AOIFE

“WHERE ARE YOU GOING?” I asked my father on Saturday morning, watching from my bedroom doorway as he thundered down the stairs with a furious scowl etched on his face. “Dad?”

“Work,” my father roared over his shoulder. “So, you better tell that boyfriend of yours to get his hole out of your bed!”

Oh crap.

“Joey’s not here.”

“I know he stayed over.”

True. “He left a while ago.”

“Well, then, let’s hope he’s at the garage, because if he’s not then he better start looking for somewhere else to work because I’m done with the bullshit.”

“Dad, wait!” Hurrying down the stairs after him, I chased him all the way outside to where he had parked his van. “Don’t hit him, okay?”

“I’m not going to hit him.” “You swear?”

“If I was going to hit the lad, I would have done it the other night,” my father grumbled as he climbed into his van. “Go inside out of the cold before you get sick on top of everything else.”

“Don’t fire him either,” I pleaded, holding onto the door of his van so he couldn’t close it. “Please, Dad. He needs his job.”

“Of course he fucking needs his job,” my father snapped. “He has a child on the way to pay for, doesn’t he?”

Clearly sleeping on the news had done my father no favors. He seemed angrier now than when he found out.

“But you were supportive the other day when the Lynch—”

“Because you’re my daughter, dammit. Of course, I support ya. I’ll always show a united front for your benefit. But I’m not happy about it, Aoife,” he growled, cranking the engine. “My child is having a child while she’s still a child with another fucking child! I am not okay with any of this, but I don’t exactly have much of a say in the matter now, do I? Not when the horse has already bolted. No point in wringing the lad’s neck after the fact, now is there? Can’t exactly go back in time and put a condom on the little prick’s dick now, can I?”

I didn’t have an answer for him, so I let go of the door and watched as he slammed it shut before tearing off. Hurrying back inside, I raced up the stairs to grab my phone and warn my boyfriend that my father was on the warpath.

Code red. Code red. Avoid the garage at all costs. Dad’s out for blood.

 

 

 

Sorry, I bounced without waking ya. Had to check on the kids before work. How are you feeling? x

Me? I’m fine. It’s you I’m worried about. Are the boys okay?

Joe?

And Shan? Aw crap.

All good. Still not back from Dublin. x

Yeah, I know. x

Just steer clear of your house, Joe. You can crash at mine for a few days. I don’t want you in harm’s way.

Joe? Joey!

It’s all good. Don’t worry. I’m at work now, so I’ll talk to you later. x

Seriously, Joe, about my dad. I saw a pair of rusty pliers on the passenger seat of his van. I think he might be considering castrating you.

I can handle Tony. Just mind yourself, okay? Don’t go climbing any walls or any wild shit like that. I’ll see you tonight. x

Aoife: I love you. x

Joey: I love you back. x

“WELL, I have to hand it to him,” Mam said when she walked into the kitchen after dropping off my father’s lunch at the garage. “Your baby’s father is brave.”

I sprang off my chair. “Joe?”

“Mm-hm.” Mam nodded. “He actually showed up to work.” “In one piece?”

Mam grimaced. “Relatively.”

“Oh my god, Mam. Please tell me that Dad didn’t hit him.“

“According to your father, he threw a wrench at Joey’s head, but had no hand in the black eye he’s sporting.”

“Oh my god,” I cried, sinking back down, and dropping my head in my hands. “Kill me now.”

“Your father will calm down,” she replied, tone assuring. “They’ll be okay, love. They’ll patch it up in time. They’ve been working together for a very long time now. They’re practically an old married couple.”

“You should have heard him this morning, Mam,” I groaned, watching my mother as she whizzed around the kitchen. “He was so hostile.”

“Your father’s not hostile, love, he’s heartbroken.”

“Well, that’s even worse,” I strangled out. “I broke his heart. That’s why he avoided me like the plague when he came home from work last night. He hates me.”

“Can we talk?” Kev asked, walking into the kitchen, hands in the air. “Civilly.”

“Kev,” Mam sighed wearily. “I don’t think now’s the time for that.”

“We need to sort this out, Aoife,” he pushed, ignoring our mother. “Come on. Let’s just sit down and hash it out. We can’t go around ignoring each other.”

“You can talk to him all you want,” I told Mam, as I jerked to my feet and grabbed my car keys off the table. “I’m going to Casey’s.”

“Aoife,” Kev groaned when I brushed past him. “Please.” “Fuck off, Kevin.”