Bam Margera's Responsibility

“Mom, I’m home!” My voice echoed through the large lavishly decorated house. My body of 16 years fully entered the house. “Mom?” No answer. I dropped my black school bag beside the coat closet. Slamming the door shut behind me, I ran upstairs to see where she might be.

My boots thumped on the second floor as I jogged from room to room. After checking all of upstairs, I went into the kitchen hoping she left a note. And she did, posted on the refrigerator was a blue paper. I snatched it off and read it aloud, “Out to get groceries, will be back in an hour”. I sighed and opened the fridge and pulled out some leftover spaghetti. I shoved it in the microwave and while it heated up, I sang Reverse This Curse by Escape the Fate. I took out a Tupperware of shredded cheese. The microwave beeped indicating the dish was done. I pulled it out wearing gloves. Setting it on the granite table shaped like one at a bar, I added some cheese on top and mixed with the silverware.

Eating away my lunch, the house phone rang. Swallowing my mouth full of spaghetti, I picked up the receiver recognizing the number. “Hello?”
“Hey Clo!” My best friend’s voice came from the other end.
“Hi Lor.” Lor was short for Taylor. She’s been my best friend since second grade.
“You know, your mom and mine went to the supermarket. And my genius of a mother didn’t prepare any lunch for me and my sister.”
I chuckled, “Well if you two come over, I can guarantee you the best spaghetti you’ve ever had.”
“Alright, we’ll be there in a few.”
“Later.”
“Yeah, get it ready now,” she said in a fake stern voice.
“Yes ma’am.” I replied in the same tone, and we hung up.

I went over to the fridge to get another two plates ready, when I heard the front door open and close. “Mom, is that you?” I called out.
“Yes I’m here,” she retorted back as she walked in the great kitchen holding paper bags with her best friend who just so happened to be Taylor’s mother.
My mom was wearing a formal black skirt and an off white blouse. Her stilettos clicked on the kitchen floor as she walked in with a smile. Sam, a.k.a. Taylor’s mom, on the other hand, was wearing dark jeans and a button up baby pink top, accentuated with strappy white short heels.

“Hello, Chloe” she greeted me.
“Hi Sam." I smiled back.

There is this policy that Lor and I had to call each other’s moms by their surnames, so it seemed like we were all the best of friends. “Lor’s on her way,” I informed the two women. Sam nodded and continued helping my mother putting her groceries away in the refrigerator and cabinets; both looked content as single moms.

Yes, I didn’t have a father. Honestly I never knew the guy. My mom was great, I loved it the way it was, just her and me. For a 28 year woman, she was very gorgeous, and I found myself wishing I looked more like her. I had her nose, silky straight hair and full lips, bad eyesight and that was it. Her deep soft brown eyes, her olive tone skin and her heart shaped face didn’t belong to me. My white complexion and my blue eyes were inherited from a father who never contacted me or my mother.

Some sort of canned food slipped from my mom’s palm, she bent down and picked it up. She stood back up at her 5’6 height. Her silky wavy auburn hair clouded her face. The door rang and I jumped from the tall stool. Swinging the front door open, I came face to face with Lor and her younger sister, Macie. I greeted them warmly and led them to the kitchen after closing the grand door.

“There you are!” Lor exclaimed as she saw her mother and mine chewing on leftover salads.
“Why, is there anywhere else worth being?” Sam joked. My mom, Ashley, and I chuckled.
We were happy that people always enjoyed themselves in our house. As Macie and Lor got comfortable on the stools and with their food, Melanie decided to break the silence.
“I can’t believe that tomorrow is the last day of school.” she gushed.
“I know,” explained Lor, “just yesterday it was the first day of school”.

I smiled to myself whilst finishing my plate. If you really thought about it, every nerve wracking moment does pass eventually. Time seriously does fly. And in October I turn 17. A few more months and I’ll have enough money saved to buy my own car, I thought giddily to myself. I giggled out loud, not noticing the stares I was getting from the people on the table.

Macie nudged my upper arm and smirked, “What’s so funny, Chloe?”
“I was just thinking that in three months I will finally get a car,” I smiled.
“Oh yeah, me too! So this summer, we should all go car-shopping for Clo and me,” Lor concluded laughing along with me and purposely being perky.
“Shit I won’t get it till another two years.” Mace grumbled.
“Macie!” Sam scolded.
“Sorry.” she mumbled. Lor and I snickered jokingly and my mom smiled down at her.
After we were done eating, Mom was finishing up the dishes and we were just chatting around. A silence settled down and I broke it as a light bulb switched on in my head.

I scoffed happily and formed a huge smile on my face, “You know what we should do?” I asked excitedly to Lor and Macie, really expecting a good answer.
Lor cocked an eyebrow at me and when she was about to say something, I cut her off, “we should just not go to school tomorrow!”
“Yeah! That’s an awesome idea!” Mace shouted breathlessly. Mom sat on a stool and asked,
“Excuse me. But, what about your finals?”
“Mom today was our last day of finals. So there really is no reason as to why we have to attend school tomorrow. I mean everyone will probably party and trash the school or ditch. And if you ask me, the majority of the school will ditch.” I raised my eyebrows hoping I made a point. “Yeah, we can sleep in and shop tomorrow!” Lor decided.
“Great! So what do you say?” I asked turning to the two mothers.
My mom smiled and to say so myself I think I’m a pretty good convincer. She turned towards Sam, waiting for her to accept. Sam looked at my anxious face and Lor’s and Macie’s brightly lip up faces. “Well, since it seems like today is your last day, then I guess if Ash’s fine with that, then I am too.”
That being said, we all breathed out in relief.

A few hours passed, Mace wanted to go see her friend, so Sam said goodbye as she went to drop her off. Lor and I hung out in my room; she sat on my plush purple couch and watched MTV as I opened my laptop, checking my email. I showered and changed into my pajamas, which consisted of yellow gym shorts and an Old Navy black top. Lor and I discussed how we should spend our summer, and tried to predict how amazing our senior year was going to be.

When the clock struck 8 pm, Lor was about to head home for dinner. As soon as I opened the grand door, the crisp spring wind smacked my body. I hid my body behind the door. “So I’ll call you tomorrow. And that time will probably be in the afternoon, knowing me,” we chuckled, “then we’ll meet at the mall later.” Lor smiled, “Sounds good. Well I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said before she pulled me into a hug and began walking back to her own house. She lived two blocks to the left across from my house.

Walking back in, I saw my mother in the kitchen eating her salad. She offered me some and I accepted. While we were enjoying the silence that hung in the room, she looked up from her plate and gave me a serious look.

At first, I thought I did something wrong, and was thinking back to earlier in the day. “You didn’t do anything” she said. It’s creepy how she can sometimes read my mind.
“Jeez, you made me nervous there, mom.”
She smiled back, and then became serious again. She looked like she was thinking hard how to start the conversation. “Do you ever wonder about your father?”
This question caught me by surprise. “Yeah I do.” I replied skeptically with raised eyebrows.
“I think it’s about time you meet him.”
My eyebrows furrowed in confusion and shock and my mouth immediately shot open. “Are you serious? Is he in Westchester?”
“Yes, his name is Brandon Cole Margera.”
My jaw instantly dropped. “You mean Bam Margera?”
“Yes, him.” She looked up taking breathing deeply waiting for my response.

I raised my hand to my mouth, tapping my index finger on my jaw. This was too incredible for me to comprehend all the information my mother consumed me with.
I didn’t mean to stutter but I knew I didn’t do a magnificent job of hiding my distress and hesitance, “How c-come he’s n-never visited?”
Again, she looked at me with those sorrowful eyes, “He doesn’t know, sweetie.”
“So you’re saying, he doesn’t have the slightest clue that he has a daughter?!” I scoffed.
“I never told him,” she sighed.

Once more, I scoffed with my brows raised. I couldn’t look at her anymore. Staring at the granite table, thoughts wandered in my head. How couldn’t she have ever told him? Why is she breaking the news to me now?!

“Why the bloody hell haven’t you told me before?! Did you plan on telling me on my last day of school?! Do you even freaking know that he’s married?!” My rambling didn’t help. But my mom silenced me and explained the most dramatic years of her teenage life. I didn’t once interrupt. What was I to say? Nothing I would have said would have made her feel better. Swiftly, rage evaporated from me. I had to be sympathetic to my mother right now, albeit deeply I wanted to shout in her face.

At least an hour later, I marched upstairs to my sanctuary. Opening the door to my air conditioned room and grabbing my iPod from my desk where it was plugged, I picked out my Beautiful playlist. Plopped on my bed with iPod on tummy, I placed my hands behind my head. My vision turned to black and my ears drowned out Ville Valo’s soothing deep voice to Passion’s Killing Floor.