Tattoos of Memories

"Alright, let's take it from St. Jimmy," Rob directed. I nodded and glanced at the boys who were playing a video game. Luckily, Tré had brought his PlayStation so that Joey and Jakob would have something to occupy their time.

I tuned my guitar, trying to get the perfect sound. After a few moments of fidgeting with the strings, I finally fixed it and waved Rob on to continue.

I started singing and strumming, putting everything I had into the song. I watched Rob for directions, but he was bobbing his head to the music. I continued singing and within a few minutes, we had finished. I looked over at Mike and Tré, nodding with approval.

"Great job, guys. That was excellent," Rob complimented, his eyes fixated on the mixing board.

I thanked him before resting my guitar on the stand. I took my headphones off and put them around my neck.

"I can't thank you enough for bring your PlayStation for the boys, you're a lifesaver," I said to Tré. He shrugged and looked over at Joey and Jakob.

"Who said I brought it for them?" He replied, smiling. Mike and I chuckled.

"Alright, so I think we are going to end the session tonight, but I would like to have another session Monday, if possible," Rob said. The three of us nodded before walking out of the studio.

"Thank you, Rob!"

He smiled and said goodbye before going outside.

I wandered over to where the boys were sitting, their eyes locked on the screen.

"Okay, lets go home!" I declared, watching as the two of them broke their trance and got up, smiling.

"And what do we say to Tré?" I urged, watching as the two of them attacked Tré with a hug.

"Thank you!" They both shouted in unison.

Tré laughed as he unplugged the system from the television.

"You're welcome," He said before ruffling their hair.

We all left the building, each walking to our respective vehicles. I made sure that the boys were buckled in before pulling out of the parking lot.

"So did you guys have a good week at school?" I asked, my eyes set on the road.

"Yeah, it was okay," Joey replied, playing with his watch. Jakob simply shrugged and then began talking about how his art teacher gave him a low grade because she didn't like the way he colored.

"Well that sucks. Did she give a reason?" I asked, glancing at him through my rearview mirror. He shook his head furiously.

"No, she just said I shouldn't have colored my picture red," he answered, angrily.

"Well I bet that your picture is really cool, Jake," I said before turning into the parking lot of the supermarket, earning a groan from Joey.

"I wanna go home," he whined. I shook my head and gently pushed him in front of me, grabbing Jakob's hand in the process.

"Daddy, why do I have to hold your hand?" Jakob asked, irritated. I gripped his tiny hand even tighter.

"Because I love you and I want you to be safe, buddy," I justified, watching as his face contorted in disgust.

"You are way too young to be embarrassed by your parents," I said while dragging a cart from the front of the store.

"What does 'embarrassed' mean?" Jakob inquired, confused. I rolled my eyes and headed towards the produce section, choosing not to answer.

I threw the few vegetables that the boys liked into a bag and placed it in the cart. I wandered through the aisles, repeatedly shutting down their requests for junk food.

"But why can't we have the fudge brownies?" Jakob whined. I closed my eyes, my patience waning.

"Because I already got ice cream and you can't just eat junk food. Now stop bugging me," I replied, frustrated.

After getting the ingredients for homemade pizza and a few boxes of macaroni and cheese, I rolled the cart over to a self-checkout station. Joey and Jakob were fighting and I could feel myself becoming increasingly angry.

After two-full minutes of them hitting each other, I turned around and grabbed both of their hands before they went in for another punch.

"Knock it off! If this is how the whole week is going to be, I will lose my fucking mind!" I shouted, immediately earning negative attention from the other customers.

"Just another shitty father," some woman muttered under her breath. I turned around, greeted by the sight of a stout woman with the face of a pug.

I didn't want to say anything, but I couldn't let her get away with that.

"Listen lady, you know nothing about me or my family. There is nothing in the world I wouldn't do for my kids and you are seeing only one interaction between the three of us. Now, instead of making vapid comments about myself or my family, how about you go and research ways to look less like you just got hit with a baseball bat?" I ranted, watching as she shrunk to the floor.

I turned to face the register and smiled when I saw the expression on Joey's face.

"That was awesome, Dad," he complimented, smiling. I blushed and continued to scan the items, actually feeling proud of myself.

***

"Did you guys enjoy dinner?" I asked, watching as they both nodded enthusiastically. Jakob was wearing most of his dinner, tomato sauce and cheese surrounding his tiny mouth.

I grabbed a napkin and cleaned his face, smiling as he shooed my hand away. Joey chuckled and started cleaning the table and within a few minutes, we had put away the leftovers and loaded the dishwasher. The boys left the kitchen and headed for the family room, in search of a movie to watch.

Once they found a movie, I loaded it into the player and made sure that they were settled on the couch. I stayed for a few minutes before heading outside to make a very important phone call.

"Hey, honey!" Erica greeted, her voice like a song to me. I smiled, a natural reaction with every interaction with her.

"Hi, sweetheart. I was just calling to ask how your day was," I stated.

We talked for awhile about her Calculus class which, again, I had no idea how to respond to, but I tried as hard as I could to understand, just like she tried to understand the process of recording an album.

"I miss you," she declared suddenly. My heart swelled and I felt warm all over.

"I miss you, too, Erica. But listen, my boys are watching a movie and I should probably spend some time with them. I'll talk to you tomorrow night, my dear," I answered.

A few moments later, after the conversation ended and I was left with my thoughts, I heard a very curious voice.

"Daddy? Who is Erica?"