Free Trauma by Ken McClure

be done to the Holy Father barely registered with him. He had seen it so often before. The fact that Sharon loved Billy also failed to impress. The doors moved sluggishly back after an initial jerk and he stepped out on to the landing. He walked over to the balcony to take in a deep breath and the view.
    The air wasn't fresh; it smelled of fried onions and emulsion paint. There was a whiff of diesel and exhaust coming from the bypass and a faint drizzle settled on his forehead as he stood motionless at the intersection between two walkways. Laughter and curses and the sound of a plastic ball hitting off tarmac drifted up from below to compete with a nearby television set and an argument between a man and a woman on the floor below. Lafferty walked along to the O'Donnell's door and rang the bell.
    A woman appeared in the doorway, drying her hands on a tea cloth. 'Father!' she exclaimed. 'I wasn't expecting you to call tonight.'
    'Don't upset yourself Jean. I just thought I might have a word with Mary if she was in,' said Lafferty. 'If she's not or if it's inconvenient, there's no problem. We can fix up another time.'
    'Oh, she's in Father,' said Jean O'Donnell, looking back over her shoulder with an uneasy air about her. 'Come in. I'll get her out of her room.'
    Lafferty followed the diminutive woman in front of him into the living room. Twin boys, aged about ten were sitting on the couch watching television. 'Hello you two,' said Lafferty, sitting down opposite them. 'What are you watching?'
    'Noel Edmunds,' replied one of them. His tone conveyed that they were not exactly pleased at being interrupted nor were they at any great pain to conceal the fact.
    'Put that television off Neil,' commanded his mother. Father Lafferty has come to see us. Jean O'Donnell kept a fixed smile on her face as if hoping to counteract the surliness of her sons.'
    'Maybe they can watch next door?' suggested Lafferty. 'Do they have a set in their room?'
    Jean O'Donnell looked vaguely unhappy at the suggestion but the boys were off like a shot. 'It's not right,' she said. 'They shouldn't be watching television while you're here.'
    Lafferty thought she seemed strangely vulnerable when she said it and could see what she was thinking. 'Times change Jean,' he said.
    Jean O'Donnell nodded briefly, as if she didn't want to acknowledge something even when it was presented to her as fact. 'I'll fetch Mary,' she said and left the room.
    Lafferty examined his surroundings, taking in personal touches rather than the furnishings which could be found with only minor differences in any of the other flats in the block. There was a shield on the mantle which had Joseph O'Donnell's name newly etched on to it. Crossed darts in the centre said what it had been won for. A Maeve Binchey novel lay on the corner of the hearth with Jean O'Donnell's spectacles lying on the cover. Lafferty could see that it was a library copy from the plastic protector on the cover. How many other people in the block visited the library, he wondered and concluded that the fingers of one hand might suffice for the answer. Apart from anything else the nearest public library was a bus ride away. In fact the nearest anything to these flats was a bus ride away. This was a major factor in their unpopularity.
    Lafferty could hear whispered arguing outside the door. It seemed to go on for an age before the door opened and a teenage girl was almost pushed into the room. 'She was just about to go out Father,' smiled Jean. 'But she's got time for a word before she goes.'
    Lafferty stood up and smiled. 'Nice to see you Mary. Long time no see.'
    The girl, dressed in leather jacket and tight jeans looked up from beneath hair that cascaded over her eyes and said, 'Sorry, I've been a bit busy.' Her voice was laced with resentment. She shrugged off her mother's hand which was resting on her shoulder.
    'Jean, why don't you leave us to have a little chat?' suggested Lafferty.
    'I'll put the kettle on,' said