Page 2 of Marley
I turn away from her, gripping the rail as another sob escapes.
“Oh Marls, I knew this would happen. I warned you, didn’t I?” She’s not accusing, just stating a fact. She did warn me. She knows me better than I know myself and I love her for it. Her naked front pushes into my bare back and her arms slide underneath mine, wrapping around me.
“Talk to me, Marls. Please, don’t shut me out.”
I turn and face her, pulling her in tight and breathing in the scent of the woman I’ve loved for twenty-five years. She’s one of the very few things that I haven’t fucked up in my life, not since the early days anyway. She’s loved me at my worst, stood by my side, and pulled me back from the brink so many times I’ve lost count, but she still doesn’t know all my deepest, darkest secrets—most, but not all.
“It hurts, Ash. It still fucking hurts so much,” I say into her hair. The smell of her shampoo calms my racing heart.
“Of course it does, especially on nights like tonight, when you’ve been talking about him and remembering all the good times.” She pauses for a few seconds and I know she’s struggling not to cry herself.
“It’s normal, Marls, you just need to let it out. Don’t bottle it up like you used to. Just letmein and thetearsout.”
She takes my hand and leads me back inside the bedroom and over to our bed.
“Get in and give me a cuddle. You’ve shut me out these past few weeks and I’ve missed ya.”
I let out a long sigh as I climb into bed, feeling guilty because she’s right.
I’ve spent the last few weeks practising for this year’s Triple M concert with Conner Reed, lead guitarist for Shift. Because of the tragedy his band has recently endured, we thought it would be a good idea to collaborate and bring in some extra revenue for the charities we support while at the same time, commemorate and celebrate our lost bandmates.
This will be the thirteenth year we have held the event and it’s gone from strength to strength. The diversity of the charities we raise awareness and money for keeps a broad selection of the public interested. Despite Maca being gone fourteen years this December, there are still a lot of Carnage fans out there who turn out every year to support the cause, and I couldn’t be more proud of what we’ve managed to achieve between Georgia, Len, and myself.
Georgia, George, G, or to Maca, Gia, is my little sister and the bravest person I’ve ever met. How she has held her shit together and clawed her way back to becoming a functioning human being again, I will never know. I couldn’t have done it, but she did, and with the help of Cam, she’s in a good place. She still has her moments. I still get the odd call from her in the middle of the night when she can’t sleep, or because she’s had a bad dream, but they are few and far between now and I’m glad—glad that she’s found her place in the world. Her family and this charity, pretty much take up all of her time, and despite the fact that her job is to promote a charity that was set up to honour her dead husband, Cameron King has been on board and one hundred percent supportive since the very beginning.
Despite my doubts about their relationship when it first began, he has been a bigger man than I ever could have been, and I’m not just talking about the size of the man’s dick here—which is apparently legendary. No, Im talking about his capacity to love my sister the way that he does. I might even go as far as to say he loves her more than Maca did. Don’t get me wrong, Sean loved George, but their relationship was borderline obsessive of each other.
I let out another long sigh as I pull Ashley back into my front and she grinds her arse against me.
“What are you thinking about?” she asks me quietly.
“Anal mostly—Hmph,” Is the noise I sorta make as Ash elbows me in the ribs.
“We were being serious, Marls.” I kiss the top of her head and give her nipple a squeeze.
“I’ve got a hard on now. I don’t wanna talk, I wanna fuck.”
“Don’t try and deflect. I wanna know what’s going on in that head of yours right now.”
“I just told you and it earned me a crack up the ribs,” I complain.
“You either talk to me, Marley Joseph Layton, or I go and find another bed to sleep in. Don’t shut me out, I’m being serious.”
“George,” I tell her honestly.
“Well that’s disturbing ... anal and your sister in the same convo. I’ve always thought you two were overly close.” I bite her shoulder.
“Ow! I’m joking, you arsehole. What about her?”
I shrug my shoulders, “How far she’s come.”
I feel Ash nod her head. “She’s in a good place, possibly the happiest I’ve ever known her to be.”
We’re both silent for a few moments before Ash asks, “Have you thought any more about the book?”
My stomach does a few backflips and I instantly feel too warm.
“I can’t do it to her, Ash. She’s been through too much already. Fuck, I’ve caused her enough shit in her life ... I can’t do it.”
