No Way to Say Goodbye - Anna McPartlin [81]
Mary needed to know who she was allowing to steal her heart. He was dangerous and hadn’t the capacity to love, only to hurt. Mary had already been through hell and high water. Penny might lose her friend through exposing Sam for the selfish, weak bastard he was, but at least she would save her from grievous heartache. She’s suff ered enough.
Tina had lived in Kenmare for five years. She was a born-and-bred Dubliner and she didn’t mind admitting to anyone who would listen that the transition from city to country was a bitch. She would never have dreamed of moving to a small town in Kerry had it not been that she’d met the love of her life in the Big Tree on Gardiner Street one Saturday night before an All Ireland final. At first she couldn’t understand his thick culchie accent and he found her flat Dublinese as difficult, but by the end of that night, language had lost meaning and within five months they were engaged. She had settled in well, and even she would admit that, although Kenmare was full of culchies, two of whom were her children, and although she had to travel to find a branch of Next, the quality of life was far superior to what she had left behind. And although her extended family had spent a great deal of their time slagging her off about her move, it was all she could do to stop them visiting every chance they got. She enjoyed her job at the salon: it was a hub of activity and rarely did anything go on in the town that was not first discussed or revealed there.
While she was cleansing Mary’s face she filled her in on her theory regarding the parentage of a local teenager’s newborn.
“I didn’t even know she was pregnant!”
“You and the rest of us, honey. Josie Riordan says she didn’t know herself. She went into the hospital with suspected appendicitis.”
“No!”
“Oh, you’re way behind. It’s bleedin’ bizarre in this day and age not to know you’re pregnant and it’s not like the young one’s mental.”
“Maybe she was just scared to say anything,” Mary surmised.
“That one? She’s a cheeky mare. I don’t know kids today. It wouldn’t have happened in our time.”
“Tina…” Mary said, about to remind her that she herself had been a teenage mother.
“It was out before I thought. Jaysus, Mary, I’m sorry.”
Mary laughed.
After that Tina was silent, busy massaging Mary’s face and shoulders. Her embarrassment made her work harder at relaxing her client. By the time she left her alone for fifteen minutes with a face-pack on, Mary was fast asleep.
Mary was standing on an empty street. She looked up and saw the red light glowing above her head, then at the ground where it was reflected in the rainwater pooling by the grate at the side of the road. Oh, no. Not again. The familiar teenage boy with a hood pulled tight over his face came around the corner. Please let me go! He was running as before and she could taste his panic. She watched him turn in time to see the boys following. Run! she screamed. Run! But she’d seen this movie before and, no matter how long or hard she called, the boy would be caught. Please don’t make me watch this! she cried, into the night sky. I don’t want to be here!
She turned away when one of the boys grabbed him. She heard the thud as the boy hit the ground. She heard him cry out as the blows connected. I won’t watch it! she roared. Do you hear me? I won’t watch it! She tried to flee the scene but every corner she turned brought her back. The boy leaning against the car was grinning sadistically, watching as the boy was kicked. Darkness seeped from his every pore. She wanted to hurt him. Violence welled inside her.
“Look, Topher’s excited!” he sneered.
Oh,