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All We Are is Memories	By : Berlin Category: Singers/Bands/Musicians > Avenged Sevenfold Views: 1159 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. I do not know the members of Avenged Sevenfold. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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We had been in this room for I glanced down at my watch three hours. No wonder my behind was starting to hurt. And the elastic around the top of my thigh-high pantyhose was starting to itch. Why hadn't I remembered that I was allergic to latex? I shifted uncomfortably in my black business suit and glanced over at my step-brother, sitting next to me. He looked much more comfortable than I felt. Then again, he was wearing his normal every day clothes while I was decked out in a get-up made for a 40-year-old woman, not a 17-year-old kid like me. I probably looked ridiculous. On second thought, who am I kidding? I look fine. I more or less look fine in anything I put on. At least that's what people say - Mom had tried to convince Johnny to dress up in something more presentable but it hadn't worked. I don't think she ever thought it would but felt the need to make the suggestion anyways.
Johnny was a good kid - really, he was. But people never seemed to be able to see past the greasy, unwashed black hair that covered his eyes, the black, ill-fitting trench coat that always drug behind him or the clanking chains that hung from his pants. They took one look at him and somehow just knew he was trouble. But honestly, I don't think he ever had as much as a detention. He didn't get in trouble, he got good grades when he had good friends. But this city isn't the easiest place in the world to live when you're different like he is. Old people cross the street when he walks in their direction, parents point him out to their kids and lecture them on how they're to "never look like that boy", ministers call him the Devil and the kids we go to school with torture him mercilessly. All for being different. I never did understand it, but then again when our parents first got married, I was scared of him too. I was just like all the others.
The room was getting hotter by the hour and from the sound of it, things weren't going to be over anytime soon. My mother sat in front of us at a large oak table, her lawyer seated next to her. My step-father... or should I say, soon to be ex-step-father, sat across the table from her with his lawyer. A rather informal looking judge had the honor of being positioned at the head of the table. Johnny didn't want to go to the hearing, and in a way I didn't either. I knew my mother and step-father were no longer on the friendliest terms and in fact, I was happy that they were getting a divorce. They would both be happier single than they were married. But that didn't necessarily mean I wanted to hear all of their marital problems. To me, it seemed like information children shouldn't be privy to. But their lawyers told us that we had to be at this hearing. It was the very last one and part of the discussion would be the assignment of custody. It seemed self explanatory to me. I was my mother's daughter so she would get custody of me, even though technically it was a non-issue - I was going to be 18 in less than a month. Johnny was only 14 but he would, of course, go with his father. My mom was only his step-mother. I was only his step-sister. Even though we loved him like he was our flesh and blood, he would go with his biological relative, his father.
Not like he was pleased with the assumed ruling. To say that he and his father didn't get along was an understatement. It was more like they hated each other. Nothing Johnny did was right in Steve's mind. Johnny was not the perfect Mormon son that Steve had pictured having and he despised his boy for that. I was going to miss my step-brother and in all honesty, I was a little worried about him. He was only 14 and positively miniscule in size and stature. Over the three years that Steve had been my step-father I had seen him get dangerously close to hitting Johnny on a number of occasions. Thankfully, my mom was always there to stop it. What would happen once she wasn't there? I knew Johnny could stand up for himself - I had seen it every Sunday when Steve tried to force him to go to church with him and my mom (I don't go - I can't remember the last time I've gone, but my mom has always been ok with that). Johnny told me once that he had stopped going the day he had finally gotten big enough to physically stand up to his father. So I knew he could hold his own, but that doesn't mean that he should have to.
I glanced over as he shifted in the matching hard plastic seat next to me. He pulled his Discman out of his pocket with a triumphant look on his face and slid the headphones over his ears. Nine Inch Nails came blaring out of the headphones, the volume being turned so high that I could distinctly hear the lyrics. Apparently so could the rest of the room as I noticed the glares of Steve, his lawyer and my mom's lawyer all being sent in Johnny's direction. I looked over at my mom and saw a slight snicker on her face. Around Steve, she was the good Mormon wife, but I knew how she really was. She was laid back and fun-loving. Before Steve and Johnny came along, we would spend many nights dancing around the house like fools to songs by the Spice Girls or NSync. We even blew out the speakers on the surround sound - that's how loud we had the music turned up. While she didn't like the type of music Johnny listened to, she at least had an appreciation for it and the effect a song could have a person. She saw me looking at her and rolled her eyes slightly, nodding a bit towards Johnny's direction. I caught on to what she was trying to say and reached over, turning down the volume on the Discman until I could no longer hear the music.
Johnny looked over to me and smirked, knowing he had infuriated most of the adults in the room. He always got a kick out of doing that. I smiled back at him sadly, knowing that this was probably the last little moment we would ever share together. I couldn't help but wonder, was he as sad as I was? Was he even going to miss me? It's not like we were ever the best of friends. We had never fought - well, there was the occasional argument over who would get the bathroom next - but we weren't exactly close either. I just didn't understand him. Just like everyone else. The only difference was that I at least tried.
Reaching over, I nudged him in the shoulder. He opened his eyes and looked at me, confused. I motioned to the ear buds in his ears. He smiled at me and nodded his head, pulling the one out of his right ear and passing it over to me. I stuck it in my ear and leaned back against the wall, mimicking his actions and closing my eyes. Trent Reznor's voice flowed through my left ear somewhat less than soothingly. I'll admit it - I'm not a big NIN fan. The only reason why I knew NIN stood for Nine Inch Nails was because it's on one of Johnny's t-shirts. I'm more of a pop music fan. But I would take Trent over the droning voices of lawyers any day. Is that horrible of me to say? Lawyers... they're like my kin after all. I mean, in three months I'm going to be going to school to be one. Then again, I don't think it's a requirement to be bland and monotone like these two guys were.
I woke up with a start to someone shaking my knee gently. Had I fallen asleep? God, how embarrassing! At least it was my mother standing over me and not the judge. I yanked the headphone out of my ear and looked up apologetically. "Sorry mom."
"It's ok honey. I know this stuff is boring. But were doing the custody assignments now and the judge said she would like for you two to pay attention."
It took a while longer for her to pull Johnny out of his slumber, but once she did she explained the same thing to him. He begrudgingly put the Discman back in his pocket as we both stood and walked towards the two empty seats at the end of the table, opposite the judge.
"We will now discuss the custody of the two minor children, Faith Simmons and Jonathon Seward. Miss Simmons is the biological child of Ms. Simmons-Seward and Mr. Seward is the biological son of Mr. Seward, am I correct?"
Everyone in the room nodded at the judge, confirming that the obvious fact she had just pointed out was, indeed, true.
"Ms. Simmons-Seward, I understand that you would like full custody of Faith. Mr. Seward, do you have any objections?"
I looked over towards Steve, knowing he wasn't going to contest my mothers request, but feeling the need to actually see him do it anyways. He looked over at me and then back to the judge. "I have no objections, your honor."
Phew. Not like I ever doubted any of it, but hearing the judge ask him whether he wanted custody of me had suddenly made my heart race. Not like I hated him or anything - I really had nothing against him. But he wasn't my father. He wasn't family.
"Ok, then that is settled," the judge continued. "Mr. Seward, I understand you have submitted a new request to the court just today, is that correct?"
Steve nodded and I looked over at my mom, not understanding what was happening. The look on her face mirrored my confusion. Apparently she didn't know what she was talking about either.
"Is it my understanding that you, Mr. Seward, would like to give up all rights of custody to your minor son, Jonathon?"
What?? How could he do that??
The jaws of my mother, her lawyer, Johnny and myself hit the floor at the exact same time.
"Yes, that's correct your honor. My job requires me to travel frequently - up to 75% of the time - and I am not in the position to properly care for my son. My wife died several years ago and I think him staying with Ann and Faith is the best option for Johnny."
"Are you fucking kidding me?!?" Johnny screamed, standing and shoving the chair behind him. "You're just GIVING me away? How COULD you?"
"Young man, please take a seat," the judge demanded, visibly displeased the Johnny's outburst and the disruption to her courtroom.
"NO! This is bullshit!!"
I looked over at my mom, unsure of what to do. I could see the tears glistening in the corners of her eyes. Whether it was from shock, or pity, or fear, I didn't know. I reached out and grabbed a hold of Johnny's hand, pulling on it, hoping to convince him to sit back down. He looked down at me before yanking his hand out of mine. "I can't believe this!"
His anger was quickly diminishing into despair. Sensing this, my mother stood up and ran over to him, pulling him into her arms. "It's ok Johnny... we'd love to have you stay with us, you know that." At first he fought to free himself from her embrace, but eventually gave up and clung to her sweater, sobbing. "Shh... it's ok honey. Everything's going to be fine," she murmured to him as he nodded pathetically, trying to convince himself that everything would be ok.
I glared over at my former step-father. How could he do this? If anything proves to him that his son is not the devil and not a disappointment, this show of emotion should. Couldn't he see how upset his son was? For as much as they were at each other's throat, there's still that innate love a son has for his dad. Deep down I knew Johnny just wanted his dad to love and accept him. To maybe even be proud of him. He was just a kid! Just a scared, confused kid, not some type of horrible monster. But Steve showed no emotion. His face didn't reveal what he was feeling and I was starting to think that he really wasn't feeling anything.
Fine then. If he wants to be that way, then that's the way it'll be. We'd take better care of Johnny anyways. And he'd be happier with us than he ever was with his father.
The judge cleared her throat uncomfortably. "Ms. Simmons-Seward, am I to assume that you consent to the transfer of custody of Jonathon?"
My mom nodded fiercely, Johnny still attached to her. "I would love to have him," she said pointedly, staring Steve down.

Way to go, mom!
"Alright then - then that closes our case. Mr. Seward, Ms. Simmons-Seward, I hereby decree you officially divorced and I wish you the best of luck in your future lives."
Steve and his lawyer hastily gathered their papers and made their way to exit the room, but before he opened the door, he turned around and walked back towards us. "Bye Johnny. I hope you understand why I'm doing this..."
My mom and I both froze, terrified of what was going to happen next. I couldn't believe Steve actually had the gall to say that to his son after everything that had just happened. And I couldn't imagine how Johnny was going to react...
He pulled away from my mother, chains clattering as he whipped around to face his father. "I hope you go to hell you fucking bastard," he spat at his father with fury.
As if shocked that he had really just said that to his own father and afraid of the coming repercussions, he suddenly reached out and grabbed my hand, holding it tightly and cowering behind me slightly. I'm sure after this is all said and done with, he'll try as hard as possible to forget that he's clinging to his step-sister at the moment, and we'll never talk about it, but it was then that I finally saw through him and understood what he was all about. He was a kid... and he was my brother. Not just my step-brother, but the real deal. Or at least the closest thing to a brother that I would ever have. And I would stand up for him and protect him with my life. That's what you do for family.
I wrapped my arm around him and we both watched as his father silently turned his back on us and walked away. He walked away from me, my mother, and his son, never to be seen or heard of again with the exception of his monthly child support check.
But we were ok with that. We didn't need him anymore... we were fine just the way we were.
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All We Are is Memories