Chapter Four
Liam – Fourteen Years Ago
Two more days until the summer holidays started. Niall and Oonagh would return to their summer home before disappearing from my miserable life for another year. I’d just turned sixteen and nearly finished my GCSE examinations. My career advisor wanted me to start my A levels next year, but I needed to get a job to support my brothers.
Callum worked every hour god sent, but it wasn’t enough to pay for everything six brothers and their wayward parents needed. Being the next eldest, the responsibility fell to me to help him. I already had two part-time jobs alongside my studies.
My pencil skimmed the page, my latest sketch of the ocean coming to life. Art was the only subject that I took just for me, losing myself in creating places I would prefer to live or visit.
“Liam?” I glanced up from my corner in the library to find the principal’s secretary standing there. “We can’t reach your parents and Dean’s been in a fight again.”
Niall thought I lived an exciting life surfing or dating girls. Neither were true. Where would I find the time?
With a heartfelt sigh, I followed her to the principal’s office. Mr Munroe sat behind his desk with his round glasses perched on the end of his nose. “Ah, Liam. I know you’re revising for your next exam, but…” He nodded to my brother who was sitting with his head down and shoulders slumped.
Dean was sensitive about our situation. There was never enough money or food, we passed clothes among each other, but the six of us were all we had.
“It would appear that someone ripped his school blazer,” Mr. Munroe explained.
Crap! Where were we going to find the money for another one? Callum would go mental.
Mrs. Delaney coughed discreetly. “I found one that would fit him in lost property if you want to swap it?”
My back straightened but it was an offer we couldn’t refuse. I’d spent years having to bite my tongue and say “thank you” to those who gave us charity because life had dealt us crappy parents.
A false smile spread on my lips. “Thanks, I really appreciate it.”
She nodded, leading Dean toward her office.
“I was speaking to your career advisor. He recommended that you continue your studies,” Mr. Munroe started. I opened my mouth to tell him I was leaving this summer to get a permanent job, but he put his hand up to stop me speaking.
“I’ve been looking into it and there are grants available for fulltime students who need funding.” My cheeks burned with every word he spoke. “Think about it, Liam. You may think I don’t understand, but we all have family secrets that we try to leave in the past. You’re a smart boy who deserves better.”
“I’ll speak to Callum about it.” Everyone knew my brother was the adult in our family. He’d stolen to put food on our table from an early age, getting into trouble more times than I could count. His saving grace had been a police officer who’d seen beyond the scruffy, hungry boy and decided to help him.
“I phoned him about Dean and mentioned it to him. We could try and get help for your family…”
I slumped into the chair on the other side of his desk. “They’ll separate us and we’re all we have. Callum’s trying to get legal custody of our youngest brothers to keep them safe.”
“It’s too much for you and Callum.”
That may be true, but family was everything and I would do anything in my power to keep us together.
***
Every year, Oonagh got even more beautiful. When we were twelve, I acted like a complete ass because I didn’t know what to do when I arrived at their house to find not the friend I’d spent every summer with, but someone who made my wayward adolescent dick take interest.
Now she had curves in all the right places, her breasts evident under the flimsy vest top she wore. She’d been my best friend, not Niall, from the day she found me alone on the beach after Ma had thrown me out of the house for eating a biscuit. She took me home and claimed me from that moment.
Her shorts showed the rounded flesh of her ass and legs that went on forever.
It was going to be a long summer…
Niall waved as he strode out of his family’s summer home. Fuck me, but it was grander than the majority of homes in the village. It blew my mind that this was only their summer home. What did the home they lived in the remainder of the year look like? I’d often visualised a palace-type structure.
Oonagh stood in the garden, reminiscent of one of those statues that were there to tempt you. She gave a small smile as she wandered into the house. I wanted to stop her and chat the way we used to, but I’d burnt that bridge a long time ago when awkwardness threatened to choke me.
Niall approached, and I stuck a fixed smile on my face. “Fancy going surfing for the afternoon?” I suggested. It was one of my few pleasures in life. Callum’s mate lent me his surfing board every so often when he wasn’t using it and the waves were perfect this afternoon. Tomorrow, I was back to work, but this one afternoon was mine to lose myself in the waves.
The sea washed away my troubles and the wind battered me until I forgot about school and my brothers. My body contorted to keep me stable on the board, my feet planted even as the sea fought against me. Niall fell in so many times, he sulked off onto the beach, soon attracting a group of girls.
I stayed in until I couldn’t bear the cool water of the Irish Sea, even though I had a wetsuit on. Water dripped down my face from my hair, but I pushed it back and stumbled up the beach on shaky legs.
“Niall left with his admirers. I stayed to ensure your stuff wasn’t stolen.” Oonagh sat beside my possessions that were worth nothing but meant everything to me. It was her compassion that touched me more than anything. She never asked for anything in return.
“Still looking after the lost and bewildered on the beach?” I teased her.
“No, I came to tell him that Mum was looking for him and saw him wandering off.”
A shiver wracked through me and Oonagh handed me my towel.
“Come on,” she said, standing. “Mum made a batch of cupcakes and I know where she has the hot chocolate stashed.”
I followed her because she attracted me to her light, like the moths I watched flying around the bulb on our rear patio. She contained compassion in her soul. That was the beauty of Oonagh, it wasn’t just her gorgeous face or knockout figure. No matter how badly I treated her, she always cared for me.
“How did your exams go?” she asked while heating milk at the stove.
I shrugged. “Fine, I guess. Yours?”
She smiled and waved her hand to and fro. “So-so. Any thoughts about what you want to do next? ”
The possibilities of what I wanted to do were endless. The reality was much different. I met her pale blue eyes that reminded me of the sky on a clear summer day. “We both know I only have one option. Callum can’t keep supporting everyone.”
She nodded; her lips pursed. Oonagh never pitied me, she accepted what my life entailed and when she could, helped me. Niall already told me she wanted to be a doctor. She’d be the perfect person to care for those sick and wounded. I wouldn’t object to her running her fingers over my brow to feel my temperature…
A lot of the guys in my class had girlfriends and were constantly boasting about kissing them and taking them on dates. None of the girls in my class interested me because of the one standing here making me hot chocolate and cupcakes.
Her smile when she pushed the mug across the counter made my heart stutter in my chest and my breath catch.
“Why don’t you tell me about what’s been happening with you?” Oonagh invited, sipping her chocolate.
My life was boring with nothing to tell. I imagined talking to her most days because she was the only one who ever listened to me. Sat here in the familiarity of her kitchen, I found myself spilling out all my problems. Her fingers tapped the side of her mug as she stared off through the window.
“You’re too young to be legal guardian to any of your brothers and Callum won’t be granted it for all of them. Do you have any aunts or uncles?”
“None that can be bothered with us,” I finally admitted .
Oonagh and I spent a magical day together, just hanging out the way we did as children. Niall never noticed I was missing. When we headed down to the bonfire on the beach that night, he was kissing the face off some girl I recognised from school.
The heat of the fire lulled all of us into a languid state, people roasting marshmallows and sharing stories. Oonagh and I wandered down the beach with only the light from the moon to guide us, the tips of our fingers touching.
“Truth or dare, Liam?” Oonagh whispered, her head touching my shoulder.
“Dare?” It emerged as a question because my emotions were everywhere right now with her presence intoxicating me.
“Kiss me.” Her eyes were huge as she peered up at me.
My trembling hands cupped her face and taking a breath of courage, my lips descended to hers.
She was the first girl I ever had the courage to kiss, her lips soft yet firm under mine. Her fingers trailed up my chest to wrap around my neck, as mine descended down her back. I had no clue if I was doing it right, since there was nothing but instinct to guide me. Her moan made my hands on her waist tighten and me to press her into the wall, my hips colliding with hers.
Her lips opened and the tip of my tongue flicked along the seam of her bottom lip. I may not have kissed anyone before, but I’d certainly paid attention to what my friends had said when they were boasting .
We lost track of time as both of us honed our new skill until my jaw throbbed, and my dick became a constant ache in my jeans.
“I should get you home,” I said, my forehead resting against hers.
There was nothing more I wanted but to stay with her. The only time I felt normal was when Oonagh was with me. She was the only person who knew the real me.
That summer, we spent stolen moments far from prying eyes as we practiced kissing until both of us were experts in it. The odd time my hands wandered slightly, but we were at the age of exploring.
It was only when she was gone back to wherever Oonagh lived without me that I realised how much she’d done while I was working that summer. Her Dad was a solicitor and she’d convinced him to help my family. It wasn’t a permanent solution, but my brothers were safe for the time being and her Dad had organised some benefits and grants that helped us out and allowed me to stay at school.
That was the summer I realised I’d lost my heart to a girl who was far too good for me.
***