Page 112 of Calling Frank O'Hare

She wiped her eyes and tried out a laugh. ‘They’re such babies.’

‘You can say that again. Listen, do you want to go out tonight? The boys are mad keen for a curry. Do our parents eat curry?’

‘We do have curry in Belfast, you know. We are quite cosmopolitan these days. It has been known to pass their lips.’

Frank bumped his shoulder against hers. ‘Ah but there’s curry, and there’s Birmingham curry.’

After the curry, which was actually very good, they went to Adrian’s grotty pub. Ma was not too impressed and she told Adrian so, but her standards slipped surprisingly quickly after a couple of drinks. There was a DJ on. She had a little dance with Netta. She liked Netta. She was a good one for the craic. Best of all, she was easy to get on with. Siobhan could talk to her.

Halfway through the night, Frank sat down next to her. ‘How’s it going?’ Her brother was happy at last. Adrian was right about Netta, she brought him out of himself. But there was more to it than that. It had to be something to do with Martin and Finn. She wasn’t part of their little club so she didn’t know what it was. Not yet anyway.

She looped her arm through his. ‘Grand. You’ve got yourself a lovely woman there, Francis. Don’t lose this one.’

‘I’ll try not to.’ He fiddled with his beer mat. She sensed he was building himself up to something. ‘Martin said you told him about Billy going with Eve when she was my girlfriend. I’m curious as to how you knew?’

‘About the two of you, or about Billy and Eve?’

‘Both, I guess. I thought we’d managed to keep it under the radar.’

‘Come on, Frank, you must remember what it was like. Eyes and ears everywhere. I knew about you and Eve because you were seen. I knew about Billy and Eve because the gobshite loved to brag.’

‘That figures. Do you know anything about that day the Balaclavas took Billy? I’m sure Billy wouldn’t have informed. Unless he’d done it to impress Eve, what with her old man being a cop. But I can’t see it somehow. And anyway, how would the Balaclavas have known if he had?’

‘Like I said, Billy was always shooting his mouth off. He told everybody about those guns. He didn’t need to inform, he just needed to tell enough people on the streets. What happened to Billy was nobody’s fault but his own. Loose talk costs lives,’ she said, remembering the slogan that was on every wall in those times. ‘Except no lives were lost that day.’

Frank smiled. ‘Thanks. I just needed to know.’

She patted him on the knee. ‘No bother. I’m away to powder my nose. Do me a favour and talk to the parents.’

Siobhan fixed her lipstick in the ladies. She’d said enough to Frank to put his mind at rest. He didn’t need to know Eve was meeting Billy that day to tell him she was having his baby.

She smacked her lips together and pressed a tissue between them. Under the radar, her arse. As if. Of course the Balaclavas knew about Frank and Eve. They’d put two and two together and decided it was him who’d grassed about the guns. That’s why they had to know it was Billy with his big mouth. They’d done the right thing, her and Da. It hadn’t been their finest hour but they’d had no choice. It was either Frank or Billy. Frank was theirs, and Billy Macintyre was a spiteful, greedy snake who poisoned everything he touched.

She’d tried to help Eve to get away from him by getting word to her dad through the network of whispers and secrets. Siobhan had taken a big risk herself with that one. Nobody wanted to be found out for passing information to the other side, no matter how insignificant. But some people just don’t want to be helped, do they? Siobhan had heard about Eve’s awful abortion, some sleazy so-called doctor across the border. That was probably Billy’s doing. Eve’s ould man would have made her have the baby in secret and put it up for adoption. Or he’d have taken her across the water to get the abortion done properly. A woman who knew a woman who knew Eve told Siobhan it had messed her insides up completely. No more babies. Poor cow. Frank didn’t need to know about that either. Wasn’t it enough that Billy had stolen the only two women he’d pinned his hopes on?

A wicked part of her would have liked to have seen Billy trying it on with Netta. She didn’t know her well obviously, but Siobhan had the feeling Netta would be impervious to his so-called charms. From what Netta had said about her ex, she’d be able to spot a manipulative bastard miles off. Last night, she’d given her the full, uncensored version of Frank’s history. At the end of it, Netta had been left in no doubt about the Eve and Ellen effect, and Siobhan was in no doubt that Frank had finally met the right woman.

She examined herself in the mirror, then went back in and waited to be served at the bar. Frank was talking to Da. Her dear old da. She remembered all the hours he’d spent making that first house of hers habitable. It was the thing he loved to do, his distraction. Frank had helped a bit with that house. Decorating was the gift Da had shared with him. Martin had the books. Da was always there helping him read, just so he could tell his big brother he knew the words. These days they’d say Martin was dyslexic, but schools were crueller places when they were kids.

But Da had saved the best for her. Eyes and ears. She was his, and he was hers. He’d shared with her the gift of knowledge, and together they’d kept the family safe.

‘You’re looking very well, Siobhan. Divorce suits you,’ said Adrian.

She’d always liked Adrian. He wasn’t exactly a looker, but he was funny, clever, and kind. Back in the day, those calls with him helped her get through the endless weeks of flip-flopping between worrying over Frank and hating her life with Dermot. She’d felt empty when they drew to a natural end. Many a time since, she’d been tempted to call him, just to chat. Just to feel a little less lonely. But she’d always talked herself out of it, not wanting to come over as too desperate. Still, he’d called her out of the blue. And he’d kept her number. That had to mean something. And anything was better than those fecking dating-site weirdos.

She gave him her best smile. ‘Yes, it does.’

He smiled back. ‘Can I get you a drink? Or would you prefer a dance?’

Adrian dropped Siobhan off outside Netta’s. It was a beautiful morning and Siobhan was feeling something she hadn’t felt for a long time. Attractive. She’d spent the night with a decent man who told her he’d had a secret crush on her for years. That was the kind of surprise she could handle.

She’d only got halfway up the path when the door opened. Martin stood in the doorway, a ridiculous grin on his face. ‘Ooh, walk of shame.’

‘Fuck off, Martin. Shove your double standards up your arse.’ She pushed him out of the way and went straight upstairs to get changed.

There was a tap on the bedroom door just as she pulled on a clean top. ‘Are you decent, Siobhan?’ It was Ma.

Siobhan let out a heavy sigh. She might as well get it over with now. ‘Come in.’

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