Used to Love 'Em

Three hours later was when Axl Rose actually woke up and decided to get up. He checked his phone tiredly which in white letters read out seven thirty three. He let out a teeny tiny groan, that was as much sleep as he was going to get obviously after all he didn’t feel tired, he was awake, wide awake, which meant t that he had little or no chance of going back to sleep. He laid in bed for a few moments rolling around seeing if he was in another position that maybe he could get comfortable once again and maybe sleep would creep upon him again but it seemed that at the moment the Sandman was busy doing something else, maybe sending some other children back to bed and he didn’t quite have time to fit Axl into his busy schedule and left him hanging there for about half an hour before Axl finally gave up. From what it looked like he wasn’t going to be falling back asleep anytime soon, which meant that he had to get up. With a groan Axl swung his legs out of the bed, there was no use trying to get up now, after all it was eight in the morning, he didn’t need to be asleep anymore, and if he was lucky his stepfather would be out already drinking and shit. Then Axl would be lucky and he would be able to call a cab before his stepfather showed up which meant that he would be able to avoid talking to the man in which he really didn’t want to talk to at all. Things might actually work out properly because he was up earlier than usual. He yawned and stretched as he stood up and glanced at the door, which he had closed the previous night before he had gone to bed. He slowly slipped on his shoes before bending over and tying them up and then neatly folding his bed like it had been before he had slept in it. He had a feeling that it would be one of the last times that he spent in his bed, or at least the one here that he had spent most of his childhood in. He ran a hand through his red hair, trying to make it semi presentable before shaking it, it didn’t exactly matter, either way he would still look like Axl Rose there was no way in hiding that. He took a final look around his room as he reached the door, it held an eerie presence almost as if he was expecting a younger Axl to kick open the door swearing and yelling at his Stepfather calling him all sorts of rude and obscene things. he could almost see it, he almost expected it, it as almost that his room held a tad bit of the past in it, almost like there was a piece of him that he had left behind when he went to Los Angeles. He stood a look around taking it in, his room, the place where he had pretty grown up, the place where he had turned from William Bruce Bailey Junior to Axl Rose which was who he was now, the person that had become famous, it was Axl Rose, not William Bruce Bailey Junior, there was hardly a person around Los Angeles who knew his real name, there he was simply Axl and he preferred it that way. He felt around in his pocket, making sure that he had his phone with him; he did not want to miss a call or anything, especially if it was important, like from Mike or another member of the band. It was in his pocket, like always but Axl he always felt the need to reassure himself, just to make sure that it was still there. It was a constant reassurance just to make sure that it was there, he needed it to be there, he had already replaced it once because he was so forgetful but he didn’t want to replace it again, after all it did cost money, and though Axl Rose did have a lot that didn’t meant that it was unlimited.

He yawned tiredly, probably because he had been woken up earlier due to his cell phone, speaking of that, it was in his pocket correct. He checked his pockets yes it was there as he let out a little sigh before leaving his room, shutting the door behind him for almost what he hoped would be the final time, then again he had thought that many years ago when he had left his home to go to Los Angeles, he had thought that he would be gone for good, apparently not because how many years later and he was back? That wasn’t a good thing at all, he didn’t want to be back, not then when his mother had died and certainly not now. He would be happy once he left this place, this little in his mind shit hole, he would be happy to leave this place and to go home, back to Los Angeles, the place that he was comfortable in, the place that he had become Axl Rose in. That was where he was comfortable, that was where he was at home, not here, not anywhere else in the world, Los Angeles was the place he had called home since he was young and it was the place that he would always call home, simple as that. In fact if he called a cab now then he would be able to cut out some time that he might possibly have to spend with his stepfather, he would us the excuse that he had to get home soon, after all the plants wouldn’t water themselves and he always could make up the excuse that they had a band practice or a meeting that everyone had to attend. His step father wouldn’t like it one bit but he would understand

Or at least he would try to understand. Axl walked down to the end of the hallway, pulling his shiny cell phone out of his pocket as he went and dialing in the numbers for the nearest taxi service that would take him from Lafayette straight to the Indianapolis airport no questions asked. He put the phone up to his ear as he hit the send button, waiting for his cell phone to get a signal; it took a few seconds before it started to ring. One ring, two rings, three rings...and then someone picked up.

“Hello? Yellow Cab Taxi service how may I help you?” The man on the other end of the phone said in a gruff voice, he sounded like he was older and he could possibly had a hint of an English accent, just a hint, and that was only a maybe.

“Um, yes I need a cab to pick me up and then drive me from Lafayette all the way to the Indianapolis airport.” Axl said as he gave the man the address of his stepfather’s house, his old house.

“Of course, I’ll send one down there right away; give it half an hour and we’ll be there.” The man replied right away Axl’s eyebrows lifted up in surprise, that quick? That was better than he had thought, he thought that he would be stuck there with his stepfather for an hour or so, but half an hour tops? That was awesome; it meant that he would get home sooner and that he could resume his regular routine of things.

“Thank you.” Axl replied as the man gave him farewell on the other end of the phone before he disconnected and hung it up before he placed it into his pocket, that was the easy part calling the cab now he was going to have to go downstairs and make do with his father, he probably wouldn’t be able to eat here after all the doubted that his father had anything else in the fridge other than various types of alcohol. Which although Axl had done man y times before he didn’t think that it would make a great breakfast exactly, maybe if he had a piece of toast or something to go along with it but not just alcohol otherwise you’ll be drunk really fast and it would completely ruin his day, although his day might as well have already been ruined, he would spend an hour of it in a taxi that probably smelled like shit, probably a t least a good two hours in the airport and then a stinky sweaty gross smelling airplane before spending more time in the airport, oh things would just go great. That sounded like a real vacation, don’t you agree? Axl gave a little sigh as he stopped at the top of the stairs and looked downwards the pegs had been knocked out at the bottom, or at least one of them and the hand rail had been broken off and never bothered to be repaired, Axl had done it over twenty years ago when he was a kid and had thought it would be cool to slide down the staircase on his ass like he had watched someone do on the television, to accompany him on this stupid feat was of course Izzy who had pushed him to the point that he had broken off the top of the staircase, after that incident Axl hadn’t come home for a week, or rather he had come home his parents just didn’t see him , he was rather afraid as to what his parents would do to him. Of course when he did come home his punishment was probably worse than if he had admitted to it at the beginning he was going to have to pay for the damned thing to be repaired, obviously that had never happened mostly because any bit of money that Axl got went towards pot for him and Izzy. He walked down the stairs, sliding his hand along the rail, taking him time, trying to make as little noise as possible; listening intently in the other room for any noise that would come making Axl know that he was there. He heard nothing, nothing but a quiet static buzz, maybe if Axl was lucky he wouldn’t be home, he would be out getting smashed already, that would be a good thing, a very good thing indeed.

He almost wanted to call out and ask if anyone was in the house or if it was just simply Axl, but he thought better of it, if his stepfather did happen to be home that wouldn’t be good for Axl he could have to talk to him instead of possibly being unnoticed and staying and the front of the building rather than the back of the building where his drunken idiot of a step father tended to lurk around. He had always been at the back of the building even when Axl had grown up; it was like he gravitated there. It was often a curious question of his did all alcoholics tend to stay at the back of the room? Were they wall flowers? Or was it just something that his step father did, like he was a wall flower from the beginning? It was an interesting thing, but Axl would find the answer some other time, maybe later, when he didn’t have to visit with his stepfather.

He reached the base of the stairs nearly tripping over a beer can that was lying on the floor, instead he managed to step on his as the crunching echoed throughout the house, Axl froze for a moment, dead still, swearing under his breath and praying that his step father was already too drunk to make sense of what the sound was, or even better if he was out and wouldn’t come back until Axl had left, or even as Axl was leaving, that would be almost perfect. Down the hallways he could still hear the TV playing, that was strange. It even sounded like it was the same thing he had been listening too last night, the same voices too or at last it sure sounded like them. Axl’s stomach growled out loud voicing what it thought. It didn’t give a royal shitter if Axl had to talk to his step father for three years, it just wanted to eat, it was hungry and angry all at once, it needed something in it, rather badly at that.

He froze for a moment listening to make sure his step father hadn’t heard, he felt like a little kid again, like a teenage when he was trying to sneak out of the house after his mother had gone to bed and his step father was lying on the couch, either drinking or passed out, more than once he had gotten caught, more than once he had been beaten for it, those beating had been few of the many that he had gotten as a child,. He didn’t deliberately try to get them he just wanted to get out of the house, he wanted to leave, and never come back, he wanted freedom and that was what he had after all those years of suffering. He walked down towards the kitchen and therefore the living room, his stomach was practically begging for food, and he couldn’t say no, if there was anything decent in the fridge or any of the cupboards he would think about eating it, he probably would end up eating it though it was quite hungry and not to mention the most that he managed to stuff into his mouth the less he would have to speak to his step father, that kind of made sense, in a Axl Rose type way, which wasn’t a very good way to make sense.

As he approached the living room and the kitchen he could hear the TV it was still going and still playing rather loud on top of that, maybe that meant he was still passed out from the previous night, hopefully that was what it meant, although that was a mean way to think Axl couldn’t help but think like that he didn’t want to talk to the man who he blamed for ruining his childhood, he didn’t want to see the bastard, let alone talk to the fucker.

The TV was still on as Axl walked into the little hallway, the almost divider between the kitchen and the living room. Axl made an immediate turn to his right where the kitchen was, hoping that his dad was passed out on the couch or at least too absorbed in the TV show that was now playing rather loudly on the television.

Axl went straight to the fridge opening it as silently as he possible could, as he predicted there was nothing but beer in the fridge and what looked like a bottle of wine that was unopened, he pushed the bottle of wine aside, maybe there was something behind it that he could eat. He pushed the bottle of wine out the way feeling his hope rise as he saw what looked like the edge of a package, a plastic package that could possible hold food in it. His hope rose and then was swiftly popped when he moved the bottle of wine out of the way, seeing a green piece of meat, that’s right a green piece of meat, that must have been rotting for quite some time to acquire that shade of green. Axl could nearly feel his stomach churn as he looked at the meat before he put the wine bottle back in front of the meat and shut the fridge that was quite nasty nasty indeed. That meant that he would have to move onto the cupboards and maybe find something there.

“Hello dad.” He added as he started to open the higher cupboards, he might as well say hi, better than his step dad turning around and seeing Axl rummaging through the cupboards, and if he was drunk he wouldn’t be able to tell that it was Axl, to him it would just be some random stranger in his house trying to steal his alcohol, or something equally as stupid as that. His dad didn’t reply, maybe that meant with luck that he was passed out on the couch that was a bad thing for most people correct? Well not for Axl, he was glad that his dad was passed out on the couch, because in reality he didn’t want to talk to his step father, he didn’t want too, not in the least at all. He just wanted to go back home to Los Angeles so he could go and veg out in front of the television. Or do something as equally productive. He opened the cupboard there was nothing in it, nothing at all, and was probably doing to be what was in the rest of the cupboards. He might as well give up; he turned around and gasped in shock. The television was playing that was for sure, but his father passed out? That wasn’t for sure. On the couch was Axl’s step father all right he was definitely lying there, that was a hundred and ten percent for sure but he wasn’t passed out drunk. He was dead. His throat was slit, and it was obvious that it had been slit for a while considering that the blood that had ran down the side of his body onto the couch and then proceeded to drip onto the little area rug was already dry. He hadn’t just died in his sleep, he had been murdered, that much was obvious. Not only was his throat slit his legs were slit and as were his wrists.

Axl backed up slowly from the kitchen back into the hallway where he made a mad dash for the door. Who knew when his stepfather had been murdered, it could have been a few hours ago, when Axl had just peacefully been upstairs sleeping, or trying too, it could have been last night when Axl first got there, anything went, but Axl knew that he didn’t want to be around anymore, he needed to get out of the place he had called home for so long right now. He needed to get out, someone else could find the body, he wasn’t about to waste time checking for a pulse or anything else, his step father was long since dead and quietly Axl left the house opening and then shutting the door behind him and sitting upon the steps twiddling his thumbs trying to pass the time while he sat in the utmost shock.

His step father had been murdered and not long ago considering he was just a dead body and the body hadn’t yet released any fluids, Axl wasn’t a doctor he just watched quite of bit of Las Vegas Crime Scene Investigation that was all, the amazing things that you could learn from the television.

He waited idly outside twiddling his thumbs and trying not to think about what was lying inside the house, what was left of his step father, he never liked the man, he was a hard ass and beat Axl quite a bit, lots of his unhappy childhood memories often revolved around the man who now lay dead on the couch yelling at him screaming at him, beating him, chasing him out of the house, and although Axl didn’t like the man at al he still didn’t want to kill him, but obviously someone had and Axl knew he was doing the wrong things but now calling the cops but he just couldn’t, just simply couldn’t because then he would get questioned and it would looked as though he killed the man inside who had almost tortured him through most of the years of his childhood. Axl watched as cars drove by, hoping the taxi would show up soon, to pass the time he began to scout down the street, many of the other houses in the area had also fallen into despair but the house that Axl had grown up in was by far in the worst condition. A yellow cab pulled up at the house next to his, Axl lifted his head in hopes that it might be there for him, almost as if on cue the car rolled forward a tad stopping directly in front of Axl’s house. He was ready to jump, maybe even scream he was that happy go get out of Lafayette and away from the house. He quickly walked down the drive making sure that his cell phone was in his pocket, which it was, he dreading going back into the house even for another second. He checked for his wallet, which resided in his other pocket that was everything that Axl had brought, he was ready to go.

“Where to sir?” The drier asked as Axl swung himself into the back stead of the cab doing up the seat belt and withdrawing his wallet before he looked up, realizing that the driver had indeed spoken to him. “Where am I supposed to drive you?” The driver asked again sounding a tad more annoyed that a driver should Axl gave him a look as though he was no amused with the way he was being treated, not just because he was famous, but because it was quite rude to treat a customer that way.

“Indianapolis airport.” Axl replied through clenched teeth restraining the urge to spit something out about his crappy people skills. The driver huffed and eyes him suspiciously in the rear-view almost as if he was being recognized. He looked as though he was about to say something before mumbling something under his breath and shifting gears before pressing on the breaks and leaving Axl to stare out the window as the first place he had ever called him slowly disappeared from view. As they began to drive it suddenly hit Axl that he should call the cops and at least let them know that someone had been killed and that he had to return to Los Angeles for a business meeting, and wouldn’t be staying, yes that was what Axl would do, that was the smart thing to do. He took his shiny cell phone out of his pocket and pressed buttons while he waited patiently for it to turn on, he had been forced to turn it off, he didn’t want to kill the battery, he was going to have to call for a cab in Los Angeles and didn’t have a lot of change on him to use a pay phone. He waited as seconds ticked by as the main screen appeared on his phone for a second before the missed alerts began to pop up. He quickly hit the little back button, he didn’t give a damn about the alerts, this was an emergency, and he need to call right now. Hesitantly he pressed a nine followed by two ones before placing it up to his ear and waiting for it to connect, it rang once.

“What is your emergency?” A male voice asked quickly, as if he couldn’t waste time, and he was going to try not to.

“My step father was murdered.” Axl said quickly trying to make all the words run together, he told them the address twice as clear as he could before he disconnected, they would check it out, hopefully, or at least they’d better check it out. Axl pressed the power button on his cell phone, turning it off, he didn’t want anyone trying to call him back, and he would deal with the alerts when he got to the airport. Now he thought as he slid his phone back into his pocket, now he could relax finally.