FicWad

Mikey fidgeted uncomfortably in the front passenger seat of Ray’s car. Ellington Ridge was the last place he’d expected to end up, but he’d decided to return there after his night at the convention, he’d woken up with a severe hangover, groaning and cursing the day that he was born. Next to him was a woman he didn’t remember the name of, he remembered the sounds of her bleating moans. The way her fingers clawed his back – but in the morning she sickened him, and he sickened himself.
So he had decided to return home and see his mom, just stay there until he was ready, ready to re-join the world he had entered, not knowing what he was doing with himself. He had really just wanted to make a quick buck, he supposed, but he hadn’t thought of what it would do to him. He felt like he was tearing his skin off, bit by bit, every time the camera started rolling.
‘’Mikey… Mikey? ’’ Ray spoke up; Mikey heard the second time his name was said, looking away from the town that was rolling past the car windows.
‘’Yeah, Ray, what is it?’’ Mikey pinched the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes for a moment.
‘’We’re almost there, you feeling okay?’’ Ray asked as they slowed to a stop at the traffic lights.
‘’I feel weird,’’ Mikey explained, or tried to. ‘’Nothing’s changed, but it feel like it should have.’’ He observed the town around him, a chill running up his spine. When he had last walked the pavements of the town, he’d come back an adult movie star, with his agent, to see his mother whom he’d only seen twice the last year. Christmas and her birthday, and he hadn’t seen her at all in the present year.
Gerard hadn’t visited his mother in two years.
That alone made Mikey a little angry, he knew Gerard was busy, but still – he could easily have visited her during a break in his tour. He had visited Mikey, after all. He’d seemed proud of his little brother, joking and laughing with him, congratulating him on his own success but always seeming detached.
‘’There…that’s the house that I grew up in... .’’ Mikey pointed to the two-floor suburban home, with a small drive way where a small silver car was parked. His mom’s car, he presumed, it had probably been bought to replace her beaten-up Oldsmobile.
‘’Nice place....’’ Ray commented as he stopped beside the pavement, looking out to the home.
‘’Yeah, wait till you see the inside, it’s like being stuck in the eighties.’’ Mikey laughed a little, but as usual, he held back. Ray had wondered why Mikey wouldn’t show his emotions outright – he held them within himself, smiles were rare, unless he was with his brother. Gerard always knew how to make Mikey laugh along with him; he would be able to, as they had grown up together – he had looked after Mikey until he had left on the first tour with his band, and then he had gone, his protective force leaving Mikey alone to protect himself.
Ray cut the car’s engine, ‘’Ready?’’ he asked, his caramel eyes questioning.
‘’Yeah, let’s go,’’ Mikey opened his door, venturing around the back of the car to tug his suitcase from the trunk, letting Ray shut the door afterwards, moving to follow Mikey up the grey slate path that crossed the side of the lawn, then waiting after he had knocked on the pristine white front door, bordered with two hanging baskets filled with lavender plants.
A few moments after the knock, a blonde middle-aged woman opened the door – her face immediately lit up with happiness. ‘’Michael! What a surprise!’’ she grinned, hugging her son tightly. Mikey gripped his suitcase still, smiling at his mother’s exuberance.
‘’Hey, mom, I’m back,’’ he laughed. Ray waited until Mikey’s mother stopped hugging him, and then held out his hand.
‘’I’m Ray Toro, nice to meet you, Mrs. Way.’’ He introduced.
‘’Call me Donna; Mrs. Way is too formal for me. You coming in for some dinner?’’ Donna asked, lifting Mikey’s suitcase and ignoring his protesting frown.
‘’I’m sorry but I’ll have to decline, I’ve got a conference in the morning – back in New York.’’ Ray explained, ‘’but it really was a pleasure to meet you, however brief the meeting was.’’ He nodded. Donna smiled,
‘’It was nice to meet you, too, thanks for bringing Michael back here.’’ She finished, ‘’bye now,’’,
‘’Goodbye....’’ Ray stepped out of the doorway, venturing back down to his car.

_____________________________

Donna watched as Mikey pushed away his plate, his hazel eyes wandering across the pattern on the tablecloth, instead of looking right back at his mother. ‘’You didn’t clear your plate,’’ Donna mentioned, lacing her fingers and placing them down on top of the dinner table.
‘’I’m not that hungry – it was really nice, though.’’ Mikey answered,
‘’You’re so thin, you’ve always been like it...But now you’re the thinnest you’ve been…’’ Donna observed.
‘’It’s because you haven’t seen me in a while. I haven’t changed, apart from the hair,’’ his hand reached up to absently gesture up to his blonde hair, and Donna frowned,
‘’You have changed – Mandy Forrester told me what your new job…entails…’’ she spoke up.
‘’Mom…I like the job, its fine, and it pays well.’’ Mikey defended,
‘’But why did you have to do that kind of job?’’ his mother pressed.
‘’Because I just wanted to get away from here, okay?’’,
‘’You had a nice life here. You saw me more often, you had Ada, and you also had a respectable job!’’ Donna’s voice was raised. Mikey stood from the table,
‘’Mom, I’m going out,’’ he announced. ‘’I’ll be back late, we can talk tomorrow.’’,
‘’Where are you going? ’’ Donna asked,
‘’I’m going out, mom, I need to take some time out of here.’’ Mikey explained.
‘’But you just got here...’’ Donna still didn’t stand up; she just stared at him from across the table. Mikey stopped suddenly,
‘’I want to go and see an old friend,’’,
‘’Ada? She’s a librarian now, you know. Still friends with that Mari, the spoilt girl who used to trail after you like a smitten teenager.’’,
‘’She was a smitten teenager, she is also a lesbian, she was following Ada, not me.’’ Mikey sighed, running his fingers through his hair.
‘’Oh…well, you should still go and see Ada, I see her every few weeks. Dropped out of university, even though she’s smart enough to get her degree,’’ Donna continued. Mikey showed a hint of a smile, just a small twitch on the sides of his mouth, but Donna saw it. ‘’Go on, I’ll leave the back door open for you...’’ she smiled. Mikey nodded, walking quickly out of the door, and down the street, not sure if he was really going to see Ada, or wallow in the local bar and see some familiar faces.