Page 120 of Marley
I ran. I ran as fast as I could, but it felt like I wasn’t moving. I reached Georgia’s bedroom door and pushed it open. Apparently, I’d already called out for help as I was running because as I stood staring down at my sister’s small body, curled up on her bed, I heard the commotion of my family arriving behind me.
The note she’d left beside her, summed up what we were all feeling.
I’m sorry, I just can’t do this. It hurts too much. The pain is more than I can bear. If you love me, then please just let me go.
G
At the end of January, she did it again, and that time, they only just managed to bring her back. So, we took the hard decision to have her committed to a private mental health facility once she was well enough to leave the hospital.
It was a few weeks after her release that I had an idea that I thought might just help pull my sister from the depths of hell, where she was currently residing.
I went and got her old car, Hilda, out of storage.
George was in her usual spot, on the old leather Chesterfield, when I found her.
“Up ya get, George, I’ve got something out here for you to see.”
I thought she’d stare at me blankly, that far off vacant look still in her eyes from all the medication they’d had her on in the hospital. She’d been home almost a month then, and they were gradually weening her off of them.
So I was surprised when she just wiped tears from under her eyes and followed me outside.
She stopped in her tracks, one hand flying to her chest, the other to cover her mouth. Her tears were instant.
“Oh, Marley. Where did you get her from? Have you been to my house?”
I draped my arm over her shoulder and kissed the top of her head. “I have. Hope you don’t mind? I thought you might like to take her for a drive?”
She looked up and for the first time in a very long time, not only did she smile, but I knew that she saw me. My sister saw beyond her grief and she actually saw me.
“I don’t want to go out on the road, Marls, but I’ll drive her around out here.”
I can’t put into words the happiness I felt at her words. My heart actually felt like it was growing and about to burst out of my chest.
“Yeah?” I couldn’t wipe the fucking smile off my face as I spoke.
“Yeah.” She smiled back up at me.
“Well, it’s a fucking start, I s’pose.” I kissed the top of her head before grabbing her hand and pulling her towards the car.
EPILOGUE
2014
We’ve managed to keep our appearance at the Triple M fundraiser secret; not even a hint of what we’re up to has appeared in the papers. I’m nervous as fuck. I usually make a short appearance on stage each year, and I’ve played on my own plenty since we lost Maca, but this is different. I’ll be fronting Shift, replacing their lead singer Jet Harrison, who had recently taken his own life. I would be singing a few songs by Carnage, and Conner Reed would take up the mic and we would perform a couple of Shift songs.
The lights go down and the place is in relative silence, considering it’s packed to capacity.
I hit the first notes of‘With You.’Reed follows me in on bass and the crowd goes wild. The curtain lifts and I swear the fucking building shakes.
I can barely see through the stage lights, but I know roughly where my family is standing, and I try to pick George out on the balcony.
This is one, of very many, that Maca wrote for her and I always worry, even after all these years, how she copes with hearing them.
When I’m done, I address the crowd with a lump in my throat and thank them all for coming. Reed then takes the mic and dedicates the next song to his girl. Rock stars, we’re all a bunch of pussies.
I’m pumped when we come offstage.
“You fucking rocked it, Reed. You slayed them.” I tell Conner. I really like working with this boy. He’s full of great ideas and we have very similar tastes in what we like to listen to. He’s looking to get out of the spotlight and I think he’s someone I could easily work, either producing or writing music with in the future.
