Watch Me.

The day started well. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, the coffee was calling to Frank from the kitchen downstairs, the door had just slammed behind his parents as they left for their second honeymoon or something of the like… absolutely perfect.

Frank stretched out in his bed with a big smile upon his face. He sat up and lowered his feet to the bare hardwood floor, chills ran up his spine from the stream of cold morning's air that ran along the dark brown surface. He shook it off and trudged to the bathroom scratching his scalp and yawning as he cast a look at the mirror. His face wrinkled as he’d seen his reflection – his eyes were small and swollen, dark circles enclosed around them and his face was even whiter than usual. Guess staying up all night to sit around on the roof, read graphic novels with a dying flashlight and chain smoke wasn’t a good idea after all. To hell with it, Frank thought, he was young and fairly resilient, some coffee and orange juice and he’d be as good as new. But first, he had to brush his teeth – the stale taste of nicotine mixed in with morning breath made him gag.

Downstairs, the coffee was just about the right temperature as he poured it into his yellow “The Comedian” cup and sipped on it slowly while opening the newspaper, elbowed against the marble kitchen countertop. Boring, boring, boring, robbery, kidnapping, boring, boring, dead body in Hudson park, boring…

Dead body in Hudson Park?

“BODY FOUND IN HUDSON PARK

An unidentified male body was found in Hudson Park at about 3 am this morning. The exact cause of death is yet to be verified but the police admitted that they have a murder on their hands due to the fact that this is the third body they have found in the last two months with similar injuries. At this moment, they are not at liberty to elaborate on that. All three murders share one curious detail: a yellow smiley face badge dropped in a pool of blood. Updates on the case coming soon.”

Frank couldn’t help it but to shiver a little. He glanced towards his coffee cup and frowned, then pushed its yellow porcelain body aside, deciding to use another mug instead. That was just too freaky and definitely too close to his house.

“The fuck I’m taking a walk down there ever again,” he mumbled and crossed out the word breakfast in his mind.

There was talk about the murder on TV, they even showed some photos from the crime scene, a covered body and what looked like a couple of gallons of blood on the muddy ground. The leaves around the body were dripping with gore and CSI’s with their white gloves pricked and prodded against the soil in search of further evidence. The yellow smiley face was shown in a close up photo, stained with red.

The guy turned out to be some petty dealer, just like the previous two and the cops suspected that either gangs or the mob had something to do with this.

Frank turned off the TV and ventured upstairs to get dressed and was back down wearing his sweats and chucks with a simple black t-shirt – just in time to get the door.

A relatively tall, skinny boy stood outside the Iero’s house looking fairly excited with his eyes growing ever bigger as Frank answered his doorbell.

“Dude, Gerard’s back in town!” He all but shrieked and knocked Frank down on the floor, jabbing his bony knees in Frank’s ribs.

“Okay, “ Frank sighed pushing him off of himself, “Mikey, first: ouch, second: ouch, third: you need to put some meat on those knees and fourth… who the fuck is Gerard?” He finished with a questioning look as he helped Mikey up.

The taller boy adjusted the glasses on his nose and the red bandana around his neck and coughed. He pulled out his inhaler with an apologetic look and a shrug then took a big puff.

“Gerard is my big brother… I can’t believe I never told you about him!” Mikey walked deeper into the house and finally settled in the back yard with Frank dragging behind him. “See, when mom, nan and I moved here from The City, Gerard stayed behind with our dad saying he wanted a little more time with his friends or something, I don’t even know how he got mom to agree with him on that one, by the way. And since school is out and all, dad took some vacation time and they both came down here. Gerard's staying until college starts – he got into that School of Visual Arts and is really psyched about it.”

Mikey took a deep breath and another puff of his inhaler. Frank stared at him dumbly, careful not to fall out of the hammock he settled in.

“I’ve never heard you talk so much before,” he commented and started to laugh. Mikey joined in and then suddenly stopped, “Well, you’ve only known me for about a year now… perhaps the fact that I can talk a lot and like, really, really fast isn’t my only dark secret,” Mikey said and grinned impishly, rubbing his hands.

Frank mock-glared at him and shoved him lightly. “I don’t really take too kindly to secrets, man, so if you’re some loony or whatever, better spit it out now or you’re getting the wedgie of your life,” he chuckled and leaned back in the hammock, relishing the morning sun.

“Nah,” Mikey smiled, “I suck at keeping secrets,” he said and took off his glasses, rubbing his eyes. Well, most of them, he added in his mind.

“Rough night? Coffee?” Frank asked.

“Yeah, Gee and I kind of stayed up all night watching shitty B-production horror flicks which I really, really, really hate, by the way, and catching up and all that brotherly bonding stuff,” Mikey answered the question through a yawn.

Frank took the boy’s hand and took him to the kitchen where he poured him a cup of lukewarm coffee, eyeing his yellow mug from time to time.

“So when do I get to meet the Way that makes you talk like a cheerleader on speed?”

Just a few blocks down, a boy sat on his bed and stared into the mirror opposite him. He peeled off his purple shirt and threw it across the room. The cotton fabric hit the wall next to the mirror and fell to the floor soundlessly.

“Gerard, sweetie, how about some of your nana’s famous waffles?” His grandma’s voice came from downstairs.

Gerard’s face brightened slightly as he stood up and put on a fresh shirt, casting another glance at the mirror where he was met by a couple of permanently sad hazel eyes. How easy it would be for him to just slip up and lose it all one day.