Okay, I am pleased to see that this story has achieved 100 followers! And nearly as many reviews and a good number of favorites too! I just want to take a moment to acknowledge how much I appreciate the support that this story has gotten. It's readers such as yourselves that make this non-profit hobby feel so worthwhile. Let's see if I can keep things going in the right direction as I present...
Chapter 6) The Beginning of Punishment Part 2
The end of the day couldn't have come soon enough for Lori. In addition to washing the dishes, she had been required to sweep and wash the kitchen floor, vacuum the living and dining rooms and then clean the entire bathroom. And tomorrow she was expected to do more chores, including cleaning Vanzilla inside and out, cleaning the gutters and assisting her mother with various errands. She could only imagine what else was in store for her over the weekend.
Lori reached for her pocket, trying to retrieve her cellphone. For a moment she was surprised to find it missing, but quickly recalled that she wasn't permitted to have it for who knew how long. She'd just have to check the time the old fashioned way and look at a clock.
She exited the bathroom and nearly went into her bedroom. But again she reminded herself that she was being punished and that she was banned from her own room. At least until the damage to Lincoln's room was fixed and his furniture replaced.
A noise caught Lori's attention. It was the sound of laughter, and it was coming from inside of her...from inside of Leni and Lincoln's bedroom. She carefully opened the door and took a peek. What she saw inside made her forget all about how tired and crummy she felt.
Lincoln was smiling. And laughing. He was playing cards with all of his younger sisters and clearly having fun. He was happy, and seeing that helped Lori to feel a little better after everything she had done that day. But she knew that his joy would be short lived. By tomorrow he'd still be upset with her and depressed about all of his possessions being gone. And she was to blame for that.
But there was little point in dwelling on that fact. If she wanted to fix things with him, then she would have to focus on moving forward. She had a lot of ground to cover if she was going to reach him and it would be best to start sooner than later. She silently vowed to herself that first thing in the morning she would start doing whatever she could to atone for her malicious actions on her brother.
With a sense of determination now fueling her, Lori turned away from the bedroom so she could head down to her parents' bedroom. It was still a little early for bed, but she'd need her rest for tomorrow. And maybe she could talk to her parents about how she could make things up to Lincoln. Surely they'd be willing to make a few suggestions if she herself couldn't think of anything other than a few ideas that she already had.
'No matter what, I will fix this!' she thought, feeling her resolve strengthening.
As she went to descend the stairs, she spotted something out of the corner of her eye. Luna, who was sitting inside of her room on a beanbag chair, was glaring daggers at her yet again. Lori paused and met her younger sister's gaze. Luna's eyes narrowed and she sat up, crossing her arms. It was unsettling for Lori to see Luna looking so cross. The rocker was usually so laid back and understanding. To see her scowling and glaring like that made Lori's earlier crummy feeling return full force.
'It looks like Lincoln isn't the only one who I need to fix things with.'
Once again feeling the weight of guilt on her shoulders, Lori descended the stairs and walked to the door to her parents' bedroom. It was closed, so she knocked on it just in case her parents were having a private conversation. She heard her mother from the other side of the door, granting her permission to enter.
"I finished all of the chores you told me to do." Lori said as she entered the room.
"Good." her mother said. "And just in time too. There's someone here who has something to say to you."
It was at that moment that Lori realized that her younger sister Lynn was also in the room. She was seated on the side of the bed, next to Lynn Sr. The athlete looked over at Lori and then quickly averted her eyes. Their father got up and had Lori take his place next to her sister. Then he and Rita left the room, giving them space to let them talk.
"We're leaving the door open a crack and we'll be just outside of the room. So keep that in mind, both of you." Rita warned.
"Okay mom." Lynn jr. replied.
"This is about Lincoln, isn't it?" Lori asked after their parents had stepped out. "You were pretty mad at me earlier, when I hurt him. I don't blame you for it. I deserve to have everyone upset with me."
"Your darn right you do!" Lynn spat. "I just want to scream at you right now! I want to yell at you like you did to Lincoln earlier! And I would too, if Mom and Dad hadn't already talked to me about it! Not that it matters. It's not like biting your head off would change anything. It wouldn't make Lincoln feel better, that's for sure."
"I know. I literally wish it could be that easy."
Lynn scoffed. "Yeah, you would want the easy way out, wouldn't you?"
"That isn't fair, Lynn!" Lori said defensively. "He's my brother too you know! I don't like seeing him hurt any more than you do! And the face that I'm the one who hurt him only makes me feel worse."
"Okay, you have a good point." Lynn replied. "But here's mine. Lincoln isn't just a little brother to me. He's been around since I was really little. We grew up together. We're still growing up together. We used to take baths together, go to the park and play in the sandbox together and watch Blarney the Dinosaur together when we were little. We've trick-or-treated together, hunted Easter eggs together and stayed up late together on Christmas Eve to try and see Santa."
Lynn then paused for a moment, a small smile coming to her lips. "Lincoln was my first friend. He's been there for me on rainy days when I couldn't go outside to play. He doesn't hesitate to ask what's wrong when I'm upset and he wants to help me when I have a problem, without asking for anything in return. And if he screws up, he always tries to make up for it or at least he says he's sorry. Which is something that I really admire about him."
"Sheesh." Lori said. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think that you have a crush on him."
"Please don't make this weird, Lori." Lynn said flatly. "But you get my point. Lincoln might be a wimp, and a dork, but he's the most amazing, wimpy dork I know. And it took what happened earlier to help me realize that. When you hurt him, when he fell down the stairs, I got really scared. I thought that he had been hurt a lot worse...I thought that I had lost my only brother."
"You aren't the only one." Lori whispered. "I was really scared too. It was literally the scariest thing I've ever seen. For a moment, I didn't know if he was going to get up again after he hit the floor. I'd give anything to go back and stop myself from doing it. All of it. But that's not going to happen. The only thing I can do is try my best to fix things."
"Yeah, you do that. But let me just say one more thing." Lynn said, hopping onto her feet and turning to face Lori. "If you ever hurt Lincoln, or any of our other siblings, like that again, I'll kick your butt!"
Lori stared at her younger sibling in surprise. Lynn was standing in front of her with her right fist held up to emphasize her threat. The blonde smiled, and then she laughed, making Lynn stare at her questioningly. Lori quickly stifled herself and then stood up to face her younger sister.
"Oh, please. You and I both know who could kick who's butt. But...if I ever do hurt anyone in our family like that again, I would literally deserve it. So you could have as many free shots as you want."
"I'm gonna hold you to that, Lori! I mean it! Pull another stunt like you did today and my foot is going to get up close and personal with your butt!"
"I heard you the first time." Lori said, "And don't worry about it. I definitely don't want to repeat what happened today. And I'm sorry for the way I treated you earlier too."
Lori extended her arms, offering her sister a hug. Lynn considered the offer for a moment, but didn't accept. She crossed her arms and looked up at Lori in a somewhat aloof manner.
"Sorry, but I'm not quite ready for hugs from you yet. I'm with Lincoln on this one. I can forgive you, just not so soon, okay?"
"...okay." Lori said, lowering her arms.
Lynn then left the room, offering an unenthusiastic 'later' in farewell. Lori went to the air mattress where she was expected to sleep and laid down. She heard her parents reenter the room, her mother taking a seat next to her after a moment. Lori turned over a little to face the older woman, who was looking down at her expectantly.
"So, do you have any ideas yet? You were thinking of ways to make things right with your brother like I asked, right?"
"Uh-huh. I haven't thought up too much yet. Just stuff like making him breakfast and giving him rides. Am I still allowed to borrow Vanzilla?"
"Only if you're bringing your siblings to school or someplace else. No using it for your own personal wants and needs for a while."
Lori sighed. It wasn't a surprise to her that her driving privileges were also now revoked, save for a few exceptions. But she could live with that. Giving Lincoln free rides was just one idea. She had another in mind that was more likely to fix things, although it would be asking a bit much from her parents. And it was a subject that she had already brought up before with her mother. Hopefully the current circumstances would make things turn out differently this time.
"Mom? There's something else. But it might be a lot to ask for."
"Oh? And just what is it that you have in mind?"
"I...I need a credit card!" Lori blurted out.
The moment she had voiced her request, her father burst out laughing. He was laughing so hard that he nearly lost his balance. It wasn't until he noticed the dirty look that his wife was giving him that he stopped.
"Wait. She's being serious?" he asked incredulously.
"As a matter of fact, yes." Rita said. "And it isn't the first time she's asked this either. Which raised the question, what makes you think you'll be getting one this time?"
"Well how else am I going to replace all of Lincoln's stuff? It would literally take forever to save enough money from my job!"
Rita smiled sympathetically at her child. "I'm happy that you're so willing to make amends, but I don't think that you fully understand what you'd be getting yourself into. A credit card is a big responsibility. And if you're not careful, you could find yourself owing a lot of money. But why don't we discuss this more tomorrow? We'll have plenty of time while you help me with running errands."
Lori nodded, feeling a little better now that it seemed her mother wasn't so angry with her anymore. She sat up and hugged her mother, apologizing again for all of the trouble that she had caused. Her mother kissed her forehead and stood up, going over to her own bed to continue reading her book club's current romance novel. Lori settled back down and returned to thinking on how she could make reparations. With luck, and plenty of effort on her part, she could achieve that goal with Lincoln. And Luna too.
It had bothered Lori immensely to see how angry her younger sister was with her. At least Lincoln was willing to, eventually, forgive her. But she was left wondering if the same could be said for Luna. Lori was worried that her sister was now carrying a serious grudge against her for what she had done. But it was understandable. Lori knew that she would be doing the same if she were in Luna's place.
Another heavy sigh silently passed Lori's lips and she turned over on the mattress. She was tired but far from ready for sleep. Aside of the face that she had yet to change into her sleepwear, she also hadn't performed any of her other usual pre-bedtime rituals. She was going to have to wait a little bit since it would be best to let all of her siblings use the bathroom first.
It was surprisingly saddening to Lori. She knew that all of her sisters and brother would be crowded into the bathroom, brushing their teeth and washing their faces. Tonight, for the first time in a long time, she wouldn't get to participate in that. squeezing into the small space, just barely big enough to accommodate them all, usually seemed so insignificant as it was a daily occurrence. But she missed being a part of it. She missed it a lot. And it was just one of many instances that she would temporarily not get to share with all of her siblings. It was enough to make her want to cry again.
Lori tried to get her mind off of that awful train of thought. But it persisted, regardless of her efforts. That night, she laid restlessly for the first couple of hours after she had finally gotten to use the bathroom and brush her teeth. But she was able to fall asleep eventually and get some much needed rest. The next couple of days until school started again were going to be long ones for her.
End of Chapter 6.