Angsty moment coming through!
Chapter 6: Actual Scars
Later that afternoon, Jojo walked with Jonah and his brothers to their house for a second to see what their rooms are like. As soon as they step inside the house, Jojo was surprised to that this is how they're living, because their house looks pretty nice, but it's not exactly the happy family they were really living in.
"What do you think of this place?" asked Travis.
"Well, I can say that it looks pretty nice, so how could there's so much anger inside there?" asked Jojo.
"Our stepdad has a habit for beating the crap out of us and he would use several household items on us, like a golf club, baseball bat, crowbar, big pieces of wood, tree branches, or when something's breakable, little pieces of glass could come at us."
Hearing this made Jojo sick to his stomach that their stepfather would even think of doing something this horrible. He asked, "Why would he use these things at you guys?"
"Like we said, he just gets angry after a rough day at work and we're his punching bag and we hate it when we're treated like one."
"Those items weren't the only ones he would get at us, though." Sam said.
"There's more?" asked Jojo.
"Plenty. A frying pan, skillet, big pieces of furniture-like a desk, table, drawers-and even his own hands when he grabs us. And even garden tools, like a shovel, rake-just the stick of the rake."
"Do you guys get in trouble or something?"
"Somewhat, like if we lose something, if we're playing loud music, or even the smallest things, like forget to flush the toilet, playing guitar, not remembering what was the important time and event where he has to go or even oversleeping."
Jojo couldn't understand it at all that their stepfather could even think about those things, just because of something ridiculous or something like that. He asked, "Have you ever asked him to stop the abuse?"
"We have tried, but he gets super-angry at us that he threatened to literally kill us with gun. The same one he used at our mom. "
"That's gotta be hard for you guys."
"It has."
Soon after, Jojo went into Jonah's room and it was dark and moody, and when he turned on the lights, he sees everything there-a bed, computer, guitar, a mirror, rock posters and everything there. He looks around for a while and then, sees a notebook titled, 'Jonah's songbook.'
He took a look at it and in that notebook were lyrics, something that dealt with a lot of pain and suffering that he felt. Then, there was one song that definitely clicked in to his painful moment. He reads some part of the lyrics;
I woke up it was seven, waited till 11, just to figure out that no one would call I think I got a lot of friends, but I don't hear from them.
What's another night alone when you're spending everyday on your own and here it goes; I'm just a kid and life is nightmare; I'm just a kid I know that it's not fair; Nobody cares, cause I'm alone and the world is having more fun than me tonight
He goes to the next page and sees another song and he read over the next part of the verse that really resonated with his pain and suffering that he was in.
I kept everything inside and even though it tried, it all fell apart; What it meant to be will eventually be of a memory of a time I tried so hard and got so far, but in the end it doesn't even matter; I had to fall to lose it all, but in the end it doesn't really mattter
He never realized that Jonah could write something that's filled with deep pain that he's feeling and it really connected to the songs he wrote about his dad pressuring him to become mayor, even though he doesn't want to. Just then, he heard footsteps coming in and it was Jonah coming in, seeing that Jojo was looking at his songbook.
"I see you found my songbook."
Jojo turned around and saw Jonah standing there. He said, "Yeah, those songs are amazing. Did you write these?"
"Yeah, I wrote them. Most of them deal with me being sad, lonely, hurt, like I'm a social outcast and also about my abusive relationship with my stepdad."
"That's amazing."
"Check out one I wrote when I was at my lowest point and you can just read through the chorus, because this one always made me feel the pain inside of me."
He looked at his songbook and in one page, he sees a song there and reads;
You don't know me, don't ignore me, You don't want me there, just shut me out; You don't know me, don't ignore me, If you had your way, you'd shut me up; make me go away that I'm so unwanted
He can see some little spots on there and Jojo asked, "Are those...dried tears?"
"Yeah. I wrote that last year, because my stepdad called me and my brothers 'a nobody' and it really pierced my heart and I was crying a lot and I think I started writing that while I was crying. Do you know what it's like to have someone that you love, but just feel like they want to go away?"
Then, it clicked on Jojo and said, "Yeah, I do. My dad is all about me wanting to be mayor of Whoville when I really don't want to. I kept silent for a long time since I was 11 and since then, I've never really talked to anyone, because it's so hard to talk to my dad a lot and I think songwriting, for me, is a great escapism from the world and my dad as well. At times, I wish my dad would go away."
Jonah's eyes connected with Jojo's eyes and that both of them have a lot in common; songwriting and feeling that neither of their dads ever understand them. He asked, "Does it ever hurt you?"
"Emotionally and physically."
"How much scars have you had?"
Jonah closed his eyes and pulled up his shirt and there were some scars and beatings on him, made by Paul. Jojo gasped in shock when he saw that and then, he rolled up his sleeves and there were scars and bruises on his right and left arms and there were even scars in his legs too. That kind of thing made Joj feel sorry for them.
Jojo quickly nodded his head and said, "That many."
"My brothers have the same, but theirs are different."
Travis, Sam, Hawk and Cyrus told them about those scars that they had in parts of their bodies, caused by their stepdad and they all write their own songs to take away all the pain they have been dealt with. Jojo blinked his eyes and said, "I'm sorry he did that to you guys."
"We don't like him around us and it made us really scared, like we just want to run away one day and never come back." Travis said.
"He makes us really scared that one of us would...puke."
Jojo widened his eyes and asked, "You would...vomit?"
"Mm-hmm."
"Who does it?"
"I'd say all of us, but mostly me and Jonah." Travis said.
"Why?"
"Seeing him and his face made us sick to our stomachs that we would just upchuck heavily. It was so bad."
"What would happen if you stayed here long enough?"
That question really brought them to tears and Jonah responded, "That we would die."
"And never live to see another day." Hawk said.
"I'm sorry, guys."
"Anyways, I think you need to get home, because my dad gets very ticked when visitors come in unannounced."
Jojo could see that the fear of their stepdad coming in to see him in the house might pop his vein. He nodded his head and said, "I hope you guys are gonna be okay."
"And Jojo?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks for getting us out of that fight back at the gym. No friend would do that for us." Cyrus said.
Jojo chuckled and said, "You guys are my new best friends. If you need someone to talk to, just call me up."
"Will do." Sam said, tearfully.
"You guys can give me the number when we're at school, okay?"
"Sure thing."
"See you guys tomorrow."
Jojo walked off the house, leaving all five brothers in a state of tears after hearing Jojo call them his 'new best friends' and they went through the window to see him walk back home. Jonah's the one that really got the most emotional, because he referred to Jojo as his 'best friend'.
Travis heard Jonah crying behind him and he turned to him and asked, "Why are you crying, Jonah?"
Jonah sniffled a little and said, "Nobody's ever referred to me as their best friend before."
"So, how did it make you feel?" asked Hawk.
"I don't know, it just feels as if a little piece of me is healing up."
"We feel the same way too."
Does that touch your heartstrings? BTW, those songs were 'In the End' from Linkin Park, 'I'm Just a Kid' from Simple Plan and 'Unwanted' from Avril Lavigne. I feel sorry for these guys. It's a good thing Jojo's here for them. Stay tuned for more of this sad story.