Lincoln smiles and strokes Clyde's forehead with his middle and index fingers, like he did with Tabby. "I'm hungry. Let's go find Andy and then get a snack."
"Sure. I can eat something," Clyde said, rubbing his forehead.
Five minutes later, Lincoln and Clyde found Andy, who was talking to Troy, Ralph, and Mark.
"Hey Andy," Lincoln said, raising his hand in greeting.
"Hey Lincoln, Clyde. Hey guys, how's it going? I saw you on the institute news. What a bastard that fox is."
"Let it go, Andy. At least he admitted it."
"Dude, you're so soft. They've been talking sh*t about you, and you don't care, and now that your name's been cleared, are you taking it easy? If I were you, I'd shove it in the faces of all those assholes."
"Andy, it's all over. I'm not rejoicing about it; I'm just grateful that it happened that way."
"Bah. What a sanctimonious person!"
"Let it go, Andy. This is Lincoln's way of being; don't think about it anymore. We'd better go eat."
"That sounds good. Hey, assholes. Take a step forward!"
Troy, Mark, and Ralph obey the order and stand next to each other in front of Andy.
"Yes, boss," they say.
"Boss?" Clyde asked.
"Yes, now they seem to see me as their leader. Since Chandler stopped being the toughest one."
"Bring me orange juice and a turkey sandwich."
"Yes, Boss." The three boys ran to the cafeteria.
"And don't skimp on the mayonnaise. I hate dry turkey."
Clyde stares at Andy with a reproachful face.
"I'm sorry. Do you want something too? I can call them."
Lincoln laughed as the three friends walked towards the cafeteria to meet Andy's new entourage.
At the end of classes, the boys met Chandler outside of school. He had news to give.
"They expelled you!?" The three friends and Andy's new henchmen shouted at the same time.
"Yes. Honestly, I saw this coming when you asked me to confess, Clyde." Chandler looked resigned.
"I didn't want this to happen to you, Chandler... at least not anymore. I just wanted to clear my friend's name."
"I made his name dirty just because I'm bored. The truth is, now I'm too ashamed that I did it. Even more so now that I know what happened to you, Lincoln."
"Now, where are you going?" Lincoln asked.
"My parents think I need to learn discipline and respect. So they sent me to a military academy in Texas."
"Texas? But Boss, I mean Chandler, that's a long way away," Troy said, sadly.
"He says some time away would benefit me, guys. Look how it's benefited Lincoln."
"Hey man, I just noticed you were talking normally."
"Yes. The swelling from the beating they gave me has gone down a bit, and my father knows a dentist who works quickly. He says this will be the last thing he will fulfill for me."
"And when are you leaving, Chandler?" Lincoln asked.
"Okay. Since I can't go back to this school anymore, I'll spend the next week and a half packing. That's how long the transfer process takes."
"We'll miss you, ex-boss." Troy, Ralph, and Mark hugged him while crying.
"Me too, guys" Chandler hugged them and started crying too.
"Hey, this is really weird. Shall we leave them alone?"
"Yes.. I think it is most appropriate."
The three friends return home to give the former gang members privacy in this emotional moment.
Upon arriving at his grandfather's house, Lincoln went up to his room and lay down on his bed. The boy sighed and began to think about everything that had happened since his arrival in the city. "What's wrong with these days I've spent here? When I was a kid, I thought that as I got older, my life would get easier. But the problems only escalated. Who knew that I would go from making crazy plans to live with my sisters to coming face-to-face with crazy men in order to survive. I miss the chaos of when I was eleven. In comparison, that was a day at the beach. Today, at least I can rest." Lincoln began to close his eyes to take a nap before lunch when someone knocked on his door. "Forget it... okay? Come in."
The door opens, and Grandpa Albert enters through it. "Hey Lincoln"
"Hello, Grandpa. What's going on?"
"Your parents called. They're asking if you'd be interested in going to the movies tonight with the family."
"To the cinema?" Lincoln remembered the tour Clyde had taken when he arrived in town and mentioned to him that day about the technological advances in the entertainment industry that allowed blind people to enjoy the movie theater experience. "You know what? That seems appropriate. Tell them I'm going."
"Excellent. I'll tell them we'll be waiting for them at the entrance at eight o'clock." With that, Albert left the room to call his daughter on the phone, leaving only Lincoln behind.
"Ahhh... a classic family outing. Cinema, and then a hamburger. Wow, how nostalgic. Maybe this is what I need to unwind. It would be nice to have a normal day for a change."
A few hours later, Lincoln went out to meet his family. As always, three of the sisters vied for the spot next to Lincoln, and Lucy was the winner.
During the trip, Lucy was kind to Lincoln, grabbing his arm and rubbing her cheek against it, which made his sisters jealous and Lincoln a little uncomfortable, though the boy couldn't deny that he liked it.
When they finally arrived at the cinema, where they would watch the movie of their choice, on the bulletin board, there were four movies shown.