Violet Odyssey

Chapter 13: Goodbye, No One - Jeremy

July 7th, 1986.

The album was selling faster than we thought it would.

Rockers would rock out to it, Metalhead would headbang, and parents would disapprove.

This was a dream come true.

I stood in my room, playing my guitar and headbanging to my own song.

My song.

I wrote one about being the black sheep of your family, and it was probably the heaviest song on the album.

It sounded like Metallica, Motörhead, and Slayer was thrown into a pit together and was forced to write a song, and this was their result.

I was more than pleased with the strong liking of it by fans.

"Jeremy, you need to pack," Leslie insisted.

"Why?" I asked as I continued to play without even looking at my fingers.

"Because you're leaving today. Your album is selling worldwide and you're touring with Brutal Chaos!"

"Shit! Seriously?" I gasped.

"You forgot?" Leslie laughed. "Let me help you pack," she insisted.

"What? Oh, no, that's okay," I replied, unstrapping the guitar from around myself.

She shook her head, grabbing some of my band shirts from my closet.

"Since when do you listen to The Doors?" she asked as she stared at one of my shirts.

"I've always listened to them. Any form of Rock or Metal I listen to. They made Rock, didn't they?"

"I guess," She replied quietly.

Leslie didn't really have a music preference. She just kind of listened to whatever. But, I knew that she really loved Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Rolling Stones, Janis Joplin, The Who, and The Beatles.

I insisted this meant she loved a bit of Rock, and I knew she was even a Blues fan. She didn't play any instruments, seeing as she was just too focused on medical things.

I enjoyed her, no doubt.

I would miss her more than anyone.

She was the greatest person I knew.

She threw ripped jeans and leather pants into my suitcase, adding in a few jean jackets.

"Grab that leather jacket, will you?" I asked.

She nodded, pulling out a few leather jackets.

"I just asked for one."

"Yeah, well, now you've got several. You'll spill beer on one and will need another one for later."

When she thought I was looking, she put in a few pictures of the two of us.

"What are those?" I asked, looking at the photos.

"Just a couple of photographs of the two of us. Though, one of them has the whole family. All of our siblings and our parents. Just for memory purposes."

"Thanks, Les," I smiled.

After putting a bunch of band shirts in the suitcase, along with a few other shirts, she grabbed my toothbrush, tossing it in there.

"You okay?" I asked after a small silence.

She nodded, tears in her eyes.

"Yeah... I'm fine," she lied.