Page 108 of Doc Rock
“A bush walk? It’s dark,”Mai said.
“Yeah. I dunno what he’s thinking. He appeared with a head torch and said he was going bush for a couple of hours. I think he may have justwatchedCrocodile Dundee.”
“He’s going to get lost,” Ford said dryly.
“Yup. That’s why I made him share his phone location with me.”Scotty pulled his iPhone out of his pocket and opened the app.“He’s currentlyabout three hundred metres from the house.”
“So if you shout‘lasagne’out the door, he’ll hear and head back,” Mai suggested.
“Absolutely. I have no idea why he’s stumbling about in the dark. I’m sure dinner will be enough for him to decide he’s a city boy at heart, and he probably shouldn’t be outthereatnight.”Scotty took another sip of his beer, shaking his head in judgment at his friend’s idiocy.
“Does he often go bush?”Mai enquired, trying hard to keep a straight face as she imagined the very‘city’looking Joel tramping around the bush in his designer clothes.
“Nope. I have no idea where he even found a headtorch.”Scotty chuckled.“He was wearing Gucci loafers.”
Mai snorted with the laughter she had been suppressing at the thought of the guitarist strolling around hunting for kangaroos or koalas.“Um, what now?”
“Yeah. He said they were his walking shoes.”
“He’s an idiot.”Ford rolled his eyes.
“Yup.”Scotty agreed.“I’ll let him wander around in the dark until the food’s ready. Then we can all rip the piss out of him.”
“Sounds good,” Ford said.
Maiwatchedthe easy banter between the bandmates andfeltsad that she had missed out on it. When she had been part of the band, it had always been like that between the four of them. Gentle teasing when one of them was doing something dumb or bizarre. She realised she’d missed a lot of humour in her life, having set herself up as an island; everyone around her thought she was serious and didn’t tease her or involve her in their jokes.
The oven behind them beeped thatit wasup to temperature. Mai began to stand up, but Ford placed a steadying hand on her arm.“I’ll do it.”
He strolled into the kitchen, Mai swivelling in her seat towatchhim. He grabbed the Esky and put it up on the counter, unloading all the food they’d packed.
“It wasalways like this when you two were together,”Scotty said to her quietly.
Mai turned to face the drummer.“What?”
“When you two are together, it’s like no one else exists.”He took a sip of his beer, then used the bottle to gesture between her and Ford.
“That’s not true,”Mai denied.
“Really?”Scotty’s eyebrows rose.“So you didn’t just turn your back on me, so youcouldkeep watching Ford?”
“I…”Mai hesitated for a moment, wanting to deny it, but equally realisingit wastrue.
“We lived with the ghost of you for a long time.”Scotty glanced up to make sure Ford was still occupied.
A wave of guilt washed over Mai. None of the band had come out unscathed from her decisions.
“It nearly killed him,”Scotty continued.
“Iknow,”Mai whispered. She’d followed the ups and downs of Ford’s life from afar.
“He’s lived more in those sixteen years than most people do in a lifetime. Are you ready for the reality of what that means?”
“I hope so,”Mai said honestly. She loved Ford. If she wanted to move forward with him, she would have to accept the past he’d lived.
“He drank himself into oblivion, but drugs were always the issue with Ford. He tried everything and liked nearly all of it. He overdosed so many times that, for a few years, we thought one day we’d find him dead. Donnie took him to rehab more times than I can remember.”
Mai blinked back her tears.“I’m sorry.”
