Hold Me Down

It wasn’t until about seven that night that everyone but Annie had left. We were waiting for her mom to come pick her up. That’s right, little Annie, the one with the bitch of a mother way back when, we were waiting for her mother.

She sat in the over-sized arm chair, watching as Tucker strummed on his acoustic, knowing he wasn’t allowed to play his new one until it was daylight. Knowing him he’d wait till sun-up exactly before he woke me up with one of the many chords Ray’s taught him.

I heard a knock on the door and went to answer, assuming it was Katie—I was wrong. There on the other side of the door stood Bert and his now upcoming band. He grinned as he pulled me in for a hug, pecking me cheek sloppily.

“Where’s the birthday boy? I’ve got presents!”

I heard the guitar stop and Annie’s giggle as I heard their footsteps come into our small foyer.

“Uncle Bert!”

He tackled Bert in a hug, demanding presents once again. I glanced back at Annie who had a surprised look on her face.

“Happy Birthday kiddo! I take it you liked the present from Ray and Gee?”

“Hell yes….sorry dad, yes I did.”

We’ve cut back on his swearing, apparently he picked up a lot of words in his younger days—not that I minded—everyone else did apparently.

“Oh, this is my best friend Annie! Annie you remember my Uncle Bert from when we were little don’t you?”

She looked star-struck to be honest. She just slowly nodded before taking a step forward, locking her hands onto Tucker’s arm. He looked down at her funny.

“Well are you just going to stand there or are you going to open your presents?”

I said my hello to Quinn, Jeph and Dan as we piled into the living room. Tucker was holding a small black box, mentally guessing what could be inside. They had been away gaining fame with their band, The Used. They’d always stop in and see us when they came through town.

“You’ve got to be kidding me! No way! Thanks!! Dad, look what they gave me!”

I turned my attention from my thoughts to my son who was waving something in his hands. He handed them to me and tackled the guys, hugging each of them. I glanced down at what was in my hands, tickets to their show tomorrow night. Some band whose name was covered up with ‘band tickets’ was opening for them.

“I hope you don’t mind? You guys are on the VIP list, you’ll be given passes once you get there and you’ll have access to pretty much everywhere. You guys can even watch from the stage if you want. I can even add the little lady’s name too if you want Tuck?”

“Could you? She loves you guys!”

Annie blushed and hid her face in Tucker’s shoulder as he had sat back down next to her. There was another knock on the door; I excused myself as I heard Tucker gushing over Annie’s fan-ness of them. He really needed to work on his way with girls. I opened the door to reveal Katie; she smile and pulled me in for a hug.