CHAPTER 2: "…I PRAY THE LORD, MY SOUL TO KEEP…"
Sometime later, Charlie Brown and Sally met up with Linus and Larry at the hospital to see how Rerun was doing. Linus had called Charlie Brown once things had calmed down. They were also getting tired of Lucy's bad attitude, themselves, no one more so than Charlie Brown, who was Lucy's biggest target that wasn't her brothers. He was more than happy that she got arrested by the police.
"What's happening now?" asked Charlie Brown.
"Rerun is stabilized now," said Larry.
"Lucy just went off on him, Charlie Brown," said a shaken up Linus. "Over a goddamned cookie!"
"Are you kidding me?!" said an angry Charlie Brown. "That psycho bitch! Sorry, Mr. V."
"It's all right, Charlie," assured Larry. "Lucy needs to pay the piper for this one. I swear if my wife tries to defend this…"
"You don't think mom would let this slide with Lucy, do you, dad?" asked Linus. "Never mind some of the other crap we've endured with her. She almost killed Liam this time. Even mom should see the severity of this." At that moment, Lacey walked in.
"I just talked to the cops," Lacey announced.
"And?" said Larry.
"I think we can get her off if she agrees to go to anger management," she continued. "After Liam gets out, we can work on trying to get along better."
"Are you kidding, mom?!" Linus exclaimed. "You're talking about letting Lucy out and back with Liam! She don't need anger management; she needs a psyche ward!"
"Now Linus…"
"Don't 'Now Linus' me, mother! Lucy is a psychopath! A lost cause! There's no helping crazy! She'll just do it again to either me or him. Why do you think I've been taking up weight-lifting all of the sudden?!"
"To join the football team?"
"Oh good grief!"
The doctor walked in. He began, "Your son is now awake. The police want to talk to him."
And the Van Pelt went in with the police to see Rerun. He was bandaged up heavily and even had his nose bandaged. Lucy had broken his nose. She was lucky that was all she broke, as far as Linus was concerned. As the police asked Rerun questions about what had happened, he explained it word for word, and Linus provided more information as he was a witness to the incident.
After the police was done, the head officer said, "Mr. and Mrs. Van Pelt, it's up to you. Luckily, aside from some bruises and his broken nose, your son is fine. But what do we do as far as your daughter is concerned?"
"Let her free," Lacey said without missing a beat.
"Are you insane, mom?!" exclaimed Linus. "Sure Rerun got lucky this time, but what if Lucy does worse to him?!"
"He's just got to stay on her good side from now on," said Lacey. "Don't worry. We'll reprimand her when she gets home."
"Oh that's going to do a WHOLE lot a good," said Linus, getting even more upset. "This whole thing's a joke!" And he left the room.
"Mom," Rerun began. "Listen to Linus. And please listen to me. I don't want Lucy around me! I'm scared!"
"Listen to our sons, Lace!" reasoned Larry. "And do the right thing."
"Lucy's coming home and that's that!" Lacey said firmly. Larry shook his head. His family was falling apart because of Lucy and her craziness. And he wasn't sure how much more Linus and Rerun were going to take.
NEXT CHAPTER: THE PEANUTS GANG REACT
