The Rock 'N' the Roll. 'N That

by Steven J. Gill

  “I know you don’t want to talk about it. Her. But I had a message from Lara,” Jamie said.

  Cally’s eyes changed from deep sorrow to venomous hatred in the flick of switch.

  “She says sorry. To me. And Johnny. And she said she can never forgive herself for the lies about the pregnancy.”

  “That makes everything okay then?” Cally asked.

  “No. No it doesn’t,” Jamie said with a solemn shake of his head.

  “And before you ask, I won’t be having anything at all to do with her. Ever.”

  “I blame her. For all this. Everything,” Cally said, her resentment never far from boiling point.

  “I know,” Jamie said. “I know.”

  The atmosphere was broken as the door opened and Dominic walked in, blond hair tied back, and sunglasses plastered to his face.

  “Fuckin’ wankers,” Dominic said as he pulled over a chair and placed a hand on Johnny’s leg.

  “Dominic!” Cally scolded.

  “Fuck ’em. I wish they’d piss off and give us some space. Gonna set Mikee on them next time,” Dominic said, reaching over to hold his mum’s hand. “Still no change?”

  “Nothing,” Jamie said.

  “D-Mo is convinced that playing music down some headphones will wake him up,” Dom said.

  “Play something he hates and that’ll probably do it, “Cally said as she tried to force a smile…

  Chapter 70

  “He’ll be here,” Dominic said as he pulled awkwardly at his black tie. A sharp black suit and matching Converse completed his funeral garb.

  The three of them stood at the rear of the hearse, head to toe in black, sunglasses on, despite the battered and bruised Manchester sky.

  The funeral director nodded at them, coughing softly to clear his throat. “We can wait another two minutes, gentlemen. But no more than that I am afraid.”

  “He’ll be here,” Dominic repeated, stared over towards the cemetery gates, willing his brother to appear.

  “I’ll text him,” Danny said, reaching inside his suit pocket for his mobile.

  “Put the fuckin’ thing away,” Dominic hissed. “He’ll be here. I know it.”

  “I was only try—” Danny said.

  “Sorry man. Didn’t mean to snap,” Dominic said as he leant forward and pulled Danny towards him, kissing him lightly on the forehead, their sunglasses clacking together.

  Surreptitiously looking at his watch, the funeral director was about to speak when a black taxi cab made its way slowly towards the party, having been waved through by the security that flanked the wrought iron gates.

  “I knew it,” Dominic said, smiling for the first time that day.

  As the cab, slowed to a stop, all eyes were on the door as it opened.

  Jamie.

  In an immaculate matching black suit, shirt and tie. Sunglasses on.

  And his red scarf loosely hung around his neck.

  Hugging all three bandmates in turn and without a word – before turning and nodding in the direction of his mum and Poppy.

  “Gentlemen. If you could please slide the coffin slowly out and lift it on to your shoulders. Thank you,” the funeral director said solemnly.

  With a slight wobble, the coffin was raised and balanced on the inside shoulder of all four Lonely Souls.

  Taking measured steps towards the graveside, the beautifully maudlin tones of Joy Division’s ‘Atmosphere’ began to drift across the graveyard – eliciting the first sniffles of the morning from the attendant mourners.

  A guestlist that ran to some one hundred and fifty. With many more told to attend the aftershow/wake.

  A humanist service had been organised – a burial at Cally’s behest, with a simple headstone that would read simply: ‘A good man lies here. Missed by all. Every day x’

  No speeches had been planned, the idea being that anyone with anything to say would take a moment to reflect at the wake.

  As the four band members lowered the coffin, the unmistakable voice of Mick Jagger opined to the black clad gathered mourners that, ‘You Can’t Always Get What You Want…’

  The funeral songs had been selected by Johnny in his early twenties and intermittently chopped and changed over the years. The blasé way that he had discussed them had always irked Cally and her bloodshot eyes – concealed by large round sunglasses – let out yet more tears as the vocal refrain played out.

  The coffin rocked slightly as it was lowered before resting on the freshly dug earth. Walking around the graveside to join Jamie and Dominic, the band then stood there, arms around each other’s shoulders. Not a word was passed between them.

  Joined by Cally – with Poppy held tightly in her arms. The baby-sized black leggings and hastily purchased black duffle coat were a heart wrenching sight – clad for a funeral but utterly oblivious to the loss and pain she would feel in later life.

  The main body of mourners began to drift away – solemn nods, waves and kisses were blown at the coffin. The band stood stock still until the last of them had departed. As they broke their tight huddle, Jamie unfurled his beloved red scarf, kissed it, and let it drop onto the coffin, unable to stop tears rolling down his cheeks.

  “Next album is for Johnny,” Jamie said, choking back yet more tears. “I’m sorry,” he whispered inaudibly.

  “For Johnny,” came the echoed response…

  THE END. AND THAT…

  A short note from the author

  You’ve finished this book - unless you’ve just skipped to the notes at the back - which makes you very, very ace. THANK YOU!

  With the myriad of modern distractions vying for your attention, you’ve bought or borrowed this book on proper papyrus or pixelated prose and invested your time into reading my words and I couldn’t be more grateful.

  Writing this book was a hugely enjoyable experience and subsequently got it into print and then in the hands of you wonderful readers, has made me immensely proud.

  And even though it’s highly likely that we’ve never met, I’d like to ask a favour.

  If you could take a couple of minutes to nip over to Amazon and leave a review, that would be excellent. As a first-time author working with an independent publisher, reviews and internet traffic are vitally important for both of us. I’m both keen to get feedback on my endeavours and to generate web reviews which are hugely beneficial currency in terms of the ongoing success of this here novel.

  Spread the word - tell people how much you enjoyed this novel!

  I would also love to hear from you via all of the social medias - well the ones that I’ve got a grasp of I should say.

  You can reach me on Twitter via @heresgilly and at my lovingly crafted website www.stevenjgillwriter.co.uk.

  The website will be updated with various newsworthy items and you will be able to subscribe to a newsletter which will be sent by one of my digital carrier pigeons directly into your inbox.

  Again, thank you for reading this book of mine, you’ve made me very happy.

  Steven

  The all-important thanks and acknowledgments.

  I’ll try not to get too emotional…

  Huge thanks to -

  Dave Haslam - for running his writing workshop at Folk and inspiring me to crack on with this project. The on-going encouragement was much appreciated.

  Emma-Jane Unsworth - who upon reading the initial draft, encouraged me to persevere and provided some invaluable guidance and advice. Your help did make all the difference at exactly the right time. Ta Em x

  Mick Peek - Much, much more than brilliant artwork! Our design meetings took on an almost ‘therapy session’ like quality. Your creative design ideas made me realise that all my words could become an actual book. I can’t thank you enough for guiding me through my initial doubts and potential pitfalls. I’d love to think that there will be a few more covers for you to design! You’re a top man Mick x

  Simon Buckley - For taking a set of pictures that, as I’ve been told, “you’ll
never look better than that!” Your time and encouragement were, as always, perfectly timed and helped add a polished look to my marketing blurb. The finest and loveliest lensmith in Mancunia and beyond x

  Gareth Howard and Hayley Radford at Clink Street - A book is nothing without readers. And it’s even less without a publisher. Thank you for taking what was initially nothing more than a personal project and turning all my work and words into a fully formed book. The editorial process lifted it into something that I am intensely proud of. The whole experience has been quite the learning curve but one that has been thoroughly enjoyable. Thank you again for everything and here’s to the next book!

  Last, but resolutely not least, huge thanks to each and every one of you who supported this project and ultimately me when I was trying to get this off the ground. Without your support and backing, this would not have happened and remained tucked away gathering digital dust on my laptop.

  I can’t express how much this means to me and all I can say, is huge, huge thanks and I hope you have enjoyed both the book and the part you played in getting it published.

  Keep on supporting whatever great art/literature/music projects that need similar backing. I guarantee, it makes a difference.

  Thank you all once again.

  Steven

  Alphabetical list of backers for ‘The Rock’n’The Roll. ‘N That…’

  Adrian Jones (AJ)

  Aidan Jones

  Alan Duffy

  Alec Scriven

  Alex Barley

  Amanda Brown

  Amanda Hewkin

  Andrew Taylor

  Andrew Lever

  Angela Henry

  Bob Brear

  Charlie Bell

  Chris Curson

  Christopher Matthews

  Claire Perry

  Colin Hendrie

  Daniel Taylor

  David Coates

  David Gill

  David Chidlow

  Dean Casement

  Debbie Etchells

  Declan Brennan

  Dee Wilkie

  François Cancel

  Gemma Sutcliffe

  Greg Thorpe

  Hannah Thomas

  Helen Tate

  Helen Hayes

  Henry Armstrong

  Iain McGuire

  Ian Howells

  Jackie O’Malley

  Jacqueline Hoepner

  Jan Whiting

  Jane Savvides

  Jason Greenberg

  Jessica Walton

  Jimmy Love

  John Clamp

  Jon Walker

  Jude Jagger

  Julie Walker

  Justin Rouse

  Kara Leckenby

  Kate Mountain

  Katie Potter

  Kayleigh Green

  Keith Chadwick

  Kelly Wild

  Kirsty Ball

  Laura Vaughan

  Laurence Lambourn

  Lisa O’Malley

  Mark Howard

  Michael Butterworth

  Michael Van Zandt

  Michela Johnson

  Mick Peek

  Nichola Clark

  Nick Dunn

  Nicola Watson

  Nicole Russo

  Paul Bowers

  Paul Turnbull

  Paul Gallagher

  Paul Bullock

  Paula Carville

  Peter Weller

  Philip Read

  Philip Lovely

  Philip Randles

  Rachel Gill

  Ric Michael

  Richard Bray

  Rob Weeden

  Robert Jones

  Ruth Turner

  Ruth Martin

  Sam Wallis

  Sarah Bates

  Saul Brody

  Simon Buckley

  Sonya Roberts

  Stephen O’Malley

  Steve Hallam

  Stuart Fraser

  Theresa James

  Tom Lloyd-Goodwin

  Tom Smith

  Warren Clarke

  William Borrows

  Copyright

  Published by Clink Street Publishing 2018

  Copyright © 2018

  First edition.

  The author asserts the moral right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means with- out the prior consent of the author, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that with which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

  ISBN:

  978–1–912562–55–8 – paperback

  978–1–912562–56–5 – ebook