When Rock Meets Melody

Chapter 11 - Home Sweet Home

Melody encourages Nikki to find a way to get Mötley Crüe back together to reclaim their rock 'n' roll status.

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August 15th, 1995

When I got the call from Vince, I forgot what it meant to breathe.

Skylar passed away.

She was only four years old.

To lose a child so young is the shittiest grieving pain a parent must feel. And Vince had to feel that pain for the rest of his life knowing that he'll never watch his daughter grow up, learn how to ride a bike, walk through the doors of high school, pictures of her in her prom dress and graduation – all those promised memories were gone within a blink of an eye. 

I was proud that Skylar managed to hold on for as long as she could but Vince telling her that the "flower" in her stomach only broke my heart much more. She'll be left without knowing that a tumour in her body was killing her.

Sharise had her family by her that day, completely broken down from the loss. Vince didn't have a shoulder to cry on. Even if I'd gone to visit him, it still didn't feel like it was enough to mend the pieces of his broken heart.

Whilst I looked over at the photos of my children, I wondered to myself: how are the remaining few of us so lucky? If it were one of my kids, I can assure you that I'd have the same reaction as Vince. Because I don't imagine living with the awful baggage of death over my shoulders for much longer. They're so young, so innocent, having their lives ahead of them for the future. It was such a bigger blow than anybody anticipated. When I attended Skylar's funeral, only Vince and I stood there in the rain underneath my umbrella, tears damping our cheeks. He placed his white flower upon her grave delicately, trying his best to pull himself together.

"Thank God for you, Melody," Vince spoke up after a few minutes of silence. "You're the only family that I have."

He wiped his eyes with his hands and exhaled sharply.

"She was so brave," I wept, patting his back.

I hate leaving him in the rain, but he needed time to heal. To be fair, we all do. Vince didn't deserve this. He shouldn't be out there grieving in the state that he's in. Even with the solo career and everything, it still wasn't enough to fill the void in his heart.

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June 23rd, 1996 – One year later...

After Skylar's funeral, I gave birth to my second son Decker in May some months later. Around this time, Nikki and the boys were back in the studio with John to make their next album with the side note of tensions rising between them – they fired Bob Rock for "overproducing" the album, replaced him with Scott Humphrey that caused arguments over ideas and fired Doug Thaler as manager.

After putting the kids back to bed, Nikki came into the bedroom and closed the door slowly. The other day, he got a call from somebody who claimed to be his half-brother Randy and that he knew his father. He was unsure at first as he hadn't seen his father for years and I was hoping that he'd get a chance to meet him after missing so much of his childhood, teens, and adulthood – let's not forget the fame, too. I turned around and his face was plastered with what looked like a mix of resentment and guilt.

"How was it?" I asked.

He leaned against the door, his back pressed against it and his head tilted up towards the ceiling.