In this installment, we see Logan have a couple of much-needed discussions, one with his father, and one with Lori. Logan will also encounter someone from his youth.

Book VII: Making Up for Lost Time

Logan and Lincoln were sitting on the couch playing Muscle Fish one afternoon. The two brothers were steadily growing closer after discovering that they had several things in common. Logan had been an Ace Savvy fan in his youth, and Lincoln had unknowingly inherited his older brother's collection of comic books. They were wrapping up their game when Lynn Sr. walked through the front door, looking more exhausted than either Lincoln or Logan had ever seen him. Lynn Sr. plopped down in the armchair and dragged a hand down his face.

Lincoln paused the game and asked, "Hey, Logan, can you help me get the pretzels off the top shelf of the cupboard?"

"Uh...sure?" Logan replied uncertainly and followed Lincoln into the kitchen.

Once there, Lincoln pulled him aside and whispered, "I'm worried about Dad. He's been looking more and more bedraggled every time he comes home from work. I think something at his job is wearing him down, but so far he won't open up about it, not even to Mom."

"I see. Let me handle it, and I'll see what I can do," Logan replied and handed Lincoln the bag of pretzels. "We have to keep up appearances so we won't make him suspicious," he said in response to Lincoln's puzzled look. They walked out to the living room. "Hey, Dad, how's it going?" Logan asked.

"Huh? Oh, just fine, Logan," Lynn Sr. mumbled. Logan looked to Lincoln, who shot him a see what I mean? look. Logan reached his hand out toward his father.

"Come on, Dad, let's go get a drink. Happy Hour's on me." Lynn Sr. looked at his eldest son for a moment, then stretched out his own hand and allowed Logan to pull him out of the chair.

...

Logan and Lynn Sr. walked a few blocks to a local bar and ordered two beers. After each took a few sips of his drink, Logan made known his reason for coming.

"Dad, is something wrong with work? Lincoln told me how tired you've been looking when you come home. I'm sure everyone else is worried, too."

Lynn Sr. sighed and said, "The work itself is fine, Logan. It's my boss who's wearing me down. He's always criticizing what I do, even though I've done better than everyone else on my team. He skimped out on my holiday bonus over Easter, and I'm sure he'll do it again over Thanksgiving and Christmas. He's docked my pay so many times that it's your mother's work as a dentist that's allowing us to even make ends meet. It doesn't help that most of the people I work with can't even do simple math."

"Trust me, Dad, I understand. You think the CIA is any better? There have been several occasions where I've wanted to kill my own boss. I'm surrounded by morons twenty-four seven, including some of my superiors. You know how I handle it? I have friends willing to stand by me when things get rough," Logan admitted. "Let me ask you: if you could do anything besides IT for a living, what would you do?"

"That's the thing, Logan. The IT job was supposed to be just a steppingstone. My one dream has always been to open my own restaurant. I've even had a name picked out for a while: Lynn's Table. But I don't think that's ever gonna happen at this point."

"Hey! I'm rich, remember? If you and Mom ever need help financially, all you have to do is ask. I can even help you with that restaurant dream of yours!" Logan said.

"I don't know about that just yet, but thanks. For both the talk and the drinks. I feel a lot better, now that I've gotten that off my chest," Lynn Sr. replied with a smile. By this time, he and his son had both finished their beers.

"I'm glad. Now, how about we turn things up a notch?" Logan asked and signaled the bartender. "Two boilermakers, please!"

...

A few days later, Logan took all eleven of his siblings to the mall. Most of them rode in the family van with Lori, but Logan allowed Lincoln, Luna, and Lana to ride with him in his DeLorean. Lincoln because he was the only other male, and Luna and Lana because of their shared love of classic cars.

"Alright, gang!" he said once everyone was inside the mall. "What I want to do here is make up for ten years of missed birthdays. Find ONE thing that you want, anywhere in the mall, any price within reason, and I'll buy it for you. But if I say no, it means NO, and nothing you can do will convince me. Ready...GO!" The siblings split up, but the only one who didn't go to one of the various stores was Lori. Instead, she sat down at a table in the food court and checked her social media page on her phone.

"I'm still mad at you, you know," she said, not looking up when Logan sat down beside her. Logan sighed.

"I know. I've given you this long to cool off, so will you give me a chance and listen to what I have to say?" he pleaded.

"I guess. I doubt it'll make any difference, though."

"You have to understand, Lori, that the reason I left was a stupid one. I know that now. But back then, I thought I was doing the right thing." Logan had officially gained Lori's attention, and she put her phone in her purse to listen better. "I had a run-in with a gang while I was out on my skateboard. They told me that if I blabbed about them, they would hunt me down and kill my family before killing me. I thought that by leaving, I was keeping my loved ones safe. I really am sorry, and if there's anything I can do to make it up to you, I'll do it." Lori sniffled, and pulled her older brother into a tearful embrace, one that Logan hesitated a moment before returning.

"I haven't forgiven you yet. But thank you for telling me," she said.

"Would you like me to buy you something, like the others?"

"Nah. For six years in a row, my only birthday wish was for you to come home. I gave up after a while, but I guess it finally came true." Lori sniffed again and released the hug to wipe her running mascara. "Excuse me for a minute. I'm a mess," she said and walked to the women's restroom.

Logan stood and walked around to see what his other siblings had found. Lincoln picked a limited collector's edition Ace Savvy figurine. Because she couldn't really pick on her own, Logan got Lily a set of washable finger paints. Lisa picked an assortment of parts for her inventions. Lana wanted a box of feeder mice for her pet snake, but Logan refused and got dried grasshoppers for her frog instead. Lola picked a set of rose quartz earrings and a necklace to match. Lucy picked a leather-bound Edgar Alan Poe collection. All Lynn wanted was sports gauze for her punching bag. Luan picked a new inner tube for her unicycle. Luna picked a vinyl record player. Last but not least, Leni picked a new set of needles for her sewing machine. Once Logan made all of the purchases, Lori was nice enough to buy lunch for all of them. Someone approached while they were eating and talking.

"Well, well, well, look who it is. Back from the dead, Evil Eyes?" the person taunted. Logan looked behind himself and recognized one of his childhood bullies, Butch McCann. The man had spiky rust-colored hair and a thin mustache to match. He wore a black bomber jacket over a wife-beater undershirt and jeans that were ripped at the knees.

"I suppose it was only a matter of time before I ran into you, Butch," Logan sighed. "Can't you see that my siblings and I are trying to have lunch?"

"Oh, come on, that's no way to greet an old friend," Butch said, then snatched Lola's hamburger and took a bite out of it.

"Hey! Give that back, you meanie!" Lola shouted.

"Oh yeah? What are you gonna do about it, short stack?" Butch took another bite. "Is your big brother gonna come to the rescue? Cuz if I recall correctly, he could barely even protect himself!"

Logan stood, seething with anger, and said, "Things have changed, Butch. I'm a whole lot tougher than I used to be. The last ten years made sure of that." Logan may have been just a few inches taller than Lynn Sr., but he actually towered over Butch. Both men were equally muscular, however.

"Cut the crap, Loud! You're just a wimpy goody-two-shoes, and that's all you'll ever be!" Butch tried to throw a punch, only for Logan to catch his fist.

"Lincoln, go buy Lola a new hamburger. I'll deal with this clown," Logan said calmly and produced a ten-dollar bill with his free hand. He then squeezed Butch's fist so hard that several bones in his fingers snapped. While Butch nursed his broken fingers, Logan called mall security and told them that Butch had harassed him and his siblings, forcing him to use self-defense. Butch was escorted away, and Logan sat back down.

"What's with the name he called you, bro?" Luna asked, causing Logan to sigh.

"That's what everyone called me when I was Lincoln's age: Logan 'Evil Eyes' Loud. Some even called me 'Darth Logan.' See if you can figure out why."

"And the rest of what he said?"

"I wasn't the strongest kid on the playground. I put up with the bullying and turned the other cheek to set a good example for all of you. Even if I got hurt in the process."

"So that one time you came home covered in bruises..." Lori trailed off, connecting the dots.

"Yeah, Butch and his friends managed to corner me. They would've done worse if my best, scratch that, only friend hadn't shown up and wiped the floor with them." Luan then changed the topic to cheer Logan up, and her tactic worked. After lunch, Logan and Lori took their siblings home. However, Logan was far from through with his plans to spend more time with them.