“Shit happens.”
“They kicked you out before the end of the first half.”
“Really, Jamie?”Riley asks.“How come?”
“I was just tired.It happens to the best of us.Besides, how the fuck do you know?”
“Ryan.”
“Of course.That little fucker.”
“Hey!Watch your mouth!”
I turn around; Ryan is standing at the front door.
“When did you get in?”Ian asks.
“I have the keys, remember?”
“I gave them for emergencies.When we’re at home, I’d appreciate it if you’d at least knock.”
“Such a fuss.”Ryan comes towards us,stops in front of Riley, hugs her and kisses her cheek.“You’re beautiful.”
“Enough!”Ian protests.“What are you doing here?”Ian then asks.
“You came to pick up Jamie when I wasn’t home.I wanted to say goodbye.”
“So you’re only here for Jamie?”
“Also for her beautiful mother.”
“You are about to be locked in the basement, I warn you.”
“I have missed these bickering sessions,” my sister says.
“This is nothing.I’ve got ten days’ worth of backlog.I’ll bounce back quickly; I need to get back on track.”
Ian and Ryan kick off another one of their fights to prove who is the bigger arsehole between the two of them.My sister laughs, now perfectly comfortable in the O’Connor chaos.I watch the scene a few steps away, knowing I’m not really part of it.
“What the fuck, Ryan!I told you to pick me up!”Nick’s voice comes through the door.
“Don’t you have your own car?”Ryan retorts.
“We both had to come here, and you live in my fucking neighbourhood!”Nick replies.
“It would be more accurate to say thatyoulive in my fucking neighbourhood,” Ryan points out.
“At most, that’s Chris’ neighbourhood,” Ian clarifies.“That’s you, Ryan, living at her place.”
“Mine, hers… What difference does it make?”
Ian turns to Nick.“Couldn’t you at least knock?”
“I have the keys,” Nick says, holding them up.
“That’s for… Oh, fuck you both!”
Apparently, nobody uses the doorbell, probably because everyone has a key except me.Why should I have one?I’m not part of the family, and this is just one more confirmation of that.
