“But you’re supposed to sit your leaving cert next month.” “Doesn’t matter.” “Yeah, it does,” he argued, tone passionate for a fella whose future this didn’t affect. “It does fucking matter.” “I wasn’t going anywhere anyway, so it’s all the same to me,” I replied, which was mostly true. I never planned on college. I never planned on leaving Ballylaggin. I couldn’t, so why worry about it? “What the hell, Joey? This is important,” my sister’s boyfriend argued. Turning back to his father, he asked, “Is there anything you can do for him?” “My hands are tied, son. Joey here has a record for
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