Boston Blood

Five

Dublin 1987

"What did you just fuckin' say to me?" Frances roared as she slapped Mary across the cheek.

A crowd had formed in the toilet as everyone was jeering and shouting, egging the girls on.

"Come on! fight back you bitch!" Frances screamed, again, as she grabbed the girl by the hair and sent her flying towards one of the cubicle doors. Mary's head crashed against the door and she fell to the ground in pain.

Frances smiled, vindictively, as she stood over Mary, who was holding her bloodied face in her trembling hands. "I hope you learn to keep that fat fuckin' mouth shut, next time." Frances barked at the girl who was trembling at her feet. She didn't have long to admire her handy work before Sister Delores was pulling her, painfully, by the ear to the office. The other girls eyed her in annoyance as she was dragged away.

As she was instructed to wait while the nun got her keys, she smirked at the twenty-year-old blonde woman; Sinead, who worked as a secretary for Sister Delores. "Back again Frankie? What you do this time?" She smiled and winked. "Ah you know, the usual; praying too hard," Frances mused. She liked Sinead. She was the only person there that she didn't absolutely hate. Frances would often sneak out during classes to meet Sinead, who would give her a cigarette behind the laundry room. She wasn't like the rest of the girls there. She was kind. She reminded Frances of her mother.

Sinead laughed, loudly but her face dropped as Sister Delores slammed her hand on Sinead's desk, silencing her. Sinead gulped and continued working away on her type writer.

Sister Delores wrenched Mary through the huge wooden door and slammed her, hard into the massive red leather chair which faced her desk. Frances fixed her long brown curls back into a neat pony tail and slumped back into the seat, grinning.

Sister Delores eyes were narrowed in irritation as she glared at Frances. The nun despised Frances and Frances reciprocated the feeling. As the middle aged, heavy set nun rested her glasses on the end of her nose and opened the leather bound notebook in front of her, Frances looked around the room in dis-interest. "Is that a new lamp, Sister? That wasn't there yesterday." Frances asked, her tone was sickeningly innocent but the nun merely scowled and continued to write in red pen beside Frances' name. She enunciated her words as she scribbled; "Frances Ryan... caught fighting, again. This time with Mary O'Reilly. Punishment; scrubbing the toilets."

Frances rolled her eyes, dramatically. She really didn't give a shit what punishment she got. Mary had it coming to her. She had been provoking Frances all week and today; Frances had had enough. Honestly, she preferred having the time to herself, away from all the bitches who she had been forced to share every minute with for the last two years.

"Well, Frances, have you anything to say for yourself?" The nun said, caustically as she rose from her chair and sat on the desk in front of Frances.

I should have hit the bitch harder. Frances lamented to herself, trying to fight back the smile pulling at her lips.

"No, Sister. I'm very very sorry. It won't happen again," Frances said, sweetly, eliciting a low growl from Sister Delores.

Frances coughed to hide the laugh escaping her throat. But her pleasure was cut short when something hard suddenly, walloped her across the face, sending a sharp pain shooting around her head. Frances locked eyes with the nun as she wiped away the small amount of blood forming at her bottom lip.

The nun's eyes were alive with rage and disgust as she towered, menacingly, over Frances. "You just can't help yourself, can you? You're not the only girl in here who has had bad things happen to her. Yet, you. You're the only one who is constantly causing havoc. Is it any wonder no family ever wanted to take you in? You're a waste of space, Frances Ryan."