Chapter 2: Babysitting 13th February 1996
James woke up that morning feeling quite excited and also quite proud of himself. The delighted, if unexpected owner of a racehorse would be seeing the horse work out for the first time. Joe would be driving them over to the trainer's yard first thing, a morning of jumping before they would then be discussing race options for the horse. It was a four-year-old, a youngster that was yet to race at any level and in many ways was completely raw. The previous owner could no longer afford the fees to keep the horse with the trainer but handily for them, Joe and the trainer went well back. That knocked a bit off the monthly fees, but it was still an expensive venture for the two of them to embark on. But in many ways the excitement made the money worth it. Their own racehorse.
As he was waking, Aunt Deidre was returning to the house from the night shift at the Hospital and they exchanged the briefest of greetings before she went to bed. Michelle too woke early, and James was halfway through making himself a cup of tea when the typically clumsy early morning Michelle barrelled into the kitchen.
"Morning wank features".
James grunted at the usual barb.
"Morning Michelle. Do you want a cup too?"
"Is the Dalai Lama a Muslim?" She replied in an attempt to chastise him for being oblivious.
"He's a Buddhist actually…" He frowned.
"Whatever… of course I fucking want one".
A simple yes or no would have sufficed for James but his cousin had a unique way of explaining her requests to him and that was something he'd learned to live with. Michelle took up a spot at the dinner table, her feet commonly covering the surface of the table without a care in the world. She was wearing a simple shirt and jeans combination, looking as cool as anything staring into space waiting for her tea. James bought it over a couple of minutes later, huffing at her decision to place her feet right on the spot he would be putting his plate. Learning his lesson from the tea question, he did her a slice of toast as well as one for himself. It would have been foolish not to.
"Good night's sleep?" He started a conversation.
"Not bad dicko. Did ye hear all that shouting about three-ish?"
"That disturbed you too?" He enquired, receiving a nod of confirmation. "Probably just that weird bloke from down the street thinking's he's a wolf again".
"Aye probably. Fucking weirdo".
The odd noises were a consistent problem for them. One of the people down the street, a man around twenty-five years old, would go out into the street at night and howl into the dark sky. Since the turn of the year, it was an occurrence on most nights, and they could only hope to be too deep in their sleep to notice it.
"Can't believe Joe bought a fuckin' horse". Michelle said between bites. "I reckon both of ye are in some drug induced dream if ye think it'll do anything. Fuckin' thing will probably die in its first race".
"Thanks for the confidence". He muttered.
"What? I'm just stating the obvious James".
"It's not obvious". He countered. "The horse could be a champion for all we know".
"I'm not going to pretend I know anything about horse racing…" An annoyed Michelle began to rant. "… but if it were that good a horse, it wouldn't be owned by Joe McCool".
"I own it too". James corrected her.
"Point fuckin' proven. A dose like you doesn't get to own a champion racehorse and neither does Joe. Rich fucks own horses, not the likes of us".
She wasn't completely wrong in her assessment, but the world of racing was not totally inaccessible to those of their background. As long as you could provide the money, some of the trainers of the amateur horses would accept any owner without a judgement on their financial standing. Though James knew they were unlikely to find a champion in the horse Joe purchased. But it didn't really matter because they were going to have fun with the horse and that was the key for him and Joe. It kept their passion for the sport high.
Between all of them in the house, there seemed to be some sort of animosity or tension. Throughout the early morning there were arguments between various members. Gerry tried his best to avoid being dragged down any path where he left himself vulnerable and was relieved when it became time for him to go to work. Walking out to the car, he could still hear Mary and Joe's latest tussle.
"Yer having the wains Da!" Mary shouted at him.
"For the last time, no Mary!".
"Well I'm not having them all!" She raised her voice again. "I've got washing to do so I have, I can't be looking after the wains while I'm doing the whites and looking after Anna".
"And only the owners are going to see the horse. I can't be trying to watch my horse if I'm havin' to watch them too". Joe argued his point.
"Ach come on Granda, we're hardly toddlers now are we?" Erin smirked
"I want to see the horse!" Orla declared.
"You'll upset Orla Da". Sarah added to the arguments against him. "She's been on about that horse more than step ye know".
Orla's vigorous nodding only furthered the case for Joe to look after the kids. He only wanted to go with James to the trainer's yard, wishing to watch their newly acquired thoroughbred in peace to get to understand its scope better. Adding Erin and Orla to the mix, the former would be a distraction for his co-owner and the latter could run amok throughout the yard and cause a scene. They may have been his granddaughters but for once Joe needed to push them away and not give them the attention he usually would. But he was outnumbered in this argument and knowing he could not win against the whole house on this occasion, Joe reluctantly accepted.
"Fine". He sighed.
Mary's gracious smile did little to hide her inner pride at defeating her father in the argument, although deep down she knew she would be paying the favour back twice over. The kids continued their toast, Erin slightly annoyed with her Granda's attempts to not have to spend time with them. Orla was far too interested in the toast to care about it any further. Sarah made her way out to work a couple of minutes later, Orla and Erin seeing her off at the door and noticing the distant figures of James and Michelle up the street. Excitable as ever when she saw her boyfriend, Erin sprinted out of the house, through the gate and onto the street as Orla watched on with an open mouth. Upon seeing her charging at him, James stopped and held out his arms for her to jump into. Erin leapt into them like a salmon going upstream, James squeezing her tightly and easing into a kiss a second later.
"Feck's sake". Michelle mumbled before pretending to choke.
"Ach what Michelle!" Erin moaned at her. "If we want to kiss, we kiss".
"And I want another one". James cheekily whispered and found Erin happy to oblige.
Unwilling to watch the romantic display to her right, Michelle continued and met Orla, who'd stood and watched it herself from the front gate. Orla was wearing a big red coat, one hand in her pocket and the other on a raspberry flavoured lollipop that entertained her taste buds. James and Erin were being far more cringeworthy that normal for Michelle's liking, as James had scooped Erin up and was carrying her back down towards the house and she clung to him, kissing his neck next to where she held him. If she wasn't wearing some of her best clothes, then she would have boked all over the path and in all likelihood herself.
"Not you as well!"
Michelle and Orla turned around to see Joe advancing out of the house, Mary stood at the front door with a look of fury on her face. Michelle didn't need to ask either Orla or Erin to know how the morning had gone so far at the Quinn house. Badly.
"Morning to ye too Joe". She added with a hint of offence.
"Ye not coming so go home".
She was taken aback by how rude Joe was to her. She knew he could be incredibly rude, especially when it came to Gerry, but Joe wasn't often rude to the any of the kids. She eyed Mary to look for an explanation for his behaviour.
"I'm busy so I am Michelle, so you'll have to go with me Da to see the wee horse".
"What!" She roared. "These are some of me best clothes Mary. I can't go round a filthy farmyard in em!"
"Tough luck love. Either that or I see if my Uncle Colm can look after you's?"
That was a fate that none of them deserved. If Michelle had insomnia then Joe's brother would be the solution, but when she was full of energy then it was a torture she would not put herself through. If Derry held a most boring man contest than Colm would be the winner without a committee vote or a poll of public opinion. The acceptance speech would be something too…
"When I said I wanted to be surrounded by hung young studs all day…"
"Keep it zipped and get in the car!" Joe glared back, halting her further vulgarity.
Trying to be clever, Michelle placed herself on the middle seat at the back, making sure that Erin and James couldn't sit together the whole way to the stables. However, her intuitive move came to nothing when James got in the car and shoved her over to the other seat, Joe chuckling from behind the wheel as he observed it. Gerry never did things like that when he was James's age and that only furthered the affection Joe held for the Englishman. Michelle punched him in the arm for his manhandling, but he brushed it off and was soon far too interested in locking lips with Erin to care for Michelle's protestations.
"Where's fretty Fiona anyway?" Joe asked the four of them.
"Who's Fiona?" Orla looked at her Granda in confusion.
"Granda means Clare, Orla". Erin, resurfacing from James's embrace for air, cleared it up for her cousin. "She's visiting relatives Granda, her ma wouldn't let her miss it".
"Aye. It's probably for the best, can't have her getting spooked by a neigh, can we?" He joked. "Christ that girl could fret enough power for the whole country. She makes Piglet look like Garry feckin' Kasparov!".
"Aye she does like a good worry does our Clare, Granda". Orla nodded.
"Aye". Erin and Michelle voiced their agreements, James nodding too.
Joe soon started the car and pulled out from where he was parked up over the street. With him and Orla waffling on about the strangest variety of topics in front and the pair of lovesick puppies playing a game of swap the saliva to her right, Michelle knew she was in for a long journey.
Michelle didn't say anything for forty minutes. It was if they'd forgotten she was even in the car at one point. Orla and Joe were debating Oliver Cromwell in the front, Joe as passionate in his hatred for the man as Orla was in her devotion for him. She caught the mention of the Valentine's card and soon zoned out to avoid having to listen to the ridiculous story she'd already heard fifteen times. The lovey-dovey show to her right was no better but she revelled in the chance of elbowing James hard in the back when they went over a speedbump, causing him to wail in pain. That had been the highlight of her journey.
"How much further Granda?" Orla changed the topic from Cromwell to timing.
"About another ten minutes love". He replied.
Ten more minutes. Eughhhh!, Michelle thought to herself.
"Who's this trainer anyway Joe?" She suddenly changed tactic, opting to fill the last part of the journey with conversation.
"Ach, still with us are ye". He chuckled. "I was enjoying the tranquillity of not hearing your foul mouth but there we are…".
Michelle rolled her eyes at Joe. He was being a bit too nasty towards her for her liking and though the latest comment was meant in jest, she began to believe he held an agenda for reasons unknown. But finding out why could wait.
"Frankie Flanagan. His brother's yer History teacher".
That got the attention of everyone in the car. Mr Flanagan had never mentioned a brother before in class, and certainly not a brother who trained racehorses. The four of them were intrigued by the thought of his brother being the trainer of Joe and James's horse and it would at least be a regular talking point in class when they went back after the half term. It could even stop Orla drivelling on about Oliver Cromwell, a thought unknowingly shared between Erin and Michelle along the backseats.
"Flano's brother's training yer horse?" Michelle vocalised what they were all thinking.
"Aye that's right". Joe nodded, looking back in the mirror to make eye contact with Michelle. "I've known Frankie for years so I have and I've met Robert a few times myself. Good people the Flanagan's… always had time for them ye know".
It was hardly a surprise for the gang to learn that the good nature ran in the family. Robert cared for his students and they'd all benefitted from his advice in one way or another. Secretly they were all wishing he would be there too so they could talk to him.
"Now wains, I don't want to sound like a boring old bastard, but I need ye all to be on your best behaviour while we look at our horse".
"Relax Joe, we can look after ourselves on a farm".
"Was I talking to you Mallon?" He snapped back, Michelle pouting and backing off. "Didn't think so. Just don't scare the horses, Frankie trains for some important people ye know, we can't afford the bill if ye get one of their mounts hurt, understood?"
The girls all nodded as James gave the patriarch a friendly smile from his position in the middle seat, Joe smiling back to him. James soon had other matters to attend to as Erin concluded that he'd spent far too much time away from her lips and they were back kissing again, holding each other within the confinements of the seatbelts. Orla opened a pack of pick n mix and got lost in a sweet filled heaven within a few seconds, leaving Michelle to once again fester on her own in the back. Whilst she'd cooled off regarding rule one of her code of practice (accepting she couldn't stop them from kissing in her presence all the time), she spotted the immediate rule two violation when James's hands found Erin's waist. She would be having none of that.
"Oi! Rule two!"
The two of them were still kissing when she tugged at the back of James's shirt, causing her cousin to pull away from Erin and sigh in frustration. Joe held a quivering lip at the scene unfolding behind him, quite amused by Michelle's valiant but ultimately hopeless attempts to stop James and Erin's embraces.
"Ye such a mouth Michelle". Erin huffed, crossing her arms. "Maybe I'll come with ye tomorrow to Danny Scanlon's and we'll see which rules ye break then".
"Danny Scanlon?" A shocked Joe enquired.
"Aye Granda, Michelle's new boyfriend".
"Right".
"He's not my boyfriend!" She hissed at her friend. "We're just enjoying each other's company that's all".
Erin's raised eyebrows and slight head tilt were the perfect storm to create the rarely seen Michelle Mallon blush, Derry's very own Haley's comet. Erin had only ever seen Michelle blush twice in her lifetime. The first time being when they were five years old and Michelle wet herself while they were playing at Clare's house. An understandable blush for a confused five-year-old. The second time was four years later when a boy kissed Michelle on the cheek at a party and long before the outgoing teenage years, the shyer young Mallon glowed violently when it happened. Getting Michelle to blush over a boy could only mean one thing. She actually had proper feelings for him beyond just wanting to ride him.
"I know the Scanlon's too. Danny's a better lad than Scarface". Joe informed them.
"Scarface?" A frowning James asked.
"Aye". Erin continued on from Joe. "Danny's brother Antony. He's been in jail, assaulted some fella outside a club in Belfast. He's out soon I think, nasty piece of work".
"Just because one member of the family is a tool Erin, doesn't mean they all are". Michelle argued. "Look at your Da for example".
Erin scowled at Michelle's taunt about her father and was about to give her friend a more sterner word in reply but Granda Joe beat her to it.
"Oi, mouth young lady! Don't be so hard on the Scanlon fella and start comparing him with Gerry".
Changing her disdain from Michelle to her Granda, Erin stared at him through the mirror and Joe looked back to find Mary's eyes with Erin. They were doing a fine job with her to induce a reaction like that and a part of him softened knowing how much Erin was like her mother. And grandmother. Michelle could at least spend the last couple of minutes of the journey guffawing to herself in the corner. She loved it when Joe took a few pops at Gerry. Minutes later and they were on the mucky path down to the Flanagan stables and the excitement began to build for them all. Apart from her.