2010 (sequel/prequel to 2028), chapter 2
The phone rang and upstairs in his room, Joey Armstrong (who had just woken up) answered it.
"Hello?" he asked, not bothering with caller ID, as he was much too lazy to do anything very productive today.
"Joey?" a voice asked. It was his father's and his face drooped, as he reminded himself that he didn't agree with his dad right now.
"Yeah?" Joey mumbled, his voice monotone and apathetic.
"How are you?"
"I'm okay."
"Good," Billie smiled, his voice reeking insincerity and boredom, "Uh, can I talk to your Mom?"
"Yeah, hold on," Joey put the phone down, "MOM! DAD'S ON THE PHONE!"
Adrienne hollered back that she had picked it up and he could now hang up. Instead of doing so, Joey merely muted the microphone on the phone with a press of a button and began to listen.
"Hi Adrienne," Billie Joe said. He sounded tired and haggard.
"Hey Billie, how's New York treatin' ya?" Adrienne smiled, trying to be cheerful for her husband.
"Ah...well, you know."
"That bad?"
"Yep."
"Honey I'm worried about Joey," Adrienne sighed, concerned and Joey perked up to listen.
"As far as I'm concerned, the boy needs to learn a bit about respect. Do you think he realizes how good he has it? When we were kids, we didn't have all this shit we have today. I mean seriously, Joey needs to appreciate what he has and remember that having me go away for a bit is definitely not as bad as not having a dad."
"Billie, I think he feels sometimes like he doesn't have a dad. You're gone so much and it's hard for him. You've missed half of his life and I think that that right there is what's got him going."
There were voices in the background and Billie sighed, "Hon. I've got to go. I'll be in tonight, pretty late though."
"Alright, have fun."
There were some clicks as his parents hung up and Joey sat and thought about what his dad had said. How could he say something as pompous as that? Joey knew he was lucky to have the material possessions that he had, but his mother had said it; he wanted his daddy back. He didn't want to share him with millions of people around the world, he wanted to keep him all to himself and the rest of his family like everyone else got to do. It was unfair that most kids got dads 24/7 whereas he was lucky if he got his dad for two months each year.
As he pondered these thoughts, his computer (which he had forgotten to turn off) beeped. One of his friends was signing on to MSN Messenger and as Joey was bored, he decided to see who it was. He grabbed the laptop from the floor and lifted it onto his lap. The friend in question, was in fact Ramona Wright and he frowned but before he could get off, she IMed him.
Ramona says:
Hey Joey? Whassup?
Joey grumbled but despite himself, he responded.
Joey says:
Oh not much. You?
Ramona says:
I was just put through an entire day of my father, your father and Mike. It was horror.
Joey looked at this and wondered why she seemed annoyed at her dad when she never got to see him, probably even less than Joey did. After all, she had moved away when she was five or six.
Joey says:
You say that like it's a bad thing.
Ramona says:
No they just were jetlagged and were full on Green Day-ed up... if you know what I mean.
Joey says:
Sorta.
Ramona says:
Whatever. You wanna go on video?
Joey says:
Not today, I lost my camera thingey, it's somewhere in this shithole of a house.
Ramona says:
Whatever, how are things on the homefront?
Joey paused, there were many things he could say here. He could lie and say everything was great, he could tell a half-truth story with just a bit of disdain and attitude in it or he could tell the truth. Being as honest as he was feeling, he chose the last option.
Ramona says:
Hello? How's Oaktown/Bezerkly/San Fran?
Joey says:
Sucky. I hate my life.
Ramona says:
Why?
Joey says:
I don't know. I just do.
Ramona says:
I've gotta go. You think about that and tell me tomorrow. Alright?
Joey says:
Okay... bye then.
Ramona says:
Bye. Ttyl.
So they signed off, never to continue their conversation the next day, but always remembering it as a realization that they were indeed growing up.
"Hello?" he asked, not bothering with caller ID, as he was much too lazy to do anything very productive today.
"Joey?" a voice asked. It was his father's and his face drooped, as he reminded himself that he didn't agree with his dad right now.
"Yeah?" Joey mumbled, his voice monotone and apathetic.
"How are you?"
"I'm okay."
"Good," Billie smiled, his voice reeking insincerity and boredom, "Uh, can I talk to your Mom?"
"Yeah, hold on," Joey put the phone down, "MOM! DAD'S ON THE PHONE!"
Adrienne hollered back that she had picked it up and he could now hang up. Instead of doing so, Joey merely muted the microphone on the phone with a press of a button and began to listen.
"Hi Adrienne," Billie Joe said. He sounded tired and haggard.
"Hey Billie, how's New York treatin' ya?" Adrienne smiled, trying to be cheerful for her husband.
"Ah...well, you know."
"That bad?"
"Yep."
"Honey I'm worried about Joey," Adrienne sighed, concerned and Joey perked up to listen.
"As far as I'm concerned, the boy needs to learn a bit about respect. Do you think he realizes how good he has it? When we were kids, we didn't have all this shit we have today. I mean seriously, Joey needs to appreciate what he has and remember that having me go away for a bit is definitely not as bad as not having a dad."
"Billie, I think he feels sometimes like he doesn't have a dad. You're gone so much and it's hard for him. You've missed half of his life and I think that that right there is what's got him going."
There were voices in the background and Billie sighed, "Hon. I've got to go. I'll be in tonight, pretty late though."
"Alright, have fun."
There were some clicks as his parents hung up and Joey sat and thought about what his dad had said. How could he say something as pompous as that? Joey knew he was lucky to have the material possessions that he had, but his mother had said it; he wanted his daddy back. He didn't want to share him with millions of people around the world, he wanted to keep him all to himself and the rest of his family like everyone else got to do. It was unfair that most kids got dads 24/7 whereas he was lucky if he got his dad for two months each year.
As he pondered these thoughts, his computer (which he had forgotten to turn off) beeped. One of his friends was signing on to MSN Messenger and as Joey was bored, he decided to see who it was. He grabbed the laptop from the floor and lifted it onto his lap. The friend in question, was in fact Ramona Wright and he frowned but before he could get off, she IMed him.
Ramona says:
Hey Joey? Whassup?
Joey grumbled but despite himself, he responded.
Joey says:
Oh not much. You?
Ramona says:
I was just put through an entire day of my father, your father and Mike. It was horror.
Joey looked at this and wondered why she seemed annoyed at her dad when she never got to see him, probably even less than Joey did. After all, she had moved away when she was five or six.
Joey says:
You say that like it's a bad thing.
Ramona says:
No they just were jetlagged and were full on Green Day-ed up... if you know what I mean.
Joey says:
Sorta.
Ramona says:
Whatever. You wanna go on video?
Joey says:
Not today, I lost my camera thingey, it's somewhere in this shithole of a house.
Ramona says:
Whatever, how are things on the homefront?
Joey paused, there were many things he could say here. He could lie and say everything was great, he could tell a half-truth story with just a bit of disdain and attitude in it or he could tell the truth. Being as honest as he was feeling, he chose the last option.
Ramona says:
Hello? How's Oaktown/Bezerkly/San Fran?
Joey says:
Sucky. I hate my life.
Ramona says:
Why?
Joey says:
I don't know. I just do.
Ramona says:
I've gotta go. You think about that and tell me tomorrow. Alright?
Joey says:
Okay... bye then.
Ramona says:
Bye. Ttyl.
So they signed off, never to continue their conversation the next day, but always remembering it as a realization that they were indeed growing up.
