Family Matters

2 | Saturdays

Somehow Jani managed to find a balance between doing his homework with Alex and watching after two kiddos. Aside from Blair's interruptions when she wanted to show off a drawing or Layla's occasional yelling about how "annoying" her little sister was, it really wasn't that bad. He could do without the physics homework, though.

Alex sat back with a groan. He glanced Jani's textbook, muttering, "Just looking at that makes me want to barf."

He continued to copy down notes mindlessly. "Sucks, but I do not miss chemistry."

"Guess that means you don't want to help study." Alex teased.

Jani quirked an eyebrow curiously, finishing up the last of his work. He closed his binder and pushed it away, swiping up Alex's notecards. "I'm not taking the fall for your shit grades."

"He says, after making me ditch fifth period twice last week."

"Literally Torres' entire lesson plan is on like the first page of Google. You'll be fine." He said, "Ross is a hardass though. One of those freaks that gets off on not passing kids, so pay attention." Alex's response was a stick of the tongue, to which Jani only threated to make him eat one of his own notecards. The two laughed in their twisted sense of humor. Whether that was a result of being teenage dirtbags or the influence of their parents, that was up for debate.

Twenty minutes of reviewing the periodic table passed at a snail's pace. Every time Alex missed one, it seemed to make the clock slower. It was enough to have to deal with his shortcomings on his own, he didn't really want his crush to see it too. Your typical "I'm a fucking idiot, why would he ever like me?" thoughts ensured, further derailing his concentration.

Jani put down the last notecard in the pile. "A lot of people can't get mercury. Don't worry. You know how I remembered it? Hg sounds like HGTV, and I figure Freddie Mercury probably would've liked HGTV."

Alex snorted a laugh. "That's so fuckin' stupid."

"But you're gonna remember it now, you fuck!" Jani's smile was ear-to-ear. He got up from the table as he heard the garage. "I'm gonna help my dad with groceries, then we'll do something not brain-numbing."

"Gotta have a brain for it to go numb."

He punched his shoulder lightly. "You can insult me when you can remember what lead is."

"Why the fuck isn't it just an L?!" Alex yelled after him.

Jani walked down the garage steps after shouting in the house, "That'd make too much sense!" He turned to see his dad opening the trunk and shooting him an inquisitive look. It was better not to ask. Besides, he was used to these Saturdays now. He knew how tired his dad was, how much his dad needed the house quiet, needed that time of decompressing in the shower. Like every Saturday, Vinny would be by in about an hour to have a beer with Ryan while he cooked dinner. It'd become routine even before the girls had come to live with them.

As they carried groceries inside, Ryan asked if the girls were good. Jani's report was nothing out of the ordinary. Few citations, nothing worth getting after them for. They were just kids, and pretty good kids given what they'd been through.

When they went out to the garage for their last trip, Ryan took care to make sure the door to the house was shut. "Can I talk to you, just for a minute? I know you wanna spend time with Alex."

"It's cool. He gets it." Jani resigned against the car, his father standing against a shelf opposite.

"He's a good kid, like you. I'm glad you guys are hanging out a lot now." He sighed heavily. "Chris' parents will be back Thursday. They're going to take the girls from here on out. I'm gonna talk to Vin tonight, figure out what we should do. I don't like Chris being in that place. He has to be released to someone, and he can't live alone right now. God, he can't live alone. I'm not saying anything for sure, but if that's where things are going, I want to make sure you're okay with taking that on."

He shrugged, "I can adjust. He's family. It's what we gotta do, right?"

"Yeah... Yeah." Ryan moved to close the trunk, but froze there. "Places like that, they're for people that have nobody, nowhere to feel safe. But Chris, he has so many people that love him. He shouldn't be there. And I just want you to know, no matter what, you'll always have me and this house will always be safe. Okay?"

"Okay." He offered a melancholy smile. "Thanks, dad. We can put away the groceries if you wanna go shower."

Ryan tiredly agreed, wondering how the Hell he ended up with such a good son. He wasn't really around for most of Jani's life, only popping in for visits between tours. The kid's mother hadn't been around since he was a toddler, but Ryan refused to let him fall into the system despite also refusing to walk away from the band. Jani's childhood was spent shuffling around between temporary homes of relatives and family friends. He was understandably an angry kid, and for the first year or so he was living with Ryan, he was filled with resentment. It's not like his dad could blame him.

As Ryan stood in a scolding hot shower, he thought back on those early days after Ricky's passing. He was so terrified to waste any time away from his family from that point on. Jani only shoved it back in his face in the form of slammed doors, skipped classes, and stolen cigarettes. The truth of the matter was, Jani was just as fucked mentally. He was angry at his dad, sure, but he'd also never experienced a death so close to him before. Whenever his dad was around, the band was never far behind. Vinny was the one who taught him how to skate. Justin was the reason he learned how to kick his dad's ass in video games, and Chris taught him exactly how to get on his dad's nerves.

And Ricky... There were years of the guys arguing over whether Jani'd be a drummer or a singer, a bassist, or a guitarist like his dad. He never wanted to learn from Ryan, yet he wanted to be like Ryan. Ricky was the only one that never pushed him to pick up an instrument, and maybe that's why Jani went to him instead. It was just so much less nerve racking when Ricky would sit down with him for a lesson.

There was a time after he was gone where neither Ryan or Jani wanted to touch a guitar. It was somewhere in all the mourning that Jani realized there wasn't a need for all the resentment. His dad really did try his best with a shit situation. He refused to pick between Jani or the band for the same reason: They were family.

While Ryan was walking the hall, he overheard Alex and Jani talking about the riffs of the music they were listening to. It was bittersweet. When Layla came along, Ryan was so excited to get payback on Ricky and be the one to teach his kid. Dreams like that feel like they were another lifetime ago now. It didn't matter much anyways. Layla was a wild little weirdo like Vinny, and she'd already decided she'd be a drummer like him. He'd let himself in the house like usual and immediately sought out the little gremlin to practice against every beatable surface in Ryan's house.