Road To Acceptance, chapter 3
"Say that againm airhead." Brittany said. Yas told Brittany to calm down since she was only letting them know that it was getting to her.
"So I heard that Marcie Bisson got thrown out of home. Maybe her dad got tired so beating the shit out of her... worthless just like her mom, so I heard." Lynn said loud enough for everyone to hear.
Marcie stopped walking and turned around. Yas stood with Marcie and tried to hold her back but failed when Marcie threw her bag off of her shoulder and ran at Lynn pinning her to the ground before pounding her in the face repeatedly. Lynn fought back bringing on a full fist fight on the outskirts of the school.
The prep guys (mainly football players) jumped in dragging Marcie off of Lynn and giving Marcie a punch of their own. Brittany savagely jumped in to the fight with a crowd of people. Yas was helping Marcie get the guys away from her whilst Eileen ran off to get some help.
Eileen ran into the school and down the halls to the principal, Ms Davies' office. She then explained what was going on and where. Ms Davies got Eileen to lead the way. They both went down to the school perimeter where the fight had turned nasty. Fists and feet were flying every where and right in the middle of it were Marcie and Lynn taking lumps out of each other. Ms Davies crossed her arms and frowned upon the group of twenty or so students brawling for everyone to see. By now the street outside was blocked with cars. Random people watched on from the safety of their cars, vans and trucks. Marcie and Lynn were close to killing each other.
"Right that's enough!" Ms Davies shouted bringing an abrupt end to the brawl, "Move along there's nothing to see here." she said addressing the traffic outside the school with a smile, the smile soon faded, "You eight," meaning Yas, Brittany, Marcie, Eileen, Lynn, Jared, Scott and Brianna, "My office, NOW!" she shouted, "For the rest of you detention hall, come on people move!"
The group dispersed leaving Yas, Brittany, Marcie, Eileen, Lynn, Jared, Scott and Brianna following Ms Davies to her office. Ms Davies had to check over her shoulder to make sure another fight hadn't broken out. She filed the eight into her office then followed and closed the door. The principal walked to behind her desk and sat down on her brown leather swivel chair. Everyone else found places to sit, four on one side on the room and the other four on the other side of the room except for Brittany who was still standing.
"Brittany sit down." Ms Davies said.
"Miss, the leather doesn't agree with my ass." This brought a smile to Yas' face remembering the time Brittany kept sliding off of her couch. Yas had to shield her face with her long black hair.
"That wasn't a suggestion. Now sit down," Ms Davies repeated, emphasising every syllable. Ms Davis clasped her hands together on her mahogany desk, "I can not and will not tolerate fighting, brawling in this school. Jared, Scott you both should have had the decency to know not to hit a female..."
"Her father does it to her." Lynn interrupted with a smirk toward Marcie.
"Why don't you just shut the fuck up, you crack whore?" Marcie shot back.
"Girls! Lynn, Marcie's private life has nothing to do with you. Marcie I will not tolerate name calling in m office and I will not accept that type of language in here."
"Why not? All Marcie did was tell the truth Miss. All Lynn does is stand on street corners turning tricks. No one pays her enough so she works in the strip joint."
With that comment Lynn lunged at Brittany and proceeded to punch her in the face. Ms Davies sighed with frustration and stood up. She sent Lynn and her cronies outside the room keeping Marcie, Brittany, Yas and Eileen in the room. Ms Davies sat down once again and looked along the line of girls, bruises and cuts on their faces except for Eileen. Again clasping her hands together, Ms Davies looked over her black rimmed spectacles at the four girls. She explained that they all had one more chance otherwise they wouldn't graduate next week. Marcie's eyes widened at this...she had to graduate if she was going to the Academy of Art University in California.
For the next week nothing major happened at school. The group had all been read the riot act and had been told the consequences for overstepping the mark. Marcie, Brittany, Yas and Eileen had been practicing to play at the graduation party. They were told they could only play cover songs and one of the songs they were told to play was 'Good Riddance' by Marcie's stepfather's band Green Day. A wave of angst came over Marcie when she saw that on the set list. At some point she'd have to meet him if she worked up the courage to find Adrienne.
The night of graduation came around and the four girls were about to go on stage. Marcie had dyed her hair black, she had black jeans hanging from her hips and a silver velvet shirt on showing her cleavage and mid-riff. The other three girls had followed the punk rock influence with their clothing, ripped jeans, tapered t-shirts, bold make up. The set list included: Don't Stop Me Now, Runaway Train, That's Entertainment and their own take on a couple of hip-hop songs. The night ended with the last song: Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life). With that, high school ended.
Following graduation, the girls' band, named Revengeance had to play a few shows within the punk circuit. The move to California was dawning on them. Could they make it in California's punk scene or would it crumble under the pressure of Marcie's home life? Revengeance were popular in Minnesota and if they could transfer that success to California then that would be a bonus. California's biggest punk club was Gilman Street. All four girls had dreams of playing there and now it could become a reality. The only problem was that Heather. "Sunshine" was the only one of the mothers to believe in the girls' band working. So Eileen and Yas were leaving for California with no family. The only "responsible" adult going would be Sunshine.
It was one AM on a Thursday morning when Brittany, Yas, Eileen and Marcie were all sitting in the Minneapolis Airport. Brittany's mom was on the payphone down the hall trying to find somewhere in California she could get the best pot from for when her supply ran out. No word came from any of the girls; they needed a shot of caffeine but had to wait for Sunshine to come back with the cash they needed. Brittany looked around in case anyone had left a half cup of coffee. Her brain began to hurt so she turned back around in her chair and leant on Yas who was writing something in her notebook. Brittany's ears pricked up as she read over the words written in black ink against the virgin white paper.
I need Brazil, the throb, the thrill,
I've never been there but someday I will.
Adventure and danger,
Love from a stranger.
Let me be surprised.
Today there's sun they said there'd be snow,
When all's said and done, it's fun not to know.
What keeps my heart humming,
Is guessing what's coming.
Let me be surprised.
"That a song Yas?" Brittany asked, Yas' green eyes looked up from the paper.
"I'm not sure yet." Yas replied, "It could be..."
"Yas, you're an awesome songwriter you know. Everyone loves your songs for this band, I bang to them all damn night long! Don't let your mom get to you. You're not a failure, those words were just said out of spite, she never meant them."
"I know that...my mom's not worth my effort anymore," Yas replied calmly then looked over at Marcie who was entranced in a drawing, "She's been slaving over that paper for days...has she told you what it is yet?"
"No, she said she wouldn't until it was finished and perfect in her opinion. I think it's a portrait of her mom...I caught her looking at photographs on the internet."
At that moment Sunshine came back waving her arms around supposedly "blessing" the airport and departure lounge that she graced with her loving presence. Along with the flailing of the arms came a chant of mysterious words. Brittany marched up to her mother holding her hand out for money, accepted it from her mom and ran towards a Starbucks with a manic smile on her face as she went to get everyone some coffee. She came back five minutes later with a carton that held four coffee cups. Brittany giggled as she sat down clutching her cup of coffee as if she were like Gollum from the Lord of the Rings books, rocking back and forth.
When Marcie was handed her cup she said nothing. All she did was smile at Brittany, sip on her black coffee, placed it in the cup holder on the arm of the chair then entranced herself back into her artist repertoire. Eileen managed to get her drumsticks past the security measurements after proving that she wasn't going to hurt anyone with them. She would tap a rhythm on the soles of her shoes and on the arm of the chair she was sitting on. Eileen would take a mouthful of coffee every now and then and looked around the departure lounge with wide eyes like a child would. Eileen looked in front of her and grinned at a toddler that was staring at her. The little boy grinned back before putting his fingers in his mouth and drooling all over his shirt.
A woman in her late twenties trudged over to her son and was going to pick him up when everything fell out of the diaper bag. Eileen put her sticks down on the floor and ran over to the blonde busty woman. She knelt down on the floor and picked up some of the toddler's things. The woman looked up at Eileen and carried on picking things up. Eileen held a bundle of diapers in her right hand and two empty bottles in the other. She went over to the woman and put the things in the right compartments.
"You've got a gorgeous kid there," Eileen complimented lowering the hood on the black jumper she was wearing so she didn't look like a terrorist to the woman, the woman looked up at Eileen and smiled, "Oh. Where are my manners? I'm Eileen by the way." she said holding her left hand out.
The woman shook Eileen's hand lightly then let go, "Clarisse. That's Tyrone, my son. Look thanks for helping me with this. Going to California as well I take it? Who with?"
"Oh yeah, I'm going with my friends and Sunshine. Is it just you and Tyrone going?"
"Yeah it's just me and Ty. Don't ask....Sunshine? Ah, that mad woman chanting. Oh she's not your mom is she?" Clarisse asked hoping not to cause offence.
"No, no, no. She's Blue, sorry Brittany's mom. Brittany's the red head over there. If you need any help with Tyrone on the plane then I'd be more than happy to help."
"Thank you, I'll bear that in mind," Clarisse replied standing up, "I'd better take Tyrone to the toilet before the flight boards, I'll see you around maybe." she said then walked off with her son.
Eileen stood up and walked back over to her seat and sat down picking up her drumsticks. The same rhythm from before came back but Eileen looked down at her stomach. After five minutes of tapping her drumstick against her shoe she randomly got up and ran off to the bathroom. Yas noticed this and went off after her. In the bathroom Yas looked around and saw Eileen standing in front of a mirror with her arms tensed gripping either side of the sink basin. Yas stood next to Eileen and looked at her, she knew something was wrong but didn't know what. Then her eyes fell upon a white stick that lay on the granite sink surround. Eileen couldn't be pregnant... could she?
"Eileen?" Yas asked, "Babe you're not...are you?"
Eileen nodded, "It's Scott's...from school."
"WHAT?! You slept with...why?! Are you out of your mind!?"
With that comment Eileen began to weep for the child she was carrying. Over and over she said that it was just a drunken mistake and that she couldn't keep the child. Yas put her arms round her friend as Eileen cried into her jacket. Suddenly their flight number was called over the P.A system meaning the plane was ready for boarding so Yas and Eileen had to get back to their travelling companions and find their seats on the plane.
"So I heard that Marcie Bisson got thrown out of home. Maybe her dad got tired so beating the shit out of her... worthless just like her mom, so I heard." Lynn said loud enough for everyone to hear.
Marcie stopped walking and turned around. Yas stood with Marcie and tried to hold her back but failed when Marcie threw her bag off of her shoulder and ran at Lynn pinning her to the ground before pounding her in the face repeatedly. Lynn fought back bringing on a full fist fight on the outskirts of the school.
The prep guys (mainly football players) jumped in dragging Marcie off of Lynn and giving Marcie a punch of their own. Brittany savagely jumped in to the fight with a crowd of people. Yas was helping Marcie get the guys away from her whilst Eileen ran off to get some help.
Eileen ran into the school and down the halls to the principal, Ms Davies' office. She then explained what was going on and where. Ms Davies got Eileen to lead the way. They both went down to the school perimeter where the fight had turned nasty. Fists and feet were flying every where and right in the middle of it were Marcie and Lynn taking lumps out of each other. Ms Davies crossed her arms and frowned upon the group of twenty or so students brawling for everyone to see. By now the street outside was blocked with cars. Random people watched on from the safety of their cars, vans and trucks. Marcie and Lynn were close to killing each other.
"Right that's enough!" Ms Davies shouted bringing an abrupt end to the brawl, "Move along there's nothing to see here." she said addressing the traffic outside the school with a smile, the smile soon faded, "You eight," meaning Yas, Brittany, Marcie, Eileen, Lynn, Jared, Scott and Brianna, "My office, NOW!" she shouted, "For the rest of you detention hall, come on people move!"
The group dispersed leaving Yas, Brittany, Marcie, Eileen, Lynn, Jared, Scott and Brianna following Ms Davies to her office. Ms Davies had to check over her shoulder to make sure another fight hadn't broken out. She filed the eight into her office then followed and closed the door. The principal walked to behind her desk and sat down on her brown leather swivel chair. Everyone else found places to sit, four on one side on the room and the other four on the other side of the room except for Brittany who was still standing.
"Brittany sit down." Ms Davies said.
"Miss, the leather doesn't agree with my ass." This brought a smile to Yas' face remembering the time Brittany kept sliding off of her couch. Yas had to shield her face with her long black hair.
"That wasn't a suggestion. Now sit down," Ms Davies repeated, emphasising every syllable. Ms Davis clasped her hands together on her mahogany desk, "I can not and will not tolerate fighting, brawling in this school. Jared, Scott you both should have had the decency to know not to hit a female..."
"Her father does it to her." Lynn interrupted with a smirk toward Marcie.
"Why don't you just shut the fuck up, you crack whore?" Marcie shot back.
"Girls! Lynn, Marcie's private life has nothing to do with you. Marcie I will not tolerate name calling in m office and I will not accept that type of language in here."
"Why not? All Marcie did was tell the truth Miss. All Lynn does is stand on street corners turning tricks. No one pays her enough so she works in the strip joint."
With that comment Lynn lunged at Brittany and proceeded to punch her in the face. Ms Davies sighed with frustration and stood up. She sent Lynn and her cronies outside the room keeping Marcie, Brittany, Yas and Eileen in the room. Ms Davies sat down once again and looked along the line of girls, bruises and cuts on their faces except for Eileen. Again clasping her hands together, Ms Davies looked over her black rimmed spectacles at the four girls. She explained that they all had one more chance otherwise they wouldn't graduate next week. Marcie's eyes widened at this...she had to graduate if she was going to the Academy of Art University in California.
For the next week nothing major happened at school. The group had all been read the riot act and had been told the consequences for overstepping the mark. Marcie, Brittany, Yas and Eileen had been practicing to play at the graduation party. They were told they could only play cover songs and one of the songs they were told to play was 'Good Riddance' by Marcie's stepfather's band Green Day. A wave of angst came over Marcie when she saw that on the set list. At some point she'd have to meet him if she worked up the courage to find Adrienne.
The night of graduation came around and the four girls were about to go on stage. Marcie had dyed her hair black, she had black jeans hanging from her hips and a silver velvet shirt on showing her cleavage and mid-riff. The other three girls had followed the punk rock influence with their clothing, ripped jeans, tapered t-shirts, bold make up. The set list included: Don't Stop Me Now, Runaway Train, That's Entertainment and their own take on a couple of hip-hop songs. The night ended with the last song: Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life). With that, high school ended.
Following graduation, the girls' band, named Revengeance had to play a few shows within the punk circuit. The move to California was dawning on them. Could they make it in California's punk scene or would it crumble under the pressure of Marcie's home life? Revengeance were popular in Minnesota and if they could transfer that success to California then that would be a bonus. California's biggest punk club was Gilman Street. All four girls had dreams of playing there and now it could become a reality. The only problem was that Heather. "Sunshine" was the only one of the mothers to believe in the girls' band working. So Eileen and Yas were leaving for California with no family. The only "responsible" adult going would be Sunshine.
It was one AM on a Thursday morning when Brittany, Yas, Eileen and Marcie were all sitting in the Minneapolis Airport. Brittany's mom was on the payphone down the hall trying to find somewhere in California she could get the best pot from for when her supply ran out. No word came from any of the girls; they needed a shot of caffeine but had to wait for Sunshine to come back with the cash they needed. Brittany looked around in case anyone had left a half cup of coffee. Her brain began to hurt so she turned back around in her chair and leant on Yas who was writing something in her notebook. Brittany's ears pricked up as she read over the words written in black ink against the virgin white paper.
I need Brazil, the throb, the thrill,
I've never been there but someday I will.
Adventure and danger,
Love from a stranger.
Let me be surprised.
Today there's sun they said there'd be snow,
When all's said and done, it's fun not to know.
What keeps my heart humming,
Is guessing what's coming.
Let me be surprised.
"That a song Yas?" Brittany asked, Yas' green eyes looked up from the paper.
"I'm not sure yet." Yas replied, "It could be..."
"Yas, you're an awesome songwriter you know. Everyone loves your songs for this band, I bang to them all damn night long! Don't let your mom get to you. You're not a failure, those words were just said out of spite, she never meant them."
"I know that...my mom's not worth my effort anymore," Yas replied calmly then looked over at Marcie who was entranced in a drawing, "She's been slaving over that paper for days...has she told you what it is yet?"
"No, she said she wouldn't until it was finished and perfect in her opinion. I think it's a portrait of her mom...I caught her looking at photographs on the internet."
At that moment Sunshine came back waving her arms around supposedly "blessing" the airport and departure lounge that she graced with her loving presence. Along with the flailing of the arms came a chant of mysterious words. Brittany marched up to her mother holding her hand out for money, accepted it from her mom and ran towards a Starbucks with a manic smile on her face as she went to get everyone some coffee. She came back five minutes later with a carton that held four coffee cups. Brittany giggled as she sat down clutching her cup of coffee as if she were like Gollum from the Lord of the Rings books, rocking back and forth.
When Marcie was handed her cup she said nothing. All she did was smile at Brittany, sip on her black coffee, placed it in the cup holder on the arm of the chair then entranced herself back into her artist repertoire. Eileen managed to get her drumsticks past the security measurements after proving that she wasn't going to hurt anyone with them. She would tap a rhythm on the soles of her shoes and on the arm of the chair she was sitting on. Eileen would take a mouthful of coffee every now and then and looked around the departure lounge with wide eyes like a child would. Eileen looked in front of her and grinned at a toddler that was staring at her. The little boy grinned back before putting his fingers in his mouth and drooling all over his shirt.
A woman in her late twenties trudged over to her son and was going to pick him up when everything fell out of the diaper bag. Eileen put her sticks down on the floor and ran over to the blonde busty woman. She knelt down on the floor and picked up some of the toddler's things. The woman looked up at Eileen and carried on picking things up. Eileen held a bundle of diapers in her right hand and two empty bottles in the other. She went over to the woman and put the things in the right compartments.
"You've got a gorgeous kid there," Eileen complimented lowering the hood on the black jumper she was wearing so she didn't look like a terrorist to the woman, the woman looked up at Eileen and smiled, "Oh. Where are my manners? I'm Eileen by the way." she said holding her left hand out.
The woman shook Eileen's hand lightly then let go, "Clarisse. That's Tyrone, my son. Look thanks for helping me with this. Going to California as well I take it? Who with?"
"Oh yeah, I'm going with my friends and Sunshine. Is it just you and Tyrone going?"
"Yeah it's just me and Ty. Don't ask....Sunshine? Ah, that mad woman chanting. Oh she's not your mom is she?" Clarisse asked hoping not to cause offence.
"No, no, no. She's Blue, sorry Brittany's mom. Brittany's the red head over there. If you need any help with Tyrone on the plane then I'd be more than happy to help."
"Thank you, I'll bear that in mind," Clarisse replied standing up, "I'd better take Tyrone to the toilet before the flight boards, I'll see you around maybe." she said then walked off with her son.
Eileen stood up and walked back over to her seat and sat down picking up her drumsticks. The same rhythm from before came back but Eileen looked down at her stomach. After five minutes of tapping her drumstick against her shoe she randomly got up and ran off to the bathroom. Yas noticed this and went off after her. In the bathroom Yas looked around and saw Eileen standing in front of a mirror with her arms tensed gripping either side of the sink basin. Yas stood next to Eileen and looked at her, she knew something was wrong but didn't know what. Then her eyes fell upon a white stick that lay on the granite sink surround. Eileen couldn't be pregnant... could she?
"Eileen?" Yas asked, "Babe you're not...are you?"
Eileen nodded, "It's Scott's...from school."
"WHAT?! You slept with...why?! Are you out of your mind!?"
With that comment Eileen began to weep for the child she was carrying. Over and over she said that it was just a drunken mistake and that she couldn't keep the child. Yas put her arms round her friend as Eileen cried into her jacket. Suddenly their flight number was called over the P.A system meaning the plane was ready for boarding so Yas and Eileen had to get back to their travelling companions and find their seats on the plane.
