“So? Lynchy’s never in his right mind,” Alec piped up. “He spends a solid eighty percent of his time off his trolley and it’s never stopped him from looking after himself.”
“Not helping, Al,” Casey grumbled.
“He has a concussion,” I hissed, brushing my hair off my face. “A really bad one, and his head is all smashed up. He shouldn’t be out of bed, let alone wandering around by himself.”
“Don’t do that in here,” Casey snapped, and I twisted around to see her smack an unlit cigarette out of Alec’s hand. “She’s pregnant, asshole.”
“Oh shit, yeah.” He rummaged around the floor of the car for his cigarette. “My bad, sexy-legs.”
“Can you drop me off at Elk’s Terrace?” I asked Podge. “I’ll check his house and ask around his neighbors.”
“No problem,” Podge replied. “I’ll take a spin over to the GAA grounds and search there.”
“Yeah, and I’ll check Biddies,” Casey offered.
“I’ll go with you,” Alec chimed in.
“No, Al, you need to go to Shane Holland’s gaff,” Podge interrupted. “See if he’s been there.”
“What? No fucking way,” Alec vehemently protested. “That prick’s a psycho. He’s as likely to stab me as he is to speak to me.”
“Come on, Al.”
“Why me?”
“Because you’re…well, you’re you,” Podge settled on. “Come on. You know Lynchy would do it for you.”
“Fine,” he huffed. “But if anything happens to me, it’s on you, ginger-pubes!”
Casey: He’s not at Biddies, babe.
Podge: No sign of him at the pavilion.
Alec: Nobody home @ pyscho’s house.
Anxious, I tapped out a two-word response and clicked send before sliding my phone back into my pocket.
Aoife: Keep looking.
The night air whipped at my face, as I stood at the Lynch’s front door, with my fist banging incessantly on the frosted panel of the door.
“What did you do?” I demanded when Darren finally swung the door inwards. “What did you say to him?”
“Maybe you should calm down—”
“Don’t bullshit me, Darren.”
Furious, I pushed past him and stalked into their house, unwilling to pander to anyone’s bullshit, not when he was teetering on the edge like I knew he was.
“You,” I spat when I stormed into the kitchen and was confronted by the woman who bore him. “It’s always you.”
“Aoife?” Marie’s eyes widened. “What are you talking about?”
“Your son is gone!”
“What do you mean he’s gone?” Darren demanded, joining us in the kitchen. “Gone from the hospital?”
“Yes, he’s gone from the hospital,” I snapped. “He discharged himself and I want to know what you fuckers said to him.”
“He wasn’t supposed to do that,” Marie sobbed, sinking down on her smoking chair at the table. “Oh, Darren.”
“What did you say to him this time, huh?” I sneered, hands on my hips, turning my attention on her. “And don’t even think about feeding me a line, because I know you’ve caused this. Your ‘poor me’ act might work on your sons, but I see through you, Marie.”
“Listen, he showed up at Shannon’s hospital room earlier.” Eyeing me warily, Darren added, “There was a conversation, we had words, and he stormed off. I presumed he went back to his bed.”
“You had words?” I seethed, feeling my temperature spike right along with my anxiety. “What kind of words?”
“He has a really bad attitude problem.”
“Of course he does!” I sneered, throwing my hands up. “How else is he supposed to be? You don’t know what he’s had to deal with these past six years.”
“You’re overstepping, Aoife.”
“What did you say to him?” I pressed. “Something pushed him over to edge and I want to know what that something was!”
“I know you mean well, but I don’t need to explain myself to you.”
“Yeah, well, explain yourself to your conscience,” I shot back, trembling. “Because if anything happens to him then it’s on you!”
“Let’s cut the bullshit here. If Joey signed himself out of hospital it’s for one reason and one reason only,” Darren was quick to counter. “He’s out chasing his next fix.”
“Shut up,” I warned, holding a hand up. “Shut your goddamn mouth.”
“He’s an addict, Aoife, and that’s not on me.”
“It’s not that cut and dry, Darren,” I heard myself choke out. “He wasn’t born an addict. That’s not who he is. His issues with addiction are a direct result of spending eighteen years in this hellhole house, with those godawful people you both have the misfortune of calling your parents.”
“Aoife, stop it!”
“Don’t get even get me started on you, Marie. You don’t deserve to call him your son,” I snarled, swinging around to glare at his mother. “You have never deserved his love and you never will!” Blinking back my tears, I spat my pain out at the woman who had created so much turmoil in my boyfriend. “Everyone thinks your husband is the abusive parent, but I see what you do to your son.” I tapped my temple, beyond livid. “I know what you are, Marie. I see right fucking through you.”
“Don’t speak to my mother like that,” Darren warned, taking a defensive stance in front of her. “You can speak civilly or you can leave.”
“You’re a fucking joke,” I continued, pointing my finger at her. “You’ve spent years getting into Joey’s mind, twisting his thought process and fucking with his confidence. Convincing him that he’s the second coming of his father. That he’s dangerous, and a liability, and a disappointment!”
“How dare you!”
“Yeah, I know what you’ve done to him,” I sneered unapologetically. “And you can bury your head in the sand all you want, but you’re the mental abuser in this instance. You broke him, Marie. You have damaged Joey deeper with your words than his father ever has with his fists. You’re a gaslighting bitch!”
“Like you can talk.”
“All I have ever done is love your son.”
“A little too much,” she erupted on me, hands clutching her head as she screamed, “You want to throw blame on who fucked up my son’s life then you need look no further than the person staring back at you in the mirror! Because you’re the one destroying his future, Aoife. You’re the one saddling him with a baby he doesn’t even want!”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” I choked out, feeling like she rammed a red-hot poker through my chest with her words. “He wants the baby.”
“He wants to make you happy,” she roared in my face. “That’s not the same thing as him wanting to be a father.”
“Tell me something,” Darren decided to interject. “If you knew my brother was in such a bad way, why didn’t you do something to protect him?”