The Urban Life
The brightness of the street light shown through the window of The Stoop. Dino Spumoni was playing on juke box as it had been since Helga came in only ten minutes earlier. Right now the bar was in a moment of shock and joy as the famous quad were finally in the same room and reunited with the one missing quater - Arnold.
They looked right into each other's eyes. The former lovers were looking into each other's eyes after seven years. Seven years and a lot of therapy to help Helga get over his "death".
"Arnold! Is it really you?" Gerald asked as he approached the football-headed man.
Arnold turned to Gerald and smiled. "It's me." he said.
"Ah, Arnold - man, it is you!" Gerald said before the two grabbed each other into a tight manly hug.
Phoebe, who came right behind Gerald looked directly at Helga who looked as if she had seen a ghost. Her jaw remained dropped and she still couldn't speak. They traded stares and Helga shook her head in disbelief.
Gerald patted Arnold's back hard and they separated before simultaneously grabbing each other's hand and wiggling their thumbs together.
"Arnold!" Phoebe yelled as they hugged. "I can't believe you're back!"
"It's been too long, Phoebe." he said.
Stoop Kid was next in line and pulled Arnold into a tight, uncomfortable hug. "I just knew they didn't know what they were talking about when they said you were dead! I knew you were alive!" he exclaimed.
"It's good to see you Stoop Kid. The bar looks exactly the way it did when I left." Arnold replied.
Phoebe walked over and helped a very shocked Helga off of her stool. "Keep it together, Helga."
Arnold turned and faced Helga. "Helga..."
"Arnold..."
The two slowly hugged, both closing their eyes peacefully as they embraced. Helga couldn't hold back the tears and Arnold couldn't either. They hugged long and stiff. No one made any comments because of the history these two have together. None of them can imagine what this moment must be like for Arnold and Helga. It must be so bitter-sweet. So emotionally challenging, yet so amazing.
So Helga did wind up joining Gerald and Phoebe, Arnold as well. The four of them sat in Gerald and Phoebe's usual booth which originally was the usual booth of the four them. Arnold sat next to Phoebe, who sat across from Gerald, who sat next to Helga. Helga couldn't take her eyes off of him. The shock still hadn't worn off yet.
"I couldn't believe when I looked at the paper that your faces were on it." Arnold said smiling.
"Oh yeah. A lot has happened in the last seven years, Arnold." Gerald said.
"A lot!" Phoebe added.
Stoop Kid came over with a tray in his hand, a beer for each other them and five shots. Helga had downed the one he brought her the moment Arnold walked in the bar and still wasn't feeling as relaxed as she thought she would.
"This neighborhood has missed the good Dr. Arnold... what's your last name again?" Stook Kid said while putting the beers before them.
"Could I get a shot of tequila!" Helga blurted out as she nervously shook her leg up and down, heel elevated.
"I'm talking to Arnold! Wait a second! Anyway, it hasn't been the same since you left." he then walked back to the bar, prepared five shots and quickly ran back. "Now this is to the engagement," he said nodding to Phoebe and Gerald. "and to the welcome home!" nodding to Arnold and all five of them took their shot.
Stoop Kid, Gerald and Helga all took their shots like professional drinkers, while Phoebe and Arnold made a sour face and chased the shots with sips from their beers.
"Whoo! That is some grade-A tequila!" Stoop Kid yelled before walking back behind the bar.
"Hey-Arnold, man where've you been all this time?" Gerald asked. "Why'd they say you were dead?"
"I must admit, Arnold - we all believed you were killed or died of a disease while working in Darfur. Isn't that right, Helga?" Phoebe asked.
Helga nodded, her mouth open. "After seven years..." she shrugged.
"Well, if you guys wanna hear a story..." Arnold said.
"Come on, Arnold! I've always told the stories. It's your turn now!" Gerald exclaimed, sipping his beer. "After seven years, you better have a story, man!"
"Uh, okay. Well..." Arnold began, but paused thinking back to when he first left for Darfur.
Arnold looks over at Helga as he remembers why he left in the first place. All of his reasons for fleeing Hillwood City had to do with Helga and what transpired before he left. And Helga just sat there, staring at Arnold with no alleviation of her shock since the moment she saw him again for the first time in seven years.
"Weeeell?" Gerald said.
Everyone sat around and looked at Arnold quite attentively. They waited on the edge of their seats to hear what he had to say.
"Uh, well I left for Darfur and as we arrived the pilot got a radio call saying that the airport had been invaded by the rebellion and so we had to land in an open field. We were nearly shot down as we decended toward the landing strip, but managed to get away in time." Arnold explained.
"Damn man!" Gerald said.
"Shhh. Don't interrupt him, Sweety." Phoebe told him.
"So we landed in this open field and later found out that the rebellion had killed everyone at the airport and torched the building." he said, nodding his head. "We walked ten miles to the closest village. It was almost a miracle that the rebels invaded the airport and we got the call because when we got to the village, there were over forty malnourished and starving families living there. None of them had ever seen a doctor before either. I couldn't believe it since we were so close to the airport. But that's just normal out there. Unfortunately it wasn't long before the rebels attacked that village too. Most of the villagers were able to flee. I was with my team running through the wilderness..."
People run through the center of the village as bullets fly and bodies drop all around. The small shacks were set ablaze and everyone fled the village and headed for the gorilla swarming wilderness. Mothers and fathers grabbed their children, some carried their family members shot and soaked in dripping blood. Arnold and his team of ten other doctors ran from the village, one doctor being shot.
"Arnold, come on!" a dark-haired, fair skin man yelled, stopped with three other doctors while the rest ran off.
Arnold had run back - was nearly shot before he jumped to the ground and crawled his way over to the injured doctor. "We can't leave her!" he yelled as he reached the young red headed doctor. "Fiona! Open your eyes!"
Fiona's mouth is filled with blood that she's coughing up. Arnold realizes the bullet went into her back, through her lung and out her chest. She can't breathe with her lungs filling up with blood and he quickly pulls out his pocket knife and stabs her in the side, releasing the blood from her lungs and allowing her to take a breath.
"Come on, Arnold!" another female doctor yelled before a bullet hit her in the head.
Arnold picked Fiona up and started running as fast as he could with the other two doctors. As they ran they continued to hear the guns being fired and the people screaming.
"We didn't know where we were running, but just followed the villagers until..." Arnold said.
"Until?" Helga asked, amazed by Arnold's bravery.
Arnold and Helga's eyes met and he gave her a quick smirk. "Until the gorillas started attacking."
Arnold, Fiona in his arms and the other two doctors watched as massive gorillas jump from the trees above and attack unexpecting villagers. Up ahead an opening in the forest could be seen, presumably a body of water was met and hopefully they'd be able to get across.
"We're almost there! AHH!" the dark-haired, fair skin doctor yelled as a gorilla jumped from a tree and tackled him. "Oh, please! Help me! Help me!" he screamed.
Arnold and the remaining doctor could do nothing but run as they listened to their friend be beaten to death by a huge ape. As they made it up to the opening, they heard multiple shots and people screaming. On the river were two boats and rebels shooting at the villagers as they came out from the vegetation. Arnold and the other doctor stopped running and stood still, looking at the rebels holding guns up to them. One of the rebels started yelling in an African language when they saw the two light-colored doctors standing there with Fiona in Arnold's arms. The men stopped shooting, taking shots as black villagers came running out.
"Don't move!" a rebel yelled out. "We'll shoot you at any moment!"
Arnold and the other doctor looked at each other in fear. "We're just doctors!" Arnold yelled.
"They took us aboard their boat and threw us in cages after they made us bandage up Fiona until we could treat her damaged lung. The rebels told us that we were now their doctors - we belonged to them and if we didn't do what we were told, they'd shoot us."
Helga, Phoebe and Gerald sat at the booth in awe. Over at the bar Stoop Kid dried glasses with a rag, but listening to Arnold's story he just dried the same glass for fifteen minutes.
"For two years I was their slave-doctor. Anytime one of them got hurt, Fiona, Brock and I had to tend to their wounds. When they were sick, we were expected to heal them." Arnold put his head down. "Brock was given to one of the leaders who had cancer. There was nothing he could do. It was not two minutes after he died did they shoot Brock - right in front of Fiona and I."
For a second or two they sat in silence. The shock of Arnold's experiences over the past seven years had everyone speechless.
The next moment a man in a long gray coat and a top hat walked into the bar, very nonshalantly. He walked all the way to the back of the bar and pulled a camera from his inner coat pocket. Three quick flashes blind the four of them.
"I got it! I got a picture!" the man, presumably paparazzi yelled before running back out.
Stoop Kid hopped over the bar. "Hey!" he yelled, following the man out the door, to the stoop.
The man joined the rest of the paparazzi waiting outside for Gerald and Phoebe to come out. Stoop Kid chased the man, but stopped on the last step of his stoop.
"Haha! It's Stoop Kid! Come get me now!" the man yelled.
The others laughed, "Yeah, I remember he was in the paper - left his stoop once, for the first time in his life and never again!"
"Come on Stooooop Kiiid!" the man then said as another one threw a bottle.
"Here's to you, Stoop Kid!"
Stoop Kid didn't move and inch as the beer bottle missed him and broke off one the steps. The beer dripped down to the sidewalk from the shattered bottom and broken, jagged top of the bottle. They continued to laugh until Stoop Kid picked up the top part of the broken bottle and took a single step down to the sidewalk.
"He's off the stoop!" one of the paparazzi yelled.
"He's a nut! Run!" the man who took the picture yelled as they scattered.
Stoop Kid tossed the broken bottle as he walked back up the stoop and through the bar door. By this time the only people in the bar were Phoebe, Gerald, Arnold and Helga. Stoop Kid turned the "OPEN" sign over to "CLOSED" and locked the door using the keys hanging on his shorts.
"Everything alright, Stoop Kid?" Gerald asked.
"Oh, fine." he said as he walked up to the bar, leaned over, grabbed the bottle of tequila and made five more shots.
He brought them over and placed them down in front of each of them. "Drinks are on the house tonight, guys and gals."
"Aw, thanks Stoop Kid!" Gerald said.
"Thanks a lot, Stoop Kid." said Arnold.
"Aw, that's so sweet." Phoebe said while the other two thanked him and then they all took their shots.
"Alright! This is one hell of a cause for a celebration!" Helga cheered after she took the shot and slammed the glass down on the table. "Phoebe and Gerald are getting married and Arnold's not dead!"
"I think Helga's finally feeling the alcohol." Gerald joked.
They all laughed like it was the old times when they would constantly double date and hang out at The Stoop all night long, leaving when the sun came up.
The four of them sat in the same booth. All four of them drinking a beer, talking, laughing, complaining, cheering, listening to the music playing. This was their usual Friday night spot unless there was a party or something to go to. Arnold and Helga sat next to each other, Arnold's arm wrapped around Helga's shoulder and the two of them leaned back against each other and the back of the booth. Phoebe and Gerald sat with their hands clutched, playing footsy with each other.
"Phebes, if you rub my leg one more time...!" Helga yelled.
They all laughed. "Sorry Helga." Phoebe laughed before Gerald kissed her.
'Hello my Honey, Hello my Darlin'... Hello my Ragtime Gal... Send me a kiss by wire Honey, M' heart's on fire!!' sounded through the bar.
"Hey-Arnold, it's your song!" Helga yelled. "Remember this, guys?"
"I sure do!" Gerald said.
"Didn't you sing this out in the street to prove to Harold that you were crazy... too crazy to fight?" Phoebe asked.
"Haha! And he did this crazy dance!" Helga added.
The three of them laughed hysterically, thinking back. Arnold sat there with an almost embarrassed smile, but kept it cool. Gerald and Helga looked at each other.
"Are you thinkin' what I'm thinkin'?" he asked as Helga nodded.
The two looked back at Arnold with evil grins.
"...Ah, no! I'm not gonna do that dance again!" Arnold sternly said.
"Oh, come on! One last time! Before the song ends!" Helga begged.
"Come on, Arnold! You've had a few sips of that beer - you're drunk enough, ya' lightweight!" Gerald said.
Arnold took a swig of his beer and shook his head.
"The last verse is comin' up! Come on Arnold, for me!" Helga asked, trying to look innocent.
"...For you - anything, my love." he said, kissing her, swigging his beer and standing up on the table. "So, Hello my Honey, Hello my Darlin'... Hello my Ragtime Gal... Send me a kiss by wire Honey," he lipsynched, dancing and looking at Helga who was hysterically laughing with Gerald and Phoebe, while the rest of the crowded bar looked on. "M' heart's on fire!! If you refuse me Honey, you'll lose me and you'll be left alone. So Baby, telephone-" he jumped from his table at the booth to the tables in the center and flipped from one to the other. "-And tell me I'm you owwwwn!" He looked at Helga and then took a bow as the song came to rest.
Everyone in the bar clapped and laughed.
"Hey-Arnold! Get down off that table!" Stoop Kid yelled. "What do you think this is? The street?"
Arnold took a step down and Helga ran and kissed him.
"Hey, Stoop Kid! Keep them shots and that beer coming!" Helga yelled as he went back behind the bar.
"So, Helga - how have you been?" Arnold asked, looking deeply into her eyes.
"Right now, I'm feelin' a little loose... uh, I mean a little more loosen up. It was some shock seeing that football head of your's after all these years of believing you were dead." she said.
"Well, I'm sorry for letting you all believe that." he replied.
"Ah, don't worry about it. There was nothing you could do. I mean, you were being held captive by a group of rebels!" she said just as another round of shots came as well as beers.
"Uh, I'm not so sure I should have another." Arnold said. "I'm already feeling really drunk. This is the most I've had in seven years!"
"Come on, Arnold! We're havin' a celebration!" Gerald said. "When's the last time the four of us were sitting right here, havin' a good ol' time?"
"Don't worry, Arnold. I think this is the most I've drank since before you left too!" Phoebe said.
"Ha!" Helga said as she and Gerald turned and looked at each other.
"Amateurs." they said at the same time.
They all laughed before Stoop Kid yelled for them to take the shot already. They did and again Arnold and Phoebe were the only one's to chase it with a sip of beer.
"I warn you guys - I'm already feeling drunk and since the drinks are on the house this'll be the last time I deliver them too you." the bartender said.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah - just bring the bottle over then!" Helga said, taking a sip of her beer.
"Uh, Helga? Come to the bathroom with me?" Phoebe asked, winking at her friend.
"Oh, alright..." she reluctantly said as they rolled out of the booth and into the ladies room.
As soon as the door shut, Helga leaned up against it and slid down to the floor. "Holy shit, Phebes."
"Helga, you're doing great! You can do this! Just don't get too drunk..." Phoebe replied.
"Oh, we're past that point. I didn't even taste that last shot." she replied. "I'm falling back into my shocked state again... as I think about it again, I can't help but ask myself if Arnold is really out there." she said, staring at the wall.
"Yes, he's really out there! Arnold's not dead, Helga! He's alive and we're out there having drinks just like we always use to!"
"It is really great to be hanging out with the old gang again."
"I forgot how fun those times were." Phoebe said.
"I wish I could... some of my best memories here are with Arnold."
"You still love him don't you?" Phoebe asked, the question burning in her head.
Helga looked at Phoebe and nodded. "I could never stop loving ice cream." she said.
Meanwhile, Arnold and Gerald hugged again back at the booth.
"I still can't believe it, man! I'm sitting here having a drink with my best friend again! Just like the good old days." Gerald said.
"I'm just glad to be back. And to see you and Phoebe again. You're getting married!" Arnold said.
Gerald nodded, "Yup. yup."
"Ah, that's so great Gerald. I knew you too would get married."
"Yeah, I always thought you and Helga would take the leap before me and Phoebe."
Arnold nodded and looked away, taking a sip from his beer and obviously feeling uncomfortable by Gerald's comment.
"How is it?" Gerald asked. "To be with her... around her now? After all this time..."
"...It certainly helps to have you and Phoebe here." Arnold replied just as the girls came walking back out.
They sat back down and Helga demanded another shot be taken. They held their glasses.
"This is to..." Helga said, but couldn't help but laugh prompting the others to do so. "No seriously! This is to Mrs. Vitello. May she rest in peace and have lots and lot and lots of... flowers grow..."
"Spit it out!" Gerald yelled.
They all laughed again. "grow on her grave - I don't know!" she said, too drunk to clearly think at this point.
"Alright, lets do this!" Stoop Kid said.
"To Mrs. Vitello!" they all said, then took the shot.
"Heh-hem. So how long ago did she die? My grandparents mentioned it was recently." Arnold said.
"Oh, almost a month ago. Everyone bought their flowers at her shop and Nadine put them together. It was a beautiful funeral." Phoebe said.
"I think that was the last time... I saw you two." Helga said to Phoebe and Gerald. "Ya know, we should hang out more often."
"You guys don't hang out every weekend anymore?" Arnold asked, disappointment in his tone.
"Oh, not really." Phoebe said. "We just don't have the time."
"With all the baseball things I gotta do and Phoebe's a city council member now..." Gerald said.
"Oh right, I heard about that. Congratulasshhions." Arnold said, slurring a bit. "What about you Helga? What have you been up to?"
"Ah, well... I'm either working at that craphole for my worthless father or here just havin' a few drinks. Sometimes Harold and Patty join me." she said before she had a hiccup.
"Harold and Patty? They're still going strong like you guys?" Arnold asked to Gerald and Phoebe.
Helga put her head down and then lit a cigarette. Arnold was a little surprised to see Helga smoking cigarettes when he got her to quit years back. And to hear that she's at The Stoop all the time bothered him too. He knew how much she hated her own mother's problem with alcohol. He couldn't believe she developed her own.
"Harold and Patty are definitely still together. They're practically married." Phoebe said.
"You'd think they were married for years... she's like his mother! I swear, if Harold didn't have Patty, he'd have to move back home!" Gerald said, hypocritically.
"Patty still boxing? What's Harold doing now?" Arnold asked.
"Harold and Iggy went into business together. They opened up Iggy's Hop over on Riverside Drive. It's a pretty cool night club." Gerald said.
"I've never seen a girl knock someone... hiccuuup... out like Big Patty." Helga said. "She recently got... the title Knock-Out Queen!"
"Uh... I can think of one other girl that can knock someone out pretty well." Arnold drunkedly and flirtatiously said.
Helga and Arnold's eyes met and they smiled at each other. Phoebe and Gerald saw this and then looked at each other and laughed to themselves.
Stoop Kid layed down at the bar and passed out before Gerald finally noticed. "Hey," he laughed. "Look at Stoop Kid!"
The four of them looked and laughed hysterically as they finished up their beers.
"Holy moley!" Phoebe yelled, squinting her eyes at the watch on her hand. "Does that say 3:45?"
"It's a quarter to four?!" Gerald asked.
"Whoah! The time just flew by!" Arnold said.
"No wonder this guy's passed out like a drunk fool." Helga said.
"I've gotta go finish filming for that commercial tomorrow morning!" Gerald said. "Now I'm gonna be hungover..." he complained with dread in his voice.
"And I've got a meeting at City Hall at nine o'clock." Phoebe said. "We better get going, Gerald."
All four of them struggled to stand up as they got out of the booth, put on their jackets and said goodbye.
"I'm so thrilled with the way this night turned out!" Gerald said as he and Arnold hugged again. "I found out my best friend is actually alive! Best time in years!"
"Definitely, Gerald! It's been great seeing you." Arnold replied.
"I'm so glad we hung out tonight, Helga!" Phoebe said, pulling her into a big hug.
"And what a night it's been. Hiccup." Helga said.
"Tell him." Phoebe whispered in her ear.
The huggers separated and Arnold and Phoebe hugged while Gerald and Helga gave each other a kiss on the cheek.
"Let's do this again." Gerald said.
"Congratulations... Hiccuuup... again." Helga replied.
"Oh, Arnold - it's so great that you're back and alive, non-the-less." Phoebe said.
"It's great too see you too, Phoebe."
Helga grabbed Stoop Kid's keys to unlock the bar door. Arnold, Helga, Phoebe and Gerald all walked down the stoop and to the sidewalk. A car was sitting outside waiting to take the couple home.
"We've got room for the both you if you want." Gerald said as he and Phoebe stumbled into the car.
"Nah, I think I need to just walk this off. It's only a few blocks." Arnold said.
"Yeah, I think I'm gonna go wake Stoop Kid up." Helga said, trying to keep her balance as she lit a cigarette.
"Alright, you two. Let's meet up tomorrow or something." Gerald stuck his arm out the rolled down window. "Arnold, I wanna hear more about that story." he said as Arnold walked up to the limo, the two grabbed each other's hand and wiggled their thumbs together.
"Alright, Old Buddy." Arnold said before the car drove off.
Arnold and Helga were left standing on the sidewalk in front of the stoop at almost 4 a.m. And Phoebe and Gerald cuddled in the backseat of their car on the way home.
"We left them alone together..." Phoebe says.
"Huh?" Gerald said too drunk and tired to talk at this moment.
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" she jokingly asked.
Arnold watched as Helga took a pull from her cigarette and then coughed like she was suffering from lung cancer or Emphzyma.
"The last time I saw you, you hadn't had a cigarette in a almost two years." Arnold said.
Helga took another pull. "Last time I saw you, I started again."
Arnold nodded and smirked. "Fair enough." he said, walking over and pulling the cigarette out of her mouth and stomping on it. "Is that when you started drinking this heavily?"
"What are you talking about, Football-head?!" she said, flirtatiously pushing him.
Arnold and Helga stood and stared at each other for a second.
"It's cold out here." Arnold said, shivering. "You gonna go wake up Stoop Kid?"
Helga nodded and he followed her back into the bar. They woke Stoop Kid up and carried him into his apartment and into bed. Helga fell onto the bed when they dropped Stoop Kid and she and Arnold found this to be quite humorous. Arnold helped her up, grabbing her hand and pulling her up toward him. Helga's face came close enough to Arnold's face for the tips of their noses to touch. They stared at each other for a moment and then both awkwardly turned away.
"I should go lock the bar. We'll have to go out the back." Helga said, Stoop Kid's keys in her hand.
Arnold nodded and followed her back into the bar where she locked the door. He went to turn off the juke box which was still playing songs when Helga stopped him.
"Leave it..." she said, walking over to the booth and grabbing a few of their glasses.
Arnold took his finger away from the OFF button and walked over to the table and grabbed the rest of the glasses, including the tequila bottle. They both went behind the bar and dropped the glasses into the sink and the bottle into the recycling bin. Helga wiped down the entire bar while Arnold did their table. Arnold turned off most of the lights as Helga stood in between the stools and helped herself to one last shot. She poured a second one for herself, but was surprised when a hand from right behind her stole the glass. She turned to see Arnold take the shock as if he were a professional drinker; no chaser, no painful face. They looked at each other for a second before simultaneously grabbing each other into a passionate kiss, leaning up against the bar. They pulled each other's jackets off and dropped them to the floor. Helga and Arnold unbuttoned his shirt and pants as the song "Time After Time" by Cyndi Lauper played on the old jukebox.
'Lying in my bed I hear the clock tick and think of you
Caught up in circles, confusion is nothing new
Flash back warm night, almost left behind
Suitcase of memories
Time after sometime you pictured me
I'm walking too far ahead
You're callin' to me
I can't hear what you've said
Then you said, "Go slow, I fall behind"
The second hand unwinds'
They fell to the cold, wooden floor of the bar, kissing the entire time as Arnold rubbed his hand up her leg to her pink skirt.
'If you're lost you can look and you will find me
Time after time
If you fall I will catch you, I'll be waiting
Time after time'
'If you're lost you can look and you will find me
Time after time
If you fall I will catch you, I'll be waiting
Time after time'
"Oh, Arnold..." Helga said as he kissed her neck.
"I've missed you so much, Helga." Arnold said, seemingly out of breath.
'After my picture fades
And darkness has turned to grey
Watching through windows
You're wondering if I'm OK
Secrets stolen from deep inside
The drum beats out of time'
'If you're lost you can look and you will find me
Time after time
If you fall I will catch you, I'll be waiting
Time after time'
Helga wakes up just as the sunlight is coming in through the bar window. She looks around and realizes she's on the bar floor and her underwear are laying right in front of her. She's also being spooned by Arnold while some random song plays on the jukebox. Her jaw drops and she jumps up.
"Oh... my..." Helga was in shock - yet again as she stared at Arnold with his unbutton shirt and pants.
Arnold turned over and looked like he was waking up. Helga grabbed her underwear and ran out the back door of the bar.
Arnold was woken up by the shaking and calling of his name from Stoop Kid. He groggily turned over on the hard wooden floor.
"Arnold. Arnold. Hey-Arnold." Stoop Kid said.
"Ah... my back." Arnold complained as he tried to sit up. "What time is it?" he asked before he realized his shirt was unbuttoned as were his pants.
"It's seven-thirty. Want some coffee?" he asked as he went behind the bar and put a pot of coffee on.
"Nah, I gotta get home. My grandparents must be worried." Arnold said as he struggled to stand up, picking his jacket up as he did.
"So what happened to you last night, man? I mean, I know I passed out on the bar..."
"Uh, I don't know. I think I blacked out." he replied, buttoning his pants and shirt again.
Stoop Kid grabbed his keys which sat on the bar next to an empty shot glass and a half full bottle of tequila. "What'd you do? Lock up the bar, decide to take a shot and then passed out on the floor?" he laughed.
"Heh-hem. I-I don't know."
Arnold left The Stoop and headed back to the boarding house on this particularly cold morning. On his way, he tried to recall the events of last night because the last thing he could remember was standing outside of The Stoop with Helga, saying goodbye to Phoebe and Gerald. He also remembers being quite drunk at the time.
As he walked down the street with his head looking down, he accidenlty bumped into a passing by person. The man, shorter than Arnold fell to the cement and all the papers from his side bag fell out onto the sidewalk.
"Ah!" the gentle voice said as he hit the ground. "I'm okay."
Arnold looked down to see an old curly, fire-headed friend. "Eugene?!"
"Yeah, it's Eugene." he said, turning over and collecting his papers without even looking at Arnold. "I just got these alphabatized..."
Arnold bent down to help him. "Eugene, it's me! Arnold."
Eugene looked up. "Arnold?! Arnold!"
"Eugene!" he yelled as they hugged.
Just then a wind blew in and took some of the papers with it.
"Oh, no!" Eugene yelled. "My papers!"
They both grabbed as many papers as the could before the wind took them all. They were able to retrieve a few, but a lot of them blew down Vine Street.
"Eugene, I'm so sorry!" Arnold said.
"Oh, its not your fault Arnold." Eugene replied as they both stood up and he stuffed the papers back in his bag. "But hey-Arnold, you're here! Everyone thought you were dead!"
"So I've heard." Arnold replied.
"Hey Mr. Horowitz!" a little girl holding her mother's hand yelled from across the street.
Eugene waved. "That's one of my students. I'm working at P.S. 118 now."
"Really?! Is Principal Wartz still there? Mr. Simmons?" Arnold asked.
"Principal Wartz is long retired - Mr. Simmons is actually principal now. You should stop by sometime, now that you're not dead."
Arnold smiled. "I definitely will!"
"Okay, Arnold. I have to get to class. It's great to see you again. Welcome home!" Eugene said as he continued back down the block.
Arnold turned around and continued back down his block and finally reached his house where he picked up the newspaper on the stoop and went in. Thankfully no one was awake yet and he could just enter discreetly. Despite having not slept much, Arnold didn't feel like going back to sleep. He went into the kitchen and had himself a bowl of cereal and listened to the radio while he pulled the rubber-band off the newspaper and it opened up. The front page read: MAYOR PALTER DENIES TIES TO HC MAFIA.
Unbeknownst to Arnold, a man quietly opens the front door to the boarding house. He wears all black. When he walks into the fouer, he puts on a black face-mask and pulls out his gun, silencer screwed on.
Arnold stood and got himself a glass of water as he look at the picture under the title showing the black-haired, blue-eyed mayor in the center at a podium and Phoebe to the left of him. Just then Arnold got a flashback of him and Phoebe hugging, then him saying goodbye to her and Gerald as they got into their car, then... him and Helga making out against the bar, then on the bar floor. Arnold realized at that moment that he and Helga did, in fact, make love in the early morning hours of last night.
The gun-wielding man heard the faucet as well as the radio Arnold had on in the kitchen and slowly stepped through the hall. He stayed up against the side of the wall, slowly approaching the kitchen.
Arnold sat down and thought about his flashback to last night - his night with Helga. The gunman stepped into the ktchen, Arnold looked up as the gun was pointed at him. His jaw dropped. A loud gun shot sounded through the entire house as the gunman was blown across the kitchen. Arnold jumped as he watched the gunman's blood splatter around the kitchen as he was thrown up against the wall. Arnold stood up and looked at the assassin, laying dead in a pool of blood. Grandma Gertie came running into the kitchen from the hall, smoking shotgun in hand.
"Hi, hi, hi all you Hillwood City tues and blues, Nocturnal Ned here signing off. But before I go I just got word that Arnold, yes Arnold for those of you who heard he's dead, is very much alive and back in Hillwood this very moment! Hey-Arnold, it's sure good to have you back!" Sounded over the radio.
To Come...
Arnold's got some 'splaining to do.
Helga writes in her journal for the first time in years!
Arnold encounters more people of the neighborhood.
Arnold's welcome home party.
References to the original "Hey-Arnold!" show
Dino Spumoni was a famous singer in the series.
Gotta remember the Arnold/Gerald handshake!
What's Arnold's last name again? XDDD
Stoop Kid can leave his stoop if he wants.
"Ice cream" was Helga and Phoebe's code name for Arnold.
Eugene always found bad luck around Arnold... usually his bad luck was because of Arnold!