The Sacrifices of a Boy

[Anna]

The SACRIFICES of a Boy

October 12, 2018

Dear K.J.N.,
About 14 years ago from last month, I received a letter from a woman about her family. She told me had four sons, the youngest being four at the time. His older brother was a talented musician, especially for his young age. They had heard I recently lost my job as a nanny for another local family, the child had grown up and I was no longer needed. This family, however, decided that I would be needed. The two oldest boys were joining their brother in his music career and were going to be meeting with a major record company who told them if they liked their music, they could help them get far. Known worldwide, superstars. Of course at the time they didn't think that was even possible, they were just a few kids from a small New Jersey town. But they wanted to try anyways-and were definitely glad they did. What did this have to do with me? You guessed it; I said this woman had four sons. Only three were old enough and mature enough to handle the fame they were told they could get, let alone the only ones who could actually write and perform music well enough to get that fame in the first place. Which meant in case the boys and their parents all had to be out late, baby brother would need a sitter. Which meant I officially had a new job.

I took out the folded scrap of paper from my pocket. 141 Franklin Avenue, Wyckoff, New Jersey. This was the place. Before I even made it to the door, I was greeted by a tired but friendly looking woman with a warm, welcoming smile.
“Shannon. I’m so glad you’re here, we’re all so thankful that we found you.” She said as I approached her.
“I’m just as thankful as you are, believe me.” I smiled. It was true, without this family I had no more job. I would be stuck here in Wyckoff in my little apartment, praying day in and day out that something would come along. Instead I was back to being a nanny, what I loved to do best, and even better, a nanny to a kid whose brothers were working on getting signed to a big shot company. If they ended up famous and touring the country, I’d get to tag along. The job paid well enough, I love kids, and I might eventually have a chance to do some traveling. It was perfect.
“Come on in, Frankie’s in the kitchen, we were just finishing up a little afternoon snack.” I followed the woman, Denise, inside to a brightly lit, nicely designed kitchen. I automatically smiled at the sight of a small boy kneeling on a chair with his feet up against the back, elbows propped up on the table in front of him, chin in his hands, and his head bobbing back and forth making clicking noises with his tongue, which seemed to have been entertaining him just fine while his mother was gone.
“Frankie, this is Shannon. Remember I told you she was going to come play with you today?” Denise asked him. He looked at me and nodded, smiling and showing his tiny baby teeth.
“Why don't you go show her your room while I finish cleaning up?” Frankie hopped down from the chair and ran across the kitchen to the hallway.
“Follow me!” He said before running off again. Denise smiled.
“I’ll be around if you need anything.” She said. I nodded and started going in the direction the small boy had gone. I found him waiting semi-patiently in front of a bedroom door.
“This is my room and Nick-las’s room.” He announced.
“Cool, do you like sharing a room with Nicholas?” I asked, following him in. He nodded enthusiastically.
“He plays with me all the time when he comes home from school. I only get to go to school in the mornings at the preschool in my church where my daddy works, but next year I get to go to kindergarten at the same school as Nick-las. But he’s gonna be with the big kids so I won’t see him a lot, that’s ok though because then I’ll be a big kid too so I won’t need him. Hey, look at all my Care Bears, I have a lot now. This one I just got because it was my birthday. I’m four. Were the kids you used to baby-sit four? Oh yea, this Care Bear is the special one that our neighbor gave me. She’s our friend. She said I could keep it to remember her, but I’m not going anywhere and she’s not going anywhere, so that’s silly. But she’s a teenager like Joseph and mama says all teenagers are silly.” Frankie stopped to look at the toy in his hands. He had been rambling on, constantly changing the subject and talking about a mile a minute with his small, slightly southern sounding voice. Suddenly he ran to the window, pushing a plastic stepstool up to the wall in front of it. He climbed up; the boost barely made him tall enough to see outside, but whatever he was able to see made his face light up.
“Come on!” He yelled, grabbing my hand as he ran past. I almost tripped a couple times trying to keep up on our way to the front door, where Frankie stopped almost as abruptly as he took off. He immediately opened the door and I noticed a curly headed kid walking slowly toward the house, kicking a rock along the way. He must have heard the door open because he looked up and waved. Frankie turned to me as we waited for the boy to reach the house.
“He’s my brother. I have two other brothers too but they’re in high school so they don't get home until later. My daddy comes home at the same time as them sometimes.” He told me matter-of-factly. He spun back around to face the door as it opened and the boy walked in, grinning at Frankie and ruffling his hair as he walked past us.
“Hey Frankie.” He said quietly. He glanced up at me. “Hey.” He nodded before continuing on down the hall. Frankie watched for a minute before closing the door and nodding at me.
“Let’s go!” He ordered, grabbing my hand and taking off again. I tried not to laugh at his excitement as he pulled me along, following his brother back to their bedroom. Frankie dropped my hand when we got there and headed over to the bunk beds that were against one wall, sitting on the lower bunk. The older boy dropped his backpack on the floor and plopped himself down on a beanbag chair in the corner.
“Who’s your friend Frankie?” He asked. Frankie hopped off the bed and stood between his brother and I.
“She’s Shannon, she’s gonna be my new baby-sitter, ‘member?” He asked. Then he turned around so he was facing me and pointed at the boy. “That’s Nick-las, but his nickname is Nick.” Frankie laughed at what seemed to be an old joke between the two. “Nice to meet you.” He said. I nodded.
“You too.” I replied. Frankie looked from him to me and back again.
“You’re s’posed to shake hands now.” He said quietly, as if it was a secret. I chuckled and Nick shook his head, smiling, as he stood.
“Pleased to make your acquaintance, Miss Shannon.” He said, taking my hand gently and shaking it.
“Oh, the pleasures all mine, Mr. Nicholas.” I said, glancing at Frankie from the corner of my eye who was watching us with wide eyes. Nick laughed quietly and let go of my hand, turning to his brother.
“There, happy now?” He asked.
“’Cause that’s what you’re s’posed to do.” Frankie repeated, nodding his head ferociously. Nick grinned.
“Alright buddy, I’ll remember next time.” He said. Frankie beamed at his older brother and anyone watching could have told you without a doubt, he loved and respected this boy. It reminded me of a time, many years before, when a little girl I knew very well was picked on by her siblings. Yea, I’m talking about myself. My brother constantly made fun of me, my sister taking his side on everything and using the fact that we shared a room and were always together against me. But over the next half hour, after watching these kids, it became clear to me that this family wasn’t like that. The oldest children came home from school and helped Nick with homework when he needed it. I overheard Kevin-the oldest-talking to Joseph-second oldest-about something that must have happened to him in school that day, giving him advice. All of the boys took time to play with their youngest brother, and before dinner they all went outside and enjoyed a quick game of Wiffel Ball…

You see, K.J.N., that day, my first day getting to know the Jonas family, was almost a bit strange for me. I wasn’t used to working with kids who cooperated and genuinely got along with each other. I was used to having to separate siblings for fighting, sitting each one in a corner for 5 minutes. Of course, three out of four of these boys were not part of my job, and too old for time-outs anyways, but the concept of not even having to think of doing that felt great. This was going to be a great job. Frankie was such an adorable and sweet kid, and he would clearly never make my job boring. The rest of his family was wonderful too, they were very religious-the father was a pastor at the local church right next-door-but that only made them more kind-hearted, more humble and respecting. I was very glad for Frankie that his siblings weren’t like mine, that he didn't get pushed around and teased, but later I realized his life wouldn’t be all that great either.

[Anna]

…After that first day, I visited regularly. Mr. or Mrs. Jonas called me every time they went out to see if I could baby-sit, even if the older boys were going to be home. They wanted Frankie to get used to me being around, in case I ended up being with him a lot in the future, and over the next few months, that happened. I became as close to that kid as someone can get with a 4 year old.
“Guess what, guess what, guess what??” Frankie was jumping up and down, a huge smile on his face one afternoon when I went to watch him for a couple hours. I laughed quietly as I hung up my coat. I hadn't even been in the house for a full minute yet.
“There's only…what is it now, 20 days until you start kindergarten?” I guessed, following him into the living room. It had been the ‘guess what’ worthy news for the past week or so, his countdown had begun and he couldn’t wait.
“21 days. But that’s not it. It’s gonna be someone’s birthday.” He told me.
“You told me, Joseph’s.” This had also been his big news for the past few weeks or so. Frankie sighed dramatically, as if my wrong guess was so incredibly off he couldn’t believe it.
”No! Someone else.” He insisted. I thought.
“Amanda’s birthday is over.” I said, only coming up with one other possibility. Frankie nodded. I shrugged. “Alright, I give up.”
“James’s birthday. He’s having a party the weekend before school and I’m invited!” I gasped, pretending this was a life-changing event. Frankie laughed.
“You’re silly.” He said.
“If I wasn’t you wouldn’t want me to come back, silly.” I replied, tickling him. He giggled some more and I laughed. “That’s great, Frankie. You’ll have fun.” James was Frankie’s best friend, and it would be his first time going to a birthday party other than his brothers’ and their neighbor/family friend, Amanda’s.
“I know! All the kids from school are gonna be there. And James said his mommy is gonna have all kinds of games for us to play like-”…

That was the exact moment a simple phone call interrupted his sentence, and the simple request from the person on the other line interrupted his life. It didn't seem like a big deal at the time, but of course, like we would later find out anything that happened in that family would be, it was huge.
“Hello, Mrs. Jonas?” The person had asked when I answered. I told him that she and Mr. Jonas were out, and he asked for the oldest Jonas boy available. Not thinking much of it, I found Kevin and gave him the phone. I remember exactly what came next, I’m sure you do too, K.J.N. After Kevin hung up the phone, he gathered up his brothers, insisted on calling his parents right away, and told us all the news, grinning ear to ear.
“That was Columbia Records. They want us to come see them as soon as we can.”
I don't think Frankie fully understood what that meant, but he jumped around and acted just as excited as his brothers did. Less than a week later, the family flew off to California.

…“Hi Shannon!” I stopped walking to look across the street to where the familiar voice had come from.
“Hey Joseph, how was the trip? Hey Amanda.” I replied, changing my destination last minute to the Jonas’ front porch to where Joseph and his girlfriend were sitting. I was on my way to the library to drop off a couple books, but I could spare a few minutes.
“Awesome! Actually my mom was just about to call you and tell you about it.” Joseph said. I sat on the ground in front of them. “They really liked our music. And remember how they promised us a tour if we were good?” I nodded. The boy’s smile was growing bigger and bigger by the second. “Well…guess who’s opening for…” Suddenly the door behind us swung open, and Kevin and Nick came out, singing with equally huge grins.
“…I don't care who you are, where you're from, what you did, as long as you love me…” I gasped, recognizing the song.
“No way! The Backstreet Boys? That’s awesome!” I exclaimed.
“It’s not for the whole tour, they started back in July. We’ll leave and be there in time for the first show in September and stay until the end of the month.” Nick said.
“They just want to see if people would actually like us. If it works out, they’ll let us open for even more bands.” Kevin added. I frowned.
“September? What about school?” I asked.
“Home schooling. I started a while ago, it’s great.” Amanda said.
“Yea, but Frankie was really looking forward to being in an actual school. And what about the birthday party he was supposed to go to? He’s never been to a real kids party before, just family ones.” The smiles on the kids’ faces faded, just a bit.
“It’s only for a month. We can go back to school in October.” Nicholas said quietly.
“And there will be other parties. He can even have his own when we get back. It’ll be a little late, but it’s not really that much of a difference, right?” Joseph shrugged. I sighed.
“Yea, you're right. Forget I mentioned it. This is going to be great, congratulations boys.” I said, not wanting to ruin their good moods. This was their dream. They were so excited…

[Anna]

K.J.N., think back and remember your first day of school. How you finally felt like a ‘big kid’. You got to go all on your own, without your parents staying with you. You were independent. And your first time going to a friend’s birthday party. Playing silly games like Pin the Tail on the Donkey and Bozo Buckets. Singing ‘Happy Birthday’ and eating cake and ice cream. Frankie wouldn’t even be home on his own birthday to have a party to make up for the first one he missed.

…”Does everyone have everything?” The boys nodded.
“Are you sure?” Mrs. Jonas repeated.
“Yes mom, can we just go? We’re gonna miss our plane if we don't hurry!” Joseph complained.
“Well if we get half way across the country and you realize you don’t have enough socks, don't go crying to your mother.” I said. Kevin laughed.
“No worries, if that happens we can always just take Nick’s.” He said. The younger boy’s mouth dropped open, and he took a breath like he was about to talk back to his brother, but Mr. Jonas interrupted.
“That’s not going to happen, and if it does we can worry about it then. Joseph’s right, we have to get going.” I turned and looked around me. All our bags were loaded into the trunk of the taxi we would take to the airport. The boys’ instruments and other equipment were in a van that would drive to Portland, our first stop on the tour.
“Good luck you guys! I’ll see you when you come back to New Jersey.” Amanda said, speaking for the first time in a while from where she was watching farther back on the lawn.
“Bye Mandy, I’ll miss you.” Joseph said quietly to her, hugging her tightly and kissing her cheek.
“You still have that bear I gave you?” She asked, kneeling down to Frankie’s level. He nodded, now understanding why she had given it to him to ‘remember her by’.
“It’s in my backpack.” He said. He had refused to leave before checking and double-checking to make sure he had the special toy. Mandy smiled and said goodbye to the other boys, and we all piled into the taxi. As we drove to the airport, I noticed a look on Frankie’s face. I looked out the window and realized we were passing a house with balloons tied to the railing on the porch. You could see little kids playing inside, just behind the open window. It had to be James’s house. Even worse, the elementary school was just across the street. Yes, out of all the ways to the airport, the driver had to choose this one.
“You ok?” I asked quietly, so only Frankie could hear. He instantly got a large grin on his face.
“Yea! This is gonna be fun!” He said, bouncing in his seat for extra enthusiasm. Of course I saw past his fake happiness, but I had to leave it at that for the time being. Frankie changed the subject immediately, asking his parents what they would do once we arrived. Before long, we were on the plane, on our way to the family’s new future…

To tell you the truth, K.J.N., that month wasn’t anything like I expected. The boys opened for all the shows, performing maybe 3 or 4 songs, max. Then the original opening act, The Click Five, went on, and then of course, The Backstreet Boys performed. It went the same every night, we’d all go the venue together and the boys would do a quick sound check. Then they’d be told to stay out of the way until the other bands were done preparing; this time was usually spent getting something to eat for dinner. Then they’d perform and I’d stay with Frankie and Mr. and Mrs. Jonas either backstage or somewhere in the audience. After that, they were done. Usually they’d stay and watch the rest of the show, and I’d take Frankie back to hotel so he could get to bed on time. The next morning would come and all the equipment would be packed up, we’d all pile into the busses-or for us, vans-and head to the next city. Once there, we’d check into the next hotel and a majority of time was spent helping the kids with schoolwork, making sure they actually completed it, until the time came to get ready for the next concert. Before long, the month was over and we were back in Wyckoff. That tour was supposed to be preparing the family for the future, to get them used to life on the road. What came next for them though was so huge, the Never Gone Tour that they did a total of 10 shows for seemed like nothing.

Life was back to normal for quite a while. The older boys went into home schooling because they’d miss far too much if they were out for weeks at a time in middle and high school, but Frankie, as I made a huge point of suggesting to his parents, did attend kindergarten at a regular school. He was a child. Children need to be exposed to activities that can only be given in classroom settings with a group of other kids. They also need to interact with other kids their age, which wouldn’t be possible with home schooling. Frankie was doing great. He loved school, he’d go to other kids’ houses some afternoons, he even joined the junior football team. When his brothers went on tour, he’d miss a little bit of school, but really, what do you actually do in kindergarten that’s so vitally important? You learn to read and write mostly in first grade. Frankie was a smart boy. He could count high enough. He knew his colors and shapes; he had learned all that in pre-school and from his family. A month or so off wouldn’t hurt him. That was what was decided, and so he almost always went along to concerts and meet-and-greets and whatever else his brothers had to be at. He kept a smile on his face and looking at him, you’d think ‘what a happy little boy’. But if you spent as much time with him as, say, a nanny did, you’d see otherwise.

…”Frankie. Concentrate.” I said, bringing the boy’s focus back to his work for the millionth time. “Come on, you only have a few more cards left and then you’re done.” I told him, waving a few flash cards in front of his face. He sighed and looked at the one I was holding up.
“C-A-T. Cat. B-O-Y. Boy. C-A-R. Car. F-R-A-N-K-I-E. Frankie. I can spell, ok?” He said impatiently. Before I could protest and say he still had more cards to go through, he pointed to my cell phone on the table next to me. “What time is it?” He asked. I looked at the screen.
“It’s already 8:30. You have to go to bed soon.” I said.
“No!” He whined. I laughed.
“Yes!” I whined back.
“But they aren’t back yet.” He complained, referring to the rest of his family, who was still at the concert the boys had tonight.
“You don't need them to go to sleep.”
“They were gone for a long time though.” He said. “I miss them.” He added, quieter. I sighed and pulled him onto my lap, allowing him to lean against me.
“Just a few hours.” I said, softly stoking his hair. “They left at 5 to get ready, that’s three hours. They should be back soon.”…

‘They should be back soon.’ I wanted him to believe that; I wanted myself to believe that. But the truth was, a few hours went a long way. When you grew up with your family always right there with you, always a brother or parent to play with or to help you with your homework, having them gone every night was hard. And although you didn't realize it at the time, K.J.N., that was just the beginning. And the days and nights to come would be harder than you knew for that little boy.

[Anna]

…I gasped in shock at the sudden weight on my back. I closed my book and reached behind me, catching two small arms before escaped. I heard a familiar giggle and couldn’t help but to join the laughter.
“Frankie, how many times do I have to tell you? You don’t just jump on people’s backs when they aren’t expecting it.” I said, fully aware that it wouldn’t do any good telling him again. He came around to the front of me and sat on the ground, the sun hitting his face and making him squint. He let me read in peace for a few more minutes before letting out and overdramatic sigh. I closed my book again, realizing it was pointless to even try to pick it back up.
“Bored?” I asked. He nodded.
“Mommy’s cooking. She said she’s tired of eating out every night. And Daddy said he’s too busy and we can’t do anything right now.” He complained. I started trying to think of activities that would keep him busy for an hour or two when the sound of teenage voices got louder in the distance.
“Look who’s back!” I said and waved. The boys were doing a school tour with another band and since they had already done their show earlier this morning, we decided to park the busses in an empty parking lot for the day and get some much needed free time.
“Hi guys!” Frankie exclaimed, running towards his brothers and visibly happy that they had come back.
“Frankie!” Joseph shouted in a funny voice, lifting his little brother up when he ran up to him. I smiled, watching.
“Are you guys staying here now?” Frankie asked. The boys turned to Aly and AJ, the girls they were touring with.
“I kinda wanted to check out that mall we passed on the way back here.” AJ said.
“Yea me too.” Her sister agreed. Frankie’s smile faded, just a bit, and he gave each of his brothers a questioning look. Joe sighed.
“Frankie, you know I want to stay and play with you. But this is the first day in a while that we get to do whatever we want and just be regular teenagers. I’m gonna have to go with them…after dinner we can play, ok?” He asked, putting Frankie back down.
“Ok.” Frankie agreed, shrugging like it was no big deal. I could see disappointment in his eyes.
“I’ll stay Frankie.” Kevin said. He must have noticed his brother’s sadness too.
“Me too. I’m tired.” Nick mumbled. Frankie’s eyes lit up again and he grabbed Kevin’s arm with one hand, Nick’s with the other.
“Bye guys!” He said to Joe and the girls before dragging his other brothers back towards where I was sitting by the bus.
“We can play catch. Or tag. Mommy said there’s a park a few blocks away. We can go there! Or we can…” Frankie stopped, seeing Nick shake his head.
“I’m going inside.” He said, removing his arm from Frankie’s grasp and opening the bus door.
“No!” Frankie whined, grabbing onto his brother again.
“Franklin let go! I don't want to play with you!” Nick yelled, pulling once again away from Frankie and storming inside the bus, slamming the door behind him before Frankie had a chance to follow. Frankie stared at the bus with wide eyes in disbelief. Through the window we could see Nick stop at the mini-fridge and pull out a water bottle, taking a sip before noticing us watching him. He glared at his younger sibling and closed the window shade. Frankie turned around and looked at Kevin and I, still in shock. He wasn’t used to his brother reacting this way, Nick was usually always willing to spend time with him. And if he couldn’t, he said so nicely and promised they would do something later, like Joe had done.
“He’s tired Frankie, that’s all. Come on, you wanna go to that park you were talking about?” Kevin asked. Frankie shook his head and walked over to me, climbing on to my lap.
“Don't we have to do flashcards?” He asked quietly, changing the subject…

I’m sure you can tell now, K.J.N., that Frankie was upset. He missed having his brothers always there with him and all to himself. He understood they were busy and any free time they got was better off being spent living their lives, doing things most kids their age did all the time. Not playing games of Red Light, Green Light or Mother May I with a 5 year old. He understood it, but that doesn’t mean he enjoyed it.

During the days after Nick snapped at Frankie, we continued to see the odd behavior. Always tired and irritable, not wanting to do anything with his family or friends. He even complained when he was told it was time to get ready for the day’s concert, the one thing he looked forward to the most each day. It was soon discovered that he was one of the many children in the world that had to live with diabetes. However, of course there’s treatment for it, and Nicholas was soon as close to his normal self as he would ever get. Yes, the disease was a shock and would make the boy’s life a little harder, but it was also good news to someone else.

…“You guys can go on in now.” We were sitting in a hospital waiting room, doing-what else? Waiting. Denise stood, lifting Frankie off her lap.
“Thank you so much.” She smiled, placing a hand on the nurse’s shoulder in gratitude. Her husband also stood, followed by three of their sons. I watched as they walked off, thinking I’d give them a little while alone with Nicholas before going in. I looked around to pass the time, counted 13 orange plastic chairs, a few small tables to match. 24 florescent lights on the ceiling from where I was to the end of the hall. I began counting the tiles on the floor when two feet appeared in front of me, blocking my view. I looked up.
“You can come in now if you want.” It was Kevin.
“Great, thanks.” I replied, glad to get out of the waiting area. I followed him into Nick’s room. He was sitting up in his bed, Frankie next to him chatting away about something that was apparently very important. Mrs. Jonas was sitting at the foot of the bed, one hand resting on his calves as she watched her two youngest sons lovingly, a thankful look in her eyes every time Nicholas did as much as blink his eyes. Mr. Jonas sat in a chair nearby, also watching the boy in the bed. Joseph had perched himself on the counter on the other side of the room, and his older brother had joined him, leaning on the counter beside him. They were talking amongst themselves, occasionally tuning back in to Nick and teasing him jokingly as only an older brother could.
“Hey Shannon.” Nicholas smiled, my cue to stop watching from the doorway and join the rest of the family.
“Hey, how are you feeling?” I asked.
“Great. They said I could leave tomorrow.” He said. That was good news for everyone. After a little while, as time went on and it got later, we’d all catch a yawn from Frankie now and then, even though he “wasn’t tired at all.” Denise cleared her throat, catching my attention. She glanced toward her youngest son, and I nodded.
“Hey Frankie, I’m getting really tired. I’m gonna go back to the hotel, you wanna come with me?” I asked, throwing in a fake yawn for effect.
“Nah, not yet.” He said, testing me, knowing that either way he was leaving.
“It’s not nice to make a girl go all alone. You should take her home and make sure she gets there ok.” Joe said, helping out. Now that leaving would make him look better, Frankie agreed.
“We’ll be back later tonight sweetie.” Denise told him, kissing the top of his head before he hopped off the bed. We said goodbye and walked out of the hospital and down to the street to catch a bus; the others would take the van provided with the tour back to the hotel later. I saw the large vehicle coming from a distance, and let go of Frankie’s hand to bend down and pick him up. By the time the bus arrived and we got on and seated, he was half asleep. I shifted in my seat, adjusting so I was comfortable despite the child in my lap. The movement woke him up, and he looked up at me with tired eyes.
“Nick-las is better now, right?” He asked.
“Yes Frankie, much better.” I said quietly. He nodded.
“But he’s still sick though. Daddy said as soon as this tour is over, we’re going home and not leaving for a long time. So Nick-las can rest and get all the way better.” He said. I sighed.
“He’s never going to be all the way better, buddy. But that’s good. He needs some time off.” Frankie’s eyes got wide.
“He’s always going to be sick?” He asked.
“Well he’ll have his medicine, so he should be ok. But diabetes doesn’t go away.”
“And it’s very bad.”
“Well yea. If it’s not treated.” I nodded. Frankie looked down, as if ashamed, for a few moments.
“Shannon?” He asked, looking up at me again. “Is it bad that I’m happy Nick-las got sick?” He asked very quietly, looking worried someone would hear. The question shocked me. “Is it bad that I’m happy he’s sick because it means we’re going home?”…

if youre reading this, can you please comment or something? im gonna keep posting either way, but its still nice to know people are actually looking at what you wrote. thanks

[Anna]

Once again, things got back to normal for a while. But as I had already started to learn, once things slowed down, it was only a matter of time before they sped back up again, usually more so than they were before.

…It was Wednesday, around 3 o’clock. Denise had taken Nick to an orthodontist appointment, Kevin Sr. was at the church taking care of a few things, and the older boys were hanging out with their friends. That left me to pick up Frankie from school. Standing around with other parents, siblings, and other people picking up kids from the small elementary school, I cupped a hand over my eyes to block the sun as the bell rang and the doors opened, kids flooding out of the building. I soon picked out a familiar looking boy from the crowd, running toward me, a big grin on his face.
“Hi!” He exclaimed.
“Hey, you ready to go?” I asked, taking the backpack he had just taken off.
“Yea I guess.” He said, waving goodbye to a few friends. As we were walking, I got that strange feeling that someone was following us. I ignored it, taking notice that we were in fact about 10 feet away from an elementary school. There were going to be people. Once I heard the whispers and saw out of the corner of my eye the flash of a camera, though, I stopped paying attention to Frankie’s story about how the class frog got out of its tank and glanced behind me. The two girls walking behind us immediately took their gaze away from Frankie and I, attempted to hide their cameras behind their backs, and engaged themselves in a serious debate over which nail polish shade they liked better. They pretended to be shocked when they realized I was watching them and one of them put on an innocent smile.
“Is there something you wanted Miss?” She asked sweetly. I raised an eyebrow and stopped walking to turn around and face them completely. The girls got the picture and pointed at Frankie, who was waiting patiently to finish his story.
“He’s Frankie Jonas.” The other girl said, matter-of-factly. At the sound of his name, Frankie instantly started paying attention and gave the girls a toothy kindergarten (almost first grade-wouldn’t let you forget it) smile. They reacted with quiet squeals of excitement.
“Yes he is, and he has to get home. Is there something you needed from him?” I asked, getting impatient.
“Can we get a picture with him?” They asked, holding out the cameras to me. I glanced at Frankie; he shrugged. I sighed, taking the cameras.
“Alright, sure.” I said. The girls ran over to Frankie and kneeled on either side of him with huge smiles on their faces. I snapped the pictures and gave them their cameras back. The girls thanked us and went on with their lives, and so did we. As I got my keys out to go inside the house-I now lived permanently with the Jonas’ since I had to be with them a majority of the time anyways-Frankie spoke for the first time since he took the pictures.
“Why’d those girls want my picture?” He asked. I looked over his head to the church next door. Joe and Kevin were sitting on the steps with their friends, laughing. It had been a while since they had gone on a tour, but they did do occasional performances here and there when they got the chance, and The Disney Channel was starting to air their very first music video on TV. I looked back at Frankie, still waiting for an answer to his question.
“You’re famous now buddy.”…

From the moment I said that one sentence, ‘you’re famous now’, the statement only became more and more true. Of course, it was Frankie’s brothers that had the fame rather than Frankie himself, but because he was their brother and was always with them, ‘Frankie Jonas’, ‘Frank the Tank’ and ‘the Bonus Jonas’ soon too became commonly said names throughout the country, throughout the world. Frankie loved it for the most part. He did eventually have to be taken out of school and put into home schooling like his older siblings, but he understood that every time we were back in New Jersey he’d be able to see his friends again, and he was ok with that. At first, he loved the fan attention. Girls everywhere agreed that while Kevin, Joe, and Nick were ‘soo hot’, Frankie was adorable and was indeed ‘the man’. They played with him at meet and greets, they complimented on how cute he was, and they brought him gifts. The boys used to joke around that he could get more girls than they could, which at some points almost seemed to be true. The girls loved him, and he loved that they did. But too much of anything isn’t good, even something as great as love and attention.

…I watched, just as the others did, as Kevin, Joseph, and Nicholas stood in front of a mirror adjusting their outfits. All three smiled and nodded, satisfied with the reflections in the mirror. Suddenly ‘Rock Star’ by Miley Cyrus, Nick’s favorite out of all her songs and the one he chose as a ring tone for when she called, started playing. He picked his phone up off the table and listened as the well known southern accented voice spoke on the other line.
“Yea, we’re just leaving now…we know, we know…Alright we’ll see you in a minute.” He replied to whatever she had said to him, almost unnoticeably rolling his eyes as he hung up.
“Miley and her backup dancers are already inside, apparently JT, Garbo, Jack, and John are there too. They’re all waiting on us.” He announced. Mr. Jonas looked at his watch as he grabbed his coat of f the back of a stray chair.
“The show doesn’t start for a few hours, there's plenty of time.” He said, putting the coat on. “Ready boys?” he asked his sons as soon as he was done. They all nodded as they too found jackets and put them on.
“Bye guys!” The boys each said in turn as they kissed their mother goodbye and either ruffled Frankie’s hair or gave him a high five.
“Goodbye boys, have fun, we’ll see you in a little bit.” Mrs. Jonas smiled, watching her sons leave. Mr. Jonas turned once more to check that they were ready, and knocked a couple times on the bus door to signal Rob, their body guard who was standing directly on the other side of the door, that he was about to open it. The minute it swung open we were able to hear high-pitched screams of teenage girls who were already lined up waiting to get inside, despite the freezing temperatures. Denise pulled a curtain back a bit to peer out the window, and Frankie and I joined her. We saw the girls franticly jumping and screaming, trying to get the boys’ attention. Some had signs, others held cameras. The three brothers smiled at them and waved, which only made the screaming louder. I saw Kevin chuckle, a happy grin on his face to match his brothers’. They continued walking across the parking lot to the arena where they’d be performing in just a couple short hours.
“We can stay here for a while longer, there’s still time.” Denise said. I nodded.
“Yea, this is a good time to get things done.” I added.
“Did you finish all your workbook pages?” Frankie nodded, and Denise looked over his head to me to make sure. I mimicked his nod; I had helped him with the schoolwork in the morning. He was a smart boy, we got it done fast. Denise, satisfied with the answer, crossed the small room and opened up a laptop, busying herself with replying to e-mails from friends and family, logging on to the boys’ MySpace to make sure all friend requests had been accepted, and looking over the week’s schedule. I decided to read a little bit of my book, taking advantage of the temporary quiet.
“I’m bored.” Frankie declared after five short minutes.
“Do you want to play a game? I think we have Trouble and Candy Land in the closet somewhere.” I suggested. Frankie shook his head.
“I wanna go in the snow!” He exclaimed. “Can I? Please?” He begged, bouncing in his seat anxiously. Denise sighed, motioning desperately toward the computer.
“Shannon, I-”She started.
“I can take him, no problem.” I assured her, putting my book down. Some fresh air will be good. Denise gave a thankful smile and turned back to her work as Frankie happily ran to the back of the bus to gather his coat and gloves. I followed, and soon we were all bundled up ready to go. I pushed the door open, and every single girl waiting in the parking lot stopped what she was doing and turned to see who was coming outside. Frankie jumped down from the stairs and hopped through the deep snow, dropping to his knees to pile some up into a snowman.
“Frankie I love you!” One girl yelled, and the rest joined in. The noise got unbelievably loud, and you’d never guess that the shouts were for someone not even in the band. Frankie tried to ignore them, continuing to work on his snowman, but it got to be too much to handle. He stood and stared at the crowd of people, unusually quiet.
“FRANKIE! FRANKIE OVER HERE! CAN YOU WAVE TO MY CAMERA?? WAVE TO THE CAMERA FRANKIE!”
“FRANKIE YOU’RE SOO CUTE!!!”
“WILL YOU COME TAKE A PICTURE WITH ME? PLEASE FRANKIE?”
“FRANKIE, YOU’RE THE COOLEST JONAS EVER! I LOVE YOU!!!” Instead of waving, smiling, and doing everything else the fans were yelling at him to do, Frankie abandoned his place in the snow and took off running toward the bus. I watched him for a moment, unsure of what was happening, then followed him. By the time I reached the bus, he was already inside. I stopped before going in and looked back at the fans. Their words had changed now, to “Aww, he’s shy.” “You guys! You scared him! Poor boy.” and “He didn't even wave to my camera! Oh well, hey look at this picture I got of Joe…” I sighed and stepped into the bus, closing the door behind me.
“What happened? I thought you were going to play outside in the snow!” Denise said, stroking Frankie’s hair while he leaned against her in a tight hug. He sniffed, to this day I don't know if it was from the cold or from coming close to tears, and looked up at his mother to answer.
“I can’t.”…

The days where Frankie could go outside and play like he should be able to were long gone, replaced with long hours of sitting in studios or magazine headquarters while his brothers recorded new music and posed for pictures. Frankie didn't mind all that much, during photo shoots he was allowed to look through costumes, trying on shoes that were way too big on him and crazy hats and wigs. He also usually got cookies or candy, and what kid wouldn’t enjoy that? And Frankie was just that, a kid. I think it was forgotten, K.J.N., that he was only seven years old at the time. He still took bubble baths and played with stuffed animals. He wasn’t allowed to cross a street alone and whenever possible was to be in bed by 8:00. His reading wasn’t all that great and he struggled when adding or subtracting numbers higher than 20, if even that high. That didn't change the fact that his brothers were getting bigger and bigger every day though. Soon he lived a majority of his life on a bus, getting to bed hours later than he should have, then having to get up in the early hours of the morning to transfer over to a hotel, where he’d get another couple hours of sleep before getting up to go to a local radio station or concert venue. He wasn’t sure of his address, partly because he was never home and partly because with the mouths seven year olds have it wasn’t a good idea having him know it when he was around Jonas Brother fans so often. He didn't have a real best friend, just his brothers and whoever they hung out with. His youngest older brother was 15. That’s a big age difference. Like I’ve said many times though, Frankie didn't show any signs of being unhappy. He wore a smile on his face and made the best out of any and every situation, and he didn't let anything stop him from living his life. His parents were concerned, of course, but there was nothing they could do. Three of their sons worked. Their job required traveling and tight schedules. As long as all three of the boys weren’t legally “adults”, they couldn’t have them tour alone. That was a fact they knew wouldn’t change, and so they tried not to think about it too much. They weren’t worried. Frankie’s brothers were busy. They spent every minute they could with their brother, but that wasn’t a lot. They didn't know him as well as they once did, and so they didn't notice his tired eyes or lack of playtime. They weren’t worried. But my job had me spending all of my time with Frankie. I played with him, I helped him with his homework, and a lot of times it was me getting his dinner ready, making sure he took his baths, and putting him to bed. I knew that boy like the back of my hand. And I was worried.

[blatentlyobvious]

Poor little Frankie. Kinda makes you wonder...
Another really awesome chapter Anna!!
Everytime you post, I'll post haha. I like reviews too.

[Anna]

But of course, not everything lasts forever, and life on the road is no exception.

“Um…oh! U! On the teal Honda Civic. Still in love with you. Done.” Frankie said, pointing out the car a couple lanes over. It was a game we had made up at some point in the past couple of months. You start with a topic, one person names something in that topic, and the other spells it out with the letters on people’s license plates. It was a tedious game and got old quickly, but it was a great way to keep an eleven-year-old boy occupied and out of trouble. This game’s topic was Jonas Brothers songs, one we hadn't done in a while.
“Frankie, family meeting. Come over here please.” We turned and saw Mr. Jonas motioning him towards the kitchenette on the bus.
“Coming!” He replied, getting up off the couch. “Um…ok, third album. Song…Don't Take My Heart And Put It On A Shelf.” He smirked before joining the rest of his family. Leave it to Frankie to give me the longest title ever made. After a few minutes of listening to the hushed tones coming from the other end of the bus, I turned back around and decided I might as well try to spell it out. When I got to the h in ‘shelf’, I heard footsteps behind me and found myself faced with Frankie and Denise.
“Shannon…” Mrs. Jonas started. I bit the inside of my lip. This was it. Frankie was eleven years old. He was no longer in need of a nanny. It seemed like just a few days ago I had received the letter from the Jonas’ asking for my help. I can still remember clearly playing silly games with the child like Mother May I and Duck, Duck, Goose. I could hear in my mind him explaining to me when he was only five that the little girl in his class named Annabelle was indeed his girlfriend and was without a doubt the most ‘beautifullest’ girl in the class, except for of course Cassie. I still had the feeling of his tiny body curled up in my lap, scared from a thunderstorm or tired after a long day. Yes, I had been in this position many times before. Kids grow up, and there isn’t anything you can do about it; but this by far had to be the hardest time. I had grown so attached to this kid. Sure sometimes he acted up, getting himself into all kinds of messes that I had to fix, but he was still Frankie nonetheless and it wouldn’t be easy to say goodbye. I stopped reminiscing once I realized that Frankie was holding out a long rectangular piece of cardstock out to me. I took it. A plane ticket. I forced a smile and looked up to Denise.
“It’s been a long time, Shannon. We’ve all been together on one of these busses for so long, and my boys have come so far. I just want to say thank you. Without your help, there is no way we would have been able to manage this schedule and raise Frankie properly, if it wasn’t for you he’d have been forced to be out every night until who knows when, and in places kids his age should have never been in. We were fortunate enough to not have to put him through that, and my husband and I are extremely thankful.” She smiled. ‘But he’s all grown up now and we don't need any help anymore, so we’re sending you back to Wyckoff. Even though you have nowhere to live since we convinced you to sell your apartment and come live with us. So good luck.’ I knew it was coming. All she had to do was say it. I would manage somehow.
“It’s been a long time.” Denise repeated. Great, make matters even worse. “And the boys are all grown up.” I’m an adult, I wanted to say. I can handle it, just say the words and I’ll leave. “Nicholas turned nineteen last month, and Joseph and Kevin are much too old to still have mom and dad following them around all the time. We’re trusting that they’ll behave themselves.” She chuckled. I didn't see where this was going. It almost sounded like she was expecting me to baby-sit all four of them now. She smiled and tapped a finger on the ticket in my hand. For the first time I looked at it, really looked at it. It was to California. I noticed three identical ones on the counter just a few feet behind her.
“The boys are going to finish up this tour on their own. We’re going home.”

its short. i know.

[blatentlyobvious]

Anna! I LOVED IT!!
Amazingg
=)

[hayleyheartsyou]

It's really good.

[Anna]

sorry its taking so long, ive been busy with other things the last few weeks of school, and now im at my brothers for the week and(very stupidly) left the flash drive that i have all my fanfics on at home ill post more ASAP though