Page 65 of When We Fell Again
As anticipated, Levi spoke sense, everything he said striking a chord.
I needed to be there for Lex withoutactuallybeing there.
“You want to go and get a drink?” suggested Levi. “I could do with getting out of the house for a bit. Jude and Robbie and driving me crazy. They’ve got a new song idea.” He lifted his shoulders as he stood. “The bassist and the drummer. It’s got disaster written all over it, but I don’t want to piss on their bonfire.”
Stewing in my bedroom for the rest of the day didn’t seem like the most sensible idea and I knew that if I stayed, I’d only make things worse. A few drinks with my best mate, chewing the fat, maybe even coming up with a new song of our own was a much better proposition.
“Sure, let’s do it.” I paused. “Give me a minute to leave Lex a message?”
Levi nodded and left the room.
Taking a deep steadying breath, I called Lex, the answerphone kicking in straight away as I’d expected.
“Lex, hi. I was just calling to check how you’re doing. I know I came across as a bit of a dick earlier, and I’m sorry. I did think about coming to see you, but I don’t think that’s a good idea if you want Arlo to finish the tour.” I gave a fake laugh. “Anyway, give me a call when you can.” A beat. “I miss you.”
Half an hour later, we were at the bar in our local. After chatting with the guy who ran the bar, who we knew fairly well, we found a table in the back area near the pool table. There was a group of three guys playing, challenging the regulars for money. While Levi and I chatted shit, I watched them hustling, taking the occasional hit but mostly winning.
“We should give them a game,” I suggested after a while, waving my glass in the direction of the table.
Levi and I made a pretty decent team. We’d spent hours killing time before gigs in pubs, playing pool or snooker during the early years of the band.
“Couldn’t hurt to make a few quid,” agreed Levi, downing the last of his beer. “Let me get a couple of pints in and we’ll whip their arses.” He went over to the bar with our empties.
The current game finished, and the three guys huddled around their tall table, no doubt discussing who they were going to take on next. Not giving anyone else the opportunity, I went over to them.
“All right, fellas. Fancy a game?” I slipped my hand into the pocket of my jeans and pulled out a note. “Twenty quid says we can beat you.”
The one who had handled each of the opposing players fixed me with a look. “Don’t know what you’re talking about, mate. We’ve been playing for fun.”
One of the others sniggered. I’d seen him pocket around fifty quid already, so I knewplaying for fundefinitely wasn’t what they were doing.
“Right. Of course you are.” I nodded. “In which case, you won’t mind us taking the table for a while.” I waved at Levi, who had returned from the bar with two fresh pints. “You ready to play?”
The guy lifted a conciliatory hand. “I’m sure we can have one game. I’m Felix,” he said. “That’s Marcus and Brendan.” The other two nodded in acknowledgement.
“Jordan,” I said, then pointed at Levi.” And he’s Levi.”
Felix narrowed his eyes, almost as if he recognised us, but didn’t say anything if he did. “Twenty quid it is.” He pulled a note out of his jacket and placed it on the side of the table. I put mine on top and we were on.
The first game went our way. Although it had been a while since we’d played, Levi and I got back into the groove pretty quickly. We were able to walk away, but Felix suggested best of three. I couldn’t turn it down, even though it had been a close first frame. The second went to Felix and Brendan, so everything rode on the last one.
“I think that’s a hundred and twenty quid for us,” I crowed, after potting the black with a flourish.
Felix tossed his cue on the table, his face twisted in a sneer. “Okay, okay. No need to rub it in. Drinks are on you, though.”
The five of us sat down, pints with whisky chasers filling up the space on the table.
“What do you do when you’re not hustling at pool?” Felix asked, after downing his whisky in one go.
Levi and I exchanged a glance. The answer to that question usually went one of two ways. I hoped Felix and the others would be cool.
“We’re in a band,” I admitted. “I sing and he plays guitar.”
“Nice.” Felix nodded. “Would we have heard of you?”
“We’re called Idol Rev,” said Levi. “Kind of did a bit of a comeback tour recently after some time off.”
“Nope. Never heard of you.” Felix laughed, although I spotted Marcus and Brendan nudge each other. “Beats being a labourer any day, though. Bet you have all the birds after you.”
