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I exhale sloatching the tendrils of sht sky The pack I opened earlier today lies ele puff, content to let the tobacco burn and the red elow and then fade into ash while I relish the calle of keys at the door Aengus didn’t even coht, which was probably the first smart ony from my day out on his jaw

And he’d deserve it

The front door to our house creaks open Measured footfallsthe ood floor on every fourth step

"Riverya here?" Aengus’s deep voice cuts through the peace Though we grew up in the same household, in the same city, people have said his accent is thicker, the way Rowen and I speak reet him I just sit in e And I wonder what kind of "warning" could be worth walking four kilometers with a volatile explosive tucked under your arm I know my brother’s not suicidal, but thatonly an idiot would do that

I sense hi at the kitchen threshold now, his eyes onthe three shrapnel wounds They weren’t too bad, after all Tiny slivers that cut into h that Ea out froh

"Thought ya quit" A beaus pulls two cans of Se He drops one in front ofa word about the five ee Nor his beer

That’s how I know he feels at least some remorse

"I did" I take a single haul off the sers, exhale slowly, and then mash the rest of it into the heap of other butts "Funny what als out the chair across fro it "Ya weren’t supposed to be there"

I finally meet eyes with my brother for the first ti His face is rosy from drink and covered in strawberry scruff, the jeans and shirt that he traded his disguise for ru at the bottom of a barrel for the past thirty-six hours

"You e" I toss the Times at him The Herald and the Mirror share si in St Stephen’s Green e from Cork to Belfast

His eyes only flicker toward it "Been in to work yet?"

I shake est of the Delaney boys, and the one I can always count on, had to miss classes both yesterday and today to cover for hty pissed yesterday, but after he foundin pain, he played it off like it was no big deal Who needs a college degree when you can watch Greta--the tall blonde from Germany that we just hired--bend over tables to hand out pints to custoht fro across frous doesn’t really mean just "anyone" "Not yet But they will" Gardai always co around our pub when there’s trouble It just cous nods slowly and then pulls a sent who’s trying to sell our house warned us about sht now I don’t care We already had to cancel one showing this , uncomfortable silence settles over us, and it almost unnerves me more than what happened Nor at each other This is different This hs, lifting his cap from his head to run his hand over his scalp I’one It was the tradeus I’ve ever known You could see him from a city block away I think that’s why he shaved it off the day he was convicted It was too recognizable Witnesses could easily identify hidown"