Who's Your Paddy?

Chapter 24

Well intentioned family rarely take convenience into consideration when trying to do the right thing. We weren't in the door long before the tiny house began filling with mourners. Much like Michelle's childhood home in Boston, my bleary eyed welcome to the Land of Dreams was a series of tear filled hugs.

The original plan was for me to spend a few days with Michelle, but we'd more or less decided I'd be heading out the next day. It was a good thing too because there were a lot of extended family staying over and I ended up sleeping on a quilt on the hardwood floor.

The next morning, I called Liam.

"Not to worry, Luv. Told ye I had a place fer ya,"

"I know."

I was unaccustomed to the lack of privacy and felt self conscious having to talk on the family phone in one of the busiest areas of the house. For whatever reason, my cell phone decided not to work.

"Sounds busy there."

"Very. So how do you want to do this?"

"Me mate, Louis works very near to where yer at. Would ya mind if he swings by ta get ya?"

"That's fine. When can I expect him?"

"An hour okay?"

"Perfect, I just need to jump in the shower."

Jumping into the shower as it turned out, was an adventure. I had to drag Michelle into the bathroom to explain.

"Just pull that string for the hot water," she pointed to a long white string hanging out of the ceiling.

"Uh, okay."

"It's not like America where people leave their hot water heaters on all the time. That string turns on the immersion."

I gave her one of my, 'I'm nodding, but have no idea what you're saying' looks.

She grinned. "Just pull the string before you shower. Trust me, the rest isn't important."

"Okay. This might seem like a really obvious question, but there's no curtain."

She pushed a gold latch on the wall and pulled a plastic accordion panel across the edge of the tub. It only stretched half the length of the tub.

"This is your curtain. Oh and you haven't got there yet, but I'll tell ya now. There's no power socket in here so you'll have to do your hair and make-up in my room. And the faucets on the sink are separated, so if you don't wanna freeze or scald yourself, just run both taps and use the stopper."

After she left, it took me a while to figure out how to get the water to come out of the shower nozzle instead of the faucet. It wasn't a pull up diverter thingy like we had back home. There was a switch on the side of a giant white box that hung on the wall. When I pressed it, you'd swear I was running a chainsaw.

"That's normal," I heard Michelle shouting from the other side of the door.

"Nothing about this is normal."

She snickered. "You'll get used to it."

Liam's friend, Louis arrived right on time and was quite possibly one of the friendliest people I'd ever met. He put me at ease immediately. Apart from having trouble understanding what he was saying because of his thick accent, by the time we pulled up in front of Liam's place, I felt as if I'd known him for years.

"Come in," Liam shouted from the front door.

Walking down the drive felt a little like I imagined the Spanish inquisition would feel. Liam's mother was a tiny woman with a big smile. She greeted me with genuine warmth the moment I stepped into the living room.