Father's Music by Dermot Bolger

Author:Dermot Bolger [Dermot Bolger]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780007392643
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers

Eventually I stopped in that maze of narrow lanes, with no idea where I was. I hurried on up a side-street littered with smashed pallets. Cardboard boxes were piled in a shop doorway. I was almost past them when a whisper caught my attention. I knew I should keep walking. If it was a man I could be in trouble. But that whisper hadn’t been in a man’s voice. I approached the boxes which were lined with newspapers and a filthy blanket. The boy who stared aggressively out looked younger than Martin had been. He had his arm protectively around a girl of nine or ten.

‘What the fuck do you want?’ he demanded.

‘Are you not freezing?’ I asked, kneeling on the concrete.

‘What’s it to you?’ The girl sounded frozen and suspicious. There was a cut on her arm which could turn septic.

‘Have you any money?’ the boy asked.

I had a ten and a twenty pound note in my pocket, along with a handful of pound coins. It might just be enough for a cheap coach to London, but I handed him the ten pound note, knowing I was leaving myself stranded. He examined it distrustfully, then watched me stare at the girl’s arm.

‘What’s the story?’ he said. ‘Are you a bleeding lesbian or what? Lay a finger on my sister and I’ll split you.’

‘I’m concerned about that cut. It might need a tetanus injection.’ The word meant nothing to them, but the girl looked worried.

‘I just caught it on some wire,’ she said.

‘Cuts can be dangerous.’

‘Stop scaring her. We can fucking look after ourselves.’ The boy was belligerent. I thought he was going to throw the money back at me. There was movement among the papers and, though they tried to prevent it, a third head appeared. This child seemed no more than three or four. She stared, with eyes just opened from sleep. I felt chilled.

‘This is crazy,’ I pleaded ‘There’s going to be sharp frost. You can’t have her out all night. Where are your parents?’

‘Da’s always kicking me Ma and he kicks us too,’ the girl said, taking strength from her brother. ‘Ma’s inside, she was caught stealing in Dunnes Stores. We’re not going back to me Da and we’re not leaving our sister with him.’

She put her arm around the child and pushed her under the blanket, but she poked her head out again to stare at me with open curiosity.

‘It’s cold sleeping on the streets,’ I said.

‘How the fuck would you know?’ the boy sneered.

There was no use explaining. They wouldn’t believe me.

‘Please,’ I pleaded with the girl. ‘The child shouldn’t be out in this weather, none of you should. Let me at least clean the cut on your arm. I’ll give you this jacket if you will. You can use it as a blanket for your sister.’

‘Take her jacket and she’ll want your knickers in return,’ the boy snapped aggressively, feeling his authority undermined. But the girl stared at my jacket and nodded. She held her arm out.

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