“He didn’t attack me,” Frankie stressed, glancing at me. “He just . . . pulled the mop and I fell.”
“That fucker was trying to intimidate you,” Joe stated. “He trespassed, and if they catch him I’m pressing charges.”
I was in full agreement with Joe but I knew from experience that the paps could get away with a whole lot worse than trespassing and intimidating someone. I didn’t tell that to Frankie though, she wanted to forget about it.
“Let’s just get on with our day. Look,” – she pointed at the doorway – “we have customers coming.”
It turned out the customers were a group of teenage Sinners who were wearing our band’s merchandise. Straight away, Joe told them not to hassle me or May and they listened. Since it was only a small group of five, May and I decided to get in some pictures with them and sign their T-shirts.
“Can you take our picture?” a kid asked Frankie. “Please.”
“Sure.” She took the phone happily, stepped back and said, “Say cheese.”
“Cheese.” Everyone echoed and smiled.
My smile was the biggest because as Frankie took the picture, I realised that she was smiling wide as well, like she was in the picture rather than taking it. It was so fucking cute.
“Risk.” She gave me a pointed look. “Look at the camera.”
“Sorry.” I grinned. “I’m looking now.”
She took a couple more pictures, then May and I sat in booth one and Frankie took our order while Anna took care of the kids. I felt them staring at us, but a couple of glances showed they didn’t have their phones pointed our way which was a nice change. Frankie took down our orders; we each wanted a full English. She came back about ten minutes later with large plates of food. May put his phone down and I noticed he was scowling as Frankie placed our food in front of us.
“What is it?”
“I was on Twitter.”
Uh-oh.
“And some cocksucker said our music is basic. He actually said playing our songs are easy.” May grunted. “The fucking clown.”
Frankie snorted. “They are easy-peasy to play.”
I nearly broke my neck jerking my head so I could stare at Frankie, who flushed under my and May’s wide-eyed stares.
“You can play our songs on guitar?” I asked, feeling my balls tingle. “Think very carefully before you answer because I’m going to get a hard-on in public if you say yes.”
Frankie’s eyes darted down, but the table blocked her view of my groin, so she flicked her gaze back up to mine and shrugged her shoulders.
“I can play them on Guitar . . . God.”
When May and I shared a look we promptly burst into laughter, Frankie’s lips twitched as she folded her arms across her chest.
“Oh. So you two think that doesn’t count, huh?”
“Frankie girl,” May tittered, shaking his head. “Guitar God is a game.”
“I bet I could beat you on expert on any Blood Oath song on Guitar God,” she challenged. “I could play circles around you even with an injured hand, March.”
“Oh, mate,” I baited May. “I know you aren’t gonna let Samwise Gamgee call you out like this.”
The hobbit reference didn’t bother Frankie. I had called her Bilbo, Frodo, Samwise, Merry and Pippin for as long as I could remember. I was sure I had dubbed her with the names of the entire population of The Shire at some point in her life.
“You’re on, dwarf.” May narrowed his hooded eyes. “You’re gonna regret challenging me, Fulton. It’s on like fuckin’ Donkey Kong!”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
FRANKIE
I should have known better than to challenge May Acton.
After a pretty outrageous morning at work, I shouldn’t have been surprised to find myself in May’s sitting room at half nine in the evening. After Risk and May had had their breakfast, May demanded I accept his challenge to a Guitar God duel. My threat of playing circles around him really riled him up. It didn’t help that Risk was whispering in his ear, baiting him every chance he got. I accepted the challenge with a smile. Risk and May left not long after and I put the duel out of my mind as I worked. I finished my shift at three, went to the hospice and spent time with my mum until half seven, then I hit McDonald’s drive-thru on the way to May’s house. I got there at eight sharp and I shouldn’t have been surprised to find that May had been out and purchased a Guitar God console and accessories, but I was.
I walked into the sitting room and stared at the massive plasma screen on the wall. The room wasn’t very big, and the TV took up most of the space on the wall above the fireplace. The game’s home screen was opened, and every single one of the instrumentals for every Blood Oath song available on the game’s online store was on the screen.