“In the middle of nowhere in a backwards little county?”
“It’s not easy to find somewhere that’ll accept us, given your track record.”
She rolls her eyes.
“Just give it a chance, okay? And give your grandparents a chance, too.”
“They’re alright.”
“Thank god. That’s good news.”
She gets up from the stool and lifts her chin towards me in challenge.
“You’rethe problem. You’re the one who’s not alright.”
“Can’t we try and move past this?” I try to step closer to her.
“You’re fifteen years too late, Kerry.”
She only uses my surname when she wants to highlight just how much she hates me: so, basically, every other word.
“I’m going to go and get dressed. Grandma’s waiting for me so we can go to the market.”
“The market? You’re going to the market?”
“It’s better than putting those things on,” she says, pointing towards the rubber boots sitting by the back door, “and going out into some field to feed the cows.”
“Sheep. You’d be feeding the sheep.”
“This place is shit,” she grumbles through her teeth, before disappearing into the living room and then upstairs.
“Well done.” My mother’s voice floats into the room as soon as I’m alone.
“You were here the whole time, weren’t you?” I turn towards her; she’s standing with her hands planted on her hips.
“Yes, I was. How about you?”
A whole different question, but fine.
“I’m sorry. I never meant to spend the whole night away on our first evening here.”
How many times do I have to repeat that?
“I don’t care about where you are and who you’re with, but Jesus, Niall! You only got here yesterday!”
“It just happened.”
“I don’t want to know. I’m your mother, and I’m not supposed to know about certain things – even though the newspapers have been reporting it for years.”
“You’re the third person to say something like that in the past few hours. Not everything in those fucking articles is true.”
“Well, if those stories made it all the way here, and even I managed to read them…” She looks around, before lowering her voice. “You can bet that she’s read them, too.” She gestures above her, upstairs.
“I don’t… I’d never thought about that.”
“It’s time to start thinking about the consequences of your actions, Niall. You’re not a little kid anymore, and you’re not on your own. You have a teenager who’s counting on you.”
“You’re right, Mum. I’m sorry. I’ll be more careful from now on.”
