Crossroads

“Excuse me?” I heard along with a tap on my arm. “Ma’am?”

My eyes fluttered open and I saw one of the flight attendants standing next to me. She smiled at me.

“Ma’am we’ve landed.” She said.

I groaned as I let out a little stretch and got up straightening out my gym shorts and Billabong sweatshirt. I sat my aviators on top of my head and slid my phone in my pocket before taking down my bag and exited the plane.

I shuffled through the Airport half asleep towards the baggage claim to wait for my guitar. I was skeptical about bringing it on a plane since it was my new pride and joy but relief washed over me as I saw it bobbing down the conveyor belt. I grabbed it and turned around just in time to get attacked.

“AH!!! JOANNA!” Aden screamed as she jumped on me. I dropped my bags but thankfully Matt was close enough to catch my guitar.

“Hey Aden!” I said as awake as I could.

“Tired much?” Matt said before pulling me into a hug.

“Mmmmmmyurp.” I replied.

“Here, climb on my back.” He said laughing. I did as he said and Aden picked up my stuff as we went outside to Matt’s car.

“God I miss you guys.” I said from the back seat.

“Well, come back!” Aden said.

“I can’t right now! Craig can’t just leave Leila.” I replied.

“Well, at least we will have you for a few months. We miss having you around.” Matt said.

“Mmm, I miss being around. OH! I get to ride my bike again!” I said getting excited. My bike was the only thing I kept in California. Craig got sketchier over the idea of me on a bike than Zacky did when I first got it. However, Craig didn’t have much of a say when he was all the way in Phoenix.

“Oh my gosh Joanna, you have to see how big Alaina got! She’s not a chicken baby anymore! She’s like…..a chicken!” Aden said.

“Haha, I can’t wait to see her.” I replied.

“Yeah, she can’t wait to see you either. Since she heard you were coming back, she keeps calling for you or waiting at the front door.” Matt added.

I smiled to myself and rested my head on the back of the seat, taking another power nap. I knew that it would be the only sleep I could get until tonight. We had a lot of practicing to do.

As soon as I walked through the front door, I was attacked from all angles. The only one who didn’t attack me was Brian who was sprawled out on the couch. After I got all of the other hello’s out of the way, I walked over to Brian and kissed him on the cheek before rustling his hair. He had Jude on his lap and I kissed the top of his head as he continued to play with Aden’s phone.

“You ready for lead?” Brian said smirking.

“Well, we’re about to find out.” I replied with a smirk of my own.

“Well come onnnnnn!” Jimmy started. “I’m ready!”

I laughed, “Alright, I got a new guitar I want to show it off.”

We all went to the studio downstairs and started setting up while Jimmy, Matt and Aden helped get Brian down the stairs. I plugged my guitar in and heard a whistle come from the other side of the room. I looked up and saw Johnny and Zacky checking out my new baby.

“Is that a Damien Elite?” Zacky asked.

“Indeed it is my good man. Indeed it is.” I replied with a smirk. I looked at him and thought back on how Lucy and Max were asking me about the tension between Zacky and I. I would be lying if I said there wasn’t any whatsoever, but it wasn’t bad, it was just the typical tension between two ex’s.

When Brian finally got situated comfortably on the couch we had down here, Aden curled up with him with Jude on her lap and we started going through the setlist.

“Okay, so we’ve been starting off with ‘Critical Acclaim’. Are you okay with this?” he asked me.

“Dude, this is your tour, whatever you guys have been doing I’m fine with. The setlist you have? Don’t change it. Just tell me what to play, and you got it.” I said smiling.

He smiled, flashing his infamous dimples, “Alright, let’s start it off then.”

“Alright uhm, for this, I think Zee should start us off, I’ll pick up lead after the beginning solo.” I said.

“You sure?” Zacky said.

“Yeah, I’ll feel as if I’m trying to take over.” I replied. Matt and Zacky started to shake their heads and open their mouths to retort but I held up a hand, “It’ll make me feel better.” They both nodded and we started off.
We started off flawlessly, I saw Aden and Brian bobbing their heads to the beat. Jude sat there with a smile spread across his face. He was definitely born for this life.

When we got through the second verse and another solo came up, for some reason I couldn’t nail one of the notes and became extremely frustrated.

“WHAT THE FUCK?!” I screamed causing everyone to stop playing.

“Come here.” Brian motioned with a finger. I walked over to him and he held his hand out to me.

I looked at him with a confused expression, “What?”

“Place your hand to mine.” He instructed. I did as he said and he inspected our hands. “Your fingers are just a bit shorter than mine, here look. This is what you need to hit.” He said grabbing my finger and placing it on the note I kept missing.

“I need to figure out how to finger this.” I said.

“That’s what she said.” Johnny said in the background.

I couldn’t help but laugh and joined the others fingering the chord on my way back. When I got back in my position, I tried it without anyone else playing until I finally got it. Once I did, we continued on.

We went through a few other songs, Almost Easy, Bat Country, Unholy Confessions, Seize the Day, and then we discussed the possibility of playing A Little Piece of Heaven except have me play the violin. I was totally up for that, we just had to work everything out. I would also have to practice it on the violin before setting it in stone. After we got most of the setlist done, Larry swung by to discuss business with us.

“Well hey there Joanna. I cannot express how grateful we are for you doing this for Brian.” Larry said while we sat at the island counter.

“They’re family, I’d do anything for them.” I replied with a smile.

He smiled back, “Well we owe you one. Did they discuss anything with you? I can tell by the sweat you’re all covered in you were practicing.”

“Yeah, we were discussing things as far as the setlist goes. What else should we talk about?” I asked.

“Well places you’re touring, for the remainder of the tour you will be going out of the country for a few weeks. Germany, Australia, and a show in London, along with shows here in the states.” He said.

“That’s fine, I have no issue with that.” I said.

“And then, of course, there’s the topic of compensation. We-“

“No.” I cut him off.

“What?” he replied with a shocked expression.

“I don’t want anything. I just want to play and help out. That’s it.” I replied.

He looked over at the others who just shook his head, telling him not to argue with me and just let it go. “Well, uhm, okay then. Well I guess everything is in order then. If you have any questions or problems just give me a call, okay?” he said.

“No probs.” I replied with a smile.

After Larry left, I made myself comfortable in the living room for a bit. I was just getting into an episode of South Park when I felt someone sit down next to me. I looked over and saw Zacky.

“Oh Hi thar!” I said with a grin.

He smiled, “Hi.”

“What’s up?” I said looking at a text.

“Not much, just decided to join you and watch some South Park.” He replied.

“Oh shweet.” I said as I hit the send button.

“So, how have you been?” he asked.

I sighed, “I’ve been alright. Just been chillin. I see Lucy and Max every few days. Other than that I’m usually home with Craig and Leila or I’m out with Robert and Monte. Pretty boring.”

“Oh. Well as long as your happy.” He said with a small smile.

“Mhm, how about you? I rarely talk to you. Hell I rarely hear about you.” I replied.

“I’m always home. Lately I’ve been trying to help Hank with his speaking. He’s stubborn, I mean ridiculously stubborn. And Heather? She’s just there. Ordering me around. Spending my money. She’s rarely ever home.” He said kind of spacing.

“Wait,” I said getting a little iffy. He looked at me with a shocked expression, “So she like, just leaves you with the kid and takes off and spends your money?”

“Well, the way you say it makes it sound 20 times worse but, to put it bluntly, yes that’s what she does.” He replied.

I could tell by his expression that my inner rage was starting to seep through, “No. Oh fuck no. Tell that bitch to get over here now!”

“Joanna, chill. And please don’t call her a bitch.” He said.

I was about to reply but was cut off.

“Yeah, don’t call me a bitch behind my back.” I heard behind me. I saw Heather standing in the doorway and I felt my blood boil over.

“The fuck you think you are?!” I spat.

“I think I’m someone you shouldn’t talk to like that if you know what’s good for you.” She replied with her hands on her hips.

I got up off the couch just as Aden and Jimmy walked in. “Oh fuck.” I heard Aden mumble.

“You fuckin threatening me?” I asked.

“Joanna, your accent.” Aden said. I shot her a look and she nodded. She knew not to interfere at the moment.

“Where’s Hank?” Zacky asked her.

“He’s in the car. How about his father goes and gets him?” she said nastily.

“Whoa!” I said putting a hand on Zacky’s chest letting him know he better not fuckin move. “You seriously are ordering him around like a fuckin slave?”

“Keep your skanky ass out of this!” she yelled.

I jumped over the couch and charged for her but was caught by Jimmy. “LET GO OF ME SULLIVAN!” I screamed.

“Joanna you need to calm the fuck down!” he said.

“NO! This fuckin cunt thinks she can call me a skank? I don’t fuckin think so.” I replied.

“Learn your place bitch.” She said to me.

I was so enraged at this moment that I couldn’t even move. Jimmy must have taken this as me calming down and let go of me, which was his biggest mistake. I charged for her and slammed her head into the door frame. She clawed for me and caught my bottom lip just before my right fist collided with her face. I got pulled up by two pairs of tattooed arms and noticed it was both Jimmy and Johnny.

“Get the fuck off me short shit and amazon!” I screamed just as I wiggled out of their grasp.

Once Heather was standing up again, I was ready to treat her like I did my punching bag. I swung a right hook and caught her in the ribs. She doubled over which I created the opportunity of kneeing her in the face. She flung her body back and hit the wall. I hit her face again before there was a dog pile on me. This time I had Matt, Johnny, Jimmy, Zacky and Lexi on me.

“Get the fuck out of here you fucking cunt! Learn some fuckin parenting skills! If I see your ass around here again your life will come to an abrupt halt!” I yelled as she crawled to the door. When she finally got out of the house, the others stayed on me.

“Joanna, I love you for that but I think you went a little too far.” Aden said kneeling in front of me.
I panted as I glared at her. I wasn’t mad at anyone in the house but I was still pumped and twisted.

“Oh fuck. Everyone off! Her lip is bleeding and this is white carpet!” she exclaimed wiping some of the blood off my chin with her finger.

Everyone jumped off of me as she helped me up and dragged me to the kitchen. I sat up on the counter as she got me a wet paper towel. I put it on my lip and she looked at me.

“What?” I asked.

She let out a small laugh, “I love you for that.”

I smiled back, “You know what? Zacky is the only one who didn’t do anything.”

“That’s because she deserved it.” Zacky said walking into the room.

“Oh?” Aden and I both said.

“She’s a spoiled bitch.” Zacky said. “Honestly, she was amazing at first, still nothing compared to you though Joanna.” He said, that comment stood out the most to me for some reason, but he continued on. “Now she’s just nasty. All the time. To be honest, the only reason I’m still with her is because of Hank. And honestly, I don’t think he even likes me. Do you know how much it hurts me to think my own son doesn’t like me?”

Aden and I went up to him and hugged him. I had no idea how rough things have been for him lately. And I honestly felt horrible.

“How about you stay here tonight?” Aden suggested.

“You think I’m going home to that? Fuck no.” he said. We all started to laugh.

“ADEN!” we heard Brian call.

“Well, duty calls. Haha I said duty.” Aden said as she left the room.

“You’re still bleeding ba-Joanna.” Zacky said.

“What was that?” I asked.

“I said you’re still bleeding.” He said quickly.

“Uh huh.” I replied.

He picked up the paper towel and wiped my lip before inspecting it. He grimaced when he saw it.

“Feels like Jersey again, doesn’t it?” I said.

“Huh?”

“When we were staying at Ambers? After I beat the shit out of Kristin and I had those gashes in my shoulders. Remember?” I said.

“OH, oh yeah. Not quite as bad. She didn’t have death heels on.” He said jokingly.

We stayed silent for a while as he kept wiping my lip until it stopped bleeding.

“Well, I’m gunna go check on Brian, maybe watch a game with him.” He said.

“Okay, I’m gunna take my post in the living room again.” I replied.

When I got back into the living room, the episode I was began to watch ended, but another episode came on. I checked my phone and saw I had two texts from Craig. One was just a text and the other was a picture of Leila wearing a shirt that read ‘Joanna Rocks My Socks!’. I thought it was one of the cutest damn things I have ever seen.

I texted him back when I felt someone sit next to me again, this time it was Matt.

“Hey.” I said.

“You okay?” he asked.

“Mad tired. I just wanna sleep.” I laughed.

“I would imagine.” He chuckled.

I fell over and leaned on his shoulder. The way I was positioned allowed him to see my screen and he commented on the picture of Leila. “She’s adorable.” He said.

“I know! There are so many kids I get to be with now. I love kids. I can’t wait for Lucy’s spawn to arrive so I can have another one to spoil.” I giggled.

I felt him stiffen up, “What?”

“What?” I replied sitting up and looking at him.

“Lu-Lucy’s pregnant?” he asked stunned.

I felt my stomach drop. I couldn’t believe I spoke so freely. Lucy and I had talked about her bringing it up to Matt when she was ready. But I was so used to speaking freely about it to her, Max and Craig that it didn’t even occur to me that Matt didn’t know.

“Oh my god. No. I didn’t just say that.” I said holding up my hands.

“Her…and Max….they’re having a baby?” he said in disbelief.

“Fuck! No, Matt. You didn’t hear that from me.” I said beginning to freak out. He got up and slowly started to walk up the stairs mumbling to himself.

I felt my heart race and my breaths become short and more rapid. I held my head in my hands as I began to wonder ‘What the fuck did I just do?’