Read Online City of Bohane: A Novel by Kevin Barry - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Kevin Barry
Ads: Link
Girly.’
He passed over the reels and she examined them.
‘Y’got me nothin’ with Tab Hunter an’ Natalie Wood, nah?’
‘They didn’t have anything.’
‘Arra Jay.’
‘I tried, Girly.’
‘Tab and Natalie made some beautiful pictures.’
‘You been saying.’
‘Word was they were doin’ a line.’
‘Go ’way?’
‘There’d be photos at premieres.’
‘We got uptown aggravators working a caper, Girly.’
‘Natalie in a class of an ermine wrap. Tab in peg pants and a knit shirt. Beige! ’
‘Cusack says he got the flatblocks stacked, Girly.’
‘Course the wan o’ the Woodses was hangin’ offa every-thin’ in kecks. Man-crazy.’
‘I said Eyes Cusack, Girly. Word I have? He has families behind him. He has the McGroartys, the Lenanes, the Sullivans …’
‘They said filth about Tab, of course. I never believed a word o’ what they said about Tab.’
‘It’s good word, Girly. We’re talking three families at least weighing in with the Cuse. And that’s a wealth of fucking headjobs, no?’
‘Ferocious the muck they threw at Tab.’
‘I think he’s about to throw a shape, Girly.’
‘You know I wouldn’t repeat what they said about Tab? Wouldn’t soil the roof o’ me mouth with it.’
‘What way should I play it?’
Girly reached for the bedside bottle of John Jameson and poured a decent measure to her tumbler. She offered him the bottle. He shook his head, closed his eyes, and massaged with bunched fingertips the space between them. He swung his booted feet onto the bed. Soon as they landed she batted them away.
‘Watch me fuckin’ eiderdown,’ she said.
She tasted and savoured the whiskey. Colour rose up in her – a purplish rush to chase the greyness.
‘Yunno I’d a dream there a while ago,’ she sighed, ‘and who arrives into it only Fernando Lamas above on a horse?’
‘Girly, listen to me! Eyes Cusack is about to make a move down the 98 Steps.’
‘Of course in my mother’s day? In Peggy’s time? There would have been sixteen picturehouses in Bohane at that time. Is there just the one now still?’
‘Just the one.’
‘And all it’s showin’ is maggots lickin’ the melt off each other.’
‘Girly?’
‘Shut up, I’m thinkin’.’
She closed her eyes. She was an unspeakable age as Bohane lives go. She blinked hard.
‘Cusacks been hustlin’ in the Trace?’
‘Not in the Trace but in Smoketown. And making plenty of noise up on the Rises, up in the shebeens. Putting new skins on their lambeg drums, is the word, and they got their chanters tuning up.’
‘Norrie fuckin’ nonsense!’
‘But how’ll I go at it, Mam?’
She shook her head to dismiss his fear.
‘Catnip to Wolfie and the boys,’ she said.
He nodded.
‘That’s the way I’m hoping. But if we hadn’t enough of a head count …’
‘Who’ve we to call in, child?’
He regarded her dolefully.
‘Most of the bridges are fairly well burned at this stage.’
‘Who’re you tellin. But we’ve no one at all?’
‘Unless I hit out the dunes and try talk to –’
‘Arra fuckin’ Jay!’
They let the matter quieten before them. Both teased through it in the silence. No decision was ever made quickly or rashly by a Hartnett. At length, Girly spoke up.
‘D’ya find me anythin’ with a young Yul Brynner, nah? From the days o’ the hair?’
‘No, Girly. I found you The Wanderers alright?’
He raised the case to her.
‘I see that,’ she said.
These evening times together were brief but an unbreakable custom. Each of them eased in the company of the other. She eyed him carefully, and he drew back just a fraction from the examination – this was evident in a slight tensing of the shoulders, which she noted. Also, the way he had taken up the reel cases from the eiderdown, and the way he turned them nervously in his hands.
‘That’s a quare weight you’re carryin’,’ she said, ‘on account of a few Norrie wall-bangers?’
Girly let that
He passed over the reels and she examined them.
‘Y’got me nothin’ with Tab Hunter an’ Natalie Wood, nah?’
‘They didn’t have anything.’
‘Arra Jay.’
‘I tried, Girly.’
‘Tab and Natalie made some beautiful pictures.’
‘You been saying.’
‘Word was they were doin’ a line.’
‘Go ’way?’
‘There’d be photos at premieres.’
‘We got uptown aggravators working a caper, Girly.’
‘Natalie in a class of an ermine wrap. Tab in peg pants and a knit shirt. Beige! ’
‘Cusack says he got the flatblocks stacked, Girly.’
‘Course the wan o’ the Woodses was hangin’ offa every-thin’ in kecks. Man-crazy.’
‘I said Eyes Cusack, Girly. Word I have? He has families behind him. He has the McGroartys, the Lenanes, the Sullivans …’
‘They said filth about Tab, of course. I never believed a word o’ what they said about Tab.’
‘It’s good word, Girly. We’re talking three families at least weighing in with the Cuse. And that’s a wealth of fucking headjobs, no?’
‘Ferocious the muck they threw at Tab.’
‘I think he’s about to throw a shape, Girly.’
‘You know I wouldn’t repeat what they said about Tab? Wouldn’t soil the roof o’ me mouth with it.’
‘What way should I play it?’
Girly reached for the bedside bottle of John Jameson and poured a decent measure to her tumbler. She offered him the bottle. He shook his head, closed his eyes, and massaged with bunched fingertips the space between them. He swung his booted feet onto the bed. Soon as they landed she batted them away.
‘Watch me fuckin’ eiderdown,’ she said.
She tasted and savoured the whiskey. Colour rose up in her – a purplish rush to chase the greyness.
‘Yunno I’d a dream there a while ago,’ she sighed, ‘and who arrives into it only Fernando Lamas above on a horse?’
‘Girly, listen to me! Eyes Cusack is about to make a move down the 98 Steps.’
‘Of course in my mother’s day? In Peggy’s time? There would have been sixteen picturehouses in Bohane at that time. Is there just the one now still?’
‘Just the one.’
‘And all it’s showin’ is maggots lickin’ the melt off each other.’
‘Girly?’
‘Shut up, I’m thinkin’.’
She closed her eyes. She was an unspeakable age as Bohane lives go. She blinked hard.
‘Cusacks been hustlin’ in the Trace?’
‘Not in the Trace but in Smoketown. And making plenty of noise up on the Rises, up in the shebeens. Putting new skins on their lambeg drums, is the word, and they got their chanters tuning up.’
‘Norrie fuckin’ nonsense!’
‘But how’ll I go at it, Mam?’
She shook her head to dismiss his fear.
‘Catnip to Wolfie and the boys,’ she said.
He nodded.
‘That’s the way I’m hoping. But if we hadn’t enough of a head count …’
‘Who’ve we to call in, child?’
He regarded her dolefully.
‘Most of the bridges are fairly well burned at this stage.’
‘Who’re you tellin. But we’ve no one at all?’
‘Unless I hit out the dunes and try talk to –’
‘Arra fuckin’ Jay!’
They let the matter quieten before them. Both teased through it in the silence. No decision was ever made quickly or rashly by a Hartnett. At length, Girly spoke up.
‘D’ya find me anythin’ with a young Yul Brynner, nah? From the days o’ the hair?’
‘No, Girly. I found you The Wanderers alright?’
He raised the case to her.
‘I see that,’ she said.
These evening times together were brief but an unbreakable custom. Each of them eased in the company of the other. She eyed him carefully, and he drew back just a fraction from the examination – this was evident in a slight tensing of the shoulders, which she noted. Also, the way he had taken up the reel cases from the eiderdown, and the way he turned them nervously in his hands.
‘That’s a quare weight you’re carryin’,’ she said, ‘on account of a few Norrie wall-bangers?’
Girly let that
Similar Books
