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'Calm down, Lance, for fuck's sake. What is wrong with you?'

Lance sighed heavily, trying to control his temper and not doing a very good job of it.

'The money is all here, OK. The tickets are being delivered by Karen Hines. She booked them herself, OK? So fucking calm down.'

Lance knew he was acting suspiciously but he was unable to relax. Once he had the cash and the tickets he would calm down.

'What are you going to Northern Ireland for, anyway? Hardly a fucking holiday destination, is it?'

'Who are you, Donny, the fucking holiday police?'

Donny laughed but he knew Lance would be taking a plane somewhere else from there. The question he wanted an answer to was where. He knew he had money, they all did, and he knew that if he was going on the trot then it meant he had an inkling that something was up.

Lance was a fucking leech and he knew that, had accepted that; his worry was whether it was something he should be worrying about.

Lil looked around her and saw her sons sitting there, all trying to understand what they had just heard.

Lance, the child she had never wanted, had never cared for, had destroyed everything that they had held dear. He had caused every person in the room heartbreak. Had ensured that not one of them had ever known a real day's peace and now, she knew, thanks to him, they never would.

And poor Patrick, he had tried to be a good brother, had tried to make up for her lack of warmth, her inability to love her own son by loving him enough for both of them. Christy was crying silently and Shamus was holding on to him, comforting him.

Colleen and Christy had been so close. The other kids had loved them, but they were the product of Patrick Brodie; he and Colleen had been Brewster's, a man who had not cared for them and had been the reason Patrick Brodie had died like he had. Together they had been strong, had always relied on each other for strength and love.

'Go home, all of you.' Patrick sounded so calm and so normal that they all automatically did what he asked.

They knew what was going to happen, but no one said it of course.

'You OK, Mum?'

Lil smiled at them all; only her little Shawn would want to stay with her when Patrick said to go. He was a brave little fucker and she loved him, as she loved them all.

'I'm fine, darling, get yourselves off home and let us sort this out, eh?'

As they were leaving, she said quietly, 'If anyone asks, we were together tonight, right?'

She glanced at Scanlon and he nodded.

'Good. Now get off home, all of you.'

'I want to stay here, Mum, can I?'

Kathleen was looking at her with her usual sad eyes and Lil couldn't deny her.

'Course you can, darling, if that's what you want. All right with you, Mum?'

Annie nodded and Lil felt a moment's sorrow for her. Her baby, her boy, was finally unmasked for the shite he really was.

They all left without a further word, understanding the situation without needing to be told. As she watched them leave, Lil consoled herself that out of eight children, seven had turned out all right.

At least they knew when to leave.

'Mr Scanlon?'

He didn't say a word, just left with the others.

Once they were alone, Lil finally broke down. 'Take Kathleen upstairs, Mum. I need to talk to Patrick.'

Annie stood in the room, her small body bristling with annoyance. 'You can't believe that, Lil. Whatever Lance is…'

'Oh, fuck off, Annie. You know it's true as well I do. His absence alone should fucking tell you something.' Pat's voice was angry and Annie knew that he had never had much time for her, but he was always respectful to her, as he was everyone.

'Come on, Kathleen, let's get upstairs and put the TV on, eh?'

She was determined not to cause any more upset.

'Pat, can I tell you something?'

'Not now, Kathy, I have a lot of things to sort out, darling…'

His voice was sharper than he intended and Kathleen flinched at his tone.

He went to her and held her hands gently in his. 'Later, eh? Me and you, we'll have a big conversation, but at the moment I have to do a few things. I need to find Lance…'

She smiled then. 'I know. I want to tell you that he is going on holiday, ain't he, Nan?'

She looked at Annie expectantly.

'What you on about, you silly girl?'

Lil stood up then and Annie knew she had been rumbled, but she still couldn't tell them what they wanted to know. Lance was still her boy and he had promised to send for her when the time was right. He was everything to her, no matter what he had done.

'What the fuck is she on about, Mum?'

'Oh, Lil, you know what she's like. You can't listen to what she says. She's off her fucking tree half the time.'

Kathleen sat down then and said, with more lucidity than anyone had ever given her credit for, 'You helped him pack! You told him he had to go away. Like you always tell him what to do.'

Kathleen looked at Lil. 'I hate living there but no one stops them from making me stay there. I don't want to go into a mental home and they want to put me in one now, so she can go with him.'

'No one's putting you in a mental home, Kathleen, I promise. Now tell us what is going on.'

Pat was kneeling in front of Kathleen and she smiled at him sadly. 'They will, Pat, they told me, and, if I go in a nut house, I'll die. I can't go in the nuthouse.'

Annie sighed and tutted loudly. 'Well, shut up then, you stupid girl…'

'Why don't you shut up, Mother? Come on, Kathleen, darling, tell us what is going on, yeah? I swear to you, darling, nothing will happen to you. You can stay here, you can always stay here, love, for as long as you like, but you never wanted to, did you?'

'I did, but I wasn't allowed to. But now Lance is going away and Nanny Annie is going with him when he is settled.'

'She is talking out of her arse.'

Annie was nervous and Kathleen saw that.

'I am not. I am not talking out of my arse and you can't say that to me any more. Lance is going away tonight and I don't have to be scared any more. She took my baby you know, Mum. Her and Lance.'

'What baby, Kathleen?'

Lil's voice was quiet and Kathleen put her head down and started to cry.

Annie sighed heavily. 'What fucking baby? There was no baby. Are you going to tell me you are listening to this fucking nut case?'

Kathleen was out of her seat and, grabbing Annie by the neck, she screamed, 'Don't you call me that. Don't you dare call me that. You took my baby away and you put it in the fucking bin.'

She looked at Patrick and said angrily, 'You were robbing the post office, remember? Lance told me that if you knew about the baby, you would put me away, no one would believe me. He gave it to her. And she put it in the bin, Pat, my little baby. I wasn't allowed to make any noise in case the police came and you all got arrested… Then Mum would have been cross and make me go away.' She looked at Annie.

'Tell them, tell them. Now they are going and putting me in the nuthouse, that's what Lance said to me. The nuthouse, because you all hate me and don't care about me, but you do. Promise me you won't put me in the nuthouse, promise me! I don't like kissing Lance, Mum, and Nanny says I am telling lies but I'm not. Colleen knew, Colleen knew because she saw him. And Colleen went away. Lance made her go away.'

She was crying now, sobbing.

'Fucking hell, Mum. Fucking hell. What the fuck is going on with this fucking family?'

Annie was standing with her hand over her mouth and Lil's blow knocked her to the floor.

'You bitch, you fucking evil bitch. You knew all along what he was like and you made me guilty about him. And you knew, you always knew…'

'Keep her here, Mum. Even if you have to fucking beat her brains out. Don't let her near a phone, don't let her warn him, right?' Patrick was shouting.

Lil nodded. 'You go, mate, she ain't going nowhere.'

Lil held her daughter in her arms as she saw Patrick walk from the room.