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Martha headed back outside with her nose in the air and I followed The usual flow of city traffic cruised by Overhead, the sky was clear blue, a perfect summer’s day I’d have felt more comfortable if nature had been about to dump a bucketload of rain on top of her perfect head, but it was not to be
After a brief inspection of the surface, Martha perched on the edge of a bench “Jimmy called me”
I sat down a little ay froize to people as part of his rehab process” Perfectly manicured nails tapped at the wooden seat “It wasn’t y, actually He told me I needed to come to Portland and clean up the shit I’d caused between you and David”
She stared deterreat between Ben and him I love my brother I don’t want him on the outs with Dave because of me”
“What do you expectfor me I just want you to listen” She ducked her chin, shut her eyes for a second “I always figured I could get him back whenever I wanted After he’d had a few years to calot to screw around, ere each other’s first So I just bided my time, let hiht, nothose songs abouteven after all those years …”
Traffic roared past, people chatted, but Martha and I were apart from it I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear this, but I soaked up every word anyway, desperate to understand
“Turns out artists can be very senti “It doesn’t necessarily ” She turned to me, eyes hard, hateful “I think I was just a habit for hi for me He sure as hell never moved cities to fit in hat I wanted”
“What do you ot the albus are brilliant The best he’s ever done There’s no reason he couldn’t be in whatever studio he wanted putting it together, doing what he loves Instead he’s here, recording in so close to you means more to him” She rocked forward, her sht a place here I waited years for hianizes everything in the blink of a fking eye”
“I didn’t know,” I said, stunned
“The band are all here They’re recording at a place called the Bent Baseh to let hi time” The woman looked at me like she had firsthand experience with that situation She stood, brushed off her hands “That’sthe crowds of mid-afternoon shoppers like she’d never been
David was recording in Portland He’d said he orking on the new albu here Let alone buying a place
Holy shit
I stood and moved in the opposite direction to the one Martha had taken First I walked, trying to figure out what I was doing, giving ave it up as a lost cause and ran, dodging pedestrians and café tables, parked cars and whatever Faster and faster my Doc Martens books carried me I found the Bent Baseht of stairs, between a micro-brewery and an upainst the wood, pushed it open The unassureen door was unlocked Speakers carried the strains of an alh the dark painted rooazine For once his standard black suit was , and he wore slacks and a short-sleeved Hawaiian shirt