OUT

Chapter 12

Sunday, October 5th 2014

'Áiméan,' replied the congregation in unison as the local priest bowed to the room. Jack was seated between his mother and an elderly man that looked like he was clinging to life. There was a toddler in front of him - a girl no more than three with hair so blonde it could've been white - and she was turned around in her seat staring him down. She played with a coin in her hand, moving it along the backrest of the pew like a toy car, although she hadn't broken eye contact in at least three minutes. Her parents had long since given up on trying to tame her, and they were now leaving her to her own devices.

'Cas timpeall,' mouthed Jack's mother to the child, sounding like a primary school teacher on a power trip, although the child didn't budge, much to her annoyance.

'Now before ye go, just some community news. Margaret from the parochial hall committee says tickets for the parish raffle will be on sale after today's mass at the back of church. Tickets are five euro a strip or three strips for a tenner. A reminder that the set dancing classes down in the boathouse will continue every Tuesday kicking off at 8:15 sharp. Admission is five euro; all welcome. Also, there will be an unwanted gift sale on Sunday November second in the parochial hall. I encourage you to donate any unwanted clothes, toys, and or house bits in advance of that date. Proceeds going to the boathouse extension and fixing the roof of the prefab down in St. Brendan's. More information in the parish newsletter available at the back of the church or online.'

Jack had zoned out. He could feel his phone vibrating in his pocket as notifications buzzed in, but he didn't dare reach for it. His mother would chop his arm off if he so much as unzipped his pocket, and he could tell the vibrating was annoying her as it was.

'And one last thing. I'm sure we've all seen in the papers this week that an opinion poll revealed a seventy six percentage poll in favour of same-sex marriage.' Jack's mother gave a purposefully loud tut. He cringed in his seat beside her as a few heads turned to see who had made the noise. 'However, good news off the back of that. Some locals have taken it upon themselves to organise a 'No' branch committee for the referendum, and they've set up a Facebook page for the group. Please like and follow "Spiddal Says No" or contact Cathleen for more information.'

Ten minutes later, the contents of the small church spilled outside into the car park. It was surprisingly mild for October, which meant they'd all stand around and make small talk for thirty minutes, at least. They'd talk about the weather. What was on telly. Who was on The Late Late show the Friday just gone. Who was sick. Who was dying. Who was dead. The same conversations that were had every week. Jack went and sat on the wall along the perimeter of the car park, eager to avoid any questions about how he was getting on 'up in the big city'.

He went to Twitter and searched for the marriage referendum. It hadn't been announced yet, but almost eighty percent of people being in favour of same-sex marriage shocked him. That couldn't have been right. He looked around the car park. Most of these people didn't hide their disdain for the gays. That must have surveyed a group of people living in Dublin.

'Jack! Con's atá tú?' beamed a voice that interrupted his train of thought. He quickly shoved the phone into his pocket in a hurry and looked up at the girl standing in front of him, 'you didn't say you'd be back this weekend.'

'Róisín,' he said, nowhere near as enthusiastic as she had been, 'how are you?'. The last time he had seen her, they were sprinting from the disabled toilet at the debs. Part of him had hoped that'd be the last time he'd see her for a bit longer than just a month and a half. But she smiled broadly at him. And Jack could see his mother noticing from across the car park. She winked at him and he groaned internally.

'The city boy returns for a visit,' she joked, 'how's Dublin treatin' ya?'

'Good to see ya,' he said as she threw her arms around him, 'ah yeah, Dublin's grand like.' Jack heard sniggering as two lads approached. He sighed. Not now.