Chapter 7: Revelations and Dinner.
Mary was chastising Joe in the kitchen for the latest ban from Fionulla. She was livid. The friends were grouped together on the sofa in the living room. The tv was on but nothing could be heard for the verbal onslaught that Joe was facing. No one dared to turn the tv up any more for fear of facing Mary's wrath. Marco couldn't help but glancing in the direction of the kitchen every now and then. He jumped when the voices snapped. He caught his breath and tried to break the tension.
"We're not gonna see plates flying, are we?" Marco asked James.
"No. She's too house proud for that." James replied.
Marco then looked down the sofa and spotted Orla covering her ears. He tapped James.
"Is Orla ok?" He asked James quietly. Tilting his head in her direction. James looked down at looked at Orla.
"Yeah… she does that when there's shouting going on. She doesn't like it." James replied quietly. Remembering their talk outside, James turned to Marco.
"Oh yeah, what was that idea you said you had?" James asked.
"Would you two shut up?!" Michelle snapped and she turned back to the tv.
Orla then got up from sitting on the sofa arm and walked out. Marco watched her go but Orla's eyes were facing down. He felt so bad for her. This was the first time he'd seen her look so sad since he'd arrived. Erin admitted defeat, switched off the tv and followed her. The other girls followed suit, along with James. Marco got up and left the room as well. By the time Marco had made it to the hallway, everyone except James were upstairs. Marco caught James's attention and motioned him to follow him back downstairs. They walked into the kitchen area where Joe was grimacing at the kitchen table. Mary had just stolen a moment to catch her breath. Her hands were on the side of her head, clearly stressing over the ban.
"OK…OK…So…" Mary said, breathing heavily.
"Mrs Quinn?" Marco asked.
"Oh, hello boys, everything alright?" Mary asked, regaining herself.
"Yeah, we're good thanks." James said. Unsure why they were there.
"Well… I was wondering if I could ask you something?" Marco asked.
"Oh, well. Ask away." Mary said.
"Hi there, Mary." Sarah's voice came.
"In here, Sarah." Mary called back.
"Oh, hello boys." Sarah said, walking into the kitchen.
"Hi. Ms McCool." They both said.
"Enjoying your time together. Aye I'm sure you are." She said. Both boys shuffled in awkwardness.
"Good day love?" Joe asked.
"Ach, good thanks, Da. But awfully long, so it was. Couldn't wait for it to end. How's your day been?" Sarah asked.
"Not bad, thanks." Joe lied.
"He got us banned from Fionulla's again!" Mary snapped.
"Hi Love." Gerry called, as he came in from work.
"More fucking bad news." Joe grimaced.
"In here, Love." Mary snapped, looking at Joe.
"Ach, hello boys. How's it been?" Gerry asked.
"Hi Gerry. Good thanks." The duo uttered between them.
Mary walked over and hugged her husband.
"Ach, that's nice of you, Love, what's wrong?" Gerry enquired.
"You came home again." Joe shot.
"Da got us banned from Fionulla's AGAIN." Mary repeated.
"How'd he do that?" Gerry asked, turning to Mary.
"It was YOUR fault, ye prick!" Joe barked. The boys shot looks at each other. Here we go again.
"Honestly, Gerry, why can't you control yourself?" Sarah spoke up.
"What did I do?" Gerry complained.
"It was YOUR fault, Da!" Mary shot back.
"All I did was speak my mind?" Joe said.
"He made a fuss over that fecking chicken burger again." Mary snapped.
Gerry rolls his eyes as Joe grimaced and opened his newspaper.
"So. What are the plans for tonight then?" Gerry sighed.
"Well it'll have to be pizza, I suppose." Mary said.
"Feckin shite!" Joe whispered.
"Actually. That's what I wanted to talk to you about, Mrs Quinn." Marco spoke up.
"Oh, sorry love, I forgot. You wanted to ask something?" Mary responded.
"Yeah…well… James and the girls said that the pizza place isn't that good." Marco asked.
"It's shite! Is what it is... No offence lad." Joe said. Marco acknowledged him.
"Well, ya only have ya self to blame, Da!" Mary snapped at him.
"Well, if you like, I can cook something. I mean if that helps?" Marco asked.
James raised his eyebrows and turned to look at Marco. Mrs Quinn was pleasantly taken back.
"You can cook? Marco?"
"He can, Mrs Quinn. You're talking like the stuff your Nanna makes, right?" James conferred.
"Yeah." Marco said. Smiling.
"Oh. Yes! Trust me. You'll love it. If it's half as good as his Nanna's, it'll still knock your socks off." James said, knowing what was coming.
Joe smiled at James's ecstasy, feeling relieved that the subject had been changed. He looked past James and spotted Marco's expression. Almost sad looking but trying to smile.
"Well! Sounds like you've got a lot to live up to, Marco. But, why the gesture?" Mary asked.
"I'd, just like to do something for everyone as a way of saying thanks, for this past week." Marco said.
"Ach, love. That's very sweet of ye. Well, I could ring Deidre and Martin, and Geraldine and Sean. If you can do it for that many people? Hope I'm not putting too much pressure of ya?" Mary asked.
"I don't think that'll be a problem." Marco said. Smiling nervously.
"Ah, well. We're more than grateful." Mary said.
"Great. OK. I'm gonna pop down the shops. James. Give us a hand." Marco said.
"Yep." James said and followed him out of the room. The boys headed towards the door. Just as they walked out, Michelle called down to them.
"OI! Where are you two fuckers going?" She called.
"Tell you when we get back." James called up.
"What?" Michelle shot back.
Orla popped her head round as Michelle hurried down the stairs. She looked out the door to just see the two boys jogging down the road. Before she could call out, Orla came up from behind her and rested her head on Michelle's shoulder.
"Where they going?" Orla asked.
"They didn't say… Ach, fuck 'em. They said they'd be back." Michelle said as she walked back indoors, slightly annoyed.
Over an hour later, and the boys still hadn't come back. The girls were sitting in Erin's room listening to music and reading magazines. Michelle lead the conversation about the invite to Jenny Joyce's house party the following night. Of course, Michelle was attempting to decide on which ride she was going to have meet her there, along with the prospect of riding being a forgone conclusion. Erin and Clare rolled their eyes and glanced at each other.
"Suppose we'll have to drag those two dickos along. Bad enough we had one before, now we got two of the Doses in tow." Michelle scoffed.
"They're not Doses. They're just… muckers." Erin said.
"Aye, a right fucking annoying pair they are as well. They're gonna proper crap our style tomorrow night." Michelle sighed annoyingly.
"What d'you mean?" Clare asked.
"…Well… I mean… it's not that Marco isn't bad or anything, that's what makes him so fucking annoying. But Christ, they do talk so much shite about so many fucking head melters." Michelle said.
"What do they talk about?" Erin asked.
"Well, every time I come in the room, suddenly it's all… Star Trekking Wars and all that shite! I don't have a baldies what they're on about. It's like they're trying to keep me out of things." Michelle admitted.
"Well, they are lads, Michelle. You gotta remember, James hasn't had another lad around him this much for ages. He's just had us." Erin said. Michelle shot her a glance.
"Maybe they're talking about girls?" Clare said. Erin shot her a confused look.
"What girls?" Erin asked.
"Well, no specific girls. I mean, just general talk about girls. They're just probably having a craic about women, and women's bodies, and what they'd like to do to them, and how many times they'd like to do it, and what positions… and…. Other things." Clare panicked and regained herself once she realized she'd overstepped herself.
"Sounds like you'd have a right craic with them, Clare." Erin chuckled. Michelle couldn't help but smirk.
"And anyway, Star Wars and Star Trek are two completely different films Hi!" Erin said, looking at her magazine.
"How would you know?" Michelle shot Erin a suspicious look.
Erin realized she was under Michelle's glare. She barely made eye contact as she raised her head, her nervous disposition was obvious to Clare and Michelle.
"Well… I DO talk to James sometimes, Michelle. He IS a bit a film freak." Erin replied, trying not to overstep herself.
"Either that or you're just jealous, Michelle!" Orla spoke up.
The girls turned to face Orla, who was sitting in the chair, reading Erin's diary.
"Orla! Give me that!" Erin raced over and snatched her diary out from Orla's hands. Orla slouched in disappointment for not being fast enough that time.
"Jealous? Why the fuck would I be jealous?" Michelle asked. Crossing her arms.
"Maybe you're just jealous because James isn't talking so much to you because he'd rather spend more time with Marco?" Orla explained. Michelle gawked at the notion.
"Not so hard to believe. I know I would." Orla said, more to herself.
Erin couldn't help but appreciate Orla's point of view. Erin's mind started to reminisce over the past week, and then she realized, she hadn't even had a chance to speak to James on his own since Marco had arrived. Then, a lightbulb went off in her head and she then gasped when she realized what Orla had just said. She looked towards Orla, and her gasp turned into a smile as she knelt beside her cousin.
"I'm sorry, what did you just say, Orla?" Erin asked mischievously.
"What?" Orla asked. Looking at Erin.
"You just said it's not hard to believe." Erin said, gently tapping Orla's arm with her finger.
"No, I didn't." She said.
"Aye, ye did. What's not so hard to believe?" Erin shot back, spotting the ting of nervousness in Orla's voice.
Orla's cheeked started to blush, she put her hands up on her ears again, realizing she'd been caught, unable to hide. Erin laughed silently and smiled with her mouth open. Clare suddenly spotted what Erin was getting at. She got up and moved to stand next to Michelle.
"Why is Orla looking so broke?" Michelle asked, still not sure what Erin was getting at.
"Oh… Orla was just saying that's it's not hard to believe WHY James enjoys spending so much time with MARCO?!" Erin said, turning to Michelle and Clare and raised her eyebrows, shooting an obvious look at them to acknowledge Orla's nervousness.
"… Orla? Do you… LIKE Marco?!" Clare gasped.
Orla shut her eyes, cringed her face and curled herself up into a ball in complete embarrassment, thinking she was able to hide the smile that donned her face. Michelle shot a confused look towards Clare at first, but then looked over at Orla. Her eyes and mouth widened at the revelation.
"FUCK-A-DOODLE DO! SHE FUCKING DOES!" Michelle shouted, as she pointed at the sheepish mousy haired Derry girl.
"Oh my god, look at her, she's broke to the bone!" Clare said, hardly able to hide her smile. She walked over and knelt on the other side of Orla. Michelle stood still, still gawking at the revelation. A distant look fell on her face.
"Orla thinks Marco's a ride!" Erin teased.
"Catch yourself on." Orla finally said, giggling. The girls laughed and started to chat incoherently. Michelle said nothing.
"Wains. Dinner will be ready soon?!" Mary called. Breaking their conversation.
"Comin' Ma!" Erin called back, unimpressed.
"Thank Christ I don't have to eat that rank pizza shite. I'm going out!" Michelle declared.
The girls marched out of the bedroom. Erin tried to catch Orla's eyes, but she was too nervous to look. As they came down the stairs, Michelle was surprised to see her parents in the hallway. The other girls were lined up behind her on the stairway.
"Ma? Da?" Michelle asked.
"Alright Love?" They both said.
"What are ye doing here?" Michelle asked.
"Where are ye, Mary?" Deidre asked.
"Just in the living room, Deidre. Martin with ye?"
"Aye, he is. Coming now; Hope you're behaving." Deidre said as she passed Michelle. The door opened again. This time Clare's parents, Sean and Geraldine walked in.
"Oh. Hi Ma, Da. What's going on?" Clare asked.
"We got called round. Some kind of dinner." Sean said, and they followed the Mallon's.
"Hi girls." Geraldine said as she walked through.
The girls all shot looks at each other in confusion. Orla poked her head down over the banister in the direction of the kitchen.
"What's that smell?" Orla asked.
"I dunno…Smells…nice!" Clare said.
The girls walked into the living room. The sound of music was playing, the parents were all drinking wine and the space had been taken up by an extra table. They poked their heads around into the kitchen. There were James and Marco, talking amongst themselves. James was querying Marco as he laid out the different plates of food on the table, while Marco stirred something in a large pot on the cooker. James looked up and smiled hello to them.
"Alright girls?" He said.
"Hey." Marco chimed.
"What's all this?" Erin asked, smiling.
"Dinner." James said. Chuckling.
"You mean… yous two did all this?" Michelle asked.
"It looks amazing." Clare said.
"So, are we NOT having pizza?" Orla asked, rather excited. The boys laughed.
"No. Mate, you better tell them it's ready." Marco said.
"Right, this is all finished. Right?" James asked.
"Yea, perfect. We're done." Marco said, scanning the table. Michelle scrunched her lips together and looked down to the floor.
"It's ready everyone." James called.
He walked back into the kitchen and chuckled to see the girls strangely observing the different plates of food.
"Is there no chicken nuggets?" Orla asked. Erin rolled her eyes, but the boys laughed again.
"Well, there's chicken here, Orla." James said. Orla seemed disappointed.
"There's a surprise in the fridge, though." Marco whispered to her.
"What is it?" Orla asked, beaming at Marco.
"Ah, you'll have to wait." Marco replied. Tapping her nose, and Orla scrunched her face.
Erin eyed the large bowl of Bruschetta Pasta Salad. James slid her a fork. Marco shot a smile as she went to sneak a taste. She rolled her eyes and moaned pleasantly as the taste hit her tongue. James and Marco smirked and laughed at each other. The queue of parents came and sat down around the table. Erin made a beeline to sit next to James at the table, which he certainly didn't object to. Dinner started with minestrone soup with some homemade focaccia. A favourite of James's. The approving groans of approval brought a broad smile to both the boys. The different plates were then raided when the congregation started the second course. Suffice to say, there wasn't a thing left.
"My god. This is absolutely cracker." She exclaimed to James with her mouth half full of pasta salad.
"This was the staple diet for us when I went round his Nanna's house." James chuckled.
"You had this sort of thing EVERY TIME you went round her house? Erin said enviously. "How often did you go round?" She continued.
"Twice or three times a week, easily." James laughed admittedly. Erin couldn't help but laugh. As did everyone.
"I'll tell you one thing. One time my Nanna said she was worried about him, and she asked me if his mum ever fed him because he was round so much?" Marco quipped.
"What did you tell her?" Erin queried. Chuckling.
"I just said he preferred her cooking more. So she walked right up to him and smothered him with kisses and said how lovely he was." The whole congregation laughed at James's embarrassment. Michelle smirked quietly.
"She must have been sick for the sight of him?" Michelle laughed. Deidre shook her head at the comment.
"It was only a joke, Ma! This is not half bad, you." Michelle said to Marco. Marco smiled. But Michelle quickly looked down and ate. The conversations went on and the dinner was finished. At the end, Mary spoke up.
"Well, I think I can safely say that Marco, and James. You boys have certainly done yourselves proud. And thank you very much for dinner." She said warmly. Marco and James smiled.
"Actually. It's not quite over yet, Mrs Quinn." James said.
The congregation all shot looks at James. Marco got up from the table and walked towards the fridge. It was time for dessert. Nutella chocolate cheesecake. Orla's eyes lit up. The group gawked and smiled and applauded the duo. The audible groans of approval came again once they tucked in. Erin smirked when she spotted James had some cheesecake on his nose, she swiped it off, and licked it playfully. James smiled broadly as Erin's eyes rolled back again as she ate dessert.
"Marco. This. Is. Amazing!" Clare exclaimed.
"Fuck. Me." Michelle said quietly to herself.
"This is beyond cracker!" Orla cried, her mouth almost full with dessert. Her legs were kicking with ecstasy.
Marco laughed loudly at Orla's approval. As dessert was finished. Gerry poured some more wine amongst the parents. Michelle was eying the wine but knew her ma wouldn't let her have any.
"I think… we should raise our glasses, To your Nanna Marco. A bloody fine woman!" Gerry said.
"Aye, what's her name, Marco?" Joe chimed in.
"Marie." Marco said.
"Well… To Marie." Gerry toasted.
"Marie!" Everyone echoed.
"Your Gran's a fecking marvel. Lad. You tell her we said so." Joe said.
"Yeah… yeah I will." Marco said quietly, more to himself.
As everyone spoke amongst themselves, Marco was able to be lost within the crowded room. Marco looked down and started to choke back tears. The only person who spotted Marco's demeanour was Orla. She was able to lean over, and amongst the crowded chit chat, she tapped his shoulder and lent in towards his ear.
"Are you ok?" She asked.
Marco flashed a half smile and nodded at her. Orla flashed a look back and mouthed "Are you sure?" Marco nodded again. Mary then declared that everyone make their way out of the kitchen, as it was now time to take back charge of her domain. The group began to pick up the dirty dishes. The Mallon's and Devlin's began to gather themselves. Sean and Geraldine walked over to Marco to say hello and goodbye.
"Was a lovely dinner, Marco." Geraldine said.
"Thanks, Mrs Devlin." Marco said.
"Very nice. Thanks very much." Sean said.
"Thank you." Marco said, shaking his hand.
"Come on Clare, let's shift." Sean said as he looked to Clare.
"Aye, Da. See you tomorrow girls. See ya James. See ya Marco. It was cracker night." She beamed.
"Thanks Clare." Marco said.
"We're off too. Are you boys ready?" Deidre asked.
"I'm ready, Ma." Michelle said, barging up to her.
"OK. Well say your goodbyes."
"Girls see ye tomorrow. Dicko, see ya at home…. Nice food Marco." Michelle managed to say.
"You alright Michelle?" James asked, still sitting at the table.
"Aye. Just fancied an early one. See ya at home." Michelle rushed.
James frowned at the abrupt exit. He turned to Erin, who returned a confused look. Marco had become distant again. Orla spotted his downed expression again.
"Will you boys be along soon?" Deidre asked.
"Uh Yes Aunt Deidre." James said.
"Not too late." She said as she walked towards the hallway.
As Michelle waited in the doorway for her parents, she heard Martin having a short conversation as he said goodbye to Gerry and Joe.
"He's not a bad lad, is he?" Martin asked.
"No, he's a real gent. Just like James." Gerry laughed.
"Aye. Not a bad lad, even if he is an English." Joe joked.
"Orla seems to be taken a bit by him." Martin said.
"Good night, Martin." Joe said. Chuckling.
Michelle scowled and walked out.