Rock and Roll Ruined My Life
Headaches, Tours, and Lots to Think About
Rock And Roll Ruined My Life- Chapter 28- Headaches, Tours, and Lots to Think About
I felt someone tapping me on the forehead.
“Stop,” I croaked. I heard giggles and knew it was Bandit.
“Auntie Julie! Up!” She really amazed me sometimes because one day she’ll speak in full sentences, and another day she’ll speak gibberish. Usually, she spoke gibberish.
“Wha’ happened?” I asked.
“Mommy need you!” she said.
“Okay,” I said sitting up. My head was throbbing. I remembered only Frank knew that I had a beer. I couldn’t complain. I’d just have a glass of orange juice and call it a day.
I walked into the kitchen and found Lindsey cooking like a mad woman.
“What’s going on?” I asked groggily.
“Oh thank God you woke up! Gerard decided out of the blue he wanted to have people over today who are going to be going on tour with us. So here’s what I need you to do. I need you to change, tidy up the living room, den, and foyer. Then Gerard wants you to invite over some of your friends and then I need you to pull out all of the instruments and clear up Gerard’s drawings from everywhere. Oh and I need someone to watch Bandit while I’m finishing up the rest of the house.”
“What time is it?” I asked rubbing my eyes.
“11:30.”
“Okay, I’ll be right down.” I said as I shuffled out of the kitchen.
I went upstairs to the bathroom, took a shower, used Proactive, put on a pair of old blue jeans and a t-shirt. No straightening my hair today, just a braid. As I tidied up my room I thought about Alex, Jack, and Tom. I equally liked them all but my chances of going out with Alex and Jack were like one million to zero. But Tom and I were still getting to know each other so who knows when he will ask me out. I shook my head clear of all of those thoughts and focused on my task of cleaning the house.
‘What did Lindsey say to clean? The living room and what else?’ I totally blanked out.
‘Maybe when I go downstairs I’ll remember.’
I jogged down the steps and began fixing the couches and cleaning off the coffee table of all of Gerard’s drawings and Bandit’s toys. I made a little pile of stuff to be taken upstairs and left it on the steps. Finally I remembered that I had to go into the den and pull out all of the instruments and make it look presentable.
I pushed all of the furniture back into place then pulled out the drum set first. Then after making sure [I was sure that it was set up the way Bob liked it, I pulled out the rest of the guys’ gear from the closets and made everything look nice and neat. I patted myself on the back and walked back into the kitchen, where Lindsey was still cooking.
“What else did you say needed to be cleaned? I took care of the living room and the den. I pulled out the instruments too.”
“The foyer. And honey, are you okay? You don’t look like your ‘renewed’ self.”
“I feel fine. I guess I’m just tired from yesterday,” I replied shrugging my shoulders.
“Okay. If you need to talk, I’m here,” she smiled.
“Thanks,” I replied walking out of the kitchen.
I laid out our nice rug that we use when we have a lot of guests during the winter. Then I took all of our shoes that were lying on the floor and put them on the bottom of the coat closet, which was literally packed with every sweater known to mankind. I took all of my sweaters out, then took Gerard’s, Lindsey’s, and Bandit’s sweaters out of the closet and walked upstairs, grabbing the little stack of drawings I made before.
Suddenly, it hit me. Famous bands were coming over to our house. I would be eating dinner with a bunch of famous bands that are about to go on tour.
“Oh my God!” I muttered to myself.
I distributed the sweaters to their owners’ rooms then went back downstairs to find Bandit, who, like the rest of the band, had disappeared.
“Bandit?” I called out. No response.
“Bandit?” I tried again, raising my voice. This time I heard little footsteps running toward me.
“Julie!” she smiled and hugged my legs. I picked her up and spun her around.
“Hey kiddo!” I smiled.
“House clean!” she exclaimed.
“Yeah the house is clean! We are gunna’ have a LOT of people coming over today!”
“Yay!” she clapped her hands.
“Let’s go draw!” I said running upstairs to the play room.
It was there that I remembered I was allowed to invite people over. I pulled up a blank text, wrote:
- You guys want to come over today?
And sent it to Kat, Tom, Billie, and Juliana. Almost immediately I got replies.
- Heyyyy! And yeah I want to come over! What time? – Kat
‘That’s a good question!’ I said to myself.
“I’ll be right back Bandit!” I said running downstairs to Lindsey.
“What time should my friends come over?” I asked.
“Ummm everyone’s coming over around five, so you can tell them 4:30.”
“Okay thanks!” I replied running back upstairs.
I had more messages.
- hey me and juliana are down with it! what time? - Billie
- hey and sure I’ll come over with billie and juliana – Tom
I pulled up another blank text:
- Come over at 4:30 please!! See you guys later!! – Juliet
Then I continued to color with Bandit until about two when she got bored and we heard a car pull into the driveway.
I scooped her up and walked her across the hall to my room and looked out the window. It was Gerard’s car and he had the boys with them. They were carrying beer, chips, and more food. I noticed someone had remembered to get a big bag of bugles and cheese doodles for me. I smiled and ran us downstairs.
“Hey guys!”
“Hey Jules!” Gerard said hugging me and Bandit before continuing on to the kitchen.
“Back to your normal self, I see,” smiled Mikey.
“Yeah. I figured why make myself something I’m not for people who didn’t even know I existed?” I replied.
“Good for you!” he said kicking off his sneakers before carrying the beer into the kitchen.
“Bandit! Jules! What’s up?” Frank yelled running in with the chips.
“Nothing we just finished drawing some pictures,” I smiled, “did you remember that I love cheese doodles?” I asked.
“Yup! But I would have gotten them anyways because who doesn’t love cheese doodles?!” He replied.
Bob walked in and stormed right past everyone into the kitchen.
“What’s up with him?” I asked.
“I don’t know, but he better not act like this when the rest of the guys come over,” Ray replied shutting the front door behind him.
I shifted Bandit to my other hip and picked up all of the boots and sneakers and put them in the closet.
“So what’s the name of this tour?” I asked as I walked into the kitchen.
“Musical Revenge Tour. They basically wanted different bands from different genres to come together and perform,” Ray said taking out groceries from bags and placing them in their proper place in the kitchen.
“That’s cool!” I exclaimed.
“Which is exactly why we agreed to do it,” Gerard said trying to pack three jars of salsa into the pantry.
I nodded and left the kitchen, everyone seemed really busy and I felt like I was being a nuisance.
I went back upstairs to my room and continued cleaning, letting Bandit walk around as she pleased. Believe it or not I had never had company over. There were a LOT of things I’d never done before that a lot of people would be surprised at, considering what I’ve been through…
I glanced at the clock; it was 3:17. I sighed and went over to my window to let in a breeze. I figured airing out the room would make everything more fresh. It was a little chilly, but Bandit and I could handle it.
I began hanging up all of my sweaters when all of a sudden a gust of wind came in and knocked all of the loose papers off my dresser. I sighed and began to pick all of them up. Bandit attempted to pick up some papers too but only ended up wrinkling them.
“It’s okay Bandit, I got it,” I laughed.
“ ‘Kay!” she smiled leaving the papers on the floor.
*
It was 4:25 when the doorbell rang. I ran downstairs to answer it, bringing Bandit as I went. I set her down in the foyer.
“Go run to daddy!” I told her pointing to the living room. Off she wobbled.
I looked out the peep hole in the door and pulled it open.
“Kat! You’re here!” I smiled.
“Hells yeah!” She exclaimed pulling me into a hug.
“Come inside it’s freezing out!” I said stepping aside to let her kick off her boots.
“Your house is beautiful!” Kat smiled as she took off her jacket.
“Ha ha thanks! I’ll take your coat,” I said stepping forward and hanging it up in the closet.
“Well let me give you a tour since you’re the first one here,” I said leading her to the left, away from the living room.
“This is the den, where we keep all of the instruments,” I said continuing into the kitchen, which smelled incredibly good.
“This is the kitchen-”
“Ah!” Kat exclaimed. Lindsey, Ray, and Bob were all cooking. I felt my face flush. I wasn’t used to introducing my famous family or having people react to my famous family.
“This is Lindsey Way, Ray Toro, and Bob Bryar.” They all smiled and waved at us.
“It is such an honor to meet you guys!” Kat smiled.
“As it is for us to meet you! Who is this?” Lindsey asked pulling Kat into a hug.
“This is Kat. She’s one of the first people to be my friend out here,” I smiled.
“Awesome!” Ray said pulling her into a hug. Kat came up to his stomach. I began to laugh but stopped when I realized Bob still had to say hello. I waited with baited breath for his response.
“What’s up?” He said offering a small smile and a side hug. I sighed in relief and pulled on her arm.
“ ‘Cmon I want to show you the living room!”
She followed somewhat speechlessly. We walked into the doorway and she stopped short. Mikey, Frank, Gerard, and Bandit were in clear sight.
“You okay?” I asked.
“Yeah,” she nodded. I stepped forward.
“Alrighty… Guys this is Kat! She’s one of my friends from school,” I smiled.
They all stood up and walked over to us.
“Hey! How ya’ doin’?” Frank asked giving her a hug. They were the same height.
“Hi,” Mikey smiled giving her a hug as well. He towered over her.
“Thanks for coming over!” Gerard said pulling her into another hug. I had a feeling tonight would be a night filled with a lot of hugs.
“No thank you guys!” Kat said still sounding surprised.
I felt a tug on my jeans and saw Bandit standing there. I picked her up.
“Kat this is Bandit, she’s Gerard and Lindsey’s daughter!”
“Oh my God she’s adorable!” Kat squealed as she waved hello.
“Hi!” Bandit said before tucking her face away into my shoulder.
“She’s a little shy at first,” I said passing her over to Mikey.
“Aww that’s okay!”
“Let me show you my room!” I said pulling Kat back toward the foyer.
“This is my haven!” I said opening my door and throwing myself on my bed.
“Ha ha this place is awesome!” Kat said sitting down on the chair next to my desk.
“Thanks!”
“Dude they are so awesome!” Kat exclaimed pointing toward the stairs.
“Thanks,” I said sitting up straight.
“Its so weird to see them up close like that though!”
“I know my cousin said the same thing…” I said trailing off to memories before the accident. Noticing my hesitance to talk about the past, Kat changed the subject.
“So I see you’re in a more comfy look today.”
“Yeah I got tired with keeping up that polished act. I figured I should just stay the way I was. Does it look bad?”
“No! I mean it’s a little strange seeing you all dressed down but other than that it’s no big deal. You look like you!” She smiled.
“Thanks. You always look nice too!” I replied.
“Ah it’s nothing!” Kat replied waving her hand.
The doorbell rang and we both ran downstairs. I looked through the peep hole and smiled.
“Hey Billie! Juliana! Tom!” I said giving them each a hug as they walked in.
“Hey Jules!” They all replied in unison.
“Let me take your coats,” I said.
They all handed me their coats and after I hung them up, re-introduced everyone then went back upstairs to my room. I had to grab a few beanie bag chairs from the play room to fit everyone.
We continued to talk for another half hour when the doorbell rang.
“Could you get that Jules?” I heard someone call downstairs. I sighed in annoyance.
“I’ll be right back guys!” I said as I excused myself from the room. I ran downstairs and threw the door open in haste.
Oh how I wish I had looked through the peep hole before I did….
I felt someone tapping me on the forehead.
“Stop,” I croaked. I heard giggles and knew it was Bandit.
“Auntie Julie! Up!” She really amazed me sometimes because one day she’ll speak in full sentences, and another day she’ll speak gibberish. Usually, she spoke gibberish.
“Wha’ happened?” I asked.
“Mommy need you!” she said.
“Okay,” I said sitting up. My head was throbbing. I remembered only Frank knew that I had a beer. I couldn’t complain. I’d just have a glass of orange juice and call it a day.
I walked into the kitchen and found Lindsey cooking like a mad woman.
“What’s going on?” I asked groggily.
“Oh thank God you woke up! Gerard decided out of the blue he wanted to have people over today who are going to be going on tour with us. So here’s what I need you to do. I need you to change, tidy up the living room, den, and foyer. Then Gerard wants you to invite over some of your friends and then I need you to pull out all of the instruments and clear up Gerard’s drawings from everywhere. Oh and I need someone to watch Bandit while I’m finishing up the rest of the house.”
“What time is it?” I asked rubbing my eyes.
“11:30.”
“Okay, I’ll be right down.” I said as I shuffled out of the kitchen.
I went upstairs to the bathroom, took a shower, used Proactive, put on a pair of old blue jeans and a t-shirt. No straightening my hair today, just a braid. As I tidied up my room I thought about Alex, Jack, and Tom. I equally liked them all but my chances of going out with Alex and Jack were like one million to zero. But Tom and I were still getting to know each other so who knows when he will ask me out. I shook my head clear of all of those thoughts and focused on my task of cleaning the house.
‘What did Lindsey say to clean? The living room and what else?’ I totally blanked out.
‘Maybe when I go downstairs I’ll remember.’
I jogged down the steps and began fixing the couches and cleaning off the coffee table of all of Gerard’s drawings and Bandit’s toys. I made a little pile of stuff to be taken upstairs and left it on the steps. Finally I remembered that I had to go into the den and pull out all of the instruments and make it look presentable.
I pushed all of the furniture back into place then pulled out the drum set first. Then after making sure [I was sure that it was set up the way Bob liked it, I pulled out the rest of the guys’ gear from the closets and made everything look nice and neat. I patted myself on the back and walked back into the kitchen, where Lindsey was still cooking.
“What else did you say needed to be cleaned? I took care of the living room and the den. I pulled out the instruments too.”
“The foyer. And honey, are you okay? You don’t look like your ‘renewed’ self.”
“I feel fine. I guess I’m just tired from yesterday,” I replied shrugging my shoulders.
“Okay. If you need to talk, I’m here,” she smiled.
“Thanks,” I replied walking out of the kitchen.
I laid out our nice rug that we use when we have a lot of guests during the winter. Then I took all of our shoes that were lying on the floor and put them on the bottom of the coat closet, which was literally packed with every sweater known to mankind. I took all of my sweaters out, then took Gerard’s, Lindsey’s, and Bandit’s sweaters out of the closet and walked upstairs, grabbing the little stack of drawings I made before.
Suddenly, it hit me. Famous bands were coming over to our house. I would be eating dinner with a bunch of famous bands that are about to go on tour.
“Oh my God!” I muttered to myself.
I distributed the sweaters to their owners’ rooms then went back downstairs to find Bandit, who, like the rest of the band, had disappeared.
“Bandit?” I called out. No response.
“Bandit?” I tried again, raising my voice. This time I heard little footsteps running toward me.
“Julie!” she smiled and hugged my legs. I picked her up and spun her around.
“Hey kiddo!” I smiled.
“House clean!” she exclaimed.
“Yeah the house is clean! We are gunna’ have a LOT of people coming over today!”
“Yay!” she clapped her hands.
“Let’s go draw!” I said running upstairs to the play room.
It was there that I remembered I was allowed to invite people over. I pulled up a blank text, wrote:
- You guys want to come over today?
And sent it to Kat, Tom, Billie, and Juliana. Almost immediately I got replies.
- Heyyyy! And yeah I want to come over! What time? – Kat
‘That’s a good question!’ I said to myself.
“I’ll be right back Bandit!” I said running downstairs to Lindsey.
“What time should my friends come over?” I asked.
“Ummm everyone’s coming over around five, so you can tell them 4:30.”
“Okay thanks!” I replied running back upstairs.
I had more messages.
- hey me and juliana are down with it! what time? - Billie
- hey and sure I’ll come over with billie and juliana – Tom
I pulled up another blank text:
- Come over at 4:30 please!! See you guys later!! – Juliet
Then I continued to color with Bandit until about two when she got bored and we heard a car pull into the driveway.
I scooped her up and walked her across the hall to my room and looked out the window. It was Gerard’s car and he had the boys with them. They were carrying beer, chips, and more food. I noticed someone had remembered to get a big bag of bugles and cheese doodles for me. I smiled and ran us downstairs.
“Hey guys!”
“Hey Jules!” Gerard said hugging me and Bandit before continuing on to the kitchen.
“Back to your normal self, I see,” smiled Mikey.
“Yeah. I figured why make myself something I’m not for people who didn’t even know I existed?” I replied.
“Good for you!” he said kicking off his sneakers before carrying the beer into the kitchen.
“Bandit! Jules! What’s up?” Frank yelled running in with the chips.
“Nothing we just finished drawing some pictures,” I smiled, “did you remember that I love cheese doodles?” I asked.
“Yup! But I would have gotten them anyways because who doesn’t love cheese doodles?!” He replied.
Bob walked in and stormed right past everyone into the kitchen.
“What’s up with him?” I asked.
“I don’t know, but he better not act like this when the rest of the guys come over,” Ray replied shutting the front door behind him.
I shifted Bandit to my other hip and picked up all of the boots and sneakers and put them in the closet.
“So what’s the name of this tour?” I asked as I walked into the kitchen.
“Musical Revenge Tour. They basically wanted different bands from different genres to come together and perform,” Ray said taking out groceries from bags and placing them in their proper place in the kitchen.
“That’s cool!” I exclaimed.
“Which is exactly why we agreed to do it,” Gerard said trying to pack three jars of salsa into the pantry.
I nodded and left the kitchen, everyone seemed really busy and I felt like I was being a nuisance.
I went back upstairs to my room and continued cleaning, letting Bandit walk around as she pleased. Believe it or not I had never had company over. There were a LOT of things I’d never done before that a lot of people would be surprised at, considering what I’ve been through…
I glanced at the clock; it was 3:17. I sighed and went over to my window to let in a breeze. I figured airing out the room would make everything more fresh. It was a little chilly, but Bandit and I could handle it.
I began hanging up all of my sweaters when all of a sudden a gust of wind came in and knocked all of the loose papers off my dresser. I sighed and began to pick all of them up. Bandit attempted to pick up some papers too but only ended up wrinkling them.
“It’s okay Bandit, I got it,” I laughed.
“ ‘Kay!” she smiled leaving the papers on the floor.
*
It was 4:25 when the doorbell rang. I ran downstairs to answer it, bringing Bandit as I went. I set her down in the foyer.
“Go run to daddy!” I told her pointing to the living room. Off she wobbled.
I looked out the peep hole in the door and pulled it open.
“Kat! You’re here!” I smiled.
“Hells yeah!” She exclaimed pulling me into a hug.
“Come inside it’s freezing out!” I said stepping aside to let her kick off her boots.
“Your house is beautiful!” Kat smiled as she took off her jacket.
“Ha ha thanks! I’ll take your coat,” I said stepping forward and hanging it up in the closet.
“Well let me give you a tour since you’re the first one here,” I said leading her to the left, away from the living room.
“This is the den, where we keep all of the instruments,” I said continuing into the kitchen, which smelled incredibly good.
“This is the kitchen-”
“Ah!” Kat exclaimed. Lindsey, Ray, and Bob were all cooking. I felt my face flush. I wasn’t used to introducing my famous family or having people react to my famous family.
“This is Lindsey Way, Ray Toro, and Bob Bryar.” They all smiled and waved at us.
“It is such an honor to meet you guys!” Kat smiled.
“As it is for us to meet you! Who is this?” Lindsey asked pulling Kat into a hug.
“This is Kat. She’s one of the first people to be my friend out here,” I smiled.
“Awesome!” Ray said pulling her into a hug. Kat came up to his stomach. I began to laugh but stopped when I realized Bob still had to say hello. I waited with baited breath for his response.
“What’s up?” He said offering a small smile and a side hug. I sighed in relief and pulled on her arm.
“ ‘Cmon I want to show you the living room!”
She followed somewhat speechlessly. We walked into the doorway and she stopped short. Mikey, Frank, Gerard, and Bandit were in clear sight.
“You okay?” I asked.
“Yeah,” she nodded. I stepped forward.
“Alrighty… Guys this is Kat! She’s one of my friends from school,” I smiled.
They all stood up and walked over to us.
“Hey! How ya’ doin’?” Frank asked giving her a hug. They were the same height.
“Hi,” Mikey smiled giving her a hug as well. He towered over her.
“Thanks for coming over!” Gerard said pulling her into another hug. I had a feeling tonight would be a night filled with a lot of hugs.
“No thank you guys!” Kat said still sounding surprised.
I felt a tug on my jeans and saw Bandit standing there. I picked her up.
“Kat this is Bandit, she’s Gerard and Lindsey’s daughter!”
“Oh my God she’s adorable!” Kat squealed as she waved hello.
“Hi!” Bandit said before tucking her face away into my shoulder.
“She’s a little shy at first,” I said passing her over to Mikey.
“Aww that’s okay!”
“Let me show you my room!” I said pulling Kat back toward the foyer.
“This is my haven!” I said opening my door and throwing myself on my bed.
“Ha ha this place is awesome!” Kat said sitting down on the chair next to my desk.
“Thanks!”
“Dude they are so awesome!” Kat exclaimed pointing toward the stairs.
“Thanks,” I said sitting up straight.
“Its so weird to see them up close like that though!”
“I know my cousin said the same thing…” I said trailing off to memories before the accident. Noticing my hesitance to talk about the past, Kat changed the subject.
“So I see you’re in a more comfy look today.”
“Yeah I got tired with keeping up that polished act. I figured I should just stay the way I was. Does it look bad?”
“No! I mean it’s a little strange seeing you all dressed down but other than that it’s no big deal. You look like you!” She smiled.
“Thanks. You always look nice too!” I replied.
“Ah it’s nothing!” Kat replied waving her hand.
The doorbell rang and we both ran downstairs. I looked through the peep hole and smiled.
“Hey Billie! Juliana! Tom!” I said giving them each a hug as they walked in.
“Hey Jules!” They all replied in unison.
“Let me take your coats,” I said.
They all handed me their coats and after I hung them up, re-introduced everyone then went back upstairs to my room. I had to grab a few beanie bag chairs from the play room to fit everyone.
We continued to talk for another half hour when the doorbell rang.
“Could you get that Jules?” I heard someone call downstairs. I sighed in annoyance.
“I’ll be right back guys!” I said as I excused myself from the room. I ran downstairs and threw the door open in haste.
Oh how I wish I had looked through the peep hole before I did….
.
2/7/15