Ronnie Radke was a man I hated more than anyone else in the world. He was a cocky, egotistical prick.. But yet there I was, front row at one of his gigs and pretending to enjoy myself whilst my seven year old son sat on my shoulders and did little hand dances. He was the only reason was here, he was way too young to go to a gig by himself and I knew how much he loved Falling In Reverse so when they were in town I couldn't deny him the chance to see them live.
"Momma!" I looked up to my son in an attempt to hear him better. "Thank you so much! This gig is the best thing that has ever happened to me!" I smiled at him.
"No problem Jakey. If you want, I'll try to get you in to meet him later?" He squealed.
"I will love you more than ever!" I laughed.
"No promises though Jakey, but I'll certainly try." He nodded and then returned to watching the gig.
I had noticed Ronnie watching me a few times, and though it was weirding me out I realised it was probably the perfect way to get Jake to meet him after... Facially flirt.
He noticed me looking at him and winked, so obviously I returned the favour. He seemed more shocked than anything but laughed afterwards. We continued pulling weird faces at each other all night and every time he seemed more and more surprised; probably because I got weirder every time.
When the gig ended, everyone left straight away and I turned to leave but was stopped by a hand on my arm. I turned around to see Ronnie stood there.
"Hey, I have no idea who you are, but I was wondering if you and your... brother I'm guessing, you don't look old enough to have kids, wanted to come and chill backstage for a while?" Jake squealed and lifted him down off my shoulders.
"Well, I guess that's my mind made up, and no this is my son Jake, he's absolutely obsessed with you and your band."
Ronnie laughed a little and then helped us both over the barrier and onto the stage. I looked at Jake and I could see that he was about to explode from pure happiness. How he was always so happy was beyond me.
"Well anyway," he opened the door to the backstage area," these are my band mates; Jacky Vincent who plays lead guitar; the drummer Ryan Seaman; rhythm guitarist Derek Jones; and bassist Ron Ficaro." I waved at them all and Jake shyed away behind my legs.
"Jakey." I crouched on my knees in front of him. "I know for a fact you aren't shy." I lifted his head up to look at me. "Now come here and meet your number one idol ever!" I got hold of his hand and walked over to Jacky. "Hey, I'm Jade and this is Jake, he absolutely adores you but seems to have gotten suddenly shy around you."
"Hi Jake." Jake looked at Jacky and smiled before sitting next to him on some random sofa. "So, you adore me?" Jake nodded.
"You're the best guitarist ever!"
I laughed and turned around to see Ronnie stood right behind me. He looked at me for a minute before shaking a thought away. He looked around to the rest of the guys.
"Anyone fancy coming out for a smoke?" Everyone shook their head except me.
"I will if someone else will keep an eye on Jake." Jacky looked at me and smiled.
"I will, he's awesome..." He looked me straight in the eye. "Can I keep him?" I laughed.
"I'm sure he would absolutely love that, but no, I could never give away my kid." They laughed a little and then I walked outside with Ronnie so I could smoke.
As soon as I got outside I opened my bag to look for my cigarettes but even after emptying all of the contents, I still couldn't find them. I sighed and stood up.
"Well, I guess I wont be smoking then." I sighed, if there was one thing I needed, it was a smoke.
"Yes you will." He passed me one of his. "Just have this... I'm sure I'll get one back from you one day." I chuckled a little, maybe he wasn't as much of a prick as I first thought.
"Thank you... And what do you mean, one day?" He smiled as I lit my cigarette.
"Well I'm sure you'll probably come back to another gig since you're a fan."
"Oh, I'm not really a fan." He looked shocked. "I never really liked the kind of music your band does, I only really came tonight because I knew how devastated Jake would be if he couldn't come. Plus," I paused, "and I must say I've been proven wrong tonight, I did always think you were an egotistical prick. Now I can admit I was wrong, but I'll probably only go to another one of your gigs if Jake wants to go." Ronnie just looked at his feet.
"Oh, I didn't realise I seemed like a prick...." I sighed.
"It's not that at all." He looked up. "I just have an awful habit of judging people I've never even met, especially if they're in bands I don't like." He smiled a little.
"So I'm not actually a prick?" I laughed.
"Not at all. You're really lovely actually." He laughed. "Oh well, I'm still not a fan of your music though."
"Well, not everyone is, but it's still awesome that you came to the gig of a band you don't like, and whose frontman you hate, just to make your kidr happy."
"I'd do anything for him, he didn't exactly get the best upbringing since we was living purely from money I earned by singing on street corners, which wasn't exactly much..." I looked down before taking the last draw of my cigarette and then putting it out on the wall and dropping it.
"Oh, sorry man... Well," he pulled out a Sharpie and wrote his number on my arm, "if you ever get into any money troubles again let me know, I'll be glad to help you out." I smiled but then sighed.
"I couldn't ask you for money help. Plus things are so much better now, I have a job and can afford to get him a few things like gig tickets and the odd album... I just wish he had a dad... It's the only thing I can't really give him." Ronnie just looked at me.
"Well maybe you'll meet someone one day that you love, that Jake loves, and that loves you both. Then he would basically be like a dad to Jake... Wait, if you want, I'll pay you to come on tour with us and sell our merch for us? Then Jake can at least have guys around him, and you never know, you could always meet someone on the tour?" I looked at my feet for a second before smiling and hugging him.
"That would be amazing! Thank you! Jake is going to love me more than ever." Ronnie smiled.
"See, we're not all pricks!" He winked and I just stuck my tongue out at him.
He prodded me in the ribs as retalliation, so I returned the favour. We continued doing this until we got back into the room where everyone else was. As soon as we got in, Jake ran over to me and jumped up for a hug.
"Momma, as much as I love these guys, I'm really sleepy." He was whining. That was never a good sign.
"Fine Jakey, we can go home and you can go to bed, and we'll ring Ronnie in the morning and talk to him." Jake smiled.
"Yeah, if you promise we can call Ronnie Bear in the morning... and talk to Jacky!" I laughed.
"Of course we will!" I turned to the rest of the band. "See you guys some other time." I waved goodbye and then pulled Ronnie into a side hug. "Thank you for everything." I whispered but I knew he had heard me.
***
As soon as I got home I tucked Jake into bed, kissed his forehead, and then left his room and shut the door, just like I did every night. I then went into my own room and changed into my pj's, before pulling out my phone and texting Ronnie. I simply said.
Hey, it's the girl from tonight, Jade. Thank you for tonight, and sorry for judging you :)
After that I simply went to bed and replayed the events of the night in my head.
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Should I continue? I'm not sure :s opinions would be appreciated.
