No One Knows

The next day was Saturday, which meant working at the record store for Jessie and sleeping for Billie Joe, followed by band practice. Jessie was glad nobody was up before she left for work. The tensions in the house had reached almost unbearable levels and she wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone. Her late night 'chat' with Billie Joe had left her restless and unable to sleep, and the bags she saw under her eyes when she looked in the mirror made her groan.

She had just sat down at the kitchen table to have breakfast, browsing a copy of the San Francisco Chronicle that had been left there from the day before, when a flyer on the chair next to her caught her eye. She picked it up.

SWEET CHILDREN
BILLIE JOE ARMSTRONG, MIKE DIRNT, AL SOBRANTE
MAY 25TH 1989
MAHUBAY GARDENS, GILMAN STREET
BERKELEY, CA

May 25th? That was the coming Wednesday. No wonder he had been spending so much time practicing with the band. She couldn't help but smirk at their choice of name though. She wondered if they had intended it to be ironic.

"You sleep at all last night, kid?" Eddie asked her, when she got into work.
"A little... why?" she asked, dumping her bag behind the counter and taking a seat.

He took a sip of his coffee and pushed a box of donuts across the counter towards her.

"Because you don't look as if you have," he said.

She sighed, as she took a donut out of the box and pushed it back at him.

"Do I look that bad?"
"No... you just don't look as fresh-faced as usual," he said, diplomatically.

She knew this was nice-guy code for saying she looked like shit. She put her head in her hands. Needless to say, she blamed Billie Joe for this.

"So what was it?" he smiled, "Wild night out? Drug-fuelled frenzy?"

She smiled. He only joked about it because he knew it wouldn't be true.

"Nothing that rock and roll, unfortunately," she said, "I just didn't sleep well. Got into a fight with my charming new roommate at about two am, and after that it was difficult to relax."
"New roommate?" he inquired, taking a sip of his coffee as he put some money into the cash register. "I thought you said you lived with your Dad?"
"I did," she said, "Well, I do. But we moved in with his girlfriend... long story. But anyway, she has this complete dick of an eighteen-year-old son who's about as happy about it as I am."

He raised his eyebrows.

"That doesn't sound good. What were you fighting about?"

She sighed.

"We've fought about pretty much everything so far. He's just such an ass."
"He go to the same high school as you?"
"Apparently he did... but he dropped out to 'pursue a musical career'"

She held up her fingers in quotation marks and Eddie laughed.

"I've used that line myself," he said, "If it helps you feel better, he'll probably end up running a record store."
"Knowing my luck he'll become incredibly rich and famous," she said, grimly.
"What sort of music does he play?"
"He's in some little punk band," she said, "They play on Gilman Street. And don't you dare look in any way interested or impressed."

Eddie laughed again.

"I've never seen you this venomous towards anyone," he said, "What's the name of his band?"
"The Sweet Children," she replied.

He paused what he was doing and looked at her sidelong.

"What?" she asked,
"Hold on," he said, holding up a finger.

He closed the cash register and hopped over the counter towards the punk section. She was surprised to say the least. Surely they didn't actually have a record out?

"Aha!" he said, triumphantly, pulling a record out of the rack and waving it at her. "I knew I'd seen that name. Those kids made an EP last year."

He started back towards her, and put the record in her hands. She looked at it.

Sweet Children - 1000 Hours EP

"I can't believe it!" she exclaimed, "They actually put out a record?"
"Wanna listen?"
"Yeah, put it on," she said, her curiosity completely getting the better of her. She knew she'd probably hate it so it didn't matter.

Eddie grinned, taking it out of its sleeve and putting it in the player under the counter. He leaned back in his seat, cradling his coffee cup in his hands as it started up. The handful of early punters looking around the store looked up and nodded in appreciation at the background music, while Jessie sat still, staring at the counter as she listened and chewing on her thumb. Halfway through the first track she looked over at Eddie, who was sitting there with an amused smirk on his face. He looked up at her and laughed a little.

"Jessie... " he said, "I know this isn't what you wanted to hear but... these kids have talent."

When she didn't respond, he laughed again.

"What do you think, kid?"

She didn't really know what to say. It wasn't anything like she was expecting, that much was for sure. And right then there was only one thought going through her head and it wasn't welcome.

Damn Billie Joe. He could actually fucking sing.

*** *** ***

"I heard you come in last night."

Billie Joe lifted his head from the sublime coolness of the tabletop and looked at his mother.
"You did?"
"Yeah. You and Jessie screaming at each other in the backyard wasn't easy to sleep through."

He sighed and dropped his head back on to the table. He was tired, he was hung over, he was pissed. He wasn't in the mood for a lecture.

Ollie sat down opposite him at the kitchen table and laid her hand on top of his. He was relieved by the gesture of affection, because he had been expecting her to start yelling at him.

"Look, Billie. I don't want to fight with you today, so just listen to what I have to say. I know you hate John being here-"
"-And Jessie."
"... and Jessie, but-"
"-And the cat."
"Are you going to listen to me or what?"

He rested his head in his hands, tangling his fingers in his disheveled black hair. Then he looked up at her through his eyelashes, signaling for her to continue.

"Okay," she said, "I know you hate it... and I'm sorry. And if you and John really don't get on then that's a problem we're going to have to deal with. And I'll be saying the same thing to him too, because I'm aware that you aren't the only one causing problems. But taking it out on Jessie isn't helping. At all. It's making the atmosphere in the house unbearable and I won't have it. In the end this is my house, and all I'm doing is helping out a friend. I don't deserve to be worrying about what I'm going to come home to every night and who's going to be screaming at who."
"But Mom, seriously. It isn't my fault. She's being a pain in the ass."
"And you're never a pain in the ass? She's been through a lot-"
"-I've been through a lot!"
"I know, sweetie," she sighed, squeezing his fingers, "But seriously. She's a sixteen-year-old girl. Are you really going to let her get under your skin?"

He sighed in frustration. She really didn't seem to understand.

"She just gets to me," he said, "They both get to me. I just... I don't think John deserves you."
"That's for me to decide," she said, softly, "It's not for you to worry about. The best thing you can do for me right now is just stop with the blazing rows and the door slamming and the swearing at everything that moves. If you and Jessie don't get on, fair enough. You don't have to. But learn to ignore each other or stay out of each others way. For a couple of months. Okay, Bill?"

He sighed. He didn't have much choice but to agree. He didn't want his mother to be even more disappointed in him than she was already. And he especially didn't want to end up looking like the bad guy in the situation. He was definitely not the bad guy.

*** *** ***

Her Dad was in the kitchen when she got in from work. He looked up as she entered, and she prepared herself for an interrogation about where she'd been.

"Hi," she said, dropping her backpack onto the table.
"Hi," he said, "Been at work?"
"Yeah," she replied, slowly.

She waited for him to comment, but he didn't. She let out a long breath.

"Heard you arguing with Billie Joe in the night," he said, eventually, "He giving you trouble? Because if he is-"
"-No," she said, quickly, "No, its fine. We sorted it out."

It was a lie, but she knew lying was the only option. If her Dad found out what an dick Billie Joe was being, he'd only go and make things worse by confronting him about it. A fight between the two of them was not something she wanted to witness, and would only make things fifty times worse than they were already.

"Good," he said, "Cause that kid has a serious attitude."
"I know," she said, "But I can handle him."

It was almost funny that her Dad was acting concerned about the way Billie Joe was treating her. Because even though they weren't getting on, her relationship with him wasn't anywhere near as bad as it was with her father.

Her Dad went out not long after, and it was a relief to have the house to herself. She was sitting watching TV when there was a knock at the door, and she hopped up to get it.

The young guy on the doorstep was a stranger, but she only had to take in the bright green hair and the grungy clothing to know he had to be a friend of Billie Joe's. He looked surprised to see her, but then she expected that. It wasn't like she really lived there, after all.

"Uh... hi," the guy said, nervously.
"Hi," she said, "You're a friend of Billie Joe's... .right?"
"Well, yeah, I- He's at band practice, and I'm going there too but... he said to stop by and pick up some... stuff"
"Right," she smiled, "So you wanna come in?"
"Sure," he said, stepping inside the house.

When he got closer she noticed he had the most startling blue eyes. Startling, without being cold. She didn't want him to think she was staring so she tore her eyes away and looked down.

"So... are you Billie Joe's sister?" he asked her.

She chuckled slightly at the suggestion.

"No," she said, "I'm kind of... a lodger. My name's Jessie."
"Cool," he said, "I'm... Frank. But my friends call me Tre."
"Okay... " she said, slowly, "So... what should I call you?"

He looked thoughtful for a second, then said,
"You can call me Tre too."

She smiled in amusement, and he smiled back. They kind of stared at each other for a few seconds before she cleared her throat, nervously.

"Are you in the band too?"
"Um, no," he said, breaking their eye contact, "I'm just standing in for their drummer... he couldn't make it today. He's going to college soon, they're having some issues, I think. And I left my band the other week cause... everyone wanted to do different stuff and so I'm just, y'know, kinda moving around and playing with whoever needs a drummer. Which is kinda cool cause it means I get to play a lot and hang out with a lot of different people and stuff and... "

He trailed off as he realized he was rambling. Jessie grinned at him.

"That sounds cool," she said. "You must be a good drummer if everyone wants you to play with them."

He shrugged modestly.

"I'm good enough I guess," he said, "... So how long you been living here? I don't remember Billie Joe mentioning it."
"Only a week so far," she said, "We'll probably only be here a couple of months. Or at least I hope so."
"How come?"
"Well... Billie Joe and I don't really get on."
"That's weird," frowned Tre.
"Why?"
"Cause... Billie Joe seems pretty easy to get on with... and so you do you."

Her eyes widened.

"Billie Joe, easy to get on with? Are you joking?"

Tre laughed.

"No, he always seems cool to me," he said, "You probably just got off on the wrong foot, is all."

She gave him a doubtful look.

"It could be worse really, because I've actually hardly seen him since I moved in."
"Yeah, we work on Gilman Street Time," said Tre, with a grin "Which is about 10 hours behind regular Pacific Time."

She laughed.

"He has this new girlfriend though," said Tre, "So I think he's been hanging out with her. That's probably why he hasn't been home much."

That was probably good news. Hopefully they'd get serious and he could move in with her completely. Or even better, run away and elope.

"I wouldn't worry though," said Tre, "You probably just need to get to know each other better. He's a nice guy really."

She looked at Tre doubtfully, and he smiled again, making her stomach flutter. She mentally kicked herself. Getting a crush on one of Billie Joe's friends was never going to be a good idea. She was sure that nobody was better able to poison someone against her than he was.

"Uh... I'd... better go to Billie Joe's room and pick up that stuff he needs for practice," he said, "That ok?"
"Yeah, go right ahead," she said.

He smiled again and jogged off up the stairs. When he was out of sight she covered her warm face with her hands and let out a deep breath. She really needed to get a grip.

When he came back, his hands full of various leads and wires, he opened the front door and then turned to her,
"Thanks Jessie," he said, with a smile, the blue eyes briefly catching hers.
"No problem."
"I'm going to go tell Billie Joe you aren't as bad as he thinks."

She laughed, feeling herself blush.

"Good luck with that," she smiled, before she closed the door.

She grinned to herself.

It looked like living with the Armstrongs could have some perks after all.