And the Stars up Above - Chapter 12

January 8th, 1987
Mike

Mike left his house long before he had to. His stepfather, Steve, was having breakfast and Mike didn’t feel like talking to him. Therefore Mike had left about an hour before he had to. He decided to go on a walk. He stuck his hand deep down the pockets of his only pair of jeans. He quickly left the house behind him, walking towards a playground he used to play at as a kid. He shivered from the cold and regretted only putting on a t-shirt. Mike needed to think, and he needed to think alone. He knew he was a burden to his stepfather and he didn’t want to bother him, seeing as he actually wasn’t his kid. But he hadn’t been able do much but stay with him when his mum had left, and Steve couldn’t just leave Mike. They did get along nowadays though, they hadn’t when his mum was still in the picture. But they were pretty much forced to get along now, since they only had each other. Mike had had to admit that Steve wasn’t as bad as he had thought. Mike hadn’t been much more than a kid when his mum left, even though it wasn’t much more than two years ago. Mike wasn’t a kid anymore. He might not be an adult, but he was definitely not a kid and he knew he could take care of himself.

Mike arrived to the playground as he stated this. He slowly walked over to the swings and sat down on the one to the left. Mike always sat on this swing, and Billie always sat on the right one. This was their playground. When they occasionally did do something else but play their music they went here. They didn’t speak much when they were here; they just sat and enjoyed the silence. This was also Mike’s thinking place. He liked the silence and the four trees that never seemed to care if there was no wind; they were always swaying. Kids didn’t come here often, Mike didn’t know why. He remembered that he had loved playing here as a kid. Maybe it was because there weren’t many families with kids in this area anymore.

Mike was staring at the ground, thinking about his problem when he heard steps behind him. He knew who they belonged to without having to look up. The steps came closer until they were right next to him. Mike avoided looking at the person, who sat down on the right swing.

“Hi Bill.” Mike said, still not looking at the person.
“Hi.” Billie Joe’s voice answered. “What are you doing here this early?” he continued.
“I needed to think.” Mike said and raised his head to meet Billie Joe’s gaze.
“About what?” Billie said and turned his head away and set his swing swinging.
“I’m gonna move out.” Billie stopped his swing and turned to Mike again. “It’s not fair that Steve has to pay for me. I can take care of myself now, so I figured…” He didn’t finish the sentence; he knew that Billie would get what he meant. Billie didn’t answer at once; he seemed to be thinking things over.
“Where are you going to live?” he asked.
“I… I don’t know. Yet. But I’ll think of something soon enough, don’t worry about it.” Mike said with confidence. Billie shook his head with a smile.
“You’re not moving before you know where you’re going to live, I hope?” he said, still smiling.
“Of course not! I’m not that stupid you know.” Mike said and slapped the side of Billie’s head. Mike returned Billie’s smile and then they went silent for a couple of minutes, until Billie Joe broke the silence again.
“How are you going to… survive? You know, what are you gonna live by? Are you going to get a job or something?”
“I guess… There’s not much else to do, is there?” Mike said with a shrug. Billie Joe sighted.
“What?” Mike said and frowned.
“No, I just… You know, sometimes I just wish I was more like you.” Billie Joe said. Mike rolled his eyes.
“Billie, you don’t want to be me. Trust me.” Billie shook his head and stared at Mike in disbelief.
“No, but you’re always kind, like now for instance, you think about your stepfather instead of yourself. You know that you will have a hard time living by yourself, having to earn your own money, but still you want to do it, because you want to help another person.” Mike opened his mouth to answer but Billie cut him off.
“No, I’m not finished yet! So, you’re self-sacrificing, and on top of that, you’re smart! You could get great grades in school if you wanted to; I never could no matter how hard I try. And-“ Mike cut him off.
“That’s not true.”
“See, you’re humble as well!” Billie Joe blurted out.
“Oh come on, cut it out already!” Mike said and rose from his swing, taking a few steps away from Billie. “Let’s go and get Jason, then we can go to school.” Billie sighed and rose from his swing as well and walked over to Mike.
“Besides…” Mike said “you only said those things so I’ll like you.” He said, hit Billie’s shoulder and started running.
“Last one to Jason’s house is a dead chicken!” he shouted.
“No, Mike! You cheated! Hey, wait up!” Billie said and rushed after him.“Wait up you fucking cheating moron!”