Page 28 of Common People

‘Fuck you, bitch!’ shouted Max, and this time he swung a fist in her direction, but it was weak and poorly aimed, and Stacey grabbed it, twisted his arm around and pushed him back onto the floor with ease. Another pain hit his shoulder, and Max felt an overwhelming emotion grab him, and tears sprang to his eyes. An anger swept through him because he just wanted to talk with his girlfriend, and Stacey wouldn’t let him. ‘I’m going to fucking—’

‘Just stop, Max, please, and go home,’ said Stacey, as he tried to get up again, but she easily pushed him down onto the ground. This time he lost his balance, and fell on his face, a bloody cut appearing on his chin, and the pain was gettingworse, but he couldn’t stop. He cried harder, and then he swore at Stacey, calling her the worst names he could think of because he hated her. She was standing between him and Emma.

As he tried to get up again, drops of blood falling onto the ground, a car pulled up and Robbie got out, before he ran across.

‘Jesus, pal, what the fuck are youse doing?’ said Robbie, looking down at the bloodied mess of Max that was on the floor in front of him.

‘Em doesn’t want to see him, and he won’t take no for an answer,’ said Stacey, who had barely broken a sweat dealing with Max.

‘I’m sorry. I’ll get him home now,’ said Robbie, kneeling down beside Max. ‘Come on, pal. Let’s get youse home, eh?’

Max wanted to fight on, but the energy he had suddenly left him, and as Robbie pulled him into his car, all Max wanted to do was sleep. His whole body was so heavy, his eyes could barely stay open, but as they pulled away, Max did look up for a moment. He looked at the window of the flat above Tesco and he saw the figure of Emma that had been watching him, tears streaking down her face. Then Max closed his eyes, the bumps of the car, sending him off to sleep.

In the morning, he would have to face the physical and emotional pain of the night he’d just had, but at that moment he couldn’t care. The last thought he had before he drifted off to sleep was a memory he had of his mum, dancing around their kitchen, laughing and singing with Max, to ‘Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go’by Wham!. It was then that Max realised that the song was playing on the radio in the car. A memory sparked in his subconscious from a song he barely heard as he fell asleep. It was the power of memory that they could still work in a state like that, which made him wonder if it would ever end because as much as he loved his parents, and cherished all the memories he had of them, he knew he couldn’t hold onto themforever. At some point in the future, he would have to move on, but slumped in that car with Robbie, driving through the dark, desolate streets of late-night London, he couldn’t imagine when that would be. Everything felt impossible. Everything hurt.

All about the craic

With the Clapham Half just five weeks away, everyone was taking running just that little more seriously than before. Obviously, Charlie was taking it the most seriously and had bought a new and more expensive pair of shoes, upped his training regimen, and changed his diet. Everyone else was just being slightly more intense with their runs. Even Joe seemed to be pushing himself harder, although as they set off for their run around Clapham Common, Max couldn’t help but notice Eve jogging at a more leisurely pace than usual. He decided it might be a good chance to have a chat with her, considering her burgeoning relationship with Robbie. Ever since they met at the pub, they had been talking on the phone, they had met for drinks, and according to Robbie, things were “hotting up”. They had actually been out the night before, and Robbie hadn’t come home until the early hours, so clearly it was going well. Max had wanted to run with Bethan, but she had shot off at a pace far faster than he could manage, but having time with Eve was not a bad consolation prize.

‘How’s it going?’ asked Max, jogging next to her. Max had gone out during the week, and bought himself some new running gear. Now he knew he was going to keep going, he’d decided it was time to upgrade his running outfits, and he’d even bought a new pair of expensive running trainers, which made him feel like he was literally running on air.

Eve looked across Max, and just from the expression on her face and the bags under eyes, it was clear she was exhausted. ‘I had a bit of a late one with yer man.’

‘Oh, yes, I heard. Not that Robbie said anything, but I heard him come home late. Things are going well between you two?’

‘They are, as it goes,’ replied Eve, who was jogging slowly next to Max. Ahead of them, Hope was jogging next to Joe and Anita. ‘Robbie’s a good craic.’

‘He's the nicest bloke I’ve ever met, with a heart of gold.’

‘And you aren’t just saying that because you’re mates, and he’s trying to get into my knickers?’

‘Hand on heart, no. Honestly, if I thought he was going to mess you around, I would tell you straight away. He’s my flatmate, but you’re my run club buddy. That’s at least equal in my book. Plus, I remember you said something before about having trouble with love and relationships, and so the last thing I’d want to happen is for you to be with someone only out for one thing.’

‘And that’s yer man, is it now?’

‘Definitely. Robbie’s one of the good ones.’

‘He does seem like it,’ said Eve, looking across at Max with a smile. ‘We’re having a grand old time.’

‘That’s good. I don’t know what you’ve been through with men, but I hope things with Robbie work out. I think you’d be really good together.’

Eve slowed to walking pace, and Max did the same. Ever since he met Eve, they hadn’t really spoken at length, and he wasn’t sure what it was, but he felt like there was a bit of a barrier up, certainly from her side. Maybe she had trust issues, and especially with men. Max wanted to know more about Eve, and perhaps she was about to tell him.

‘I haven’t told all of this to Robbie yet, so don’t go blathering on about it with him, but the thing is, when I moved over from Ireland, I came with my husband, Liam.’

‘You were married?’

‘I was. We married young, too young as it goes, but we thought we were in love, you know? We’d gone to school in Dublin, grew up together. He was me first, and I thought my last. We moved to London for his career, but then two years in, and the feckin’ eejit goes and has an affair with some English girl from his office. I was twenty-four, separated from my useless arse of a husband, and living in a foreign country.’

‘Shit, I’m sorry, Eve, that's awful.’

‘Sure look, it is what it is.’

‘Why didn’t you just move back to Ireland?’

‘Because I wasn’t going to run back home, tail between me legs just because he couldn’t keep his dick in his pants. I had friends of me own, a job, and so I stayed.’

‘And now you’re a successful author.’