I Brought You Bullets, You Brought Me Love

Me and Mikey were now at the table with Ray, Bob and Alicia, for lunch time; Bob was still kind of sad since he saw our drawings, but he hadn’t said anything about it to anyone, maybe waiting for how approval.
- Bobby, honey, are you okay? – Ray asked, concern really filling his eyes; Bob looked over at me, and I nodded slightly, as he broke down into tears. Fuck, that was not what I intended, not at all. – Baby, what’s up?
- Bob, are you okay? – Alicia asked, now really worried about her friend. Me and Mikey looked at each other, and guilt filled our eyes as we both bit our lip, sighing at the same time, then.
- I-I’m so so-sorry – Bob started, then controlling his sobs, and taking a deep breath, so he could speak properly. – But Gerard and Mikey… th-they…
- What have you done? – Ray asked, sending me and Mikey an angry glare; what the actual fuck?
- We just did the assignment at arts – Mikey replied, looking away; unluckily, I saw that he look at Frank’s direction, who was laughing at us.
- Ray! – Bob called, not too loud, but instantly getting his boyfriend’s attention. – They didn’t hurt me or anything, chill. In fact, it was what they draw that made me feel like this… There was so much pain inflected in one single drawing… Could you please tell me what happened? I don’t want to force you, but… - Bob said, trailing off at the end of the sentence, biting his lip, awaiting an answer.
- Well, to sum it up, it was a bright summer day, and my whole family was chilling out at home; Gerard always woke up later than everyone else, so, he didn’t got tied up in the laundry room when a psycho came to our house and tied me to a chair in the laundry room, and tied my parents together, standing in front of me. That said psycho then managed to stab my parents in front of me and Gerard, because he was hiding behind the door… Then the police came in, and arrested the guy, leaving me and Gee on our own. So, we moved here, willing to get a fresh start, and here we are – Mikey explained, restraining the explanation only to obvious facts, so he wouldn’t cry; I bit the inside of my cheek, so I wouldn’t cry either and smudge my make-up again.
- Oh, guys, fuck, I’m so sorry – Alicia said, and I noticed the way she put her hand on Mikey’s lap, trying to comfort him, and the way he held her hand there, squeezing it gently.
- Yeah, I mean… I’m sorry – Ray replied as well, and I just nodded, knowing that if I opened my mouth, sobs would erupt, and tears would slip through my eyes. I couldn’t break down again, today.
After that, lunch was pretty much calm, and, before I knew, me and Mikey were home again, chilling at our comfy couch, just randomly watching silly TV shows. Suddenly, there was a knock at our door, and we both cocked one eyebrow; then, I got up and went to open it, surprising me at who was at the door. What the actual fuck?
- Miss Pricolo? – I asked, still surprised.
- Hi, Gerard… Um, I know this seems a bit awkward, but I live right across the street, and, after our class today, I really wanted to invite you and your little brother – she was saying, as Mikey got to the door and stood beside me – to dinner at my place, tonight. I have one son around your age, and I’m sure you’ll get along pretty well. – Miss Pricolo offered, and, to be honest, I kinda liked that idea; neither me nor Mikey had had a proper meal since we moved in. – Also, I’d like to ask you if I can get a copy of your arts, to put in my living room, ‘cause I like to do that with the arts that impress me the most, and my son also likes to see what other people do, ‘cause, you know, he’s never been good at arts, but he appreciates it a lot…
I looked over at Mikey, who had a small smile on his face; I deduced he wouldn’t mind, so, I spoke for both of us.
- Miss Pricolo, it would be a pleasure to dinner at your place, and we don’t mind if you take a copy of our drawings, ‘cause, art most be shown, and if you like it that much, then go ahead – I said, smiling kindly at the lady; she looked really cute, always smiling.
- Aw, that’s a relief, ‘cause, um, I had already copied them… but I wasn’t gonna do anything with it until you give me your permission – she smiled, obviously happy we let her get the copies.
Even knowing she had taken a copy of my work, I didn’t feel any kind of anger towards my teacher; she seemed way too nice to do anything bad. I could almost bet her son was an amazing guy.
- So, come with me, sweethearts; let’s get to my home, my son is waiting, and he can get very impatient, sometimes – she jokes, and me and Mikey laughed a bit; then, we both went to grab our jackets, turning the TV off in the way, and headed to the door, again, meeting my teacher there. I grabbed my key, locked the door, and we crossed the street; she wasn’t speaking metaphorically when she said she lived across the street, to be honest.
She opened her door, which was made of old-looking wood, and we stepped inside a beautiful house; the walls were light red, the floor was dark-wood, and the furniture around the house was white, making it seem like a peaceful place, like we were hanging on the clouds, or something.
- Oh, and by the way, you can call me Linda when we’re not in school – she said, as she closed the door; I was about to reply, but her son spoke from the living room, making the three of us smile.
- Mum, are you gonna tell me now who draw this? This is the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen! – Her son kinda screamed from another division of the house, with a childish voice; I could almost bet I had heard that voice, somewhere.
Linda motioned for us to follow her, and led us to what I assumed to be the living room, where her son must’ve be.
- Actually, they’re here – Miss Pricolo… Linda said, as we walked there.
It was when we got there, that I saw him. Oh, fuck.
- Frank, these are Gerard and Michael Way – she introduced us, totally unaware of the fact that we had already met. – Gerard and Michael, this is my son, Frank Iero.
I was frozen, just as Mikey… this was, awkward, and I knew he felt exactly the same as I did: wanted to get the fuck out of there, ‘cause we were pretty sure Frank would laugh at us, or make his mom hate us, or something like that. Fuck, fuck, fuck. RUN!
- Hi, there – Frank said, coming to, politely, shake both our hands, act to which me and Mikey responded automatically, still with our minds frozen; what the actual fuck? – So, you’re the ones who draw that… I have to say, those are amazing – Frank continued, smiling genuinely towards me and my little brother, who had his eyes wide open, in shock.
- Darling, why don’t you take them to your room, and you chat for a while, while I make dinner for the four of us, um? – His mom asked, smiling lovely to his only son, who eagerly nodded his head and motioned for me and Mikey to follow him, into one door at the end of the corridor.
When we were about to enter, the panic got the best of me; what if he would force me to do those things again? What if he tried to hurt me or Mikey? What if he laughed at us and called his friends over to humiliate us?
The three of us got in the room, and I took in my surroundings, trying to control my breath; at this point, I was hyperventilating. I looked over from the red walls, to the black floor, and the black furniture; he had red bed clothing, clothes spread across the floor, a laptop on his desk, a lot of books spread across the room [some of them being comics, actually], and his school stuff at one corner of the room. I saw him directing himself towards the chair behind the desk, and I really hoped he would just go surf the net, and just forget about mine and Mikey’s existence until we went dinner; but, for my surprise, that didn’t happen. Frank sat down, but turned around, smiling sweetly at me and my brother.
- So, how has school been going? – He asked, looking like he never bullied us, he never raped me, he never laughed at me; he was looking like an interested friend, or maybe school mate, if that matters. He looked like he cared.
- Not so good – Mikey replied, and even I could sense the venom on his voice; beware, that kid can get pretty hateful, sometimes.
- Oh, why? – Frank asked, seeming really concerned.
- Oh, well, let me see, hum, our parents died this summer, we get bullied at school, and some fucking douche bag decided that every fucking break, in the morning, he has to rape my brother and force me to watch it; yeah, that’s pretty much that – Mikey replied, clutching his jaw, to control his voice, being careful not to start screaming, so Frank’s mom, our arts teacher, wouldn’t hear.
I can swear that for five seconds, I saw guilt play around Frank’s eyes; pure guilt, and it was consuming him to the very end of his soul; but I wasn’t able to see if I wasn’t just imagining that, because he turned around to the computer, opening something, before saying:
- Oh, that’s really awful, man; I hope you find a way to stop that prick, he deserves to die.
WHAT THE FUCK?!
- Do you like The Misfits? – Frank asked, turning around while smiling, changing the subject at the speed of light; this guy was definitely confusing me.
- Um, yeah – I replied, just wanting to see what this ‘oh, so confusing’ boy would do, now. – It’s one of our favorite bands, actually.
- Really? That’s so cool! It’s one of my favorite bands as well… You mind if I put it on the play? – He asked, turning to his computer again; soon enough, The Misfits were roaring through his computer’s speaker, and I couldn’t help but mimic the lyrics to that song.
- Of course not – Mikey said, relaxing; me and Mikey were sitting in Frank’s bed, whilst he was on the chair in front of his desk, looking at us, puzzled.
- Can I ask you something? – He said, biting his lip; me and Mikey nodded, not feeling so afraid of Frank anymore; he seemed pretty harmless, at home.
- Why does that guy do that to you, Gerard? You seem a pretty cool guy, I really don’t get it – Frank said, looking honestly confused; I looked widely at him, and, after staring at his confused hazel eyes for one minute, I replied sincerely.
- Because I’m gay – I said, and Frank seemed disgusted.
- Fucking homophobic! He should really be dead – Frank replied, and then we heard his mom call us upstairs, since dinner was ready.
I was still astonished at how different Frank was at school than at home; at home, he was this sweet, lovely boy, and at school he was a fucking prick. Why couldn’t he be always like he was at home? Was he bipolar or something like that?
- So, did my Frank treated you guys okay? – Linda asked, smiling fondly at the three of us, whilst we took seats at the table; she and her son sat at one side of the table, and me and Mikey at the other, me staying in front of Frank.
“Much for my fucking surprise, yes, ‘cause he’s a fucking asshole at school who rapes me every break, in the morning, and who laughs at me and calls me ‘faggot’ every chance he get, but then he’s all sweet and worried, and happy at home, stating that the guy who hurts me at school, who is actually him, should die for being such a prick.”
Instead of saying all that, I just smiled and nodded, making Frank smile in front of me, while he served himself; I noticed he didn’t take a beef, he only ate noodles with salad, confusing me. Me and Mikey took one beef each one, and noodles along with it, with same fresh-made salad, just as Linda.
- Are you vegetarian? – Mikey asked, seeming not worried if Frank would suddenly get off his seat and beat us to death, or take his gun and shot us, or something among those lines; Mikey looked like he was relaxed, and was talking with Ray or Alicia.
- Yes, I am – Frank replied, and I could sense how proud he was about what he just said. – I can’t make myself eat a dead animal, but I don’t mind about other people doing that in front of me; as long as they don’t shove it down my throat, I’m fine with it – he continues, smiling fondly at me and Mikey, as we all started eating.
- Oh, okay – Mikey replied with a small smile, after swallowing the food he had put into his mouth; he then took a sip of the water we were given to drink, and smiled a little bit wider, to show his gratefulness.
The dinner went on without many important events; we just randomly talked about causalities, like school, home life, friend, things like that, Frank being shut up for most of the talk. When we finished, Linda offered us chocolate cheesecake as the desert, which we eagerly ate, since it was homemade and was amazing, just as Frank had said before, when she first offered.
After that, the four of us went to the living room, discussing the art pieces that were there, Frank and his mom declaring that mine and Mikey’s drawings were they favorite, because they contained the soul that it was needed in art; this led to me and my brother blushing a deep crimson color, and smiling at the Iero’s. We then watched some TV, me and Frank randomly singing when a Green Day song crossed the screen, and, at the end of the night, me and Mikey headed home, receiving a hug from each of the Iero’s; Frank’s hug was short, and seemed to own some kind of apologize in it, as if he was apologizing for everything he had done to me and my brother at school, when only two mere days had passed since its beginning.
When me and my brother arrived, we instantly flew to our rooms, tiredness taking over our bodies, as we said our goodnights and then crashed on our beds. When I was in my room, I quickly managed to take off my clothes, and, not even bothering getting a pajama on, slipped under my bed clothing, only in my boxers. There, I took my hair away from my face, then resting my head on my crossed arms behind it.
I stood in that position for a while, just wondering.
Most of the thoughts that invaded my mind, whilst lying there, were about Frank.
Would Frank change, at school? Would he treat me and Mikey any better? Would he quit raping me? Would he stop laughing at me? Would he become my friend?
Would he be any better?