To Keep Her Safe is All I Know

Chapter 5

The band loads up the bus and they drive off. It had been a week since the band left for tour and so far so great. The crowd was amazing, the shows were so fun and it felt absolutely fantastic to be on the road again. Chris often thought of and worried about Melanie and Sadie. This was the first time that the two of them would be truly on their own given the fact that this was the first time Chris had left for tour since Melanie and John's divorce. Chris goes into the bunk room once the bus starts moving and calls Melanie.    

"Hey, loser." Melanie says.

"Hey."

"How was your show last night?"

"It was great. The crowd was awesome and there wasn't a barrier in the venue, which you know I love."

"I do know you love that."

"Yeah, there were a bunch of kids crowd surfing and stage-stomping. This one kid that couldn't be any older than ten years old jumped off stage and probably surfed the entire crowd."

"That'd be Sadie if we let her."

Chris chuckles, "Yeah, probably. How you guys holding up?"

"We're alright. Whenever I can't pick Sadie up from school and it's not John's day to have her, she just stays after school with the late pickup program."

"And how's she handling that?"

"She hates it."

"Oh. She doesn't have any friends there?"

"They all go home on time. I feel guilty about it, but there's not much I can do about it. Maybe I'll sign her up to start taking the bus home so she won't have to wait to get picked up."

"And stay home alone until you get back?"

"Oh, yeah, maybe not. Maybe in a few years it'd be fine, but she's probably still a little young for that, huh?"

"Sorry."

"Don't worry, we'll live. We really miss you though."

Chris smiles, "I miss you guys too." 

"Sadie is extremely excited to come see you guys play live. She's been extra good lately too like she promised to be. She's been doing chores without me asking, she's been going to bed the minute I tell her to, she's been getting all of her homework done as soon as she can; I need to promise to take her to concerts more often."

Chris laughs, then grows serious, "Oh, so um...how's the new development coming?"

"Sadie said she's okay with referring to her like a girl no matter how she feels, but she will tell us when she's feeling more like a boy."

"Has there been any trouble at school?"

"There have been some comments, but nothing too serious."

"And I take it John still doesn't know?"

"Hell no."

"What have you told Sadie about that?"

"I've just told her that her dad went through a really hard time with the divorce and that...we probably shouldn't tell him anything new right now."

"What are you going to do if this continues though? What if Sadie still feels this way when she gets older to the point where it's no longer a new development? What are you gonna do when she's seventeen and wants to be able to express herself around both her parents?"