Niamh's pov
Here we were, in Peggy's diner, in the middle of nowhere. Still arguing about the man in the boot of the car, of course he wasn't there now, no he had to be sitting at the table next to us.
"It's aiding and abetting! We're talking serious jail time here." Gerry tells us.
"Well, it's a risk we have to take." Joe said.
"No, it's not, Joe! It's not a risk we have to take, it's a risk we shouldn't take!"
"Don't you take that tone with me, boy."
"He seems like a nice enough fella, Gerry." Mary adds.
"We have to walk away from this." Gerry said.
"What if we can't walk away, Daddy? What if we don't help him and he kills us all because we know too much?" Erin asked.
"I like him. I think he's a character."
Of course Orla would like him.
The diner lady comes over to the table
"Just a cup of tea for me, please, love. Gerry said.
"Same here." Mary adds.
"And here, thanks, love."
"Oh, and some Cokes for the wee'uns, please. What do you fancy, Sarah?" Mary says.
" I wouldn't mind a wee vodka." Sarah said.
"Make that two."
"Three" I added.
"We don't sell alcohol."
"I'll take a tea." Sarah said.
"Any food?"
"We're just looking." Mary replies.
"Fine." She huffs and walks off.
"Don't mind me, just grabbing a knife." Emmett comes over. "Take it you haven't decided yet?"
"Just leave it with me, son." Joe said.
"Aye, no pressure. Sure, I'll be over here if you need me."
"What the hell does he need a knife for?" Erin asked.
"He's eating his lunch." James replied.
I must have dosed off again, I woke up with James's arm around my shoulders, giving me a comfortable thing to sleep on, I appreciated that. Michelle was away talking to the fugitive, and Sarah had her cards out on the table.
"You really think this'll work? That they'll tell us what to do?" Mary asked.
"Sure, it's worth a try."
"Would you look at that." Sarah said
"Well, what do they say?"
"I think Now, I can't be certain, but I think they're saying you should leave Gerry."
"I could have told you that years ago and I'm not psychic!" Joe said.
"Okay, look, I've yet to hear anybody say anything to convince me that bringing that lad across the border with us is a good idea." Gerry replied.
"Shit, he's coming!"
"I really didn't want to have to do this" Emmett says.
"Jesus Christ! Get down! Everybody get down!" Erin shouts.
"Is there something wrong with her?" Emmett asked.
"Aye probably" I respond.
"Stop that, Erin." Aunt Mary warns
"Sorry, Emmett, you were saying?" Erin asked.
"I didn't want to put you in this position, but I can't stress the seriousness of my situation."
"Anything else?" The waitress comes over again.
"Oh, d'you know what? I wouldn't mind a knickerbocker glory." Emmett said.
"You need to help me out here."
"We do that and we're breaking the law." Gerry told him.
"Oh, you recognise the legal system of a brutal imperialistic oppressor, do ya?" Emmett replied.
"If they can put me in jail for 20 years then yes, Emmett, yes, I do!"
"Listen, have you killed anyone, son?"
Grandpa Joe asked.
"No. Well, at least not directly."
fantastic
"Well, there you go. So that settles it."
"I don't think that does settle it, actually, Joe!"
"You know what's wrong with you, Gerry you're an awful wuss."
"I'm not a wuss!" Gerry argued.
"You're afraid of your own shadow."
"I'm not!"
"Well, then, grow a set of balls and help the fella out!"
"I have a set of balls, thank you very much!"
"Oh, seriously, Daddy." Erin said.
"You're even afraid of that wee girl." Joe yelled.
"What wee girl?"
"That waitress! You wanted a cup of tea, she brought you a Coke, and you just sat there and said sweet Fanny Adams!"
"Your grandad said fanny." Michelle snickered.
jesus Michelle
"But that's because I like Coke!" Gerry replied.
"Her customer service is shocking as well." Emmett said.
"Aye, desperate." Mary said.
"Someone should say something." Sarah said.
"Ah, Gerry! Gerry should say something!" Joe yelled.
"I will! No problem! I'll say something. Excuse me. Excuse me, please." Gerry called.
"What?" The waitress said.
"Erm, I just wanted to say that, er, I, erm I ordered a tea, you brought me a Coke, and that's not acceptable." Gerry started.
"But you drank the Coke." She replied.
"That's not the point, and your service has been nothing short of appalling, your attitude is worse. It's simply not good enough!" Gerry yelled.
"I'll, er. I'll bring you a tea." She sniffled.
"You do that!"
"I'm sorry! I got a bit of bad news today. I haven't really been able to focus. I've been a bit distracted maybe. I'm sorry." The girl sobbed. "I'll just take this".
"No, no, ignore all that." Gerry said.
"I'll bring you your tea right away, sir." She said.
"Well, there was absolutely no need for that." Joe said.
"Jesus, Gerry!" Mary said.
"Harsh." Replied Michelle
"Awful." Emmett commented.
"Poor girl." I mumbled.
"Aye, I can't believe you did that, Daddy."
"You asked me to! How could I have known? Will you all just stop looking at me? Fine Fine. D'you know what? Fine! I've had it with the lot of ye! And just for the record, back there, I was being an Australian tourist, Okay? Australian! And I happen to think that my accent was flawless! Excuse me, mate! Can you help us get outta here? Flawless!" Gerry yelled and walked off.
"We have to decide what to do here, one way or another. Let's just vote."
"Leave him! I vote we run away and leave him." Erin said.
"I vote we take him for better or worse and all that." Michelle replied.
"I vote we take him." Joe said.
"Me too." Orla smiled.
"Leave him." I said.
"I can't decide." Clare huffed.
"I've decided, but I'm afraid to say what I've decided." James said.
"Why don't we just toss a coin? So, heads, the wee 'Ra man comes with us.
Tails, we leave him." Sarah asked.
"Aye, ready?" Mary said.
"Go on, then."
"What is that? A fish?" James asked.
"A dolphin, is it?" I replied.
"It sort of looks like Moby Dick, actually."
"Ah, shite, I used a punt, didn't I?"
"What's on the other side?" Michelle asked.
"A harp." Joe said.
"So harp must be the head and fish must be the tail?" Erin said.
"Oh, well, that makes sense, yeah, because fish have tails."
thanks Orla
"Why don't we just do it again with real money?"
"This is real money, Sarah."
"You know what I mean, normal money."
"All right. Who has 10 pence?"
"It was him! The mural on our house, the spray paint It was Emmett. I can prove it." Gerry comes back saying.
"Sly wee bastard." Mary said.
"You bloody tout!" Joe said.
"Where is Emmett?" Sarah asked.
"There he is." Orla replied.
"Is that Jim's tent?" Mary asked.
I see James look back at the seat and huff, oh aye he was meant to be in charge of the damn thing.
"What's he doing? Clare asked.
"I told you to look after that tent." Joe told Gerry.
"No, you didn't, you told him to look after it!"
"Ah, blame the wee'un! Big man! Jesus Jim's second best tent. How am I going to break it to him?." Grandpa Joe huffs.
-
And here we were, back in the car, without a man in the boot this time. Heading back to Derry. With James on one side and Clare on the other. Still going on about that fucking whale.
************************************
(1301 words)