Eleven - Memory (.043)

"I'm sorry. I don't know where that came from." Isaiah had finally spoken after ten minutes of releasing the pain he had so carelessly let build up over the past eight years. He hated feeling vulnerable and low in front of people, and being in front of a girl he hardly knew made things a lot worst. Even in his worst times, he would assure not a single tear was shed or an ounce of emotion let out. Feelings were a feminine quality, and as far as he was concerned he would take no part in that. Outside of his parents, Ellyn was the first person that ever witnessed him in such a state.

"It's fine. Are you ok?" He noticed that Ellyn was closer than he thought, just by the sound of her worried tone.

 "Yeah, don't worry about me. I just...nothing." Isaiah inhaled a much need breath and brushed his fingers across the now damp keyboard. His mind flooded with memories and good times spent behind this very piano. If he had any tears left, he would have broken down once more.

 "Hey Isaiah," Ellyn began in a soft tone, "I don't know if you mind me asking but, who is Micah?"

Hearing his name made him shudder more than when he saw it. It took him a second for him to reply to the curious woman beside him. "My father." Her mouth widened into an 'O' shape and then lowered into a smaller 'o'. He could help but find that slightly adorable.

 "Is he...did he die?" She slapped her hand over her mouth, removed it seconds later. "I shouldn't have asked that. I'm sorry."

Isaiah smiled for the first time in twenty minutes. "No, it's fine. And no, he didn't die. He...left."

She slowly leaned her head to the side to get a better look at Isaiah's facial expressions. "Where did he go?" she mumbled. Once again, the tone of her voice revealed that she wasn't so sure about the question.

Isaiah let out another relieving sigh and thought about how he would answer her question. Finally, he turned to her and spoke. "I can show you better than I can tell you. Come on."

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The gray truck pulled in front of a simple one story home. No lights were on and it just seemed absolutely lifeless. The curtains were closed from what she could see. It looked as if no one had been there for the past couple of days. Ellyn looked further out of the window and grew even more confused than she already was. Slowly the truck crawled into the driveway on the side of the home.

"Where are we?"

 "My house." Isaiah simply replied. Ellyn's chin fell onto her chest. Immediately, she found herself slowly shaking her head. I can't go in there. What if Viviane in there? 

"Why should it matter? And she isn't even home. She's away on business." Isaiah mumbled. Ellyn stared at Isaiah confused. Had I really said that out loud?

"Oh." She didn't want to dig a deeper hole with her uncontrollable tongue. He shook his head and climbed from the driver side and made his way up the sidewalk and onto the walkway that lead to the front entrance of the house.

The interior of the house screamed dark and secluded. To their right was lonesome kitchen, containing the essentials for everyday eating, and directly in front of her was the living area. Everything inside of the quite one story was open a spacious. No constricting walls and random clutter. It was like each piece of furniture was made just for the spot it was in. Isaiah made his was towards the center of the open space and reached towards the ceiling. Suddenly, a piece of the ceiling fell down and released a ladder. He pulled it down and set it up to ensure its stability. The twin turned on his heels and looked at the confused blonde behind him.

"Ladies first." He motioned into the direction of ladder. She hesitated, looking up at the destination Isaiah pointed out. It was dark. No life. No sense of safety. Nothing. She thought to herself quietly while focusing on Isaiah's expression. If it wasn't safe, he wouldn't invite me up there in the first place. Would he? 

 She sucked in a deep breath, clenched her fist together and walked towards the unwelcoming ladder. Ellyn placed her wedged heel on the bottom step and pushed off so that her foot could touch the next one. Suddenly, she felt a breeze climb up her skirt, making her fell extremely uncomfortable. She hopped back down and stepped away from the ladder.

 "I think it would be best if you go up first, since, you know, I don't have the proper 'ladder climbing' attire." She inserted her own set of air quotations and looked down at her skirt. He sighed, shook his head and made his way up the ladder and into the dark space. She cautiously followed.

When her head poked thought the top, the lights had been flicked on. Ellyn stopped where she was just to take in everything she was seeing. Newspaper articles, magazine clippings and any other piece of paper with the name Micah on it lined the walls of the attic. A white grand piano sat in the far corner along with an open guitar carrier and a box full of tapes and CDs. She finished her climb up the stairs, still in awe about what she was seeing. From the corner of her eyes, she could see Isaiah staring at the corner of the attic.

"What's the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear the name Micah?" Ellyn took a second to respond to his question and the only thing that stood out the most was the obvious.

"Micah Fisher? The sing—" Ellyn stopped mid sentence. Every puzzle piece she had discovered over the pass twenty-four hours had finally fallen into place. "Micah Fisher...is your dad?"

Usually, the child of a very much alive Grammy award winning singer would have been much more excited to reveal this type of news, but Isaiah looked rather disappointed. "Unfortunately." He went and sat down on the bench near the piano.

"Why do you say that?"

"Because of what he put me and my family through." Ellyn could sense Isaiah about to confide and release his past struggles, so she slowly walked over to the bench and took a seat next to him for the second time tonight. It was quiet as he gathered his thoughts to explain the past he wanted to forget so badly to the woman he hardly knew. He kept his eyes on the dusty hardwood floor as he spoke.

"All my life, music was a very big party of my family. It was almost like we needed in order to survive through the day. Hell, if it weren't for music, me, or any of my siblings, wouldn't exist. My parents loved music just as much as they loved each other. Dad was the pianist and my mother had the voice of an angel. Classic love story. "He smiled to himself, but his focal point remained on the floor."They had always had a plan to lead their band to greatness and have sellout crowds screaming their names, but with a new set of sickly twins, they had no choice but to put their dreams on the back burner.

"They got married, and moved their new family into my grandmother's old barn since the few band gigs they could snatch up couldn't get them a place of their own. My grandmother passed a year after we moved in, leaving the barn and all the work that came with it to my parents. The general up keep of the barn was a full day's work, causing my dad to shy further and further away from his dreams. My mom was okay with the thought of not being the next biggest female singer, because she had another title to uphold. World's greatest mother.

"We all could see how dehydrated he was from what he loved the most. There were times where he would sneak out to clubs because they needed a pianist or a quick guitarist for the night. Of course, my mother caught on and made him promise that he would leave that life alone and be a better father. As much as he didn't want to, he agreed.

"Seven years passed and Isaac was born, and the depression seemed to increase heavily, but he found ways to coupe. He taught us how to play instruments and sing, but for some reason he gave me a lot more attention than my brothers. My father showed us how much he really loved music, and over the years we couldn't help but learn to love it just as much as he did." He paused and looked up at Ellyn. Her eyes stared back urging him to continue on this his story. His face fell back to the floor.

"I think that was the worst thing he could have done." This time his voice cracked as if he was on the cliffs edge of crying again. Isaiah pursed his lips together to fight back the tears that were dangerously close to falling onto his warm cheeks. He sniffled and ran his hand through his hair as he sat back and stared at the wall across from him.

"On Isaac's seventh birthday, my mom threw a party for him and invited all of his friends. My dad was going to break out the guitar and serve as the entertainment for the party." Isaiah let out a sigh. "My mom asked him to go out and get some more drinks for everybody, but he never returned. We all were confused, including Isaac, but he was mainly focused on turning seven. I remember walking into my mother's room to find her in tears." He paused.

"He had left that night, without so much as a goodbye, to go and chase the dream you see plastered on the walls of this room. I don't even like to remember the look on Isaac's face we she broke the news to him. He has never been the same since." Again, he paused, still focusing on the wall. His face developed into a vengeful frown and his knuckles cracked as he balled his hands into clamped fist.

"The man has been gone for ten years and we have received a total of five phone calls." He shook his head and sarcastically chuckled. The man glanced down at his hands and then up at Ellyn. Her expression was unreadable, but he could tell that she was interested in his story. "Sorry, I just had to fill you in on out chaotic life since it looks like you're going to be with us for a while. It's best that you know just in case anything happens in relation to him."

Ellyn cleared her throat. "Oh no need to apologize. That was...wow. I'm really sorry to hear that about, well all of that." Ellyn was at a loss for words. After hearing such a damaged pass like that, she couldn't help but related it to hers. Even though she had been to hell and back, Isaiah had been to hell and is still vacationing there.

"I better get you home." He abruptly said. They may start wondering if you bailed on them or something. Thanks for...listening."

"Of course." Ellyn smiled. Isaiah nodded and got up from the bench. As he walked over to the descending ladder, he stopped and turned around to face Ellyn.

"Hey if you couldn't not mention tonight to anybody, I would gladly appreciate it. I just don’t want anybody else being emotionally destroyed by the contents of that garage."

"Sure no problem." Ellyn agreed, trying to hide her confusion in the process.

"Good, now come on."


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