JOEY
DRIFTING in and out of consciousness, I could hear two familiar voices going back and forth around me.
“This car is a bucket of shit.”
“I know.”
“Seriously, your dad’s a mechanic and this is the best he can come up with?”
“Just shut up and drive, Podge.”
“Shutting up now.”
“Molloy.” Lips mashing together, I twisted my head to one side, and groaned in approval when my nose burrowed between her warm thighs. “Mm.”
“Shh, Joe, it’s all good,” she soothed, stroking my cheek with her hand, as she cradled my head in her lap with the other. “Just sleep it off, okay?”
Obliging the wonderful fucking voice that belonged to the best face I’d ever seen, I let my eyelids flutter shut, and nuzzled into her warm lap, feeling safer than I had in years.
Maybe ever.
“You make me feel safe.”
“Oh, Joe.”
“I love you so fucking much it hurts.”
“I know, baby. I love you, too.”
“Don’t send me away again, Molloy.”
“I won’t, Joe.” Her hand was on my hair again. “Shh, now. Just sleep it off, baby.”
“What did he take?”
“Some type of powder.”
“Crushed oxy?”
“Don’t think so. Something stronger.”
“Coke?”
“He’d be bouncing off the walls.”
“True.”
“I think it might be heroin.”
“No way. He’s not that reckless.”
“Can you snort heroin?”
“Shit, Aoif, I don’t know.”
“Neither do I.”
“Fuck.”
“Listen, I need you to do something for me. I need you to search his room. Go through every pocket of every pair of jeans you can find. Search his wardrobe. His chest of drawers. His nightstand. Every drawer. Every fucking inch of his bedroom. His school bag. His gear bag. There’s a hole in the side of his mattress. Check that, too. He’s using again, which mean he has a stash. Whatever you find, flush it. Can you do that for me?”
“You’re not coming inside?”
“I can’t go into his house, and I can’t bring him back to my place like this. Not with my mam at home.”
“It’s grand, Aoife. I’ll look after him. You know the drill. He needs to sleep it off. He’ll be grand after a few hours kip.”
“Don’t leave him, okay? Please, Podge. Not when he’s like this.”
“I won’t.”
“I mean it. Because he could get sick in his sleep and choke on his—’
“I won’t leave him, I promise.”
