The Simpsons: Lisa Simpson and The "Nerves of Steal"

Chapter 4

"Ok boy..." Homer said. He and Bart were in the garage prepared to call Mr. Burns. "This better work."

"Trust me dad," Bart told him as he dialed Mr. Burns' number. "Using modern technology, anything is possible."

Homer wasn't so sure if Bart had this planned out perfectly. But hey, he was the mischievous sibling in the family who had the brains.

Bart sat on the workshop desk, then dialed the number, he then waited for Mr. Burns to pick up.

"Hello. Who is this?" The voice wasn't Mr. Burns. It was Mr. Smithers. Bart give a nervous look at Homer, who nudged his shoulder.

"Hello there, I am President Joe Biden. I'm having a party at Camp David. Tell Mr. Burns that he's invited, it's going to be a blast man!"

"Oh.... President Biden" Mr. Smithers stammered. "He's not here right now. But I'll tell him about it."

"How are you doing that?" Homer asked in disbelief. Bart wasn't even trying to do an impersonation of Joe Biden. He was just speaking in his regular voice. He also knew that Mr. Smithers wasn't as stupid as he was to believe that a 10-year-old would be the president.

"It's an app," Bart told him as he held his phone against the speaker. "I can sound like anyone with just one click of the button."

"Make him have Mr. Burns raise my paycheck or else he'll make me the boss the plant." Homer whispered nudging Bart; his nudge was so hard it made Bart's hand move away from the speaker.

"What?" Mr. Smithers asked on the other line. Bart nervously started thinking of what to say next.

"Yeah. I want him to raise all of the employees' paychecks also," Bart said.

"I don't think he would like that Mr. President." Mr. Smithers said still stammering.

"Whatever. He's still invited." Bart said. "See'ya."

Bart then hung up the phone and jumped off the desk. "It worked." He said happily. "See dad, anything is possible if you use the right apps."

He then walked over to Homer and gave him a high-five.

As Homer and Bart opened the garage door entrance to the living room, Homer whispered into Bart's ear.

"I've got an idea." he said, he then whispered into Bart's ear. Bart smirked knowing his dad could see who the true genius was now.

The two walked into the dining room expecting to see some food on the table. Instead, they were met with an upset Lisa, she had bags under her eyes and . Homer looked at a Bart with a puzzled look on his faces. Bart tried to look as confused as Homer. But it was hard to pretend to not know what happened when you actually witnessed it.

"What's wrong, Lisa?" asked Homer. "Did your mother forget to make dinner?" He joked. She then turned to him trying to look emotionless.

"No dad," she said.

"It's a good thing there are leftovers in the fridge!" Homer said rushing to the fridge in the kitchen.

Bart looked at his sister.

"So where's Mom?" he asked, he then watched Maggie sitting on top of Santa's Little Helper. The two were pretending to be horses.

Lisa sighed and glared at her brother.

"She's upset Bart, really upset." she said, she then pointed at Bart. "And it's all your fault!" she screamed. "If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have had the idea to take that concert ticket and she wouldn't have to go through that stupid search at the mall."

"Relax Lis," Bart said, trying to calm the situation down. "It was just a strip search. How horrible can one be? They do it in prison all the time."

"I don't think this was an ordinary strip search Bart." said Lisa remembering how their mother looked as she came out of the room.

Meanwhile in the kitchen, Homer carried a plate of leftover pork chops to the table.

"Ooooh, pork chops!" Homer said. He ate one and then spit it out. "What the? Why is it so cold." He then looked at the microwave. "Oh yeah. Marge usually heats them up for me."

"HEY MARGE!" Homer called upstairs. "You mind if I heat some leftovers from yesterday?" 

Marge didn't respond. Bart and Lisa looked nervously at each other. They could hear their mother's footsteps as she came down the stairs, they could also hear her getting closer. The two children looked up at their mother, who had a slightly annoyed look on her face. Her arms were crossed and she was wearing a frown. She walked over to them and sat down with a sigh. She glared at Bart and Lisa as Homer approached her.

"Can I honey?" he asked. Marge just grunted. Homer retreated taking her response as a yes. He then sat down and started eating. Marge continued to look at the children, who were now nervously waiting for her to explode. 

Back in the kitchen, Homer warmed up his food and started dialing the bar's number. He was going to prank Moe the bartender.

"Ello?" he asked as Moe picked up the receiver.

"Yeah what do you want?" Moe asked.

"I'm looking for a 'Pin', first name 'EmSim'.".

"Lenny?" Moe said. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Uhhh....." Homer said, he then hung up the phone. He covered his mouth to hide his laughing. He knew Lenny was going to get it when he walks into Moe's bar next time. But he was even more excited about tomorrow.

Lisa tried to eat her dinner silently but it was hard to think about a new song to practice on her saxophone with her mother staring at her sternly. She raised her finger several times as if she wanted to speak, but decided against it once again. Bart also tried to be quiet and focus on his dad's prank the next morning. He was excited for what his dad had planned. For once, his dad was becoming the all time prankster he once was as a kid. It was finally great to see that Homer was taking as a role model for once, and it wasn't the other way around. Usually one of Homer's schemes would end up putting him in an embarrassing situation. But this was to make up for the times where he enjoyed some of Homer's shenanigans. 

After a couple of minutes of wanting to get something out, Marge eventually got up from her chair and walked into the kitchen.

Homer was sitting at the table eating his pork chops and looked at his wife with a smile.

"Tomorrow is going to be great honey," he told Marge. "With Old Man Burns away in Hawaii. Guess who's going to be in charge now!"

Marge turned to face her husband. Her arms were crossed and she had a stern look on her face. She let out an annoyed sigh. "What are you talking about?" she asked in frustration. "Who's in charge?" 

"I am," he said. Homer stood up and walked out of the kitchen with a satisfied look on his face. He walked into the living room and started dancing around. "Heh, heh, heh, I'm in charge. I'm in charge. Guess who's in charge? Homer Simpson!"

Marge let out an annoyed grunt and went upstairs into her room, before she locked the door. She threw a blanket and pillows to Homer as he danced in front of the stairs making him fall to the ground.

"Ow! What are you so upset about?" Homer asked, Marge ignored Homer's question and slammed the door.

 Lisa gulped and started sweating nervously. Her mother was taking her anger out on everyone because of her and now her guilt was starting to come back to her. After dinner, she ran up to her room and started to play her saxophone as tears started rolling down her face.

It was just a matter of time before she started facing the consequences.