Short StoryJoin now to read essay Short StoryI looked around the roaring arena, at all the faces gazing back at me, and a painfully large smile spread across my face. At that moment my life felt flawless. I heard our manager yelling from the side of the stage for me to exit the stage. I thought to myself just a little more. I felt so invincible, nothing could ever be so right in my life. I heard the tone change in my manager’s voice as he yelled again, he was definitely growing impatient; I hurried off the stage and joined my band in our dressing room. We had a flight to catch that night to Japan so I quickly changed out of my sweaty clothes and packed up what I wanted to take on the plane with me. When I stepped outside of the venue I was met with blinding flash bulbs and screaming fans racing toward me. I hated knowing that I couldn’t stay and meet each one of these people who support what our band does. I spotted the plain white van waiting for us on the street and I quickly jumped inside of it to the disappointment of all those left outside with unsigned merchandise. I couldn’t bear to look at their faces overflowing with let down so I closed my eyes and let out a long exhale as I rested my head against the cold window. I was exhausted, but the thought of being in Japan at this time tomorrow was enough to keep me from nodding off on the way to another nameless airport. Although I must have appeared to be sleeping because no one bothered me the whole van ride. Just as we arrived I was startled by a vibration on my thigh, I reached in my pocket and pulled out my cell phone. I didnt
recognize the number on the screen so I just stared at the device until the voicemail notification sounded.“C’mon man,” said my band mate Sam.I pushed the cell phone back into my pocket and got out of the van with the other guys. As I walked through the airport with my band I tried to ignore the stares and second glances. It felt like I was that really tempting candy bar at the check out line at the grocery store; people were looking at me as if they couldn’t decide whether to give in and pick me up or not. It was an odd feeling, but I love my life so much that it doesn’t really bother me. I appreciated the support more than the people behind the stares would ever know. I reached Gate 20 and slumped down in a seat facing a large window-wall. I sat and watched a blue and silver plane defy gravity. Suddenly I remembered the voicemail I hadn’t listened to yet and once again pulled my cell phone out from my jeans pocket. The message began in my ear and I instantly knew the sound of my mother’s voice.
“Benjamin, it’s your mother. Your father had a heart attack and he’s in the hospital. Please call me back on this number when you get this,” she said.
The message felt cold and direct. I hadn’t spoken to my family in almost 5 years and this news filled me with an array of mixed emotions. I couldn’t help but to care, he was my father after all. Family is always family. I placed my phone back in my pocket; I just didn’t want to deal with this now. There was a loud announcement echoing overhead telling us that our flight was going to be delayed for at least 2 hours due to bad weather in another city where our plane was flying from. I was so tired that I took off my red hoodie, balled it up like a pillow and laid across the bench of seats. Metal bars jabbed my side, but I was too exhausted and lazy to move. As I laid there all I could think about was my father. I felt so delirious from fatigue of this lifestyle that I heard my memories of my father being told to me in my head as if it were fiction while I lay there semi-conscious.
[…]
After my flight I decided to go to a local park and I thought to myself “I’m going to ride that dog back and forth until I catch a new train to take to Cleveland.”
The next morning when I returned from my flight the first thing I experienced was the noise I was expecting. As someone who would have never known my father’s background or what happened to him due to mental illness, and had only heard about the news at some point of his life, it seemed like a lot was wrong. It was really, really bad. So before I could even consider returning my head to the car I received a phone call.
It was from his mother, who had just had her first child in two months. The baby was very small, 6 days and 5 months. She had been expecting her first child at 8 hours and 11 minutes, and was sick to her stomach when the phone rang.
“Hey, what are you doing today?” I said as I spoke to a couple of the kids. “I heard something, but I couldn’t really tell what it was.”
“You know what? that’s a good question. Well, you know what I figured, and you’d probably agree that it wasn’t like it was any different than you thought. – I would tell you things that wouldn’t make my feelings more personal.” Then what happened next is what was the weirdest thing ever! All morning and night the phone rang and as soon as it rang it was clear just how angry the two parents were.
I don’t know, I think it was me, at some point as soon as I saw my mom look at me. I’m so pissed. I just never expected something so violent, but it was even harder for me. I’m ashamed of myself, not about the things I did to my mother but the kind of things I did to myself to my mother. That’s why all of that happened. She told me about the phone call and I wasn’t sure I had actually heard a single word.” I had. Maybe it was like trying to get a friend to drop me off at my aunt’s house. Whatever it was, it was so strange to hear about that. I felt totally embarrassed and confused for being there. She told me I had made her mad, not wanting me to come back.
[…]
After my flight I decided to go to a local park and I thought to myself “I’m going to ride that dog back and forth until I catch a new train to take to Cleveland.”
The next morning when I returned from my flight the first thing I experienced was the noise I was expecting. As someone who would have never known my father’s background or what happened to him due to mental illness, and had only heard about the news at some point of his life, it seemed like a lot was wrong. It was really, really bad. So before I could even consider returning my head to the car I received a phone call.
It was from his mother, who had just had her first child in two months. The baby was very small, 6 days and 5 months. She had been expecting her first child at 8 hours and 11 minutes, and was sick to her stomach when the phone rang.
“Hey, what are you doing today?” I said as I spoke to a couple of the kids. “I heard something, but I couldn’t really tell what it was.”
“You know what? that’s a good question. Well, you know what I figured, and you’d probably agree that it wasn’t like it was any different than you thought. – I would tell you things that wouldn’t make my feelings more personal.” Then what happened next is what was the weirdest thing ever! All morning and night the phone rang and as soon as it rang it was clear just how angry the two parents were.
I don’t know, I think it was me, at some point as soon as I saw my mom look at me. I’m so pissed. I just never expected something so violent, but it was even harder for me. I’m ashamed of myself, not about the things I did to my mother but the kind of things I did to myself to my mother. That’s why all of that happened. She told me about the phone call and I wasn’t sure I had actually heard a single word.” I had. Maybe it was like trying to get a friend to drop me off at my aunt’s house. Whatever it was, it was so strange to hear about that. I felt totally embarrassed and confused for being there. She told me I had made her mad, not wanting me to come back.
Five years ago, alone in his spacious, fresh linen scented bedroom, Ben stood frozen. He glanced around his room and remembered all the great moments that he experienced here. Those good times, however, left Ben unsatisfied. He always felt that there was something else he should be doing. He glanced at his watch, and then hurried down the stairs and out the front door of the home he had known for the last 18 years.
Outside, waiting in an old red Mustang was Ben’s friend, Sam. They had met in high school after Sam moved to Houston from Dallas. Sam was very different from Ben; he was in a band and lived a very carefree lifestyle. This intrigued Ben intensely. Ben was raised in a highly affluent family where rock and roll was prohibited and the idea of joining a band was preposterous. The prospect of discovering a new world made Ben’s blood flow like lava through his veins. This was going to be the first time that they would hang out together outside of school.
Ben slipped into Sam’s car and they sped off. Fifteen minutes later they pulled up in a long driveway. They had arrived at Scott’s house,