Remodelling the Wreckage of My Past

Mom got out of the car and slide a hand in her jeans pocket before taking out a silver key. She smiled as she looked at us, making sure we were all out of the car as she locked it.

“Ready?” she asked as she walked up to a house that looked uninhabited. I saw Angelina frowning as Celia was tugging at her sleeve.

Mom slide the silver key in the lock and twisted the knob before kicking the door opened. She switched on the light and opened the door wider so we could all come in.

“What is it?” asked Celia, looking around. The paint on the walls was faded, the floor was dirty, it was obvious that no one had been living here for a while…

“That’s Cha’s old house.” Explained Mum with a smile. “I know, I know, it’s horrible… But I promise it will look great once I’ll be done with it… Just need to buy some paints, and stuff… But despised the fact that it’s looking terrible, what do you think of it? Do you think you can actually like it enough to live in it full time? 24/7?” she asked, holding the silver key in front of us with an anxious expression.

“You mean, leave the East Coast?” asked Angelina, “and come live here?” she added.

Mum nodded with a small smile.
“The other night, when I left Brian’s house, I was searching in my jeans pocket for my cell phone when I found this…” she said, looking at the key, “I had completely forgotten about it, and then I remembered what it was for, so I drove to L.A and talked with Billy about it and stayed the night, the next morning I drove back here and phoned Cha. She offered it to me but I refused, I only accepted after we discussed this and I offered her to renovate it and install a studio in the basement.” She explained. Her declaration was followed by a squeal and next thing I know, Mum was on the floor, with Angelina and Celia both squeezing her to death.

“We’re staying in HB!” squealed Angelina and I chuckled, holding my hand out to help our mother back on her feet. She brushed the dust off her pants and grinned.

“I’ll take that as a yes… Do you want a tour of the house? That way you can choose your room and tell me what color you want it to be.” She offered.

“Purple!” yelled Celia, taking a hold of Mum’s hand. We all chuckled and followed Mum further into our new house.

**

“Okay, so let me get this straight. Celia: purple and pink. Angelina: grey and purple. Aiden: blue and grey. Is that right?” she asked, quickly scribbling down on a piece of paper.

We all nodded and she smiled, folding the paper and putting it in her wallet.
“I’ll start tomorrow, but for now, we are going to the studio, I want to show something to the girls.” She explained, putting a thick notebook in her messenger bag.

“Are you sure they are going to be there?” asked Angelina as Mum locked the front door behind us.

“I called Cha when I was waiting for you in the car, they are waiting for us with pizzas.” She explained. We raced each other to Mum’s car.

**

Mum killed the engine and turned to look at us.
“Let’s go?” she asked, as an answer, we all left the car and ran straight to the studio, not bothering to wait for her. Celia and I both burst through the door, scarring the girls in the process.

Cha was holding a hand on her chest and was looking at us with wide eyes.

“Guess what?” asked Celia as she jumped on Ash’s lap.

“What?” asked Jess and Ash, while Cha just smiled, already knowing.

“We are staying in HB! Forever!” squealed Celia, hugging Ash.

“No way, is that true?” asked Jess, looking at me and Angelina.

“Hell yeah, Mum show us Cha’s old house! It’s going to be awesome once it will be renovated!” explained Angelina as she sat next to Cha and rested her head on her shoulder.

“Thanks for waiting for me kids, it’s always nice…” muttered Mum as she entered the room and dropped her bag next to the couch and then looked at the girls. “By the look on your face, I’m guessing they told you.” She said, a smile forming on her face.

“That’s so awesome!” yelled Ash, wrapping her arms around Celia and getting up, engulfing Mum in a hug. Everyone joined the hug.

“That’s so cool, no joke. Oh my God, does it mean you’re back for good? Which means, you can join Perfect Nightmare again? Oh my God!...” started Ash.

“Ash, please, calm down. Stop rambling, you’re worst than Jimmy!” said Mum as she sat down between Jess and Cha, taking her notebook with her.

“Is that…?” started Cha, looking at Mum with her eyes full of hope.

“Yeap, that’s the one!” said Mum as she opened the notebook. I sat on the armrest on Ash’s side as Angelina sat on the armrest on Cha’s side.

“What is it?” asked Angelina, looking curiously as Mum was looking through the pages full of Mum’s messy handwriting.

“Lyrics, pages and pages of lyrics. From Lyn’s first song to the last song of our second record…” started Jess.

“And much more…” ended Mum. “That’s what I wanted to show you, I got at least 30 new songs written up, songs I wrote while we were on tour and some other I wrote a while back.” Mum explained a serious expression on her face. “I don’t know what to do with it, so… Yeah, since Nat completely suck at writing, do you want them?” she offered, closing the notebook and resting her hand on the cover.

“What? You can’t actually give us songs without being a part of Perfect Nightmare!” said Jess. “Now that you’re back, we can kick Nat out and you take your place back.” She added.

“No Jess, I already told you that. I need to settle things down before doing anything important like joining a band or anything. I can participate in my own way, by giving you lyrics and some guitars riffs, already written down next to the songs.” She said as she set the notebook on the coffee table. “I’m letting you some time to think about it, read the lyrics and stuff. Just think about it, okay?” Mum said.

Cha nodded her head sadly, like everyone else, she was hoping Mum would come back in the band…

“Who wants pizza?” offered Ash as she took a slice in one hand and the notebook in the other. Celia jumped off her lap and ran to Mum, jumping on her lap.

“Dad wants us to go to Disneyland, he said to ask you!” Celia said, looking up at Mum with her puppy eyes.

“Dad?” Mum asked cautiously, “You talked to Billy recently?”

“Nah, not Billy. Brian.” She said, rolling her eyes. Mum froze.

“Celia, Brian isn’t your dad, he’s Angelina and Aiden’s father. Billy is your father.” She explained, calmly. Celia pouted and crossed her arms over her chest.

“Hum, what Celia was saying is that Brian suggested that we could go to Disney… You, Celia, me, Aiden and Dad.” Said Angelina, looking at Mum and then at Celia who was sulking.

“Sure, why not… I’ll talk to him about it.” She said, as she grabbed a slice of pizza and handed one to Celia who took it thankfully.

“Oh my God…” sighed Ash, her gaze glued on the notebook. “That’s fucking brilliant Lyn, I love it!”

Mum smiled and took a bit of pizza.

**

Mum killed the engine and we got out of the car. She locked the car and walked with us to the front door, she opened the door and we all walked upstairs, trying to make as little noise as possible. It was close to 3am, we had lost track of time at the studio, especially when Ash suggested to jam a little. Well, their little jam session lasted 2 hours.
Dad’s car was in the driveway, so it was evident that they were back from their night out and by the lack of noises coming from their room, they were asleep.

We stopped at our room as Mum went to Celia’s. She came back a few minutes later, Angelina and I were both in bed.

“Good night kids, and don’t be too harsh on Nat…”she said as she kissed Angelina’s forehead. I looked at her, my eyes wide and she laughed. “I’m just playing with you… But try not to get caught or anything, and don’t forget to change her ringtones… Okay?” she said before she kissed my forehead.

“Night Mum.” We both said at the same time as she walked over to the door.

“Night.” She whispered before closing the door behind her.