Chapter Five
Michael O’Reagan
“Mr. O’Reagan I swear it wasn’t …” The boy hits the concrete hard. The impact a warning to the other three who are lined up and ready for questioning.
Richard drags the boy back up and into formation. It’s cold today, and this is the last place I want to be. The old farm yard hasn’t seen livestock in a very long time. It was away from the rest of the world and it was a place where I carried out punishments. It was something I had learned. You had to rule your kingdom with an iron fist. Someone always lurked close by ready to snatch it from you and that wouldn’t happen to me.
“You are like my children. Do I not give protection to you and your families?” I look at each boy. Two of the boys look at the ground and tremble. The one who tried to speak is staring at me.
“Do I not feed your families?” I step closer to Craig, he was young. Maybe fourteen and he was a runner for me. I was just as young as him when I worked for Mr Malone. The only difference between me and these boys was my loyalty ran deep. They would cut my throat to try to sit on my throne. But they were only boys. Not large enough to fill it.
“Do I not teach you how to have all this?” I step closer to Craig.
“It wasn’t me.” He’s shaking his head, but he isn’t trembling like the rest. But he should be. I know it’s him. I knew from the moment I stepped into this room.
“So who was it then?” I asked Craig, and he shrugs his shoulders. He’s the newest runner to my crew. I nod feeling disappointment. Lies. I didn’t accept them.
“Richard, take the boys home.” They all look at me now. Uncertainty flashes in their eyes.
“Craig you stay.” Craig shows his first signs of fear. His eyes dart to the hurried steps of the other boys.
“I didn’t do it.” This time his words fall flat but he still holds his head high.
“I’m disappointed,” I admit. I had picked him because I had thought I had seen something in him that lay deep inside me. The want to belong, the want to prove that I wasn’t a nobody. All my father had was a push bike and hands like shovels. My mother loved him. I didn’t. I remember thinking I would never become him. I would be bigger, stronger, better.
“Take off your clothes.”
Johnny one of my men steps into the barn and I give him a brief nod.
Craig folds his arms over his chest. “No way.”
His bravery again was making me think twice. “If you don’t, Johnny here will cut your fingers from your hands.” His clothes quickly form a pile in front of him.
It’s cold outside as Craig shuffles in front of me covering his manhood. His face holds real fear now.
“Keep walking,” I tell him and he faces forward. His shoulders shake with silent sobs. We reach the large tree that I pat when I arrive. I called her the watcher. Johnny has followed us out, rope in hand and I give him the nod. Craig doesn’t protest as he’s tied to the large beast of a tree.
“It’s a cold night, Craig,” I say and step away as Johnny drenches him with a bucket of water.
His startled scream won’t be heard. “Stealing from me comes with a death sentence. Right now I am allowing God to make the decision of whether you live or die. If you’re alive in the morning, I will let you go.” His blue lips tremble and I think God has already made up his mind.
“Please, Mr O’Reagan. I’ll do anything.”
I’m nodding as he speaks. They always plead when the reality sinks in. “The only certainty is that you will never steal from me again.”
***
I’m standing across the road again waiting for Margret. This time I feel more nervous than the first. Checking my watch I look up as I hear footsteps. She’s smiling, her hair loose around her face, and she looks even more beautiful. She runs across the road to me and stops abruptly a few paces away. I can see it there in her eyes. She wants to kiss me but fear maybe of being seen is keeping her still.
“Why do you always wear a suit?”
The question surprises me. “I don’t know. I like them.” I answer her honestly. “I also think I look very handsome in a suit.”
Her laugh is quick and lights up her eyes. Her blue dress is loose but still manages to catch on her curves, giving her an innocent look but when the material gathers in the right places all I want is her in my arms, in my bed.
“Are you ready?” I ask and she links her arm with mine. She takes a final glance at her home before we go to my car.
There’s an auction on in Kells. Usher’s auction. It’s where I pick for our second date. I hope I’m right but I think it will impress Margret.
“Where are we going?” I don’t answer as I open her car door and help her out, she takes my hand and the heat from her skin is instant.
“It’s an auction,” I say as I close the car door behind her.
“What kind of auction?” Her weary words make me smile and when I look at her she blushes.
“What kind of auction are you implying, Miss Hegarty?” Her cheeks deepen.
As we move closer and she can finally read the sign, she smiles up at me. “Furniture,” she says with a grin.
“Not just furniture. But treasures.”