His Little Drummer Girl

The next day I'd been invited to a girl from my new school's house. Her name was Maria. Quite a sweet name but she wasn't a sweet girl at all. She was a troublemaker at school but had latched onto me for some reason and to me she was always nice. I'm sure it had something to do with me knowing Green Day but I didn't care. I didn't have many friends in California so she would have to do for now.

Her parents were out for the day and we hung out in her bedroom. Actually she made me laugh and I forgot all the troubles at home and I could forget about losing Samuel for a while.

"Ever smoked?" she said to me.

"Of course" I lied.

"Well I've got a massive stash of smokes in here" she said opening some little box full of cigarettes. "Want one?" she said handing me the box. She took one for herself and lit it. It stank.

I can't believe I took one. What was I doing? I hated smoking and all that went with it.

"Let's go over to the shop and buy some sweets. Fat Larry behind the counter is so pathetic. If you sneak in and someone keeps him busy you can pick up loads of stuff and sneak out without him knowing. Ever stolen?" Maria said.

"Er once" I lied. Why was I lying again?

Come on lets go and see what we can get from Fat Larry. I followed her off to the shop and there was this fat guy behind the counter. He was red faced and sweating and looked like he could hardly move.

"Right I'll keep Fat Larry talking and you see what you can pick up" and with that she left me right there in the shop. Shit. What shall I do? I didn't want to take anything really but knew I had to if I wanted at least one friend. I looked about and saw some chocolate. It was quite a small bar, so I just took it. My heart was pounding but no one saw and I shoved it under my T Shirt. That's not enough I then thought. I then spied a familiar sight on the shelf. It was a bottle of Vodka. That will impress her I thought and may be she won't ask me again. I took the Vodka, shoved it under my t-shirt and left the shop.

Maria was impressed. She immediately took me over to her friends in the park to show them what I'd done. They're a bunch of losers was my first thought when I saw them. One boy in particular, whose name was Brad reminded me of Josh Street. He was good looking but also knew it. I tried not to look at him. She passed the Vodka around and everyone took swigs and then it was my turn. Did I take the Vodka like everyone else or did I say no thanks and turn and go back home to Billie Joes. What was at Billie Joes? He was happy with Adi. Fuck it, I'm taking it and I took a huge swig and then another.

Later back at Maria's house I felt light-headed but didn't care. I told her how I felt about Billie Joe, how I thought he was hot and that I really fancied him. She agreed with me that Billie Joe was hot and was there any chance that she could get to meet him?

"I'm not sure," I said. I felt quite drunk now and couldn't remember what I'd been saying to Maria

"What's his house like"? she asked.

"Its awesome. Look I have their key. I can come and go as I please." I said getting the key out of my pocket, eager to impress.

"Cool" said Maria.

After listening to loads of Green Day stuff on her CD player I suddenly felt so tired I knew I'd better get back to Billie Joes. Adrienne would be cooking the dinner soon. I said goodbye to Maria and walked the short walk home.

When I got to the front door I couldn't find the key so I knocked at the door.

"Hey sweetie" said Adi answering the door.

I'm not your sweetie.

"Not got your key?" she asked.

"No I can't find it. Sorry"

"That's not a problem, we'll get another one for you" and she headed off to the kitchen to finish the dinner all smiley faced as usual.
.
I felt a little sick what with the drinking and smoking but at least Adi didn't notice. I ate a bit of the meal she cooked, and then went off to bed early falling asleep listening to 'Boulevard of Broken Dreams.'

The next morning before I was due to go I found Adi in the kitchen with a letter in her hand she looked upset.

"What's the matter?" I said to Adi

"This was put through the door this morning" Adi replied. "It's a nasty letter"

"Let me see" I said

"OK then. But it's not nice at all"

The letter read

Dear Adrienne Armstrong

This letter is to inform you that your husband Billie Joe has been having an affair after he met someone in England when they were touring. He is serious about this girl and he is thinking about leaving you for her. Its time you knew about him. He always has lots of women while on tour.

Anon.

"Oh" I said, quite shocked "that's not nice"

"No" she said. "I've had my doubts about Billie Joe on and off for years and now this" she said starting to cry.

I didn't know what to do. I didn't want to hug her but then Billie Joe came into the room. She showed him the letter and they started arguing. Good.

Later on I went round to Maria's again. This time she got out joints. I couldn't believe it. Brad was there too and they started making them up. I wasn't sure what to do. I wasn't really tempted and then I thought fuck it. Mum used to do joints with Green Day all those years ago. I wanted to find out what it was like too. I took a long drag and well, nothing. Then I took a few more and the room started to spin. Everyone was laughing and joking and I felt relaxed and happy. Green Day were playing 'Give me Novocaine' on the CD player and everything felt good with the world.

When I got home though I suddenly felt very down. Adrienne and Billie said I was real late and they were getting worried about me. Billie Joe looked a little annoyed at me but then they started arguing again. They soon forgot me so I just went up to the room and shut the door. Joey and Jakob came in and they said that they their parents had been arguing on and off all day and could they come and sit with me. They said I smelt funny, all smoky. I didn't care. Brad had invited us all to his tomorrow for a party. I couldn't wait. It was getting boring being around here.

The next day...
Everyone was out and I thought I'd take a slow walk to the shops. Fat Larry was at the counter and I felt a little guilty. This time I didn't steal anything but bought some chocolate and a milkshake. I paid him fair and square at the counter and felt better about it.

When I got back I noticed Adi's car was back on the drive. She came running over when she saw me. "Oh Franky. Someone's been in our house, everything has been turned upside down, the drawers have been rifled through but I don't know if anything is missing yet. Nearly all our pictures have been smashed." She was sobbing and I felt a bit sorry for her.

The house was trashed. Such a shame, what a lovely house, how could anyone do this. It was awful. There was broken glass everywhere and all the drawers had been turned out.

The police were called but they said that as there were no signs of forced entry they could do nothing about it. The only thing missing was a silver locket that Adi treasured. She wore it nearly all the time and it had a picture of her and Billie on one side when they first met and on the other side a picture of her two kids. It was a gift from Billie.

It took ages to tidy up but we got there in the end. There was loads of broken glass everywhere. Everyone was shocked and tired and quiet so we all went off to bed early. Billie Joe was so pissed off. Someone had invaded his privacy.

The next day there was another letter. This time it read:

Dear Adrienne

See bitch. You haven't learnt have you? Your husband doesn't love you so why don't you just get out and let someone else have a turn. I've got a nice picture of you in a locket with Billie and your kids. If you don't leave him soon the kids will get it.

Anon.

I felt sick. This was awful. I even felt sorry for Adrienne she didn't deserve this really, who could be doing this stuff...