By The Way ||RHCP fanfic|| Anthony Kiedis

Chapter Four: I Could Have Lied

At first, Anthony stays totally quiet after those words come out; never moving, never speaking, never blinking, just staring at my face blankly. When I can't find the correct words to say in response, Anthony elaborates on the topic, making my stomach twist into a million tightly wound knots. This journey to California might have been a terrible idea. I might never make it back home again. What would my mother think happened to me? My curious mind wanders to a million different scenarios:

"I'm a serial killer."

"I used to be a convict in prison."

"I'm not who you think I am, Dani.."

"I'm a bad guy who does bad things."

These are all likely things to be said by Anthony Kiedis of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, aren't they? They seem to be fairly reasonable inquiries when it comes to a man with such a brilliant reputation. Anthony shuffles in his seat a few times before speaking. A piping hot cup of Peppermint tea sits clenched in his paw-like hands, and a plate of disgusting burnt food sits practically untouched on the glass coffee table. The burnt flavor lingers on my tongue, but is there really any room to complain? Probably not. I'm sitting next to a graceful celebrity, and for once, this one seems...genuine. This is not the Tinseltown resident I'd expected to find here. Hollywood falseness hasn't changed this beautiful entity much over the years, surprisingly. He's got a warm nature that flows right through your soul like warm water on a cold day. But right now, truth be told, I'm frightened of what he's going to say. Perhaps he's not the man he appears to be.

"You probably aren't going to like what I've got to say," Anthony warns, emphasizing his seriousness with a strict tone of voice. "Just don't want you to run away from me or something when I tell you this. It's kinda...crazy. Very crazy, in fact." My eyes wander to his sharp facial features, scanning them for any signs of humor or lightheartedness, but my eyes find no sign of humor anywhere, especially not in his eyes. My queasy stomach turns around in circles like the washing machines do at the laundromat. 

"Sure," I pry with an anxious aura circling my words viciously. "Go ahead, say whatever you want to say to me. I'm not going to run anywhere. Besides, really, what the fuck's the worst that could happen?" Anthony takes another long sip of tea from his glass before continuing on with this ridiculous suspenseful act; truth be told, it's starting to annoy me. The liquid inside Anthony's glass has cooled down significantly since the last sip was taken. Cold tea in Los Angeles? Who the hell in the world drinks cold tea anymore?

"Well, as it turns out, Dani...I'm your biological father. We're connected through blood. Kurt was just a prop that I had to use in order to keep you safe from the clutches of my dangerous rockstar lifestyle. I figured since you're much older now, you would be able to understand why you were kept in the dark for so long." Anthony shifts restlessly in the couch, never daring to make eye contact with me, never averting his gaze from the floor. Clearly, the motive for his invitation to L.A. was more than a simple meet and greet.

"I'm twenty years old," that's the first thing that comes to mind above all the other thoughts circling my brain. Anthony nearly spits the cold tea out of his mouth, unexpectant, so naive. "Just turned twenty today. So, that means you kept this father thing a secret from me for twenty whole fucking years of my life?"

The air conditioning unit kicks on, nearly causing me to jump off of the couch. A stale stench of lingering food hangs in the air, polluting our oxygen. Celebrities aren't all they're cracked up to be. "You slept in this mansion of a house for twenty years, recorded music with people...played gigs at the bar with your pals, got famous, and you did all of this for twenty years...but you couldn't find any time to call your daughter and tell her that she's your...daughter?" The broad statement hangs even heavier in the air than the food for awhile, until Anthony sighs and sets his cup of tea down on the coffee table.

His jaw is clenches together tightly and his hands are struggling to keep the anger from exploding out of his mouth. Seconds pass by. Sometimes seconds can feel endless. Sometimes they don't feel alive at all. But this time, they're very alive and very endless, they're livewires ready to explode. And I'm now very bored of waiting. I stand and take my cup of liquid with me, slipping my thick, rainy weather jacket on before heading out the door.

"Well, this has been marvelous fun, Anthony Kiedis, but I'm afraid I've got to go. I've got a lot of errands to run and not much time to run them." Anthony stands. "No, come on," he pleads rampantly, ushering me away from the door with his sickly sweet demeanor and fancy speech. My agile frame slides between a chair and him, pushing itself closer toward the exit. 

This man is not about to keep me in the dark for half of my adolescence and expect me to be okay with the information handed down to me. My feet push me out of his secluded Californian getaway and back toward the busy Los Angeles streets. Something about that visit tells me that we should not be acquaintances. Not now, not ever. Just because he is my father does not mean that he has an obligation to be part of my existence. 

"You said you wouldn't run away!" Anthony shouts from the door, his face nothing more than a small distant thing in my vision.  "You lied! That's fucked up!"

"Yeah, and so did you," I whisper, hailing a taxi cab.

Farewell, Anthony. Farewell.

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AUTHOR'S NOTE! 

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Hey there readers! So, first of all, sorry for the sad chapter, but It'll get better (I swear!) I also wanted to ask a question. It's 2017 now, and I'm making a list of New Year's Resolutions as we speak, but I'm genuinely curious about what your guys' resolutions are. Let me know in the comments if you'd like to share them with me! :) I'd love to hear your plans and hopes for the new year. You may also reflect on 2016 if you would like to. Here's to a great year and many more to come!

-ShortStories432