Ruby Tuesday

Chapter four

FOUR

    Angie was doing my hair. It was Saturday and she was brushing my hair over and over, she was zoned out, gazing wide eyed into the mirror. I don’t know, I think it was an effect of her acid use. Sometimes she spaced so much out that you had to basically hit her to bring her back to the real world. I moved away from the brush and she was left combing the air while I headed over to her record collection. “Gunna put your Joplin on.” I sung quietly as I thumbed through the sleeves.

    Pulling it out and carefully putting her Beatles one away I put Janis Joplin on. I went back over to Angie and waved my hand in front of her face, “wakey wakey girl.” I hated doing it but I had to or I was scared that she’d get lost inside the haze inside her head forever. I smacked Angie around the face and she gasped, staring at me hurt. “You spaced out again.”

    “I was thinking!” She protested.

    “You’d spaced out again.” I repeated adamantly. “You were combing the air, you weren’t in the room at all.” She rolled her eyes rubbing her tender red cheek.

    “Oh God Rubes! Please not her again.” She begged as the music settled in. “Please fall in love with another rock star so we don’t have to listen to Janis Joplin twenty four seven!”

    “I like her.” I insisted and pulled my hair over my shoulder. “Can we go now?”

    “Yes.” We stopped the record player and then headed down to the bus stop to catch the bus to town. At least Angie was on her best behaviour at the disco because she wasn’t trying to take any drugs or drink too much, she was more interested in flinging herself about on the dance floor with me. It was a brilliant night.

******

    I was smoking outside the parlour, lent back against the wall as usual when Angie screamed from the bottom of the road making me flinch. “Oh my God! Oh my God!” She was going.

    “What?” I called as she ran towards me in her great clomping heels.

    “Look! Look! Oh my God!” She was holding a letter in her hand and when she approached she was out of breath and stole the rest of my fag to puff on while she thrust the letter in my face. I scanned through it.

    “You won?” She nodded enthusiastically. “Won…Two tickets to that concert! Oh my God Angie!” We both jumped up and down and squealed our excited heads off.

    “This weekend. Holy-oh my God. We need to book our train tickets to London now. Do you have money?”

    “In the bank.” I frowned. “I’ll get it for you tomorrow.”

    “Oh ok! Ah! Oh my God!” She shook me violently and snatched the letter back. “I’ll go and phone up for-oh it doesn’t matter! We’ll just get them at the train station! We’re gunna have to get money so we can buy clothes for the concert and then-then there’s makeup…And a place to stay because we’re going Friday coming back Monday.”

    “You’re really excited aren’t you?”

    “Yes! Why aren’t you as happy as me? This is the biggest thing that’ll ever happen to you if you’re so insistent on staying in this suck hole.”

    “Hey,” I pouted, “can you not have a dig at me every five seconds? I’ll have to go and ask Mr Clarkson for the Friday and Monday off.”

    “Just quit.” She muttered and then kissed me on the cheek before literally skipping down the pavement away from me. Angie was a serious force of nature.