The waiter came back with their drinks, giving Eileen time to order her thoughts, and for it to occur to her that she had to say everything in her mind out loud for the others to understand.
Her captive audience didn’t make a sound as she began, ‘The photograph was taken on the first day we got here. It was Colin’s camera and we gave it to some stranger in the line behind us and asked her to take the pic. Afterwards, we walked back down the Strip, going into the lobby of every hotel just to look and see what it was like. There were not as many as there are now, but still we were gobsmacked, never seen anything like it. They don’t do buildings like Caesars Palace, or fountains like those ones out there in Glasgow city centre.’
She ran her gaze around the table. Aiden was to her left, next to Zara. Gary was to her right. Colin, Brenda and their other girl – was it Millie? – were sitting across from them.
‘If any of you want to fill in the blanks, go right ahead,’ she said, addressing the others who’d been there a lifetime ago.
‘Nope, I think you’re doing just fine. Looking forward to the next bit,’ Brenda said, with a distinct edge of a challenge.
‘Mum!’ Zara chided her, obviously embarrassed.
Eileen didn’t comment because she knew she was only a few minutes away from losing the young woman’s sympathy. She couldn’t even make eye contact with Aiden. She wasn’t sure if she’d ever be able to look at him again.
‘The next day, we toured the city on foot, playing a few dollars here and there on the tables, and the craziest thing happened. I put two dollars on a roulette number at the Flamingo and it won. Then I doubled it up, and it won again. I kept going and within an hour I’d won over six hundred dollars, which was a fortune to us. That changed everything. Of course, we should have saved the cash for when we got back home, but we didn’t. Brenda and I bought new frocks – I got a pink summer dress and yours was a white one – I still remember.’ Brenda didn’t break her hard stare, so Eileen just ploughed on. ‘We went out on the town, partying, drinking, eating food we’d never even tried before. The guys got new outfits too, didn’t you, Colin?’
Like Brenda, Colin didn’t give her the courtesy of a reply.
Eileen felt something wet on her cheek and wiped away the tear with the back of her hand.
‘That night, Gary had his gig, and along we all went…’ Her gaze flicked to her husband, and he gave her a sad smile that almost made her feel sorry for him. He’d spent his whole life chasing that high he’d felt that night, but no amount of champagne and flash cars had ever delivered it. ‘We were young, we were having the time of our lives, and we all thought we were indestructible. When the gig ended, the crowd went wild. Brenda, I remember you dancing on top of a table and Colin caught you when you toppled off…’
‘And I shrugged him off and climbed back up by myself,’ Brenda said quietly, finally speaking, almost to herself, staring into the middle distance as if she were right back there too, reliving it moment by moment.
Eileen noticed a look passing between Brenda’s daughters, as if that surprised them. That was young Brenda. She was definitely the quietest of the group, but she was always fun, always happy, always the type to pick herself back up and keep going. Eileen wondered if she was still like that or if, like the rest of them, time had changed her.
‘Anyone else want to take over?’ Eileen asked, knowing what the answer would be.
Gary didn’t have the bottle. Colin was staring at his shoes. Brenda was now glaring straight at her, eyes blazing. That was her answer, right there. Her punishment.
‘Loud and clear,’ she said, noting the unspoken slight that had passed between them.
Aiden still hadn’t said a word and she wondered if he even recognised the woman she was describing.
‘What happened next?’ the younger sister asked.
‘Hang on, Millie,’ Zara chided her. ‘Let Mrs Gregg speak in her own time.’ So her name was Millie after all. She was so like the young Brenda, with her wild hair that no amount of gel would control, and the huge brown eyes that took everything in.
Eileen sighed, feeling her chest tighten again.Right about now, please God. If you’re going to strike me down, make it now.
She was still breathing.
Damn.
‘After the gig, someone suggested another club, and off we went there. It was packed, crazy busy, but I had money to burn, and we were determined to spend it. We drank too much, we danced until we ached, but the place was heaving and then, somehow, we all got split up. Gary and I found each other first, and we searched for the others for ages, but couldn’t find them. To be honest, we were so tipsy that they could have been standing in front of us and we’d have missed them, and that’s the truth.’
Eileen saw that Brenda was still watching her intently and realised this was probably the first time she’d heard this part of the story. The last time they’d spoken was just a short while later and there was no opportunity for a calm, informative exchange of information.
‘In the end, Gary and I thought they might have gone on back to the hotel and we headed there, but nope, no sign of them. We didn’t have mobile phones back then, and there was no internet, but it just wasn’t in our minds to worry. It was a different time. People went out of communication and there was no panic. Besides, we figured they were probably together and searching for us too.’
Colin had finally raised his head and he was eyeing her with something that resembled contempt. Eileen wanted to shrivel, to stop, but she was right at the very edge of the precipice, there was no way back, and all she had to do was fall. All she could do was welcome the oblivion that the drop would bring her.
‘Gary and I went back to our room, and, well, one thing led to another. I hate that cliché, but my son is here, and I want to spare him the details.’
‘Appreciated.’ Aiden spoke for the first time since she’d begun.
‘I’ve no idea how much time passed, but we fell asleep and a while later, your parents came back and found us there. And that was the end of our friendship. We’ve never spoken since.’ She stopped, praying that was enough, and that she wouldn’t have to fill in any more blanks.
‘Wait a minute, so that’s it?’ Millie was speaking up again, twirling her half-empty glass as she did so. ‘Were you mad that they went home without you, Mum? Or did something happen to you while you were out and you were pissed off because she’d left you? I don’t get it.’
