‘So you like to burndeadtrees but not enjoy them in their living state.’
‘No… I…’ God, this Barry was good. He was twisting everything to ensure he gota splash from this.
‘So how are you going to resolve this issue?’
‘I am not sure yet,’ I said, ‘but it will be. You see, Barry,’ I said, trying to summon up some wisdom. Something moving, something that would make him and the viewers at home see that at times difficult decisions had to made but that things would work out. Trust and love. Bravery and… having the courage in your convictions. Thatwas it. Right, something profound… ‘You see, Barry, I believe the children are our future.’ What was I saying? It came from deep within me. Words I had heard once and had never forgotten. It wasn’t… it wasn’t Whitney Houston was it? ‘Teach them well and letthemlead the way.’ ItwasWhitney. Barry was looking at me, utterly bewildered, all his smart-arsery gone. ‘What? Let thepupilsmake thedecision?’ He obviously was not a Whitney fan. More fool him, I thought. But I knew Red was fully familiar with her oeuvre and I saw his mouth was twitching from behind Barry, trying not to laugh. This day was not going well.
‘No, I meant, I just… oh I don’t know.’
Shrugging, shaking his head, he turned to the camera. ‘Barry Whelan, for the Six O’clock News, at the environmental stand-off atthe Star of the Sea school in Dalkey.’
The Dalkey Wildlife Defenders were huddled in a little group and obviously delighted at their success. Arthur was pouring something from a saucepan into mugs and handing them around and they were clinking them. Robbo gave me a thumbs up a big smile and what looked suspiciously liked a Heinz tomato soup moustache. Nora shouted something.
‘What?’ I shoutedback.
‘No hard feelings!’ she called.
Round one to them.
Red and Mary joined me, Mary’s face said it all, her mouth a wobble of uncertainty.
‘What do you think?’ I said to the two of them. ‘Have I just made a complete mess of it all?’
‘You did really well,’ Mary lied. ‘He was unnecessarily personal, I thought.’
I glanced at Red who pushed his hands through his hair, his face inscrutable.
‘They might not show it,’ went on Mary. ‘There’ll probably be a bigger story that will go instead. Like a fire. Or a robbery. We’ve just got to pray for bigger news.’
‘Red?’ I was desperate to know what he thought. He must think I’m a total fool. A proper idiot.
‘I think you are doing brilliantly,’ he said, ‘under very difficult circumstances.’
‘But Red, I made children cry. And now I’ve quotedWhitney Houston on national television.’
He laughed then. ‘That was my favourite bit, it has to be said.’
I looked at Mary who was desperately trying to stop her mouth from smiling.
‘I don’t know why you didn’t go the whole hog and quote Johnny Logan...’ He began speaking in an actor’s voice, ‘don’t, don’t close your heart to how you feel. Dream, and don’t be afraid the dream’s not real… closeyour eyes, pretend it’s just the two of us again… make believe this moment’s here to stay…’
Mary was laughing outwardly now.
‘It’s too soon for humour,’ I tried to say. ‘I’m not ready.’
But they two of them began singing loudly, together… ‘Hold me now… don’t cry. Don’t say a word, just hold me now and I will know though we’re apart, we’ll always be together, forever in love…’
Red had his armaround Mary and they swayed side to side, laughing and singing lustily. But they weren’t quite finished,what do you say when words are not enough…’
When the performance was finally over, I said. ‘I never had you down as a Johnny Logan fan, Mary. I thought you were better than that?’
‘Never!’ he said, grinning. ‘Eurovision 1987. What a year! When Ireland couldn’t lose the damn thing!’
‘JohnnyForever!’ said Mary. ‘Well that’s what I had scribbled on all my school books. I was going to get it tattooed. But then I realised it wasn’t Johnny I fancied but Linda Martin.’
Red turned to Mary. ‘We should do karaoke sometime. You can be Linda Martin. I’ll be Johnny.’
‘I’ll hold you to that, Redmond!’ she said, as we watched him run off back into school. ‘Lifts the spirits he does.’
