Chapters 4-6

Awareness

Brendan tears Scott's jeans climbing the gate and the gravel drive sets rocks in his sandals, still he pushes forward. He is overwhelmed by the wide residential street and sizes of the homes and cars. It's so peaceful and calm, it's like he's in a whole different universe. Aunt Mari returns and has to honk at him to make him move out of the driveway. 

She has a massive Chevy station wagon packed with groceries. He helps her take them inside and as she puts them away, she reminds Brendan he has a doctor's appointment. He had forgotten but then has a flash of a memory of a woman toying with him, at the office. He shakes it off and works on the iron to keep his mind busy. 

Aunt Mari points out that he hasn't been listening to her as she talked to him, and he's apologetic. Then she reveals Eamonn was one of three men arrested for the bombing and others are unhappy with him, so he is not returning home anytime soon. If ever. Shaken, he passes out, hitting his head. Aunt Mari tends to him, then he goes up to change. He considers what probably happened and comes to believe it was his fault Eamonn was arrested. But he is also overwhelmed by the realization he's been set free from Derry and her past...and is ecstatic. He asks Aunt Mari to explain how she got him into the US, but she's reticent, making him believe he was snuck out of Ireland and into the US. 

Houston 

Brendan is taken to the doctor's appointment and is amazed at the size of Houston, the building going on, and how flat the land is. He is told, en route, his uncle contacted people in NORAID and Aunt Mari flew to Northern Ireland to bring him back to the States. He was hidden outside Strabane to give him time to heal before travel. His rucksack having clothes in it cushioned his fall enough so he was only injured -- broken arm and ribs -- but he was also the beginning of a heart attack due to a congenital heart defect. The doctor he's going to see is a heart specialist. Father Jack drove them to the airport in Manchester, and he was brought into the US under his own passport. Ma was shocked he had it. He was under sedation when passing through Customs, and they were told he was simple. 

At the doctor's office, Brendan has flashes of an uncomfortable memory about the doctor's assistant, Carla. But she tends to his injury, gives him a tetanus shot in his butt. Then she points out he's torn his jeans just before Dr. Gilbert comes in. The elderly man is so kindly Brendan tells him of his confusion over the memories and reveals more than he intended to about himself, including who Joanna was, thanks to her name tattooed on his shoulder. Dr. Gilbert offers him a referral to a therapist, then says he is healing well and everything will get better. 

Dr. Gilbert leaves and Carla comes in to tell Brendan he can go...and to watch him pull on his shirt. She touches him, suggestively, and he grabs her hand, angry at how she could mess with him knowing his condition. She claims she meant nothing by it, but he wipes his fingers over her lipstick, then smears it on his face and gives Aunt Mari the hint something happened. She reveals Carla got him to answer question so she was the one who always handled him. Alone. He knows she did something to him and hates the woman...but wonders if he wants to see her, again. 

Catch Up 

Brendan reads letters from Mairead about how rough things are in Derry. Ma and Rhuari were arrested for a short while. Eamonn was tried under the Special Powers Act and sent to prison for 20 years. But Colm and Danny have not been touched. Ma is getting a phone, thanks to Mairead, and Mai is happy her family lives in a forward-thinking town like Toronto...and about to have child #4. 

Brendan starts doing repairs around the house and then for the neighbor's housekeepers and gardeners. He learns Uncle Sean has had visitors from Ireland, once of whom was Da's brother. He can find out nothing more and Aunt Mari is tight with information now. But Brendan overhears them discussing a position at a bar Uncle Sean just bought, called The Colonel's, and asks if he can take it. He's to restock, keep the place clean and, since he cleaned up the kitchen in the back, cook as need be. Three nights a week for $20 a night, paid under the table. 

The main waitress is Raquel (Rocky), who is all business but whose twang Brendan has a hard time understanding; a second waitress is three nights a week, Lorraine, who speaks with an easier drawl. He gets along with Todd, the bartender, who gives him a ride home, buys him a beer and lets him smoke some of his pot. Then Brendan finds out Uncle Sean has plans for a row of shops next to the bar, and he feels settled enough to wonder if he might be able to take one over as his own shop, even though he's still just seventeen.