Sweet Child O' Mine

ZACKY’S POV

“But my dreams, they aren't as empty
As my conscience seems to be
I have hours, only lonely
My love is vengeance
That's never free…”

My ringtone by The Who loudly blared from my cell phone that was on my mini table right next to my bed. My eyes peeled open and light greeted them. My eyes squinted so I wouldn’t go blind from the sunlight that peeked through my window as I sat up in my bed. I ran a hand through my messy bed-head black hair. I really hated waking up to the sound of my phone going off, so this better be pretty damn important.

“Behind Blue Eyes” was going into the end of the second verse. I kind of hesitated before I clicked ‘answer’ on my phone. Before Casey passed away, my ringtone for when she called was “Behind Blue Eyes”. It was perfect for her. But when she passed away, I argue with myself whether I should keep her number in my phone. I knew after a year I should delete it, but whenever I tried to push the ‘delete’ button on my phone, my finger would freeze. I could never delete her number from my phone. It’s still in my contacts to this day, and she’s still my first number on speed-dial. I haven’t heard “Behind Blue Eyes” being played on my phone since her death, and I haven’t assigned it to any other contact I have. Who the hell is trying to call me?

I pressed the ‘answer’ button and slowly brought the phone to my ear. I was almost scared that it was Casey calling me. Why scared? I saw her body the night I killed her. Her body was battered, bloody, and broken while her skin was ice cold to the touch. She couldn’t have survived in the condition she was in. It was a miracle when Zackie survived. And even though I didn’t see her body get lowered into her grave, I’m pretty sure her body is six feet underground right now.

“Zacky?” A higher pitched voice spoke on the other end of the phone. It almost sounded like Casey’s voice. Exactly like…No, no, she can’t be alive. Casey’s dead!

“Hello?” My voice finally cracked. I still couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that I am awake, and I could possibly be talking to Casey right now. This was no fucking dream.

“Hey, do you remember me?” The woman on the other end asked. Her voice sounded a bit more different than Casey’s, but it has been over thirteen years since I heard her voice. It could have been Casey on the other end. My heart pounded at even the thought of Casey on the other end. One question floated in my head: Why did you leave me alone for so long?

“It’s Brandy…” The voice finally broke the silence. Wait, what? I don’t know any Brandy’s. Who is this girl and how did she get this number?

“Umm…I’m sorry but you must have the wrong number,” I told her, disappointment heavy in my voice. How could I be so stupid? I know Casey is dead and gone! Why did I think she was on the other end? Stupid Zacky, very stupid.

“Um this is Zacky Baker right?” Brandy asked, confused. Wait so now she knows my name? Who is this chick?

“Um yes it is…” I quietly answered. Oh God, I hope it’s not one of those crazy stalker fan girls. If it’s one of them, I’m screwed. Literary. She’ll probably find out where I live and then hold me hostage.

“Okay…It’s Brandy,” She repeated, “You know? The girl at the bar that you were at a few days ago?” Wait; is this the girl Matt was telling me about? So Brandy’s her name. It all came back to me now. Chances are that after I got her number, I was so drunk that I didn’t realize what I set the ringtone to.

“Oh hey Brandy. What’s up?” I causally said. I didn’t know why she was suddenly calling me up, especially this early in the morning. [Eight in the morning is early for me.]

“Nothing really…I was just wondering if you wanted to go get a coffee or something?” She asked happily. I thought about it for a moment. I didn’t really know Brandy well, but she seemed really nice.

“Yeah sure,” I replied to her with a smile. I knew she couldn’t see the smile, but I still smiled anyway.

“Oh yay! See you at nine thirty at the downtown café?” She asked and I confirmed it. We both said our goodbyes and we hung up. I sighed and slammed the back of my head against my pillow. I didn’t really want to do anything. Casey’s engagement ring lay shining on my tattooed chest. I haven’t taken off the ring necklace since I started wearing it, unless I was going to shower. It was always close to my heart.

I finally decided to get up and actually put on some clothes, besides my pajama bottoms. I threw on some jeans and a red and black plaid long sleeve, button down shirt. I checked myself in the mirror and I saw that I looked completely awful. My hair was going out in all different directions and I had dark bags and circles under my eyes. My entire face looked tired. Geez, Brandy’s going to wondering what the fuck happened to me.

I decided to comb my hair and spike my hair with gel. My hair looked okay but I still looked tired. But there was nothing I could really do about that. All I could do is wait for nine thirty to come. And I had no idea what to do to kill the time.

***

“Zacky! Hey!” Brandy called from the café door as she waved to catch my attention. I don’t know why she did that, there is only one row of parking spaces, and the door is practically ten feet from my car. I guess Brandy is a very outgoing and hyper girl.

“Hey Brandy!” I called as I ran to her. She was wearing blue jeans, black converse, an AC/DC Highway to Hell cut-off t-shirt, and a pinkish-purple and black plaid furry hood jacket. It still was a little chilly outside because it was January, so I couldn’t blame her for the coat.

“How are you buddy?” She asked as she wrapped her arms around my waist and squeezed tight. It was almost like getting hugged by a little kid. Honestly, it was quiet awkward having a grown adult hug me like this. But I just let her hug me and prayed that it would end soon.

Thank God it did.

She let me go and then pushed the door open to the café. It was the same café that Casey worked at all those years ago. The place hasn’t changed one bit. Even the same old bitchy manager that fired Casey was still there.

“Hello, welcome to Sally’s Café. What can I get ya?” An acne faced teenage boy in a stupid green coffee shop uniform asked us. His nametag said ‘Brady.’ I felt bad for the kid. Working in a boring little café sucks.

“Um two French vanilla mochas with extra cream please,” Brandy order for us. I wasn’t really paying attention to her; my attention was on the music in the café. Some 90s song that I was trying to recognize was playing. I was also remembering when Casey worked here. She was so miserable working here, but she always said she needed the money. Then I caused her to be fired because I had sex with her, causing her to be late. Oh well, I think I was helping her.

I felt something warm bump my arm, and I looked down to see Brandy trying to hand me my drink. I took it from her, nearly burning my hand at the realization about how hot it was, and we picked a table to sit at. The table had a perfect view of sunny Main Street. We sat across from each other at the tinny table and began chatting.

She had a giant smile on her face as she stared at me. It was a sweet smile, but it still kind of creep me out. I raised an eyebrow and leaned back in my chair. “What?” I hesitantly asked.

“You still haven’t figured it out yet?” She asked. Figured out what?

“You’re Zacky Vengeance. You’re Avenged Sevenfold’s rhythm guitarist right?” She told me. Holy shit, how did she figure that out? I never told her what my former job was. Avenged Sevenfold has been broken up for years now, mainly due to our age and families, but I didn’t think anybody would recognize us.

“Yeah, how did you know?” I questioned her as I took a sip of my mocha. She giggled and pulled off her jacket. She stretched out her right arm, and revealed at giant deathbat tattoo on the inside of her upper arm. Holy shit, whoever did the tattoo was an amazing artist. It looked exactly like our logo, right down to the last detail.

“I’m a huge fan of your band. My ex-husband did the tattoo a long time ago,” She told me excitedly as she put her arm down. I flashed a smile and she gave me one back.

“Wow, your ex was an amazing tattoo artist,” I told her in awe. I was actually jealous of her ink. It was so fucking perfect. Her smile softened but she nodded happily as she gazed out the window. I had to meet this ex of hers. Any guy who can pull off that kind of tattoo, I need to meet.

We continued to chit-chat about little random things, mainly about Avenged’s songs. We finally finished our mochas also and threw our cups out. It was nearly noon also. Holy shit did time fly. Oh well, I did have fun with Brandy. She was a fun girl to be around.

“Hey Zack, do you want to go to the beach with me tonight around sunset?” Brandy asked cheerfully. I found out that she is a pretty happy-go-lucky chick. There was nothing really that could upset her. I liked that about her. Seeing her bright smile made me smile, and I honestly need smiles in times like this. And like I said before, Brandy is a fun girl to be around and sunsets in Huntington Beach are just amazing to look at. What do think my answer was?

“Hell yeah,” I told her. Then she held her hand up and I high-fived it. She laughed and told me to be at the beach around eight. I held the café door open like a gentleman for her as we left, and I immediately felt the Cali heat as I stepped outside. Man, did it warm up. It must of have been ninety degrees with 100% humidly. But that’s Huntington Beach weather for ya.

I got into my car as soon as I could and flipped on the AC. A sudden blast of cool air hit my face, and it felt good. I watched Brandy pull out of the café parking lot in her red convertible. She was wearing sunglasses and her roof was down. She pulled onto Main Street and followed the flow of traffic. I followed her out, only I went in the opposite direction than she did, toward my house.

I couldn’t wait till tonight.

***

I sat my ass down in the warm beach sand and dug my toes down into the sand. I watched the ocean waves roll against the shore line as I waited for Brandy to get here. I was a few minutes early, but I really wanted to get to the beach because I was bored as fuck at home. I had changed into light gray mesh shorts and a Vengeance University white muscle tank. I had also brought sandals, but I left those in the car and I was also wearing sunglasses.

I felt a small tap of my shoulder so I turned my head to see Brandy standing over me. She was wearing the same shirt and sunglasses as before, but she changed into short dark jean shorts. She sat down right next to me and dug her toes in the sand.

“Ah, I love the sunset here. It’s so much better here than it was back in Arizona,” She told me as she pulled her knees close to her chest and wrapped her arms around them.

“Arizona? Did you live there before?” She never told me she lived in Arizona. I thought she was always a Cali girl.

“Yeah. I’ve lived in Arizona my whole life until last year when I move here…My son lives back in Arizona,” She suddenly added at the end of her sentence. Another thing I didn’t know about her. Why didn’t she tell me she had a kid before? What else hasn’t she told me?

“A son? What’s his name? How old is he?” I asked, curious with raised eyebrows. I could see Brandy being a great mom, but she seemed so young. Was the kid grown up and moved out already? Or was the kid just a baby, abandon by his mom? I prayed that the second conclusion was wrong.

“His name is Gavin and he’s five,” She said to me as she reached into her pocket for something. It happened to be her cell phone. She pressed a few buttons and then handed the phone to me. I looked at the screen to see the smiling face of a little boy with bright green eyes and longer brown hair. He looked adorable and innocent, just like Brandy. I smiled and handed the phone back to her.

“What’s that little man doing in Arizona?” I asked her, and she immediately frowned. Oh shit, what did I say now?

BRANDY’S POV

That fucker is drunk again. I can’t trust him to stay sober for three fucking hours to watch our son while I go sing at a bar. I told him to stay away from the fridge full of beer just until I got back, but did he listen? No!

I walked into the living room to see my drunken husband sitting on his ass, on the couch, a beer in hand. He was staring blankly at the TV. I turned the TV off and smacked the beer right out of his hand. It crashed to the ground, glass shattering and beer spilling everywhere. And boy, did it piss him off, but I think at the moment, I was more pissed off than he was.

“What the hell Brandy?” Mike yelled at me, standing up from his seat. He got right up in my face, even though I am a foot shorter than him. I looked up at him, anger boiling in my eyes, and screamed at him.

“’What the hell Brandy?’ What the hell Mike? I told you to stay sober for one night to watch Gavin! Is that too hard for you to do? One fucking night Mike! One night!”

That’s when I felt Mike’s hand smack against my cheek, causing me to stumble back in pain and shock. Oh no, not this again. Please Mike, Gavin’s in the next room. Don’t kill me.

I saw him reach into his black jean’s pocket and pull out a small pocket knife. Oh God, no. He took me by the neck and slammed me against the wall. Rage filled his blue eyes as he spat in my face. Air was leaving my lungs as his grip around my neck tightened. I began seeing black dots in my vision when he whispered into my face, “Never raise your voice to me again! Understand?” I tried to nod, but I couldn’t move my neck or head at all.

Just before I absolutely had no air left in me, he let my neck go and I collapsed to my hands and knees, gasping and gagging for air. My head was spinning, trying to get oxygen back into my brain. I turned my head to look up at Mike, only to see the heel of his boot coming straight toward my left eye. He struck me right below my left eye with the heel, causing a gash to bleed out. I fell onto my side, tears streaming down my face. I buried my face into the carpet of the living room, wishing for this abuse to end.

“Mommy?” I heard Gavin’s voice echoed from the hallway. Oh please don’t let him see me this way. Please don’t let Mike hurt him.

I felt a sudden yank on my arm, and I was pulled up to my feet by Mike. He put the knife right up next to my face, and whispered, “Go tell him everything is fine, all you did was slip and fell. And if you tell him different or you try to call for help, you won’t be the only one in serious trouble.” He pushed me in the direction of the hallway and walked into the kitchen. I had to quickly suck up the tears for Gavin, but I was having a hard time doing that. This wasn’t the first time Mike had abused me like this, but it was the first time he pulled a knife on me. I was sure I was going to be killed tonight in my own husband’s hands. I didn’t want to die. I have so much to live for, especially for Gavin.

“Mommy?” Gavin repeated as he crawled out of the hallway. I took him into my arms and pulled him close. I was almost taken away from him. How awful would that be for him for his mommy to be gone, just like that? I let a few more tears squeeze out of my eyes, and those tears mixed with the blood gushing from my cut.

“Why mommy crying?” Gavin asked as he hugged me back. As much as I wanted to tell him the truth, I remembered what Mike said, and I just whispered, “Mommy slipped and fell but I’ll be okay.” A few more tears fell from my eyes as I picked up my three-year-old son and brought him to his room. I put my son to bed and put the covers over him. His eyes looked sadly into mine, and it nearly brought tears to mine.

I couldn’t imagine Gavin getting hurt by Mike. I placed a hand on Gavin’s forehead as his eyes closed. Don’t worry Gavin; mommy will get you out of this. Mommy won’t let you get hurt by daddy.

I touched the scar on my face as I remembered all this. “Brandy?” Zacky interrupted my thoughts and I slammed my hand down onto my leg. I snapped my head toward his face, his green eyes looking concernedly into mine. I sighed, “My ex and I both have custody of Gavin. I only see him in the summer.” Zacky seemed to be disappointed in my answer. Soon, there was an awkward silence between us. I took a look at the time on my phone. It was only eight thirty.

“Hey, I got to go. I’ll talk to you later Zacky,” I said to him as I felt me choking on my words. Just even thinking about Gavin made me cry. I missed him so damn much. Before Zacky had a chance to say goodbye, I was already running towards my car. I didn’t even bother to look back at Zacky’s face, because I knew it would break my heart. Zacky’s such a sweet guy. Bringing him into my drama and causing him pain would just be too much for me.

I’m so sorry Zacky…