‘Nice to meet you,’ Sally said, shaking his hand.
‘Isn’t this fun?’ Ashley said, beaming at everyone. ‘I’m glad you’ve all finally met.’
‘We’re going to have a good night,’ Jim replied.
‘So,’ Ashley asked. ‘Where are you boys taking us?’
Jim took Ashley by the arm and guided her playfully towards the hostel’s front doors. Sam and Sally followed. ‘We know a place,’ he said, loud enough so they all could hear. ‘Follow us.’
14
Making a flimsy excuse, Ashley pulled Sally away from Jim and Sam, out of the bar’s line.
‘Please stop looking so miserable,’ she said bitterly to Sally under her breath, whispering so Jim and Sam couldn’t hear. They stood a few feet from the entrance to the bar. There were so many people waiting to get in. The line stretched around the block. Ashley didn’t need to pull her away to talk to her, the queue was noisy and rowdy enough, but Sally knew it was for dramatic effect. Ashley liked to be theatrical.
Sally, reeling from the accusation, stepped back, touching the curb where the pavement and the street met. ‘Miserable? What are you talking about?’ she asked.
‘You have a stupid frown on your face,’ Ashley replied, her glare obvious under the light of the streetlamp.
‘Stupid?’
‘Yeah.’
‘What? A frown? No, I don’t.’
‘Yes, you do,’ Ashley said, her voice quiet, but direct. ‘You need to wipe it off.’
‘I’m not frowning,’ Sally replied. She didn’t look miserable, at least, she thought she wasn’t. She certainly wasn’t trying to.
‘It’s right there on your face. You’ve been frowning since we’ve got here, and it’s pretty obvious,’ Ashley accused.
‘I’m not. I wasn’t.’
‘You are,’ Ashley replied firmly. ‘I can see it.’
‘You’re wrong, I’m not meaning to,’ Sally protested. She screwed her face muscles, trying to suppress whatever expression that was irritating Ashley so much. Her friend scowled at Sally’s attempt.
It was true Sally was unhappy about being led to this bar, the place Jim had picked, but she’d aimed to hide it from the others. If it were her choice, she would’ve chosen anywhere else but here. Jim had led them past plenty of less chaotic bars on the way, so why was this the bar they had to go to? She was annoyed from when they arrived and she saw the line to get in. Loud drunks queued impatiently like a police line-up, yelling and dancing in the street, their average age younger than anyone in Sally’s group. Late-teens. Students.
Sally believed she was concealing her thoughts well, that neither Jim nor Sam had taken notice of her feelings about the bar. But, of course, Ashley did. There was no hiding from her, Ashley always could see right through Sally.
‘Please,’ Ashley said as she glanced at her cousin and his friend, double-checking the boys still couldn’t hear her. ‘Please, don’t ruin this for me.’
If the boys could hear her, they didn’t show it. They still waited awkwardly in the queue, surrounded by inebriated university students. The boys’ hands dug deep in their pockets, the same posture they had in the hostel foyer. They were still a few meters away from the entrance to the bar, guarded by a fierce-looking bouncer. The line was moving slowly.
‘I’m not trying to ruin this,’ Sally replied. ‘I’m not, I promise. I know how important this is for you.’
‘It’s my night,’ Ashley said.
‘I know this is your night.’
‘You should have fun. You need it.’
‘True,’ Sally replied. And it was. She wanted to have fun. This holiday was supposed to make her forget about the last few months. That’s why she was here.
‘Please, though,’ pleaded Ashley.
‘I promise you,’ Sally said to her friend. ‘I promise I won’t ruin it.’
‘That’s a promise, then,’ Ashley said, nodding. Sally could tell her friend wasn’t fully convinced. ‘Let’s get back in the queue.’
‘I didn’t mean to look miserable. You have to trust me. I’m happy that you’re happy,’ Sally said.
‘Good.’
‘Good,’ Sally repeated, hoping she’d said enough to calm her friend. But she was already worried her promise to not ruin Ashley’s night would come back to hurt her.
‘I want a hug,’ Ashley said.
‘Okay.’
Sally wrapped her arms around her friend. Ashley’s soft dress brushed under her chin.
‘Let’s forget about it and have a good night,’ Ashley whispered to Sally as they walked past the queue barrier to the guys. ‘That’s all I want.’
‘I want is a good night as well,’ Sally replied as they slid back into the line next to the boys. Ashley put her arm around Jim’s waist.
‘Is everything all good?’ Jim asked, patting Ashley on the top of her head like a dog.
‘All good,’ Ashley said.
Sally caught Ashley’s eye. She smiled at her friend, hoping for a sign of reconciliation. But Ashley smiled weakly back. This was going to be a lot of effort.
‘So, what’s this business with your phone, Ashley?’ Jim asked. ‘What’s happened? Why did I have to message Sally?’
Ashley removed her arm from his back and casually flicked her hair, signalling her dismissal. ‘It’s a long story.’
‘Go ahead. Tell me.’
‘It doesn’t matter now.’
‘You can’t say that now you’ve got me interested. Why have you been texting me on Sally’s phone? Are you embarrassed?’ Jim teased. Sam swivelled his head between the two like he was watching a tennis match. At the door to the bar, the bouncer turned away an inebriated woman from entering. Her six friends tried arguing with him, but it was a pointless effort. The bouncer wouldn’t budge.
‘I’m not embarrassed. It’s nothing,’ Ashley replied to Jim. ‘My phone broke, that’s all. It fell and smashed on the ground.’ Sally appreciated how her friend attempted to brush the conversation away from the phone, but she shouldn’t have to take Jim’s taunts for something Sally had done.
‘That’s very typical, you were always pretty clumsy,’ Jim said to his cousin.
Sally interjected. If Ashley wasn’t going to clarify what happened, she would. She didn’t like Jim’s teasing. ‘Actually, it was me,’ she said. ‘I broke it.’
‘But that was by accident,’ Ashley replied.
‘Yeah, it was an accident, but it’s still kind of my fault.’
‘No, it wasn’t,’ Ashley explained to Jim. ‘It wasn’t Sally’s fault because someone pushed her,’
‘Wait, who pushed her?’ Jim asked his cousin, ignoring Sally. She didn’t like how the cousins were acting like the conversation was only between them.
‘It happened by the harbour. Sally reckons it was a Busker there,’ Ashley replied.
‘I’m pretty certain it was him,’ Sally interjected again, determined to be heard, determined that she explained the situation. Ashley didn’t deserve Jim’s judgment. ‘But I was the one holding the phone when it slipped and broke.’
‘It was an accident. Forget about it,’ Ashley dismissed them both with a wave of her hand.
Smiling as he sensed the tension between them, Jim nudged Ashley playfully. ‘You’ve only been here for a day, and your phone has broken already?’ he asked. ‘That must be a world record. Well done you.’
‘I guess so,’ Ashley replied. ‘Sally has kindly agreed to buy me a new phone.’
‘I’m not complaining. Breaking your phone, accident or not, is actually a blessing,’ Jim said.
‘In what way?’ Ashley asked.
‘I’ve got Sally’s phone number now. That’s a pretty big plus.’ Jim said. He turned and chuckled with Sam, a private joke between them. Sally wanted to roll her eyes but reminded herself of her promise to Ashley. Don’t ruin the night.
‘Very funny,’ Ashley said, nudging Jim with her elbow. ‘Hands off, though, she’s mine.’
/> Jim nudged her back and nodded at Sally. ‘So, when was the last time you’ve been to a nightclub?’ he asked her.
‘Is this a nightclub?’ Sally said. Hide your frown, she repeated to herself over and over. Don’t let your frown come out.
‘Well,’ Jim replied. ‘It’s more like a uni bar.’
‘You know, Sally and I haven’t been out dancing together since the second year at uni,’ Ashley said, leaping in with bubbling energy. ‘Isn’t that right?’
‘I think so,’ Sally replied. ‘I remember you forcing me to go out.’
‘You loved it, though. We used to love it,’ Ashley explained to Jim and Sam. ‘We loved dancing, we went out nearly every night for a year, it was fantastic.’
‘Animals,’ laughed Jim.
‘We were always pretty wasted,’ Sally said to her friend.
‘You more than me,’ Ashley said.
‘Not really.’
‘For sure you were. Don’t be ashamed of your party days at university. You were reckless.’ Ashley faced the boys. ‘She was pretty reckless. You both should’ve seen her. Sally always liked a good drink. Or two. Or ten. But one time in the second year she had a few too many. I think they were shots, yeah? Shots were always your downfall, weren’t they?’
Sally, embarrassed by the story, tentatively agreed. She could never refuse one of Ashley’s shot offers. At the bar’s entrance, the drunk women were still arguing with the bouncer, their voices rising higher and higher the more he shook his head.
‘We lived with each other,’ Ashley continued. ‘And at the end of that night, we went back home together on the bus and, well, let’s just say it took her a week to get out of bed.’
‘She was sick?’ Sam asked.
Ashley nodded. ‘That was the last time you last went out, wasn’t it, Sally?’ she asked.
‘Yeah, it was,’ Sally replied.
She was glad Ashley didn’t reveal any more. She didn’t want the boys to know all about that night out. She didn’t want them to find out about how, on the bus home, Ashley had sat in the bus seat next to her, and had to hold her hair back from the sick, murmuring consoling words into her ear. That had not been a good end of the night. Sally never told her Dad about that night or any of the countless other similar ones at university. He didn’t react well to the thought of Sally drinking alcohol. Her Mum used to drink. She used to drink a lot. The last thing Sally’s Dad wanted was for her to turn into her Mum.
After that experience, Sally’s enthusiasm for loud music and rampant sex-drives had been thoroughly quashed. She hadn’t been to a nightclub since then. But here she was, back at one with Ashley, to keep her happy.
Hopefully, this night won’t end in vomit at the back of the bus.
Sally stared at her shoes and said nothing. She was expressionless, too worried about Ashley’s watchful vigilance that she could feel on the back of her head. A constant presence.
The drunk women realised there was no point arguing with the bouncer. They turned and left, directing a chorus of abuse at the man guarding the door. The bouncer didn’t flinch, and the queue moved forward.
Don’t frown, Sally. Don’t ruin the night.
15
Jim and Ashley had fallen into a conversation, too quiet for Sally to hear. She glanced around at the rest of the queue at all the younger clubbers with trepidation. She did not want to be here. It was too loud, too boisterous. Too encouraging for her bad impulses. She was afraid of having to get a drink when they got inside, and Sally didn’t want to drink. One glass would turn into two, then three, then on and on until she was blacked out. Drunk. She always used alcohol as a crutch for social interactions like this, and she didn’t want to fall into that spiral tonight. Not now, on her first day in this country. But she should enjoy herself. She should be fun, for Ashley’s sake. Sam was standing next to her like a stiff board. He’d been left out of Jim and Ashley’s quiet conversation as well. She asked him if this was a bar for students.
‘Yeah, it’s a uni bar,’ Sam replied, shuffling. ‘It’s great going out with Jim. He knows all the best places for cheap drinks. It’s like he’s Google Maps or something.’
‘I’m always up for a cheap drink,’ she said.
‘For sure, that’s why uni bars are the best places to get pissed at.’
‘That’s funny.’
‘How?’ Sam asked.
‘Well, it’s the same back home,’ Sally replied. Sam didn’t respond, and they fell back into an awkward silence. The queue shuffled them forward a few more steps towards the door. The bouncer was being strict with who he was letting in. Every ID was getting thoroughly checked. Sally waited for Sam to say something and continue the conversation, but he didn’t. ‘Ashley told me you two work together?’ she asked him.
‘Yeah. We work in finance, in the city,’ Sam said. So, she’d been right at the hostel. Finance. ‘How long have you’ve known Ashley?’
‘I don’t exactly know, it must be years. We went to school then university together.’
‘And you’ve travelled here together? That’s pretty hectic.’
‘Yeah, it is,’ Sally replied. The queue moved forward again. In front of Sally and Sam were the cousins. Sally observed Ashley as she spoke to Jim, how they spoke with their heads bowed together. He mumbled something to her, something funny because Ashley started to laugh, covering her mouth. Watching her friend, Sally hoped Ashley understood how beautiful she was. Completely, utterly beautiful.
Sam spoke, breaking Ashley’s spell over Sally. ‘Does she have a boyfriend?’ he asked.
Did he mean Ashley? It was so unexpected that Sally had to hold back from snorting in laughter. She shook her head. At least she wasn’t frowning any more. ‘No, she doesn’t.’
Sam spotted her muffled laughter. ‘Was that weird to say?’ he asked nervously.
‘Not really. You just caught me off guard, that’s all.’
‘Okay.’
‘Well, there’s no boyfriend I’ve heard of,’ Sally said. ‘And I’m pretty sure she’ll tell me if she had one.’
‘That’s good to know.’
Sally pretended to read a poster advertising a gig on the bar’s wall. Ashley and Jim were speaking in hushed tones. What were they discussing?
Sam put his hands back in his pockets.
The pressure was unbearable. Sally had to break it. ‘I didn’t realise how expensive travelling is. Ashley and I have already spent so much money,’ she said.
‘I’ve not done much travelling, actually,’ Sam replied. ‘For now, I’m trying to save money.’
‘What for?’
‘I’m going to be rich, and then I’ll travel wherever I like,’ Sam said. ‘I’ve got a few good investments in the pipeline that are going to make me a lot of money in the future.’
‘Really?’ Sally pretended to be interested, but she was straining to overhear what Ashley and Jim were talking about.
‘If you give me your email address I’ll show you some of my schemes,’ Sam said.
‘What kind of schemes?’
Here we go. A money conversation.
‘You know, something that can help you get rich.’
What were the cousins talking about? Sally hoped it wasn’t about her. ‘I can’t really see myself doing stuff on the stock market,’ she said.
‘It’s easy. Everyone wants to get rich.’
‘Maybe not everybody.’
‘Except for crazy people,’ Sam said. ‘I’ll show you how, just pass on your email to me.’
The queue surged forward again, and Sally responded that she’d give him her email address. They were now at the door to the bar.
‘Here we go,’ she said to Jim, hoping he’ll drop all the money talk. The last thing she wanted to hear, right now, was how to be rich from a rich person.
After checking their IDs, the bouncer on the front doors let them through into the bar. Inside it was dark, like a nightclub. Jim was right. Music blared from speakers all aroun
d. Neon lights lit the walls, the bar in a blue glow. The place was packed.
After the entrance, they passed a side room. Sally peered in. A line of lamps lit a series of tables, more dimly lit than the main room. ‘Are those pool tables in there?’ She asked Sam, pointing inside the side room.
‘Yes,’ he said. He leaned in close so that she was able to notice the freckles on his nose in the neon lighting. ‘We should have a game later. Jim is great at pool.’
‘Is he?’
‘I’ve seen him play a few times and he absolutely smashed the competition. Jim’s always been good at anything he does. I wish I were like him. You should see him play rugby.’
Forging a path through the crowd, Jim was like a shark on the hunt. He led the group through drunk university students by the bar, gently pulling to the side anyone in the way. Like a spring, his head was in constant motion, turning from the crowd to Ashley. Both of them still deep in conversation. Sally tried to listen. There were only a few words she could pick out, something about their family. She realised what Jim reminded her of, with his square head on his large shoulders. He looked like a doll, a big, muscular action doll.
‘How do you know Jim?’ Sally asked Sam as they followed the cousins through the bar.
‘Jim is my best mate,’ Sam said. ‘We work together. He actually got me my current job.’
‘How’d he do that?’
Jim had to shout over the music. ’It’s a funny story. High school were kinda like my wild times if you know what I mean. How do I put this? My marks weren’t exactly the best, and they definitely were not what my parents wanted. But Jim spoke to his Dad to sort it out. We went to the same school. Our Dads used to work together, so we’ve known each other for a really long time. His Dad helped me get a job at the company. He’s a cool dude, top bloke.’
‘That’s a nice thing for him to do,’ she replied. ‘Very lucky.’
‘It’s an amazing job. We’re going to make lots of money.’
Sally laughed. ‘Lots of money? Is that why you’re saving and why we’re at a uni bar?’
The Busker: A gripping psychological thriller Page 8