Hidden Sin: When the past comes back to haunt you. Julie Shaw

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СКАЧАТЬ mam and dad were going to be out late, and though nothing had been said as such, she knew there was a possibility that she might end up staying over. Though they had his uncle staying, on the sofa, Joey had also mentioned there being a little box room the other night. Perhaps to persuade her that his intentions were honourable? She smiled at the thought. Not too honourable, she hoped, but for the moment, because she really liked him, she was keen to take that side of things slowly.

      And now she had her car, she had the precious gift of independence. She’d see how it went. How well she’d be able to resist him …

      For the moment, however, her mind was mostly focussed. ‘Can you believe it?’ she said to Matt as he jumped up on stage. ‘I’ve never seen so many people here at this time before. God,’ she added, a thought having suddenly hit here. ‘We’re going to have to do the soundcheck in front of them!’

      ‘You’ll be fine, babe,’ Matt reassured her, in his usual chilled style. ‘They’ll know it’s a soundcheck. What’s the problem?’

      ‘Hey, and look who’s just come in?’ Joey said, pointing across towards the bar. ‘That bloke.’

      ‘What bloke?’ Matt asked.

      ‘The one I told you about? The one I reckon might be in the music business. Spoke to me last week.’

      Matt shielded his eyes. ‘Hmm. So that’s him, is it? Hmm …’ he said again. ‘Don’t hold your breath,’ he said finally.

      ‘Why – d’you think you know him?’ Paula asked.

      ‘Never seen him before,’ Matt said. ‘Or those other blokes with him either. But if I had a fiver for every time someone told me some big-time scout was going to be in, I’d be a lot fucking richer than I am, trust me.’

      ‘Yeah, but don’t you want to be?’ Dan, the bassist chipped in. Though, in Paula’s estimation, Dan was about as interested in making the big time as he was in knitting. Which was to say, not at all.

      ‘Well, whatever,’ she said, feeling the nerves begin to kick in as the man turned and stuck a thumb up in their direction. He could surely tell they were discussing him. ‘You never know,’ she said brightly. ‘Tonight might just be that night. Come on, let’s get this soundcheck done. I still need to get changed yet.’

      ‘Never change, babe,’ Matt told her, grinning. ‘Stay as sweet as you are.’ And there was something about the way he said it that made her pause – was she imagining it? Made her think they weren’t perhaps on the same page any more.

      The applause as they finished the first set was rapturous. Almost the whole pub had been dancing and singing along with them. It was, Paula thought, the very best feeling ever. She was buzzing as she grabbed Joey and tugged him through the crowd – many of whom were cheering and whooping and slapping them on the back, like they’d just got married or something. ‘Come on, Joey,’ she yelled as she dragged him through the reluctantly parting mass. ‘Let’s go chat up this mystery man of yours, shall we?’

      The man’s expression when they reached him seemed to hint that he’d been expecting them to as well.

      ‘Joey,’ he said, moving along the bar to make room for them. He was standing apart from the group of men he’d been watching the set with. Paula noticed how, despite the rush of people anxious to get a drink in, no one seemed to dare invade his space.

      Joey nodded. ‘Mo, isn’t it?’ He held a hand out. The big black man shook it. Joey then put his other hand on Paula’s back and edged her forwards. ‘Nice to see you again. And this is my girlfriend, Paula.’

      Mo raised his eyebrows. ‘Girlfriend?’ he said. He trained his dark eyes on Paula. Assessing. ‘Well, it’s very nice to meet you, young lady.’

      Paula felt irritated to realise she was blushing as she shook his hand. Even more so that she also had an almost overwhelming – and completely ridiculous – urge to curtsy. ‘Nice to meet you too,’ she said, squaring her shoulders instead. ‘You from round here?’

      Mo smiled, flashing his perfect white teeth at her. ‘Oak Lane,’ he said smoothly. ‘Do you know it?’

      Paula had to stop herself from gaping. That meant serious money. Oak Lane was very much where the ‘other half’ lived. Well, if it was true, which they didn’t know yet. Nor where his apparent wealth came from. She nodded, sensing he was challenging her. ‘Sort of,’ she said. ‘I once worked as a receptionist at an insurance company up there. Been pulled down now, though. It’s a mosque now, I think.’

      The big man grinned. ‘Aren’t they all, love? Aren’t they all?’ he said. ‘More mosques in Bradford than greengrocers these days, eh? Anyway, I’m glad you’ve come over. I have something to ask you. More of a proposition, in fact.’ He glanced at Joey. ‘That’s if you’re both interested.’

      Joey was grinning like the proverbial Cheshire cat, Paula noticed. Perhaps he’d been right. And Matt wrong. Maybe this man was some sort of talent scout or something. Perhaps her natural suspicion of anyone with his sort of confidence said more about the Hudson genes in her than anything. Suspicion of anyone who wasn’t a Hudson was a Hudson family trait. Oak Lane. He was something big, at any rate.

      ‘Course we’re interested,’ Joey said. ‘Shall I get us all a drink?’

      Mo politely declined. ‘But I’ll buy you both one if you’d like one.’

      ‘I’m cool,’ Paula said, conscious of her dad’s comment earlier. She never liked to drink when she was performing anyway. ‘But if you’d like –’ she turned to Joey, whose face was sheeny with perspiration.

      ‘I’m cool too,’ he said. ‘I’ll just grab a water.’

      The man raised a hand, mouthed the word, and a glass of water appeared in an instant. Another reason to believe that he was someone with influence. The queue for drinks now was five deep and the barmaids were struggling to cope. But clearly what this man asked for he got. Right away. ‘I’ve just bought a nightclub in town,’ he explained, as he pushed the brimming pint glass in Joey’s direction. ‘Silks. You probably know it? Or of it, anyway. And my business partner Nico and I’ – he nodded towards the swarthy Greek man standing a few feet away, who had his back to them currently – ‘well, we’re on the hunt for talent. A decent house band.’ He paused. Paula saw Joey’s eyes widen. ‘So we were thinking that we’d like to offer you a provisional residency there, if you’re interested. One night a week to start with. See how it goes before making it permanent, obviously. Do you think you might be interested? The pay’s good, of course. It’ll be more than you get here. And we would need you to finish here because it’ll be Saturday nights we’d want you. Now,’ he said, looking at Paula. ‘Do you need time to think about it? Discuss it with your bandmates?’

      Paula wavered. Taking in that he wasn’t a record company scout was a bit disappointing, and now her reticence took precedence again. Yes, it sounded good, but the strings attached – dropping The Sun gig – needed thinking about. It seemed a bit unfair to drop The Sun, especially after they’d been so good to them. It had been The Sun, after all, that had given them their first real start. Regular work too. Which wasn’t something you turned your back on lightly.

      And what did they really know about these characters? Only what this Mo guy had told them. And wasn’t it true that nightclubs opened up and closed down again all the time? Silks hadn’t always been Silks. It СКАЧАТЬ