3 Heads & a Tail (11 page)

Josie stared into her drink. Kurt padded his head in a what-are-you-on-about message to Jon.

“
What
did I do
?
”
asked
Jon
,
looking
blank.
“
Ju
s
'
jokin
'
,
man!
”

Jerome
laughed, honking
loudly through his nose
. He burst open a big bag of crisps, which
exploded
loudly
on to the table as the band
began to play
.

Phew,
saved by the band,
thoug
ht Josie, at a loss for something to talk about.
Kurt was really st
aring and it made her feel
awkward.
Kay
seemed really into
Jon, so
that meant they
were going to be stuck with these guys all night.
Thankfully, the singer
of the band
was a gifted
harmonic
a
player
and
Josie
drifted on the wave of sound.

“
Hey!
”
said a voice.

Glancing back
over her shoulder, Jos
ie came face to face with Ben. Out of the corner of her eye, s
he saw Kay
stifle a smile
.

“
If you
'
re not
too busy, fancy a game of pool?
”
asked Ben.
“
We
'
re three men and we need another to play doubles!
”

“
But I
'
m not a man!
”
said Josie, her eyes sparkling.

Ben laughed.
“
You k
now what I mean!
Come on.
”

She didn
'
t need to be asked twice.
“
Sorry guys, I
'
ve
got to
rescue a g
ame!
Catch you later.
“

“
Sure thing!
”
mumbled
Kurt.

Jerome
patted
him
on the back,
“
Shot down in flames!
”

Josie followed
her housemate
across the room, carefully hugging her pint so that it wouldn
'
t spill.

“
Hello!
”
said Ben
'
s friends, who
m
he introduced as Bill and William. They seemed friendly enough.

Josie crossed her bag over her chest so that she could play without it swinging off, and placed her pint down on the small, round table. She dra
ped her jacket on a chair.
“
W
ho am I playing with?
”

William laughed.
“
W
ho
'
s she playing with, Ben?
”

“
Come on!
”
said Ben, laughing.
“
Sorry Josie!
”

“
No offenc
e taken
,
”
said
Josie.
“
William,
I
'
m d
efinitely not playing with you now
, you cheeky monkey
!
”

“
She told you Willy
! S
he
'
s not playing with you!
”
said Bill
, laughing
.

Ben
shook
his head as he set up the balls.
“
I guess you
'
re going to be with
me
as these
two jokers
can
'
t be trusted!
”

“
Suits me,
”
said Josie.
“
You
go
first
,
'
cos I can
'
t break
to save my life
.
”

“
Bet you can really,
”
said Bill.
“
Everyone thinks they can
'
t, but it
'
s pret
ty easy –
it
'
s just
like
any other shot
.
”

“
No, really, I
'
m rubbish.
”

“
Right,
”
sai
d Ben.
“
I
'
m going to show you.
”

He beckoned Josie over to the end of the table and handed her the cue. She took it sheepishly, h
oping not to
do anything stupid like rip up
the green.
“
Stand there. That
'
s it. P
osition the white ball where it
'
s
going to hit the most balls. Yep,
that
'
s it,
and ju
st aim. H
it square and hard –
something
'
s gotta go down
.
”

Bill exploded into laughter while Willy quaffed his beer and spluttered.

“
Guys, g
ive me a break!
”
Ben
sat down wearing a goofy expression.

Josie blinked.
Concentrate
, she told herself,
trying not to grip
the cue
too tightly. She bent down, positioned herself and the cue
,
and focused on the nearest ball
. She aimed and hit it dead centre as hard as she could. Whack!

“
W
hoa
!
”
cried
Willy and Bill as two spot balls shot down two
different
holes.

Ben grinned.
“
Not bad!
”

“
It was
all down to
my teacher!
”
Josie smiled
and sat down. She needed a quick swig
of ale
.

Will nudged Bill, who looked at Josie. They looked at one another and at Ben, who was engrossed in his beer, and smiled
conspiratorially
. Bill took the cue and his shot.

Josie was really enjoying herself. Ben was such easy company and his friends were nice too. As the game cr
ept on, she decided
to stay rather than return to
Kay
'
s table, knowing her friend
could take care of herself.
Towards the end of the game
, the two teams
were neck and neck
, and it was Josie
'
s shot. They each had two
balls
left
, and the black sat smugly in the middle.
She took a deep breath, bent down and took aim. Smack! Potted!

“
Yes!
”
shouted Ben,
his fist
flying up into
the air.

Bill frowned.
“
Fluke!
”

She
grinn
ed. O
ne more ball to go
,
and then
on to
the black – could
she do it?

“
Josie!
”
called
a voice out of the b
lue. She turned to see
the brown-haired guy. His two mates were waiting by the door. It looked as if they were
leaving
. Where was Kay? Then she noticed
her, squeezing
the blonde guy.
She
could have guessed!

“
I
'
m off now, but I hope to see you another time. We
'
re in this pub a lot. I
f you fancy meeting up, here
'
s my number.
”
Kurt held out a beer mat with some
scribble
s
on it.
'
Be
a man – go for gold
!
'
it
said, above a photo of a
golden-coloured
pint of ale
.

“
Thanks,
”
said
a
surprised
Josie
.

“
It was nice to meet you
, lass. S
ee you soon, I hope.
”
And off he went.

The two other guys and Kay waved from the
pub
door. Josie waved
back. She hoped Kay would be alright. She woul
d text her later to make sure.

“
Looks like it
'
s your lucky day,
”
said Ben,
pointing
at the slogan on the beer mat.
“
Go for gold.
”

“
Yes, well,
”
muttered Josie,
ramming
it
into her bag.
“
I better take
my shot.
”

“
Good luck!
”
Ben was
a little perturbed, but
didn
'
t let
it show.

Josie focused her attention on the last r
emaining ball. Smack! S
he missed
it
.
“
Ugh
,
”
she breathed
.
“
Sorry, I really thought I was going to hit it.
”

“
So did I
,
no
w
orries,
”
replied Ben
.
“
It
'
s not over yet.
”

“
O
h
,
yes it is!
”
Willy
grinned
.
“
Step aside for the master
of the cue
!
”

“
Go
,
Willy!
”
said Bill, standing up.

“
Here goes,
”
said Willy,
effortlessly
banging the ball into the pocket.

Ben frowned.
“
No way!
”

“
And now for number two,
”
announced Willy, potting
a
second without even thinking about it.

“
You hustler!
”
laughed Bill, sipping his whiskey. He drank it straight, but he wasn
'
t standing that way.

“
And now, for my final trick,
I will pot the black,
”
announced
Willy, his voice getting louder. Luckily, the
noise of the
band
concealed
it from the other drinkers.

Josie laughed. They ha
d lost, but this was kind of funny. Ben
'
s face was a picture. She realised he
must be
quite competitive
after all,
even though he gave the impression that he wa
sn
'
t bothered about anything.