The Journey Home by Dermot Bolger

Author:Dermot Bolger [Dermot Bolger ]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780007394258
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers

From then on Pascal Plunkett rarely went anywhere in the daytime without me driving him in his BMW. In the fields beyond St Margaret’s he had received planning permission to build two small terraces of houses. To reach them I had to turn off a narrow country lane and manoeuvre the car down a mud track with the tyre marks of earth movers deeply scored into its surface.

When Plunkett was in his office I spent my time out of the men’s way in the garage forecourt cleaning the spattered mud from the car. Some days I still took lunch in the canteen there, a litany of licking noises trailing me as I left the room. But mostly I ate at the bar in Mother Plunkett’s Cabin while he drank his ritual two neat Paddies from the fresh bottle placed at his elbow which he then topped with water before going over the previous night’s takings with the manager. The pub was in two sections: the bar in front paved with flagstones like a scene from The Quiet Man, with old black-and-white photographs of Kerry lining the walls; the door of the cabaret lounge at the back was in the shape of a horseshoe and the green carpet had a design of gold stetsons and wagon wheels.

I was surely the worst driver he could have chosen. My only experience had been at dawn in Shay’s Triumph Herald and frequently in those early weeks the BMW would cut out at traffic lights or I’d finally have to get out and let him park it in some narrow space. My inexperience with everything amused him: those inept sagas of reversing and stalling were the first occasions I had seen him in good humour. I’d watch him in the mirror letting me sweat until he decided to show me how to do it. Surprisingly he was a good teacher, better than Shay. I would think of the business clients he was keeping late as he sat beside me in the front until I had got the procedure perfect. A fortnight after I began driving him, in a sudden burst of confidence I came too quickly out of the driveway of Mother Plunkett’s Cabin and had to swerve up on to the ditch to avoid an oncoming car. I slammed on the brakes and glanced nervously in the rear-view mirror. Pascal Plunkett was looking delightedly back at the furious motorist who had stopped behind us and was climbing out of his car. He hit me on the shoulder.

‘Would you look at the sour face on that cunt. Drive on young Francy and stick to the road this time.’

All the way back into the garage he kept chuckling to himself and impersonating the motorist’s indignant face until by the time we pulled into the forecourt I too was bent over the wheel with laughter. When he went inside I realized with a chill that for the first time since going to work for him I had enjoyed my morning.

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.