Whiskey Lullaby

Gerard’s POV

We buried Frank underneath the willow tree at our old house. His mother couldn’t make the trip because of her health, but his band mates, including those from My Chem, were there. I decided that would be the perfect place for him. That tree held a lot of memories for us. So, I thought it fitting to have him laid to rest there.

It tore me up inside knowing I killed Frank. Mikey kept trying to tell me it wasn’t my fault. That alcohol impaired his judgment. What he didn’t realize, was that I caused him to go out and drink his life away. There was only one shred of sunlight in my despair. He left a note that said he loved me still. After I had cheated on him, he still loved me.

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Everyday, I sat on the screened porch, watching over Frank’s headstone. Everyday, while I sat there, I had a bottle of whiskey in my hand. Everyday, I had the same routine. For three years. I had gone to a bar once, but kept seeing Frank’s face in the crowd. I decided to stay home, except for the daily trip to the liquor store. I kept drinking and couldn’t stop. When I went to sleep, I would hold Frank’s picture close to me, pretending he was still here.

Mikey would visit periodically. I would be hammered out of my mind, but he would never notice. At least he didn’t show he did. I would try to hide it, but eventually someone would find my cupboard of whiskey. They knew better than to do anything about it though.

“Uncle Gee!” I heard my little niece shriek. I winced a little at the noise, with my mind feeling like it has been beaten into a bloody pulp. I saw her bound up the steps towards the porch. She was looking more and more like Mikey these days. She had his eyes and his mousy brown hair. And I know that cute little nose didn’t come from Alicia.

“Hey there Li‘l Bit. How’s my favorite niece?” I called her by the pet name I gave her. Mikey and Alicia had named her Francesca, after Frankie. He thought that was the cutest thing ever. And guess what her other nickname was? Frankie. Since she was smaller than Frank, I decided to call her “Li’l Bit”.

“I’m your only niece.” She giggled. She opened the screen door and raced to my side. “I missed you, Uncle Gee.” She scurried up onto my lap, and almost squeezed the life from me. I hugged her back as Mikey entered the screened-in porch, carrying little two year old Alex. Spitting image of Alicia, if you ask me, but he had Mikey’s shy nature.

“I missed you, too, Li’l Bit. I haven’t seen you since your birthday.” I set my whiskey flask to the side.

“I losted a tooth! Look!” She smiled widely at me and sure enough, one of her front teeth were missing.

“Did you put it under your pillow?” It was heart-warming to see her excitement. She nodded enthusiastically.

“Uh huh! And I got a whole dollar!” I smirked at Mikey.

“Guess the tooth fairy was being generous, eh?” I set her back on her feet, ushering her inside the house. She grabbed Alex’s hand and led him towards the living room. A minute later, I heard the TV turn on.

Mikey and I made our way to the kitchen, me with my trusty Jim Beam in hand. I sat at the table, gesturing for Mikey to sit as well. He sat down with a sigh.

“Are you going to drink yourself to death, Gerard?” He asked as I took a big gulp. I just rolled my eyes.

“If it gets him outta my head, then yes.”

“So you want your niece and nephew to grow up without their uncle?” His voice turned serious.

“No, that’s not what I want Mikey-”

“Then stop drinking like that! It’s not gonna bring Frank back!” I hissed at the sound of his name.

“Don’t say his name.” I murmured. He laughed, but it was dripping heavily with venom.

“He’s a part of you. You can’t just erase from your life. You love him and by God, I know he loved you, too. You two had something that not too many other people find. You can’t just drink it away.”

“Watch me.” I spat as I began guzzling down the vile liquor. He grabbed the drink from me and set it out of my reach.

“What would Frank think, if he saw you like this?” That struck a cord within me.

“I don’t know. I don’t want to know.” It stayed quiet for a few minutes. I didn’t want to think about how badly I fucked things up. I drove Frank to kill himself. Not alcohol. If I hadn’t cheated, he would still be alive and we would be together. I had to get the little ones out of here. I dug in my pocket and slapped a ten dollar bill on the table.

“There’s a nice little ice cream parlor just inside town. Take the kids and get them some ice cream.” He had a confused look on his face.

“What?”

“I need to think.” I walked into the living room and smiled as I saw my niece and nephew watching Curious George. I turned the TV off with the remote, and watched their faces fall.

“Your daddy is going to get you guys some ice cream. Why don’t you go with him?” They ran and gave me a hug screaming, “Ice cream!” I hugged little Alex close to me and kissed the top of his head, sensing finality for some reason. He let me go and ran to his dad.

“Aren’t you coming too, Uncle Gee?” My niece asked, her light brown eyes searching my face for answers.

“No, I’m not.” I kneeled down to her level. I cupped her rosy cheek in my hand. “Francesca, sweetie. Know that I always love you, okay?” She smiled her adorable little smile.

“I know that already. Cause I’m your favorite niece.” I chuckled a bit. I felt tears come to my eyes. I ran my hand through the light brown ringlets that fell to her shoulders. I picked her up, and hugged her for dear life. The tears slowly began to fall. Normally, little children scared me. The day she was born changed that all for me. She was my little buddy. I set her back down after a while, and wiped the tears from my eyes.

“When you all come back, promise me one thing.”

“What?”

“I don’t want you and Alex to come in the house, okay? Just stay in the car.”

“I will, Uncle Gee. I love you.”

Francesca’s POV, 10 years later

It’s been a while, but I remember those events as clear as a bell. I was six years old. I kept my promise to Uncle Gee and stayed in the car with Alex. Dad looked at me funny, then he looked kinda scared. He ran into the house. It was too late. My uncle had killed himself with a lethal combination of antidepressants and alcohol. Daddy said he was holding on to Uncle Frankie’s picture. I don’t remember him very much, though. I was only three when he died.

I do remember the strange events that happened afterwards. We decided to bury Uncle Gee next to Uncle Frank, underneath the gnarled old willow tree. After he was buried, we made our ways back to our cars to go to Grandma Donna’s for dinner. I looked back at the mound of fresh dirt and glittering marble headstones. I saw a faded figure in black looking down at the gravesites. I had thought that everybody left. I moved a little closer to realize it was Uncle Gee. I knew that it must have been his ghost. I saw another figure walking from behind the willow tree. He was shorter, and not wearing as much black. Uncle Gee turned and saw him. The other figure ran towards him and hugged him tightly. It must have been Uncle Frankie’s ghost. They kissed each other, and held hands as they walked from my view.

“Francesca!” I heard my mom calling. I turned and ran back to my family. I saw Daddy crying and held his hand.

“Don’t worry, Daddy. Uncle Gee is happy, now. He found Uncle Frankie and they’re happy again.”

And the angels sang a whiskey lullaby...