Mad Gear

The Other Way

Frank's going home for the weekend.

After he promised his mom so many times that he'd visit her, it's her birthday, so he has to. 'It's not like you live on the other side of the country,' his mom always reminds him. 'You live in New York! That's literally across the street. You can perfectly come visit your mother every weekend.' Frank's glad she can't see him over the phone, because right now he's rolling his eyes at her.

'I'm busy, mom. I'm sorry.' He's not lying. Being the CEO of a small record label isn't easy. And his mom always pushed him to follow his dreams, so she should be proud that he's successful, even if that means being away from her. Okay, not even that far. 'But I promise I'll be there tonight.'

'I'll be waiting for you, hun.'

So now, Frank has to run to the jewelry store to get her a gift, even though she specifically said no gifts, but it's one of the pleasures of having enough money now. Buying stuff for his loved ones. He gets her a gold necklace with a pumpkin necklace so he's always there with her. That'll help her forgive him for being a horrible son.

As he's walking back to the parking lot, he gets a text. U free tonight?

It's Matt, a guy he met last weekend at the bar. And he wanted to go out with him so bad, but they were both busy, and of course the one night he's free, Frank has to go home to see his mom. So as painful as it is, he texts him back, sorry, I have a family thing L maybe next week?

I'll see what I can do

Fuck.

Shit.

Just his luck.

Cursing himself for the thousandth time just today, he gets in his Mercedes, and starts the engine. He won't even try to beat the rush hour traffic because it's a Friday and that's just not going to happen. So he just plays Black Flag at full blast and stops for a coffee to makes his drive more bearable.

Before he knows it, he's driving into New Jersey.

He can already tell by the smell.

'Home sweet home,' he says to himself.

There was a time, when Frank was younger and he swore he'd never leave Jersey – unless his band was on tour, and he had to travel. But he'd always come home to Jersey. Then, he started his own label with his friends, and he realized that the only way to get bigger was if they moved to New York. And for a while, he'd take the train from home every morning. Which didn't last long, because he had to stay many late nights at the studio, so at some point he had no choice but to get a place there.

But he misses it.

New York is definitely not the same.

Jersey makes him feel right at home, that even though he made it, he's still one of them. just a piece of trash like everyone else, and that he sucks big time, and that's beautiful.

And that Jersey bad luck is already back, because not even five minutes there, and Frank's care just stops out of nowhere.

'What the fuck?' he yells into the steering wheel, hitting it as if that's going to do something. It has enough gas, and it's supposed to be in perfect condition. He had just taken it to the dealership for the yearly check, so he doesn't understand what's happening.

Anxious and pissed off, he calls his friend at the dealership to see if they can send a mechanic, but he tells Frank they're all booked for the next couple days. 'I'm sorry, man,' he tells him.

'Thanks, man,' Frank says giving up.