Pieces of Truth

"Billie Joe, you're such an asshole!" I told him when he was done playing a set in San Francisco.

"Why?" he asked drunkenly.

He had gotten sloshed then played a show and said some pretty lewd things.

"Just get in the car," I sighed, knowing I should be used to it by now. Actually, I was used to it, I was just tired.

It was now mid-March and we had spent the last few weeks putting the finishing touches on everything and totally finalized things for the wedding.

"Can't we just elope tonight?" Billie asked as I led him into the house.

"Yeah, let's go right now," I answered sarcastically, setting his guitar down by the door to the basement.

"Alright! I'll be in the car, go get money," he slurred and somehow made his way out to his car.

I watched him get into the passenger seat and lean his head back, closing his eyes. He was out like a light, so I went back inside and went to bed.

"Why the fuck did I wake up in my car?" Billie's angry voice rang out and startled me.

"Huh?" I asked, sitting up and rubbing my eyes.

"You heard me," he said, standing at the foot of our bed.

"What is wrong with you?" I asked, simply staring at him.

"I slept in my fucking car, that's what's wrong with me!"

"Oh calm down you drama queen. You got drunk last night and got in the car thinking we were gonna
elope, then you passed out. What did you expect me to do, carry you in?"

He was being ridiculous, even he had to know that.

"You could have woken me up!"

"You're always out cold when you're drunk. You're letting your temper get the best of you."

I got up and walked into the bathroom, shutting the door behind me. I couldn't deal with him being an asshole at eight in the morning.

I quickly got dressed and went downstairs, finding Billie sprawled out on the couch in the living room.

"I have class from 10 to 12:30, so I think I'm gonna go get some coffee or something…" I wasn't sure what I was supposed to say to him after he had flipped out.

"Ugh. Shut the fuck up and leave already!" Billie hissed, making my jaw drop.

"Don't talk to me like that, Billie Joe."

"Then don't be a bitch and let me sleep in a car!"

He wasn't going to let this go.

"Quit being an asshole and get over yourself. You sleep in vans and tour buses, so sleeping in a damn car should be no big deal," I told him point blank, "I'll see you later."

"Grace.. Come here. Don't leave angry," he called as soon as he heard me heading for the door. I looked back and saw that he had scrambled off of the couch.

"I'm pissed off and annoyed and I'm leaving." I picked up my backpack and left the house. Billie needed time to cool off and I needed to focus on school.

I got out of class around 12:45 and went to Telegraph to find something to do. Heading to Amoeba, I checked the schedule to see that I wasn't on it for another few days. Ross was working now and I found out that he was just getting off of his shift.

"Want to hang out for a while?" I asked and he nodded.

Ross and I went to San Fran and got lunch at a small deli. We were talking about random things; the the latest earth quake, work, whatever came to mind. A man approached us, noticing Ross.

"Dude, long time no see!" the man, dressed in a black shirt, black and white striped pants, and black Chuck Taylors, smiled.

"John!" Ross grinned, inviting the dark haired man to join us.

"John, this is my friend Grace. Grace this is John Roecker. He's into film making."

"Oh, that's awesome!" I smiled, interested in this new friend.

When we finished lunch, Ross had to run but John offered to ride the Bart back to Berkeley with me. My car was still in the lot at school.

"Thanks for riding with me. I hate going alone," I laughed, feeling embarrassed.

"It's no trouble. I have nothing better to do anyway!"

We talked about a lot of things… John's films, Charles Manson, and we people watched.

"Hey, you're in that band with Ross aren't you?" John asked suddenly.

"Yeah! How'd you know?"

"Something about your voice. He gave me a copy of the record and you just sound familiar."

"That's weird," I smiled, "my fiance's speaking voice sounds nothing like his singing voice."

"Ooh, fiance?" John seemed curious.

"Yeah. He's my best friend and I love him to death, but he's being a dick right now," I shrugged.

"Tell me about it, honey."

As soon as John had said that, I knew I had found my new gay best friend. I told John about how Billie had been acting and he seemed intrigued.

"And he's in a band?"

"Yeah, Green Day," I nodded.

"Oh, I've heard their music. They're good," John told me, "I don't really know what to do about his behavior though."

"Gee, thanks John," I sighed as we got off the train and walked to UC Berkeley.

We exchanged phone numbers and I made him promise to show me a few of his films before giving him a hug.

"Later, Grace!" John waved as I got in my car and drove home.

I walked in a little after six and noticed that Billie wasn't there and he didn't leave a note. I made pasta and had a beer for dinner, then I went down to the basement.

Looking on Billie's desk, I found a few sheets of lined paper with what seemed to be lyrics written on them. I read over what was obviously a rough base for what would become a song or a portion of one. He wouldn't even touch a guitar until he had every single piece of the song worked out in his head. It was how he worked.

There were phrases like 'my temper flies' and 'all wound up', which showed that he must have written this right after I left. There were a few lines that were scribbled out, but that's how Billie operated. I put the papers back where they were, then went up to my study to do some homework.

Around ten I was finishing up some annotating when Billie walked in.

"Hey," I greeted, not looking up from my book.

"Don't hey me, Elanore," he sneered, catching my attention immediately. It had been years since he had called me that.

Billie was fuming and appeared to be a little buzzed, but nothing too severe.

"Uh.. What else am I supposed to say?"

"How about explaining why a bunch of my friends saw you with some guy in Berkeley?"

"Really?" I asked, not believing what I was hearing.

"What, you're not going to deny it?" Billie kept trying to get under my skin.

"Well let's see. I hung out with Ross…"

"It wasn't Ross. This guy had black hair," Billie said smugly, like he had caught me in a lie.

"That guy? He's Ross's friend. His name is John and he was at the place where Ross and I had lunch across the Bay. But I don't know why I have to explain myself."

"Maybe because you're a whore?" Billie blurted and I had to do everything in my power to keep myself from beating the shit out of him.

"You better watch your mouth. It's gotten you into trouble before and it sure is hell isn't doing you any good right now," I warned him, getting out of my chair.

"Who are you to tell me what to do?" he asked.

"Oh, I'm only the person you want to spend your entire life with! I'm starting to doubt if that's really what you want though," I said, brushing past him and leaving the house.

I got into my car and Billie was right there, banging on the window.

"Don't run off, I'm not done with you!"

I unrolled the window a bit, shooting him a glare because I wasn't going to let him see me cry.

"I'm done being harassed by the one man Spanish Inquisition. Later, Billie Joe," I rolled up the window, threw the car in reverse and drove off.

I spent the next few days at my Dad's, then I had to go into work.

"Hey, haven't seen you in a while. What's been going on?" Stella asked as we got things set up for a band that was playing that night.

"Not a whole lot," I shrugged, moving some boxes of CDs that needed to be shelved.

"Billie has been coming by and looking for you for the last week."

"It's really been a week?" I asked, not realizing how long it had been.

"Since what? Did you guys get into it?" Stella asked. She was definitely 'Team Billie and Grace.'

"Yeah. Nothing we can't handle though," I told her, trying to convince myself more than anyone else.

"You don't need to be fighting when your wedding is less than two months away."

"Tell me about it. Billie has his temper and is stubborn and I have my pride. What can you do?"

"Well for starters you can go talk to him," Stella said, nodding over to the check out counters.

I peered over and saw Billie, who was standing there nervously. He didn't look too bad so I knew he hadn't shut himself off like he usually did. I walked over to him, waiting for him to make the first move.

"When do you have a break?" he asked, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"I just got back from it. I'm off in three hours."

"Oh… Well could you come over after?"

"I have an appointment to finalize the flower arrangements for the wedding… If it's still going to happen," I said, feeling awkward to say the least.

"I hope it is," Billie told me, "just come home when you get the time I guess.."

With that, he smiled weakly and left the record store.