Loud Visions 2

Chapter 16

Flashback

Rita still felt numb and emotionally exhausted after learning that her only son had the power to see into the future and what horrible fate would have happened. She wasn't looking forward to a parenting class. She and Lynn never thought in all their years that they would need to do that . . . until they realized that they were failures as parents. That's the strange thing about parents. Some genuinely believe that they know what's best for their children, and they want to think they have the perfect way of parenting. Learning that they don't is worse than a bucket splash of freezing cold water.

Rita remembered seeing the news of runaway kids and abusive parents. She remembered how she and Lynn Sr. would say that would never happen to their family. Rita and Lynn were so convinced that they wouldn't be anything like those parents . . . but they are.

Their son ended up in the hospital due to their failure as parents to discipline their daughters. He ran away because he didn't want to either beat up his sisters or be beaten by them . . . and all that disaster would happen over of a fucking dress. And the bad luck incident. It was worse for Rita to learn that she and her husband, two grown-ass adults, would be stupid enough to follow along with something as idiotic as luck to abandon and ostracize their own son. Lynn Sr. doesn't know the truth behind it all yet, and Rita doesn't know how to keep it a secret from him without getting what she wants to say to him.

As Rita drove to the parenting class, she felt a feeling of dread gnawing at her and filling her with self-hatred. Once she parked in the parking lot, she looked around to ensure she was alone and no one could see her. Then she violently shook herself while gripping the steering wheel hard before banging the palm of her hand on it, and finally, she screamed so hard that her throat hurt. She rested her forehead on the steering while taking deep, labored breaths to slow her heart rate. All she could think about was Lincoln, wondering how long he suffered without her and Lynn Sr. noticing.

"What. The. Hell. Has. Been going on in our fucking house?" Rita asked, "How did we not know? (broken voice) How did I not know? (soft sob) My boy . . . my angel boy. I almost lost you. Why didn't you say anything sooner?"

Rita's mind was flooded with memories of how much attention she and Lynn Sr. gave to their daughters. She realized how left out he must have felt. However, she remembered times when she tried to hang out with Lincoln but couldn't recall a single time when Lynn Sr. tried. Her feeling of emptiness was replaced with resentment. She remembered all the visions Lincoln showed her, including the one where her husband would have sold her and all their children out to Luan's pranks so he could get off Scott-free.

He was fine with their four-year-old daughter, Lisa, being stuck to the wall behind a mattress, unable to get free. Or Luna in giant Jell-O where she could have suffocated. Or Leni being flown several feet in the air to land on flypaper – she could have broken her neck or her back. He was okay with Lola getting skunked and Lana falling into a pit full of rhubarb pies that she's allergic to! People can and have died from being exposed to things they're allergic to. Not to mention the airbags deploying on Lori, and she's fortunate that in the visions, she didn't get any facial fractures, which is a common injury from airbags.

Rita shivered, seeing herself saving Lily from the piles of dirty laundry falling through the shoot. What if she didn't make it in time? What would have happened to Lily? And Lucy. A whole bucket of bleach dumped on her. The colors running would be the least of her worries. Bleach is harmful to the skin, especially in large amounts. It can cause chemical burns and even permanent damage to the eyes. Lynn Jr. getting attacked by a chimp. Who knows where that thing's been? Rita didn't want to imagine what would happen if Lincoln didn't find out about Lynn Sr. going along with it. No doubt Luan would have saved the biggest and best prank for last. Anything could have happened to him, and he could have been fatally injured or even killed.