Postcards to America (13 page)

When Liam received the call Dr. Hogan’s name came up on the telephone display. ‘Hello Henry and how are you? I hear that you are still rolling nurses around the hospital on trolleys. You have heard that Mary and I were engaged? You will be coming to the engagement party?’

‘Don’t know at the moment. Shifts are up in the air. If I can get a swap with another doctor, I’ll turn up. However, that’s not the reason I’m ringing you. How is Danny?’ Liam noticed a touch of anxiety in Henry’s voice.

‘Danny?’

‘Yes, Danny. I saw him coming out of the specialist’s room at the hospital a few days ago. The specialist deals in cancer cases. We were busy with an emergency at the time so I didn’t get time to talk to him. I rang around the others in our group but none of them could shed any light on his condition and I can’t reach him on the telephone. Liam…Liam…You still there?’

‘Yes…Yes. I’m still here.’ No, I didn’t know about his illness. He said nothing the last time we met. I’ll call around, see him, and then ring you back when I have news. Thanks for ringing.’

The line went dead and Liam replaced the receiver.

*

Diana opened the door on the third ring. She invited Liam in and pointed for him to continue through the hall and out to the conservatory. Liam noticed the blue marks under her eyes and her hair needed brushing.

Danny sat in front of the full-length windows and gazed out at the cultured garden. The blinds were partially pulled, placing part of the room in shadow. Danny turned as Liam entered the room. ‘Sit down and take the load off your feet. Do you want a tea or coffee? I hope you will forgive me if I don’t stand up.’

Liam sat and looked at Danny, ignoring the offer of a drink. There were obvious signs of deterioration in his health since their last meeting. His former large frame had faded away and he now seemed smaller and his cheeks shrunken.

‘Dr. Hogan rang to say that he saw you in hospital but that he didn’t get a chance to talk to you. He said that he saw you coming out of a specialist’s room. Do you want to talk about it?’

Danny told him about his visit to the doctor and his referral to the specialist, the tests taken and the conclusions. ‘No possibility of a mistake? You know mistakes happen all the time.’

‘Not in my case. I feel weaker with every passing day despite my doctor increasing the dosage of my medicine.’

‘I’m sorry that you had to find out from Dr. Hogan about my illness. I intended to tell you about my condition sooner but kept on putting it off. You will forgive me?’

‘Of course I forgive you.’

Liam did not know if this was a good time to mention his engagement, but in the circumstances, there might never be a good time. ‘Mary and I got engaged,’ he told Danny.

‘Congratulations. I hope you have a long and happy marriage and many children.’

A dart of pain racked the ex-priest’s body.

Liam made as if to rise to help but Danny waved him back.

‘You know that I’m not afraid to die, Liam. I saw death as a priest and my faith tells me that my body dies but that my spirit or soul lives forever. There are many things I regret having done and some things I wish I had done but we all think that we have plenty of time. I will be meeting my God sooner than I expected but that is a future we all have to face at some stage. In a way I feel sorry for those I leave behind and especially Diana. Support her if you can.’

‘What timeframe are we talking about?’ asked Liam.

Danny looked out the window at the small lawn surrounded by a tidy border then replied, ‘I planted some bulbs before my health collapsed. I will be dead before they flower.’

Danny would not dream of them cancelling the engagement party because of his illness and though he did not attend himself, he insisted on Diana attending. “Corner” arrived in “civvies” having discarded the “uniform” and gave “Punctual” Mary an engagement present of a watch she did not need. “Punctual” Mary’s parents turned out to be very sociable and not at all the people Liam suspected they might be. Patrick arrived with Jean on his arm and introduced her as his cleaner. The group did not know if he meant office or house cleaner. Dr. Hogan responded to the short notice given to him of the engagement party by swapping shifts with a colleague and bringing Catherine, the new love in his life. Bobby Molloy arrived carrying a large cardboard box, which he just managed to squeeze through the door. Emblazoned on the side of the box in large letters were the words, “CHILD’S Buggy”. When they opened the box later, they found four successively smaller boxes inside. The last box contained 1,000.00 Euro and a note that said, “Enjoy your honeymoon and rent the best bed”.

“Curly” Cribbins let them have use of a small private room at the back of the premises and laid on a spread for “free”, the cost of which he recouped later by adding a few cents onto the price of the drink. “Corner” felt so secure in the private room that he only went outside to check the premises twice in the whole night and only stood in the corner some of the time.

Liam circulated among his friends and the main topic of conversation centered on Danny’s illness. All wished him well and expressed hope of a recovery and everybody knew somebody whose illness had gone into remission.

Despite protests from Liam, “Punctual” Mary’s father insisted on buying drinks for the group and they got talking.

‘She thinks the world of you,’ the father explained. ‘It’s always Liam this and Liam that. She drives her mother cuckoo. Then why don’t you marry him, her mother says to her. Now she is. Marrying you, I mean. Look after her.’

Liam nodded his head. Of course, I’m going to look after her, he thought. To the father he said, ‘She’s changing me already. She made me enroll in a business management course in the evenings. With a stroke of the pen, my free evenings for several years have vanished.’

The father laughed. Then more seriously he said, ‘You know that she is obsessed with the passage of time. I’m afraid that I am responsible. I brought her up to be punctual but I guess I overdid my guidance.’

Liam nodded understandingly while keeping his thoughts to himself. He remembered the last time she walked out leaving him high and dry. Mary’s father waited for a reply from him so he answered, ‘If you pardon the pun Mr. Moloney, she’ll grow out of it in time.’

Shortly after this conversation Liam called for quiet and read out a message from Danny saying he apologized for missing their engagement and would they accept his apology and that he wished them both the best for the future.

Diana left early and they all knew the reasons why and sympathized. Liam spoke to her alone and asked her to ring him instantly if Danny’s condition changed.

She promised that she would.

Later “Curly” opened a promotional barrel of drink given to him gratis by the brewery and made a great show of dispensing free drinks. Later still “Curly” joined them and helped himself to some of his own free drink. He indulged so much that he ended up singing a sad sea shanty that resulted in the female members of the group rubbing tears from their eyes and the male members looking into their pints.

Liam thought they had enough to drink when he overheard Dr. Hogan and “Corner” discussing the procedure for amputating limbs without an anesthetic while under attack from marauding Indians. He definitely knew they had enough to drink when “Corner” went around and kissed everybody including Liam and ended up kissing a poster which showed a male model advertising a drinks product.

Mary went home with her parents and Liam took a taxi home to his room with “Corner”, who slept at the bottom of the bed and didn’t take his clothes off either.

Diana, true to her word, telephoned as soon as the doctor moved Danny to the hospice. Liam listened as she described the rapid deterioration in the ex-priest’s condition. ‘He needs constant monitoring and frequent morphine injections to ease his pain and they were only available at the hospice,’ she told him.

Liam told her he would be there as soon as possible.

The battered looking taxi dropped Liam at the gate. The first thing he noticed was the immaculately kept lawns and flower beds surrounding the low-rise building. The entrance doors opened with a soft swish and Liam entered a carpeted lobby bathed in soft lighting. He though he heard the restful sound of falling water but could not see the source.

The receptionist spoke in a soft voice in answer to his question and Liam proceeded down some more carpeted corridors to the appointed room. He knocked gently on the door and Diana’s voice told him to enter.

Danny sat propped up in the bed. Diana sat on a chair at the side of the bed and held his hand in hers. He smiled weakly as Liam moved towards the end of the bed. Liam was at a loss for words; words like “how are you?” and “are you feeling better?” seemed entirely inappropriate.

Diana got him off the hook by speaking first. ‘Some of his clerical friends have been in to see him already. They were so kind and we both thanked them for their concern. One of them in particular – an elderly priest – said he would be back again.’

‘Is there anything practical I can do to help?’ asked Liam, feeling helpless in the situation. He noticed that Danny’s eyes were now closed and that his head lolled to one side.

Diana shook her head. ‘All we can do now is pray and hope that God takes this good man soon.’

*

Danny’s condition deteriorated over the following days and at 2 am. Exactly a week after being admitted he died. Diana and Liam were present, as were all the other members of the group. The group stayed behind after Danny’s death and those who were religious prayed and those without faith extended their support.

*

A large crowd turned up for the funeral and several priests concelebrated the Mass. The main celebrant made a speech highlighting the main parts of Danny’s life, his service to the community and expressing regret at his untimely end. A singer sang “The Old Wooden Cross” which was a particular favorite of Danny’s.

After the service the group walked behind the coffin to the local cemetery. The group shouldered the coffin the final few yards to the graveside and stood by as the priest read the final prayers. After the prayers were said, each person threw a flower into the grave in a final gesture.

As Liam stood there a black dressed Diana came and stood by his side. ‘I’ve lost a good man today,’ she said.

‘And I’ve lost a good brother,’ Liam replied.

Patrick, Bobby and Henry organized the stag night for Liam between them. They debated whether to have the night locally or travel to another venue. They discussed the matter with “Curly” Cribbins who remembered that he knew the owner of a pub located in a village about 25 miles distant. He said that he would talk to the owner, look after accommodation and come himself.

I have seen too many men make fools of themselves on their stag nights and it’s not going to happen to me, vowed Liam as they journeyed the short distance to their destination. Stories of naked men being chained to lampposts or being tarred and feathered were legendary. No sirree! It’s not going to happen to me.

His thoughts were interrupted by a loud twang. “Corner” must have bought or “borrowed” a battered guitar from someplace and he brought the instrument along despite the fact that he could not play a chord. Now he sat opposite Liam abusing the strings and singing bits of songs that he never really knew.

Presently the train arrived at their destination, which turned out to be a small, pretty village, and they carried their overnight bags to the appropriately named “Dew Drop Inn”. “Curly” greeted the proprietor like a long lost brother and they were shown to their accommodation.

They started drinking in early evening after a full meal. The five sat around a table in the “Dew Drop Inn’s” large lounge. The proprietor delivered the drinks to the table and informed them that a traditional band would be playing in the lounge later that night. “Corner” told him that he would accompany the band on his guitar. This brought shouts of ‘No!’ from the rest of the group. Bobby then told his companions about the visit of “High” and “Low” to his shed and the stopping of his welfare payments. ‘It’s about time they caught you,’ Patrick said, laughing. Bobby did not mention the damage caused to the social welfare office by “a person or persons unknown”. The conversation was interrupted briefly by the antics of “Corner” who choose that moment to go to the bar with his guitar and serenade the barmaid with an song in Italian, despite knowing no Italian. The group encouraged him with shouts of, ‘More!’ ‘More!’ After “Corner” returned to the table, Henry told them the tale of the sick patients that sustained more injuries in their scramble for a free soft drink. When the laughter subsided, he told them about the politician trying to jump the queue in the middle of an emergency. ‘Good on you,’ they said. Then they spent the next hour listening to the tales recounted by “Curly”. He told them that for a time he managed a pub in London frequented by what is loosely called “the film set”. He named names and they changed their perception of some of the more popular “stars” of the previous two decades. He also told them about the two heavyweight wrestlers who threw each other around the ring in the evening and threw each other around the bedroom at night.

Liam started to feel a warm glow suffuse his body. The fact that he was in a different location and among friends and that the last traumatic few months were behind him relaxed his mind. The only regret he would have: that Danny did not live to see his coming marriage to Mary. Leaving his memories behind he swallowed another mouthful of drink and watched the traditional band set up their equipment. The lounge started to fill at this time. Many of the patrons were farming types with the men having sun damaged skin on their faces and the women wearing sensible shoes.

Then the band played a few all time favourites and couples started to dance. Henry and Bobby threw caution to the wind, walked across the floor and asked two women to dance. Liam sat there slowly sipping his drink until the proprietor spoke to the bandleader. During the next break, the bandleader announced that a party of men from outside the village was having a stag night and would the culprit stand up. Reluctantly Liam stood and took a bow.

‘And,’ the bandleader continued, ‘I want all the ladies present to give him a dance.’ A large clap followed this appeal.

Liam spent the next hour dancing and though his dancing skills were basic, the women he danced with were no ballerinas. During dances, he fended off questions about the length of his relationship with Mary and his honeymoon destination. Between dances he returned to the table and took some drink. His glass always seemed to be full but perhaps that was an illusion caused by too much to drink. On one of his dancing sweeps near the stage he caught sight of “Corner” strumming his guitar and miming to a song. Luckily, the other instruments drowned out “Corner’s” efforts.

During a break, the band asked for singers and Liam took an opportunity to sit and rest after his exertions. “Corner” started the singing with a country and western song complete with horse noises. Most customers took this as an opportunity to use the toilets and to go outside for a smoke. Henry and Patrick returned to the table with two women in tow and introductions were made all round. “Corner’s” moment of fame ended and other quite good singers did their party piece.

I’m not going to get drunk and make a fool of myself, Liam promised himself. Yet the room seemed to be slightly out of focus and he did have this urge to get up and dance.

Because of his condition, Liam did not notice the conversation between Henry, Patrick, “Curly” and the proprietor of the “Dew Drop Inn”.

Then the band struck up a number that Liam particularly liked and rising from his seat he walked an unsteady path across the dance floor and asked a middle-aged woman to dance. The song over, Liam and his dancing partner stood waiting for the next song to start when suddenly the lights dimmed and to the beat of a drum a circle formed around Liam. Into the circle stepped a slim girl dressed in a swimsuit with bulges in all the right places. Around her neck, she wore a necktie and in her hand, she carried a feather duster. The girl started her act by wrapping her arms around Liam’s neck and kissing him on the cheek. Then she slowly undid the buttons on his shirt to the accompaniment of cheers from the circled crowd. After removing his shirt and vest, the girl slowly circled him rubbing his upper body with the feather duster.

Liam swayed unsteadily on his feet, his eyes closing, he wanted to lie down and sleep. The cheering and clapping barely infringed on his consciousness. He tried to hold on to the girl that danced around him for support but she danced out of reach.

Then, with a practised routine the girl put her arms around Liam’s neck, placed one leg behind his back and simulated a sexual movement. The crowd egged her on. After another kiss to Liam’s cheek the girl went down on one knee and undid his pant’s belt. She pretended to make a hard job of pulling down his pants and making the helpless Liam step out of them. Still holding the feather duster she inserted the end into Liam’s trunks and moved the feather duster in a circular motion. The women present went wild and screamed with emotion.

With her act finished the girl departed. Suddenly the circle parted again and “Corner” entered, pushing a wheelbarrow. Henry and Patrick lifted the hapless Liam into the wheelbarrow where he lay dozing. “Corner” then proceeded to roll the wheelbarrow and its cargo around the dance floor followed by the rest of the patrons. Bobby made sure that he took plenty of photographs for future viewing.

*

Liam woke before daybreak. No streak of light pierced the darkness of the room. A body shared the bed with him; he could feel hair against his face. It could be a female. It could be Mary. His head felt as if hit by a hammer.

Liam placed his arm around the figure and drifted back to sleep.

*

The sound of loud banging woke him. It seemed to come from far away. Then the noise got louder and more persistent. A voice called. It sounded like Bobby’s voice. The voice called, ‘Liam, get up for breakfast,’ repeatedly.

Liam groaned and opened one eye. The light hurt his retina and his throat felt parched. ‘Go away! Go away!’ He heard himself say.

‘Get up for breakfast,’ Bobby repeated.

At that moment, Liam became aware of the shape in the bed next to him. His bleary eyes picked out the shape of a head covered with long blonde hair sticking out from under the bed covers. Liam reached over and gave the shape a push. The push elicited no response. He pushed the shape again. Still no movement came. A deep sleeper, thought Liam, his brain still not functioning properly. Then he reached over and stripped back the clothes.

With a startled cry Liam forgets about his physical condition and sits up in bed. Next to him in the bed lay a fully inflated rubber doll. The female shaped doll possessed all the right pieces in all the right places including synthetic pubic hair.

Befuddled by the sight of the doll, Liam failed to notice that the banging and shouting had stopped.

The door open quickly and Bobby stepped inside with camera in hand. Before Liam could protest a series of photographs were taken.