Hidden From Reality

16

Gerard

I looked from Frank to the newcomer standing at the door. Mrs.Iero threw her arms around the man, hugging him. Frank reached over and took my hand, holding it tightly. I laced my fingers with his as Mrs.Iero let the stranger in. He finally looked over at the table, spotting Frank. He smiled, then his eyes drifted to me and Mikey.

"Wow Linda. You've been busy without me?"

"I would never! These boys just needed a new home is all." I felt a sudden nervousness, just over the fact that I was actually meeting Frank's dad.

"So, what brings you back here after all these years?" Mr.Iero looked down at his wife, smiling a bit.

"I missed my family. I was just now able to get a vacation long enough to visit." He looked around the house.

"Looks like I came at the right time, too. The three of you are living in this dump?" Mrs.Iero looked down in shame. Frank let out an irritated breath. He got up from his seat at the table and dragged me back to his room. He closed the door behind us, practically slamming it.

"I don't get it. I thought you'd be happy about seeing your dad again."

"Yeah, that was before he started acting like an asshole." I stared at Frank as he sat on the floor, almost shaking in anger. I gently touched his arm, not sure what else I could do.

"Hey...It's gonna be okay. Maybe he's just stressed."

"Yeah... But if he didn't want us living in a 'dump,' he would have sent us money." There was a knock on the door before Mikey entered. He shut the door behind him, then joined us on the floor. We were silent for a bit before Mikey spoke.

"Dude, your dad is fucked up. He wants to see you too, to get caught up." Frank nodded and stood. We followed him out, heading down the hall.

"How fucked up is his dad?"

"Very." I heard Mr.Iero's deep voice even though we were only halfway down the hall. We eventually entered the living room just to see Frank's dad clap him on the shoulder. He asked the basic absent parent questions, like 'How have you been?' and 'How's school?'. Frank mumbled his answers, not really putting much enthusiasm into his responses. Again, I watched Mr.Iero's eyes drift towards me. I got a creepy feeling that he was watching me, which was obvious since he kept looking at me. Frank followed his gaze and walked over to me, gently patting my shoulder.

"Dad-" He said like he was testing the word on his tongue.

"This is Gerard, and his brother Mikey." Mr.Iero walked over and shook my hand, then Mikey's.

"Pleasure to meet you." The greeting was formal and brief. He moved on and recited the greeting to Mikey.

"So, what made you two young men move in with my family?" Mikey looked down at the floor, then glanced over at me. We both had a silent argument, and I won, making Mikey have to tell Mr.Iero.

"We didn't want to live with our mom anymore." Mr.Iero's gaze remained stone cold as he again stared at me. I looked down at the floor just so I could break his intense gaze. Frank looked over at me, squeezing my hand.

"Why do you keep staring at Gerard? It's not like you know him."

"Well, it all depends on what his last name is." I looked over at Frank, scared out of my mind.

"W-what do you mean by that?"

"Well, I used to know a family who had a son who looked just like you. Even had the same name. I just have a few things I want to say to him is all." Mikey looked over at me. I could tell he was nervous.

"Um...What if my last name is Way?"

"Well then, I found the person I was looking for."