Seven Point Eight (9 page)

“Music and art, they’re my passion. Do you remember when Aunt Caroline bought me the piano, and kept it at your house?”

Jack interjected. “Where’s the money in music and art? I can’t say your father was too pleased.”

Sam transposed from a placid manner to one decidedly cockier.

“Well, Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ was number one on the album chart for thirty seven weeks and it generated seven top ten singles, making him $125 million. U2’s ‘Joshua Tree’ sold more than fourteen million copies worldwide and the tour grossed $40 million. I think that could be regarded as more substantial than mere pocket money. Would you like me to continue?"

Jack appeared embarrassed at his snappy response. Everyone looked at their plates with sudden interest, and silence fell upon the room, only broken by the sound of knives cutting chicken. A few people cleared their throats. Caroline sensed the imminent explosion and used diplomacy.

“Do you play any other instrument besides the piano?”

Sam smiled and stated proudly, “The guitar, not like my father cares but I have my own path to follow. It’s as valid as anyone else’s.”

Ava gave him a supportive look. “You must play for me sometime, I haven’t heard you perform for about five years now.”

“Yeah, I’ve improved enormously since Yankee Doodle Dandy,” he joked.

Once the meal concluded, Caroline helped shift all the dirty plates to the sink, and Jason began browsing their CD collection for the early evening entertainment. Emma wanted commercial pop, while Jason insisted on the Smiths and the Sisters of Mercy, plus a little Bauhaus when everyone had consumed too much wine.

“This is my birthday, not my funeral,” Ava objected, “and we have conservative guests today.”

Jason sighed in concession, and chart music won. Ava laughed inwardly though. Conservative her family may be, but they were like dynamite and earthquakes together sometimes.

Kylie Minogue kicked off the evening with a song entitled ‘I Should Be So Lucky.’

“One hit wonder,” Jack scoffed.

At this point, the door bell rang again and Caroline answered it. A few minutes later, a bohemian looking woman a little older than Ava breezed in, with her boyfriend in tow. She had a henna rinse on her hair and wore a stripy long sleeved t -shirt. Handing Ava a bottle of wine, she gave her a hug.

“Sorry sis, we couldn’t make the meal, we only got back from
Goa
last night. Happy birthday!”

“Glad you finally made it, Nettie, just in time for the wine!”

Jack butted in, clutching a bottle of Budweiser and looking more arrogant than usual.

 
“If you don’t find a suitable job, you can always start as my assistant. You’ll soon work your way to the top.”

Sam cut in, after eavesdropping. “I think my father is interested in recruiting you, Ava, when you’ve finished your degree of course. You know how he has a vested interest in science.”

“It’s okay, I’ll find something, there’s an abundance of jobs in the scientific field.”

She used Sam as a cue to exit Jack’s company, and the monotonous train of conversation concerning finance and accounts.

“Shall we open this bottle and dispense the wine?”

They moved into the kitchen, and Ava rummaged in the drawers for a corkscrew. Sam watched her uncork the wine, with the adulation of a teenager in love for the first time.

 
“You become more beautiful every day,” he said.

Ava stood looking at him with the bottle in her hand, unsure about his intentions. Prince began to sing ‘When Doves Cry’ in the background.

She replied with a compliment. “And you’re turning into a handsome young man, I’m sure you’ll have no shortage of girlfriends.”

“As long as they’re like you, and are as intelligent as you.”

She averted her eyes for a moment, trying to deal with the strange feelings his comment churned up. How could he think like that?

“Sam, I love you as a member of the family. I know I’ve played a huge role in your childhood, but, you’re my cousin….”

“
Adopted
cousin, remember?” he pointed out.

Yes, adopted. They both knew that all too well. Her parentage had become a sensitive issue since Caroline had told her about the adoption years ago, just as the hidden identity of Sam’s mother gnawed at him occasionally.

He moved closer to her and placed one hand on her hip. She paused, bottle of wine still in her hand, unsure what to think. Sam placed her hand on his stomach, and began to sing along with the music, referring to the lyrics.

“Can you feel how my stomach trembles inside?”

His infatuation confused her, it being so direct and unexpected. He continued singing along and enjoyed the feel of her hand on his stomach. As he received no rebuttal, he began to move her hand further down his body, and a little thrill of sexual arousal tingled throughout her nervous system.

This is so wrong.

Her sister, Annette, burst onto the scene, thankfully not excruciatingly drunk. At this point Sam pulled away, a little embarrassed and feeling his moment had been cruelly deflated. As much as Ava wanted Sam’s company, his unexpected romantic interest had disturbed her deeply and thrown up some confusing feelings. Nettie provided a much needed distraction.

“Life has turned upside down this summer!” she declared.

Ava became fascinated by the drama and mystery. “Is this concerning your latest travels?”

“Well, sort of.”

“Where have you been this time?”

“To another freaking dimension! Seeing as it’s the summer of love, I took part in a little drug experimentation…”

In the background the music changed to Bon Jovi, ‘Living on a Prayer’, to which Jason and Emma began to sing along in their semi drunken state.

 
“Drugs???” Ava blurted out, shocked.

“Shhhh! Don’t let mum hear, it was just LSD.”

“Just LSD?” Ava lowered her voice. “Why would you do that?”

Annette rolled her eyes. “To free my mind, you really should try it. The colours are amazing and when it peaks, everything you think is so profound, and the hallucinations really are out of this world. I sat in someone’s house after a party, and the carpet was just writhing with snakes.”

“Snakes?”

Warning sirens began to sound in Ava’s head.

Nettie takes acid and sees snakes.

I saw snakes today, in the roasting tin.

Coincidence?

Ava made wild connections, or were they wild?

Am I tripping on LSD, or something?

Nothing made sense anymore. Surely someone hadn’t been spiking her drinks or food, had they?

4

Forlorn Genius

There was nothing more Sam hated than coming home to an empty house, but he’d gotten used to it. However, he still hated the solitude. The quietness of the house sometimes disturbed him, for in these silent moments, the nightmares came. They’d plagued him all his life and he’d never learned to deal with them. Now he was almost an adult, and he missed the feeling of family Caroline had given him as a child. All his father had offered was an empty house and an empty heart.

Sam’s father’s place was a large town house in the suburbs of north
London
. Quintessentially Victorian, it had a double bay window at the front and dormer window at the top. Sam never used the front of the house and entered through the back, a little tired after Ava’s birthday meal. He unlocked the door and entered the kitchen, moving through to open the double doors between this room and the next, which created an open plan living area.

When he looked into the living room, it appeared he had a visitor, who’d probably some to see his father. Many people came and went in his father’s life, so it wasn’t unusual to find someone in the house. The male visitor was middle aged, with a full head of grey hair and he sat on the sofa, which showed its back to the kitchen, so that only the top part of the man was visible.

“Hi,” Sam said, nonchalantly, “you waiting for my dad?”

“Yes and no, I’ve been meaning to pop by for a while,” the visitor replied.

Sam shrugged in an effort to appear indifferent, although he appreciated the company. Because he was polite and believed in hospitality, he offered the visitor a drink and the man accepted a cup of tea. Sam put the kettle on.

“So,” he attempted conversation, “are you here for business or pleasure?”

The man smiled. “A bit of both,” he said warmly. “I’m Bill, by the way.”

“Pleased to meet you. I’m Sam.”

“Oh yes, I know your name, you’ve been mentioned many a time, in a positive way of course.”

This surprised Sam, he often felt non-existent and when his father acknowledged his presence, he complained about what Sam chose to do with his time, and his career choices.

“So young man,” Bill continued, “you’re finishing school soon. What are you going to do after that?”

Sam found this a difficult question, as he’d become so used to condemnation.

“I’d love to study music or art at university… express my soul… compose music to move people’s souls.”

“Well, I think that’s wonderful.”

“My dad doesn’t. He wants me to be like Ava and be a scientist, or run a business like him, because he thinks I’ll make a lot of money from it. All I want to do is make music.” Sam popped a teabag into an empty cup, poured on the boiling water and stirred it with vigour. “Music is big business, and as worthy a career as stock broking or science, not that anyone takes me seriously.”

“I’m sure your instincts are correct, you’ll find many of your gut feelings can be safely followed.”

After pouring in a little milk, he took the cup into the main living area and walked around the sofa. A surreal and gross sight confronted him. Bill sat on the sofa but both his legs were missing below the knee, the wounds bleeding, jagged and raw. It was happening again, the visitors…they always looked so real but they weren’t…they couldn’t be. Sam dropped the cup of tea, the drink splashing everywhere.

“Sorry to appear like this,” Bill continued, “I needed to get your attention.”

Sam closed his eyes like he always had done and breathed deeply.

“You’ve shut us out for too long, Sam. You need to start accepting that we’ll always be around, to be seen and heard. We mean no harm.”

He opened his eyes, mortified to find Bill still sitting there, although he now had complete legs. Sam grabbed a cloth from the kitchen to clean the tea stain on the floor. As he rubbed, venting his anger, Bill pursued the conversation.

“You didn’t always ignore us.”

Sam shrugged, with a surly expression on his face.

“Well, times change, don’t they?”

Bill gave him a benign smile, patient of the reluctance Sam demonstrated.

“Who was your first, how shall I say, spirit visitor?”

Sam finished rubbing the stain and set the cloth to one side.