Adolescent Suicide

Athens, Greece

“So, tell me again why I’m helping you do this,” she said quietly, peering sideways over at Mikey.

The two of them were crouched outside of her hotel room, where Frank was sleeping soundly inside. Mikey had grabbed Mercy and pulled her to the side after they got off the plane. His idea? Get back at Frank for keeping them awake the entire flight from Romania to Greece. She had no idea why she agreed to it, but she had. And now, here she was, dressed completely in black with a ski mask pushing her hair back, armed with cans of whipped cream and silly string. Skittles was at her feet, panting in the heat. Mikey had insisted that the dog be dressed in black as well, so he was wearing a black t-shirt with holes cut in it for his paws and a little black knit hat over his head.

“Um, because you love me and Frank irritated you as well,” Mikey said, shrugging.

Mercy arched a brow, then sighed, nodding her head in agreement. “Too true, Mikes, too true. Though he’s going to kill me for helping you. You should’ve gotten someone else to help you, buddy.”

“Yeah, but you’re the one with the hotel key. What did you tell him, by the way? So that you could get out of the room without raising suspicion?”

She pointed at Skittles, who tilted his head at her. “Told him he had to shit. He didn’t argue with me.”

“Oh. So that’s why you brought the dog.”

“Exactly,” she said, nodding her head.

“Are you ready?” Mikey asked, pulling out a handful of Sharpies and small bows that he had stolen from Sicily.

Mercy shrugged. “About as ready as I’m going to be.”

She pulled down the ski mask, then stood, inserting the key into the slot. The little light flashed green, giving her admittance. Slowly, she pushed open the door, wincing when it creaked slightly. Skittles trotted in first, looking around the room. She followed him with Mikey close on her heels. After shutting the door, she waved her hand, pointing him in the direction of the bedroom. Even from their spot, they could hear Frank’s heavy snoring. He had been exhausted when they arrived at the hotel, and she couldn’t really blame him. They all had been, thanks to him.

Her blue eyes looked at Mikey as he moved past her, his face covered by a Halloween mask that had been jacked from Gerard. His brown hair fell over the edges of it, making her shake her head. If Frank didn’t know who they were, then he was fucking stupid. Mikey pushed open the bedroom door, making her boyfriend’s snores get louder. Skittles padded past her, sniffing everything in his path.

“Shh!” she told him, wagging her finger at him.

If it was possible for dogs to smile, he probably would’ve as he looked up at her, his tongue hanging out of the side of his mouth. Mercy chuckled softly, earning a ‘shh’ from Mikey. She scowled at him through the mask before heading over to the opposite side of the bed. They stood there, leaning over Frank who was sprawled out on his stomach. Little bits of drool escaped his full lips, making a small puddle on the pillow. His dark hair was covering most of his face, moving with each exhale of his breath.

They were about to begin when they heard the familiar sound of water hitting leather. They both turned, gaping at Skittles, who had just hiked his leg and peed on Frank’s leather jacket. Oh shit. He was going to be pissed. He was going to throw a shit fit. Mercy started laughing silently, her shoulders shaking. She knew she probably shouldn’t be laughing, but that was fucking hilarious. Mikey began laughing as well, and before long, the both of them were on the floor, holding their sides in their silent laughter. Skittles came over and licked her covered face a few times before happily trotting back into the living room.

“Oh shit. Frank’s going to kill that dog,” Mikey whispered as he stood, lifting his mask to wipe some tears away.

Mercy nodded as she peered at him from the edge of the bed, still laughing. “No shit,” she softly said, rubbing a hand over her mask.

“Alright, let’s get to work before he wakes up from the stench of dog urine,” Mikey said, wrinkling up his face before covering it once more.

The two of them leaned over Frank’s sleeping body and got to work, wincing at the hissing sound that emitted from the spray cans that Mercy was wielding. Mikey set to putting pretty pink and green bows in Frank’s hair before writing vulgar remarks on his face. Mercy basically covered his body with silly string and whipped cream, making designs like stars and hearts. They snickered as they worked, freezing when he would make a sleeping noise, or when he would move. Within ten minutes, they were done and creeping out of the bedroom, shutting the door softly behind them.

“I’m totally sleeping in you guys’ room tonight,” Mercy said, yanking off her mask. “I don’t want murdered in my sleep.”

“Good idea. You can have my bed,” Mikey said, grinning as he followed suit. “But the dog stays here.”

She gaped at him. “No! I don’t want him murdered in his sleep either!”

Mikey sighed, shaking his head. “Fine. But he sleeps with you.”

“Aw, but he loves you.”

“I’m sure he does. Now, lets get out of here before he wakes up.”

**********Time Elapse*********

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Mercy was startled awake, her entire body flying off of the bed. She looked to the right, where Ray was in the same position as she was, eyes wide. To her left, Bob was muttering underneath his breath, pulling his pillow over his head. The bedroom door flew open and Mikey was revealed in a pair of boxers, his glasses askew.

“I think Frank just woke up!” he exclaimed, looking over his shoulder as the door was pounded on again.

“DAMN IT MERCY! MIKEY! BOB! RAY! WHOEVER DID THIS! I KNOW IT WAS ONE OF YOU! OPEN THIS DAMN DOOR THIS INSTANT! I’M GONNA KILL YOU!”

“I think you’re right,” Mercy said, giggling even though she was terrified of what Frank was going to do to them.

“I say you get the door,” Mikey said, pointing at her.

“What?! Why me?!”

“Because he loves you. He’ll kill us before you.”

“Good point, but I still don’t wanna do it.”

“Go before he knocks down the door with his fist!”

“Fine. Fine.”

Mercy tossed the blanket off of her, making Skittles grunt at the foot of the bed. She pulled her tank top down as she made her way through the living room, jumping when Frank pounded on the door again.

“OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR! THIS ISN’T FUNNY YOU DICKHEADS!”

She took a deep breath as she put her hand on the knob. She told herself that he wasn’t going to knife her to death or anything, but that didn’t stop her from being apprehensive. She knew she should’ve told Mikey to get someone else to help him. Fuck, Frank’s going to be so damn pissed.

Taking one more deep breath, she pulled open the door. Her eyes went wide at the sight in front of her, then she doubled over, laughing her ass off. Frank stood there, holding his leather jacket off to the side. The stench of dog piss made her stomach roll, but she didn’t care. Frank looked fucking hilarious. His hair was sticking up in random spots, held there by the multi-colored bows. Things like ‘I fuck cows’ and ‘Old men turn me on’ were scrawled across his face in Mikey’s chicken scratch. His entire body was covered in whipped cream with random patches of green and blue silly string. He did not look amused.

“Mercy! What the hell?! Tell me you had nothing to do with this,” he said, scowling at her.

She tried to say something. She really did. But nothing came out through her laughter. Mercy ended up having to lean against the doorjamb so that she didn’t fall to the floor. Tears streamed down her now flushed cheeks. Her sides were starting to hurt more than anything and she was gasping for breath.

Frank tossed his jacket on the ground and crossed his arms, scowling even more deeply. “I’m so glad that you find this fucking amusing.”

Mercy shook her head. “I’m s-sorry!” she tried to say, but it came out in stuttered gasps.

“You know what? You can come see me when you can stop laughing at the fucking guy you’re supposed to love,” he said, turning on his heel and stomping all the way back to their hotel room. The slamming of the door instantly made her stop laughing and stand straight.

Shit. He was fucking madder than hell. Not that she really blamed him, but it had been a joke. She hadn’t thought that he would get that angry about it. Now, she felt like fucking shit. Worse than shit, if that was possible. Mercy wiped away the remaining tears as she shut the door. She shuffled over to the couch and threw herself on it, letting tears fall down her cheeks. This time though, they weren’t caused by laughter.

*********Time Elapse**********

Three whole fucking hours. That’s how long it had been since he had woken up, angrier than a bee in a jar. He wouldn’t answer the phone, wouldn’t answer to her knocks on the door. She knew that she could just use her key if she really wanted to, but she knew that it would only make him more angry. She wanted him to calm down before she talked to him. She just hoped that it was sometime soon. She missed him. Besides, they were supposed to go out that afternoon, and she knew that even if he was pissed off, he’d take her. But she didn’t want him to go when he was mad at her. That would be a shitty way to spend her afternoon.

“I’m sure that he’ll calm down soon. Frank usually doesn’t stay mad that long,” Ray said from his seat next to her.

They were playing the Xbox, him kicking her ass on some wrestling game. She had only agreed to it because it was a chance to take her mind off of Frank. It wasn’t working much, but it had been worth a shot.

“Ray, it’s been three fucking hours. You would think that he’d be okay now,” Mercy muttered, furiously pressing the X button to drop kick Ray’s guy. “Besides, you didn’t see his face this morning. He was beyond mad. He was spitting fucking furious.”

“Yeah, but he loves you. He can’t stay mad at you for too much longer, can he?” Ray asked as his fingers flew over the buttons, pummeling the woman that was representing Mercy.

She let out a grunt, letting him know exactly what she thought about that. Of course he could stay mad at her. He had every right to. She was supposed to be on his side. She was supposed to be the one to keep everyone from picking on him, not helping out. She fucking felt so low. She wanted to just curl up and die, but no one would leave her alone. If it wasn’t Ray pestering her with the Xbox, it was Bob talking to her, or Sicily asking her to do her hair, or Gerard asking her to sit still so that he could draw her. The only person who had disappeared was Mikey. She had no idea where he had gone, and she didn’t care at the moment. She knew she couldn’t blame him, but she wanted to. She wanted to so fucking bad.

Mercy died once more on the game. She stood, tossing the controller on the ground. “I’m done. I’m going to attempt to call him again,” she said, moving over to the small kitchen.

She picked up the phone and pushed in the numbers for her own hotel room. It rang and rang. He didn’t answer. Yet again. Sighing, she put the phone back in the cradle and moved into the bedroom, shutting the door behind her before throwing herself on Mikey’s bed. It was tearing her apart, having him mad at her. She felt like her heart was breaking into a million tiny pieces. Tears came to her eyes and she punched the pillow as hard as she could. She was so fucking stupid!

“Mercy?”

She lifted her head and looked over her shoulder to see Frank standing in the doorway, his eyes full of sadness. Shit. She felt even worse now. But at least he was there. At least he was okay now. At least he was coming to talk to her, allowing her to explain herself.

“Frank,” she whispered, sitting up and opening her arms out for him.

He ignored them, and stayed where he was. “That was fucked up, Merc. I thought you were supposed to protect me. You say it was only a joke, but that was fucked up. That hurt, Mercy.”

Tears streamed down her face as she nodded. She couldn’t say anything. What could she say? She had fucked up. He was right. She was supposed to protect him, and she hadn’t. Her hands fell into her lap, as did her eyes. She couldn’t bring herself to look into those hazel eyes, those beautiful orbs that were full of an intense sadness.

“I need some time to think. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

With that, he turned and shut the door behind him, leaving her to bury herself in her sorrow.