Last Kiss Goodbye

I stormed off back to our bus where Johnny and Jimmy were minding their own business; Zacky was nowhere to be found. I slammed the door to the bus shut and shoved Johnny on the ground; he was in my way of the bunks. I sent my fist flying into the wall in the back of the bus, probably almost breaking it. I don’t know how I could play tonight—I went on in two hours and my hand was fucked.

“Brian, what the fuck is your problem?” Johnny grunted as he walked into the bunk area.

“Shut up, Christ. Sydney’s here and she has a kid, which happens to be mine and I just walked away from the both of them.” I punched the wall again after having to be reminded of my stupidity.

“Are you a moron? You walked away from your own kid that didn’t know you? My god, Haner, you love kids. What the fuck is wrong with you?” Johnny asked.

“I don’t know; I’m full of mistakes lately. And this happened to be the biggest one. We always wanted kids together, and we wanted to name one Alex. Now I finally get to see the kid, and I ditch him before I even get to know him. Sydney raised him well, and after what I done I shouldn’t be in his life. Jacoby is better for him, way better.” I sighed and slumped down in front of my bunk.

“Brian, he’s your fucking son, something you’ve always wanted in life and now you’re walking away from him? I don’t know what to say to you, dude.” He hissed and walked away from me. I never pissed Johnny off, minus when I teased him.

“Johnny! I—I don’t know what I’m doing. She told me to leave!”

“You could’ve objected to that. I’m going to go say hi to her, I hope you realize what you did was wrong.” He said nothing more and walked off the bus. I tore open the refrigerator door and pulled out a bottle of Jack Daniels. I chugged half of it, then fell onto the couch, drinking the rest. Zacky walked onto the bus with Mateja, who wasn’t supposed to be here for a few days or so.

“Bro, what happened here?” Zacky asked as I downed the rest of my JD.

“Syddd hafffs a kid thaaats mine.” I slurred. One large bottle of Jack Daniels is more than enough for me.

“Sydney is here?” Mateja asked, beaming with happiness. She was always good friends with Sydney as well as Aly.

“Yeee!”

“Dude, you’re talking like you don’t know how to properly speak English, how much of that bottle did you drink?” Zacky looked at the bottle, questioning why I would be hammered before a show.

“Daaa whooole fing!” I giggled and rolled onto the floor.

“We have a show tonight, idiot. You know the deal; you get wasted after you play not 2 hours before!” Zacky scolded me like he was my mother. I walked over to the fridge and opened another bottle of Jack, chugged it all down, and collapsed to the ground passed out.

I woke up, unaware of what had happened. No one was on the bus, and I could hear fans screaming for Avenged Sevenfold in the venue. I scrambled to my feet and ran into the venue backstage. I threw on my guitar and ran over to Matt, who didn’t look so thrilled. Our manager gave us the 1 minute mark and we ran out to the stage, the crowd screaming louder than ever. It didn’t help because I had a massive headache thanks to Jack Daniels. I survived through the set, and as I finished I saw Sydney standing with Alex, Aly, and Mateja on the side of the stage. I took my guitar off and walked over to where they were standing. I wanted to officially meet my son.

“Sydney, I know you hate me, but can I please talk to Alex?” I practically begged.

“Fine, but I’m coming with you, Alex is shy and won’t talk unless I’m there,” She said with a hint of venom in her voice.

“Fine.” I figured putting up with her until to meet my son was worth it. We walked outside the venue away from everyone else, and not saying a word as we walked. Alex was placed in Sydney’s lap as we all sat on the grass.

“Hey, Alex,” I said and held out my hand to him. His hands were small and they tried their best to fit around my huge hands. He let go of shaking my hand momentarily after and buried his face into Sydney’s shirt.

“Hi, daddy.” He practically whispered.

“I’m sorry I never got to meet you, your mommy and I got in a fight before we knew about you. Today I just found out about you. I’m sorry for not being there, Alex.” His small, angelic face made a smile form upon his lips and reached out to hug me. A tear fell from my eye as I brought him into my arms. I longed for this day.

“It’s okay, Daddy. Are you and Mommy getting back together?” He questioned as he took my hat off and put it on his head. “I look like you now!” He added.

“Sorry, Alex, but your Daddy and I won’t be getting back together. He doesn’t seem to want that. I want you to go to sleep; Jacoby’s going to be worried if we’re not back soon.” Sydney spoke up.

“I don’t want to go!” Alex cried.

“Sorry I can’t talk to you longer, Alex. You can keep the hat though. I love you.” I gave him one last hug and a kiss on the cheek before Sydney pulled him away from me.

My face fell as I saw an innocent little boy already have to watch his family fall apart. He cried as he walked away with Sydney and hugged the hat tightly in his hands. I felt tears fall from my eyes as I watched my only son walk away for what would soon be forever. I headed back to the bus and proceeded to do the same routine as earlier, two bottles of Jack Daniels. It would probably be the only way to sleep. I took out a bottle and tilted it back as tears fell from my face.