The Bright Side (38 page)

Now he was volunteering
social
information. It was almost too much
.

“Have fun either way,” I said. “And well done again. I’ll talk to you soon.
”

“Okay. Good luck.” “See ya.
”

We hung up and I went back to getting the tea together, dancing on the spot
.

* * *

Back
in
the
living
room,
we
had
the
tea
and
biccies
and
all three
of
us
joined
in
helping
Niall
with
his
jigsaw.
He
wasn’t downstairs
for
more
than
half
an
hour
before
his
eyelids started
to
droop.
Melissa
put
him
to
bed
again,
for
good
this time,
and
then
we
settled
in
to
watch
the
movie
on
Channel 4;
some
cop
thing
with
Denzel
Washington.
Colm
and Melissa
seemed
to
enjoy
it,
but
it
washed
over
me
without leaving
a
trace.
I
was
too
pleased
and
excited
by
the
day’s events
to
pay
proper
attention.
At
eleven
or
so,
I
was suddenly
overcome
with
exhaustion;
the
good
kind,
the
kind joggers
are
always
claiming
to
experience.
I
made
my excuses
and
padded
off
to
bed,
feeling
genuinely
happy.
Not
happy
given
the
circumstances
.
Plain
old
happy
.

And that was it – the high point. It was all downhill from there
.

CHAPTER
17

I woke
late
on
Tuesday
morning,
at
around
nine
fifteen,
and
was
downstairs
less
than
five
minutes
later,
having
showered
and
dressed
at
speed
.

“Hiya,” Melissa said, as I entered the kitchen. “Sleep okay?” “Fine, thanks. Where’s Niall?
”

“He’s doing one of his colouring books from the zoo, with one eye on the gorillas DVD that he got at the zoo, while wearing his
I’ve
Been
To
Dublin
Zoo
T-shirt.
”

“Good for him.
”

“He’ll be high as a kite for a month. Now – cup of tea? Cereal? Toast?
”

“Cup of tea for sure,” I said. “And maybe –
”

The doorbell rang. Melissa looked at me as if
I
had done it with some kind of remote control
.

“Who’s that at this time of the morning?” she asked, then dropped her tea-towel and stomped off down the hall. She seemed to greatly resent the interruption and if the caller had been a salesman or ticket-seller, I’m sure she would have given them short shrift
.

But it wasn’t a salesman or a ticket-seller. It was Gerry
.

My initial reaction, when I heard his voice, was to jump down from my stool and bounce on my toes like an athlete getting ready for the long jump. Then I took a step towards the other door, the one that led to the dining room
.

Niall was coming from the opposite direction; we ran smack into each other
.

“Hello,” he said. “Hi there.
”

He held up his colouring book. “I did a lion,” he said. “Look!
”

Not knowing what else to do, I hunkered down beside him. “Oh, that’s lovely, Niall! You did a great job.
”

Melissa appeared then, pointing behind herself with her thumb
.

“Uh … Gerry’s here,” she said. “He wants to talk to you.” I stayed hunkered down. “Right.
”

And there he suddenly was, peering over her shoulder. “Hi,” he said
.

Melissa stepped into the room. Gerry stayed put. I suddenly thought of Adam Clayton. I saw him in town one day, walking down South William Street. There was nothing remarkable about him, but I gasped as he went by. Purely because he was so familiar, he seemed somehow more
there
than everyone else, as if the rest of us were only in 2-D
.

Looking up at Gerry that morning, I experienced a similar sort of effect
.

“Hi, yourself,” I said, horribly aware of the catch in my voice
.

“Come on,” Melissa said to Niall. “Let’s go and watch the rest of your DVD.
”

He grimaced furiously. “But I was showing Auntie Jackie my COLOURING book.
”

“You can show her later, if you haven’t ripped it up or set fire to it. Come on.” She left, dragging him behind her
.

I watched them go, then realised it was probably time I stood up. My knees cracked as I did so. I felt ridiculous
.

“I haven’t come here to argue,” Gerry said, stepping into the room properly
.

I gave him a quick once-over. He looked pale and spent. “Why are you here then?” I asked him
.

He scratched the stubble on his chin. “I just wanted to let you know . . .” He closed his eyes and shook his head
.

At that moment, I would have bet the house that he was going to say, “I’m leaving you for Lisa.” I was heading for the floor again. I just knew it
.

“Chrissy did a stupid thing last night,” he said. The room spun. I teetered back on my heels
.

“What do you mean, stupid? What kind of stupid?” One possible answer occurred to me immediately. It turned out to be the right one
.

“She
took
a
little
revenge,”
Gerry
said.
“On
…
our
neighbour.”
“Our
neighbour
?
What,
are
you
afraid
to
use
her
name?” He
nodded
as
if
to
say,
I
deserved
that
.
“Lisa,
then.
Chrissy
put
a
brick
through
her
living-room
window
and
threw
a
tin of
red
paint
over
the
roof
of
her
car.
”

I felt a little finger poking me in the ribs. I’d said something about window-bricking in Arnotts. “Oh, for Christ’s sake! When was this?
”

“About three this morning.
”

“How do you know it was her?” I asked, knowing it was a useless question
.

“Well … she didn’t plan it very well. She threw the brick first,
then
did the car. Lisa was at her bedroom window like a shot when she heard the noise and she recognised Chrissy. She started hurling abuse and Chrissy hurled some back. She didn’t even run. She just stood there in the drive.
”

I let my head drop and wearily trudged towards a stool. “Terrific,” I said. “You might as well sit down.
”

Gerry did so. I looked at him across the island. He could have phoned me with this information. There’d been no need for him to show up in person. He was using it as an excuse, I realised. I considered calling him on it but decided that there was no point
.

“So, what are you telling me? She’s in jail?” “No. The Guards weren’t involved.
”

“How did
you
get involved?” I asked. “I can’t imagine you woke up. And I doubt that Chrissy told you.
”

“No, eh … no. The other … uh …” “Lisa told you.
”

“Yes.
”

“Knocked
on
the
door
for
a
cosy
wee
chat,
did
she?” “No,
Jackie.
She
kicked
the
shit
out
of
the
door
for
a
very
uncosy wee
shouting
match. She
wanted
to
call the
Guards, but
I
wouldn’t
let
her.
And
she
made
a
lot
of
noise
about
the repair
bills
too.
”

I tutted
.

“It was the first time I’d spoken to her,” Gerry added. “Believe it or don’t, it’s up to you. But it’s the truth. If I had my way, I’d never have spoken to her again.
”

“Yeah,” I sneered. “After the way she treated you.” He chose to ignore that
.

“What about Chrissy?” I said then. “What did she have to say for herself?
”

“To me? Nothing. She’d gone by the time I knew what was happening. I called over there first thing this morning, but she wouldn’t answer her door. Or the phone.
”

“Right. I’ll go now. Tuesday’s her day off, she might still be at home.
”

“We should go together.” I froze. He noticed
.

“We don’t have to go in the same car,” he said wearily. “If you don’t want to.
”

“It’s not that … Gerry, she told me …” “What?
”

“She told me she doesn’t want to talk to you. I mean … ever again.
”

He frowned at me as if he didn’t quite follow. “That’s silly. I’m her father.
”

“I know that. But she’s very upset. And angry.
”

“I’m her
father
,” he said again. It was the only argument he had
.

“I think it’s better if I go on my own,” I said. “Just for today. Just until … just for today.
”

“No,” he said and slowly shook his head. “Everybody’s mad at me, everybody hates me. Fair enough. I deserve it. But I’m not running away from my responsibilities. This is my daughter we’re talking about. I’m going.
”