Tales of the My chemical Children

Groaning, I opened my bleary eyes, glancing around my room. I sighed, known that school was on today. I looked up to my, chalky white, roof. I hated Mondays. The only good thing was that my dad should be home tonight.
“Chemical,” I called, whistling and scratching my bed.
A black cat, with a white tail, white patches all over its face, and a green and blue eye, jumped gracefully, on to my bed.
“Hey Chemical,” I whispered, scratching the cat’s ears.
He purred in satisfaction, curling up at my side. I sat there for about 10 minutes, gazing around my room, and thinking. My room was covered in posters, mainly my dad’s old Green Day ones, and Electric Century, along with some Frnkiero andthe Celebration, Fall out Boy, and Panic at the Disco. I like to collect posters of the bands my “family” are in. I found a My Chemical Romance one awhile back, in my dad’s art studio, but was told to take it down before my dad saw. I faintly remember the band, but don’t remember why. The poster I found, just had the lyric, “I’m not afraid to keep on living, I’m not afraid to walk this world alone”, in a weird font, I can’t find on the computer. I would have to ask, Cherry, Lily, Miles, Saint, Bronx, Declan, Ruby, and Keno, about it.
“Bandit,” My mom called, knocking on my door, “Time to get up, otherwise you’ll be late.”
“Okay, mom,” I called, nudging Chemical to get him to move.
I jumped up out of bed, and wandered over to my cluttered desk, for my phone. I unlocked my phone, and texted all of my friends to snoop out any information about My Chemical Romance. I then turned off my phone, and walked over to my draw, choosing out my outfit for the day. I decided on, a simple black shirt, with the sleeves cut off, a pair off white short shorts, as it was coming into summer, and the weather was warming up, and belly length, black leather jacket. I stripped myself of my pyjamas, and began to pull on my chosen outfit. Once dressed, I grabbed a pair of knee high black and red socks, like my mum’s old ones, and a pair of black and white, ankle high converse. I opened my door, and ran down the stairs, jumping the last four.
“I thought I told you not to do that?” My mom yelled from the kitchen.
“But dad said it was fine!” I yelled back, walking into where she sat.
“Yes,” She sighed, “But dad is on tour, so I say no, you cannot jump off the stairs like that.”
I poked my tongue out at her, and wandered to the fridge for food. I pull out the milk, and go to the cupboard and get a pack of lucky charms, the best cereal.
“That stuff is awful,” My mom sighs, “I can’t believe dad and you eat it.”
“Well,” I say, pouring the delicacy into a bowl, “I may look like a mini you, but I am a mini Gerard Way at heart.”
“You’ve got that right,” She smirks, looking at me, “Come on, eat that up, I don’t want you to be late to school.”
“Yesh mofer,” I say through a mouthful of sweet marshmallows and sugar-coated magic.
She just sighs, shaking her head and muttering something along the lines of “So much like Gerard”.

I finish my cereal, and put my dirty bowl in the sink. I rush upstairs, and brush my teeth. I then run into my room, pack my bag for the day, and grab my phone and earphones. I slip down stairs, grab my lunch and shove it into my bag, rushing to the door.
“Bye Bandit!” My mom calls from the living room, “Have a good day.”
“Bye mom!” I yell, before I run out the door, slamming the door shut.
I rush down the street, towards my bus stop. I open up my phone, once there, plugging in my earphones, and put my phone on shuffle. I notice that I have 6 new messages. I open them up, reading trough them.

Cherry: I found an old CD in my dad’s recording studio titled, “Welcome to the Black parade My Chemical Romance”. I’ll bring that in.

Keno: There is an old Yo Gabba Gabba disk in our movie selection with “Featuring My Chemical Romance” on the front. That might have some information.

Lily: I have an old AP magazine in my dad’s studio with a My Chemical Romance interview. I haven’t read it, but it should have something in it.

Saint: I asked my dad, and he just stayed quite. He said something about, the “Emo Trinity” and “Heroes” before walking away. I wonder what he meant.

Declan: We have a CD by them called “Danger days: The true lives of the fabulous killjoys”. That could be useful.

Ruby: I asked my dad, and when I told him that you wanted to know, he said “If Gerard hasn’t told her, then he doesn’t want her to know.” I think your dad might be involved.

I skimmed through all the messages, and was shocked. My dad and Uncle Frankie are clearly involved, and, Fall out Boy must have something to do with it, so it has to be big.
I thank them all for their information, and turn my phone off, just in time for the bus to arrive.

TIME SKIP! LUNCH!

“Hey guys!” I call, walking over to our usual spot, under the oak tree, “You bring the stuff?’
They nodded, and brought out what they had. Lily and Cherry, had an album and interview, Keno had a Yo Gabba Gabba disk, featuring them, Saint brought in his laptop, so we could watch, Declan had another album, and Ruby took her portable speakers, to hook up to the laptop.
“Let’s get started shall we,” Miles said, leaning over to watch.
We put in “Welcome to the Black Parade”, first, and pressed play. The sound of beeping was heard, accompanied with the scraping of guitar. Then, the most shocking thing. The voice of my father, Gerard Way.
“Holy shit,” Bronx breathed.
We all sat there in silence, gazing at the screen, listening carefully.
“Well,” I swallowed, “We know my dad is a part of it.”
“Hey,” Cherry piped up, “I remember this song name.”
We looked to see what she was looking at, and saw that it was titled “Welcome to the Black Parade”.
“That sounds familiar,” I agreed.
Saint skipped ahead to it, so we could listen. The sound of a G key was played on the piano, and I am sure, we all got a sense of Deja vu. Again, my father’s voice was singing the words. We listened throughout the whole song, each making comments on how talented they were.
“I wonder who the guitarist are,” Miles mused.
“Forget the guitars Miles,” Bronx piped up, “Those drums are amazing.”
“You kidding!” Keno explained, “The bass is unreal!”
“Keep out of this Toro,” I laughed, “You gotta admit, my dad sound pretty fucking awesome.”
We sat there laughing and talking about the song, until it ended.
“Let’s try the other album,” Rose said, grabbing it and handing it to Saint.
Saint popped it into the disk drive, and pressed play.
“Look alive sunshine.”
We jumped, not expecting it. The music then began.
“I REMEMBER THIS!” I screamed, jumping up and singing along.
“NA NA NA NA NA NA NA!” I yelled, Keno, Lily, Cherry, and Miles joining in as they remembered.
“I REMEMBER THIS!” We all screamed.
“DRUGS DRUGS GIVE ME DRUGS!”
We were all laughing and singing by the end, including the FOB kids. None of us cared, that everyone around us, thought we were on drugs.
“Wow,” Cherry laughed, “I did not expect that much fun.”
We all smiled, agreeing.
“Okay,” Bronx chirped in, “Let’s watch this Yo Gabba Gabba thing and then read the interview. We have about 45 minutes left.”
“Pass it here bro,” Saint said, reaching for the disk.
Declan threw him the disk, managing to hit him squarely in the face, causing another round of laughter. Saint glared at us all, and put the disk in. We skipped ahead to the bit with MCR and pressed play.
“What, the, FUCK!” Keno screamed.
On the screen, was my dad, Gerard, Keno’s dad, Uncle Ray, Cherry’s, Lily’s, and Miles’ dad, Uncle Frankie, and my Uncle Mikey, all dancing in ridiculous outfits.
“Our dads were in My Chemical Romance too?!” Lily gasped.
“And my Uncle Mikey,” I mumbled.
“Holy shit,” Ruby mumbled, completely shocked.
After the video finished, we went into some serious research. Why did our parents not tell us about it? What is so bad? What are they hiding?
“Iero’s,” Declan ordered, “You read through the interview, tell us anything important. Wentz’s, snoop the web for anything. Trohman, Toro, go snoop the other students for any information. Way, you and me will try and get a hold of your dad. He has some explaining to do.”
We all nodded, and went off to our tasks. Ruby and Ray, ran off straight away, going to the seniors first, as the might have more knowledge on older music. Miles, Cherry and Lily, began to flick though the magazine, looking for the interview. Saint and Bronx, went onto the internet straight away, and began to search My Chemical Romance. Me and Declan, grabbed my phone, and dialled my dad’s number.
“Hey you’ve reached Gerard Way,” The message tone of my father’s phone went off.
“Shit,” I mumbled, “He must be in a show.”
We sighed, and went to see what the others had found.
“Well,” Lily said, reading from the magazine, “It says here, 11 things you didn’t know about My Chemical Romance.”
“Let’s hear it,” Bronx chimed in.
“Okay,” Miles said, gazing over the magazine, “Number 11, Gerard Way recorded a song in his undies.”
I choked on air.
“WHAT!” I spluttered.
“Yeah,” Miles said, laughing slightly, “It says here, “How did Gerard get the right vibe when he was doing the vocals for, You know what they do to guys like us in prison? He could’ve gone to prison, or done stuff to guys like himself in prison, but time is money in the studio, and it is surprisingly difficult to get into prison, (Especially if you want to get out in time if you want to meet your record deadline). So he stripped down to his Y-fronts and belted this out, ‘Clutch, you do not need to follow suit’.”
“Wow,” I mumbled, “That’s pretty deep.”
“Yeah,” Lily sighed, looking at her twin, Cherry.
“Found anything yet Wentz?” Declan asked, looking towards Bronx and Saint.
“Nope,” Bronx grumbled, “Internet’s shit down here.”
“Well,” Cherry sighed, turning back to the magazine, “Let’s finish reading. Number 10. They recorded real pain.”
“This can’t be good,” Saint mumbled, looking up from the laptop.
“Of the very worst kind as well: Toothache,” Cherry continued, “While recording his vocals for I brought you my bullets, Gerard Way was suffering an abscess in one of his teeth, which is like trying to be a weightlifter with an arrow sticking out of your arm. Brush, kids, brush.”
“So that’s why my dad is so serious about teeth,” I mused, “I thought he just had a thing for oral health.”
“Yeah,” Miles laughed, “Lily and Cherry told me the story about the sleepover.”
I blushed.
“Shut up Miles,” I spit, “He had every right to freak, now that we know the reason.”
“Next one?” Lily asked.
“Next one.” We agreed.
“Okay,” She looked down the page, and began to read, “Number 9. Gerard Way is allergic to cats.”
“That can’t be true,” Declan said, “They own a cat.”
“Well it says,” Lily continued, “Apparently so. And we’ve just made up the story that the Black Parade was gonna be called the Cat Parade until a red-eyed, sneezing Gerard pulled the plug on the whole thing, but that would be silly.”
“So what,” Bronx said, “Is he allergic or not?”
“He can’t be!” I shouted, “We own a cat!”
“True,” Saint mumbled, “Just move on to the other one.”
“Okay,” Miles said, “Number 8. They got Black Flags approval.”
“Wat,” Lily said.
Miles shrugged, and continued.
“The next time someone looks down their nose and tries to give you some pish about My Chem not having any punk cred, point them in Keith Morris’ direction. Black Flags be-dreaded, one time the front man did backing vocals on Hang ‘Em High. Stick that in your bondage trousers and smoke it, loser.”
“Okay,” Lily said, dragging out the ay.
“Just move on,” Bronx called, “We only have 10 minutes left.”
“Next one,” Cherry said, clapping her hands together, “Number 7.”
“Just skip to a juicy one,” Declan cut her off, “We don’t have much time.”
“Okay,” She sighed, flicking through the pages, “Here’s one. It has got Mikey in it.”
My ears pricked up at that one.
“Their name is British,” She read aloud, “It was during Mikey Way’s time as a sales assistant in Barnes and Nobel that he hit the idea of what his brother’s new band could be called. He discovered a book by Scottish author Irvine Welsh entitled The Acid house: Three Tales of a Chemical Romance. Presumably calling the band Filth, Porno, or Trainspotting didn’t appeal much to Gerard.”
“Cool,” Declan smiled, “One that is actually believable.”
“GUYS!”
We turned around to see Keno and Ruby running towards us.
“SOME TEACHER NAMED, MRS PARKS, KNOWS MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE!” Ruby yelled, rushing forwards, Mrs Parks close behind.
“What do you know?” Miles blurted out.
“Well,” Mrs Parks smiled, “They were a band from the time 2000 and 2013. They broke up in 2013 due to Gerard’s health.”
My dad was sick?
“They were in a group called the “Emo Trinity”,” She continued, “The other bands were Panic at the Disco and Fall out Boy.”
Ruby’s, Declan’s, Bronx’s, and Saint’s faces fell.
“My Chemical Romance were very popular, with their most successful album being Welcome to the Black Parade. In the band was, Gerard Way, lead vocals, Mikey Way, bass guitar, Ray Toro, lead guitar and backing vocals, Frank Iero, rhythm guitar and backing vocals. Bob Brya was on drums, but he left after The Black Parade.”
We were all shocked. Why had we never been told? How come she knew this much? Who was Bob? What happened to my dad?
“Now,” Mrs Parks said, straightening up, “Why did you want to know this?’
“Oh,” I said, a little taken back, “Well we, me, Cherry, Lily, Miles, and Keno, have only just found out about the band.”
“Wait,” Mrs Parks said, her face going to a very shocked look, “Cherry, Lily and Miles Iero?”
“Yeah,” Miles said, a bit confused, “Why?’
“Oh my god,” Mrs Parks said, trying not to fangirl, “Sorry, but I am a huge fan of you father’s work.”
“Oh cool,” Lily smiled, “Do you like Bandit’s dad’s work?”
“Bandit Way?” Mrs Parks asked, eyes widening.
I nodded.
“Oh my goodness.”
“Yeah,” Declan said, “And this is Rose Trohman, Saint and Bronx Wentz, Keno Toro, and I am Declan Stump.”
She looked like she was going to pass out.
“I have to go, sorry,” She said, before she dashed off.
“Well,” Saint said after a long period of silence, “I guess someone’s a fan.”
We all laughed. The bell went signalling the end of lunch, so we headed to our classes, agreeing to meet up after school at the Starbucks down the road.

Time skip to Starbucks

We sat at a booth, in the corner of Starbucks. I sat there, sipping away at my PSL, very much white girl, when Saint came charging over to us.
“About time fucker,” Bronx growled at his brother, “Now what is it?”
“FRANK AND GERARD MADE OUT ON STAGE!” He screamed, getting a few dirty looks from the other customers.
“What?!” I exclaimed, choking on my coffee.
“Here look!” Saint yelled, putting his computer in front of us, and hooking up to the WIFI.
Sure enough, he was right. A video was shown, poor quality might I add, of Uncle Frankie and my dad making out, on stage, in front of thousands of young teens.
“I think I am gonna be sick,” Miles mumbled, going pale.
“It’s okay bro,” Lily soothed, rubbing her younger sibling’s back.
“What else did you find?” Declan asked, after the video finished.
“This,” Saint mumbled, “But you aren’t gonna like it.”
He opened up a new tab, to a YouTube video. A video titled, “Gerard Way drunk”.
I swallowed heavily, nodding in approval as Saint clicked play. A shocking sight was seen. Footage of my father, the man I have looked up to my whole life, throwing up, tripping over his feet, and acting down right strange was seen. Not only did the footage shock me, but the commentary as well. I found out that my dad suffered a drinking problem, he took lots of drugs, causing him to be high quite a bit, and most shocking of all, he was suicidal.
“Turn it off,” I mumbled after a minute.
“What was that?” Ruby whispered, placing a hand on my back.
“Turn it off,” I repeated a bit louder.
“Saint,” She called, and the tab disappeared.
“I am so sorry Bandit,” Cherry mumbled, looking to the ground.
“Don’t be Cherry,” I sigh, “It’s not your fault.”
“This is probably a bad time,” Saint mumbled, “But I found something else. It’s about Frank this time.”
All our eyes shot in Saint’s direction.
“What?” Miles whispered, fearful of knowing what it was.
Saint mumbled something we couldn’t understand.
“Speak up man,” Declan said.
“Frank had a crush on Gerard,” He said, a little bit louder this time.
I gasped in horror, Cherry burst into tears, Ruby shook in horror, Declan slumped back in his chair, looking shocked, Bronx dropped his cup, spilling coffee everywhere, Saint looked ashamed, Miles threw up on the floor, Lily comforted him, Keno walked away.
“He cried when Gerard got married, even though he was married,” Saint continued, “He and Gerard were always very sexual towards each other, and in an interview he admitted to liking Gerard.”
For 10 minutes, we sat in silence. Keno came back after 5 minutes, looking very shaken up. Our silence was interrupted by a familiar voice.
“Miles, Cherry, Lily,” We looked up to see, a very cross, Uncle Frankie walking over to us, “Where have you been?”
“You kissed Uncle Gee,” Was all Miles responded with.
Frankie’s face went from an angry and annoyed, to a mortified and shocked one. All the colour drained from his face, and he ran outside, dialling a number on his phone. We sat in silence once again, until our moms came in.
“Come on boys,” Pete called, to his children, “Let’s go.”
We all went with our parents, to our designated cars. The car ride home was silent. My mom did say anything. I hope I didn’t disappoint her.

Time Skip, Gerard comes home.

As soon as I got home, I was sent straight to my room, mainly for going out, without calling home, but I knew there was more to it, a lot more. I sat here, Chemical on my lap, and my IPod hooked up to my speakers, playing the sweet sounds of, Fall out Boy, Panic! At the disco, FrnkIero andthe Celebration, and Electric Century.
I heard my dad come home, calling for me, and my mum. I heard my mum call out to my dad, telling him something. I heard him muttering, over and over. I then heard him pick up the phone, calling a bunch of people.
I felt so bad. I had disappointed him so much and disappointing Gerard Way, is like hitting a puppy. It is the worst thing.
I heard foot falls, come up the stairs, and stop near my door. I knew it was my dad. There was three knocks at the door, before it was pushed open.
“Bandit,” My dad said, sitting down next to me, “You’re not in trouble. You were bound to find out sooner or later.”
“Why did you keep it a secret?” I mumble, looking at my lap.
“I was embarrassed, by the things that we did,” He answered, truthfully.
I nodded.
“Come on,” He said, jumping up, “I have the Ieros, the Toros, and the Way Jrs coming over, and I need your help with snacks. We are gonna explain everything.”
I smiled, and jumped up, walking out of my room with my dad. I was eager to know just what My chemical Romance was.

Time skip.

When everyone arrived, all was explained.
It started with just music videos. I admit, I cried during the Ghost of You. We laughed all throughout I’m not okay (I promise), almost missing the song completely. And the old members, played along to Welcome to the Black parade.
When that was over, we watched a few interviews. Some were boring, and some weren’t. The best being, when they were asked ‘What turns them on’. Me and Cherry picked on Mikey for that.
“Hey Uncle Mikey,” I called, in a sing song voice, “Look.”
I waved my can of Coke Zero around, Cherry following in suit.
“You’re all worse than Gerard,” He grumbled, causing my dad to crack up.
When we decided that we had seen enough interviews, it was quite late. We ordered some pizzas, and my dad went off to get something.
He came back with a movie titled, Life on the Murder Scene.
All the MCR members’ faces fell.
It was a tour documentary, which was filmed back in 2004. It had scenes of the band, just doing stuff, like interviews, concerts, they talked about their history, and where they came from. All was good, until they talked about it.
My dad’s depression.
It said how, during the time of Revenge, my dad suffered greatly, through depression, and alcohol/drug abuse. It was horrible, so bad that Uncle Mikey left the room, causing my dad to go after him.
I was glad my dad got help.
When the movie was over, it was around 10PM. Uncle Frankie, Mikey, and Ray, along with my dad, stood infront of us, and told us everything else. From the truth about Frankie and my Dad, to Uncle Mikey’s depression, and to what happened after the break up, and why it happened.
“You see,” My dad said, “This is why we kept it from you. We tried to protect you from it.”
We nodded, showing we understood.
We all jumped up, and ran to our dads, hugging them tightly, well I hugged my dad and Uncle Mikey.
It doesn’t matter what they did, they will always have my up most respect, well, Mikey might have some explaining to do. Coke Zero, really?

Notes