Page 9 of Marley

I’d never seen Len so angry in my life. He punched me hard on the chin, but then he demanded that I have access to a doctor. I was hooked up to a drip and given another blanket, but once again, I was left alone to try and work out what the fuck had happened.

I slept for what felt like a very long time, finally waking to the sound of the drip bleeping because the bag of saline being pumped into me was empty.

Apparently, I’d been taken to a hospital. I had no recollection of how I got there or how long ago I’d been moved.

Len arrived with my dad and a lawyer, then everything was explained to me. Haley White had accused Maca and me of raping her. My first thought was of G.

What did I do ...What the fuck did I doto her, to Maca, to the band?

I told the lawyer, who’d now been joined by the police, everything I could remember.

I wasn’t a good person. I wasn’t a good friend or brother, but I wasnota fucking rapist either.

Again, the concept of time was alien to me. I was allowed to leave the hospital. I didn’t go back to the hotel we were staying in because we’d been kicked out and had to go somewhere else.

Finally, I got my head around the fact that it was Friday.

I was silent in the car as my dad ranted and threatened all kinds of physical violence to me, Maca, Rocco, even Haley.

Lennon explained that the band would be practising for a few hours during the day and we’d be expected to perform that night and the next in Paris, as our shows were sell-outs. His tone told me he was pissed off and not to be argued with.

My dad and Len entered the hotel room in front of me, and the instant my eyes met Maca’s, who was lying back on the bed with his hands behind his head, he flew from the bed, coming right for me.

Maca was one of life’s most laid back people. He always looked for the good in everyone and found the positive in any negative situation. He could fight, but he rarely did; it just wasn’t his nature. He was the opposite of George and her fiery temper, but in that moment, he looked like he wanted to kill me.

“You cunt! What the fuck did you get us into?” My dad grabbed him, pinning both of his arms to his sides.

“What did you do? Did you set me up for that?” He actually tried to fight my dad. Yeah, we laughed about that over the years a lot.

Maca, being the skinny fucker he was, wriggled his way out of my dad’s grip and made another move towards me. Lennon stepped between us, but he swung around him and landed a punch on the side of my head. My dad grabbed him by the shoulder and spun him around, and lamps my dad on the chin.

The room falls silent.Maca just punched Frank Layton.

“Shit,” my uncle Fin said. He was sitting, unnoticed by me, in an armchair in the corner.

“I’ll give you that one, son,” my dad said to Maca, “but I’m telling you now, you need to calm the fuck down.”

Sean’s breathing was heavy when he turned back around to me to say, “Get the fuck away from me. I can’t be near you right now.”

I didn’t say a word. I mean, what could I say? He didn’t even know the half of it, and yet he still knew I was to blame for what we’d been accused of.

CHAPTER THREE

2014

I read over the words that I’ve typed a few more times, pouring myself another drink in between. I think what I’ve written is the truth, but in all honesty, so much of that night and what happened afterwards are a blur, so I really can’t be sure.

The only part of it I know for sure as the absolute truth is that it was all my fault.

I continue reading...

1985

After playing our Paris concerts Friday and Saturday night, we finally got home to my parents’ house in the early hours of Sunday morning.

The flight home was made in almost complete silence. Maca chatted with my dad on the plane, but he’d barely spoken a word to me since we’d been released by the police. Despite our lack of communication, our performances during the last two nights of our shows had been pretty spectacular.

Lennon, Billy, and Tom, weren’t speaking to me or Maca. Maca wasn’t speaking to me, and I wasn’t speaking to anyone, but the anger, emotion, and frustrations of those last few days’ events had everyone performing at their unbelievable best. The crowds were insane and the label and promoters were over the moon.