Chapter 8 – Sympathy For The Devil

Caelan woke up early that morning. She had stayed the night in her old room at her parent's house. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. "Coffee." She said to herself.

Slowly moving from the bed, she knelt down beside it and dug in her bag. She pulled out her toothbrush and her ipod, possibly the greatest gift she had ever received. "Thank you David." Caelan looked down at the device, quickly scanning through the library of songs she had collected. She settled on a song, threw on her earphones and left the room.

Once she had brushed her teeth, she headed down to the kitchen. No one else was awake yet, so she decided she'd make some coffee for everyone. She went through the motions, placing the filter and turning on the pot, all the while nodding her head along with the music, slowly getting more and more into it. Soon she was dancing around the kitchen as she waited for the coffee finish brewing.

Will had heard someone downstairs, then he smelled coffee brewing, so he decided that he would get up. He made his way downstairs and was about to enter the kitchen when he saw Caelan, nodding her head and dancing around the kitchen in her pajamas.

He watched her from the door frame, smiling at her. He imagined her as a child, probably doing the same thing and catching heat from her brothers. In a way it made him sad. He had missed everything. Caelan had turned towards him and stopped dancing when she realized she wasn't alone. She took her headphones off and hung them around her neck.

"Oh. Didn't know you were there." She smiled at him. "Coffee's almost ready."

"Sorry. I didn't mean to spy on ye." He said as he entered the kitchen. He took a seat at the table and lit a cigar. "What're ye doin' up so early?"

Caelan set her ipod on the table. "I don't really sleep late. I've been gettin' up early to work since I was 15. I don't think I have the physical ability anymore…Unless of course I've had a drink or two the night before." They both chuckled.

Will picked the ipod up from the table and studied it. "What is this?"

Caelan smirked at him. "It holds music. A friend of mine gave it to me for my birthday last year."

He looked up at her. "Rock and roll?"

Caelan tilted her head to the side. "Yeah, how'd you know?"

"Murphy told me."

Caelan was intrigued. "He talked to you about me?"

"I asked him about you. He even gave me a picture of the three of ya together."

"Which one?"

"It was of you and your brothers at that bar…McGinty's I think he said the name was."

Caelan nodded. "Yeah. I know the one. Rocco took it."

"Caelan, I just want you to know…I thought about you and your brothers every day when I was away."

"I thought about you too, Da." She smiled at him before turning back to the counter. She reached up and pulled two mugs from the cabinet. "How do you take it?"

"Black."

Caelan cringed. "Yikes. I have to load mine with cream and sugar." She prepared both cups and turned back to the table, placing one mug in front of her father before sitting down across from him. Her mother had left her cigarettes on the table the night before, so Caelan took one from the pack and lit it. "Can I ask you somethin'?"

"Anythin'."

"This…Job that you do. Is it really something that runs in our family? I mean, will Connor and Murphy's kids….Or even mine…Will they have to do it too someday?"

He took a puff of his cigar. "Nothing is certain, Lass."

Caelan nodded her head. "It's odd…Connor and Murphy told me all about it yesterday, and I feel like I should feel weird about it, but I don't. Like I'm alright with it."

"I'm not surprised. MacManuses have always been close to their faith. It's always helped us…guided us. You're no different, daughter."

"Did you ever regret your decision?"

"Many times. Every time I look at you I regret leaving." Caelan looked down at her mug. "There was a time, when your brothers first started; we got into a gunfight in the middle of the suburbs."

Caelan snapped her head up to look at him. "You shot at your own sons?"

"Aye. I didn't know them, and they didn't know me. Connor got me in the arm." He pointed at a spot on his left arm. "When I learned that they were me boys…I felt so guilty...What if I had killed one of them? I felt regret then...Boy did I ever."

"Wow."

"Aye. But that is the choice that I made. I left because the Lord wanted me to. It is the choice your brothers made, and it's likely the reason you're alright with it." Caelan absently touched the cross around her neck. "Where did ye get that?"

"Connor and Murphy gave it to me when I made my first communion. The priest had blessed it for me…I never take it off. Ma gave me a rosary made of wooden beads as well."

"The same as yer brothers." Caelan nodded at him.

Will picked his coffee up from the table and motioned toward his daughter with his mug. "Thanks for this."

"Sure. I'm surprised it tastes half-way decent. I can speak multiple languages yet somehow I lack the ability to make something as simple as coffee correctly."

Will chuckled. "What else?"

"What else do you want to know?"

"Well, we have a lot of catchin' up to do."

Caelan smirked. She shrugged her shoulders nervously and looked away from him. "Well, I don't know what to say about myself." She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. "You know, it's strange… Somehow it was so easy to forgive you, but my brothers…You'd think it'd be the other way around."

"It's easy to forgive a stranger, but someone who knows you like your brothers know you….That's not so easy. They know how to hurt you, and they should have known better."

The two sat in silence for awhile, quietly smoking and sipping their coffee. The silence was interrupted when Murphy entered the room. His eyes were half shut and his hair was sticking up all over. Caelan laughed at the sight of him.

"What's so fuckin' funny?"

"Have you looked in the mirror yet?"

Murphy tried to smooth his hair. "Sorry. Tonight I'll throw on a fuckin' suit and tie and slick my hair back before I go to sleep."

"Your sister made coffee."

"Thank fuckin' God." Murphy grabbed a mug from the cabinet and poured himself some coffee. He set the cup down on the table before sitting beside his sister, leaning his head against her shoulder.

"Aw, poor Murph. Still not a mornin' person, eh?" She reached up and rubbed his head.

"Are we goin' out tonight, Cae?"

"You just got out of bed and you're already talkin' about goin' out tonight?" She smiled.

Murphy picked his head up so he could sip his coffee. "Why not?"

Will smiled at the exchange. It gave him comfort to see how close his children were with each other.

The three were interrupted by a shrill voice from atop the stairs. "Caelan Joan MacManus, get your boney ass up here!" It was Annabelle.

Caelan nearly choked on the sip of coffee she had just taken. She looked at her brother in disbelief. "Wow. That brought me right back to childhood."

She stood from her chair and headed out of the kitchen, making sure to take her mug of coffee with her. She passed Connor in the living room. "You awake?"

"Jesus, I am now." He said as he roughly rubbed his eyes. Caelan smirked at him and headed up the stairs.

Connor wordlessly entered the kitchen. Murphy tossed him a 'Good Morning' when he saw him. Connor nodded his response and dragged himself to the coffee he had spotted on the counter. He made a cup and slowly sat down in the chair Caelan had vacated.

Will took advantage of the fact that the three were alone for the moment. He looked over at Murphy. "Did ye give any thought to what we discussed before?"

Murphy pulled a cigarette from his pack and lit one before passing the pack to Connor. "I guess…I don't think we should. I still feel like we'd be betraying Rocco if we quit."

"Maggie." Connor whispered to himself. "Christ Murph, I just can't do it anymore." He cautiously looked at his father. "Look at Da. Look at everything he went through. It took him 25 years to get back home to his wife. He never even met his daughter. But now it's like he got a second chance at life. You an' me…We'll never even get a first chance if we keep doin' what we've been doin."

He wasn't sure why, but for some reason Murphy's thoughts switched to Mary. Images of a life that didn't belong to him flashed in his mind. He saw them sitting on her couch, Mary resting her head on his shoulder. He saw them eating breakfast in the kitchen. He saw her wearing a white dress, a bouquet of white roses in her hands. It was a life that could be. A life he never even knew he wanted.

"Murph?" Connor was giving him an odd look. "Murph? Are ya alright?"

Murphy slowly lifted his head. His watch switched from his brother to his father. "Ok. Let's do it. Let's end it."

Will allowed a small smile. "Alright. Then we're in agreement."

"Aye." Connor started. He took a sip of his coffee and his expression quickly turned to one of disgust. He held the mug out in front of him. "Fuck. Who made this?"

Will chuckled. "Your sister did. I didn't have the heart to tell her it tasted awful."

†

"Woman, what do you want?" Caelan asked from the door frame of her mother's room. "What was so important that you had to wake the whole damn neighborhood just to get me up here?" She set her mug down on her mother's dresser and stepped inside the room.

Annabelle was digging through a box of photos on her bed so Caelan moved to the opposite of the bed and slowly crawled on top of it. She laid on her side and propped her head up with her arm.

"Yer Da an' I were lookin' at some old photos last night. We found one that I want ye ta see, but of course now I can't find the fuckin' thing."

Caelan chuckled. "You made all that noise over a fuckin' picture?"

"Ah ha! Here it is." Annabelle gazed at the photo for a moment before handing it to her daughter.

Caelan sat straight up when she saw the photo. It was taken the day she was baptized. Caelan wore a white gown made entirely of lace, with a matching cap. One light auburn curl poked out from underneath it. Her father was holding her. The most striking aspect of the photo was the way father and daughter looked at each other, their eyes were locked. It was obvious that Will absolutely adored his daughter, and it was almost as if Caelan knew it, even as an infant.

Caelan held the picture to her chest with both hands, right over her heart. "Thanks Ma."

"Yer welcome, Daughter. Now show me that tattoo you were talkin' about last night."