Huh? Proofreading? I've never heard of it.
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“Alright Rudy, What do you want?” Nikolai sighed as he inwardly sweated. He knew Rudy was fully capable of hounding him for some of his snacks, and he was sure he’d use their mother as leverage against him. Nikolai knew just how effective that was, considering he’s used it against Rudy himself on numerous occasions.
“Got any gummy worms?”
“...Why gummy worms? You’re usually gunning after my pretzels.” Nikolai stammered due to the slight shock of knowing he’d get to keep his chocolate pretzels for once, and he wanted the gummy worms too! Although it disdained Nikolai a little to lose a bit of his haul, it would be a lot easier to buy Rudy’s silence now then it would be to negotiate his innocence to his lawyer of a mom.
“Even I need to cut back every now and then, Little bro. Gotta watch my weight.” Rudy replied as he patted his stomach underneath his shirt.
Nikolai scoffed, knowing full well Rudy could work off any extra calories in one of his many workout regimes and that he was already a perfect image of a young student-athlete, Even though he was only a junior. You don’t become one of the star athlete’s at Kentwood High by doing any less. But it’s not like Nikolai was bothered by the sudden change in flavor. The only reason he got gummy worms was to satisfy Thomas’s sweet tooth, and he was sure that Thomas would much rather enjoy white chocolate pretzels then a pack of gummy worms.
Nikolai reached into the plastic bag with the gummy worms and tossed it to his older brother who promptly snatched it out of the air.
Rudy popped open his bag of worms and pulled out nearly a handful of gummy worms and threw them into his mouth.Nikolai soon followed with his own bag of salty potato chips, unwilling to wait any longer to get his intake of sodium and potato slices. After a short instance of munching between the two, Rudy loudly gulped the chewed gummy worms before he turned to Nikolai.
“Why did you buy this much junk in the first place?” Said Rudy as he aimed a thumb at the two bags so obviously filled with snacks.
“It’s for my stake out.” Nikolai answered after tossing another chip into his mouth.
“Steak out? And you didn’t buy any meat? For shame Nikolai, for shame.”
“You know what i meant, Rudy. I already told you about our trip later today”
Rudy only smirked in response before he shuffled over to the bags and began ruffling through them.
“Cut that out man, I need those for later” Nikolai hissed at his brother to no avail.
Rudy started unpacking the plastic bags and when he reached the bottom he turned to his little brother and asked
“What? No fairy cola?”
“Sadly no.”
“How could you not grab any Fairy cola? It’s literally the staple drink for any and every ‘Steak’ out”
Nikolai shrugged. “There weren’t any Fairy Cola to grab. All they had was some shoddy orange soda called Advent, And it’s not a cook off Rudy”
“Not without any meat it isn't.” Rudy remarked before chuckling to himself. Rudy took it on himself to stuff the snacks back into the plastic bags. He quickly repacked everything into the two bags besides the paperback issue which he held in his hands.
“Why’d you buy this anyways?” he asked as he flaunted the paperback issue in Nikolai’s direction. “Don’t tell me Rodney turned you into a conspiracy theorist as well man”
“Who knows? I mean, i did see a cloud outside i could’ve sworn looked like a UFO. Maybe i should send that in a letter to Jonah?” Nikolai said with amusement
“Oh no he got you too!” Rudy whined with fake worry as he bit the blue end of a Red & Blue gummy worm.
Nikolai finished his bag of potato chips and he balled the orange packaging. Having the feint thought of wanting to redeem his mishap earlier, Nikolai walked to the side of the kitchen farthest from the trashcan and gets into the shooting position he had earlier. Noticing this, Rudy quickly swallowed the gummy worms he had stuffed in his mouth.
“Choke! Choke! Choke! Choke!” Rudy chanted hushly.
Nikolai rolled his eyes and without a moment of hesitation, took his shot.
‘He shoots!-’ The announcer in Nikolai’s head calls out.
The balled up plastic flew out of Nikolai’s hand. It was in the air for only a couple of seconds before it landed softly.. Into the hands of Rudy who had moved in front of the trash can.
‘He missed again. There’s no way that'll bode well for his point avg.’ The announcer’s words ring unhappily in Nikolai’s head.
“C’mon Rudy, that wasn't not cool” Nikolai gloomed.
“Well than i guess you and it have something in common then” Rudy jokingly chided.
“Intercept my shot and hit me with a clapback? Where’s your famed sportsmanship Rudy? Where’s your love of the game”
“In the same place this ball of trash is going in”
Rudy promptly slammed the balled up bag into the trashcan and laughed to himself as he grabbed his gummy worms before he nudges Nikolai’s arms with his elbow.
Alright we've screwed around enough. You wanna go watch some TV man?
Sure, Only if i get dibs on the remote replied Nikolai.
Fine, but if it’s more reruns of Mystery Divers just know that i'm sure to wrassle you for that remote
You mean wrestle?
Rudy shook his head. “Wrassle.”
Nikolai shrugged his shoulder before grabbing the plastic bags and stuffing them in an empty cabinet for later before he and rudy strode off for the living room. Rudy plopped onto the couch infront of the TV, taking up all of the seats. Nikolai decided to take the arm chair that stood adjacent to the TV before he flicked its black screen to life.
Not having the slightest inclination to find out what Rudy meant by ‘Wrassle’, Nikolai made sure to stay off of the public broadcasting channel and started flipping through the other thousands of channels bright House provided.
He had flipped past several spanish operas and an old sitcom from the 1980s before he finally landed on a half-decent sci-fi channel playing old black and white episodes of a show reminiscent of the twilight zone.
“Aww, Why couldn’t they play Sharkbearigator instead!” Rudy exclaimed.
Sharkbearigator was one of the many CGI movies this particular channel held, and it certainly wasn’t one of its best either. Nikolai always suspected that Rudy liked that movie for ironic purposes much like himself but Rudy would never give him a straight answer, regardless of the amount of times he’s asked.
They had apparently landed smack-dab in the middle of the climax of the episode, as a clown, a fireman, and a chef were about to reveal who it was that murdered the constable, although to Nikolai it was clearly the Butler’s Wife. She was way too suspicious with all of that sweat dripping on her forehead.
The chef started explaining how they found the murderer, with the Clown making balloon animals for visual reference. Nikolai and Rudy were so enraptured by the brilliant deductions (Though it was the balloons that really grabbed their attentions since the clown made them all on-screen) that they never heard the footsteps coming down the stairs and stopping behind Nikolai’s armchair.
“It was the clown all along!” a deep voice loudly whispered into Nikolai’s ear as a large hand suddenly landed on Nikolai’s shoulder, making the unsuspecting child to jump out response. Rudy started laughing at Nikolai.
Nikolai glowered at Rudy before he turned around.
A mountain of a man stood behind the chair that previously held Nikolai’s behind. Although Nikolai could barely see the man in the light of the television, he could easily make out the white rows of teeth that sat in the brimming smile adorning the lumberjack bearded face.
“Thanks for the heart attack, Dad.”
“Anytime Nick, anytime” replied Nikolai’s dad, Henry, still smiling. Few people were allowed to call Nikolai, ‘Nick’, and it goes without saying that his dad was one of them.
Nikolai always felt like he shouldve taken after his dad more. Even though they shared the same orange, nearly blonde shaggy hair, the same sloped amber eyes, and as his mom has told him on several occasion, the same smile. They didnt share the same massive height, but that doesnt mean Nikolai couldn't hope for his second puberty to grow into his father's height.
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His father was a towering figure in the house, owning quite a few inches and pounds over the second biggest person in the house, Rudy. Although his father wasn’t as muscular or toned as he was years before he became a middle aged Dad, he still showed sign of strength as Rudy could barely hold a candle against their father in a armwrestling match
“How’d you know we were down here?” Nikolai asked his father.
“Are you kidding me? I could hear the T.V. all night. You really need to work on being sneaky Nick.” replied the man as he fell back into Nikolai’s seat, slightly sinking into the heavy cushions of the armchair.
“Does that mean Mom heard it as well?”
“You can bet your allowance on that one, champ. If it wasn’t her night to take care of your baby sister she’d have stormed down here a long time ago”
Nikolai's expression visibly fell.He already knew that If his Dad had heard the television all night, then surely his mother would’ve heard it too. She was truly a beast of a woman, Albeit one that took her responsibilities seriously.
I wouldn't be too worried about it Nick. She’s caught your bum of a brother over there doing worse before, and he got off pretty lightly
“Lightly? You call getting my truck taken away until I finished doing the dishes everyday for a month straight easy?” the so called bum of a brother sputtered, mouth full of gummy worms. There was a surprisingly large amount of gummy worms in that bag.
“It’s a lot easier than having to use a fork to eat cereal. You know how hard it is to eat cheerios with only a fork? It's practically impossible i tell ya.
“Sheesh Dad, what’d you do to deserve that.”
“...Your mother is a sensitive woman Nikolai, lets leave it at that. I almost had to eat all of my meals in my car. You know how horrible milk would be for my seats?”
“Speaking of which, we’re out of milk Dad.” Rudy chimed in.
“Yeah i was just about to grab to pick some up while i make a quick run down to that general store a couple miles down. We’re out of formula for the baby.”
“Little Jessica isn’t give you to much trouble is she?” Nikolai asked his dad who promptly shook his head in reply.
“She’s sound asleep for now, although your mom is exhausted now after spending half the night with her. I'm just hoping to get her some well deserved rest”
“Can i come with you then, there were a few essential things i forgot to buy earlier”
“I don’t see why not. If it’s not too expensive i’ll add your stuff to my receipt. You coming along too, Rudy?”
“Nah, someone’s gotta keep the TV company Dad, and there's no way Jessica is well equipped to take care of that job. But feel free to buy me some ice tea” Rudy dumped the rest of the gummy worms in his mouth and balled up the bag in his hand before he made his way out of the living room and into the kitchen, probably to forage through the fridge.
“Well we might as well get a move on, I’ll go start the car. Maybe we can grab some hoagies along the way too”
Nikolai nodded. “Alright dad, just let me grab my phone before we go”
“Just don't take too long”
Nikolai nodded again before (quietly) dashing up the stairs.
After a spell of tiptoeing past the room of his mother and baby Jessica, Nikolai was greeted by the sight of the wooden door leading into his room, which he quickly hopped into.
Nikolai always liked his brightly coloured room, although it was a bit childish for someone of his age. The walls were each painted a bright colour. The one farthest from the door was a neon green. The two walls adjacent to that one were yellow and purple. As for the wall holding the door? It was a vibrant cyan blue.
With posters on display everywhere like some sort of bad cartoonish museum.
Nikolai couldn't help but gaze at at the marvel that was the posters garnishing his walls. One had a realistic looking squirrel with a metal nut in it's mouth while the other was one of a normal suburban man Being stalked by anthropomorphic lions, rhinos, and even a funny looking elephant in camouflage while holding tranquilizer guns. A simple ironic twist on animal poaching situation.There a lot of other similar looking posters around the room, some being straight political cartoons that had appealed to Nikolai.
Why did Nikolai have so many posters? Well one faithful day of stalking the internet, He had found a bounty of funny and ‘retro-styled’ looking posters. They were insanely cheap so Nikolai couldn’t help but buy the posters in bulk. Needless to say it was worth every penny, Especially for the poster of a surfing shark he had hanging over his bed.
Nikolai always kept his phone on the nightstand next to his bed. He had put it in charge the night before so there was no chance he’d have to worry about anything like his batteries dying on him halfway through the day. His phone could last nearly 10 hours if he managed his battery right.
He debated whether or not he should bring a drawstring bag or something of that sort with him on their trip to the store but decided he had already wasted too much time on this subject and just grabbed his phone before making his way back down the stairs, making sure to tiptoe past his mother’s room as he was sure she was asleep alongside the baby, not that he’d want to prove whether that was true or not.
It only took a few minutes for Nikolai and his Dad to get strapped into the seats of the father’s black sedan, and it took even less time for them to pull out into the driveway and make their way down the now sunlit roads of amberdale.
“You mind if i put on a song, Nick?” Henry asked his son as they slowed to a stop at a redlight. They were a few blocks away from home now but far from the general store. The general store was almost halfway across the town they lived in, making it a needlessly long trip.
“You’re not gonna play that cheesy song again, are you?”
“Hey it might be cheesy, but it’s also a classic” replied Henry as he pulled the album out of a nearby compartment.
“Dad, Queen, is a classic. The Beatles, are a classic. Earth, Wind and Fire, are a classic. Even the guy with the pompadour in A Goofy Movie was a classic. A cheesy love song you made in your garage with your friends isn’t a classic”
“Hey, Powerline isn’t a classic. The goofy movie only came out in 1995.
“Yeah but he’s still good at what he does, Unlike you and your badnmates in that album”
“Oh, So you’re a critic now?”
“And a darn good one at that. You should see my badge, just had it polished”
Henry laughed as Nikolai puffed out his chest, showing his dad the pretend badge on his chest. As the laughter started to subside, Henry popped the disc out of it’s case and slid it into the dvd player his car still had.
The DVD player whirred for a moment before cackling to life. A band of what sounds like a bass guitar, an electric guitar which Nikolai assumed was his Dad as his father had pictures of a younger him holding a guitar, and a drum set.
The drummer knocked his drumsticks together several times before the group jumped in. It only took a second after that for the lead singer to grab the mic and start singing.
“banana cabana swinging by the palm trees.
take a dip inside the sea,
lose yourself in the fantasy.
Splash upstream or down by the bay,
it doesnt matter baby, nah, either way.
You’re living in a world brought upon a dream,
Yeah this is your one-time Fantasy!-”
The song continued for another 4 minutes, every second was filled with some cheesy reference to a beach or a cove.Nikolai didn’t think the verse itself was bad. What sucked was that his Dad had thought it was a good idea for him to sing along in the car.
It wasn’t.
And it didn’t help that the album had 5 other songs that his Dad knew the lyrics to by heart.
Safe to say, the car was never a moment silence in the 20 minutes it took for them to get to the somewhat secluded blue painted roadside truckstop of a store, much to the chagrin of Nikolai's ears.