Page 16 of The Cut
Mark’s fingers find the neck of the instrument and he gently pulls it from the leather sheath. Resting the waist on his shoulder,65he withdraws the sharp metal spike from the base, aiming it at them all like a bayonet.
‘Woooaaahh.’ Chris jeers awkwardly, like this is some kind of striptease. Lynette folds her arms and taps her foot.
Annie turns to Ben and puts her hand on his shoulder. ‘Ben, don’t do this,’ she whispers in his ear.
‘No … I want to hear them play.’ Ben gently raises his hand but there is a cruel smirk on his face.
Mark perches on the fence of the kissing gate and begins to tighten the nut of his bow, staring at Catherine, who is assembling the mouthpiece of her clarinet. Mark strokes rosin on to the taut horsehair, eyeballing Ben without blinking.
Out of the silence, very gently, Mark begins to bounce the wooden bow into the bass string in a slow, slouchy spiccato. He slaps his fingers seductively against the neck of the instrument. It’s like the feathery shiver of a jazz drum, introducing the voice of Catherine’s clarinet. The first few notes slide upwards into the silent darkness, in an achingly sexy melody. The Gang of Five were clearly expecting awkward, scratchy scales or some tight-arsed Bach, but this? This is something else. Everyone is speechless.
Annie leans her head into Ben and he brushes her hair with his hand. Lynette’s hips relax, swaying to the rhythm as the sultry music infuses the night air with the sound of longing. They all feel it. Lynette turns her head towards Dave, who is looking sideways at Annie with an intensity on his face. His eyes cast down to Ben’s fingers as he grips his girlfriend around the waist. A final rallentando eases the duet into an imperfect jazz cadence. Then there is silence again.
Nobody speaks until Chris cocks his leg like a dog and forces a fart. Ben smacks him around the back of his head. ‘Twat.’66
Ben turns back to the musicians. ‘Marcello …’ His voice is soft and unthreatening. He holds out the leather case, visibly moved by the music. Mark gingerly puts his instrument away with trembling fingers as a hand touches his shoulder. ‘Well, well, well … you are a dark horse.’
Mark’s shoulder retracts slightly from Ben’s touch as he braces himself. He daren’t breathe. Here it comes … the punch. But for once, it doesn’t come. Maybe he finally did something right. It feels like an eternity before Mark can exhale.
Long after the gang have left, even at home later that night, Mark can still feel the heat of those fingers squeezing his shoulder. Ben’s touch has burrowed deep into his flesh and a tremble of electricity courses through him. As sleep finally comes, he stares at the light dancing on his bedroom ceiling, remembering the sounds and atmosphere of the afternoon.
Must I go on like this? Shall I just be a lonely stranger on the shore?
Ben was right. He was indeed a dark horse.
67
12
OCTOBER 2023
‘Name?’
‘Nathan Knot.’
‘Age?’
‘Um … I’ll be fourteen in May.’
‘Height?’
‘Umm … dunno … probably not tall enough.’
‘OK, Nathan, now tell me something about yourself that no one else knows.’
The camera was moving very slowly upwards from chin and clenched lips to an anxious pair of eyes that darted between the lens and someone sitting slightly to the left. His body language said everything. Pale hands, clenched prayerlike, slid down between his knees and his shoulders hunched into a shrug. His cheeks flushed into the deep crimson of embarrassment.
‘Um … well. I don’t know what to say.’
‘Tell me a secret.’
Timid eyes flicked in the direction of the person beside the camera again.
‘I … I can’t.’ One of his shoulders lifted higher than the other, as his chin buried itself into the other shoulder. He was coy and self-conscious. ‘Can I do this on my own, please? I’m embarrassed with you here.’
Nathan reached out to pause the video. ‘Sorry, I just can’t … not with you watching me.’68
Dani was sitting with the piece of paper she’d printed off earlier scrunched in her hand. ‘Well, if you really want to be an actor, you better get used to everyone looking at you, pet … even me.’ Nate chewed his lip nervously and shrugged. ‘There will be other kids auditioning too, you know.’ She saw the colour drain from his face. ‘But they’re not like you, Nate. You’re talented.’
