Barry Tierney was sweating and flushed when he returned home. As he slammed the front door of the flat behind him Vee appeared in the hallway. Her dirty blonde hair had been scraped back and tied in an elastic band. Her eyes bulged and watered. The edges of her mouth were cracked and scabbed. She grabbed him. ‘Did you get it?’
Tierney pushed past her. ‘Leave me be.’ He shuffled towards the bathroom and closed the door quickly behind him. Vee followed, banged on the door. He felt disturbed to be alone in the small room; it was full of demons, but his bladder ached and there was nowhere else to go.
‘Barry, you bastard… Open this door.’
‘Shut it.’As he relieved himself he heard the child start to scream in the other room. ‘See to that kid, for fuck’s sake.’
Vee continued to bang on the door. ‘Barry, open up… You better not be holding out on me!’
He shook out the last drops of urine, pulled up his joggers. His hands were shaking at the prospect of the wraps he’d taken from the Deil. He touched the sides of his head, tried to think, but nothing came. He ran fingers through his hair, then tucked his hands beneath his arms, but the process did nothing for him. He couldn’t concentrate in this place. He didn’t want to be alone in there but there was a racket going on outside that he couldn’t face.
‘Shut it, Vee, I’m warning you, shut the noise up or I’ll put you through that fucking wall.’
The banging stopped.
He heard Vee sliding down the back of the door, then her tears as she sobbed at the gap above the carpet. She had been crying hysterically the night before, but that was for another reason. She probably wanted to block it out too.
‘Barry, you can’t leave me here if you’re holding… You just can’t.’
‘Is that all you’re bothered about? Eh, is it?’
Her voice lowered. ‘I need a hit, Barry… more than ever.’
‘We know why that is, don’t we.’
She snivelled, ‘Why are you doing this?’
Tierney ran the taps in the sink, trying to drown out her shrill voice. He let the sink fill up, dropped in his hands, then splashed his face. He thought about dunking his head, blocking out the world, but he knew a better way.
‘I saw him, by the way,’ Tierney yelled, ‘… in case you’re interested, I saw the Deil.’
Silence.
Slowly, the sound of Vee shuffling on the other side of the door came. ‘What did you say?’
‘You heard me all right.’ He smiled to himself: he had the upper hand again. She was always easier to manipulate, to control, when he had something to hold over her. He couldn’t recall ever having anything as weighty as this, though.
‘You told him about…?’
‘Of course I didn’t fucking tell him. Do you think I’m mental?’
Vee stumbled over the words: ‘Th-then how… I mean, what did you say?’ She sounded worried now; he could hear the fear pitched in her voice.
‘I told him what we agreed.’
She had no response to that — of course she didn’t, she couldn’t argue with him. Tierney heard Vee start to move again. She was rocking, her back pressing on the other side of the door. With each movement the sound carried pressure towards him. He felt the walls in the small bathroom closing him in. He peered at the bath, scrubbed clean for once. Tierney couldn’t remember the bath looking so clean — it was bright white, sparkling. He looked in. He didn’t want to, but felt compelled to. A smell of bleach caught in his nostrils. He couldn’t stay there any more, opened the door. ‘Get up… See to that kid!’
Vee held on to Tierney’s leg. ‘Did you score? Did you? Did you score, Barry?’
He shook her off, lashed out with his foot, caught her on the solar plexus. She gasped for breath, fumbling on the carpet with her fingers splayed as if she was looking for something. ‘Barry… I need some. Don’t, don’t…’ She seemed to find strength from somewhere and raised herself to face him. She grabbed the sleeves of Tierney’s hoodie. ‘Please, please, Barry… I’ll do anything.’
‘Settle that fucking kid.’
‘I will. I will. I promise… Just give me something.’
The sight of her disgusted him; he wanted her away from him. He didn’t want to look at her ever again. Her face reminded him of everything that was wrong with his life and why he needed to escape from it. Tierney delved into his pocket and pulled out a wrap. ‘There, get fired into that… Get out my sight.’ He watched her scurry like a rodent for scraps, padding the floor on her hands and knees. When she located the wrap her face changed instantly. She became suffused with desire. All the previous whining and begging had been for show, Tierney knew it. He hated her for it. When he was on the programme, a key worker had told him that everyone hates the one thing in others that they hate in themselves. He hadn’t understood her, had asked her to explain and was told it was like living with someone who pointed out your flaws all the time: they dragged you to the mirror and showed you them. When he understood, he hated Vee more; she made him hate himself, what he’d become.
Tierney knew it didn’t pay you to think. After all he’d been through, after all he’d seen, he didn’t want to think. He didn’t want to think about who he was or who Vee was because he knew they were both nothing. It was better not to think. Better to forget. To block it all out.
He took the remaining wrap from his pocket and went through to the front room. The curtains were drawn and the place sat in semi-darkness. He could hear the baby crying where she lay in the top drawer of the dresser, but he didn’t look to that corner of the room. He climbed onto the mattress and rolled up his sleeve. A burnt spoon and a lighter fell onto the floor as he manoeuvred. He picked them up, collected the rest of his works and bit the leather belt between his teeth.
As his eyes closed, nothing mattered any more.