THREE
Two days later I was leaning back against the wall to the parlour on my break, smoking a cigarette on my own. The bus stopped at the bottom of the road and there was a familiar loud, jingly laugh as someone got off and my ears sort of pricked up. Carrying her brightly coloured bags she saw me and her eyes nearly popped out in excitement. “Agh!” She screamed, echoing off of the houses and shops then she pegged it towards me, stumbling under the weight of her bags. She dumped them simultaneously wrapping her arms around me so tightly that I might’ve popped but was extraordinairly glad because I’d been waiting for that hug. “Oh my God I missed you, Rubes!”
“I missed you too!” I mumbled into her bony shoulder with more gravity than she'd ever hear.
“It was so much fun, I’m not even going to take no for an answer you’re so coming with me next time I go away.”
“Good!” I spluttered, eyes shining tearfully as she pulled away. If anyone could smell like rainbows and sunshine it was my best friend, she was so strong and beautiful and I loved her.
Her forehead creased in concern, “good? That’s the first you’ve ever agreed without protest. What’s happened? What’s wrong Rubes?” She grabbed my arms fiercely .
“Nothing, nothing." I dismissed with a sniff. "So, meet me after work and tell me all about your fantastic life changing holiday?” She nodded with a grin but her eyes were marred with worry. I hurried back inside, to my luck my number one fan was in the room. He huffed all self righteously before scurrying into his father’s office. It took a little while of sitting quietly before my hands stopped shaking and i calmed myself down. I could tell myself that I wouldn't let him get to me until the cows came home but it wouldn't change the fact that Toby had truly frightened me. He'd betrayed my trust.
After work it was drizzling slightly but was refreshing. Angie stood under her zinging blue umbrella and dragged me under with her, handing me a readily rolled and lit fag. I thanked her taking a hearty pull. “So,” she began as we walked along. “My house or yours?”
She wasn’t going to let it drop and it wasn’t like I owed Toby any privacy from his disgusting outburst. “Yours.” I nodded as we crossed the road, walked down the lane and down to Angie’s cul-de-sac. She lived with both her parents and her younger brother, they were a fairly strict family, her dad was loud and liked to yell and her mum was antsy and impatient. Not that Angie cared, she’d just smile as they hollered at her, apologise and then skip right off into lollipop land. I’d cower in the corner.
She banged through the front door, “got her mum,” she called out closing it behind me. We took our shoes off and she chucked her brolly aside.
Angie’s mother came out of the lounge smiling at me, I suppose she wished that she could swap daughters and have me as her average, modest one instead of the wild, untamed beauty that she owned instead. “Hello Ruby love, how’s it going?”
“Not too good,” Angie answered on my behalf, “that’s why she’s here. We’re gunna go up to my room and discuss things through like the sensible young women we are.” Her mum’s eyes twitched but she settled on smiling at me. “Bye.” Angie grabbed my hand yanking me up her stairs.
Angie’s room was bright and colourful as well. She burned incense although that really annoyed her dad. She smoked out of her window and bought loads of scarves to drape over everything she had to make it look pretty. Her chest of drawers were something else completely, I meant inside of them, her clothes were spectacular and her record collection even more so. Flopping onto her floral bed she beckoned for me to do so too. I loved Angie’s room, even how she left her floor covered in dirty clothes or her trunks half unpacked with their contents strewn about. She was never really settled. “Stop looking around idiot,” she nudged my shoulder. “It’s time you tell me what happened while I was away.”
“It’s crazy, it’s usually you that’s filling me in on your life.”
“You sound upset,” Angie put her arm caringly around my shoulders. “Please tell me.”
“Well, I went on a date with Toby, you know Toby from the funeral parlour?” I began, staring intently at my lap and fiddling nervously with my fingers, uncomfortable and still disturbed by the memory that continued to plague me.
“Mmhmm.” She nodded, eyes wide with rampant interest.
“Well he invited me on a date to the pub.” My cheeks reddened abominably and I stopped there, taking a shaky breath in as I tried to stop my voice cracking or eyes welling up.
She laughed, “sounds wild.” Angie flopped backwards on her bed, I sat up staring at my lap.
“Yeah I know! He was quite rude about it too, he was like ‘you’re not ever going to get another offer’ and ‘I’m the best you’re ever gunna get’ and I thought, well, to humour him I’ll go to the date and see what he has to say. The date was awful. He was aggressive and drank too much. So it ended with me saying I didn’t want to be with him and he took that badly and followed me out and slammed me back against the wall.”
“What!” She gasped sitting bolt upright. “What! He did what? Oh my Lord I’m going to order a casket and tell him to get right in it tomorrow!”
“It is a bit awkward in there now.” I admitted embarrassed. “He forced his mouth on mine and touched me all over,” I shuddered, “then luckily Mrs Waters over the road came to put the milk bottles out and got her Bert to come. That soon got rid of Toby.” With a trembling hand I pushed some stray hairs off of my face, still refusing to look away from my lap.
“Son of a bitch!” She shook her head. “How dare he? How dare he do that to you?” She was shaking she’d gotten so angry, I hadn’t realised she’d feel so strongly but I guess she loved me as much as I loved her. “You should quit, tell his dad what a ghastly son he has then quit.”
“I can’t quit! I have to help dad pay the mortgage.” I protested wearily.
Angie rested her head on my shoulder, “I hate what he did to you…Wait, did he-he didn’t rape you did he?” She sat up again, “because if he did I-”
“No-no!” I shook my head quickly, “no, it never got that far.”
“Lucky for him because he would be so damn sorry, you know, the good thing about me travelling around means that I’ve got a lot of different friends and if anyone hurts my sister then I’m going to get them all to come and beat his sorry-ugh! Man, I’m so annoyed.” I nudged her and told her that it was alright now. We sat silently for a minute. Both wallowing and thinking about how dreadful and disgusting Toby had turned out to be. When the thoughts began to escalate in my mind and got too much I shunned them feverishly and sucking a deep breath in pressed for details about her trip. “Amazing, amazing, it was so brilliant. Took some acid, smoked some weed, went to parties, shagged some pretty good looking men, ate at restaurants and went and saw some pretty good gigs. I had the time of my life and you really need to start seeing more of the world you live in, Rube. This village is like a suck hole of something that just holds you back.”
“I know.” I muttered, finally dragging my eyes up to meet her gaze.
“Well,” she winked at me, “I made some new friends up in Manchester and I was thinking of maybe going to squat up there until I can sort myself out a job I like and then I’ll get myself a flat…You should come with me. It’ll be perfect Rubes, we can start afresh, be whoever we want to be, just-just you know, live.”
Her eyes were so vibrant, their green oceans of fire and life that it was hard not to believe what she was saying. “What about my dad, Angie? I’m the only one he’s got left-”
“Oh,” she wafted it away, “he’ll be there when he’s old and really needs to be taken care of. Why waste your life when he’s a grown man and can fend for himself?”
“I don’t think you understand, he needs me.”
She grabbed my shoulders, “look, look, you’re just making excuses. I can’t bare to see you wither away in this suck hole.” We both flopped back on her bed and romanticised about what life would be like if we went and lived in a squat in Manchester. “Lots of northern lads.” She sang. “And we both know how you dig their accents.”
I laughed, feeling kind of good again, “yeah, that I do.”
It was really great to hang out with my bestest friend in the whole wide world, it was only when she was there lying next to me as we talked aimlessly about forgettable things that I realised how much I’d missed her when she was gone. She always left but then she always came back. We both knew that she would go to Manchester and we both knew that that would be the thing to break the camels back, no longer would she be welcome in our town. That would be it. I didn’t know if I could live with her not being there, it would be worse than a boyfriend leaving, she was my other half.
“You know,” I said and glanced at her, she was staring at her ceiling, peaceful and almost relaxed for once. “All this about soul mates and that? Maybe not everyone’s soul mate is their lover. Maybe you don’t have to be in that kind of relationship with them.”
“Hmm.”
“Like, maybe you could have a mother and daughter and they’re soul mates. You know? One without the other just doesn’t work.”
“Well I know that’s not like it with us and our mothers.” She snorted still sort of lost in her dream world.
“No,” I laughed softly. “Not with ours. Maybe us two are though.”
Angie propped herself up on her elbow and frowned down at me then, “you think that me and you are soul mates?”
I pulled a face, “maybe, I’m not saying that I’m in love with you. It’s like you’re my twin sister though, and if that’s the case then you’re my other half…So maybe you are-”
She frowned and then laughed but soon she stopped and actually considered it. “Maybe.” Angie mused. “You could be onto something there my lover.” We both laughed.