Even Now

Chapter 55: The Hardest Story to Tell

Hey guys! I thought it'd be fitting, since I've been gone for so long, to rewind a bit. Seven years, in fact...

Again, I want to thank all of you for sticking by me :') I love and appreciate all of you, and I hope you're doing well! I hope this chapter is okay 😅

*PS: This chapter made me sad, so I guess I'll put a bit of a TW here for loss of loved ones and the grief that follows :(

On to the story...

***

February, 1987: 7 Years Ago...

Loud, thumping, angry music blares out through the stereo. Smoke wafts in and around the ratty furniture of the small unfinished basement, and drug paraphernalia lies scattered across the floor.

Through his foggy haze, Jerry stares down at the album cover of the band currently playing: Slayer. The colours shift strangely behind the laminate, as though dancing to the sound of Dave Lombardo's drumming.
He takes a swig from the beer in his hand, sniffing when his nose starts to burn out of nowhere.

He'd just started seeing this girl, Carmella. She was pretty cool. Her basement was nice. And she was far better than his last two girlfriends, that was for sure. Especially that Rhonda gal back in Houston...

Man, was she a DOG!
But at least she had some good weed.

In a month, he'd be 21. That'd take some of the illegality out of his now daily routine, which was to wake up, go out, work, play and write music with his band Diamond Lie, and then crash with some friends in his girlfriend's basement to drink, smoke pot, and snort coke.

It was always coming down that hit him the hardest... drinking usually eased it for the time being- well, it 'stalled' things.
God, the hangovers were like something straight out of hell.

"Hey. El," he grumbles over to Carmella, who sits just a ways beside him on the floor against the couch. "What time is it?"

He watches her check the watch on her wrist. "I... I think it's 2."

"Two?" Jerry repeats, leaning his head back in a groan before standing wearily. "Fuck. I should've been home hours ago."

One of his friends, slumped against the television set, yawns with a shrug in response. "Sucks, man."

Jerry frowns, stretching for a moment before heading to the basement stairs. "See ya, guys."

"Hey! Babe!" Carmella whines, reaching out to him. "Where're you going?"

Jerry raises an eyebrow. "Uh... home? I just fuckin' said that."

"Oh. Alright. Just gonna abandon your girlfriend like that. I see," she sighs, as if expecting Jerry to turn back and cuddle her, or something.

Jerry grits his teeth. "Yeah..." he trails off, waving an awkward goodbye to his friends.

He gets little more than a couple of waves back before he's racing up the stairs in his inebriated state, muttering the word 'fuck' over and over again.

The state of things at home was... difficult, right now.

His grandma had died a couple of months ago. It had been absolutely heart-wrenching for him and his siblings, as each of them has been close to her...
To make matters worse, not even a week after, their mom had come right out and said, "Yeah, I'm dying, too. Sorry."

Okay, she didn't say it exactly like that... but it had hit like a blow to the back of the head all the same.

Jerry had been thrown for a loop, and he didn't know when he'd ever stop spinning 'round.