Paddy Clarke by Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha

Author:Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha [Ha, Paddy Clarke Ha Ha]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2011-04-06T15:37:21+00:00

-So what?

-We're not allowed.

He ran into the hall.

-You'll wake Ma, I said. -Then she'll never get better and you'll be to blame.

He wouldn't tell anything.

-There must have been the pair of you in it.

That was what Da nearly always said.

I opened the back door to get rid of the smell of the gas.

If Ma wasn't really sick; if they'd had another fight - . I hadn't heard anything. They'd laughed before I went to bed. They'd talked to each other.

I closed the door.

Da was coming back. I could hear his feet. He opened the door and came in, both steps at once. He left the door open.

-Nice day out, he said. -Have your breakfast?

-Yes, I said.

-Francis as well?

-Yes.

-Good lads. Good man. Missis McEvoy is going to look after Cathy and Deirdre. She's very good.

I watched his face. It wasn't tight or white; I couldn't see veins in his neck. He looked nice and calm: nothing bad had happened. Ma was sick.

-It'll give your mammy a chance to get better, he said.

I wanted to see her now; it was alright. She was only sick.

-I'll hardly have time for breakfast myself, he said, but he seemed kind of delighted. -No rest for the wicked.

-Can I go up to her? I said.

-She'll be asleep.

-Just to look.

-Better not; you might wake her. Better not. D'you mind?

-No.

He didn't want me to. There was something.

-What about your lunch? he said. -You'll have to stay in.

-Sandwiches, I said.

-Can you manage? I can get the girls ready.

-Yeah.

-Good man, he said. -Francis's as well, right?

-Okay.

The butter was hard. I'd seen my ma doing it, scraping the top with the knife. I couldn't do it though. I just put pats of butter in each corner of the bread. There was nothing in the fridge to put in the sandwiches, not that I could see, except cheese, and I hated that. So I just made bread sandwiches. I made Sinbad's as well, just in case Da checked. There was nothing wrong with my ma. If he was smiling when he came back down I'd ask him for money for crisps for the sandwiches.

He smiled.

-Can we get crisps for the sandwiches?

-Good idea, he said.

He knew I was asking for the money to buy them. He had the girls in his arms; he had them laughing. Crisp sandwiches. I'd have to sneak out of the school at break because we weren't supposed to leave the yard, unless we were going on a message for one of the masters. There was definitely nothing wrong with her. Except she was a bit sick; I could tell for definite now. She had a tummy or a headache, that was all, or a bad cold. Da put Catherine down so he could get money from his pocket. Nothing that would stop her from being downstairs when we came home.

-Now.

He'd found the money.

-There now.

Two shillings.

-One each, he said. -Make sure now.

-Thanks, Da.

Sinbad had come back.

-Da gave us a shilling for each of us, I told him.

-Will Mam be better when we come home? he said.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.