Chapter 6
CHAPTER
SIX
GEORGIA
“Start right at the beginning. We’ve all heard the stories, the tales, the legendary fairy tale of Georgia Layton and Sean McCarthy, but did it all really begin when you were just eleven?”
My stomach, despite still being in knots, manages to perform a few acrobatics. At the same time, a warmth fills my chest as I recall my first meeting with Sean.
“It was the end of the summer holidays, before I was due to start senior school. I was eleven, Sean was thirteen. He was new to the area and had seen a poster in a local corner shop for a band looking for a singer. He auditioned, and the rest is history,” I finish with a smile and a shrug.
“Well, yeah, we know all about the band’s history, but what about you and Sean? How did that unfold?”
“I remember the morning so vividly. The colours, the smells. That feeling of sleeping in late, or just lying in bed, reading Smash Hits, learning the lyrics to whatever songs were out. Even though I knew I was going to spend all day with her, I’d dragged the phone—the landline, obviously—to my room.
It lived on the landing at the top of our stairs but had a lead on it long enough that I could move it about.
So, after I’d heard the sounds of our house waking up, the radio playing, the washing machine go on, the low rumble of voices, all accompanied by the smell of toast, I’d gotten up and dragged the phone into my room.
I remember how brightly the sun shone through the gap in my curtains, and I called Jimmie, as I did every day, and we discussed what we were going to wear, how we were going to do our hair, and where we were going to hang about that day.
It always ended up being mine because Jim was still debating back then whether it was going to be Len or Marls she was going to marry.
I told her that the boys wouldn’t be here, as they were auditioning new singers for the band, but she wanted to come over to ours anyway.
” I pause for a minute, and someone sets a cup of tea on the coffee table between Dan and me.
“Yorkshire, strong, just a dash of milk,” one of Dan’s assistants tells me. “Cam made it,” she says with a wink, and I smile. “Where can I find one of him?”
“Our two boys will be here at some stage. They’re dead ringers for their dad but may be a bit young for you.”
“Shame,” she says with a shrug, but keeps smiling.
There is no shouting of ‘cut’ during our interaction, like I was expecting. The cameras just keep rolling, and I also notice Kenzie has returned and is moving around our setup taking photos while Dan waits patiently for me to get back on with my tale.
“We were going through our ‘Dexy’s’ phase and had decided to wear dungarees, but with our bikinis underneath just in case we got too hot, or the boys turned up and Jimmie needed an excuse to show off the fact she was finally getting boobs—mine had already arrived and I, on the other hand, did not want them on show.
So, with our outfits decided, I ended my call, showered, dressed, and went downstairs.
The house was quiet, the radio turned down low as my mum sat on a stool at our worktop and sipped on tea out of her favourite china cup and saucer.
My first thought was how beautiful she was, then she looked up at me and said, ‘Nope. Not today, Georgia. I’m sick of seeing you dressed like a hillbilly.
You can get back upstairs and put on that nice frock I got you from Romford Market the other week. I’ve not seen you wear that yet.’
“But I’m just playing out with Jimmie, and we’re gonna sunbathe later,” I whined.
“I don’t care. You either change or stay in your room. No Jimmie, and no phone. You’ve got some lovely dresses in your wardrobe. You’re growing so fast, they’re not going to fit you for much longer.
“Good,” I mumbled. “I hate dresses.
“Don’t say hate; it’s not a nice word. Hate’s the opposite of love, and you can’t tell me you feel that strongly about an item of clothing, so go and pick a dress, put it on, then I’ll do something with your hair.”
“What dress did you pick?” Dan asks, leaning forward in his chair, fully invested in my story.
“It was light blue and white. It had kind of a dropped waist and a bow. It was like a sailor type style. Fucking awful.” I pause for a moment as I recall the horrific outfit I was wearing that day.
“Because my boobs had grown so much over the summer, I had to put a bra on with it—something else I also hated wearing. Thinking back now, though, I’m wondering if my mum knew I was growing up.
Boobs, periods, secondary school, it was like that day, her making me wear that dress was her last-ditch attempt at keeping me her little girl.
Now I’m a mother, I kind of get where she was coming from and feel bad about the tantrum I threw. ”
My head snaps to the right as I look towards someone making a choking sound as someone else whispers loudly, “Liar. You’ve never been sorry for a tantrum you threw.”
My eyes instantly land on my brother and daughter standing next to each other.
“Who let you in?” I ask Marley. “And why are you here?”
“I know the key code, little sister. Let myself in because I wanted to make sure you didn’t tell any lies about me… but it looks like you’re too busy telling lies about yourself.”
“Fuck off, Marls,” I tell him, instantly wondering how many times in my life I’ve said that, and if I’ve ever, even once, meant it. “No one’s talking about you because you don’t matter. This interview is about me and Sean—the really talented one in Carnage.”
Marley’s hand instantly flies to his chest, his open palm covering it.
“Such hateful words. You wound me, Porge, when all I have is love for you.”
“Don’t call me Porge.” I stand to receive the cuddle my big brother delivers.
“You doing okay?” he asks against my ear as he wraps me in his arms.
“Cam call you?”
“Nah. Kenzie told Jake, who told Joe, who mentioned to me that this was happening today. Thought I’d show my handsome face and make sure you’re doing all right with everything.”
“We’ve only just started, but so far so good. Dan, this is my brother Marley,” I introduce my brother as we step apart.
Daniel steps forward, wide-eyed, and shakes my brother’s hand. “An honour. Any chance I could convince you to join Georgia on the sofa for a chat in a bit?”
Marley gives an unusually nervous laugh and shrugs. “This is G’s gig, I don’t wanna be seen to be—”
“No,” I interject. “I’d love it. Love for you to join me.”
“Viewers will die, fucking die when you pop up on screen, I’m telling you that right now,” Dan gushes.
“Please, Marls.” I use a tone on my brother that he’s never been able to say no to. Plus, despite his protests for privacy, my brother’s the consummate entertainer and a complete attention whore.
“I’ve got a bit more to do with Georgia for this segment, but if you don’t mind hanging around, I’d love to bring you in for your perspective.”
“Yeah, sure. Just shout when you need me.”
Marley steps aside, and I notice Kiks has now also arrived and is sitting on a bar stool at the kitchen island. Cam’s leaning against the bench on one side of her, watching me with a smile, while Lu’s on a stool on her other side. I give them all a wave, then sit back down.
“Sorry,” I mouth to Dan.
“Don’t be. We kept the cameras rolling, and Kenz got some great shots during all that. Viewers are going to love it. Let’s continue. You were saying you threw a tantrum…”
“I did. I let Mum win the fight over the dress, but I was absolutely not wearing the sandals she told me to put on with it. I had a cheap, old pair of canvas high-tops from Bata’s that I loved, so I put them on and stomped down the stairs.
My mum looked horrified at my footwear, gave an eye roll, but seemed content enough to see me in a dress to let it go.
She did insist on plaiting my hair, though.
I gave her that one, too, but as soon as Jimmie arrived and she stopped laughing at my outfit long enough to be able to walk up the garden, I undid my hair and let it hang loose. ”
“Your recollection of this day is amazing.”
I shrug. “It’s a day that changed my life. It played on repeat in my head for many years.”
“Not anymore?”
“Now I’ve had other days that’ve significantly changed my life, they all take their turn, but I remember the details of every single one.”
Daniel nods slowly yet again. “Continue.”
“Around lunchtime, we walk to the local chippy and corner shop. We eat our chips on the way home, then open the sweets we bought from the shop. I remember I had a packet of orange space dust, or Pop Rocks, or whatever the stuff’s called.
Anyway, we climbed on the monkey bars on the old climbing frame in our back garden, which we’d had since we were kids.
We had our knees hooked over the bars and were hanging upside down while eating the space rock things, trying not to spill any, when I heard Marley shout, “I can see your knickers! Get the fuck down!” Marley and I recollect out loud in unison.
I lace my fingers together and press them against my lips as I grin stupidly at the memory.
Daniel beckons Marley over, and he slides onto the sofa. His arm stretches behind me as he rests his right ankle on his left knee and sits back.
“As if today wasn’t already wild, we’ve now been joined by yet another legend. Once the baddest of bad boys, the one and only… Marley Layton.”
“I had no idea you remembered that day,” I admit to my brother.
“Of course I remember. I remember a lot of things from back then.”
We’re quiet as we stare at each other, lost in this moment while wondering just how many other moments I’ve shared with Marley over the years.
“So, you told her to get the fuck down, Marley,” Daniel says. “Did she?”
“Surprisingly, in a very rare showing of compliance, she actually did.”