Just Think Happy Thoughts

Grabbing hold carefully, Tony Iero took the rungs of the ladder up to his treehouse one at a time. He couldn’t repress his grin as he made his way up, remembering the time when his father had banded together with his bandmates to build it for him and their children. It was all he could do not to laugh at the memory of Uncle Ray hitting his thumb with a hammer and falling backwards out of the tree.

Tony shook his dyed black bangs out of his face and looked around fondly at the tiny rustic cottage once he’d made it to the floor level. Sure, it wasn’t anything particularly fancy, and God knows it wasn’t on the same plane as the monstrous playhouse that Lila Anne Wentz had in L.A. But his father had built it for him, and that made it special. Plus, with its beanbag chairs, autographed band posters, and modest TV for gaming, it was the perfect headquarters.

Planting his feet firmly, he drew in a deep breath before raising the signal.

“Olli olli olli olli olli olli olli olli olli olli olli ock and freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!”

A few minutes later, he caught sight of familiar flashes of red hair cutting in and out of the trees, making their way towards the clearing. Tony could already hear the faint chatter of sibling bickering.

“This had better sure as Hell be something important; I was in the middle of a very important phone call.”

“For fuck’s sake, Rosie, you spend every waking moment on the phone. Nicolas can go five minutes without hearing your shrill-ass voice.”

“Go to Hell, Manny.”

“Ladies first, skank.”

“Ooooo, you are so irritating!” Rosie Toro stepped backwards into the clearing, throwing a few weak punches at her twin brother. Her naturally curly hair had been painstakingly straightened that morning, while Manny’s curls bounced with each step he took. He easily blocked her blows, ducking from her perfectly manicured fists.

“Lock your cabinets and hide your good silver, the Toro twins are in the house!” Tony flashed them the infamous Iero grin from his perch in the doorway.

“Go catch syphilis, Iero.” Rosie climbed gingerly up the plank ladder, trying her best not to slip in her too-expensive heels. Manny chuckled and waited for his sister to reach the top, not wanting an accidental view up her trendy designer skirt.

A little black blur came sprinting across the clearing. “I'm coming, I'm coming!” The little round form of Elena Way flailed its way across the grass before she tripped over her own feet and knocked herself to the ground. “I’m gonna be a second…” she grumbled, sitting up slowly and looking at her skinned knee.

Manny looked at her with pity and helped her to her feet. “We wouldn’t have started the meeting without you, Lena. Besides, you know you always get here before Danny and Melody. You texted your cousin, right?”

Elena straightened her vintage Black Flag tee. “Yes, I did, but she texted back and told me to fuck off. She can be so mean to me sometimes. It wouldn’t kill her to leave the basement sometime.”

“Eh, Mel can’t help it.” Manny put an arm around her and walked her to the ladder. “It’s a family trait. I got my dad’s hair, Tony got his dad’s pot giggle, and Mel got your uncle’s tendency to hide someplace dark and damp.”

“Well…what did I inherit?” Elena asked curiously as she started up the ladder.

“Your father’s hips,” Rosie sneered over the side. “Now get your plump little ass up here so we can get this thing over with.”

Danny stepped out from around a nearby oak, hands in his pockets and his hood up. “Just think,” he sighed at the group. “Five years ago, Rosie was just a quiet little ingénue and now…she’s a bitch.” He smirked and went to stand next to Manny, lowering his hood to reveal his bright-green hair.

“I cannot help the fact that I’ve outgrown the need to be nice to you people just because I’d known you since infancy. Can we please get this over with?”

“We wait for Melody.” Iero pushed her over so the three on the ground could come up. “Whether she’s happy to leave her cave to come or not, she has to be here.” He flicked his green eyes up and focused on what looked like a grey specter in the thicket. “Speak of the gloomy devil…”

Melody Way glided into full view, her tattered black backpack perched on her crooked spine. The small crowd in the treehouse watched quietly as she moved up the ladder and came to stand in the doorway of the treehouse. She cast her intense kohl-rimmed eyes across the room, staring at her younger friends one at a time.

At last she removed her bag and handed it to Tony. “Let the meeting adjourn, Minister Iero…”