The Point by Gerard Brennan Page A

through his tangled hair. It didn’t make it all the way through and he had to withdraw.
    “Is Becky not coming?” Rachel asked.
    Malone shook his head. “No. She took Catherine and Liam to the cinema.”
    Rachel turned to Brian. “That’s daddy’s other family.”
    Brian smiled through his awkwardness and discomfort. He wished Rachel wouldn’t push her da’s buttons in front of him. Brian had no idea how to react to it. It made things 10 times worse that Malone was Brian’s boss as well.
    Malone seemed nonplussed, though. “I haven’t offered you two a drink yet, have I? Sorry. I’m a bit distracted.”
    “Aren’t you always?” Rachel said.
    Brian stood and thrust out the blue plastic bag. “Some wine.” He despaired at his monosyllabic speech and general jerkiness and the bag began to weigh on his straightened arm. He gritted his teeth and held it steady.
    Malone looked at the bulging bag and smirked. “Some?”
    “Aye. Sorry. I didn’t know what kind to get and they were doing three for a tenner. So, I got six different ones. Sorry.”
    “Don’t apologise, Brian. That’s very generous. Three for a tenner, too. Good deal.”
    Brian nodded. Malone nodded. Rachel cleared her throat.
    “Daddy?”
    “Yes?”
    “Do you want to go open a bottle or something?”
    “Oh, yeah. Right. Back in a minute.”
    Malone hurried off with the wine and Brian sat back down. He balanced rigidly on the edge of the couch. Rachel rubbed his back.
    “You okay?” she asked.
    Brian scrunched up his face. “Nope. This is no craic at all. Can we just leave or something?”
    “Do you not think that’d be a bit rude?”
    “I don’t know. Would it?”
    “Yes it would. Just chill, okay?” She fiddled with a length of her hair then said: “Did daddy seem a little distant to you?”
    “No. He was right there. All big and ready to punch me in the face and all.”
    “Catch yourself on. No, he seemed kind of out of it. I wonder what’s going on.”
    Brian shrugged. He had his own problems.
    “Can you smell burning?” Rachel asked.
    Brian sniffed and nodded. Rachel grabbed him by the arm.
    “Come on ’til we see what’s going on,” she said.
    Rachel led Brian to Malone’s kitchen. They found Malone scooting from one corner of the room to the other. Smoke uncurled from an open oven door. A smoke alarm went off and Malone grabbed a tea towel. He waved it under the alarm, trying to clear the air around it. Brian clocked a half-empty bottle of wine on the kitchen table.
    “Daddy, such an effort,” Rachel said. “You shouldn’t have bothered... Really.”
    Malone jumped as he noticed Brian and Rachel in the room for the first time. The smoke alarm stopped bleating. The sudden silence sent a wave of relief through Brian’s body that un-bunched the muscles in his shoulders. Malone shuffled on the spot, embarrassed.
    “Yeah, sorry,” Malone said. “There’s been a bit of a kitchen incident. I ruined the roast.” He tossed Rachel a bunch of keys from the counter. “Will you go to the garage and get something easier to cook? A pizza or something.”
    “You’re letting me drive your mid-life crisis-mobile?”
    “I’ve been drinking.”
    Rachel rolled her eyes. “Okay. You wait here, Brian. Looks like daddy could use a hand with that wine.”
     
    Everybody Be Cool
     
    John checked his scarf was tied tight around his face and pulled the peak of his baseball cap down low. Then he strolled into Murdock’s garage with the revolver held by his side, pointed at the floor. The shop assistant was too busy doing something to her fingernails to notice him at first but she almost jumped out of her skin as John started screaming at the top of his lungs.
    “Hey you! Get down. No, wait. Open the till. Stand back! Freeze.”
    “Fucking stick to one thing, will you? What do you want me to do?”
    John maintained the same ear-battering volume. “Open the till. No funny business.”
    “Mister, I don’t even get minimum