Ride On

by Stephen J. Martin

  And he had to know. The fucking pain and heartbreak would be better than wondering. Probably.

  He dialled.

  It took less than a minute and then he knew. Certainly he could leave a message for Patricia Sweeney. She’d get it on Monday when she came into work. Were they sure she wasn’t in there covering for someone today? They were absolutely positive. Everyone who was supposed to be working today, was working.

  Norman thanked the girl and hung up. Anger, confusion and hurt milled through him, each new thought and picture in his head causing him to clench his jaw and his fists. He fingered the keys to Aesop’s house for a minute and unlocked the deadbolt. Then he turned the other key in the latch and went in. There was no buzzing from the house alarm. Someone had been back here since he and Aesop had left yesterday. Well … not someone. Only Aesop and himself knew the key combination to turn it off. Checking downstairs just took a few seconds. There was no sign of anyone. They must have been in such a hurry that they didn’t hang about down here. He went quietly up the stairs and stood in front of Aesop’s bedroom door. He paused for a second. The fury was building in him, burning. There was still time to walk away. Because if he saw what he knew he was going to see …

  But he couldn’t walk away. He’d lost control now. Totally. He was practically someone else. The person he’d been trying for years not to be any more. His hand went out on its own and gripped the doorhandle. Then, drops of despair and rage starting to well in his eyes, he took a big breath and pushed the door open.

  *

  Jimmy and Dónal had done everything that Norman had told them to do, but there was no news. No one knew where he was and he hadn’t been in touch on email, texts or voicemail. They sat on the couches with Sparky and Shiggy, no one saying anything, just waiting for Norman to come back, hopefully with an apologetic and sleepy Aesop.

  ‘Tea?’ said Shiggy eventually.

  Jimmy just nodded.

  Shiggy went off into the kitchen and Dónal turned to Jimmy.

  ‘It’s fine, man. You know what he’s like.’

  ‘Yeah. But he’s a bloody idiot for doing this after everything that’s been going on.’

  ‘I know. But, look, at least we know that he never intended to come in here yesterday, right? It’s not like we haven’t got a clue at all. He was up to something. So none of this means that he’s in trouble with … y’know.’

  ‘That was yesterday Dónal. Whatever he was up to, he’d be finished by now. And what’s up with his phone? Why isn’t he answering it?’

  ‘I don’t know. Maybe he’s out of battery.’

  ‘Me bollix.’

  ‘It happens man. Especially to a dizzy muppet like Aesop. He just forgot to charge it.’

  ‘How long is Norman gone?’

  ‘Twenty minutes. Just … just try and take it easy, okay? He’ll be back in a little bit.’

  ‘Where did Sparky go?’

  ‘He’s calling a few of the pubs. He knows half the landlords in Dublin. Just to see if Aesop’s been around the place, last night or whatever.’

  ‘Okay.’

  ‘Can you think of anywhere else he might be?’

  ‘No. But that’s not the point! He wouldn’t just piss off like that without saying anything.’

  Jimmy tapped his pockets. He wanted a cigarette, but he had none.

  ‘Anyone have any smokes?’ he said.

  Dónal shook he head and Shiggy called out from the kitchen that he didn’t.

  ‘Is there any in the control room?’

  ‘There might be. Maybe one of the Leet lads left some lying around.’

  Jimmy walked through the doors and started pulling open drawers and searching under bits of equipment. Eventually he found two half-crushed cigarettes in a box behind the mixing desk. He grabbed them and started down the stairs to go outside. Hunched over with his back to the wind, the smoke tasted a bit stale, but Jimmy didn’t care. Whatever toxins and poisons were in the thing, he needed them right now. He stared down at the cobbled street as he pulled on it. A guy and a girl walked past holding hands, making him look up so he could get out of their way, and they caught his eye, grinning in recognition. He didn’t respond at all. He barely registered that there were other people on the street. His mind felt dulled and numb but at least that was probably better than letting it get to work on what might be going on here.

  *

  Aesop’s eyes snapped open and jerked around the room. What was that? A noise. What … where … ? The empty bottle of Jameson on the bedside table brought it all back. What he’d done last night. Oh bollocks. He was a fucking idiot. He knew he was fucked. He was in the wrong place in the wrong time with the wrong person. He was fucked. Big time. He tried to sit up quickly in the bed, pushing himself against the headboard. Blinding pain shot through him. Why did he have to drink all that whiskey last night? He looked down at the sleeping figure beside him and cursed again before looking up to see the door swing open.

  This was what happened to fucking idiots.

  ‘Okay …’ he said, his hand trembling out in front of him. ‘Just … listen, let’s just fuckin’ relax for a minute before we do anything, right? Okay? Let’s just …’

  Chapter Twenty-six

  Jimmy was starting to pace frantically.

  ‘Jimmy, please,’ said Dónal. ‘Will you sit down for God sake?’

  ‘I can’t man. Where the fuck is Norman?’

  ‘He’ll be here soon.’

  ‘It’s been an hour, nearly. I’m calling him.’

  ‘He knows what he’s doing. Just let him …’

  ‘Bollocks. I’m calling him.’

  ‘Okay Jimmy. Okay.’

  Jimmy dialled Norman’s number, but there was no answer. It rang out and went to voice mail.

  ‘Jesus Christ, now he’s not answering his bleedin’ phone!’

  ‘Jimmy, in the name of God, sit bloody down for five minutes and leave him alone, will you?’

  ‘He should have been back ages ago, Dónal. Either Aesop is at home or he isn’t.’

  ‘Norman will want to check the place over. This is his thing, Jimmy. Let him get on with it.’

  ‘But Dónal, why …’

  ‘Jimmy!’

  It was Sparky, and his face was good and purple.

  ‘Sit fucking down and wait for Norman to come back. It’s bad enough in here without you losing the plot on top of everything, okay? We’re all worried, right? Having you throwing a wobbler about the place and talking shite is only making it worse. My doctor says I’m to avoid stress at all costs and I’m only holding on here by the skin of me teeth, I’m fucking telling you. I’ve got too much blood pressure, not enough liver, a hypnotist that’s afraid to put me under after the last time, and the shrink in the hospital is convinced I have an anti-social personality disorder as well, the cunt. So I don’t need you making me all fucking jumpy too, ye hear me? Will you ever relax the head before I have a bleedin’ heart attack on us.’

  Jimmy opened his mouth to say something, but then he just sat down and stared at the table.

  ‘Okay, Sparky,’ said Dónal. ‘Okay. Look, we’re all stressed. Sit down yourself, sure. There’s no point in getting all worked up until we know what’s what, is there? Can I get you something?’

  ‘No,’ said Sparky. He looked around and sighed. ‘Well … where’s me bananas?’

  ‘I’ll get one for you,’ said Dónal. ‘Sit down there.’

  ‘I’m not hungry, but I need … I have to make sure …’

  ‘I know, pal. Potassium. You’re grand. Hang on a minute.’

  Shiggy arrived in the door.

  ‘Anything?’ said Jimmy.

  ‘No Jimmy. No sign.’

  He’d been out checking a few of the music shops. Aesop loved to window shop for instruments and yap with the staff. Most of them were into the same music as he was and he’d spend hours just shooting the breeze and getting the latest from the metal scene.

  ‘Well it was a l
ong shot I s’pose,’ said Jimmy.

  It was another half an hour before Norman arrived back. He looked awful.

  ‘What’s the story?’ said Jimmy, jumping up.

  ‘He wasn’t there,’ said Norman.

  ‘Fuck! Was there any sign of him at all?’

  ‘The alarm wasn’t on when I went in, so he must have gone back after I dropped him off here yesterday.’

  ‘Jesus. What was he up to?’

  ‘I don’t know, Jimmy.’

  ‘And there was no note or anything? Did it look like there’d been … anyone else in there?’

  ‘No. Nothing.’

  ‘Are you sure?’

  Norman looked over at him.

  ‘Do you want to fucking check it yourself, Jimmy?’

  ‘What? No! No … I was just … sorry man. I’m a bit …’

  ‘It’s okay lads,’ said Dónal, handing a banana to Sparky. ‘Last thing we need is to be getting annoyed with each other.’

  He looked at Norman.

  ‘Okay. So what now?’

  Norman shrugged.

  ‘We’ve checked everywhere, right? Pubs, email, voicemail …’

  ‘Yeah. Shiggy was out checking the music shops,’ said Jimmy.

  ‘And there’s been nothing.’

  ‘Nothing.’

  Norman nodded and sat down.

  ‘Norman,’ said Jimmy. ‘Are you all right?’

  ‘What?’

  ‘You look a bit …’

  ‘So do you.’

  ‘Yeah, but you just seem a bit kind of … angry or something.’

  ‘I am angry.’

  ‘Aw, listen man, it’s not your fault. He disappeared on his own, right? It’s not like you were there or whatever, was it? He said he was coming in here yesterday. You dropped him right outside the …’

  ‘Not now, Jimmy. This isn’t the time for that shit.’

  ‘Okay. All right man.’

  Jimmy sat opposite Norman and tried to calm himself down so as he could think clearly. Aesop wasn’t anywhere obvious and no one who he might have been in contact with knew where he was. It wasn’t looking good.

  ‘The zoo?’ he said, suddenly.

  Norman didn’t even look up.

  ‘He’s been in the zoo since yesterday afternoon, has he?’

  ‘I s’pose not.’

  ‘Well … fuck it, it might be worth checking anyway.’

  ‘I’ll go,’ said Sparky. ‘I need to get the fuck out of here.’

  ‘I go too,’ said Shiggy, standing up. ‘Better than stay here.’ Then he looked all confused. ‘Eh … zoo? Why the fu …’

  ‘Okay lads,’ said Dónal. ‘Give us a call when you get there, right?’

  ‘Yeah,’ said Sparky. ‘C’mon Shiggy.’

  ‘But …’

  ‘I’ll explain on the way.’

  The others watched them head out the door and then turned back to one another.

  ‘So is it time to call the cops?’ said Dónal. ‘Because …’

  ‘No,’ said Norman. ‘No cops.’

  They looked at him.

  ‘Not yet. Just … let me alone for a minute … to think.’

  Jimmy sat back in the couch and looked over at him. He knew he wasn’t a picture of happiness and contentment himself, but Norman was the colour of dishwater, his foot dancing up and down off his toes on the floor. He looked like he was going to be sick, wiping his face with his hands every minute or so and then looking at them. His hair was wet too. His hair … Jimmy looked at him properly again. What? What was …

  ‘Did you change?’ he said.

  ‘What?’

  ‘Your clothes. You weren’t wearing that when you went to Aesop’s.’

  ‘Oh. Yeah. I had a quick shower and changed my clothes. A load of me stuff is over there still.’

  ‘Why did you change, but.’

  ‘Jimmy, I sprinted from here to Smithfield in ten minutes. By the time I got there and tore through the gaff I was in a state. When I saw he wasn’t there, I knew we might be in for a long day. I needed to change and calm down before I came back here. I had a quick shower.’

  ‘I called you and you didn’t answer.’

  ‘Must have been in the shower. Sorry.’

  ‘Oh. Eh … okay.’

  He could understand why Norman would be upset – Christ, they were all upset – but there seemed to be something else going on. A weird shudder suddenly ran up Jimmy’s back, but he didn’t know why.

  Norman’s foot stopped jiggling and he stood up. His face had changed again. He looked like he’d decided something.

  ‘Look, I’m going to check something. I’ll be back in an hour or two and if nothing’s turned up by then we can call the Guards. Okay?’

  Jimmy and Dónal looked at each other and then at Norman.

  ‘Eh … where are you going?’

  ‘I won’t be long.’

  He grabbed the keys to his van.

  ‘Right? I’ll have my phone with me Jimmy.’

  ‘Okay. I s’pose. What’ll we do while you’re gone?’

  ‘Just keep doing what you’re doing. Keep trying his number and if you think of anyone else to call, then go ahead and call them. Okay?’

  ‘Yeah. Okay. You don’t think we should call the cops now? Because Garda Ní Mhurchú said that if anything at all …’

  ‘When I come back, Jimmy. I need to check one more thing and then we can call her.’

  ‘But …’

  ‘Jimmy, Aesop is famous. Once you start this, you won’t be able to stop it. It’ll be all over the radio and the telly. Okay? We’ll have every dope in the country calling us to say Aesop was seen wherever and … and if he’s in trouble … well, you don’t want anyone panicking, do you?’

  ‘No. Jesus. I s’pose not.’

  ‘So just give me a bit of time and when I come back we’ll do what we have to do.’

  ‘Okay then. Yeah. Okay.’

  Norman walked out without another word.

  Dónal’s phone rang over on the coffee table. He ran to get it and picked it up, frowning at the screen.

  ‘Is it him?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Sparky?’

  Dónal shook his head.

  ‘Well who is it then, for fuck sake?’ said Jimmy, walking over to him.

  ‘It’s … Alison.’

  *

  When Norman got back a couple of hours later, he found Jimmy and Dónal sitting opposite each other across the table. Jimmy looked up when he came into the room.

  ‘Anything?’

  ‘No. You?’

  ‘Maybe.’ said Jimmy.

  ‘What?! Why … why … didn’t you call me? What is it?’

  ‘Alison called. Alison’s from the record company in London.’

  ‘What about her?’

  ‘She called to ask us had we spoken to Aesop. She was worried about him.’

  ‘What? Why?’

  ‘Because he called her late last night.’

  ‘He called her? From where? Where was he?’

  ‘She doesn’t know. But he called because he wanted to tell her that he was leaving The Grove and joining Leet. Remember that deal I told you about? Well Aesop apparently had second thoughts.’

  ‘And you didn’t know anything about this?’

  ‘Of course not. Norman, me and Aesop talked about all this. He was sticking with The Grove. He didn’t want to join Leet on his own and I wasn’t going to do it.’

  ‘But he’d never leave The Grove. Certainly not without talking to you two about it.’

  ‘I know. Something bad’s after happening, man. Can we call the fuckin’ cops now? Please?’

  ‘What did Alison say?’

  ‘She just said that he sounded a bit drunk or something and that he asked her not to say anything to me or Dónal. We’d find out soon enough.’

  ‘He didn’t say where he was or who he was with or anything?’

  ‘No. Just that he was after changin
g his mind.’

  Norman, started biting his thumbnail.

  ‘Okay. So … this doesn’t tell us anything then, does it?’

  ‘It tells us a bit.’

  ‘What? What does it tell us, Jimmy?’

  Jimmy frowned at him. What the fuck was going on with Norman?

  ‘Just that he was okay last night. Norman, what …’

  Before Jimmy could say anything else, they heard a knock on the studio door.

  ‘What now?’ said Dónal. ‘Jesus …’

  He went over to it and pulled the door open.

  It was Trish standing there.

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  She walked in.

  ‘Hi guys,’ she said, smiling. She gave a little wave.

  Jimmy just blinked at her and looked over at Norman, whose mouth was hanging open.

  ‘Eh …’ said Trish, looking at them uneasily now. ‘Oops. Did I come at a bad time?’

  ‘Trish …’ said Norman. He looked like he’d seen about eleven ghosts. ‘What are you doing here?’

  ‘Jesus. I’m sorry Norman. You said you’d be here today. I thought I’d surprise you. I’m sorry. Look, I’ll just go …’

  ‘No,’ said Norman. ‘No, come in a minute.’

  She walked slowly into the room, her hands pulling her coat tightly across her.

  ‘What’s going on?’

  ‘Where have you been?’ said Norman.

  ‘I’ve been working. I told you. But Nuala called me this afternoon to say she was coming in, so I was able to get away.’

  ‘I called Baldoyle, Trish. They said you weren’t there.’

  ‘What? You called Baldoyle? Why?’

  ‘I … I wanted to talk to you.’

  ‘About what?’

  ‘About … because … Aesop is gone missing. I was wondering if … you’d heard from him at all.’

  ‘What do you mean he’s gone missing? Where?’

  ‘We don’t know. We haven’t heard from him since yesterday.’

  ‘Oh no! That’s awful! But listen, I talked to him yesterday.’

  ‘What? When?’

  ‘I don’t know. In the afternoon. Just before I called you to say I was working.’

  ‘Why didn’t you say anything?’