2. Explosion

    

 

   A few days passed since the show at the pizza parlor. Pizza Rock. His dad opened up this pizza joint after Radio's mom left them. Radio was 7. He didn't understand why his mom had left them. His dad was so heartbroken when she left. However, he knew he had to do something and couldn't let his grief spiral him into a dark void. The only things that had mattered in Milo's life after that were little Johnny and music. Always music. Music was the lifeline that coursed through his veins.

   So Milo emptied his savings and poured them all into Pizza Rock. At first, business wasn't so great. Things were rocky. Some months he only had enough to pay his employees and break even with the business. But Milo didn't give up. Every time he saw Johnny's face, he knew one day, things were gonna work out. After all, Johnny was the one who named the joint Pizza Rock. Milo played around with a few names but none of them felt right.

   One day, he was sitting at the dining table going over some forecast expenses, Dead Kennedys playing in the background. Johnny came in singing along to Holiday In Cambodia and playing air guitar. He laughed after the song was over and walked over to his dad.

   "How about Pizza Rock, dad? Like Punk Rock but with Pizza?" Milo sat and thought about it. That was actually a great idea. Pizza Rock. Two of his favorite things. Yep. That was that. The joint would be called Pizza Rock.

   "That is a brilliant idea, Radio! We both love pizza. And we both love music! Yes!" This put a big smile on Radio's face. He loved his dad. And his dad made some mean, gooey pizza. 

When Radio turned 15, he went to help out his dad at Pizza Rock. His dad told him he didn't have to. "Go be a teenager, son. Play your music, hang out with your friends!" But Radio was having none of that. He would help his father out after school. On the weekends, he'd write songs with his band and run to the joint to toss pizzas for his dad. He loved that place. It belonged to Him and his dad. It was theirs.
    However, the older he grew, the more he wanted his band to get more known. His father understood that. That is why he set up a small stage and passed out flyers for The Distortions first show. When Radio found out, he was so excited. And thus, The Distortions played their debut show at Pizza Rock.

   Radio was topping a pepperoni pizza when Tosh and Davey showed up. He waved at them and smiled. His band mates were his family. He'd known both of them since they were 5. They always made him feel happy. Yeah, they've had their fair share of fights and "disownment" but they always made it through at the end of the day. 
  Tosh and Davey waved back, walking over to the counter. Davey was eyeing the toppings thinking of what kind of pizza he wanted today. Tosh, oh Tosh, the reasoning of the trio. She was the sister he never had. She was the daughter his father always wanted. That worked out great because both Tosh's parents died when she was in middle school. Because of that she had to go live with her grandmother who could barely support them.

    "Hungry?" Radio asked. "I see Davey is." They all laughed.

   "You know Davey has an endless pit as a stomach." Tosh joked. Davey laughed and slapped her gently on her shoulder. He didn't feel like poking his hand on the spikes poking out of her leather jacket shoulders. He had in the past. It wasn't pleasant.

   "I'm a growing boy." Davey mocked. His mom used to say that to him every time Davey asked for food. Which was like 5 times a day.

   "We know, we know, Davey. That's why you're just the drummer." Davey jokingly glared at her and they all laughed. Radio placed the pizza he was working on in the brick oven and went to wash his hands. He knew his friends were coming over so he made a pizza for all of them. He himself was a bit hungry. It wasn't that busy at the moment so he went around the counter to hang with his band.
  The trio sat down at their usual table that was located closest to the brick oven. This way, Radio could keep an eye on the pizzas currently baking. Since their pizza was the only one in the oven, he didn't really need to worry much. They each grabbed a plastic cup and filled it with fizzy soda.

    "Man, I could use a Splatter right now." Radio said. "Same!" Davey agreed.  "Did you hear Splatter is coming out with a new flavor? Electrifying Blue! It's supposed to be like a mixed berry flavor. I like that. That could be good." Splatter was an energy drink. Actually, Splatter was the only energy drink they drank. Mainly because Splatter was locally owned. The thought about supporting big corporate energy drink brands left a bad taste and was against their beliefs anyway. Support local businesses was their motto.
    The pizza was done. Radio took it out and brought it to the table. Davey had already grabbed a few paper plates. All three of them reached out for a slice. They were about to take a bite out of the gooey, cheesy pizza when all of a sudden.

BOOM!

   A loud explosion was heard. The buildings all around shook. The trio fell to the floor and hid under a table. Dust fell from the ceiling.

BOOM!

   Another explosion was heard. The ground moved. The lights buzzed and flickered. "What.....what was that?!" Tosh asked. All three of them just looked at each other. They waited a while for everything to settle before coming up from the table.
    Radio looked around the parlor. There wasn't much damage done. Tosh slowly walked towards the door followed by Davey. They reached the door and opened it....
  "What. The. Fuck." They both said. Radio ran towards them, his jaw dropping…

Something weird had just happened, and it wasn't the explosion.

 

 

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