All the Small Things (part 5)
Thursday night
“Come on guys. Anything.” Tom ran his hand through his hair.
Danny released his white-knuckle grip on the sink and stamped back to his seat, his tears falling into dark stains on his T shirt. Across from him, Harry sat with one elbow on the table, forehead resting in his hand, staring into his mug.
“OK, what do we know? He's not slept properly in weeks.” Tom sighed. “That explains why he zones out in interviews. And the mistakes in practice.”
His cheeks flared crimson. He looked at Danny, at Harry, then at the floor. After a minute, he looked up.
“He's lost weight, a lot of weight. We should have seen it. How come we didn't see it?”
Silence.
“We should have seen it.” Tom squirmed, scratched at the back of his head.
“There are…” He coughed and cleared his throat. “He's got some nasty bruises on his chest and stomach. They look fresh, and-”
Danny shoved himself onto his feet. “Some bastard-”
“Try not to…” Tom put out his arm and caught him. “We don't know where they came from.”
He steered Danny back to his chair, then hunched forward and opened his hands on the table. “What do we do? What are we going to do?”
Danny slid lower in his seat, and his right leg began shaking. He swore under his breath, shifted his weight and crossed his legs, wiped his nose hard against the back of his hand.
The refrigerator rattled into life, hummed to itself as it went about its business, and clicked off again.
Harry looked up. “We need a break, stop the merry-go-round for a few days.” He slid his face up through his hand until his jaw rested in his palm. “Give us time to think, try to find out what's going on. Keep him away from whoever… did… that. And it might help with the sleep thing. Tomorrow, some magazine, isn't it?”
Tom nodded. “Flash Hits.”
“Fuh-la-shits.” Danny twisted round and started kicking at the table leg. “That lot make everything up anyway.”
Harry's mouth narrowed to a line. “OK. How's this? We'll say Dougie has flu, or food poisoning. No, two of us, can't ignore that, they'll have to cancel.”
He looked at the others: they nodded, and Tom gestured towards him.
“OK, Dougie and me. Call Fletch. Tell him… oh fuck, I don't know. Fever, squits, projectile vomiting, aliens ripping out of our chests. Whatever it takes. Move it to next week, as late as you can. The weekend is clear, isn't it?”
“Yeah, so far. We're supposed to be-”
“It needs to stay that way. So we can get over the bug. See if you can get them to clear Monday, Tuesday as well. After all, this 'flu' might be contagious.”
“Studio and that London FM thing on Monday, Tuesday is studio and…” Tom reached into his pocket for his phone, brought his hand out empty. “I'll check. Anyway, we're in the studio all week. We're supposed to finish recording by Friday.”
“Appearances, then. Do what you can.” Harry cleared his throat. “The other stuff, I knew this kid at school. He…”
He stabbed his finger at a grain of sugar.
“It got complicated. His head was seriously messed up. He…”
The finger ground back and forth on the tabletop. His head sank forward.
“We have to be careful, not put pressure on him or go all weird. And not a word to Fletch and the others. We don't need them freaking out. Besides, we don't… For all we know, one of them-”
“Oh fuck.” Tom dashed from the room.
Danny stared at the door, then looked around the kitchen. His watery eyes eventually settled on Harry slumped over the table. He watched him for a time, then slid his chair around and put a hand on Harry's back, murmured something. Harry shook his head. Danny nodded, moved his hand up and down in careful strokes.
Tom's pale face appeared in the doorway. “Sorry, it just… I called Fletch. No answer; I left a message.” He stood, breathing through his mouth, then swallowed. ”Look guys, I can't think any more. I'm going to go up. Try to get some sleep. 'Night.” He turned and shuffled away.
Harry sighed, stood up and trailed after Tom. He paused at the door, looked back and nodded. Danny raised a hand. For a minute he sat alone, then cleared the mugs and empty bottle away and turned off the lights.
⇐ Part 4 - Part 6 ⇒