Chapter 50

“I’m not sure I wanna see him now.” Fran said when they reached Jon’s apartment.

“Fran, you know you have to talk to him. I’m pretty sure he’ll understand your reaction much better and won’t think twice about such an offer again.” Kim tried to assure her best friend.

After their breakfast she urged Fran to talk to Richie, but she declined. So Kim literally had to drag her over to Jon’s place.

“Hi honey.” Jon greeted her when he opened the door.

“Hi baby.” She placed a quick kiss on his lips and giggled when he gave her the duck-lips.

“Hi Jon.” Fran said a little unsure. She had no idea if he already knew about her fight with Richie and how he would react.

“Hi Fran. How are you doing, babe?” Jon gave her a short hug.

He could see her uneasiness, but there was nothing she had to worry about. Even though Rich told him about their fight and he partly agreed with his best friend, he would never say anything about it to Fran. This was something they both had to settle and not him. It took him years to realize that he couldn’t fix all his friends problems, but only his own.

“Rich is here, right?” Kim asked him and put her handbag on a small table in the entrance area.

“Yeah, he’s in the living room.” He grinned. She was still thinking she needed to help everyone. He could bet in a couple years that would be different.

“Good. Fran, come on.” She grabbed her hand when her girlfriend tried to stay behind.

“Hi Richie, how are you?” Kim greeted the guitarist when she entered the living room and pulled Fran along.

He looked up surprised and took in his girlfriend’s face. She was pale and it looked like she’d been crying.

Why was she so stubborn about this money thing? Everything could be just fine when she would agree to it.

“I had better days before, Kim. I had better days.” He said a little down.

“That’s what I thought.” She looked at Fran and waited, but her best friend wasn’t going to say something or met Richie’s eyes.

Kim rolled her eyes while looking at Jon and took a deep breath. He tried not to chuckle. Yep, just like him years ago.

“Ok, you two really need to talk.” She pointed at Richie and Fran.

“I think everything is said concerning this matter.” Rich said calmly watching Fran, but she stayed silent.

“No, it’s not!” Kim said forcefully.

“Fran, say something.”

“You know I can’t talk about it.” Her friend whispered. Just talking with Kim about it a couple hours ago, brought tons of bad memories back. Right now she had the feeling she was drowning in these sad emotions.

Kim sighed and pulled Fran close for a hug. “I know it’s not easy for you to talk about it, like it isn’t easy for to talk about some things my dad did or said to me as a child.” She gave Jon a short glance and he nodded understanding. At least she was admitting it herself now.

“But Richie needs to know about this, Fran.” Kim pleaded.

Jon and Richie exchanged a confused look.

What was she hiding? And why?

“Do you want me and Jon to leave? Tell Rich when you are alone with him?” Kim offered.

“No!” A slight hint of panic was in Fran’s voice and she grabbed Kim’s arm to stop her from leaving. Kim sighed.

“How about I tell the story?” she suggested softly. Fran closed her eyes briefly. Rich could see her hands trembling and wished he could comfort her somehow, but he doubted she would let him get closer to her.

“Ok.” Fran whispered and sank down on the couch.

“As you may already realize, Richie, Fran told me about the little discussion you had.” Kim started.

“Nice phrasing, Kim. Really nice.” Rich said dryly. She gave him an angry look.

“I’m not here to say your opinion or Fran’s is right or wrong. I’m here to give you some extra information that may help you to understand Fran’s reaction.” Rich nodded.

“When you offered her the access to your bank accounts, I know you only wanted to know that she is at least financially taking care of when you are touring the world in a couple weeks, but for her it felt as if she needs your money to take care of herself and her son.”

“But I never…” Rich started, but Kim stopped him.

“There is more, Rich. Fran never depended on a man financially. Even when she was married with Michael, she had her own money. She could always decide what to do with it. Most of the time she was saving it and bought something for Jason, because they could rely on Michael’s income. But it would have given her the freedom to leave him anytime.”

Jon and Richie stared at Kim.

Why would Fran wanna leave Michael? Weren’t they deeply in love?

“This behaviour is something Fran learned rather early.” Kim took a deep breath and squeezed Fran’s shoulder softly. She closed her eyes and suddenly the words tumbled out of her mouth.

“My father was an alcohol addict.” Her eyes found Rich’s for a short second and saw realization sinking in.

“When he was drunk he got violent…and he was drunk a lot.” Fran paused.

“He was the sole earner. My mom stayed at home with us kids. She didn’t have any money. Every time he’d beaten her up again or tried to beat us kids, she swore we would leave him…but she couldn’t with three small kids. And she was too ashamed to get some help from anyone. So we stayed…beating after beating.” She choked on her words.

Richie slowly walked over to her and kneeled down in front of her, carefully taking her trembling hands in his.

“She finally moved out the day I graduated from high school and took a job at a hotel cleaning the rooms….Richie, I swore myself I would never be in her situation, I would always have some money to walk away from a man.” Tears were streaming down her face.

“Oh, Franny…why didn’t you tell me…I would have never…” Richie pulled her close and held her while she cried.

God, he felt like an idiot. And with his background, with everything he’s been through in the last couple years, she probably needed this financial backup even more.

He already wondered why she was so damn demanding when it came to alcohol. She would watch him very carefully every time he could drink some. He never did and already asked himself if she didn’t trust him, but it seemed she simply didn’t wanna make the same mistake as her mother.

Jon watched his friend and Fran for a second, then grabbed Kim’s hand and led her out of the room.

“Where is her mom now?” he asked when they entered his bedroom.

“She passed away shortly after Jason was born, because of long term consequences from the beating.” Kim whispered and leaned her head against his shoulder.

“She was a great woman.” She added sadly.

“I’m sure she was.” He paused and pulled her close. “What about her dad?”

“He never showed up again. We don’t know where he is, same goes for her two older brothers. They didn’t even show up at their mom’s funeral.”

Jon shook his head in disbelieve and held Kim tight when she told her about Fran’s mother.