+Bad Catholics+ Frank Iero

+30+

"You did WHAT!?"

I had my hands covering my mouth, unsure whether to laugh or panic at the sight of Gerard practically exploding at what Frank had just told him. It was Saturday afternoon, the day after Frank and I had burned my childhood home to the ground. News spread as quickly as I expected it to, the local headlines screaming "Former Home of Late Local Kingpin Jersey Reaper Set Ablaze" everywhere you looked. It was being reported on Belleville's news channel before the fire department likely even reduced the pyre to nothing but smoke.

Frank and I briefly turned the radio on when we both woke up again that morning purely out of curiosity, and the announcement was almost immediate. It wasn't until then that I realized how much bigger of a deal it was than I thought. I was so busy dealing with my own emotions that were wrapped up in it that I kind of forgot we committed an honest-to-god felony. Frank kept poking fun at me and calling it "baby's first arson" just to get on my nerves, but really, I think he was just trying to make me laugh when he caught wind that I was feeling uneasy. It sort of worked, eventually. What's done was done.

Gerard called him not long after to ask if he had heard the news, and although I couldn't hear the conversation, he was talking loud enough that I could hear him freaking out from the receiver against Frank's ear. I sat on his bed as I watched Frank pace around the room just trying to find a window in Gerard's blathering to get a word in, and when he looked at me, I knew exactly what he was thinking without him having to say a word. I played with the idea of someone else knowing, and as much as that scared me, I remembered that if there's anyone I could trust by transitive property, it would be Frank's best friend. If Frank trusted him, then I did too. So, I pursed my lips and simply nodded, praying this wouldn't come back to bite us later.

Frank told Gerard to meet us in the parking lot behind the closed bowling alley nearby- a spot that they apparently frequented, for whatever reason- so that he could tell him something. Of course, Gerard wanted to know what that "something" was immediately, so it took at least an extra five minutes to get him off the phone. He assured me that everything was going to be fine as we got ready to leave, and in a way, I did believe him. In another way, I didn't, but that had everything to do with me and nothing with him. I think we both realized that we might not be able to squeeze our way out of this one without help.

So, there we were in the middle of an empty parking lot, watching Gerard have an existential crisis. I was sitting on the hood of Frank's car, his lucky denim jacket squeezed over my father's sweatshirt just barely shielding the cold. Frank was leaning against it next to my feet, smoking a cigarette, and Gerard was- well, he was kind of all over the place. I could tell Frank was trying to hold back a nervous laugh, but I think that's because we hadn't even told Gerard the craziest part yet.

"So, let me get this straight, you not only broke into THE house. The house, Frank. The mother of all houses. And you," he said dramatically, pointing at me. "Little miss Nobel Peace prize, just followed him in there, willingly?"

"She's the one that climbed into the window, actually," Frank smirked, giving me a quick look before turning back to Gerard. Gerard sputtered for a moment and kept going, his melodrama becoming comical.

"And then you both got inside, shrugged your shoulders, and said, "Hm! This one could use a little work, maybe we'll just start from scratch" and agree to torching it? I'm sorry, am I living in an alternate fucking universe?"

"Gerard, chill. I thought you would be stoked about this."

"Stoked? Of course I'm stoked, you idiot. I've never been more excited about anything, ever. It's by far the craziest shit you've ever done."

"Then what the hell is your problem?"

"My problem is that you didn't take me with you, you jerk."