Shireling
A Servant of King and Country
Kieran Joyce
Kieran always tended to take his smoking outside, even though it was not considered impolite in his family to smoke in the living room, or even in the kitchen, he realized that some people didn't care for the smell and he wanted to be respectful. The family was interesting to Kieran. Many of the relations seemed to be adopted or honorary and the omnipresence of family friends gave the house a very homey feeling. It was a family cobbled together, and that suited Kieran who was lonely as an only child.
Smoke curled around his hat and bombarded the roof of the porch as he walked farther out from the house and towards the small garden, keeping his eyes fixed on the stars and the low Dublin skyline. He walked amidst roses and stopped occasionally to caress the petals of the flowers between his cold-cracked hands. At one point he stopped, knelt, and pulled up a cluster of wild onion that was choking off a budding hydrangea bush.
He finished one cigarette and lit another, and with each puff, to pass the time, he prayed a Hail Mary. Somehow, he felt God had led him to this place and had wanted him to meet these people, as blood soaked as their reputation was. To what end, he could not fathom. Yet.
He dropped his second cigarette after it had burned away to nothing and sat down on a garden bench. His hat fell low over his eyes, and before long he began to fall asleep.