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A few months would pass by and, as I made more money, we would upgrade to bigger place, where Ollie and Tadhg would join us. They would be eleven and thirteen by then, old enough to look after themselves.
Nowhere in the blueprint of my mind did I foresee having another sibling to care for, let alone a potential toddler.
I wouldn’t be able to do it.
I would have to work during the day, and maybe some nights, too.
I couldn’t look after the baby.
But I couldn’t leave them look after the baby, either.
For fuck’s sake.
.
THIRD YEAR
NEW BATHROOMS AND OLD MISTAKES
SEPTEMBER 1ST 2001
AOIFE
“Where’dyou want me to toss the old one?”
Jerking awake at the sound of the familiar voice, I sprang up in my bed and craned my neck to hear better.
“Throw it out in the yard.” That was my dad’s voice. “I’ll load it into the van later and take it to the dump.”
“You sure?” My eyes widened in horror. “It’s a cast iron tub. Could be worth something if ya take it to Timmy Murphy over in Glenmore? He wheels and deals in scrap.”
“He has a young one in the same year as yourself and the twins, doesn’t he?”
“Neasa. Yeah, she’s in my class. Listen, I could give him a buzz, if you want? He might throw ya a score for it.”
“Nah, the thing is on its last legs. It’s red rotten underneath. It wouldn’t make the price of the diesel it would cost me to drive it over there.”
Oh my god.
“Fair enough.”
He did not!
“Good man, Joey, can you carry that downstairs on your own?”
He did!
“Yeah, Tony, it’s not a bother. I’ll have to head off around three today, though. I’ve a match at the pavilion.”
Dad brought him home.
“Jesus, son, you’re as strong as an ox. And that’s not a bother. We’ll have it finished by then.”
Again!
And I looked like something that had been dragged through a ditch.
Perfect.
