the derry girl || james maguire

thirty

Niamh's pov

holy fuck that was James's mammy. I wasn't very keen on the woman, after abandoning James here without even saying goodbye, she seemed a bit, odd. But sure we couldn't spend the whole day staring at her, so Erin, Orla and I waddled home, after hugging James goodbye.

"What kept you three?" Aunt Mary yelled at us as soon as we got in the door.

"We have some serious scandal, Mammy." Erin told her.

"I'm not interested in any of your schoolgirl gossip, Erin."

"I am." Aunt Sarah said.

"We just met James's mammy." I told her.

"Cathy Maguire's back? Really?"

"She tried to set us on fire." Orla told them.

"She did what?" Gerry asked.

"She didn't."

"Jesus, but she's no shame." Mary said.

"Tell me this, wains. How were the eyebrows?" Aunt Sarah asked.

"What do you mean?" Erin said.

"The eyebrows. Were they looking well?"

"I didn't really notice her eyebrows."
I told her.

"Aye me either." Erin said.

"Cathy Maguire had the best eyebrows in Derry back in her day. She'd could have given Joan Crawford a run for her money, isn't that right, Mary?"

"I've no time for Cathy Maguire. The woman abandoned her own wain, Sarah.
She always was one cold, self-serving wee madam." Aunt Mary said.

Aye, poor James, getting abandoned by his own mammy. At least I had people I knew to move in with, James had nobody he knew.

"I'm not talking about her. I'm talking about her eyebrows. Cathy and her eyebrows are two separate entities."

"All right, don't be getting worked up."

"Well, I just think you should be able to compliment a woman's eyebrows without having her personality dragged into it." Sarah said.

"Fine. Her eyebrows were exceptional." Mary finally agreed.

"Thank you."

The doorbell went and Erin went and answered it.

"It's Uncle Colm!" Erin yelled.

"Dear God, no." I mumbled and Aunt Mary nudged me.

"Everything all right, Colm?" Mary asked.

"Oh, God, aye. Well, the aul knee's giving me a bit of jip, but sure I'll not bore you with the details."

"I doubt that." Gerry whispered.

"I felt a twinge there this morning and I says to myself, says I, Colm, you'll have to get that seen to, You can't let that go. For, and you'll maybe not remember this girls, but Maggie Murphy felt a twinge on a Monday, and on Thursday of the very same week, sure didn't she drop dead at the bingo. And her sitting on a full house, too. But sure, you can't take it with you, as they say. God rest her soul." Colm went on and on.

"Is there something we can do for you, Colm?" Mary asked.

"Oh, I just called round to help with this CIA business."

"Who told you about that?" Joe yelled.

"I did, Joe." Jim said.

"Why?"