Big Baby (Sequel to Cry Baby) (Frerard)

“Sit down, Gerard,” were the first words Patrick said to Gerard when he stepped into his office, still visibly shaking and sweating with fear. A trip to Patrick’s office obviously meant nothing good for Gerard. The last time he was sent here was when he had a altercation with a rude customer after he called Gerard retarded over not knowing where the screening room for his movie was at, even though the man could have simply looked on his ticket stub. Gerard thankfully got nothing more than a slap on the wrist from Patrick, but a very firm and warning one. Gerard knew that after what he did to Ryan and Hayley that he would get far more than another slap on the wrist. The dissatisfied look on Patrick’s face told him so.
“Gerard, what the hell were you thinking?” he asked him as Gerard sat down in the single chair in front of Patrick’s desk. The sharpness in Patrick’s tone of voice sent chills down Gerard’s spine. “You know better than to...well, do what you just did back there!”
“B-but they were b-being mean t-to me!” Gerard said defensively. “Th-they were s-saying bad s-stuff about m-my m-mommy!”
“I understand that, but that’s still no excuse for what you did. You could have simply come to me about it,”
“B-but--”
“What you did was inexcusable, Gerard,” Patrick interrupted Gerard, his voice still full of venomous, but also full of regret and somberness. “I’m afraid I’m gonna have to let you go,”
“L-let me g-go? Wh-what do you m-mean?” Gerard asked, his mind in denial of what he’s just been told.
“It’s...it’s plain and simple. You stop working here,” Patrick sighed.
“B-but...but…th-that’s not f-fair!” Gerard pouted. “I’m s-supposed to b-be p-promoted soon!”
“That’s not gonna be happening now, Gerard,” Patrick shook his head, eyes full of a hidden sorrow for his now terminated worker.
“Oh no...wh-what am I g-gonna do?” Gerard sniffled as tears ran from his devastated eyes. He knew Mikey wasn’t gonna be happy when he is soon to get a call from him, announcing the loss of his precious job.
“Before looking for another job...I suggest you get help,” Patrick advised. “Now, hand in your nametag and vest, and you will be walked out,”
Hanging his head in shame, Gerard reluctantly took his nametag off his red vest and handed it over to Patrick, leaving it on the desk. He then got up and took off the vest, handing that over to his now former boss as well. After that, Patrick stood up and walked Gerard out the front doors of the theater, where he waved goodbye to him before retreating inside, not uttering one final word to him. That was when Gerard broke down, weeping on the cold and hard pavement as he got down on his knees, his hands covering his face.

_ _ _
It’s been almost a week since Gerard has been without a job, and it was taking a toll on him in several ways. First off, he made no money, so that meant he couldn’t buy anything for himself, like a cup of coffee from Starbuck’s or a comic book from the local comics and card game store. Second, he had no way of keeping himself busy. He liked how working his job made the day go by faster, and now that he’s unemployed, he was stuck being bored most of the time at the group home, doing more chores to kill time...and he hated it. He hated how tedious it felt to do the laundry and dishes. For some reason he couldn’t point out, none of it was as fun in a way as cleaning at the movie theater. Maybe it’s because rather than doing the same two or three things over and over again, he had a variety of things to do at his former job, such as sweeping the aisles and floors, cleaning the bathrooms, vacuuming, and a lot more. What hurt Gerard the most was Mikey’s reaction to him learning that his brother lost his job, and the reason behind it all. He was furious with Gerard, to say the least. He was so furious that it nearly left Gerard in tears. After getting an earful from Mikey, he booked an appointment with Gerard’s psychiatrist, Dr. Martinez. He knew something inside Gerard wasn’t right. It’s like ever since their mother died, Gerard’s behavior changed dramatically, and Mikey wanted some answers.
Mikey pulled into the parking lot of the Dr. Martinez’s, putting the car into park and turning off the engine. He looked over to his brother, who was passed out from a small nap he took along the way. Mikey sighed deeply as he looked at him, hoping that things don’t go awry with him at his appointment and that he gets some answers about Gerard’s sudden change in behavior. He figured maybe was a good time to change his medication, but he knew all that was up to Dr. Martinez.
“Gee, wake up,” Mikey said, lightly shaking Gerard’s shoulder. Gerard groaned, slowly opening up his eyes and rubbing them.
“Are we here?” he asked.
“Yeah, we are. Come on, let’s get you checked in,” Mikey replied, stepping out of the car and waiting for him brother to follow along. Gerard did so, unbuckling his seatbelt and stepping out of the car before Mikey locked it. They together walked into the small building that is Dr. Martinez’s office and got Gerard checked in. They both sat in the waiting room, with Gerard watching some cartoon that was playing on the small flatscreen on across from the chairs they sat at. Frank had been awfully quiet the whole day, and Gerard didn’t know why. Maybe he can talk to him while he waited to be called inside.
“F-frankie, you th-there?” Gerard called out, hoping to hear a response. Next to him, Mikey turned to him, his eyebrow raised in concern.
“Yeah, I’m here,” Frank responded, his voice echoing in Gerard’s head. “What do you want?”
“N-nothing, just w-wanted to m-make sure y-you’re still th-there,”
“I am, Gee. I would never leave you,” Frank responded, to which Gerard smiled.
“Gerard, who are you talking to?” Mikey asked, interrupting Gerard’s conversation with the voice in his head.
“I’m t-talking to F-frankie,” Gerard said. Mikey sighed, shaking his head a little in mild disapproval.
“You make sure you mention hearing Frank’s voice in your head to Dr. Martinez, okay?” Mikey said. Gerard just nodded, wondering why it was necessary to bring up hearing Frank’s voice to Dr. Martinez. He knew it was real, after all. He could hear him clearly, and it sounded just like Frank. He knew nothing was wrong with him, making this appointment completely pointless in his eyes. He never even knew why he had to take the pills he was prescribed. Besides, they tasted nasty.
“Gerard?” a female voice called out from the door in the corner of the room. Gerard looked over to see it was one of the medical assistants that are ready to check him in. Gerard stood up and followed her to the back of the office to a room with a weight scale. After getting Gerard’s weight and vitals, he was redirected down the hall to Dr. Martinez’s office, her name on the door. He stepped inside and sat at the chair in front of her desk, where she sat as she typed on the computer in front of her. She looked over at Gerard and smiled at him.
“Hey, Gerard. How are you today?” she asked innocently.
“I’m o-okay,” Gerard said simply.
“What’s been going on? Mikey told me that quite a lot has happened with you. You wanna share with me about those things?”
“I-I...uh…,” Gerard stuttered, unsure where to begin. He wondered what exactly Mikey was saying to Dr. Martinez about him. He suddenly remembered how much it hurt him to look back at what’s actually happened to him. Hiss mom’s death and the loss of his job have both taken quite a toll on him, and he still didn’t know how to cope with both of those things. Gerard looked away, his face contorting from the tears that stung his eyes.
“Are you okay? You wanna talk about what’s bugging you?” Dr. Martinez asked.
“M-my mommy d-died not t-too long ago. Sh-she had c-cancer and th-the d-doctors c-couldn’t s-save her. I also l-lost m-my j-job!”
“I heard about all that. Mikey told me about it. I’m so sorry. How have you been coping with these things?”
Gerard looked down as he sniffled, wiping at his face. How was he actually dealing with what has been going on with him? The one and only thing that came to mind was Frank. After Donna died, Frank was there for him, and he was also there when Gerard lost his job at the movie theater. He has commiserated with him, and was the only person to besides Mikey. He’s his friend, after all.
“I’ve b-been talking t-to F-frankie,” Gerard finally said, looking up at his psychiatrist. “H-he’s my f-friend, and I-I would t-talk to h-him. H-he’s been th-there for m-me,”
Dr. Martinez’s eyes widened. She knew that the mention of Frank’s name meant no good. She knew all about Gerard’s history with this Frank guy, and all that he’s done to Gerard. She quickly grabbed a pen and paper, jotting down some notes about Gerard’s friend.
“How have you been talking to him?” she asked.
“I h-hear his v-voice in m-my head,” Gerard replied. “I one t-time s-saw him in a d-dream I h-had and I t-talked to him, and n-now I h-hear his v-voice,”
“Have you had any physical contact with Frank as of lately?” Dr. Martinez asked as she jotted down more notes.
“N-no, j-just in my h-head. I w-want to s-see him. F-frank t-told me I h-have to c-come find h-him,”
“How so?”
“I-I d-dunno. I w-wanna travel s-so I can s-see him, even th-though I d-don’t know wh-where he is,”
“Hmm...I see…,” Dr. Martinez nodded, looking down at the notes she just took of her patient, and thinking of where to go from there. “Gerard...are you aware of the things Frank has done to you in the past?”
“Uh...l-like wh-what?” Gerard asked.
“Like...the times he’s forced sexual acts on you?” Dr. Martinez replied.
“Uh...I d-don’t know wh-what you’re t-talking about,” Gerard said, furrowing his brow a bit.
“Gerard, I’m just gonna be straightforward with you about all this,” his psychiatrist sighed. “Some years ago, Frank started to watch after you while your mom was away at work. Frank took advantage of you in several different ways, all of them sexually. He abused you, Gerard. He kidnapped you and continued to do these acts to you until he tried to kill you, before he tried to do the same to himself. He is not your friend, Gerard. What you’re experiencing is all a hallucination. Frank is really not talking to you,”
“She’s lying, Gerard. Don’t listen to her,” Frank said, his voice full of fear and anger. “I would never do that to you, and you know it,”
“F-frank says y-you’re a liar. You are a l-liar!” Gerard retaliated, venom in his voice. “F-frankie is m-my friend! You d-don’t know anyting!”
“Gerard, you don’t remember anything. After a traumatic incident involving you and Frank, you were left with no memory of all Frank has done to you. You don’t understand that what he did to you was wrong. Listen, I don’t wanna argue with you about this, but what I’m gonna do is up the dose of your medication. I want you to think about what you do remember about Frank, okay? And if you hear his voice in his head...ignore it, okay? It think what’s happening to you is that you’re getting very stressed out from all that’s happened to you, and you need to just lay low and take it easy for now, okay?” Dr. Martinez said as she typed into her computer. “Oh, and take your medication, of course. Have a good day”
“Don’t listen to her, Gerard. We should leave this place,” Frank said as Gerard got up and walked out of the office.
“I w-won’t, F-frankie. Sh-she’s a meanie!” Gerard nearly yelled as he walked down the hall.
“You know I wouldn’t hurt you, Gee,” Frank said as Gerard walked back out the the lobby to Mikey, who was expecting a phone call from Dr. Martinez at any minute now. They together walked back to the car, where Mikey started up the engine and drove away from the doctor’s office.
“I know, F-frankie. Th-they d-don’t know anything,” Gerard said, with Mikey beside him looking at him in a concerned manner. It confused him why this appointment was so abnormally short. He hoped to get some answers from Dr. Martinez though.

Notes