The moment Chrissie opened the front door, she sensed the atmosphere. The air inside was tense, waiting.
‘Oh, so you’re back, are ye?’ Big Aggie sneered. ‘Enjoyed it, did ye – sleeping wi’ a bloody Pape?’
Maimie was crouched by the fire, her fat cheeks quivering with excitement.
Her mother strode towards Chrissie. ‘Your father says he’s gonnae teach you a lesson when he gets back frae work but Ah’m gonnae give you something for starters.’
For a second, Chrissie was paralysed with shock before she could get herself moving and try to escape. Aggie caught her by the hair and Chrissie began to scream and fight. She was no longer the cowed child she had once been, too terrified to protest. She screamed herself hoarse and wildly fought to protect herself, kicking and punching. At one point, her mother lost her balance in the struggle and fell onto the floor. Aggie was enraged and as she struggled up, helped by an eager Maimie, she bawled, ‘Ah’m gonnae murder you for this.’
Chrissie turned and ran but Aggie caught her by the hair again. Before the older woman could land a blow, there was a terrific explosion at the front door. The door flew open, kicked in by Sean, who now rushed at Chrissie and jerked her away from Aggie.
‘Go and pack a case, Chrissie. You’re coming with me right now.’
‘What a bloody cheek!’ Aggie was genuinely astonished, as well as outraged. ‘Who do you think you are?’
‘I’m the man Chrissie is going to marry.’
‘Over ma dead body. No bloody Tim is going to be part of this family. Get out of ma house before Ah throw ye out.’
‘Mammy,’ Chrissie protested, ‘what does Sean’s religion matter? He’s a good man and we love each other.’
‘Aw, shut up, ya stupid wee cow. What do you know about anything? Ah’ll soon knock aw this bloody nonsense out of you.’
‘You’ll never lay a finger on Chrissie again,’ Sean said. ‘Go on, Chrissie. Pack a case.’
‘Don’t you dare act the big man in ma house,’ Aggie bawled. ‘Ah’ll soon make short work of you.’
She strode menacingly towards him but Sean didn’t budge. Instead, he gave Chrissie a push. ‘Go on.’
Aggie tried to grapple him aside but failed. In frustration, she screamed obscenities into his face.
‘And wait till Ah tell ma Jimmy. He’ll murder you. You’ll no’ get away wi’ this.’
‘I love Chrissie and I want to take care of her for the rest of our lives together. What on earth’s wrong with that?’
‘You’re a bloody Pape, that’s what’s wrong,’ Aggie bawled.
He shook his head in despair and called to Chrissie, who was now in one of the bedrooms, flinging clothes, shoes, make-up and books into the biggest suitcase she could find.
‘Are you ready, Chrissie?’
‘Yes.’ Chrissie staggered into the lobby, clutching the bulky suitcase in front of her. He took the case and pushed her out of the house, banging the door shut in Big Aggie’s face.
‘Up the stairs,’ he told Chrissie.
‘Oh Sean!’ Chrissie was near to tears. ‘Will your mother be any better?’
‘Don’t worry. My mother won’t have the energy to be aggressive.’
‘Your father then?’
‘As long as they think you’ll “turn”, as they call it, and have our children brought up in the faith, they’ll probably be OK. And don’t worry,’ he added, ‘we can both end up atheists for all I care, but anything to shut them up at the moment. Just until we get a place of our own to stay. OK?’
‘Yes, all right.’
She followed him anxiously up to the top flat. Sean opened the O’Donnel door with his key.
‘Now, don’t worry,’ he repeated as they entered the lobby. ‘It’ll be all right.’
‘What’s this?’ Teresa O’Donnel asked. Her voice sounded shocked but it lacked the volume of Big Aggie’s. Teresa was smaller and thinner, and bent forward as if she was a heavy burden to herself.
‘Ma, Chrissie and I are going to get married. She can’t stay downstairs, so is it OK if she stays here until after the wedding and we move to a place of our own?’
Michael O’Donnel had been reading his Daily Herald and now let it drop down onto his knees. ‘How long has this been going on?’
‘Long enough,’ Sean said.
‘And what do the Stoddarts think of it? As if I don’t know,’ he added with a sneer. ‘Turfed her out, did they?’
Chrissie plucked up courage and said, ‘I love Sean and he loves me. That’s all that matters.’
Dermot gave a howl of laughter at this. ‘That’s what you think, hen.’
‘It’s all so silly.’ Sheer frustration made her stick to her guns. She really, genuinely could not understand. ‘Why should it matter? If we respect each other’s right to worship as we want to, there won’t be a problem. There needn’t be any problem.’
‘Is she gonnae turn?’ Teresa asked Sean. ‘Are yer weans gonnae be brought up in the faith?’
‘You’ve no need to worry, Ma. Chrissie and I have discussed this. If she can just stay here for a week or two – OK?’
Dermot laughed again. ‘OK? You’re joking. The Stoddarts live in the close, remember. They’re going to love her passing their door every day. I don’t think! You’re daft, you.’
‘Well, if you’re so clever,’ Sean said angrily, ‘what do you suggest?’
‘Why can’t you be content with a good fuck and leave it at that?’
‘Shut your filthy mouth!’ Sean rushed at Dermot and grabbed him by the lapels of his smart black jacket. ‘You ignorant bigot.’
Dermot began to laugh at Sean’s unexpected nerve. Not even the toughest ned in Glasgow had enough nerve to attack Dermot O’Donnel. But before his laugh got going and before he had time to dust down his lapels, Sean had head-butted him in the face.
Dermot’s head jerked backwards, then, his face livid with rage as well as blood, he landed a savage, scything left hook just above Sean’s left ear. Another jabbed into Sean’s eye. Sean’s knees buckled but he managed to grab Dermot’s jacket again. Dermot drove his knee deep into Sean’s stomach, then followed up with two more vicious, chopping rights to Sean’s face.
Chrissie was screaming and hanging on to Dermot in an effort to drag him off Sean. Teresa, gasping and choking for breath, tried to claw her sons apart. At the same time, Michael was shouting at her, ‘Let them settle this their own way, Teresa. Leave them to it, for God’s sake.’
Eventually, Chrissie’s scream of ‘Look what you’re doing to your mother, you maniac!’ did stop him, stopped both men.
Dermot hitched at his shoulders and smoothed down his jacket.
‘He started it. Are you all right, Ma?’
‘Does she look all right?’ Chrissie said. ‘And Sean didn’t start it. You started it with your filthy talk.’
‘I’m OK, hen,’ Teresa managed, groping for her chair. ‘Just give me a minute to get my breath back and I’ll pour myself a cup of tea.’
‘I’ll pour it.’ Chrissie hurried over to the table.
‘Thanks, hen.’
Sean also sank into a chair. One of his eyes had already begun to swell and turn black.
‘I’m sorry, Ma. Sorry for upsetting you but I’m not sorry for wanting to marry Chrissie. We’re still going to go ahead with our plans, even if everyone in both families is against it.’
‘Aye, well,’ Michael said, ‘you’re no’ bringing her here to stay, no’ for a day, no’ for a week, no’ …’
‘All right, all right, Da. I get the message. But if she can’t stay here, then I can’t either. Chrissie and I are together now and we’re staying together.’
Teresa had begun to get control of her breathing.
‘She’s a nice wee lassie, son, but there’ll be lots of other nice wee lassies.’ She turned towards Chrissie. ‘Nae harm tae ye, hen, but mixed marriages cause nothing but grief.’
‘It doesn’t need to be like that,’ Chrissie said.
‘Exactly,’ Sean agreed.
‘Huh!’ Michael rolled his eyes. ‘Talk about living in cloud cuckoo land.’ He jerked his head in Sean’s direction. ‘He’s always been like that, of course. A right idiot. If this is what bloody education does for you, I’m glad I left school when I was twelve.’
‘Yes, and think of it.’ Sean sounded bitter as well as sarcastic. ‘I might have gone to university if you hadn’t pulled the plug on that.’
Teresa said, ‘Where can you go to stay? I’m sorry, son, but it’ll just no’ work. As Ah’ve just said to Chrissie, Ah’ve seen it happen that often.’
Sean heaved a big sigh. ‘Come on, Chrissie. Help me pack my case and then we’ll be away.’
Chrissie rose and began to follow him towards the door.
Teresa tried again. ‘But, son, where will you go?’
‘Don’t worry, Ma, we’ll get some place.’
Dermot had been mopping up blood from his nose. ‘Let him go, Ma,’ he said. ‘He’ll soon find out for himself.’
In no time at all, they were out of the house, out of the close and walking along Broomknowes Road. They walked in silence and with no idea where they were going.
Eventually Sean said, ‘There’s always Aunty Mary. She might be worth a try.’
‘Aunty Mary?’
‘She’s Ma’s unmarried sister. She’s just as religious, or even more so than the rest of them, but she’s an awful romantic as well. She thrives on Mills and Boon novels. She might think this is more of a romantic situation than anything else and be more easily persuaded to help us. It’s worth a try anyway.’