Chapter 3) Cursing, Cartoons, and Bubbles
.-.-.
My eyes snap open after hearing something metal hit the floor in the kitchen. A minute later, Mikey enters the room, holding a tray.
"What are you doing up so early, Mikes? It's only six thirty." I say, voice still deep and crackly.
"I made breakfast." He says, sitting the tray of food on the edge of the bed and climbing up to sit beside me.
"Mmm... Lucky Charms and Orange juice in a sippy cup. You're the greatest, bro." I say, ruffling his perfectly combed hair just to annoy him. He groans and smacks my hand away.
"Stop touching my hair and eat your Wucky Charms." He says, pointing his finger at me seriously.
"Aye aye, captain. How about after breakfast I start you a bath? You can pour the bubbles in." I ask, noticing how more marshmallows are ending up on his face than in his mouth.
"Bubble bath's are for babies, Geward." He sighs, milk dripping down the sides of his mouth.
"Then what do you wanna do? You can't stay dirty forever." I tell him.
"I don't know. I just don't wanna take a bath. I wanna go to school to play and see Ransom. And besides... weal men don't take bubble baths." He whines.
"But I take bubble baths." I tell him.
"I know."
.-.-.
"Mikey, it's time to get out of the bath and get ready for school." I yell, sipping my coffee and lying his Watchmen lunchbox on the counter before walking to the bathroom to check on him.
"That's gonna cost you a dollar." He says, ducking his head underwater.
"But I already paid you a dollar just so you'd get in the bath. Now I have to pay you more just so you'll get out?"
"One dollar or I'm not getting out." He says defiantly.
"Oh yes you are." I say, walking over the grabbing his arm, attempting to pull him up out of the bubbly water. But he has other plans, he grabs my tie and pulls, causing me to fall headfirst into the large tub.
"Fuck!" I yell once my head resurfaces. Mikey's watching me and shaking with laughter. "This was my good suit, Mikey. I have to be at work in an hour and a half." I whine, pointing to my now soaked tux and soapy hair.
"Stop being such a girl. It's just bubbles." He says, rolling his little eyes and splashing me.
"Oh you're so gonna pay." I say, grabbing him and covering his face with bubbles.
"GEWARD" He laughs, splashing my face again.
"What? You messed up my hair." I pout.
"Here, I'll fix it." He says, scooping up a handful of bubbles and beginning to model my hair.
Five minutes later and I'm still in the bath, admiring myself in a hand held mirror.
"Ooh nice job on the Mohawk. Very 'Ferris Bueller' of you." I tell Mikey. He giggles and a big smile appears on his face.
"Will you do my hair now?" He asks.
"I wish I could, Mikes, but we really need to go get ready now. Come on, out of the tub." I say, pulling him out of the bath beside me. I wrap him in a towel and sit him on the edge of the counter before shrugging out of my jacket.
"Do you think Ransom takes bubble baths with his daddy too?" Mikey asks.
"I'm your brother not your dad." I laugh while taking my wet tie and button down shirt off.
"Oh... well then do you think Ransom takes bubble bath's with his brother too?"
"Frank is Ransom's dad, not his brother." I tell him, taking my dress shoes and socks off.
"Ugh. I'm conwused now,Geward." He whines.
"You and me both, kid." I say, picking him up and walking out into the main room with Mikey in his towel and me dripping in my Looney Tunes boxers.
"Oh my god."
"CASEY!" Me and Mikey yell, our eyes going wide like a deer in front of headlights.
"I'm just gonna go..." She says, rubbing her eyes, grabbing her bag and pressing the button on the elevator.
"Bye Casey!" Mikey yells, as she disappears from sight. "Think we twaumatted her?" He asks.
"You mean traumatized?" I ask and he nods. "Nah, we're both hot."
-.-.-
"Daddy?"
*poke*
"Daddy are you alive?"
*poke*
"Ransom, get the hell outta my room. It's seven fucking thirty in the morning." I groan, covering my head with a pillow.
"But daddy I have to be at school by eight three zero." He says, sitting on my stomach and poking my chest again.
"I thought I told you never to wake me up. Now the boogie man is going to pop out from under your bed tonight and cut you into little pieces with a chef knife. Then he's going to turn you into chicken nuggets and some random kid at McDonald's will eat you." I tell him.
"But you told me to wake you up." He whines, bouncing up and down on top of me. I groan in pain and push him off. He lands on the bed with a thud.
"I never said that. Now go away, you're giving me a headache." I say, annoyed with him already. I feel him climb off the bed and walk to the doorway. I pull the pillow off my head and look up to see if he's disappeared.
"You did tell me to wake you up. ANNNND you said the boogie man wasn't real. Liar." He spits out, standing against the door frame with his arms crossed.
"Brat." I groan, sticking my tongue out at him.
"DICKHEAD!" He yells, pointing a finger at me and running into the living room.
"RANSOM ANTHONY THOMAS IERO, YOU GET YOUR ASS BACK IN HERE." I yell after him.
"NO! YOU'RE MEAN TO ME. YOU... YOU MEANY!" He yells back. I climb outta bed, noticing I fell asleep in a pair of black skinny's. I find him curled up on the couch, head on his knees.
"Quiet, kid. We might get kicked out again if we yell." I say, holding my index finger to my lips. I sit down beside him and rub his back. "I'm sorry, k. I did tell you to wake me up. Daddy's just lazy and didn't want to listen. Will you forgive me?" I ask.
"Maybe." He says, peaking at me through his fingers.
"Just promise me you won't say words like that anymore, please?"
"But you say bad words all the time, daddy." He says, lifting his head.
"No, I don't." I tell him.
"Yes you do. You say a lot of bad words. Like shit, and bitch, and dick, and fu..."
"I do not." I whine, covering his mouth with my hand.
"Do too."
"Do not."
"DO TOO." He says, standing up on the couch and pointing at me accusingly.
"That's fucking bullshit. I never say bad words around you." I tell him. He crosses his arms and gives me a look that says see? "Ok, how about this. Let's forget about this conversation, get dressed, and then drink Red Bull's while watching cartoons. Deal?" I ask, standing up.
"Deal." He says, running to his room to get dressed.
.-.-.
"Let's go, Mikes." I say, reaching for his hand as he climbs out of the mustang.
"Look Gee, it's Ransom and his daddy." Mikey says, pointing towards the entrance of his preschool.
"I see. Why don't we go say hi?" I ask him. He smiles and we begin our walk to the front steps.
"MIKEY!" Ransom yells, running over to us.
"RANSOM!" Mikey yells as he reaches us. He grabs Mikey's hand and they begin a very detailed conversation on the episode of Scooby Doo that was on this morning.
"Hey." I say as Frank walks over to stand beside me.
"Hey." He replies, the awkward tension growing.
"Gee, can Ransom and his daddy eat at our house tonight?" Mikey asks, tugging on my pants leg while one hand is still linked with Ransom's.
"Sure, if his daddy says yes." I reply, glancing at Frank outta the corner of my eye.
"Will your babysitter be there?" Ransom asks, looking up at me.
"No, I only have to work late on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday." I tell him. He smiles and turns to Frank.
"Can we, daddy? You could bring Pansy. Please, please please?" He whines, jumping up and down with Mikey.
"We can't, buddy. I have job interviews all day. Maybe another time." He says sadly.
"Well, Mr. Ie... I mean Frank, I could just pick him up with Mikey and you could come by after your interviews. It wouldn't be a problem." I tell him.
"Alright then, I guess. Dinner over at the Way's house." He says happily.
"YAY!" Mikey and Ransom yell before turning and running inside the preschool.
"Well I guess that's our cue to leave." Frank sighs.
"Oh, I should probably give you my phone number. You know... since we don't know each other very well and you're leaving your son with me..." I ramble, totally blowing whatever 'cool' status I had.
"Um..ok?" He says, digging his hand into the pocket of his skinny jeans and pulling out a sharpie. He hands it to me and extends his tattoo covered arm. "Just pick a spot."
"O...kay." I murmur, searching for empty space on his arm and settling on the palm of his hand. "Here's my cell number, home phone, and work number."
"Wow that's a lot of numbers." He mumbles, looking at his sharpie covered hand.
"Yea...anyways...I gotta go. I was gonna shop for some new clothes for Mikey and then hit the comic book store." I tell him, realizing too late that I sound like nerd.
"Awesome. I wish I could be doing that today. Have fun." He says, giving a small wave before turning and beginning his walk down the sidewalk.
-.-.-
"Shouldn't you be sweeping the floors of a Hot Topic?" The woman asks, chewing on the tip of her pen. I resist the urge to slap that look of disgust off her face and settle for tapping my foot.
"I quit that job, sorry." I tell her, giving a fake, cheerful smile.
"Lucky them." She mumbles, looking over my resume once again. "I see you dropped out of high school, never went to college, and have never kept a job for more than three months... Oh and you play guitar. Good thing you put that in there."
"I dropped out of high school to pursue a music career, thank you. I never went to college because I had a son to take care of, and I can't keep a job because no one will give me a damn chance." I tell her.
"Maybe if you didn't have such a temper they would have given you that chance."
"Well excuuuse me for not taking anyone's bullshit." I say, voice rising and patience disappearing.
"I think you need help, Mr. Iero. You don't seem okay." She says, scooting her chair back a couple of inches.
"That's because I'm not, Ms. Someone stuck something up my ass and never took it out."
"Mr. Iero, you need to calm down or I'll have to call security." She says, fear evident in her voice.
"Why doesn't anyone give me a fuckin' chance? I can be a hard worker if I have to be. But no, no one will give the tattoo covered, high school drop-out a fucking chance. That right there... is why I'm not o'fucking k."
"SECURITY"
-.-.-
After being escorted (and by escorted I mean thrown over one of the security guards shoulders and carried out like a toddler) out of the office building, I did the one thing that felt right. I bought a 24 pack and went home.
.-.-.
"How about we make spaghetti?" I ask them as they climb up onto the bar stools.
"Only if we can make brownies for dessert." Ransom says. I roll my eyes and begin searching for the main ingredients of pasta sauce.
"It's almost seven. When do you think your dad will be here, Ransom?" I ask, trying to rid myself of the hope in my voice.
"His last job thingy was at five thirty." Is all he says.
.-.-.
"I'm sorry my daddy never showed up." Ransom says as I pull the mustang up the the curb by his apartment building.
"Are you sure this is where you live?" I ask him skeptically. The building looks as if it hasn't been in use for years.
"Yes, third floor, number 13." He says, pushing the back door open and climbing onto the sidewalk.
"Wait a second, I'll walk you to the door." I tell him, following after him and leaving Mikey in the backseat.
"At least lock the door, Geward." Mikey calls after me, glancing around the neighborhood.
"Oh shut up, Mikes, you'll be fine." I mumble. I follow Ransom into the building, up the stairs, and to door number 13, where he takes his shoes off besides Frank's Converse. "Well, good night, buddy. We'll see you at school tomorrow." I say, ruffling his brown hair.
"Thanks for dinner, Geward." He says. Is it really that hard to say Gerard?
"No problem, Ransom. Be good for your daddy." I tell him before he walks inside and closes the door. I wait until I hear the lock click before returning to the car.
-.-.-
"Daddy... Daddy are you alright?" I ask him, poking his side. I look at the scattered empty beer bottles and know he isn't just taking a nap. "Come on, daddy. Let's go to bed." I whisper, smacking his cheek.
"What the fucking hell?" He yells, jumping up from the couch. "Ow my head. I'm going to bed." He mumbles, disappearing into his room. I run to the medicine closet and climb up the shelves.
"Where's that red one?" I ask myself, pushing cold medicines aside. "There wit is." I grab it and climb down the shelves. "Stupid kid lock." I murmur, grabbing the hammer off the shelf. I lie the pill bottle down and bring the hammer down on it as hard as I can. Luckily the plastic breaks and all the pills scatter across the living room. I grab two and fix a sippy of water before running to daddy's room and jumping up onto the bed.
"Here, daddy. These will make you all better." I tell him, he opens his eyes and takes swallows the pills with a gulp of water. When he done, I sit the water on the little table beside his bed and go to make sure the doors and windows are locked.
"Night daddy." I yell, once I'm settled on the couch, remote in hand and cartoons playing quietly.