Summer Sunshine

Chapter 3 - Grand Opera House

Diana's POV

"Di, I'm really excited!" My sister, Maggie tells me.

"To interrogate Seamus again?" I ask her in a snarky tone.

"No! For you to get a job with Hole In The Wall Gang!" She answers back, "I mean, wasn't it your dream to be a part of Give My Head Peace?"

"Well, of course!" I respond, "I have been watching that show for years to the point of wanting to be a part of it. Of course I'm excited to turn up on my first day of work with them."

"Well, you better hurry up with your breakfast, Di." My sister tells me, "We can't be late, now can we?"

Honestly, this is the first time I've had breakfast with a peeler in uniform. That definitely did not happen during my childhood because by that time, the RUC had already disbanded and my father had left the RUC for Stormont.

I've got to say, my sister does look fierce in her uniform. I bet she scared the heck out of Seamus and whoever else from the CIRA they caught on that day.

"Oh, by the way Di, guess the shade of my lipstick?" My sister randomly asks me.

"Beige?" I answer.

"No, you eejit!" She giggles, "It's called Loyalist from the Maybelline SuperStay Matte Ink line."

"It suits you." I tell her, "You are the most loyalist person in Magherafelt, after all...or are you?"

"Just because I think Seamus is handsome doesn't mean I would dump the Crown for him!" She tells me defensively.

"Just so that you'll know, we're Catholics and you can't marry into The Firm because of that!" I tell my sister, "So if I were you, I would just be honest about my feelings for Seamus instead of fooling an entire republican town into believing that I would rather marry into The Firm than marry one of them."

Then my phone suddenly rang and I checked it out. It was a message from Gearoid.

Hey, I'm waiting outside Divis Tower. I'm so stoked for this!

Then I key in my reply

Me too. Let me just finish interrogating this peeler in the dining room.

Then I hit send and look at my sister who is now blushing.

"When I do get married, it will be to a British Catholic." My sister tells me.

-

My sister thankfully took on the offer to drive Gearoid and I to the Grand Opera House today and while we waited for the traffic lights on the intersection of Grosvenor Road and the A1 to turn green, Gearoid turned to me to ask something.

"Where is this Seamus man that your sister is dating from, anyway?" Gearoid asks me.

Then as I looked at the rear view mirror, I could see my sister glare at me, as if to warn me not to tell Gearoid who Seamus really is.

"I guess he's from the South. My sister said he works for the Irish Defense Forces." I answer.

"Irish Defense Forces..." Gearoid went on to say, "Well that's better than going out with a dissident Republican."

Then my sister suddenly made a sharp turn into the A1 after Gearoid spoke.

"That was quite a reaction..." Gearoid told me.

Then I elbowed Gearoid. He would later know why.

-

Diana and Gearoid stepped into the Grand Opera House and made their way towards the backstage area where Tim McGarry was expecting them. At this point, Diana hoped that one - her first day on the job would go well and two - Seamus would get sent to Maghaberry so that her own sister would finally get back to her senses.