Start the Show

“We should all live together.” Pete was saying
“It’s better for the environment too.” Andy added
“I’m in!” Joe said.
In those few weeks I saw where Joe was staying. The crappiest looking dump I’ve ever seen. Basically the kind of dump that you could have sex on the lobby desk if you really wanted to. Not ideal living conditions, but remember Northern Uganda struggles a helluva lot more than us all so be good to the local charity.

We had already packed up for the day and we were sitting in a café that Patrick had introduced us all to…

Rememory time!

We were all led inside the restaurant like blind mice.
“Dude, Patrick, I thought you said this was a bar not a fucking coffee shop!”
Joe’s first impression on the waitress Betty, down to every last detail.

Our hot chocolates (or cocoas, whatever you want to ) had just arrived with the waitress adding a special wink in Patrick’s direction. The waitress, Betty, had apparently known all his life, she told us one day. She didn’t like Joe either, just like the bartender guy (at the Scottish bar).
We all agreed on the idea of flatting. Then again I didn’t know of the dangers of flatting with four boys.
You could probably guess how it ended up. The only girl in an otherwise all boy house. Let me just say Fall Out Boy is… messy.
After that we had our marshmallow eating contest (see who fnishes their marshmallows first without using your hands). I came second to last and Pete used his best excuse saying that his invisible moustache was getting soaked which caused it to go brittle and explode.
“So…” I asked triumphant in not coming first for once, “Howzit with you know who?”
He smiled, “Just y’know. The status quo.
I smiled back.
I had known full well about the relationship growing between Jacky and Pete. I mean seriously, after that one night, you could tell from then they were… an item. They just had a spark.
“We’re meeting up tonight.” He said quickly
“Thanks.” I said, happy that he answered my question finally

And I am truly sorry that not everybody’s questions get answered on here.

Patrick was staring out the window blankly, watching a stray cat run past the roadway into a gutter.
“You are so paying next time!” I said grinning (score, saved myself money there, economic genius, I am!)
“Or what?” he said walking out of the door into the impending darkness
“Bastard.” I said, pulling the fingers through the black glass when I saw his car lights flash past. Betty grunted a little from behind her counter, where she was drying the dishes. She was just beginning to get used to our foul mouthed wa ys but she wasn’t quite there yet.
“So, are you going to tell your mom now?” Andy asked.
“What?” I said, still euphoric from my little bout of rowdiness
“Only that we’ve been together-.”
He paused for a second then decided to rephrase what he said
“-that you’ve been in a band for almost a year and that we’ve just been signed?”
“Oh….” I paused. I still didn’t tell her. I had to and I knew it because the guilt had been eating me up from the inside for a while now.
“I’ll do it tonight. I promise.”
“Do you need… moral support?” Andy asked awkwardly. Damnit, I hated those still awkward stages, even after one year. Patrick and Joe just watched from the opposite side of the booth
“We’ll come.” Patrick said, taking a stand for once
“Okay. Tonight.” I said, “Are you guys done yet?”
Joe took one last huge gulp of his cocoa, leaving a huge milk moustache
“Let’s roll!” Joe said, not bothering to wipe away the milk moustache. I had the worst urge ever to wipe it off with a napkin, in a motherly way

Five Minutes Later: In Our Little Convoy Groove
Up ahead at the traffic lights, Joe was rocking his car (braking and accelerating in short bursts) and I heard Iron Maiden blasting through his newly upgraded speakers. It was apart of his birthday present we had gotten him last year. With all the earnings we made, we pitched together and bought a second hand van then pimped it out. I truly believe Pimp My Ride was copied from us at times. Nobody had to worry about the suspicious red spots now, so really it was an advantage to everyone who ever carpooled with Joe. Even though we got Joe a totally pimped out van, he never had the heart to take his old Barina to the dump.
I had to take the lead, showing the drections to my house. Joe was the only one that had been to it before, but even he hadn’t been back for a while. The unkempt lawns would show off how bad Frank really was.
I pulled over onto the side of the road and hopped out. I swallowed so loudly I could hear myself aloud. The other cars pulled up in quick succesion behind mine. They all locked their cars suspiciously, because a big group of scary people just went past.
“We have to be careful.” I warned them all, “Mom’s a little…….. psycho? Don’t worry Frank is worse.”
“We can do this, don’t worry.” Andy said defiantly
“Okay.” I said, not knowng what to expect when I knocked on the door
I rang the doorbell. Six times and I got an answer saying, “I’m coming.” It was obviously Frank.
Thirty seconds later the door opened and he was staring down at us all
“What do you want?” he asked
“To speak to my mother.” I replied back sternly
“I guess you can. For now.” He added nastily. He backed out of the way, glaring at the guys angrily as they walked in. Patrick even took the time to wipe his feet six times each and he still got a death glare.
Mom was sitting on the couch, sprawled out, in a nurse costume. Patrick and Joe gagged behind me
“Yes?” she said, keeping her eyes focused on the square box she had become a martyr to. She twirled her hair, which was a habit I had picked up from her
“Um, I’d like you to meet my friends.” I said nervously
“So you’ve achieved the ability to have sex with three people at a time, whoop-de! Trust me honey, I’ve been there and done that.”
I grunted under my breath
“Could you at least have the sense to listen to your own daughter?” Joe said angrily
“Oh, is it really you Joey?” she asked, mocking him and sitting up on the couch
“We’re in a band.” I said simply
“Oh okay then, go throw your life away. You’re no good anymore because you aren’t worth benefit money. You’re old enough. Go piss of like Alex and Trixi did”
I felt my ears and cheeks burn angrily
“What the fuck, you stupid bitch!” Patrick said, in an outburst, flipping out completely as he does
The room went silent
“How can anyone be this…tragic… to their own daughter?” he said, shouting. I turned around and he was shaking, his hands balled into white knuckled fists
“Get your stuff and go.” Frank said grinning malevolently. He had finally gotten Mom to himself
I stood there and I knew I was trembling
“Let’s go.” Joe said, grabbing my arm and leading me to the hallway. He practically had to drag me there, upstairs to my room
“You’re a monster!” Patrick said as we walked up the stairs
When we got into the bedroom I slammed the door and hunched over on the ground.
“How can she do this to me?” I asked.
Joe came and wrapped an arm around me
“Don’t worry ‘bout it. We’ll look after you now.” He told me
I smiled in spite of myself. It just seemed a little weird at the time.
“Do you have a suitcase?” Andy asked
“Um… no…” I said flatly, “We’ll take one or two of hers though. Sure she won’t mind.”
I added the last part bitterly, still feeling the tears fall in big ugly patches on my black jeans.
“Where are they?” Andy asked
“In the cupboard, two doors down the hall.” I choked out
Five minutes later the four of us achieved a heap in the middle of the floor. My intention was to use as many bags as I wanted, she didn’t mattter. There was no objections anyway. I was going to become an adult in a matter of hours, living by myself. Not that I blamed any of the guys (especially Andy) for getting me there.
“Where am I gonna stay tonight?” I asked
Really that was only to Patrick if I was going to stay at one of their houses.
“You are staying at my house tonight. Mom won’t mind, she’ll just be proud of me.”
We all laughed but it stopped abruptly when I went back to stuffing more stuff into bags
In twenty minutes, I was done and embarrassingly enough I had to go through my underwear drawer with them all watching. Andy cleared his throat loudly. Patrick was turned the other way when I turned back and Joe was just watching me. In total, I managed to make six bags of stuff I “needed” (I’m a total packrat so I hate to throw things away). Joe and I took an extra bag each.
I didn’t even want to take another look at Mom.
We still haven’t made any ground since then
She didn’t make a move at all, and she showed no remorse. Nor did Frank.
I know it sounds so angsty but I actually don’t care right now about whether the two of them are dead or alive.
All of the bags got piled up against each other in my car and we left. I had been to Patrick’s house once before then so I followed him back to his place.

Patrick’s always been a psycho driver. You can tell he gets mad at the traffic lights, even in a whole different car.
“Welcome to my humble abode.” Patrick said, as we walked into his parents house.
“Um. . . You can take my bed. I’ll sleep on the ground.”
“What? I’ll sleep on the ground.” I said
“No. Not after what happened tonight Crystal, you need a good sleep. I’ve got nothing to stress about.”
“Aw, thanks.” I replied, thinking of the fact that Patrick could probably not live a day without stressing about something. (e.g, ARGH! HOLY MOTHER FUCKING SHIT! WHO GOT JELLY IN THE MOTHER FUCKING PEANUT BUTTER??! *head explodes*)
“My bedroom’s just down the hall.” he said, pointing it out, “Second on the left.”
I walked into his room and it was how you would imagine a Patrick Stump’s room to be. Screwed up paper and stacks of CD’s in the corners. There were a few pictures of bands like Prince and David Bowie in the walls.
“Can’t wait until we find a flat.” Patrick said behind me
“Yeah.” I thought out loud
“Well. Um, the bathroom is one door down fom here.” he told me thoughtfully
“Thanks for everything man. I really appeciate this.”
“It’s okay. So long as you’re not a bedwetter.”

Thus the birth of my “disappointed girlfriend face”. Thanks a lot Patrick!

Several Weeks Later (Again):
By this time, Dad had gotten a hold of me on the phone. It ended up in a huge heart-to-heart over the phone. I was on a plane the next day to see him. He payed for the ticket because his publishing company (haven’t published anything that would be of particular interest to you guys!) had really jumped off the mark.

“Crystal?” he called at the terminal as I walked off the plane. The ride over was only about three quarters of an hour.
“Hi dad!” I said, almost running to him with my duffle bag of things to last a few days.
He hugged me tightly.
“Oh Jeez, it’s been too long. Has Trixi still got her lip pierced?” he asked as he walked me into the parking lot.
“Yeah. . . Where’s the car?” I asked
“Here.” he said simply pointing to a suave looking BMW.
“Holy crap Dad! How didja buy that.”
He laughed, “Like I said. Business is booming. C’mon, I’ll show you the new house.”
He opened the door and took my bag into the back.
I swear I saw Cher walking out of the airport. Just a daydream.

“So how’s this band thing of yours workin’ out for you?” he asked, once we were out on the motorway
“Um. It’s good. We’ve done a few shows.”
“Good. Found a place yet?”
“Yep. In the middle of town.”
“Oh. . . Right. . .”
Dad seemed distant for a few seconds
“What?!” I asked jokingly
“Just make sure those boys don’t hurt you.” he said, taking his eye off the road temporarily to look at me.
“No it’s okay Dad, they’re nice guys. Joe’s there too, don’t worry.”
“Oh yeah, I think you might of mentioned him about twice. Overtook you didn’t he?”
I nodded shamefully. “By a bit.”
We talked on for the next ten minutes about a ton of important tings, you don’t need to hear about.
“Um, I did. . . relocate.” Dad said testingly.
“You what? Why?” I asked. The bach was where we all treated it like a sanctuary from Mom. We would go fishing when the sun was out and we’d all camp out in the backyard around the fire at night if it got cold.
“Well, business purposes y’know? I couldn’t keep up to everything at the beach house. Sometimes I couldn’t even get cellphone reception out there.”
“So did you sell it or what?”
“Uh, actually there’s a small fortune coming from people renting the place out. They’ve renovated a little as well.”
*silence*
. . .
“Did they paint my room?” I asked, thinking of the intricate designs we spent hours woking on
“Actually that’s the one room I said they couldn’t re-paint. They’ve got kids in there, don’t worry.”
He smiled warmly and I took a deep long breath
“So where are you living then?”
Dad sighed quietly
“I’m living in a penthouse, in the city.”
“Okay.”
More silence as we pulled into an exit from the highway.

Later on that night we were both sitting outside on the balcony, looking out at the city, gradually growing darker as each minute passed by.
Minutes which passed by at the speed of a legless sloth.
“So…” Dad said, making a feeble attempt to strike up a conversation, “Bringin’ in the bacon yet?”
An ambulance went past before I answered, staring at a pigeon on another building. It was KILLING me with it’s evil stare.
“Umm, we got a few hundred so far, but then we spent a whole heap of it on, um, pimping out Joe’s van.”
“Oh. Does he still love his metal and all that?”
“Yeeaah…” I said, drawling slightly
“So when do you plan to dominate the world?
”In a couple of months.” I said jokingly
We both laughed awkwardly.
I had the feeling he sighed, just a little. We both knew that night was going to be a long one.

I’m not sure why, but for some reason Dad had turned unneccessarily awkward with me. Maybe it was because we had barely contacted each other in over two years.
I suspected he found another woman but I didn’t ask.
Finally he came out with what he was supposed to say.
“Crystal, I have abdominal cancer.”
“What?! Can they remove it?!!” I answered, my eyes already sparkling from the raw emotion turning my stomach over.
“No, It’s terminal.” he tried to say, trying in vain to keep his voice from wavering.
“How… how much t-time do you have left?” I asked trying to sound strong.
“Two months.”
I burst out in tears, collapsing onto him. He winced because I landed on his stomach.
“Sorry.” I said in my hysterical voice
“It’s okay.” He said through his teeth
“I’m selling the business.” He told me, “Now that it’s worth something, I can sell it. I’m leaving all of my money to you kids. I know you’ll split it fairly.” We remained silent just staring at each other
“Come back home with me.” I pleaded
“The doctor isn’t letting me travel anywhere. Basically I’m on home detention.” He laughed lightly but stopped fast
I spluttered a little more and he wrapped his arm around my shoulders.
“I’ll be fine Crystal. You know everybody has to die at some point.”
I couldn’t take it anymore from that point. I excused myself hastily, ran to the room allocated for my visit, locking the door and crash landed onto the bed.

The next morning, Dad was dropping me off at the airport again.
I began to continue going to the Check-In’s after a quick goodbye, giant hug and a kiss on my cheek but he stopped me
“Hey. Um, could you hold on a second?” he said. He pulled out a camera
“Your first papparazzi shot?” he asked, holding the camera hopefully. He asked a man in a Hawaiian shirt to take a picture of us, Dad’s arm wrapped tightly around me.
“Say cheese.” He instructed me. I didn’t bother but I tried to rustle up a smile from somewhere.
“Thank you.” Dad said, accepting the camera back.
I tried to get away again but Dad pulled me back. My legs had stopped functioning properly. He gripped me tightly by the shoulders.
“Crystal.”
I answered limply, staring at the ground
“Look at me… please.” So I did.
“Listen, I want you to go far okay. Don’t take shit from people who abuse you. Stay strong. Keep on going with anything you want to be, I’d be proud of you wherever you get. Remember that for me okay.” I nodded sadly
“You.will.go.far.” he told me, “I love you.” He said, reeling me in for another bear hug. I turned around, then back again to see him one last time but he was already out the door.