Twister's Replacement

Chapter 3

As Otto was flipping through channels, he heard some laughter from upstairs.  "Oh, now there's happiness going on?  Give me a break."  He turned off the TV and headed upstairs to see where the laughter was coming from.  It was coming from Reggie's bedroom.

Otto opened the door.  And to his surprise, he saw Reggie and Sam posing as fashion models.  "Why on earth are you saps dressed like that?!"

"It was Leni's idea," Sam said.

"WHAT?!"

"Otto, you should try it," Reggie encouraged.  

"Yeah, Leni's incredibly nice," Sam agreed.

"Nice?  NICE?!  Are you that serious?!" Otto said angrily.

Otto turned his head toward Leni, who was joyfully holding a tray of three smoothies.

"She even made some of the best smoothies for us.  You should try one," Sam said.

"WHAT?!"  Otto Rocket, a.k.a. Rocket Boy, finally lost his patience.  He slapped the tray out of Leni's hands, causing the smoothies to fly into the air and then spill onto the floor.

"HEY!" Leni cried.  "I just made those!"

"Listen, you worthless peabrain!" Otto yelled.  "I can't take it anymore!  You NEVER do anything right!  Why don't you just repeat preschool so you know how to learn?!  We don't need a BLONDE WOODEN-KLUTZ making us look like crap for the semifinals!  I suggest you find a mall to make yourself look like a doggone AIRHEAD!!"

Sam and Reggie were shocked that Otto got extremely offensive.  "OTTO!" 

Leni was shocked as well.  "W-w-what?"

"You heard me, you blonde piece of crap!" Otto bellowed.  "Go screw yourself at the mall like all stupid blondes do!  Get your stupid self out of here!"

Leni's eyes began to fill with tears.  Then, she started to sob.  She ran downstairs and out of the Rocket residence.

Sam and Reggie turned to Otto.

"Nice going, Otto," Sam said.

"Shut up, Squid!" shouted Otto.

Reggie folded her arms in disgust.  "Seriously, Otto?"

"What?" Otto said.  "She deserved it!"

"You should have been a little nicer to that girl, Rocket Boy," said a voice.  It was Raymundo.  He had been in the kitchen when he heard the commotion from upstairs.  "Not everyone's perfect, you know."

"What am I supposed to do, teach a doofus how to act right?!" Otto snarled.  "Not happening!"

"Otto," Raymundo said sternly but calmly, "nothing is going get better if you keep berating that girl with your stereotyping."

"WHAT?!  I was stereotyping her?!" Otto snapped.  "You're doggone WACK, aren't you?!"

"Well, if you wanna help Leni improve, then you're gonna need to help her as much as possible," advised Raymundo.  "But it's basically your choice to do it."

Not for Otto!  "Maybe to people who CARE a little too much to give a CRAP.  Shouldn't have agreed to help that blonde mooncalf."  He stomped out of Reggie's room.

Raymundo turned to face his daughter.  "Wow.  Your brother's gone nuts."

"Yeah, no doubt about that," Reggie agreed.  "He's the one who's wack."

"What do we do now?" Sam asked.  "Otto offended Leni, and now we're gonna have to find someone else."

"Now kids, don't jump to conclusions just yet," Raymundo said.  "There's another way you can figure this out."

"Well..." Sam said, thinking, "...I guess we could talk to Leni...but in a nice way, though."

"That sounds like a good suggestion," said Reggie.  "She might be outside.  C'mon, Sam, we've gotta follow her."

Leni was sitting on the curb near the Rockets' home, her eyes still teary.  

"I'm not dumb," she told herself.  "I'm not dumb."

Reggie and Sam ran over to where Leni was.

"Leni, are you okay?" Reggie asked.  

Leni shook her head.

Reggie put a hand on Leni's shoulder.  "Look, Leni, we're really sorry about my brother.  He's just frustrated about the semifinals, that's all."

"But he called me a blonde piece of crap," Leni sobbed.  "He thinks I'm stupid.  And he's right."

"You're not stupid, Leni," Reggie said.  "You just need some time to get used to what we do.  And trust me, we've all been there."

Leni looked at Reggie.  "Really?"

"Of course," Reggie said.  "And you can't let words affect who you are.  It's gonna take patience."

"Yeah," said Sam.  "We'll work with you on whatever you need help with.  We'll also talk to Otto.  He'll understand."

"Yeah, let's head back to the house and talk to him," Reggie said.  

Leni got up, and she, Reggie, and Sam headed back to the Rocket residence.