The Write Escape

by Charish Reid

  “I’m one of four boys. The oldest is Liam Jr., then there’s me, my brother Sean, and the youngest is Ryan. Liam is a banker in Dublin, he’s married to Mary Catherine, she’s a nice girl for him. They’ve got these twin sons who are absolute assholes.”

  Antonia gasped. “You can’t say that about your nephews.”

  “I certainly can. If you met them, you’d say the same thing.”

  She laughed, beside herself. It was a terrible thing to say about children. “Don’t say that,” she said, trying to stop her laughter.

  Aiden grinned. “They’re fucking hooligans. Everybody knows it.”

  “Tell me about your other brothers,” she urged.

  “Alright, let’s see. My brother Sean is a head chef at a gastropub in Limerick, he lives just down the street from our mother. He’s married to Mary Agnes and they have a twelve-year-old daughter named Soircha.”

  “Wait, you have two brothers married to two Marys?”

  He nodded. “And my youngest brother just got married to a girl named Catherine. Try to keep up with me,” he said, flashing her that handsome grin. He’d forgotten to take an electric razor to his beard this morning while getting ready for this excursion and she was glad. It reminded her of when they first met in Clifden. She liked seeing the one gray tuft that battled for space among the black hair. He even looked like a rugged seaman in his cable-knit sweater. “Now my niece is the sweetest girl you’ll ever meet,” he said with a wistful look in his eyes. “Soircha would love you. She would spend hours talking your ear off about books. I can’t buy her enough of them.”

  This wasn’t the first time Aiden had hinted at plans that extended past their holiday bubble. Despite the cold air, Antonia warmed to the idea of meeting the people who were important to him. “She’s twelve, you say?”

  “Yep, and smart as a whip. She’s at the top of her class and reading Hawthorne for fun,” he said with a proud laugh. “She’s going through the change though.”

  “The change?”

  He snuck her a glance. “The curse, as my mom calls it.”

  Antonia laughed at his wording. “Oh no, you don’t call it either of those things,” she said, gasping for breath. “The curse is too old-fashioned and the change is reserved for women who are going through menopause. Soircha is starting her period, Aiden.”

  “I don’t know what women are calling it these days.”

  She shook her head. “So your sweet, angel niece is going to become a rage-filled monster?”

  “That’s what my mother imagines. She’s still a little girl to me.”

  “Of course she is,” Antonia said, touched by his sentiment. “But I remember when I first got my period. I was a hell-raising asshole.”

  “I’ll be prepared for that,” he laughed. “For now, she’s a good kid and the best out of all of them until Ryan has a baby. He and Catherine live in Dingle where they run a B&B.”

  “That’s charming,” Antonia said. “Your mother did an excellent job raising you boys. And she got a professor out of one of them.”

  “She did her best,” he said before falling quiet. His emotions hid behind a closed expression.

  Antonia watched his face and decided that might be enough pressing him about his family. He loved them, but the issues with his father were still very close to the surface. She did her best to change the subject yet again. “Alright, sailor Aiden,” she said, clapping her hands. “If we’re sailing the high-seas, you have to sing me a chanty.”

  His eyes flickered. “You know about chanties, but don’t know where port-side is?”

  “I’ve learned the romantic parts of the sea.”

  “We’re technically not on the sea, my dear,” he corrected, cracking a smile. “But yeah, I can sing you a chanty, my dad knew a few good ones.”

  “Well give me your best one.”

  “I’ve had one stuck in my head for a while, it was Liam’s favorite. It’s called ‘Roll the Old Chariot Along’?”

  Antonia cocked her head slightly, that one actually sounded familiar. “How does it go?”

  Aiden made a show of clearing his throat before belting out: “Oh we’d be alright, if the wind were in our sails—”

  “I know that one!” she cried.

  His look of surprise made her laugh. “And how do you know that one, little lady?”

  “My Zora Neale Hurston research. I did some side work in Negro spirituals and work songs. That’s a black song.”

  “It is,” he said with a nod. “God, it’s funny you mention that. I’ve been obsessed with it lately and I was thinking about incorporating it in my conference paper.”

  That was incredible. The more she talked to him, the more alike their interests seemed. If he seemed like a renaissance man, maybe she was too. “Brilliant,” she said softly. “I don’t remember all of the words, but I think it’s a call and response, right?”

  “That’s right. Start again?”

  She nodded.

  “Oh we’d be alright, if the wind were in our sails.”

  “We’d be alright, if the wind were in our sails,” she joined in.

  “And we’ll all hang on behind... And we’ll roll the old chariot along...”

  “...we’ll roll the old chariot along.”

  They sang in unison taking turns to recite the refrain, until she lost track of the words and giggled along. “Your voice is beautiful,” he said, eventually giving up.

  “You lie,” she said.

  Aiden shrugged. “It seemed like a nice thing to say to a woman who was wailing her head off in the middle of the sea.”

  “Shut up,” she said as she reached over the side of the boat. She splashed water on him and laughed as he shook his head.

  “Careful, darling. I’ll leave you out here with your seal friends.” He cut the engine and wiped his face with his sleeve. “Jaysus, who is this?” He shifted in his seat to pull his phone from his back pocket.

  “Your boss?”

  “Hold on just a second, it’s my brother,” he said as he swiped his screen. Aiden held his phone in front of his face. “Sean?”

  “No, it’s your poor old mam.”

  “She hijacked my phone,” said a man’s voice in the background. Aiden’s eyes darted to Antonia’s.

  “I’m sorry,” he whispered.

  “Who are you with, son?”

  “I’m with a woman,” he said. “Mam, you don’t have to use FaceTime for everything.”

  “I like seeing my children when I talk to them,” his mother said. Antonia hid her smile behind her hand as she watched him struggle. “And did you say you’re on a date?”

  Aiden shook his head while staring at Antonia. “No mother, I didn’t say I was on a date.”

  “You wouldn’t call this a date?” Antonia asked.

  “You’re making a mistake,” he said in a low voice.

  “I can hear her,” Clare said. “Could you swing me over to her?”

  Aiden closed his eyes. “Mam...”

  Antonia could barely contain her laughter. “I wouldn’t mind.”

  “Mam, I’m actually operating a currach right now. Remember what you said about multitasking?”

  “You’re hardly going to hit anything out on the water,” his mother said. “Just hand me to her while you row.”

  “Do it, Aiden,” said Sean’s muffled voice in the background. “She won’t stop until she’s thoroughly embarrassed you.”

  Aiden heaved a sigh and handed the phone to Antonia.

  Three people had managed to push their way into the screen. At the front must have been Aiden’s mother, a handsome woman with the same brilliant green eyes as her son. Her salt-and-pepper hair was braided into a bun with silver wisps around her forehead. This woman could not have been older than fifty-five. Behind her, a man, close to hi
s early forties, waved at her. Next to him, must have been the young Soircha whose blonde hair was a halo of unruly ringlets threatening to take up most of the screen. Apparently, Antonia was to speak to all three of them at once.

  “Hello!” his mother said with a bright smile. “I’m Aiden’s mother, Clare Hannigan.”

  “Hi, Clare,” Antonia said, holding the phone upward. “I’m Antonia.”

  “Oh my, what a fine name! How grand.”

  “Real class name,” Sean intoned. She guessed that he must have taken after their father, Sean’s blond hair matched his daughters.

  “She’s pretty,” Soircha murmured not too subtly.

  “Are you enjoying Ireland, dear?” Clare asked.

  “Oh yes,” Antonia said cheerfully. She glanced at Aiden who rolled his eyes. “Your son is showing me a lovely harbor near Clifden.”

  “Oooh, he took her to the harbor.”

  “I heard her, Mam,” Sean said.

  “Is it a date?” Soircha asked, most of her face still out of frame. Antonia could only see her massive hair.

  “Uh...” She looked at Aiden for help. He continued only to roll his eyes in response. “Yes, I think I’d call it a date.”

  “Oooh, did you hear that? He took her on a date; that’s very romantic.”

  “I heard her, Mam.”

  “What do you do, Antonia?”

  She paused to find Aiden staring at her with new interest. Perhaps he wasn’t expecting her to admit to his mother that they were actually on a date. “I’m a writer.”

  “Oh, a writer!” Clare squealed in delight. “And you know that Aiden teaches literature, right?”

  She grinned. “Yes, we talked about that. We’ve actually been helping one another with our writing this week.”

  “She looks like a model,” Soircha whispered.

  Antonia blushed. “Well, I don’t know about that.”

  “Oh, she’s right,” Clare agreed. “You look like you could be in the magazines.”

  “I’d like to think I’m too smart for that.”

  Clare tittered, shaking the phone about. “And she’s funny! D’you hear that, Aiden? She’s too smart for it.”

  “I heard her, Mam,” Aiden shouted.

  “How long are you in Ireland, Antonia?” Sean asked.

  “For about a week or so,” she answered.

  “Ah, you should come to Galway. Aiden is keeping Soircha until she goes to Spiddal. He could show you both the sights,” Clare suggested. Aiden’s brows shot up as he moved to take back the phone.

  His quick movement rocked the boat, causing Antonia to panic. She screamed and lost her grip of the phone in an effort to steady herself. Luckily the phone landed at the bottom of the boat and not in the water. Aiden caught her by the shoulders and held her still before she could overcorrect the rocking. “Stay still,” he said. “We’re not going to sink.”

  “That’s what they said about the Titanic,” she said frantically.

  “This isn’t the Titanic,” he said as he searched for his phone.

  “No, it’s much smaller,” she cried. “It’s a bloody canoe.”

  When he found the phone, he looked into the screen. “See, Mam, this is why I can’t always take your calls. And shame on you for using Sean as a shield.”

  “Please don’t capsize the boat with all your carryin’ on, Aiden,” Clare warned. “That’s one quick way to lose a girlfriend.”

  “Aye,” added Sean. “No woman’s going to want to swim home from a date, Aiden.”

  They were teasing him and he clearly didn’t like it. “I’m going to hang up now. Soircha, I’ll see you soon.”

  “We love you,” Clare said. “Goodbye, Antonia.”

  Before he hung up, she heard Soircha whisper, “Why would he take her on a boat?”

  He slipped the phone back in his pocket and looked down at her. “Are you happy?”

  Antonia widen her eyes in feigned surprise. “I didn’t know they were going to be that curious. Perhaps I should go with you to Galway,” she teased. “I can meet the family.”

  Something flickered in Aiden’s eyes as he stared at her. “I’d love to take you back to Galway. Hanging out with my mother and niece is not something to put on the list,” he said with a half smile. “Lord, have you never talked to any Irish mother? Detectives, they are. When they get to a certain age, their only purpose is to make sure sons are married and grandchildren are produced.”

  “You’re overreacting,” Antonia said. “Please sit down, you’re making me nervous.”

  Aiden went back to his bench at the stern. “You don’t know my mother,” he warned. His accent seemed to thicken as he got riled up. “She pesters all of us like this. But me especially since I’m the last to get married.”

  “Why has it taken you so long?” she asked innocently. He pulled the motor and got them moving again.

  “You really wanna talk about that?” he asked.

  She didn’t know why she was asking. Part of her wanted to know more about him, even at the risk of prying into their unknown future. “Sure,” she said lightly. “I’m the one who almost got married. Do you think you’d like to get married in the future?”

  “Of course,” he said. “I wish I could have what my brothers have: a good woman to come home to after a long day of work. Instead of playing fun uncle to Soircha, I wouldn’t mind being a decent father to my own brood.”

  “Mmh.” Antonia took a moment to watch the water lap at the sides of the currach.

  “What about you?” he asked. “You think you could try it again?”

  There was a quiet hesitance in his voice that made her look up. “Sure,” she said. Her tone was light. “I’d try it again. It would have to be small, no frills, just us.” She cringed as the words flew out of her mouth. Antonia immediately regretted how she phrased it.

  Aiden’s green eyes fastened upon hers. Oh god, stop talking. “That sounds hopeful,” he said. He looked away, but she could see his mouth twitch again. “Good luck to the man who tries to take your coat again.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  After safely docking the currach and returning to dry land, Antonia and Aiden walked through downtown Clifden where the streets were much less busy than when she first landed in West Ireland. Antonia finally felt the buoyancy of a woman on vacation. She hadn’t realized she was holding hands with Aiden until she stopped in her tracks before a pharmacy. His grip loosened as he slowed down. “You need to pop in?”

  “Yeah,” she said releasing him. “I need some...feminine products.”

  Aiden didn’t miss a beat and nodded. “Fair play, I can wait out here if you’d like?”

  “Sure. Be right back.” Antonia cringed as she left him on the sidewalk. Why did I say feminine products? I may as well have said sanitary napkins; the kind that come with belts. She had a mind to grab something personal, but it was definitely more intimate. If things went well with today’s date, she wanted to be prepared. She’d gone thirty-three years without an accident and she certainly wasn’t going to mess that up now. Even when Derek had assured her that he was “The Pull-out King,” she had her doubts and kept buying condoms. Her mother always stressed, “Only women get left holding a bag more expensive than a Gucci.”

  Antonia wandered toward the aisle where she thought she would find condoms and came up empty. With her hands on her hips, her eyes scanned over the products. It wasn’t a very large pharmacy, they had to be there somewhere. She went from aisle to aisle, cold medicines to vitamin supplements, only to end up back in the same spot.

  “You need help?” asked an elderly woman in a white coat. She peered over a pair of half-glasses at a confused Antonia.

  Do I really have to ask a woman old enough to be my grandmother? Antonia glanced around the empty store before saying in a low voice. “I’m looki
ng for...contraceptives.”

  The woman tilted her head and frowned. “What’s that, dear?”

  “Contraceptives,” she replied, slightly louder.

  “Condoms, you mean?”

  Antonia’s face grew hot. “Yes, please.”

  “Back here, m’dear. I keep the rubber Johnnies behind the counter.”

  Like a child, she followed the pharmacist to the back counter.

  “What’s your brand?”

  “Regular Trojan should do,” Antonia said, staring at the counter. Anything to make the awkward transaction move faster.

  “Got a hot date?” the woman asked, taking her sweet time to situate herself behind the partition.

  “You could say that.”

  “Smart girl. Can’t trust these fellas to think with the brain the Lord gave ’em. How many packs?”

  Antonia glanced at the store’s entrance before deciding. Aiden was still standing at the door, checking his phone. “Better make it two.”

  The pharmacist raised a painted-on brow. “Can’t be too careful.” She dropped two packages in a small paper sack. “Yes, I remember a time when you couldn’t get a rubber Johnny without a marriage license and a prescription. The laws didn’t change until the ’80s, you know? Cryin’ shame, it was.”

  Her embarrassment turned to amusement as the woman gave a brief history of family planning in Ireland. “You seem like a progressive woman,” Antonia said. “Is there a reason you still keep them behind the counter?”

  “Aye, and I’m an old woman as well. I’m not quick enough to stop thieving snappers from takin’ rubbers without paying. I keep the tests back here too. They’re too expensive for a panicky lass who’s in the family way.”

  Antonia held back her laughter as she dug through her purse for spare euros. “That makes good business sense.”

  The old woman counted her money and slammed it in the register. “Have a good time,” she said with a feisty wink.

  Antonia chuckled. “Thanks.”

  She stuffed the paper bag into her purse and walked toward the store entrance when she felt a vibration in her back pocket. Assuming it was either Octavia or Eddie, she waited until she got outside. Aiden stood in the same spot where she’d left him, flashing her that same gorgeous grin as if he hadn’t seen her in years. “Got what you needed?”