No Matter What (39 page)

“To be honest, I don’t know.
 
But one thing I
do
know is that we have to be careful.
 
Jimmy Cash is a dangerous man and I don’t want to get caught up in the middle of any of his shit.”

“But, what if he takes her away again, Kenny?
 
What if we lose her?”
 
Terry surprised himself with the desperation in his voice.
 
All of a sudden he just wanted to see Charley again.
 
He wanted more than anything to know that she was safe.

“We don’t rush into anything, Terry, do you hear me?
 
I mean it.
 
He doesn’t operate the way the rest of the world does, he’s fucking crazy, and he doesn’t care who he hurts.
 
So we think about this.
 
Ok?”

Terry nodded, sighing.
 
“Ok.”
 

Kenny wasn’t convinced Terry was totally listening to him but the ‘phone ringing stopped him from any further lecturing.

“Grab a beer from the fridge, I’ll just get this.”
 
Kenny picked up the ‘phone. “Yep?”

“Kenny?
 
It’s me.”

Kenny smiled at the sound of her voice.
 
“
India
, baby, how you doing?
 
How’s
New York
?”

“
New York
was amazing, yeah.
 
But I’m not in
New York
anymore.”

“You back in
L.A.
?
 
When did you get home?”

“No, we’re not in
L.A.
either, well, I’m not ... I’m in
England
.”

“
England
?”

That made Terry look over.
 
What the hell was his sister doing in
England
?
 
Kenny just shrugged at Terry’s questioning look.

“What you doing over there?” Kenny asked, pulling himself up onto one of the bar stools as Terry continued to stare at him.
 

“I guess I just had a moment of spontaneity,”
India
replied.
 
“Is Terry there with you?”

“Why do you ask?”

“Because you keep pausing as though you’re acknowledging someone else.”

“Jesus, you don’t miss a thing do you?
 
Anyway, like I said, what you doing over there?”

“I wanted to go home, Kenny.
 
I just wanted to go home.”

“You’re in
Newcastle
?”

Terry looked even more surprised now.
 
Why in the world had she decided to go back there
now
?
 
He hoped to God it wasn’t anything to do with their mother.

“Is Michael with her?” Terry asked.

“
India
, is Michael with you?”

“No.
 
He had to go back to
Los Angeles
... Kenny, look, can I talk to you?
 
Please?
 
Can you just tell Terry I’m fine and everything’s ok but ... I really need to talk to you.”

“Sure ... hold on ...”

“What’s up?” Terry asked.
 
“Is she alright?”

“She’s fine.
 
She’s ok.
 
Look, take the bike and go grab us some Chinese food, I’m starving.”

“She wants to talk to you alone, huh?”

Kenny smiled and nodded, throwing Terry the keys to his bike.

“Ok.
 
I know when I’m not wanted ... hang on, it’s after two 0’clock in the morning over there, are you sure she’s ok?”

“She’s fine.
 
Just let me talk to her.
 
Go on.”

Kenny watched him go before turning his attention back to
India
.
 
“It’s after two in the morning honey, what’s up?”

“I just wanted to talk to you.
 
I wanted to hear your voice.”

Kenny felt his stomach flip over.
 
Sometimes he didn’t realise how much he missed her.
 
“You sure you’re ok?”

She paused for a second and Kenny just knew something was coming, something he wasn’t going to like.

“Michael’s asked me to marry him.”

He couldn’t speak, he couldn’t say anything.
 
He should have known it was on the cards, now the baby was on the way, but he just hadn’t expected to hear the words out loud.

“Kenny?”

“I’m here, I’m still here ... and ... and what did you say?”
 
He needed a drink and got up, going over to the cupboard, finding a half empty bottle of whisky, not bothering to look for a glass.

“I said yes.”

Kenny leant back against the cupboard and closed his eyes.

“Kenny ... I need to see you.
 
I really need to see you.”

There was something in her voice he couldn’t quite work out.
 
Indecision, maybe?
 
Confusion?

“You can see me whenever you want to, baby, you know that.
 
India
, come on, what’s wrong?
 
You can’t bullshit me, you didn’t ring me at two in the morning just to tell me you and Michael are getting married, you could have done that tomorrow.”

She went quiet for a second and he just wished he could reach out and hold her.
 
Something was going on and it was so hard to get the whole story over the ‘phone.

“I need it to stop, Kenny.
 
I need it to slow down, I need it to stop.
 
Just for a little while.”

“You need to start making sense, babe; you need to tell me what you mean.”

“It’s all going too fast, Kenny.
 
All of it.
 
The baby, the engagement, it’s going too fast and I’m confused.
 
My head’s all over the place and I don’t know what to think, what to do ... oh God, Kenny, I wish you were here.”

Her voice was cracking and he knew she was crying and he couldn’t hold her, he couldn’t put his arms around her and tell her it was all going to be ok.
 
But then, was it?

“So, why did you say yes when he asked you to marry him?
 
India
, baby, talk to me.
 
Come on.”

“I love him, I do, I love him ... shit!
 
This is so hard.
 
I don’t even know if I should be doing this ... I don’t know …”

“Know what?
 
India
, you’re really not making sense.”

He heard her sigh heavily, the tears still evident in her voice.

“Why don’t you just come home?”

“No, I can’t, not yet ... Kenny, come out here, please.
 
I really need to see you.”

What the hell was going on?
 
He’d thought she was happy, thought she was settled and when it all came down to it, all he really wanted was for her to be happy, even if it
was
with Michael.

“Will you come over, Kenny?”

“I’m there, baby.
 
I’m already there.”

He almost felt her relief from all those miles away, and he listened as her voice got stronger as she told him where she was, where she wanted him to meet her, and all he wanted to do was get out there and see what was going on for himself because he was as confused as hell right now.

He managed to find a flight out of
L.A.
in two hours time so when Terry arrived back he found him throwing clothes into a holdall and rooting through the drawers for his passport.

“Where the fuck are
you
going?”

Kenny looked up, finding his passport and throwing it into his bag.
 
“
England
.”

Terry put the food down and looked at him.
 
“Ok.
 
What’s going on?”

Kenny didn’t know quite how much to tell him.
 
He didn’t really want to worry him unnecessarily, because, until he got out there himself, he had no idea what was really going on inside
India
’s head.

“Nothing’s going on.
 
India
’s fine.
 
Really.”

“So, why are you suddenly flying over there the second you get off the ‘phone to her?
 
What’s she said, Kenny?”

“She just wants a friend, that’s all.
 
Michael’s back here working and she’s had enough of her own company.
 
Simple as that.”

Terry knew it wasn’t anywhere
near
as simple as that, did Kenny think he was stupid?
 
He also couldn’t help wondering why she never wanted her brother.
 
He rarely spent any time with his sister alone and sometimes he missed her.
 
But he knew how close her relationship was with Kenny and he wasn’t about to rock the boat on that one.
 
Besides, with Kenny out of the way he could concentrate on finding Charley without him always on his back telling him to be careful.
 
He knew what he was doing.
 
He could do this without any help.
 
It might even make things easier.

“I take it you’ve got a flight out tonight then?” Terry said, putting the keys to Kenny’s bike down on the breakfast bar.

Kenny nodded.
 
“Got to be at the airport like, now ... look, stay here, help yourself to anything you like and you can use the bike if you want.
 
I’ll get
India
to call you ... there’s my cab.”
 
He grabbed his holdall and flung it over his shoulder, turning back to look at Terry.
 
“Oh, and not a word to Michael if you see him, ok?
 
He doesn’t know I’m going out there and he doesn’t
need
to know.”

“Is that what
India
wants?”

“That’s exactly what
India
wants.”

Terry didn’t really want to know anymore.
 
This was all getting too complicated and his mind was somewhere else right now.

“And as far as Charley’s concerned, don’t do anything until I get back, do you hear me?
 
I’m serious, Terry.
 
Don’t go doing anything.”

Terry shoved his hands in his pockets and nodded, but in his head he knew exactly what he was going to do.
 
Kenny could sort
India
out, whatever was going on over there he’d make sure she was ok, leaving
him
free to do whatever it was he needed to do to get the girl he once loved back to safety.
 
And he’d do everything in his power to try and make sure he had a head start on that before Kenny was back on American soil.

***

Kenny would be arriving soon and
India
was nervous, scared even.
 
Not to mention the feelings of guilt that just wouldn’t go away.
 
Infact, guilt was very much the overriding feeling as far as she was concerned.
 
It’d been there ever since she’d put the ‘phone down on him yesterday and it was showing no signs of abating.
 
Why couldn’t she just have told Michael that she’d asked Kenny to come over?
 
Why couldn’t she have done that?
 
Because she didn’t really know the reason why she’d asked him over herself just yet.
 
All she knew was that she needed to see him, alone.
 
Just the two of them.
 
Right now she needed her best friend.
 
Of course she knew this was risky, technically she was lying to Michael by not telling him Kenny was here, and maybe she hadn’t thought it through but it was done now.
 
She’d acted on impulse, on a gut feeling she just couldn’t shake.
 
Kenny was on his way.

She changed into a Guns ‘n’ Roses t-shirt and jeans and sat cross-legged on the bed in her hotel room, flicking through once familiar TV channels, waiting for Kenny to arrive.
 
She’d missed him.
 
She missed the times they’d used to spend together, just the two of them.
 
She missed being close to him.
 
She shouldn’t have pushed him aside just because of her relationship with Michael because she needed her friend, maybe more than she should.
 
She certainly needed him right now.

A knock at the door made her jump up from the bed and she practically ran to answer it, flinging it open, and there he stood, one arm resting on the doorframe, his other hand shoved in his pocket, looking his usual scruffy but handsome self in faded jeans, heavy boots, white t-shirt and black jacket, dark glasses covering his eyes, a smile on his face.