Where the Streets have no Name

by Taylor, Danielle

  Sheer luck granted him a glimpse of the Gardaí in the reflection of the mirror behind the row of spirits on the bar. Daniel knew him well. They’d gone to school together, were even mates for a short while before they grew apart. And from the look on his face, this wasn’t going to be a social visit – not a pleasant one at least.

  Protecting Amelia moved to the top of the list. If anyone caught wind of his involvement with her, things could get ugly for her. He wouldn’t see her come to harm and more than he’d want to know exactly which of the people sitting in this room pulled the proverbial trigger on his family that night. Daniel gave her hand a squeeze and released it, hiding her body with his as he turned to face the man.

  “Well, would you look at who’s decided to pay us a visit,” the Gardaí sneered.

  “I’m not wantin’ any trouble, Desmond. Just come to have a drink and then I’ll be on my way.”

  Making a big show of it, he crossed his arms and laughed. The music came to a stop as if Desmond Cullough’s laugh was some kind of signal. “That’s bloody hilarious! ‘Cause as you walked in here, I saw you takin’ Mr. O’Bannon’s wallet right from his pocket.”

  The accusation stung, like a slap to the face. His anger rose to inexplicable heights, as did the heat in his face. “I did no such thing and you know it!”

  “That so? Then you’ll not put up a fight if I search your person.” The Gardaí took a step forward, a display of his authority.

  Through clenched teeth, Daniel replied, “You don’t want to be putting your hands on me, little man.”

  Stopping less than an inch from his chest, Desmond glared, craning his neck. “I may just have to take that as resisting arrest. C’mon you murderous bastard, give me an excuse to kill you.”

  The whole thing, his higher-than-mighty act because of a uniform, the false charges, arrest, sentencing, jail-time and the numerous beatings he took for a crime never committed all came rushing into his mind at once. Suddenly, Daniel couldn’t even remember what he was living for. Half of that life passed him by and the other half would be much as it was now. He didn’t have the strength to fight any longer.

  “You don’t need an excuse, Gardaí. Just take out that gun you’ve got there inside your jacket, aim for me heart, and blow it away,” whispered Daniel. “Do us all a favour and end it.”

  He shouldn’t have been, but was surprised when Desmond did just that. But what he didn’t see before it slammed into his head was the baton. He’d been too stunned by the scream, a male voice calling out ‘he’s got a gun’. The place erupted, chairs and stools went flying as people either ran for the door or came to exact their own bit of revenge.

  Somehow, Daniel wound up lying face-down on the floor with a knee digging into his back. Subdued as he was, the beating continued. A heavy boot made contact with his right side and pain shot up into his armpit. Another foot came down on his jaw. He only hoped that Amelia made it outside without getting hurt.

  By the grace of God, a loud sound rang through the air. The attack ceased, leaving him in just about as much agony as he’d ever been. Thanks to the pounding of blood in his ears, Daniel couldn’t tell what it was. Didn’t matter though, not when the voice of an angel began to speak.

  “That. Is. E-nough!”

  Using all the strength he could muster, Daniel turned his head to the left and saw the blurry form of Amelia standing on the bar. Why hadn’t she escaped?

  “You all should be ashamed of yourselves! You, get the hell off of him, right this second.” She pointed to the Gardaí still on Daniel’s back.

  “Miss, you’ve got no authority here. This is a dangerous man!”

  Amelia shook her head in disgust. “If anyone in this godforsaken place is dangerous, it’s everyone except for him! Look at you! Acting like animals!”

  “He’s murdered people,” Desmond seethed. “Women and children! Maybe you aren’t aware of Daniel Byrne in America but here, his name is pure evil!”

  Daniel couldn’t see her face, but he was pretty sure Amelia would have a shocked expression on it. Then perhaps one matching everyone else in the room, hatred and fear. The truth she didn’t want to hear finally came out.

  “Are you illiterate as well as an asshole?”

  In spite of the situation, Daniel chuckled at her comment. Amelia had on a long-sleeved red shirt with a maple leaf in the middle, clearly stating that she was Canadian. Some slogan from a beer company in her home country, but she loved the shirt. He regretted laughing though, when pain shot through his chest.

  “And if we’re going to talk about murderers, how about I ask which of you had a hand in what happened to his family?”

  At her words, it felt like someone thrust a knife into his heart. How much did Amelia truly know about him then? Had she been aware of it all? How?

  “Yeah, I didn’t think so. You people make me sick. Daniel was charged for a crime that he’d no sooner commit than he would steal a wallet from an old man. This entire country took the word of a known terrorist against a seventeen year old boy who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. He got locked up, lost the best part of his life while Seamus Riley walked away to kill again.

  “And when it came to his family, hard-working Dad, Mom who everyone loved, and two little girls,” Amelia paused, the catch in her voice evidence of her emotions.

  Daniel was having one hell of a time trying to keep his own in check. She knew all of it, and stuck by him. Twenty days they’d been driving around the coast of Ireland and she never once mentioned any of this to him.

  “Do you people not even think about what you did to them? I know for a fact that one of you knows something and yet, the cold blooded murder of an entire family gets swept under the goddamned rug while you continue to condemn an innocent man. This entire village should be ashamed of itself. You all make me want to denounce my Irish citizenship; yeah, that’s right I’m Irish too.

  “Now, Gardaí,” she spat the word out, “get the hell off of Daniel right now, unless you want this entire scene posted all over the internet. From the minute I saw you following my car up the road, I’ve been recording your movements. Got it all on tape, how you took the wallet from the man by the door and slipped it into Daniel’s pocket. Pulled your gun and made it look like he was the one holding it and then attacked him first. Oh, and I guess I should mention that my phone has a very sensitive microphone and I heard you mention something about wanting to kill Daniel without provocation. Sit him up.”

  Her speech barely finished when the pressure on Daniel’s back vanished. A few pairs of hands pulled at his clothing and then he was propped up against something hard. Head pounding and blood stinging his eyes, he concentrated on trying to breathe without that sharp ache from what he could only assume was a broken rib.

  “I want everyone in here to take a good look at what you’ve done here,” Amelia continued. “And I’ll be taking all of your names, with identification, on this sheet of paper. Do it now.”

  Shuffling feet sounded in the room. If anyone could get people to do things they really did not want to do, Amelia was the girl for the job. He had to smile through his haze of pain at that. God, what an amazing girl.

  “Daniel? Is that you?” The voice, belonging to a female, was oddly familiar to him, but it hadn’t come from Amelia.

  “’Tis,” he answered, trying to wipe the blood from his eyes to see. “Who’s that then?”

  “Roisin Delaney,” the voice replied while someone gently dabbed his face. “There, that should be better then, hmm?”

  It was, and he opened his eyes to the smiling face of his childhood sweetheart. The same sweetheart who flung foul and terrible words his way over the telephone when he tried to explain what happened all those years ago. What the hell did she want from him now?

  “You’ve grown into a fine looking man, Daniel Byrne.” Roisin smiled, tucking a strand of glossy red hair behind her ear. “Of course, we’ll have to get these cuts seen to before I can make a proper ass
essment!”

  There she sat, laughing in the same musical way she used to, the same way that drew him in when he was a young lad, and all he wanted was for her to leave him alone. Now that he had his vision back, Daniel swept his eyes around until they landed on Amelia. She offered a sad smile before turning her attention back to the list, making sure she got those names.

  Now there was a real woman, someone who cared, who gave her trust and friendship without any strings attached.

  “Daniel, are you listening to me?”

  “Leave off.” He pushed Roisin’s hand away from his face. That must be the reason for Amelia’s tense and guarded expression. If she chewed on the inside of that cheek any more, she’d bite a hole right through it.

  “What d’you mean, ‘leave off’? I’m telling you that I want to give us another chance, Daniel!”

  “And why all of a sudden? I’ve not heard hide nor hair from you since that phone call fourteen years past, where you told me how much you wished I’d just die already. So why do you want to give us another chance? Hmm? I’m listening.” If he could’ve crossed his arms, he would have. One of them might be broken.

  When she stared at him, open mouthed, Daniel had his answer. “Ah, I see. So you’re thinking that, if Amelia can prove my innocence, the government might feel obligated to pay me a nice tidy sum of money for falsely accusing me and sending me off to prison for a quarter of a century. And then what? You want some of it? I’ll tell you what, Roisin. If they do offer me anything, I’ll send it to you just so you’ll keep away from me. I want nothing at all to do with you, have you got that?”

  Christ it hurt to breathe, to talk, but he had to get that out. The fire in her eyes proved that he’d gotten it right. She wanted some money, same as all women. But not Amelia. His mind replayed every missed opportunity on their trip, every chance he’d had and not taken to say how he was beginning to feel. How he felt now. What truly resided in his heart for her.

  The truth of it all, Daniel had, in twenty days, fallen in love with Amelia. Even though he realised that he hardly knew that much about her life, such as what she did for a living. She had money, but he didn’t know where it came from, what she did for a living or how long she planned on being in Ireland for. That was the hardest pill to swallow. Eventually, she would have to leave, to go back to Canada.

  She’d leave and take his heart with her. That agonizing thought hurt more than his body at the moment. And in that moment, his eyes drifted shut and the world turned dark and silent. And then, he was alone.

  Amelia had called for police and ambulance as soon as she saw the gun pulled. Just in case. And where did that guy even get a gun? To her knowledge firearms weren’t given to police in Ireland. Aside from that, she knew little about their gun laws, so how did the Gardaí have a gun and where did he get the weapon from?

  Then she tried not to watch Daniel with the woman crouched down next to him. She wanted to be the one comforting him. Holding him. Loving him.

  The other woman was beautiful. Older, too. She looked closer to Daniel’s age. What gouged a hole in her chest was how familiar they seemed. He must have known her from before. Maybe they were even dating when it happened.

  If she wanted to collect this information, Amelia had to stay where she was and focus on the task she assigned herself. The paramedics just walked in and were seeing to Daniel. They knew best. They’d see to his injuries.

  So she continued making sure each and every person here gave their names and addresses, and showed her their identification. She snapped a photograph of each one and saved them in a file on a safe online location, just in case someone had any ideas about destroying her phone.

  Soon she was finished collecting all the information she needed and an officer offered to drive her to the hospital, following the ambulance. Her movements were mechanical.

  Sit in car.

  Buckle seatbelt.

  Wait.

  Open door.

  Follow into building.

  Walk.

  Walk.

  Stop.

  Listen.

  She needed to see Daniel. Needed to know he was going to be all right. He had to be okay. He just had to. What would she do without him? She’d live on, but the cracks in her heart would shatter again.

  Tears stung her eyes. The officer asked her a thousand questions she answered in a mechanical voice, desperate to be by Daniel’s side. Not yet though, first he had a few rounds of tests; x-rays, MRI scans. A nurse brought Daniel’s chart over and discussed his condition once she declared herself his wife.

  “We took your husband for x-rays. He has two cracked ribs, one of which punctured through his side. His left kneecap is shattered,” she stated the fact like she was reading off instructions to build a barbeque, instead of talking about a human being. The man Amelia loved. “He needs extensive surgery.”

  “Is he going to be okay?”

  “I’d prefer not to speculate, Mrs. Byrne. But we’ll do everything we can.” The nurse patted her on the shoulder and returned to the operating room, or what he called, theatre.

  It was so hard sitting here, waiting. The walls felt like they were closing in on her but Amelia wouldn’t let the fear win. After all, a hospital was just a building, like any other. The smells were different, but if she closed her eyes and blocked out the sounds, she pictured herself at home, surrounded by technology. She knew how to feel around computers. She understood them. Inanimate, programmable machines did what the software engineer told them to do.

  All the knowledge of writing codes and programming couldn’t get the image of Daniel with that other woman out of her head though. Seared into her brain, it pushed aside the pain of losing Poppa, but only temporarily. God, how she missed him.

  It hurt knowing she’d never see him again; millions of rusty pinpricks gouging at her chest. Somehow being in the country he was born and raised in brought her closer to him. She felt his presence around her and it helped to comfort her. Just a little.

  But God, she hoped she hadn’t lost him to someone else. She was selfish and wanted him all to herself. Amelia sat in the waiting room, eyes glued to the wall across from her, watching for signs of movement by the door there. Someone would have to come and talk to her soon. They’d have to.

  Seconds passed by like hours. Hours like days. The doctor tried to get her to leave at the end of visiting hours and she refused. Amelia offered them one million euros to leave her alone, knowing they’d accept. She put the transfer through immediately. They left her alone after that, coming to give her updates as they had them.

  On her third day at the hospital, Amelia sat in the same chair she’d occupied since she first arrived here, a cold, cardboard cup of coffee on the table in front of her and an untouched sandwich. She hadn’t eaten more than a few bites of whatever the nurses brought her in three days. The thought of putting anything in her stomach made her feel nauseous.

  “He’s awake and stable now, Mrs. Byrne. You can visit with your husband now.”

  Amelia rose on shaky legs. Dread settled in her stomach. Bile churned and rose, burning the back of her throat. Technically speaking, she knew what to expect on the other side of his door. She read through the charts and spoke with the doctors. Daniel’s face required surgery to set the broken bones on his right cheek. Numerous stitches held together the split flesh over his brow and under his chin. That didn’t take anything below the neck into account.

  Reading all the information in the world didn’t prepare her for the sight of the man she well and truly fell for. Arms in casts, raised above his head. Just his eyes visible through the gauze wrapped around his head. A cast on his chest.

  “I hear you and I got married,” Daniel said, the words broken by his swollen lips.

  She stopped at his bedside, unsure of where to stand or sit or what to do. “I had to, so they would let me see you.”

  “Ah.” His eyes rolled back in his head. The lids shut.

  “I’m so sorry, Dan
iel.” She took a breath, hoping to calm her frayed nerves. “If I knew those people were going to–”

  “I told you,” he interrupted, ire in his voice. “Told you I was bad luck.”

  “You’re not–”

  “I am and the sooner you get it through your thick head, the better off we’ll both be.”

  What the hell happened? Why was he talking nonsense? “Stop it! You’re not bad luck, Daniel Byrne!”

  “You’ve been grand, Amelia, but this is the end of our journey together. Your knee is fine now. You can drive yourself.”

  Her lip quivered. “Don’t do this, please.” Her hands pressed to her chest, as if the action could keep her heart from tearing in a hundred jagged shards. “My heart hurts,” the words came out strangled and full of agony. “Please, don’t break my heart.”

  He wouldn’t look at her. “We’re done here, Amelia. We had a little fun but now it’s over.”

  “F…fun?” The word exploded in her chest. “Fun?” she repeated, as if saying the word again might make some sense.

  “Aye, fun. Go on back to Canada. Go back where you belong.”

  She shook, holding back waves of acid tears and anguish. “You don’t mean it,” she whispered.

  “I do.”

  One last try.

  “Please don’t do this, Daniel.”

  “Don’t make me call security. Don’t make this harder on yourself.”

  “Is…is there someone else?”

  “No, Amelia, I just don’t want you anymore!” he yelled, then broke into a coughing fit. “Go. Get out. I don’t want you here!”

  Her entire body went stiff.

  Ice-cold shock rippled down her spine.

  He didn’t want her.

  He couldn’t even look at her.

  Everything between them, every look, every smile, every touch…it had all been a lie. A sick game he played. She didn’t want to believe he was capable of tearing out her heart and stomping on it, watching her suffer, like he got some sick thrill from it. But he wasn’t watching her. And standing here, silently imploring him to look at her and change his mind achieved nothing.