Chapter 1
It had been a whole month since Buster Moon's comeback special. the performance that had won the hearts of the entire city, even Nana Noodleman, Eddies rich and rather famous grandmother was quite impressed, so much so that she agreed to purchase the theatre and rebuild it better than ever.
"I, no, we did it dad!" Buster thought as he oversaw the construction of what was going to be the new and improved Moon Theatre, it would be quite some time before it was finished but Buster wanted everything to be perfect, after all, he needed to repay the people who made this all possible.
Johnny had finally been allowed to visit his father after his escape from jail just a few weeks earlier, the two were elated to see each other, especially Marcus who couldn't wait to have a proper conversation with his son for the first time in weeks.
"Y'know lad, I never knew ya had it in ya!" Marcus said from the other side of the glass booth separating him and his son.
"Thanks dad, I'm glad ya could see it, even if ya were being... y'know, chased, through the city for most of it" The young gorilla said while sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck.
Marcus let out a proud laugh that was heard all throughout the police station, startling the guards who were on high alert since his escape.
"Nothin' was gonna stop me from tellin ya how proud I am Johnny" The larger Gorilla averted his eyes, a sigh escaping his mouth as he placed his hand on the glass.
"I should have been a better father to ya Johnny" Johnny could see the hurt in his fathers eyes, it hit him quite deeply.
Johnny stood up rather quickly, causing his chair to slide back. "No dad it's not your fault its-" Marcus interrupted him. "No son, it is my fault, with ya mum gone and all, I was so afraid of losin' ya that I dragged ya into the gang as a misguided attempt to keep ya close, some dad I am eh? " Johnny pulled his chair back into place and quietly sat back down, listening to his father as he poured his heart out.
"Everything I did to keep ya close, just ended up pushin ya further away, Funny innit?"
Marcus looked up at his son and smiled. "I ain't gonna make those mistakes anymore Johnny, as soon as I'm outta here, I'm goin straight, we'll start over good as new" Johnny was on the verge of tears, not from sadness but from sheer happiness, he had wanted to be accepted by his father his whole life, and now, he was.
"Wrap it up inmates! visiting times are almost over!"
Marcus looked over his shoulder and grunted with disappointment. "Well I better get back to my cell, gotta be on my best behaviour if I wanna get outta here" Marcus chuckled, reluctant to end the conversation with his son, he begrudgingly stood up.
"I love ya son, I'll see ya soon"
Johnny grinned from ear to ear. 'I love you too dad, I'll be back to visit as soon as I can" Johnny stood back up, however his eyes widened as he realised something he had forgot to ask his dad. "One more thing dad! the guys from the theatre wanted to throw a party to celebrate the theatre being rebuilt and I thought that maybe, we could y-y'know have it at the garage?" Marcus laughed at his son's bashfulness. "Of course you can lad, just don't wreck the place y'hear"
"I won't dad I promise"
The two gorilla's gave each other one last loving glance before waving each other goodbye. Johnny left the police station playfully twirling his car keys around his index finger, singing a happy tune to himself as he made his way to his truck, after hopping into the driver's seat, he pulled out his phone to send a text message to his friends to let them know that he got the OK to throw the party at his place.
Johnny: "Hey guys, dad said it was alright to have the party at the garage, I'll start setting up ASAP."
Message sent
After sending the text, Johnny started his car and drove off towards the city,
Later that night Johnny had begun setting up the garage for the party, luckily for him, Meena had come over early with a cake she had baked for everyone. The sight of him clumsily trying to put the party decorations up while standing tiptoed on a stepladder, was both amusing and alarming at the same time as he had almost fallen a few times. Meena put the cake down on the table and offered to help decorate.
"Wow Meena the place looks great! I couldn't have done it without ya!" Johnny said, looking at the decorations with pride.
Meena smiled and ruffled the young gorilla's hair with her trunk. "Don't mention it Johnny" The two jumped slightly from a knock at the door. "Oh, that must be the others, I'll get it" He said as he walked over to answer the door, suddenly the door swung open and sent him flying backward, he landed on his back, hard, hitting the ground with a large thud. A stampede of 25 little piglets came rushing through the door, jumping all over the place, their childish giggles filling the room. Johnny shook his head in a daze before noticing Rosita standing in front of him with her hand extended.
"Oh my gosh are you OK johnny? I'm sorry about that, the kids are all WAY too energetic" Rosita looked up and saw Gunter was also there among her boisterous children, she then rolled her eyes. "Him too"
"That's alright Rosita, don't worry about it" He took her hand so she could help him up, dusting himself off he noticed laughter coming from behind her, it was Ash, she was cackling like a hyena, Johnny's face became flushed with embarrassment.
"C'mon Ash it wasn't THAT funny..."
Ash wiped a single tear from her eye, her laughter dying down enough to respond. "Sorry Johnny I couldn't help it" Johnny's pout shifted to a smile. "Alright Ash, ya got me, I guess it was pretty funny" Johnny motioned towards the pool table in the lounge.
"Up for a game?"
Ash set down her guitar case before looking at Johnny with a cheeky grin. "Only if you wanna lose big guy" the two playfully rushed over to the table, setting up for the game, Johnny pulled out his lucky pool cue, it was gift from his dad for his 12th birthday.
"You're goin down spikey" Ash fired back with a quip of her own. "Bring it on banana boy"
Ash and Johnny had been hanging out a lot lately, having met by chance in the city one night, the two decided to grab a bite to eat together, once the two actually talked for the first time they realised they actually had a lot in common, they had very similar problems, Ash's lingering pain from Lance cheating on her and Johnny's sadness at his father being jailed. it wasn't long before the two became best friends.
"How've you been lately Ash? has,,,,, he, been bothering you?"
Ash flinched a little at the question, recalling how Lance would knock on the door from time to time, begging for a chance to talk, claiming he'd changed, yeah right! she wasn't going to fall for that, so she would just ignore him until he gave up and left, but his persistence was beginning to get really annoying.
"Yeah... you don't need to worry though!, it's nothing I can't handle"
Johnny wasn't entirely convinced that everything was completely fine but he decided to have faith in his friend. "A-alright Ash... but if he does try something..." Ash couldn't help but giggle, she couldn't believe how someone who grew up surrounded by crime, could have such and altruistic nature, it actually troubled her at first, she wasn't used to such selflessness, however over time she came to admire that part of him.
"I'll be fine Johnny, don't worry"
Suddenly everyone found themselves clutching their ears as a large screech filled the room, the source of the noise was Eddie and Buster finally arriving to the party, dragging a karaoke machine into the garage, the noise was so unbearable the gang all rushed over to help carry the machine inside.
"Hey everybody! it's good to see all of you!" Buster exclaimed into the karaoke machine's microphone. "I know Mike couldn't make it tonight since he's... god knows where! but lets all make this a night to remember!" All the guests raised their drinks for a toast.
"To the New Moon Theatre!"
"HOORAY!"
They all cheered loudly, knowing in there hearts that when the New Moon theatre is complete, they can all move forward, together.
Chapter 1 End