Tragedy and Seperation

Life continued for the brother and sister.  Their mother, Julia would eventually separate from Nicole's father and in doing so moved the family to central Texas for a fresh start.  However tragedy would befall the family.

It was a local music festival in Austin for the summer and I managed to convince mom to drive us up there for it. I had never been to a big street festival before and I was just overwhelmed.  Mom drifted away from us in the crowd but Nikki kept to me like glue.  I remember finding the statue of Stevie Ray Vaughn and just standing in front of it with my eyes closed and letting the music from the different stages and various performers reach my ears.  

(Embarrassed)  Oh God.... I remember Jonny just standing in front of the statue and I pull on his sleeve and ask 'who is that?' and he says 'A god among guitarists.  A legend that will never be finished.'  Then I said 'he doesn't look that hot' at which point Jon grabs my arm and he half runs, half drags me to a record stand and he buys Texas Flood.  And he manages to convince mom to play it over and over on the drive back to Killeen.

Unfortunately, the family never made it back to Killeen, TX.  During the drive back, just outside of town a drunk driver had veered into the oncoming lane and stuck their car in an off-center head-on collision.

 

Julia was pronounced dead at the scene and Jonathon and Nicole had move back in with their respective fathers once they had recovered from the crash.  They were 16 and 9 at the time.  It would be the first time they were separated in nearly a decade.

When mom died, it really hurt. We had to move back in with our dads and Nikki wasn't very happy about that.  I mean, there was a reason mom left him and I sure as hell didn't like the bastard.  Because of the accident, we were going to get some money so he wasn't going to let my dad take in both of us.  As we were packing up our stuff, I gave her the guitar.  Since I was moving back with my dad, I could get back to drumming and I wanted her to have something to remember me by. 

I hated living with my dad.  He blew through the money from the settlement in two months and I don't think I dime of it went towards me beyond housing and food, cause I sure as hell didn't have anything when I left.  I will say this about the bastard.  If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be the guitarist I am right now.

To get away from her abusive father, Nicole would spend hours locked in her room practicing on the guitar her brother had given her.  It wouldn't be till years later when they would see each other again.

I had moved out of my dad's and headed up to Sacramento.  It was cheaper than living in San Fransisco and there was a blossoming music scene there and I wanted to get in on it.  I posted ads and did auditions, even sat in for a couple of other auditions where I just provided a simple beat for someone else.  Hey, a paying gig was a paying gig.  

After the separation Jon and Nicole had kept in touch via letters and weekly phone calls.  Jon made an effort to remain in contact even after his move.  But eventually the letters only went one way.

After awhile her letters and calls stopped coming.  I kept writing and leaving messages on her cellphone but eventually I stopped writing as well.  There just wasn't a point.  Besides, business was starting to pick up and I had other things on my mind.