A Life in Decline

A Little Bitter

Author's Note (Peak): It looks like my anxiety over the story was for nothing. But who knows, maybe this chapter will change opinions.

On with the show, bruv!

"Care to say that again, Lincoln?" Lynn leaned in her wheelchair.

Lincoln sat on the living room couch, alone, waiting for his family to come back for more just to give him the excuse.

With frustration drenching his voice, "Go away, Lynn. I'm not in the mood." It didn't feel good to say what he did, and he would be the first to admit it. But God had he been wanting to say it for weeks.

With metric emphasis on each word, she said lowly, "Dude. Do you understand what you just fucking said to your little sister?"

Nonchalantly, Lincoln said, "Yep."

Lynn balled her fists. Her nails dug so deeply into her palm that she felt them grow wet.

"So why did you say it?"

"Cause I wanted to."

Lynn's face curled in disgust. Whatever answer she expected, this was the antithesis of it. Hearing it out of her own brother's mouth was almost too surreal to accept. "Is this some kind of sick joke, Linc? Do you actually hate us? Did we mess you up that badly that this is how you get your kicks now?"

"Hahaha, get it? 'Cause Lynn said kicks! Like you do a ball." Lincoln shifted his body on the couch, slouching deeper. "Who knows, maybe I'm still angry. But whatever, time to get over it, I guess." He sat up and said, "You know, whenever she gets mad at me, Lucy likes telling me something." Making his voice monotonic and gravely, he mocked, "I have no brother." He set his feet on the armrest. "You know what I say to that? Same to you. I have no sister named Lucy."

"You take that back!" Lynn screeched her wheelchair in front of Lincoln.

"Or what? OR WHAT?"

Lynn's veins danced on her forehead. She gritted her teeth. The brittle threads of this house were being unraveled once again, and she knew it. But her big sister instincts were riled. She couldn't let this go.

"Don't you remember what I said? Do I need to remind you? I said quite clearly that if you didn't mean to say something, you shouldn't have said it. I said that to YOU, because YOU said you wished I had never been born! Did you just forget that or what?"

And there it was. If she wasn't convinced before, Lynn knew at this moment this all had to be a joke.

"You just said you didn't mean you actually wanted me to break my legs. So what is it? Do you say what you mean or not?"

Lincoln smacked his lips and went, "Look, it's just like Ninja Jack would say—" Lynn cringed at the boy invoking one of his comic book characters, "—You've got to say what you mean and mean what you say. And what I mean is that I'm not in the mood to deal with Lucy. I thought about it a lot and the more I thought, the more I realized I couldn't let it go. Not that easily."

"Then you should'a stopped thinking!"

Lincoln's eyes narrowed. "Oh, so I'd forgive you guys unconditionally, is that it? And then everything would go back to normal and we'd never talk about this again. And maybe you'd kick me out again. Or force me to date a bunch of girls again Or holy heck, maybe you'd screw me out of my dreams. Hmph." Angrier, with his eyes thin and focused off of Lynn, he said, "Maybe I shouldn't have come back. Maybe I should run away again. And stay away." He stood up, only to be pushed back to his seat.

With venom in her teeth, Lynn said, "Lincoln... take it back now. I won't hold it against you, and we can just forget you said anything. I won't even make you apologize to her. Just take it back." She spoke as if beating a bat in her palm.