A/N: After watching Head Poet Anxiety, I had to write this. I found myself listening to Mr. Mister Broken Wings song, while making this chapter.
A day has passed within the streets since helping out the little girl, and at the very least, he was compensated for his efforts. Despite Lincoln frail health, he tried to maintain throughout the harsh days even if the coughs would not stop. Still, at least he was not alone with his new homeless allies. As hours went by, Lincoln kept looking at his old family photo. He starts to wonder how they were maintaining without him or even if they forgot about him. Still, the more he glances, the more homesick he became.
The day went by slowly as he sat on a bench. He said staring at the house of faith where miracles would come and go or some would often say. However, at his standing, he was still waiting for that next big miracle.
"Oh my, you have such a big family." A nun noticed on Lincoln's family photo.
"Yeah, they are all my loving sisters," Lincoln answered the nun.
"Are you here for the offering?" The nun asked.
"Not exactly, I'm here waiting for a friend that stopped by here."
"You must be one another one of the unfortunate." The nun said sadly. "Do not worry young one, my sister's and I will continue to offer our prayers in terms of better accommodations."
"Yeah well if it actually worked, it would get me and my friend out of this rathole years ago." Lincoln shot back.
The nun grasped Lincoln's hands. "Try to be patient young one, something will come for you before you know it."
Lincoln coughed again as he tried covering it up with his hands. After the fourth to an eighth cough, blood nearly covered his palm. From the sight, Lincoln kept telling himself that this was only a temporary matter, and should not worry too much. Yet the number of coughs he went through told another story.
"Hey sorry I took so long Lincoln." The dark-skinned veteran comes out of the church. Victor noticed Lincoln coughing as he patted his back. "Hey, you okay little man?"
"Yeah, just haven't been at one hundred percent lately." Lincoln moaned, trying to hide his pain, but the war veteran could see otherwise. "So did you take care of business when you were in there?"
"Yeah, and giving some long overdue time here. Even after all these years my fate still remains."
"I just don't understand how you can put so much faith in someone that does not exist."
"He helps all of his children, he's never limited to some. I mean he certainly helps me assure my survivor during the wars."
"But apparently didn't save you from becoming homeless," Lincoln argued back walking with the man. Victor took a look a Lincoln. "Sorry, I didn't mean…"
"It's alright little man, you depending on people's situation, their faith is limited to the point of not believing anymore," Victor explained to Lincoln. "But that's not me since my family comes from a long line of Christians. No matter what, my mother always held her faith, even after my dad left when I was ten years old."
Lincoln glanced at the man with curiosity. "Your dad?"
"Yeah, my dad was a Bluesman, while my mother worked as a grocery store clerk for the past thirty years. She worked hard to support me, even if my family did not have that much money. And sometimes on her days off on Sunday, my mother and grandmother would always take me to church, mainly as a way of keeping me off the streets."
"So what happened then?"
"When I graduated from college, I joined the army. It was quiet at first, but then wartime comes in years later. I was one of the many followers of a platoon." Victor continued. "Soon a decade later it was over. It was a hard fought battle, but then harsh reality came in, as the government did not help that many vets, even the ones diagnosed with PTSD. All they just said was "sucks to be you" even the job market was not so kind to the veteran. Soon after my mother passed away I was unable to cover most of the hospital bills even with a house on mortgage."
"That's rough,"
"Yeah but my grandma always said, 'the first step to a miracle is patients child.' Whether we know it or not, there is a plan for everybody."
Lincoln did not believe it at first but then kept that advice in mind.
"Speaking of plans," Victor handed Lincoln a paper. "There is a homeless shelter opening up across town, all homeless are welcome, but we better hurry, otherwise they are going to fill up fast."
"That's a relief, sure beats sleeping on a messy floor of a rundown gas station."
Victor slapped Lincoln's back excitedly. "Oh, I hear that Karen and AJ are going to love the good news."
Lincoln thought about it a bit, and then a thought came to mind. "Go on without me Victor, there is something I have to do, I'll meet you back alright," Lincoln said taking off.
Lincoln made it back to the abandoned alley. The old car was still there, much to his relief. As he made it, he took a knock on the tinted windows. As there was no response, he knocked twice. Before he could knock again, the door slammed open to his face, making Lincoln fly back.
"Look, daddy, it's the man you robbed weeks ago," The daughter came out.
"Hey I have a name you know, it's Lincoln." Lincoln clarified.
"What's all the commotion?" The father was still half-asleep. He then noticed Lincoln. "Oh, it's you?"
Lincoln still felt the pain on his face as he rose up. "I just wanted to give you this." Lincoln offered the paper to the father. "A nice place for you and your family to stay, it certainly beats hiding out in a car most of the time."
"Well thank you, Lincoln," The father thanked.
"There are filling out fast so I would suggest you motor on over, get it?" Lincoln cracked a joke, once again did not earn their amusement. "Nevermind, just get there as soon as possible."
As Lincoln took off, he started to cough again. He was on his last bottle of cough medicine. He was not sure how long it would last him, but it should help reduce the coughing.
Victor's words were not far from the truth on the crowd. The line stretched from a mile to a block from town. Lincoln was not at all surprised as he was used to dealing with a crowd, his big family was a prime example of that. Lincoln, AJ, Karen, and Victor were fortunate enough to make it hours before the opening. Now they only hope they were fortunate enough to make it in the shelter in time.
"Sorry I'm late guys," Lincoln said to the others.
"We were beginning to worry about you," AJ said to Lincoln.
"Yeah, sorry, just had to take care of a few things."
It was close, but the homeless family managed to make it, even if they were not behind Lincoln and the others. It brought a smile to his face, knowing that they made it.
Minutes turned into hours as they awaited entry like theme park line. Most of the homeless were almost half-asleep from all the waiting, others nearly died of boredom on the wait. As the line started to move, Lincoln and the others were nearly at the entrance.
"Attention everyone, I regret to inform you, we only have few spaces left, and we will be closing the doors soon." One of the workers's cried. "We will be taking few people."
A crowd of Aw's unison the whole place.
Lincoln and the others were up next, the proceeded.
"You're the last one son," The worker informed Lincoln.
Lincoln was stunned in place as the family behind him was waiting patiently. They already had sad faces as they heard the news. Lincoln took a quick look at them.
"Give the last place to them," Lincoln told the worker, pointing to the homeless family. "They need it more than I do."
"Kid, are you sure?" AJ inquired.
"Yeah Lincoln, you're going to be out here by yourself?" Karen asked worried about Lincoln.
"Don't worry about me guys, I'll be fine," Lincoln assured.
"Lincoln, we cannot thank you enough," The father was relieved.
Lincoln gave a reassuring smile. "Don't worry about it alright."
"You be careful out there little man, and just remember what I said before." Victor reminded.
Once again, Lincoln's good nature did not change. He realizes that he gave away his position of shelter to someone, yet they really needed it. As he walked on the streets, he started to remember all the times he made sacrifices. He mostly made them for his sister's and sometimes his friends, but as long as they were happy nothing else mattered.
Lincoln may not have been a parent, but he still felt sympathy for the Man and his family. If all, even he would do what he could to help his offspring. Often at times, he would reflect on the times, he felt like a parent to his little sisters, similar to how Lori was to her siblings.
Still, that was before and this is now. They were such sweet memories.
Nightfall was upon him, so Lincoln decided to take shelter, but it was not at the abandoned gas station this time. That task was delay as he witnesses the place get bulldoze, he was starting to regret not staying at the new shelter.
Disappointed as he was, he did not let that get him down. He came to an alley and accessed the latter chute. Lincoln made it to the roof as nothing was with him but a water tower. After a yawn, Lincoln lied on the ground staring at the nightly stars.
"The first step to a miracle is patients." Lincoln reminded himself, assuming if he wanted to believe it. Still, it would not hurt to have a bit of faith. As he looked at both his photo and the sky, more thoughts came into his head.
"I wonder how everyone is doing?" Lincoln said as he eyes closed.
Days became weeks as the middle-child found his mind still in the gutter. Everyday Lincoln's moods gotten shrink lower. He even found tears in his eyes, or it could have been his father onion sauce. Not one trace of happiness was visible on his face. He was almost on Lucy's level of moodiness, but even she was not depressed all the time. The Emo still showed happiness every now and then even if it was not always visible upon her face. In Lincoln's case, it was as if Lucy's influence had spread like a disease.
The white-haired child sat quietly to eating his breakfast. He prepared for another day, not that it made a difference anyway. As he glanced at his glass cup, he saw Homeless Lincoln staring at him again. Even if he was feeling better, he still felt little migraines in his head. At the table, he would not stop staring at the Trophy Case, once again serving as a reminder of what his successful sisters but he did not.
As he went to wash his dish, the Goth sister appeared behind him all of a sudden. The shock nearly caused him to drop his bowl but saved it. "What is it, Lucy?" Lincoln said, nearly going irate.
"I have Poetry Reading coming up, so I got to know, how do you have Thick Skin?"
"Why do you even care, you barely feel a thing?"
"If I felt nothing, then I would not have ask you."
"Then ask Luan or something, I'm in no mood, and I got to get to school," Lincoln argued back, stomping away from his dark sister.
"Linky; is this too much eyeliner on my face?" Lola pointed out.
"Not now Lola," LIncoln declined.
"But Linky, it's super important for the competition, and Lindsey Sweetwater is not going to outshine me."
Just the words alone were enough to make Lincoln twitch his eye. "I don't know! For god sakes Lola, figure it out for yourself, aren't you supposed to be the big expert on this!" Lincoln shouted as he did not want to hear any more of it. Just the outburst alone and scowl was enough to make Lola slip off her toes.
"Hey there Lincoln," Luan greeted Lincoln with a big grin. "Do you know what the burlap sack said to the frown? He asked why you are such a sad sack, get it?" Luan cracked a morning pun, much to Lincoln annoyance. "I said, get it?"
"I'm really not in the mood Luan."
"Then I think it's about time I lighten the mood," Luan joked again shining a flashlight into Lincoln's eyes, nearly blinding him. "So Lincoln, did I brighten up your day?"
This pun only further annoyed him as he walked away. He grabbed his backpack and head out the door. "The only thing that will ever make my day bright is if you do not talk. At least your mime act would be far less annoying." Lincoln grumpily replied.
"That was harsh dude." Luna pulled Lincoln's arm. "Seriously what's wrong with you? Why you acting like such a bonehead, did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed this morning." Luna noticed.
Lincoln grunted as he pulled his arm away.
"And those were my best puns," Luan said back. "Have you guys had any luck trying to cheer Lincoln up?" Luan asked the little sisters.
The little sisters shook their heads in shame.
"Yes, well not only that but this," Lisa added showing the older sisters the Report Card.
Luna took the Report Card and was shocked. "Bogus dude, he actually is making Lynn's grades look good."
"Whatever the case in Elder Brother's condition, I feel it getting worse, observe." Lisa presented her notes. "While Lincoln was dozing off, I used my scanners to check his pulse rate within his brain and heart monitors. In addition, from what I found out, the problem is more serious than we thought. I feel that his condition must lie within his dreams, therefore, affecting most of his head. Lincoln's depression levels are worst then we thought."
"Hey Lincoln, I heard Lori won her big Golf Game if only I can say my proper congratulations to her, but I ended up passing out before I can get there," Clyde stated, meeting up with Lincoln. "I bet Lori most of been really amazing and beautiful," as Clyde begin to fantasize on Lori. "Man if only we can play golf together."
Lincoln took an irritated sigh. "I really wish you get over this obsession you have with my older sister, and besides you do realize she has a boyfriend?"
"That may be, but it helps to be prepared to be a rebound guy."
Lincoln did not want to hear any more. He took another sigh of irritation as he walked ahead of Clyde. Knowing that Lincoln did not want to hear this, Clyde decided to switch the conversation. "So I heard you were sick the last couple days, how have you been lately?"
"Terrible Clyde," Lincoln said, as the moodiness was clear.
"Are you still sick buddy?"
"No Clyde it's nothing like that, just has not been a good week for me lately." Lincoln snorted. "I mean every day has been the same lately. Everything is all about my dumb sisters and what they did. They won this, they won that, all over again, I keep hearing the same thing." Lincoln started to rant. "Honestly, it's gonna make me puke."
Clyde heard Lincoln's rant and easily took noticed of it. "Lincoln I may not be an expert on Human Behavior even with my multiple sessions with Dr. Lopez. But are you jealous of your sisters?"
Knowing that this was not Lincoln's usual behavior, Clyde widened on his sudden rants. Lincoln scoffed at the question as he continued to walk away. Clyde followed as he wondered. By the way, Lincoln did not answer the question; it was as if Clyde was on the mark. Still, it left a bit of concern within the nerdy best friend.
School life went on like any other day. As the class took a test, Clyde still was concerned for his best friend, as he could not take his eyes off Lincoln. After multiple glances, Mrs. Johnson cleared her throat thus advising the Clyde to keep his eyes on his own paper. With one eye, Clyde saw Lincoln skimming through his test without ease, but at the same time without any major effort. To his surprise, he was the first to finish.
"Done so soon Lincoln?" Mrs. Johnson questioned with skepticism. "You know you've been rushing through your schoolwork lately? Are you sure, you don't want to maybe take a second look?"
"Whatever, it's done," Lincoln uncaring replied as he left.
Mrs. Johnson took a sigh of disappointment as she looked at Lincoln's behavior lately. It almost made her heartache as she had marked his test as a failure. Usually, this would not cause any major concern with the homeroom teacher, but this has been recurring lately, Agnes could not help but wonder about Lincoln.
As the bell ring, signaling school was out, everyone walked out of the classroom. "Lincoln, mind if I have word with you?" Mrs. Johnson called out.
Lincoln faced off with Mrs. Johnson of a face of pure emptiness. By the looks of it, Lincoln was anything but having a good day. "Have a seat?" Agnes offered.
Mrs. Johnson cleared her throat. "Now then Lincoln, I know you've been sick these past few days, but at the same time, I have been noticing a recent change in your behavior lately, and not of the good kind. Is there something wrong Lincoln?"
"Nope nothing, just the usual," Lincoln denied.
"Are you sure?" Agnes pressed on the subject. "Trouble at home or problems with Ronnie Anne lately?"
"I really need to get home Mrs. Johnson, I have things to do, so can I go now?" Lincoln rushed rudely.
"Very well then, but be sure to give this to your parents when you get home." Mrs. Johnson gave Lincoln a letter.
As school went out, Lincoln had separated from his best friend and sisters. They wanted to ask a question on what he was doing, but Lincoln had already left. This left both worries for his best friend and the little sisters. With the way Lincoln attitude has been, the little sisters dared not follow, and they had their own things to do.
The snow-haired child made his way through town with a list of destinations. It was going to be a long day for him, but it would all be worth it soon. He figured if his sisters could have all this talent and success then so can her. For his first stop, Lincoln participated in a golf contest. Since he watched his older sister practicing golfing, he figured it could be easy. However, he was all on his own since he did not have a caddie, not that it mattered to him.
As Lincoln performed multiple swings, the ball went to places other than the hole. It even busted a few glasses. Before long, his recklessness had him escorted out by security. For the next patch, he attended a Fashion Show. Given all the fabric material, he had something to work with. Since the first task did not work out, he figured maybe this will. Modeling for his second eldest sister, he knew most of it but not all. He was given a time-limited to make it into suitable clothing. When the clothing Lincoln made was shown, it was not a pleasant sight. It was the most uneven ugliest design that earns laughter among the audience.
The third place had followed a few Talent Shows. First Lincoln tried his luck in music. With his music set from him and Clyde adventure, he started to play music. As he faced off with the crowd, it was anything but good music. Instead of endless boos, he faced off amounts of ears covered. Each tone Lincoln put out was more noise and less music. Lincoln was not done just yet, as he decided to do standup, at least the audience would not have to hear any more of the noise.
"So guys anyone hear about the camera and the arrow combined? A Camaro right." Lincoln told the audience. There was nothing but dead silence. "Okay, next one, the statue, and ice have something in common alright, they are both frozen, zing."
"Get off the stage you talentless hack!" One of the audience members cried out.
"Yo funny guy, I got a joke for you! What do you call a white-haired guy who's not funny?" Easy, he's the idiot standing on stage right now." Another audience member insulted Lincoln.
Before Lincoln could make more puns, tomatoes and vegetables started to fly his way. Being a boy of thick skin, boos or negative outburst did not bother him all that much. He would have tried to keep going if security did not already escort him off stage. As he got thrown out of the building, it was yet another failed attempt to reach something.
Lincoln tried his luck in Soccer, which seems like the less violent sport out there. Lincoln used his feet as much as he could to balance the ball. As he kicked the shot in the goal, it brought a smirk to his face. Too bad his teammates were not happy as once again, his knowledge of the sport became his immediate downfall. He scored on the wrong team, and his teammates were angry at him, causing Lincoln to be chased down and pummeled. It was yet, another failed attempt at something.
Meanwhile back at home, the Loud Family was doing their thing. Lynn Sr worked on dinner for the family, while the Loud Sisters chilled in the living room. Lisa worked more on her experiments. Lucy read her book of poems. Lola admired her good looks in her mirror. Lana played with the Charles, and Lily played with block toys. The older sisters occupied the TV watching the latest episode of Dream Bout. Relaxing as it was for them, the relaxation was sudden.
"Lynn I got a call from the school," Rita informed.
"Lisa, what did you blow up this time?" Lynn Sr demanded.
"Negative father, and besides the school really needs to update their science equipment." Lisa retorted.
"Lola, did you get into another fight?" Lynn asked the princess.
"No," Lola replied back.
"No Lynn, it's not Lisa or Lola. It's Lincoln." Rita showed a note from school.
"What a minute, Lincoln?" Lynn Sr asked with surprise. "He's never had problems in school before."
"Apparently there is a first time for everything. Have you girls seen Lincoln?"
All the girls shook their heads.
Lola was already sour on the subject. "Who cares about that jerky-pants?"
"Yeah, he's been acting like something crawled up his butt lately," Lana added also angry.
"Now you two, I'm pretty sure Lincoln would not act harshly without a good reason," Rita stated.
When knocks came out the door, Rita was the first answer it thinking that it was Lincoln, however, it was not, much to her disappointment.
"Hey there family," Pop-Pop greeted happily.
"Hey Dad," Rita greeted back.
As the exchanged hugs and pleasantries to the children, the grandfather noticed something. "Hey you seem to be short one Lincoln, so where's my look alike?"
"I don't know dad, it's been hours and still no response, but I'll give him a call." Rita got on her phone. She waited a few minutes for an answer. After a response, she got Lincoln's voicemail. "Lincoln, this is your mother, give me a call whenever you get the chance, your father and I would like to speak with you regarding your progress report."
"Guess I'll have to try the other line." Rita got on Lincoln's Walkie Talkie. "Clyde, Clyde, do you read me?"
"Loud and clear, Lincoln," Clyde responded. "Um, what's wrong with your voice?"
"Clyde, this is Lincoln's mother."
"Oh hi Mrs. Loud, how's it going?"
"I was hoping you can tell me, Clyde; has Lincoln been at your house recently?"
"No; I haven't seen Lincoln since school. All he told me is that he had things to do." Clyde replied. "Is there something wrong?"
"I see, well if you do find him, than please let me know."
"Will do Mrs. Loud."
Trying to follow up his past failures, Lincoln tried his luck in science. He participated in a school Science Fair. Dealing with Lisa's endless amounts of science stuff, his knowledge was very limited. With careful handling, he mixed chemicals at a time. It was almost time, but he managed to finish, only to finish with an explosion through the school. Luckily, the chemicals were non-lethal, so no one was hurt, just an epic mess. Not only was the boy disqualified and possibly ban, but also he ridiculed and laughed at.
The laughter of his failure only continued as Lincoln was being chased by an alligator. Again, he foolishly attended without any knowledge or major experience only to have it backfire right in his face. The judge's yawn throughout the whole scenario Lincoln was being chased. By the time, Lincoln was out of danger; he was the only one there. The only person that had remained present was the janitor and he told him to just go.
Lincoln did not give him as he tried the Poetry Club. Since always giving Lucy the words she needed for her poem, he figured he had nothing to worry. Yet again, it did not work out well as he booed off the stage even before he got to his second line. no one even gave him a chance to read the rest of his made-up poems. It was another most unfortunate failure as food hailed at him. It was very clear that Lincoln was not poetic.
Lincoln found himself inhaling and exhaling at a time staring at the bathroom mirror. He stared at his absolute face of misery. Depression was really starting to take hold of him. Every task he attempted had only ended in failure and humiliation. Nothing went right this day. In the mirror, he saw his future self, constantly reminded him of his failure. Added to his misery, was Lincoln's sisters laughing at him at his failure.
It was literally feeling like Deja-Vu as he felt the mocking.
Each word that uttered in his head gave more migraines. It continued to echo through his head as he could barely think. Anger, frustration, sadness, and anguish mixed into a dark blender of emotions, causing him to lose sight of his current self.
"ENOUGH!" Lincoln burst, punching the bathroom mirror.
The middle-child was paralyzed as he barely felt the overwhelming pain in his knuckles. Blood was dripping from his fist like a leaky pipe, yet Lincoln did not mean in pain. Both his head and body were shaking. Lincoln's thoughts were back to working order, yet still felt the pain within his hand.
The boy thought he needed some air as he stepped outside. He travels through the darkened streets, waiting for his next move that is if he had one. Like his future self, Lincoln started to feel alone and isolated. The day just became more unpleasant as thunderstruck and drips of rainwater fell from the sky. Next to follow the day of misfortune, was Lincoln's shoe coming apart. It was then followed by a splash of puddle water. The final nail in the coffin was getting push to the alley corner and losing his phone, only to get run over by a car.
"DANG IT!" Lincoln called out, nearly echoing the streets.
Lincoln may not have been on drugs, but his mind was most definitely in the gutter. Responding to a glance of his future self, he took a seat in the dark alley. With the other homeless person resting in the alley, at least he would not be alone. As glanced at a glass bottle, he took hold of it. He took a sip of the drink but was disgusted on the rancid taste. He did not know how adults deal with this stuff. Alcohol did not fit well with him, especially for his young body.
If this was his bad luck that Lynn was so worried about, then it had come true. Lincoln felt the weight of the situation hover above his head, other than the endless drops of water. He sat as he let the storm bury him into a watery grave of sorrow.
"It's just not fair!" Lincoln yelled throwing the bottle away, only to slam into a car, not that Lincoln cared anymore. "Why me?"
Alerted by the noise of the car, a hooded figure approaches Lincoln.
"You might as well take me. It's not like I have anything left anymore." Lincoln pouted, not caring, confusing the figure as the Grim Reaper.
The figure unhooded to show a familiar face. "Lincoln?"
"Mrs. DiMartino?" Lincoln asked in shock as both people stared at each other with curiosity and surprised through the rainy night.