Oh Captain
bowling alley
“Did you take your medicine?” Sebastian’s grandmother asks every time he enters the same room as her and it’s only the morning after. She’s answered by a furious blush and the sight of his back rushing from the room when she turns from the dishes. They haven’t discussed it but Grandma Rosa always ends up knowing everything. He tries to escape with his plate of breakfast, but he can hear laughter from every room he passes.
Age has caused his grandmother to be a passive woman, really, with quiet beliefs. It’s just known by the way Sebastian will ask her opinion and still be in an undecided state because of her holding her tongue, unless it was something just out of the question (“I don’t give a damn, when you starts selling out stadiums, then you can wear ‘guy-liner’, Robert.”) . It’s more from being such a conservative and then having to alter the way she raised children as to not step on Captain’s hopes and dreams. She couldn’t blame it on anything, really, not the kid’s he’d hang out with or the music because it was before all of that- Captain was just different. Grandpa was more fascinated by the times changing and being able to still feel young with all the children around. He wasn’t one to hold his tongue rather than alter his views.
Captain grew up knowing that the repercussions to getting caught wearing makeup was being called a sissy by his father, and it wasn’t really out of anger or disappointment or love, but him voicing his opinion, toned down because he was his son, after all. Captain was a kid out of left field; everyone who loved him suddenly was forced to have a change of heart. And that was his goal.
When Sebastian came along, it was only a matter of time before he’d have to be handed off. At first living with his grandparents was supposed to be temporary thing, and Grandma Rosa didn’t mind keeping him. Captain never really asked for it to become a permanent thing until at least a year later, and even then, it was just a suggestion. But everyone knew by then, anyways.
“And he starts blushing like-“
Robert in particular has a lot of fun retelling the story to his friends over the phone and it frustrates Sebastian because he doesn’t even know why Robert is still even at his house.
“Go home, Robert,” he shouts, kicking at the back of the sofa his cousin’s been crashing on. He scratches at his bare chest and pulls at his pajama pants while inhaling the scent of the cooling food and going up the stairs.
“Hey, Seb.” Captain seemingly comes out of nowhere and it sends Sebastian flying up at least a foot in the air and jumping back, his fork flying off his plate and onto the carpet along with flecks of eggs and hash browns.
“Right,” Captain chuckles and Sebastian tries to steady his breathing.
“You scared me!”
“Obviously.” Captain nods and scratches absentmindedly at the bright blonde bird’s nest that is his hair. He leans against the wooden frame of his childhood bedroom, also known as Sebastian’s current bedroom. He smirks, “How ya’ feeling?” In this moment, Captain seems more like an older brother. And moments like this are more often than not.
“I hope you know you’re still kinda in trouble,” he nods with a crease in his forehead, like he’s contemplating. But then he shrugs, “But I’ll leave that to Ma. It is your birthday, after all, and I haven’t even given you your present yet.”
He nods his head into the room and steals a piece of bacon off his son’s plate before leading him in and sitting on the bed. Sebastian picks up his fork and scowls as he wipes it on his pajama pants as he follows him. Captain leans back against the head board with one leg bent and picks the guitar up from the stand within arm distance. It rests on his lap like a little kid’s blankie. Sebastian just goes over to a twenty-year-old deflating bean bag and starts to pick at his food.
“So how’ve you been, kid?” Captain’s head turns to Sebastian but he keeps strumming.
“Um…okay. I guess. It’s. You know…summer, so.” Sebastian shrugs.
“I missed you.” His head lulls to this side and his smile is small and his eyes are glazed.
Sebastian’s eyebrows furrow and he’s almost afraid to ask, “Are you-“
“Your birthday present!” Captain suddenly exclaims, “I almost forgot.” His legs swing over the side of the tiny bed and his grin takes up most of his face. Most of Sebastian’s birthday presents consist of cards with sixteen dollars each in them, grandparents included with the addition of Oscar Wilde writings.
“You can come on tour with us this summer,” he breathes out, on the edge of the bed, as if ready for Sebastian to jump up and attack him with a hug- as if it’s everything Sebastian’s ever wanted. Captain’s feet are tapping and his hands grip the bed and lights are practically seen behind his eyes.
“That is not fair!” Robert’s voice cuts through the moment, but he doesn’t appear.
“Um. Wow. Really?” Sebastian’s trying to replay the touring memories in his head, only with a slightly taller him with shorter hair and smaller cheeks. Touring was big, it was a lot, and really thoughtful, even. But it wasn’t a car.
“Yeah! We all talked about it and man, what I would’ve given to go on tour at sixteen…” Captain gets this longing look in his eyes and Sebastian swallows the soft eggs in his mouth.
Sebastian nods. “Wow,” he says again. “Yeah. Yeah, of course. I’d love to, thanks.”
*
Sebastian didn’t have many friends at his school, and as much as it pains him to admit, the only reason he even got out was because of Robert. He didn’t have Captain’s charm or social skills. Robert, on the other hand, had that, so it must just be something that goes to one kid per generation.
“I’d totally get you laid too, bro, but everyone already knows you have the clap,” Robert says as they start to drive. Sebastian winces, “Ah. Well, thanks for that.”
They don’t have much in common, Sebastian and Robert. They wouldn’t really hang out if they weren’t cousins, even if Robert wasn’t a year older, even if they went to the same school. They still didn’t talk much, from years of not liking each other as kids but with age a tolerance was created with Robert’s obnoxiousness and Sebastian’s anti-socialness.
The drive is over an hour long and the pull up in the middle of nowhere, basically, a little after midnight. Sebastian looks at Robert in question with furrowed eyebrows but he doesn’t answer his look, just starts into the abandoned parking lot. A strip with a rundown motel on one end, a closed down, boarded up liquor store on the other, and a dark building with a single black door marking with B--W-L--N-G sandwiched in-between. As their headlights illuminate the creepy place, three kids jump up from where they sat on the curb and start to cheer, hands with lit cigarettes in the air and stumbling on the cracked pavement.
Robert chuckles and Sebastian’s mouth nearly drops. He pulls into the closest parking space, which isn’t hard because only four other cars are there. As Sebastian steps out the car, they start their rendition of Happy Birthday and Drew and Savannah put their arms over each other’s shoulders to high kick their way over to them.
“You guys are so fucking lame,” Robert rolls his eyes and locks his car because this is the kind of place that seems sketchy even though it’s dead.
“How’re the ants?” Savannah asks and pulls on Sebastian’s belt. He can’t stop his face from heating up with her arm around him; he thinks he’s safe though because it’s dark. “I still know you’re blushing.” Which only causes him to blush more.
They walk back up to the building together, where Natalie still stands. She gives him a high five. Drew opens the black door with two hands, so it must be jammed or just heavy seeing as how he’s a pretty big guy.
“Welcome to Kerrington,” Savannah breathes into his ear and he wonders how and why they find these places.
The only people bowling are two big guys in leather jackets and bandana’s that could be called bikers if Sebastian had seen a motorcycle outside. The lights are dim and the balls glow and the disco ball in the center of the bowling alley casts small spotlights on a guy sprawled on top of the bar. A woman with long red hair and too much makeup waves at them from the counter, but from the look on Robert’s face, Sebastian knows that they don’t know her. They play the Misfits through the speakers. He nearly scoffs and Drew laughs, “It’s worth it.”
Savannah pays for one game and they all get shoes from the still smiling red-headed woman, but right after lacing them, Natalie pulls Sebastian up by his arm.
“They don’t card,” she says with this big grin as if she’s hit the jackpot, though it’s fairly known that both she and Sebastian aren’t drinkers. She lets go of his arm as they walk toward the bar.
“Why not?” Sebastian asks incredulously with a raised eyebrow.
“Doesn’t matter, it’s all on Rob.”
Age has caused his grandmother to be a passive woman, really, with quiet beliefs. It’s just known by the way Sebastian will ask her opinion and still be in an undecided state because of her holding her tongue, unless it was something just out of the question (“I don’t give a damn, when you starts selling out stadiums, then you can wear ‘guy-liner’, Robert.”) . It’s more from being such a conservative and then having to alter the way she raised children as to not step on Captain’s hopes and dreams. She couldn’t blame it on anything, really, not the kid’s he’d hang out with or the music because it was before all of that- Captain was just different. Grandpa was more fascinated by the times changing and being able to still feel young with all the children around. He wasn’t one to hold his tongue rather than alter his views.
Captain grew up knowing that the repercussions to getting caught wearing makeup was being called a sissy by his father, and it wasn’t really out of anger or disappointment or love, but him voicing his opinion, toned down because he was his son, after all. Captain was a kid out of left field; everyone who loved him suddenly was forced to have a change of heart. And that was his goal.
When Sebastian came along, it was only a matter of time before he’d have to be handed off. At first living with his grandparents was supposed to be temporary thing, and Grandma Rosa didn’t mind keeping him. Captain never really asked for it to become a permanent thing until at least a year later, and even then, it was just a suggestion. But everyone knew by then, anyways.
“And he starts blushing like-“
Robert in particular has a lot of fun retelling the story to his friends over the phone and it frustrates Sebastian because he doesn’t even know why Robert is still even at his house.
“Go home, Robert,” he shouts, kicking at the back of the sofa his cousin’s been crashing on. He scratches at his bare chest and pulls at his pajama pants while inhaling the scent of the cooling food and going up the stairs.
“Hey, Seb.” Captain seemingly comes out of nowhere and it sends Sebastian flying up at least a foot in the air and jumping back, his fork flying off his plate and onto the carpet along with flecks of eggs and hash browns.
“Right,” Captain chuckles and Sebastian tries to steady his breathing.
“You scared me!”
“Obviously.” Captain nods and scratches absentmindedly at the bright blonde bird’s nest that is his hair. He leans against the wooden frame of his childhood bedroom, also known as Sebastian’s current bedroom. He smirks, “How ya’ feeling?” In this moment, Captain seems more like an older brother. And moments like this are more often than not.
“I hope you know you’re still kinda in trouble,” he nods with a crease in his forehead, like he’s contemplating. But then he shrugs, “But I’ll leave that to Ma. It is your birthday, after all, and I haven’t even given you your present yet.”
He nods his head into the room and steals a piece of bacon off his son’s plate before leading him in and sitting on the bed. Sebastian picks up his fork and scowls as he wipes it on his pajama pants as he follows him. Captain leans back against the head board with one leg bent and picks the guitar up from the stand within arm distance. It rests on his lap like a little kid’s blankie. Sebastian just goes over to a twenty-year-old deflating bean bag and starts to pick at his food.
“So how’ve you been, kid?” Captain’s head turns to Sebastian but he keeps strumming.
“Um…okay. I guess. It’s. You know…summer, so.” Sebastian shrugs.
“I missed you.” His head lulls to this side and his smile is small and his eyes are glazed.
Sebastian’s eyebrows furrow and he’s almost afraid to ask, “Are you-“
“Your birthday present!” Captain suddenly exclaims, “I almost forgot.” His legs swing over the side of the tiny bed and his grin takes up most of his face. Most of Sebastian’s birthday presents consist of cards with sixteen dollars each in them, grandparents included with the addition of Oscar Wilde writings.
“You can come on tour with us this summer,” he breathes out, on the edge of the bed, as if ready for Sebastian to jump up and attack him with a hug- as if it’s everything Sebastian’s ever wanted. Captain’s feet are tapping and his hands grip the bed and lights are practically seen behind his eyes.
“That is not fair!” Robert’s voice cuts through the moment, but he doesn’t appear.
“Um. Wow. Really?” Sebastian’s trying to replay the touring memories in his head, only with a slightly taller him with shorter hair and smaller cheeks. Touring was big, it was a lot, and really thoughtful, even. But it wasn’t a car.
“Yeah! We all talked about it and man, what I would’ve given to go on tour at sixteen…” Captain gets this longing look in his eyes and Sebastian swallows the soft eggs in his mouth.
Sebastian nods. “Wow,” he says again. “Yeah. Yeah, of course. I’d love to, thanks.”
*
Sebastian didn’t have many friends at his school, and as much as it pains him to admit, the only reason he even got out was because of Robert. He didn’t have Captain’s charm or social skills. Robert, on the other hand, had that, so it must just be something that goes to one kid per generation.
“I’d totally get you laid too, bro, but everyone already knows you have the clap,” Robert says as they start to drive. Sebastian winces, “Ah. Well, thanks for that.”
They don’t have much in common, Sebastian and Robert. They wouldn’t really hang out if they weren’t cousins, even if Robert wasn’t a year older, even if they went to the same school. They still didn’t talk much, from years of not liking each other as kids but with age a tolerance was created with Robert’s obnoxiousness and Sebastian’s anti-socialness.
The drive is over an hour long and the pull up in the middle of nowhere, basically, a little after midnight. Sebastian looks at Robert in question with furrowed eyebrows but he doesn’t answer his look, just starts into the abandoned parking lot. A strip with a rundown motel on one end, a closed down, boarded up liquor store on the other, and a dark building with a single black door marking with B--W-L--N-G sandwiched in-between. As their headlights illuminate the creepy place, three kids jump up from where they sat on the curb and start to cheer, hands with lit cigarettes in the air and stumbling on the cracked pavement.
Robert chuckles and Sebastian’s mouth nearly drops. He pulls into the closest parking space, which isn’t hard because only four other cars are there. As Sebastian steps out the car, they start their rendition of Happy Birthday and Drew and Savannah put their arms over each other’s shoulders to high kick their way over to them.
“You guys are so fucking lame,” Robert rolls his eyes and locks his car because this is the kind of place that seems sketchy even though it’s dead.
“How’re the ants?” Savannah asks and pulls on Sebastian’s belt. He can’t stop his face from heating up with her arm around him; he thinks he’s safe though because it’s dark. “I still know you’re blushing.” Which only causes him to blush more.
They walk back up to the building together, where Natalie still stands. She gives him a high five. Drew opens the black door with two hands, so it must be jammed or just heavy seeing as how he’s a pretty big guy.
“Welcome to Kerrington,” Savannah breathes into his ear and he wonders how and why they find these places.
The only people bowling are two big guys in leather jackets and bandana’s that could be called bikers if Sebastian had seen a motorcycle outside. The lights are dim and the balls glow and the disco ball in the center of the bowling alley casts small spotlights on a guy sprawled on top of the bar. A woman with long red hair and too much makeup waves at them from the counter, but from the look on Robert’s face, Sebastian knows that they don’t know her. They play the Misfits through the speakers. He nearly scoffs and Drew laughs, “It’s worth it.”
Savannah pays for one game and they all get shoes from the still smiling red-headed woman, but right after lacing them, Natalie pulls Sebastian up by his arm.
“They don’t card,” she says with this big grin as if she’s hit the jackpot, though it’s fairly known that both she and Sebastian aren’t drinkers. She lets go of his arm as they walk toward the bar.
“Why not?” Sebastian asks incredulously with a raised eyebrow.
“Doesn’t matter, it’s all on Rob.”