When Roisin heard the breaking news coming out of Howth, she’d been taken aback. This was not a conversation she’d been expecting to have as she enjoyed a lazy Saturday morning eating her cornflakes and glancing over the paper. ‘Are you sure? How do you know, anyway? Noah stop running that car up and down the mat for one minute, please! I can’t hear myself think.’
‘I’m positive and Aisling can confirm it.’ Moira held the phone out and Aisling leaned in and said, ‘Affirmative.’
Moira carried on, ‘See. Aisling and I dropped in on Mammy unexpectedly this morning because we were going to take her out for morning coffee and when she opened the door, she wasn’t dressed.’
‘Jaysus feck! Are you telling me she was naked when she opened the door?’
‘Rosi! Is Noah in the room with you?’
‘No, he’s gone into his bedroom but I thought you just said Mammy was naked when she opened the door this morning?’
‘No, Rosi, you eejit. You’re as sharp as a beach ball sometimes. She had her dressing gown on but she was more than likely naked under that.’
Roisin dropped the spoon back in her bowl. She’d lost her appetite.
‘She was acting awfully cagey, you know the way she does when she’s up to something and then we heard a cough and we knew.’
‘Who coughed?’
‘Rosi, keep up! Her man friend of course. He was in the apartment and our mammy was naked under her dressing gown which means they weren’t playing fecking Monopoly.’
An older woman looked over the rim of her cup at them, eyes popping, as did several other diners, their ears burning.
Aisling held her finger up to her mouth to shush her sister, thinking for all they knew they may well have been playing the game. She and Quinn had a game of strip Monopoly one evening and very good fun it had been, too.
‘Where are you now?’ Roisin asked.
‘At the café waiting for Mammy to show herself.’
Roisin frowned. She sounded as if she expected her to appear wearing a scarlet letter A. ‘Don’t be giving out to her, Moira. I know it’s hard to get used to the idea of her being with anyone else.’
‘Wrong is what it is,’ Moira butted in.
‘No, you’re being over the top. It’s hard alright, Moira, but she’s entitled to a life and we have to accept that.’
‘Easy for you to say over in London. It wasn’t you confronted with a naked Mammy.’
‘She was in her dressing gown.’ Roisin tried to calm her sister. ‘She loved Daddy. You know that.’
Moira scuffed at the vinyl flooring with the toe of her trainer. ‘Yes but—’
‘There isn’t a but. She did and we know he’s not here anymore so we’re all going to have to accept Mammy has a boyfriend.’
‘Man friend,’ Moira corrected, sniffing.
‘Put Aisling on, would you?’
‘Hello,’ Aisling said a second later.
‘Will you not talk some sense into her?’
‘I’m trying to but you know what Moira’s like. She can be a right gobshite sometimes.’
Moira pulled a face at her sister.
‘But I won’t give Mammy a hard time and neither will she.’ She glared at Moira. ‘Or, I’ll put the boot in under the table. She’s here!’ Aisling spotted her in the queue. ‘Got to go.’ She ended the call and handed the phone back to Moira before pushing her chair back and standing up. ‘We said we’d treat her.’
‘Well don’t look at me. I’m the poor student, remember,’ Moira said, not budging.
‘Sure, you’re tighter than a camel’s hole in a sandstorm these days.’
‘I’m not tight, Aisling. I don’t have money to be throwing around is all.’
Aisling shook her head; she couldn’t be bothered arguing. She went to stand alongside her mammy. ‘What are you wanting, Mammy? I’ll order it for you if you like. You go and sit down.’
‘No, I’ll not be beholden to you, Aisling O’Mara,’ Maureen said with a wounded air before inching forward in the line.
Aisling knew there was no placating her when she was in wronged mammy mode so she left her to it.
Five minutes later Maureen, carrying her still warm, double chocolate cookie over to the table along with the number for her drink order, sat down. It was a funny thing. She’d noticed several of the patrons glance at her as she passed by their tables and fancied it was admiration she was seeing on their faces. She’d have wondered if she’d managed to get her skirt caught up in her knickers again if she hadn’t of been wearing her yoga pants. She fixed her youngest child with a stare that would bring a grown man to his knees. ‘Moira O’Mara, I’d like you to apologise to me for your earlier rant. I was scarlet so I was. Sure, half of Howth would have heard you giving out.’
Moira refused to meet her mammy’s gaze as she squirmed uncomfortably in her seat.
‘Do ya hear me?’
‘Yes. I’m sorry, Mammy,’ she mumbled, her dark hair hiding her face.
‘What was that, I can’t hear you?’
‘I’m sorry.’ She looked up, her eyes a little too bright, ‘It was a shock was all.’
‘And you, what have you to say for yourself?’ She turned her attention to Aisling.
‘I’m sorry too, Mammy, but Moira’s right, it was the shock.’
‘Oh, the shock was it?’ Maureen hit the high notes. ‘And how do you think I felt when you announced you were wanting to marry that Jackeen Marcus, or you,’ she pointed to Moira. ‘Fraternising
