“Aoife, stay here,” Trish called out when Molloy attempted to follow me out.
“But—“
“No buts, young lady,” her mother replied. “Now be a good girl and mash the spuds for your poor mammy. My arthritis is flaring up.”
Worrying on her lip, Molloy offered me a helpless shrug as I walked to my fate.
If I die today, it’s on your conscience, I mentally told her, as I stepped outside and closed the back door behind me.
Turning to face her father, who was glaring at me like I had betrayed him, and let’s face it I had, I quickly held my hands up. “Before you say a word, just know that I didn’t set out to disrespect you in any way, shape, or form.”
He sighed heavily. “Joey.”
“I know that you’ve been good to me,” I hurried to add. “And this probably feels like the ultimate betrayal, considering you warned me not to go there with her, but I care about your daughter, Tony.”
He shook his head. “Joey—“
“I do, Tony,” I urged. “I really fucking care about her, okay? This isn’t a fleeting notion, either. We didn’t get together on a whim. I put a hell of a lot of thought into this,” I added, blowing out a breath. “She’s my friend, Tony. My best friend – has been for a long time now. I’m not going to lie to you and say that I didn’t see it coming, but I can truthfully say that I did everything I could to stop it from happening—“
“Joey!” Tony barked, and I quickly clamped my mouth shut. “I only have two questions for you.”
Oh Jesus.
“And take your time answering them,” he added. “Because I only want the truth, lad.”
I nodded. “Okay.”
“First.” He eyed me carefully and asked, “Do you love my daughter?”
Heart thumping violently in my chest, I felt myself nod. “Entirely.” And then I heard myself say, “For about five years now.”
Well shit…
“Second,” he said slowly. “Do you see a future with her?”
“No,” I admitted, hating my words, but needing to give him the truth, because if anyone deserved my honesty it was this man. “I don’t see a future for us, but that’s not because I don’t want one with her. It’s because I don’t see a future for myself, period.”
The hard look on his face softened. “Ah, lad.”
I shook off his sympathy.
I didn’t want it, and I didn’t need it.
“I know that I let you down,” I continued, blowing out a harsh breath. “So, there won’t be any hard feelings on my end if you need to let me go at work.”
“Let you go?” Tony frowned. “Why would I do that?”
I stared back in confusion. “Because I fell in love with your daughter when you told me not to.”
“We seem to have our wires crossed, boyo,” Tony said with a heavy sigh, as he walked towards me and clamped a hand on my shoulder. “I warned you off my daughter because I didn’t want to lose a good worker if it all went pear shaped, and for no other reason.”
I frowned at him. “But I thought…“
“You’re a grand lad, Joey,” Tony added, giving my shoulder a squeeze. “A lad I would be happy to see look after my Aoife.”
“No.” I shook my head, brows furrowed in confusion. “I’m really not, Tony.”
“You forget that I’ve known you since you were a small boy of twelve,” he reminded me, as he steered us towards the back door. “I remember looking at this small scrap of a lad standing in the garage, down on his luck and with the weight of the world on his shoulders. That small boy asked me for a chance that day,” he added, voice thick with emotion. “I took a chance on that boy, and I’m glad that I did, because the man that small boy turned into is a man who I am damn proud of.”
MEETING MAMMY AND MAKING PLANS
AUGUST 22ND 2004
AOIFE
My parents were far from perfect, but as I sat at the dinner table and watched them embrace Joey, I was glad they were mine.
The only skeptic in the midst was a very wary looking Kev, who seemed to have a nervous disposition around my boyfriend.
I couldn’t blame my brother, not when the same hands that made me feel so good had almost throttled him.
Somehow, through the jigs and the reels, we had managed to broach the subject of what would happen after all three of us finished secondary school next year.
“That sounds lovely,” Mam said after dinner, when we were all in the sitting room, with bowls of Vienetta on our laps. Yeah, Mam had brought out the fancy ice-cream. “And you’re happy with the qualification you’ll get from that course, yeah? You’ll get a good job from it?”
“Absolutely. They also have a fantastic campus, and the curriculum seems solid, which is vastly contradictory to what they have on their pamphlets and website,” my brother continued to drone on, almost boring me to tears, as I sat on the couch between him and Joey.
The same Joey who looked incredibly uncertain, as he looked from one face to another.
Stretching my leg out, I discreetly nudged his foot with mine.
His wild green eyes flashed to mine, and I gave him a reassuring smile.
“So, Joey, love,” Mam said, when Kev finally decided to stop blowing his own trumpet. “Kev’s aiming to get into UCC. Aoife’s hoping for hairdressing. What are you planning to do after sixth year?”
“What do you mean what’s the plan?” Dad interrupted, a spoon full of ice-cream held in the air. “He’ll complete his apprenticeship and come on fulltime with me at the garage.”
“Would you stop, Tony,” Mam admonished, reaching over to slap my father’s leg. “I was asking the young lad what he wanted to do after school, not what you want him to do after school.”
“I, ah…” Roughly clearing his throat, Joey set his bowl on the floor beside him and turned to my mother. “Well, ah, I was hoping that Tony would consider taking me on for an apprenticeship.”
“See now, Trish.” My father beamed like the cat that got the cream. “And there’s no hoping required, son,” he added, this time addressing Joey. “I didn’t spend the last five years training you up for some other fella to swoop in and steal you off me.”
“Holy fuck.” The tension in Joey’s shoulders seemed to melt away as he looked at my father like he just told him he won the lotto. “Are you serious?”
“I am,” Dad replied. “Just finish off this last year of school, do the best you can, keep your head down and out of trouble, and we’ll talk business then.”
“Jesus.” Exhaling a ragged breath, Joey dropped his head and cupped the back of his neck. “Thanks, Tony.”
“Don’t you go scaring him off now, ya hear?” Dad said, eyes on me. “I can’t be losing my apprentice if you two decide to part ways.”
“You won’t,” Joey assured him. “I won’t mess this up.”
“Yes, good lad,” Dad said. “But I was talking to her ladyship alongside you.”
“Me?” I laughed. “How am I responsible for this metaphorical parting of ways?”
“Probably because you’re such a demanding pain in the hole,” Kev offered dryly. “And Dad’s having a hard time understanding why anyone would voluntarily agree to set up house with such a princess.”
“Ha fucking ha,” I shot back, digging both of my couch buddies in the ribs when they erupted with laughter. “Aren’t you all just so hilarious?”
“Don’t worry, Aoife, love,” Mam offered then. “Dad didn’t have to pay Joey too much to go out with you.”
More eruptions of laughter unfolded.
“Ah, don’t you take any notice of them, pet,” Dad crooned, through fits of laughter. “It only cost me a fiver.”
“I hate you all,” I announced dramatically, and then waved a finger in Joey’s amused face. “Especially you, turncoat.”
SIXTH YEAR
HOME BY NOW
AUGUST 31ST 2004