JANUARY 7TH 2004
AOIFE
“IS that seriously Aoife Molloy I’m seeing, with Joey Lynch between her legs?” Rebecca announced in a voice laced with exaggerated admonishment, as she stood underneath a bright pink umbrella, with her pal in tow. “And behind her boyfriend’s back.” Giving me a look of snooty superiority, she tutted softly. “On the wall outside his house, no less. Wow, classy girl, Aoife. Real classy.”
“Oh, bore off, Rebecca,” I growled, unwilling to wither under her snotty judgement. “We were kissing, not riding, so tone down the disbelief. It’s not that deep.”
“Joey?” Danielle choked out, and I stared in horror as tears filled her eyes. “What are you doing with her?”
“For fuck’s sake,” Joey muttered under his breath. Inhaling a deep, steadying breath, he stepped away from me and turned to face our classmates. “Girls,” he acknowledged with a clipped nod, cheeks flushed, and lips swollen from all of our earlier kissing, as he took a stance in front of me. “What are you two doing around my neck of the woods?”
“Danielle was looking for you,” Rebecca snapped, gesturing to her tearful friend. “She wanted to make sure you were okay after what happened at school. More fool her, I guess?”
“Yeah, well, I’m fine.”
“Oh, yeah,” Danielle cried out hoarsely. “We can see just how fine you are.”
“Don’t start,” Joey said in a low, warning tone. “I didn’t you make any promises.”
“You had sex with me less than a week ago!” she practically screamed. “And now you’re… you’re…” She shook her blonde head and glared at me. “What the hell, Aoife? You were supposed to be my friend! What are you even doing here?”
I was?
I thought we were more classmates and acquaintances than bosom buddies.
“Hey.” Jumping down from the wall, I held my hands up. “I didn’t know you had anything serious going on with him.”
“We don’t,” Joey was quick to point out. “We have nothing going on, serious or otherwise.”
“And I was just…” Trailing off, I shrugged. “Checking on him, too.”
“Liar,” Danielle screamed, face turning an unflattering shade of purple. “You saw us together the other night. You knew exactly what was happening between us.”
“She did?” Joey barked. “Well, that makes one of us.”
“You have your own boyfriend to check on,” Rebecca hissed, tone accusing, as she joined the fray and pointed a finger at me. “You do remember Paul, don’t you?”
“Oh, pack it in, Becks,” Joey sneered. “He’s far from fucking perfect himself.”
“Yeah, does Paul know what you’ve been up to?” Danielle demanded, planting her hands on her curvy hips.
“Not yet,” I drawled calmly, when I felt anything but, and resisted the urge to reach into my pocket and grab my phone. “But I’m sure that you’ll be only too happy to tell him.”
“Oh, you can bet your ass I will.” She glared at me. “He’s going to flip his lid.”
“Bold of you to assume that I care,” I shot back, groaning internally when I couldn’t stop my mouth from verbally kicking my own ass.
Quiet, Aoife, you’re in the wrong here. Now shush.
Narrowing her eyes, Rebecca planted her hands on her hips and glowered at me. “It’s bad enough that you don’t have any respect for your own relationship, but you could have spared a thought for Danielle’s!”
“What relationship?” Joey demanded, throwing his hands up. “Because she sure as shit isn’t in one with me!”
“Oh Joey,” Danielle sobbed, pressing a hand to her chest. “How could you?“
“No, no, no, don’t go there. Don’t give me that oh, Joey, how could you bullshit,” he snapped, shaking his head. “I told you, Danielle, I fucking told you that I wasn’t interested in anything serious. I told you that it was a one-time thing and you said that you were fine with it!”
“A one-time thing?” She glared at him. “Have you forgotten about the other couple of dozen times?”
Ouch.
“Don’t give me that shit,” Joey was quick to counter. “I laid it all out for you, said I wasn’t interested in anything more than one night, and you said that you agreed with me.”
“Well, I lied,” she cried out.
“Well, I didn’t!” Clearly frustrated, Joey ran a hand through his soaked hair and hissed, “You came on to me, remember? You propositioned me, and I made my intentions perfectly clear. You knew that I was out of mind that night. You knew I was unavailable. I was up fucking front with you, Dan, so these tears you’re spilling are not on me.”
“Have a heart, Joey,” Rebecca snapped when her friend cried harder. “The girl has feelings for you.”
“Then tell her to stop having feelings for me!” Releasing a frustrated growl, he pointed a finger at Danielle and hissed, “You promised you wouldn’t do this.”
“I know, but—”
“No buts,” he snapped. “And no promises, either. I’m a free agent.”
“You might be,” Danielle spat, pointing a finger in my direction. “But she’s not.”
“What she is or isn’t hasn’t got a damn thing to do with either one of you,” Joey sneered in a menacing tone. “So, why don’t you both turn around and walk your asses out of here before this gets messier than it needs to.”
“Who are you calling?” I blurted out, attention flicking to Rebecca, who had her phone pressed to her ear, expression smug.
“Hi, Paul, yeah, it’s me Becks.”
My eyes widened.
“Yeah, so, I’m up Elk’s Terrace, and I thought you should that I just saw your girlfriend, Aoife, with Joey Lynch.”
Oh god, oh god.
“Uh-huh, that’s right. Yeah, I legit just saw them scoring with each other.”
“Jesus Christ,” Joey groaned under his breath.
My mouth fell open. “What a bitch.”
“Yeah, I swear,” Rebecca said, grinning deviously. “No, I’m not lying. She was wrapped around him like ivy.”
“Ugh.” I dropped my head in my hands and groaned. It felt like my rolling stomach had fallen out of my ass, as I listened on helplessly.
What could I do?
Not deny it, that’s for sure.
I’d been caught red-handed.
I planned on owning up to Paul anyway, and it would have sounded a hell of a lot better coming from my mouth than hers.
Yeah, because the instant Joey Lynch reciprocated my kiss, my feelings, I knew there was no going back to pretending.
“Oh my god, Joe,” I groaned, screaming on the inside, as the realization of what I had done suddenly dawned on me. “I’m my father.”
“What are you talking about, Molloy?”
“Dad,” I choked out. “I’m him.” I looked at Joey. “He’s a cheater, I’m a cheater!” I threw my hands up in dismay. “We’re both cheating apples from the same cheating tree. Ugh,” I muttered, thoroughly distressed. “And now I’m no better than he is.”
“Relax,” Joey attempted to comfort me by saying, tone gruff. “It was a kiss, not an affair, Molloy. You’re nothing like your father.”
“Affair?” I stared at him, unblinking. “What do you mean affair?”
He shrugged, clearly uncomfortable.
“Oh my god, you know, don’t you?” I sucked in a sharp breath as my brain quickly twigged. “About the other women? What he gets up to? You know about my dad’s affairs?”
Joey didn’t respond, but he didn’t deny it either.
“You knew?” I shook my head. “You’ve always known? And you didn’t think to tell me?”
“It’s not my business,” he finally said, jaw clenched tight from the obvious tension that was emanating from him. Catching ahold of my arm, he led me slightly away from the girls before he continued speaking. “I work with the man. I’m not his keeper and I’m not your spy, either. I don’t get involved in shit that doesn’t concern me.”
The rain was beating down on us, plastering his halo of dirty blond hair to his forehead as rain drops trickled from his brow to his nose and then his lips. Yet still, he remained absolutely rigid, eyes locked on mine.
“Don’t make it more than it is, Molloy,” he said in a heated tone. “It’s an omission, not a betrayal.”
“Well, it feels like one,” I strangled out, looking up at him. “I feel betrayed.”
Emotion flashed in his eyes before he quickly schooled his features. “Tony gave me a job, took a chance on me when nobody else would. My loyalties have always been with your father, not your mother.”
“What about your loyalties to me?” I pushed the boat out by asking.
His jaw ticked. “That’s not fair.”
“What about me, Joe?”
“Molloy—“
“Oh my god, are you two having your first fight?” Rebecca interjected with a laugh. “Priceless. That didn’t take long.”
It was at that exact moment in time that a familiar blue Toyota Starlet came speeding up the street towards us.
Brakes screeching loudly, I watched as the passenger door flew open and Paul climbed out of his brother Billy’s car.
Lovely.
Just fecking lovely.
“Is it true?” he roared, red-faced and raging, as he marched towards me. “Did you fuck her?”
“What” Gaping, I shook my head. “No, I didn’t sleep with anyone, calm down.” Hurrying over to intercept him before anything happened, I placed a hand on his chest. “Paul, please, if you just give me a second to explain—“
My words broke off when he literally shoved me out of his way, in his bid to reach my partner in this particular crime, intent on one thing only, evoking violence.
“You just couldn’t leave her alone, could ya?” Paul roared, going chest to chest with his nemesis. “You had to have her. You had to mark her off your list.”
“List?” Laughing darkly, Joey met his challenge head on, shoving him back with his chest. “The fuck are you talking about?”
“You had no right to touch her.” Rearing an arm back, Paul punched Joey in the face. “You had no goddamn right.”
Joey’s head twisted sideways, and I held my breath, almost afraid to see what he would do in retaliation.
I didn’t have to hold that particular breath for long, because in the blink of an eye, Joey had Paul speared to the road.
“Newsflash, asshole, your girlfriend kissed me,” Joey snarled, pouncing on Paul like a lion would a gazelle, as his fists rained down on his face.
“Shut up, Joey,” I groaned, dropping my head in my hands. “God.”
“The truth hurts, Molloy,” Joey seethed, laying into Paul. “Yeah, that’s right, prick. Your girl over there made the first move.”
“And let me guess; you weren’t interested?” Paul roared back at him.
“Have you seen your girl?” Joey taunted. “Of course, I was interested. In fact, I was very fucking interested. Still am.”
“Joey, stop taunting him – Billy, don’t you dare!” I warned, only to curse in frustration when Paul’s brother ignored me entirely and jumped into the fray.
“Get off my brother, ya dirty junkie—“ Grabbing ahold of the back of Joey’s t-shirt, Billy dragged him off Paul before knocking him to the ground and driving his boot into Joey’s stomach.
Repeatedly.
Over and over.
Jesus.
“Oh my god, stop!” Danielle screamed, covering her face with her hands.
“Are you happy now?” I demanded, glaring at both girls, who were watching on in horror. “Look what you’ve done!”
“What you’ve done,” Rebecca choked out shakily. “This is your fault, Aoife. This is all on you.”
“Yeah,” Danielle sobbed. “Look at what you’ve done!”
Yeah, I thought to myself, as I raced over to break up the fight, I know.
“That’s right, ya little prick,” Billy continued to taunt, as he held Joey’s arms behind his back, rendering him essentially helpless, while Paul kicked and punched at him. “Not so fucking tough now, are ya?”
“Get fucked,” Joey half-spluttered, half-laughed, as he grunted and heaved every time Paul’s boot connected with his flesh.
Blood was flowing freely from his lip, but he didn’t seem to notice or care, as he continued to taunt Paul. “No wonder you’re pissed, lad. Letting a girl like that slip through your fingers.”
“I’m going to kill you!”
Joey laughed. “You couldn’t fight your way out of a paper bag, prick!”
“Stop it,” I ordered, pulling at Billy’s brick-shit-house-sized shoulders in my feeble attempt to get the older lad to release Joey. “Let go of him.”
“Can’t say I regret kissing her back, though.” Joey spat out a mouthful of blood and grinned. “I’d have her mouth on me again in a heartbeat.”
“Oh my god, Joe, stop taunting him!” I practically begged, stumbling backwards when Paul pushed me out of harm’s way. “Paul, come on, I’m sorry, okay? I’m sorry I hurt you, but please just stop this.”
“Screw you, Aoife,” Paul snarled, socking Joey in the gut with his fist, looking angrier than I’d ever seen him. “You’ll play the ice-queen card with me, dangling your virginity over my head like a fucking carrot, but the minute this piece of shit crooks his finger, your knickers come off. Is that it?”
“Oh my god, nothing like that even happened,” I screamed back at him “It was a kiss, okay. It was just a kiss.”
“Nothing’s ever just a kiss with him,” Paul sneered, hitting Joey again. “I hope you enjoyed it, because when I get done with him, he won’t have a face to kiss.”
“Hey!” It was at that very moment, that a small, blond-haired boy came bounding out of the Lynch’s house, and rounded the garden wall, with a floor brush in hand. “Get off my brother!”
“Tadhg,” Joey roared, chest heaving and eyes wild now, as he thrashed and tried to break free, the sight of his brother igniting his protective instincts. “Go back inside.”
“I said get the fuck off my brother!” Tadhg screamed, ignoring Joey’s words, as he swung the floor brush at the back of Paul’s legs.
“Hey, don’t touch him!” I snapped, when Paul roughly shoved Tadhg away. “He’s just a little kid.”
“Your brother’s a scumbag with a serious learning problem, little man,” Billy taunted the younger Lynch. “My brother and I are here to teach him a lesson that’ll stick.”
“How about I teach you a lesson?” Tadhg seethed, taking aim at Billy this time. “On how to fight fair.” With that, the little guy rammed the handle of the floor brush into Billy’s face. “And how to not be your brother’s little bitch boy.”
Blood sprayed from Billy’s nose, and he quickly released his hold on Joey’s arms. “Jesus Christ,” he roared, cupping his nose with both hands. “You little lunatic.”
Joey and Paul went crashing to the road once more, fists flying back and forth.
“Like that, did ya? Well, here’s some more where that came from!” Yielding the floor brush around like he was Master flipping Splinter from the Teenage Turtles, Tadhg hit him again, this time in the dick.
Falling like a sack of spuds to his knees, Billy cupped his junk and groaned, while the little guy went in for the kill, flaking him on the head with the brush.
The sound of Paul’s promises of pain dragged my attention back to where he had Joey on his back, in the middle of the road, while he straddled his chest.
“You couldn’t just let it go,” Paul snarled. “You could have any girl you want – what am I saying, you’ve had every fucking girl you’ve ever wanted, but that wasn’t enough for you, was it? You had to go and ruin her!”
“Give it all you’ve got, lad,” Joey continued to laugh, as his head snapped sideways from the impact of Paul’s fist, clearly exhausted from the hammering he’d just taken. “It’s the only free pass that you’ll ever get from me.”
The sound of sirens filled the air, and flashing blue lights came into view.
“Oh my god, the cops!” I heard Rebecca call out, as the both of them legged it before the squad car reached us.
“Aw crap,” I choked out, when my eyes landed on the Garda car coming towards us. “Stop it. Pack it in, the pair of you!” Rushing over, I grabbed at Paul’s arm, only to stagger backwards, seeing stars, when his elbow made contact with my face.
“Ouch,” I cried out, losing my balance front the brunt of the force, and landing on my ass on the road. Pain coursed through my cheek bone as the stinging sensation of tears filled my poor, wounded eye socket.
“Look at what you did, you prick!” I heard Joey roar. “Look at her.”
“Jesus, Aoife,” Paul was quick to shout, turning his attention back to me. “Are you alright?”
“I’m fine, I’m fine,” I croaked out, holding a hand over my sore eye, as a horrible vibrating ache pounded inside of my head. “Just stop fighting.”
“What’s going on here?” a Garda demanded, marching into the fold, with two more following close behind him.
Great timing, I thought to myself sourly, especially now the fight was over.
Billy and Paul quickly went on the offence, giving the Gards their version of events, which just so happened to completely throw Joey under the proverbial bus.
“That’s not how it happened at all,” I argued to the female Garda, who was scribbling down notes in her little black notepad. “It was a huge misunderstanding.”
“And then he threw the first punch,” Paul reeled off, lying through his teeth, while Joey sat on the road, remaining stoically silent, not bothering to defend himself.
“And it’s not the first time, either,” Billy interjected. “He assaulted my brother before today, too.”
“That’s right,” Paul agreed, nodding. “And he’s literally just been suspended for breaking my friend’s nose at school today during lunch.”
“Liars,” Tadhg spat, face turning beetroot red from temper. “He was holding him down while he…” He paused to point an accusing finger at Paul, “kicked his face in.”
“I was trying to protect my brother,” Billy assured the Garda. “Paul’s never been in trouble with the law in his life, sir, neither of us have. You can ask our father, Garda superintendent Jerry Rice.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Name dropping, Billy?”
“But this lad keeps bullying him.”
“Bullying him?” I gaped. “Stop it, Billy.”
“It’s true. My brother has been the victim of a vicious smear campaign. I was afraid for his safety,” Billy continued, tone convincing. “He’s dangerous, Garda. I don’t want to think about what could have happened to my brother if I hadn’t been here to protect him from this lunatic.”
After taking down a whole heap of notes, making a few phone calls, and cajoling between themselves for a few minutes, one of the male Garda’s searched us all before finally settling on Joey, gaze stern and unyielding.
Aw crap.
“Shitting on your own doorstop, Lynch?” he asked, inclining his thumb towards the Lynch house. “Have to say, that’s a new one for you.”
“Yeah, well, what can I say. I like to keep things interesting,” Panting breathlessly, Joey flopped back on the ground and held his wrists up. “Let’s just get this over it.”
I watched in horror as another Garda walked over to where Joey was sprawled out, and roughly dragged him to his feet. “Joseph Lynch, I am arresting you under Section 4 of the criminal law act on the suspicion of assault…”
“What?” Tadhg roared, eyes bulging, as he threw his hands up in outrage. “Are you serious? They were double-teaming him!”
“You are not obliged to say anything unless you wish to do so, but whatever you do say will be taken down in writing and may be given in evidence…”
“Mam!” Tadhg hollered then, bolting back towards his house. “Come out, quick! They’re arresting Joey again.”
“Wait, wait, wait,” I blurted out, hurrying over to where they were placing handcuffs on my, well, on my Joey. “This is all a huge misunderstanding.”
“What’s going on here?” I heard Joey’s father demand, as he stood at the front door of their house, with a can of beer in one hand, the remote control for the television in the other, and a cigarette balancing between his lips. Squinting, he asked Tadhg, “Which one is that?”
“It’s Joey,” Tadhg cried out hoarsely, still clutching the floor brush, as he looked up at his father with a pleading expression. “Please, Dad, do something!”
“Your son is under arrest, Teddy,” the Garda called back to him. “Under the—“
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Teddy Lynch interrupted, waving the Gard off. “Don’t give me that long spiel. What’s he being accused of?”
“Assault,” the Garda replied, looking a little uncomfortable.
“Assault, eh?” He turned his gaze on Joey. “Did ya do it, boy?”
“Sure did, daddy,” Joey sneered, as tension emanated from his body.
“Then do whatever the fuck you want with the little bollox,” his father told the Gard. “Let the courts deal with him. Just don’t expect me to come down to the station to bring him home like the last time.” He turned back to Joey and called out, “Do ya hear that, ya little fucker? Don’t you be phoning your mother up to come save ya, either. You can clean up your own mess this time.”
With my mouth hanging open, I watched as his father hauled a tearful Tadhg back inside and closed the door behind them.
I wasn’t the only one stunned by his father’s reaction, because the Gard leading Joey to the car shook his head and muttered something unintelligible under his breath.
“Wait,” I blurted out, jumping into action, as I hurried to intercept them. “Garda, please, you don’t understand. He didn’t start this.“
“Save your breath, Molloy,” Joey interrupted, as he walked compliantly to the car. “It doesn’t matter.”
“No, no, it does, it does matter,” I argued, watching helplessly, as he was bundled into the back seat. “Joe—”
The car door slammed shut, cutting me off, and I looked on, helpless, as resigned green eyes stared back at me.
“Joe,” I whispered, pressing my hand to the glass.
I watched as he sucked in a sharp breath before turning away from me, jaw set in a hard line, as another Garda climbed into the backseat alongside him.
The other two Gards climbed into the front seat and then they were driving away, taking him with them.
This time, the tears filling my eyes weren’t caused by my throbbing eye socket.
Spinning around to glare at Paul who was walking back to the car with his brother, I called out, “Are you proud of yourself?”
“Don’t you dare talk down to me,” he seethed, swinging back to point a finger at me. “This is on you, Aoife. None of this would have happened if you weren’t sneaking around behind my back.”
Furious, I stalked towards him and shoved at his chest. “Listen here, you big bastard, I might be in the wrong for kissing him, and I’m sorry for hurting you, but what I did pales in comparison to what you just did.”
“You cheated on me!” he roared in my face.
“It was just a kiss!”
“Maybe physically that’s all it was, but you’ve been having an emotional affair with him for years!”
“Paul.”
“He got what was coming to him.” With a look of utter contempt etched on his face, his gaze trailed over me, and his lip curled up in disgust. “And so did you, slut.”
“Slut?” I laughed bitterly. “Oh my god, I am so glad I didn’t lose my virginity to you.”
“Nah,” he roared, losing his cool. “Because you were saving that up for him, weren’t ya? You wouldn’t let the fella you’ve been with for four years go near you, but you’re more than willing to be a whore for a junkie!”
“Don’t be so ridiculous, Paul—“
“He’ll have you on your back with his dick inside you before the week’s out,” he warned, face red and eyes bulging with temper. “And then you’ll be old news to him. Just like Danielle and all of the others. He’ll sack you off once he’s had his fill of you, and when that day comes, because it will come, don’t even think about coming crawling back to me.”
“I’d rather join a convent than ever let you touch me again, you big prick,” I called after at him.
“That’s unfortunate,” he tossed over his shoulder, as he walked back to his brother’s car. “Because once Joey Lynch is done ruining you, not even the nuns will have you.”
