New Jersey Stage Issue 43 | Page 20

the size of the bathroom here, but I hang on to that apartment with dear life because it’s only $500 dollars a month. And you’ll take that apartment from me when you pry it from my cold, dead hands.) I’m about to embark on the rock and roll journey of a lifetime with “Blood & Roses” and “Behind The Wall of Sleep” under our belt as The Smithereens, opening a tour for The Ramones, when the phone rings at two in the morning. Now, what did it mean in 1986 when the phone rang at two in the morning? Somebody was sick, somebody died. I said, “God, why are you punishing me? We’re just about to do ev- erything I always wanted to do and it can’t be good.” I let it ring and then I picked it up. “Patrick, it’s Mommy. Patty!” I’m 31 years old. “Patt