Marie looks upset.
‘He takes her out – to a pub. Then to a club. Some celebrity club, just so he could get in, using her as his ticket. Nothing to do with her, what she wanted – it was all for him. A free trip to Dublin for him, what can he get out of it? At no time did he call me. I would have helped. After being surrounded by photographers, she can barely stand up, and what does he do? He takes her to a party. He lets people take photos of her, throwing up, falling over, passing out. Where the fuck was he? He should have been watching her. She was his responsibility.’
This he says almost to himself. Laura was his responsibility and he knew that. He let her slip away, he let this happen. He will beat the shit out of Rory for his own irresponsibility.
‘I can’t listen to this,’ Rory says suddenly, and Solomon spins around to come face to face with him. ‘What era are you living in? She’s a grown woman, Sol, she doesn’t need minding.’
Solomon closes his fists. Picks a place on Rory’s pretty face to hammer. Takes his time, enjoys the moment. He hears the chairs scrape as they’re pushed against the kitchen tiles. His brothers and Cara standing, readying themselves. He senses them behind him.
‘Rory,’ his dad says. ‘You were wrong and you know it. Admit it, apologise to Solomon and let’s put this behind us. Be men now.’
‘Why should I apologise to Solomon? What’s he to Laura? It’s Laura I should be talking to.’
‘You’re not going near her ever again,’ Solomon growls.
‘Neither are you, I’d say,’ Rory says with a smile.
They stare each other out of it.
Rory looks at Solomon’s fist. ‘What are you going to do, hit me?’ He smiles, a teasing smile. Solomon recalls him as a young boy, mocking his speech impediment. His stutter and his ‘w’s. He feels an uncontrollable anger, a hatred so strong he’s worried about what he could do right now. He wants to hurt him but he thinks about the ways he can without ending him.
‘Say sorry to Solomon now, Rory,’ Marie says sharply and Solomon feels like he’s a child again.
‘I’m sorry,’ Rory says finally. ‘I really am. I had no idea she would get messy like that. The reason I didn’t call you is because she said she didn’t want me to.’
Solomon’s heart pounds even faster. Everything Rory says is designed to drive Solomon’s fist through Rory’s face. Then Solomon would be wrong and everybody would run to Rory’s aid.
‘She has a name.’
‘Lyrebird,’ Rory rolls his eyes. ‘Lyrebird said she didn’t want me to call you.’
‘Her name is Laura,’ Solomon says through gritted teeth. ‘You don’t even know her fucking name.’
‘I didn’t know where to take her,’ he continues his fake apology. ‘She didn’t want to go to the hotel, she couldn’t go to your place, seeing as you’d had a falling out and she had to leave, so I thought I’d take up a few people on their kind offer to help. The girls at the party were looking after her, I thought she’d be in safe hands with them. I really didn’t know.’
Rory’s demeanour doesn’t match his tone. Solomon feels his brothers near him, just behind him.
‘Of course I’m sure we all know that this wouldn’t be such an issue if Solomon wasn’t jealous because I took Laura out for a drink.’
‘Stop it,’ Marie says.
‘Shake hands,’ Dad says.
Rory reaches out his hand, Solomon takes it. He wants to pull him in, head butt him. Break that fucking nose. Rory’s grip is tight and strong for a little fella, but then Rory always had to resort to other tactics to survive in the family, to get attention, to be seen and heard. Being ganged up against like this is a big deal for him. Even if he’s not showing it right now, even though he’s cool as a cucumber, his ‘I don’t care’ attitude doesn’t wash with Solomon. Solomon realises that this is the worst possible situation for Rory, the entire family forcing him to apologise to Solomon for something he knows he did wrong. Suddenly Solomon enjoys this knowledge, allowing Rory to think he’s getting the better of him, when the reality is that Rory’s weakness is showing. Solomon feels the tension release ever so slightly from his shoulders.
Perhaps Rory realises he’s losing Solomon’s anger, that Solomon is no longer the underdog, because he then scrapes the barrel.
‘She’s a great little ride though,’ he says, to his mother’s dismay and a yell from his dad.
Rory lets go of Solomon’s hand. Solomon’s throat is sticky and dry, his heart pounding manically, a tribal drum calling for war.
Then Solomon sees a fist arc through the air before making contact with Rory’s face. Rory staggers. Surprisingly, it’s not Solomon’s fist, it’s Cormac’s. Big brother Cormac, the responsible one. They all look at him in shock at first and no one makes a move to help Rory, who’s fallen to the floor, but then Cormac’s high-pitched cries move them to action.