The Last Crossing

by Brian McGilloway

  Tony frowned, the thought of what he’d gone through to get the first set still fresh in his mind.

  Duggan clearly misunderstood his response though for he said, ‘Mercury. For the tilt switch.’

  With a shock, Tony thought again of the bomb attack in the city centre the night of the party where Duggan was cheered as he arrived, the night he had asked Tony and Karen to drive to Paisley. He realised, for the first time, the role he had already played in events that evening.

  ‘They’re going to start noticing them gone.’

  ‘Another two or three will be fine. It’ll be time enough for a few days, anyway. We need to do the recon on–’

  ‘Marty, Marty. Smelly Kelly!’

  The girl’s voice rang out across the bar as she entered. Almost before looking up, Tony knew who it was. Shauna Laird came in, surrounded by her friends who made a beeline for the bar. Shauna headed straight for Kelly.

  ‘All right, girl?’ he said, by way of greeting.

  Shauna extended her arms, stepping light footedly from side to side as she approached, like a temple dancer. Her expression changed when she recognised Tony.

  ‘Sir!’ she said, though she glanced from Martin to Tony and back, as if attempting to reconcile in her mind why the two were seated together.

  ‘Hi, Shauna,’ Tony said, trying to ignore the wink of Duggan across to him and Karen as the older man mouthed ‘Sir,’ mockingly.

  Her demeanour changed, though she knelt down level with Kelly and muttered something to him. Almost without Tony noticing, he’d already his hand in his bag and was pulling out a small wrap. He slipped it to her as he leaned across, as if to give her a hug. In turn, she palmed him a note, which he pocketed.

  She stood up, fixing herself, and glanced across at Tony, as if waiting for him to react.

  ‘College still going OK?’

  ‘The best,’ she said, smiling. ‘Gonna catch up with my friends. See you after, sir.’

  ‘She doesn’t call me sir,’ Kelly said, watching her as she walked away. ‘But she’d suck the chrome off a tow bar.’

  Karen winced in disgust at the comment, while Duggan chuckled before he drained his pint. ‘You’re a dirty bastard, Kelly,’ he said, standing. ‘My round.’

  ‘I taught Shauna last year,’ Tony explained, sitting up a little in his seat. ‘She’s a good girl. Very bright.’

  ‘Yeah, she’s a fucking genius, right enough,’ Kelly said.

  ‘She shouldn’t be messing with that shit you’re peddling.’

  ‘She’s an adult, trust me. She can make her own choices.’

  ‘She’s too smart.’

  ‘Only stupid people do coke? Seriously.’

  ‘It’s not how I’d choose to make a living.’

  ‘It’s how I choose to support the cause. Rather this than stealing thermometers out of school science labs.’

  ‘I’m not hurting anyone,’ Tony said, without thinking.

  Kelly laughed. ‘Really? Tell that to the guy lost his two legs in Hugh’s last piece of work. He might beg to differ.’

  ‘In my job,’ Tony muttered through clenched teeth, trying to keep his voice down, aware that others might overhear what they were discussing.

  ‘You may as well go over and tell off the barmaid for selling them booze. It’s a drug, kills hundreds of people every year, you’ve no problem with that.’

  ‘Alcohol’s legal,’ Tony said.

  ‘Yeah, you know why? The government’s the dealer wi’ that one. All that tax. And you judge me? Go fuck yourself.’

  ‘I’m not judging you. I’m judging what you do.’

  ‘What I do is none of your fucking business,’ Kelly said. ‘Hugh needs us to work together and that’s what we’ll do, but you keep your nose out of what I do. I’ll keep mine out of what you do.’

  ‘Will we go?’ Karen said. Tony only briefly became aware of the fact she had not spoken for some time.

  ‘Sure,’ he said, draining his drink. ‘Tell Hugh I’ll owe him a pint.’

  ‘Yeah, whatever,’ Kelly said, his face flushed with anger.

  ‘Goodbye,’ Karen said, lifting her coat and walking out. Tony moved to follow but Kelly stopped him with an outstretched hand.

  ‘Wee Shauna’s not the only one knows a trick or two,’ he winked with a grin, then moved away so quickly, Tony had barely time to react.

  They went back to Karen’s flat for a while after they left the pub but, despite Tony’s evident willingness, Karen did not bring him into the bedroom. They kissed on the sofa and, when he began reach under her top to peel it off, she placed her hand on his and directed him away from doing so. Finally, a little frustrated, Tony sat back on the sofa, ignoring the confusion he could see building in her eyes.

  ‘What’s the story with Kelly?’ he asked, trying to raise the issue of what Kelly had said to him as he was leaving, but reluctant to ask straight out. After all, despite a few dates, their relationship had remained chaste. He found himself seething a little at the idea she had been more sexually active with Kelly than she was being with him. And he was simultaneously aware of just how unreasonable was such a feeling.

  ‘He’s a dealer,’ Karen said. ‘And a scumbag. There’s not much else to it.’

  ‘You got very quiet,’ Tony said. ‘I thought maybe the two of you had a history.’

  ‘What kind of history?’ Karen asked, her voice steely.

  ‘Did you go out with him?’

  ‘Would it matter?’

  Tony shrugged. ‘I just want to know.’

  ‘I think it’s time you went home,’ Karen said. ‘I’ve work in the morning.’

  ‘So that’s a yes?’

  ‘That’s a go home, before this gets out of control,’ Karen said, firmly.

  ‘Fine,’ Tony said. ‘There’s nothing happening worth staying for anyway.’

  Hurt flickered momentarily in Karen’s eyes, and then her expression hardened. ‘Just leave then.’

  For a second, Tony regretted ever starting the row, though could find no way to stand down now and save face. Then his own anger grew and he stormed out of the flat.

  He fed the anger for a day or two, before he sat one evening, wondering what she was doing, wanting to call with her, privately admitting that he had behaved abominably, having been played by Kelly.

  He’d called to see his uncle and aunt, having promised them when he leased a flat for himself that he’d still visit once or twice a week so they could reassure his parents that he was alive and well and looking after himself.

  ‘You not going out with Karen tonight?’ his aunt asked him as he sat on the sofa next to her where she was watching the evening soaps, once they’d cleared up the dishes from the dinner she’d made for him.

  ‘No,’ Tony said. ‘We’d a bit of a row.’

  ‘You’ll get it sorted,’ she said. ‘You’re a good person. So is she by the sounds of it.’

  ‘She is,’ Tony admitted.

  His aunt nodded, already turning her attention back to the drama unfolding on the TV screen. She added absentmindedly, ‘You can always spot the good people.’

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  ‘I thought we were good people,’ Tony said.

  Karen pulled open the door of the ferry to step back inside. ‘We are good people,’ she said. ‘We’re doing the right thing. We did the right thing.’

  ‘With Martin?’

  ‘With everything,’ she said. ‘You’re foundered with cold; come on inside.’

  Duggan and Barr were sitting where Tony had left them, Barr staring at his mobile phone, Duggan finishing his whiskey and watching a TV show playing soundlessly on one of the ferry TV screens. ‘Do you watch these?’ he asked, gesturing with his glass, when he saw them return.

  Tony glanced up at the screen. A tall blonde woman was standing with an older couple in what appeared to be a sunny Mediterranean street. The camera cut to them walking into a kitchen and looking around. Even without the sound, he could gu
ess at the type of show.

  ‘Not so much,’ he said.

  ‘What about you, missus?’ he asked.

  Karen, her demeanour restored, shook her head. ‘I’m normally working at this time of the day; with family life and that, we don’t get to watch TV until ten at night sometimes.’

  ‘I love them,’ Duggan explained. ‘All these people thinking they can run away from their problems, and then airing them in public instead. It cracks me up, it does.’

  ‘We’re going to be arriving soon,’ Karen said. ‘Should we head on down?’

  Duggan glanced out through the windows to their left. ‘We’ve another ten minutes maybe,’ he said. ‘We’ll get one more round in before we go.’

  Karen glanced at Tony. Duggan was already well oiled; another drink or two might push him past good humour and into belligerence.

  ‘Same again, Hugh?’ Barr asked. His enthusiasm had waned a little as the crossing had advanced.

  ‘Perfect, son,’ Hugh said, winking at the others as they sat, watching the youth cross to the bar once more.

  ‘Do you remember where we’re going?’ Karen asked. ‘Once we get here; do you know the way?’

  Duggan did not respond for a moment, then feigned surprise that she had been talking to him. ‘I remember the entrance. We’ll work it out from there.’

  ‘You’re being a bit unfair on the young fella, Hugh,’ Tony said. ‘He’s that keen to impress you, he’d be buying you drinks all day.’

  ‘Fuck him,’ Duggan said. ‘He’s a fucking ghoul. They all are, these kids hankering after the good old days. What does he know about it?’

  ‘He is just a kid,’ Karen said. ‘He’s not much older than we were when we first met.’

  ‘We had our reasons,’ Duggan said. ‘You and your brother; you and your father; me and half my family. What reasons does he have? Too many days listening to shit being spouted by his da and his uncle.’

  ‘Tony tells me you think we were wrong with Martin?’

  ‘It’s a thought.’

  ‘Why?’

  Duggan shrugged. ‘Gut feeling,’ he said.

  ‘Is that it?’

  ‘Tell me this,’ Duggan asked. ‘Were you ever lifted after what happened?’

  ‘No,’ Karen said.

  ‘Never?’

  She shook her head. ‘Never. Why?’

  ‘See?’ Duggan said, looking at Tony. ‘None of us were questioned about it, none of us were touched.’

  ‘And?’

  ‘You don’t think that’s odd? Not one of us was lifted?’

  ‘That proves nothing, Hugh,’ Karen said. ‘Maybe they knew we had nothing useful to give them, anyway.’

  ‘I had plenty,’ Hugh said. ‘Besides, Martin was my friend. We’d been though a lot. I trusted him more than I trusted any of youse.’

  ‘He’d not be the first person to abuse someone’s trust,’ Karen said, glancing at Tony. ‘You know why Kelly was blamed.’

  ‘I know,’ Duggan said. ‘But I had my doubts, still. And he denied it, said there’d been a mistake. It was Mullan made the final call.’

  ‘And?’

  ‘At the time, I didn’t think anything of it. He was the quartermaster, we did what we were told.’

  ‘But?’

  ‘But the more I think of it, and the more I hear, the more I think Mullan wasn’t being completely straight.’

  ‘You think he was covering for someone?’

  ‘I think he was covering for himself,’ Duggan said. ‘I think he was the one that passed on word of what we were doing.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Do you think it’s an accident that he is where he is now? He’s being controlled.’

  Karen frowned as she looked at Tony.

  ‘Are you sure, Hugh?’

  Duggan nodded. ‘I’m certain of it. If you drank in the bars I drink in, you’d hear plenty of stories about him. I asked him to come with us for this and sure didn’t he send the boy in his place.’

  ‘Maybe he can’t be seen to be getting his hands dirty.’

  ‘His hands are dirty!’ Duggan snapped. ‘If he wants the boy to take his place, so be it. The boy will take his place,’ he added, darkly.

  ‘What does that mean?’

  ‘We’ve all got our reasons for being here. Youse two might be looking to find Martin’s grave, but me, I’m looking to find answers to what happened back then. And when I do, someone will pay. The last time I set foot in that forest, it was to punish a tout. If I got it wrong then, I won’t be getting it wrong now.’

  ‘What are you talking about?’ Tony said.

  ‘Someone pays,’ Duggan said. ‘That’s how it is.’

  ‘You’re not thinking of hurting the boy? He’s nothing to do with this.’

  ‘Mullan sent him in his place. That was his choice. Whatever happens to the boy will be on him.’

  ‘You can’t–’ Tony was cut short by Barr himself returning from the bar with Duggan’s drink.

  ‘Everything all right?’ he asked, looking from one face to the next.

  ‘Great,’ Duggan said. ‘Take a pew.’

  The tannoy buzzed into life as the announcer instructed car passengers to begin returning to their vehicles.

  ‘That’s us,’ Barr said, as Duggan drained his whiskey, slamming the glass down on the table when he was done.

  ‘Let’s go,’ Duggan said, lifting the bag he’d brought on board. ‘We’ve a bit of a trek ahead of us. Better get started.’

  He looked at Tony and Karen who remained seated, unsure how to react. ‘Come on. No time to waste. We’ve a job to do.’

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  ‘We’ve a job to do,’ Karen said. ‘Let’s leave it at that.’

  It was two weeks after the row. Tony had resisted calling her, reasoning that she might not want to hear from him. So the first time they met again was in Liverpool Betty’s at the behest of Duggan. Karen had arrived almost half an hour late; Tony assumed she did so to ensure she wasn’t left alone with him before Duggan’s arrival. As a result, he’d had to sit with Martin Kelly for twenty minutes while they waited.

  Kelly was less belligerent than on their previous meeting. He bought a round and, when Tony went to get one in his turn, asked only for a 7UP. He had the bag over his shoulder as always.

  ‘How’d you end up in this?’ Tony asked, the conversation having run dry.

  ‘This the bar? This Scotland or this my living?’

  Tony shrugged. ‘All three, I guess.’

  ‘The bar because Hugh called. My living was something I got into at home. I was shifting weed and stuff in the student blocks around Derry. Shrooms, shroom tea, whatever. The school I went to over there had this big field next to the playing fields, that magic mushrooms grew in. I’d forget my PE gear every week and when the rest of them were getting stuck into a game, our PE teacher just ignored anyone not playing; I’d sneak over into the other field and pick a batch when everyone else was playing football. I mind this one time, I made tea and then we froze it in lolly moulds with the sticks and all, and me and my mates went into school after lunch eating magic lollies right in front of everyone. It was the fucking trippiest Biology class I’ve ever spent.’

  Tony smiled, nodded his head, quietly wondering if any of his own students had done such a thing in his class, to help them survive his lessons. After all, ‘Suffer and learn,’ was his motto, they’d said.

  ‘Anyway, someone inside heard what I was at and I got a call to present myself at the local community centre. There was a couple of them sitting. One of them wanted to shoot me on the spot. Hugh was there and he stood up for me, argued I could help them out. So, I was told I could either keep selling for myself and get kneecapped, or I could start selling for them and be protected. They took eighty per cent, I kept twenty. So that’s what I done.’

  ‘How did that leave you in Scotland?’

  ‘The cops started leaning on me. They must have realised who I was selling for
, considering the areas where I’d managed to get a patch. They picked me up one night and offered me five hundred quid to be a tout. If I didn’t, they said they’d lock me up. They’d nothing on me, though. I had a few blocks, end of the night stuff, and I claimed it was for my own use. But Mullan reckoned I was no use if the cops were going to be lifting me and leaning on me every whip-round, so he set me up over here. Same arrangement, different country. Then Hugh arrived over a few months after anyway, so it was just like home!’

  He’d just finished his story when Karen had come in. She stood in the doorway, surveying the bar, looking for them. She saw Tony, her glance avoiding his, settling in the middle distance as she came across to them.

  ‘All right, girl,’ Kelly said, his tone, his very stance, changing at her arrival.

  ‘How are you?’ Tony asked, aware that he was starting to blush.

  She offered them a brittle smile and sat down on a chair at the head of the table.

  ‘What’s your poison?’ Kelly asked, before Tony had a chance.