Union

Sitting in the wardens office at North Kern State Prison, Tre was in trouble once again. "Tre, I'm very disappointed in you. The brawling episode you had with Snake the first day you got here was absolutely absurd. And now this. What is your excuse?"

"I'm sorry warden. I just have my beef with him. You know, he did something that really affected my life," Tre said subtly, without leading the warden on, like a prison snitch.

"Do you want to talk about it?" the warden asked him.

"No," Tre said, shaking his head.

"Well, if you do, our counsellor will welcome whatever you have to say, and keep an open mind. She'll keep anything legal confidential between you and her," the warden said kindly.

"Thanks, but he did something very illegal, and if he gets in trouble he'll know I ratted him out," Tre sighed.

"You know Tre, Snake doesn't have many friends in your cellblock, besides his crime partner. If he's hassling you, I could have them both moved to another cellblock, if you feel the need to be protecting yourself with violence so frequently," the warden said.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" Tre asked with confusion.

The warden sat in a spell of silence before an escaped smile came on her cranky looking old face. "My granddaughter is a Green Day fan. And she believes you are innocent."

"Oh..." Tre said, a half smile appearing on his own face.

"Tre, I am strongly suggesting that you go speak with the prison's counsellor. It will do you a lot of good. I'm sorry, but for now I have to suspend your visitation priviliges," the warden said.

"What!? No...please. I have to be able to see my wife and kids," Tre gasped.

"I'm sorry Tre," the warden said, shaking her head. "I'm letting you off easy. I could have given you solitary confinement for your episode in the cafeteria today."

"I know..." Tre said. "How long am I suspended?"

"Two months," the warden said.

"Oh my God. Two months?" Tre stood up from his chair, and grabbed his stress-thinning hair.

"Two months Tre. Your punishment could have been much more severe. I am strongly suggesting that you improve your behavior if you want to make parol in three years time. Do you understand me?"

"Yes..." Tre sighed. "Can I go now?"

"Yes."

"Thanks."

"Oh Tre," the warden said, stopping him.

"Yeah?" Tre said, turning back around.

"Can I get an autograph for my granddaughter? She's very upset you're in prison and I think it would cheer her..."

"Sure," Tre answered, cutting her off.

The warden smiled and picked up a pen and a sheet of paper up off her desk. "She keeps telling me to go easy on you," the warden laughed. "Here..."

Tre laughed slightly and grabbed the paper and pen from the warden's extended arm, "Ah...what's her name?"

"Sarah," the warden said.

The sound of that name made Tre grimace and wince. He knew it was only coincidental, and quickly jotted down, 'Thanks for your support Sarah. Love you lots, the sexiest drummer in the world, Tre Cool.

***

"Hey Bill, where are you?" asked Mike as he drove down Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley on his cell phone, at approximately 1:30 PM.

"I'm at home."

"Oh, I tried your home phone already but there was no answer. Maybe you have your ringer shut off?" Mike suggested.

"Yeah, it's possible," Billie Joe sighed.

"So yeah, what are you up to today?" Mike asked.

"I don't know. I didn't get much sleep last night," Billie answered.

"I know..." Mike said, not thinking that Rose had been the one to tell him that.

"What?"

"Ah..I meant... I mean I know, I've been losing sleep too," Mike said, and made a 'phew' gesture across his forehead with one hand.

"Oh...yeah," Billie answered.

"Yeah," Mike sighed, feeling guilty about Rose. "Whoa..."

"What?"

"Holy fuck man," Mike gasped.

"What?!"

"There's Sarah!"

"What?! Where?"

"On Telegraph Avenue. She's standing outside of Rasputin Music," Mike replied with shock.

"Holy fuck. Are you serious?" Billie Joe asked.

"Dead serious. Yeah, she really looks religious. Holy shit. I think I just caught her in the middle of a drug deal," Mike said with excitement.

"Fuck, ah...umm whoa, do you have a camera?" Billie Joe said with a nervous excited sounding tone.

"Yeah I do, my cell phone," Mike said.

"We might have her. Pull over, take some pictures and call me back," Billie instructed.

"Will do," Mike said, and quickly hung up.

***

Rose woke up to Michelle crying in the early afternoon. It was only early May, but even in Northern California it was starting to get quite warm.

Tending to her daughter's diaper, she brought her downstairs to play for a short time. She loved to play with her daughter. Michelle reminded her so much of Tre. She had a nose just like her daddy, and eyes to match Billie's and her own.

"You like the rattle?" Rose asked her daughter in a sweet playful voice. Michelle was too little to understand. She was too young to turn over, crawl or even smile just yet.

Rose had Frank and Mike on her mind heavily right now. She felt terrible for letting Mike kiss her for as long as he did. She felt terrible for giving into his advances. Why had he come onto her though? Did he really feel something for her? And if so for how long? She now felt like he had practically taken advantage of the fact the she was lonely and in need of someone to reach out to. Now that she wasn't caught up in that moment when Mike and her eyes had locked, she could think about the situation more clearly. She could think it through, and decide how she really felt.

Just then the doorbell went off in the front foyer. Looking up from where she was amusing her daughter on the living room floor, Rose became curious, and a bit nerve-racked.

Was it Mike returning? She thought not, especially after an awkward kiss they had shared that morning. Picking her daughter up off a layed out blanket, Rose walked out to the foyer.

Looking out the window again, before answering the door, Rose was pleased to see it was only Billie Joe. "Hi," Rose smiled, as she opened the door and let her daughter rest to her side on one hip.

"Hey," Billie Joe replied, walking into the foyer. "How's it going?"

"I'm okay thanks."

"Hi Michelle...." Billie Joe smiled, leaning down to kiss his infant second-cousin on the cheek.

Rose smiled, "Come on in." She made her way back out to the living room, followed by Billie Joe. "Sorry about the mess."

"No worries. It's a big house and you have a lot on your plate right now. You should get a maid to come in," Billie suggested. He had the image of that person he had seen, in the background on webcam earlier that day. 'He sure did look a lot like Mike', Billie thought to himself.

"Yeah, I guess I'll hire someone to help me clean. Umm...so, did you stop over for any particular reason?" Rose asked, as she placed her daughter back down on the blanket on the floor.

"Well, actually yes," Billie Joe answered her nervously.

"Oh? Umm, what for?" Rose asked.

"Look Rose, listen. Mike saw Sarah down in front of Rasputin Music an hour ago," Billie Joe started.

"Oh, he did? Umm, why's that special?" Rose asked, feeling nervous to hear Billie mention Mike's name.

"He took some pictures of her selling drugs," Billie Joe said, breaking the news suddenly.

"Selling drugs?" Rose said, and she scratched her head of raven hair in confusion. "Wait, why was he taking pictures?"

"We want to file a counter-suit against Sarah, Rose. Mike just happened to be fortunate enough to catch her today, in the act of doing something very un-Christianly," he smiled, a twisted smile.

Just then, Billie Joe's cell phone went off in his back pocket. He set himself aside, and answered his phone. "Hello?"

"Hey man, it's Mike again."

"Oh hey, did you get the pictures?"

"Yes I did," Mike grinned.

"That's great. I'm over at Rose's house right now. Stop by and show us the pictures. Then let's go out and do something for your Birthday," Billie Joe said invitingly.

Rose shook her head subtly, yet said nothing. It appeared more as she listened into her cousin's phone conversation that she would be spending Mike Dirnt's birthday with him.

"Why a counter-suit Billie? Why not just kill her?" Rose said half jokingly, once her cousin was off the phone.

Billie Joe turned to look at Rose and gave her a 'that's what I was thinking, but no' sort of look.