Cathy: I wasn’t surprised when Maggie came and said they were leaving.
John: It was Cathy that Maggie spoke to. When she told me, afterwards, I asked her where we stood with the remaining money, and she gave me this withering look. And look, I know that boy was fighting for his life. But the money those people owed us was not insignificant. And if I didn’t get some of it to the loan shark, I was going to be in serious trouble.
Cathy: I said we’d do whatever we could to help. I mean, of course I did. You’d have to be inhuman to ask about money at a time like that, wouldn’t you?
Pea: I walked around for a bit, shellshocked. The police had come and were asking my parents questions, and AJ’s crew had all disappeared. I couldn’t work out what it might mean. Could my parents get the blame for this? Could they shut us down?And would Zak ever want to talk to me again? And then I saw him. Zak. A world of hurt in his eyes, jogging towards me. He grabbed me gently by the wrists and pulled me in close. Said they were leaving. I asked what he meant. He shrugged and said they couldn’t stay here. They were going to a hotel. I asked what he wanted, but he didn’t answer. I guess he thought there were more important things.
Zak: I can’t remember what I told Pea, really. After it happened, it was all blurry, like a smudged lens.
Pea: I made him promise not to leave the country without seeing me again, and he did. But it felt empty, like he was just saying it.
Alex: I went home. It felt ghoulish to stay. And also, I was totally broken and couldn’t explain why to anyone. God, it hit me hard. I know it had only been a fling and it had only been a couple of weeks, but you have to understand that he was my first everything. First kiss, first fuck… first love. I shut myself up in my bedroom and howled, shoving a pillow in my mouth to stifle the sound. And I felt like the loneliest person in the world. Who could I tell? Who would possibly understand? Who would even believe me? I cried myself to sleep in the end. Woke at eight in the evening with my mum in the doorway asking if I wanted anything to eat. She took one look at me with my puffy eyes and asked what had happened. Had I had an argument with Pea? I nearly laughed at that. Out of nowhere, I asked her whether she knew I was gay. She bristled, turned the colour of a phone box. We didn’t talk about sex in our house. When I’d got to thirteen or so, she’d left a book titledGrowing Upon my desk and we’d never mentioned it again, though I’d devoured it for information about whether the way I was feeling was normal. I asked her again. I said, ‘What are you so afraid of?’ And I’llalways remember what she answered. She said, ‘I’m afraid of losing you.’ After a minute or so of silence, she retreated and I went back to sleep.
Pea: They were gone so quickly. There wasn’t much to pack up, I suppose. Everything was in those buses, and once they’d driven off the site, past the news crews that were gathering, it was almost like they’d never been there. Like they hadn’t come in and upended everything, changed all our lives.
Zak: We got the call during the night. I was with Maggie in her room. Neither of us had any inclination to sleep. It was Lou. He said AJ hadn’t made it. Hadn’t survived the flight.
Cathy: We found out the next morning on the news that he’d died. AJ’s face was plastered over all the newspapers, with headlines like ‘AJ Silver plummets to his death’ and ‘Silver: Dead at seventeen’.
John: At least it wasn’tmyface on those newspaper covers. That was something.
Pea: I walked to the newsagents in the morning and looked at all those papers. They’d all used the same photo of AJ. It was an official one; I’d seen it before. I peered at it. He was all shiny and clean, the ultimate boy next door. I could barely see a trace of the boy I’d known. Those last words he’d said to me, about Zak and Bree, went through my head again and I felt a twinge of shame, a twist of rage. Was I glad he’d died? I’ll tell you this: I wasn’t not glad.
Danny: Wow. So what are you thinking – was anyone involved? John. Pea. Alex. Sebastian. They all had the opportunity and most of them had a motive. That’s where we have to leave it for today, but next week we’ll be dragging you from the 90s backto the present and taking a look at where all the key players are today. And I know you won’t want to miss the moment when Zak and Pea saw each other after AJ’s death was confirmed.
Bea_Happy
WOW! Who messed with the override button? I’m sure as shit someone did! #WhatHappenedThatSummer
Ferney229
My money’s on John. I’ve thought he was dodgy right from the start. Reckon the police will reinvestigate? #WhatHappenedThatSummer
AliAliAli
Shame on you, dragging up old news for social media likes. This incident was a tragedy, but it was fully investigated at the time and people were held to account. There’s no need to rake over it all again. #WhatHappenedThatSummer
SianTurner4
I can’t believe what a nasty piece of shit AJ actually was. #WhatHappenedThatSummer
ClaireBear
Right? This podcast has really opened my eyes. To think I was an AJ Silver fan! #WhatHappenedThatSummer
Sam_the_Man
I hope we’re going to find out what they’re all doing now – there’s one episode left, right? #WhatHappenedThatSummer
Frances_caDean
I can’t believe next week’s is the final episode. I’ve never been so gripped! #WhatHappenedThatSummer
7
EPISODE 7 – FROM THAT DAY TO THIS
Danny: I’m Danny Drake. Welcome to the final episode ofWhat Happened That Summer?Now, I’ve been keeping you up to speed with AJ Silver’s current resurgence in the world of pop music, and today I can tell you that another two of his songs have gone platinum – ‘Tell Me True’ and ‘Going Out’.
