1998. We begin this story a short time before the events of the Good Friday Agreement. With the biggest vote in the history of Northern Ireland vastly approaching. The group of friends that we know, and love began the year facing a plethora of new horizons following Christmas and new year.
For starters. Erin, as you undoubtedly know, was raging at the news that her parents weren't prepared to fork out on an extravagant party for her 18th birthday, not when her birthday was only a few months before Orla's. So, naturally, they came to a compromise and would have a co-joined 18th birthday party instead. On a date that was still yet to be confirmed. But on another note. Erin had managed to find herself a part time job working at Foyle's Books in the town between studying for her A-Levels, which wasn't too far away from Cousin Declan's flat on Pump Street. A newfound place of solitude where the group would descend upon. Also, a place where she and James would meet up regularly to revise, and…. Revise some more.
Meanwhile, James and Marco were faced with a unique situation that neither of them expected. It was one of the very scarce times in their friendship where 'tribal level hostility' hung over them. But even the strongest of friendships were put on hold when it came to Football, even English Football, and especially in the FA Cup. Arsenal and Crystal Palace clashed in the FA Cup 5th round, and for 90 minutes, James and Marco 'hated' each other. Twice. The first game finished in a draw and went to a replay.
Naturally, the girls had mixed opinions about the whole affair. Clare tried, and failed to de-escalate the boy's 'hostility'.
"I read this article Laurie had; it was written by a Feminist who believes that Sport was created so men could avoid confronting their sexuality!" Clare said. James and Marco furrowed their faces at the declaration, wondering how that had anything to do with them.
"Sounds about right in James' case." Michelle quipped.
"Well, clearly she's mental, Clare!... Although, the same can be said for these two! I mean, come on lads! it's just a game of football" Erin chuckled at the stupidity of the boys being at odds over something so trivial.
"Oh no, Erin! Football is NOT a game!" James answered. "Well, clearly, it is a game! But it's also NOT a game! So, there's no point in treating it like a game, cos it isn't a game! Although it clearly IS a game."
"So… is it a game or not?" Orla asked, clearly confused.
"Well, don't ask James. And he's the one using the only brain cell belonging to Crystal Palace!" Marco said sarcastically.
"Oh, you starting again?!" James shot.
"Yeah, I'm starting!" Marco squared up to him.
"LAAAAAADS! STORRRRRRP!" Orla cried. She stormed out, covering her ears. Unwilling to listen to their spite any further.
"Orla….. Orla, wait we were only joking!" The boys cried out, but it was too late.
"Ach! Nice one! Yer pair of English Pricks!" Michelle snapped. Punching them both in the arm.
Following the incident. James and Marco were unable to really indulge in the replay, knowing they'd upset Orla. The game ended with Arsenal winning. But Michelle was quick to jump on them both. First, she offered James her 'deepest sympathies' by jabbing him about Crystal Palace losing. But there was clearly a bigger matter to sort out.
James and Marco both decided that there was only one way to make it up to Orla. So, a few days later. They gate-crashed Cousin Declan's dance class to re-enact their PJ & Duncan's 'Ready to Rumble' routine, complete with baseball caps and loud, baggy outfits. They were quite the sight as the younger members of the class laughed hysterically along with Orla, Erin, Clare and Michelle, being devious as always, recorded the entire thing on James' camera. But it was enough for Orla to accept that they were sorry for their 'wee spat'.
"Ohhhh. Lads! Ye two are so sound!" Orla beamed, forgiving them both.
Normality resumed, but then, Marco received a phone call from his Dad, Tony who let Marco know he was going to try and get tickets for the FA Cup Final, which took place at London's Wembley Stadium in the month of May. It was only late February, and there were still the quarter and semi-finals to get through first. However, Arsenal's tremendous run that season wasn't the sort of thing anyone would bet against, at least not in England.
James 'graciously' declined the offer from Tony of going to Wembley. Orla smiled at Marco's excitement, anticipating the possibility of going was enough for her. Knowing all that he'd gone through and how far he'd come. Orla knew Marco deserved a moment like this.
"So, when is the final? I mean, if ya Da does get these tickets?" Orla asked.
"May 16th." Marco answered.
Orla's eyes lit up. "Ohhh! That's grand! That's after my birthday!" She said with excitement. "Ach, that means ye get to be here for my birthday and then ye can go see the match, Marco!"
"Haven't you planned anything for your 18th yet? You know? Party wise?" Marco asked.
"Well, Aunt Mary said they were trying to sort something, but they haven't said yet. But I'm sure it'll be grand!" Orla insisted.
James also took some consolation that if Arsenal were to make it to Wembley, Crystal Palace had been knocked out by the potential winners. Suffice to say, Marco was buzzing. Little did they know what was about to come round the corner regarding this particular situation.
But just as the dust began to settle on the football. The biggest shock for the gang came when Erin took a phone call one afternoon from Clare after school. Mary felt her heart jump in her throat as she stopped what she was doing in the kitchen. She turned and watched, knowing what Erin was about to find out. But the blonde rolled her eyes as she only heard Clare babble something incoherent to her.
"Jesus, Clare! Do ya have any intention of finishing this sentence before the year's out?" Erin joked.
"I'M MOVING HOUSE, ERIN!" Clare finally blurted out.
Erin stopped. She furrowed her eyes, unsure of what she heard. But she quickly brushed it off. "Ach, catch yourself on! What are ye like Clare?" She chuckled.
"I'm not joking!..." Clare said. There was no jest in her voice. Only sadness.
"….. Seriously, Clare. Stop messing about. What did ye really wanna say?" Erin asked, her voice sounding desperate.
"I am!... I'm moving house, Erin. Mam finally sold the house." Clare repeated; her voice riddled with disappointment.
Erin suddenly felt hazy as she stood in the hallway. Walking from the kitchen, Orla's jovial skip came to a screeching halt when she saw Erin's bewildered expression. Mary sadly pressed her lips together. Knowing what was being said without needing to hear it.
"What is it, Erin?" Orla asked.
"Motherfuckers! What's the craic?" Michelle cried happily, crashing through the front door with James following her. They then stopped.
"Erin, what is it?" James asked, seeing Erin's eyes well up.
"She's leaving…. Clare's Mam's sold the house…. She's moving to Strabane!" Erin said sadly. The other four stood, gobsmacked.
The foursome wasted no time in rushing round to Clare's to find out as much information as they could. They found the wee lesbian sitting outside her front door, waiting for them. Her eyes were as red as they were that night at the hospital. It felt as if history was repeating itself. The group gathered as Clare explained that she was indeed moving to Strabane. Geraldine Devlin had already informed the school earlier that day of their intentions to move. With their A-level exams beginning in April. It was paramount that Clare be moved to another school, Coleman's College, to be exact so that her studies would not be disturbed. However, the importance of exams was, for once, not at the forefront of Clare's mind.
The situation hadn't truly hit the group until they felt the sun beat down brightly on a breezy Saturday in March. The Quinn/McCool, and Mallon families all made the journey to Strabane to help the Devlin family settle into their new home. Throughout the day, Gerry and Joe had served as a welcome distraction for the wains, laughing as they listened to Joe relentlessly chastise Gerry for being useless in moving the bigger furniture. The Quinn patriarch took it all in his stride as always, much like James had to whenever Michelle ordered him and Marco to double back and pick up the heavy things she couldn't pick up, largely due to the hangover she'd picked up the night before.
The trouble was, they were all feeling the repercussions from one of Michelle's concoctions. Choosing to get pished the night before as a going away gesture to Clare was proving to be a bad mistake, all except Orla, who seemed unaffected by their drinking session. While the mammies huffed with disappointment, they knew the wooden spoon couldn't be utilized under the circumstances. One by one, everyone moved heavy boxes and furniture out of the removal van into the new house while the mammies assumed the position of unpacking things out of the boxes. Michelle cunningly feigned herself unable to move another 'heavy' box.
"JAMES!" Michelle shouted out. Exhausted and hungover. "Can you and Marco come and shift this one too?" She 'groaned'.
"You know, we're not exactly in the best shape either, Michelle!" James groaned as he caught his breath.
"Stop moaning, Dickweed! Ye two should have taken it easy last night, knowing we were shifting this shite!" Michelle snapped.
"What you talking about, Michelle? It was YOUR idea to get drunk last night!" Marco stressed but grabbed his head through the pain.
"Yeah, I would have thought by now you'd have toughened up, drink wise! But NO! Typical Fucking English….. Oh god!" Michelle felt her stomach churn. She darted round to the side of the van. The lads groaned as they heard Michelle throw up.
"Well, it could be worse, it could be coming out the other end." Marco gasped, wrenching a burp.
"That's just wrong, mate. …How you feeling 'Co?" James huffed.
"Better than Michelle is." Marco quipped. "God, who'd have thought mixing cider with vodka would be a bad thing, right?" He chuckled.
"I don't think it was the cider that did it, I think it was the Guinness we had before." James moaned, clutching his stomach.
"Oi, you two! Shift yourselves! That van's not gonna unload itself, ye know!" Joe barked from the front door.
"Yes, Joe!" They both said. Although there was only one box left now. As they caught their breath, Orla was heard walking round inside the hollow chamber.
"Surely this is abusive, isn't it, aye? I mean making us heave all this when we're all wrecked?" Erin huffed, her head still dizzy, she leant against the back of the removal van.
"I don't think Esther Rantzen's gonna step in now, Erin. You're 18." Marco quipped, he then felt Orla ambush him with a back hug.
"Aye. don't remind me." Erin grunted, leaning on James.
"Urgh, I knew I shouldn't have had that second bacon sandwich." Michelle complained. Staggering back round from the side of the van.
"Oh, don't mention food, Michelle." James moaned.
"Do ye wanna bit of my DibDab, James?" Orla offered.
"Noooooo!" James groaned. They then turned round and observed the empty void of the loading bay.
"Hiya guys." Clare walked up sadly to the van. Erin reached her arm out to cradle Clare.
"Alright, Clare? How you feeling?" James asked.
"How d'ya think she's feeling, Dickhead!" Michelle snapped.
"Ye certainly sound better." Orla observed. "At least ye stopped shaking."
"Well thanks for pointing that out, Orla." Clare frowned.
"Oi, come on. You can't blame her for being a wee bit shaken." Michelle said.
"Aye. Fair point." Erin echoed.
"Hmmm, I mean, to be fair, anyone of us would be the same." Michelle added.
"Aye, it's like coming to a crosspoint in your life, not knowing if you're ready for it, but at the same time not being able to stop it….." Erin said. "….. It's bound to leave a mark….."
"Aye, and if ye don't T-cut those marks, they'll never shift." Orla remarked.
Erin scrunched her face. "What ye on about, Orla? I was talking about Clare moving."
"Oh, I thought you were talking about the scratches Clare made on the car." Orla replied. James and Marco glanced at each other.
"Can ye not talk about that, Orla? I feel bad enough as it is!" Clare stressed.
"Plus, It's the dents you should be really worried about." Michelle joked.
"Oh Gawd!" James and Marco rolled their eyes.
"Oh, sweet suffering Jesus!" Clare panicked.
"She's joking, Clare. There aren't any dents." Marco assured her. Shooting a look at Michelle.
"Come on now! In her defence, Clare was the only one out of us sober enough to drive." James said.
"I think ye did grand, Clare. Given that ye never drove before." Orla said.
"Orla, she scraped the side of the car against a wall!" Erin exclaimed. "Surprised the RUC aren't out searching for her as we speak!"
"Aye, but she's didn't crash it into another car, did she now, Erin?" Orla asked.
"Ye promised you wouldn't bring that up….. again!" Erin groaned, her face going red.
"I still can't believe ye didn't see thar car, Erin. It's not like it's a bag of taytos, is it now?" Michelle chuckled.
"I can't believe you actually tried to argue with ya driving instructor about it!" Marco laughed.
"It was at a funny angle!" Erin stressed.
"What? So, cars don't come up behind ya when ya reverse?" Michelle asked sarcastically.
"Alright! Alright! Enough!" James stressed.
"Clare, it's alright. I looked at the car this morning, it's not that bad. Right, James?" Marco said awkwardly.
"No…. not at all! Needed a magnifying glass to see it." James assured her, unconvincingly.
"Aye, James would know, he's used to searching for wee things with a magnifying glass." Michelle joked.
"Honestly." James sighed as the girls and Marco sniggered, while Orla looked at him with a curious, crooked eye.
Just then, Coco Pops barked at Clare's feet. Catching her attention, Clare smiled as she picked up and cradled their wee excitable mascot. Her smile slowly turned to a frown as she observed the frowning noises coming from Coco Pops. She then saw the sad frowns on everyone's faces. They slowly moved in to cradle Clare as the parents began to file out of the house. With the boxes now unpacked. Mary, Deidre, and Sarah embraced her friend Geraldine, mirroring the girls.
"Ye call us if ye ever need anything, Geraldine. Do ye hear?" Mary said.
"Aye. I will, Mary. It's meant a lot to us, ye being here to help us settle." Geraldine wept.
"Ye just remember we're only a phone call away, so don't ye be a stranger now." Deidre echoed.
"Derry feels a wee bit empty now without ye, Geraldine." Sarah cooed.
James motioned the girls to regard their mothers. Watching a group of friends who had been there for each other for so many years; The closeness of their friendship mirrored in the young lives of their children. Seeing the sadness emitting from the group of Derry Women who had all been each other's eyes and ears for their wains as they grew up together. Clare became overcome with sadness. She reached out and held onto her friends a little bit tighter. Hiding her face that was now strewn with tears. Despite the numerous potential buyers over the past year, this one day had come far too soon. As invincible as they always felt no matter the opposition, from psycho teachers, to blazing chippy infernos, haunted houses, corrupt school board members, even Sister Michael…. they now felt just as vulnerable and scared as they did that Halloween night in 1996.
The group all regarded their wee lesbian friend who could be best described as a walking cack attack, who also had a heart of gold. Each member contemplated the unthinkable of what they'd do without her. Erin remembered meeting Clare at playschool, and how they became inseparable from that day. Michelle swallowed hard as she fondly thought of how Clare would always be the polar opposite to her wild, wilful ways. Orla, as innocent and carefree as she was, couldn't understand that while love was a wonderful feeling, why did have to hurt sometimes? James wiped away his own tears, remembering the kind words and encouragement Clare had given him during the first few days after he'd moved to Derry. Marco felt his lip quiver for the friend he'd grown so attached to, sharing her pain of losing a family member, both had been shoulders to cry on in their own private moments.
It was now time for the parents to have a chance to say goodbye to Clare. Even though Strabane was only 20 minutes away, it still felt as if the Devlin family were moving to the other side of Northern Ireland. Mary, for all her stoic manner clenched her eyes shut, tears escaped her eyes as she hugged wee Clare, feeling as if she was losing one of her own. Gerry wiped his eyes as he walked Mary to the car. Joe reserved himself from mocking Gerry's emotions. As the parents waited in the cars, the gang took a moment to say goodbye to Clare before they made the trip back to Derry. Now one less.
"So…. Is Laurie popping over later?" Erin asked.
"…. Aye. We're having dinner with Mammy at Marco's restaurant." Clare confirmed. Erin pressed her lips together sadly and nodded frantically before embracing her friend.
. "…We love yer, Clare." Erin sobbed.
"I love all of yers too." Clare replied sadly. Orla frowned as she walked up to Clare.
"Ye still have yer wee burger phone, right Clare?" Orla managed to utter through her sniffs.
"Aye, I do." Clare answered.
"OK…. Just make sure ye don't eat it by mistake. Aye? Cos, I don't think they sell them anymore." Orla warned.
"…. I'll make sure I don't." Clare gasped out a wee chuckle. Orla squeezed her tight before letting go.
Marco was next. "I… made you and your Mum some scones. They're in the fridge. Don't worry. I made them while Michelle wasn't around. So, there's no drugs in them." Marco quipped with a frown.
"Thanks, Marco. One less thing, aye? See ya later, aye?" Clare nodded, hugging him before handing Coco Pops to him.
"Oi, you come back as much as ye can, ya wee lezzer. Ye can stay at mine, It's no bother, I'll just turf James out of his room." Michelle feigned through her tears.
"That won't be necessary, Michelle. And I will. Promise." Clare wept.
"I'm not sure what to say, Clare. Just…. Just… I'll buy myself a tent so you can have my room when you visit." James said.
Through her tears, Clare managed to smile for the wee English fella. "Awwww, James. You're a legend, ye know that. I'm gonna miss you all so much."
The only noise heard on the drive back to Derry was from the radio. There wasn't much for anyone to say. While Marco made his way to work, Joe drove the girls and James home. Orla rested her head on James' shoulder for comfort while the wee English fella held Erin's hand. The petite blonde glanced out of the car window and reflected quietly. She attempted to conjure some kind of philosophical sentence to rationalize the mixture of feelings coursing through her mind, but sadness made it impossible to do so.
Michelle sat in the front and also reflected on the loss of Clare. The departure of one of the group members reminded the feisty Mallon of another departure in her life. Her brother, Niall. With the approach of the Good Friday vote looming, everyone seemed to become fixated on what this vote would mean for the whole of Northern Ireland. But for Michelle, she kept her opinions close to her chest. The possibility of Paramilitary prisoners being granted a pardon for their past transgressions also stirred deep in her mind. She had kept quiet, as always, about the most recent letter from Niall; a visitors pass for anyone in the family to come and visit him. Michelle had long hoped that her Mam would allow her the chance to go and see him. Now she was 18, she figured she would be able to choose for herself to see Niall. But despite her Mam opening up to Marco over a year ago during his first visit, it had been a steep decline back to the norm where the family were not allowed to speak of him.
Michelle wondered what the next few months would bring…..