“It feels good to be out of rehab mom. It really does.”
“I know that dear. I’m so proud of you for seeking help.” She smiled gingerly.
“Please don’t say that” he begged.
“Don’t say what?”
“That you’re proud of me. I didn’t do anything to make you proud of me.”
“Yes you did! You knew you had a problem and you sought help so you can get better”
“I NEARLY KILLED SOMEONE MOM! HOW DOES THAT MAKE YOU proud?”
“Mister DON’T YOU DARE raise your voice at me!” she said sternly.
“Answer my question mom.”
“I’m proud of you because you saw what was happening to you on that path and you knew you needed to change the way you lived your life.”
“But I feel like shit about it. Like it wasn’t really my decision, you know? It just feels like the guilt is what brought me here.” *points around to what is outside of the car* “I don’t even really feel like it was me that wanted it.”
“Well don’t you want to be happy and not have to depend on drugs or alcohol to take you away from whatever it is you feel you needed to runaway from?”
“Yea I do…its just….well I don’t really know how to explain it. It just doesn’t make a damn bit of fuckin’ sense to me!”
“I’m sure somewhere inside you it does.”
“Thanks mom.”
The rest of their car ride to the Phoenix Airport was silent.
~ 2 hours later they arrive at the airport ~
“I hate airports”
“Because you spend so much time in them?”
“No because they are so crowed and everyone has their own agenda, and they don’t bother to look where they’re going. Not to mention people can be REALLY rude!”
After checking in at the desk they went through the security check point. After it took them 20 minutes to go through, they went over and checked the departure schedule to find their gate.
Departures:
Flight 687 to Orlando Gate A 21 Status On-Time
They stopped to grab a snack to take with them before venturing on towards their gate. Once there they saw that very few seats were open and none of them were together. So they sat in the practically empty gate across from theirs.
“Maybe rehab was a nice break for you.”
“Yea but now its time to get back to the bump and grind of work” he groaned.
“Oh you know you love it! I know you’re happy to see your friends again. I’m happy that they’ve been really supportive of you.”
“Yea they have and they aren’t the only ones.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well one group sent me this huge ass jar of yellow jelly beans. I think they said that there was somewhere close to 1,965 beans in there. One bean for every fan that sponsored one on their website. Reason: they heard I love the yellow ones. Hehe. Another group sent me Lord knows how many messages from fans. Some were long and personal, and others were rather short. I didn’t read them all though, but they pretty much had a centralized theme.”
“That’s really sweet. I’m really glad that your fans have been very supportive of you. You know the main reason why is because you all came out with it rather than trying to cover it up.”
“Yea but we couldn’t cover it up even if we tried, cos we were in the midst of a tour. Not saying of course that we were going to try and do that in the first place.”
“I never said you guys would have.”
“Ladies and gentlemen we will begin the boarding process for flight 687 with service to Orlando momentarily at gate A 22” The lady at the gate said.
~ 5 minutes later ~
“We will now board our first class passengers and out gold members.”
“Mom that’s us...”
They boarded the plane and got settled in.
“Man I really hate planes….”
“Will you stop being such a baby! My god you’d think you’ve never flown before!” She teased her son.
“Mooooommm….” He whined.
~ 20 minutes later ~
The cabin doors were shut and he had already downed 2 Coca-Colas. The flight attendants did the usual routine about seatbelts, air masks, exits. All the things that frequent flyers are so used to they could say it in their sleep.
Finally the captain announced that they were next for take off.
He was on his way back to reality now. The hard cruel world that he was sheltered from for that brief time. He sat there thinking about the things management would say to him. How his friends and fellow band members were going to react. Yea he had the support of his fans, but how would they be when they see him at shows. He was becoming anxious by the second. His mind then wondered to that girl he nearly killed. He wondered how she was doing and if she were alright. He was a nervous wreck about it to say the least.
Once they reached their cruising altitude he reclined back, stuck his head phones on, and tried to sleep his nervousness away.
Sitting next to him watching him, was his mother. She could sense that he was nervous. Hell she was nervous for him. She prayed to God that he would remain sober and clean, and that temptation would arise. But for now she would relax and enjoy their peaceful flight home.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Sorry it took me awhile to get this chapter up. Hope you enjoy.
