Adventures in Babysitting
Chapter Two: A Letter From Daddy
Chapter Two: A Letter from Daddy
I couldn’t fucking believe it. There was a fucking kid in our bus. Why? “Um Ray,” I started. He didn’t turn around. “Ray.” Still nothing. What the fuck? “Ray!” The basturd still wouldn’t turn around. This is fucking pissing me off. “RAY!”
“What?!” he yelled flustered.
“Um,” I debated in my head whether to ask or not. I decided to ask. “Why is there a kid here?”
“I’m trying to figure that out Frank,” he scolded, “Just...give me a sec, okay?”
I nodded my head. I felt kinda bad that I made him mad. I looked over his shoulder for a second. He was reading something. That was a shocker. Ray never reads. Why’s he suddenly acting like Mikey when he reads? Whatever’s on the paper must be important.
“Whatcha readin’?” I asked. No answer. I tried to read over his shoulder. I couldn’t see the paper from the way he was turned. So, I did what any guy would do. I grabbed the paper from his hands.
“Hey!” Ray yelled after me. I turned away and started to read the letter out loud. I mean, I’m sure the guys are as confused as I am.
“Dear Ray-” I was interrupted by Ray ripping the paper out of my hands. I turned to him and pouted. He just shook his head and turned away. When he finished reading, he sighed heavily and fell back onto the couch, his forehead resting on on of his hands. Silence.
“Who’s it from?” Mikey spoke up.
“It’s from Marc,” Ray replied bluntly.
“Your brother?” Gerard asked.
“Yea,” Ray continued. He then stood up and continued where I left off.
“Dear Ray, I’m sorry to barge in on your life like this, but I have a bit of a problem. This is Adele, my daughter. I need you to take care of her for me for a while. I don’t know how long I’ll be gone, but I really need you to do this for me. I’ll try to be back as soon as I can. Your Brother, Marc.”
Everyone grew silent. I couldn’t blame them. I could hardly believe it myself. “So, we have to take care of a kid?” Bob asked, “Has your brother lost his mind?! We can’t take care of a kid! Not now anyway. I can understand him wanting us to watch, I don’t know, his hamster or cat or something, but a kid?! He’s insane!!!!”
“I like hamsters,” Gerard replied, trying to lighten the mood. I smiled softly.
“Shut up Gerard,” Ray yelled, “We’re being serious right now.”
A smiled wider. Gee’s method worked for me. I looked down. The kid was staring out into space, obviously waiting for someone to guide her. I saw her steal a glance at me. I smiled softly down at her. Her eyes quickly turned away.
The sound of yelling brought me back to earth. Ray and Gerard were, I guess fighting, but it looked more like Ray blowing up at Gee. Who knew Ray had a temper? I guess he’s frustrated and pretty damn confused right now. I mean, his brother just left, putting him in charge of a little kid for god knows how long. I’d be blowing up too if it were me.
“Stop yelling at him!” Mikey yelled. I’d never seen him so...assertive. Then again, there’s a lot of shit I’ve never seen before I’ve seen today. I guess Mikey just wants to stick up for Gerard. Ah, brotherly love. I’m down with that. Ouch. This yelling’s giving me a headache. Then again, the last time I heard this much screaming was, what, our last concert with drunk Gerard?
“GUYS!” I yelled to get their attention. Silence. “What’s so bad about this? I mean, so we have to take care of a kid. So what? We can handle it. We’re from Jersey for Christ’s sake! We can handle pretty much anything!” Silence. Okay, maybe I should have kept my mouth shut. Here comes the screaming.
“Frank’s right,” Gerard said. Wait. I’m right? “We can totally do this. How hard could it be to raise a kid?”
“What about the tour?” Ray asked, still upset. Oh yeah. I kinda forgot. Oops.
“We only have night shows,” Gerard stated, “And the occasional afternoon show. But we could always get Ryan to someone to watch her, right?” Oh yeah. Ryan was our manager. Maybe I should go to the hospital to be treated for memory loss....Nah...
“Yeah I guess,” Ray replied, “I’m sorry guys. I guess I’m just overreacting or something. I mean, my brother left me his kid. That’s pretty huge.”
“It is huge,” Mikey said, trying to comfort Ray, “But well get through this.”
“Yeah!” I contributed, “We can do it!” Bob stared at me again. “Okay, dude, you need to stop that.”
“No.” Oh, this guy’s gonna get his ass whooped by the end of the week. I turned away from him to face the kid. I was always good with kids growing up, according to my mom and aunt when I watched my cousins. But hey, at some point in your life you realize that you’ve gotta listen to your parents. That usually occurs at twenty-five like me.
I got down to eye level with her. She had short, straight blonde hair (which she OBVIOUSLY didn’t get from her dad’s side of the family. I’ve seen Marc’s hair. Wow) and green eyes. “What’s your name?” I asked softly, adding a smile.
“A-Adele,” she replied. Aww. She’s kinda cute.
“Well, it’s nice to meet you Adele,” I said, “I’m Frankie. And that’s Gerard, Mikey, Bob, and your uncle Ray.” Uncle Ray. Sounds weird, like a kid tv show host or something.
“O-Okay,” she said softly. She then quickly looked at the ground embarrassed. None of my cousins were this cute this young. What the hell happened?
“How old are you Adele?” I asked, trying to get to know her. If she says anything above seven, I wanna know what makes her look so young.
“Five.”
“That’s cool,” I admitted. Five’s cool. That means school. That means afternoon concerts. Score!
“Um, Adele,” Gerard started from behind me, “Do you want to put your stuff away?” She nodded vigorously. She’s got Ray’s head banging skills, that’s for sure. “Come on. I’ll show you where you can put it.”
Gerard then gently took Adele by the hand and took her into the bunk area. I guess when you have younger siblings, you learn this kind of thing. Weird for me, since I’m an only child, but whatever!
“Hey Frank.” I turned. It was Ray. “Thanks.”
“Um, no problem.” I replied. He, Bob, and Mikey then walked away, leaving me to think.
Getting to know Adele was easy enough. She seems like a sweet kid. I don’t understand what Ray was talking about. I started walking to the bunk area. This is all too easy. I mean, how hard could it get? How hard could raising a kid be?
I couldn’t fucking believe it. There was a fucking kid in our bus. Why? “Um Ray,” I started. He didn’t turn around. “Ray.” Still nothing. What the fuck? “Ray!” The basturd still wouldn’t turn around. This is fucking pissing me off. “RAY!”
“What?!” he yelled flustered.
“Um,” I debated in my head whether to ask or not. I decided to ask. “Why is there a kid here?”
“I’m trying to figure that out Frank,” he scolded, “Just...give me a sec, okay?”
I nodded my head. I felt kinda bad that I made him mad. I looked over his shoulder for a second. He was reading something. That was a shocker. Ray never reads. Why’s he suddenly acting like Mikey when he reads? Whatever’s on the paper must be important.
“Whatcha readin’?” I asked. No answer. I tried to read over his shoulder. I couldn’t see the paper from the way he was turned. So, I did what any guy would do. I grabbed the paper from his hands.
“Hey!” Ray yelled after me. I turned away and started to read the letter out loud. I mean, I’m sure the guys are as confused as I am.
“Dear Ray-” I was interrupted by Ray ripping the paper out of my hands. I turned to him and pouted. He just shook his head and turned away. When he finished reading, he sighed heavily and fell back onto the couch, his forehead resting on on of his hands. Silence.
“Who’s it from?” Mikey spoke up.
“It’s from Marc,” Ray replied bluntly.
“Your brother?” Gerard asked.
“Yea,” Ray continued. He then stood up and continued where I left off.
“Dear Ray, I’m sorry to barge in on your life like this, but I have a bit of a problem. This is Adele, my daughter. I need you to take care of her for me for a while. I don’t know how long I’ll be gone, but I really need you to do this for me. I’ll try to be back as soon as I can. Your Brother, Marc.”
Everyone grew silent. I couldn’t blame them. I could hardly believe it myself. “So, we have to take care of a kid?” Bob asked, “Has your brother lost his mind?! We can’t take care of a kid! Not now anyway. I can understand him wanting us to watch, I don’t know, his hamster or cat or something, but a kid?! He’s insane!!!!”
“I like hamsters,” Gerard replied, trying to lighten the mood. I smiled softly.
“Shut up Gerard,” Ray yelled, “We’re being serious right now.”
A smiled wider. Gee’s method worked for me. I looked down. The kid was staring out into space, obviously waiting for someone to guide her. I saw her steal a glance at me. I smiled softly down at her. Her eyes quickly turned away.
The sound of yelling brought me back to earth. Ray and Gerard were, I guess fighting, but it looked more like Ray blowing up at Gee. Who knew Ray had a temper? I guess he’s frustrated and pretty damn confused right now. I mean, his brother just left, putting him in charge of a little kid for god knows how long. I’d be blowing up too if it were me.
“Stop yelling at him!” Mikey yelled. I’d never seen him so...assertive. Then again, there’s a lot of shit I’ve never seen before I’ve seen today. I guess Mikey just wants to stick up for Gerard. Ah, brotherly love. I’m down with that. Ouch. This yelling’s giving me a headache. Then again, the last time I heard this much screaming was, what, our last concert with drunk Gerard?
“GUYS!” I yelled to get their attention. Silence. “What’s so bad about this? I mean, so we have to take care of a kid. So what? We can handle it. We’re from Jersey for Christ’s sake! We can handle pretty much anything!” Silence. Okay, maybe I should have kept my mouth shut. Here comes the screaming.
“Frank’s right,” Gerard said. Wait. I’m right? “We can totally do this. How hard could it be to raise a kid?”
“What about the tour?” Ray asked, still upset. Oh yeah. I kinda forgot. Oops.
“We only have night shows,” Gerard stated, “And the occasional afternoon show. But we could always get Ryan to someone to watch her, right?” Oh yeah. Ryan was our manager. Maybe I should go to the hospital to be treated for memory loss....Nah...
“Yeah I guess,” Ray replied, “I’m sorry guys. I guess I’m just overreacting or something. I mean, my brother left me his kid. That’s pretty huge.”
“It is huge,” Mikey said, trying to comfort Ray, “But well get through this.”
“Yeah!” I contributed, “We can do it!” Bob stared at me again. “Okay, dude, you need to stop that.”
“No.” Oh, this guy’s gonna get his ass whooped by the end of the week. I turned away from him to face the kid. I was always good with kids growing up, according to my mom and aunt when I watched my cousins. But hey, at some point in your life you realize that you’ve gotta listen to your parents. That usually occurs at twenty-five like me.
I got down to eye level with her. She had short, straight blonde hair (which she OBVIOUSLY didn’t get from her dad’s side of the family. I’ve seen Marc’s hair. Wow) and green eyes. “What’s your name?” I asked softly, adding a smile.
“A-Adele,” she replied. Aww. She’s kinda cute.
“Well, it’s nice to meet you Adele,” I said, “I’m Frankie. And that’s Gerard, Mikey, Bob, and your uncle Ray.” Uncle Ray. Sounds weird, like a kid tv show host or something.
“O-Okay,” she said softly. She then quickly looked at the ground embarrassed. None of my cousins were this cute this young. What the hell happened?
“How old are you Adele?” I asked, trying to get to know her. If she says anything above seven, I wanna know what makes her look so young.
“Five.”
“That’s cool,” I admitted. Five’s cool. That means school. That means afternoon concerts. Score!
“Um, Adele,” Gerard started from behind me, “Do you want to put your stuff away?” She nodded vigorously. She’s got Ray’s head banging skills, that’s for sure. “Come on. I’ll show you where you can put it.”
Gerard then gently took Adele by the hand and took her into the bunk area. I guess when you have younger siblings, you learn this kind of thing. Weird for me, since I’m an only child, but whatever!
“Hey Frank.” I turned. It was Ray. “Thanks.”
“Um, no problem.” I replied. He, Bob, and Mikey then walked away, leaving me to think.
Getting to know Adele was easy enough. She seems like a sweet kid. I don’t understand what Ray was talking about. I started walking to the bunk area. This is all too easy. I mean, how hard could it get? How hard could raising a kid be?