The Life as It Is
By Rondabunny
Part 3
Toby came home late. He found his father sitting at a table in the kitchen waiting for him. His mother was already asleep in the bedroom. He took off the coat when his father called him.
"Where've you been?" Mr. McLaughlin asked strictly.
"I was out with Kelly guys." He said.
"I want to know, where have you been the day before yesterday? What have you been doing at the Dawny Street and why the hell a girl was with you?! " Mr. McLaughlin shouted. Toby stood in silence. He didn't know what to say. "Why don't you answer?! You have lost your tongue, huh?!" His father stood up. It was a big man of forty. He was angry. He took his son by the collar and slapped him hard across the face. Toby tried to escape but his dad gripped him firmly. "You're stealing cakes, you making fun of little kids! Coward!" the big man showered blows upon his son. "Do you want to end like you stupid brother?! Do you want to be shot in the middle of the day? This is what you want!" The fists hit the boy in the back. The torture lasted for five minutes. These were the longest and the most painful minutes for a thirteen year old boy.
"Dad, I'm sorry! I won't do that again." He cried. His face was a mix of blood and tears. He begged his father to stop the execution. Mr. McLaughlin let his son go. Toby rushed to his room that moment he was sure, he would kill that cunning girl. She hadn't said him a word. The redhead must pay for his humiliation.
The alarm clock rang at 4 a.m. in Parker's apartment. It was a small apartment of two small adjoining rooms, a tiny kitchen and a bathroom. Erin's room was tidy. All her things were at their places. She had a key of the room. It was her dad who made the door lock. Now it protected her from the drunk-guys who were constant guests at their apartment. The second and the last room was a mess. It smelled of wine, whiskey and vomit. The bottles, crumbs and litter were everywhere. The table was covered with red and brown stains. Kitchen was a disaster. Glasses, dirty plates and food debris were everywhere. Floor was sticky of soda or whatever that was spilt on it. Mrs. Parker was sleeping on a little sofa in the corner of the living room. It was still dark outside but Erin had to clean all the mess before a social worker would come. Where was no hot water, so the girl had to heat two big buckets to wash the plates and clean the kitchen floor. She washed and cleaned the whole morning. Her mother was sound asleep. She came late that night and she was too drunk to hear anything. Erin made everything in her might to make the apartment look tidy. She had one big problem to sober her mother and make her take a bath. She was just an eleven year-old girl and her mother was a 5 feet 10 inches tall woman, who was unpredictable especially when she was drunk. The girl put a pan with cold water on the floor next to an old armchair where she was sitting and waiting for her mother to wake up. She prepared the plan a long time ago. She calculated everything completely. Her mother stood up and went to the bathroom. The girl immediately took the pan with water, ran into the bathroom and splashed it on the poor woman. Of course the woman yelled but the child hurried off the bathroom closing the door on a door bolt which was screwed on to the door at the very bottom. It was very easy to kick it and the door would be closed. Mrs. Parker rushed to the door and started to knock against it cursing and warning the kid that it would be her last day on this planet. Erin just shouted that there is a bucked with hot water and clean clothes in the bathroom to change. The girl locked the entrance door and went to the groceries to buy some food.
Reilly's diner:
Tommy has just left the diner leaving Jenny in deep thoughts.
Jenny Reilly: How could he even think of it? Why? How could he agree to arrange the funeral repast at Firecracker? I knew, his insane! He killed two mob bosses because of Sean. Now he wants to bring the Irish mob to their place. Dockey will be there. He'd kill him. Ok, Jenny. Life sucks you always knew it, please, don't think just do your job. What do we need for the funeral? Hot and cold snack, salads, sandwiches, rolls… Fine.
"Dad, I'm going to arrange Huey's funeral repast. We need to prepare everything." Jenny told her father.
"I don't know what about Huey's funeral or whatever you do. I'm going to serve our clients and I don't want you to go to the funeral either." He grumbled.
"Dad, it's Huey we are talking about. He helped us several times, why do act like that?" she asked him surprised.
"Huey was like any other man in this neighborhood. You don't know the reasons he helped us and you don't know the conditions, so don't judge me!" he looked at her strictly.
"You want me to ignore Dockey's request?"
"No, do as you wish but I won't stir my finger to help the Donnellys or Dockey!" he told her and started to prepare the pepper eggs for the client. Jenny shook her head and called Samson for help.
Erin returned from the groceries with two big paper bags. She put the food in the fridge and started to cook dinner. Her mother was still trapped in the bathroom. The woman yelled, warned the girl, begged and pleaded but the girl didn't listen. She knew that if she opened the door her mom would go and drink again. Today she had to be sober. The social workers told her mother that the woman could loose her child if she didn't stop drinking. This worried the girl. This meant they could loose the child benefit and there wouldn't be any money to pay for the apartment. She was afraid to loose this life. Erin was free, nobody controlled her, she could take care of herself, but sometimes it was so sad that nobody was interested in her existence. The social workers came. They looked about the apartment. It was tidy, dinner was ready.
"Where's your mother." One of the women asked Erin.
"She's in the bathroom. I'll call her." The girl kicked the door bolt open, the social workers didn't notice anything. She opened the door. Mrs. Parker looked approximately well. She was in fresh clothes, her red hair was combed. Black circles under her eyes showed sleepless night and her red swollen face revealed too many bottles of whiskey, but now she was sober. She talked to the social workers. She told them she would find a job. Everything went well. Two women left the apartment. Erin remained alone with her mother…
The Firecracker:
Dockey asked Jenny to help him take the food from the basement and she followed him downstairs. It was a stupid thing to do. Dockey's guard was already there.
"Jenny, I thought your father taught you to tell the truth, but maybe I was mistaken I don't know. How do you think where was Tommy that night, 'cause I'm pretty sure he wasn't with you at the hospital." Dockey went closely to Jenny. "You're a pretty girl. I don't want your beauty to fade, do you?" he said touching her lips with his rough fingers. She stood their in silence scared to death, but she didn't show her fear.
"Dockey, I don't know what you are talking about." She said taking a step back.
"I was always curious, why do pretty girls like you always fall for bad boys like Tommy? It's nature, isn't it? But ask yourself, are you ready to die for him?" he mocked. "You know anything can happen. Do you think he'll die for you? You're nothing for him. His mother and his brothers will always be the first in his life list. You're just another beautiful woman he wants to possess. So, would you tell me where he was that night?" he asked. He stood so close to her that she could feel his breath on her face.
"He and Kevin were at the hospital with the family." She said starring at Dockey's eyes.
"Ok. Earl, call Tommy ask him to come down here." He told the man and sat in an old leather armchair.
Parker's apartment:
"You think you can treat your mother like that?!" Mrs. Parker slapped hr daughter hard across the face. The blow was so hard that Erin fell down. "You think you can trap me in the bathroom and mock at me!" the woman yelled. She took the child by her hair and started to beat her furiously. The girl didn't shed a tear. She put up her arms to protect her head from the blows. She knew she would pay for the trick, but she won the battle. The social workers left them be. The woman was yelling at her and blows were raining down. It hurt badly. Erin hissed and gritted her teeth not to moan. Then her mother was tired she left the child on the floor. Erin went to her room wiping blood from her face, she took the jacket and went outside.
Toby was busy all day helping his father. It was evening already, so he was waiting outside Erin's house. He cherished all day the idea of revenge. He saw the girl running out off the building. He called her, but she didn't stop. He ran after her.
"Hey, redhead! Don't run, because I'll catch you anyway and I knock the nonsense out of your head. Traitor!" he followed her. The distance between them got shorter and shorter. He grabbed her jacket and pulled back to make the girl stop and face him. The pursuit made him wild, he wanted to hit her.
"Leave me alone!" she screamed. He forced her to look at him and all his rage was gone in a second. "Let me go!" she begged not hiding the tears anymore.
"Erin, what's happened? Who did this to you?" the boy was shocked. She had a black eye, bruised eyebrows and her lips were bleeding. "Is it her?" he asked.
"Please, let me go!" she cried. Instead of letting her go he embraced the girl. He held her tight. She resisted his embrace for a minute but then she began sobbing in his arms.
"It's ok. It's ok. Everything's gonna be fine." He tried to soothe the child.
Samson's room:
Jenny was making love to Samson. It was a long day. She was too tired to think of everything that happened today. She wanted to relax, she wanted to feel alive. She wanted to forget this day. She wanted to forget Tommy, to forget the basement and Dockey with his axe. She wanted to hurt Tommy like he hurt her by killing those men, by becoming like them. She kissed Samson and felt nothing. She faked her orgasm to make him stop moving, to make him leave her alone. Inside her soul was emptiness. She used the guy to do a bad turn to Tommy. She didn't feel anything just emptiness around…
