"I don't think it would be a good idea to call the police."
"Why?" He stared into my face. "We've just been shot at. We could be dead." His eyes narrowed suddenly. "You think they were the police?"
I shook my head. "They were Protestant paramilitaries."
"Protestant? How can you tell?"
"Two ways, really. One: they fucked up. Proddies have a habit of fucking up operations like this. They outnumber the IRA ten to one but couldn't organize a piss-up in a brewery. Correction. They usually do organize a piss-up in a brewery before they try anything and that's why they fuck up."
"And two?"
The skinhead who shot at us. He had FTP written on his head."
"FTP. Tattooed? What's it mean?"
"No, just written. Like with a felt pen. It stands for Fuck the Pope. It's a dead giveaway. Actually, they're improving. Usually they can't spell FTP."
