Five Beautiful Boys

Is Anyone All Good or All Bad?

The food was getting cold, but what concerned him more was the beer was getting warm. Shortly after Frank Iero and the incompetent he had brought along as muscle had left, Gerard had noticed no fewer than eleven messages on his answer phone. His gut told him that Iero and his cronies would never leave a recorded message threatening him, but there may well have been some sort of innocent sounding message that he would understand given the circumstances. So far he had listened to nine of them and they had all been pretty much the same. The caller was Leanne, Mikey's ex-girlfriend, with professions of regret and undying love. Gerard had believed Mikey without question when he said that the split was a mutual and amicable one, but the tone and persistence of the calls suggested otherwise. Had Mikey ditched his girlfriend and fled to avoid a confrontation? Admittedly, it didn't seem like him, but then, neither was lying to his own brother and he had successfully managed that. Pressing the skip button, Gerard moved onto the tenth message, which proved a real eye-opener for him.

"Okay, Mikey, you win! I admit it; I was stupid. I should never have cheated on you. I don't really know why I did except that, well, you never actually seemed to be a part of the relationship. I really thought you were cheating on me at one point! You were so distant and... well... did you even care even a little bit? Did you ever? Do you now?
I never thought I'd be leaving a message like this on your brother's answer phone – by the way, I'm really sorry Gerard, but he's not answering his cell and maybe you can make him listen?
I just wish you'd pick up and we could talk. I know you're there Mikey. Please talk to me. I'm really sorry. Is there still a chance for us? I'm guessing not, but, I'm only asking for a few minutes of your time. I'll pay you back every cent of what I owe you and... well, I'm really, really sorry.
If you've heard this, I guess we're through. If you haven't and you're out, please don't meet someone. Just one more chance Mikey, is that too much?
Gerard, if you have any influence with him at all, please ask him to call. Bye... bye."

Gerard sighed. Every word was heartfelt and dripping with regret. So, Leanne had cheated on him. That made so much more sense than Mikey's own excuse of wanting some space while she moved out. He hadn't mentioned it at the time, but Mikey had never even spoken about her moving in. He felt sure Mikey would have shared that exciting morsel as soon as she had agreed to the idea, let alone packed a single plate.
No, even without the message, Mikey's explanation appeared suspect, while this message smacked unmistakably of the truth.

For Mikey to have concocted a lie, even the very basic one he told, Gerard knew that the truth must have hurt him deeply. The irony was that he didn't even need to hold strong feelings for her to be hurt. Mikey was very much an open book and the truth, however plainly stated, would hurt considerably less than a lie spun out for what had amounted to selfish reasons.

Gerard, on the other hand, was much less forgiving. She had hurt his brother. How she had; why she had; it made no real difference – the point was, she had and the fact of it hurt him too. Gerard pressed the button to forward to the last message, which revealed a little more – not so much about the relationship as about Leanne herself.

"Okay, so it's two hours later and you're still not calling. I guess I should have seen that coming! No doubt you're trying to make me suffer, dragging things out to punish me? Well, I guess it's time to tell you the truth. I never loved you; I never even liked you that much! That's why I went with Alexander, because I felt nothing with you. Do you hear me, Mikey? Nothing! And as for you? You could have had a dozen girls for all I care; I wouldn't have noticed or cared. Whatever you're doing, I don't care, I haven't for ages and this is your loss, not mine! I don't see you finding anyone who gives a damn about you, Mikey, because you're cold and hard and care nothing for anyone! I don't regret a thing and, just so you know, don't ask for any money back, it ain't gonna happen!"