I Carry the Weight of the World on My Shoulders

“So, how’d the meeting go?” The drummer asked between jamming handfuls of corn-chips into his mouth, making a mess all over the sofa.

“I might tell you, if there’s anything left in the packet for me.” Billie Joe said. Tré threw the empty plastic at him, spilling crumbs all over the floor while Mike laughed.

“Well we know who’s cleaning this mess up” The tallest man laughed. “So, Bill, what happened today?”

“The social workers have agreed to come and take Tré away. Apparently there’s a nice padded cell awaiting him somewhere far away.”

“What!!!” Tré jumped up, spilling the crumbs salvaged from the chairs and floor. “You wouldn’t. I’m too hot to be locked away where the world can’t see how hot I am!”

“Anyway…” Billie started again. “I have a daughter. This is Madelyn.” He pulled the picture out of his jacket and handed it to his best friend.

“Whoa. She looks a lot like you. And Grace.” Mikes eyes darted from the picture to his band mate and back again.

“I don’t think so. I think she’s a bit too young, even for me. But if she’s okay for you guys, go ahead.” Tré said, walking past and grabbing his magazines of the table before leaving the room.

“Dickhead! That’s Billie’s daughter. And no, we weren’t looking at her like that.” Mike yelled through the closed door.

“Get your mind out of the gutter, boy!” the guitarist added.

“So what’s Grace up to these days? Still in Florida? It’s been years since I’ve seen her…” the taller man said, flopping onto the sofa Tré vacated.

“Mike… Grace is dead.”

The room went silent, and the bassist just sat there staring at his best friend with wide eyes.

"I-I'm so sorry, man..." Mike finally said after a long moment of silence.

Billie Joe sighed, and shrugged his shoulders.

"What happened to her...?" Tré asked, walking back in and sitting on top of Mike.

“Apparently she drank a lot. Then one night she got wasted while she was on medication which wasn’t meant to be mixed with alcohol.” The guitarist said.

“That’s unfortunate shit, man.” Mike said, pushing Tré off and sitting down next to Billie Joe.

“Madelyn’s coming to live here guys. I hope its okay, I never thought to ask you, but I couldn’t live with myself if she had to live in a children’s home.”

“Of course it’s okay. We couldn’t stop you anyway. When’s she arriving?” Mike asked, just as the doorbell rang.

“Not now.” Billie Joe said as they all got up to answer the door.

Standing outside were some of their best friends; Gerard, Ray, Bob, Mikey and Frank. They were also in a band, called My Chemical Romance.

“Yah gonna let us in?” The shortest man, Frank asked.

“Yeah, where’s the party Tré? You told us it was going to be awesome, and there’s no way we could miss it.” Said Mikey.

“Party? What party Tré?” Billie Joe asked, looking confused.

The drummer suddenly started fidgeting. “I was just about to tell you… I forgot to remind you earlier. I invited people over.”

Mike play-slapped Tré as everyone walked inside. “You could have at least told us!”

“Okay, I’ll tell you now. There’s still more people to arrive.” He grinned.

“More people? What’s the cause for this party?” Billie Joe asked, now also grinning.

Mike cleared his voice “I know, this can be Bill’s ‘Welcome to Fatherhood’ party.”

“Eh?” Gerard asked. “I never knew you were getting any, let alone knocked anyone up.”

All the men laughed as they went to the basement.

***

“So, when are you going touring? We’ve been thinking about doing it for a while now, and wondered if we could come with you.” The lead guitarist from My Chemical Romance asked.

The only ones conscious in the room were Ray and Billie Joe. Mike, Bob, Frank and Jason were all passed out on the floor, while the others had all left to find more action once the party died down.

“I actually forgot about that. We were thinking about leaving in a week or so, but things may be very different now.” The smaller man said, sipping his beer. He had barely had anything to drink, while his mates got hammered.

Ray poured another round of shots. Billie Joe shook his head. “Where’s your daughter gonna go when you go touring? Surely she’s not going to live in the van?”

“I hadn’t really thought of that.” Billie Joe confessed. “We’ll probably need to sell the van and buy a bus. That way she can tour with us, and be home-schooled.”

"Yeah, that could work..." Ray replied.

"Yeah..." Billie Joe said.

"So...how do you feel, you know, about being a father?" his friend asked.

The green-eyed man sighed. "You know. I have no clue how I feel. I mean, the woman you love and haven't seen in eight years dies, you find out you have a daughter with her. It's just...there's too much going on to even feel anything right now..." Billie Joe stated.

"Yeah... I can't even begin to imagine what it must be like for you." Ray said. "But I know that you'll make a great father, Bill"

"I wouldn't be so sure. I can barely look after myself yet alone a kid." the elder guitarist said.

Ray laughed. "I would lend you Frank for a while, but you already have Tré. If you can look after him, an eight year old girl will be nothing.”

"I hope you're right. I'm just scared I'll do something to hurt her, or not look after her properly. I’m the youngest in my family, so I’ve always been the one being looked after."

“When’s she arriving?” the younger man asked.

“4 days. A social worker is flying over from Florida with her, and also coming to check this place out. Make sure it’s fit to live in and all that shit.”

Both men glanced around the basement, just imagining what the social services would think. The ceiling was stained yellow from the years of smoke, the wallpaper was peeling away, and in one dark corner was a pile of empty bottles mixed with cigarette butts.

“I don’t think you should show them down here. Or Trés room, for that matter.” Ray advised.

“Mike’s rooms the cleanest, so I think we’re going to fix that up a bit so Madelyn can have it.”

“Yes. I don’t think the social workers would approve her having more porno than an adult store on her walls. Or the pot paraphernalia either.”

Billie Joe laughed.

This was definitely going to be interesting.