The Club (29 page)

‘How are they all?’ Vibes asked, thinking that nothing had ever sounded sweeter than Jenna’s voice.

‘They’re good,’ Jenna said, laughing softly as she added, ‘Austin’s been moping about all over the place, but we knew that was going to happen, didn’t we?’

‘He’s a good kid,’ Vibes said. ‘Never met anyone quite like him before, but he’s cool. And how’s Kalli?’ he asked then.

‘Being an absolute sweetheart, as usual,’ Jenna told him. ‘Missing you like crazy – but then, who isn’t?’

There was a slight pause as Vibes wondered if he ought to ask after Jason. He hadn’t met the guy, but he
was
Jenna’s boyfriend, so it would be only polite. Deciding against it, he asked about the club instead.

‘Pretty normal, so far,’ Jenna told him. ‘But tonight’s going to be the tester. Fabian’s hired a guy who’s just come in from Tenerife, and he reckons he’s really good. But
I
think he’s going to be terrible.’

‘Oh?’ Vibes murmured, feeling a little envious because he wished he was still there, getting ready for
his
show tonight.

‘He just
looks
wrong,’ Jenna explained, not wanting to say what she really meant: that nobody would suit her, because they weren’t him. ‘Anyway, I don’t want to talk about that. Tell me what you’ve been doing? Have you seen lots of your old friends?’

‘Yeah, a few,’ Vibes said quietly.

‘You must be having a great time?’ Jenna said, her voice a little wistful now as she stroked the necklace around her throat.

‘I guess,’ Vibes said evasively. ‘Anyway, I’d best let you get back to what you were doing. I just thought I’d let you know I got here okay, and make sure everything was cool back there.’

‘Everything’s fine,’ Jenna said, wishing she could keep him talking but knowing she had to let him go because his wife was probably waiting for him to go off and do something more exciting. ‘Well, thanks for calling. I’ll let everyone know you’re all right.’

‘Take it easy, Princess.’

‘You too. Bye.’

Disappointed that it had been such a short call, Jenna hung up and thought about the little that they had actually said to each other. It was so obvious that he had only called out of courtesy and hadn’t wanted to get into anything deep. But she supposed that he was still feeling bad about that kiss and had decided it was best not to give her the wrong idea – in case she misinterpreted it again and got false hopes that he would ever feel the same about her as she did about him.

Still, at least she knew he was all right.

Sighing, Jenna got up and went to retrieve her shopping. Vibes wasn’t coming back, so she might as well let go of the past and start looking to the future.

Lying back on the bed when he’d disconnected, Vibes gazed around the room. It was his best friend Tyler’s kid brother’s room, and even though Nate was eighteen and in college now, rooming with a bunch of his music-class buddies over in Harlem, all his stuff was still here. Every shelf was crammed with books, CDs, and Little League trophies, every corner stacked with magazines, while the closet was packed with clothes and sneakers. But Vibes didn’t mind the lack of space; it just felt good to be surrounded by reminders of his old life.

The life he’d lived and loved before it was all snatched away from him.

Almost three years had passed since that awful night, and now he was having to face the bastards who had stolen his family from him. Sitting across from them in the courthouse, watching them smirk and pass secret hand-signal messages to each other as if they were in school detention while the prosecution outlined its case against them.

His beautiful wife Aliya, their gorgeous three-year-old daughter Tashei, his precious mom, and his own kid brother Dylan – all gone. Shot to pieces in their beds by the gang who had broken into their home in the middle of the night, mistaking it for the crack-house next door.

And, like the prosecutor had said yesterday, they must have known as soon as they got in there that it wasn’t no crack-house. Apart from the fact that there was actual furniture in there, rugs on the polished floors, and pictures on the clean walls, no crack-house had ever smelled that good. They
must
have known. And, knowing, they could have walked straight back out and gone after the piece of shit they were really looking for. But they had chosen to take a look around instead, to see what they could steal before they went on their way. But Dylan must have woken up and, being the brave kid that he was, gone into the hall to confront them and protect his mom. And they’d shot him dead, just like that, then gone from room to room taking out the rest of them as they slept in their beds, just so they could still go after the bastard next door without fear of being identified.

And Vibes hadn’t known a thing about it until he got home and saw the police crawling all over the place, because he’d been too busy at his gig downtown – the gig he’d taken on at the last minute, despite Aliya asking him not to.

She’d been getting on his case a lot back then, worrying that she was losing him because he was spending more time behind his decks than he did in her bed and concerned that Tashei would grow up hardly knowing what her daddy looked like. But he’d carried on regardless, taking every gig that came his way and justifying it by telling Aliya that he was doing it for them, to get the money to move them to a nicer place – away from the drugs that had been slowly creeping into their neighbourhood, and the gangs that had started to form on the street corners.

Vibes had been so wrapped up in his future plans that he’d been blind to the present dangers. And by the time he’d opened his eyes, it was too late, because all he could see then was his family lying side by side on the slabs in the morgue.

The gang had escaped, but Vibes hadn’t. The pain had torn him to pieces, and the guilt that he hadn’t been there to protect them had eaten him up so bad that he’d started acting crazy, sleeping in the yard all day, and sitting up all night with a gun in his hand.

Tyler’s mom had made Ty go drag him back to her house in the end, where she’d watched over him like a baby for the next few months, forcing him to eat and drink and remember that he hadn’t died with his family.

Vibes had been slowly recovering when Kenneth got in touch and invited him to go stay with him and his new wife, Gina, over in England. And getting on that plane had completed the process, making him strong enough to come back here now and do what had to be done. At least now he could look out at his house across the road without thinking that he was going to die from the pain. And one day he might even be able to face going over there to sort through the things he’d left behind. But not yet, because he needed all his strength to get him through the next few months.

When this case was done, and those boys were behind bars where they belonged,
then
he would tackle the rest. And then he would sit down and make plans to start his life over.

Maybe back in England.

And, maybe, depending what happened between now and then, he might tell Jenna how he felt about her when he got there – if her damn fool of a boyfriend still hadn’t gotten around to putting a ring on that bare third finger of hers.

Until then, he wouldn’t call her again, because it was just too hard to hear her voice and then have to say goodbye. And he didn’t need to be going into that courtroom and facing those bastards with that kind of pain in his eyes. When they looked at him, Vibes wanted them to see nothing but contempt.

12

Some of the regulars did drift away after Vibes left, but more decided to stay and check out his replacement. And Fabian’s posters advertising Bubba’s arrival in town drew a fresh crowd of
his
fans, so the club was as busy as ever, which pleased Jenna. Despite her initial determination to find fault with him, she had to admit, once she’d seen him in action, that Bubba was good. Not as good as Vibes, of course, but better than a lot of the other DJs she’d heard. And his music wasn’t too far removed from Vibes’s style, so at least it wasn’t a major change for the regulars.

While having a drink at the VIP bar one Friday night a few weeks on, Jenna frowned when the music suddenly stopped and she heard screaming and shouting from the public area. Rushing to the balcony, where a lot of the celebrities were already gathered, she gasped when she saw a mass brawl going on all over the lower floor. Rushing down the stairs, she’d just reached the bottom when Fabian came through the door.

‘What the hell’s going on?’ she asked.

‘Nothing to worry about,’ he said, relieved to see her. ‘Just go back upstairs and stay there. I’m going to lock this to make sure nobody gets at the celebs. I’ve already called the police.’

‘I’m coming with you,’ Jenna said when he started backing out of the door.

‘I’d rather you didn’t,’ he said. ‘Someone’s supposed to have seen a knife.’

‘Oh, my God,’ she gasped. ‘Nobody’s been—’

‘Not as far as I know, but I don’t want to take any chances. Please, Jenna. Just go back upstairs and let me deal with this.’

Just then, Tony and Eddie came thundering down behind her.

‘Need a hand?’Tony asked, cracking his knuckles.

‘No!’ Fabian told him quickly, sensing that things would get far worse if these two got involved. ‘I’ve got it in hand. The police are on their way.’

Shrugging, Tony said, ‘Okay, well, I guess they can handle it, huh?’ Looking at Jenna then, he frowned. ‘You ain’t going out there, are you?’

‘No, she’s going back up where it’s safe,’ Fabian said before she could answer.

‘Good.’ Tony gave him a nod of approval. Looking at Jenna then, he said, ‘Come on, I’ll get you a drink – we can watch what’s going on from the balcony.’

Feeling a little railroaded, Jenna reluctantly agreed.

The fight had turned into a full-scale battle now; feet and fists flying every which way, and chairs and tables being used as both weapons and shields. Thankfully, it was reasonably short-lived, because as soon as the police sirens cut through the screams and grunts the perpetrators booted the emergency doors open and took off into the night.

It took a while for the rest to realise that they were fighting fellow victims and quit, and then they stood around in panting, confused groups, trying to figure out how it had started in the first place. But nobody had seen it coming, so it was impossible to make any sense of it.

Several of the customers were taken by ambulance to the local hospital to be checked over, but, fortunately, there were no serious casualties. And with all the guilty parties gone already, the police couldn’t make any arrests. So, after advising Jenna to put her doormen on alert to stop it happening again, they left her to clear up the mess.

And what a mess it was. Furniture overturned, the floor littered with shattered glass, blood everywhere. But at least it was all cosmetic, so Jenna supposed it wasn’t too bad. At least she wasn’t facing a huge bill to replace fixtures and fittings.

Piecing it together from what had reportedly been seen and heard, they knew that at least four fights had broken out simultaneously around the room, each started by groups of at least four men who had, their victims claimed, been drinking and chatting quietly together before it kicked off. But at exactly midnight, each of these groups had suddenly jumped up and started laying into anyone and everyone. And because nobody was sure who they were defending themselves against, they inevitably ended up fighting whoever was closest to them.

Sitting with Fabian at the bar when the last of the customers had gone, Jenna shook her head. ‘I’ve never seen anything like that.’

‘Me neither,’ he admitted. ‘I didn’t have a clue what was happening. One minute everyone was dancing, the next they were screaming and fists were flying. I was waiting to see if Jacko and the guys could handle it, but when I heard someone say they’d seen a knife, I was straight on the phone.’

‘Good job you did call the police,’ Jenna said. ‘I dread to think what might have happened if it had gone on any longer.’Taking a sip of the coffee that Kalli had just made her, she sighed. ‘Remind me to call the hospital tomorrow to make sure that pregnant girl was all right.’

‘She should be,’ Fabian said, covering a yawn with his hand. ‘Probably more shocked than anything. I don’t think anybody actually touched her.’

‘I hope not,’ Jenna murmured. ‘Do you think this had anything to do with those guys who were hassling Melody that time?’ she asked then. ‘You did say you thought they’d come back after Eddie beat them all up like that.’

‘Could be, I suppose.’ Fabian shrugged. ‘No way of knowing for sure, though.’

‘Hi, guys,’ Bubba said, coming over just then. ‘Good night, huh?’

‘I hope that was a joke?’ Jenna frowned up at him. Not that she thought he meant it nastily. He was actually quite nice when you looked beyond the garish clothes and in-your-face banter.

‘Would I joke about a thing like that?’ he teased, flipping her a wink. ‘You look tired, Babes.’

‘I am. And I thought I told you not to call me that.’ Giving him a mock-stern look, she finished her coffee and stood up.

‘Not going, are you?’ Bubba asked, squeezing onto her stool before she’d even moved away from it.

‘Want me to reserve you a place in my grave?’ she quipped, stepping back so that he could get his legs straight.

‘Only if we both drink the elixir of everlasting life, so we get to make love for all eternity,’ Bubba said, grinning.

‘What, and have nothing to look at for all eternity but your disgusting hair?’ Jenna shot back playfully. ‘I don’t think so.’

Frowning, Fabian pursed his lips. Jenna had hated Bubba to start with, and it really bugged him that they had such an easy relationship now. Bubba talked to her as if they were flirty mates, and she didn’t seem to mind – which really pissed Fabian off, because he could never imagine himself talking to her like that and getting away with it.