Interesting

Lemy woke up at twelve o'clock; his eyes struggling to adjust at the illumination as a yawn came out of his mouth. He'd probably sleep till two o'clock, but his stupid cellphone didn't stop ringing. Man, I didn't set an alarm… wait.

It wasn't an alarm.

It was a call… from Lina.

Shit! Lemy got on his feet as fast as he could, first mistake of the day. As soon as he touched the floor, his vision blurred, he felt dizzy and almost fell to the floor. He shot his arms forward to keep the balance.

He tried to answer ASAP, but he was so nervous the cellphone fell from his clumsy hands, he wanted to pick it up, but accidentally ended up kicking it further under the bed… damn! The ringtone echoed in his ears; it was a reminder that the girl at the other side of the line might be upset at him because he was making her wait.

He crawled under his bed, making his way through dirty socks, clouds of dust and old shoes. He made an effort to reach the phone; it wasn't hard, all he had to do was follow the blue light coming out of it.

Damn! It seems the bloody thing went to the farthest corner. The dust was getting in his nose and his throat.

After a couple of minutes trying to take it out and failing miserably, he managed to get a solid grip. Got cha! He took it out as soon as possble, but not soon enough to pick up the call.

"Are you awake?" Lupa called from the other side of the door. It caught him by surprise, and caused him to hit his head with the base of the bed.

"Shit!" Lemy crawled back, the pain concentrated in one single point, which made it even worse. "Fuck!"

He unlocked the door and opened it. Lupa stood with her usual expression of disgust. You see, usually she never shows emotions, but when he enters her field of view, her expression changes to disgust, mockery or anger.

It didn't last. She didn't take long to realize the way his brother was dressed, or rather his lack of clothing. She tried to pretend she didn't care, but in this type of scenarios, her pale skin was her worst enemy. Her face went from grey, almost white, to red as a tomato.

"Aunt Leni told me to wake you up; we're going to buy the stuff for Loan's party."

"Can I have breakfast first?"

"No. That's what you get for not waking up early so suck it and… can you put on some clothes, please?"

"Oh, I'm sorry." Lemy instantly took his hands to his crotch; it was more a reflex than a voluntary action.

"I don't mind, sister… I always knew pink was your color."

It was just a matter of time; I knew someone would end up making fun of my underwear. Fuck you Leia.

Fuck, I almost forgot, I didn't pick up Lina's call, now she will think I don't wanna talk with her or that I'm too much for her and she will hate me. I'll never be able to go to Lollapalooza with her and my life will be ruined and I will die alone with nine cats and…

His phone rang again; it caught him off guard and he almost dropped it… again.

Come on Lemy, focus, don't act like a girl.

"Hey." Lemy never learned how to answer a call. I don't know if you have noticed, but I'm not the most sociable guy, so if it was already hard to talk to her face to face, it is harder to talk to her by cellphone. I know, it is weird; it should usually be the other way, but in my case it's really hard to talk without look at the other person.

"Hey Lemy! Just wanted to remind you that you owe us signed Slash poster." She chuckled at the end, and he loved that.

"Damn! It is necessary to laugh? It's not enough to remind me what I'm? And tell your mother I hope she's enjoying this moment, because it will be the last time you take something from me. My time will eventually come, and I'll hit where it hurt the most."

"You're not talking about…"

"Yes I am. So you better enjoy that Sex Pistols album, because next time it'll be hanged over my bed.

"Dream on, Lemy Loud." She laughed again. "But seriously, will you come today?"

"Of course, I told you I would, you can trust me." Don't look at me like that man, I just wanna hear her say it again, I just…

"I do."

Was he flying? Maybe he hit his head quite too strong; it was just wonderful to know that his special girl trusted him. It made him feel important, proud and strong.

"We'll go to the mall to buy some stuff, I'll just sneak out from my family and I'll meet you at the store, ok?"

"Ok, but to be honest I don't care too much about the poster. I talked to my mom yesterday about inviting you; she wasn't sure, but I think if we both talk to her we can convince her to let you go with us to Chicago."

"Fuck, you're right!" He slapped his forehead. How could he forget about that?

"Don't tell me you forgot it?"

"No nononono… well yeah. I'm sorry. A lot of things happened yesterday; my sisters… cousins and I… well, we argued a little and things escalated pretty quickly and… one of them threw a glass at me, and Lyra… Look, I really want to go, I'm sorry."

"They did what?! Are you okay?!"

Is it normal to enjoy her worried voice?

"Yeah, I'm okay. It was just a little cut."

"You're sure? If you're hurt you don't have to come, really."

"Calm down, I'm okay. A simple cut it's nothing. Besides I told you we're going to the mall to buy some stuff, so, see you there?"

"I'll be waiting for you, Lemy Loud."

"I'll be there soon, Lina Sharp."

They both laughed; calling themselves by their full names sounds too formal, and that's why they loved it.

He put on a black pair of jeans and a long-sleeve purple t-shirt. Since Loan had his favorite bandana, he put on a snow hat. (Hopping Aunt Luan wasn't near with her stupid pranks again). A backpack with military camo printing hung from his shoulder. He was ready.

He went to the living room where his sisters and some of his aunts waited for him. Aunt Leni was applying some make up while Liena tried to clean Lizy's face; she had it rough, Lizy was too busy playing with her dinosaur Liena couldn't reach her face. He saw the dinosaur walking through the living room; honestly he was impressed, the motions were pretty realistic, if it was ugly before, now it was scary. Maybe $250 was a fair price after all.

Lupa leaned the door frame; she seemed anxious, her eye twitched.

"You're dying for a cigarette, don't you sis?" Liby and Lacy were sitting on the couch watching TV, Luna was in the middle of them.

What the… Ok man, maybe you haven't noticed, but seeing those three girls separated was strange as fuck. They're like the Neapolitan ice cream: they may be three different flavors, but you can't taste the chocolate without tasting a little bit of vanilla and strawberry.

So seeing them separated was like seeing Aunt Lori without her glasses; technically there's nothing wrong with it, but it feels like something doesn't fit.

You know what? That's better. When those three are together it translates into more shit for me. Don't get me wrong, it's not that I like to see them fight, but sometimes a break is good.

Let's keep looking at the scene, now I'm a National Geographic reporter. Come with me to see the interaction of the Loud tribe; a group known for its adoration towards a white haired god, and their interaction is based in endogamy. A fucking success man, I bet there are a lot of gross creeps out there that would like to see those fucking pervs… Oh, not you man, you're cool.

Aunt Luan was on the sofa, Aunt Lana wasn't even home; her vacations were interrupted because one of the workers at the zoo was bitten by a cobra at the snake sanctuary and she had to replace him. Of course she was worried… about the cobra, I have no idea if the guy survived, she didn't ask.

Loan wasn't here… yet. She usually wakes up around one or two o'clock. I think last night she stayed up with some of her portable videogames. Lyra really has it hard sharing room with her.

Lemy walked into the living room; as soon as he stepped on the rug, everyone turned at him. Liby, Lacy and Lupa might be mad among them, but it doesn't mean the cold war against him was over.

"Lem-Lem, you're here, now we just have to wait for Leia to come downstairs and we can go to the mall. Isn't that exciting? We can choose a lot of things for Loan's party."

"We're just waiting for Leia? Where's Lulu?"

"Lisa said she wants to make some tests. When she took that thing out of Liby's face, she got really excited."

Aunt Lisa is really smart, sometimes too much, and I know she loves Lulu. In fact, she loves everyone in this place. But it doesn't mean she can't be scary; we all have served as guinea pigs for her experiments at some point. My memory is blurred, but I know I was in a fishbowl when I was little.

So it's odd when you hear Aunt Lisa is testing Lulu because it can mean a lot of things, and it gets me nervous.

Lemy is taken out of his mind when Lynn enters the room; she's wearing a set of orange-black sportswear. It was impossible not to look at her, especially with her belly exposed.

"Leia's not coming." She said while putting some things into a gym bag.

"Why?" Lacy ask her mother.

"Lola called last night and Lana told her about Lizy's toy, so she's grounded. She will spend her last week of vacations in her room"

Lemy looked down. He doesn't know why, but he feels like this is all his fault. On one side, he knows it's fair; the little prick got what she deserved, but in the other side he doesn't like to see any of his sisters sad or angry.

"Well everyone, hop into vanzilla. Luan, you can drive, can't you?" Leni asked, swishing the keys in her index.

Luan looked at Lemy, then suddenly she ran up the stair apologizing. Leni shrugs and offer the keys to Luna; she turned off the TV and grabbed the keys.

"Where are we going?"

"To the mall; the new one with that giant cotton candy machine. It'll be totes fun!" she stared dreamily imagining herself enjoying a giant cotton candy.

"I… I gotta practice; I'm going to play at Chunk's bar tonight, and you know they cannot do shit without me." She said. The nervousness in her voice was obvious, she was lying.

"But I can't drive." Leni look down with a defeated look.

"Come on, I'll drive." Lynn said, snatching the keys from her sister's hand.

"You think you can reach the pedals, hobbit?" Luna attacked.

"Fuck you! At least I'm not a frustrated artist!"

"Of course not, you're a frustrated athlete. You sure are waiting for the kids to get back to school because that soccer team is everything you have now."

"Girls, girls stop, we like, are really going to be late." Leni got between them two, defusing the situation and cooling down the heat.

You still wonder where we learned to get along the way we do.

The kids went outside in line. Lizy took her dinosaur and took his brother's hand, they both walked out the porch. Lemy closed his eyes and used his other hand to cover his face from the sunlight, that's why you should never wake up at midday; everyone think the more you sleep the more you'll rest, but in reality you feel like you were hit with a flashbang.

"I'll call him… Domi." Lizy said outta nowhere, like she always does.

"What?"

"My new dinosaur, his name is Domi. Isn't it nice?" Lizy lift the toy and moved it as if it was the one talking. "My name is Domi, and I love Lizy. Do you love Lizy?" she asked with the deepest and the most dinosauristic voice she could do.

"Of course I love her, dude… I mean, Domi. She's my little Lizy-Lizard, so can you take care of her when I'm not at home?"

Lizy laughs happily and make Domi nod.

They both got inside the van. They sat on the last row, which meant the best seats were already taken. Since the wonderful trio is separated, Lemy have to sit at the very back with Lupa. Shit, as if it wasn't embarrassing enough what she said about my underwear, now I have to deal with her all the way.

Lemy gave Lizy the seat near the window and put on her the safety belt; he pulled it a couple of times to make sure it was good, after all you can never be careful enough when you have a little kid at your care.

He sat down in the middle between her and Lupa, and stretched his body. He's still a little tired and feels a hole in his stomach; he knows if he doesn't eat something quickly, his headache will turn into a migraine.

"Why don't you put on your belt, brother of Lizy?" Domi asked.

"Because…" Because it is ridiculous, uncomfortable and stupid, but you can't say that to a six years old. "I forgot."

Lemy slip his belt and lock it with a click.

"There it is. Is that better?"

"Lizy doesn't want you to get hurt." She gazed at him with big, blue eyes. Do you remember when I told you about Lulu's eyes? Well, Lizy's really close to her level.

The little girl took out from her pocket a tiny dinosaur toy, it was a Velociraptor. Lemy took it and then they started playing with the dinosaurs while growling, scratching and laughing; the pre-recorded roar of the Indomius was impressive. Man, that toy was really well done; that roar was pretty good.

Lemy looked at Lupa; the white-haired girl had a sketchbook in her lap and a pencil in her hand, son enough she started drawing.

While vanzilla was on the road, Lynn drove while Leni was talking to her; Lynn turned on the radio and the voice of Caleb Followill echoed inside the vehicle. It was odd; Aunt Lynn was more of electronic; every time I walk near her room while she's working out I can hear the music blasting, I can even feel the door vibrating as if it was about to explode. But I know how Aunt Leni can be when she starts to talk; she'll star with how excited she is to go to the mall and will end up talking about something that happened to her like two years ago. Anyway, the music wasn't that bad.

Liby and Liena were in the middle row; Liby is leaning against the window, she looked sad. Meanwhile Liena is secretly looking at him; he caught her, and she looked away as fast as she could with a noticeable blush.

Shit man, seriously? Nobody is going to talk to me? Lacy is talking with her mother. Lynn is making an effort to listen to her, listen to Leni, listen to the music and drive without crashing.

I wish some of them talked to me, but if they did they'd probably throw shit at me.

Lemy glanced at Lupa; she looked so focused on her drawing. Should I make an effort to reach out to her? I mean, at worst she'd just insult me.

The heck with it, I'm doing it.

"You should also put on the security belt, you heard Mr. Safety." Lemy points towards Lizy's dinosaur; it had the little velociraptor in its mouth while Lizy made crunching sounds.

Lupa answered lifting her middle finger without taking her eyes out of the notebook.

Sigh. Now I get why Aunt Lucy does that. Fuck man, all I want is talk; I just want us to be normal siblings. I just want things to be like they used to be before that stupid camp.

Lemy is enjoying the music, looks like it is a rock station, or at least it sounds like an alternative rock song. Whatever it is I'll take it, I won't complain; if it was Leni or Lola driving I'd be forced to listen to their modern pop bullshit. I hope all the Katy Perrys burn in hell.

"What are you drawing?" I know, I know, I'm a stupid masochist.

Lupa stopped her hand and looked at him.

Lemy jumps back; maybe it was her golden eyes or the weight of her glare over him, but he recovered quickly and acted like nothing happened. You can say whatever you want about incest, but man, those eyes are beautiful.

"Are you talking to me?"

No, I'm talking to the other girl who also happens to be drawing.

"Yeah, it looks interesting."

Lupa turned back to the notebook and continued her drawing. The sketch looked like an angel or a demon with its wings extended and its hands raised to the sky as if it were praying, but it still needed more details.

"Who said you could talk to me, Lemy?" The sound of her voice when she said his name was cold and filled with poison.

"Well I just… wait, what?"

"Did your dear, pure and lovely mommy Lyra allowed you to speak to me, a commoner, filthy sinner."

Man, what is wrong with this girl?

"She doesn't think that about you."

"Of course she does; in her eyes, we're all whores who deserve to burn in hellfire. She's so good and pure and… you think that too, don't you?"

"I'm not… she doesn't… look, Lyra just wants to do the right thing, and I… I just…"

"Don't excuse yourself, it's written all over your face; you're too good for us."

"It's not that Lupa, I would never think that, please understand, I don't want to carry on with this, I don't want… aaahhhh!"

Lemy let out a frustrated moan and leaned against the seat.

Lizy looked at him with a worried expression; he smiled, but this time it was a forced smile, he wanted to make sure to her that everything was fine.

She returns the smile, it was a little forced too, and then she put the velociraptor in her pocket to grab his hand.

Lemy's heart almost melted. They both smiled at each other.

Lizy snuggles with Lemy, and he put his arm around her. She rests her head in his chest, and Lemy hugged her. She hugged Domi, and then they spend what was left of the trip in silence.

The van stopped in the parking lot, luckily a space near the entrance was free. Everyone jumped off the van and walked to the nearest entrance, then took the stairs to the second floor.

"Okay team, this is the plan" Lynn gathered everyone; the typical mall music echoed around the place. "We need to take to the house every single article on this list; it'll be long and difficult, so we are going to use the old technique of Divide and Conquer."

For Aunt Lynn, everything was a sport or a competition. Lemy rolled his eyes with annoyance; Lacy saw him and cover her mouth with her hand to hold a chuckle, but then she remember he's an idiot and she doesn't talk to him , so she looked away.

"This is what we'll do: Leni, Lupa and Liena, you're going to get the balloons, confetti and all the party stuff." Lynn ripped off a piece of paper and gave it to Lupa; she took it with annoyance and put it into her pocket. "Liby, Lizy and I will go for the candies and the piñata (piñata? Are we Mexicans?). Lacy and Lemy, you're going to pick up the food and the cake." Lynn winks an eye to her daughter, Lacy stares back at her with anger. Her face was red, was she that angry or was it embarrassment?

"Wow, how subtle, why don't you ask them to go to pick some condoms?" Lupa said bitterly.

Lynn looked at her with anger, but before she could say anything the goth girl was already walking away. Leni looked at her and tried to say something too, but it was obvious that she was afraid of her niece, so she walked away too. Liena followed her, escaping from Lynn's wrath.

Snorting, Lacy takes out a purchase note and give it to Lemy. It was the note of a bakery.

"Domi and I want to go with Lemy" Lizy, squeezing Lemy's hand.

"Come on Lizy, you'll have a lot of fun with us, we'll go for the candies, and if you're a good girl you can have some."

Lizy doesn't know if she wants to go with her brother or eat those delicious candies.

"Don't worry Liz, I'll be fine. Now go and get all the candies you can take. I'm sure Domi would like to eat some chocolate."

"Okay, but take my velociraptor, it will take care of you, and you can give it to me when we're done, okay?"

Man, don't tell me you don't love this girl. Isn't she the cutest little girl? Sorry bro, she's mine.

You know what I mean.

Lemy slaps himself mentally, and takes the little toy with a smile.

"Alright, we'll meet here in three hours. You can go for the food first and leave the cake for last. Meanwhile you can do whatever you want… anything you want." Lynn nudges Lacy; due to her brute strength, she 'accidentally' throws her towards Lemy. She would've ended tripping, but Lemy caught her in time.

Liby look at them with anger in her eyes, and then she took Lizy to the nearest escalator. The little blonde try to say goodbye waving Domi side to side.

Lynn winks at them again, and then she walks away with her nieces.

Lemy and Lacy stood frozen for a moment; Lacy is still in his arms, and it took them a few seconds to separate from him. Both look away from each other with a notorious blush on their faces.

Well, this is going to be interesting.

Interesting.

Rocky Hodge.