Derry Girls: Impossible to Ignore

Chspter 9: Dear Niall, Part 1

     The only positive thing in Niall's life at that point were letters he received from Michelle on a sporadic basis. He kept them all in one of his books for safe keeping. He received the first letter nearly a year into sentence.

    Dear Niall,
     Not sure how easily this letter will get to ye. Mammy watches me like a fuckin' hawk 'round the mail! I'd love to visit ye, but I no proper way to do so! I know ye killed someone, but it was an accident and ye're still my brother! Ye're a good person who just got caught up in some Provo shit! It's not the same here without ye. Mammy and Daddy won't say yer name. Ryan also misses the shit outta you's! He argues with Mammy and Daddy on an almost daily fuckin' basis! Says he's goin' to move out soon as he's 18 and go off to university in Belfast! Christ, but I'll miss him! Grady doesn't seem to fully understand what happened. I really fuckin' miss ye. I wish ye could write back, but I know Mammy would just throw them away b'fore I had a chance to read 'em. I wish this fuckin' nonsense would just stop already an' ye could come home! On a lighter note, Erin's Ma, Mary, had herself a new wain! Her name is Anna and she's fuckin' adorable! Other than that, not a lot to report about. Anyway, hope I can get another letter to ye soon.
     - Love, Michelle XOXO

     That first letter, along with Michelle's words of wanting all this to just end, were the biggest motivation for Niall to let go of the hate that got drilled into him. He'd usually get a letter from Michelle every few months or so, typically about what she and her crazy friends got up to. He had some memories of Erin Quinn, the wannabe writer, her cousin Orla McCool, described by many (including Michelle) as an oddball (no doubt inherited from her equally strange Ma), and Clare Devlin, the wee walkin' cack attack. He recalls Mr. and Mrs, Quinn being good people, though Erin's Granda Joe often gave his son in law an unnecessarily hard time. A new baby would surely liven things up. He received a series of letters throughout '94.

     MOTHERFUCKER!
     "Motherfucker" is my new thing. Watched this film, called Pulp Fiction. Da got it off Pyro Pauline, and it's about these two lads, and they wear these cracking suits and they rock about, just shooting people and eating cheeseburgers, and they're all, "Motherfucker this, motherfucker that." It's got the disco dancer from Look Who's Talkin' in it, plus that massive ride from Die Hard, but he doesn't say "Yippe-ki-yay, motherfucker" in this one. 'Sides that, I don't even know where to fuckin' begin with the new shit goin' on with me in the Girls!

     Well, first off, we got someone new livin' with us! Remember Ma's sister Kathy? Ye were pretty wee when she ran off to England to get an abortion. She got divorced recently after gettin' caught doin' the dirty with some other fella, an' she came back to Derry with quite the fuckin' surprise! Turns out, she never got the abortion! Had herself an English prick of a son! His name is James, and SWEET JESUS can be be a massive ballache!

     Cuz everyone was havin' cack attacks over the English thing, James became the first fella to attend Our Lady Immaculate College. On his first fuckin' day at school he wouldn't shut the fuck up about not bein' permitted to use the school toilets (fuckin' pervert!). Same day we all got detention because one of us  (Erin!) thought it was a good idea to attempt bullying a first year! The nun watchin' us durin' detention fuckin' died on us! Also that crazy bitch Kathy ditched James to go back to London, leaving the idiot with us! Hopefully I'll write again soon! I also hope ye're doin' ok in there... just don't drop the soap, ye hear?
     -Love, Michelle XOXO

     Niall was very surprised by that bit of news. He vaguely remembered Aunt Kathy, being 3 or 4 when she ran off to England for what was an unknown reason to him at the time. Ma was pregnant with Michelle by that point. An English cousin? He had a chuckle with that bitter irony. As for Michele accusing Erin of the attempted bullying, Niall wasn't buying that. He remembers Erin being too good natured for that (even if a bit high strung), but Michelle has had a temper for as long as he could remember. Her language had also gotten more colorful.