[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

most surprising was a wooden bookcase with two rows of books; the
rest dedicated to CDs and DVDs. But still, Dara couldn t remember Jody
ever reading a book at high school. Dara sat on one of the lounges and
Jody bought them both a glass of red wine.
 It s just cask, Jody said.
Dara wouldn t be able to taste the difference anyway. She sipped at it. It
wasn t nauseating like the vodka.
 I can t believe how good you look now, Dara.
 Thanks. You too.
Toward the end of their night out Dara had started to regret hooking up
with Jody again. But here, back in her flat  which smelled quite
beautifully hinted with lavender too  she felt that attraction flooding
back. The attraction she d had for Jody as a teenager. It gave her a
feeling she hadn t had since then as well: a feeling of hope and of
something new and fresh  and just for her &
 I m starting to look old, Jody said.  But you ve just gotten hotter.
 You don t look ol 
But Jody covered Dara s mouth with her own.
Dara had never had sex before. Not with anyone else anyway. And Jody
had known exactly what to do. Everything felt so perfect it exploded out
in almost endless crescendos. And Jody had looked so beautiful in the
half-light of her little bedroom. Although Dara had thought about what
she would like to do to Jody, she was a bit unsure when she actually had
the chance. But when she started, Jody seemed to love what Dara did.
Dara had been so into what they were doing all night she d not even
called or messaged her mum to let her know she wouldn t be home.
Although she wanted to stay in bed with Jody forever, she knew she d
have to get up and call her mum.
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It was early morning, but her mum would be awake. Her parents trusted
her, but Dara knew they d be worried as hell. Her mum was okay about
it. She told her she d stayed at a friend from school s place, and that
she d be home a bit later.
 A girl friend I hope, Dara, her mum had said.
I hope she s my girlfriend, Dara thought.
She turned on the kettle and searched for a teabag. There wasn t much
in the way of food and associated items in the place, but there was an
ex-motel English breakfast sachet in the cupboard. She couldn t find
sugar, but the tea was good anyway. Dara walked quietly around the
flat. There was a small room next to the bedroom  too small to be
called a second bedroom, but too big to be a closet really. She opened
the door a bit and looked in. The homely order of the flat was counter-
balanced in the room by stowed chaos. Things had been quite obviously
pushed in there and the door shut. Half unpacked boxes, strewn clothes,
piles of paper, even empty bottles. It was a bit of a thorn in the mood
Dara had woken up in. It wasn t that bad really though. Jody had done a
good job on the rest of the flat. And a wonderful job on her last night.
Dara smiled to herself. She knew she d have to take the dark with the
light with Jody. She d known that six years ago. Then something caught
Dara s eye in the little room. A Gibson logo. Gibson? Jody hadn t
mentioned having a guitar, let alone a Gibo. Dara put the cup down on
the floor and ventured quietly into the room. She moved some boxes
and clothes and cleared a path to the unmistakable emblem. It was a
case. An old one. With quite a few dings. And one that was way too
familiar. Adrenaline thumped into Dara s veins as she pulled the case
out from under a pile of clothes and opened it up. Her Firebird.
Definitely her Firebird. She took it out and turned it over. That wear
mark on the back. Jesus. What the hell? Did Jody buy it somewhere? Did
she buy it from Peter fucking Tootslakis? Dara instinctively held the
guitar in the playing position, knocking a box off the top of something:
her Marshall amp. There was an old toaster in the box and it hit the
floorboards with a chunky metal-to-wood clang that hurt the silence of
early morning. Jody pushed the door fully open, squinting, and showing
now her age.
 What are you doing? Jody groaned.
 What the hell, Jody. This is my guitar.
 Oh.
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 How the heck did you get this?
 Shit, Dara. It s too early. Come back to bed.
 Come back to bed? How come you ve got my guitar?
 Do you want it? You can have it.
 I can have it? Jody, please. What s it doing here? You don t know the
shit I went through when this got stolen.
 Look, Peter what s  is name gave it to me.
 Peter Tootslakis? I knew that arsehole took it! Jody, why didn t you tell
me?
 Because I asked him to steal it.
 You? You asked him to?
 Look, Dara, he was in love with me, so he reckoned. And he said he d do
anything for me. I wasn t interested in him though. I was interested in
you. And I thought you liked me too. But when you got that guitar, all
you loved, all you were bloody interested in was that thing. I actually
hated seeing you play it. The look on your face. I asked Peter to knock it
off.
 Jesus, Jody. I did like you. And the guitar is a thing, not a person.
 But you loved it like a person. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]