It Seems I'm Too Far Gone

"Damn, Bill. Calm down, you look fine," Mike said, plucking absent-mindedly at his bass. Billie Joe was standing in front a mirror next to him, fidgeting with the collar of his shirt and pulling the bottom of it out of his pants once more, only to tuck them back in.
"You don't understand, Mike. This is serious business. These people are serious business. I have to impress them," he said, unable to cut himself off before he'd said it. Mike looked up at him.
"Since when did you want to impress anyone? And why should you care so much? What about Baily? You've already got a girlfriend, Bill, and-"
"Look, Mike, I know. I know how crazy I sound right now, and I also know that nothing I could say to you would make it sound any better. It would just make me sound crazier. I just, I want them to like me. I want to be able to see Adie in her home- I don't know," he said, slumping down onto the floor next to his friend. "I can't explain why this means so much to me. And I definitely can't explain why she means so much to me. She just does. And I don't want to screw this up. As for Baily... well, I'll let you know when I understand," he said, and stood up to try to compose his hair once more. This was going to be a long night.

***

Billie Joe finally got to Adie's house, and his feet felt like lead. The walk to her front door seemed to be a mile and a half, and it took all of his strength to lift his arm and ring the doorbell. Nevertheless, he did it, and he was still alive.
"Billie Joe, it's lovely to meet you. I'm Missy, I work for Mr. and Mrs. Raleigh," a nice young, blonde girl answered the door. She held her hand out and Billie Joe shook it, grateful for a friendly face.
"Hi, nice to meet you too," he said, a little hoarse.
"Well, come on in, supper's almost ready. Adie's actually setting the table," she said, ushering Billie Joe through the door. "You can go ahead and meet her in the dining room," she said, returning to the kitchen, which smelled amazing.
Billie walked around the doorways and found Adie placing silverware around the plates set up in the dining room. When she saw Billie Joe, she smiled.
"Oh, hi. I didn't even hear the doorbell ring," she said, then gave him a concerned look. "Billie, you're ghost-white," she said, but they both laughed. "Try not to freak out too much, ok?" she said, looking up at him through her eyelashes as she leaned to put the forks across the table.
"Yeah... easy for you to say..." he said, scratching the back of his head.
"Dinner!" Missy called from the kitchen. Seconds later, she appeared in the doorway, holding a platter of sliced, baked ham. It smelled out of this world.
There were six of them that finally sat down to supper: Mr. Raleigh at the head of the table, Mrs. Raleigh on his left, Maradith and Missy next to her, and Adie and Billie Joe on his right. For the first part of the night, they all sat in a looming, awkward silence. The only possible intrusion to this was a faint radio coming from the living room playing an old Scott Joplin record.
"You know this song, Billie Joe," Mr. Raleigh asked, in an attempt at conversation.
"Uh... It's 'The Entertainer,' isn't it?" he asked, as easily as he could.
"Ah, the man knows his music," Mr. Raleigh smiled and took another bite. Billie Joe shrugged.
"Eh. Not so much, it's a pretty common tune. My dad did like his jazz, though. He was a bit of a Jelly Roll Morton fan actually," Billie Joe replied.
"Ah. So he's the fan?" Mr. Raleigh said, grinning nicely.
"Was, sir. He passed away six years ago," Billie Joe responded, quietly. This time, even Adie looked at him sideways. He'd never mentioned it to her.
"Ah. Well, I'm very sorry to hear that. He sounds like a good man," Mr. Raleigh said, with a more serious tone.
"He was," was all Billie Joe could answer. In an attempt to lighten the mood, Mr. Raleigh tried again.
"So, have you lived here all your life?" he asked him.
"Yep. Same house and everything. Just west, down the road from here, and to the right," he said, casually. Adie's mom took a quick sip of her water and quirked her eyebrow silently.
"Hm... I haven't been out much. Afraid I haven't seen the neighborhood," Mr. Raleigh replied, oblivious to his wife's reaction.
"Sure you have, dear," Mrs. Raleigh spoke up. "We passed through it on the way to the restaurant last night, and when we first got here a few months ago. It was the one with all the little, white houses," she said, rather snobbishly. And in attempt to soften her blow, though she meant all the offense it came with, she added, "They were all rather homey."
"Ah... well, I'd have to see it again. It has been a few months since we moved here. My memory's not as good as yours, dear," he said, nervously. Billie Joe and Adie sat very still, both thinking the same thing, and poked at their supper.
"So, Billie, Adie tells me you have a band," this time it was Adrienne's sister, Maradith, to speak up. She grinned delightfully. Adie, however, gave her a look that could have frozen boiling water.
"Uh... Yah. I'm in a band called Green Day," he said, wearily.
"Sounds fun," she continued. "Is that why you want to drop out of school?" she said, and her facade didn't waver a bit, even when Adrienne's fork clanked onto her plate.
"Mare! This isn't twenty-friggin-questions!" she said, outraged. She couldn't believe after she confided in Maradith that she would go and be such a... well, such a bitch. Billie Joe raised his hand in attempt to stem the two of them.
"No, it's fine. Yah, that is though. My mom's trying to make me stay, but, I can't explain it. The band's what I'm really good at. I'd like to make that my career. I can't think of something I could ever be better at," he said, as logically and reasonably as he could think of.
"But not finish high school?" Adie's mother jumped in at this golden opportunity. "You're a senior, aren't you? You must have given up awhile ago if you don't want to go another few months," she said, taking another prissy sip of her water glass.
"Now, Mary, that doesn't mean he just gave up. If he's this serious about his career, I have to hand it to him that at least he has a reason, and a plan," Mr. Raleigh added, to Billie Joe's relief and surprise. "Now, what kind of band is this, might I ask?" he said, looking over at Billie Joe.
"Well, it's just a simple punk rock trio right now. It's me and my best friend, Mike, on bass, and we just got a new drummer, Tre. But we've all hit it off pretty well, so we're doing better than ever, in my opinion."
"Ah," Adie's father added, unsure of what to say next. He was doing his best to stay on Billie's side and protect him from his wife, but he wasn't helping him out much. Everything the boy said was a reason for Mrs. Raleigh to fire back.
"Where do you guys get to play around here? Is there a pretty big following?" he said, trying to keep it civilized once more.
"Well, we get small venues every once and awhile, but we also get to play at the club on Gilman Street a lot. They like us there, and, yah, we've got a pretty big fan base there."
"Gilman Street?" Adie's mother wouldn't keep quiet for this one. "That's a bit in a shady area, isn't it?"
Billie Joe fumbled over this one.
"Well, I mean, it's not so bad. If you know the people there. And it's all ages, so it's not too bad of a place. We all watch each other's backs. Nothing goes wrong," he said, taking another bite, in hopes to avoid answering another question.
"Sounds fun," Maradith added, again. Even when she looked down at her plate, cutting a piece of ham carefully, Adie could see her grin. It frustrated Adrienne so much to see her own sister like that. She, like most everyone else in this dining room, figured Billie Joe was just some random street trash that Adie picked up. Her "bad-boy" phase, that everyone was waiting to see finish. Only her father seemed to be making an effort, but even he had his doubts and patronization written clear on his face. It hurt Adie, but she understood their position. Even so, she wished they hadn't all been setting Billie Joe up from the start. Surprisingly, this was going worse than even she expected.
"So, what's for dessert, Missy?"