Twister's Replacement

Chapter 2

Raymundo came downstairs and saw his Reggie and Otto with Leni.  "Hey, kiddos, who's this lovely lady?"

"Dad, this is Leni Loud," Reggie said.

"Leni Loud, huh?  My name's Raymundo.  Raymundo Rocket."  Raymundo shook hands with Leni.  "Nice to meet you."

Otto rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"So, you're pretty much a spots fan, Leni?" Raymundo asked, already getting on his kids' nerves.

Reggie gently pushed her dad away before he could ask any more questions.  "I think that's enough, Dad.  Why don't you head back upstairs and let us handle things."

"Okay, fine," Raymundo said with a sigh and headed for the stairs.

"Leni, this is my younger brother, Otto.  And I'm Reggie," said Reggie.  "Where are you from?"

"Royal Woods."

"Any waves you catch there?" Otto asked

"Oh, you mean this?" Leni asked, stretching her arms out in a T-shape.

"Not that kind of wave, Leni," Reggie said.  "We mean finding any waves to surf at your beach."

"I'm not into surfing," Leni said.

"What about skateboarding?" Reggie asked.

Leni shook her head no.

"Snowboarding?" Otto asked.

Leni shook no again.

"Street hockey?" Reggie asked.

Still no.

"Hm," Reggie thought, putting her hand to her chin,  "you've never done any of that stuff before, huh?"

"No," Leni said, shaking her head once more.

"Well, we've got hockey practice in an hour," Reggie said.  "You should definitely come with us."  

"Yeah, right," muttered Otto.

"What will I need to do?" Leni asked.  "I, like, don't have anything to protect myself.  Not even a bike."

"Don't worry.  We have a lot of gear in our garage," Reggie said.  "Follow me."

"This should be good," Otto murmured.

An hour later, Otto, Reggie, Sam, and Leni got on their bicycles and headed for The Pier.

During practice, things did NOT go the way Otto, Reggie, and Sam expected them to go.  Leni was forgetful when Reggie or Otto told her to pass the puck.  She got confused over and over again when she mistook the hockey stick for a golf club and the puck for a golf ball.  Leni even misinterpreted golf scoring for hockey scoring.

"Is this stick a golf club?" Leni asked again.

Otto smacked his head in irritation.  "How many times do we have to tell you?  It's a hockey stick!  And the puck is not a golf ball!" 

"But when we get less points, our team wins, right?" Leni asked.

"WOW, you're so dumb already!  What a doofus!" Otto said sarcastically.

"Otto, just give her a chance," Reggie whispered.

Otto turned to his sister.  "Reggie, can we talk for a sec?"

Reggie sighed.  "Sure."

Otto took Reggie and Sam to the side to talk to them privately.

"You call that worthless blonde teen a skilled hockey player?" he whispered to his sister.  "What are you, stupid like her or something?"

"Otto, please."

"Why should I?  All she's gonna do is make us look like trash."

"I understand how you feel, Rocket Boy, but we should help her."

"Help her do what?  Help her act like a ditz?  Forget it."

"Rocket Boy, at least be nice to her."

Otto sighed.  "All right, fine.  But we'd better hope she improves her game before the semifinals."  He, Sam, and Reggie rolled back to Leni.

"So, Leni, you need to remember that street hockey is not related to golf scoring," Otto said.  "The team with the most points in hockey wins at the end of a match."

"And you can't daydream when a game's going on," said Sam.  "You've gotta stay alert, especially when a team depends on you when the pressure's high."

"Like, all right," said Leni.

"Okay, lets get back to business," said Otto.

Leni put her hands on her hips.  "We're, like, totes gonna win without any points."

Otto smacked his head again.  "This is going better than we thought."

Reggie turned to her brother.  "Otto..."

"Whatever.  Let's just go," Otto snorted.

The kids continued with their practice...with Leni still being her nutty self.

Not only was Leni being silly at The Pier.  She was also an embarrassment at the beach and at Madtown.

After a long day of frustration, Otto plopped onto the couch in the living room and turned on the TV.  He decided to call Twister to explain what's been going on.

Meanwhile, on the East Coast, Twister and his family had just checked into a hotel near Niagara Falls when his phone buzzed in his pocket.  He quickly took it out and answered.  "Hello?"

"Hey, Twist," said Otto.  "How's Niagara Falls?"

"It's okay so far," Twister said.  "How are you doing back in Ocean Shores?"

"Not so well," Otto said.  "We've got this dum-dum who's so confused about every little thing we try to teach her!  It's stupid!"  

"I hear you, bro," Twister said.  "Anyway, my family and I took some pictures of the waterfalls.  I could send you some if you'd like."

"No thanks, Twist," said Otto.  "I'm too ticked for anything right now."

"I get that, dude," said Twister.  "Well, I'll talk to you later."

"Same here, bro," Otto said, and both boys hung up.