to Brinn. So nobody would know he was a Catholic'
'Is Brinn, as a name, Protestant?'
'It's not anything, it's neither one thing nor the other, you'll barely find another like it in the phone book. It's a compromise name, like the Alliance is a compromise party. He changed his name to make money by not offending anyone. A lot of people wouldn't do business with you back then if you were a Catholic'
'That's changed?'
'Mostly.'
'So what are you saying, you don't like him because he changed his name?'
'Yeah.'
Parker wiped his hand across his brow. Mockingly. 'Well thank God that was all off the record - that's too hot for me to handle.'
I shrugged, emptied the bottle, and fetched another two. Parker finished his off and then accepted the second.
'You don't understand - it's the wee things like that that mark a man out.'
Parker took a long drink, watching the screen as the picture shifted to the interviewer having a microphone attached to his tie. 'According to my file . . .'
'I must see this file
'Brinn has never been religious. Why should he lose business having a Catholic name if he isn't religious? It makes perfect sense to me.'
'Yes, but you're American.'
'And exactly what do you mean by that?'
'Nothing. Here we go.'
The interviewer had begun his introduction. I reached over and turned the sound up as Mark Balmer started his questioning. Balmer's thin grey hair glistened under the studio lights, his pink skin looked sunburnt. 'If I can take you back to your very earliest days in business, Mr Brinn,' Balmer began, 'you felt the need to change your name from O'Brinn to just plain Brinn. Could you explain that decision? It seems to me in some way you were denying your Catholicism.'
Parker looked across at me. 'Two smart men in this country,' he said.
'In a way perhaps I was,' Brinn replied gently. 'I think it was possibly a way of expressing my resentment at the state of affairs in this country - the fart that just because there was an "O" at the start of my name a certain section of the community automatically believed that I was, in some way, the enemy. In fact, although I was brought up a Catholic, I ceased to be a practising Catholic in my teenage years. I am a God-fearing man, Mr Balmer, but neither Protestant nor Catholic. I simply believe in God.'
I tapped the TV screen again with my bottle. 'And butter wouldn't melt in your mouth.'
'Seems a reasonable argument to me,' Parker said.
'You come from a land of salesmen. He's just renounced his religion, but he's still going for the God vote.'
'Perhaps people admire his honesty.'
'Who ever admired honesty? Catch yourself on.'
Balmer meandered through Brinn's career with an admirable thoroughness that had us both yawning. Near the end he came to the standard Brinn question and the standard Brinn answer.
'Your experience in the restaurant bombing had a tremendous effect on you, didn't it?'
'Uh, no, didn't change me a bit,' I said to the screen. Parker shushed me.
'Of course, of course. You know I really don't like to talk about it, but it was, in some ways, a catharsis, the bomb itself, hospital, the sympathy and understanding of ordinary people from both sides of the community. It gave me hope and, I suppose, an ambition, an ambition to try to do something to stop such things happening again.'
'Shite,' I said.
'You really don't like him, do you?'
I gave him one of my better shrugs. 'Do you want another drink or will I swipe this wine?'
Parker looked at me for a moment, his pupils darting about in his brown eyes like lemons on a fruit machine. Weighing me up. 'How about we have another drink, then you swipe the bottle?'
'Sounds good to me.'
I handed him the bottle and took one for myself. The screen had just gone blank as the door opened again and Kay entered. She smiled at Parker.
'That will be going out tonight,' she said to him.
'I appreciate you letting me see the recording,' Parker said. 'It was most informative.'
'No trouble at all.'
I
'Is Brinn, as a name, Protestant?'
'It's not anything, it's neither one thing nor the other, you'll barely find another like it in the phone book. It's a compromise name, like the Alliance is a compromise party. He changed his name to make money by not offending anyone. A lot of people wouldn't do business with you back then if you were a Catholic'
'That's changed?'
'Mostly.'
'So what are you saying, you don't like him because he changed his name?'
'Yeah.'
Parker wiped his hand across his brow. Mockingly. 'Well thank God that was all off the record - that's too hot for me to handle.'
I shrugged, emptied the bottle, and fetched another two. Parker finished his off and then accepted the second.
'You don't understand - it's the wee things like that that mark a man out.'
Parker took a long drink, watching the screen as the picture shifted to the interviewer having a microphone attached to his tie. 'According to my file . . .'
'I must see this file
'Brinn has never been religious. Why should he lose business having a Catholic name if he isn't religious? It makes perfect sense to me.'
'Yes, but you're American.'
'And exactly what do you mean by that?'
'Nothing. Here we go.'
The interviewer had begun his introduction. I reached over and turned the sound up as Mark Balmer started his questioning. Balmer's thin grey hair glistened under the studio lights, his pink skin looked sunburnt. 'If I can take you back to your very earliest days in business, Mr Brinn,' Balmer began, 'you felt the need to change your name from O'Brinn to just plain Brinn. Could you explain that decision? It seems to me in some way you were denying your Catholicism.'
Parker looked across at me. 'Two smart men in this country,' he said.
'In a way perhaps I was,' Brinn replied gently. 'I think it was possibly a way of expressing my resentment at the state of affairs in this country - the fart that just because there was an "O" at the start of my name a certain section of the community automatically believed that I was, in some way, the enemy. In fact, although I was brought up a Catholic, I ceased to be a practising Catholic in my teenage years. I am a God-fearing man, Mr Balmer, but neither Protestant nor Catholic. I simply believe in God.'
I tapped the TV screen again with my bottle. 'And butter wouldn't melt in your mouth.'
'Seems a reasonable argument to me,' Parker said.
'You come from a land of salesmen. He's just renounced his religion, but he's still going for the God vote.'
'Perhaps people admire his honesty.'
'Who ever admired honesty? Catch yourself on.'
Balmer meandered through Brinn's career with an admirable thoroughness that had us both yawning. Near the end he came to the standard Brinn question and the standard Brinn answer.
'Your experience in the restaurant bombing had a tremendous effect on you, didn't it?'
'Uh, no, didn't change me a bit,' I said to the screen. Parker shushed me.
'Of course, of course. You know I really don't like to talk about it, but it was, in some ways, a catharsis, the bomb itself, hospital, the sympathy and understanding of ordinary people from both sides of the community. It gave me hope and, I suppose, an ambition, an ambition to try to do something to stop such things happening again.'
'Shite,' I said.
'You really don't like him, do you?'
I gave him one of my better shrugs. 'Do you want another drink or will I swipe this wine?'
Parker looked at me for a moment, his pupils darting about in his brown eyes like lemons on a fruit machine. Weighing me up. 'How about we have another drink, then you swipe the bottle?'
'Sounds good to me.'
I handed him the bottle and took one for myself. The screen had just gone blank as the door opened again and Kay entered. She smiled at Parker.
'That will be going out tonight,' she said to him.
'I appreciate you letting me see the recording,' Parker said. 'It was most informative.'
'No trouble at all.'
I
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