OCTOBER 18TH 2004
AOIFE
JOEY DIDN’T SHOW up to school today.
I knew this because I’d waited an abnormal length of time, standing in the rain outside of school, waiting on him to arrive.
All of my calls had gone straight to voicemail, and I wasn’t ashamed to say that I was beyond worried.
Shannon wasn’t at school either, which put me on red alert.
I knew his sister was having even more problems than usual with some of the girls at school. While I had warned off a group of little bitches when I caught them hassling her in the bathroom, I knew there was a war raging.
By the time school ended, I got in my car and headed straight for Elk’s Terrace, with a pain in my chest, and a knot in my stomach.
‘Back like a bad smell,’ his father sneered, when he opened the front door and locked his menacing brown eyes on me. ‘You’re here so often, you should start paying fucking rent.’
Asshole.
I’d been here a grand total of three times and had only bumped into him on one of those occasions.
‘Funny,” I deadpanned. “I could say the same thing about you.’
His eyes narrowed. ‘What did you say to me?’
My hands itched from the urge I had to lunge forward and avenge my boyfriend.
Instead, I offered him a cold stare. ‘Only that you’re here enough that you should be contributing. Instead of having your teenage son shoulder your dead weight.’
‘You cheeky little whore,’ he snarled, hand tightening on the door. ‘Who the fuck do you think you’re talking to?’
‘Oh, I know exactly who I’m talking to,” I snapped right back. Folding my arms across my chest I let him know in no uncertain terms that he didn’t wield an ounce of power or control over me. “Now, is Joey here or not?”
Whatever he saw on my face in that moment caused him to back down. “No, he’s down the station with the other one.”
“The Garda station?” my heartrate spiked. “With who – Shannon?”
He gave me a clipped nod. “He’s missing an important fucking training session for her, too.”
“Why?” My eyes widened. “What happened to her?”
“Some young ones gave her a hiding on the way to school.” There was no emotion in his voice, no affection or concern. He truly didn’t care about his daughter. About any of his children. “That girl has never brought anything but hassle to her mother.”
No, that’s you, dick.
Not bothering to say goodbye, I turned on my heels and made my way back to where I had parked my car.
“You know,” he called after me. “If you ever get tired of letting my young fella dick ya, you could always let his old man show you how it’s really done?”
“No thanks,” I called over my shoulder, repressing the urge to show weakness and shudder. “That young fella of yours is more than capable of keeping me satisfied.”
“Prick-tease,” he muttered after me.
I rolled my eyes. “Scumbag.”
