"No, we don't sell hot dogs here, sorry... Huh?... No, like I said we don't sell hot dogs here. You should try the grocery store... LISTEN LADY! NO! YOU CAN'T GET AN ORDER OF 37 HOT DOGS IF WE DON'T MAKE ANY FREAKIN' HOT DOGS!"
Tommy, Phil and Lil were laughing on the other end of the phone as they looked inside of the Java Lava. All of the customers were staring at Chuckie as he tried to explain the hot dog thing to this person on the phone. They had now called him 3 times during the day, as they were extremely bored and had nothing else to do.
As Chuckie slammed the phone down, he looked up to see 5 customers with their eyes wide open. "Heh heh, sorry about that... Now, what can I get you sir?"
The 3 friends decided to leave the poor kid alone from now on, as they really didn't want any trouble. They hopped on their bikes and waved hello to Kimi as they rode by.
"Hey Kimi! Want to come with us? We're all going over to the arcade." Lil said.
Kimi shook her head. "Love to... but can't. My mom just texted me to come to the Java Lava right now, but have fun!"
"All right, see you later!" Lil replied.
Kimi then walked down the street to the restaurant. It didn't seem very busy today, so she came up to the counter and talked to Chas.
"Hi, Mr. Finster. Have you seen my mom around anywhere?"
Chas paused for a second and then replied, "Oh, she said she had to run to the grocery store to pick some things up. She'll probably be back in 20 minutes."
She nodded and sat on one of the bar stools in front of the counter. Chas then asked his son, "Chuckie, could you walk back to the house and bring back the napkins, cups and straws? I'll let you end your shift early today since you seem a little flustered."
"Yeah, sure thing." He replied, looking like he was about to explode. Chuckie speedily walked out of the store and down the street back to the Finster household.
Chas then proceeded to clean up the store. Betty had already left for home, so the only 2 people left in the store were him and Kimi.
"So, how do you like this town? I'm sure it's a lot less exciting here than it was in Paris." Chas inquired.
The Watanabe girl shook her head and said, "Actually, I like it a lot better here than in France. I didn't really have a lot of friends there, but the very first day that I got here, you and Chuckie already talked to us! So... thanks for being so friendly to us, Mr. Finster."
Chas laughed. "You're a great kid, Kimi. It was no problem at all, and I'm glad you're friends with Chuckie too. Usually he gets picked on by other kids when they don't even know him yet. I would know- it happened to me, too."
Kimi frowned and said, "That's not fair. You guys are awesome people!"
After a few minutes of silence, Kimi began to wonder if her mom and Mr. Finster had talked about the bad incident at school the other day. She asked, "Umm, Mr. Finster..."
"Please, Kimi, just call me Chas. You of all people don't need to be formal with me."
She then nodded and continued, "Ok, well... Chas, I was just wondering if..."
"You want to know what your mom and I talked about, right?"
She looked sad and quickly turned her head to the floor. She really shouldn't have asked Chas this. However, he really didn't mind her curiosity.
"Hey, it's alright. All that happened was that I explained what had been happening with that Darrell guy. I've already talked to Chuckie about it and told him to help you out if he ever goes near you again."
He then looked at her depressed expression on her face, and he couldn't help but feel terrible for her.
"Hey now, don't worry about it. It'll be fine, I promise." Kimi couldn't help but smile through the tears that were building in her eyes. He always knew the right things to say to her.
Chas then continued, "You know, Chuckie had the exact same problem as you do. It also happened to be the same bully who's been hurting you."
"Really?" Kimi asked, "It was the exact same person?"
He nodded, and then explained, "It happened last year. Darrell thought that he was an easy target to pick on, so he bullied him for most of his grade nine year. Chuckie hadn't said anything about it, so it continued for quite some time."
He then looked down and said, "Then one day, he came home with a black eye, bruises all over his body and a few cuts. He had finally stood up to him, so Darrell beat him up after school. After I phoned the principal afterwards, he got suspended for a week, and eventually the bullying just stopped."
He closed the cash register and sighed. "It was a hard time for Chuckie, but Tommy, Phil and Lil helped him through it, so he eventually got back to normal. The point of this story is that you're not alone in this. You can go to your mom, your friends, me or any adult if you're having a bullying problem. All that I can say is that you're not alone in this, Kimi."
Chas smiled and put a hand on her shoulder. "Thanks Mr. Fins... I mean, Chas. I mean it- you guys have done so much for us and-"
She was cut off as 8 men dressed in black tuxedos and robber hats (the ones that cover your whole face) burst in through the door. They all had pistols in their hands, and they aimed them right at Kimi and Chas.
"Go! You 2 grab the money, and we'll grab these 2." One of them said.
Kimi and Chas struggled to break free as they were being tied up and held by 4 of the robbers.
"Let her go! She hasn't done anything to you, you freaks!" Chas yelled.
One of the robbers pointed the gun at Chas's head and yelled, "Shut up! If you don't want to die, I suggest that you stop talking right now!"
The robbers kicked Chas in the back and he fell to the ground. Kimi then cried, "Oh my god! Don't shoot him! DON'T SHOOT HIM!"
2 of the criminals came back into the store with 4 containers of gasoline, and they proceeded to dump it all of the Java Lava. They took Chas and Kimi out through the front entrance, where a white van was parked right beside the sidewalk.
"You'll never get away with this!" Chas yelled as he was pushed against the side of the van.
The robber smiled under his mask as he snarled, "Ha ha ha, I think you should see something!"
As the masked man turned him around, Chas could only gasp in horror and despair.
The Java Lava was in flames.
The robbers opened up the door and were about to push them inside, when Kimi and Chas heard a familiar voice.
"Hey, Dad I got you the stuff..." He at once dropped everything that he had in his hands and ran towards the vehicle, screaming out the entire time.
"DAD! KIMI! LET THEM GO YOU F#*&% ASSHOLES, OR I'LL..."
"You won't do anything unless you want us to kill them both!" one of the robbers said, pointing his gun at the 2 helpless individuals.
Kimi shook in terror as they carried them into the van, but she managed to cry out, "Chuckie, I don't know what's going to happen, but look after my mom for me! AND GET HELP!"
The robbers gagged her with a cloth and threw her into the back of the van. Chas then calmly yelled, "I love you son! No matter what happens, I'll always, always love you!"
As the van drove away, Chuckie stood there completely stunned. He was going through so many emotions right now, he couldn't even decide what to do.
That is, until it finally struck him that he had now just lost one of his best friends and his father.
He screamed out to the sky and fell to his knees, as the Java Lava burned to the ground behind him.