Three Cheers

Gerard had a smoke after we got to his mom's. He was itching, his hands were shaking and all I could do was hold his hand. He tossed his cigarette and looked at me, "Let's go." he said quietly.

I followed behind him, afraid of what awaited us. I didn't want to be here, to hear what he has to say to his mom. But, I had to be there to comfort him and be supportive.

He opened the door, I closed it, and he stopped immediately. My eyes landed on his father as he sat in the recliner across from the television. Gerard's hands balled into fist; his left hand squeezing mine, I whimpered. He let go and turned to me, "I'm sorry."

"Gerard." his dad spoke shortly.

"We need to talk." Gerard growled, "Where's my mom?"

Donna appeared right then with Mikey. She looked sadden and worried, "Gerard, what's going on?"

"I'm going to tell you why Busy isn't allowed to see either of you anymore."

My eyes bulged and I tugged his arm, "Gee, that's a bit--"

"She's with him again, October," he told me with narrowed eyes, "He can't see Busy so she can't see Busy."

I didn't answer; he made the way to the couch and made me sit. I swallowed thickly as Donna and Mikey sat beside me, and Gerard stood, his eyes fixated on his dad. Don stared back, looking unthreatened and unintimidated; he looked very relaxed.

I couldn't think, I had no real feeling in that moment -aside from sympathy for my husband. My chest tightened at the way his fist balled till his knuckles whitened. I touched his arm, "Gee," his name fell from my lips out of nervousness and helplessness.

"Gerard, are you okay?" Donna asked.

Gerard looked at her, "No. No, I'm not. I'm pissed off."

"What's wrong now?" Don asked.

Almost like a light switch, anger found it's way into my body. I bit my tongue from shouting out. I rubbed Gerard's back, reaching from my sitting position. 

"You never told my mom about why I left, did you?" Gerard started, "Why I left your place when I was 16?"

Donna shot her eyes back and forth at Don and Gerard. "You were causing trouble." she stated dumbly.

"That's bullshit," Gerard spat, "Caused trouble? That's a fuckin' joke!"

"You did cause trouble." Don spoke lazily, as if he hadn't cared that Gerard may've pounced on him, "You were nothing but a pain in my ass."

I dropped my hand and kept my eyes on Gerard. His fist balled again; "For George."

That's when Don's brows shot up, "This shit again?"

"Again? What's that suppose to mean? I needed you, and all you did was fuckin' send be back for a lousy 200 bucks so he could do whatever he wanted to me!"

Donna's eyes went wide and I looked down. I couldn't hear anymore. I didn't want to hear anymore, but I had no choice.

"I did not!" Don shot up, "You did chores for George!"

"Chores? You mean having me lie down while that old fucking pervert touched me? Was that a chore, dad?"

I put my hands to my ears as they began a shouting match, and Donna getting involved as well. She screamed and cried; I shut my eyes as it went on, and I only opened them when the sounds of breaking glass jolted me back to reality. 

Gerard had thrown something at the TV, causing the screen to crash and fall from it's stand. I jumped up, the yelling pounded through my ears and my head felt like it swelled. The crying from Donna wasn't any better. I wanted this all to stop, so I pulled Gerard towards the hall, all the while he shouted back at his dad. I put my hands to his cheeks, "Stop."

He looked at me, "I told you," he seethed, "I will never come back here."

I nodded, "Calm down, alright. Just take a few breaths, then we can go and you can see Busy. We'll be right back at home. Breathe, Gerard, breathe."

Gerard was about ready to burst into tears. He put his hands to his face and started to cry. I wrapped my arms around his middle and kissed his neck repeatedly, "It's alright." I kept murmuring.

Mikey came over, "They're in the kitchen yelling at each other."

"We're gonna leave now," I told him, "Frank is gonna drop the rental off for us."

"I'll see you guys in a week." he tried to smile, but you could see it was forced, "I'll see you, alright Gee?"

Gerard looked up, wiping his face vigorously, "Yeah, yeah."

"I won't talk to dad about this." Mikey mumbled.

"Thank, Mikey." 

Mikey took my place and hugged Gerard. It only took a minute for them to part and another minute for us to jet out the house. In the car, Gerard sat stone faced while I drove back to Frank's.


Busy jumped into Gerard's lap when they she and Frank returned. She had her face painted like a tiger and carrying a stuffed monkey and a balloon tied to her wrist. She hugged Gerard, "Daddy!"

Gerard has been quiet the entire two hours we were at Frank's. He finally smiled, "Hi baby." he kissed her cheek.

"I gots a monkey! See!" she held up the monkey, then she looked at me, "I gots paint like a tiger too!" then she roared at me.

I laughed, "Aw, baby you look so cute!"

"I not cute! I scary!" she pouted.

"You are scary," Gerard chuckled when she roared again, "Did you have fun?"

Frank came in and sat down; he had a rainbow painted on his cheek. I laughed, "She wore you out?"

He nodded then fell over, "I'm getting a divorce."

I laughed again, "That's what you get."

He shrugged and shut his eyes, "I need a nap."

"You gotta drop us off in like half an hour." Gerard told him.

"B, let's go eat," I got up and picked her up off of Gerard's lap, "Then you can nap when we get to the airport."

Busy didn't disagree; she just held onto me, "I want juice."

"You'll get juice, baby."


We got to the airport on time and waited at our gate after going through security. Gerard was exhausted, he and Busy both, so I knew they'd be asleep the entire way home. I gave Busy a bottle and held her while she took a nap.

"I can't wait to get home." Gerard mumbled.

"Me too." I said to him.

"I don't wanna ever comeback here again." he rubbed his eyes.

"You don't have to, Gee," I took his hand in mine, "Just relax, we'll be on the plane soon."

He exhaled heavily, "Thanks."

I leaned over and kissed his head, "You're welcome."

Gerard rested his head on my shoulder, he and Busy were both snoozing. I kissed his cheek and Busy's too, and then put her bottle away. I too was on the verge of sleep now.