Southsiders (11 page)

With the tunes sorted, he set to choosing a bag to pack. He’d need to be ready to do a runner at any time and it made sense to be prepared. There weren’t many options in the bag department, so he used his school rucksack. He emptied it, putting the books and his gym kit neatly away. First thing he dropped in was the key to Archie’s treehouse which he slipped into the zipped pocket where he usually kept his snack. That felt like enough. He remembered about getting ready for the evening and lost his enthusiasm for anything else. He decided he’d finish packing up all of his clothes in the morning once the disco was over and done with.

Lunch was toasted cheese and ketchup sandwiches with coleslaw on the side.

He treated himself to an hour of the central heating, lay in the bath and soaked all the way through side three. He spread all his good clothes out on the double bed in his parents’ room and thought carefully about the possible combinations, even though he knew how he’d be dressing.

At six o’clock, he finally got out of his dressing gown and committed himself to an outfit.

Before trying anything on, he covered himself in deodorant. It smelled pretty good, but it made his eyes sting, so he had to open the windows to get in some fresh air, wasting some of the heat he’d built up over the afternoon.

The clothes he chose were the ones he’d wore to his cousin’s wedding in the summer. He had a black shirt with thin lapels and red panels at the shoulders that had Elvis’s face printed on them at various angles. The trousers were black-jean drainpipes that were almost impossible to get on. A lad at the wedding had accused him of wearing jeggings, so Jesse had punched him and cracked his nose, leaving bloody snot all over his face and his smart suit. For his sins, Jesse got a slap from his mum that he could still feel if he thought about it, as well as a lecture on how they shouldn’t be upsetting the bride “in her condition”. Next he had his pink socks to go into his Doctor Marten shoes with the silver tops and the crepe soles. To finish it all off, he went for his favourite clothing in the whole world, the grey car coat with purple trim and MEMPHIS written across the back in huge letters.

His favourite song this evening was “At The Hop”, Flash Cadillac and the Continental Kids covering the song by Danny and the Juniors and adding a little pepper and spice in the process. He took the stylus and lowered it into place so he could listen one more time while he did his hair.

By the time he’d finished slicking and combing and making regular checks in the mirror, he’d played “At The Hop” four times in a row and was ready for any dance-hall craves the night could throw at him.

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I
t felt like there was a lump in his throat the size of his mum’s fist when he pressed the doorbell at Bonnie’s house. He straightened his collar and hid the flowers behind his back as best he could while he waited for someone to answer.

The door opened and filled the courtyard with light. Mrs Bird smiled at him. “You must be Jesse. We’ve heard plenty about you. Nice to finally meet you.” She held out her hand and Jesse shook it. Her skin was warm and soft and welcoming. “Come in.”

His dad had told him once that when choosing a girlfriend you should always check out the mother first. That’s what they’d turn out like in the end. It was the way things went. Just like Jesse would, one day, end up with the Spalding nose and brows. His dad said he hadn’t known about it when he met Jesse’s mum, which explained why he’d got it so badly wrong.

Getting his first look at Mrs Bird at close range, Jesse decided that he had nothing to worry about. Most of the lads in his class would have called her a MILF, a mother they’d like to fuck. As if they were up to it. But she was beautiful, that was for sure. The kind of woman Roy Orbison and Bill Dees probably had in mind when he wrote the song “Oh, Pretty Woman”. Clean, light hair cut into a bob. Clear skin. A button nose and eyes the colour of the sky on a summer’s day. Her voice sounded warm and friendly and she smelled of washing powder.

“Thanks,” Jesse said, wiping his feet on the mat a bit more thoroughly than he probably should have. He looked through into the lounge and saw a huge Christmas tree with long pale-green needles, tasteful glass balls hanging from it and a home-made star perched at the top. The lights flashed pink, illuminating the whole room.

“Bonnie,” Mrs Bird called up the stairs. “There’s a handsome young man here for you.” Jesse’s ears warmed up at the words and he could practically feel them glowing.

There came the flurry of footsteps on the floorboards above him and Bonnie appeared at the top of the stairs. She was pretty as a sonnet in her green dress and with her hair sparkling in the light. “Hi, Jesse.” He couldn’t tell whether the pink in her cheeks was from shyness or her makeup.

“Here,” he said. “I brought you these.” From behind his back he produced a dozen of Tesco’s finest red carnations. She looked at him as if he’d just performed an amazing feat of close magic.

She came down, thanked him and ran back upstairs with the flowers. When she appeared again she was empty-handed.

“I need her to be back by ten, Jesse. Don’t let me down on that, either of you.”

“Mum!” Bonnie barked as she hurriedly put on her flat blue shoes and coat.

“I’ll make sure of that, Mrs B. Don’t worry about a thing.”

Bonnie kissed her mum on the cheek, put her arm through his and hauled him outside.

*

A
s it turned out, the disco went better than Jesse had expected.

There was the usual slot of Scottish dancing where ungainly boys pretended to be unhappy about stripping the willow and there were plenty of sniggers when they were called up for the Gay Gordons. Thing was, as soon as they got moving, it was about as much fun as anything on the planet. Like speed-dating on ice, everyone taking a turn with everyone else. Levelled the playing field. Even helped Archie blend in.

They had Irn Bru and pizza slices for supper. Dessert was as many slices of shortbread as could be consumed and a delicious Costco cake that kept the mood high.

When it got to the disco proper, it took a slight turn for the worse. Not a rock’n’roll number to be heard. Even so, having Archie and Bonnie to spend his time bopping with made it all bearable somehow. A string of Christmas hits that everyone chanted along to steered the evening towards its end. Pretty much sent the entire contingent hoarse with singing.

It was the last dance of the night that Jesse was never going to forget. The DJs might have created the moment just for him. Like he was appearing in some cheesy movie of his own life. Soon as he heard the opening notes on the keyboard he knew the song. “Unchained Melody”. Written by Alex North and Hy Zaret. The Righteous Brothers version. 1965. Colour of the label: black and white.

The best thing of all was that he didn’t have to do anything.

Bonnie stepped over and moved in close, putting one arm around his waist and holding his hand with the other. They came together like they were newly born kittens snuggling for warmth.

He looked up at her and saw the smile in the blue of her eyes. His heart bounced and his knees almost buckled. This, he knew, was the most wonderful moment of his life thus far. He was going to cherish it. Remember the sounds and the sensations until his final breath. This was the happiest he’d ever been and he wasn’t going to let anything spoil it. Not anything. Not ever.

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T
here had been a moment the night before when Ray remembered why he didn't drink Special Brew any more. Truth was, he avoided strong beers like he did Elvis impersonators. They just didn't agree with him. Left him with the worst hangovers and black-outs that rivalled the holes they found in outer space.

That moment had been and gone.

At least they'd let him on the plane. And drinking the beer had definitely calmed his nerves.

Thank goodness it hadn't been a long flight. His bladder had managed to cope and he'd not had to pull out any hair as a replacement for nicotine. He'd only been back on the ciggies for a day and he already felt them nagging at him when he didn't have one in his hand.

He smoked a couple before getting on the airport bus and that had been just enough to keep him going until he alighted at Waverley Station.

It was good to be home.

He looked along Princes Street, the white lights sparkling in the leafless trees and drawing his eye to the Castle. It looked imposing at the top of the cliff, its dark silhouette filling the horizon. Beneath its quiet watchfulness, the city went about being festive. Kids were being flung up into the air in elasticated pods. Onlookers chewed on the enormous Wurst sausages they'd picked up from the German market, spilled fried onions onto the floor every time they took a bite and clung on to their bags of last minute stocking-fillers. The Scott monument glistened in the cold. Above the shops on the other side of the road, Ray watched the young and the crazy of the city swinging around on one of the new rides in St Andrew Square. The thought of being that high up reminded Ray of flying. Made him sick up a little Brew into his mouth. He spat it into the road, right between the tram tracks.

He took a smoke on his ciggy to get rid of the taste and took his mobile out. Pressed the screen and waited for an answer.

“Sorry, I'm not in.” Paula laughed at her joke. “But if you want to leave a message.”

“Hi, it's me.”

“Tell me something I don't know.”

“I...” He should have prepared. It would have helped him to know exactly what it was he wanted from her.

“Spit it out, man.” That was exactly what it was. Direction.

“We should meet.”

There was a pause. Ray heard the music – Jerry And The Pacemakers, “You'll Never Walk Alone”. Made him want to wave his arms in the air. “Now what would I want to go and do that for?” She said it like she meant it.

“To talk. About Jesse.”

“What's to say, Ray? You need to look after that boy. Set him a good example of how to be a man.” She sniggered. The image it conjured up wasn't attractive.

“Please. Just five minutes. That's all I need.” He could hear the begging tone in his voice and hated himself for it.

“How grateful will you be?”

“What do you want?” There was always a price.

“I'm hungry, Ray. I fancy an Indian.”

Ray thought about Ali behind the counter in his shop. Didn't think he was the Indian Paula had in mind. But if that's what it was going to take...

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I
t was the last Saturday before Christmas and the streets were mobbed.

Thankfully, Jesse had been going against the flow and was soon into the relative calm of the stretch he knew as Charity Shop Walk. Maybe it would get its own sign one day. He popped into all of his favourites, flicking through the records and CDs and taking a quick look at the clothes and the DVDs.

Nothing jumped out at him, but he didn’t mind. Truth was he still felt like he was floating. Like an astronaut looking down on the world and only able to see that everything was good.

He skipped along to Homebase and spent a good while eying up the trees that were out on display. Four pounds a foot they were charging, but that wasn’t going to be a problem. All he wanted was something small. Something to make his flat as cheerful as he felt.

His mum and dad always got out the fake tree they’d had since before Jesse was born. They were always going on about how nice it was and how much better it was that they didn’t have to spend all their time hoovering up the needles. And they didn’t have to drag it down for the bin-men at the end of the month either. Jesse wanted a real tree, just like Bonnie’s. It would make the whole flat seem much cosier.

When Jesse had taken the artificial tree from the back of the wardrobe that morning, it had seemed more pathetic than ever, as if it had caught some disease since its last outing. No way was he going to put it up in that state. Especially if he was going to have Bonnie round. He needed to set a mood. A romantic tone that would take them to the next level, whatever that meant.

Just the thought of Bonnie made his scalp tingle and made his tummy feel like a small electric charge had pulsed through it. He allowed the memory of the night before to wash around inside his head. The way they’d danced like they were made for each other. The way she smelled ever so slightly of strawberries. Walking her home and holding hands as soon as they were out of the sight of the rest of the gang. Stopping at the hedge outside her house and her pushing him gently back into the leaves and branches and then leaning forward to kiss him fully on the lips. It hadn’t made any sense at first and he’d been clumsy, but she let her mouth move in an easy rhythm and he just let his own reply in kind. His first time and it had been just like the movies. Better, maybe. They’d have kept going for longer if the door hadn’t opened and lit up the garden. Might even have used their tongues, but they’d get there soon enough. Just the idea of a Frenchie made his insides wobble.

Ten o’clock on the button it was when Mrs Bird called their names. She seemed to like it that they’d got back on time. Invited Jesse in for a hot chocolate and even put on the squirty cream and marshmallows.

When he’d got home and saw his reflection in the bathroom mirror, he noticed he had a tiny milk moustache. He’d been about to rub it off when he realised he wanted it there for as long as he could keep it and hadn’t washed since.

He touched the tip of his tongue to his lips as he looked at the temporary pine forest that had sprung up in the Homebase car park. Thought he could still taste the sweetness of her lips. Course, it could have been hot chocolate, but the details weren’t that important.

The trees all seemed huge. Way too big for a lad of his size to manage carting all the way home and the fatter ones would barely have fitted in his flat anyway.

Just as he was about to give up, he noticed the pile of small trees round the back. They looked like the reject pile, or maybe they were just the titches that were difficult to sell. What mattered to Jesse was that they smelled of pine. He picked a tree that seemed to have the right proportions – short, but full of body and nicely shaped – and took it over to the guy who was pushing them through a tube and netting them up. He was dressed in thin orange overalls, a bobble hat and wore a pair of thick gloves.