A New Destination
Lloyd took the light brown wig off his head and set it down on the table, revealing the same jet-black hair that was on Gina's head. He still didn't look at her.
"There's nothing wrong with your car, is there," he said.
Gina sat on the table. "I disconnected the battery," she said. Her voice went soft again. "I used to look up to you, Lloyd."
He nodded vaguely. "I was the big brother," he whispered.
"Yeah," Gina said, angrily getting off the table and pacing back and forth. "Some big brother, too. Setting quite the example for me. You know what example you set,
brother? You disappeared when I was thirteen. Oh, what an example! Do you know how many
years Mom cried for you? Do you? Of course not, you weren't there. And Dad, Dad didn't say a word for weeks after you left. And Heather- you remember Heather, don't you? You know, your other sister? She was only eight, Lloyd. And she asked me a thousand times every day, 'When is Lloyd coming back?' What was I supposed to tell her, Lloyd? Did you ever think of that, ever? Did you? And now here we are, ten years later. Heather hardly even remembers 'big brother Lloyd'. It's a stretch to get Dad to say more than three words. Mom- I saw Mom smile for the first time in ten years today. You know why? I got
married today, Lloyd. And some friends of mine tell me that some mad man predator is following them around and torturing them, so I go to help them, and you know who I find out the mad man predator is?"
She stopped and glared at him. "My own brother."
He said nothing. Did nothing. He just sat, looking at the wig. Gina sighed, came over and knelt beside him. She took his hand and looked up into her brother's eyes.
"What happened to Lloyd Brinks?" she whispered.
He looked at her, struggling to hide his tears.
"Lloyd," Gina said, "Mom and Dad raised you to be better than this. We both know that. ...And you hurt us, Lloyd." She gently squeezed his hand, then released it and stood up. "The door to forgiveness is always open," she said. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a wedding to get to."
She turned and saw Rowlf standing in the doorway. She put an arm around his shoulder, and they walked out together, leaving Lloyd Brinks alone with his thoughts.
The taxi was waiting outside. Gina followed Rowlf a few steps into the bus, a smile on her face. "Destination: Party!" she announced. Then she got back off the bus and climbed into the back seat of the taxi.
The taxi driver turned to face his passenger.
"Well, well, well," he said. "Look who's late to her own wedding."
Gina made a face. "I am not late, Richard. And if you make me late, I will not name a single one of my children after you."
"Not even my middle name? But you promised!" He teased.
"Not even your middle name."
Richard put a hand over his heart. "Oh, Gina, that hurts," he joked. "That really, truly hurts."
"So drive!" she laughed.
The plush red carpet in the hallway squished under well-polished black dress shoes. The man wearing the shoes was pacing anxiously between a set of double doors, stopping to look at a clock, pacing, stopping to check out the door, and pacing again. He wore a black, single-breasted, three-piece suit. A single red rose peeked out from his breast pocket. His black glossy tie laid over his white button down shirt and under his jacket. In his hand, he held a bouquet of red and white roses with slight touches of baby's breath. He wore a single gold band around the third finger of his left hand. His long blonde hair was tied neatly in a pony tail that ran a short way down his back. He paced back and forth, back and forth. Step, step, step, step, step, step, turn. Step, step, step, step, step... What was taking so long? He glanced at the clock. The reception was set to start in just forty-five minutes. Step, step, step, step, turn. Step, step, step...
He heard a rustling of silk, footsteps... He looked up...
"Gina!"
She flung her arms around him, and bride and groom embraced each other in silence for a moment.
"See, Steve, I told you I'd be back," Gina said with a smile.
He smiled back, and then suddenly looked panicked again. "Gina, the band we hired called. They can't come!"
She made a face. "And they waited until
now to tell us?"
He nodded. "What are we going to do? Have a wedding without music?"
Suddenly Gina had an idea. "No," she said, and she turned to face the Electric Mayhem. She smiled, and they grinned back. "Nothing of the sort."
In the next forty-five minutes, the muppets changed into nice clothes, Miss Piggy covered most of her cuts and bruises with make up, the Electric Mayhem set up their instruments, and Gina and Steve took turns panicking until the guests began to arrive.
Once the party began, every one was more than willing to kick up their heels and relax. The Electric Mayhem managed to play a few slow songs before cutting loose, and the muppets all spent most of their time on the dance floor. Even Miss Piggy, who was feeling much stronger by then.
The time came for Gina to throw the bouquet. All the women crowded around, and she tossed it over her shoulder. Kermit couldn't help but laugh when he saw that Camilla had caught it. Gonzo looked like he wasn't quite sure how to react, but the chicken was thrilled. Then Kermit saw Miss Piggy's face, and he decided it was a good time to slip away. He wiggled his way into a group that was crowded around Fozzie.
"So the polar bear, he walks out," the bear was saying. "And the panda bear's just sitting there, and he thinks, 'this is odd'. And then whaddaya know, the phone rings. You know who it is, it's the polar bear. And he says, 'I didn't know it was a
koala bear'! Ahh, Wocka wocka!"
One of the guests leaned over and whispered to Kermit, "Was that the punchline?"
It was late that night when the guests began to slowly file out the doors. The muppets were exhausted. Gina and Steve walked with them out to the bus.
"You'll keep in touch, won't you?" Gina asked as she hugged them goodbye.
"Sure," Kermit said.
Gina gave Dr. Teeth directions to a near by, comfortable hotel. Then she poked her head in the bus and called out, "Destination: Sleep!" The muppets laughed as she and Steve walked away hand in hand.
Kermit awoke the next morning on the edge of the bed they had all piled on to. Every one else was still fast asleep. He decided not to wake them. There was no hurry today. No grey men chasing them, no rush to get any where. Besides, they needed the sleep. It had been a long day yesterday. But then, it had been a long couple of months. Almost three months now. Where had the time gone?
He turned on his side to see Miss Piggy watching him sleepily. Just a good night's sleep had helped her injuries so much, it was amazing.
"Good morning, Kermie," she said.
"Good morning, Piggy."
There was a tiny moment's silence.
"Well?" she asked.
"Well what?"
"Well, aren't you going to kiss me good morning?"
He smiled, remembering their morning game. "Well, Piggy, I would..."
After a few hours, everyone was awake and hungry. They had a late breakfast and piled onto the bus. Dr. Teeth went to start the engine up, but he stopped.
"You know," he said, turning to face them, "something doesn't feel right."
"Yeah," Floyd said. "It feels like we're missing something."
"Rully, but like, what are we forgetting?" Janice asked.
"Does every body have their bags?" Rowlf asked.
"I've got my rubber chicken," Fozzie said.
"Do we have the exploding socks?" Gonzo asked.
Camilla bawked.
"DRUMSTICKS! DRUMSTICKS!" Animal shouted.
Zoot blew a note on his saxophone.
"Moi am not forgetting anything," Miss Piggy said.
"Well, then, what are we missing?" Kermit asked.
Robin was hopping to the front of the bus. "Uncle Kermit, I know what we're forgetting!"
"What are we forgetting, Robin?" Kermit asked.
Robin stood proudly at the front of the bus, took a deep breath, and then shouted with all of his might, "DESTINATION: HOME!"
They all laughed as Dr. Teeth pulled the bus onto the road. They drove a few hours before stopping for lunch. The first thing Kermit did was find a pay phone.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Muppet Theater was buzzing with activity. Scooter went over that week's list for the hundreth time. "Check, check, check..."
BLAM!
He turned and saw Crazy Harry on the other side of the stage, laughing. He returned to the list. "Check, check, check, check..."
"That is a lot of checks, hokay."
Scooter looked up. "Oh. Hi, Pepe."
"Hey, speaking of checks, Scooter. Do you have my pay check yet?"
Scooter sighed. "No. Not yet."
"Hey, Scooter!" Clifford called from the lights. "What else do you want me to do?"
"I don't know yet, Clifford," Scooter called back. "Kermit still hasn't called."
"But it's Thursday," Rizzo said. "He calls every Wednesday."
"Well, he didn't call yesterday," Scooter said.
"Do you think we should be worried?" Sweetums asked.
Then they heard a ring. Scooter ran across the stage and grabbed the phone. "Hello, Muppet Theater."
"Hey, Scooter, it's Kermit."
"KERMIT!" he turned away from the receiver and shouted, "Hey everybody, it's Kermit!" He was instantly surrounded by muppets. He turned back to the receiver. "Hi, boss!"
"Hi Scooter. How's everything at the theater?"
Scooter glanced at the char marks Crazy Harry had just left on the stage. "Oh, same as usual."
"Good. Well, listen, I was just calling to let you know that everything is okay. Lloyd isn't going to bother us anymore. We're on the way back."
"Oh, boss, that's great!"
"What? Tell us!" Rizzo said.
Scooter pulled the receiver away. "They're coming back!"
The theater erupted with cheers. Scooter talked into the phone again. "That's just great. And hey boss, I have some wonderful news for you!"
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Although there are some other rather embarasing things I did find....