Chapter 9 #2
“Stay outside in the hall, I’ll go in and wake Rita.
” I gently eased into their room, pushing the feeling of awkwardness aside as I crept up to the bed.
I shook her shoulder, “Rita, wake up” I whispered, keen not to wake Ella’s dad.
If I could get Rita under wraps first, then she could deal with Mr. Rourke.
Her eyes fluttered and she started, seeing me kneeling beside her bed.
“Róisín, what’s going on?” Her voice started to rise, and I cut in.
“Ella’s fine, everything is fine. Can you come up to the kitchen though?
” I kept a strained smile on my face to encourage her.
Her eyes darted across my face as she nodded and threw the covers back, reaching for her dressing gown as I slipped into the hall.
She followed immediately, and her eyes snapped to mine a second after she took in Shea and Tomás standing there.
“Róisín, what’s happened?” she demanded, the fear leaking through her voice. I started to walk up the corridor towards the kitchen, where I knew the boys had settled Ella.
“She’s okay Rita, but something happened tonight.”
“Now, Róisín.” she stopped dead with her arms crossed, staring at me. Her face remained completely calm but her eyes were crazed.
“Tommy was there; he went for her outside Gonzo’s. She’s a little bruised and shook up.” I tried to minimise things as much as possible until she laid eyes on Ella; then I could reveal every gory, nauseating detail that was making my lungs rebel against each breath I drew in.
“Where is she? Did he put her in the hospital?” That same calmness, her voice completely steady.
“No, she’s here.” Rita pushed me out of the way and charged into the kitchen, stopping dead when she laid eyes on Ella, who was nursing a cup of tea and trying to smile around her split lip.
“I’m okay Mammy, looks worse than it is.” I almost broke down there and then, watching her put on this brave face to try and reassure Rita. Rita paused for a heartbeat, then launched into smooth motion towards Ella.
“Of course you are, my brave girl. You’re my little warrior.
Now, do you want to tell me what happened?
” Rita pulled her chair next to Ella at the kitchen table and held her hand with a soft encouraging smile, as the other hand cupped her face.
I busied myself making Rita tea so I could try and dissociate from the exchange taking place in front of me.
Rita acted like she was as cool as a fucking cucumber to coax everything out of Ella, Ella breaking down in her mother’s arms as she went through another retelling while Rita soothed her and told her to let all her tears out.
As I turned to deliver more tea, I was surprised to find Fionn with his back to the table and a single tear rolling down his face.
My gaze wandered to the others, and I found them all struggling.
Shea frozen, Connor clenching and unclenching his fists, and Tomás pacing up and down the kitchen like his boxers were on fire.
Once Ella’s sobs quieted, Rita pushed her a cup of tea laden with sugar.
“Now you drink that up, my love. It’ll help with the shock while I get you some painkillers for your wrist, we’ll go down to bed then,” she gave her a smile as she slipped out to the utility.
Fionn instantly fell into the chair beside Ella while I followed Rita silently.
As I closed the kitchen door behind me, I heard the heaving coming from the bathroom as Rita finally let herself go.
I knew she’d wait until Ella couldn’t see before she’d break, but I thought I might find her here with a tear, not throwing up and sobbing uncontrollably by the sound of things.
I waited outside the door until the sobs quietened and the tap ran.
Five minutes later, Rita stepped out. A little blotchy but that calm mask was in place again.
Fuck me, that was impressive. I could do with a few pointers on holding my shit together because along with Ella, Rita Rourke had just become my idol.
“Rita...” I started, but I was cut off as she grabbed me and squeezed me in a bone-crushing hug.
“Róisín, tell me they’ve caught the cunt,” she croaked into my hair. The most I’d heard the woman curse was a Feck, and she blessed herself right after - a C bomb was unheard of.
“They will, Rita. This time he’ll get what’s coming to him and he’ll regret the day he ever looked at Ells sideways,” I choked out.
If Rita could hold her shit together, so could I.
She nodded before taking a deep breath and stepping back into the kitchen, where I ran right into her back as she stood frozen before me.
“Michael,” she said, using that calm voice again, and I peered around her to find Ella’s dad standing there with a look of murder in his eyes.
“Someone better tell me right now who the FUCK did that to my daughter,” he bellowed, and Ella flinched at the table.
“Daddy, I’m okay,” she tried, but he turned eerily slowly towards her.
“You are not okay, Ella Rourke, and you’re going to tell me who did that to you this second,” he glared at her.
“Tommy,” she choked out as Rita stepped towards him.
“The Gardai are dealing with it, love. And we’ll head there ourselves in the morning,” but her words were ignored as he swivelled out of the room, and we heard his steps pounding down the corridor to his bedroom.
Okay... I’d been hoping we could avoid this but time for Plan B.
Rita was obviously thinking the same thing.
“Tomás,” she barked, and he jumped up from the table and took off down the hall, with Connor and Shea following. I shoved Fionn out of my way to look Ella in the eye.
“Listen girl, your dad is just spitting over what happened to you. Don’t be worrying about that now.” Her hand trembled in mine.
“He’ll kill him, Róis. I know he will,” she whimpered as Rita sat at her other side.
“With all those strapping fellas to talk reason into him,” she joked.
“Why do you think that little genius beside you brought the backup?” She threw me an exaggerated wink.
After a few more minutes of placating Ella that her dad was not going to find Tommy and shoot him in the balls, before landing one between the eyes (which was all of our deepest fantasies), we managed to get her down to bed calmly enough.
She seemed sleepy and not very aware of the roaring coming from the shed behind the house as all the boys tried to reason with Mr. Rourke.
“I’ve given her that sleepy antihistamine thingy as well, Róisín.
Get her settled and comfortable while I finish dealing with this mess,” she whispered to me as Ella pulled on her PJs.
I nodded, eyes on Ella as Rita spun around and headed outside.
Once Ella was settled, I climbed into the bed and spooned her from behind, careful to avoid her wrist that I’d arranged on her pillow for her.
I listened to the roars and crashes coming from outside until they lulled me into the most amazing dream where Tommy McCarthy was dead, and I watched Ella dance with joy on the bastard's grave.
********
Ella hadn’t come back to Limerick the following week, and it looked like she’d be spending the next week at home with her Mam, which was probably for the best. Rita was like a force to be reckoned with when it came to her kids, and I knew she’d steer Ella through the next round of interviews the Gardaí wanted to conduct with her now that they had caught Tommy.
This time, we should finally be able to nail the prick.
And thankfully, the Gardaí had found him before Mr. Rourke did - the man was so crazed after he saw the state of Ella, I had no doubt he would’ve done something irreversible if he had caught up with him.
But Shea, Connor, and Tomás had managed to slow him down when he went to get his shotgun, before Shea and Rita had jumped into the car with him as he tore out of the house with the wheels spinning.
They had eventually talked some sanity back into him.
It was a long night and a long day Sunday as we got confirmation from an X-ray that Ella had a fracture in her wrist, before Rita and I sat with her through her Gardaí interview.
Sara and Sinéad were up the walls with worry when I arrived at the house Sunday night, after I had sent them a brief message explaining what had happened.
They had had a bottle of wine ready and while it had been difficult to relive, it was a relief to have Sara and Sinéad there to share it with.
Their feelings of horror reflected my own and eased the need to stay calm and protective like I had with Ella and her family, not needing to temper my reaction to the situation.
We talked long into the night, draining a second bottle of wine, and I had gone to bed feeling like a burden had been slightly lifted now that I had the girls to share everything with.
I had left college early on Friday to rush back home and see Ella; she was holding up remarkably well in the cocoon of her family and her sister Siobhán hadn’t left her side for a minute all week.
Sleeping in bed with Ella every night like when they had been little girls.
Even though she was proving to be the epitome of resilience, I wasn’t doing so well myself.
I was haunted by that broken look in her eyes, consumed with a rage that burned my throat at what Tommy had done.
I was struggling to hold it together. Connor had been persistent all week in checking in on me and asking if I wanted to talk.
As I made my way home from Ella’s, I contemplated his last message.
Connor – Fancy going for a spin?