Page 33 of Legendary Rock Star
“No.”
He didn’t even blink as he confirmed that my life was once again going to be fodder for television. He asked, “Have you ever tried to contact them?”
“No.”
Maggie scooted closer and her nearness was the only thing that kept me here instead of storming out. Drama was never good for sobriety and I avoided anything that might send me down a dark hole.
I heard my mother’s chipper, probably still high tone as she said, “Hello lovely people.”
Paul scooted closer to his wife as Samantha and the staff brought more chairs to the table. She looked like she wanted to laugh at me when Paul politely said, “We didn’t know you’d be joining us.”
And my father, Big Bad Brett Steel as he called himself, said, “Well, the crew and I decided to surprise the four of you.”
“And here you are,” I said, and closed my eyes. If I somehow had the power to make myself disappear, this would be a good time.
Unfortunately, life wasn’t like the movies. I saw the faces of two people I hadn’t invited here and probably never would.
Maggie said, “Phoenix didn’t invite you.”
No need to defend me. I was a man. But I wished this wasn’t for the cameras so I could get us out of here.
And then my mother said, “Phoenix.”
I was named after where they conceived me. No one knew that except my family. I chugged my water glass until it was empty and then I put it down and said, like this was a normal, everyday occurrence, “Mom. Dad. Where have you been?”
And dear old mom wobbled her head like she was happy and said, “We went home to Vegas when you … we separated.”
Samantha brought their plates over and winked at me like she had known everything that was going to happen.
Maggie saw that.
I cringed, but for a few minutes we ate in silence. I couldn’t taste anything. Once we had finished most of our food, I asked my mother, Darla, “So what do you two do now?”
She placed her phone on the table in front of her and bounced her hair and said, “I have a hair salon and your father works in construction.”
Memories of myself as a young boy running down a hot, dry suburban street replayed in my mind suddenly. Like they took me to a park once. I let out a small sigh and said, “I have vague memories of Las Vegas.”
Brett finished his last bite of food and then said, “Before we packed everything up to take you to Los Angeles for your auditions, we lived there. So we went back to restart our lives.”
At least they hadn’t complained on camera too much. And in my recovery steps, I’d heard plenty on the need to forgive them. That was the step I had skipped, and that my sponsors always warned me about.
I was now in the driver’s seat and I wasn’t running from them anymore. I said, “I’m glad to hear you’re both good.”
Maggie’s father studied them with his hands folded, and then asked Big Bad Brett, “So, your son when he was still a teenager had that much power over your lives?”
My father’s new tattoo of a dragon showed from under his sleeve when he turned to me and said, “We … we are sorry we spent so much of your salary.”
They had been well on their way to blowing through every penny I’d ever earned.
My mother then took my father’s hand as if they were both contrite and said, “Your father and I … we never had two dimes in our savings, and it was like you were our lottery ticket.”
Parents are supposed to love their kids, not their earning potential.
Maybe that was my own fantasy. I wasn’t sure. But if I hadn’t left them, I’d be penniless now, and maybe not in rehab. My aunt and uncle were so normal and nice compared to my parents, never once asking me for anything.
The choice had been a good one, and I saw that so clearly now. I wished my aunt and uncle were still alive, but I’d call my cousins soon. And I needed to thank Mark more often for what he had done for me.
I reached over and picked up my mom’s phone from the table and said, “Look, this was good that we talked. Please put my number in your phone.”
