The Louds were going to visit Aunt Ruth. This was Gwen's first time visiting.
"So, when are you and Luke going to kiss?" Lori asked Lucy.
Lucy blushed profusely. Luke and Lucy had hung out a lot as of late, and they had fun together, just going to different places such as the bookstore, the arcade, and the mall, to name a few but Lucy was too nervous for a kiss.
"What's a kiss?" Gwen asked. Lori explained it in a way that Gwen would understand.
They soon arrive.
"Ruth, this is Gwen." Rita says
"Oh, this is the little girl." Ruth says as she soon makes them do chores.
Gwen did it fast and quick, surprising Ruth.
"Wow!" she says and feeds Gwen actual food.
The siblings were stunned and groaned seeing the bad food they got.
Lucy called Luke to pick her up, but Rita glared
"Lucy, that was very disrespectful." Rita says. But when Charity arrived with a CPS worker in tow, Rita's face turned white.
"I got a call about someone being mistreated by their mother." The worker says. Rita is then taken aside and questioned by the worker.
Lucy feels guilty. That call was about Ruth, not Rita. Lucy knew Rita was just upset that she hurt Ruth's feelings. She curled into a ball, filled with guilt.
In the end, both Rita and Ruth were taken to jail. Charity took the kids back home.
Lynn Sr. smiled a bit. "On the bright side we're Away from Ruth's place" he says..
"We need to call Pop-Pop to bail Mom out; she's never really abused us." Lori says.
Lucy overhears them. It was only a matter of time before they found out she caused all this. She loved her mother.
Rita sat in jail, heartbroken. "What did I do?" Rita asked herself.
On Monday Lynn Sr and Pop-Pop left to bail Rita out, hoping to get her home.
"Lucy, this happened because of her, think about it. The cops came right after Lucy called Luke." Lola says
"Okay, Lucy wouldn't get Mom arrested." Lincoln says, trying to defend her.
"Yeah, we need to just wait for Mom's return " Lori says.
The siblings glared at Lucy
3 hours later, Rita returns to see Gwen hiding behind a couch, broken stairs, chaos everywhere, and poor Lucy is battered up with an injured Lincoln.
"What?" Rita asked.
"They attacked Lincoln except Leni and Lisa. Leni tried to help us. Lincoln wanted to defend me for sending you to jail." Lucy sniffed, looking down.
"Honey, you're forgiven. You should have told me you hated the pudding." Rita says.
"Kids!" Rita says as they come down. She was mad about what they did to Lincoln. He was really hurt.
Lucy was worried and watched as he was taken to the hospital. Charity intervened before the kids could touch Lucy.
"I am acting in loco parentis while your mother is out. All of you, go to your rooms at once!" Charity shouted. "And don't come down until I call you for dinner."
They rush off to do so. Lucy looked down.
"You should leave. I deserve it" Lucy says. She felt bad for sending her mother to jail.
"I am not leaving any of you here on your own." Charity says.
At the hospital, Rita cried over Lincoln. She couldn't believe her girls aside from Lucy, Leni, Lisa, Gwen, and Lily would do this to Lincoln. She started thinking up punishments for the sisters as Maria Santiago came in. Maria was Ronnie Anne's mom, but she was also Lincoln's doctor.
"He's really broken. It's a miracle that he's alive after the beating he took." Maria says.
"How long will he be like this?" Rita asked.
"5 months." Maria says.
Meanwhile, Lucy winced as she had taken a beating. If Lincoln hadn't intervened, she would have died.
Rita soon came back as the kids looked guilty.
"Girls, come downstairs now." Charity says.
They came downstairs, facing a very angry Rita.
"Mom, we're sorry." Lori says.
"You girls beat Lincoln up so badly, he's going to be that way for 5 months!" Rita says. "Where should I begin as far as talking to you girls about punishments?"
They look nervous.
"First, this fight protocol of yours? It's done. Gone. Finished. If you girls are angry about something, we're going to talk it out and find solutions from now on. Second, we are not going to resort to violence when we're angry." Rita says. "Now, on to the punishments."
"Lori, as the oldest, you should have been setting a better example. As of now, no electronics and your phone will be in my possession once you call Bobby and cancel all your dates for the next 5 months. And your driving privileges are being severely limited. The only places you will drive to are school and work." Rita says.
Lori looks down in shame.
"Lynn, no more sports. I want all your balls and equipment outside your bedroom door as soon as we're done here as it will all be going to the local gym. And for initiating the beating of Lincoln, you can no longer wear anything dealing with sports and you can no longer turn anything into a sport." Rita says.
"No, you can't! I have a game next week!" Lynn says.
"You should have thought of that before you initiated the beating of your brother." Rita says before turning to Lana.
"As for you, young lady, all of your animals, except for Hops, will be taken to the animal shelter first thing tomorrow. I can't guarantee they won't be sent to new homes. And no more mud-related things. And you will take a bath every night." Rita says to the dirt-loving twin, who looks ashamed.
"Lola, you will no longer do pageants. All your gowns, gloves, and tiaras will be saved for formal occasions such as tea parties and other formal events. You can no longer wear them in public or to school. Your bed will also be going into storage in the attic and you will bunk with Lana for the next 5 months. And you have a closet full of cute outfits and shoes that you never wear, so now you will start dressing like a normal girl." Rita says.
"No fair!" Lola complains.
"You should have thought about that before hitting Lincoln." Lynn Sr says.
"Luna, I want all your music equipment in the garage when we are done here and I want your phone after you cancel all your dates and gigs for the next 5 months. You are being punished from performing with your band. Be lucky I'm letting you keep your MP3 player and your headphones." Rita says to Luna. Luna nods shamefully.
"Luan, it pains me to say this, but you can't do anything relating to comedy anymore. No jokes, no pranks, no puns, nothing. I want all your comedy props except for Mr. Coconuts in a box and ready to be taken to the local joke shop. And you can forget about your precious podcast and your party business. I will take your phone when you are done canceling gigs for that and your dates with Benny for the next 5 months." Rita says. Luan looks down.
"Now, your laptops will have school settings put on them. No social media, no YouTube, no websites other than what you're assigned. And you will have chores on the weekend. When you aren't doing chores, you can read, do puzzles, draw, do an art project, or play a board game. Nothing else. And if you should test the waters of your punishments…" Lynn Sr takes out a belt.
They gulped and nodded.
At dinner
"Hey, honey, you know how Luke has that tour thingy?" Lynn Sr asked.
"Yeah?" Rita asked.
"I think we should let Lucy go with him." Lynn Sr says.
Lucy froze. "Really?" Lucy asked. Her parents nodded.
"Yeah, Lucy got beaten up and this is too much on her. She is pretty sensitive like you, Lynn." Rita says to her husband.
Rita calls Charity to let them know and wants to know when they'd pick Lucy up.
Gwen was happy for Lucy.
That night Gwen was taking out the garbage but someone took her and dragged her away.
End of chapter