Gypsy Wedding (32 page)

‘Your daddy thought it for the best that we tried to keep it quiet, if we could. Liam thinks you’re poorly and if he sees you looking like you do right now he’ll never guess we lied.’

‘There might,’ said Johnnie from the trailer door, ‘be a problem with that.’

‘How come?’ said Mary-Rose.

‘Fergal was coming home late last night and saw Vicky off her face with drink, so he did.’

‘Fergal. Dear Lord above, that’s all we need. Can we deny it?’

‘He nearly ran this pair of drunks over so he went back to have a go at them. He’s in no doubt. Saw her as clear as day. He’s just asked me what I was thinking of, letting my daughter roam the streets like a tart.’

‘He never,’ said Mary-Rose, shocked.

‘He did so. I told him she was ill in bed but he wouldn’t have it.’ He looked at his daughter, disappointment clear on his face. ‘Why Vicky, why? Why did you run away?’

‘I had a row with Liam.’

‘That’s no cause to go off like that.’

‘I thought he’d tell you why we rowed,’ Vicky mumbled. She was going to have to admit to the phone call now. Her daddy was going to go mad.

‘And just why was that?’ asked her dad with a scarily calm voice.

‘I was talking to a college friend. A boy.’

‘A boy! Vicky.’ Her father looked at her sadly. ‘Where did we go wrong with this one?’ he asked his wife. ‘I knew she should never have gone to college. All that learning, all that freedom, that was her undoing to be sure.’ His disappointment was almost worse than full-on anger. Vicky thought she could cope with a bawling out but this awful sadness that his daughter had utterly failed the family, let everyone down, was worse.

‘We can’t put the genie back in the bottle now,’ said Mary-Rose.

‘So you rowed with Liam, then you took off. Why?’

‘Because I was afraid of what you’d say,’ she almost whispered.

‘As well you might.’ Johnnie shook his head. ‘Jeez, we knew school would corrupt her, and so it did, but we never thought it would go this wrong. So who was this boy and why the need to talk?’

‘I just wanted him to tell Kelly I was sorry about the row. She was blanking my calls and I just had to apologise.’

‘You wanted to apologise to Kelly. After what Shania said she said to you! Sweet Mary and Jesus, she said horrible things to you. Why on earth …?’

‘And I said horrible things back. But she’s my best mate. And you always told me, Mammy, never to let the sun go down on my anger.’

‘She’s not a traveller,’ said Johnnie. ‘And she’s never your friend. She let you get drunk and you were seen in that state.’ He spat out the last sentence.

‘We’ll just have to convince Fergal that he was wrong. After all, no one except us knows she left the site,’ said Mary-Rose.

Johnnie shrugged. ‘I don’t think it’ll work. He’s certain he saw her.’

They were interrupted by a tapping on the trailer door. Mary-Rose got up and opened it.

‘Liam.’

‘I heard …’ he started. He peered round the door and saw his fiancée. ‘Vicky! Vicky, are you feeling better?’

‘Not really.’ At least that was one question she could answer truthfully.

‘You really don’t look right,’ he said, his brow furrowed. ‘So, it’s true then, you really have been poorly. Are you sure you ought to be out of bed?’

His concern just piled the guilt on Vicky all the more.

‘So Fergal’s definitely lying,’ he added.

‘Lying about what?’ asked Mary-Rose, innocently.

Vicky couldn’t believe her mother was prepared to lie on her daughter’s behalf. More guilt was loaded on.

‘Fergal said he’d seen—’ Liam paused, pink with embarrassment at what he was about to say. ‘He said he saw Vicky very drunk. But no way. I mean, if you’ve been ill in bed you couldn’t be up and about at the same time. Besides, I know you,’ he glanced from Johnnie to Mary-Rose, ‘wouldn’t let Vicky out alone at night. You just wouldn’t. So I told him straight he had it wrong.’

Dear sweet Liam
, thought Vicky.
He’s so trusting, so nice
.

Mary-Rose nodded. ‘You’re a good lad, Liam.’

‘I told Fergal, I told him straight, if I hear any more talk like that I’m going to fight. I won’t have him saying things that dishonour my girl.’

‘Liam! Please don’t,’ said Vicky, racked with yet more guilt. Dishonour her? That was a joke – as if Fergal could say anything that could make her feel more dishonourable than she already was.

‘Why not? It’s my girl he’s lying about. I’m not having anyone saying those things.’

‘But Fergal …’ Fergal was over six foot and built like a heavyweight boxer. He was covered in tattoos, which only served to emphasise his huge muscles. To have Liam and Fergal fighting was going to be like pitting a Labrador against a Rottweiler in a dogfight. ‘Liam, you can’t fight Fergal. He’ll kill you.’

‘I won’t have him telling lies about you, Vick.’

Vicky shut her eyes. Should she tell him that they weren’t lies, should she tell him not to fight for her honour? She wasn’t worth it. She was a dirty little baggage and Liam should let her stew in the mess she’d made.

‘Vicky,’ Liam said, ‘I love you more than life itself. If I can’t defend you, then I don’t deserve you. And if I win, then no one can say anything against you again.’

Vicky gazed at him. He loved her
that
much? And she’d jeopardised it all. She didn’t deserve him, no way and yet she couldn’t face owning up and losing him for sure. She suddenly realised, with absolute truth, that she loved him utterly and completely. It wasn’t just that he was prepared to fight for her, it wasn’t that he loved her so unconditionally, it was that she just couldn’t imagine a future that didn’t include him. To belong to Liam for the rest of her life was the only ambition she had now.

But what if he lost? What then? Vicky couldn’t bear to think about that.

‘God and the Blessed Virgin Mary will look after me,’ said Liam, fervently and with conviction, crossing himself. ‘They know Fergal’s wrong and They’ll side with what’s right and true.’

But They won’t
, Vicky longed to say, thinking her heart was about to break.
They won’t because I’m a liar and a slut and a drunk and I don’t deserve you. I don’t deserve anyone
.

After Liam had left their trailer a ghastly silence descended with both her parents staring at her.

‘So he’s going to fight for your honour,’ said Johnnie. ‘That’s rich.’

Vicky fought back tears. ‘I can’t let him. I’ve got to tell him the truth.’

Mary-Rose grabbed her arm. ‘Oh no you don’t, missie. If you do, it won’t just be you who’ll be shamed; you’ll shame the whole family. You can’t do this to your sisters, or to your dad and me. So, you’d better get down on your knees and pray that Liam wins if it turns out he has to fight. Because if he doesn’t, all those dresses you made will be only good for dusters. They certainly won’t be getting worn, that’s for sure. Your dad and I are utterly disappointed with you. Lord knows what came over you, but it’s up to you now to try and make things better – and apart from anything else, that means doing as you’re told. Understand?’

Vicky nodded miserably. Her mother was right: if the whole truth came out Shania would be in the same mess as her big sister – and she’d never made a false step. She got up and went into her bedroom and shut the door. She flopped onto the bed feeling wretched. Her head hurt so much it seemed to block out all thoughts, which was just as well, because the future was too bleak and too uncertain to think about.

Shania bounced into the bedroom.

‘Jeez, but you’re a stupid cow and no mistake,’ she hissed, her eyes narrow with anger. ‘Is it true?’ she spat.

‘What?’ groaned Vicky. She still felt evil and she really didn’t need yet another row.

‘About you being drunk.’

‘What do you think?’ said Vicky.

Shania sat down on the double bed. ‘You never told me that when I called.’

‘It was hardly something to brag about,’ groaned Vicky.

‘What possessed you?’

Vicky began to shake her head but stopped. The pain behind her eyes was so bad she felt that death would be a good option. ‘I don’t know. I didn’t set out to get drunk, it just happened.’

Shania sighed. ‘It’s all over the trailer park, you know. Everyone is talking about it. Mammy and Dad are saying it’s rubbish, that you were ill in bed, and Liam is getting mad at anyone who repeats the story.’

‘Oh God, this is awful. He said that he’ll fight Fergal over this, to defend my honour.’

‘Defend your honour?
Your honour
? Does he know?’

‘Know that I was drunk? Of course not, no.’

‘That’s just great then. My sister – a liar
and
a drunk. You don’t deserve that boy, you know that, don’t you? He’s going to risk getting mashed by that brute Fergal and you’re going to let it happen.’

Vicky felt tears begin to well up again. ‘I don’t have much choice, do I. Whatever I do I’m in the wrong. All I do know is that Liam loves me more than I could have ever thought possible. More than I deserve.’

‘Then you’re going to have to make it right to him, if he still wants you when all this is over. You’ve got to be the most perfect, the best wife a man has ever had. Because, so help me Vicky O’Rourke, if you’re not, I shall be reminding you every day of what he did for you.’

‘I’ve already worked that out,’ said Vicky. ‘No more ideas about dressmaking, no more ideas about college, that’s it. I’m just going to settle down and look after him.’

‘You could do
some
dressmaking,’ said Shania, giving Vicky a hint of a smile.

Vicky shook her head. ‘Nope, not me. Wife and mother – that’s all I want to do.’

‘That’s a shame. And there was me hoping you’d make confirmation dresses if I have any daughters.’

‘Oh Shan, of course I’ll make those for you – as many as you want.’ Vicky felt a tiny glimmer of hope. At least Shania still seemed to want to know her, be a friend. Her mother and her father had left her alone all morning. She’d heard them come and go from the trailer but they hadn’t spoken one word to her. Too ashamed of her, she supposed. The very sight of their own daughter probably just made them feel sick with disappointment. She’d let them down, she’d let Liam down … She was a waste of space.

There was a pause in the conversation as Shania sat on the bed, fiddling with the tassels on the edge of the coverlet, and Vicky shut her eyes and wondered when her head would stop hurting.

‘So what was it like?’ said Shania in a low voice.

Vicky snapped her eyes open – her guilty conscience lurching to the fore, wondering just what Shania was referring to. ‘What was
what
like?’

‘Getting drunk, of course.’

Vicky kept her sigh of relief to herself. ‘Not that great. Crap, actually. For a start I can barely remember anything, and I didn’t like the booze much.’

‘Then why did you drink it?’

‘Because it was there. It seemed rude not to as Jor …’ Shit, no she couldn’t let on Jordan had been buying her drinks. Allowing a non-traveller man to get her drunk – she couldn’t face seeing the disgust on Shania’s face if she knew. Oh God, another secret to keep. ‘As
just
about everyone else was drinking.’ She glanced at Shania – it seemed that she had got away with the lie. ‘I felt okay to start with but then I got all dizzy and funny. I felt as though my brain and my body weren’t quite together. And then I found I wanted to cry about everything. And when I woke up this morning – oh, Shania, I was so sick. I hurled and hurled.’

‘Sounds like a great laugh,’ said her sister, wrinkling her nose in disgust. ‘I can’t say you’ve sold it to me.’

Vicky shook her head carefully. ‘Take my advice, you’re better off without it.’

The pair of them heard the door to the trailer bang open. Shania clicked open their bedroom door to see who had come in and saw their brothers scrabbling about under a bunk in the sitting room.

‘Oi,’ said Shania, round the half-open door. ‘Don’t you two make a mess. What do you want anyway?’

‘Looking for my camera,’ said Jon-Boy, not taking his head out of the storage space.

‘What on earth for?’

‘Because pretty-boy Liam is about to get his face kicked in by Fergal and I want to film it.’ Jon-Boy found what he was looking for and both lads thundered back out of their home, leaving the door swinging.

Vicky felt sick. No! Liam oughtn’t to fight Fergal on her behalf, she wasn’t worth it. This was so wrong.

‘Bloody hell,’ said Shania. She stared at her sister wide-eyed. ‘He’s going to do it.’

‘I’ve got to watch,’ said Vicky.

‘You can’t. You know the rules. No women allowed.’

‘I know, but it’s all my fault that he’s having to fight. If I watch it’ll be like my punishment. I can’t let him do this alone.’

Shania snorted. ‘Oh yeah? Your punishment? It won’t be you taking the hits though, will it. And don’t you think you’ve already caused enough trouble? If you get caught watching a fight it’ll just make things even worse.’