Book XVII: Date Night Aftermath
Mel listened attentively as Logan recounted what happened during and after his date. She had recently arrived in her own vehicle towing a trailer with Logan's Camaro and motorcycle. After backing the Camaro into Logan's garage and parking the motorcycle beside it, the two decided to talk about the events of the previous night over Burpin' Burger carryout in Logan's kitchen (it being a Monday, Agnes and Cristina were at school; thankfully, Logan had paid in advance for Agnes' car to get fixed).
"So, what you're saying is, some douchebag you likely don't even know has a vendetta against you and blew up your car as the first blow?" Mel asked between bites of her burger.
"That's what it looks like," Logan replied. "Once they put out the fire, the police found the remains of a strip of fabric and a half-melted cigarette lighter. Whoever did it stuck the fabric down into the gas tank and set it on fire. While the fabric was burning down, they had plenty of time to escape undetected."
"Okay, so the guy is smart enough to do that much. We just gotta wait for him to slip up somehow," Mel suggested.
"Precisely what I was thinking," Logan agreed. "I still need to find a way to thank Geoff for making all of my cars more fuel-efficient, otherwise they'd be real gas-guzzlers!" He and Mel shared a laugh before his phone rang. "Hello?"
"Hey, Logan, it's Mom. How are you?"
"Better since Mel brought me another car. She and I are just finishing lunch before she goes back to Great Lakes City. And before you ask, we're just friends and she has a boyfriend."
"Good, good. Listen, I have to work late today, but Lincoln has plans to visit Pop-Pop at the retirement home after school. Do you think you can take him instead?"
"Sure thing, Mom. It's about time I spent some time with Pop-Pop, too! He and I still have some catching up to do."
"That'll work out great, then! I scheduled visiting appointments for two family members, but I didn't specify WHICH two family members. I really appreciate this, Logan. Love you, bye!"
"Bye, Mom, love you too."
...
Lincoln had asked his sisters in advance if they'd be willing to take the bus home after school so that he and their mother could go straight to the retirement home, and they all accepted (some more begrudgingly than others). Now he stood on the curb outside the elementary school, tapping his foot impatiently.
"C'mon, Mom, where are you?" he asked himself. Instead of Vanzilla, though, what pulled up to the curb in front of him was a charcoal-gray Camaro with gold-tinted windows, two parallel copper stripes running down the length of the chassis, and copper hubcaps. It rumbled like thunder as it idled, and the paint and windows gleamed in the late-afternoon sunlight.
"Ooooooooooooooooooh," adored the few students that still milled around in front of the school, including Lincoln. The passenger's-side window rolled down, revealing Logan behind the wheel with his goggles over his eyes.
"Hi, Lincoln! Mom had to work late, so she asked me to pick you up instead. Hop in!" he said. Lincoln beamed and tossed his backpack into the back seat before strapping himself into the shotgun seat. They drove to the retirement home in silence, Lincoln admiring the plush leather and wood-paneled interior. Walking into the building, Logan noticed with displeasure that Sue, the rude Head Nurse he encountered upon first returning to Royal Woods, was once again manning the front desk. Sue saw them and scowled.
"Oh, great, whaddaya want this time?" she groaned, rolling her eyes.
"We have an appointment. Two family members to visit Albert Reeds," Logan smugly replied, crossing his arms.
"And what makes you think Albert even wants to see you? I have the authority to put you on the Banned list, you know," Sue warned.
"Shaddap, Sue! You know I'm always happy to see my grandkids!" Albert said, walking into the reception area with a broad smile. Lincoln practically charged into his arms, while Logan was calmer but still enthusiastic. Sue snobbishly harrumphed and got back to her previous task of organizing paperwork.
The three of them tried to find something fun to do while still inside the retirement home, only for Logan and Lincoln to find out that Sue had more of an iron fist than they thought. They tried to go swimming, but Sue was the lifeguard on duty and made the present tenants wear sunscreen at the INDOOR pool. Sue nixed several other activities before the trio could start them, like games of Twister and shuffleboard, then told Albert it was time for his nap.
That left Logan and Lincoln sitting in awkward silence in the dark while their grandfather laid on his bed and tried to sleep. Lincoln finally couldn't take any more.
"Pop-Pop, wake up! If we're gonna do something fun, we're gonna have to do it behind Sue's back!" he declared.
"Sorry, kiddo, but Sue knows best. If she says I need a nap, then I probably need a nap," Albert replied without opening his eyes.
"But you and everyone else in this place let her treat you like babies! You never used to be like this!" Lincoln protested. "Remember when you beat a whole bunch of Navy S.E.A.L.S. in a game of paintball? All by yourself?" Albert sighed and sat up.
"Yeah, but that was years ago, Lincoln!"
"No, that was last month! Sue's brainwashing you to make you think you're weaker than you are!" Lincoln corrected him.
"Lincoln has a point, Pop-Pop. Whatever happened to Armor-Plated Al? The mad American who fought like twenty men?" Logan asked. Albert then realized that both of his grandsons were right. He smiled, stood, and opened the window.
"Well, boys, you've convinced me! Let's go have some real fun!" he said and climbed out the window and onto the lawn. Lincoln and Logan fist-bumped and followed suit, and the trio snuck over to Logan's car.
...
"PULL!" Albert shouted, and a shotgun blast annihilated his flying target. He, Logan, and Lincoln were at the gun range in Detroit, hand-throwing clay pigeons. Since Logan hadn't taught Lincoln how to use a shotgun yet, Lincoln struggled quite a bit with shouldering it and taking aim. At one point, the shotgun's recoil even knocked him over, so Logan had to instruct him in a proper stance. He still wasn't very good, and both Logan and Albert assured him that he would get better with practice.
They would have stayed longer, but Lincoln bruised like a grape, so they called it quits after a while and went to Gus' Games & Grub. The arcade/pizza parlor had recently bought the building next door and turned it into a Laser Tag arena, and Logan paid for the three of them to join the every-man-for-himself shootout already in progress. At one point, a little girl snuck up on Albert and shot his chest plate. She giggled when he flopped around like a fish out of water, pretending to be in the throes of death. The round ended soon after, and Logan chuckled as he helped Albert to his feet. Everyone had worked up an appetite playing Laser Tag, so they went back to the main arcade for dinner, which Albert insisted on paying for.
"Why are we sitting at this particular booth, Pop-Pop?" Lincoln asked when the older man herded him and Logan to a booth in the corner.
"Because this booth has the best view of the counter and the girls behind it," Albert responded with a wink. "Especially that long-haired blondie!" Logan looked over to where Albert had gestured with his thumb, and his eyebrows shot up.
"Uh, Pop-Pop? That's a guy," he said. Albert looked again and realized with horror that the "girl" he was admiring was, in fact, a somewhat effeminate man with a mustache.
"Maybe I do need glasses. Dang hippies!" he muttered with a grimace, and Logan patted his shoulder.
A pretty brown-haired waitress about Logan's age came and took their order, then asked Albert to dance to the song that was playing on the speakers in the ceiling. Just like earlier when Sue ordered him to take a nap, he attempted a half-hearted excuse that he was getting too old until Lincoln reminded him that he loved to dance. Albert relented, and Logan, Lincoln, and the other patrons cheered them on as they danced energetically. That is, until a group of four young men with slicked-back hair and dark jackets, poorly trying to emulate '50s-era Greasers, came into the establishment. Their apparent leader, who had black hair, sunglasses, and a toothpick in his mouth, froze when he saw Albert and the waitress holding onto each other while trying to catch their breath.
"Hey, Geezer! What are you doing with my girl?" he demanded. The waitress saw him and frowned.
"I'm not your girl anymore, Jerry. We broke up last week, remember?" she said. Jerry walked toward her.
"That's the thing, Sal. I'm not done with our relationship yet," he said, and Sally (or Sal for short) scoffed and parted from Albert.
"You manipulated me at every turn, and I didn't realize it until someone pointed it out. Forget it, Jerry! We're over!" She shoved Jerry's chest, and Jerry slapped her. She screeched and fell to the ground while Jerry's friends cheered him on.
"You don't get to talk back to me, woman! If I say we're still on, we're still on!" He raised his hand to slap her again, only for Albert to grab his wrist. He looked furious.
"Nobody, and I mean nobody, treats a woman like that in front of me," Albert growled. Jerry yanked his hand out of Albert's grip and scowled right back.
"Oh yeah? What're you gonna do about it, old man? You gonna fight us? Huh?" he challenged, pulling out a switchblade and flicking it open. Logan and Lincoln looked at each other worriedly, though for two VERY different reasons.
"Heck yeah, I'll fight ya! You and your three goons!" Albert shot right back. Logan then intervened and pulled his grandfather aside.
"Are you crazy?! You can't fight all four of them at once!" Logan said, causing Lincoln to sigh in relief. However, Lincoln's hopes were dashed when Logan pointed at Jerry and said, "Take care of him first. Then you can have the other three!" Albert nodded and turned back to Jerry and his comrades.
"Change of plans, gentlemen. Instead of fighting all of you, I'll fight Jerry first. If he loses, you other three can take his place," he told them.
"What's the matter with you? Pop-Pop's gonna get himself killed!" Lincoln hissed when Logan sat back down.
"No he's not. Just watch," Logan whispered back. Jerry, holding his switchblade in a reverse grip, made the first move. Albert disarmed him in the blink of an eye.
"No no no! You're going at this all wrong, kid!" Albert said and advised Jerry on the correct way to attack with that style of knife. Jerry tried again and was sent sprawling on the floor in a matter of moments with the breath knocked out of him and a black eye. The other three rushed forward to avenge their fallen leader.
BIG mistake!
...
Less than ten minutes later all four were being hauled off by the police in various stages of disorientation. As a reward for defending a harassed employee, the owner of Gus' Games & Grub gave them their pizza for free. Sal thanked Albert profusely and proclaimed that she would file a restraining order against Jerry.
"Typical punks. They act tough, but when it comes to actually fighting, they don't know squat!" Albert said when he sat back down after talking to the police. "The guy your mom dated before she met your dad was the same way. Boy, was she happy when I got rid of him!"
"How did you beat them up so fast, Pop-Pop?" Lincoln asked with stars in his eyes. Albert just looked at him dumbfounded.
"Don't tell me you forgot I'm a Vietnam vet?!" Lincoln chuckled sheepishly and scratched the back of his neck.
This is probably the longest chapter I've written for this particular story so far.
For this story, I decided to model Albert/Pop-Pop after Hub McCann from the movie Secondhand Lions. The movie takes place in the 1950s, and features two brothers who are both veterans of World War I. The older brother, Hub, went on to fight in several smaller wars in the Middle East, quickly gaining a reputation as "the mad American who fought like twenty men." The elderly but still very formidable Hub and his brother take their young nephew to a diner for lunch, and encounter a group of Greasers in a way that's a lot like the fight scene I wrote here.
The next chapter will feature Logan and Lincoln returning Albert to the retirement home.