Page 16 of The Token Yank

Chapter 5

Eamonn

Even though Eamonn’s hometown of Guildford was only a half-hour from Stroude, it was like two separate galaxies. His visits home usually coincided with handiwork needing to be done around the house. Eamonn stood at the top of a ladder changing outdoor lightbulbs.

“You really don’t need to do this.” His mum watched from below. “I’m not made of glass. I can do thismyself.”

“I know you can, mum. But I can,too.”

She was only in her forties and in good shape, but after waiting tables all day for years to put a roof over his and his sisters’ heads, helping out around the house was the least he could do. This was supposed to be a job for his dad, if he hadn’t skipped out on them yearsago.

“Jesus, mum. How long has it been since you changed these things? Did you purposely want the house shrouded in darkness?” He unscrewed a bulb above the front door and put in a freshone.

“Thankyou.”

Eamonn came down the ladder and discarded the dead bulb in an old shopping bag. He moved the ladder to the side of the house, and his mum handed him a fresh light bulb. Back up hewent.

“I was having a chat with your Uncle George the other day,” he heard his mum say, and he already knew where this was going. “and he says he’d love to have you join him at his company when you graduate. They have a trainee program that’s a fast track tomanagement.”

Eamonn rolled his eyes at the house, never at his mum. It seemed that the closer he got to graduation, the more people wanted to give him unsolicitedadvice.

For most of his summers and weekends going back to when he was barely a teen, Eamonn worked at his uncle’s box factory. He would fold and pack boxes until his fingers chapped. He was proud of the work, and grateful for the chance to make extra money, but he always saw it as a means to an end. He didn’t intend to build a name for himself in the box industry. He had been told by teachers to think outside the box, and he took the adviceliterally.

“Uncle George says you should give him a ring and discuss what you’re interested in doing. The trainee program can lead to manager positions in marketing, accounting, manufacturing, productdevelopment.”

“Product development? Are they creating an even boxier box?” Too bad Eamonn didn’t know what he wanted to be doing for the rest of his life. He seemed to be the only uni student who didn’t. Eamonn screwed in the new lightbulb.

“You owe him a call,” shesaid.

He came down the ladder, and in her eyes, he saw she wasn’t going to letup.

“If it wasn’t for him and his company’s scholarship, you wouldn’t even be atStroude.”

“Iknow.”

“They have an annual all-hands meeting in Tahiti!” She was more excited by that than herson.

“That’s not going to swayme.”

“Right.” She stopped herself. “You know, flying is actually the safest form of transportation in the world. I remember when we went on holiday to Greece all those years ago, you loved flying. They gave you littlewings.”

“That was a long time ago.” Eamonn took down the ladder. He dropped the second dead bulb in the shopping bag without caring whether itbroke.

“Whatchanged?”

Eamonn grit his teeth. “I don’t hate flying. I hateairports.”

“I heard security checkpoints are bad, but it’s a shared miserable experience for all travelers. And then you get to jet off to someplacenew.”

Watching his mum daydream about the magic of flying made his stomach twist into a tight knot. He carried the ladder around the house to the shed in the backyard. He shoved it against the wall a little too hard. The clanging echoed loudly in theshed.

“Eamonn.” She jogged up to him. “What did Isay?”

“Airports are where people go to walk away from those they love and never comeback.”

His mum’s face flooded with concern, and an uncomfortable silence filled the space between them. She put a hand on his cheek. “Eamonn…”

“I’ll call Uncle George. I promise.” He kissed her hand before moving it off his face andleaving.