Page 101 of The Escape Plan

It doesn’t work.

“Beckett Patrick McCarthy,” Mam interrupts, striding into the frame out of nowhere.

“Hi, Mam.”

“Hello, son,” she practically harrumphs. “Now, I have just one thing to ask you.”

Finally, someone who wants my flight information so I’m not stuck taking sixteen buses back to Mayo from Dublin airport.

“Yes Mam?”

“With all due respect, my dear boy, have you lost your ever-loving mind?”

“I—” I stare at the screen as Mam claps her hands and orders my siblings to skedaddle.

“It’s my house, Mam!” Aoife protests.

Mam puts her hands on her hips and stands to her full Irish Mammy height of about five foot nothing, looking scarier and more intimidating than a six foot five Viking in the process. “Do I look like someone who gives a flying rat’s behind about whose house this is? Out with you, the lot of you!”

My siblings make a hasty retreat, which is smart of them.

I’m smug for about half a millisecond before the wrath is directed at me.

“So?” Mam demands, hands still planted firmly on her round hips.

“Mam, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“I’m talking about the fact that we’ve been over the moon to see you happy after watching you miserable for so long. And now, you’re planning to walk right back into your miserable life as if this summer has taught you nothing!”

“Miserable’s a harsh word,” I say with a forced smile.

Mam doesn’t return it. Instead, she levels me with alook.“It’s true. I know how close you were to your gran, but after she passed, you retreated into yourself where nobody could reach you. Since you’ve been there in Serendipity Springs, it’s like you’ve been brought back to life.”

“I know, Mam,” I say with a nod. “I have been. And I’m sorry I was so closed off. I should have been more present. When I get back, I promise things will be different.”

“Would you ever quit, Becks! Sheesh. For the love of all that is holy, I’m not asking for an apology. I’m asking you to see that it’s a good thing to chooseyourselfsometimes. To do what’s best for you. Your whole life, you’ve done nothing but put us first, sacrifice your own desires to help your family. And son, I appreciate that more than you could ever know.” She pauses, gives her head a shake. “But I wasn’t kidding when I said you needed to take some time this summer to get away and see how different life could be for you if you’d only just let yourself live it. You’ve been rotting away doing nothing for far too long.”

“I have a job you know, Mam.”

“You hate that crusty old job!”

She’s right. I do.

“You’re totally wasted at that school, and you know it.”

I hate to admit it, but she’s right again.

“When I get home, I’ll quit,” I promise, realizing as I say it that it’s true. I will. I think I already knew it was something I needed to do when I got back.

“Or, you could just not come home at all.”

I frown. “But… I need to be there.”

“Why?” she demands. “If you’re quitting the hoity-toity job, then what’s your reasoning here, son? Because I’m all ears.”

“Aoife’s baby’s on the way,” I say, but even to my ears, it sounds like I’m grasping at straws.

“PLANES EXIST, YOU UTTER EEJIT!” Aoife’s yell comes from offscreen, confirming that my siblings may have left the room, but they’ve absolutely been eavesdropping this entire time.

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