Loud Visions 2

Chapter 3

After putting Lincoln in the hospital when he tried to run away, Lincoln's sisters were grounded for over a month. When the parents put their foot down, they put it down hard. Rita and Lynn Sr. made a very clear point to their daughters that they were in serious trouble. They were grounded. That meant no golfing, shopping for new clothes, driving only to work and school, no music, no sports, no beauty pageants, no playing in the mud, no comedy/funny business, no poetry clubs, and no experiments. The Loud sisters didn't argue. Dispute the real reason why Lincoln ran away from home that was unknown to the parents; they were still the reason why Lincoln ran away and got hit by a car.

As part of their punishment, they would work to pay off Lincoln's medical bills by doing yard work for the neighbors and their own yards, cleaning the whole house and Aunt Ruth's house. Lincoln was fine with the grounding, cleaning, and yard work, but when Aunt Ruth was mentioned, Lincoln felt it was going too far.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Mom! Dad! We're cleaning Aunt Ruth's house?!" Lincoln questioned.

"No honey, they are. You will stay home babysitting Lily and also have some free time to yourself," Rita stated.

"Wait, what?"

"Lincoln, your father and I realize that we're not giving you your own space and time, and that's not fair to you. We've given your sisters time and supported them in their goals and activities without doing the same for you. That changes, and it changes now," Rita explained.

"So, while your sisters work to pay off your medical bills . . . and we deal this court hearing, you'll be given your own time and space but also look after Lily while we're away. Also, we've looked at your comic art and sketchbook, and it's really amazing, champ. We'll talk more about this along with other things later, but for now, enjoy your free time," Lynn Sr. said.

"We're going to try to be there for you more, Lincoln, but first, we must deal with this. Hopefully, the judge will go easy on us, and that video you released will help, too," Rita said.

"But don't you think punishing them and not me puts a target on my back? Don't you think the girls will get angry at me for not doing any of this with them?" Lincoln asked.

His sisters' eyes slightly widened at that with a look of shame.

Rita turned to her daughters with her eyes half closed. She placed her hands on her hips and had an authoritarian look. Lynn Sr. stood next to her with the same look on his face.

"Girls, are we putting a target on Lincoln's back?" Rita asked.

"No," they all said.

"So, that means you're not going to be mean and mistreat your brother, right?" Lynn Sr. asked.

"Yes."

"Good. For a minute there, I thought I'd be more angry and disappointed in all of you than I am now because if I hear something or see something your father and I don't like, we're going to get creative with your punishments," Rita warned very firmly.

"Now, everyone, march!" Lynn Sr. pointed to Vanzilla.

"Wait! At least let them wear masks. It smells so bad at Aunt Ruth's," Lincoln insisted.

"Fine," Rita sighed.

Lincoln whispered as they took their face masks, "Girls, I am so sorry. I didn't know they'd make you clean Aunt Ruth's."

"Don't apologize, Lincoln. We know you mean well, but this is on us. Just let this pan out, and we'll get through this," Lori said as she put her face mask on.

"You didn't do anything wrong, Lincoln. We did. So, let us take our punishment with strife and get this over with so we can move on," Lynn said as she took her mask.