‹ Prequel: Tell Me, Will It All Be Okay?
Status: Hiatus
I Feel Our Memories Fade With Time.
The End Of The Band?
“Tyler, guess what?”
“What?” I looked up from the TV.
“You’re coming with us on Warped Tour this year.”
“Cool. I guess.”
“You don’t want to come? I’d be your first time. They okayed it. You can bring Steph and Kyle, and we can take the van.”
“Okay. Cool. When does it start?”
“The end of the month. Uncle Gerard and I are thinking of calling it quits after this with the band. Maybe release one last DVD, and a greatest hits CD.”
“Why?”
“Well, we all have families, and lives now. We’ve been talking about dismantling the band for a couple of months now. I can teach you to play your bass.”
“Another DVD? Are you gonna talk about mom?” I looked up at him.
“Well, what would you like? We were going to do another video diary one. We haven’t done one since that one that came out right after mom died. I have some stuff I recorded of her. It’s all on my spare laptop. Would you mind seeing mom on it?”
“No. I think it would be neat. You would have to do a rest in peace thing though.”
“I definitely would. So you don’t mind?”
“No.”
“You know, Uncle Frank said the same thing.”
I laughed a little, then he walked away. I got to thinking. I didn’t want him to break up the band. I liked the band. They were really good. But, they were getting kinda old though. No, Uncle Gerard was the oldest, and he was only forty-three. I went digging under my bed and pulled out a box. I wasn’t too educated on their music, but I had every cd of theirs. I looked at the booklet of their first cd. They were so young.
That wasn’t my reason to dig through the box though. I picked up an envelope and opened it. I took out the pictures and flipped through them. Most of them were old pictures of us all, or taken by dad. I snuck them from when dad was making a photo album, and he wanted to take the remaining pictures and put them into storage. I grabbed some to keep with me. I looked at one that dad took of me when I was almost four. I was dressed up in a little suit. Mom was dressed up too. She looked so pretty.
“That’s from when we first met her parents.”
I turned and saw my dad. I didn’t even hear him come into my room.
“Where’d you come from?”
“I’m sneaky. What do you have there?”
“I snuck some pictures from that pile you had that you wanted to put into storage.”
“I thought that pile was smaller that morning. And you still have all our old CD’s? Wow.” He picked through the box and he grabbed one. “This song, ‘Famous Last Words’ was a big hit. The guys dedicated it to mom and I. And I dedicated it to mom. How the lyrics go and such. ‘I am not afraid to keep on living, I am not afraid to walk this world alone.’ I remember the first time we played it live, I almost broke down when Gerard sang the bridge. ‘I see you lying next to me, with words I thought I’d never speak, awake, and unafraid, asleep or dead.’”
“I can see why. Those nights when we felt like she was there?”
“I almost quit the band during the making of that record.”
“I remember a little bit. You were always so sad.”
“Yeah. It was hard, but they got me through it.”
“I remember three songs off that cd that had words from the note. ‘The End,’ ‘Cancer,’ and that one. When I first understood the words to ‘Cancer’ I cried.”
“I believe everyone cried with that song.”
“Dad? Are you really gonna teach me bass?”
“Why do you think I bought you one?” He said with a cheeky smile. “Come on, let’s go now.”
I followed him downstairs into the basement where he had stuff set up. I grabbed the bass he gave me, and he picked up one. It sounded weird without a guitar. The notes were so low. It wasn’t really hard though, because there was only four strings on it. This was the first time I’d really ever been in the basement. It’s not like I wasn’t allowed, I was just told I didn’t have a reason to come down. I didn’t really care. He had some stuff that he used to record, and he had a couple other bass guitars. I saw one that was covered in dust, and I had to ask.
“Why’s that one all dusty?” I pointed.
“It’s one of the first ones I’ve ever owned, and your mom would strum on that one a lot. She didn’t really know how to play, but somehow she helped me come up with bass lines for songs.”
“Cool.”
“Yeah, I told you I wasn’t very good, but Uncle Gerard insists that I’m like a bass God.” He rolled his eyes. “So, there’s a reason why I’m a bit happy about dismantling the band. Uncle Frank’s not so happy about it, he’s been in bands since he was a teenager.”
“I don’t think you should break up the band, but if you want to do it, go ahead.”
“Ty? You really gotta start acting your age. You’re thirteen, and you’re giving me advice. You should call Kyle and see if he wants to do something.”
I laughed then went upstairs to call Kyle.
“What?” I looked up from the TV.
“You’re coming with us on Warped Tour this year.”
“Cool. I guess.”
“You don’t want to come? I’d be your first time. They okayed it. You can bring Steph and Kyle, and we can take the van.”
“Okay. Cool. When does it start?”
“The end of the month. Uncle Gerard and I are thinking of calling it quits after this with the band. Maybe release one last DVD, and a greatest hits CD.”
“Why?”
“Well, we all have families, and lives now. We’ve been talking about dismantling the band for a couple of months now. I can teach you to play your bass.”
“Another DVD? Are you gonna talk about mom?” I looked up at him.
“Well, what would you like? We were going to do another video diary one. We haven’t done one since that one that came out right after mom died. I have some stuff I recorded of her. It’s all on my spare laptop. Would you mind seeing mom on it?”
“No. I think it would be neat. You would have to do a rest in peace thing though.”
“I definitely would. So you don’t mind?”
“No.”
“You know, Uncle Frank said the same thing.”
I laughed a little, then he walked away. I got to thinking. I didn’t want him to break up the band. I liked the band. They were really good. But, they were getting kinda old though. No, Uncle Gerard was the oldest, and he was only forty-three. I went digging under my bed and pulled out a box. I wasn’t too educated on their music, but I had every cd of theirs. I looked at the booklet of their first cd. They were so young.
That wasn’t my reason to dig through the box though. I picked up an envelope and opened it. I took out the pictures and flipped through them. Most of them were old pictures of us all, or taken by dad. I snuck them from when dad was making a photo album, and he wanted to take the remaining pictures and put them into storage. I grabbed some to keep with me. I looked at one that dad took of me when I was almost four. I was dressed up in a little suit. Mom was dressed up too. She looked so pretty.
“That’s from when we first met her parents.”
I turned and saw my dad. I didn’t even hear him come into my room.
“Where’d you come from?”
“I’m sneaky. What do you have there?”
“I snuck some pictures from that pile you had that you wanted to put into storage.”
“I thought that pile was smaller that morning. And you still have all our old CD’s? Wow.” He picked through the box and he grabbed one. “This song, ‘Famous Last Words’ was a big hit. The guys dedicated it to mom and I. And I dedicated it to mom. How the lyrics go and such. ‘I am not afraid to keep on living, I am not afraid to walk this world alone.’ I remember the first time we played it live, I almost broke down when Gerard sang the bridge. ‘I see you lying next to me, with words I thought I’d never speak, awake, and unafraid, asleep or dead.’”
“I can see why. Those nights when we felt like she was there?”
“I almost quit the band during the making of that record.”
“I remember a little bit. You were always so sad.”
“Yeah. It was hard, but they got me through it.”
“I remember three songs off that cd that had words from the note. ‘The End,’ ‘Cancer,’ and that one. When I first understood the words to ‘Cancer’ I cried.”
“I believe everyone cried with that song.”
“Dad? Are you really gonna teach me bass?”
“Why do you think I bought you one?” He said with a cheeky smile. “Come on, let’s go now.”
I followed him downstairs into the basement where he had stuff set up. I grabbed the bass he gave me, and he picked up one. It sounded weird without a guitar. The notes were so low. It wasn’t really hard though, because there was only four strings on it. This was the first time I’d really ever been in the basement. It’s not like I wasn’t allowed, I was just told I didn’t have a reason to come down. I didn’t really care. He had some stuff that he used to record, and he had a couple other bass guitars. I saw one that was covered in dust, and I had to ask.
“Why’s that one all dusty?” I pointed.
“It’s one of the first ones I’ve ever owned, and your mom would strum on that one a lot. She didn’t really know how to play, but somehow she helped me come up with bass lines for songs.”
“Cool.”
“Yeah, I told you I wasn’t very good, but Uncle Gerard insists that I’m like a bass God.” He rolled his eyes. “So, there’s a reason why I’m a bit happy about dismantling the band. Uncle Frank’s not so happy about it, he’s been in bands since he was a teenager.”
“I don’t think you should break up the band, but if you want to do it, go ahead.”
“Ty? You really gotta start acting your age. You’re thirteen, and you’re giving me advice. You should call Kyle and see if he wants to do something.”
I laughed then went upstairs to call Kyle.