I worked up a newer timeline for this book...and as of this time it fits so much better.
-----
April 1 Brendan departs Houston
April 2 Arrives Derry via Gatwick and Glasgow, met by Maeve. She figures out it’s him. Ma is not happy. Neither is Kieran. Mrs. Haggerty may have overheard.
April 3 Brendan lays out what’s up—he’s Jeremy Landau till she's dead. Ma pissy but also dithers about in memories. Hints his father may have helped save his life.
April 4 Brendan sets himself up in the hutch. Rhuari comes by to visit, with groceries. Accepts Brendan’s story w/o hesitation. When he is upstairs, Ma asks him who that man is.
April 5 Father Jack does communion at house. Ma laughs about having a Jew man in her home. Seems to accept Brendan as Jeremy so Father Jack does, as well.
April 6 --
April 7 Peace group meets to firm up ways of supporting Bobby Sands’ campaign. Man talks with Brendan as that Jewish American and warns him about Catholics. Brendan goes to Peoples Wall to think, returns as meeting letting out. Father Jack mentions couldn’t get Joanna to come. Brendan freaks out; knows Father Jack is up to some shit.
April 8 Brendan goes to Derry Journal to read about the bombing. Learns Joanna not killed. Goes to her old house but another family lives there. Goes to library and looks through phone book, but too many Martins, and if he asks each one, it will work against him. When he sees Kieran, sends a message to Colm he wants to meet.
April 9 Election. Damned near impossible to get around. Ma listens on the radio. Brendan home with Ma so Maeve can get out and about. Ma disparages him. Your father never backed down from a challenge. Not even when there were so many...angry and hateful...deserving...only got their majority by lies and thuggery...always lies and thuggery, with my poor Eamonn.
April 10 Celebrations over Bobby Sands’ win. Brendan goes to Derry Journal and Library. No info about his family or father's past.
April 11 Demonstrations. More celebrations. Army on edge. Fights. Brendan takes it all in, introduced around. Some of Da’s old mates. One remembers Eamonn Kinsella telling his tales in a pub. Beautiful. Some chap recording it. It’s only those who’ve seen death who can tell the truest stories of Ireland. You know what it means, death, memory of Jeremy. I got nobody to talk to. (As the Irish tell their stories tenfold times, to one and all. Maybe that’s what Jeremy needed.
April 12 Father Jack does communion with Ma, at house. Almost saintly in her responses. Brendan asks about Joanna. Maybe someone to talk to about the Troubles. Father Jack calls him on it, cold. Brendan just as sharp back.
April 13 Brendan goes to see wedding registry. More questions. Gets hint Da worked for Nationalist Party in 1953 election, in Belfast. Kieran tells Brendan Colm looking for him, and where. Goes. They meet and almost fight over not telling him about Joanna. Colm a better fighter than Brendan, but still nearly bested by Brendan’s Aikido. Finally sees impossible situation. Colm won’t tell him where she lives. You’re too raw about this, still.
April 14 Peace group meets. Still no Joanna. No Father Jack. Brendan asks around but no one knows her, not even the few Protestants.
April 15 Brendan calls around and finds someone who knows about recordings done in mid-60s at Ulster. Jimmy Haggerty takes him and they heard Da tell a beautiful tale about the Dagda and harpies in the Cliffs of Moher. Brendan records it. Jimmy harassed as Catholic. Car messed up but when the students find out Brendan’s American, they clean it up to even better than before. Even fix a problem. Just a bit of fun; no hard feelings.
April 16 Brendan learns Father Jack is going to visit Eamonn Friday. Asks to tag along. J: They won’t let you see him. B: Not as his brother, true, but as a Jewish man?
April 17 Brendan goes with him and they talk. Open, honest and brutal. J: Many thought you were dead. B: Others thought I’d just abandoned the family, like Ma’s brothers had, didn’t they? J: Some, not many. They didn’t think you clever enough. B: Yeah, I’m the simple one. But you knew better and kept quiet. J: It was better for everyone to keep things uncertain. And you being judgmental about it is childish in the extreme.
Brendan has to interview a couple of unnamed prison officials to get on their good side. Brutal about opinions of Catholics...but have surprising respect for the blanket men and Bobby Sands. Total commitment. The stench of the Maze almost gets to Brendan. He plays Da’s story for Eamonn, who is affected by it. He lets Brendan know he recognizes him, through his eyes. Almost weeps, and listening to Da’s tape makes him smile. His teeth are bad. Our Da had a lovely way with words, as any of us would say.
April 18 Demonstrations, anger and death.
April 19 Demonstrations, anger and death. Communion at Ma’s bedside. Kieran there, beginning to see the end is near for her. She berates Brendan for abandoning them like her brothers did. Talks of Da working election in 1953, for Harry Diamond.
April 20 Ma has issues. Brendan helps Maeve take care of her. Afterwards, Ma’s very weak. Meandering in her memories. Brendan gets her to talk about 1953 election and how thugs from Daniel Dixon’s pack, and the Hannas’, would harass those like Da for canvassing. Deserved it, he did. Bloody bastard deserved it. What does that mean?
April 21 Another meeting. Still no Joanna or Father Jack. Brendan getting pissed, but too many Martins in phone book to ask each one about her.
April 22-25 Brendan piecing together his father did something for the IRA, something that haunted him and Ma. Made them forever grateful to him. But What??? Ma little help, but meandering comments suggest she feels guilty and thinks Brendan's birth was her punishment.
April 26 No communion. Outrage over deaths of other protesters and army crushing demonstrations with tear gas, rubber bullets and batons. Full chaos.
April 27 Brendan manages to get to library and read Belfast Telegraph about 1953 election. Usual crap...but side story about man’s body found, beaten to death. No idea why. Was part of the three UU Protestant campaigns, in a small role.
April 28 At meeting, Father Jack lets slip Joanna’s whereabouts, maybe deliberately.
April 29 Brendan goes looking for Joanna. Brendan sees damage done to her. Tries to speak with her but has to stay as Jeremy due to family and friends nearby. She tells him what happened and how angry she is. Lost home. Father on disability. I trusted the Catholics, but look what they did. Your questions bring back too many memories. Reminds me of all that I lost. Brendan torn apart. He tells her who he is. She snarls, I knew you’d abandon me. Forget about me. He all but begs her to understand but she laughs at him. Doesn’t accept his reasons. Not for a moment did I ever think you weak. She thinks he helped set bomb up to kill her father, doesn’t believe his promise he was not. She calls him a liar and sends him away.
Brendan takes bus back to Bus depot, sits at Peoples Wall to smoke and think. Devastated. Then he's caught and taken by his old mate, Billy Corrie and company. Brutally interrogated. Gets away. Builds pistol that was hidden in the house, goes to kill someone but ghost of Danny stops him. Maeve takes him home, hint she thanks Danny.
April 30 Soldiers arrive searching for Brendan. He hides, they leave. He asks Maeve to help meet with Colm, when better. He's moved to the Haggerty’s in the dead of night. Leaves some of his things in the hutch.
May 1-2 Lots of thinking, considering. Asks Mrs. Haggerty about when Kinsellas moved to Nailors Row and she mentions end of 1953. Deliberately chose house condemned and made it livable enough. Like they were hiding.
May 3 2nd meeting with Colm at Grianan Aileach. Honest discussion about how those in power manipulate the emotions of those they want to control. Brendan backs him up with anecdotes of America.
May 4 --
May 5 (Bobby Sands dies)
May 6-7 Northern Ireland explodes. Riots. Back and forth. Army getting reinforcements.
May 8 Brendan helping Maeve when Ma grows ill. Jimmy Haggerty takes them in his father’s car. Brutalized along the way. Maeve overseeing it, goes to find a priest. Brendan hears Ma confession. We had to kill him. Him and his thugs, wouldn’t stop. So we had to. God’ll understand. He has to. We had to. Dies.
Brendan threatens Father Jack to stop Eamonn, heads back to the Bogside, confrontation on bridge then dropped off at Haggerty’s.
May 9 Brendan arrested and interrogated. Brutal. Waterboarded.
May 10-12 Interrogated
May 13 Brendan close to dying. Released, dumped. Calls Maeve for help. Deals with Protestants in situation that becomes a party. Kieran picks him up, takes him to Colm. Brendan freaks and won’t go inside shack. I won't go into a room, not another room! They think he grassed on them. Nearly executed but lets slip to Colm that he saw Danny’s ghost. Course reversed. Hints Danny really alive. Kieran shaken and now respects Brendan. Taken to a garden house to recover.
Brendan joins the IRA to build bombs that will not go off before they're supposed to.
No comments:
Post a Comment