The New Rakes by Nikki Magennis Page B

breath of the smoke and rain-sodden air, she lifted her phone and pressed the button. Just as long as you don’t screw this up, Tam, she added.
    Slipping her phone back in her pocket, she turned and hurried onwards, walking faster straight into the rain.

8
    SUB CITY RADIO was blasting through the house when she got home. Kara followed the noise to the kitchen, where her flatmate clattered around making coffee. The sink was piled with dirty plates and a load of laundry was scattered on the floor: fishnets and ballet skirts and red flannel sheets. It was just the way Ruby lived – ‘creative chaos’, as she called it. Kara was too psyched to notice. She was wet from the rain, her cheeks burned with wind chill and stubble rash, and her body ached with exhaustion, but inside everything was sparking like fireworks. She leaned against the kitchen counter and said hi. Ruby barely looked up.
    ‘We’re out of milk,’ Ruby snapped, slamming the door of the fridge. ‘If you want coffee you’ll have to have it black.’
    ‘I’ve got news,’ Kara said. ‘Good news.’
    Ruby turned. Her make-up was blurred on her face and her hair fell around her face in a mass of black curls. ‘Oh yeah?’ She peered closer at Kara. ‘What happened to you? You’re soaked and you look kind of … wired.’
    Kara looked at her flatmate’s rosebud lips, her open freckled face, and savoured the surprise she knew was going to make her freak. ‘We’ve got a deal.’
    ‘A deal. A deal. A record deal? Blue Star?’ Ruby froze. ‘Oh my
God
. This is major. This is … Oh God.’ She looked down at the kettle in her hand. ‘Screw the coffee. We need alcohol.’
    Kara laughed. ‘I’m going to meet Tam in Sleazy’s. But I don’t know if he’s going to be exactly over the moon.’
    Ruby winced. ‘Ah. Tam trouble.’
    ‘Mm. He’s got some chip on his shoulder.’
    ‘That boy’s always been a headcase,’ Ruby said. ‘But yes, it’s been worse than usual lately.’ She laid the coffee jug on the counter and looked at Kara. ‘You do know why though? I mean, it’s fairly obvious.’
    Kara sniffed. She pushed Ruby out of the way and started spooning grains into the pot. A cup of scalding-hot strong coffee suddenly seemed like a good idea. She was running on fumes after hours of fizz and fucking with Mike, and she had a feeling she’d need her wits about her to deal with Tam. Everything seemed to have speeded up in the past few days, as though she was falling head first into the future. It made her exhilarated and nervy all at once.
    ‘I mean, you can’t have failed to notice –’
    Kara cut Ruby short. ‘I need to get going. Are you coming or not?’
    Ruby lifted her eyebrows. ‘Whatever.’ She picked up her phone from the table. ‘I’ll call Jon. He’s going to bite himself.’ She spun round as she reached the doorway. ‘Uh – you might want to put on a bit of slap before we go and meet Tam.’
    ‘Huh?’ Kara said. ‘Tam’s seen me without make-up plenty of times. I don’t think it’ll help.’
    ‘No.’ Ruby nodded, a smile twitching at the corner of her mouth. ‘But that stubble rash is
nasty
.’
    ‘Where the hell is he?’ Kara said, rattling the ice in her glass. Three-quarters of her band sat in the half-empty bar, under kitsch blue-tinted paintings and a disco ball. They’d taken over a bench by the window and sat looking out into the rain. Celebratory drinks were half-drunk in front of them. The contract lay spread out on the table, with three signatures on it and the ink smudged where Ruby had carelessly set down a beer bottle. The space next to Tam’s name was blank, the street outside was empty and Kara’s mood was turning dark.
    ‘God knows,’ Jon said. ‘Tam moves in mysterious ways.’ He shrugged.
    ‘I could kill him,’ Kara said. ‘We’re recording in two days. Two days.’
    Jon looked up. ‘Give him some time to cool off,’ he said. ‘You know he can pick up a tune as easy as