Proverbs and a Midnight Song

I watched her walk out those doors, still trying to recover from the fact that she's really here...well she was really here. I knew I recognized that damn name...Second Story...of course. I gave myself a shake and turned around, figuring I'd have time to talk to her later on this week.
"Can you believe that was Jimmi?!" Mike said once we were in the mixing room.
"Nope" I replied averting my eyes.
"She sure has changed" Tre said.
"Yup" I said rubbing my forehead trying to relieve the constant pounding.
"You know, she was looking pretty hot" Tre said.
"Yeah she was" Mike agreed.
"Will you guys shut up?!" I said still rubbing my forehead.
"What's crawled up your ass?" Tre asked.
"I just...I just don't want to talk about her alright?!" I said.
"Billie it's been eleven years...you have Adie now...what's the big deal?!" Tre said.
"Nothing! I just don't wanna talk about her! She left me without so much as a note! Everything between us was going great until..." I trailed off not wanting to bring back any more pain.
"Until you lost Jaxson?" Tre said. A lump rose to my throat as I rose to my feet and walked out of the mixing room, slamming the door in my wake.


I've never seen her so...miserable. She was still as beautiful as ever but her countenance held nothing but sorrow and loss. She stared out the window holding her stomach as if she had never gave birth...like she still had our child. I brought my hand to her leg as I continued to drive us home and gave it a gentle squeeze. She looked at me and it was as if she had no idea who I was...her eyes didn't sparkle, her lips didn't form into that perfect smile....she made no expression at all. "Babe...it's gonna be ok" I said giving her leg another squeeze. She made no sign that she even heard me for she merely went back to staring out the window. When we reached my house she remained in her seat, staring ahead, not moving, as if she were made of porcelain. I sighed, stepped out of the car and walked around to her side where I pulled open her door, reached down and scooped her into my arms. I carried her into the house and set her down on the couch and sat next to her.
"What did we do wrong?" she whispered. It was the first time she had spoken since we got word that our child was...
"Nothing...it wasn't our fault" I said.
"We could have...something...a-anything. W-w-we could h-have helped h-him" She fell into my arms sobbing. I felt my eyes mist over as I held her, rubbing her back, just letting her release all of her pain on my shoulder.
"It's ok Jimmi...we're going to be ok" As I said these words I found that I was trying to convince myself just as much as I was her.
"It's...it's...not f-fair Billie Joe...we didn't...we didn't" she stumbled over her words and eventually settled with remaining silent and sobbing into my jacket. "I love you, Billie" she whispered.
"I love you too...so much" I said clutching onto her even tighter, as if I were afraid she would slip away if I didn't. "Don't worry...we'll get through this"

"Billie?"
"Huh?" I said snapping out of my trance.
"You ok dude?" Mike asked.
"I'm...I'm alright" I said leaning against the wall and sliding down to the ground. Mike knelt down next to me looking at me, his face plastered with concern. "I'm fine Mike, I swear...I just...I don't know" I said looking up at the ceiling.
"Alright well...why don't you head home...you've kinda had the day from hell" Mike said. "Thank you captain" I said rolling my eyes but I heeded Mike's advice. I stood up and walked out of the studio trying to clear my head which was still throbbing. The drive home took even longer than usual and I seemed to hit every damn red light in the fucking city. Finally I pulled into the driveway and I walked through my front door only to be met with a loud call.
"Billie?! Is that you?"
"Yeah babe" I called back.
"You're home early!" she said running up to me and throwing her arms around my neck.
"Shh babe not so loud...I have a splitting headache" I said hugging her close to me. She rolled her eyes and stepped back, "Billie Joe I swear, every time you come home from the studio you are completely wiped out! You hardly spend any time at home any more" she said. "I know, I know. I'm sorry Adrienne, but it's just really, really hard" I said. She sighed then nodded and walked into the kitchen. I followed her, intent on getting some aspirin for my head. "I just don't know how you expect to start a family when you're never home" she said quietly. Lately Adrienne has been pressuring more and more when it comes to us have a kid...personally I wasn't so thrilled with the idea. "Adie please, not now" I said gulping down the aspirin with a mouthful of water. "Billie there's no other time to talk about it! You're always at the studio then when you come home you either go straight to bed or fall asleep on the couch!" she said. "Look Adie, this record needs to-"
"God damn it Billie, stop talking about that damn album!" she snapped.
"Whatever...I'm not even gonna argue" I said turning and walking out of the kitchen. Adie mumbled something else but I didn't bother to listen; my head was pounding so hard. Day from hell...yeah that about sums it up.

* * *

"Well that could have gone better" I mumbled, wiping the tears away as I walked down the sidewalk to my hotel. As I walked up the steps I heard my name being called. "JIMMI!!...JESSICA!!...WHATEVER THE HELL YOU'RE CALLED NOWADAYS!!" I turned around to see an overexcited drummer running towards me, leaving a trail of French fries in his wake. "JIMMI!" he squealed throwing his arms around me. "I misseded you oh so MUCH" he said continuing in what seemed to be an attempt at breaking my spine. "Tre...two things....air and broken bones" I gasped. "Oops...my bad" he said releasing me. "It's been like...FOREVER since I last saw you!!...What did you do to your hair?...Not that it looks bad I mean!" he said as I raised my eyebrows. "I'm just used to black" he finished. I rolled my eyes and said, "Tre, I've kinda grown up in the past eleven years" I said. "Yeah yeah whatever" Tre said brushing off my comment with a wave of his hand. "You should go back to black...AND PUT THE PURPLE BACK IN IT!! That was freakin' awesome...and it made Billie fuckin horny" Tre said with a laugh. I raised an eyebrow and said, "Yeah well...I need to get going...I'll see you on Monday Tre" I said turning my back and walking through the doors of the hotel and up to an elevator. The elevator dinged, the doors slid open, and I stepped inside pressing the button that read sixteen. I leaned against the back of the elevator trying to catch my breath and also trying to stop thinking about the time I'd had spent with Billie Joe. Finally the doors opened and I stepped out, staring determinedly at the floor.
"You'd figure that you would know by now...you can't outwit the Cool"
I jumped and let out a little shriek as I looked up and saw Tre leaning against the wall. "How the hell did you do that?!" I snapped putting a hand over my chest, trying to slow my heart rate back to normal. "Sorry sweetheart, the Cool never reveals his secrets" he said.
"How did you know what floor I'm on?!" I said folding my arms and adjusting my weight to my right foot. Tre laughed and said "You still do that?" He mimicked my stance, a grin plastered against his face. "Don't change the damn subject...how did you know?" I repeated.
"I know a guy" Tre said with a shrug. I rolled my eyes and decided to drop it. I walked down the hall to my room, 217, where I took out my key card and fumbled with it for a moment before finally sliding it into the door. "You still shake a lot" Tre noted. "And you're still an annoying dog who follows me everywhere" I snapped. I walked into my room intent on slamming the door in his face but he held his hand against the door and walked inside. "Ugh, Tre, get out" I said, rubbing my forehead.
"No" Tre said simply plopping down on the bed.
"Tre please...I've had the day from hell and I just want to sleep" I groaned.
"Ha, I knew you weren't going to work on that tonight!" Tre said nodding to the binder that I thrown on the table.
"I've always been a procrastinator" I snapped.
"And a bitch" Tre said with a nod.
"Yeah...now leave" I said pointing to the door.
"Or...not" Tre said with a shrug.
"Tre get the fuck out of my hotel room before I rip off your other testicle" I threatened. At this Tre broke out into hysterical laughter, "Jimmi you always used to threaten me with that yet I still remain the one-balled-wonder instead of the no-balled-wonder"
I groaned and said, "Fine...what do you want?"
"To talk to you...I misses yous alls the times...almosts as much as Billies" he said. At this I snapped my head up and my eyes narrowed, "What do you mean, almost as much as Billie?"
"Um...I don't know...I miss you almost as much as Billie misses you...I'm not good at explainin' things" he said.
"Billie doesn't miss me" I stated sitting down in a chair across from Tre.
"He doesn't? Coulda fooled me" he said with a shrug.
"No...he can't...he doesn't" I said.
"Alright fine...If there's anything I've learned about you it's too never argue" Tre said with another shrug.
"GOD DAMN IT, TRE WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN 'AS MUCH AS BILLIE MISS YOU'?!?!?!" I shrieked jumping up and glaring down at the drummer.
"Jesus Jimmi, chill out. I can also see that you're still working on that anger thing" he said.
I took a deep breath in and sat back down slowly. "I'm sorry Tre...no I don't have issues with my anger anymore...I just haven't been thinking straight today" I said putting my head in my hands and rubbing my temples. I took in another deep breath and said, "Ok...how do you know he misses me?"
"Well...I'm his bestfriend...I just know. I mean he still says 'Holy Snickerdoodles' every now and then...he always says 'Time it is'...whenever we say something that's even distantly related to you he cracks a smile"
"But he has Adie...why would he miss me?" I said.
"I think he just misses having you around... he misses being with you as a friend" Tre explained.
"But he has you and Mike...and Adie...what the hell is he doing missing me?!" I said.
"You and Billie shared something that none of us can even attempt to compete with" Tre said falling back on the bed and propping himself up on his arms.
"But that was...was so long ago" I said shaking my head.
"Do you miss Billie?" Tre asked suddenly. I thought for a moment trying to find a suitable answer.
"Well...to be quite honest with you...not anymore. I used to...I used to miss him terribly but then...I just stopped thinking about him altogether, figuring it was doing me no good" I said rubbing my head again "But then these past few weeks...I haven't been able to stop thinking about him...and then I find out that I'm going to be seeing him again...I mean-" I was cut off my an annoying ringing coming from Tre. He pulled out his cell phone and looked at the caller ID.
"Oh speak of the devil! I'll put it on speaker"
"Tre, NO!"
"Yo, Billie Joe!" Tre said before I could stop him.
"Shit" I cursed silently my hands already shaking at the sound of his voice.
"Tre, where are you?" Billie said sounding exasperated.
"I'm at-...visiting my...parakeet" Tre said crinkling his brow. Even to him, it sounded retarded. I smacked my forehead and leaned back in my chair.
"Your parakeet? Tre do you even know what the hell a parakeet is?!" Billie yelled.
"Billie I'm not that stupid ya know" Tre said looking at me. What's a parakeet?! He mouthed. I rolled my eyes and mouthed back It's a bird!
"It's a bird!"
"Tre...where are you?" Billie asked firmly.
"That is lacking importance...where do you want me to be?!" Tre asked.
"I just wanna talk to you...Adie's bitchin at me and I need a reason to get out of the house" he said.
"Why not call Mike?" Tre suggested.
"Because Mike takes everything so seriously" Billie said.
"He has a point there" I said quietly.
"Tre, who's with you?" Billie asked. My eyes grew wide and I cursed quietly.
"That was my parakeet" Tre said.
"God damn it Tre, what kind of idiot do you take me for?!" Billie said irritatedly "I know damn well you don't have a fucking parakeet!"
"Jesus Billie, don't get your penis in a knot" Tre said. "Look I'm just with an old friend and I-"
"Ah fuck, you're with Jessica aren't you?" he said with a groan. My jaw dropped as I thought, How the fuck does he do that?!
"Who's Jessica?...OH! You mean Jimmi?! No! No, no, no I'm-"
"Yeah Billie he's with me" I said quietly.
"Are you crazy?! He'll kill me!!" Tre hissed. I just rolled my eyes and sat back in my chair again.
"Well um...I'll talk to you later Tre...bye" At that Billie hung up the phone. Tre pursed his lips and hung up his phone as well.
"Well...I think that went well" I said sarcastically.
"Yeah" Tre said not catching my second language. I rolled my eyes and looked up at the ceiling. At this I let out a small laugh, "Remember when we would pass time my counting specks on the ceiling?"
Tre laughed and said, "Yeah...and you and Billie got into that huge fight over who had it right...you guys didn't speak to each other for like a week"
"Yeah but we still fucked each other every night" I said still looking up. I heard Tre sigh and mumbled something that sounded like 'Shoulda figured that one' I looked at Tre then said, "Do you think I should have stayed?" Tre thought for a moment then nodded. "Yeah...I do. The way you just left like that...it was as if you didn't care about Billie at all...or Mike and me for that matter. It seemed like you just gave up all of a sudden" he said. For Tre being as dumb as he is, he sure knows how to make himself sound smart.
"I didn't mean for it to be like that...I just can't handle goodbyes" I said.
"Did you still love Billie when you walked out that door?" he asked.
"Of course I did" I said.
"Well you see...Billie thought you didn't love him anymore...you prob'ly shoulda cleared that up" Tre said.
"Prob'ly" I muttered looking down at my hands in my lap. Suddenly there was a knock at the door. I got up and went to answer it figuring it was room service or something. Whatever I figured it wasn't anything close to what I got.
"Can you guys speak a little louder? I'm not picking anything up with this thing" Cori said holding up a stethoscope.
"Oh my God, CORI?"
"JIMMI!" she yelled throwing her arms around me in an action that had mimicked Tre's although Cori was too small to do any damage.
"Oh my God, how did you know I was here?!" I asked pulling away from her.
"Sorry but the Cool doesn't reveal her secrets" she said.
"Oh my God, you guys are so- wait....The Cool?!" I asked my eyes growing wide. Cori smirked and held up her hand which was sporting a wedding band.
"Holy fucking shit! Cori! Tre, why the hell didn't you tell me?!" I yelled over my shoulder.
"You didn't ask" Tre said with a shrug.
"Oh my God" I said for the fourth time. "I can't believe this" I said staring at Cori. She hadn't changed at all except for the fact that she no longer wore glasses and her hair was longer.
"Yeah I know...I'm all growed up!" Cori said pretending to shed a tear.
"Mommy, the candy machine eated my money!" came the voice of a little boy. I looked down to see a boy who looked exactly like Tre, tugging on the side of Cori's pants. "Aww don't you worry, Daddy will get your money back" Cori said bending down to pick up the small child.
"Tre, go get his money back!" Cori said pointing down the hall to where a vending machine stood.
"Ugh, alright. C'mon you" Tre said lifting the boy out of Cori's arms and swinging him up onto his shoulders. I stood there, speechless, as I watched Tre gallop down the hallway, his son laughing the whole way. "Cori...that...that's your..." I stuttered. "Yep, that's Frankito" Cori said proudly. "Holy shit" I said running a hand through my hair. "Yeah I know...I'm a mommy!!" she said. "You...you wanna come inside?" I asked stepping aside to let her into my room.
"Okie doke" Cori said stepping past me. She fell onto the bed in the same spot Tre had been and looked up at me. "So...how've ya been?" she asked. "Oh I've been great" I said sitting in the same chair as I had been before.
"Well that wasn't a very reassuring 'I've been great'" Cori said being the little smart-ass that she was. I just shrugged my shoulders and decided to change the subject, "So what have you been doing?"
"Taking care of Little Frank and Ramona...and Tre" she added with a smirk. "Wait...Ramona?" I asked. "Oh yeah, I have two kiddies!!" she said with a huge smile. "Two?! How the hell do you manage that?" I asked with a smile. "Yeah it's kinda a full time job, ya know with the cleaning cooking and- you need to get back together with Billie" She had said it so quick and casually it took me a second to catch on but once I did I figured I'd make sure it was Cori losing what was left of her mind, not me. "Um...what did you say?"
"You need to get back together with Billie" Cori said nodding matter-of-factly.
I began to laugh as I said, "Or not...Cori, he's kinda married if you didn't notice"
"Which is exactly why you need to get back together with him" Cori said nodding once again.
"Alright, ya lost me" I said shaking my head.
"I cannot stand Adrienne! She needs to fall off the face of the earth!" Cori said jumping up and grabbing my collar.
"Cori I just can't get back together with Billie 'cause you hate Adie" I said pushing her off of me causing her to fall back on the bed again.
"Sure you can! You're Jimmi! The renowned relationship wrecker!" she said. I fought back a smile as the memories of my past started to flood me. I had made so many enemies in my youth. I guess you could say I was able to prove that there wasn't a single guy under the age of twenty-three that could remain faithful. I was a very persuasive little bitch which was actually how I had come to meet Billie in the first place. However, I wasn't supposed to fall in love. After my quick reminiscing I rolled my eyes and said, "Cori I'm over that alright? I'm over Billie!" I sighed and reached into the back pocket of my slacks and pulled out my guitar pick. Yes, I always carry a guitar pick with me and no, it's not weird. Cori laughed and said, "You still carry a guitar pick with you everywhere?"
"It's the ultimate stress reliever" I said putting it in my mouth. I sucked on it causing it to clatter against my teeth at a rapid pace "Hey babe? We owe the hotel two thousand, five hundred, ninety-nine dollars for a new vending machine...they said they would pay tax" Tre said from the door way "Alright...did we pay Wal-Mart for a new kiddie ride yet?" Cori asked. "Yeah, I paid it last month but we still owe Hot Topic five hundred for a new glass case" Tre said. "Oh yeah" Cori said with a nod. "Hey Frankie come here" Cori said motioning for her son. Frankito peeked out from behind his daddy's legs, took a short glance at me then disappeared again. "Aww c'mon Little Frank, I wantcha to meet someone" she said. Tre stepped aside and gave Frankito a little push forward. Frankito turned around and gave his father a glare but Tre merely nodded him forward. Frankito sighed and walked forward his head hung low. Cori lifted him off the ground and plopped him on her knee. "Franky, this is one of my best friends, Jimmi. Jimmi this is Frankito" I smiled and said, "Hello Mr. Frankito" Frankito buried himself into Cori trying to pull himself away from my attention. I laughed and stuck my guitar pick out at him, holding it between my lips. He stared at me intently then jumped and let out a shriek of laughter as I sucked the guitar pick back into my mouth with the same clattering sound. Cori rolled her eyes and said, "I'm surprised you haven't choked and died yet" I looked at her then repeated my little trick. "Nope, haven't died yet. Swallowing is easy...it's the exit that's painful" I said. Cori let out a snort of laughter along with Frankito who was only laughing for the sake of laughing. "Remember when she tried to teach Billie to do that?" Tre asked walking over and sitting next to Cori, draping an arm around her. Cori laughed and said, "Yeah and Jimmi got so frustrated that she ripped the pick out of Billie's mouth and chucked it at him, hitting him in the eye with the point" Tre laughed even harder and said, "When he screamed... the look on her face was priceless" The three of them continued to laugh at me as I scowled. "Did he ever get the hang of it?" I mumbled. "Yeah, but he doesn't do it as good as you" Tre chuckled wiping a tear from his eye. "Speaking of Billie, he called just a little while ago" Tre said to Cori. "What did he want?" Cori asked.
"To talk apparently. Adie's makin' his life hell and-"
"Big surprise" Cori mumbled.
"C'mon Cori, she's not that bad" Tre said "Besides, she makes Billie happy and-"
"Makes Billie happy?! Please Tre! Have you been in a hole for the past ten years?! She's constantly complaining about something and now she's trying to force Billie into having a kid when she knows damn well what happened to his last child! She has the sensitivity of a fuckin rock! A ROCK!!!!" Cori shrieked. At this Frankito jumped off Cori's lap and climbed into mine. "Mommy's always really loud" he whispered. I laughed and nodded as Frankito laid his head against my chest.
"Cori it's been eleven years since that whole incident with Jaxson! Billie's over it! Adie knows that, and she wants a family!" Tre said. Cori folded her arms in a pout and said, "He says he's over it but I can see right through him! I have a seventh sense about these kinda things!" Cori said. Tre rolled his eyes and placed his head in his hands, "What am I gonna do with you?"
Cori smirked wickedly and said "Well...tonight you could-" at this I clamped a hand around Frankito's ear and pressed him against my chest as to limit his hearing. He looked up at me and smiled as Cori prattled on about what Tre could do with her involving duct tape, her sock monkey, and three pounds of sliced ham...please don't question her.
"OH SHIT JIMMI! WE NEED TO GET YOU A WELCOME HOME PRESENT!" Cori shouted suddenly causing me to jump and Frankito to laugh at me.
"Cori...technically I'm not home I'm just-"
"Don't complicate things" Cori interrupted. I rolled my eyes and sucked on my pick again causing Little Frank to giggle.
"Can you watch Frankie for like twenty minutes?! We'll be right back!!" Cori said jumping up grabbing the key card from the desk and pulling Tre out the door. "I know the perfect gift!" I heard Cori say as she shut the door.
"I love my mommy...but I think Ramona's right," Little Frank said, "She needs to be shipped off to the Looney Bin" I laughed and said, "Nah, she's not crazy she's just... special"
"No, she's crazy" Frankito said shaking his head. He jumped out of my lap and clambered onto the bed. "Where's your sister?" I asked curiously.
"She's at school...but I think she should be home by now" Frankito said.
"When do you start school?" I asked.
"Next year...but daddy says I can ditch all the time...then mommy smacked him so I'm not sure" he said thoughtfully. I laughed a little and said, "I bet you'll have to go"
"Yeah I s'pose"
The next fifteen minutes was spent playing I Spy... which is really hard when you're playing with Tre Cool's son who is exactly like his father when it comes to this game.
"I Spy with my little eye...something fuzzy!" he said, now jumping up and down on the bed.
"Um..." I looked around the hotel room and found nothing that looked remotely fuzzy. "There's nothing fuzzy here!!" I said continuing to look around. "Yes there is! Keep looking!" he said. I wasted another five minutes looking for something that was fuzzy. "Alright Franky I give up" I said finally. "It's my imaginary friend, Eduardo!!!" he said. "I WIN!!!" he shouted, continuing to jump up and down. Ugh...he is such a cheater

* * *

"Billie!" Adie shouted from the foyer.
"What babe?" I groaned still fighting off a headache.
"Tre's here with Cori!" she called. I groaned and pulled myself off the couch and into the foyer. I just got a glimpse of the back of Adrienne before she disappeared into the kitchen.
"What's up?" I asked as I looked from Tre to Cori. They both had a look in their eyes that told me something was up. "Guys?" I asked looking at them cautiously. Suddenly Cori pulled a roll of duct tape from behind her back and began to unravel a piece with an ominous crackling sound. "Oh shit" I mumbled. And the chase began. I ran into the living room and out the back door onto the deck, Cori and Tre hot on my heals. I ran around to the front yard but before I could make it to my car I felt Cori's tiny body jump onto my back. Soon enough I fell to the ground but I continued trying to fend them off which turned out to be an effort in vain. Tre pinned me to the ground and watched as Cori began to cover me in duct tape. "Guys, what the fucking hell are you doing?!" I yelled. Cori handed Tre a piece of the grey tape and he slapped it over my mouth. Within the next five minutes I was encased in a cocoon of duct tape from my shoulders down to my thighs and my feet were wrapped together as well. "Excellent!" Cori said triumphantly, standing up and brushing herself off. I scowled at her through the duct tape as Tre dragged me to his car. I fought against the confines of the tape throughout the whole car ride to God knows where. Finally Tre pulled to a stop in front of a large hotel. Cori jumped out of the car and ran inside, returning with a luggage rack while Tre opened the door to the backseat. Together they hauled me onto the luggage rack with relative ease, as I had given in and stopped trying to break free. Tre grabbed one end of the rack while Cori grabbed the other. "Wait! I forgot!" Cori said suddenly. She ran around to the front seat of the car and returned with a large bow which she smacked against my chest. I glared up at the two of them, still unable to speak and still clueless as to what the hell was going on. Together the rolled me up to the hotel and into the elevator but not without gaining a lot of curious stares. The elevator ride seemed immensely long and embarrassing for we were joined by two bratty thirteen year old boys who laughed at my ridiculous state. Finally, when we reached the fifteenth floor, the doors opened and Tre and Cori rolled me out of the elevator and down the long hallway. I glared up at the two of them and once Cori caught my stare she said, "Billie don't be bitchin'. Besides, this is a perfect excuse for getting away from Adrienne" I mumbled incoherently behind the duct tape. "What was that?" Tre asked bending down towards me as we slowed to a stop in front of room 217. I glared up at Tre who reached down and ripped the piece of tape off of my mouth. "AHH YOU FUCKING BASTARD!" I screamed.
"Eh, don't be such a pussy" Tre said waving his hand.
"Don't be such a pussy?! You two just dragged me out of my fucking house and-"
"Technically you ran out of the house" Cori said matter-of-factly.
"Whatever," I hissed, "You covered me in duct tape, drove me downtown, humiliated me, and this whole fucking time I have no fucking clue what the hell is going ON!" I watched as Cori merely rolled her eyes and slipped a key card into the door. After it unlocked she opened the door and I heard her talking to someone within. "You're going to love this!!" I heard her say. She came back out, Frankito in hand, and signaled Tre to roll me inside.