In the right corner of the room was a 16-inch portable TV. It was there only because he had been given it by someone at the club after he revealed he didn’t possess one. It was rarely switched on. He used to like watching Newcastle United on it after he developed a liking for the team through his repeated visits over the last three years. What started out as a ‘cover’ for his trips soon became a passion. He’d stopped watching recently, in disgust at the irreversible decline that ended in relegation.

He quickly made his way to the kitchen, trailing blood along the sticky carpet.

He opened the two-day old pizza box and inserted its mouldy contents into the microwave. He ran the cold water tap across his mangled hand. He picked up the carving knife which lay in the basin and scraped it across his knuckles to remove any loose pebbles and shards of shattered bone from the open site. He tipped the remains of the vodka bottle into the hole and smiled at the sharp sting. He wrapped his only tea towel tightly around it. He was finished in time for the welcome and familiar ring of his dinner being ready.

After dinner, he settled onto the settee. He tried to keep his mind off her, but she unsettled him. He went back to the kitchen. He rolled the twenty into his nose and vacuumed the powder off the filthy bench. He shuffled to the settee and felt the reassuring buzz fill his head and the familiar stirring in his groin.

He took out his phone and searched the video. Her room lit up the screen. She looked so much younger. He undid his buckle.

9

As Cormac pulled the hire car off the country lane and stopped in front of the imposing wrought iron gates, he took some comfort in the fact they would be safely back home tomorrow. There would be no more awkward questions from Annie. Maggie’s pain and his family’s shame could be buried under a mountain of work and Liam and the past could remain where they belonged.

Annie was beside the intercom, looking perplexed. Cormac opened the car door.

‘What’s the problem, pet?’

She raised her hands.

‘Harry says I don’t know the password.’

‘What password?’

Annie beckoned him over. He could hear music coming through the intercom.

‘…. and I would give everything I own,

give up my life, my heart, my home

just to have you back again’

Harry’s voice came through.

‘Well, Annie, did you ask your old Da who sang it?’

She looked at Cormac.

‘Tell him Boy George.’

‘I already told him that. He wants to know who sang the original.’

Cormac smiled and found himself singing the words, trying to recall the old reggae version of the song. Annie was not so amused.

‘Dad, please hurry, I’m wetting myself here. Can’t you two continue this nonsense when we get inside?’