What's With This Girl?, chapter 3
After that night I wrote Tre every week. And he actually wrote back. I told him about everything about me and my brother getting on better terms, my new boyfriend Dannie, my mom remarrying, Dannie, Monty and me starting a band, practically told him my life story. And in every letter he told how much he would look forward to my next letter. Years went passed and we were still writing each other. It was the year 2000; Dannie and me were getting pretty serious. The band was doing great. We were getting a lot of gigs. Green Day released Warning and was now on tour. While on tour Tre wrote me telling me that they were coming to Philadelphia, about 20 minutes away from Darby, and that he was coming to see me. I was so excited; I hadn't seen him in years. Even though I wrote him a lot, there was so much I wanted to tell him. Monty was excited too. Over the years, Monty became pen pals with Mike and she was fucking ecstatic when she found out they were coming.
"You mean I get to see Mike? YES!!! This is awesome!" Monty yelled in my ear on the phone. "Thanks Monty now I'm gonna have hearing problems." "Oh come on. I know you're excited to see Tre." "Yeah I am. I haven't seen him in years." "That's not the only reason." Monty said. "What are you talking about?" Monty was silent for like twenty seconds. "What?" I finally said. "Well... it's just that you're turning 18 in a few days which means you're almost legal, and Tre's still young, and gorgeous." "Monty, what are you getting too?" "Well maybe you two can get together." "Monty you know I'm with Dannie. I would think you, being his cousin, would learn to respect that." "Ok listen Kira, I love my cousin, I really do, but I can tell in your heart that you want to be with Tre. You guys are made for each other. If you guys were any closer you would be brother and sister." "That's it right there. I see Tre as a brother, and that's it." "Whatever you say Kira. I got to go. Rick said he'll be here any minute and I'm not even dressed." "Ok bye Monty."
That night I couldn't sleep much. I kept thinking about Tre. I don't know why, but his voice was just ringing in my head. Maybe I should try and get with Tre. Would we make a good couple? I don't know. Right know all I know is that lately I've been thinking about Tre all the time, even when I'm with Dannie. That night was the night I made it official. I did like Tre... more than I should.
It was 3 in the morning when I finally went to sleep. I woke up that morning feeling terrible. But, I felt better when it finally hit me that today was the day Green Day was in Philadelphia, the day I would see Tre. I jumped out of bed and ran in the bathroom to take a shower. After I got dressed I ran downstairs to get breakfast. Beatrix, Drexel, and Darby were all sitting at the kitchen table. Drexel was back in town promoting a club in Philadelphia, and BeBe came down from New York to see some new bands for her label. Darby had been staying with us while he was finishing college.
"Well good morning sleepy head." Drexel said. "Had a rough night?" "Yeah. I hardly got any sleep." "Neither did I with all your uhh... should I say 'sleep talking?" BeBe and Drexel started laughing. Shit. Was I sleep talking? Any other time it would be okay, but not with the dream I had last night. "Sleep talking?" I asked. "Yeah and you were pretty loud." BeBe said. "I was in the other room and I could hear you." "How come I didn't hear her?" Darby said. "Maybe because you're not on the same floor as us." Drexel said. "What was she saying?" Darby asked. "Yeah what was I saying?" I really didn't want to hear what I was saying. To much embarrassment. "Oh nothing." Drexel said. It was quiet for a few seconds. Then Drexel started making sounds, which started to turn into moans. Oh shit. Then she started screaming. "OHHHHH OHHHHH OH GOD! OH GOD TRE! OH TRE! OH JESUS! OH TRE! OH TRE!" Beatrix and Darby were laughing hysterically. "Shut the fuck up. It's not funny." I yelled. "Oh yes it is." Beatrix said. "I'm so telling Dannie on you. You're having sex dreams about other guys." "If you tell Dannie I will kill you, and I'm serious." "Come on guys. Leave Kira alone." Darby said. "Thank you Darby." I said. "Where are mom and Brian?" "Oh they're still in bed. Hey Kira why don't you go up there and take a peak. Get some tips for what you and Tre are gonna do in your next dream." BeBe said. "Could we just drop it? Please. Thank you." Damn. I got to find a way to stop sleep talking.
After a while, mom and her new husband Brian came downstairs. I didn't really like Brian that much. He was a nice guy. I had nothing against him; it's just one thing about him I didn't like. He was married before. He has two kids and a restraining order against him by his wife. He's hardly aloud to see his kids. That's what bothered me. What did he do to get a restraining order against him? I don't know maybe his wife's a physco, or maybe he abused his wife or his kids? I don't know. I just didn't like that he had a restraining order against him and didn't tell us why. Is that a stupid reason not to like him? My mom thought it was a dumb reason, because she still married him.
"Morning everyone." Mom said. "Morning mom." We all said in unison. Brian took a seat next to me at the table while my mom pranced around the kitchen making him breakfast. Give me a fucking break. "Hey Kira. You're birthday's in three days." Darby said. "What do you want?" "You know I'm not sure. Oh you know what you can get me? Green Day's Warning album. I still haven't gotten it." "You being such 'great friends' with Tre I would think he would give you a free copy." Drexel said. "Drexie shut up." I yelled. "Hey! No yelling at the table," Brian said. Darby rolled his eyes. I could tell he didn't like Brian. He had the closest relationship with our dad and to see my mom move on really hurt him. "What else do you want Kira?" my mom said. "Um... I don't know. Why don't you surprise me this year?" "Ok Kira we'll see." Mom said. "We'll see? What does that mean?" "Don't get smart with your mother Kira." Brian said. "I'm not getting smart I was just saying... ." "Now you're getting smart with me." "No I'm not I was just... " "Kira don't try to explain yourself. It's not worth it." Darby said. "Yeah well, I'm going upstairs and get ready for tonight, got a lot of stuff to do." I said. "What about tonight?" mom said. "I'm going out tonight. I told everyday for like a week now. The guys are in Philly and they want to come see us." "Who are the guys?" "Tre, Billie, and Mike." "Who?" "Green Day mom, I'm going out with Green Day." "No I don't think so. Those guys are too old and you are too young. I don't trust those rocker guys." Brian said. I wanted to tell him to mind his own damn business. "Mom, come on. You said I could go. You know I've been planning this forever. Don't do this to me." "Kira I think Brian's right. Those guys are too old. You can't trust those rocker types." "Oh so that what this is about. You don't like that they play rock music. Because they dress and act like they do. Why do you hate them so much? They are great guys. But you don't try to get to know them. Because you look at them and you say 'oh these guys are so inferior to me.' Well you know what? Those guys have a bigger heart than you will ever have. And that makes you more inferior to them." "That's it. You Kira Anne Marie Belle, you are grounded." My mom yelled. "And that's another thing. You treat me like a little kid. I'm going to be 18 in three days mom. THREE DAYS! Stop treating me like I'm four and start giving me the respect you want me to give you." I ran out of the room as fast as I could. I went up to my room and called Monty.
"Hello?" "Monty I have to talk to you." "Well um... I'm kind of busy right now." "Is that Kira?" I heard Ricky say in the background. "Look I really need to talk to you. So could you please tell Ricky to climb off of you for just fifteen minutes?" "Okay, okay, Kira what's wrong?" "My mom's being a bitch. And Brian's not helping either. To make a long story short, I'm grounded and I can't go out tonight." "Are you fucking kidding me? You're almost 18 and your mom still treats you like a baby." "That's what I said." "Hey let me talk to Kira." "Ricky let go of the phone." "Come on just for a minute." "Let go of the phone... " "Kira, it's me Ricky. You know you're mom is just doing what she thinks is best for you. Right now I know you're pissed, but you'll get over it." "Ricky I'm not aloud to go out with you guys tonight." "WHAT THE FUCK! ARE YOU KIDDING ME!"? "Dammit Ricky give me the phone. Kira? Do whatever you have to do to get out of the house. Apologize, sneak out whatever you have to do." "Ok Monty. Oh and by the way. Why is Ricky over so early?" "He spent the night" "With your parents there?" "My parents have been out all night. They're not coming back until around 3." "Well, bye Monty." "Bye Kira. Remember, WHATEVER YOU HAVE TO DO!"
I really wanted to go with the guys. I really wanted to see Tre. But it that means having to put my guards down, and say sorry for saying how I feel, then fuck it. I know you guys are probably thinking I'm such a spoiled brat, but come on I know some of you agree with me on this, right? Maybe I should apologize. Am I shitting myself?
A couple hours later I was in my room blasting the Nimrod album in my room. It calms me down when I'm pissed off. Then Brian walks into my room. "Can I talk to you for a minute?" "Yeah whatever." I didn't want to turn my music off just in case this asshole pissed me off and I needed to calm down. I just turned it down a little. "What do you want to talk about?" "Well you know, stuff that's going on in your life. What's your plan after graduation next month? Just stuff." "Okay." I gave him this confused look like 'why the hell are you in my room?' "Okay, so how are all your friends doing?" "Good" "That's good. How's the band?" "Good. We're trying to get BeBe to get us a record deal." "That's great. Umm... how's Dannie?" "Good, he went back to Liverpool the other day, to see his family. He'll be next week." "So he's gonna miss your birthday?" "Yeah." "That's too bad." "Yeah. Anything else you want to talk about?" "Um... how about your dad?" "Yeah what about him?" "How was your relationship between you and your father?" "I didn't see him as a father. I saw him more like my brother. He was so cool. He used to play me his old records when I was five." "Like what?" "The Who, Led Zeppelin, The Ramones, AC/DC, Jimi Hendrix, Queen, The Clash, oh God just a whole bunch of people. When he died, I would just stay in my room all day, and play those old records, over and over, I wore them out. My father is the reason I started playing guitar, why I listen to rock music in the first place." "Wow. You and your father had a great relationship. How many instruments can you play?" "Seven." "SEVEN! Wow that's amazing. What are they?" "Guitar, bass, keyboard, piano, harmonica, violin, and accordion." "Accordion?" "Yeah. Not a cool instrument but still a good one." He chuckled a little. "So you and Dannie are pretty serious." "Yeah." "What about Tre?" "Tre's none of your business." "I just want to hear about your life." "That's too personal." "But Dannie isn't?" I was silent for like an hour. I'd hate to admit it, but that little asshole was right. I'll talk about Dannie but I won't talk about Tre? Did I like Tre more? "Tre's a friend if mine. When been writing each other for three years." "Is he white or black?" "Well if race means that much to you he's white." If there's one thing Brian and my mom had in common, it was the race thing. They were always asking is a person black or white. I don't know why it mattered. I was black, Brian was black, my mom was black, and my sisters and brother are black. But my dad was white. German to be exact. That's why I can speak German. I learned from my grandma. Most of my friends were white too, only because I lived in a mostly white neighborhood half my life. Well anyway, back to the story. "So does Dannie know about him?" "Yes, there's no reason to keep this from Dannie. Me and Tre are just friends." " How old is he?" "Older." "How much older?" "I think this conversation has reached its end. I've already told you too much, how do I know you're not going to tell my mom?" "I promise I won't tell your mom." He got up and walked out of the room. Maybe I underestimated Brian. He wasn't that bad. Maybe now that I've talked to Brian she'll think about letting me go with Tre tonight.
Later that night I was getting ready for tonight. I put on my red dress Dannie gave me for Christmas, and the shoes Drexel gave me for my birthday last year. I walked over to Drex. "What do you think?" "Kira you look hot. And you're wearing the does I gave you. You know what you should put this on." She gave me a necklace box. "What's this?" "Just open it." I opened the box and it was a necklace with a red diamond encrusted rose. "Oh my God is this real?" "Yup. Dad gave it to me before he died. He told me not to tell you guys because he didn't want you to get jealous. It's been in our family for generations. It survived the Holocaust." "This is so beautiful." "Who's picking you guys up?" "Billie said he would." 'Okay cool. Have fun Ms. Superstar." Her and me both laughed. I heard beeping and people screaming. I looked out my window and saw Billie, Monty, Ricky, and Donnie in the car. "Hurry up Kira, let's go!" Monty yelled. "Okay Monty calm down." I heard the doorbell ring and I knew it was them. I tried to run down the stairs as fast as I could, but it was too late. Brian opened the door and there was Billie.
"Hey how you doing. Is Kira ready?" "Kira who's this?" "Oh, my name's Billie Joe Armstrong. I'm a friend of Drexel's and Kira." "Brian you can let him in." I said. "He's not a thief, anymore." "Oh yeah sorry, please come in." Billie came in and sat on the couch. I could feel my heart racing. What is Brian going to say to Billie? Even worse, what's Billie going to say to Brian? Brian and Billie sat there for a while and had small talk, about Billie's wife and kids, and life on the road. "Uh... sir, it's getting kind of late." Billie said. "So if me and Kira could just go... " "Now wait a minute. I would just like to know exactly where Kira's going." "Well first. We're going back to the hotel to pick the rest of the guys up, then we might go out to... well I don't know." "Um...well...I think it'll be okay if she goes." Yes I might get away with this. "I'll just have to ask my wife." Shit. "Kiesha, baby, come down here." "What is it Brian? Who's this?" "This is Mr. Armstrong. He's a friend of Drexel and Kira." "OH MY GOD BILLIE'S DOWN THERE!" I heard Drexel scream at the top of the stairs. She ran down the stairs and nearly tripped. She ran over to Billie and gave him a big hug. "Man the last time I saw you was last year in New York." "Drexel you've gotten taller." Billie said. "No those are just the heels." "Drexel you're interrupting us. Go back upstairs." Brian said. Monty just rolled her eyes, said bye to Billie and went upstairs. "Now I remember." My mom said. You're that boy from that band Kira likes so much. Uh... Green Day." "Uh... yeah that's me." Billie said. "Are you the one who's been writing my daughter?" Shit. How does she know? I never told her. I knew I shouldn't have trusted Brian. That asshole told my mom. "Um... no that's Tre. Kira and Tre are real good friends now." Brian said. "Oh... " my mom said. I could tell she was getting pissed. "Well I think we should go, Kira you ready?" Billie asked. "Wait I still don't think it's a good idea." My mom said. Sad, and I thought I was going to get away with this. "No offense to you Mr. Armstrong but, I just don't think it's good for my daughter to be out with your type." "My type? What the fuck... I mean, what's that supposed to mean?" "Nothing it's just that I don't think it's a good idea for my child to be hanging out with someone like you. I mean your age and all." "Mom, you're being rude." I said. "Kira don't interrupt your mother while she's talking." Brian said. "But she's being a bitch to my friend." Fuck. I didn't say that. I didn't say that. "What did you say?" Brian said. "Nothing." "Kira don't be afraid of him, he's not even your real father." Billie said. "Billie, no." I said. Oh God I was praying this side of Billie wouldn't come out but it did. "What the fuck is your deal? You're her step father not her fucking master. You shouldn't make decisions for her. That's her mom's job." "That's it I've had it! You will not come into my house insulting me and my wife." "That's another thing, this is not your house, and your name isn't on any bill for this house." "Billie, please." I had to get him to shut up there's no way I'm going out now. "Kira go upstairs. This doesn't involve you." Brian said. "Yes is does involve me." "No complaining go upstairs." "No." "Kira enough!" my mom yelled. "Go upstairs now!" I rolled my eyes and ran upstairs, but I stayed at the top of the stairs where no one could see me. "Mr. Armstrong, I really think you should go." My mom said. "Fine whatever." Billie got up and went to the door. He looked up at the stairs. I think he knew I was there. He took out a book of matches and mouthed the words "mailbox" and left the house. I could hear the guys outside screaming "WHAT! You got to be kidding me. OH SCREW HIM!" and heard the car drive off. I was so pissed. I ran into my room and plopped on the bed. "Why the hell are you still here?" Drexel said. "Because Brian's a dick and mom's being a bitch." "Oh well that's normal." "Tell me about it. I wish dad was here." "So do I Kira. So do I."
A few minutes later I went downstairs and looked in the mailbox. There was a book of matches with the name and address of the hotel the guys were staying at. Also there was a piece of paper with a map drawn on it. The directions to the hotel. Billie was a fucking genius. How was I going to get there? I went back up to my room and Darby was on my bed. "Just the person I wanted to see." He said. "What do you want?" "How would you like to get out of here?" "I would love it. But there's no way mom's going to let me out now." "What if I said I'd take you wherever you want to go without mom's permission?" "Why are you doing this?" "Because I hate to see my little sister sad, knowing I can do something about it." I thought about it and I gave him the book of matches. "You know how to get to the Hilton hotel?"
"You mean I get to see Mike? YES!!! This is awesome!" Monty yelled in my ear on the phone. "Thanks Monty now I'm gonna have hearing problems." "Oh come on. I know you're excited to see Tre." "Yeah I am. I haven't seen him in years." "That's not the only reason." Monty said. "What are you talking about?" Monty was silent for like twenty seconds. "What?" I finally said. "Well... it's just that you're turning 18 in a few days which means you're almost legal, and Tre's still young, and gorgeous." "Monty, what are you getting too?" "Well maybe you two can get together." "Monty you know I'm with Dannie. I would think you, being his cousin, would learn to respect that." "Ok listen Kira, I love my cousin, I really do, but I can tell in your heart that you want to be with Tre. You guys are made for each other. If you guys were any closer you would be brother and sister." "That's it right there. I see Tre as a brother, and that's it." "Whatever you say Kira. I got to go. Rick said he'll be here any minute and I'm not even dressed." "Ok bye Monty."
That night I couldn't sleep much. I kept thinking about Tre. I don't know why, but his voice was just ringing in my head. Maybe I should try and get with Tre. Would we make a good couple? I don't know. Right know all I know is that lately I've been thinking about Tre all the time, even when I'm with Dannie. That night was the night I made it official. I did like Tre... more than I should.
It was 3 in the morning when I finally went to sleep. I woke up that morning feeling terrible. But, I felt better when it finally hit me that today was the day Green Day was in Philadelphia, the day I would see Tre. I jumped out of bed and ran in the bathroom to take a shower. After I got dressed I ran downstairs to get breakfast. Beatrix, Drexel, and Darby were all sitting at the kitchen table. Drexel was back in town promoting a club in Philadelphia, and BeBe came down from New York to see some new bands for her label. Darby had been staying with us while he was finishing college.
"Well good morning sleepy head." Drexel said. "Had a rough night?" "Yeah. I hardly got any sleep." "Neither did I with all your uhh... should I say 'sleep talking?" BeBe and Drexel started laughing. Shit. Was I sleep talking? Any other time it would be okay, but not with the dream I had last night. "Sleep talking?" I asked. "Yeah and you were pretty loud." BeBe said. "I was in the other room and I could hear you." "How come I didn't hear her?" Darby said. "Maybe because you're not on the same floor as us." Drexel said. "What was she saying?" Darby asked. "Yeah what was I saying?" I really didn't want to hear what I was saying. To much embarrassment. "Oh nothing." Drexel said. It was quiet for a few seconds. Then Drexel started making sounds, which started to turn into moans. Oh shit. Then she started screaming. "OHHHHH OHHHHH OH GOD! OH GOD TRE! OH TRE! OH JESUS! OH TRE! OH TRE!" Beatrix and Darby were laughing hysterically. "Shut the fuck up. It's not funny." I yelled. "Oh yes it is." Beatrix said. "I'm so telling Dannie on you. You're having sex dreams about other guys." "If you tell Dannie I will kill you, and I'm serious." "Come on guys. Leave Kira alone." Darby said. "Thank you Darby." I said. "Where are mom and Brian?" "Oh they're still in bed. Hey Kira why don't you go up there and take a peak. Get some tips for what you and Tre are gonna do in your next dream." BeBe said. "Could we just drop it? Please. Thank you." Damn. I got to find a way to stop sleep talking.
After a while, mom and her new husband Brian came downstairs. I didn't really like Brian that much. He was a nice guy. I had nothing against him; it's just one thing about him I didn't like. He was married before. He has two kids and a restraining order against him by his wife. He's hardly aloud to see his kids. That's what bothered me. What did he do to get a restraining order against him? I don't know maybe his wife's a physco, or maybe he abused his wife or his kids? I don't know. I just didn't like that he had a restraining order against him and didn't tell us why. Is that a stupid reason not to like him? My mom thought it was a dumb reason, because she still married him.
"Morning everyone." Mom said. "Morning mom." We all said in unison. Brian took a seat next to me at the table while my mom pranced around the kitchen making him breakfast. Give me a fucking break. "Hey Kira. You're birthday's in three days." Darby said. "What do you want?" "You know I'm not sure. Oh you know what you can get me? Green Day's Warning album. I still haven't gotten it." "You being such 'great friends' with Tre I would think he would give you a free copy." Drexel said. "Drexie shut up." I yelled. "Hey! No yelling at the table," Brian said. Darby rolled his eyes. I could tell he didn't like Brian. He had the closest relationship with our dad and to see my mom move on really hurt him. "What else do you want Kira?" my mom said. "Um... I don't know. Why don't you surprise me this year?" "Ok Kira we'll see." Mom said. "We'll see? What does that mean?" "Don't get smart with your mother Kira." Brian said. "I'm not getting smart I was just saying... ." "Now you're getting smart with me." "No I'm not I was just... " "Kira don't try to explain yourself. It's not worth it." Darby said. "Yeah well, I'm going upstairs and get ready for tonight, got a lot of stuff to do." I said. "What about tonight?" mom said. "I'm going out tonight. I told everyday for like a week now. The guys are in Philly and they want to come see us." "Who are the guys?" "Tre, Billie, and Mike." "Who?" "Green Day mom, I'm going out with Green Day." "No I don't think so. Those guys are too old and you are too young. I don't trust those rocker guys." Brian said. I wanted to tell him to mind his own damn business. "Mom, come on. You said I could go. You know I've been planning this forever. Don't do this to me." "Kira I think Brian's right. Those guys are too old. You can't trust those rocker types." "Oh so that what this is about. You don't like that they play rock music. Because they dress and act like they do. Why do you hate them so much? They are great guys. But you don't try to get to know them. Because you look at them and you say 'oh these guys are so inferior to me.' Well you know what? Those guys have a bigger heart than you will ever have. And that makes you more inferior to them." "That's it. You Kira Anne Marie Belle, you are grounded." My mom yelled. "And that's another thing. You treat me like a little kid. I'm going to be 18 in three days mom. THREE DAYS! Stop treating me like I'm four and start giving me the respect you want me to give you." I ran out of the room as fast as I could. I went up to my room and called Monty.
"Hello?" "Monty I have to talk to you." "Well um... I'm kind of busy right now." "Is that Kira?" I heard Ricky say in the background. "Look I really need to talk to you. So could you please tell Ricky to climb off of you for just fifteen minutes?" "Okay, okay, Kira what's wrong?" "My mom's being a bitch. And Brian's not helping either. To make a long story short, I'm grounded and I can't go out tonight." "Are you fucking kidding me? You're almost 18 and your mom still treats you like a baby." "That's what I said." "Hey let me talk to Kira." "Ricky let go of the phone." "Come on just for a minute." "Let go of the phone... " "Kira, it's me Ricky. You know you're mom is just doing what she thinks is best for you. Right now I know you're pissed, but you'll get over it." "Ricky I'm not aloud to go out with you guys tonight." "WHAT THE FUCK! ARE YOU KIDDING ME!"? "Dammit Ricky give me the phone. Kira? Do whatever you have to do to get out of the house. Apologize, sneak out whatever you have to do." "Ok Monty. Oh and by the way. Why is Ricky over so early?" "He spent the night" "With your parents there?" "My parents have been out all night. They're not coming back until around 3." "Well, bye Monty." "Bye Kira. Remember, WHATEVER YOU HAVE TO DO!"
I really wanted to go with the guys. I really wanted to see Tre. But it that means having to put my guards down, and say sorry for saying how I feel, then fuck it. I know you guys are probably thinking I'm such a spoiled brat, but come on I know some of you agree with me on this, right? Maybe I should apologize. Am I shitting myself?
A couple hours later I was in my room blasting the Nimrod album in my room. It calms me down when I'm pissed off. Then Brian walks into my room. "Can I talk to you for a minute?" "Yeah whatever." I didn't want to turn my music off just in case this asshole pissed me off and I needed to calm down. I just turned it down a little. "What do you want to talk about?" "Well you know, stuff that's going on in your life. What's your plan after graduation next month? Just stuff." "Okay." I gave him this confused look like 'why the hell are you in my room?' "Okay, so how are all your friends doing?" "Good" "That's good. How's the band?" "Good. We're trying to get BeBe to get us a record deal." "That's great. Umm... how's Dannie?" "Good, he went back to Liverpool the other day, to see his family. He'll be next week." "So he's gonna miss your birthday?" "Yeah." "That's too bad." "Yeah. Anything else you want to talk about?" "Um... how about your dad?" "Yeah what about him?" "How was your relationship between you and your father?" "I didn't see him as a father. I saw him more like my brother. He was so cool. He used to play me his old records when I was five." "Like what?" "The Who, Led Zeppelin, The Ramones, AC/DC, Jimi Hendrix, Queen, The Clash, oh God just a whole bunch of people. When he died, I would just stay in my room all day, and play those old records, over and over, I wore them out. My father is the reason I started playing guitar, why I listen to rock music in the first place." "Wow. You and your father had a great relationship. How many instruments can you play?" "Seven." "SEVEN! Wow that's amazing. What are they?" "Guitar, bass, keyboard, piano, harmonica, violin, and accordion." "Accordion?" "Yeah. Not a cool instrument but still a good one." He chuckled a little. "So you and Dannie are pretty serious." "Yeah." "What about Tre?" "Tre's none of your business." "I just want to hear about your life." "That's too personal." "But Dannie isn't?" I was silent for like an hour. I'd hate to admit it, but that little asshole was right. I'll talk about Dannie but I won't talk about Tre? Did I like Tre more? "Tre's a friend if mine. When been writing each other for three years." "Is he white or black?" "Well if race means that much to you he's white." If there's one thing Brian and my mom had in common, it was the race thing. They were always asking is a person black or white. I don't know why it mattered. I was black, Brian was black, my mom was black, and my sisters and brother are black. But my dad was white. German to be exact. That's why I can speak German. I learned from my grandma. Most of my friends were white too, only because I lived in a mostly white neighborhood half my life. Well anyway, back to the story. "So does Dannie know about him?" "Yes, there's no reason to keep this from Dannie. Me and Tre are just friends." " How old is he?" "Older." "How much older?" "I think this conversation has reached its end. I've already told you too much, how do I know you're not going to tell my mom?" "I promise I won't tell your mom." He got up and walked out of the room. Maybe I underestimated Brian. He wasn't that bad. Maybe now that I've talked to Brian she'll think about letting me go with Tre tonight.
Later that night I was getting ready for tonight. I put on my red dress Dannie gave me for Christmas, and the shoes Drexel gave me for my birthday last year. I walked over to Drex. "What do you think?" "Kira you look hot. And you're wearing the does I gave you. You know what you should put this on." She gave me a necklace box. "What's this?" "Just open it." I opened the box and it was a necklace with a red diamond encrusted rose. "Oh my God is this real?" "Yup. Dad gave it to me before he died. He told me not to tell you guys because he didn't want you to get jealous. It's been in our family for generations. It survived the Holocaust." "This is so beautiful." "Who's picking you guys up?" "Billie said he would." 'Okay cool. Have fun Ms. Superstar." Her and me both laughed. I heard beeping and people screaming. I looked out my window and saw Billie, Monty, Ricky, and Donnie in the car. "Hurry up Kira, let's go!" Monty yelled. "Okay Monty calm down." I heard the doorbell ring and I knew it was them. I tried to run down the stairs as fast as I could, but it was too late. Brian opened the door and there was Billie.
"Hey how you doing. Is Kira ready?" "Kira who's this?" "Oh, my name's Billie Joe Armstrong. I'm a friend of Drexel's and Kira." "Brian you can let him in." I said. "He's not a thief, anymore." "Oh yeah sorry, please come in." Billie came in and sat on the couch. I could feel my heart racing. What is Brian going to say to Billie? Even worse, what's Billie going to say to Brian? Brian and Billie sat there for a while and had small talk, about Billie's wife and kids, and life on the road. "Uh... sir, it's getting kind of late." Billie said. "So if me and Kira could just go... " "Now wait a minute. I would just like to know exactly where Kira's going." "Well first. We're going back to the hotel to pick the rest of the guys up, then we might go out to... well I don't know." "Um...well...I think it'll be okay if she goes." Yes I might get away with this. "I'll just have to ask my wife." Shit. "Kiesha, baby, come down here." "What is it Brian? Who's this?" "This is Mr. Armstrong. He's a friend of Drexel and Kira." "OH MY GOD BILLIE'S DOWN THERE!" I heard Drexel scream at the top of the stairs. She ran down the stairs and nearly tripped. She ran over to Billie and gave him a big hug. "Man the last time I saw you was last year in New York." "Drexel you've gotten taller." Billie said. "No those are just the heels." "Drexel you're interrupting us. Go back upstairs." Brian said. Monty just rolled her eyes, said bye to Billie and went upstairs. "Now I remember." My mom said. You're that boy from that band Kira likes so much. Uh... Green Day." "Uh... yeah that's me." Billie said. "Are you the one who's been writing my daughter?" Shit. How does she know? I never told her. I knew I shouldn't have trusted Brian. That asshole told my mom. "Um... no that's Tre. Kira and Tre are real good friends now." Brian said. "Oh... " my mom said. I could tell she was getting pissed. "Well I think we should go, Kira you ready?" Billie asked. "Wait I still don't think it's a good idea." My mom said. Sad, and I thought I was going to get away with this. "No offense to you Mr. Armstrong but, I just don't think it's good for my daughter to be out with your type." "My type? What the fuck... I mean, what's that supposed to mean?" "Nothing it's just that I don't think it's a good idea for my child to be hanging out with someone like you. I mean your age and all." "Mom, you're being rude." I said. "Kira don't interrupt your mother while she's talking." Brian said. "But she's being a bitch to my friend." Fuck. I didn't say that. I didn't say that. "What did you say?" Brian said. "Nothing." "Kira don't be afraid of him, he's not even your real father." Billie said. "Billie, no." I said. Oh God I was praying this side of Billie wouldn't come out but it did. "What the fuck is your deal? You're her step father not her fucking master. You shouldn't make decisions for her. That's her mom's job." "That's it I've had it! You will not come into my house insulting me and my wife." "That's another thing, this is not your house, and your name isn't on any bill for this house." "Billie, please." I had to get him to shut up there's no way I'm going out now. "Kira go upstairs. This doesn't involve you." Brian said. "Yes is does involve me." "No complaining go upstairs." "No." "Kira enough!" my mom yelled. "Go upstairs now!" I rolled my eyes and ran upstairs, but I stayed at the top of the stairs where no one could see me. "Mr. Armstrong, I really think you should go." My mom said. "Fine whatever." Billie got up and went to the door. He looked up at the stairs. I think he knew I was there. He took out a book of matches and mouthed the words "mailbox" and left the house. I could hear the guys outside screaming "WHAT! You got to be kidding me. OH SCREW HIM!" and heard the car drive off. I was so pissed. I ran into my room and plopped on the bed. "Why the hell are you still here?" Drexel said. "Because Brian's a dick and mom's being a bitch." "Oh well that's normal." "Tell me about it. I wish dad was here." "So do I Kira. So do I."
A few minutes later I went downstairs and looked in the mailbox. There was a book of matches with the name and address of the hotel the guys were staying at. Also there was a piece of paper with a map drawn on it. The directions to the hotel. Billie was a fucking genius. How was I going to get there? I went back up to my room and Darby was on my bed. "Just the person I wanted to see." He said. "What do you want?" "How would you like to get out of here?" "I would love it. But there's no way mom's going to let me out now." "What if I said I'd take you wherever you want to go without mom's permission?" "Why are you doing this?" "Because I hate to see my little sister sad, knowing I can do something about it." I thought about it and I gave him the book of matches. "You know how to get to the Hilton hotel?"
