Amped Up: Why Is My Name Jason?

Once I was finished for the day, I headed back home and immediately went to my room. Things were just getting far too complicated here; I hated it. I walked into my room and saw that my mother’s ghost was sitting on the window ledge. “I really am sorry, Jason, for doing that, but your father is being really stubborn; I’m not really sure as to how long it will take to convince him to play Lovebug again. Ever since I died, your father hasn’t been the same person he was when I was alive. If you ask your aunt about it, she’ll tell you exactly the type of person he was. Losing me changed him and I don’t know why. Jason, I need you to talk with your father about this and make him understand what’s going on.”

“I know, Mom,” I sighed.

“Then get to it,” she said.

Though I knew I should, I did not immediately go talk to my aunt and father about what was going on here. For some reason, I just couldn’t go talk to them yet. “Not yet, Mom. I can’t talk to them quite yet about everything that’s been going on around here.”

“Why not?” she asked.

“Because,” I said rather annoyed, “it’s not like Dad is really going to listen to what I have to say. What’s going to make him listen to what I have to say now?” I wasn’t really sure of what my father was going to do, but I was absolutely sure of the fact that he wouldn’t listen to what I had to say. Mom may have been watching over me, however, she didn’t seem to understand that I was getting annoyed over the fact that my father constantly ignored me. It was CONSTANT! So, why would I go talk to my father if he never spoke to me? Garrett and Madison always spent time with Dad; this never made any sense to me as neither one of them was interested in music. I was. Therefore, Dad should have been spending more time with me rather than my stupid, self-absorbed siblings.

“I’ll make sure he listens,” she said.

“How?” I asked.

“You’ll see. Now, go talk to your father. I’ll be right there to support you,” Mom said putting a hand on my shoulder. “He’s going to listen to what you have to say. You can count on that.”

Though I was still unsure as to whether of not I could do this, I nodded and went downstairs to speak with my father about all of this. He needed to understand how much I truly hated him for ignoring me like this. Mom, Aunt Lizz, and I wanted him to go back to the way he was before I was born. Maybe then I would have an easier time convincing my father that he needed to play Lovebug for Mom. When I got downstairs, I found that only Aunt Lizz was there. “Um, Aunt Lizz, do you know where my father is right now?” I asked.

“No, why?” she asked.

“Because I need to talk with the two of you about everything that’s been going on here,” I told her. “Mom mentioned something about my father’s attitude changing after she died and I want to know how. You and my father are the only ones who can tell me what happened because of me. I mean, I could always ask Uncle Nick or Uncle Joe, but since you and Dad know the whole story, I’ve got to ask you guys. I mean, you’ve lived with him for eighteen years; you’d know what my father was like prior to all of this happening.”

“Ah,” Aunt Lizz replied. “Well, I’ll let you know when your father gets back. Then you can ask him about what’s been going on and why he changed. You deserve to know the truth.”