Fifteen Years Has Gone So Fast, chapter 1

"I'm hungry," moaned Tre Cool as the members of Green Day and their friends searched the streets of Minneapolis, Minnesota for a decent place to eat. They had already passed several restaurants and diners, but nothing gained their interests. Finally the trio and their three other mates came across a place that reminded them of Rudy's Can't Fail Café. Hungry and tired of walking, they filed into the diner and waited to be seated as the sign posted directed. They looked around the place, it was a rather small diner and things seemed slow; it was virtually empty.

A boy who looked to be in his mid-teens poked his head out of the kitchen. He could have sworn he heard someone come in, and to his surprise he was correct. His eyes got wide and he stared at who he was about to seat. He came out of the kitchen and gathered up six menus before heading over to greet the famous customers.

"Uh, hey, welcome to Minnie's Diner, six then?" he asked. They all nodded and smiled at him, they all took notice of his Green Day t-shirt. He shyly smiled back and lead them to a table near the front. They all got seated in the comfortable booth and he placed menus in front of them all.

"Well, I'm your waiter this afternoon, my name is Joey. I'll let you be for a few minutes to decide what you'd like to have," he said before turning away and disappearing back into the kitchen.

"He took that well," Mike Dirnt piped up. Jason Freeze giggled but nodded. It was true, the boy clearly knew who the band was but he had held himself together quite well.

"Well, I think we picked the right place, I mean, this looks like a local favorite," Tre joked about how empty the place was. The group of guys started laughing as they flipped through the pages of their menu. Five minutes after they were seated Joey reappeared and approached their table.

"About time! Bloody busy today, isn't?" Jason Freeze joked to the boy who smirked at his comment. He shook his head, he poised his pen on the pad of paper on which he would scribble down their orders.

"So, what would you all like to drink?" he asked them. They went around the table and said what they were thirsty for, then Joey asked what they wanted to eat. Once again he left the table and vanished into the kitchen.

"What do you think he does in there?" Jason White asked. They guys smiled and looked over at the closed kitchen door.

"Good lord, you don't think he's running this place all by himself do you?" Ronnie Blake asked. The guys laughed at the thought of it. A kid running around doing everything all at once, that would be a sight.

"Where are the other waiters and waitresses?" Billie Joe Armstrong asked his friends. All the guys looked around, Joey seemed to be the only one working. Just then they heard the kitchen door squeak open and they all eyed Joey as he carefully carried a tray of drinks over to the star-studded table. He set their drinks down in front of each of them and then placed six wrapped straw in the middle of the table.

"Your food should be ready real soon," he informed them. They nodded and smiled. He was about to turn but Tre called to him.

"Nice shirt by the way," he teased. The boy smiled and looked down at his shirt.
"Yeah, can't wait till tonight," he replied. This really got their attention.
"Going to the show?" Billie Joe asked him. He nodded proudly.

"Well maybe we'll see you there," Mike Dirnt added. Joey shrugged and went to go sit on a barstool.

"So, there is someone in the kitchen then, right?" Tre called to the boy. Joey looked up from the magazine he had just opened and turned to Tre.
"Yeah, I mean, I can't cook," he said before returning to his magazine.

Billie Joe was becoming fascinated with this boy, he didn't really know why. Perhaps it was because this boy reminded him of himself at that age.

Breaking Billie Joe's thoughts, a loud buzz sounded through the diner. "What the fuck?" Tre said regarding the strange noise. Joey hopped off the barstool and entered the kitchen, he exited moments later with two large trays and made his way over to the patient but hungry rockstars. He set their plates of food down in front of them each.

"Well, enjoy your meal," Joey said. As he said this Billie Joe glanced up and looked at his eyes, they matched his. They were green, some coincidence thought Billie Joe. But in his mind he couldn't believe the similarities between himself and this boy. It was like a mirror looking at him. Billie Joe was distracted by all these thoughts while eating.

"This food is really good, these burgers remind me of Rudy's," Tre commented. The guys nodded, except Billie Joe who was still lost in his thoughts.

When they were finished eating they sat for a while just digesting their food. Joey looked over acknowledging the silence, the sound of silverware hitting the plates had faded. He jumped up realizing they had finished.

"Sorry for the wait," he said while collecting their dirty plates. The guys assured him it was fine and that they would actually like to stay a bit longer and have some coffee. Joey nodded at their request and took the pile of dirty dishes into the kitchen. He exited with six mugs, a small bowl of tiny cream cups and a small bowl of sugar packets. He set all this down in front of them and then went to retrieve the coffee pot. He returned with a steaming pot of coffee and he filled each of their mugs.

"Thank god, good coffee," Mike Dirnt said relieved. Joey smiled and turned away but Billie Joe's conscience and curiosity got the best of him and he called him back. Joey whipped around at the sound of his hero's call.
"Yeah?" he asked willing to do practically anything for any of these guys, but especially Billie Joe.

"What is your mother's name?" Billie Joe asked. He knew it was a weird question and it caused all of the other guys to stop sipping their coffee and look up at Billie Joe confused.

"Um Bill, that's a bit personal, don't you think?" Tre said trying to help the confused and speechless boy out. Joey shrugged, he wasn't expecting to be asked about his mother.

"Um, Adrienne," Joey said confused. Billie Joe could feel his heart pounding against his chest, it was racing. This couldn't be. Billie Joe had been here fifteen years ago touring with his band when they were just starting out, he had met a woman named Adrienne who he had fallen in love with. They had made love the night they met and kept a relationship over the phone since Billie Joe had to keep touring. Somehow the two had lost touch, and Billie Joe never had the courage to contact her; he figured she moved on or wasn't interested. But when he had first seen this boy he reminded him of her and himself, something about him.
The last night he had seen Adrienne, the night they had had sex was fifteen years ago. This boy looked to be about that age. Billie Joe felt nervous all the sudden and thought he was going to get sick. He held himself together and looked over this boy.

"How old are you?" Billie Joe asked in a haze of fear. Joey seemed like a nice boy but he hoped to god he didn't have any relations to him. Joey shrugged once more at the question, at least it wasn't about his mother he thought.

"I'm fifteen," he responded casually. Billie Joe nodded and tried to keep his cool, but he was failing horribly. He was beginning to sweat and his eyes were staring into Joey's, which was probably creeping the boy out. Mike punched Billie Joe's shoulder to get him out of his daze but Billie Joe couldn't be shaken.

"And your father?" Billie Joe asked. Tre glanced at Billie Joe and then at the boy. All the guys at the table couldn't believe that Billie Joe was interrogating this nice young man.

"Um, well, I've never met my dad. My mom says he left before I was even born, she told me he didn't even know I was going to be born," he said. He didn't seem sad or angry that his father wasn't in his life. He just seemed used to it.
Well he knows now thought Billie Joe. That was that, Billie Joe knew all he needed to know. He was looking into the eyes of his son.