Page 80 of Marley
“You. Us. All of this.” I gestured around the room. “We’ve come a long fucking way since our summerhouse and the transit van.”
She sits back in her chair and lets out a little laugh. “From smelly back rooms in pubs with half a cider, to Wembley Stadium and a chilled bottle of bolly. It was all down to the hard work put in by you boys. I’m just the assistant.”
“Fuck off, Jim. You’re as much a part of our success as me, Maca, Bill, Tommy, or Len. Even George is responsible for part of it. We’re a family, connected by the band, not just blood or marriage, and I hope it always stays that way.” I told her, hoping she truly believed the sincerity I tried to express in my voice.
“Me too, Marls. Me too.” She swiped under her eye. “You’re gonna make me cry and ruin my make-up, you fucker. Is that all you came here for?”
Now, this was the part where I needed to be stealth like and ask my questions in such a way that Jim, who let’s face it, could probably have gotten a job with MI5 if she didn’t work for us, won’t work out what I was up to.
“You heard from George or Maca since Saturday night?” I asked.
“Yep, spoke to them this morning. They’re going house hunting. Can you believe it?”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah. Maca told Len, then I called and spoke to George, and she said that Sean wants them to move in together. Enough time’s been wasted so he doesn’t want to hang around.” She taps her pen on the desk as she watches my reaction. “Sorry, Marls. You should be hearing this from Maca, not from me.”
“Na, na. Its fine, Jim, honest. I thought they might just fuck off somewhere on the quiet and get married, so it’s not like it’s come as a shock that they wanna move in together. I just hope it all works out for them.”
“Yeah, me too.” She said with a smile. “Me too.”
We’re silent for just a few seconds before Jimmie jumps in.
“So, you and Ash. How’d that go?” I knew she wouldn’t last long. Jimmie was the one person I could rely on to know everything about everything. If you wanted gossip, go to Jim. Nothing got past her. This also meant that I was playing with a double-edged sword. I wanted info on Ash, but I don’t want Jim clocking onto the fact that I like her, a lot.
“She’s a nice girl. We had a laugh together.” I tried to sound casual as I lifted my right ankle to rest on my left knee.
“Must have been hilarious if you kept her hanging around until Sunday evening.”
I shrugged my shoulders, whilst trying not to shrink back into the chair and hide from Jimmie’s scrutiny.
“We watched a few films, lost track of time.”
“What time did she leave?”
Shit!
“What time did she leave your place?”
I scratch my eyebrow. “Ah, not sure. It wasn’t that late.”
She nodded her head and looked me right in the eye. “Marls, I’ve never interfered in the way you live your life. None of us are angels, we never have been. Now I’m not the judgy type, but I just wanna put this out there. Ash hasn’t had the greatest of upbringings. She comes from a rough family. Her dad and her brother have both been in prison and her mum has been on the...” She trailed off and tapped her pen harder on her desk. “Ashley’s story isn’t mine to tell. I don’t think George even knows the whole truth. She was going through the whole Maca break up and dealing with the press during our exams when I found Ash crying in the girls’ toilets one day at school. She told me some shit about her home life and I had her come stay with me for a while.” She kept her eyes on me as she chewed on the inside of her bottom lip, as though contemplating what to say next.
My heart was hitting my ribs. It was pounding so hard I could feel my pulse in my ears. I’m scared of what she would tell me. Just the thought of Ashley crying in the school toilets made me want to break something, or someone. I’d really like to know who, or what, made her cry that day, but at the same time, I was worried what my reaction might be. I’m not a violent person by nature. Bailey and George are the fiery pair of our family, but just the idea of someone hurting or upsetting Ash had me feeling a little bit out of control.
“Luckily, her brother had just come out of prison so she was able to go and live with him.” Jim continued.
“You sent her to live with her brother? What was he banged up for?” My voice sounded too high, giving away my panic.
“Her brother’s Ryan Morrison. You remember him from school, don’t you Marls?”
Fuck!
“The dealer? Her brother’s Ryan Morrison, who we used to get our gear from?”
Jimmie nodded.
“I thought you knew that. I can’t believe you don’t remember Ash from school.”
