Chapter 1:
Chicken and first impressions
A/N:
Bro this is not even the entire plan I had for the first chapter, but I just need to break it down. It's getting too long.
“Hello, anyone?" Sheryl calls out walking down the hallway. Behind her, Frank follows looking around at the different things laying about. “Down here. We have you with Dwayne” She knocks and pushes the door to Dwayne’s room open.
Dwayne looks up from the book he’s reading. “Uncle Franks here honey”, he sits up as Sheryl walks into the room. They had put up a cot for Frank to sleep on, it took up the right side of Dwayne’s bedroom. Frank hesitates, he gives Sheryl a “you’re kidding” look.
“He doesn’t mind, we talked” Sheryl reassures him. Frank makes a half gesture to the rest of the house, insinuating that he would rather sleep somewhere else.
“We can’t have you sleeping alone. The doctors said…” Frank looks at his sister. He could tell she was tired. Growing up she would always stress and take care of everything. Guess she didn’t grow out of it. Dwayne gets up and leaves the room avoiding any eye contact with them. “You’ll get along fine. He’s really quiet. Look I set up a bed.” Sheryl looks over at Frank, who hesitates right outside the bedroom door.
“Please, Frank? Please?” She pleads, her shoulders slumped forwards and her eyebrows furrowed together at the middle. Frank sighed and walked into his nephew's bedroom. He stops in the middle of the floor and just stands there. “Thank you. I gotta start dinner. Come out when you're settled?” Sheryl asks, “And leave the door open. That’s important.” She stops and just looks at her brother. To think that she almost lost her only brother. She steps towards him, “I’m glad you’re here” she says giving him a kiss on the cheek before she leaves the room.
Frank decides that the best thing for him to do is to just sit and stare into the wall. I mean, what else is there really to do? He sits down on the cot and looks down at a sleeping bag laid out for him. It’s Muppets themed, with the blue Cookie monster printed repeatedly in a pattern. This is pretty much the worst moment of his life.
Dwayne was sitting at the dining table reading his book when Sheryl walked by. “Dwayne, honey. There’s a bucket of chicken in the car. Can you go get it and I’ll make the salad?” She asks as she walks into the kitchen and starts looking for different ingredients.
Dwayne slowly stands up while reading the last sentences of the page before putting down the book and walking out the front door. Let the chaotic ballet of dinner in the Hoover household begin!
Sheryl walks towards the basement door and opens it before yelling down, “Olive?!” a faint “yeah?!” could be heard yelled back.
“What are you guys doing?”
“Okay! Dinner in ten minutes!”
“Okay!” Olive yells back before Sheryl closes the door and walks back into the kitchen.
She opens the fridge and begins pulling things out to make a salad. Sheryl finds the big wooden, salad bowl they always use. Abruptly, Richard comes through the side door into the kitchen. “Hi” he greets his wife before walking past her into his little “office” corner.
“Hi” Sheryl greets him back, “Frank’s here” she informs him without looking up from the cutting board where she’s cutting a tomato into cubes. A slightly disappointed, but surprised “oh” comes from Richard.
“Did Stan Grossman call?” he asked looking at Sheryl. “Check the machine,” she says while dumping the cubed tomatoes into the big bowl.
Richard walks over and presses a button on the answering machine. The robotic voice comes through the speakers. “Hello. You have one message”.
Dwayne comes back in from getting the chicken out of the car. “Just put it on the table, hon,” Sheryl says, “and can you set the table? We’ll do paper plates tonight.” She asks. Dwayne nods and walks off into the hallway. “I’ll get cups and napkins,” Sheryl says before walking out of the kitchen.
The phone machine begins playing the message out loud.
“Sheryl, hey, it’s Jeff. Listen, great news. You know, when Olive was down here last month, she was runner up in the regional Little Miss Sunshine…?”
“It’s from Jeff!” Richard yells to Sheryl after she left the room to get cups and napkins. “Fuck” he mutters to himself, disappointed that there wasn’t a message from Stan. He stalks off while the message continues playing in the empty kitchen.
“… Well, they just called me and said that the girl who won had to forfeit her crown. I don’t know why – something about diet pills – but anyway, that means Olive won the regionals, so now she has a place in the State contest in Boca. They want to make sure she can make it, so I said you’d call them…”
Sheryl comes back to the kitchen and tries to listen to the end of the message.
“… The woman’s name is Lauren Henderson and her number… BEEP” and the machine cut him off.
Sheryl, not understanding what he was trying to say shakes her head and goes back to making the salad. Just as she begins cutting the cucumber for the salad, Richard re-enters the kitchen and picks up the phone, and starts typing in a number.
“Richard Hoover for Stan Grossman.” He says into the phone, he stands still listening to the person at the other end talk. “Can you reach him...?!” he asks, biting his fingernails nervously.
Dwayne walks into the kitchen and starts looking for the paper plates. He opens a cupboard and takes out a few paper plates. “Yeah, tell him I want to know this thing is done.” Richard puts a finger to his mouth signalizing Dwayne to be quieter.
Dwayne shuts the cupboard door with a loud bang. Richard stares at Dwayne as he smirks and walks over to the table.
“- I’m waiting for the numbers.” Richard continues. “No, I understand that. I understand.” He loosens the tie around his neck as he continues the phone call.
“Look, he has my cell, if he could just call me anytime over the weekend and let me know we’re on, I’d be very, very grateful.” He pauses to listen to the other’s response, “Okay. Thank you. Goodbye.” He hangs up the phone.
“Bitch” Richard says, putting the phone back in its stand.
“Richard!” Sheryl exclaims looking up from the cutting board. “So, what happened with Stan Grossman?” She asks tossing the cubed pieces of vegetables into the big salad bowl.
“He’s still in Atlanta” Richard sighs rubbing his forehead.
“So why hasn’t he called you?” Sheryl asks looking over at him.
“Will you let me worry about this?!” Richard snaps looking over at Sheryl. She rolls her eyes and turns back to the salad.
“Dwayne, can you check on Frank? Tell him it’s dinner time” Sheryl asks without looking up. Dwayne nods and walks down the hallway into his room.
Sheryl puts down the knife and walks over to the door down to the downstairs rec room and opens it again.
“Olive?! Dinner time!” she yells down to her daughter and father-in-law.
“Okay!” Olive yells back before Sheryl turned to walk back to the salad.
Frank is sitting on the cot staring at the photo in his wallet, wishing the attempt had worked. Then he wouldn’t be here, sitting in his nephew’s room. Being babysat by his own sister. Just because he didn’t want to be here anymore after what happened with-
His self-loathing got cut short by Dwayne walking into the room and stopping in front of the doorway. He quickly put the wallet away and looked up at his nephew.
Dwayne looks at Frank and begins miming himself eating. It looks dumb, but he didn’t want to find his notebook and write it down when he could just show him.
“Dinner?” Frank asks raising his eyebrows. Why did the kid never speak? Did something happen since he last saw him? Dwayne nods and put his arms back down at his sides.
“What? You don’t talk anymore?” Frank asks looking up at Dwayne. His jet-black hair laying flat on his head. He was wearing a plain white t-shirt with a face drawn onto his chest. He had a “I don’t want to be here” look on his face, as expected from a teenager.
Dwayne shakes his head no, to Frank’s question. “Why not?” Frank continues. Dwayne only rolls his eyes and half shrugs.
“You can talk. You just chose not to?” Dwayne nods and points over to a large white sheet hanging on the wall. There was a big painting of Nietzsche on the sheet. “Is that Nietzsche? You don’t speak because of Friedrich Nietzsche?” Frank asks, stopping himself from scoffing.
Dwayne nods again, turns around and leaves the room. Frank nods to himself almost in disbelief before standing up and following his nephew. “Far out”.
Frank follows after Dwayne and watches as he sits down in a chair. He sits down and folds his arms and almost scowls while waiting for everyone to sit down. Frank tentatively follows him to the side of the table.
Sheryl walks out of the kitchen with a big wood bowl and sets it down at the table. “Frank, you can sit here, Next to Dwayne” she says. “Here’s the salad. I’m gonna run and get sprite for everyone” Sheryl says before walking back into the kitchen.
She stops in front of the rec room door and shouts downstairs again. “Olive! Come on! Dinner time!”
“Coming!” Olive yells back.
Sheryl walks away, leaving Frank and Dwayne alone. Frank sits down next to Dwayne. Dwayne scowls at the table in front of him. Frank looks at his place setting. A paper plate and a Big Gulp cup with the incredible hulk on it. He picks up the cup and examines it dispassionately. He sets it back in its original place.
Dwayne sits completely still, he doesn’t move. Frank glances over at him, not knowing what to do. He seems to have met someone just as unhappy as himself. This intrigues him. He starts talking.
“Got a girlfriend?” He asks, making small talk. Not his best conversation starter, but hey, it’s something.
Right as he asked the question, the front door opened, and someone stepped in. Frank looks away from Dwayne to see who it was. The two of them hear a “Hello!” being yelled down the hallway, coming from the mystery person who just walked through the door.
A few seconds pass and Frank sees a teenager around Dwayne’s age walk around the corner. They were wearing a plain blue t-shirt, denim jeans and striped yellow and pink socks. Who was this?
“Hey!” they said walking up to Dwayne. They wrapped their hands around his neck and leaned in giving him a hug. Frank noticed how Dwayne immediately smiled as he too wrapped his arms around the other.
The new person stood up and unwrapped their hands from Dwayne’s neck. They reached one hand out to great Frank. “Hi, I’m Y/n,” they said smiling.
“Frank,” he said taking their hand and shaking it. “I’m Dwayne’s uncle,” Frank said as he let go of Y/n’s hand and put his own back onto his lap. “Nice to meet you, Frank! I’m Dwayne’s one and only best friend” Y/n said smiling down at Dwayne, who in return elbowed them in the stomach. Y/n laughed and sat down in the chair next to Dwayne.
“No but seriously, I am Dwayne’s best friend and partner” Y/n smiles. Frank notices Dwayne’s cheeks growing pink at Y/n’s words. “Partner huh?” Frank says, “nice to see Dwayne finally found someone,” he says, just to make Dwayne go even pinker. Y/n chuckles at his words and nod.
Suddenly Dwayne fishes out his notepad and starts writing something down. Once he’s done, he turns the page towards Y/n. “Why the make-up?” Y/n reads out loud. “Oh,” they say smiling, “Jennifer invited me out for lunch before she went on her business trip. So, I decided why not?” they said. “You like it?” Y/n asked, fluttering their eyelashes at Dwayne.
Dwayne in return wrote something on his notepad again. He turns it around for Y/n to read, once more. “Yes, you always look good” Y/n read out loud while smiling. Their cheeks showed a pink tint at his words. “Thank you".
Richard comes back into the dining room and greets Frank with a nod, “Frank, good to see you” he reaches out for a handshake. Frank reluctantly shakes his brother-in-law’s hand, with a polite smile.
Richard takes a seat in a chair at the head of the table. It’s silent. No one says a word. You could cut the tension with a knife. Richard stands back up before saying he’s going to get Olive.
Richard walks off towards the downstairs rec room door. “Dad! Olive! Come on!” he yells down the stairs. Olive yells “We’re coming” back up at him.
Sheryl comes back to the dining room table with a big bottle of diet Sprite. “Oh, hey Y/n” she greets them with a smile. Y/n smiles back and gives Sheryl a little “hello” in return.
“You guys go on and start. Frank, some Sprite?” she asks raising her eyebrow. Frank nods and hands her his Big Gulp, Incredible Hulk cup.
“I want everyone to at least have a little salad,” she says while filling up Frank's cup and handing it back to him. Frank thanks her and takes a sip.
Y/n, Dwayne, and Frank nod almost in sync. Sheryl sets the bottle of Sprite down in front of Dwayne and he picks it up to fill his and Y/n’s cups. Y/n smiles at Dwayne as he hands them their cup.
Sheryl starts opening containers of potato salad and mashed potatoes. She puts food on her and Olive’s plates. Richard comes back and sits down. He grabs a piece of chicken from the bucket. Dwayne and Frank follow suit. Dwayne puts a few pieces of chicken on Y/n’s plate while they put a bit of salad on his.
They all start eating. No one is saying anything, the awkward silence is back. Frank decides to be the one to break it.
“So, Sheryl…” he starts, swallowing the last of his chicken. “I couldn’t help but notice Dwayne has stopped talking” he arches his brow at the end of his sentence.
“Oh! I’m sorry” Sheryl apologizes for forgetting to tell him, “Dwayne has taken a vow of silence”. She smiles at her son proudly. “He’s gonna join Naval Academy and become a fighter pilot. He’s taken a vow of silence until he reaches his goal” she smiles.
Frank turns to Dwayne and says, “you’re kidding” shocked. Dwayne only stares back at Frank. He’s not kidding.
Olive entering the dining room interrupts their little staring match. Dwayne turns back to Y/n, who is quietly giggling under their breath. He smiles slightly at them.
“Hi, Uncle Frank!” Olive exclaims throwing her arms around Frank's neck. He hugs her back.
“Olive,” he greets her back, “boy, you’re getting big!” he says looking back at Sheryl. “Is she big for her age?” he asks quietly. Sheryl nods, but smiles as Olive, unprompted, kisses Frank's cheek.
Frank looks back over at Olive and smiles. Olive suddenly asks, “what happened to your arms?” having noticed the bandages around Frank’s wrists.
“Olive…” Sheryl says warily.
“No, it’s okay,” Frank says, “I had a little accident. I’m okay now” he reassures her.
“How’s the routine going?” Richard asks, changing the topic.
“It’s good,” Olive says sitting down in her chair beside Sheryl.
“When are you gonna let us see it?” Richard asks with a smile, taking a bite of his chicken.
“I dunno,” Olive says bluntly “It’s up to Grandpa”
“A couple of days” Grandpa says walking into the dining room, “it needs a polish”. He glances at the table and notices the chicken.
“What is this?! Chicken?” he yells, “Everyday it’s the chicken! Holy God almighty!” he exclaims. “Is it possible, just one time, we could have something for dinner except the goddamn fucking chicken?!” he yells, waving his arms to accentuate his point.
Sheryl ignores him but Richard tries to cut him off. “Dad…” he tries once. “Dad…” he tries twice, three times, on the fourth he yells “DAD!”. Grandpa shuts up and looks down at his son.
“I’m just saying…” he says sitting down in the last chair. An uncomfortable silence rolls over the dinner table once again.
Y/n and Dwayne quietly eat their chicken and salad, observing everything going on. Sometimes nudging each other with a quiet giggle.
“If you want to cook or buy your own food, you’re more than welcome” Richard says not looking up from his plate. Uses his fork to scoop some of the potato salad up and eat it.
“Christ,” Grandpa says, “I know, at Sunset Village- “
“If you liked Sunset Village so much maybe you shouldn’t have gotten yourself kicked out of there!” Richard interrupts him.
Grandpa only waves his hand dismissively. He takes a piece of chicken out of the bucket and starts eating it. Again, the uncomfortable silence fills the dining room. Frank tries to get the conversation started again.
“When did you start?” he looks at Dwayne, “the vow?” he asks.
Dwayne shrugs. He doesn’t care enough to find his notebook and write a response.
“Nine months,” Y/n says eating a forkful of mashed potatoes.
“It’s been nine months; he hasn’t said a word,” Richard says, “I think it shows tremendous discipline” he continues.
“Richard…” Sheryl says cautiously.
“I’m serious! I think we all could learn something from what Dwayne is doing!” Richard goes on, “Dwayne has a goal. He has a dream” Dwayne furrows his brows in anticipation of what Richard’s next words are going to be.
“It might not be my dream or your dream, but still...” he pauses to look over at Dwayne.
“He’s pursuing that dream with purpose and discipline” Dwayne almost smiles. This is one of the nicest things Richard has said to him. He never talks about stuff Dwayne does in this way-
“In fact, I was thinking about the Nine steps…” Richard interrupts his thoughts
“Oh, for fucks sake...” Y/n mutters rolling their eyes.
“Oh, for crying out loud!” Grandpa says loudly.
“… About the Nine steps,” Richard continues, ignoring his father. “And how Dwayne is utilizing at least seven of them in his journey to self-fulfillment.”
“Richard, please,” Sheryl says sighing.
“I’m just saying! I’ve come around! I think Dwayne deserves our support.” He ends his statement.
Dwayne looks over at Y/n and rolls his eyes. Y/n giggles back at him and rubs their hand on his shoulder reassuringly. Frank looks at the two of them and smiles. Looks like Dwayne has found someone he really likes. It’s nice.
please let me know if there are any misspellings or stuff. I'm too tired to proofread it.
