Mikey woke up the next morning, happy she was back in her hometown after half a year at being either on the road or elsewhere. Pushing back her messy hair away from her face, she stood up and looked around her room. It was still the same. She hadn't changed anything of it except it was a little more disorderly than usual; a few discarded clothes here and there on the floor.
Mikey looked over to her desk. It still was at its place beside the window. On it was still the picture of her and Zigzag but with a new addition next to it. Beside the silver framed picture was another picture of Jason and her. Jason was carrying her in his arms, both all smiles. Mikey sighed as she stood up from her bed and walked over to the pictures. It was kinda ironic how she kept their pictures. The rest of her ex-boyfriends' pictures were either torn or thrown away, or were stashed some place where she could never look at their faces again. But these two . . . they were the ones who had cause her more pain than any of her exs ever did. Mikey shook her head and walked over to her bathroom, many thoughts racing through her head.
Closing her bedroom door, Mikey looked across the carpeted hall over to the other door. The door she had not paid an ounce of attention to last night; the door that led to Tobias' room.
Taking a deep breath, Mikey walked over to the door and slowly turned the cold knob. The room was still the same. Messy like the day Tobias had left it, promising her that when he came back that he would clean it up. Mikey bit back tears as she walked into his room, the familiar gasoline and Ralph Lauren cologne that was her late brother's scent filling her with each inhale of air she took. His dark green painted walls were filled with posters of motor cycles and pictures from his travels while being in the band. Mikey saw his acoustic guitar lying forgotten and slightly dusty on top of his unmade bed. Under it was his leather jacket, discarded in his rush to get to the air port in time. Mikey picked up the guitar and ran her fingers lightly over the strings. It was a pretty old guitar, Tobias' first one ever. A Fender model with an ebony body with a rosewood neck, it was also an electric guitar. Mikey saw the scratch marks Tobias had made from strumming the guitar too much and too hard. With it in hand, Mikey stood up and looked at the night stand next to the bed. She fought back tears seeing a picture in the popsicle stick frame she had given Tobias in first grade. The picture itself was of Mikey and Tobias after she had come back from Camp Green Lake. Mikey wiped a tear from her eye and turned away and walked out of the room, closing the door behind her.
She walked downstairs and to the living room. It had been transformed over the years of her career as a little recording studio if ever she or one of the guys wanted to record a song while they were on a break. The keyboards and other high tech equipment were placed in a half circle around the now gated fire place. Mikey walked inside the small free space in the middle and sat on the folding chair there, the acoustic guitar propped on her leg. Taking a pick from the keyboard, she began to sing the first song that came off the top of her head.
"I'm not afraid of anything
I just need to know that I can breathe
And I don't need much of anything
But suddenly, suddenly
"I am small and the world is big
All around me is fast moving
Surrounded by so many things
But suddenly, suddenly . . ."
Michael walked into the room through the door that led to the garage wearing only striped boxers. He crossed his muscular arms over his chest and leaned on the doorway, listening to Mikey sing.
"I am young and I am free
But I get tired and I get weak
I get lost and I can't sleep
But suddenly, suddenly . . .
How does it feel to be
Different from me
Are we the same?
How does it feel to be
Different from me
Are we the same?
How does it feel?
How does it feel?
You're different from me . . ."
Mikey started at sudden sounds of clapping in front of her and she snapped her head to the direction of the garage door. She stuck out her tongue at Michael who laughed and walked over to her. He pointed at the guitar. "So you claimed Tobias' guitar?" he asked.
Mikey nodded and threw the pick onto the keyboard again. She stood up and carefully placed the guitar on the seat. "So what time is it?" she asked him.
"Gee let me check my watch," Michael said sarcastically, holding up his bare arm and pretending to be looking at a watch. He looked at Mikey and smiled widely.
Mikey shoved him playfully and laughed. "You loser," she told him. "Go put on some clothes so we can go over to the skate park. I wanna see Connor!" Michael nodded and padded back to his room. Mikey took a last look at the guitar that was now hers and walked to the kitchen to eat cereal. She stopped at the doorway and looked over to the peninsula table. A silhouetted figure of Tobias sitting like he always did on a stool, the newspaper in one hand and a half-eaten piece of toast in the other. Mikey shook her head and the image disappeared. She sighed and walked into the kitchen.
Fifteen minutes later, Michael walked into the family room fully clothed. He took a seat next to Mikey at the peninsula table and took the apple she offered him as they watched FUSE TV.
Mikey finished her bowl of fruit loops and slid off the stool. "We're taking my baby!" she exclaimed, leaving the empty bowl and bounding to the garage.
Michael turned off the TV and followed her, the half eaten apple in his right hand. "You do know we could just skate there right?" he asked as Mikey took the keys from its hook and pressed the button that opened the garage. Smack dab in the middle was Mikey's red Mustang that Michael and his brothers had given to her on her eighteenth birthday. It hasn't been in use a lot lately but that was kind of a good thing since the gas prices have nearly reached three dollars in the town (something that always pissed off Mikey and Zigzag for different reasons).
"Yeah but I miss driving my baby!" Mikey whined as she jumped into the driver's seat, the black hood was down.
Michael laughed and got into the other passenger seat next to her and threw the apple out in the bushes. "Yeah okay but let's see if Jordan's back home!" Michael said. Mikey turned on the ignition and put both hands on the steering wheel. She drove out of her driveway and off towards her companion's girlfriend's house.
After talking to Jordan's parents, who told them Jordan should be back any day now, Mikey and Michael drove over to the skate park. They greeted Connor enthusiastically as they skated into the garage and found him fiddling with his own bass guitar.
"How's it going Connor?" Mikey asked as she skated to and fro in front of the park owner and resident. Michael had bumped into Robert who worked as the bartender of BJ's club now and was at the moment skating around updating each other on their lives since they last met.
Connor pulled a sting of his four-string bass and looked up at her. "It's been good here," he told her. "But this new generation has less respect for the park. I've seen enough litter on the ground that if each one I gave to the BFI was a dollar, I'd have retired a very happy and damn rich man in the Bahamas by now."
Mikey laughed and shook her head. "Well, how are the newbie skaters?" she inquired.
At this Connor shook his head like he was embarrassed. "Don't get me started Mikey," he warned her. "A lot of them give up skating after about a month of failing to do an Ollie from what I see." Connor's always had a knack for remembering faces. "These kids just don't have enough spirit for it, but I give the ones who do credit. They're the more dedicated ones like you and the boys were."
Mikey nodded and smiled, knowing it was pretty rare for Connor to compliment on something. "Thanks Connor," she said.
The older man nodded, a little twinkle in his muddy brown eyes. "So how are you Mikey?" he asked, giving her a look that told her he really wanted to know. Ever since Tobias had died, his friends and her friends have been so concerned for her, but it didn't really help her grief at that time. Over the year, she had come to appreciate it because it was a sign that they really cared for her.
"I'm okay," Mikey told him. "A few depression attacks when it gets too much to bear but other than that, life's doing good for me."
Connor nodded, accepting her answer. "I hope it continues to be good to you then," he told her.
Mikey thanked him and said that she'd talk to him later and skated to one of the ramps where Michael and Robert were skating at. Robert had grown a few more inches taller over the years. His hair was still short and spiky but now he had dyed some of the tips blue. Other than that, he was still pretty much the same goofy, perverted, and wild guy like he had been back in high school.
Robert jumped off his board and opened his arms wide when he saw Mikey approach. "Dude, Mikey! Hell, you've grown a bigger chest!" he exclaimed, pointing at her. Mikey jumped off her board and put him in a head lock, giving him an extra hard noogie at his comment. "Mercy! Mercy! Uncle!" Robert yelled, waving his arms wildly.
Up on the top of the ramp, Michael laughed at them.
Mikey let go of Robert and gave him a hug. "How's it been Rob?" Mikey asked him as they picked up their boards and walked over to Michael.
"Same ol', same ol'," Robert told her. "The bartender job is pretty cool. You meet all these kinds of dudes who know these cool things!"
Mikey laughed, not really wanting to know what kind of "cool things" Robert had learned. She looked up at Michael and asked, "Hey Michael, can you call Ozz and ask where he is?"
Michael nodded and took out his cell phone. After a few minutes talking to Robert and listening to the crazy things that have happened while working at the club, Michael told Mikey that Mrs. Green had picked up and had told him that Ozz was still sleeping and Zigzag had gone to BJ's music store for supplies. "I'll try Ricky," he told her.
Mikey rolled her eyes and asks Robert if he wanted to play S-K-A-T-E. "Sure, I bet I'll beat you this time!" Robert said. Mikey shrugged and followed him. Half an hour later, Mikey only had S and K while Robert was down to the last E. If he screws up the next trick, Mikey would win. Yet again. But Robert was spared when Michael distracted Mikey from their game by telling her that Ricky and Keelie were out at the mall and would be spending the day together. "Okay but what happened to our manager?" Mikey asked as she skated up to him.
"He is at the movies with Doug," said a familiar deep voice.
"Andy!!!" Michael yelled excitedly, jumping down the ramp and running past Mikey.
Mikey herself spun around to the direction Michael was running to and smiled at the familiar face of Andy Traubenfeld, Michael and Eddie's older brother. Mikey watched the two brothers embrace with a small sad smile on her face. Andy still had long shoulder length brown hair with the same blue eyes his brothers had. He was still muscularly built like Michael, Eddie wasn't as fortunate in toned muscles as his older brothers. After Tobias death, the Downfall, Andy and Tobias's band, had fallen apart. Andy had pursued the music career though. He was now a producer at Arista thanks to Butch Walker, the one who had given the Downfall a record deal in the first place. Andy had been producer to many great bands and artists like Pink and even to Rise Against.
Mikey walked over to the brothers as they parted and took her turn to hug Andy. "Why are you here Andy?" Mikey asked him as she took a step away and smiled happily at him. Michael stood by her side.
"For pretty much the same reason your band is here," he said, looking at the pair with critical eyes. He broke into a smile. "So how's touring with that band CKY?" he asked as they made their way back over to Connor who hadnt moved from his position on the edge of the stage, bass guitar still in hand. Connor greeted Andy with a smile and they shook hands.
"It's been awesome," Michael said. "The four guys in CKY are really cool. Too bad after the last show that we are going to be back in the studio. It gets stressful and frustrating."
Mikey nodded in agreement. She heard footsteps from behind walking towards their direction and turned around. She smiled seeing Zigzag's eyes looking down at her. Beside him was Ozz, looking like he still had wanted to sleep in more. "Hey you guys!" Mikey greeted them. "Wow Zig, you actually got Ozz up at this hour!"
Connor checked his watch in confusion. "But it's nearly two in the afternoon," he said.
Michael laughed. "Yeah but it's too early for Ozz. He likes to sleep usually until four," he told him.
"Ha ha, fuck off you guys," Ozz muttered grumpily as he jumped onto the edge of the stage next to Connor.
Mikey turned to Zigzag. "What kind of supplies were you getting at BJ's?" she asked him.
Zigzag's green eyes looked down at her. "Just some new guitar strings for my acoustic. I broke two of the thinner ones this morning," he explained.
Mikey smiled at him and nodded. She felt a tap on her shoulder and spun around. Standing right in front of her was Andy. He motioned for her to follow him. Leading her away from the group, they walked around the skate park, observing the newbies or waving to people that they knew. Mikey played with the jelly bracelets on her arms before turning her head to her late brother's best friend. "So why did you really pull me away from the guys?" she asked him.
Andy chuckled lightly and turned his blue eyes to her chocolate brown eyes, like her brothers. Andy had known Tobias ever since fourth grade when they had bumped into each other and had accidentally taken the other's notebook. It had crushed Andy when he found out he had survived and his best friend hadn't. Sometimes he had wished in the past year that is should have been him, not Tobias, who died. "Mikey, I want to know if you're okay," Andy told her.
Mikey sighed heavily. Can't they just lay off of the "okay" questions for one day? "Andy, I'm fine," she told him, putting emphasis on the last word.
Andy nodded and didn't push her farther, knowing that she hated when people asked her about that. He pulled out of the inside pocket of the jacket he wore a lighter and a cigarette.
Mikey eyed the cigarette as he lit it and took a deep drag. She felt a pang in her heart, remembering that Jason use to smoke cigarettes also.
Andy looked over at her and misinterpreted the sad, almost grim look on her face as she looked at his cig. "Don't worry, I only smoke at least two a month," he reassured her.
Mikey snapped out of her thoughts of Jason and looked at him. "When did you start?" she asked.
Andy looked ahead of them and squinted up at the afternoon sky as if trying to remember.
"Umm, like about six or seven months?" he said a bit uncertainly.
Mikey's eyebrow shot up and she gave him a surprised look. "You started about the time we last visited Milpitas?" Mikey stated, more than asked.
Andy rolled his eyes and messed up the top of her hair playfully, with the same lop-sided grin his brother gets. "Don't worry kiddo. I don't smoke often," he told her.
Now it was Mikey's turn to roll her eyes. She swatted his hand away and fixed her hair. "You suck, you know that?" she told him. She smiled as Andy laughed, the wholesome sound seeming to come from deep within.