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.”
WILLFUL GIRLS AND WITHERING WILLPOWER
JANUARY 28TH 2004
JOEY
The original punishment I had received for fighting with Mike Maloney at school had initially started as a week’s suspension but had quickly escalated into an extra month once the principal caught wind of my arrest.
Cautioned by the Gards and given a slap on the wrist for the fight I had with Ricey outside my house, I had been excused from school until after the February midterm. In which, I was told to return with a new attitude or not return at all.
Fuck them.
They could keep their school.
I didn’t want to go back there anyway.
The place was full of snakes and liars.
My only regret about the whole ordeal was that I wasn’t at school to protect my sister when she needed me to. And judging by the number of days Shannon had come home in floods of tears since my suspension, it was safe to say that she needed a lot of protection.
After all of the drama and tears with Danielle, I had decided to put my dick into semi-retirement, needing another girl bitching at me like I needed a hole in the head.
It didn’t stop me from thinking about Molloy, though.
No, she lived rent-free in my head.
Same as always.
The emotion on her face as she watched the Gards take me away that day was sobering.
She cared a hell of a lot more than was good for both of us, and I couldn’t handle it.
What she witnessed that day was a small preview of what being with me entailed.
Of how bad a guy like me would be for a girl like her.
A train wreck.
Disgusted with myself for barreling over a line I had vowed never to cross, I forced myself to blank her out of my head, something that was a lot harder to do now that I’d had her mouth on me.
With Tom Petty’s Free Fallin’ drifting from the radio at work, I shook my head to clear my depressing thoughts. Wiping the oil from my already-stained hands with a rag I reached for the socket wrench that I’d been using to replace the spark plugs on a 97 Golf. Setting it back on the rack with all of the other tools, I locked the car and tossed the keys in the office before grabbing a sweeping brush.
Alone to clean the place up – my penance for once again getting into trouble with the law – I quickly tidied up before switching off the lights and letting myself out the back door of the garage.
I was bolting the door when a familiar voice came from behind me. “So, this is where you’ve been hiding.”
Stiffening, I paused with the key in the lock before forcing my body to relax. “I don’t hide, Molloy.”
“Well, apparently, you don’t call, either,” she drawled in that sarcastic tone of voice that I was so used to sparring with.
“Your dad’s not here.”
“I know.” Turning around, I found her leaning against the side of the building, with her arms folded across her chest. “I didn’t come here to see my dad.”
“Then what did you come for?”
“You.”
“What’s wrong, Molloy?” I asked, lingering when I knew better. The sensible thing to do would be to walk away from her, but I never seemed to have much of that when she was near.
Clad in dark jeans, a white puffy jacket, a grey scarf, and matching wooly hat, she looked every inch the good girl I knew she wasn’t.
“You missing me at school or something?”
“Or something,” she replied, not giving me an inch. “So, why didn’t you call, Joe? It’s been three weeks.”
My gaze flicked to the small bruise under her left eyes that she was still sporting, and a pang of guilt churned in my gut. I quickly masked it with indifference. “Why would I call?”
“Again with this bullshit?” She rolled her eyes, not buying the crap I was attempting to sell her. “Answer me.”
I shrugged. “I didn’t have time.”
“Oh, yeah,” she drawled. “Because you’re so busy these days, what with being suspended from school and from the hurling team.”