Prime

By John Flannery

Paddy Murnaghan meets by chance his future wife, Grace on a Saturday night in Cambridge. He is studying Engineering she English Literature. When they meet again he outlines his ambitions for himself and his future family during a punt on the river Cam. Paddy is a self-proclaimed king who wants Grace to be his queen. Paddy is the captain of the Cambridge University rugby team but he gets badly injured during a match. Grace nurses him back to health but the injury ends his rugby career. A gifted mathematician, he diverts all his energy into his engineering studies. Grace falls pregnant and quits her course whereas Paddy graduates with a first-class degree.
Paddy joins his father’s successful construction company and pressures Seamus into diversifying into property development. Seamus dies of a heart attack during the wedding reception of Paddy and Grace. The former isn’t greatly affected by his father’s demise and takes over the family firm which he then transforms into Murnaghan Property Development. His family, and his company, grows rapidly and they move into a beautiful, spacious home in Hampstead. Paddy has a fling with a journalist who interviews him for a profile in the trade press. Paddy grieves for his mother despite the fact that she never forgave him for his role in Seamus’s premature death.
The development projects get progressively bigger and bigger. A worker dies when his crane collapse during the building of the Murnaghan Tower. When the huge project is completed, Paddy’s health suffers greatly. The Murnaghans struggle to conceive their seventh child. Paddy falls for their Scandinavian nanny, Sophia and they have a daughter, Annabel. When Grace gets to know about this situation she refuses to share Paddy with Sophia. The Murnaghans separate but eventually Paddy’s love for his children draws him back to Grace and their family home. Paddy and Grace conceive their seventh child. Paddy takes a sabbatical from work and takes a close interest in the raising of his family believing that he will be judged by the worldly success of his progeny. He struggles when one of his sons develops paranoid schizophrenia. One of his daughters, Kathy begins a same-sex relationship with a model. Their affair stirs up anger and emotions flowing from an apparent bout of childhood sexual abuse by Paddy.
Paddy plays the perfect paterfamilias during a big family Christmas dinner. Kathy and others confront Paddy with accusations of child sex abuse which he strongly denies. Grace struggles with the allegation but decides to remain loyal to her husband. The Murnaghan family begins to fragment. Grace convinces Kathy not to get the police involved with her allegation. Paddy again suffers from ill health and admits to Grace that he abused Kathy during a hunting trip. Grace must decide whether or not she can forgive Paddy.

• Language: English
• Publisher: John Flannery
• Release date: Apr 24, 2016
• ISBN: 9781311166159

John Flannery

John Flannery was born in 1963. He was brought up in Manchester but he now lives in Fleetwood. John studied Housing Studies at the University of Westminster and graduated in 1992. He decided to become a writer of fiction in 1986 but he did not start writing in earnest until 1995. In 2010 he self-published a collection of short stories entitled Toby's Little Eden and Other Stories that was greeted by a huge tidal wave of public indifference that still overwhelms him to this day. In 2012 he self-published a small collection of short stories called Our Little Secret and Other Stories. He has also published a collection of stries entitled Our Little Secret and Other Stories, a debut novel called God's Gift, and a novella called The Place. In September 2013 John published a novella called Billy Atherton. In November 2013 John published another novella entitled Joshua's Withdrawal. They are all published on Amazon Kindle.

Book preview

Prime

Copyright 2016 John Flannery

Published by John Flannery at Smashwords

Smashwords Edition License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your enjoyment only, then please return to Smashwords.com or your favorite retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Cover design by Renee Barratt, wwwTheCoverCounts.com.

To All My Family, Past, Present, and Future

Now and in the future patriarchal attitudes will benefit no one, least of all the men.

Eva Figes

Chapter 1

Paddy Murnaghan is a Force of Nature. His charisma and general bulkiness make him visible from long distances. Very few people fail to see him coming. Most people are very willing to do what he wants before he even opens his mouth to speak. Normally he can hold his drink to a supernatural extent but on this Saturday night in Cambridge town centre in 1987 he has celebrated an an exceptional performance on the university rugby field. He is meandering relatively harmlessly down a narrow street. His thoughts are disordered and triumphal.

Grace Warburton and Iris Weston ,her close friend and fellow King’s College student, have spotted Paddy and his famous presence ahead of them. As they close on each other neither party seems too keen to give way on the narrow pavement. They come to a halt and the man lifts his gigantic, inebriated head to inspect a very rare obstacle. Paddy’s facial expression changes rapidly from boggle-eyed drunkenness to extremely quizzical as this is the most resistance he has met all day. A strange sensation suddenly hits paddy deep in his guts. He has the presence of mind to step back from the women because he knows what this feeling heralds. He bows down to the women and unleashes a torrent of stinking, beery vomit. The triumphant fluid splashes all over Grace’s shoes and lower legs. She peers down at the wretching man in utter disbelief. What began as an evening of high theatrical culture for the women has ended in a barbaric public spectacle. Paddy regains his stature and after some serious coughing he stares at Grace. He salutes her:

Paddy Murnaghan at your service, madam. I’m a law unto myself.

I’ve noticed, said Grace.

I’ve got a good reputation for holding my drink so you wont mention this little incident to anyone, will you?

I wouldn’t dream of it but I’ll be sending you the bill for my dry cleaning.

Fine and dandy! Send it to me at Magdalene. It will find me. What’s your name?

Grace Warburton.

Goodnight, Grace.

Goodnight, Paddy. As soon as Paddy is out of earshot, Grace vents her anger to Iris:

What a buffoon! He didn’t even apologise.

Most of the women in Cambridge dream of being vomited on by the great Paddy Murnaghan, said Iris.

Who is he?

He’s the captain of the rugby team.

His college team?

No, the university team.

That doesn’t give him the right to puke all over innocent young pedestrians!

You would succumb to his charms when he’s sober.

He certainly knows how to introduce himself to a girl. It must be some sort of courtship ritual that the rugger men use. It’s a very unusual way to begin a relationship, said Grace.

I’m jealous!

Are you? Don’t be silly.

I wish he’d puked on me.

What an honour for me, said Grace.

Cambridge’s love and respect of Paddy is not unanimous. The senior lecturer in engineering, Clare Simpson has a strong hatred of him. Where most people see Paddy’s self-confidence, Clare sees dangerous and repulsive arrogance. She is trying to persuade him to drop out of the Engineering course. Clare is using a mixture of flattery and bogus self-sacrifice to get rid of him.

Paddy, you’re mathematically gifted. Even judging by your engineering calculations, you’re capable of producing effortless and elegant solutions.to all the assignments you’ve been set. Have you ever considered switching to Mathematics? said Clare.

I’m a ‘doer’ not a thinker.

I know that you see yourself as a ‘man of action’ but if you devoted yourself to maths you could eventually help to discover some of the new laws of Nature.

I’m not concerned with the laws of Nature.

What are you concerned with?

The usual things. Money, sex, and power.

But the power to unlock Nature’s secrets is one of the greatest powers. It’s a much higher vocation than engineering.

My true vocation will be the world of business.

You will be a significant loss to mathematics, Paddy.

So be it. I’m not your man. My calculations are for me and my future family. My skills are from Nature.

What do you mean? said Clare.

I’m a Force of Nature. But I’m just about wise enough know that I’m not a genius. I’ve got bigger fish to fry in the business world. During my gap year I had a lot of time to think about myself and my future. I came up with some guiding principle. I now know what I want out of my life.

I respect your dynamism, Paddy, but you’re only nineteen. Life presents gifted and ambitious young men with alternative paths and journeys. Natural laws are infinitely more interesting and challenging than the tax laws. Business can be tedious. Leave all that to the accountants.

Part of me wants to tackle the laws of Nature but a much bigger side of me wants a big successful business and a big successful family.

Some people might accuse you of being stubborn and arrogant.

Thanks. I’ll take that as a complement.

Paddy, tell me, have you ever fallen in love?

Just the other day actually.

In time it will turn your world upside down.

I know.

Who have you fallen for?

Grace Warburton. She’s doing English at King’s College.

Is she in love with you?

Not yet.

Have you got big plans for her?

Yes, but she doesn’t know it yet. Clare shrugs her shoulders and sighs.

You think you’ve got it all worked out.

I know where I’m going.

Are absolutely sure about that? said Clare. Paddy nods. Clare smiles falsely at Paddy and he smiles back with all the bogus sincerity he can muster. He cocks his head to one side and stares steadily back into Clare. This mannerism is reserved for people who threaten to defy him. He’s heard enough. Paddy rises and offers his mighty hand to Clare. She shakes his hand without much enthusiasm. It’s the sort of hand shake Paddy receives from losing rugby opponents. Paddy leaves the room. Clare suspects that he will be successful but also that he might well destroy himself in the process. As he descends the stairs he recalls one of his dad’s old sayings: Those who can, do. Those who can’t, teach.

The Cambridge University ‘Backs’ feature to the rear of eight of the colleges from Magdalene in the north to Queens’ in the south. The Backs take in both banks of the river Cam. This very picturesque strip of land is Grace’s favourite area of the town so she happily agreed to Paddy’s offer of a punting trip. The punting pole looks relatively small in his big mitts. As he pushes mannishly against the river bed, Grace feels a surge of his power and strength as the couple pass under the Magdalene Street bridge. She is relaxed and enjoying the serenity but Paddy is edgy. He has got a lot to say to Grace and she seems to be receptive to him. He is careful to avoid sounding like a company Chairman addressing its annual general meeting. He decides to begin with an obvious first principle:

Grace, I’m a man.

I’d noticed.

I need to put you in the picture regarding what I want from life and from you yourself.

I’m a good listener. Go ahead.

I’m a king and I want you to be my queen.

Sounds like you’ve got big plans for the pair of us.

Allow me to elaborate on them.

Fine. But bear in mind one of my Gran’s sayings, ‘if you want to make God smile tell him your plans.’

I don’t believe in God. I’d prefer to make you smile, Grace. I’m aiming to be a millionaire before I’m twenty-five.

How will you do that?

By growing my father’s construction company. With my drive and energy it will expand rapidly. My dad lacks my ambition but I’ll convince him that growth is the way to go for Murnaghan Construction. My hero is John F. Kennedy’s father, Joe.

So you’ve got big political ambitions?

No, I just want to emulate Joe’s business-life and methods but once I’ve reached a high level of success then politics might come into play. Sometimes politics is unavoidable but as somebody once said, all political careers end in failure. Even Margaret Thatcher’s career ended badly and she was a Force of Nature like myself. What you have to understand, Grace, is that I play by my own rules. I’m a natural leader. Nature is with me. Good fortune is with me. I want you to be around when I succeed. I want you to share my success. I will win the battle for you and then, in good time, I will win the battle for our children. I realise that we will have good times and bad times but at the end of it all we will triumph, I will triumph. I want a big, beautiful, and successful family. Our kids will be a work of art, our genetic work of art. When I look at you I see a strong and beautiful daughter made in your image. Our kids will bring us great joy—all eight of them! They too are destined for greatness. We are all special, us Murnaghans. We can change the world. We will dare the world to defy us. We will create a masterpiece of a family. We will love and laugh our way to greatness, with great style, with great class. The Kennedy’s had their compound in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts so we will have our own iconic HQ in Hampstead where we will plot, plan, live and love. It will be our haven, our castle where our history will be crafted. We will make some good enemies along the way but they will be defeated. We will never be afraid to celebrate our victories. There will be many victories. My dad sacrificed for me and I will sacrifice for my kids…but I’m always the Boss. I will always eat first at the head of the big table. There can only be one head of the family. Grace, can I share something out of the ordinary with you?

Yes, of course, said Grace sustaining a steely passivity in response to Paddy’s patriarchal rhetoric. I had a premonition yesterday. It was some kind of vision."

Was a large amount of booze involved with this hallucination?

No, I was completely sober but I definitely saw the future. I’d just woken up when I saw a blinding light ahead of me then you appeared wearing a black dress. You held out your arms and then ten kids emerged out of the ball of light. They were all wearing white. They began to sing some kind of hymn. After a while you all walked back into the ball of light and vanished. What do you think of that?

I’m amazed! Was I dressed like a widow?

No, it was a positive thing. Nature was guiding you to me and me to you. That’s my interpretation. I’m very intuitive. I let Nature guide me. Sometimes I go beyond reason. I’m not just an engineering number cruncher. I trust my instincts one hundred per cent. I’ve made more mistakes when I ignored my instincts than when listened to them. I’m almost messianic. I know when to push the boundaries. I’ve got boundless reserves of vigour that I will expend on you and our future family. Well, Grace, that’s my manifesto. What do you think?

Have you ever come across the word ‘hubris’ on your travels Paddy?

No, what does it mean?

The word hubristic is applied to people with excessive pride or self-confidence.

Hubristic? It sounds foreign to me.

It’s derived from classical Greek literature.

I thought so. I should have known. The ancient Greeks didn’t know their arse from their elbow. They haven’t been the top dogs for two thousand years! We’ve all moved on since then.

I’m not here to defend the ancient Greeks!

They can look after themselves.

"They certainly can. Now I’ll respond to your manifesto. Your ironclad certainty is impressive and admirable in a man of your age and experience but the jury is still out on the matter of me being the queen to your king. I’m not sure if the kingdom you crave is a kingdom I would like to reside in. The key point I want to make is that I’ve got plans of my own. You don’t seem to have given too much thought to my ambitions."

What are your plans?

I want a First in English then I hope to go into publishing and become an editor. My true vocation is to edit great writers. I want to work with great men and women. I want to help to create great literature.

That’s quite a high calling.

I thought I was messianic until I met you! Editors have to have strong personalities if they want to contribute to our literary culture. Literary curators have to be as strong, stubborn and determined in their work as any industrial titan but they don’t do it for the money. I won’t be a millionaire by the time I’m twenty-five or a hundred and twenty-five! Great literature is rarely financially rewarded in the writer’s lifetime. The short run rewards are less tangible. I don’t want to be a millionaire but having one as a husband might be advantageous. I suppose a great business can subsidize great art. Now, with regard to the Kennedy clan I only know the basic facts. Some people say that the family was cursed but I don’t believe in all that crazy stuff. When you push boundaries whether its in business, politics, or art you have to break a few eggs in order to make the omelette.

I totally agree. Greatness always comes with a high price tag, said Paddy.

Anybody striving to do something exceptional will come up against the dark side of life, said Grace. When I look at the photos of JFK lost in thought in the Oval Office I see and sense something dark about him, he’s got a negative aura in some photos.

But there are some family photos that are very positive, very iconic.

Of course.

I know what you mean about the dark aura. The footage of Marilyn Monroe serenading him with ‘Happy Birthday Mr. President’ is literally and metaphorically very, very dark.

The obscene way in which he died suggests that he and his father had played with fire once too often.

All political careers end in failure.

Yes, even if you are a Force of Nature. One of your key challenges in the future, Paddy, will be coping with your quota of failure. Some failure is inevitable even if you make your own rules. Your other main challenge is avoiding hubris.

Can I rely on you to tell me when I’m being hubristic?

Yes.

Leaders can’t show too much self-doubt in public.

I’ve got no doubts about your natural leadership qualities, Paddy, but I’ve got to be honest with you. I have to ask myself: Do I want to be led by you? It’s one thing getting fourteen rugby men to be willing to die for you, but me? That’s a different kettle of fish.

I would die for you.

That’s your hormones speaking.

I would.

I’m willing to take a chance on you, Paddy. Yes, I want to share your successes and your failures…but not yet. I’ve got plans of my own. Until you came along I’d not even thought about having one child never mind ten of them! I don’t feel like a Superwoman at the moment. My life is very simple, I want a First.

And a good man?

Let’s wait and see. I want a family but not a big genetic masterpiece of a family you spoke of earlier. Kids can bring great joy but also great sadness. They may not be as lucky as you. Good fortune doesn’t get passed on through your genes.

My kids will be happy to have got my genes. That’s a slice of good fortune in itself.

Genetics can be a bit of a lottery.

What do you think about my premonition?

You were brave to even mention it. Most men would have kept it a secret for fear of appearing to be a nutcase. But as Shakespeare suggested in Hamlet, ‘There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.’

Did I make a fool of myself?

Just a bit but I’ll forgive you. I’ve got a feeling that you are a genius, and they can be hellish to live with. You say you’ve got good instincts but I don’t feel comfortable being at the wrong end of that type of attitude and technique whereby your instincts win every argument. I’m not that passive. I’m not that submissive. I’m not a nice little Trophy Wife.

I don’t want a Trophy Wife.

There will be a certain amount of creative tension between us, said Grace.

Sure, said Paddy.

I feel like I’m being auditioned for a part in a play—your play.

As the saying goes, ‘Behind every great man there’s a great woman.’ Will you be my great woman? said Paddy. Grace remains silent and serene but Paddy senses danger up ahead on the river near the back of Queens’ College. As they pass under the Mathematical Bridge a punt containing five large and loud American students looms in front of them. They are literally rocking the boat. Grace looks at Paddy and notices that his demeanour has changed dramatically. He makes himself look even bigger, physically and mentally, but remains eerily calm as he steers the punt wide of the larky young men. Two of them begin to splash one another with gay abandon. Grace, sensing some kind of confrontation, looks at Paddy. The punts are nearly side-by-side and the drunken Americans notice Paddy. His stature and sheer physical presence silence the rowdy young men. Paddy relishes the silence and performs a strong thrust of his pole to move him away from any potential aggro. Everybody is impressed, including Grace. Paddy cheekily makes himself small and smiles bashfully at Grace. After a while the rowdy punters awaken from their mesmerized state. One falls in the river and begins to capsize the punt. Paddy shakes his head and punts off into the distance.

Well done, said Grace to Paddy.

No problem, said Paddy.

There is a maxim that states: ‘Football is a gentleman’s game played by thugs. Rugby is a thug’s game played by gentlemen.’ Paddy is playing this particular game of rugby like a consummate gentleman. He is very aware that Grace is watching him very closely, and with some degree of anxiety, from the sidelines. This is her very first live rugby match. Grace is here because rugby union is of the highest importance to Paddy. He therefore wants to play at the highest level he can for as long as he can. Fifteen minutes into the match, Grace’s usual, almost holy serenity is being severely tested. She is feeling every tackle deep in her guts even though Paddy has hardly touched the oval ball yet. Grace is formulating ways in which she can ‘guide’ Paddy away from rugby for her own sake even though the game is in his blood, guts and soul when he takes a heavy hit. Grace literally holds her breath even though he jumps up instantly after the tackle and carries on with the game.

The opposition score their second try and begin to celebrate without much gentlemanly restraint. They are playing smooth, oily rugby so Paddy decides that it’s time to stop their