part of him wanted nothing more than to agree. after all, it would be nice to have everyone here with him in la, even if for just a week. and yet, he knew— that was the wrong answer.
“disneyland?“ he wrinkled his nose, “look, if they want to meet mickey mouse, they can go to disney world. i love them, but i’m 19 now. i don’t want to have to fly out my mom when things get hard.“
he looked down, “not that things are hard here. it’s just- different.”
he thought about it for a second, his brows furrowed together in thought. after a moment, he scuffed the toe of his sneaker against the floor, “mom has always been like that, you know.“
“even when i just started taking lessons, she’d clap even when i got all the notes wrong. as long as i tried my best.“
“look, i know this is just like a piano recital or- like- an impromptu garage band gig or even a football game. i’m not worried about messing up and having people not like me. it’s just-“ he wrestled with his own thoughts, before finally managing, “it’s just that- you were never there for those things.”
“and suddenly, trying my best doesn’t feel good enough.“
“ jay, it’s not some sort of peace offering or needing a mommy-blanket to fix it. wouldn’t it be nice to share some part of your life here? ” cash didn’t want to share honestly. the worst of his impulses wanted her to know what it was like when your son was away from you and you couldn’t control that. but those thoughts, while dark- were only fleeting. he wouldn’t act on them. maybe, back then. he was young and hotheaded, but now he just wanted peace. “ if you don’t want to and you don’t want to tell me why, that’s your call. but i want you to know that you don’t have to worry about bad blood or, ” he paused, trying to phrase what was going through his head. “ or that you need to keep your world back home and your life here totally apart. ”
cash’s face fell at the boy's words as he nodded. he’d lost count of the times over the years he’d played out the mundane suburban life he could’ve had. football games and barbeques. graduations and nervous prom talks. he longed for the memories that he didn’t have but he couldn’t say he would give the life he made for it. he also knew that if he’d had only those moments, he’d never have traded them for this life either. but he’d had both. and he’d wanted both but it didn’t work like that, so cash had chosen the only thing he truly knew, the only thing he’d ever been any good at, which was his band.
“ you’re an adult, so i’m going to speak to you like one, okay? ” he said, nerves shredding his insides. it wasn’t the first time a moment like this had come up with jay, maybe never so directly, but the subtext was always there. the times before, cash tended to roll over and try to submit to avoid the possibility of confrontation, not knowing if the kid would simply pack it in and go home should cash press the wrong nerve.
“ i don’t know exactly what you’ve been told, jay. but nothing about any of the choices that were made were black and white. your mom, did what she thought was best and so did i.” he glanced down at the floor before breaking apart his agitated hands. he didn’t want to sound like he was trying to weasel out of anything, cash knew what he’d done. “ when your mom got pregnant, dead until dark was just barely getting on it’s feet. i never thought it would become what it did. i was going to pull out, stupidly, asked your mom to marry me but she wanted me to keep going and i did- and i came back to see you guys whenever i could. we dated for a while, broke up on decent enough terms. i still saw you quite a bit back then. which worked for a while. but then it was less and less. i’d show up, and you were the cutest thing i’d ever seen in my entire life. you’d just light up. i couldn’t believe how cool you were, you know? like, you really were the funniest kid and just so... unbelievably great. i took you backstage to an elton john gig once, with these ridiculous headphones that your mom insisted on and you were just so interested in everything, like a real person- not just a baby. it was crazy. but... i wasn’t there for all the hard shit, she was. and i can’t imagine what it felt like to do so much work and have me swoop in every couple of months like super dad. you were four, maybe nearly five when it all blew up. and my little band, wasn’t so little anymore. she wanted me to really be there. and i know this doesn’t mean shit, jay. but i wanted to be- so fucking bad. but i couldn’t just walk away from the band, it wasn’t just my career i was sacking, it was the others too. i’ve been friends with these people since i was fifteen years old. and music- it’s the only thing i’ve ever been good at. i couldn’t leave it all behind, and i couldn’t fight for custody. i didn’t want to take you from your mom, and even if i did? i’d take you from your home and your family to drag you around the world on tours, lose any normalcy? of course not. we tried to come to some agreement but it never happened- i hate- i hate it so much, kid, that it didn’t because i wanted those moments with you. and i’m so sorry that you-we never got them. and i wish that i could’ve chosen the band and you, or that i’d walked away when i meant to and we just- stayed there, or that i could’ve convinced your mom to let me move you both out here. there’s so much that i wish i could do- or take back and change. but i can’t. and you can feel pissed off and hate me or whatever you gotta do- but i need to tell you that none of what happened was ever because we didn’t love you. i know that i’m not really your dad to you, but you’ve always been my son, your best is so much more than enough. it doesn’t fix or change shit all, but i don’t know what else i can say anymore, jay. ”