I'm Bad At Life (A Ronnie Radke Love Story)

Seeing Him..

"Yea? Who is this?"

"It's me, Ronnie."

"How are you calling me? Aren't you in prison?" I ask.

"Yeah for like a year now. Thanks a lot by the way." He says sarcastically.

"What the fuck do you want, Ronnie?"

"I begged these officers to let me have at least one day of visiting so I could see Mila and Willow. I already called Crissy and she said yeah but she's coming earlier. You okay with that?"

"Hmm.. No." I say stubbornly.

"Really?" He whines.

"Yep. I'm dead serious."

"Emma, please."

"There's no way I'm letting my daughter go around criminals."

"Come on. I'm begging you. For an hour? I'll pay you if you want. I'll do anything, please?" Ronnie begs.

"Fine. But don't pay me. I don't want your money." I finally cave in.

"Thank you so much. Come at 5 tomorrow." Ronnie hangs up on a good note.

I drive to my mom's house and pick her up so we have a good night together. I get back home late and sleep in the next morning. Max slept on the couch but was gone by the time I woke up. I wake up around 12 pm. My kids are still sleeping so I go to wake them up.

"Wake up, Mila. We're going to see daddy today. You gotta get dressed and ready." I shove her shoulders lightly.

"Daddy?" Her face glows up.

"Yeah. He wanted to see you."

"When are we going, mom?" She asks.

"About 5 o'clock-ish."

"We should get him a present."

"I don't have money for a present, Mila." I tell her.

She frowns. "Why don't you have money? You work and daddy has a lot of money."

"Ayden is always sick. Go pick out your clothes. I don't wanna talk about this right now."

Mila skips away and picks out a shirt that says, "Daddy's girl" and a pink fluffy skirt.

I turn on the shower for her and wake up Ayden. He fusses and I feed him. I put blue outfit on him and then feed Mila. She goes off and does her thing while we wait for the time.

"Mila! Time to go!" I yell for her.

"Coming!" She runs down the stairs with a paper in her hand. "I colored this for him." She hands me a picture of a man, Ronnie, a little girl, Mila, a woman, me, and a baby boy, Ayden. "That's our family, mom."

I smile, a genuine smile. "It's beautiful. Let's get in the car."

We drive to the prison and I request for Ronnie.

The receptionist calls for an officer to bring us to him. The officer shows us into a room with a bunch of guys.

"Radke."  The officer booms.

Ronnie turns around and smiles brightly. "Hi, baby!" He runs to Mila and picks her up and twirls her around. I try to hide my smile and fix Ayden's shirt.

Ronnie clears his throat. "Uh, hi, Emma." He says awkwardly.

"Hi." I turn from his eye contact.

"So that's your kid?" He asks.

"Yeah."

"Oh, uhm, he's cute?"

"Thanks..." I look at Mila. "Why don't you show daddy your drawing?"

She hands him the picture. He takes it and observes it. "Woah, Mila. This is amazing. But your brother isn't min-"

I shoot him a look meaning 'don't say the rest.'

He mouths the word sorry and talks with Mila. "You're so big, holy shit."

"Don't swear, Ronnie."

"You're so bitter." He scoffs.

They continue talking and Ronnie looks at me every once in a while.

I hand Ayden to Mila and talk to Ronnie in private.

"Why do you keep looking at me? It's so creepy."

"Why are you such a bitch to me? I've been nothing but nice to you since I've been here." He complains.

"Answer my question." I cross my arms.

"Because I think you're pretty, that's why. I told you that I still love you." Ronnie admits.

"Well, I appreciate it but I've got better things to do than waste my time on you."

He smiles. "I'll get you back one day, Em. I promise. And I don't break my promises."

"Okay. I'm not convinced but okay."

"Thanks again for bringing her here. Can you bring her for my birthday too, please?"

"Whatever."

"Thank you." He hugs me and I leave.