Sixty Seconds (3 page)

Joey’s
antics made Daddy laugh but Natalie felt bad whenever he did those
things. Almost as bad as she felt when he cut her kitten’s ear or
burned the tail of his friend’s dog. Joey was mean but he had a
knack for getting away with everything. Mammy said he would grow
out of it but Natalie looked at her father and wasn’t so
sure.

Natalie
pushed open the gate and winced as it creaked loudly. A cold breeze
whipped through her curls and felt like ice cold fingertips. Her
tiny fingers gripped her jacket. She couldn’t turn back or Joey
would laugh at her forever. She crept up to the door, pushed
herself onto her tippy toes and lifted her hand towards the door
bell.

“
No, Natalie!” Joey’s sudden shout made Natalie jump, lose her
balance and fall against the door with a great thud. Paralysed with
fear, she heard Joey running away, and to her horror, the door
opened, revealing the old woman who lived there. Shrouded in light,
Natalie noticed the woman’s hair was held back with combs that
could have been made from bone. She had to be at least a hundred
years old and her eyes looked black as she peered down at
Natalie.

“
What do you want?”

Still
frozen, Natalie stared up at the woman, her mouth opening and
closing without a sound. The woman looked out beyond her gate, her
eyes as sharp as a bird. She sighed, gripped Natalie’s shoulder and
pulled her inside, shutting the door behind them.

Natalie
gave a little scared squeal which made the woman chuckle. “Don’t
worry, child. I’m just giving your brother a little scare. I
suppose he tried to make you play knick-knack on my
door.”

Natalie
nodded, transfixed by the woman’s house. She had a real fire in her
living room and no television. Shelves stacked with books lined the
walls instead. A cat curled up in front of the fire, its tail
visibly scarred with an old scorch wound.

“
What happened the kitty?” She couldn’t help asking, despite
her fear.

“
A bad little boy hurt her once.” The old woman sucked her
false teeth and reminded Natalie of her grandfather. That made her
feel a little more at ease.

“
I’m sorry,” she said, meaning it.

The old
woman stared at her then nodded. “Sit down next to my cat for a bit
and we’ll scare your brother good and proper. He’ll think I’ve
eaten you for dinner.” The woman winked at Natalie, making her
giggle. The idea of scaring Joey held a certain delicious
appeal.

“
Would you like something to eat, Natalie?”

Natalie
sat down next to the sleeping cat and wasn’t surprised the old
woman knew her name. She was sure the woman knew lots of things.
“Yes, please.”

“
Chocolate fudge, maybe?”

“
That’s my favourite!”

The old
woman smiled. She brought Natalie a plate of bite-sized chunks of
chocolate fudge and a glass of sparkling lemonade.

“
How come you don’t have a telly?” Natalie asked, feeling
braver now she was sure the old woman wasn’t going to hurt
her.

“
Those things are no good at all. Besides, I have lots of books
to read.” The old woman picked up her knitting and click clacked
until Natalie felt positively drowsy.

“
What are they about?”

The
click clacking stopped and the old woman leaned toward Natalie,
lowering her voice to a whisper. “Magic.”

Natalie
laughed. “My Daddy says there’s no such thing as magic.”

The old
woman smiled at Natalie and carried on knitting. “Ah, but he’s
wrong. I bet he’s wrong about a lot of things, isn’t he,
Natalie?”

Natalie thought about the times her Daddy told her Mammy she
was ugly and cold. Natalie’s Mammy was the most beautiful mother in
the world and her snuggles were extra warm. Daddy always called
Natalie a stupid girl but her teacher said she was the smartest
girl in the class. The old woman was right, Daddy really
was
wrong about a lot of
things. She nodded her agreement.

“
Well, maybe we can sort that out,” the old woman said. “Did
you know, that when your Daddy was small, he was just like your
brother?”

Natalie
shook her head. Her Dad was mean like Joey so it made
sense.

“
He used to persuade all of the little children to throw stones
at my windows, and he was the one who burned my cat’s tail. He
pushed the smaller kids around and liked to hurt animals when
nobody was looking. He sounds a lot like Joey, doesn’t
he?”

“
I suppose so.” Natalie’s pulse quickened. She felt a little
guilty, talking about her family. Daddy always said good girls kept
secrets.

“
Imagine if Joey grew up to be just like your
father.”

Natalie
gulped. He already did act like Daddy. She was afraid of them both.
Grown up Joey would be unbearable. Her face paled as she looked
back at the old woman.

“
Perhaps if your father wasn’t around, Joey would learn to be a
good boy.”

Natalie
thought about it. Maybe. If Daddy didn’t push Mammy around then
maybe Joey would stop pushing Natalie around. Natalie nodded again
and took a sip of her drink.

“
Perhaps you would like to make a wish. Just for fun. Think of
how life would be if your Daddy wasn’t around to hurt people. And
now think of a pet, something you would love.”

Natalie
laughed. “A white puppy with brown spots!” Inside her head, she
wished her Daddy would go away and leave her mother alone. Maybe
Mammy wouldn’t look so sad all the time, maybe Joey would learn
that being mean was wrong if Daddy wasn’t there to laugh and egg
him on. She sipped her sparkling lemonade and wished and wished and
wished.

The old
woman took Natalie home after a while. She wasn’t surprised to see
a white puppy with brown spots on Natalie’s doorstep. Nor was she
surprised when Natalie’s father seemed to vanish off the face of
the planet. After a few months, Natalie’s mother stopped looking so
pale and the small children stopped playing knick-knack on the old
woman’s door.

Joey was
good, for a time, and Natalie visited the old woman more often. She
ate chocolate fudge, drank sparkling lemonade and read some of the
many books while curled up in front of the fire with the old
woman’s cat. Sometimes she made wishes and sometimes the wishes
came true. Natalie didn’t believe in magic, not really, but
whenever anyone hurt her, she went to the old woman’s house to eat
chocolate fudge and drink sparkling lemonade.

When
Joey turned sixteen, the memory of his father had faded and his
mean streak revealed itself again. Natalie sported bruises and her
cheeks were pale with fear while Joey now urged the younger kids to
drink beer and throw empty cans at the creepy old house down the
end of the cul-de-sac.

The old
woman wasn’t surprised when Natalie came to her house to eat
chocolate fudge and drink sparkling lemonade once again. Nor was
she surprised when Joey disappeared and a tiny calico kitten
appeared on Natalie’s doorstep. Karma was a witch.

Selena
Davis had a face like stone as she led her father’s funeral
procession. Her mother could barely walk, shamed her, she
did.

Selena
could feel sorry for her little brother, Eamon, but not her mother.
Not when she had spent every day nagging at the man. Nagging for
money, nagging whenever he went to the pub; she even nagged when he
was caught dealing. As if he wasn’t doing it for her, for money,
for the family, to stop her nagging in the first place.

Her
mother was the one who pushed him into it; and the one who turned
her back when he needed her. Now he was dead, dumped naked and
bloody in the Grand Canal. All. Her. Fault.

Selena
sneered while her mother wailed, frowned while the priest sang the
praises of a man he never even knew. “A good man, a father and a
husband.” Like that was the most important thing in life. To be a
husband.

The
worst part was knowing the people who murdered him were probably in
the church, looking pious. Knowing they were
untouchable.

The
people who knew her own father was dead before she did sat in the
front rows. Scurrying rats, they fought to be the first to tell her
all about it. Human locusts, they fed on the pain of others,
feasted upon the look on her face when she found out her father was
dead. She could only imagine the high they had gotten when Eamon
had to be sedated.

The poor
kid hadn’t slept properly since. He had to have the lights on all
night and even then he woke, screaming from night terrors. Looking
at his pale little face, she couldn’t believe he would ever be the
same happy-go-lucky kid again.

She
couldn’t comfort him, not when the emptiness inside her kept
growing, eating away at anything that made her happy. The world had
been a whole spectrum of colour. Now it was a dreary shade of grey.
The sky was overcast and the incessant drizzle served to make her
even more miserable. It was like the earth itself had given up
hope.

The
world deserved to be punished. Her father deserved justice. But
neither would happen and she was just a kid. A nobody. And her
mother didn’t care. Not really. She played up the tears knowing the
neighbours would send around an envelope, maybe bring some food.
Nobody cared, they wanted an excuse to gossip and get the dirt and,
by God, her mother was only itching to spread it.

At the
wake, Selena grabbed a naggin of vodka and hid in her room with
Janice, her best friend. She couldn’t feel happiness, didn’t want
to feel sadness so she would aim for comfortably numb. Janice took
tiny sips of the alcohol but Selena discovered that knocking back
mouthfuls didn’t taste quite as poisonous. The heat turned into a
nice warm sensation that shrouded her from the pain. The bitterness
still penetrated her soul, no amount of vodka could wash away those
feelings.

“
Maybe we should go back down, get something to eat,” Janice
said.

Selena
shrugged. The room was a little hazier and maybe she was a bit
hungry now. Maybe it would piss her mother off if she could tell
Selena had been drinking. It would be a miracle if she even
noticed.

They
went downstairs, Selena giggling loudly on the way. Nothing was
funny but it got her noticed. A few of the neighbours pursed up
their lips, making the lines around their mouths more pronounced.
Others whispered together and pointed which made Selena feel all
the more rebellious. Grown up.

She
flounced over to her mother and felt the blood run from her face.
Her little brother was in bed, sick with grief; yet her mother,
twisted with drink, was all over Graeme Moore. Her fingers stroked
his thigh and her bra was showing. Selena’s stomach turned. Her Dad
only dead and already her Ma was acting like a total slapper. Two
can play at that game.

Selena
wanted . . . something. Graeme Moore was hideous but he was loaded.
All of his gang were. If her mother wanted him, Selena would take
him first. Out of spite. Anything to soothe the acid, to fill the
empty space, to do something that meant she wouldn’t have to think
about her Da in a box under the dirt and her Ma pissing on his
memory.

She had
always told herself she was saving her virginity for someone
special, for love, for the right time. Who gave a fuck about any of
that now? Those days were over and if letting some randomer inside
her could distract her for a while then it was worth it. Anything
was worth it. Anything that blocked out emotion was fine by
her.

Selena
rolled up the waist of her skirt and yanked down her top until more
of her small cleavage showed. She ignored Janice and made her move,
standing in front of her mother with a cocked hip.

“
Shouldn’t you go check on Eamon?” Selena said, loud enough for
everyone to hear. Her mother’s cheeks and nose were flushed red, a
little mascara ran under her eyes. The woman looked around to see
who was paying attention. Everyone. She couldn’t neglect her son
now. Selena knew how to play the game well.

“
I was just about to,” her mother said, glaring back at Selena.
The widow rose out of her seat, her movements slow and awkward. As
soon as she moved away, Selena took her seat and held Graeme’s
gaze. He looked back with interest, slipping his arm around the
back of her chair.

“
Little Selena, all growed up,” he said, his breath stale with
drink and cigarettes.

A smile
froze on her face. “Bit boring here, isn’t it?”

He
shrugged. “I’m heading to a house party in a few.”

“
Not inviting me?” She tried to sound sultry but it came out
different.

“
Might be a bit too grown up for you love. Wouldn’t want you to
run home crying.”

She
snorted. “Yeah, right. Give us a lift then.”

“
Who’s us?”

She
jerked her head towards her friend. “Janice and me. Whatcha
say?”

He
stared at Janice for too long. She was listening to an old woman
repeat herself.

“
Alright then,” Graeme said. “Get your mate. But it’s a
grown-up party so if you can’t take the heat, stay home like a good
little girl.”