“SHE RUINED MY LIFE!” CAOIMHE SCREAMED. “I CAN NEVER SHOW MY FACE AT SCHOOL again.”
“Caoimhe!”
“Everyone is talking about me.”
“No, they’re not.”
“Yeah, they are, Mam, and it’s all her fault.”
“Caoimhe, please.”
“I’m not going to school tomorrow if she’s there.”
“You’re in sixth class, Caoimhe. Your sister is in junior infants. You’re on opposite sides of the school.”
“I don’t care! I’m not going if she’s there.”
“Oh yes you are.”
“She shouldn’t even be at my school because there’s something fucked-up wrong with her!” Throwing her schoolbag on the floor, she turned to glare at me. “Why did you have to come to my school?” Releasing a furious scream, she looked at our parents. “Why couldn’t you have sent her somewhere else?”
“Caoimhe, you need to settle down,” Mam said, moving to stand between us. “She’s only four, sweetheart, and she’s come leaps and bounds this year. Don’t be angry with her.”
“Angry with her?” Caoimhe’s eyes bulged. “I fucking hate her, Mam!”
“Caoimhe!”
“She’s a fucking lunatic, Mam.”
“Don’t you dare call your sister that word.”
“Why not? It’s the truth. Half the time she’s a mute, and the other half, she’s screaming her head off and attacking anyone who gets near her.” My sister threw her hands up and screamed. “She attacked another child in her classroom, for fuck’s sake. My friend’s baby brother! She drew blood. You can’t honestly think that’s normal behavior.”
“That’s enough!” That was Daddy. He walked over and wrapped his arm around Mammy’s shoulder. “Don’t raise your voice to your mother. You know she’s not well.”
“Yeah, from another plague she brought into our lives,” Caoimhe spat. “First Lizzie and now cancer!”
“Don’t you dare say that about your mother!” Daddy roared. He led Mammy over to her armchair and helped her sit down before turning back to Caoimhe.
Meanwhile, I made a beeline for my mother, feeling scared and cross and worried all at once. Climbing onto her lap, I burrowed into her chest, but it felt different now. Flat and bony. Not soft like it used to be.
“It’s okay,” Mammy whispered, wrapping her arms around me. Her skin looked yellow now, not peach like it used to, and her head was shiny and bald.
“Now, I’ve been cutting you slack because I understand how hard the past couple of years have been on you, but you’ve overstepped your mark, young lady,” Daddy told Caoimhe. “I understand your frustrations, and I feel for you, but taking it out on your sick mother is not the way to handle this, Caoimhe.”
Breaking down in front of him, my sister covered her face with her hands and screamed, “I wish I was dead!”
