Chapter 12 I Hear A Symphony #3
The late night cafe was five minutes down the road, and it was empty. Nine o’ clock wasn’t late enough to attract the revellers or shift workers, but later than most were out. It was nice to have the place to ourselves.
“Well not every gig’s a winner, is it?” Alan said democratically once we’d pushed a couple of tables together and arranged ourselves around them.
“Yeah, but they weren’t just ‘not a winner.’ They were complete shit,” Tommy said. “Bunch of fucking posers who couldn’t play their instruments.”
A woman in her thirties approached our table. “Less of the language, please.” She glared at Tommy, who bowed his head in apology. “What can I get you?”
“Can I get a cup of tea, please? And I promise we’ll be on our best behaviour from now on.” Eric’s pretty manners and posh accent soothed our waitress, who smiled as she took everyone else’s order.
“God knows who booked them, probably some daft bird who thought they were good looking,” Frank said after she trotted back to the counter.
“Excuse me?” Sissy’s voice could have cut glass with how sharp it was.
Shouts of “oooh” and “you’re in trouble now” rang out around us.
“You made Sissy use her teacher voice. You’re in so much trouble,” Jane said. It was the first thing she’d said to anyone, except Alan, that wasn’t answering a direct question, and I was glad she was getting in the spirit of things.
“More trouble!” Davey said with a grin, being uncharacteristically on the ball.
“That’s true. I’ve never seen a man look more relieved than Frank did when the band started playing,” Tommy said.
“It was short-lived when he realised they were utter crap, though,” Michael added, also getting involved.
“Frank’s right, you know,” Alan said. “I bet some woman in the office thought they were gorgeous and didn’t give a shi–” he cut himself off from swearing, looked around for the waitress then carried on. “Hoot whether or not they could play their instruments.”
Sissy shot him a look that could have turned milk sour and opened her mouth to tell him off when Jane interrupted.
“Hang about. Your theory might be right about them being booked for looks rather than talent,” she said, making Alan grin smugly. And prematurely.
“But that doesn’t mean it was a woman who booked them,” she finished. Everyone went quiet all of a sudden. You could have heard a pin drop in the cafe.
“It could have just as easily been a man who was charmed by their smiles and arses,” she whispered to the group.
Then she shot a knowing, but not mean, smile to my end of the table, which happened to also include Michael, Tommy and Eric.
For a second, nobody knew what to say. Then Sissy laughed, and everyone joined in with her.
Michael poked me in the ribs and raised his eyebrows, then tilted his head to Jane and gave an approving smile.
Tommy and Eric were whispering between themselves and seemed just as impressed.
We sat around for a bit longer, chatting about how rubbish the band were and other unimportant things. We were all saying our goodbyes when Davey unintentionally caused a proverbial bomb to drop.
“Can I stay in your spare room, Frank? I drove here and I had a few too many beers at the Palais.”
Frank didn’t answer, which was weird. It was normal enough for one of us to stay at theirs when we were in this part of town.
He looked at Sissy in a bit of a panic, who looked the same.
Then they did that thing that couples do and had a whole conversation silently and nobody else knows what to say.
It ended with Sissy nodding and Frank putting his arm around her.
“Actually, mate, I’m afraid there isn’t a spare room at the moment. The big one is still full of boxes. And the smaller one… well the smaller one is ready for another occupant.” Holding Sissy close to him, Frank’s smile got bigger and goofier.
Holy shit!
“You’ve got a lodger?” asked Davey, clueless as always. Sissy laughed and held her tummy, pulling the fabric of her loose A-line dress around her and making the small bump obvious.
“In a manner of speaking,” she said, her eyes gleaming with happiness.
“I don’t understand,” Davey said.
“They’re going to have a baby, you plonker!” Tommy said in an exasperated tone.
“Oh!” Davey’s jaw hit the floor as cries of congratulations and well wishes came from everyone.
“This is why you were all coy before. I suppose that.” I pointed at Sissy’s tummy with a flourish, making her blush. “Is what you were telling Frank’s gran?”
“It was, yes.” She looked so happy.
“I know it’s a cliche to tell a pregnant woman that she’s glowing. But, darling, you are. You look magnificent. I’m jealous. If I could get pregnant, I would, just for the complexion!” I told her.
“You and me both, dearie,” said Michael from behind me.
In all the excitement about the baby, I’d almost forgotten he was here.
He’d done the honourable thing and stayed out of the way during the Frankies’ revelation.
Being reminded of his presence made the moment even more special, somehow.
It felt right that he was here when I learned that two of my best friends were having a baby.
He was important to me too, and I liked him being here. Because we’d become such good friends.
We drank our teas and coffees, smoked, and chatted for around an hour or so before Sissy started yawning.
“I’d better get the old ball and chain home before she gets so tired she falls asleep on the night bus.
” Frank’s words may have been mocking, but his arm around his wife and the look in his eyes betrayed how much he loved her.
He’d spent most of the night staring at her like she hung the moon, and I don’t think there was a second where they weren’t touching in some way.
Everyone went their separate ways, and it was just me, Tommy and Eric heading back to Dagenham.
It was a mild night, so waiting for the bus wasn’t too unpleasant.
For me at least, I could tell Tommy and Eric were desperate to be alone so they could stop pretending to just be friends.
When they sat next to each other on the bench, I saw their fingers brushing against one another and smiled to myself.
“Jane’s a very nice girl,” Eric said, breaking the silence.
“Yeah, she is. God knows why she’s going out with a nobhead like Alan.” Which in Tommy language meant, ‘I’m glad my mate Alan has found someone who likes him. He deserves it.’
Eric ignored him and carried on. “I was worried about how timid she was at first, but she fit in well once she got comfortable.”
“Yeah, it was cool. Michael blended in well with everyone, too, didn’t he?”
“Yeah, he did,” Tommy said.
“It was nice to see him getting along with everyone. I mean, because he’s cool. I mean, it’s good to have lots of friends. I mean…” What did I mean? I’d been feeling weird every time I looked at Michael all night, and now I was blathering on about him like… like I had a crush.
Tommy grinned and gave Eric a sideways look, which he returned. Alright, they obviously thought something was going on. Were they right? Fuck.
“What?” I snapped.
“What do you mean ‘what’?”
“You two shared one of those annoying smug couple looks that you do.”
“Shhhhh,” cried Tommy.
“There’s nobody here, Tommy. And don’t try to distract me. You did. That knowing look you give each other. What do you know? Or think you know?”
“Not a thing, Mick, don’t fret about it.” Eric’s voice was kind, but he sent Tommy a look that said “stop it.”
“Been spending a lot of time with Michael, have you?” Tommy wore the smug grin again, very much not stopping it.
“Yeah, and? What of it?” Shit. He’d definitely worked it out. How the fuck had he done that? I’d only just worked it out myself. Stupid clever Tommy, and the way he could read people. Especially me.
“Nothing, Mick. Tommy’s just making conversation.” He turned to his partner. “Aren’t you?” His stern tone made the words sound like an order, not a question.
“Yep. Just making conversation.” Tommy’s grin disagreed with him. Nobody spoke for a minute or so and the silence was bloody awkward.
“Good news about the Frankies, ain’t it?
” My comment was met with smiles and nods, and we stayed on that topic until the bus came.
It was packed on board, and we couldn’t sit together, and to be honest, I was happy about that.
Tommy would ask me a dozen questions I didn’t want to answer, even if he had to speak in code.
I didn’t want to answer, because I didn't know what my answers would be. Did I have feelings for Michael? I had to work that out for myself before I discussed it with anybody else.