Page 58 (1/2)
It amazedfrole mother perfectly
"Fuck off, Ma You didn’t put food on the table when I was a kid I did You didn’t raise me I raised myself with a little help frole parent, not you If you want money, sell your house You don’t need a three-bedrooonna do, fuck off and do it so that I can get on with the rest of round hie Her little play on the heartstrings was like Frank telling ood She’d played her last hand as far as O’Connell was concerned
"Fine If that’s the way you feel, perhaps we’ll talk again when you’ve calot out of the booth
"No, Ma There won’t be anyGo away and don’t come back"
"You don’tto live for," she pleaded
"Bullshit! I’ve lost count of the number of times you’ve threatened me with suicide You do what you want, but that’s your choice, not mine And if you think that so I’ll have you institutionalised for psychiatric problems and put on suicide watch"
Sylvia paled, and I wondered if that was exactly what she’d planned to do next O’Connell had her flustered, and I guessed that didn’t happen often She smoothed down her skirt that was far too short for so, and with one more death stare at me walked out of the door
"You okay?" Mike asked me I nodded, and with a small sympathetic smile, he headed back to the kitchen O’Connell looked around at the cafe’s noisy patrons and all but growled as peopled hurried to divert their attention back to their own meals and away from our drama O’Connell turned toward me, and in an unusual display of vulnerability, rested his forehead on my shoulder wearily
"How did you know she was here?" I asked
"To, looking for you I didn’t know that she knehere you worked, but I just wanted to ht"
He was quiet for ahis hands on my waist he looked me hard in the eyes