No Such Luck…or Destiny's Deceit?
Ch 9: Lingering Shadows
William then opens the drawer and found a cassette tape with the words, 'Lincoln's Confession', written on it, he looks for the cassette player and plays it.
The tape statics for a bit, and later, they hear Lincoln clear his throat. He straightens himself up.
"Hey…" Lincoln said as he spoke. "…it's me, Lincoln, I have something to confess to you all, about the bad luck incident…"
Olivia hears this and decides to sit down.
"It was a peaceful Thursday morning, and my family was busy eating breakfast for the day…my calendar was always booked up with my sisters' faces on it, every face signifies an important event I have to go to every single day…" The 11-year-old Loud sighed. "I get that every family supports each other, but sometimes, someone needs to time to unwind…"
CC tears up at this, and wipes his eyes.
"My sister Lola wanted me to be her butler that day…Lana wants me to visit her competition…it was overwhelming for me to say it…and so, I try to avoid their events when Lynn came into the scene…"
"What is that?" Marcos asked.
"She asked me to come to her game, and I rejected the offer. She threatened me with a bat for that matter…and when I came, her team lost, I didn't know why, maybe because they practiced before the game and managed to counter Lynn's skills or something...? She then blamed me for losing her game, which I thought, at first, was really stupid."
"I'm with Lincoln on this one." Michael commented.
Lincoln chuckled. "I thought of an idea with that one, and I decided to use the lie to help prohibit myself from coming to any of their events. Well…" The 11-year-old Loud scoffed. "…it got to the point where they decided to sell my furniture, and board up my room. I decided to sleep outside, and our dog, Charles, growled at me. I already knew what it means, and the next day, I woke up to find the door locked..." He sighed. "Guess I wasn't good with thinking on my feet, either way it hurts too much for me to walk…those squirrels must have bitten my feet, and caused an injury…"
"Those bastards really screwed up their decision of locking Lincoln outside."
"It got to the point where they saw me as good luck in that suit…and I might just want to rip it off, light a match, and set it on fire. But you know what's way more better? I would pour gasoline all over that thing, take Mr. Afton's lighter, and throw it while it's burning. I know the decision would be pretty dangerous…I might as well put mine and my family's lives on the line…"
They then hear the sound of a lighter being turned on.
"Why does Lincoln have an encendedor with him?!" Maria asked, shocked.
"Seems like my family doesn't care about me at all…" He then took their family photo. "I might as well like the thought of setting our family picture on fire…if you guys are asking whose lighter this belongs to, it's…mine…."
"He owns a lighter? Where?" Michael asked.
"Oh my God…" Olivia said as she held Lincoln's lighter in her hand while tears drip down her face.
"If they want me out of the picture, then so be it." Lincoln said as he sets their family picture on fire and puts it on a plate.
The cassette player stops recording. Shocked, William slowly takes out the tape and drops it on the floor.
Later in the evening…
Roberto and Lori were walking outside. 30 minutes into the trip, they saw Lincoln with the Emily parents.
"Lincoln? Is that you?" Lori asked, with a smile on her face and tears in her eyes.
"Mr. and Mrs. Emily? Who are you guys to him?" Roberto asked.
"We're going to have a serious talk about the 'bad luck or good luck' incident…" Valerie said, crossing her arms.
They all stood by and watched the sun dwindle down the sky as night settled in, Roberto spoke to Lincoln and said.
"Hey, Lincoln, I know that you might be mad at me and your hermana for acting like total tontos, and lo siento…I'm deeply sorry for what has happened recen—" He was interrupted when Lincoln scoffed.
"Of course, you and Lori are dumb assholes who don't give a shit about my thoughts. I looked up to you as a brother I didn't have, Roberto…and Lori, you were my favorite out of all the ten sisters I had…I looked past your bad attitude and knew that you have a caring heart deep inside, but seems like I was completely blinded…" Lincoln said.
Lori wiped her tears. "Lincoln, listen, I know I'm not the perfect sister for you but I can make things right…"
The 11-year-old Loud scoffed. "It's going to take me more than presents to make me forgive you and the others."
"Why did you even forgive Mom and Dad?" The older teen asked.
"Well, they didn't mean to, and they were just blinded by Lynn's superstitions (after all). They apologized while you did not, you are nothing but an asshole for a sister who knows nothing but to keep yapping stuff about nothing…" He said.
Henry turned his eyes to meet Lori, giving her a contemptible look. "Lori?"
"What is it, Mr. Emily?" She asked.
"When Lynn blamed Lincoln as bad luck, you went along with it. Give me one specific reason why…I'm demanding answers…" He said, clasping his hands behind him.
"Well…" Lori cleared her throat. "I had a golf contest in Fairway that day, and when Lynniot told me that Lincoln was bad luck, I fell for it…he pretended to have destroyed one of my golf clubs because of his bad luck."
"SO YOU DECIDE TO BLAME IT ON YOUR BROTHER?!" Henry yelled, making Lori flinch. "YOU'RE 17 YEARS OLD, LORI, YOUR PARENTS TAUGHT YOU RIGHT FROM WRONG, AND YOU STILL ACT LIKE A LITTLE KID WHO DOESN'T KNOW ANYTHING!"
"YOU ARE AN ABSOLUTE DUMBASS, YOU BELIEVE EVERYTHING THAT IS NOT REAL!" Valerie yelled. "YOU AND YOUR SISTERS KNOW BETTER, YOU HAVE TO STAND FOR EACH OTHER, NOT GANG UP ON EACH OTHER, YOU EVEN FOUGHT YOUR BROTHER FOR SOMETHING STUPID LIKE A QUARTER!"
The Emily parents kept yelling at Lori, Roberto kept a worried face as he watched, Lincoln had his left eye twitching as his anger slowly got the best of him, when he had enough, steam came out of his tuft of hair and he yelled.
"MR. AND MRS. EMILY! ENOUGH!" Lincoln yelled, who seemed irritated by all the shouting.
Henry and Valerie stopped yelling at Lori, and the poor girl looked at her brother.
"I GET IT, MY SISTERS CAN BE FUCKING ASSHOLES AT TIMES, BUT YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE SO HARSH ON THEM!" Lincoln yelled.
Lincoln sat on a bench to let off some steam. Henry then decided to look at the starry sky, and Valerie crossed her arms.
Later, in the Emily residence…
They open the door and sit in the living room.
Henry narrowed his eyes and turned to Roberto. "What about you, Roberto? Do you have anything to do with the luck incident?"
"Well…" Roberto spoke in his native tongue. "I broke the promise I made with Lincoln, and decided to go along with the fact that he has mala suerte…I feel like a total dumbass son of a bitch who doesn't stay true to his promises…"
"I'll admit, Mr. Emily..." Lincoln exhaled through his nose. "It was very stupid of me to go along with the fact that I am bad luck myself…I just wanted some free time after all…"
"Didn't you ask your sister to give you a break?" Valerie asked, her glare lightening a bit.
"Lynn can't take a simple 'no' for an answer, so she chose to make me change my mind and threaten me with a bat…" Lincoln scoffed. "She decided to frame me for her loss."
"You two can go now..." Henry said as he pointed to the door, closing his eyes.
Roberto and Lori shuffled their way towards the door, walked out of the house, and closed the door.
Outside, the couple duo sat on the stairs of the Emily residence. They began thinking about what happened recently, and how they held responsibility for it. Later on, they finally headed towards the Loud residence.
The Loud residence…
Olivia then hid the lighter away in the drawer.
Willliam calmed down a bit after hearing what Lincoln was talking about in his mixtape.
Michael then went to the couch and sat down, as he sighed inwardly.
Elizabeth then went upstairs to Lincoln's room, seemingly irritated at the sight of Lincoln's parents.
"Wiwy want Wincon…" Lily said, looking for her brother anywhere inside the house.
William cradled Lily in his arms. "Lincoln's in the hospital, honey…" He said with a somber look on his face.
CC looked at Lily. "Your brother's in the hospital…"
Lynn Sr. looked at his wife. "Do you think we should talk with Junior?"
"No…" Rita said, "I think using the belt on her is enough."
"Lily…" The oldest of the Afton children said. "Your brother's being cared of in the hospital…he's been in an accident a few days ago…"
Roberto and Lori opened the door.
Olivia stood up from her seat. "Roberto? Lori?"
"Sí, Mrs. Afton?" The Hispanic teenager asked.
"I know you guys are regretting how you didn't care about Lincoln, but you can make it up to him, right?" The Afton mother asked.
"We can…but this is going to be a lot harder than I thought…" The older teen said.
"He's at Mr. and Mrs. Emily's house…" He replied, with distraught in his tone. "We had a talk with them and it didn't go well as we thought…Mr. Emily shouted at Lori, so did Mrs. Emily…"
"Henry and Valerie found out?" The Afton father asked.
"They found out through what Charlotte told them…" Lori answered.
Lynn Sr. takes Lily from William, puts her to sleep, and goes up to her and Lisa's room. The father put his baby in her crib, and kissed her forehead as he watched on.
To be continued in Ch 10…
A/N: I present to you another chapter of this NSL story, and thinking about Henry's reaction, I decided to add it in the chapter for more results. Lincoln's talk didn't go well, and this is the first interaction between William, Michael, CC, and Lily. Elizabeth will also interact with her next chapter.
Now the Loud family is on the road to making amends with Lincoln, and it is time to get the ball rolling.
Peace out, and I'll see you next chapter.