Black Girls and Bad Boys: Changing his Tune by Neneh J. Gordon

Other things had taken his
attention. Holding the joint up in his line of sight, he tried to work out how
many skins its creator had used.
    And then he realised what he was doing – putting off the moment when
he would take it between his lips. All that bullshit about weed being good for
him was exactly that – bullshit.
    “Actually, mate, I don’t think I want any.” He tried to give it
back.
    “Nah, have it.” Dave produced a lighter and held it out to him.
    Noah looked up at the sound of the door. In walked Angie.
    Her eyes went straight to the giant roll-up in his hand and her face
tightened. “I get it. You promised not to drink, but you didn’t promise not to
get high. Well you can send your little friends home now.” She walked further
in and put her hands on her hips, giving everyone a death-stare.
    “I wasn’t—”
    “Everybody out!” She raised her voice, startling some of them to
their feet.
    “Hang on.” Dave got up and went to stand over her. “It’s not your
house. You don’t get to throw us out.” He was only an inch or two taller than
Angie, but he was a lot heavier. Even Noah would have been unsettled to have
him invade his personal space like that.
    She didn’t bat an eyelid. Knowing how she felt about being touched,
her reaction was more than impressive.
    “Dave, stop it.” Noah threw the spliff on the floor and rushed in
between them.
    “Tell her then.” Dave stepped back. “Tell her this is your party and
you don’t want us to leave.”
    He looked at Dave. He’d been holding court in some pub the first
time they met – not too different from that evening’s party. He was the rudest,
funniest man Noah had ever met. But saying outrageous things wasn’t quite as
funny once you’d passed thirty. And what was left when you stripped that away
from him? He wasn’t sure it was anything worth calling a friend.
    Then he looked at Angie. She’d set her jaw and her eyes were
blazing. He’d glimpsed the steel in her before, but now he was getting a
full-on demonstration. And why was she so angry? Because she thought he’d
fallen off the wagon. Maybe she wasn’t his friend either, but she genuinely had
his best interests at heart. Yeah, she was being paid for it, but he was sure
it was more than that. She cared what happened to him.
    But if he brought the party to an end, he could end up starting a
riot.
    “Angie, come outside for a minute.” He risked taking her by the arm
and she shrugged out of his grasp, but she went with him to the door. “Let’s go
for a walk.” He guided her out the back, through the kitchen to the garden.
    It was a warm night and the music drifted out to them from the
conservatory. He took them in the opposite direction, following the trail of
uplights that were dotted in amongst the shrubbery.
    When they were far out of sight of the people inside, he stopped
walking. Angie stood with her arms folded, her expression wary.
    “I know it looked bad in there, but I wasn’t going to smoke that
thing.”
    She shook her head. “I don’t believe you. Why let them into your
house if that wasn’t what you wanted?”
    “I don’t know.”
    The disappointment on her face wound its way inside him and made him
want to die.
    “I don’t want to fuck up any more.”
    “Then stop putting yourself in these positions. Stop hanging out
with drunks and druggies.”
    “You mean like you? Working at a rehab clinic and taking a job with
me?”
    She flinched. “That’s different. And you know why I’m here.”
    “Yeah. For the money.” It wasn’t that simple, but her self-righteous
attitude was getting under his skin.
    “You know what, Noah? Fuck you. You’ve got no right to say anything
to me.” She started off back towards the house, but he ran in front of her.
    “Wait.” He couldn’t let her storm off like this. “I’ll tell them to
leave.”
    She walked around him. “You should have done that about three hours
ago.” Coming to a stop, she turned to