‘What. The. Actual. Fuck. No.No!’ Ailbhe instinctively started to back away before Tom caught her by the arm.
‘Do not make this worse right now,’ he muttered urgently. ‘I can’t believe this, Ailbhe. Under the influence? Disorderly and erratic behaviour? This is alcohol again. I should’ve trusted my gut. You clearly do need to be in AA or some kind of recovery programme.’ He looked anguished. ‘Anyway, this isn’t the place – we need to discuss this properly.’ He glanced back at the slowly advancing queue and checked the time. ‘My lawyer’s east coast office will be just about open. I’ll make a call once I’m at the gate. It will all be fine.’
‘Tom, what?’ Ailbhe couldn’t believe the swift reversal of fortune that had taken place between the start of this queue and the end of it. ‘Are you going without me?’
‘I told you, I’ll call my lawyer. And your mother! I’m getting on this flight.’ He leaned into the wrap to lay a swift kiss on Tilly’s forehead. ‘I’m meeting the Optimise board of investors in eleven hours. Look, maybe next time tell me there’s an outstanding warrant for your arrestbeforewe get to the airport.’ He sounded weary. ‘I love you, honey. But you need to look at your behaviour.’ He shook his head sadly and jogged back to the queue and disappeared through the booths at the other end of the hall.
‘I cannot believe this. He just left!’ Ailbhe gaped.
‘Yeah,’ Officer Eric agreed. ‘I’ve never seen anything like that. You guys? Ever seen a guy just cut out like that?’
Ailbhe could barely take in what was being said beyond all the officers being in murmured agreement that no one had ever witnessed a husband just abandon his wife to airport security before. She didn’t even have time to form a coherent thought about how to get out of this shitemare when Tilly started crying once more. She wanted the other breast. Robotically, Ailbhe rearranged her on the other side as Officer Eric gathered her bags for her. She felt desperately out of control. ‘What happens now?’
‘We take you back to the holding room. Is there anyone – family, next of kin – you want me to phone? Someone who can come get the baby?’
‘Oh, Jesus,’ was all Ailbhe could say. She quickly pulled out her phone and texted the Snag List group.
‘And I’m sorry, but when you’re done I’ll have to take your phone.’
‘OK,’ Ailbhe answered, her voice dull. ‘I’ll let them know.’
The holding room had cement walls and no windows and felt ominously like practice for prison. She’d never felt so helpless in her whole life. Panic coursed through her as she paced and swayed the baby, trying desperately to stay calm.Why whywhydid I make a scene? What is going to happen?She was so tense that when Officer Eric appeared at the door to tell her she was being released, she dissolved instantly into tears.
‘I’m sorry I’m crying – my mind was going wild in here. I thought you were going to take Tilly away and put me in prison.’
‘It’s OK, it’s OK, Officer West was being a major hard ass today, but your husband’s lawyers have handled everything.’
‘Likeeverythingeverything? Can I still go to America?’
‘Eh, I doubt that. For now.’ Officer Eric looked uneasy. ‘I’d say there’ll still be plenty of red tape around that, but I get the impression the arrest and fine have been settled. Good ol’ US of A,’ he grinned, ‘money talks.’
Ailbhe quaked at the thoughts of how much her J1 Ket antics had just cost her husband. And if they had costhera husband. Had they told him the full story? The drugs? Tom was going to hate that. Ailbhe tried to keep her panic in check. Disappearing to America had been integral to her giving Tilly a good life.Tomwas integral to giving Tilly a good life. Now she was trapped in Dublin, and a dreadful certainty that this would be her undoing was creeping in.
In Dublin nothing could stay a secret.
‘Your friends are here to collect you.’ Officer Eric led Ailbhe and the sleeping Tilly through a series of empty low-ceilinged corridors that eventually spat them out in front of Arrivals.
‘Ailbh!’ Roe and Lindy rushed forward and Ailbhe burst into fresh tears.
‘I can’t believe this.’ Roe gently hugged Ailbhe, taking care not to disturb the baby. Lindy took Ailbhe’s suitcase from Officer Eric and thanked him profusely.
‘I thought you were home free after the visa seemed to go through,’ Roe said as they made their way outside, dodging happy travellers reuniting with their families.
‘I probablywashome free until this stupid altercation over the breastfeeding.’
‘Only you, Ailbhe,’ was all Lindy said.
The hours until Tom touched down five thousand miles from her sludged by. Ailbhe tried to keep busy and to keep out of her mother’s way. Ailbhe couldn’t bear her questions but Eileen was doggedly tailing her from room to room.
‘Ailbhe.’ She stood in the bedroom doorway as Ailbhe opened her huge suitcase and began to pull her clothes back out. Roe and Lindy had taken Tilly to give her a moment to recalibrate. She had packed the case less than a day ago – always last minute – and the rest of her possessions were in boxes in some shipping container somewhere being shipped to a life that was no longer starting. With just a suitcase of clothes in this whole mansion, she felt like she was on the run. In hiding from her past and in exile from her marriage. ‘Ailbhe? What happened at the airport? I deserve the truth. Tom is in a state. I think he was in shock when he rang from the departure gate. He’s worried about you and Tilly.’
‘It was just a mishap, Mam. I’d forgotten to put some stuff on my forms. Tom is making a big deal out of it. He’s just mad at me … because of the inconvenience.’
‘He thinks you have a problem with drink.’ She looked stricken and Ailbhe was relieved Tilly – the most tangible evidence of her occasional tipsy misadventures – wasn’t there. ‘I feel awful,’ her mother continued. ‘Your dad has his issues …’
‘I don’t, Mam, you know that.’
Eilers looked like she wanted to believe her.
