Like Phantoms Forever

I stretched and rolled over, landing on a pile of fur and claws that didn’t want to be landed on.
“Sorry Nightmare.” I mumbled, sitting up. My two cats were in my bed, curled up on the pillow or in Nightmare’s case, lying next to me.
Of the two, Nightmare is the little bitch and Cupcake is a sweetheart. But with them and Zero, my puppy, I’m hardly ever lonely while I’m working.
And before anyone asks, yes, I do have human friends.
I got up and put Cupcake on my shoulder, her favorite place to be aside from my hoodie pocket, and padded downstairs to get the coffee making before I showered.
My kitchen was probably one of my favorite rooms. The walls were painted obnoxiously bright yellow and the cabinets were dark to offset the brightness. I had a bright red kettle and pans to match hanging on a rack above the stove. One wall had a big chalkboard on it that I used for notes and grocery lists.
Music playing, coffee making, I made my way through my morning routine.
I like living alone. I don’t have to deal with anyone’s shit and I can write in peace.
I do miss Jersey though. Nine years later and I still miss it.
And I still miss my friends.
Wes and I fell out of touch about seven months after I left, Mikey about the same time. It broke my heart when I finally lost them.
And it wasn’t like she stopped calling me. I stopped calling back too.
I shook myself out of those admittedly painful memories and went downstairs to eat my breakfast surrounded by my animals.
I was just finishing my coffee when the doorbell rang.
It was too early for one of Amber’s “surprise exercise” visits, which made me curious to know who Zero was barking at so enthusiastically.
The first thing I saw when I opened the door was bright pink hair.
Then I saw who was under it.
“WES!” I all but screamed, hugging her. I admit, I teared up a little. “Oh my fucking God!”
Over her shoulder, I could see Gee, Frank, Ray, and Bob.
And Mikey.
I didn’t have time to really take him in because Gee smothered me in a hug, then Frank and Ray and Bob until I finally made my way down the line to Mikey.
He’d gotten rid of his glasses, something I knew already from my Google stalking of My Chemical Romance. His hair was longer on the top, bleached blonde and swept back.
I gave him a hug similar to the one I’d just given his brother and the others, careful to keep my distance.
“Come on in.” I led them into my living room and waited for them to get settled. “How did you guys find out where I live?”
“Wes and Frank saw you on TV and called your mom so we could come visit.” Gee supplied.
“Well you guys are certainly welcome here.” I couldn’t stop smiling. I could see subtle differences in everyone.
Ray’s fro was a little bigger, Frank was more tattooed and defined, Gee had lost the last of his baby fat, Mikey had buffed up a little and Bob…well, Bob was same old Bob.
“How long are you guys gonna be here?” I asked. I hoped they’d be here for a while.
“We’re moving out here actually.” Frank said. My jaw dropped.
“All of you?” I couldn’t believe it.
“Yep. We’re gonna record our new album out here and after the tour California is our new home.” Gee grinned.
“We’re trying to find a rental place but for now we’ll be in a hotel.” Ray said.
“Hell no. You guys can stay here with me. I certainly have room for all of you.” I crossed my fingers and hoped they’d agree.
“Are you sure we wouldn’t be putting you out?” Mikey’s voice still sounded the same. I pushed away the thought.
“Of course not. It’s settled. You guys will stay here until you find places of your own.” I nodded in agreement with myself.
“Well that saves us some time.” Gee stretched, nearly knocking Nightmare off the couch. “Holy shit, what was that?”
“That is Nightmare, one of my cats. The little one is Cupcake and the dog’s name is Zero.” I stuck Nightmare back in the kitchen so she wouldn’t take a swipe at someone.
--
Now that everyone had put their bags in the rooms, I’d gathered them around my kitchen table to go over some rules and stuff.
“Don’t smoke in the house, knock before coming into my office or my room, and don’t let the cats out. Zero is okay to go out but the cats can’t.” I ticked the rules off on my fingers. “If you finish something, write it on the chalkboard so I can get more of it…yep, that’s about it. Oh, wait, I lied. I know you guys are grown men and have needs and all that shit, but if I find some ho in my house, I will be so pissed you won’t even believe it.”
That got me a laugh from all of them.
“Are you guys hungry? I need to go to the market anyway.” I glanced over at my chalkboard to see what I needed.
“I’ll go with you.” Wes volunteered. I grinned at her and grabbed my keys.
When we walked into my garage, I waited for her reaction.
“Holy mother of hell.” She gasped, staring at my car.
It was a blue 1967 Mustang Fastback and it was a sexy car. I’d seen its For Sale sign for months and I’d lusted over it until I’d finally saved enough to buy it.
Of course, next to my sexy Mustang I also had a sexy Harley, but that was a different story.
“Can I have sex with this car?” Wes asked.
“With what, the tail pipe?” I laughed, unlocking it.
It didn’t feel like any time had passed.
That is, until I took my hoodie off.
“Hey, you have tattoos now.” Wes said, looking at my wrists. I had leaves tattooed on my right wrist and a bird on the other.
“Yeah. The leaves are for my name and the bird is to remind me to be free. I have a tattoo on my hip too.” I lost a bet with a friend and had to get “Fiction” tattooed on my hip.
“Cool. We’ll compare tattoos later.”
Now I remember why Wes is my best friend.
We rode down the aisles on our carts, laughing our heads off and nearly crashing into things.
Then Wes helped me get into the cart and pushed me down the aisles, both of us acting as if this was completely normal.
Fresh and Easy workers must see some scary shit to think we’re average.
“Oh, get that juice!” I said, pointing to a carton of orange peach mango juice. “That stuff is like crack.”
“What have you been doing that you know what crack is like?” She laughed, grabbing the carton.
Grocery shopping done, I started the drive home.
“I missed you Emmy.”
“I missed you too. A lot.” More than I’d care to admit. “I stalk MCR on Google to try and keep up with what’s going on with you guys.”
“Why did we ever stop talking?”
“Because we had lives to deal with and we were a country apart.” I smiled sadly. “The important thing is you’ll be out here with me now.” I flipped my palm up so she could see my blood brothers scar still there. “My mom keeps getting on me to put scar cream on it, but I won’t.”
“Me either.” She showed me her scar and I grabbed her hand.
“Blood brothers forever.”