When All Is Said(64)
‘Well, what do you think, do I scrub up well?’ she asked.
‘I can tell you now that I’m the envy of every man on the street.’
‘So is this my carriage? Well, it’ll do, I suppose.’
I swallowed hard and felt my armpits go damp, again.
‘This, I’ll have you know, is also the envy of every man around.’
‘Well, let’s go show off, so.’
I took off my jacket and laid it down on the cold crossbar. And up she hopped, not a hesitation. White dress and white high-heeled shoes. All I needed was the chain to come off. I said a quick prayer in my head as we pushed away from the kerb. Normally, with Jenny or May, who never got the jacket treatment, there would be an initial wobble but not with Sadie. We glided down Patrick Street and off out the road heading for Rainsford like a pair of professional ballroom dancers. We took the breeze with us, pulling it along to our advantage. I had honestly never laughed and smiled so much as on that journey. She spent half the time with my cap on her head, grabbing it off me when we passed the Duncashel Arms. I couldn’t get enough of that deviousness in her eye that made me wonder what she might get up to next. I am happy to report that we skidded to a halt outside the dance hall with not an oil stain in sight.
I kissed her on the cheek later, when we took some air on the wall behind the dance hall. After, I reached for her hand and she caressed my thumb with hers as the summer evening heat still managed to warm us. It wasn’t for another week before the real kiss came. Have you the stomach for all of this, son? Tune out now, if you want, I’ll tell you when it’s over.
I will never forget it. It felt as if someone had lit a fire in my belly when her lips touched mine. I’d planned for nothing more than a repeat of that first peck on the cheek and had reached down to do just that as we stood at her door, Mrs Durkin being out at bingo, but her head turned and her lips found mine. Sweet divine, I was transported, to heaven. My urge, of course, was to continue and, I’ll be honest, to do much more. But I refused the temptation to pull her back when she moved her head away. She looked up and smiled.
‘Where did a wee innocent girl from Annamoe in Donegal learn to kiss like that?’ I asked.
‘That would be telling, wouldn’t it.’
There were more of those encounters over the coming weeks, each one lasting a little longer and becoming a little deeper. But I always pulled away, not tempting myself and maybe her too, beyond a point of no return; it wouldn’t have been right no matter how much I wanted it. Nowadays, of course, it’s all different. I’m not sure I’d have had it any other way, though; the waiting and the longing built up a good thirst in me by the time we said our vows.
It was three months later that the official invite came to meet her parents. Nervous was too weak a word to describe the torture I felt at the very prospect of meeting the father. My own father was forever berating my poor sisters about the men who he found ‘sniffing’ around. I wouldn’t mind, but these poor lads were no more dangerous than me; ‘sniffing’ involved nothing other than the neighbouring farmers’ sons raising their caps as they passed down the lane or on the road that ran outside our house. If that was all they were guilty of then Mr McDonagh would surely have me arrested as soon as I crossed the Donegal border.
‘Are you sure it’s the right time, Sadie? Might we leave it for a month or two? Sure I’ve very little saved. I’ve no ring or anything.’
‘Is that right? Remember I’ve seen your bank book, Mr Hannigan.’ She had me there, while meagre, my savings were steadily growing. ‘And might that be a proposal?’
This woman was a force to be reckoned with.
‘Oh, you know what I mean. I don’t want your father thinking I’m some Johnny come lately, trying to take advantage.’
‘What, of my wealth and status?’
‘Well, Sadie, there aren’t many women who’ve a job in the bank and are as beautiful as you.’
‘Maurice, you’ll be fine. They know all about you. I’ve told them everything. They know you’re upstanding and aren’t about to have your wicked way and then run out on me.’
‘Sadie!’
‘Oh would you stop. I want you to meet Mammy and Daddy and our Noreen, to see who I am and where I come from – to see what you’re signing up for, so to speak.’
‘But I know all that, nothing will change how I feel about you, even if your family turn out to be a pack of nutcases.’
‘That’s not funny, Maurice!’ she snapped. The weather had suddenly turned.
Now bear in mind that at this point I knew nothing of Noreen’s issues, so I was completely thrown, totally unaware of what I’d just landed my two clodhoppers in. I allowed the silence to settle between us as she manhandled her magazine, violently flapping the pages back and forth.
‘He’ll not bite, you know. Although, if you go around saying things like that I’m not so sure.’
‘Ah Sadie, I didn’t mean it. It was just a joke.’
Flick, flick, flap, flap, page after page. I almost felt sorry for the magazine. She refused to look at me while I took terrified peeks at her. Slowly, however, the thaw began to set in, the tempo eased, finally the exhausted magazine came to rest on her lap. My eyes glanced sideways to assess the significance of the alteration. She was staring ahead of her, thinking her thoughts, possibly mulling over the wisdom of having agreed to go on that first date at all. She remained that way for a moment or two as I sweated beside her. In the end she sighed, a beautiful Donegal sigh.