Solomon had been delighted and relieved to hear Bo respond with a firm ‘no’.
The entire situation is a mess and in reality he doesn’t give a damn about the documentary, all he cares about is seeing Laura. He feels like an addict, he needs her, and the more he can’t see her, the more people that say no, and slam doors, and hang up phones, the more he wants her. With filming halted on this season’s Grotesque Bodies he has nothing else to do. He doesn’t want to be at the apartment with Bo, sitting around as though they’re waiting for something to happen. Their lives are on hold, which shows him how much of their lives hinges on this project. When it’s gone, they have nothing. They talk only about Laura. First about how fascinating she is, now about how to get her back. She is like the child that was taken away from them. And it was Bo’s greed and both their naivety that caused that to happen. When Laura was with them, she tore them apart, now that she’s gone, they’re linked by her, but without her or talk of her they’ve got nothing, things have grown stale.
His priority this week has been to stay in Dublin and try to make contact with Laura, both through visiting the house and trying to contact her through Bianca, though Bianca’s requests to Laura to call Solomon have failed. He’s not sure whether to believe Bianca is passing on those messages at all. With the last of his attempts failed, he can no longer sit around the apartment with Bo feeling in limbo. Their work life in limbo, their relationship in limbo. His immediate plan is to drive to Galway to beat the shit out of Rory. He has been planning this for some time, since Tuesday morning when news of Laura’s night out hit the newspapers alongside his baby brother’s mischievous mug on almost every page. He has savoured the thoughts of what he will do to his brother and now he is ready.
The three-hour car journey does nothing to calm his anger, if anything it intensifies. He has time to dwell on all the photos in the press that keep floating to the murky surface each time Laura’s name is mentioned. Laura falling all over the place. Rory laughing. Laughing.
It’s Saturday. He calls Marie to casually ask if Rory’s home. Rory works with his dad, they both still go home to Marie for their lunch. He’s calm, he’s just enquiring, he’s sure she doesn’t notice, he doesn’t say anything about visiting, about being on the road on the way. But she knows him well. When he arrives at the house, his parents, plus brothers Cormac and Donal, are there, along with his sister Cara. The entire welcoming committee sitting at the kitchen table.
‘What’s going on?’ he asks angrily.
Marie looks down at her hands, and then away, with guilt. Then she can’t take his stare any more and crosses the kitchen to fill the kettle. Tea. Distraction.
‘It’s a Solomon anger-intervention,’ Donal jokes, but Solomon isn’t in the mood to laugh. He came here to kick the shit out of somebody, not use words. He’s been waiting for this for days, far too long actually, and he’s been sitting for hours, he has a lot of energy to dispel. He doesn’t want it to go to waste.
‘Where is he?’ Solomon asks, not even bothering to disguise what he’s come here to do.
‘Let’s talk first,’ his dad says.
‘Where is the little fucker?’ he growls. ‘Look at you all, you’re like his bodyguards, always have been. That scared little shit has never had to face up to one of his messes, ever, in his whole life. And look at all the good your protection has done for him. Still at home with Mammy and Daddy, still getting a packed lunch every day. No disrespect, Mam, but he’s a spoiled little shit. Always has been.’
Mam looks pained. ‘He’s so sorry about what happened, love. If you saw him—’
‘Sorry?’ Solomon laughs angrily. ‘Good. Tell me where he is so I can see for myself how sorry the little fucker is.’
Marie winces.
‘Enough,’ his dad says sternly.
‘He’s an idiot, Solomon,’ Donal says diplomatically. ‘We all know that. He messed up, but he didn’t mean it. He’d no idea what he was doing.’
‘Lads,’ he calms himself and looks at them all, tries to make them understand. ‘He ruined her life. On a global level, destroyed her reputation. She had nothing, lived on a mountain, knew no one, no one knew she existed and then suddenly everyone knew she existed. She had a chance …’ The anger rises again and he fights hard to beat it. ‘She’d never even had a drink before. Not one.’