“—Fer fuck’s sake!”

Aiden straightened up and smoothed his sweater down. “I’ve been wantin’ to do that for twenty-three years, you miserable gobshite of an arsehole.”

His father held his face and stared at him in awe. “Who taught ya to belt like that?”

“You did,” Aiden said, rubbing sore knuckles. “You taught us all how to fight and then you left. I kept fighting.”

“Could have been a boxer with a reach like that. Nearly took me head off, y’did.”

Aiden was surprised how little attention they attracted on the street. From inside, people had crowded around the window, watching for the next blow. Antonia was there too, wearing an expression of pity and horror. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“You ain’t gonna belt me again?” Liam asked with a wary gaze.

Aiden felt strangely empty after the first punch and couldn’t muster the energy for another. The adrenaline left his body as quickly as it had guided his reckless actions. It had been ages since he’d gotten into a fistfight and it sickened him to stoop that low. He wasn’t a student who could jump in as a barroom brawler anymore. He shook his head and slumped against the cafe’s wall. “No.”

“Fair play, the first is free fer old times.”

“Fuck the old times,” Aiden panted. “Where the hell have you been and why the hell do I have to see you now?”

“Here fer the festival with a boatload of oysters. I still fish, y’know.”

Aiden looked up. The casual tone his father used, as if his whereabouts for two decades were common knowledge, angered him all over again. “You’re trying to wind me up, aren’t you?”

“I’m doin’ no such thing, boyo,” Liam said, holding his hands up. “God’s honest truth.”

“What do you know about god’s honest anything, Liam? You’re a feckin’ coward if I’ve ever known one.”

“Aye, that I am.” His father’s pale blue eyes lowered to his feet. “I left yer mam and brothers in tatters.”

He hadn’t expected honesty from his father. The thousands of times he played this fantasy out, he had pictured an elderly man who had a convincing excuse. He’d also pictured himself dragging the truth out of a faceless man. He never saw this playing out as pitiful and short as it was. Aiden sighed and sank to the sidewalk in exhaustion. The door beside him jangled and Antonia was by his side once again.

“Are you okay?” she asked in a low voice.

Aiden rested his arms on his knees, as he hung his head, and spoke to the ground. “I’ll live.”

“Are you okay?” Antonia asked Liam.

“He’ll live too,” Aiden said in a harsh voice. “He said the first one was free for old times.”

“I’ll make out okay,” Liam said. “Are you me son’s lass?”

“Um... Sure? Listen, they’re about to call the police in there.”

“I’m sure sorry you had to see that.” Liam’s tone was contrite, pissing off Aiden even more.