Chapter 27
NANCY
It was good to have a day off work, Nancy thought as she headed to town on Wednesday morning.
She wanted to catch up on some odd jobs at home but first she had to see Paul, her solicitor, and grab a few things from the shops.
Then she was planning on having a go at decorating her jeans with pearl beads and sequins.
She’d bought them at the holistic fayre on Sunday and Phyllis had explained what to do with them.
She was quite excited about creating a new image for herself.
She should look for a new T-shirt as well, one with a rock design on it like Jackie’s.
Not black though, as her jeans were black. Maybe grey. Or white.
She smiled to herself as she wondered what Clifford would think about her going to watch a rock band play. Mind, she didn’t know what he was up to, did she? Had they both been submerging their true personalities? She pondered once again. Fitting into a mould they’d constructed for each other?
Paul told her that Clifford wanted the divorce to go through as soon as possible.
Thirty-two years dissolved in a few months.
No reason given, no complicated forms to sign because he had filed a ‘no fault’ divorce and she had agreed, wanting it all over as soon as she could.
Like Paul, Val had told her she could fight the divorce, claim some of Clifford’s pension, but she didn’t want to battle it out in the courts.
She still couldn’t believe that Clifford had gone off travelling and walked away from it all.
He had never been an impulsive man, she thought as she left the solicitor’s office and set off along the high street.
Was Val right and he had a new home, a new partner to share his retirement years with? Leaving Nancy to grow old and lonely?
Well, she wasn’t old yet, and she wasn’t lonely either. She had a houseful at the moment, she reminded herself, giving herself a mental shake. She was creating a new life for herself too. She was going to be okay. Sod Clifford, she wasn’t allowing him any more head space.
She stopped as something caught her eye in a boutique window. A white T-shirt with a large flame-coloured phoenix on the front of it. The legendary mythical bird rising from the flames. It would go well with her black jeans. She pushed the shop door open and went inside to buy it.
When she returned home, she saw Decaf’s and Oxo’s motorbikes on the drive and wondered if they’d popped in for another practice session.
Slate usually arranged them when everyone was out at work so she guessed he must have forgotten she was off today.
Not that she minded, she loved listening to them practice.
As she put her keys in the lock the strains of Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ blasted out from the dining room and Slate’s voice belted out the opening lyrics.
She paused. She loved this song. Back in the day she’d been a real Queen fan.
She carried her bags into the kitchen, humming the song, then went into the dining room, still singing.
Slate grinned and beckoned her to join him, so she walked over and took the mike he handed her.
She soon lost herself in the music, feeling comfortable singing in front of Slate, Decaf and Oxo.
‘You’re good and you enjoy it, so why don’t you come and sing with us on Saturday? We could do with another singer,’ Slate suggested.
‘What? Stand up and sing in front of everyone?’ she asked horrified. ‘I’ll be booed off stage.’
‘Rubbish, you’ve joined in a couple of times and everyone’s applauded you,’ Oxo reminded her.
‘Let me show you something.’ Decaf held out his phone and pressed ‘Play’. To her astonishment it was a video of her singing with the group. And… actually, she wasn’t bad.
‘You recorded me? Why?’
‘Because we wanted you to see how good you are. We think you’ll be perfect for the band, but I knew you’d need some persuading,’ Slate replied. ‘So are you in?’
‘Let me think about it,’ she stammered. This was so unexpected. Thrilling and scary at the same time.
Slate nodded. ‘Sure, but I always find that the things I regret are the things I didn’t do, that I was scared to take a chance on.’
Nancy thought about it for the rest of the afternoon. Then Slate showed Jackie and Phyllis the video of her singing later that evening and they both persuaded her to give it a try.
‘I’d do it myself if I could sing,’ Jackie told her.
‘And you even have your rock name,’ Phyllis added, pointing to the T-shirt Nancy had bought that afternoon, with its large phoenix motif on the front. ‘Phoenix.’ Her dark eyes rested on Nancy. ‘It suits you. You’re a phoenix rising from the ashes of your divorce.’
Nancy swallowed a lump in her throat. She guessed she was.
‘How about we give you a makeover for Saturday? A total new image befitting a singer in a rock band.’
‘And I’ll come along to support you,’ Phyllis promised.
How could she refuse? It would be worth it just to persuade Phyllis to come along.
‘You’re on!’ she agreed. ‘I’m only singing a couple of songs though.’
Slate nodded. ‘No pressure.’
Val’s reply shot back when Nancy messaged her later that evening.
Good for you! Dennis and I will definitely be there!
* * *
The next two evenings, after work, Nancy and Phyllis set to gluing sequins and beads onto Nancy’s black jeans. Jackie had a class on Thursday evening and a date on Friday but promised to give Nancy a hair and face makeover on Saturday afternoon.
To say that Nancy was nervous was an understatement.
She was terrified. She looked at her reflection in the mirror in her phoenix T-shirt and bead-and-sequin-embellished black jeans and wondered what on earth she thought she was doing.
‘You’re a sixty-three-year-old woman for goodness’ sake,’ she told herself.
She turned towards the door as she heard a knock. ‘Are you decent? Can I come in?’ It was Jackie.
‘Yes,’ she called back and seconds later the door opened. Jackie stepped in wearing black leather trousers and another black rock T-shirt – this one had eagle’s wings in silver spread across the front. Jackie had also done something new with her hair – it was very fluffy and bouncy.
‘Love that outfit, Nancy. It’s very striking,’ she said admiringly. ‘How are you feeling?’
‘Nervous. And scared that I’m going to show myself up.’
‘You’ll be amazing – you are amazing. And we’ll all be there to cheer you on.
’ Phyllis appeared in the doorway wearing gorgeous rust-coloured bohemian trousers, with a white flouncy top with a decorated waistcoat over it and multi-coloured trainers on her feet.
They were all going in Phyllis’s car. ‘I don’t mind not having alcohol,’ she’d said.
‘Thanks. Will you beckon to me if I sound rubbish, please? That will give me an excuse to leave the stage.’
‘Of course, but you won’t sound rubbish.’ Jackie looked Nancy up and down. ‘And you really look the part in that outfit. Now how about I jazz up your hair a bit.’
Nancy glanced in the mirror again, biting her lip. Her outfit looked good but her hair was boring. ‘Please.’
‘Hang on a tic.’ Jackie nipped out of the room then back in again a couple of minutes later holding a can. ‘Shut your eyes.’
Nancy obeyed, standing as still as she could as Jackie combed her hair then sprayed it with what she presumed was hair spray.
‘Right, you can open your eyes now.’
She opened them cautiously and glanced at her reflection in the mirror. Oh goodness! There were flame-coloured streaks in her hair!
‘Don’t panic, it washes out. And you have to admit that you look fantastic, plus it suits your “phoenix” image,’ Jackie told her.
She did – and she looked years younger. Too young? ‘Is it too much? I don’t want to look like mutton dressed as lamb.’
Jackie folded her arms. ‘Nancy love, you look gorgeous. And you’re singing with a bunch of over-sixties men, who dress like teenagers and don’t give a damn what anyone thinks.’ She paused. ‘Look if I can get naked in front of people and sit there while they paint my portrait, you can do this!’
Nancy nodded. ‘You’re right.’ She was going to be strong. She was going to do this.