Vanagon

Brownies?

As Lucy and Frank continued to wait the weather began to stir. It grew darker and colder, the clouds bubbling. Lucy moved closer to Frank, and as instinct, Frank held Lucy close to his chest. He felt her tremble as Frank stared at the first few snowflakes falling. An old rusty truck slowly pulled up. Frank reached for his knife in his pocket as he held Lucy.

"Who is this fucker?" Frank grumbled.

Lucy felt Frank's guard come up and she also grabbed her knife from her jacket. Both were physically ready to slice, but not mentally, all instinct. The stranger stepped out of the truck. Lucy quickly obtained all the information she could get by their appearance. Old dirty boots, navy blue pants, heavy Carhartt jacket. Oil? Dirty, scarred hands....a rag? Wait.

"Mechanic?" Lucy whispered to Frank.

"Or an angry farmer," Frank replied.

"You can't even see, it's a fucking mechanic."

"I can too...I'm not that old." Frank pouted.

"Uhuh" Lucy replied as she moved away from Frank.

"I just don't like the frames of my glasses." Frank gave an excuse, only half true.

The stranger finally decided to speak.

"Well ain't it old stubborn Frankland Royce Jr."

Frank let his guard down, recognizing a distant friend.

"Douglas Steven...shit...Brownie? Uhm. Garcia, Gonzales, Fernandez? Well, I fucked up." Frank replied with a wrinkled but smiling face.

"And so is your memory. Brownie?" Lucy asked.

"Oh yeah, Browne not Brownie..." Frank recalled.

"I see you still struggle with my name, no matter how many times you compare them with something else," Doug replied.

Lucy took note of Doug's stern face, the distant cold eyes, and his humorless voice. Perhaps Lucy is assuming the worse of this stranger. But Frank seemed to greet Doug with a warm smile. Frank slowly made his way to Doug, opening his arms. With an awkward hug from Frank, Doug patted his friend's back twice. As men do when hugging. Frank pulled away, he stared Doug in the face as he said.

"Douglas Steven Browne Hernandez," Frank said as he hugged Doug. 

"Well, it seems I came back to ya huh?" Doug said.

"Nah, I just pickpocket your wallet." Frank pulled away with a smirk on his face. 

Frank held up the old leather, Doug's ID hanging.

Doug quickly snatched his wallet back and punched Frank right in the face. Lucy caught off guard quickly jumped onto Doug's back like a rabid cat. She whipped out her knife onto his throat. Doug froze, not knowing how capable this kid is of actually slicing his throat. Frank laying on the ground staring at the sky, dumbfounded.

"Did I just get punched?" Frank asked.

He continued to lay on the ground, blood rupturing from a gash on his cheek. The left side of his face felt numb as if the dentist had messed up with the anesthetic. His eyes watered without a reason besides from the pain. His neck was stiff as if he slept on the floor for a month drunk. Slowly he sat up, he squinted with his bad eye since his good eye couldn't see at the moment.

"I forgot how good of a punch you pack...and anger issues" Frank whispered at the end.

Doug squatted and offered a hand to Frank, Lucy still on his back with the knife on his throat.

"Get off me kid, I'm no damn mule," Doug said.

Frank chuckled at what he could see, a full-grown man squatting with a teenager on his back. A teenager holding a five-inch, rainbow-colored knife. Although on Doug it seemed as if she were holding a toothpick to his neck instead. If Frank let his vision blur, it almost looked like a sumo wrestler ready to tackle.

"I said get off me kid." This time Doug said between gritted teeth.

"Lucy, get off before we have hulk bust your pretty face," Frank said.

Lucy reluctantly jumped off Doug's back. Doug took a deep breath before he grabbed Frank by his collar and pulled him up to a stand. Lucy still held the knife in a fist, her legs ready to jolt at Doug again.

"Put it away Luz I'm fine," Frank reassured her. 

"No, you're not ok. You need stitches!" She said angrily.

"It's just a scratch Luz," Frank replied.

"Scratch! My ass! Maybe Michael Myer looking ass here can call it a scratch. But that's a fucking flesh wound that needs stitches." Lucy angrily replied.

Doug chuckled upon the comparison Lucy has made of him.

"And you-" Lucy pointed a finger toward Doug.

"You're paying for the stitches." She said sternly like a mother scolding her child.

Doug shrugged at her comment.

"Yousonofa-" she quickly said as she charged at Doug.

Frank luckily enough jumped in between Lucy and her kill. Lifting her in a bear hug. A metal clank from the knife hit the ground, her arms immobile, face shoved into his chest. Nothing but angry mumbles were heard.

"Sorry about how our first encounter after the war happened. Maybe we can have a redo?" Frank said apologetically.

"Sure, as long as there's beer," Doug replied.

"Deal," Frank said with a smile.

Now Lucy began to flare her legs, worming in Frank's grip like a fish caught on the line of an old fisherman. No longer mumbling but trying to escape.

"If you calm down I'll let you go," Frank said.

Lucy began to squirm even more.

"Lucy come on," Frank asked.

"-Oh shit!" 

Frank suddenly realized why she was still squirming. He immediately let go of Lucy, her body falling to the ground like a rag doll. Her face was purple,  as she engulfed air in her lungs.

"Ohshitohshitohshit."

Frank kneeled down next to Lucy.

"Lucy, how many fingers am I holding up?!" Frank's voice filled with panic.

"Lucy! Do you remember your name!" Frank screamed.

Suddenly Frank felt a sharp sting on his right cheek, his face now facing a different direction. He shook his head and turned back to Lucy. Now an angry red face stared back at him.

"Ok, I deserve that one." He said to himself as his hand rubbed his red cheek.

"Well if everyone is done abusing me." Frank stood up and faced Doug. "Can we finally get to what we are all here for?"

"Yeah I have a job to do and I need money," Doug exclaimed.

Lucy still sitting on the ground, exchanged glances with Frank. Frank knew he was in trouble with Luz. He gave her a nervous laugh and grabbed Doug by the shoulders.

"Hey, need any help?" Frank said as he pushed Doug towards the van.

"Such a weird-ass day," Doug said with a confused face.