Hard to Call This Home

Life seems to throw curves and punches at me all the time in this life of mine. At the age of three, I was dropped off in the middle of the night on my grandmother’s couch, while my mom, disappeared never to be heard from again.

By the time I was six, my grandfather was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and six months later he was dead, when he drove himself into a lake near by our two story house. I wasn’t too young to know that he couldn’t live on anymore not knowing his way around the house.

Then when I turned nine years old, my Uncle Anthony, my best friend, he joined the Marines, and was shipped off to Iraq. I still get to talk to him webcam, face to face every nine or twelve months. It just gets hard, when you never know what’s happening and going on.

Now, at the age of fourteen, I’ve lost my grandmother my protector and the one who raised me, to a heart attack three weeks ago. At first I was staying with Uncle’s girlfriend Ashlee, but she can barely take care of herself and my cousin Lily.

I sat on porch of my Grandmothers old house, with her old friend Linda Iero, swinging back and forth as my Uncle Anthony sat on the steps with my luggage. Linda said she had found somebody to take me in, and it was needed for both me and this person. I was confused, was I going to be living far away in Chicago with my best friend Ivory?

I listened as Linda and Uncle Anthony talked back and forth, as I continued to watch the kids across the street run around chasing each other in the sprinklers, just as I was about to smile, Uncle Anthony sat on the other side of me putting his hand in mine.

“When you were first born Jersey, I thought you we’re the most pretty baby to ever grace this earth. Your hazel eyes almost copied the roundness of the moon; your soft pink lips were like fresh spring roses.” Linda whispered, as I turned to face her, I didn’t know she knew me when I was first born, I was suddenly confused.

“Jersey, your father is going to be here any second, and you will be going to live with him, not too far from here. When you see who he is, please give him time to explain why things have gone the way they have. You are going to have a real family now, a father, a step mom who I know you’ll love, more Uncles then you’ve ever could have dreamed of, and most of all you will make a new friend.” I stared at Anthony in shock.

I always knew Grandma, knew who my dad was, but I didn’t know Uncle Anthony and Linda knew. I could feel my heart start to beat fast, along with my breathing becoming uneven. I was scared, I wasn’t sure I was ready to know my dad.

There wasn’t enough time for me to really think before a black ’68 Chevy Impala pulled up, I recognized the driver of the car as Ray Toro, one of Linda’s friends, and somebody who was pretty active in the community, getting out of the backseat was a girl around my age with blue hair, soon followed by Gerard Way. My jaw dropped soon after Linda’s son Frank got out of the passenger seat.

“Hey mom,” I watched as Frank walked up the steps and around my luggage, he had smiled nervously over at me, as I simply just stared at him. Linda hugged him close to her body as she turned to look at me with Frank at her side.

The girl with blue hair waved at me slowly as she stood on the grass, Gerard has his arm around her shoulder, I softly waved back, and I wasn’t sure what was going on, watching her face soften as Frank took Linda’s place next to me.

“Jersey, I’m Frank Iero, um your mom and I dated back when we younger.” I could feel my stomach drop, Ivory my best friend used to always say Frank Iero and I looked alike, I used to call her crazy, saying just because Chester from Linkin Park was her dad, didn’t mean my dad was famous, and here I am wrong.

“Does this mean I’m your daughter?” I asked quietly, it felt like my heart was dropping down into my stomach, because Frank, had been around a lot when I was growing up, he did little things at school events where I went.

“Yeah,” before I knew I was being hugged by Frank. It felt to sudden for him to be hugging me I almost felt as if he thought I would be okay, how could I be okay with him being so blunt! I could feel the tears start to fall fast and I pulled away as fast as I could.

Getting up from the swing, I made way inside the house going to where the piano sat in the living room, my fingers touched the ivory, I waited for my fingers to start to play, but I felt the pain was too much to even think about doing anything.

“I think you might be taking it way more better then I did.”