The Wake - Table of contents

The Wake - afters (8)

The man talking to the receptionist was unmistakable. Grey broad-brimmed hat, Zapata moustache. Big Vinny Coyle, chief civil rights steward, salt of the earth, stopped me being crushed half to death that time at the Armagh march.

“Ah she’s made it all right,” he said. “She commands amazing fees now you know.”

“I say she’s past her best.” Golden thickly lacquered crowning glory inclined towards him, adroitly he evaded with deft swerve of the head.

“Think so?” Vinny tilted the fedora back a bit. “I was reading there about her saying she wouldn’t get out of her bed for less than five thousand.”

Gurgle of laughter from the golden head nearly choking. “I wonder now how much she charges to get in.”

Vinny raised an admonishing finger. “Now Majella. A Catholic girl like you shouldn’t be coming out with them kinda things. That’s calumny. Do you know what calumny is?”

“I do not.”

“Do you not remember from your catechism? It means taking away a person’s good name, that’s what it means. And a Catholic girl like you ...”

“I never knew she had a good name.”

Vinny turned his eyes to heaven and his head away and that’s when he saw me standing there rooted. “Ah hello Master Coffey. How you doing? Is the rain staying off out there?”

I moved my feet and went towards him. Who’s she with?

“Aye, it’s still dry. How you doing anyway? I never got thanking you right for what you did up in Armagh Vinny.”

Vinny blinked kindly. “Not at all Master. I trust you were okay after that? You were being sort of roughed up by our own side. What’s this they say? With friends like that? Did you see Aisling?”

“Who?”

“Aisling O’Connor.”

“I did. She was just across the road from us.”

“Naw, I mean, did you not see her in here? She just got back the day. Wasn’t it terrible about that friend of hers?”

“Who?”

“That girl she was great with from Belfast. Did you not hear?”

“What?”

“She was killed in an accident up there when was it? It was just after the Armagh march I think, the day after or maybe two days. Did you not hear? I thought you’d have heard. Wall fell on her in the big storm, remember the big storm? Somewhere up the Whiterock Road as far as I know. Terrible thing. I thought you’d have heard seeing —”

“Would that have been? What girl?”

He half closed his eyes and directed his gaze above and beyond me, his lips moving slowly as he went over names in his head. The hotel lobby turned noisy suddenly as a crowd of people came rushing in the front door.

“Audrey I think her name was.” He was nearly shouting above the noise. “I can’t mind her last name but her and Aisling were very close. Real socialist so she was. She was one of the first ones to join the People’s Democracy you know. Big loss, she’s a big loss. Are you all right Master? Here, sit down. Look, there’s a chair there.”

He touched my elbow and ushered me towards an armchair near the door. “Do you not want to sit down? Why do they let in them sort of people anyway? You’d think they’d have somebody on the door so you would. Here, sit there a minute. Tell me this now. Do you ever get headaches after what happened on the fifth?”

“Fifth?”

“October. Fifth of October. Hospitality of the RUC. Do you get headaches do you?”

“Naw, I’m over that. Listen, thanks Vinny. I’m all right. I just got a bit of a shock. I didn’t know a thing about it. I think I’ll go into the bar for a while.”