Boys With Tattoos

Courtney

Jimmy bought beer for everyone, but Donna and I decided not to drink. God knows what my Mother would do if we came home drunk.

"You guy's are just pussies." Jimmy retorted.

Matt slapped his head, "Dude shut up. They just don't want her mom to pop her lid off. Besides if they did drink Courtney's mom would probably never let them out of the house."

Brian agreed, "Yeah. We just met them, I would like to keep hanging out with her- I mean them." No one seemed to catch that, but me.

Jimmy scoffed, "I was just kidding, relax."

Donna smiled at him, "I know you are. I bet you I can beat you at a whiskey shot contest!"

He grinned, "You drink Jack?"

I butt in, "Yeah, that's the only liquor we really like. My dad bought it for us one time and that's all we really drink."

Matt looked at me, "Your Dad seems like really cool. He buys you smokes, he lets you drink. I bet he doesn't even care if you go to school."

Donna scoffed, "Uh, Tom isn't that cool."

I agreed, "Yeah he's not. He only buys us smokes because he doesn't want us doing it behind his back. He lets us drink when we do good in school."

Zack started laughing, "Shit if my parents did that I would have straight A's."

The guys started drinking and having conversations among themselves. I noticed Brian was on his first beer, while the rest of the guys were on 3 or 4.

Matt nudged me, "What's your favorite song?"

I made a funny face at the random question and shrugged, "I don't know. I have too many."

He frowned after taking another sip of his beer, "Just pick one."

I sighed, "Alright, um Sweet Child O Mine."

Matt smiled in approval and started singing the song. At first, I thought he was fucking around, but he was serious.

"-Reminds me of childhood memories." Matt continued singing and I was completely shocked. He had an amazing voice. He wasn't no Axl Rose, but pretty damn close to it.

He stopped singing after the chorus and I smiled in amazement, "Wow, you're good!"

Matt shrugged, "I'm alright."

That made me scoff, "No, seriously, you should be in a band or something."

He took another sip of his beer, "I only sing when I drink."

I frowned, "You should sing more often, you have a beautiful voice."

That made him grin, showing off his dimples, "Thanks."

A couple hours passed and Johnny was sleeping on the ground. Jimmy was shit faced and telling everyone that he loved them. Zack was somewhat drunk, he seemed to get very depressed when he drinks and it made me feel bad. Matt was a funny drunk, he kept laughing at everything which reminded me of Donna. Brian was on his third beer and was holding a conversation with Donna.

Matt grabbed my hand, "I really think you're beautiful, Courtney."

I smiled at him, "Aww," then I smirked, "Tell me that when you're sober."

He pointed his finger in my face, "I will!"

That earned him an eye roll, "Alright we'll see."

Jimmy cackled really loud, "Courtney! There's a light right next to you!"

I laughed, "What?" I looked next to me to see that it was my phone. I grabbed it and saw the time. 9:32PM. My eyes widened and seen that I have 7 missed calls from my Mother.

"Donna, it's 9:30! We have to go!" I exclaimed, while getting to my feet, which I regretted. Sitting on the ground so long made my legs go numb.

Matt started to whine, "Don't go, you just got here!"

I looked down at him, "I'm sorry, we really got to go. Maybe we can hang out tomorrow if my Mother doesn't kill us."

He sighed and stammered to his feet, "Fine. Can I at least have a hug?"

That made butterflies swarm in my stomach, "Sure." I walked into Matt's arms and he held me tight. It felt nice being in his arms. He let go too soon for my liking, but I directed my attention to Donna, who was now on her feet. "Ready?"

Brian got to his feet as well, "I'll walk you guys back." That made Donna smile and we said our good byes to the others, except Johnny who was still sleeping on the ground.

Once we got out of the park, I remembered that my Mother didn't like the guys, so if she saw Brian walking us home, she'd probably flip. "Hey, you can just walk us to the corner if you want." I told Brian.

Donna eyed me confusedly and I widened my eyes, trying to get her to remember and she did, "Yeah, the corner is fine."

Brian shrugged his shoulders, "Alright, that's cool with me."

Once we got to the corner Donna and Brian just kind of stood there and I felt extremely awkward so I pulled me phone out to make it look like I was doing something. I heard Brian ask for her number and she gave it to him.

"I'll text you!" Brian said and walked away.

I waited till he was out of sight and looked at Donna, "Wow, no hug or anything?"

She shrugged, "I guess not."

My phone started vibrating and I groaned, figuring it was my Mom again, but it was my Dad.

"Hello?"

"Where in the hell are you?"

That made me mad, "She called you?! What the fuck? We made friends and lost track of time."

My Dad sighed, "Well, get back to the house. She's worried! You know the same rules that go with me apply with her too. You could of called her to let her know where you were."

I groaned, "Alright, fine you're right. It won't happen again."

"Good. Now go get some sleep. I'll call you tomorrow. I love you."

"Love you too, Dad." I hung up.

Donna scoffed, "She called your Dad, really?"

I sighed, "Yeah, she's worried. Let's go."

We got back to the house and as soon as we walked through the door, she was there waiting for us. She looked pissed, "A phone call would of been nice." She sneered out.

"I forgot." I said, truthfully.

That made her roll her eyes and she put her hands on her hips, "I seriously thought something happened. You could of left a note."

I shrugged, "Yeah, well, I didn't. Case closed, but you didn't have to call my Dad."

She started to yell, "I had no choice! I thought you jumped on a plane back to Michigan!"

Donna butted in, "All of our shit is still here!"

That made her even more angry, "I don't what you do at Tom's house, but there will be no use of profanity in this house."

I snorted, "Whatever," I nudged Donna, "Come on, let's go to bed."

We headed up to our room, signaling to Suzy that the conversation was over. I didn't want to stand there and hear her try to act like a Mother. I decided to take a shower, so I didn't have to take another one tomorrow. Donna went straight for her bed, so I knew she was tired.

Once I was done, I changed into my pajamas and went back into the room to find Donna sleeping with her phone in her hand. I smiled a little and went to grab it from her. There was a text message from Brian that said:

Goodnight. Sleep well. <3

I continued to smile and placed the phone the end table. My mouth was really dry so I decided to get some water. Once I got in the Kitchen, I regretted it, because Suzy was in there.

She tried to talk to me, "Courtney-"

"I really don't want to talk right now." I cut off and went to get a glass of water.

That didn't seem to click in head, "Please, Courtney. Just let me talk to you. I want you to hear my side of the story."

I leaned up against the counter and sighed, "Fine." It's not like it's going to change anything.

She took a deep breath and started off, "The day you were born was seriously the best of my life. You were so tiny and beautiful. Your Dad was a great help. He was really hands on, so that gave me a break. A few years passed and I realized I wasn't happy in Michigan anymore. I decided to audition for some commercials, but I didn't think I would get them. A couple weeks passed and an agent called me. He told me that he had a job for me, that I would get paid great money, but I had to move to California. I tried to talk to your Dad about it, but he didn't want to hear anything about it. He had his own job that he didn't want to leave-"

I cut her off, "Don't you dare put the blame on my Dad!" I warned her, feeling the anger boil up inside of me.

She sighed, "I'm not blaming him. I'm just saying that if your Dad would of agreed to it, then we would of been fine."

I started to count in my head, so I wouldn't blow up on her. Once I got to ten, I glared at her, "This has nothing to do with him! You didn't have to take the job, he was supporting you just fine. You left, because you weren't happy! You left, because you didn't want to raise a kid anymore-"

She tried to cut me off, but I shook my head and pointed my finger at her, "Let's get something straight here! If you think that this little vacation thing is going to make me like you, then you're wrong! I am only here to make my Dad happy. He is the only one I care about. Once it hits August, I'm gone. You'll never see me again."

"Courtney, you're my daughter. I love you! I always have. I don't know why you're being so difficult!" She exclaimed.

"No. No. You do not get the right to say you love me! You walked out on me! I don't care what my Dad has to do with it, you could of fought for custody! You could of came and saw me on the weekends or holidays, but you didn't!" I started to get so worked up, tears formed in my eyes. I don't cry in front of no one except my Dad and Donna, so I ran upstairs.

I grabbed my phone out of the room and went into the bathroom. It was ten at night which meant it was one in the morning in Michigan. I didn't care, though. I dialed his number anyways.

"Hello?" My Dad answered groggily.

I sobbed into the phone, "Daddy, please let me come home."

He became more alert, "Why? What happened?"

"I got into a fight with her and she's trying to blame her leaving on you. Dad, I can't take it any longer! I want to come home!" I continued to cry.

I heard him take a deep breath and sigh, "Calm down, everything will be okay. You'll be home in a couple of months. It'll go by fast, I promise."

"No it won't." I sniffled into the phone.

"I'll talk to her, okay? If things get out of hand again, I'll fly out there myself and come get you, alright?" He said in calming voice.

I took a deep breath to calm myself, "Okay. I love you Daddy."

"I love you too, sweetie. Go get some sleep, I'll call her." He said and we both said our good-bye's.

I wiped my eyes and blew my nose. I got out of the bathroom and heard Suzy's voice from downstairs.

"Tom, I was just telling her my side of the story."

The shocking part was she had the phone on speaker and I could hear my Dad, "I don't care what the fuck you were doing, Sue! If my daughter ever calls me up at one in the morning crying her eyes out because of you again, I'm coming to get her and you'll never see her again!" I smiled and walked back into the room. I shut the door and headed for my bed.

I ended up laying in the bed for the rest of the night, wide awake. Being in this house just makes me miss home too much. The only time I don't think about home is when I'm with Matt.