Trespasses

Eamonn drives Cushla and Gina to Michael’s funeral, and he sternly orders his sister not to cry. The minister speaks of Michael’s commitment to justice and his love for his wife. After they leave the church, Cushla tries to talk to Victor and Jane, but Eamonn drags her to the car. At the pub, one of the mourners describes how “When I Move to the Sky” was sung at Michael’s cremation. That night, the news reports that the Provisional IRA is taking responsibility for Michael’s murder; they killed him because they viewed him as a “willing agent of a most corrupt, rotten, and evil judicial system” (254). Gina is worried about Cushla because she feels too ill and nauseated to eat. Cushla goes to bed, buries her face in one of Michael’s sweaters, and weeps.

Someone sets the McGeowns’ home on fire, and Davy calls Cushla. She hurries into the blazing house when she learns that Davy has gone back inside, and she drags him out to his family. An angry crowd gathers around Betty, Seamie, Mandy, and Davy. Tommy is nowhere to be seen, and a woman calls him “[t]hat murdering wee bastard” (257). After Cushla brings the McGeowns to her home, she learns that Tommy was arrested earlier that day and is suspected of shooting Michael. The next morning, Tommy is charged with the murder. Eamonn storms into the house, swears at Cushla, and demands that she send the McGeowns away immediately. He tries to hit her, but Gina stops him. Cushla drives the McGeowns to the home of Seamie’s brother. Davy promises to write to her, and she hugs him goodbye.

Three days later, two officers take Cushla to the police station. The soldier from the school disco asks her if she was in a sexual relationship with Michael, which she denies until he produces photographic evidence. He then reads passages from Tommy’s diary, in which he describes his feelings for Cushla and notes that she once answered the phone asking for Michael. The officer tells Cushla that she is “the connection between the victim and his killer” (270). She tells the officer that she has done nothing wrong and leaves the station, but, as she walks home, she begins to wonder if Michael would still be alive if he hadn’t met her. Slattery and the headmaster come to the house, and the latter fires Cushla: “Community relations in the town were delicate and her position on the school staff was not, at present, tenable” (272).

The narrative moves forward a month. Cushla spends much of that time in bed, and Gina takes care of her. The pub’s business suffers as both Catholics and Protestants avoid associating with the family who sheltered the McGeowns. Cushla receives a letter from Davy informing her that he is in foster care and that his sister has been placed elsewhere. Gina tells her daughter, “It’s not your fault. And Michael wasn’t your fault either” (276). Relieved that she doesn’t have to keep the secret from her mother any longer, Cushla tells her how she and Michael were followed and photographed. Gina urges Cushla to carry on with her life, draws her a bath, and prepares a meal for them both. Cushla takes some photographs to be developed and then walks along the lake.

Cushla picks up the developed photographs and purchases a newspaper. She is afraid of being followed, so she drives somewhere she can be alone. According to the paper, Tommy has been convicted of Michael’s murder. The young man was working on a house near Michael’s, and the barrister invited him in for a cup of tea. She imagines Tommy “with all his rage. Desperate to belong” (281), mistaking Michael for a judge and agreeing to kill him. She sees that she wasn’t the connection between Michael and Tommy after all and that Michael’s murder is just another example of the usual bad luck that plagues the town.

Tommy is sentenced to life in prison. Gerry is one of the few people in the village who will still interact with Cushla and Gina. He gives Cushla some souvenirs from his vacation abroad and tells her that the school has hired a woman from Ballyclare to replace her. The pub is bombed. Although the damage is extensive, no one is killed. Eamonn suspects that one of his regulars was involved because the police were notified in advance and had time to evacuate everyone. He plans to sell the pub and move his family away, Cushla included. Victor comes to the pub and asks to speak to Cushla. He apologizes for his behavior toward her and explains that he was afraid Michael was drawing too much negative attention between his affair and the police brutality case he accepted. Cushla tells him, “I loved him. But I couldn’t tell him. And I don’t know why the hell I’m telling you” (285). Victor assures her that Michael knew how she felt and that she made him happy in his last months. She tells Victor that she plans to leave, and he congratulates her: “Wherever you end up, think of the rest of us poor bastards, stuck in this hellhole” (285). After he leaves, Cushla looks through her photographs, including one of Michael. For a moment, it’s as though he’s in the pub with her.

The narrative moves forward in time to the museum. The middle-aged man who recognized Cushla is Davy. She looked for him for years. Cushla tells Davy that she married a man named Mr. McTiernan and that she has three children and four grandchildren. She remains best friends with Gerry, who is “in a civil partnership with a Mr. Mulgrew” (288). Davy has a daughter with whom he has a strained relationship. He is in a romantic relationship with the tour guide, who is much younger than him, but Cushla assures him that she doesn’t judge him. She touches the hand of the sculpture of Michael and then continues the tour with Davy.