She smiled at her elder brother’s innocence. ‘In some lives me and you might not even get on.’
‘Nonsense.’
‘I hope so.’
Joe seemed a bit uncomfortable, and clearly wanted to change the topic.
‘Hey, guess who I saw the other day?’
Nora shrugged, hoping it was going to be someone she’d heard of.
‘Ravi. Do you remember Ravi?’
She thought of Ravi, telling her off in the newsagent’s only yesterday. ‘Oh yeah. Ravi.’
‘Well, I bumped into him.’
‘In Bedford?’
‘Ha! God, no. Haven’t been there for years. No. It was at Blackfriars station. Totally random. Like, I haven’t seen him in over a decade. Atleast. He wanted to go to the pub. So, I explained I was teetotal now, and then I got into having to explain I’d been an alcoholic. And all of that. That I hadn’t had a glass of wine or a puff on a joint in years.’ Nora nodded as if this wasn’t a bomb-shell. ‘Since I got into a mess after Mum died. I think he was like, “Who is this guy?” But he was fine. He was cool. He’s working as a cameraman now. Still doing some music on the side. Not rock stuff. DJ-ing apparently. Remember that band me and him had, years ago. The Labyrinths?’
It was becoming easier to fake vagueness. ‘Oh yeah. The Labyrinths. Course. That’s a blast from the past.’
‘Yeah. Got the sense he pines for those days. Even though we were crap and I couldn’t sing.’
‘What about you? Do you ever think about what could have been if The Labyrinths had made it big?’
He laughed, a little sadly. ‘I don’t know if anythingcould have been.’
‘Maybe you needed an extra person. I used to play those keyboards Mum and Dad got you.’
‘Did you? When did you have time for that?’
A life without music. A life without reading the books she had loved.
But also: a life where she got on with her brother. A life where she hadn’t had to let him down.
‘Anyway, Ravi wanted to say hi. And wanted a catch-up. He only works one tube stop away. So he’s going to try and come to the talk.’
‘What? Oh. That’s ... I wish he wouldn’t.’
‘Why?’
‘I just never really liked him.’
Joe frowned. ‘Really? I can’t remember you saying that ... He’s okay. A good guy. Bit of a waster, maybe, back in the day, but he seems to have got his act together a bit ...’
Nora was unsettled. ‘Joe?’
‘Yeah.’
‘You know when Mum died?’
‘Yeah.’
‘Where was I?’
‘What do you mean? Are you okay today, sis? Are the new tablets working?’
