Normally, she was just fine. If she was totally relaxed, in a familiar environment, she wouldn’t have any trouble. But, since arriving in Liberty, the problem had reared its ugly head with a vengeance.
She’d lied to Finn and Conor. She felt terrible about it, but she’d never told anyone who wasn’t a medical professional about her toilet issues.
There had been no bug in her toilet. No dry toilet in the house next door. And she definitely hadn’t been peeing in the wilderness like a feral dog. Nope. She just had a problem withletting go. It was that simple… and that complicated.
She looked around the supremely clean bathroom cubicle. She was surprised by how spotless this place was. It was hard to believe that the Healy brothers were responsible for the upkeep of this place. The trio of troublemakers she’d known as a teenager wouldn’t remotely have had the discipline required to run this joint.
Suddenly, she was interrupted from her thoughts by a loud buzzing sound, then the light above her snapped off.
A moment later, it flickered back on again.
‘Holy heck!’ Tammy yelped. Even the surprise didn’t help her pee.
‘Everything alright in there?’ Finn called. His voice was full of genuine concern.
‘Yep. Just fine,’ her voice wavered. ‘The light went off. Then it came back on again.’
‘Probably just the generator acting up. Want me to come in?’
‘No, it’s OK,’ Tammy replied quickly.
For a moment, she imagined just how awful life in Liberty would be without power. She thought about what the town was like before Haze moved into it. She shivered at the thought.
Then, Tammy heard the sound of a door opening somewhere nearby.
‘What’s the hold-up?’ Conor asked.
‘Not sure. Tammy swears everything’s alright, but she’s been a while.’
‘Tam-Tam?’ Conor asked. ‘What’s the issue? You want us boys to leave you alone?’
And as soon as he said that, she knew what the problem was.
‘No!’ she said. ‘Don’t leave. Can you both stay, just for a minute?’
‘Um, OK,’ said Conor, clearly confused.
And just like that, knowing that Conor and Finn were nearby, Tammy relaxed, and everything was better. She’d never been so relieved to pee in her whole life.
*
When Tammy finally emerged from the bathroom, Conor shook his head.
‘My first job is gonna be to make sure that your toilet at home is clean as a damn antiseptic wipe.’
‘Too right. And I’m gonna sort out all the crappers in the shacks near you to make sure you’re never caught short,’ Finn added.
Conor didn’t want to make Tammy feel bad. While he’d been waiting in the bar, he’d been trying to imagine what kind of desperate situation had been unfolding.
‘I came to the conclusion that you fell down the bog,’ Conor said.
Tammy snorted out a laugh.
‘You want to stay in the bar while I go fix your bathroom?’ Finn asked. He took his glasses off and gave the lens a good polish. ‘I’ve got nothing better to do.’
At that moment, Conor saw an expression on Tammy’s face that he hadn’t seen for many, many years. Shame. He recognized it almost straight away.
‘Everything alright, Tam-Tam?’ Conor asked as gently as he could. ‘Somethin’ you want to tell us?’