shark sons that had entered the tournament. They were all about his age, but all nine of them were taller and stronger looking than he was. To make the situation worse, all of them were built exactly like their dads, thus they would actually have some competition. Lino was bigger and more muscular than Lenny was, so he knew for sure he was gonna lose.
Lino noticed how frightened Lenny looked.
"You alright, Lenny?" he asked.
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about me."
But deep down, they both knew that was a lie. And Lenny's nerves increased when the official entered the locker room and spoke to his dad.
"Don Lino?"
"Yes?" Lino answered.
"You and your son are going first, so be ready in forty-five minutes."
Once the referee left, Lino turned to Lenny and asked playfully, "Alright, Little Guy. Ya ready to lose?"
Lenny couldn't help but play along.
"The question is will you be able to get through this without breakin' your back, Old Man?"
"Bring it on, Short Stuff." Lino chuckled.
His dad's sarcasm always calmed his nerves, and this situation was no exception. Lenny was ready to wrestle, though he wasn't expecting what he would get once they were in the ring.
X--X
At twelve noon, the referee hammerhead shark stepped into the ring and spoke into the microphone.
"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the South Side Reef's thirty-second annual Father-Son Wrestling Tournament."
Every single shark that was sitting in the stands applauded. Lino and Lenny entered the ring and went to their corners. Lenny got nervous again when he saw how many sharks had come just to see him try to bring down his own dad. Then he looked in the front row and saw his mom looking up at him.
"Good Luck." She mouthed to him. He was glad he had someone in the audience supporting him.
"Alright," The referee said, "Round one; Don Lino versus his nineteen-year-old son, Lenny!"
The official rang the bell and the crowd went wild. So far, everything was going perfectly. Lino and Lenny slowly circled each other making sure they didn't turn their back on the other one.
After about forty seconds, Lenny had Lino right where he wanted him. Lino tried to grab him, but Lenny swam right behind him, jumped up onto his back and knocked him right to the ground.
"Lenny has Lino pinned to the ground," the referee yelled over the roaring crowd. "And he has five seconds to get up or Lenny wins."
Lino couldn't believe it; his younger, weaker son actually thought he could defeat him. Then the crowd started to count the seconds.
"ONE…"
He was not going to let this happen, he just wasn't.
"TWO…"
He had beaten Frankie every year, but now he was going to lose his title because of Lenny….LENNY!
"THREE…"
His blood pressure was now through the roof, his heart began to beat like a drum, and his dark blue eyes became bloodshot. Kathleen knew that look on her husband's face and could tell this was not gonna be pretty.
"FOUR…"
Just before the crowd could say "Five", Lino forcefully pushed Lenny off of him and got back up. Now it was getting bad. Lino stared down at Lenny with frustration in his eyes. He was breathing fiercely through his teeth. Lenny struggled to get back up, but Lino slammed him right in the face with his tailfin, and Lenny was knocked backed into his corner.
Lino had hit him so hard, that most of the members of the crowd looked away, including Kathleen. There was no way Lenny was going to get up in five seconds. As the crowd started counting, Lino felt as if he had won again. He was undefeatable, he was tough as nails, and he was the toughest shark in the ocean. But then he looked down at Lenny, who was lying motionless on the ground with his face buried in his fins. That puny little shark was loosing, he was weak, and he was…he was...he was afraid, afraid that his dad would do another bad thing to him.
Lino couldn't believe what he had just done to his own son. He had become so upset about losing the match, that he was willing to hurt his own son just so he could keep his title. The crowd was about to say "Five" when Lino called to the referee, "Time Out!"
Everyone was silent now.
Lino slowly approached Lenny and got down on the floor next to him.
"Lenny?" he said softly.
The younger shark looked up at his dad with tears in his eyes and a painful-looking mark on his face. Lino placed his fin on his son's shoulder.
"It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you."
Lenny took a deep breath and a small smile appeared on his face. Lino couldn't help but smile back and he pulled his son into a loving embrace. The crowd was deeply touched by this sight, even though they were there to watch a wrestling match. Kathleen, it seemed, was the happiest of all of them.
"Ya know what I wanna do right now?" Lino asked Lenny.
"What?"
"Whatever you wanna do."
Lenny nuzzled his dad's shoulder.
"Happy Father's Day, Pop."
"Thanks, Son."
Lino helped Lenny get back up, and the two of them left the arena to enjoy the rest of the day together.
The End.