1987. 18 years old. Shed taken to calling herself Rachel Babylon by this point. Wanted to be a Punkrock singer like Siouxie Sioux or Iggy Stooge. Changing her drab name (Rachel Kearney) seemed to be the first step towards this.
But the IMPORTANT thing going on in Rachels life just now was that shed finally left her Mother and moved in with longstanding boyfriend Byron. Byron had this damp wee flat in Wester Hailes that was a bit of a shit-hole to be honest. That didnt matter though really. All Rachel and Byron wanted was time alone together for smoking dope and making love. Thats what you do when youre 18.
On this particular afternoon the Sun shone gloriously through the dusty windows making everything seem all hazy and golden/ kind of like some soft-focus French film. Rachel finished undressing - allowing her stuff to drop onto the carpet - and cheerfully clambered up onto the bed.