(The following is a nonprofit work of fanfiction and is outside of the original canon. All names, characters, businesses, places, events, and/or incidents of any kind depicted within this story are being used for entertainment purposes only.)
(The Loud House and all related characters were created by Chris Savino and all rights belong to Nickelodeon.)
I just want to say that I am sooooo sorry for taking a long while to post this new chapter. Writer's Block can be a real pain in the butt sometimes. Well, as you can see, I am alive and well, and I am still very much determined to finish writing this story even if it kills me in the end.
And I would also like to apologize If I keep going back to re-edit a few of my previous chapters from time to time and if it might be causing some confusion. It's only because I'm trying to find better ways to tell the story and make it more understandable and well-written.
Anyways, I hope that this chapter will make up for lost time, and I look forward to seeing your reviews and read what you guys think. ^_^
Have a good day, and a good Fall. Peace!
- Chapter Nine -
To Flip's and Back
Friday, June 12th.
1:35 pm...
It was a hot day on that early afternoon.
Thankfully, it was the right temperature, which made it more comfortable; the sun blazed very brightly, and the blue sky was crystal clear with not a cloud in sight. So, we took this opportunity to have ourselves a little sprinkler party. The "sprinkler" we used was our Willy Water Bug, which we had gotten out from a cardboard box in our house's attic. We hooked it up to our garden hose, turned it all the way on, and then it sprinkled water almost everywhere through the long noodle-like tubes from its head.
Dressed in their little swimsuits, Lola and Lana chased each other around the Willy Water Bug, laughing and screaming while doing so, not at all minding the water that sprinkled all over them. At a certain yet safe distance away from the chaos that were the Loud Twins, Lori was relaxing in an unfolded lawn chair on the left side of the yard close to the driveway, dressed in her respective bathing suit. Leni, however, laid down stomach first on a spread-out towel next to Lori's right.
A boombox, or "ghetto blaster" as they were called back then, rested between them with Cyndi Lauper's Girls Just Want to Have Fun playing loudly on the radio. In Lori's left hand was a cold glass of lemonade-flavored Kool-Aid while Leni was reading a recently released copy of D magazine. Lynn and Luan were at the far-right side of the yard carefully throwing a frisbee out for Charles to catch into his little mouth, and Lily sat square in the center of the overfilled kiddie pool, giggling as she played with a few of the little bath toys.
Lucy, on the other hand, while dressed in an all-black 19th century-inspired swimsuit, was sitting quietly by herself on a cushioned wooden bench on the far-left side of our front porch reading Bram Stoker's Dracula. For as long since she was born, Lucy was not the type of gal who enjoyed going outside and playing under the hot sun like the rest of us. But the reason for that was not only because she was a nine-year-old goth girl who preferred the comfort of being in dark places—both literally and figuratively. It was also because she burned very easily.
It kind of makes me wonder at times if she really is a vampire after all, I mentally commented.
Lisa, meanwhile, was upstairs in her room most likely cooking up another one of her many laboratory experiments, and Luna was out on a date with Sully downtown. And me? I just sat there on the bottom of the stairs of our house, watching everything that played out in front of me while finishing up on what was left of my Nestle drumstick. I was dressed in my own summer clothes, which mainly consisted of a sleeveless orange T-shirt and a pair of knee-high jean shorts.
"I'm gonna get you, Lana!" Lola shouted, still chasing after her twin sister with a red water balloon.
Once she found what she had believed to be the right moment, she chucked it as hard as she could. With surprising agility, Lana dodged the incoming water balloon by a few inches. Instead of hitting its intended target, it flew over and hit the grass-covered ground on the other side of the yard towards Lori and Leni. The balloon exploded on impact, causing the two older girls to flinch from the sudden spray of sprinkled water, just very close to hitting them.
"Hey, be careful, you two!" Leni said. "Lori and I are, like, trying to relax over here!"
"Yeah!" Lori agreed with an annoyed look on her face. "So, if you guys literally don't mind, the two of us would like to do our sunbathing in peace, thank you very much!" Lola glared right back at them.
"Well, excuse us for trying to have some fun on a hot and sunny afternoon," Lola muttered unhappily, putting her hands on her hips. Within the next few seconds, she and Lana went back to playing and chasing each other around the Willy Water Bug, like nothing happened. I could not help but look over at my older sister with both a frown and knitted brows.
Jeez, Lori! Who died and made you queen of the lawn? I thought, before taking another big bite of my ice cream. As I was about to lean back a little bit and relax some more, I heard the sound of the front doorknob being twisted clockwise. I turned my gaze around just in time to see the front door swing inward, and Mom suddenly appeared from the other side of the screen door in front of her.
"Hey, Lincoln!" she called me. "Can you come inside really quick for just a minute? I have a little job for you to do!"
A light groan escaped from under my breath. Just by hearing that last part of her sentence gave me a pretty good idea what kind of "job" she had instore for me. And I was totally not looking forward to it. Sucking in my bottom lip, I quickly finished up my drumstick ice cream and I then stood up to my feet and followed my mother back inside the house until both of us were now in the living room.
"What is it, Mom?" I asked in an unenthusiastic tone.
"I need you to go and buy some groceries for me." she said, rummaging through her purse. Upon hearing those words, my skinny arms slackened, hanging limply from my shoulders. It was exactly what I feared it would be. I looked straight up at her with a disbelieving expression on my face. Right when I was about to open my mouth and say something in protest, I changed my mind almost immediately when I realized that arguing with her about it was not going to be of any use.
On many occasions like this one, whether it was because Mom or Dad forgot about it while they were out or were unable to do so themselves for some reason, they would entrust either me or Lori to head down to the closest store in town and buy a bag or two of groceries. And it would appear that today was another one of those times, and it was my turn to go out for this task at. I stood there watching my mom go through her purse until she found a pen and a torn piece of writing paper.
"Didn't you already get a bag of groceries today?" I managed to ask.
"I'm afraid not, honey," Mom said as she wrote down her list. "I completely spaced it out when I was on my way home from the bank. I could still go there right now, but to be honest, I'm pretty tired at the moment." You don't even look that tired, I thought, after closely studying my mom's features. I sighed again.
"So, what exactly am I getting?" I asked.
"Not very much," Mom assured, handing me her grocery list. "Just enough for one bag's worth, nothing more than that." After she explained this to me, I gazed down at the list and carefully read the specific items that she wanted; one gallon of whole milk, two loaves of Wonder Bread, one box of homestyle Eggo waffles, one container of Folgers Coffee, one can of Campbell's Tomato Soup, and one tube of Colgate winter fresh toothpaste. Reaching back into her purse, she went through it again until she eventually drew out a ten-dollar bill and placed it in my one open hand.
"Just head down to Flip's Food & Fuel," Mom instructed. "I'm not in the mood of buying anything pricey today."
"Can I at least buy something for myself?" I asked her, looking back up to face her. She thought about it for a few seconds before finally nodding her blond-haired head.
"Sure, that's fine, sweetheart," she confirmed. Hearing her say that brightened my mood a little bit. "But it has to be only one item. And nothing with a lot of sugar in it either. Understand?" And just like that, my mood went all the way back down to zero. Dang it! So much for a cherry/blue bonanza Flippee.
"Yes, ma'am," I mumbled begrudgingly, stuffing both the list and the ten dollars in my back pocket.
"Don't be gone for too long though!" she called out to me, as I was heading back outside. "And try to stay out of trouble!"
"I will!" I called back.
Once I was outside again, I darted past Lori and Leni through the yard and headed towards the garage which was directly on the right side of our house. That was where I found my bike lying peacefully up against the flattened surface of the seven-foot-wide sliding door. It was a 1982 Kuwahara-brand BMX, the kind that was used in and made popular thanks to the movie E.T. It even came with the all-white square basket that was mounted on the front. After climbing up onto my bike, I peddled down the driveway past Vanzilla until I heard Lori's voice suddenly call out to me.
"And where do you think you're off to?" she questioned curiously.
"Mom wants me to head over to the store and get some groceries!" I explained before reaching towards the end of the driveway. "I will be back as soon as I can!" My older sister simply half-shrugged, mouthed the word "Okay", and then casually went back to her sunbathing. And with that, once after reaching the end of the driveway, I reached the end of the driveway and took off down south through the neighborhood carefully next to the sidewalk.
The summer wind blew against my face as well as causing my white hair and medium-length mullet to flutter like a cape. As the sun continued to display itself in all its glory, I took in a deep breath of the afternoon air, filling my lungs up to their full capacity until I was forced to breathe it all back out. A good-natured smile began to take physical shape on my face. But then, it momentarily disappeared within a matter of seconds when I remembered why I was even out here in the first place.
This would be a whole lot more enjoyable if Mom wasn't making me run an errand for her right now, I thought, as I rode further southward into town on my bike. Why did she have to pick today to send me out to the store? It kind of would not have surprised me even a little bit if Mom was also using this as an excuse to try and get me out of the house more. The more I thought about it, the more I came to realize that in the past week or so, I had done almost nothing but sit around both outside and inside the house.
During those times, I was either watching TV or playing on my Nintendo. Still, I would rather be doing one of those two things instead of this. Fortunately, Flip's was not that far away, being only a couple short miles ahead from my current location. After rounding a corner and peddling down another mile or two, I began to slow down when my main destination finally entered my line of sight. I came to a full halt when I reached the curb, and I stared at the place that stood in front of me.
Flip's Food & Fuel was a convenience store and gas station. The building itself was square shaped and it sat in the middle of an open spaced parking lot. The walls were painted white, and the lower base was crowned with black tiles. A lone red gas pump stood idly out in front of the store next to a disused steel flagpole and a blue payphone could be seen next to the left side of the store. The clear glass windows themselves were covered with a large number of stickers and advertisements.
Some of the stickers were so old and faded, one could just barely make out their original color scheme. I climbed off my bike and guided it over right next to the red gas pump, and then I pushed out the kickstand to keep it from falling. I then walked over and stood in front of the glass door. The second I pulled it open, the brass bell above jingled loudly, the ever so traditional sign for all convenience stores that it now had a customer.
A few of the overhead lights were shining brightly while a selected few were already burned out for Lord knows how long, and I could just faintly hear the latter half of Peter Gabriel's Sledgehammer playing in the overall background. Sitting promptly behind the counter ahead of me while reading what appeared to be this morning's newspaper was Flip Phillipini himself—the store's owner, and namesake. When the bell rang through the store, he turned to face my location.
"Oh, hey there, Loud," he greeted me in a somewhat cracked-sounding voice. "What can the Ol' Flipster do ya for today?"
"I'm just running an errand for my mom, Flip," I explained to the man. "She forgot to pick up some groceries when she was out today." The middle-aged store owner plainly shrugged his shoulders.
"Well, that's what you get sometimes, kid," Flip commented, before going back to his newspaper. "If there's anything you need, just let the Flip-a-Roony know." I could start by asking you to quit selling those fake lottery tickets of yours. Pfft, like he would actually listen to a twelve-year-old kid like me.
After saying that I would see him in a couple minutes, I walked away and started to hit the aisles, rounding up all the precise items on my mother's shopping list—all the while making sure that the expiration dates had not been tampered with. Seriously, Flip was so much of a corner cutter that he was brazenly willing to sell expired food products in his own store. It was kind of a wonder that nobody—including myself—had reported him to the health department years ago.
Once I had accumulated everything from my mom's list, I walked back over to the refrigerator aisle and opened the near frosted glass door, the cold air instantly blowing against my face. I scanned around at the rows of line-up soda cans until I made a grab for a Diet Pepsi and gazed down at the ice-cold beverage. As much as I wanted so badly to get one of my favorite sodas, I remembered my forced promise to mom that I would buy something with little to no sugar.
Better than nothing, I guess, I thought begrudgingly. At least it's still better than drinking Tab. Ugh, so grody.
Now that I had everything on the shopping list and then some, I marched my skinny butt back over to the front counter, setting them on top of the glass surface, and Flip rang up each of the items before I handed him my mother's ten dollars. After putting my stuff in a paper grocery bag and handing me back whatever was left of my change, I bid Flip farewell and headed through the door. Returning to my bike, I put the bag of groceries in the white basket and hopped up onto the cushioned black seat.
Before I could flip up the kickstand, I felt a dark shadow suddenly loom over me, accompanied by a voice that was very close by. A familiar voice that instantly sent shivers down my spine and caused my heart to thump loudly in my chest.
"Well, well, well," it said in a dangerous and low tone. "Look at what we have here, guys." Good Lord above, please don't let it be what I think it is! I shakingly looked up and I was met with quite a terrifying sight. Standing in front of me were a group of three teenagers who I happened to know, unfortunately. The last three teenagers that I was hoping to encounter again in the near future.
"Nice to see you again... Lincoln Loud..." the one standing in the middle uttered slowly. I swallowed a big lump in my throat and then I smiled really nervously.
"Anderson! P-Pablo! Taylor!" I said the essence of fear now evident in my voice. "W-What a surprise!"
"Yeah, a surprise indeed..." Taylor uttered lowly.
Anderson, Pablo, and Taylor were three of the toughest eighth grade bullies you could ever find roaming the locker-filled hallways of Royal Woods Middle School. They were simply the meanest, and they made my arch-rival Chandler look like a saint in comparison. How I first met them was an interesting story. But let's just say it involved unknowingly sitting in their favorite seats at the far back of the school bus and accidentally spilling orange juice all over Anderson's shirt.
Anderson, the tallest amongst the three, glared down at me with his arms folded over his chest. He was light-skinned and had a head of short spiky black hair with a long mullet that was tied into a ponytail. He was dressed in a dark gray T-shirt with a picture of Black Sabbath on the front, a black acid-washed denim vest, and a pair of red parachute pants.
Pablo, who stood next to Anderson's left side, was the shortest amongst the trio. His skin was tanned, and he wore a pair of glasses that were big and round, and his dark brown hair was done very neatly in an Elvis Presley-inspired pompadour. His clothes mainly consisted of a white dress shirt and a black leather jacket. He pretty much looked like a nerdy greaser.
And then lastly, there was Taylor, standing closely to Anderson's right. The only female of the group, her brown hair was long, wavy, and just slightly unkempt, and she wore a red headband that crowned her forehead. Her clothes consisted of a white shirt with black sleeves, a pair of spiked leather wristbands, and red parachute pants, just like Anderson.
I just sat there on the seat of my BMX frozen with fear as the trio of bullies continued to stand in front of me. That is until I finally found my voice.
"S-So, uh..." I stammered, smiling nervously. "W-W-What brings you guys to this p-p-part of town?"
"Oh, you know," Anderson began, feigning friendliness. "Just doing a little walking, taking in the hot summer sun, and about to grab a little snack from Flip's."
"That is until we, like, saw a certain white-haired punk walk right outside," Talor spoke, in a valley girl-sounding voice.
"And let's just say that we've been dying to say hello," Pablo added through his teeth. With the way he had done so, I could easily tell from that gesture alone that saying "hello" was none of what they actually had in mind. I swallowed another lump in my throat. I've got to get out of here right now,
"W-Well, uh, it's g-good to see you, guys," I stuttered, my palms beginning to sweat. "I-I wish I could s-stay and chat, b-but I'm in a hurry to g-get back home. So, uh, I'll b-be seeing you later—"
"You are not going anywhere, little man." Anderson grunted lowly.
"At least not until we've taught you a serious lesson," Taylor added, cracking her knuckles.
"A l-lesson?" I hesitantly asked. "W-W-What for?"
"You know darn well what for, you little narc!" Pablo nearly snapped, walking over to my left side. "You had the three of us put in detention!"
"Yeah! And on the last day of school, by the way!" Anderson said, sounding pretty angry. "Do you have any idea—like, any idea at all—of the ginormous list of chores we were made to do for an hour and a half right after school was over? Well, do you?" I will not lie when I say that I myself was on the receiving end when it came to being in detention a certain number of times in the past. So, yes. I had a pretty good idea what he was referring to.
"And today is the day we finally get to dish out some well-deserved payback on the little white-haired yutz who ruined our first day of summer!" Taylor snarled, popping her neck to the side in anticipation, a crazed smile spreading across her face. A sadist chuckle escaped from Pablo's throat.
"So, to quote the Thing from the Fantastic Four comics," he stated, cracking his own set of knuckles. "It's clobberin' time," My heart pounded harder in my chest. It had become so loud that the thumping was almost all that I could hear.
Large amounts of sweat began to pour down my face like rain drops. Chandler, I was more than capable of dealing with on my own. But when it boiled down to the type of bullies who were a lot bigger and stronger than me? There was no chance that I was going to survive after the possibility of being turned into a human pretzel. I relied more on my brain and wit to get out of tough spots like this one. But I was so scared that my mind was a total blank.
Lincoln, you better think of something real fast now, or else you'll be spending the rest of the entire summer eating cheeseburgers and hot dogs through a medical straw! I made a promise to my mom that I was going to stay out of trouble. And that was exactly what I was determined to do. So, out of desperation, I let out an exaggerated gasp and blurted out the first words that came to mind.
"Look! It's that guy who played Biff from Back to the Future!" Upon hearing that, the trio promptly became excited and alert.
"Really?! Where?!" they exclaimed all at once, looking over to where I originally pointed at. With that as my cue, I quickly took off like a bolt of lightning, speeding down from Flip's massive parking lot and out into the street once more.
Wow! I cannot believe that they actually fell for that!
"GET BACK HERE, LOUD!" Anderson shouted. For a split moment, I turned my head around to see them starting to chase after me on foot. Thankfully, they did not have bikes of their own, which meant that none of them were actually fast enough to be able to catch up with me, much to my satisfying relief. If that had been the case, then this scenario would have been drastically different than what it was already. This would have turned into a dramatic car chase like the ones you would see in an episode or two of Miami Vice.
Thank goodness that it did not come to that.
"This isn't over, Loud!" Anderson shouted, as he, Pablo and Taylor slowed down to a stop.
"We swear, we will get you eventually!" Taylor screamed, shaking her fist into the air at my direction.
With the three of them now far behind me, I rode my bike through the street, homeward bound with my bag of groceries.
Next time, Mom, have Lori do the grocery shopping...
Once after I made it back home at last, I noticed that my sisters were still having our little sprinkler party. I slowed down for a moment when I noticed another car—a gray 1985 Ford Taurus—parked directly in front of Vanzilla in the far end of the driveway close to the garage. Dad must have gotten home early today. I then noticed Mr. Grouse, our old and cantankerous next-door neighbor, walk outside with a broomstick in his hands.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Grouse!" I called out to him. He responded with a glare and a frown, which I could just barely see through his bushy white mustache.
"Will you please tell your sisters to turn that racket down, Loud!" he ordered before moving on to sweep his front patio clean. I just rolled my eyes in response.
"Well, hello to you too," I muttered. But then, no sooner had I said that under my breath, the blaring volume that came from our boombox had gotten a bit quiet all of a sudden. Quiet, but was still audible enough to be heard.
"Sorry, Mr. Grouse!" Lori shouted over to our elderly neighbor. Mr. Grouse let out a simple yet irritated "Hmpf," before going back to his sweeping. I swore that old codger needed to get out more. Once after I parked my BMX up against the side of the garage, I took the grocery bag out of the basket and made my way up the stairs and through the screen door and front door. The moment I had done so, I was greeted with a wave of heat heating me in my face and a strong smell that went straight up my nose.
I know that smell anywhere, I thought. Mom's making grilled hot dogs. And it sounds like she's made a lot of them.
With the bag of groceries still in my hands, I walked through the dining room and over to the kitchen where the aroma was a lot stronger. What I saw helped in confirming what I was thinking. My mom stood in front of the stovetop, grilling up a large number of hot dogs on the skilled. He looked over at me for a second and smiled.
"Hey, sweety," she beamed. "Did you get everything I asked for?"
"Yes, ma'am," I answered, before moving over to place the paper bag on the kitchen counter next to the refrigerator.
"Did you get what you needed too?" she asked.
"Yep,"
"What'd you get?"
"Just a Diet Pepsi," I confirmed. "No sugar, like you asked." Speaking of which, I reached into the grocery bag and fished out my aforementioned soft drink, cracked it open, and jugged half of it down my throat. That entire trip from Flip's to back home sure made me thirsty. I stopped for a moment to take a breath, allowing the flavor of the Diet Pepsi to settle in my tastebuds. Yep, still better than drinking Tab.
Once after Mom was finished grilling the last remaining hot dogs on the skillet, she placed them on a large plate where a huge stack of the other dogs rested. I went over to the refrigerator and grabbed a bottle of Heinz ketchup and mustard, as well as a jar of relish and a plastic bag of buns and followed Mom to the dining room table.
I love grilled hot dogs, I thought, my mouth further salivating over the delicious smell.