AOIFE

WHEN TWENTY MINUTES past by with no sign of Joey, I didn’t panic too much, deciding to give him the benefit of the doubt. After all, he wasn’t superman. The boy was a fast runner, but he couldn’t fly here. However, when twenty minutes turned to thirty, and then forty, and fifty, I began to pace my bedroom floor, anxious and on edge.

When I phoned him, the call went straight to voicemail. An hour passed by.

And then another one. Something was wrong.

I could feel it in my bones.

Franticly trying and failing to get hold of my boyfriend, I bombarded his sister with text messages, desperate to know if he had been in touch with any of his family.

Because this felt all wrong.

I knew Joey, hell, I knew him like the back of my hand, and while he absolutely had a serious drug problem, he wouldn’t call to say he was coming over if he didn’t plan to. If Joe wanted to get high, he would do exactly that and then show up. He was an ‘ask for forgiveness, not permission’ type of

guy. The only time in our entire relationship that he bailed on me like that was the night his father beat Tadhg, which led me to believe that something very bad must have happened to him.

With bated breath, I grabbed my phone and tapped out another frantic text message to his sister.

Any sign of him?

Not yet. Mam’s downstairs with Darren. I can hear them arguing about Joe.

No offense, but Darren is a big dildo.

Agreed. They’re talking about Joe like he hasn’t kept this whole family together for the past six years. It makes me sick.

Please, Shan. The second you see him, text me. I need to know he’s safe.

I mean it, okay? Please just… just text me, okay?