Tree Surgery for Beginners by Patrick Gale

Author:Patrick Gale [Gale, Patrick]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780007383269
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2009-08-28T04:00:00+00:00

Without a microphone, her singing voice was as soft and smoky as her speech. She leaned on the piano, apparently enjoying the crowd’s intimate enthusiasm. She dropped all the grand gestures, all the theatrics. She simply leaned and sipped her Guinness and growled. The song was over in seconds. The crowd cheered and called out for more. Men shouted requests:

‘Mad About the Boy!’

‘Ich Bin von Kopf!’ but she waved them away.

‘Shut up shut up. Leave me alone. You had that for nothing now let a woman drink in peace.’ Then she walked a little way through the crowd, saw Lawrence and stopped. ‘Hello,’ she said softly. He opened his mouth, thinking of spiders and flies, but could think of nothing to say. ‘Where were you tonight?’ she asked.

‘What?’

‘You weren’t there. Your girlfriend was there. I saw her. But you weren’t. Didn’t you want to hear it all again?’ She stopped. Lawrence was on hot coals. The room seemed to have fallen entirely silent. He felt every eye in the place fall on him. Lala looked about her and flapped a hand dismissively. ‘Talk amongst yourselves,’ she said, laughter in her voice. ‘Don’t mind us.’

There was a guffaw and obediently people turned away. Spencer plugged the music back in and the atmosphere was levelled out with blare.

‘She’s not my girlfriend,’ Lawrence stammered and cleared his throat because his voice had come out squeaky. ‘She’s just a friend. I met her on board.’

‘Uh huh.’

Lala drank, watching him. She had removed her stage make-up and tied her hair back in a black scarf. It made her look younger.

‘Well you know my name,’ she said.

‘I’m Lawrence.’

‘Lala and Larry,’ she chuckled. ‘It’s destiny. We sound like some hideous variety act. Buy me a drink?’

‘Sure.’

Happy to escape the glare of her orbit, he pushed through to the bar where Spencer was already pulling her another Guinness.

‘Hope you know what you’re doing,’ he muttered, concentrating on the drink.

‘I’m … I’m not doing anything.’

Spencer passed him the brimming glass, eyebrows raised. He waved aside Lawrence’s money, eyes still downcast. Lawrence wanted to remonstrate with him but sensed he was too drunk to do so without making a fool of himself.

Lala had been drawn into the adoring circle formed by Reuben and the beauticians. She thanked him for the drink with a flicker of a smile and carried on talking, so it was the easiest thing in the world to pass her the glass and slip away. He could not, however, resist the temptation to glance back as he reached the door. She was smiling politely at something the Dudley girl was saying but her eyes alighted briefly on his and he felt their touch like a hand on his cheek.

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