Creature of the Night Read Online Free PDF Page A

his da ever coming with us, though. He used
to stay at home in bed. And then he left, and after that
my ma didn't go to mass any more.
    I wonder if that was why she stopped going,
because Paul left her. I never thought about it at the time.
But I know that my ma changed after that, and she
started using the sleeping pills and staying in bed half the
day, and being cranky all the time, instead of just some
of the time.
    Maybe she was one of those people who needed a
regular dose of religion. Maybe she really could start
a new life down here, and start being happy again.
    The grey suit smelled musty when she ironed it. I
reached across her for one of Mrs Dooley's eggs. Why
should I care, anyway, whether my ma was happy there
or not? I wasn't going to be there to see it.
    Half an hour later we had another fight. My ma said she
wasn't going if I didn't go with her, and I said I couldn't
care less and she marched upstairs and put the grey suit
in the wardrobe and sat in the sitting room with her
arms crossed. After about five minutes of that she got
out of the armchair and called me all the names under
the sun, and then she phoned Maura, and I went out for
a fag.
    When I came back in she had Dennis kitted out in
the suit and she was scrubbing his hands and face with a
dishrag. I remembered that, too, from when I was small.
It hurt. But Dennis was too smart to complain, and too
scared. My ma was in a foul temper. She always was
when she couldn't make me do what she wanted.
    When she went out the door she said to me, 'You'll
go to hell.'
    She said it like she wished it would happen. I
watched her walk down the road, dragging Dennis by
the arm. She hadn't gone more than a hundred metres
before a car pulled up and offered her a lift. There was
a couple in it, and two kids in the back. They weren't
the Dooleys. I don't know who they were. Maybe everyone
was like that around here. Like PJ with the rent.
Trusting.
    Too bad I wasn't staying.

11
    As soon as the car had disappeared round the bend I
started working on my new plan. I couldn't leave for
Dublin while my ma was at mass, but I could still make
good use of the time.
    I unlocked the Skoda, got in, put the key in the
ignition and said a little prayer. I don't know who or
what I said it to, but it worked. The starter motor
groaned then gave a big heave. There wasn't much life in
it but there was just enough, and the engine started. I
turned it straight off.
    'You little beauty!' I said, patting the dash. Before I
took out the key I checked the petrol gauge. It was
nearly half full. More good luck.
    I got out and looked around. There wasn't a soul to
be seen except for myself. For a moment I almost
panicked. I'd never been on my own like that before. I'd
never been anywhere when there wasn't any people. But
the nerves went away and suddenly it felt great. No one
was around so no one could see me.
    I unlocked the boot and found the spare wheel under
the floor covering. There was a jack and a bag of tools
parked inside the wheel hub but I had no idea how to use
them. I'd never really used any kind of tools before. I knew
how to break things, but not how to fix them.
    I dragged everything out and closed the boot, then
looked around again. Cows grazed and swished their
tails. Bees buzzed. I wondered what everyone did here
when they weren't going to mass. They must all be bored
out of their brains. I could hear a car in the distance and
I went round the side of the house and waited till it
passed along the road and out of sight. Four more times
during the wheel change I had to do that, but apart from
that I wasn't disturbed at all.
    I made things difficult for myself, I know that now.
But I knew no better, not then. When I finally figured out
how the jack worked I put it in the wrong place and the
car fell off it twice. When I got it in the right place it
worked like a dream and the wheel rose up off the
ground like it was floating. I thought I had it made then,
but with the wheel in the