Green Day's helping hand, chapter 1
"Mom, where are my fucking sandals?," Matt asked his mom.
"I put um in your duffle bag. Stop swearing," She answered
"Okay," as he rolled his eyes, "I won't. Thanks," Matt said.
Meet the Mocciaro family, and effluent family from the section of Los Angeles called Brentwood. The Mocciaro family is made up of two parents, Perry and Becky, and two sons, Matt and Mike. Perry and Becky had celebrated their 31st wedding anniversary last May. Mike had just graduated from USC last June, and had just had his 23rd birthday. Matt, who turned 16 last September, was an insane Green Day freak, with poster's all over his walls and he knew most of their songs. Today, Matt was packing for a weekend-long beach camping trip with the swim team from school. Matt was excited. He had been thinking about this trip for weeks, planning in his mind what he would do, what would happen, and how much fun it would be. The second reason for his excitement was not because of where he was going, but who was going with him. Dylan Bushnell was the most gorgeous, fit, smart, well spoken, and funny boy in Matt's grade, and Matt was in love with him. When he sat next to Dylan in science, his eyes would always travel to Dylan's ass and biceps, which were truly fantastic, and rock hard. Only Matt's friends knew he was gay, but most people at school and his family didn't. Matt's family was totally open and couldn't care less about Matt's sexual preference, but Matt felt it was really something they didn't need to know, and was therefore, none of their business. Today, Matt was making sure he had everything he needed for the weekend.
"So you're sure you have everything? Your cell phone and iPod?" Matt's mom asked as his ride pulled up in front of their house.
"Yes, mom, I'm sure. See ya Sunday," Matt said as he loaded his stuff into the back of the car, got in, and pulled away.
"You got a nice house, dude," Preston said to Matt as they drove away.
"It's okay," Matt said knowing perfectly well what Preston said was true. Matt's house was bigger than most of the kids at school's houses. And of course it was. Matt's parents were wealthy, since working as lawyers was a very financially rewarding job in Los Angeles. His parents drove nice cars, and they even had Tivo. But Matt was not a snob, actually, he was far from it. His parents had instilled a sense of pride in who he was since he was a kid, but they were never snobby, so he wasn't either.
"Hey Matt. Did you get the science homework done yet?" Dylan asked him
"Uh, no, no I didn't yet," Matt said trying his best not to blush and look him in the eye.
"Dude, I'm so fucking excited for this trip. It's gonna be fucking awesome," Preston said.
"Yeah," Matt and Dylan said at the same time.
Soon, they reached the Pacific Coast Highway, or PCH, and sped up the coast to Malibu beach, where their campsite was. After about 20 minutes, the three reached the campsite, where they were greeted by the rest of the swim team.
"Hey you guys, grab your stuff and start setting up camp," their coach said as he started setting up his tent. "Grab a tent, two people to a tent each."
"Okay," each person said as they walked by him.
"Hey Matt, guess were tent partners," Dylan said with a smile.
"What? Isn't there someone else you would rather be with?" Matt asked
"It's not about who I'd rather be with. We are the only one's without tent partners," Dylan said.
"Okay," Matt said as he scream with delight on the inside. "It's fate," he thought to himself.
After all the tents were set up, the sun set and the team gathered around the campfire the coach and a couple of other people built. They sang songs and put on little skits and had dinner. At about 10, the coach said it was time for bed, and ordered everybody back to their tents. For most of the swimmers on Matt's all male swim team, getting lucky tonight was not on their minds. But it was on Matt's.
"Warm night," Dylan said. It was warm. It was only March, but the city was going through an unusual heatwave. It was at least 85 outside. It was bizarre weather.
"Yeah, yeah it is," Matt agreed.
"I'm taking off my shirt, cause I'm sweating like a bitch in this sleeping bag. My sweatpants too. Fuck, it's hot," Dylan said
"Yeah, I'm taking mine off too, I'm getting hot in my sleeping bag also," Matt said.
Both Matt and Dylan were in good shape. They had to be, considering they were on the top team in the county. But Dylan's physique was something special, something truly beautiful. Matt was so turned on, but something in the back of his mind kept telling him not to make a move.
"So you got one of those video iPods, right?" Dylan asked.
"Yeah, you wanna watch something?" Matt asked him.
"Sure. What do you got?" Dylan asked
"I got a couple of Green Day video's," Matt answered
"Okay. Which one's?" Dylan asked
"Only Holiday and American Idiot," Matt answered
"Okay, holiday then," Dylan said.
The two watched the video, and really enjoyed it. But the sort of small screen meant they had to lye right next to each other to watch it. And I mean right night to each other. Matt was tempted, but he was still trying to resist temptation, fearing Dylan would freakout or be mad at him.
"That was really cool," Dylan said to Matt. Their faces were about two inches apart at this point, close enough for Matt to see the little blue specks that laced Dylan's piercing light blue eyes. Dylan was beautiful, truly gorgeous.
"Matt?" Dylan said.
"Yeah," Matt answered.
"I know you always stare at my ass in science class," Dylan said.
"You do?" Matt said blushing and sweating a little bit more than he was before.
"It's okay dude, actually, I'm kind of flattered," Dylan said.
"It's not like I planned it and I'm not like stalking you or anything...." Matt said in a panicked rush.
"Dude, calm down. Like I just said, I'm flattered. In fact, I'm more than flattered, I'm, I'm...." Dylan said as he leaned in to kiss Matt. Matt was a little surprised at first, but then finally got into what he was doing and closed his eyes. Dylan did the same. The two kissed for what seemed like hours, but were only minutes. It has been said that two people who are compatible will have spit that tastes sweet to the other person. To Matt, Dylan's spit was candy to him, sweet sweet sweet. Dylan thought the same about him. When the two woke up the next morning, Sunday, they woke up to the sound of rain. As they opened their eyes, they looked at each other and smiled. Then they kissed again.
"Good morning," Matt said.
"Morning," Dylan said.
Suddenly, the door to their tent zipped open. It was their coach.
"Morning guys. Guess you like to sleep late," their coach said.
"What time is it?" Matt asked.
"About ten," the coach said. "Sorry to tell you this, guys, but I'm afraid we have to pack up early. Rain has sort of ended our weekend. I'll get you some garbage bags so that you can protect your stuff, and so you can protect yourselves. So, get dressed and packed up and I'll be right back."
As soon as the coach left, the two started to talk.
"What a night, huh?" Dylan asked.
"Yeah," Matt answered.
"So, what do we do now? Do we keep this up, you know date? Boyfriend and Boyfriend? At school?" Dylan asked
"Sure, why not?" Matt asked.
"Well, do you want everyone to know?" Dylan asked
"Yeah, sure, we should date. We obviously got something here," Matt said.
"And at school?" Dylan asked
"Yeah, at school too," Matt answered.
The two boys got dressed and packed up, and their coach brought them some garbage bags. They covered their stuff and themselves and went outside. It was sure raining hard. They put their stuff under on of the picnic tables to protect them from the rain, and took down their tent. Soon, all the rides came and picked them up. Matt got out his cell phone and called his mom.
"Hey mom, it's raining here, so we have to come back a couple of hours early. Will you be home by the time I come?" Matt asked his mom.
"Probably not. Your father and I are going up to the grapevine for some wine tasting with your brother and Aaron. We took his car. See you later today. I love you," Matt's mom said to him
"Love you to mom, bye" Matt said as he hung up.
For the whole car ride back, Matt and Dylan held hands.
"Dude, are you two like going out or something?" Preston asked.
"Actually, yeah, we are," Dylan answered.
"Wow, dude," Preston said sort of shocked. "I thought you two were straight."
"I guess you thought wrong," Matt said.
About forty-five minutes later, Matt arrived home. He let himself in. He thought it was raining like a bitch on her period out there, but then took it back cause he thought that was a tasteless joke to make. He listened to some music and watched some TV. It began to thunder outside. The lights flickered from time to time, but the satellite dish reception stayed fine. As the day went on, Matt wondered to himself when his family would return. Nightfall came soon, and Matt's concern grew. Finally, as the clock struck ten, he had had it. He called his dad's cell. No answer. He called his Mom's. No answer. He called his brother's. No answer. Matt was getting scared. "Where is my family?" he thought to himself. Suddenly, the doorbell rang. Matt got up and answered it.
Standing there was a police officer, a very sad looking police officer.
"Hello officer. Sorry, no pot this time, guess you gotta bust someone else tonight. Just joking," Matt kidded with the officers.
"Yeah, that was pretty funny kid," the police officer said meaningfully, but sadly.
"So what's the problem tonight, Officer....." Matt said
"It's officer Brady," Officer Brady answered.
"Something I could do for you tonight Officer Brady?" Matt asked him.
"Son, I'm afraid I got some, some bad news," Officer Brady said with a tear in his eye.
"What happened? Is this about my family? What happened?" Matt asked.
"Son, I'm afraid there's been an accident," Officer Brady started reluctantly. "The roads today were quite slippery. You know very well what can happen to a car with bald tires when the roads are real slippery, don't you?" Officer Brady asked.
"Yeah, they skid and crash. What accident? What's going on? Did my brother's car skid and crash?" Matt asked.
"Not his car. I'm afraid a big rig, without a trailer, had an issue with bald tires. It had 5 of them. It came up to quickly on a curve of a narrow road up in the hills of the grapevine, and it skid. Your family had been traveling through that same curve at that exact same moment going the opposite direction. The truck skid and, well, you know when a guy in hockey slams a guy sideways into a wall. That's what this truck did. It smashed your family's car sideways against the guardrail. The car smashed through the guardrail, and fell down a mountain side," Officer Brady said.
"What? Oh my god, are they okay, oh my god," Matt said in a panic as tears of fear began to well up in his eyes.
"Son, I'm afraid they didn't make it. None of them did. Actually, when we arrived on the scene, your mother was still barely alive. She told us that she wanted us to tell you that she loved you and that she was proud of you and always will be. She said she was sorry for leaving you like this," Officer Brady said. "Here," Officer Brady said as he handed him a box. "It's your parents and your brother's wallet. It also contains their jewelry and other personal possessions they had with them when they crashed.
As Matt took the box from Officer Brady, and threw it somewhere behind himself, all the color drained from Matt's body. He felt sick. The bathroom was right next to where he was standing, so he rushed inside and began to throw up in the toilet. He was having trouble comprehending what he had just been told.
"Son, do you need some help?" The officer, still waiting outside, asked him.
"No, I'll be fine. Thank you," Matt said flatly as he shut the door. Matt walked upstairs to his room and shut the door. HE started to cry.
"Aaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Matt screamed at the top of his lungs, tears running down his cheeks. "Oh my god, oh my god, why is this happening. How could this happen" Matt sobbed. He was an orphan, an orphan. His family was gone, just like that. He never even got to say goodbye, that he loved them. His mind just couldn't wrap itself around the thing. He cried, but he still didn't get it yet, that he really would never see his family again. That night, Matt cried himself to sleep. When he woke up early the next morning, he felt numb and cold. He went outside to get the newspaper. On the front page, a story with the headline "Family killed in accident" ran. He read it. It read:
"Yesterday afternoon, tragedy struck. While traveling back from a day in the grapevine, Brentwood locals Perry and Rebecca Mocciaro, as well as their son Michael and his girlfriend, the car they traveled in was struck by a runaway truck. The car rolled down a hill side, and finally came to rest in a field of brush. There were no survivors. Perry Mocciaro, 55, had been a wealthy lawyer, a partner at his law firm. His wife, 53, was also a successful lawyer, who's first job was at rod's hickory pit in Berkeley, Cal. Their son, 23, had been a recent graduate of USC, and had almost finished his first semester at graduate school. The fate of their other son, Matthew, 16, is unknown. Not present in the accident, he could not yet be reached for comment."
Matt clipped the article out, and slipped it into his pocket. He packed his backpack with his school books, and packed his lunch. He got dressed for school and found the box that the officer had given him last night. He found his dad's car key inside. He also found his dad's platinum card inside. He figured he would need this for later. He went inside the garage. Inside, his parents cars were parked, waiting to be driven once again. His dad's car, a silver Porsche Boxster S, gleamed in the light from the lights above it. Fortunately, Matt's father had taught him how to drive a stick before he died. Matthew started the car, backed out of the garage, and drove to school. He felt numb and cold still, and his eyes hurt from crying so much. He tried to think of something else. He put on a green day CD. "Wake Me Up When September Ends," came on. He remembered it was a song Billie Joe wrote about how he's dealt with his father's passing over his life. The lyrics comforted Matt, and soon he felt temporarily better. When Matt parked the car, he grabbed his stuff, and walked to class. Math was first. He walked into class, and sat down at his usual seat.
"Wow, Matt, you look like shit," Thomas, the boy who sat next to him said.
Matt didn't reply.
"You okay Matt?" Thomas asked concerned.
Matt didn't reply. At that moment, Sorme, a girl that really bugged him, sat down. She was sort of a friend, but she was still really annoying.
"So Matt, how was your weekend?" Sorme asked obnoxiously perky.
Matt just rested his elbows on the desk, and rested his head on them.
"Matt, you okay?" Sorme asked
"My weekend was bad. Let's just end it there," Matt said flatly.
"What's wrong?" Sorme asked.
"Nothing is wrong," Matt said defensively.
"Something is obviously wrong, I can see it," Sorme said
"Nothing is wrong, lets just drop it," Matt said.
"Please tell me. Please, please, please!" Sorme pleaded.
"Please, Please, Please!" Matt said mockingly. "I told you nothing was wrong, but you wouldn't shut your fucking face would you, you dumb, ugly bitch, would you?" Matt said angrily.
"What the fuck is your problem?" Sorme asked.
"This," Matt said as he handed her the article he had clipped out of the newspaper.
As Sorme read the article, her eyes widened. Tears began to well up in her eyes. When she finished, she ran over to Matt and squeezed him.
"Oh my god, Matt! Oh god, you poor soul. Why are you here? You shouldn't be here. You should be at home, grieving," Sorme told him.
"I can't go home and grieve. I can't stand that feeling of loneliness, that feeling that when I cry, no one will be there to comfort me. I had to come here to take my mind off of things, so I could try and make it through the day without a mental breakdown," Matt said.
"I'm here for you Matt. I know what your going through. My cat died last month,"
Sorme said.
"Get off of me," Matt said flatly.
"What? I couldn't hear what you said," Sorme asked.
"I said get the fuck off me," Matt said loudly as he shoved her off him and onto the floor. "How dare you tell me you know what I'm going through. You have no idea what I'm going through. I lost my whole family. I woke up yesterday, and I still had one. I woke up today, and I was an orphan. An orphan Sorme. Not some dumb fuck that lost their furball hacking, shit-in-a-box, scratch up the couch pussy. Fuck your cat, and fuck you bitch. You have no idea what it's like for me right now. Now everyone at school will know, and pity me, feel sorry for me. I don't need, or even want, their pity. My parents raised me to have pride, raised me to be proud of who I was, and my family. Pity is for the weak, and I'm not weak. Fuck your pity, all of you, damn it to hell," Matt said as he sat back down in his chair.
The class clapped, overhearing the whole story, and applauding Matt's speech.
"What the hell is going on here," the teacher said as she came running over.
Someone whispered something in her ear. Her eyes widened, and she immediately rushed over and hugged Matt.
"You poor dear, oh god, you poor poor child," The teacher said to Matt.
"Did you not just hear my speech? I don't want your pity. All I want is for somebody to start this mother fucking class already," Matt said.
As the day went on, and word spread, people would start to come up to Matt, offering their sentiments. Matt just pushed them away when they tried. Matt did not eat lunch with his friends that day, instead, he chilled in the library and listened to music. Finally, science, the last period of the day, came. Dylan, who obviously heard the news, came up and hugged Matt, and then kissed him on the cheek.
"Thanks. I needed that from you today," Matt said as he rested his head on Dylan's shoulders. Well, there's go that secret. That also spread quickly. Finally, the day ended, and Matt started to walk back to his dad's car, which was sadly now his own. As he did, Dylan walked up beside him, and held his hand. The two walked to Matt's car, and the two got in.
"What are you doing?" Matt asked Dylan.
"I'm going with you. You need me right now," Dylan said.
"Yeah, you're right. I do. But could you do me a favor?" Matt asked.
"Sure, anything," Dylan said.
"Could you call Camille for me and tell her that she needs to come see me?" Matt asked.
"You mean your best friend Camille?" Dylan asked.
"Yeah. Her phone number's already plugged into my phone" Matt said.
Dylan called her, and told her everything that happened. When she asked who she was talking to, Dylan said "Matt's boyfriend" Camille came to Matt's house, and they talked. They talked about how he was feeling, about what he needed, and stuff he couldn't talk to Dylan about. The three all stayed at Matt's now empty house for the night. For the next week, Matt listened to Green Day music and stayed home. Green Day music seemed to help him get through this. His aunt and uncle got Matt a lawyer, and sued the trucking company who's truck crashed into Matt's family. They won too. 10 million bucks. Not only could he pay off the house, he would easily be set up financially for a good long while. About four months after that, Matt wrote a letter to Green Day. It said:
"Dear Green Day:
I really want to thank you for writing such inspirational music. It's really helped me get though the death of my parents and brother. I would have probably killed myself by now if your music hadn't made me feel better. I put the article about my parents accident in here so you would believe me. I just wanted to say thanks.
Sincerely,
Matt Mocciaro."
A month went by since Matt mailed the letter. Matt had been dying in anticipation over the reply. Finally, it came. But not how he had expected. The doorbell rang one day. Matthew walked up and opened it. To his shock and awe, behind that door was no other than Billie-fucking-Joe Armstrong, in the flesh.
"I put um in your duffle bag. Stop swearing," She answered
"Okay," as he rolled his eyes, "I won't. Thanks," Matt said.
Meet the Mocciaro family, and effluent family from the section of Los Angeles called Brentwood. The Mocciaro family is made up of two parents, Perry and Becky, and two sons, Matt and Mike. Perry and Becky had celebrated their 31st wedding anniversary last May. Mike had just graduated from USC last June, and had just had his 23rd birthday. Matt, who turned 16 last September, was an insane Green Day freak, with poster's all over his walls and he knew most of their songs. Today, Matt was packing for a weekend-long beach camping trip with the swim team from school. Matt was excited. He had been thinking about this trip for weeks, planning in his mind what he would do, what would happen, and how much fun it would be. The second reason for his excitement was not because of where he was going, but who was going with him. Dylan Bushnell was the most gorgeous, fit, smart, well spoken, and funny boy in Matt's grade, and Matt was in love with him. When he sat next to Dylan in science, his eyes would always travel to Dylan's ass and biceps, which were truly fantastic, and rock hard. Only Matt's friends knew he was gay, but most people at school and his family didn't. Matt's family was totally open and couldn't care less about Matt's sexual preference, but Matt felt it was really something they didn't need to know, and was therefore, none of their business. Today, Matt was making sure he had everything he needed for the weekend.
"So you're sure you have everything? Your cell phone and iPod?" Matt's mom asked as his ride pulled up in front of their house.
"Yes, mom, I'm sure. See ya Sunday," Matt said as he loaded his stuff into the back of the car, got in, and pulled away.
"You got a nice house, dude," Preston said to Matt as they drove away.
"It's okay," Matt said knowing perfectly well what Preston said was true. Matt's house was bigger than most of the kids at school's houses. And of course it was. Matt's parents were wealthy, since working as lawyers was a very financially rewarding job in Los Angeles. His parents drove nice cars, and they even had Tivo. But Matt was not a snob, actually, he was far from it. His parents had instilled a sense of pride in who he was since he was a kid, but they were never snobby, so he wasn't either.
"Hey Matt. Did you get the science homework done yet?" Dylan asked him
"Uh, no, no I didn't yet," Matt said trying his best not to blush and look him in the eye.
"Dude, I'm so fucking excited for this trip. It's gonna be fucking awesome," Preston said.
"Yeah," Matt and Dylan said at the same time.
Soon, they reached the Pacific Coast Highway, or PCH, and sped up the coast to Malibu beach, where their campsite was. After about 20 minutes, the three reached the campsite, where they were greeted by the rest of the swim team.
"Hey you guys, grab your stuff and start setting up camp," their coach said as he started setting up his tent. "Grab a tent, two people to a tent each."
"Okay," each person said as they walked by him.
"Hey Matt, guess were tent partners," Dylan said with a smile.
"What? Isn't there someone else you would rather be with?" Matt asked
"It's not about who I'd rather be with. We are the only one's without tent partners," Dylan said.
"Okay," Matt said as he scream with delight on the inside. "It's fate," he thought to himself.
After all the tents were set up, the sun set and the team gathered around the campfire the coach and a couple of other people built. They sang songs and put on little skits and had dinner. At about 10, the coach said it was time for bed, and ordered everybody back to their tents. For most of the swimmers on Matt's all male swim team, getting lucky tonight was not on their minds. But it was on Matt's.
"Warm night," Dylan said. It was warm. It was only March, but the city was going through an unusual heatwave. It was at least 85 outside. It was bizarre weather.
"Yeah, yeah it is," Matt agreed.
"I'm taking off my shirt, cause I'm sweating like a bitch in this sleeping bag. My sweatpants too. Fuck, it's hot," Dylan said
"Yeah, I'm taking mine off too, I'm getting hot in my sleeping bag also," Matt said.
Both Matt and Dylan were in good shape. They had to be, considering they were on the top team in the county. But Dylan's physique was something special, something truly beautiful. Matt was so turned on, but something in the back of his mind kept telling him not to make a move.
"So you got one of those video iPods, right?" Dylan asked.
"Yeah, you wanna watch something?" Matt asked him.
"Sure. What do you got?" Dylan asked
"I got a couple of Green Day video's," Matt answered
"Okay. Which one's?" Dylan asked
"Only Holiday and American Idiot," Matt answered
"Okay, holiday then," Dylan said.
The two watched the video, and really enjoyed it. But the sort of small screen meant they had to lye right next to each other to watch it. And I mean right night to each other. Matt was tempted, but he was still trying to resist temptation, fearing Dylan would freakout or be mad at him.
"That was really cool," Dylan said to Matt. Their faces were about two inches apart at this point, close enough for Matt to see the little blue specks that laced Dylan's piercing light blue eyes. Dylan was beautiful, truly gorgeous.
"Matt?" Dylan said.
"Yeah," Matt answered.
"I know you always stare at my ass in science class," Dylan said.
"You do?" Matt said blushing and sweating a little bit more than he was before.
"It's okay dude, actually, I'm kind of flattered," Dylan said.
"It's not like I planned it and I'm not like stalking you or anything...." Matt said in a panicked rush.
"Dude, calm down. Like I just said, I'm flattered. In fact, I'm more than flattered, I'm, I'm...." Dylan said as he leaned in to kiss Matt. Matt was a little surprised at first, but then finally got into what he was doing and closed his eyes. Dylan did the same. The two kissed for what seemed like hours, but were only minutes. It has been said that two people who are compatible will have spit that tastes sweet to the other person. To Matt, Dylan's spit was candy to him, sweet sweet sweet. Dylan thought the same about him. When the two woke up the next morning, Sunday, they woke up to the sound of rain. As they opened their eyes, they looked at each other and smiled. Then they kissed again.
"Good morning," Matt said.
"Morning," Dylan said.
Suddenly, the door to their tent zipped open. It was their coach.
"Morning guys. Guess you like to sleep late," their coach said.
"What time is it?" Matt asked.
"About ten," the coach said. "Sorry to tell you this, guys, but I'm afraid we have to pack up early. Rain has sort of ended our weekend. I'll get you some garbage bags so that you can protect your stuff, and so you can protect yourselves. So, get dressed and packed up and I'll be right back."
As soon as the coach left, the two started to talk.
"What a night, huh?" Dylan asked.
"Yeah," Matt answered.
"So, what do we do now? Do we keep this up, you know date? Boyfriend and Boyfriend? At school?" Dylan asked
"Sure, why not?" Matt asked.
"Well, do you want everyone to know?" Dylan asked
"Yeah, sure, we should date. We obviously got something here," Matt said.
"And at school?" Dylan asked
"Yeah, at school too," Matt answered.
The two boys got dressed and packed up, and their coach brought them some garbage bags. They covered their stuff and themselves and went outside. It was sure raining hard. They put their stuff under on of the picnic tables to protect them from the rain, and took down their tent. Soon, all the rides came and picked them up. Matt got out his cell phone and called his mom.
"Hey mom, it's raining here, so we have to come back a couple of hours early. Will you be home by the time I come?" Matt asked his mom.
"Probably not. Your father and I are going up to the grapevine for some wine tasting with your brother and Aaron. We took his car. See you later today. I love you," Matt's mom said to him
"Love you to mom, bye" Matt said as he hung up.
For the whole car ride back, Matt and Dylan held hands.
"Dude, are you two like going out or something?" Preston asked.
"Actually, yeah, we are," Dylan answered.
"Wow, dude," Preston said sort of shocked. "I thought you two were straight."
"I guess you thought wrong," Matt said.
About forty-five minutes later, Matt arrived home. He let himself in. He thought it was raining like a bitch on her period out there, but then took it back cause he thought that was a tasteless joke to make. He listened to some music and watched some TV. It began to thunder outside. The lights flickered from time to time, but the satellite dish reception stayed fine. As the day went on, Matt wondered to himself when his family would return. Nightfall came soon, and Matt's concern grew. Finally, as the clock struck ten, he had had it. He called his dad's cell. No answer. He called his Mom's. No answer. He called his brother's. No answer. Matt was getting scared. "Where is my family?" he thought to himself. Suddenly, the doorbell rang. Matt got up and answered it.
Standing there was a police officer, a very sad looking police officer.
"Hello officer. Sorry, no pot this time, guess you gotta bust someone else tonight. Just joking," Matt kidded with the officers.
"Yeah, that was pretty funny kid," the police officer said meaningfully, but sadly.
"So what's the problem tonight, Officer....." Matt said
"It's officer Brady," Officer Brady answered.
"Something I could do for you tonight Officer Brady?" Matt asked him.
"Son, I'm afraid I got some, some bad news," Officer Brady said with a tear in his eye.
"What happened? Is this about my family? What happened?" Matt asked.
"Son, I'm afraid there's been an accident," Officer Brady started reluctantly. "The roads today were quite slippery. You know very well what can happen to a car with bald tires when the roads are real slippery, don't you?" Officer Brady asked.
"Yeah, they skid and crash. What accident? What's going on? Did my brother's car skid and crash?" Matt asked.
"Not his car. I'm afraid a big rig, without a trailer, had an issue with bald tires. It had 5 of them. It came up to quickly on a curve of a narrow road up in the hills of the grapevine, and it skid. Your family had been traveling through that same curve at that exact same moment going the opposite direction. The truck skid and, well, you know when a guy in hockey slams a guy sideways into a wall. That's what this truck did. It smashed your family's car sideways against the guardrail. The car smashed through the guardrail, and fell down a mountain side," Officer Brady said.
"What? Oh my god, are they okay, oh my god," Matt said in a panic as tears of fear began to well up in his eyes.
"Son, I'm afraid they didn't make it. None of them did. Actually, when we arrived on the scene, your mother was still barely alive. She told us that she wanted us to tell you that she loved you and that she was proud of you and always will be. She said she was sorry for leaving you like this," Officer Brady said. "Here," Officer Brady said as he handed him a box. "It's your parents and your brother's wallet. It also contains their jewelry and other personal possessions they had with them when they crashed.
As Matt took the box from Officer Brady, and threw it somewhere behind himself, all the color drained from Matt's body. He felt sick. The bathroom was right next to where he was standing, so he rushed inside and began to throw up in the toilet. He was having trouble comprehending what he had just been told.
"Son, do you need some help?" The officer, still waiting outside, asked him.
"No, I'll be fine. Thank you," Matt said flatly as he shut the door. Matt walked upstairs to his room and shut the door. HE started to cry.
"Aaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Matt screamed at the top of his lungs, tears running down his cheeks. "Oh my god, oh my god, why is this happening. How could this happen" Matt sobbed. He was an orphan, an orphan. His family was gone, just like that. He never even got to say goodbye, that he loved them. His mind just couldn't wrap itself around the thing. He cried, but he still didn't get it yet, that he really would never see his family again. That night, Matt cried himself to sleep. When he woke up early the next morning, he felt numb and cold. He went outside to get the newspaper. On the front page, a story with the headline "Family killed in accident" ran. He read it. It read:
"Yesterday afternoon, tragedy struck. While traveling back from a day in the grapevine, Brentwood locals Perry and Rebecca Mocciaro, as well as their son Michael and his girlfriend, the car they traveled in was struck by a runaway truck. The car rolled down a hill side, and finally came to rest in a field of brush. There were no survivors. Perry Mocciaro, 55, had been a wealthy lawyer, a partner at his law firm. His wife, 53, was also a successful lawyer, who's first job was at rod's hickory pit in Berkeley, Cal. Their son, 23, had been a recent graduate of USC, and had almost finished his first semester at graduate school. The fate of their other son, Matthew, 16, is unknown. Not present in the accident, he could not yet be reached for comment."
Matt clipped the article out, and slipped it into his pocket. He packed his backpack with his school books, and packed his lunch. He got dressed for school and found the box that the officer had given him last night. He found his dad's car key inside. He also found his dad's platinum card inside. He figured he would need this for later. He went inside the garage. Inside, his parents cars were parked, waiting to be driven once again. His dad's car, a silver Porsche Boxster S, gleamed in the light from the lights above it. Fortunately, Matt's father had taught him how to drive a stick before he died. Matthew started the car, backed out of the garage, and drove to school. He felt numb and cold still, and his eyes hurt from crying so much. He tried to think of something else. He put on a green day CD. "Wake Me Up When September Ends," came on. He remembered it was a song Billie Joe wrote about how he's dealt with his father's passing over his life. The lyrics comforted Matt, and soon he felt temporarily better. When Matt parked the car, he grabbed his stuff, and walked to class. Math was first. He walked into class, and sat down at his usual seat.
"Wow, Matt, you look like shit," Thomas, the boy who sat next to him said.
Matt didn't reply.
"You okay Matt?" Thomas asked concerned.
Matt didn't reply. At that moment, Sorme, a girl that really bugged him, sat down. She was sort of a friend, but she was still really annoying.
"So Matt, how was your weekend?" Sorme asked obnoxiously perky.
Matt just rested his elbows on the desk, and rested his head on them.
"Matt, you okay?" Sorme asked
"My weekend was bad. Let's just end it there," Matt said flatly.
"What's wrong?" Sorme asked.
"Nothing is wrong," Matt said defensively.
"Something is obviously wrong, I can see it," Sorme said
"Nothing is wrong, lets just drop it," Matt said.
"Please tell me. Please, please, please!" Sorme pleaded.
"Please, Please, Please!" Matt said mockingly. "I told you nothing was wrong, but you wouldn't shut your fucking face would you, you dumb, ugly bitch, would you?" Matt said angrily.
"What the fuck is your problem?" Sorme asked.
"This," Matt said as he handed her the article he had clipped out of the newspaper.
As Sorme read the article, her eyes widened. Tears began to well up in her eyes. When she finished, she ran over to Matt and squeezed him.
"Oh my god, Matt! Oh god, you poor soul. Why are you here? You shouldn't be here. You should be at home, grieving," Sorme told him.
"I can't go home and grieve. I can't stand that feeling of loneliness, that feeling that when I cry, no one will be there to comfort me. I had to come here to take my mind off of things, so I could try and make it through the day without a mental breakdown," Matt said.
"I'm here for you Matt. I know what your going through. My cat died last month,"
Sorme said.
"Get off of me," Matt said flatly.
"What? I couldn't hear what you said," Sorme asked.
"I said get the fuck off me," Matt said loudly as he shoved her off him and onto the floor. "How dare you tell me you know what I'm going through. You have no idea what I'm going through. I lost my whole family. I woke up yesterday, and I still had one. I woke up today, and I was an orphan. An orphan Sorme. Not some dumb fuck that lost their furball hacking, shit-in-a-box, scratch up the couch pussy. Fuck your cat, and fuck you bitch. You have no idea what it's like for me right now. Now everyone at school will know, and pity me, feel sorry for me. I don't need, or even want, their pity. My parents raised me to have pride, raised me to be proud of who I was, and my family. Pity is for the weak, and I'm not weak. Fuck your pity, all of you, damn it to hell," Matt said as he sat back down in his chair.
The class clapped, overhearing the whole story, and applauding Matt's speech.
"What the hell is going on here," the teacher said as she came running over.
Someone whispered something in her ear. Her eyes widened, and she immediately rushed over and hugged Matt.
"You poor dear, oh god, you poor poor child," The teacher said to Matt.
"Did you not just hear my speech? I don't want your pity. All I want is for somebody to start this mother fucking class already," Matt said.
As the day went on, and word spread, people would start to come up to Matt, offering their sentiments. Matt just pushed them away when they tried. Matt did not eat lunch with his friends that day, instead, he chilled in the library and listened to music. Finally, science, the last period of the day, came. Dylan, who obviously heard the news, came up and hugged Matt, and then kissed him on the cheek.
"Thanks. I needed that from you today," Matt said as he rested his head on Dylan's shoulders. Well, there's go that secret. That also spread quickly. Finally, the day ended, and Matt started to walk back to his dad's car, which was sadly now his own. As he did, Dylan walked up beside him, and held his hand. The two walked to Matt's car, and the two got in.
"What are you doing?" Matt asked Dylan.
"I'm going with you. You need me right now," Dylan said.
"Yeah, you're right. I do. But could you do me a favor?" Matt asked.
"Sure, anything," Dylan said.
"Could you call Camille for me and tell her that she needs to come see me?" Matt asked.
"You mean your best friend Camille?" Dylan asked.
"Yeah. Her phone number's already plugged into my phone" Matt said.
Dylan called her, and told her everything that happened. When she asked who she was talking to, Dylan said "Matt's boyfriend" Camille came to Matt's house, and they talked. They talked about how he was feeling, about what he needed, and stuff he couldn't talk to Dylan about. The three all stayed at Matt's now empty house for the night. For the next week, Matt listened to Green Day music and stayed home. Green Day music seemed to help him get through this. His aunt and uncle got Matt a lawyer, and sued the trucking company who's truck crashed into Matt's family. They won too. 10 million bucks. Not only could he pay off the house, he would easily be set up financially for a good long while. About four months after that, Matt wrote a letter to Green Day. It said:
"Dear Green Day:
I really want to thank you for writing such inspirational music. It's really helped me get though the death of my parents and brother. I would have probably killed myself by now if your music hadn't made me feel better. I put the article about my parents accident in here so you would believe me. I just wanted to say thanks.
Sincerely,
Matt Mocciaro."
A month went by since Matt mailed the letter. Matt had been dying in anticipation over the reply. Finally, it came. But not how he had expected. The doorbell rang one day. Matthew walked up and opened it. To his shock and awe, behind that door was no other than Billie-fucking-Joe Armstrong, in the flesh.
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