Read Online The Last Days of Rabbit Hayes by Anna McPartlin - Free Book Online Page B

nervous and excited as anyone else. The show was Ireland’s answer to
Top of the Pops
and it was a big deal to be asked on. That night Kitchen Sink would share the stage with stars from the UK and the USA. Francie and Jay were so excited they kept punching each other and getting into scraps. Davey kept running to the toilet until Molly was forced to medicate him.
    ‘Now I won’t have a shite for a week,’ he grumbled.
    ‘Better than having one on stage.’
    Louis needed help with his braces. ‘I think they’re broken, Mrs H.’
    ‘They’re not. Just calm down and stop dancing about,’ Molly said.
    Grace was necking vodka and orange with her friend Emily, both dressed to the nines but still preening each other every five minutes.
    Johnny was quiet, sitting in a corner, dressed like a rock star and ready to play. Rabbit was beside him, strumming his guitar.
    ‘Don’t do that, Rabbit,’ Jack said. ‘We don’t want it going out of tune.’
    ‘It’s all right, Mr H,’ Johnny said. ‘Rabbit knows what she’s doing.’
    Rabbit wasn’t allowed to go because she was too young. She’d moaned about it most of the day to her best friend, Marjorie.
    ‘When’s Uncle Terry arriving?’ Johnny asked.
    ‘In about half an hour,’ Francie answered.
    ‘Grand. So we have time for some tea,’ Jay said.
    ‘Good man, put on the kettle,’ Molly said.
    ‘I don’t feel much like tea. How about we go for a walk, Rabbit?’ Johnny suggested, and Rabbit nodded enthusiastically.
    ‘It’s freezing out there,’ Molly said.
    ‘Just need to clear me head, Mrs H,’ Johnny said.
    ‘Well, put on coats and, Rabbit, gloves, hat and a scarf. I don’t need you coming down with something this week.’
    Rabbit and Johnny left together, Rabbit looking like the Michelin Man, but even with Jack’s big old heavy funeral coat on over his ripped jeans, loose shirt and purple velvet jacket, with a tea-cosy hat, Johnny still looked like a rock star.
    They walked around the corner and his silence made Rabbit nervous. She wanted him to talk or maybe he wanted her to talk but she didn’t know what to say.
Say something cool. Say something cool. Say something cool.
    ‘What?’ He’d read her mind.
    ‘Nothing.’
    ‘You’re pissed off you’re not coming tonight,’ he said.
    ‘Oh, yeah. I am.’
    He grinned. He grabbed her hand walking across the road, letting it go as soon as they hit the other side.
    They walked up the steps of the church and Rabbit followed Johnny inside. It was empty and dark, save for a few red candles glowing in the corner.
    ‘It’s weird in here,’ Rabbit whispered.
    ‘But kinda cool, don’t you think?’
    ‘No,’ she said, and he smiled at her.
    ‘You are the only person aside from my own family who disagrees with me.’
    ‘Really?’
    ‘Really.’
    ‘Everyone disagrees with me,’ Rabbit said.
    They sat down side by side.
    ‘What are we doing here?’ Rabbit wondered.
    ‘I always come here before a show.’
    ‘Why?’
    ‘It’s where I find peace.’
    ‘Oh.’
    ‘What about you, Rabbit, where do you find peace?’
    ‘I’ve never really looked for it,’ she said.
    He lit a candle, knelt and prayed. Rabbit sat and waited while he mumbled to himself and drew crosses on his chest with his right hand. She felt awkward, embarrassed even, and she wasn’t sure why, but she really wanted to get out of the place. As she descended the steps, she braced herself for him to hold her hand to cross the road. When he took it, she looked up at him and grinned widely. ‘You’ll be amazing tonight,’ she said.
    ‘We’ll see.’
    ‘I don’t have to see,’ she said. ‘Ma said you were born for this and my ma knows things.’
    ‘Yeah, she does.’
    They turned the corner and saw the lads piling the gear into the back of Uncle Terry’s van. Johnny arrived just in time for Francie to point out that he was a lazy wanker, always arriving just after all the work was done.
    ‘That’s singers for ya,’