We leavethe car in the car park ofThe Comet, one of the neighbourhood’s only pubs, and we head inside looking for a table.
The place is basically empty. During the week in this kind of pub you can only find the die-hard drinkers, locals who’d rather go out for a pint than sit at home and get pissed.
We sit down and the waitress brings over our menus straight away. We all order a burger and a beer each – except Ian, who’s the designated driver.
“So, what’s with this brotherly night out?” I ask, sipping at my beer.
Ian and Nick glance at each other.
“What? What’s wrong?” I ask, chewing my burger.
Nick clears his throat. “I took Mum and Dad to the hospital a few days ago.”
I immediately forget about my food.
“Things are a bit…”
“Tell me, for fuck’s sake!”
“Ryan,” Ian touches my arm. “He’s getting worse, you know that.”
I can barely swallow.
“He’s going to need help pretty soon.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Mum can’t handle it on her own.”
“So what are we here for, then?” I ask, raising my voice. “Didn’t you make us come back so we could help them?”
“I made you come back so that you could be here for his last moments.”
I shake my head, upset.
“Did you know things were getting worse?” I ask, looking at Nick. I can already see the answer etched across his face.
“So you just left me out of the loop. As always.”
“That’s not true.”
“You always treat me like a little kid.”
“We just want to protect you,” Nick says, calmly.
“Protect me? From what? I’m a grown man, you don’t have to lie for me anymore.”
Ian sighs. “I’m sorry. We didn’t want to lie to you.”
“But you always do. Both of you.” I point at them. “You leave me out of anything important, any decisions…you just leave me out.”
“That’s not what we were doing,” Nick intervenes.
“Actually, it’s exactly what you’ve done.” I get up. “You and your ‘exclusive’ friendship…”
“Sit down, Ryan,” Ian holds my arm.
“Look, you see? You’re doing it again.”
