Rock and Roll Ruined My Life
The Band Meet’s the Fam
Rock And Roll Ruined My Life- Chapter 11- The Band Meet’s the Fam.
First, my aunt and uncle walked in followed by Danielle, Melissa, Samantha, and Victoria. It was the same reaction from each of them: wide eyes, with a had over their mouths, then a deep breath.
“Juliet?” Danielle ventured. I just stared at the tray of food in front of me. Never eating, never raising my eyes.
“Julie?” she tried again. I still didn’t look up.
“Jules, answer me!” she pleaded. I heard her voice break as she began to cry. From my peripheral vision I saw the lady in the corner get up and cross over to Danielle and put a hand on her shoulder. I looked up a bit to see Danielle’s eyes widen when she looked at the lady’s face, and then she buried her face in the lady’s shoulder and continued crying.
“And who are you?” my aunt said in the most slightly offensive way possible. The lady stepped back from Danielle and said,
“I’m Lindsey Way. Who are you?” she replied very politely not letting my aunt’s rudeness get in the way of HER manners. Lindsey looked down and smiled at Victoria and Samantha. Now I raised my eyes up to watch how things would go down. I knew I had seen the lady before somewhere. I had seen pictures of her and Gerard online. She was Gerard’s wife. I immediately wished I had been more friendly with her.
“I’m Juliet’s aunt and these four lovely girls’ mother,” she flashed Lindsey one of her rude fake smiles and put a hand on Danielle’s shoulder pulling her away from Lindsey’s reach. Not only did she do that, but she preceded to pull her children to the other side of the room one by one glaring at anyone who dared to question her behavior.
“Well, I’m happy someone other than Sarah, Tara, and Tim came to check up on her,” Lindsey said smiling at the girls again. When I felt all of their eyes on me I lowered mine back down to my tray. The hospital food was really gross and I couldn’t bring myself to eat it. I kept all of these thoughts to myself though. I made up my mind. I wasn’t going to make anyone else feel bad by loading all of my sadness on them.
Suddenly, I heard a familiar voice in the hallway. It sounded just like Gerard’s. ‘Oh. God.’ was my only thought. No one in my family knew about me knowing the guys except for Danielle and Melissa.
‘Please, dear Jesus don’t make them come in here! I’m going to get in so much trouble.’
As soon as Gerard stepped through the doorway Danielle ran over to hug him and proceeded to hug the rest of the guys. Melissa waved and did the same. My aunt and uncle stood with the same dumbfounded look on their faces.
“Fantastic. Just what we need; more of Juliet’s stupid friends,” I heard my aunt mutter rather loudly. Everyone stopped and turned to stare at her. I looked up from my tray disbelievingly.
“Mom! What the hell is wrong with you?” Danielle retorted.
“You don’t even know these people,” she gestured to Lindsey and the guys who were all standing on one side of the room, “and you and Melissa go around hugging them like you’ve known them your entire lives! They are nothing but worthless rock-loving idiots who got an influence over your ‘lovely’ little cousin.”
“Lady, that was totally uncalled for,” Frank said stepping forward. Compared to my aunt he looked like a midget. A midget ready to kick my aunt's ass.
I sensed a fight was going to break out soon. ‘What should I do?’ I sat in thought for a few minutes. Then I had an idea. I took a pea off my plate and put it in my mouth. I hesitated. ‘What if something really happens to me?’ I thought. ‘You’re in a freaking hospital,’ another voice inside my head answered. I exhaled one last time before inhaling quickly. Just as I planned the pea went down the wrong ‘pipe’. I began to cough and sputter.
“Jules!” Mikey, Gerard, Ray, Frank, Bob, Melissa, and Danielle said in unison.
“Lindsey, get the nurse,” Gerard told her. She nodded and quickly left. She came back ten seconds later with a nurse who had a small cup of water in one hand and a napkin in the other. The lady clapped my back twice and handed me the napkin. As if on cue, I spit out the pea.
“That’s disgusting,” I muttered. The lady smiled and handed me the cup of water. I took a sip. “No more peas for you!” she said taking my tray. I nodded in agreement hoping she understood my silent thank you. She smiled one more time and left the room.
“Julie, are you ok?” Victoria asked me in a timid voice. Everyone waited for my response. I didn’t say anything. I just looked down at my hands.
“Well girls, I think that’s our cue to leave. Feel better Juliet. We’ll come see you... soon,” Aunt Mary began to gather the girls into her arms, herding them out of the room. Before she had a chance to say a word, Uncle Joe came over to me and gave me a hug and a kiss on my bruised cheek.
“Feel better kiddo.” I heard the sadness in his voice. My dad was probably closest to him out of all of my aunts and uncles. I looked up at him and returned the hug. Before he left the room, I saw him grab a tissue off of a little table by the wall. I felt worse than ever. I stared at the doorway for a long time.
“Juliet?” I heard a soft voice say. I turned my head slowly to see Gerard with his hand around Lindsey’s shoulder. I waited for him to continue.
“I don’t know if you knew this, but this is Lindsey. She- she’s my wife.” Why he seemed embarrassed I had no idea, but I guess I would be embarrassed too if I had to introduce my boyfriend to them. ‘I haven’t seen Timmy in forever,’ I tried to imagine his face in my brain but I couldn’t.
“Jules,” Gerard said snapping me back to reality, “If you ever need anything you can always go to her ok?”
“Or you can tell one of us too if you wanted,” Mikey mumbled. The other guys nodded in agreement. It was silent for a few minutes. I hate awkward silences.
“Jules, I know you probably don’t want to talk or anything but… Your parent’s… They are going to be buried pretty soon and- Oh! Please don’t cry, Jules I didn’t want to make you upset.” I felt my eyes well up and everything became blurry.
“Good job, Gerard. Great way to FUCK things UP!” Frank said throwing his hands up in the air in exasperation.
“Oh, stop it! Fighting is only making things worse!” Lindsey said stepping forward and putting an arm around my shoulder.
“We know this is hard for you, but I think you should come and say your final good byes,” she said softly. I took a deep breath. ‘Am I ready for this?’ I asked myself.
“We’re all gunna’ be there with you.”
‘Who arranged and paid for the wake and burial?’ I thought to myself. ‘No one but my parents had access to their bank accounts except for them-’
“We took care of everything,” Gerard said as if reading my mind. I looked up at him in disbelief. ‘Funerals are so expensive! They shouldn’t have done that. How can I ever thank them again?’ I thought to myself.
“No one else in your family with money was willing to pay for everything, so we just told everyone that we would handle it,” he explained. A sob escaped my lips. ‘No one else cared? Nobody even offered?’ Ray crossed the room to get the tissues.
“Here you go,” he said holding out the box. I took one and blew my nose with it. Mikey picked up the trashcan behind Frank and held it up for me. ‘These guys are really just too nice. I feel awful for making them do all of these things for me.’ I felt the tears coming to an end. I yawned.
“Get some sleep,” Mikey said. I laid down on my pillow but didn’t close my eyes.
“Don’t worry, we’ll all be right here in the morning,” Lindsey said taking her usual seat in the corner. Feeling assured, I closed my eyes and drifted asleep trying to prepare myself for what was yet to come.
First, my aunt and uncle walked in followed by Danielle, Melissa, Samantha, and Victoria. It was the same reaction from each of them: wide eyes, with a had over their mouths, then a deep breath.
“Juliet?” Danielle ventured. I just stared at the tray of food in front of me. Never eating, never raising my eyes.
“Julie?” she tried again. I still didn’t look up.
“Jules, answer me!” she pleaded. I heard her voice break as she began to cry. From my peripheral vision I saw the lady in the corner get up and cross over to Danielle and put a hand on her shoulder. I looked up a bit to see Danielle’s eyes widen when she looked at the lady’s face, and then she buried her face in the lady’s shoulder and continued crying.
“And who are you?” my aunt said in the most slightly offensive way possible. The lady stepped back from Danielle and said,
“I’m Lindsey Way. Who are you?” she replied very politely not letting my aunt’s rudeness get in the way of HER manners. Lindsey looked down and smiled at Victoria and Samantha. Now I raised my eyes up to watch how things would go down. I knew I had seen the lady before somewhere. I had seen pictures of her and Gerard online. She was Gerard’s wife. I immediately wished I had been more friendly with her.
“I’m Juliet’s aunt and these four lovely girls’ mother,” she flashed Lindsey one of her rude fake smiles and put a hand on Danielle’s shoulder pulling her away from Lindsey’s reach. Not only did she do that, but she preceded to pull her children to the other side of the room one by one glaring at anyone who dared to question her behavior.
“Well, I’m happy someone other than Sarah, Tara, and Tim came to check up on her,” Lindsey said smiling at the girls again. When I felt all of their eyes on me I lowered mine back down to my tray. The hospital food was really gross and I couldn’t bring myself to eat it. I kept all of these thoughts to myself though. I made up my mind. I wasn’t going to make anyone else feel bad by loading all of my sadness on them.
Suddenly, I heard a familiar voice in the hallway. It sounded just like Gerard’s. ‘Oh. God.’ was my only thought. No one in my family knew about me knowing the guys except for Danielle and Melissa.
‘Please, dear Jesus don’t make them come in here! I’m going to get in so much trouble.’
As soon as Gerard stepped through the doorway Danielle ran over to hug him and proceeded to hug the rest of the guys. Melissa waved and did the same. My aunt and uncle stood with the same dumbfounded look on their faces.
“Fantastic. Just what we need; more of Juliet’s stupid friends,” I heard my aunt mutter rather loudly. Everyone stopped and turned to stare at her. I looked up from my tray disbelievingly.
“Mom! What the hell is wrong with you?” Danielle retorted.
“You don’t even know these people,” she gestured to Lindsey and the guys who were all standing on one side of the room, “and you and Melissa go around hugging them like you’ve known them your entire lives! They are nothing but worthless rock-loving idiots who got an influence over your ‘lovely’ little cousin.”
“Lady, that was totally uncalled for,” Frank said stepping forward. Compared to my aunt he looked like a midget. A midget ready to kick my aunt's ass.
I sensed a fight was going to break out soon. ‘What should I do?’ I sat in thought for a few minutes. Then I had an idea. I took a pea off my plate and put it in my mouth. I hesitated. ‘What if something really happens to me?’ I thought. ‘You’re in a freaking hospital,’ another voice inside my head answered. I exhaled one last time before inhaling quickly. Just as I planned the pea went down the wrong ‘pipe’. I began to cough and sputter.
“Jules!” Mikey, Gerard, Ray, Frank, Bob, Melissa, and Danielle said in unison.
“Lindsey, get the nurse,” Gerard told her. She nodded and quickly left. She came back ten seconds later with a nurse who had a small cup of water in one hand and a napkin in the other. The lady clapped my back twice and handed me the napkin. As if on cue, I spit out the pea.
“That’s disgusting,” I muttered. The lady smiled and handed me the cup of water. I took a sip. “No more peas for you!” she said taking my tray. I nodded in agreement hoping she understood my silent thank you. She smiled one more time and left the room.
“Julie, are you ok?” Victoria asked me in a timid voice. Everyone waited for my response. I didn’t say anything. I just looked down at my hands.
“Well girls, I think that’s our cue to leave. Feel better Juliet. We’ll come see you... soon,” Aunt Mary began to gather the girls into her arms, herding them out of the room. Before she had a chance to say a word, Uncle Joe came over to me and gave me a hug and a kiss on my bruised cheek.
“Feel better kiddo.” I heard the sadness in his voice. My dad was probably closest to him out of all of my aunts and uncles. I looked up at him and returned the hug. Before he left the room, I saw him grab a tissue off of a little table by the wall. I felt worse than ever. I stared at the doorway for a long time.
“Juliet?” I heard a soft voice say. I turned my head slowly to see Gerard with his hand around Lindsey’s shoulder. I waited for him to continue.
“I don’t know if you knew this, but this is Lindsey. She- she’s my wife.” Why he seemed embarrassed I had no idea, but I guess I would be embarrassed too if I had to introduce my boyfriend to them. ‘I haven’t seen Timmy in forever,’ I tried to imagine his face in my brain but I couldn’t.
“Jules,” Gerard said snapping me back to reality, “If you ever need anything you can always go to her ok?”
“Or you can tell one of us too if you wanted,” Mikey mumbled. The other guys nodded in agreement. It was silent for a few minutes. I hate awkward silences.
“Jules, I know you probably don’t want to talk or anything but… Your parent’s… They are going to be buried pretty soon and- Oh! Please don’t cry, Jules I didn’t want to make you upset.” I felt my eyes well up and everything became blurry.
“Good job, Gerard. Great way to FUCK things UP!” Frank said throwing his hands up in the air in exasperation.
“Oh, stop it! Fighting is only making things worse!” Lindsey said stepping forward and putting an arm around my shoulder.
“We know this is hard for you, but I think you should come and say your final good byes,” she said softly. I took a deep breath. ‘Am I ready for this?’ I asked myself.
“We’re all gunna’ be there with you.”
‘Who arranged and paid for the wake and burial?’ I thought to myself. ‘No one but my parents had access to their bank accounts except for them-’
“We took care of everything,” Gerard said as if reading my mind. I looked up at him in disbelief. ‘Funerals are so expensive! They shouldn’t have done that. How can I ever thank them again?’ I thought to myself.
“No one else in your family with money was willing to pay for everything, so we just told everyone that we would handle it,” he explained. A sob escaped my lips. ‘No one else cared? Nobody even offered?’ Ray crossed the room to get the tissues.
“Here you go,” he said holding out the box. I took one and blew my nose with it. Mikey picked up the trashcan behind Frank and held it up for me. ‘These guys are really just too nice. I feel awful for making them do all of these things for me.’ I felt the tears coming to an end. I yawned.
“Get some sleep,” Mikey said. I laid down on my pillow but didn’t close my eyes.
“Don’t worry, we’ll all be right here in the morning,” Lindsey said taking her usual seat in the corner. Feeling assured, I closed my eyes and drifted asleep trying to prepare myself for what was yet to come.
.
2/7/15