Chapter 5 - Royal Woods, November 2021

Liam and Rusty were avoiding Lincoln. It had started not to shortly after Lincoln became the target of Fernandez's crews jokes and pranks, and Zach had become the official bitch of the dominating class-clique. Liam and Rusty came up with all sorts of more or less believable excuses why they couldn't hang out with Lincoln, or sit together with him in the cafeteria. Lincoln was alone. It was really the first time he had felt this excluded from anything, he always had Clyde, his sisters, Liam and Rusty and Zach until now. It was a completely new feeling for him. He wished back the days where Ronnie Ann 'bullied' him, at least he had had the support of his friends and Ronnie Ann just had been teasing him in actuality.

It had started in the first week of the start of high school. Thinking back Lincoln realised that maybe it was because of him being down and depressed over Clyde moving away, if there was something Lincoln had learned over the past months was that these kinds of teens fed on the misery of others and sad and lonely kids were always the easiest target. Fernandez had acted like a big shot since the very first day: interrupting their homeroom teacher with sneers and half-funny remarks that would even make Luan cringe. A few kids even laughed at them, they apparently knew each other from middle school and already were a strong clique. Lincoln also knew people out of his new class from middle school: Zach, Girl Jordan as well as a few others he didn't really hang around with and Liam and Rusty were in his parallel class. But Liam and Rusty had jumped ship after a few times hanging with Lincoln in the cafeteria. And Lincoln couldn't be mad at them for it; cafeteria was the worst.

"Why so late again honey?", Lincolns Mom, Rita Loud, asked. She was in the living room trying to wipe motor oil from a struggling Lanas face as Lincoln trotted through the front door. "You look sad! Did anything happen? Lana, hold still!"

"I-i stayed a bit longer to ask Mr. Jefferson about homework and missed the bus. I walked the way and am just a bit tired.", Lincoln replied. Using the same excuse as the last time his mother asked him the same question a week ago.

His Mom gave him a look like she didn't believe him, Lincoln held eye contact. The last thing he wanted was his parents tossing over tables in the principals office for such a mundane thing, that'd be embarrassing. It'd look like I can't handle the situation himself. "At least you came before dinnertime. I am almost done Lana! And what have I told you? You can't just start building around the family car!"

"I did not 'build around' on Vanzilla!", Lana referenced the shabby family van, an old hand-me-down from Lincolns paternal grandfather. "I fixed it!", the blonde nine year old girl exclaimed angrily. Turning to Lincoln she added: "Lincoln! Do you want to see what I did with the leaking…"

"No! He doesn't!", Rita interrupted her daughter. "And you won't either! Up to your room until dinner is ready!"

"Ah, shit!"

"Lana! Language!"

"Sorry Mom!"

Lanas twin Lola just descended the staircase heading to the kitchen, she had dropped her princess outfit she used to walk around with 24/7 around the time she was seven but still pranced around in the most fashionable clothes, always dolled up like she was invited to gala. "Lana, you are disgusting!" She said passing by.

"Who cares, princess?" Lana retorted.

Lincoln already sneaked up the stair heading the hall down to his room before he'd be caught in the middle of the twins quarrel.

"Two for flinching!" Pain exploded in Lincolns left arm. Without making a conscious decision, anger and frustration the only thing on his mind, Lincoln swung around and pushed full force. Lynn tripped and crashed full force into the doorframe of her and Lucy's room with her right shoulder, giving a surprised yelp quickly followed by a hurt yelp. Lincoln took a step back in surprise of what he had done. What have I done?, Lincoln thought as he stared down on his confused looking sister getting up on her feet.

"Lynn, I-", Lincoln wanted to apologise.

Lynn charged at her younger brother from her kneeling position letting out a scream and slamming him against the opposite wall of the hall, pressing the air out his lungs. While Lincoln was sliding down the wall she still pressed into him kneeing him in his legs and trying to get a punch in. Lincoln, despite being surprised as hell, was angry. As soon as his back hit the wall, something caved in inside of him and his pent up emotions broke through. Lincoln was pissed, he wanted to hurt. His body called for it: revenge! Pain for pain! He tried getting Lynns head into his armpit to know avail, it was clear that she would whoop his ass: she was more athletic and had more stamina, but that didn't matter to Lincoln: he wanted to get a punch in, one at least, no matter the toll.

The only thing that came from his attempts of getting his raging sister in a headlock was that her ponytail came loose. Lynn finally had Lincoln down on the floor sitting onto of him, her auburn hair hanging down like a baldachin, she managed to land a blow to his face right above his eyebrow. It hurt like fire. Lincoln convulsed like made straining all the muscles he had and managed to get in a punch to her cheekbone. Lynn didn't seem to notice and just kept on hitting. It was getting way to serious: Lincoln was on the defensive, Lynn through punches like a sowing machine down at him.

"What going on up there?", Lincoln heard his Mom call from downstairs, a miracle that the sounds of his blood cursing through his veins hadn't just drowned her voice out.

"It - is - all - your - fault!", Lynn shouted emphasising every word with a punch. "It - was - all - your - fault - from - the - beginning! - You - are - bad - luck!"

Lincoln couldn't let that sit on him. "Oh, yeah? Unghh! That what you say because - umphf - nobody likes you!"

"Your - fault! Bad - Luck!"

"Dyke! I wish you were never born!"

Suddenly Lynn stopped hitting Lincoln. She lowered her fists and leaned back, looking down on her little brother beneath her, his fists still protecting his battered face. Lincoln couldn't decipher what her facial expression meant, but he knew he had crossed a line. A big, red line.

"Lynn! Leave your brother alone this instance!" Mom was standing at the top of the stairs looking with shock down the hall at the scene that had unfolded. She almost ran over, leaving Lynn enough time to get up from Lincoln and take a few steps back. Rita got on her knees next to Lincoln and looked worried at his face. "Lynn!", Mom screamed furious.

"Lincoln started! It wasn't me! Lincoln started! He hit me!", Lynn screamed back.

"Thats it! No supper!", Rita said to Lynn with determined resolution in her voice.

"Lincoln hit me! I didn't start!" Tears were welling up in Lynns eyes.

"She is right! I hit her.", Lincoln said. What am I doing? He just couldn't help himself. Seeing Lynn on the verge of tears, pained him more then any of her punches, okay maybe that wasn't exactly true, but he just couldn't help it. "I pushed her against the wall!"

Lincolns mom looked down at him, confusion, surprise, worry and anger mixing in her face.

"Lincoln you little faggot! Why do you have to be like this! Why do you always-"

Slap

The slap was followed by almost absolute silence. It seemed like nobody, nothing moved except the tears flowing down Lynns cheek that reddened from the deafening slap that her mother gave her.

"In your room. Now. We will talk later.", Rita said, pointing to Lynns room.

Lynn said nothing as she turned around slowly, went into her room and silently closed the door.

"I hit her first."

Lincoln was lying awake in bed staring at the dark ceiling. The dark plane above him worked like a projector, his head spit out thoughts on that dark screen above him. He could't sleep, the movie his head was projecting was to gut wrenching to rest a single bit. The memories from after school just wouldn't go away: How he left the classroom as the last, took extra time on his locker, then wen't and hid behind the gym like an absolute pussy until he was sure the bus together with the Fernandezgang was gone. How he walked home self-pitying himself over his lack of balls, then the worst: how he, after lying to his mother, went upstairs and just tossed Lynn into a doorframe, because she did something that she did since forever. Because she wanted to complete her little ritual. 'Two for flinching', except he never flinched anymore. I lost my shit over it. I can't stand up to some random asshat in my class, but I can let it out on my sister and let her get all the flack for it. Lincoln cringed over his behaviour. I am shit. A garbage human.

Something creaked on the hall in-front of Lincolns door. The bad memories disappeared from the dark ceiling as he turned in his bed catching a glance at his alarm clock. 02:46 a.m. Who could still be awake at this hour?

Lincolns breath stopped when his door opened up making quiet squeaky noises, the noise stopped and whoever stood outside of his room didn't move. It was to dark to even make out a clear shape. Suddenly the noise of socks on carpet. There were only two people in the whole household who wore socks when they went to bed: Lincoln himself and -

Lynn lifted his blanket and got into the his bed next to him. Lincoln couldn't see her, just feel her body heat, also she had a certain smell, like sweaty socks. It was Lynn alright. Lynn gently pushed him over the the wall, getting comfy next to him. Lincolns mind was racing. What? Why? Lynn? Isn't she super pissed at me? Mom chewed her out despite me taking the blame! The sneaking suspicion that she just hopped under his blanket to give him the meanest dutch oven in history grew every second.

"Lynn-", Lincoln started to whisper.

"Pssshhhh!", Lynn whispered back. "I can't sleep."

Lincoln stopped short. After a second of hard thinking he whispered: "I also can't sleep."

Lynn grabbed Lincolns shoulder and turned him over, spooning him, a hand over his chest. Her warmth was radiating through their pyjamas against his back.

The clock showed 03:52 a.m. and both were snoring.

Leni got up the earliest of her sisters because of her job in the Royal Woods boutique. She yawned and stepped out into the hall, closing the door to the room that she had since the last year for herself, since Lori moved out. She closed the door so that Lori wouldn't wake up. Now that she was married she totes needed some beauty sleep. I really need to check up on her and how things are going in Flint, Leni thought. But I better let her sleep for now. She smiled at the door.

Something caught the corner of Lenis eye. Since when does Lincoln sleep with an open door?, Leni asked herself. Was he already awake? Then who was laying in his bed? Her curiosity getting the better the 19 year old, slightly autistic girl, Leni tiptoed over to Lincolns opened door. Peeking in she saw a brown hairdo. A ponytail. Lynn? The other head of white hair was a dead giveaway. Why are Lincoln and Lynn sleeping in the same bed? Last time they this it was totes years ago! Her brother and sister were both snoring peacefully.

Leni seemed to get a sudden flash of inspiration. A creepy grin spread across her face as she quietly shut the door to Lincolns room. Who will ever know what went through Lenis brain at that moment?

"You are going to suck his dick, Zach!", Fernandez announced happily.

"Das rite", Barackeisha, an overweight black girl, with the worst dressing sense imaginable, from Lincolns class laughed. "You gon' succ his dick Zach!"

Yesterday Lincoln had been hiding here to avoid getting caught up in a provocation from Fernandez little gang, but what a twisted bitch irony is. There was no way to see what was going on behind the gym except you walked right behind it through some bushes and wet leaves. Why did I have to act up like that?, Lincoln asked himself for the hundredth time this day. It all began in the cafeteria, second break. Lincoln had been sitting alone at a table as far away from the noisy table the gangs possible. He had watched as they tormented Zach who had become their personal gang-jester, forcing him to spray milk trough his nose and laughing like it was the funniest thing ever, and zach that motherfucker had been smiling the whole time the most miserable frozen smile that Lincoln had seen in his life. Lincoln couldn't bare to see this anymore and had silently got up. Walking by the gangs table he had done his best to not even look in their direction. He had stared down at his tray, but alas, his efforts had been in vain.

"Hey, Linky!", Fernandez had called him in a joyous voice. "Come over here and suck Zach 's dick! He been a good boy and needs a reward!"

Lincoln had froze and had turned to the bullies. They all had been smirking at Lincoln, but between all of them Zach just had looked to Lincoln cowardly, his eyes saying: 'Please just fucking kill me, make it stop.'. Milk had still been dripping out of Zach's nose. Thats when Lincoln had said the sentence that had brought him in this position: "Why don't you suck my dick?", Lincoln had said, looking directly at Fernandez.

A second later Lincoln had dropped his tray on the nearest table and was running for his life to the principals office. Not because he wanted to tell the principal that he was about to get massacred, but because he knew they wouldn't attack him there. During the rest of school everybody from Fernandez gang hadn't said a word, they just had been staring at him ominously from their seats in the classroom. After the last class, they simply had grabbed him when the teacher wasn't looking and dragged him and Zach behind the gym.

"I-i don't want to…?", Zach gently objected.

"Course you want to! You are our mega-faggot!", Tyrone insisted, grabbing Zach by his shoulders slowly forcing Zach to his knees.

"Do it for Lincoln! He wants you Zach! Can't you see the love in his eyes?", Fernandez jokingly said.

"Das rite!"

"Y-you ack! guys are disgusting!", Lincoln grunted.

"Ahhh! Look at this gringo choke!", George Kurtz, a big fat white boy who dressed like a member of the blood-crips, said. What he didn't have in brain cells, George had in muscle cells. He was pressing Lincoln against the grey, concrete wall of the gym, his forearm firmly against Lincolns throat.

"You wanted that Zach sucked your dick!", Fernandez said amused.

"I don't wan't to!", Zach whined.

"Yeah you do. You are our milk-slurp boy. Come on! Get Linkys dick-milk!"

"I don't want to!", Zach was getting louder as Tyrone forced him further on his knees. Fernandez facial expressions changed from a mask of false amusement to that of nearly controlled anger. "Zach. Listen to me you little faggot! You are gonna crawl over there, unzip Linky and succ like there is no tomorrow. You want to stay a good boy, don't you?"

Zach nodded, tears coming to his eyes as he looked up at Fernandez.

"And I want you too use your teeth, comprender?", Fernandez added.

"Well, well, well… what do we have here?", a deep voice boomed. Fernandez whole crew, eight people without Zach, turned their heads to their left in unison.

A group of six seniors was standing at the corner of the right side of the gym building. Two were holding cigarets in their hands. One of them was a tall, blond guy with short hair and with ragged bluejeans. He was the one who had spoken. He continued and walked directly at Fernandez gang, his own gang following. "Wetbacks and Niggers", he nodded in Georg Kurtz's direction. "And Wiggers not to forget, bullying a white kid. I don't like that." He stopped a few steps away from Fernandez who looked increasingly nervous. "I don't like that one bit.", the 12th grader put on his bent cigarette with a lighter. Fernandez took a step back, and just like that his whole gang was on the move to get away.

"Come on mega-faggot!", Tyrone said as he dragged Zach up and along with him.

Fernandez, seeing how he was losing control of the situation, took a few more steps back and said with wavering confidence in his voice: "My brother, Francisco is gonna kick your asses!"

"Sure thing, Jóse. Now get lost before we get the rope."

Fernandez, without even looking at Lincoln trotted away.

The ragged jeans guy exhaled the smoke of his cigarette before turning to Lincoln. Lincoln had been panting and rubbing his throat since George had moved his fat ass away from him.

"Hi, my name is Pete.", the ragged jeans guy said. "And you are?". Pete extended his hand and smiled at Lincoln.

Lynn was sitting on the edge of Lincolns bed. It was 6:55 a.m. The door to Lincolns door was closed when he had woken up. Stange, I cant remember that Lynn closed it when she crawled into my bed last night. If that were true, it would be fatal. What would the others think? It was kind weird. And Lincoln still had no fucking clue why his sister with whom he beat himself with a few hours ago had suddenly just laid herself in his bed and hugged him the whole night. And why know she was just sitting there saying nothing, her back to Lincoln.

"I am sorry.", Lynn said calm and quiet.

Lincoln let that sink in for a minute.

"For what?", he finally asked, in the same hushed tone as Lynn. His other sisters were waking up after all.

"For hitting twice." Lynn jumped from the edge of his bed and opened the door.