Page 8 of When We Were Young

Despite giving Mitch a false deadline for the Mean Fiddler gig, he was still late picking them up in his van.

When they couldn’t wait any longer, they got going in Matty’s mum’s car.

It was a twenty-minute game of Tetris getting both guitars and amps in the back and Reu had to go ahead on the tube.

They got caught in traffic, then got lost trying to bypass it and arrived forty minutes late for their sound check.

Reu was waiting in the loading area looking sheepish when they parked.

‘What’s the matter?’ asked Will.

‘They wouldn’t let me in.’

‘Why not?’

‘I don’t have ID.’

Matty sniggered. ‘Okay, don’t worry, we’ll smuggle you in the back way with the gear. Keep your head down.’

Reu carried both guitars, while Matty and Will hefted the amps. They dumped their gear near the stage where a band was doing their sound check. The singer’s voice was a grating screech.

‘Wait here,’ said Will and headed for the sound desk.

He loitered by the sound engineer until there was a break in the racket and said, ‘Sorry we’re late. We’re on first.’

The guy didn’t even look up from the knobs and sliders. ‘You missed your slot, mate.’

Will’s heart sank. ‘Ah, man – come on, we’re only a few minutes late.’

The band struck up again putting an end to the conversation.

What the hell were they going to do? He’d always dreamed of playing this venue and now they were here they might have to turn around and go home again.

Will scanned the place for inspiration, spotted the bar, and had an idea.

‘Do you know what the sound guy drinks?’ he asked the barman.

‘Andy? He drinks Guinness.’

‘Pint of Guinness, then please.’

Will took the pint and waved it in front of Andy. ‘Andy, can you squeeze us in? Please?’

Andy hesitated then accepted the drink. ‘I’ll try to fit you in after this lot, but I’m not promising anything.’

Will waited until Andy had taken a sip. ‘I don’t suppose you have a house drum kit, do you?’

Andy choked mid-swallow. ‘You don’t have a drum kit?’ he asked, wiping his chin.

‘We do, it’s just… delayed.’

‘No, we don’t have a fucking house kit. You’ll have to ask these guys if you can borrow theirs.’

On stage, two band members were locked in a vicious argument. Will didn’t fancy his chances of getting them to share.

The doors from the loading area swung open and the headline band dragged in their gear. Will gave them a minute, then sidled up to the one who looked most like a drummer. ‘You’re Space Pirates, aren’t you?’

‘Space Junkies, actually.’

‘You’re the drummer,’ Will ventured.

‘Yeah.’

One out of two – not bad. ‘Any chance we can borrow your kit?’

‘Fuck off!’

Will slumped into a seat at the table where Matty and Reu were waiting. ‘The Space Junkies won’t let us borrow their kit.’

‘Let me try,’ said Reu.

Reu walked up to the drummer and started talking. Whatever Reu was saying made him nod and smile. Then they high-fived . Matty and Will exchanged looks.

Reu returned a few minutes later, grinning. ‘He’s gonna let us use it.’

‘How come?’ asked Will.

‘I’ve been to a few of their gigs. I remembered stuff about his kit and the rolls he does. And I flattered him a bit.’

‘Reu, you genius!’ Matty gave Reu a playful punch on the arm. ‘Ah, look, there’s Mitch.’

Mitch was marching towards them, brow creased. ‘Where the fuck were you?’ he spat.

‘Where the fuck were you ?’ replied Will.

‘I went to your house – no one was there!’

‘You were meant to be there at four – we waited ages for you.’

‘You don’t need that long to get here. It’s only twelve miles!’ Mitch noticed Reu standing beside Will. ‘What’s he doing here? Were you going to get him to play instead of me?’

‘No. Reu helped with the gear, but he’d have played if we needed him to.’

‘You back-stabbing bastards…’

‘If we’d waited for you, we’d be off the bill,’ said Matty.

‘It’s always you two against me. I’m fucking sick of it! Let him play, see how that goes. I hope you bomb tonight – at your precious Mean Fiddler. Shame there’s no one here to see it.’ He knocked into Reu on his way to the door.

‘Looks like you’re up, Reu,’ said Matty.

All the colour drained from Reu’s face.

Considering their new line-up, Will shortened the set list and put the songs Reu was most comfortable with first – they’d have to wing the rest. Andy didn’t give them long to sound check and it sounded rubbish, and despite rushing to get there, they still had to wait a full hour before performing.

They sat there hardly talking, nervous energy buzzing in the air between them.

‘I just spoke to one of the Space Junkies,’ said Matty after a trip to the gents. ‘He told me they’ve got an A he must have been listening to it, practising even – which was more than Mitch ever did. This might be okay.

‘Fever’ only got a smattering of applause, and the pause between songs made the conversations seem louder.

He had been looking forward to this gig for weeks, and what with all the drama of getting here and Mitch dropping them in it, it couldn’t end with no one listening.

He turned to Matty, ‘Let’s do the acoustic version of “Satisfaction”.’

Matty nodded.

‘Reu, sit this one out.’

Reu’s shoulders sagged with relief.

People continued chatting as they played the intro to the Stones song, but they got a few sporadic whoops when Will sang the first line.

He hated playing cover versions, but they always grabbed an audience’s attention, and it wasn’t so bad if you put your own creative spin on it.

Tonight was no exception – by the first chorus, people began shushing each other, and by the second, some were even singing along.

When the song finished, the applause was much livelier.

But people kept arriving throughout their set. Even his brother was late. Aidan sauntered in with a girl and left her watching the stage while he went to the bar.

Just then, Reu missed his timing coming out of a roll, and it was painful there for a few bars, but once he recovered, he upped his game and came back stronger than before.

His energy rubbed off on Will and Matty.

The crowd was with them now and there were moments, just one or two, where it felt like he’d always dreamed it would.

They finished the set with their latest song. It was rough around the edges, but it got the biggest applause of the night.

‘Thank you!’ Will yelled over the cheers. ‘We’ve got Matty on bass!’ Matty raised his hand. ‘And stepping in for us at the last minute, give it up for Reu on drums!’

The boy gave a bashful nod.

‘I’m Will Bailey. Thank you and goodnight!’

Sweaty and thirsty, they made their way to the bar and ordered a round of drinks. Aidan joined them, shook Matty’s hand, and slapped Will on the shoulder.

‘Love the new song,’ he said.

‘Cheers,’ said Will.

Aidan came to all his gigs. He often showed up late, but he never failed to make an appearance. Complimenting him on a song was new, though. What had him in such a good mood?

Aidan stepped aside to introduce the girl he’d brought along. ‘Will, this is Emily. Emily – Will.’

It was the girl from the station.

The girl he guessed must be an art student.

The girl that got off the train at 17:18 every Wednesday.

He should say something, not stand there with his mouth open. Aidan hadn’t mentioned her since he got her number. Will assumed nothing had come of it. But here she was, all these months later, with Aidan’s arm around her waist.

‘That was brilliant!’ she gushed.

‘Thanks…’

‘As soon as I heard your voice, I recognised it – I’ve seen you busking at the station.’

‘Yeah…’

She turned to Aidan, put her hand on his forearm. ‘I saw him get arrested.’

The familiarity of that touch, the intimacy of it, left him burning all over.