Mono No Aware
As of this chapter, the second act of this story officially ends. Two more to go!
Also I have no clue if the explanation below makes any sense whatsoever.
''-so I play the 'limited liability clause' card that means I don't have to pay fines for one of my shell companies being outed as a tax evasion scheme. Then, having more market dominance than Lori means that I can play 'corporate raid' and acquire an asset of my choosing. I liquidate it and use my 'lobbyists' perk so I don't have to roll the dice for approval of the chamber and that means I own the majority of the market and I win the game; yay!''
Leni gave herself a gentle applause over winning the boardgame she, Lola and Lori were playing at the dining table and her sisters just stared. Leni moved pieces and cards so quickly that they couldn't keep track how her winning turn unfolded. A suspicion was there: had Leni cheated? It was possible. Either that, or she was strategically more able than her family gave her credit for.
''I'm not playing the Princess Pony: Chamber Of Commerce game with you anymore, Leni.'' Lori said.
With a puff of resignation, she slid her hand of cards over the table. While Lori, even in her moodiness, could accept Leni's victory, Lola was less graceful in her coping. It began with a loud, angry moan and a finger pointed at Leni.
''You, miss, are a cheater!'' Lola cried.
Neither Leni nor Lori took offense to Lola's childish accusation, though when Lola flipped the game board up in the air in a huff of rage and sent pawns and cards flying, it startled both sisters.
''Lola!'' Lori exclaimed.
This was bound to happen: playing a game with Lola on one of her 'tantrum-days' was a bad idea. As one of their parents was at home right now, in this case their mother, Lori was meant to summon her as the highest authority present to lecture Lola.
''Mom!''
Fortunately, Rita sat right across from Lori at the table in the kitchen but on the contrary, she was on the phone and from the look she gave her daughter, she wasn't able to intervene. As Lola swatted the final few cards off the table just because, Lori sorely shook her head; it came down on her again.
That phone call better be important…
''Lola, come help clean up!'' Lori demanded just as Lola climbed down her chair to leave.
''No!'' Lola answered, not even giving Lori a look as she headed for the living room with an indignant strut to her step
The urge to go pick Lola up and carry her back to the table was tempting, but there was a smarter way to make Lola behave without a fierce struggle or the risk of bite marks.
''I don't think the Pretty & Polite pageant jury would want to hear of this…'' Lori said.
Lola finally looked over her shoulder with shock. Her glance gauged the seriousness of her sister's warning until the horror set in that she couldn't take a chance.
''You are cruel!'' Lola breathed, intimidated... but somewhere impressed.
The three sisters cleaned up the game. With the table clear, Lola was finally allowed to leave and while Leni did a touch-up of her nails with a file, Lori took her laptop from the windowsill, hoping it had charged up. It wasn't Lori's imagination playing tricks on her: the aging laptop –originally a hand-me-down from mom– was even slower to boot up than it was normally; it rattled but didn't do anything. At this rate, it soon might not start up at all anymore; a worrisome thought.
Lori idly clicked the mouse a few times out of boredom and, against better judgement, gave the casing a firm smack hoping it'd somehow go faster.
''What's up?'' Leni asked.
''This thing is so slow! I need a new one.'' Lori glanced away, annoyed; that was easier said than done.
''Then why don't you buy a new laptop?''
Lori had to suppress the urge to snap at Leni; even she should know why that wasn't an option: ''I need my money for other stuff on Fairway. My budget won't stretch.''
''Oh…'' Leni seemed to ponder on something and then slowly resumed filing her nails.
Lori wanted to do some research: was there a reason that the dream she had last night was so vivid? She had an antsy curiosity to find out as the event kept haunting her, though the long wait to even get to the password screen wasn't worth testing her patience over and Lori opted to use her phone instead. The slabs of text on a small screen would hurt her eyes, but it worked.
While Lori shut her laptop down, she saw her mother appear in the kitchen doorway beckoning Lori towards her. She obliged and went into the kitchen without Leni noticing.
Rita gave Lori no time to prepare and went straight to the point once Lori passed under the doorpost: ''Pop-Pop has been brought to the hospital.''
Lori pitched a quick gasp, though her mother immediately made a soothing hand gesture ahead of the consolation.
''It's nothing serious: he got taunted into a dance-off and broke a hip.'' [1]
''How does Pop-Pop break a hip? He's literally super fit!''
''He may be spry but he's not as young as he used to be…'' Rita paused to breathe an exasperated sigh. ''so accidents will happen.''
Lori inches backwards, jerking a thumb over her shoulder. ''Should I go tell the rest?''
''No-'' Rita hastily stopped her daughter. ''I don't want them to worry. I'll tell them when I come home, or maybe tomorrow.''
Rita packed her purse at the counter while Lori crossed her arms and rolled her shoulders: Babysitting the entire family should normally feel like business as usual, but seeing mom preparing to leave left her feeling nervous. Though Lori quickly reasoned that probably was due to the upsetting news about her grandfather.
Rita zipped up the purse and slung its strap over her shoulder. ''You are in charge. If anyone asks, just tell them I'm needed at the dentist. I'll text you if something happens.'' Rita bent over to give a quick peck on Lori's head. ''Love you all; see you tonight.''
After taking the car keys out of a drawer, Rita left through the kitchen door. Lori watched through window to see Rita get into the car. Her gaze wandered down to spot a lot of potatoes, some peeled but many still in their skin, along with cauliflowers and meat; the whole counter was full of it. In her rush, mom probably forgot to tell to finish making dinner and today's meal was clearly meant to be cauliflower stew. Lori could work with it; she wasn't that good of a cook but she had come a long way from almost burning down the kitchen… she deserved a pat on the back for her progress.
A quick check of the living room showed that the mood was amiable and as good as Lori could wish it to be. Her siblings were doing things they all loved doing in peace; even Lola had thankfully shed her temper and watched TV with Lana. Without any signs of an emergency, Lori could safely tend to dinner. Besides, if something was to happen then Leni should be able to handle it by now.
Several pans were taken out of the cabinets, some filled with water, and put on the range. Taking a chair from the kitchen table and putting it next to the counter, Lori began to skin the first of many potatoes. With a whole stack of the root vegetable, it seemed like a chore to get them all peeled. It could be less of a burden if some of Lori's siblings came to help, but if they remained friendly in the living room then she would let them be and quite frankly, she didn't mind preparing dinner by herself at all and hummed a quiet tune as one potato was swiftly peeled after the other.
For a good while, Lori had little care besides tending to the food. Once she was done skinning the potatoes, they were divided evenly over the two pans of water –which was a necessity for a dozen hungry mouths– and then Lori found a lighter. Very carefully, to avoid repeating that infamous incident with a vengeance, she lit the gas rings and safely summoned a small blue flame out each of them.
With the potatoes ready to boil, Lori started preparing the cauliflower, which was less tedious: remove the green, tear off the stern, break it apart in pieces and put it into a pan.
With the gas range fully occupied, Lori slid a piece of butter into a frying pan that began to sizzle away immediately while keeping an eye on the others. It caused some healthy stress, and she was reminded it was quite a task to make dinner for so many people; their parents earned Lori's respect as always.
All seemed well: as the water slowly heated up and the first bubbles rose up, Lori remembered from her father that the vegetables needed to boil around eight minutes to be cooked right when Leni's cry rung through the first floor:
''That's so not fair!''
Lori tried to ignore the discussion that followed; she couldn't hear any of it over the sizzling and prattling pans anyway. Yet she found herself on edge still: she tried to assure herself that Leni would and could handle it, desperately, but the argument in the next room sounded like it was gradually getting more intense and there were suspicious as to why.
Lori pitched a sigh before lowering the gas. Against better judgement she turned away from the stove and stomped into the living room. Exactly as Lori suspected, Leni wouldn't break up the conflict because she was part of it: she and Lynn were bickering over the coffee table, on which laid almost a dozen coins and two cups. From the looks of how the siblings were divided in two groups, the discussion spread to the rest of the family. Lori looked on in grief: gone was the wholesome sight of earlier.
The siblings were too busy arguing that no one noticed Lily, the only one not invested in taking sides, was struggling to crawl up the stairs. A child her age was getting more curious of her surroundings, but as a baby she didn't have a clue what dangers came with her exploration. Lori noticed her just in time as she climbed onto the fourth step being barely able to keep her balance. Lori's priorities were in order what needed her attention first and caught her baby sister.
''No no Lily! It's dangerous to go up by yourself!'' Lori said as she lifted the baby up. With Lily still in her arms to keep her from trying again, Lori now turned to the rest of her sisters:
''I'm gonna tell mom and dad!'' Leni cried.
Lynn cast a nasty grin. ''What are you, four?''
''I take offense to the insinuation!'' Lisa was quick to point out.
Lori put her free arm in her hip: from the looks of it, it has never been a polite disagreement and it was likely to be over something petty.
''What's going on here?'' Lori called. The family-wide discussion came to a halt.
''Lynn is cheating!'' Leni cried, pointing.
''I won your coins fairly!'' Lynn immediately retorted.
''No you didn't!''
''Yes I did!''
''Tell me what you were doing first.'' Lori's moody voice interrupted them; she was already completely done with this.
Lynn then ran up to Lori, closely followed by Leni to avoid any supposed disadvantage in their sister's judgement if they stayed behind.
''I dared Leni for her loose change that I can fling ten coins into my cup before she can do one in her own!''
''As in one coin?'' Lori asked, sticking up a finger.
Lynn nodded her head. ''But the only rules was that one: Leni's not allowed to touch both cups and two: she can only start putting it in once I had five in my cup-''
''And then you flip my cup upside down!'' Leni yelled, throwing her hands up.
''Duh!'' Lynn shrugged. ''How else can I win?''
''It's mean!''
''But not cheating.'' Lynn insisted with a smarmy grin. ''You agreed to those rules!''
From there on, the sisters started talking through each other and the discussion repeated itself once again as if Lori wasn't present and the rest joined in.
''Leni should've paid better attention.'' Luan told Luna.
''You only say that because you love tricks, bozo!'' Luna retorted.
Soon after, the first unrelated insults were being traded. Lori's annoyance over having to intervene in such a pointless conflict peaked. She glowered and exchanged a look with Lily in her arms.
''You're going to be more mature than this, right?'' She muttered.
''Boo!'' Lily said, unaware of what she was asked.
Make no promises; smart. Lori thought before turning to her siblings. It was time to wrap this up: she heard enough and especially of this stupid fight.
''Stop it!'' Lori called loudly. By standing between the two groups of siblings, she managed to get everyone's attention on herself. ''Lynn gets the coins: Leni, you should've listened better.''
Lori took the coins off the table and was about to hand them to Lynn when Leni's supporters suddenly swarmed around Lori and kept her from moving, demanding an explanation or stating their disagreement with Lori at the same time:
''That's bogus!'' Luna cried.
''Preposterous!'' Lucy's seldom heard, whispering voice sounded.
''So you support cheating?'' Lincoln angrily asked.
While initially overwhelmed, Lori kept her cool and brushed her protesting siblings aside. Lynn had her palms open, ready to receive, but Lori held onto the money for just a moment longer to make sure Lynn listened to her.
''Next time, Lynn, don't scam your family with stupid bets like that.'' Lori told her.
Lynn remained largely indifferent to Lori's verdict. ''You snooze you lose.''
With the judgement dealt, the fight ended almost immediately. Everyone returned to their affairs before the fight, which mostly consisted of gathering around the couch. Leni looked on as Lynn stuffed the coins in her pocket, somewhere between miffed and betrayed. Around her, she noticed everyone's eyes on her, Lynn's glance that she flaunted as she strutted away being the worst.
''Lori- but that's mine!'' She creaked.
''Whatever.'' Lori rolled her eyes and clicked her mouth and put Lily down in front of her siblings. ''Keep an eye on Lily: she's been trying to climb the stairs by herself again. I'm in the kitchen, making our dinner.''
''Why are you cooking?'' Lincoln then asked. ''Where's mom?''
Lori panicked slightly, shown only by her pupils darting around briefly. She let off answering for a second to remember what she was told to say: ''The dentist called; mom has to fall in for someone.''
''When will she be back?'' Lana asked.
''I dunno but I'm the boss until she comes home.''
''That we know...'' Lincoln remarked as his oldest sister walked away.
Lori glared over her shoulder. She swore hearing sass in Lincoln's deepening voice but decided to ignore it. It was strange to remember consoling him when he was cripplingly insecure with himself just a few weeks ago when lately, he had gotten noticeably more snappy: the most sensible explanation would be that his hormones did that to him. At the same time, Lincoln was due to have the first pair of his molars pulled soon; Lori guessed that his nerves could've made him less collected than he usually was now that the appointment is hanging above his head.
Back in the kitchen, Lori breathed another bitter sigh of relief over her siblings letting an argument get out of hand, let alone her having to intervene in such a pointless conflict; who even uses coins anymore?! It stressed her out and hoped to regain some cool by some alone time in the kitchen. If not that, then cooking would hopefully give her a distraction. The meat was put in the frying pan piece by piece and sizzled immediately. It wasn't much meat –It all fitted in one frying pan– but enough for the whole family.
''Lori?'' Leni's voice sounded shyly from behind. Lori turned around and saw her peeking into the room, nose just over the doorpost.
''What is it Leni?'' Lori replied, putting her attention back to the food.
''Can I say something?''
''Go ahead.''
With permission given, Leni shuffled closer as she rubbed her hands. ''I-I think it's unfair that you let Lynn have the coins. It's, like, making me feel like you don't support me becoming the oldest sister!''
Lori already knew where this was going and she was not in the mood to be shamed.
''Leni don't be like that.'' Lori mumbled with a slow shake of her head. ''If you didn't play Lynn's game, you'd still have your money.''
''So I must let Lynn have it?''
''Yes.'' Lori answered bluntly. ''If you're going to be the oldest sister in this house Leni, then you accept Lynn tricked you out of your change. You must stay above getting angry and into shouting matches with the rest Leni because you are their authority and if you start fighting everyone else does too!''
Leni, unexpectedly, clicked her mouth in disapproval. ''That's, like, so unfair! You yelled at us for little things all the time!''
Lori considered Leni's words and did a short shrug in reluctant agreement. ''We all have our off-days; everyone gets tense in here… especially when none of you want to listen so sometimes I raise my voice.''
''Or attack us!''
Lori stiffened, taken aback by Leni's sudden accusation. It was like an open nerve was struck that left Lori feeling particularly offended. She turned around and gave Leni a look with ample venom.
''Oh? When was the last time I beat any of you up without me literally receiving the first blow?!''
''Uh…'' Leni stammered, either from not remembering an exact date as it isn't her strong suit or Lori's violent, piercing glare stunning her.
''Exactly!'' Lori answered in Leni's stead, upsetting her younger sister further. ''So don't make stuff up!''
When Leni had overcome the shock of the snappy retort, she grew offended of her own. ''Well, how are the others going to look up to me if you made me look, like, stupid?''
Lori didn't have an answer ready but didn't feel like she owed Leni an explanation for the decision she made either and decided to cut this conversation short.
''Go set the table; dinner's almost ready.'' She instructed, waving her off and turning back to the pans.
Leni stammered for a second before complying, though with a high-pitched angry huff.
With another bitter sigh, Lori turned the gas back up and by how tightly she turned the knob, noticed how much the intervention irritated her. Petty squabbles getting out of hand and breaking them up were business as usual, but getting chewed out or treated rudely for not choosing their side was one of the most annoying things of having to babysit her siblings. It was one of the things Lori definitely wasn't going to miss once she leaves for Fairway.
However, reflecting on Leni's final argument, it began to make Lori doubt whether she had made the right choice after all. It only stressed her out further that wasn't welcome with the situation of her grandfather currently being in the hospital.
Lori's entire mood was spoiled and there was no more joy in cooking the food. She checked the clock, having lost track of time but she guessed that ten minutes must've passed by now; the food was good and Lori was done slaving over a range anyway.
''Dinner's ready in two minutes!'' Lori shouted into the house.
She poured the water out of the first pan of cauliflower and hauled it to the dining room, where the others slowly gathered around the table, talking amongst themselves as if nothing frustrating ever happened. When Lori hauled the second pan of cauliflowers to the table, it irked her how the rest had seated themselves without a care for their sister.
''I could use some help…'' Lori grumbled.
''No need to be so deadpan, Lori!'' Luan giggled as she stood up, though her grin fell when she noticed Lori's lack of amusement. ''Sorry.''
Lori rolled her eyes and relented somewhat; alright, she said sorry.
Lori went around the table three times: serving each of her siblings their cauliflower during the first lap, their potatoes in the second and concluding it by giving them their meat on the final round. Before they got to eat, the Louds took a moment of worldly silence prior to dinner to appreciate getting to have a meal where so many do not. Although that didn't take away that the family had their comments upon having their first bite.
''It tastes like Brussels sprouts; yuck!'' Lola complained, sticking out her tongue and doing a childish gag.
Lori remembered this was Lola she talked to and sometimes lacked the tact of someone more mature.
''That's what it's supposed to taste like, Lola.'' Lori replied plainly as she was feeding Lily in the high chair next to her a few vegetables.
''That cauliflower's rock-hard, man.'' Luna remarked. Luan next to her nodded in agreement as the younger of the two prodded her fork through piece with some effort.
''The potatoes too.'' Lynn added, but cast a humored smile. ''You could play ice hockey with these.''
''Best of puck with that!'' Luan remarked.
Be it Luan's cackling that following her joke raking in her ears or the rest of her sisters making their own remarks about the food, Lori squinted her eyes and curled her fingers. It was intolerable to be treated like this for all she did…
Lisa took a bite of her meat and looked at the severed chunk. ''This is undercooked; a possible health hazard-''
''I did my best, okay?!'' Lori shout and the bang on the table that accompanied it put all eyes on her and deadened everyone's talk. Her burst of fury went as soon as Lori became aware of it; she shrunk into a hunched posture over her plate. ''I'm not as good as dad.''
Following a moment to judge the situation, everyone deemed it okay to resume eating. The explanation given didn't make them like it much better, but they kept it to themselves because the frown that remained on Lori's face made it clear that today's head chef made wasn't open to more comments. Lori had some of her cauliflower stew and had to grant her sisters that the food was on the undercooked side. Maybe she was wrong with the amount of time it had to cook or made the mistake when she lowered the gas somehow. Anyway, Lori reasoned with an irritable spark, the rest distracted her into messing up!
Fortunately, the topic of conversation drifted away from the food. No one really talked with Lori, but that suited her because she didn't feel like talking anyway.
Despite their complaints and mockery, the hunger was strong enough to make the undercooked food appetizing and the first few of the Loud had their plates clean shortly after; Lana was one of them. Normally this meant that the children waited for dessert or until they were given permission to leave.
''Do we have ice cream?'' Lana asked, squeezing her hands together in anticipation.
''Sorry Lana; not today.'' Lori answered. No one showed their disappointed, but it was definitely there. ''Who was on dishwashing duty again?''
Luan raised her hand. ''I am.''
''I am too.'' Lucy added.
''Everyone else, help them out and take what you can carry to the kitchen.''
Though, Lori looked around the table and noticed Lola's plate: she shoved her chair away from the table to go with the rest, but had barely touched her cauliflower but conveniently ate all of her meat.
''Not you Lola; you're not done yet.'' Lori pointed out.
''I'm full.'' Lola replied.
Lori saw right through the flimsy lie. ''I don't care. You can only leave the table once you finish your plate.''
Lola defiantly crossed her arms and straightened herself for a dignified, marketable appearance. ''I will have three bites; no more!''
Lori scoffed. ''Fine, have three bites but you're not going anywhere until you've eaten all your vegetables.''
The whining cry Lola pitched over her failed ploy grated on Lori. Her younger sister was getting under her skin anyway; even on one of Lola's 'tantrum' days, Lori was determined to make sure Lola did what she was told no matter how much she whined or deceived. Lori was in charge and she wouldn't let that authority or herself be belittled if it took until their mother would come home!
''Then why can Lana leave?'' Lola cried, pointing at her sister. ''She fed most of her food to Charles!''
Lana froze at the accusation; eyes wide.
''You tattletale!'' Lana grumbled spitefully at her.
Lori turned to Lana with a stern glance. ''Is that true?''
Lana hung her head and glowered to the floor. ''Yes.''
''In that case, you go help wash the dishes!'' Lori harshly said, pointing at the kitchen doorway. Her scornful glance remained trained on Lana all the way until the younger Loud had sauntered into the kitchen.
''I hate cleaning stuff…'' She muttered.
The verdict was dealt and Lori sat next to the other twin, whom she tightly monitored to eat her dinner. Lola remained frosty: she wouldn't touch her plate let alone her cauliflower at all as some of their siblings not on dishwashing duty walked past them to the living room. The sounds of random TV channels being browsed aggravated Lola further.
''I wanna watch TV too!'' Lola grumbled.
''Lola…'' Lori tapped the edge of the plate. ''Eat.''
''How do you expect me to eat this junk when we don't even get ice cream for dessert?!'' Lola dismissively pushed her plate away.
''Only girls who eat their meal get ice cream anyway.'' Lori said, which agitated Lola further.
''But it's gross! They serve better food on Prison Pageants! Why didn't you order pizza if you're a bad cook?''
Lori clenched her teeth together and tightly baled her fists under the table; both outlets for how Lola pushed her. The urge to throttle her little sister for being so troublesome was becoming tempting to give in to.
''Less complaining, more eating; you're literally not going anywhere until your plate is empty!''
Lola thought about it and had a simple solution to that instruction: she took her plate and unceremoniously dumped her vegetables on Lori's lap.
''Hey-'' While Lori reeled in disgust and shot up, Lola shot her a smug grin.
''It's empty.'' Lola declared.
As Lola left for the living room, Lori was flabbergasted with what happened. From the gravy stains on her clothes and the bits of vegetables, she looked like a used bib! The patience required to deal with Lola evaporated quickly.
Without either a warning or much time to act, Lola received a smack on the back of her head from Lori. The younger Loud froze and squeaked in pain, but could barely recover before being harshly grabbed by her wrist. Lori dragged the struggling and screaming Lola over the floor back to the dining table where she was seated by Lori with more force than was arguably necessary. Lola moaned and rubbed her bottom.
''Take it easy!'' Lola snarled. She was ignored by Lori, who craned her head to call out to her sisters.
''Leni! Get me 'the scarf'!''
''Where is it?'' Leni replied.
''In mom's room!''
Fright settled in Lola's eyes. ''Not the scarf! No!''
''Too late.'' Lori coldly said just Leni came in with a long, sturdy silk scarf in her hands.
''Let me go!'' Lola screamed. She almost scurried away but Lori firmly pinned her down. Lola thrashed violently under Lori's grasp and started pitching eardrum-piercing screams and hysterical sobs that she'd only interrupt for an attempt to bite Lori's arms. Seeing this, Leni was, understandably, hesitant to approach.
''Tie her down!'' Lori shouted at Leni, struggling to keep the viciously resisting Lola in place.
Leni cautiously approached, and Lola started thrashing even harder once she saw the scarf being wrapped around her waist and the backrest. Leni tied the scarf and now, Lola was bound to the chair and unable to get away. [2]
Lola began to wildly shake her body back and forth to reach for the knot in some way; she wasn't going to accept this! Lori and Leni just watched Lola try, but both knew from experience it was pointless to do so.
In a moment of catching her breath, Lola glared daggers at Lori through her tear-stained eyes, her makeup running from crying: ''You are bullies! BULLIES!''
Even now, Lori took specific offense to that remark and Lola earned another smack on her head.
''I'm not; you are a pest!'' Lori shouted back. Leni stood to the side, her concern spiked from seeing Lori snarl.
Lola moaned in pain from the blow she received but resumed her struggle almost immediately, more determined to break free. Lori, in the meantime, had started gathering the vegetables that had been dumped on the floor. She heard, under Lola's shrieks, the sounds of an argument coming from the living room. Lori gritted her teeth and growled in frustration; another fight she had to solve! She wondered what stupid thing it was about this time as she tried to stand back up on her feet.
Thud-thud-thud-THUD
A series of dull knocks on wood was reason for alarm.
''What was that?'' Lori exclaimed.
Immediately after, the sound of a baby's hysteric cries bellowed through the house. Lori and Leni saw some of the pets flee into the kitchen and the sisters ran into the living room to find Lily at the bottom of the stairs, wiggling on her back and crying. It was obvious Lily had tried to climb it by herself again and fell down on her head. Lori picked Lily up and did a quick check: thankfully, she didn't seem injured. Lori cuddled Lily and quickly hushed at her but it was no use at all to console the screaming baby.
In front of her, Lincoln, Lynn and Luna were arguing over the TV remote and have been completely unaware of Lily's distress. Lincoln swung a punch at Luna, and as Lynn goaded both he pushed Luna to the floor and wrestled her for the remote. With the sound of their fight, Lily's crying and Lola's continued snarling and crying, the chaos was complete… and then Lori should've been grateful that the sisters on dishwashing duty kept calm.
Lily was shoved into Leni's grasp without warning. With a growl pitched from behind her gritted teeth, Lori took Luna and Lincoln apart and forced them on the couch and the armchair respectively. Lynn, intimidated by Lori's sudden and harsh interference, choose to sit down with Luna to avoid being roughhoused herself
''Look what happened, look, what, happened!'' Lori pointed a finger at the crying baby in Leni's arms and hoped they'd start feel guilty for it. ''Lily fell down the stairs and no on even noticed because you were fighting over a stupid remote. What the hell were you thinking? Didn't I tell you to watch her?''
''Sorry.'' Lincoln said with a humbled shrug.
''It's too late for sorry! When are you idiots going to stop picking fights with each other and do as I say for once?!'' Lori stomped to the coatrack at the door and took a leash. ''Linc, you're going to take Charles for a good, long walk!''
''What?!'' Lincoln's mouth went agape and he shot an indignant glance. ''But I got to watch-''
''Not a word, Lincoln! Or I'll pull your teeth before the dentist can!'' Lori shouted without restrain, not caring that her brother was visibly spooked nor how harshly she pushed him towards the door.
Despite Luna fighting Lincoln moments earlier, she was appalled with how he was treated.
''Harsh, sis!''
''Shut up!'' Lori barked and pointed at Lily. ''You take Lily, get a washcloth for her head and go to your room to calm her down!''
Luna was the wiser to keep her objections to herself. She received Lily from Leni and, while gently rocking the sobbing baby, went up to the first floor.
Once Lori could hear the door slam shut, she turned to the convict. ''Lynn, you go help the rest with the dishes!''
''It'll get really crowded there.''
''Go!'' Lori only stiffly pointed towards the kitchen and Lynn obliged. Lori then turned to Leni, her demeanor and her glower, both boiling and cold, making Leni jolt in fright briefly. ''And you Leni, you sit with Lola and do not let her go for any reason until she has eaten all her vegetables!''
''What are you gonna do then?'' Leni asked, confused.
''To our room, unwinding from having to keep you animals under control! I don't want to hear anything coming from anyone or they'll feel it!'' As Lori climbed the stairs, she could hear Leni gasp in shock over her choice of words but she frankly didn't care. She said what she said and stuck with it.
When Lori entered her own bedroom and shut out the noise from downstairs and Lily's crying from the other room, she got to appreciate how nice silence actually sounded... if it wasn't for the ringing in her ears. In the void, the pounding in her head also became noticeable; how long had that been going on?
With a stumble in her gait, Lori collapsed on her bed and rubbed her temples in the hopes of quelling the throbbing. Laying spread out on the mattress, she looked to several family photos on the wall across the room. Pictures of Lori at ages like her sisters were now. Of particular note was Lori at age fourteen in the middle of her 'awkward' phase: covered in zits and temporarily prescribed glasses to correct her sight.
It was worth a groan: even at that point of time when Lori felt insecure, she wasn't half as annoying as her siblings when she was younger! When she was a young girl, she was nice and gentle: a model older sister that was looked up to and definitely not a bratty handful that got herself and others into trouble all the time. She looked to her right to see Patchy the elephant, still dutifully positioned on her dresser; he was a symbol of that innocence.
But there was no point wallowing in melancholy; Lori had gone through this enough.
Standing up, Lori inspected the gravy stains on her tank top with a weary sigh, afraid that it had dried in. She knew from years of laundry duty that grease stains were hard to get rid of. The top was thrown in the laundry, but considered ruined, and she put on her pajamas instead.
What to do now? Watching some CiCi Cumberbatch on SickFlix sounded nice to Lori. Hopefully, her siblings wouldn't barge into her room or weren't using the service themselves: the family's account allowed only one stream at a time and Lori wasn't in the mood to argue who deserved it more -obviously her because she paid for the subscription-.
Fortunately, there were no problems and SickFlix even suggested one of Lori's favorite CiCi episodes to watch. She comfortably nestled on her bed, laid the phone on her pillow and pressed play. However, the intro tune had barely finished when her phone vibrated and a pop-up notification appeared on screen; it was Bobby for one of their – many – calls. Though, like CiCi, he was a welcome distraction. Lori answered the call and lounged on her bed. The shaky feed stabilized and Bobby appeared on screen.
''Hey Boo-Boo Bear…'' Lori said in a mumble.
''Hi Babe!'' Bobby greeted with a wave and a smile. His grin softened however when he noticed the weary expression of his girlfriend. ''Is this a bad time?''
''No, I'm glad you're calling.'' Lori replied, cracking a tired smile.
''What's wrong?''
''Having to babysit my siblings, that's what. They're so annoying sometimes.''
''Harsh thing to say about your sisters, babe.''
Lori sat upright and grew a slight frown. She had hoped for some understanding from her boyfriend.
''But it's true! I'm left in charge of a family who I literally can't turn my back on them or they'll fight each other over the littlest things or get into trouble and when I break them up, it's supposedly my fault! If I don't do anything and they get hurt, I get chewed out by my parents! It's worse today because I had no time to prepare either; mom needed to go somewhere suddenly.''
''Where did your mother have to go to?'' Bobby asked.
Lori inched closer. There was no telling if her siblings were listening in on them so she answered with a hushed voice: ''Pop-Pop broke a hip and is in the hospital.''
''That's bad.''
Although it wasn't a surprise, knowing what she already did, Lori still paused to look at Bobby for answers. ''Is it?''
''I don't know how bad but he's in the hospital so that's not good anyway, you know?''
''Maybe.'' Lori mumbled as she looked away, feeling uncomfortable. This wasn't nice to talk about; it made her anxious... more anxious. It was time to change topics: ''What's up in Great Lakes?''
''Kind of peeved.'' Bobby's casual demeanor shifted to accompany his answer. ''Couple of difficult customers today: one of them was looking for something, but he didn't know what it was called and there was also a guy who insisted that we had Pixie soda on sale but turns out, it really was somewhere else! It took ten minutes to convince him and he didn't even apologize when he left.''
Lori rolled her eyes, absorbing Bobby's mood for the moment. ''I've been there. Hear this, I came across an old friend a few days ago: Joyce Bardhi, while I was at work in the restaurant.''
''Joyce? Cool.''
Lori clicked her mouth. ''If only; She was literally super rude! I thought it was fun to see her again but Joyce insulted me, made a mess on purpose and you know why? Because she tries to pin the blame for scratching the principal's car back in freshman year on me, while she clearly did it! Everyone knew she hated principal Rivers!'' Lori said, following it up with a pedantic chuckle and a shake of her head. ''She's delusional!''
The annoyance hearable in her voice was unleashed thinking of their meeting, as well as the nightmare that followed.
''Oh?'' Was Bobby's simple response, intending to let Lori do the talking between the two.
''That's not all… Then she said more baloney like how I was a delinquent who went to juvenile hall! Can you believe that?'' Lori asked, eyeing Bobby with an incredulous grin. She expected him to agree instantly and unquestionably like a common yes-man. Instead, he seemed rather confused.
''Yes…'' Bobby raised an eyebrow. ''because that's what happened?''
''T-that's not funny Bobby!'' She said, just barely short of it sounding like a rebuke. ''Don't you think Joyce is loco?''
''Not really. I don't know about the car-scratching babe but Joyce isn't wrong. You had also done community service a few times before that. Don't you remember?''
''Bobby I swear to God-'' Lori gritted her teeth and tightly curled her fingers together: first her siblings and now Bobby; tonight had been a test of her self-control!
''It happened around the end of ninth grade: you got sent to juvenile hall for trying to plant weed in my locker. It's what you told me on our first date.''
''That's bull! Why would I do that to you?!'' Lori exclaimed, piping to debunk Bobby's story.
''You were told to put it in my locker.''
''Told by whom?!'' Lori shrieked in anger and grief.
Bobby remained admirably calm in the face of Lori's volatile attitude. He rubbed his chin trying to remember the name. ''It was someone you hung out with a lot around that time.''
''Dana and Becky?'' Lori guessed a little too eagerly, cracking a hopeful smile.
''No, one of them was named William Sterling…''
Lori's eyes widened and her pupils darted around. There was a dire need for her to come up with a retort, but it didn't come out. She froze, unable to process this answer.
''Babe?'' Bobby did a faint wave of his hand to try getting her attention. ''Lori? Are you still there?''
The drop of her name brought Lori's wandered attention back to her boyfriend.
''I need to go, Bobby. Sorry.'' Lori said, voice close to breaking.
''Love you Babe!'' Bobby was able to say right before he was hung up on.
The phone was tossed on the mattress and Lori began to wander through her room: it would've been easy to call Bobby delusional, just like Lori did with Joyce, and settle the topic of conversation there and then. Lori could've accused him of being in league with Joyce too, playing a mean prank by gaslighting her but that was downright insane to even consider. But denying the chance of that made Lori all the more confused how and why Bobby was able to give the same name that Joyce did: William Sterling. Why not Becky or Dana like Lori recalled being friends with? She was certain of her own truth, but she'd stoop to Joyce's level of delusion if she didn't at least consider the other story; ridiculous as it sounded, of course.
A knock came from the other side of Lori's bedroom door. Peering through the chink was Luna, still holding an upset Lily.
''Hey Lori?'' Luna asked, entering with a guarded shuffle.
Although Lori was tense as a steel wire, which was further worsened by Lily's bawling, and didn't have time to deal with whatever Luna came to her for, she made herself come over as perfectly casual.
''Lily won't stop crying. She's really peeved!''
''Take a bath with her; that makes her sleepy.''
Luna snapped her finger. ''Right, good call.''
''Luna?'' Lori asked, and stopped her before walking out. Lori felt silent: she didn't want to ask what she was going to, but Luna was earnest to her family to the point of being outright blunt and that's what was needed right now.
''Yeah?'' Luna asked when the silence lasted for a while, rocking Lily in her arms.
''Can I ask you something literally random?'' Lori asked with hands folded on her lap, almost like a beg. ''Was I a mean sister?''
Luna's glance glided into a moody frown; a bad omen. ''Well you deffo weren't chill downstairs…''
''Okay okay.'' Lori said. It wasn't by far related to what Lori meant, but still a perfectly relevant answer. ''Thank you.''
Luna left and left Lori shaking from the nerves. Luna's answer was off the mark, but her answer still struck Lori dead center. Luna's answer was a good argument against Lori's belief of being nothing short of an angel.
With legs glued together, wobbling from increasing anxiety, Lori went to take another look at the collage by the door, of a happy childhood, scanning the photo of her fourteen-year old self… wearing a teal hoodie with a white pinstripe.
It evoked a memory to yesterday when Joyce was confronted. Thinking of the wild accusations still annoyed Lori, but she pressed on and recalled a particular detail: Joyce accused Lori of having slipped a hoodie in the former's backpack and Lori remembered what it looked like when the teacher pulled it out when Joyce was caught: it was teal with a white pinstripe.
The hoodie that the teacher pulled out of Joyce's backpack didn't belong to her, but Lori.
How could the gawky but lovable-looking girl in the picture Lori looked at end up becoming a delinquent that framed a friend for vandalism and went to juvenile hall, and several sentences of community service before that?
Telling herself there were thousands of such hoodies was pointless now: Bobby was right, Joyce was right; Lori was a delinquent once. Her heart raced, her head spun and she to sit down on Leni's bed to help process this upsetting realization. All that missed to Lori's world shattering was the sound of glass shards rattling on the ground. Her pride fell along with the face, which made that she could no longer ignore or gloss over the memories of her youth that were less than flattering. The vivid dream of beating up Luna and Lynn and being picked up by police; was it even a dream and not just a repressed memory that managed to come loose from Joyce's accusation?
There stood Lori with her head hung limp with guilt and regret. An attempt was made to rationalize her behavior but besides a sheepish, weak shrug, her explanation amounted to nothing.
She looked at the other photos on the wall: all of which had been satisfying to reminisce about before, but now Lori allowed herself to remember what the pictures didn't show: a photo of her with a mascot at Dairyland when she was nine, muddied by the memory of throwing a massive fit all the way home because she wanted to go back and scaring her siblings, or another photo of being surrounded by torn wrapping paper on Christmas morning when she was seven and went on to steal some of her sisters' presents… several Christmases.
Then came the shame when plenty of memories of being an awful girl, sister and friend followed each other up in her head like a slideshow. Even events that weren't captured in the photos were involuntarily recalled, such as how at eleven years old she cut the strings to Luna's violin. At age six, she made her newborn brother Lincoln cry by blowing a raspberry into his face because 'baby boys were stupid'. It weren't just distant memories; Lori realized how harsh she was to her siblings just earlier tonight!
How could Lori have fooled herself forgetting about it and thinking she was a model student with a squeakily clean record while she was a bully at school and at home? She was cruel and could've ruined so many peoples' lives or self-esteem and for what? Petty reasons as plain as 'I want it' and 'just because'! And that brat was supposed to go to a prestigious university in a few weeks…
Lori's eyes burned with moisture and her face contorted into a grimace. She turned away from the collage on the wall, not able to give it any more attention. She spotted Patchy the elephant, still sitting on her desk, and took it to her bed. There, with legs folded and the stuffed animal between her arms, Lori pressed on her phone to start playing the episode of CiCi that had been waiting for her, certain that good old cartoon would cheer her up.
The episode's opening was peppered with a few jokes and gags. One of them could make Lori giggle: how didn't she notice that one before? The plot slowly rolled along where CiCi, her pearlfish roommate Tish and next-door neighbor Nemo the Nautilus walked into a trench and became surrounded by darkness. Although Lori was still watching, her concentration had slipped around this part.
''CiCi!'' Tish suddenly called out in panic, making Lori reel from the sudden cry and capturing her full focus again. ''Are you holding my hand?''
''N-no.'' CiCi answered with a quiver sneaking in her voice.
''Oh no! Something has grabbed me!''
''It's gonna eat us!''
Tish's utter panic infected CiCi and what followed were frightened hollers along with wild antics in a poorly-lit environment where Nemo was somehow always at the brunt of their panic. 25 seconds of comedy hijinks and slapstick at the Nautilus' expense ended when the trio of animated marine animals ran across a patch of glowing corral.
''Stop! Stop you two buffoons; calm your barnacles!'' Nemo held both creatures by the proverbial collars and they screeched to a halt. In the weak glow of an anglerfish's lantern that he violently shook for extra light, Nemo still could see what was chasing them all, and it angered him:
''You're holding your own hand are you serious?!''
Once, that punchline was guarantee for an uproar of laughter from Lori and any of her siblings watching, but now she was unaffected besides her face scrunching from the cries of the characters' obnoxious, cartoony voices. Their wild, foolish antics and overwrought emotion didn't amuse anymore either. She subconsciously knew all the time how stupid it was; why else did she desperately keep it a secret from everybody, even Bobby? It also began to dawn on Lori that she wasted half of her vacation watching a beloved show of her childhood where the only thing that made it good was the nostalgia of watching it when she was a kid, an easily impressed kid… with a mean streak.
Tears tingled in her eyes again and Lori let loose a series of whimpers. Taking a quick look at Patchy, she suddenly threw him across the room into a couple of boxes; she didn't want to see it right now. She covered up her face and cried into her hands before burying her head into her pillow. It was unbelievable to Lori that just a short while ago, she had difficulty accepting growing up when nothing about the past she cherished so much was worth gushing over anymore.
I think I'd rather be pregnant than having to go through writing this chapter ever again.
[1] On the contrary: if a senior breaks a hip it might actually be pretty serious. Not necessarily from the injury itself but from complications of the surgery and the recovery.
[2] My mom used to do me when I was acting up at dinner, which was pretty often at that young age. Fun thing though; she never actually tied the scarf but I was too furious/stupid to ever notice.
Been a while since I last used these author notes…
Like I said above, the second act of this story is now done. If you've noticed this story's update pattern a few months ago of one chapter a week after a hiatus, that's how the next few chapters are going to be updated too once they're ready… hopefully not with the final chapter of the bunch being months behind schedule. That'll obviously take a while, but I'm sure you'll manage to keep yourself entertained in the meantime! First thing I'm going to do is make sure the next few chapters of Forced Staycation are ready to be uploaded.
I thank you for your time and I hope you enjoyed spending it! Hopefully, you'll be back next time!
:D,
Q.W.