Shattered By Broken Dreams

Brian’s apartment

It was Stormy who woke up with a hangover this time and her head was throbbing mercilessly. She went to the bathroom to get two Tylenol and walked back to the kitchen to get a glass of juice.

Brian walked out of the bedroom and saw Stormy standing there by the kitchen counter taking the pain relievers. He walked over to the kitchen area to get himself a cup of coffee. She was standing near the coffee pot so he walked behind her and placed his hand on the small of her back while he reached around and grabbed the coffee pot and poured himself a cup of coffee.

Melody had come out of her room and walked out into the living room. When she saw the little show of affection that Brian had given Stormy, it pissed her off. So she walked up to the counter and decided to make it stop.

“Dad?”

“Yes?” he smiled at his daughter who sat at the stool in front of him.

“I’m not going back to school tomorrow” she whined.

“Yes you are” he said and took a sip of his coffee. Stormy grabbed her coffee cup and took a sip as she turned the page of the newspaper that had been left on the counter.

“Why?” she huffed. “I’m stupid anyway”

“Mel, cut it out, you know you aren’t stupid”

“Yeah, well tell that to her” she said pointing at her mother. Stormy lifted her head to look at her daughter unaware of what she was talking about.

“What are you getting at?” Brian asked.

“She called me stupid!”

Stormy closed her eyes and tried not to lose her temper. Her daughter had just told Brian a boldfaced lie.

“Stormy?” he looked at her shocked. This wasn’t the woman he married.

“You know what, I have nothing to say to either of you” She set her cup down and walked out of the apartment and went upstairs to talk to her sister.

Zacky’s Room

Aubrey opened her eyes and looked up at her husband who was wide-awake.

“Well, good morning, sleeping beauty” he said.

She smiled and put her head back down on his chest. “Still tired?” he asked and she nodded in response.

“It’s your fault”

“My fault?” he asked faking a shocked expression.

“mm hmm you kept me up all night” she said and finished her sentence with a yawn. She rolled off her husband and rested her head on a pillow.

“The way I see it, you kept me up all night.”

She laughed and turned onto her stomach hugging her pillow. He stretched and got up out of bed. “Go back to sleep, im going to take a shower.” He kissed her cheek and headed for the bathroom. He knew that they still had a lot to talk about and he didn’t want to prolong it so after his shower he planned to have her full attention.

The Boy’s House

“So, when can I get this over with?” Jonnie asked Seven

“Tomorrow at noon. I promise it will be painless.”

“Sure. It’s not your future on the line”

“Relax” Lyric said.

“Yeah, you’re gonna be a rock star!” Blade noted.

“Yeah well right now I am a sitting duck and any minute my father could come walking through that door.”

Seven got up and locked the door and walked back into the living room. “Now he cant!” she smiled.

When Legend woke up he walked down the hall and followed the sound of the voices to the living room.

“Jonnie!” he yelled and ran over to where she sat and jumped on her lap.

“You’re here?” she said in shock.

“Uh huh” he nodded.

“But you were stabbed and how can you be sitting here and not in the hospital?”

“Somebody was smart enough to follow us and let our father’s know where we were.” He smiled and kissed her cheek. “The knife didn’t hit any major organs, I’m almost good as new.” He smiled.

“Well, I’m glad for that” she smiled.

“We should have a party!” he shouted.

“No, no parties, her father cant know she is here” Lyric warned.

“Why not?”

“Long story, just don’t say anything” he said.

“Ok fine” Legend shrugged his shoulders and got up to go sit with Seven on the other couch.

--

Brian’s Apartment…

Matt walked through the door with Stormy and waited for her while Brian sat on the couch. Brian looked over at Matt after Stormy walked passed him into the bedroom.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

“Nothing, she’s just getting a few of her things.”

“For what?”

“Sydney said she could stay in the guest suit”

Now Matt has Brian’s full attention. He leaned forward confused. “She’s leaving me?”

“Pretty much” Matt nodded.

Brian leaned back on the couch and ran his hands through his hair.

“And you’re here because?”

“Because Sydney thought it would be best if I came along so there wouldn’t be a confrontation.”

When Stormy came out of the bedroom with her bag Brian looked at her tear stained face and something inside told him there was something seriously wrong with this situation. She walked passed Matt and headed out the door.

--

Zacky’s Room

Zacky walked over to the bed where his wife was still sleeping and woke her up by trailing soft kisses over her back. “Zacky” she whispered.

“Wake up sleepy head” he smiled and she sat up pulling the sheet up over herself.

“What time is it?” she asked

“Two in the afternoon”

“I slept all day?”

“Yep. I brought you some lunch.” He sat on the bed next to her and grabbed the tray off the table next to the bed and set it down between them.

She picked up a piece of fruit from the tray and listened as he started to speak.

“So, you know we have to have a certain conversation right?”

She nodded and continued to eat.

“There’s something you should know and I really don’t want you to get angry, so please just hear me out.”

She stopped eating and gave him her full attention.

“You know I told you about Harley and me, but I didn’t get to tell you how I found out that Blade was my son. Just before the accident, she sent him a letter asking him to meet with her. He brought it to me and I told him it was his choice. He declined, but Brian and I went instead. When we got there I never expected to see Harley, but there she was. I had planned to tell you, but when the accident happened I didn’t get the chance.”

She sat there processing everything he just told her. “I don’t know what to say” she said looking at him.

“Do you love me?” he asked.

“Yes” she nodded.

“Then don’t say anything, just love me and don’t give up on me”

“Ok” she nodded and continued to eat her lunch.

--

Later that night….

Melody was in her room playing her ipod when there was a knock at her window.
She smiled upon seeing who was standing outside.

“Hi” she said when she opened the window.

Blade climbed through the window and sat down on her bed. “So, how’s my favorite little drama queen?” he asked
“I am not a drama queen!” she said holding her hands on her hips.

“Oh really? Where is your mother right now?” he asked sarcastically.

She twirled around the room “Gone!” she said happily.

“And that’s a good thing to you?” he snapped

“Of course it is. Now she wont be hogging up my dad all the time.”

“I see” he stood and limped towards the window. He still had his cast, but didn’t bother with the crutches any more.

“Where are you going?” she asked.

“I’m leaving. I thought maybe you had grown up a little but obviously I was wrong”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” she asked

He stopped and limped back over to where she was. “I just found out after 21 years who my real mother is. Do you know what it’s like to go your whole life knowing that your mother didn’t want you? No, you don’t because your mother wanted you more than anything. You’re a spoiled little bitch who’s jealous of her own mother.”

Her jaw dropped, this was the last conversation she was expecting to have with him.

“Do you think your father is happy right now? No, right now he’s getting drunk in the kitchen upstairs. Can you even understand what this is doing to him? Your mother whether you like it or not is the love of his life. Don’t you see how they are when they are happy together? Why would you take that away from them? Why? Because you are selfish and quite honestly if I didn’t have this cast on I would kick your ass right now”

She stood there with tears falling down her face while he continued to berate her.

“Do you have any idea how worried she was while you were gone? And all the sacrifices she made for you. Your mother had the chance to tour as a ballerina, her one passion in life and she gave it up for you! Why? Melody, why do you hate her so much?”

Melody started to sob. “Stop yelling at me” she said.

“Stop acting like a three year old. You want me to love you? Yeah, that’s not going to happen. You have a lot of growing up to do little girl”

“I’m not a little girl!” she yelled. “Why can’t you understand me?” she cried.

“Why don’t you try and make me?” he snapped.
“Before this happened all my dad did was yell at me and she never once stopped him. She never defended me. Now, he loves me and he spends time with me and she’s the one he yells at.”

“and that makes you feel better?”

“No” she put her face in her hands and continued to sob.

He sighed and walked over to where she was standing and put his arms around her.

“Stop crying” he said.

“I cant”

When Brian walked back down to the apartment he went to check on his daughter and when he heard voices coming from her room he walked right in. Upon seeing his daughter in the arms of a 21 year old man, instant rage set in.

He grabbed Melody and pulled her away from him. “Keep your God damn hands off my daughter,” he said just before punching Blade in the jaw. “Get out, now!” he yelled and Blade limped passed him out the door.

He turned his attention to his daughter. “YOU! You are so grounded. Go to bed now!” he shouted and left her alone in her room.

Brian walked out of his daughter’s room and went into the living room where he sat down on the couch. To say he was livid was an understatement and the only person who knew how to calm him down when he was this angry was Stormy, but she wasn’t there.

Twenty minutes later, there was a knock on his door. When he got up to answer it he saw Sydney standing on the other side. Before she said a word she slapped him across the face.

“What was that for?” he asked as she walked into the apartment.

“That was to show you what it feels like to be slapped in the face for no reason” He knew she was referring to the way he treated Stormy and he was in no mood to argue.

“I think you better leave before I call your husband.”

“Do it” she dared him “Hell, you can even use my phone if you want”

She grabbed a stool and brought it to the center of the living room where she sat.

“I said I think you better leave”

She took a purple box out of her pocket and threw it at him. He opened it to see the Skeleton Key inside. “That entitles me to stay so fuck off and shut up before I slap you again”

He bit his lip to keep himself from laughing at her sudden act of toughness.

“Fine, what do you want, Sydney?”

“I want you to understand how hard it is for me to know my sister is upstairs crying her eyes out right now and nothing I can say or do is going to comfort her. Your daughter needs her ass kicked.”

“My daughter?” he raised his eyebrow daring her to take this conversation any further.

“Yes, that spoiled little brat in the room over there. Yes, Stormy did say she wished she didn’t have a child, but that charming child of yours failed to mention the other half of that statement”

“Which is?” he asked holding his hands on his hips about to loose his patience.

“Which is the part where Stormy blamed herself said that it was her fault that Laura hurt Melody and that if she knew this was going to happen she never would have brought Melody into this world and subjected her to that. Your daughter took it out of the context in which it was said and twisted it around to make Stormy look like the enemy here when in reality she was having a nervous breakdown after trying to be strong for you!”

Brian lowered his gaze to the floor. “And stupid? Really Brian, do you honestly believe that Stormy would call her daughter stupid?”

“Sydney…” he said in a warning tone, but she wasn’t finished.

“NO, you will listen to me. I have sat back idly and watched my sister have her heartbroken because her daughter called her a pole dancing tramp, I have sat back and listened to my sister have a mental break down because her husband was falling apart and she didn’t know what to do. I have sat back and watched her cry for hours on end because her husband turned his back on her when she needed him the most and I’m tired of sitting back and doing nothing. So you take that God damn key and you fix this. There is no one to blame here, but you! So you take that key and think of it as your one get out of jail free card and turn this around. I swear on my husband if you don’t I will kick your fucking pansy ass myself.”

And with that she got up and walked out of the apartment leaving him there dumbfounded.

“pansy ass?” he said repeating the name she called him under his breath
He looked down at the key and then turned his gaze to his daughter’s bedroom door. There were questions she was going to have to answer now. He walked over and didn’t bother to knock on her door. When he walked in he walked right over to her bed and turned on the lamp.

“Sit up” he said and sat down on the bed beside her.

She sat up and waited to hear what her father had to say to her.

“Did you lie to me about your mother?” His voice was calm as he tried to maintain his temper and she knew there was no way out of it now.

“Answer me, Mel.”

“It wasn’t all a lie. She said she wished she never had me”

He nodded and leaned back against the headboard. “And you purposely left out the second part of that statement when you told me?”

“Yes” she said looking down at her blanket.

“Melody, when did your mother call you stupid?”

“She didn’t”

“So that one was a flat out lie?”

“Yes” she nodded.

He closed his eyes and leaned his head back. “I want you to sit there and listen to me because there is something that you don’t know about your mother and after I tell you this story, you better think long and hard about the effects that your lying had on this family.”

“I’m tired cant it wait til tomorrow?” she said lying back down.

“NO! Get up and listen, now!” he finally snapped and his temper was on the surface now. She sat back up and folded her arms.

“Look at me when I’m talking to you” he ordered and she turned her head so her eyes met his.

“I know you know that your mother was a stripper, but that is all you know. You don’t know the how or the why she became a stripper. Sydney and Stormy shared the same father, but not the same mother. Their father was a sick bastard who repeatedly sexually abused both of them and when your mother couldn’t take it anymore, she ran away. She was no older than you are right now.”

He sighed and continued his story. “When she first got here, I didn’t like her very much at all. Laura had been looking for Sydney because we killed her Syd’s father and your mother showed up here out of the blue to warn her sister. I didn’t believe her and I wanted no part of her, but she was tough and she wore me down. It only took five minutes. Five minutes and I fell head over heels in love with her.”

“Ok so?” she said sarcastically.

“Shut up!” he warned. “Not long after we got together, Laura returned with her two goons and took her from me. What happened to you in that house wasn’t even a tenth of what she suffered. It took us a week to find her and when we did I hardly recognized her.”

Melody’s gasped and covered her mouth with her hand as the tears were streaming down her face.

“It took her damn near half a year to get back to semi normal. I did everything I could to make her feel safe. So every now and then when you see my hand caress her for no reason, it’s because there is a reason or when you see my hand on her back or how she sits so close to me, it’s only because it makes her feel safe and protected. Right now, she’s up in Aunt Syd’s guest room alone and crying because of me and you have no idea how that is tearing me apart right now.”

“I’m sorry” she cried.

“Yeah, well sorry isn’t going to cut it right now. You are so grounded and I am so disappointed in you. You have broken my trust in the worst way possible and right now I don’t know if I can forgive you.”

He got up off the bed and walked out of the room leaving his daughter to think about the damage she caused. Standing in his living room he pulled the Skeleton Key out of his pocket and looked at his front door. After putting it back in his pocket, he walked towards the door and went upstairs knowing what he had to do next.