Bad News

Bugs was at Acme Looniversity on Monday. It was after school and the baseball team had a home game against their arch rival Carroll. The bleachers were filling up with students and the other team was on the field warming up. Bugs and Daffy were sitting on the bottom bleachers talking.

"You think we're gonna win?" Daffy asked.

Bugs adjusted his Dodgers cap. "I know we are. We've trained hard for this one. Anyway, their third baseman has slipped up on his game a little. He's their weak spot."

Daffy looked over at Carroll's third baseman. "How do you know?"

"Daff I can spot a good baseball player a mile away." Out of the corner of his eye he saw Miranda coming towards them with her boyfriend Max, the guy Lola had unintentionally set her up with that day at the mall. Bugs waved them over.

"Hi Bugs," Max said.

"Hey, what are you guys doing here?" Bugs asked.

"Max wanted to see the game," Miranda explained.

"I've heard you have a kick ass baseball team," Max said.

"Kick ass is an understatement," Daffy said.

"Where's Lola?" Miranda asked.

"She had basketball practice." Bugs stood up. "See ya later guys." He went to the locker room and found his team socializing. "You guys ready to play?"

"Yeah!"

"We got this coach!"

"I know you do. Let's go out there and show Carroll who's boss!"

They went outside and soon the game began. Carroll played well but in the end they were no match for Acme Looniversity. The game was close by half time, but in the end Acme Loo won 35-27.

Bugs had a pretty good week. The seniors were getting accepted into great colleges, he and Lola had gone on a romantic date on Wednesday and planned to go to the beach that weekend, they won the baseball game on Monday, and he and his friends had a poker party at Sylvester's house the night before.

After locking the front door after work, the phone rang. He picked it up. "Talk."

"It's Lena," his sister said.

"Why are ya calling me brat? This better be good," he said chuckling.

"Bugs this isn't funny," she sounded like she was crying and it was rare that Lena Marie ever cried.

"Lena what's wrong?" he asked concerned.

"Daddy's dead."

Bugs felt like he'd been punched in the stomach. This couldn't be possible, this wasn't happening. He did not just hear that his father was dead. He couldn't talk. He wanted to scream but his voice was caught in his throat. His whole body went numb and he dropped the phone onto the floor and sat down at the bottom of the stairs before his legs gave out and put his face in his hands.

"Bugs?...Bugs are you still there?" After a few minutes Lena Marie figured he wasn't going to pick up the phone and just hung up.

About an hour later Lola came through the front door after a vigorous basketball practice. They had a game in a couple days and the coach was pushing them extra hard. "Hey Bugs," she said as she locked the door. "How about we go out for dinner tonight or something? My treat." She turned around and saw him sitting on the stairs with his face in his hands. She went over to him and sat down and put her arm over his shoulders. "Bugs, are you okay?"

Bugs lifted his face. "My dad's…gone." He couldn't say he was dead. He felt like if he said that it would confirm it and he'd never be woken up from this nightmare.

Lola hugged him. "Bugs I'm so sorry." They sat in silence for a moment. "How did he die?"

Bugs shrugged. "I don't know, I didn't ask." They both looked at the cracked phone on the floor a few feet away from them.

They sat there for a while, while Lola hugged him and comforted him.

The Callers were losing by 1 point. There were only 10 seconds on the clock. Lola was at half court while Christina dribbled the ball towards her just barely dodging a girl from the other team. As of right now, Lola was open to the shot. If she could just make this shot they'd at least tie. "Hey Chris, over here!" she called. Christina passed the ball to her and she ran towards the net. She shot the ball feeling completely confident that she'd make the shot but a tall girl from the other team knocked the ball out of the way, tossed it to her other team mate and they made the shot. Just as they made that shot the buzzer went off and the game was over.

Lola sighed and put her face in her hands. She could have made that shot, it was so easy. But her head just wasn't in the game. After all that had happened lately she'd been so distracted.

Julie came over and put her hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry about it Lola, it's not your fault."

Lola gave her a grateful smile. "Thanks." After changing in the locker room she met Bugs at the door to the gym. He put his arms around her and they walked out to the car together.

"Great game Lo," he said as he started the car.

Lola shook her head. "That was my worst game ever. I need to train harder."

"Lo you can't beat yourself up every time you miss one shot. You're a great player, and everyone has bad days," Bugs said.

"I guess you're right."

Bugs paused the car to wait for the traffic to pass then drove out on the main road. "Do you have any games next weekend?"

"No, why?"

"Dad's funeral is on Saturday."

"Oh, okay." Lola looked up at Bugs. He'd been so upset lately, but she didn't blame him. She knew exactly how he felt. She put a comforting hand on his and he gave her a grateful smile.

The next Saturday they were in New York at the funeral home dressed in all black clothes. Daffy and Sylvester had come with them since they'd all grown up together with Leo and Sylvester had brought Sylvia along. While other people were sitting down crying, especially Bugs' mother who was hysterical with tears, they were hovering around the casket where Leo lay. His wavy, shoulder length silver hair hung around his face and he had on his glasses but his eyes were closed, and his hands were crossed over his chest.

"Why'd he have to go? He was a great guy," Sylvester said.

"Yeah he was," Sylvia agreed dabbing her eyes with a tissue.

"You know what say, the good die young…or old in his case," Daffy said.

Lola looked down at Leo. He'd been like a second father to her since that Thanksgiving party her and Bugs' first year together. Her father had died when she was only seven and this brought back so many memories that she'd tried to hide all these years. She remembered finding Jeff on the floor after he'd had that stroke. She remembered him in the hospital bed and the doctors telling them he was dead. And she remembered the funeral. Then she started to play basketball to hide her sadness since he'd told her he'd teach her how to play. He never got a chance to.

She looked up at Bugs. He'd barely said anything since they'd gotten there twenty minutes ago, in fact he'd barely showed any emotion since he found out last week and she was starting to worry about him. "Bugs?" He didn't say anything, just looked at his father. She led him over to the bench and they sat down.

All of a sudden he put his face in her shoulder and cried. It wasn't very often that Bugs cried, in fact he hadn't cried in a very long time. It made him feel weak and vulnerable in a way. And everyone in his family was crying, he had felt like he needed to be strong for all of them. But he couldn't hold it in anymore. Everything he'd been feeling was pouring out of him. Lola held him close to her and kissed him trying to make him feel better but she knew it was no use right now.

After the service they were at the burial ground and Leo was put into the ground.

Carlton put his arm over Bugs shoulders. "This isn't real," he said. Bugs just nodded. Their little sister Alana stood next to them crying. Carlton hugged her and kissed the side of her head and she cried into his shoulder.

After the burial everyone was leaving but Bugs hung behind and Lola stayed with him. She held his hand and he squeezed it for a moment. "What's it like?" Bugs asked all of a sudden.

"What's what like?" Lola asked.

"Not having a father."

Lola thought for a second. "Well…it's gonna be hard at first. I was really sad for a long time. But it'll be okay. I still think about him sometimes though." They stood there for a few more minutes. Lola felt a raindrop on her nose and heard thunder rumble in the distance.

Before she could say something though Bugs dropped to his knees and broke down again. "It's not fair!" he exclaimed. Lola was surprised by it for a second and wasn't quite sure what to say. "Why the hell did he have to go? Why did life have to be so fucking cruel?"

Lola knelt down next to him. It was raining now but they didn't care. "Bugs we all have to go sometime. He's in a better place now."

Bugs wiped his eyes. "Son of a bitch," he mumbled.

She helped him up. "We should go before we get sick out here." They walked to their car and drove to their penthouse.

I know this was short and sad. the next one will be longer and...less sad