Tell Me I'm A Bad Man
Threats and Promises
Mikey’s point of view.
The day after the Great Potato Incident of 2007, I was helping Jepha get situated in her new room.
She didn’t have much of her stuff yet, so it didn’t take too long.
I was standing behind the old reception desk in the lobby once we were done writing down in the logbook which room was now officially Jepha’s.
“Mikey!!” Jepha called to me, bouncing down the stairs. “We’re going shopping!!”
“We are?” I asked absently.
“Not you, unless you like looking for the perfect shoes for hours,” she answered.
“Well, you know, I do like my shoes,” I said back.
“Says the guy with the gross beat up Converse that smell worse than a dead squirrel,” Jepha said simply.
“Ew, why are you smelling squirrels? Especially dead ones?” I asked, slightly disturbed.
At that moment, Mo, Adele, Peace, Nicole, and PJ were all coming down the stairs too.
"Sakura’s not going with you? Where is she?” I inquired.
“Why don’t you ask Bob?” Jepha fired back, trying for sarcastic but ending up sounding bitter.
“Oh. Kay,” I said, assuming that the two of them had gone out. I didn’t get why Jepha was so miffed about it, though. It’s just a date.
“Well, have fun shopping,” I told the girls, most of which were fidgeting with anticipation of shopping.
“See ya later, Mikey,” they all chorused, moving out the door.
“Let’s get you a bunch of outfits from Hot Topic!!” one of them shrieked from outside on the porch.
“And then we’ll go into Coach and move shoes!!” one that sounded just like Kelly said.
“Oh, then we’ll go to Abercrombie and hunt for black stuff!!” yet another said.
I truly felt bad for everyone else who would be at the mall with them there.
“Way,” I heard someone say a few minutes later. Ray and Frank were coming down the stairs, each holding a piece of paper.
“So here’s what happened,” Frank started explaining as they reached the desk I was still behind. “Adele and Kelly think we’re totally irresponsible, so they’re making us go grocery shopping for everyone.”
“Ew. Just call it food, please,” Ray said, shaking his head, his fro moving side to side as he did so. “Grocery has ‘gross’ in it. I hate that word.”
“Pansy. Anyway,” Frank went on impatiently. “So they gave us lists and coupons and stuff.”
“So the question is what do we do with coupons?” Ray finished.
“Why do you expect me to know?” I asked them.
“Well, you’ve lived alone. You must have gone shopping at some point,” Frank explained. “Unless you eat out of a dumpster.”
“That was once, I was 10, and it was Gerard’s fault anyway,” I defended myself.
“Ew, I didn’t think you really did that,” Frank said, a twisted and fascinated grin playing across his face.
“Actually, we asked you cuz you’re there,” Ray said.
“Wow. Now I feel special. I think you just give the coupons to the cashier when you pay,” I said, answering the original question.
“Sweet. It sounds so much easier than I thought. I mean, with a word like coupons…” Ray trailed off.
“Shut it Toro. Let’s get this over with,” Frank sighed.
I said goodbye to them and they disappeared through the front door. Now the only ones left in the Overlook were Gerard and I. And I wasn’t sure where he was.
I started exploring through the whole reception desk to see what I would find. There were log books dating back from 1850 to 1965. I was a little surprised to see books that old.
“Mikes, I’m going out,” Gerard said, suddenly appearing in the lobby and interrupting my desk digging.
“Um, where?” I asked.
“Out,” he said. “I’ll be back in a couple hours.”
“Where are you going, Gee?” I semi-whined.
“Out, for a couple hours, Mikey. What is so difficult about that?” my brother said, his eyes growing wider with exasperation.
“Can I come?” I asked hopefully.
“No. Stay here. And I don’t want you to be alone,” Gerard said.
“Well, if I’m with you, I won’t be alone, now will I?” I pointed out.
Gerard hesitated for a second. “Mikey, just leave me alone. Bye.”
I watched as my brother turned on his heel and followed the rest of them out the door. He must not have known that they had all left though, and I didn’t know why he ‘didn’t want me to be alone.’
Whatever. I felt the way I always used to feel when we were kids and Gerard went off with his friends, leaving me alone.
I went back to looking through the old logbooks. Some of the handwriting was hard to read, but I noticed some famous people, like a few presidents and actors.
Out of nowhere, I heard a bell ring. It was a deep, rich sound that startled me because I wasn’t expecting it. It rang again and I realized then that it was the doorbell.
I figured it was a Black Parade member who needed to talk to me or something.
I opened the door and saw I man I didn’t recognize standing there. He had long, greasy looking dark blond hair and thick eyebrows. His eyes were bright blue, but not in the same, almost shocking way that Bob’s were. The man’s face was unshaven and he was wearing beat up jeans and a rumpled sweatshirt.
“Hi,” I said. I didn’t recognize him at all. But then again, at the ceremony where I joined the Parade, everyone was wearing hooded cloaks.
“Hey, is this the headquarters of The Black Parade?” he asked innocently. I wasn’t sure how to answer. So I tried to think of how Gerard would respond. Say no, a voice in my head said. If he was a member, he’d have been here before and would know not to ask that.
“The headquarters of what?” I asked, trying to sound like I had no clue what he was on about.
The guy smirked, obviously reading my hesitation as a ‘yes.’ “Right. Lets go with that then. Does Gerard way live here?”
Damn. I really needed to start thinking faster.
“Who are you?” I shot back; suddenly grateful that Gerard and I don’t really look alike.
“Jim Steele. Who are you?” he asked.
“You can’t ask me that. You came here. That means I ask the questions. Get it?” I said by way of answering him. I was suddenly overcome by the same feeling that I had when I was talking to everyone in the front lobby a couple days ago. Some weird part of my brain took over and made me sound like I knew what I was doing.
“Okay, well then I’ll be going,” he said.
Jim held his left hand out for a handshake. I knew something was weird about that because everyone used their right, usually. Plus the way he was still smirking at me was creeping me out and made me feel like he was up to something.
I felt a sudden sting in the sword on my left wrist. Not letting that on, I just looked down at his hand and raised one eyebrow. I held out my right hand instead without saying anything. He switched hands, and I noticed that his was very cold.
I also saw that his face was unhealthily pale. I looked down at his cadaver-like hand and saw a black ring around the base of his ring finger. He saw me looking at it and snatched his hand away.
After that, Jim turned away and walked down the long dirt driveway that led through the woods. Someone must have been waiting for him where I couldn’t see them. It had taken us about 5 minutes to drive though the woods when I first arrived and that was when we were racing Ray’s motorcycle at unlawful speeds.
I watched him walking away. He glanced back at me once. I was doing my best to seem threatening. It wasn’t working, because I’m just not a threatening person.
After I was sure he left, I went back inside and read a book. I was sitting in the parlor for a few hours.
Soon I heard the front door open and people laughing.
“Where is he? You don’t think he went anywhere, do you?” someone whispered.
The whole group of girls who had gone shopping came into the parlor. “MIKEY MOUSE!!!!” they screamed in unison.
After that, it was pretty much a mass of them high fiving each other and hysterically laughing.
“You rehearsed that, didn’t you?” I said, going back to my book.
“Heh. Yeah, we did. Freaked people out at the mall,” Jordyn said, walking behind the couch I was on and took my glasses off me.
“Give it back,” I said, blindly looking around.
“How many fingers am I holding up?” Kelly asked.
“You’re holding up fingers?” I said trying to figure out which blurred shape she was.
“Michael Jimbob Way, your glasses are disgusting. Plus, you’re really blind,” Jordyn told me.
“My middle name isn’t Jimbob,” I said. “And didn’t you go home, Jordyn?”
“Oh, yeah, I did. I live in the next town, and I found these dudes wreaking havoc on the mall. I had gone there to mess with people too, but it’s just more fun in a group. Ya know?” she answered me.
I finally got my glasses back when we heard a car door slam.
“Just don’t tell them we forgot it. They’ll never notice,” we heard Ray say as he and Frank came through the front door.
We all went into the front lobby to greet them. “We’re back,” Ray said, giving Kelly a hug.
“We come in peace bringing offerings of food,” Frank added.
“Oh yeah? Where is it?” Mo asked.
“In the car,” Frank replied, sounding as though she should have already known this.
“Then go bring it in, heh,” she said.
“Uh, Ray? What happened to you?” Kelly asked while picking bits of brown paper out of Ray’s afro.
“Nothing,” he answered.
“Ray got into a fight with a paper bag,” Frank explained. “And he lost. Badly.”
Gerard’s point of view.
I left my car on the side of a dirt road near the woods.
Taking a deep breath, I killed the engine and got out of the car. Checking to make sure it was locked I dropped the keys into the pocket of my coat.
There was a narrow path leading through the woods. I turned and started walking towards it. With each step I felt the weight of the knife I had in my other coat pocket, like a bitter weight, rhythmically thumping against my chest.
A voice in my head told me you don’t know what’s happening. You can’t trust him.
It was true, but on I walked because I had to. I watched my pants turn a strange color as the dust I kicked up clung to the black corduroy.
Unsure of how far I had to go, I just kept walking, my heartbeat keeping time with my footsteps and the heavy thud of the knife.
“Ah, Master Way, the dear Conductor. To what do I owe this wonderful privilege of this meeting?” I a voice drawled through the trees.
Stepping out of the forest, I saw him before me. Taller than even Ray, with shaggy blonde hair and a permanent smirk, he looked down at me, his dark green eyes searching my face, trying to read me.
“Ah, Diloshant, nothing but news,” I answered him.
“Well, what is it that you want to know?” he asked, tilting his head to the side.
I stared back at the man who was neither my ally nor my opponent. He was at the same time an asset as a traitor. Diloshant worked for two masters.
“Anything you have to tell,” I replied.
“Hmmm, well. They know about your second commander. Your brother, isn’t he?” Diloshant added absently, a slight British accent underlying his speech.
“Possibly. Go on,” I said, still wearing my oversized sunglasses.
“Well, they’re oh-so eager to find out what will happen now. Something magical isn’t it supposed to be?” he continued, slowly walking in circles around me.
“Irrelevant. What else?” I shut him down.
“Abrupt, are we?” Diloshant stopped circling and stood in front of me.
I just looked up at him through my black lenses.
“They’re ready,” Diloshant told me. “They don’t know what you’re planning on doing, but they’ll be prepared for it.”
“How exactly do you prepare for something you don’t know about?” I asked.
“I don’t know. I don’t get details. They just said they’re ready,” he said shrugging.
I wasn’t sure what that meant. But I didn’t like the sound of it.
“Anything else?” I asked mildly, trying to seem like I knew what I was doing at all.
“Now,” Diloshant said, running a hand through his shaggy blond hair. “Nut they said to tell you to watch your back.”
“Fair enough,” I answered, nodding slightly. Meanwhile, I was wondering what the hell that meant.
“Well, that’s it for now,” Diloshant said curtly. “Goodbye Gerard Way.”
“Goodbye, Diloshant,” I replied, starting to walk back through the woods to where my car was.
I got the feeling, walking away, that Diloshant was watching me. But I didn’t turn around to see. Instead, I pulled off my huge sunglasses, polished them a bit on my shirt, and put them back on. I figured a good leader does what they have to do and doesn’t look back.
Between the feeling of being watched, the February cold, and the pressing feeling of the forest surrounding me, I really wanted to get out of the forest.
By the time I got back to my car, I felt like there was a hole in my rib cage from the knife in my pocket banging against me. I had only taken it because Diloshant can be unpredictable. He was a go-between for the Black Parade and our adversaries, the Onyx Society.
It was almost twenty minutes later when I walked through the doors of the Overlook. I heard laughter coming from the kitchen, so I went in there.
Inside, there was everything everywhere. Food, spoons, other stuff was all over the room, and everyone was standing in it, screaming and laughing and throwing things at each other.
“Gerard!” someone screamed in alarm when I came in.
Everything abruptly stopped flying around.
“What the hell are you doing?” I asked.
“Um, technically it’s called a food fight,” Jepha said slowly, wiping the whipped cream off her forehead.
“Who’s idea was this?” I demanded.
Everyone turned and looked at Peace, who then turned and pointed at PJ.
“Didn’t I tell you no more food fights?” I said to the two of them, our notorious food-flinging queens.
“Yeah,” PJ said quietly.
“Gerard, don’t take it out on them. I let everyone do it,” Mikey said, stepping forward.
“Oh you did, did you?” I said sarcastically. “And who gave you the right to decide that?”
Adele started coughing. “Well, you did,” my brother said.
“Oh, well. I need to talk to you anyway,” I said, trying to brush that little lapse in my judgment off. “You, go take a shower and then meet me in the library.
“And you,” I said, turning to all the others. “Clean this up, all of it, and then take showers.”
I was about to turn and walk out when Mikey said, “No, I’m going to help. Then I’ll meet ya in your fancy pants office. Okay? Cool.”
“Fine. Just, hurry up. And this place had better be clean,” I told them.
About an hour later, I was sitting at my desk, absently drawing whatever came
into my head. The door opened and I quickly shut my sketchbook and put it under some papers.
“Hey Mikey. Now, there’s some stuff I need to tell you,” I started.
The day after the Great Potato Incident of 2007, I was helping Jepha get situated in her new room.
She didn’t have much of her stuff yet, so it didn’t take too long.
I was standing behind the old reception desk in the lobby once we were done writing down in the logbook which room was now officially Jepha’s.
“Mikey!!” Jepha called to me, bouncing down the stairs. “We’re going shopping!!”
“We are?” I asked absently.
“Not you, unless you like looking for the perfect shoes for hours,” she answered.
“Well, you know, I do like my shoes,” I said back.
“Says the guy with the gross beat up Converse that smell worse than a dead squirrel,” Jepha said simply.
“Ew, why are you smelling squirrels? Especially dead ones?” I asked, slightly disturbed.
At that moment, Mo, Adele, Peace, Nicole, and PJ were all coming down the stairs too.
"Sakura’s not going with you? Where is she?” I inquired.
“Why don’t you ask Bob?” Jepha fired back, trying for sarcastic but ending up sounding bitter.
“Oh. Kay,” I said, assuming that the two of them had gone out. I didn’t get why Jepha was so miffed about it, though. It’s just a date.
“Well, have fun shopping,” I told the girls, most of which were fidgeting with anticipation of shopping.
“See ya later, Mikey,” they all chorused, moving out the door.
“Let’s get you a bunch of outfits from Hot Topic!!” one of them shrieked from outside on the porch.
“And then we’ll go into Coach and move shoes!!” one that sounded just like Kelly said.
“Oh, then we’ll go to Abercrombie and hunt for black stuff!!” yet another said.
I truly felt bad for everyone else who would be at the mall with them there.
“Way,” I heard someone say a few minutes later. Ray and Frank were coming down the stairs, each holding a piece of paper.
“So here’s what happened,” Frank started explaining as they reached the desk I was still behind. “Adele and Kelly think we’re totally irresponsible, so they’re making us go grocery shopping for everyone.”
“Ew. Just call it food, please,” Ray said, shaking his head, his fro moving side to side as he did so. “Grocery has ‘gross’ in it. I hate that word.”
“Pansy. Anyway,” Frank went on impatiently. “So they gave us lists and coupons and stuff.”
“So the question is what do we do with coupons?” Ray finished.
“Why do you expect me to know?” I asked them.
“Well, you’ve lived alone. You must have gone shopping at some point,” Frank explained. “Unless you eat out of a dumpster.”
“That was once, I was 10, and it was Gerard’s fault anyway,” I defended myself.
“Ew, I didn’t think you really did that,” Frank said, a twisted and fascinated grin playing across his face.
“Actually, we asked you cuz you’re there,” Ray said.
“Wow. Now I feel special. I think you just give the coupons to the cashier when you pay,” I said, answering the original question.
“Sweet. It sounds so much easier than I thought. I mean, with a word like coupons…” Ray trailed off.
“Shut it Toro. Let’s get this over with,” Frank sighed.
I said goodbye to them and they disappeared through the front door. Now the only ones left in the Overlook were Gerard and I. And I wasn’t sure where he was.
I started exploring through the whole reception desk to see what I would find. There were log books dating back from 1850 to 1965. I was a little surprised to see books that old.
“Mikes, I’m going out,” Gerard said, suddenly appearing in the lobby and interrupting my desk digging.
“Um, where?” I asked.
“Out,” he said. “I’ll be back in a couple hours.”
“Where are you going, Gee?” I semi-whined.
“Out, for a couple hours, Mikey. What is so difficult about that?” my brother said, his eyes growing wider with exasperation.
“Can I come?” I asked hopefully.
“No. Stay here. And I don’t want you to be alone,” Gerard said.
“Well, if I’m with you, I won’t be alone, now will I?” I pointed out.
Gerard hesitated for a second. “Mikey, just leave me alone. Bye.”
I watched as my brother turned on his heel and followed the rest of them out the door. He must not have known that they had all left though, and I didn’t know why he ‘didn’t want me to be alone.’
Whatever. I felt the way I always used to feel when we were kids and Gerard went off with his friends, leaving me alone.
I went back to looking through the old logbooks. Some of the handwriting was hard to read, but I noticed some famous people, like a few presidents and actors.
Out of nowhere, I heard a bell ring. It was a deep, rich sound that startled me because I wasn’t expecting it. It rang again and I realized then that it was the doorbell.
I figured it was a Black Parade member who needed to talk to me or something.
I opened the door and saw I man I didn’t recognize standing there. He had long, greasy looking dark blond hair and thick eyebrows. His eyes were bright blue, but not in the same, almost shocking way that Bob’s were. The man’s face was unshaven and he was wearing beat up jeans and a rumpled sweatshirt.
“Hi,” I said. I didn’t recognize him at all. But then again, at the ceremony where I joined the Parade, everyone was wearing hooded cloaks.
“Hey, is this the headquarters of The Black Parade?” he asked innocently. I wasn’t sure how to answer. So I tried to think of how Gerard would respond. Say no, a voice in my head said. If he was a member, he’d have been here before and would know not to ask that.
“The headquarters of what?” I asked, trying to sound like I had no clue what he was on about.
The guy smirked, obviously reading my hesitation as a ‘yes.’ “Right. Lets go with that then. Does Gerard way live here?”
Damn. I really needed to start thinking faster.
“Who are you?” I shot back; suddenly grateful that Gerard and I don’t really look alike.
“Jim Steele. Who are you?” he asked.
“You can’t ask me that. You came here. That means I ask the questions. Get it?” I said by way of answering him. I was suddenly overcome by the same feeling that I had when I was talking to everyone in the front lobby a couple days ago. Some weird part of my brain took over and made me sound like I knew what I was doing.
“Okay, well then I’ll be going,” he said.
Jim held his left hand out for a handshake. I knew something was weird about that because everyone used their right, usually. Plus the way he was still smirking at me was creeping me out and made me feel like he was up to something.
I felt a sudden sting in the sword on my left wrist. Not letting that on, I just looked down at his hand and raised one eyebrow. I held out my right hand instead without saying anything. He switched hands, and I noticed that his was very cold.
I also saw that his face was unhealthily pale. I looked down at his cadaver-like hand and saw a black ring around the base of his ring finger. He saw me looking at it and snatched his hand away.
After that, Jim turned away and walked down the long dirt driveway that led through the woods. Someone must have been waiting for him where I couldn’t see them. It had taken us about 5 minutes to drive though the woods when I first arrived and that was when we were racing Ray’s motorcycle at unlawful speeds.
I watched him walking away. He glanced back at me once. I was doing my best to seem threatening. It wasn’t working, because I’m just not a threatening person.
After I was sure he left, I went back inside and read a book. I was sitting in the parlor for a few hours.
Soon I heard the front door open and people laughing.
“Where is he? You don’t think he went anywhere, do you?” someone whispered.
The whole group of girls who had gone shopping came into the parlor. “MIKEY MOUSE!!!!” they screamed in unison.
After that, it was pretty much a mass of them high fiving each other and hysterically laughing.
“You rehearsed that, didn’t you?” I said, going back to my book.
“Heh. Yeah, we did. Freaked people out at the mall,” Jordyn said, walking behind the couch I was on and took my glasses off me.
“Give it back,” I said, blindly looking around.
“How many fingers am I holding up?” Kelly asked.
“You’re holding up fingers?” I said trying to figure out which blurred shape she was.
“Michael Jimbob Way, your glasses are disgusting. Plus, you’re really blind,” Jordyn told me.
“My middle name isn’t Jimbob,” I said. “And didn’t you go home, Jordyn?”
“Oh, yeah, I did. I live in the next town, and I found these dudes wreaking havoc on the mall. I had gone there to mess with people too, but it’s just more fun in a group. Ya know?” she answered me.
I finally got my glasses back when we heard a car door slam.
“Just don’t tell them we forgot it. They’ll never notice,” we heard Ray say as he and Frank came through the front door.
We all went into the front lobby to greet them. “We’re back,” Ray said, giving Kelly a hug.
“We come in peace bringing offerings of food,” Frank added.
“Oh yeah? Where is it?” Mo asked.
“In the car,” Frank replied, sounding as though she should have already known this.
“Then go bring it in, heh,” she said.
“Uh, Ray? What happened to you?” Kelly asked while picking bits of brown paper out of Ray’s afro.
“Nothing,” he answered.
“Ray got into a fight with a paper bag,” Frank explained. “And he lost. Badly.”
Gerard’s point of view.
I left my car on the side of a dirt road near the woods.
Taking a deep breath, I killed the engine and got out of the car. Checking to make sure it was locked I dropped the keys into the pocket of my coat.
There was a narrow path leading through the woods. I turned and started walking towards it. With each step I felt the weight of the knife I had in my other coat pocket, like a bitter weight, rhythmically thumping against my chest.
A voice in my head told me you don’t know what’s happening. You can’t trust him.
It was true, but on I walked because I had to. I watched my pants turn a strange color as the dust I kicked up clung to the black corduroy.
Unsure of how far I had to go, I just kept walking, my heartbeat keeping time with my footsteps and the heavy thud of the knife.
“Ah, Master Way, the dear Conductor. To what do I owe this wonderful privilege of this meeting?” I a voice drawled through the trees.
Stepping out of the forest, I saw him before me. Taller than even Ray, with shaggy blonde hair and a permanent smirk, he looked down at me, his dark green eyes searching my face, trying to read me.
“Ah, Diloshant, nothing but news,” I answered him.
“Well, what is it that you want to know?” he asked, tilting his head to the side.
I stared back at the man who was neither my ally nor my opponent. He was at the same time an asset as a traitor. Diloshant worked for two masters.
“Anything you have to tell,” I replied.
“Hmmm, well. They know about your second commander. Your brother, isn’t he?” Diloshant added absently, a slight British accent underlying his speech.
“Possibly. Go on,” I said, still wearing my oversized sunglasses.
“Well, they’re oh-so eager to find out what will happen now. Something magical isn’t it supposed to be?” he continued, slowly walking in circles around me.
“Irrelevant. What else?” I shut him down.
“Abrupt, are we?” Diloshant stopped circling and stood in front of me.
I just looked up at him through my black lenses.
“They’re ready,” Diloshant told me. “They don’t know what you’re planning on doing, but they’ll be prepared for it.”
“How exactly do you prepare for something you don’t know about?” I asked.
“I don’t know. I don’t get details. They just said they’re ready,” he said shrugging.
I wasn’t sure what that meant. But I didn’t like the sound of it.
“Anything else?” I asked mildly, trying to seem like I knew what I was doing at all.
“Now,” Diloshant said, running a hand through his shaggy blond hair. “Nut they said to tell you to watch your back.”
“Fair enough,” I answered, nodding slightly. Meanwhile, I was wondering what the hell that meant.
“Well, that’s it for now,” Diloshant said curtly. “Goodbye Gerard Way.”
“Goodbye, Diloshant,” I replied, starting to walk back through the woods to where my car was.
I got the feeling, walking away, that Diloshant was watching me. But I didn’t turn around to see. Instead, I pulled off my huge sunglasses, polished them a bit on my shirt, and put them back on. I figured a good leader does what they have to do and doesn’t look back.
Between the feeling of being watched, the February cold, and the pressing feeling of the forest surrounding me, I really wanted to get out of the forest.
By the time I got back to my car, I felt like there was a hole in my rib cage from the knife in my pocket banging against me. I had only taken it because Diloshant can be unpredictable. He was a go-between for the Black Parade and our adversaries, the Onyx Society.
It was almost twenty minutes later when I walked through the doors of the Overlook. I heard laughter coming from the kitchen, so I went in there.
Inside, there was everything everywhere. Food, spoons, other stuff was all over the room, and everyone was standing in it, screaming and laughing and throwing things at each other.
“Gerard!” someone screamed in alarm when I came in.
Everything abruptly stopped flying around.
“What the hell are you doing?” I asked.
“Um, technically it’s called a food fight,” Jepha said slowly, wiping the whipped cream off her forehead.
“Who’s idea was this?” I demanded.
Everyone turned and looked at Peace, who then turned and pointed at PJ.
“Didn’t I tell you no more food fights?” I said to the two of them, our notorious food-flinging queens.
“Yeah,” PJ said quietly.
“Gerard, don’t take it out on them. I let everyone do it,” Mikey said, stepping forward.
“Oh you did, did you?” I said sarcastically. “And who gave you the right to decide that?”
Adele started coughing. “Well, you did,” my brother said.
“Oh, well. I need to talk to you anyway,” I said, trying to brush that little lapse in my judgment off. “You, go take a shower and then meet me in the library.
“And you,” I said, turning to all the others. “Clean this up, all of it, and then take showers.”
I was about to turn and walk out when Mikey said, “No, I’m going to help. Then I’ll meet ya in your fancy pants office. Okay? Cool.”
“Fine. Just, hurry up. And this place had better be clean,” I told them.
About an hour later, I was sitting at my desk, absently drawing whatever came
into my head. The door opened and I quickly shut my sketchbook and put it under some papers.
“Hey Mikey. Now, there’s some stuff I need to tell you,” I started.