As You Lay Dying - Alfie Solomons

6

            "I'll be gone next weekend," Alfie announced as Lily was leaving after a Saturday visit.

"Oh?" She looked surprised. Alfie never mentioned his intention to leave Margate. "Where are you going?"

"London, to visit an old friend."

"I didn't think you were going to go back." Lily felt a strange sense of jealousy. Would London lure him back? Would the city take him away from her?

"Yeah, I just need to tie up some loose ends."

"Okay, I'll see you the weekend after?" She asked hopefully.

"'Course, love." It was strange returning to some old business but in a way, it made Alfie feel more like himself. But that was concerning. Lily would never want to be around the man he once was. It was like taming a beast that was clawing its way out of a cage.

~~~~

"Alright, alright!" Alfie knew what to expect as he entered Ollie's house, five children ranging from fourteen to four years old bombarded him before he could even get two steps inside.

"Uncle Alfie, I lost a tooth!"

"Uncle Alfie, where have you been?"

"Uncle Alfie, can you teach me to shoot a gun?"

"Right, right, right, one atta time!" He stooped down to pick up the youngest, little Marie. "Look at you, aye? Just a little baby last I saw you!" He exclaimed, making her giggle. "And you, Ariel, you've grown twice as big!" He waded through the group with Marie in his arms, "who's next, Nessa, you lost a tooth, then? Let me see, oh look at that! Right, right, where's-ah there's Ezra good to see you. Now, where's the big lad, oh fucking hell, Ben, thought you were your father!" He exclaimed when he spotted the teenager.

"Alfie, can you please keep your language to yourself?" Ollie's wife was standing in the doorway of the kitchen, her hands on her hips.

"Yeah, Miriam, sorry." He apologized sincerely. "Don't repeat anything, Uncle Alfie says, aye?" He reminded the kids. "All nonsense."

The kids laughed and continued trying to pull his attention.

"Why don't you all go wash up for lunch?" Miriam did what she could to save Alfie.

"Go on." Alfie let Marie down and shooed her off with her siblings.

Before Alfie left for Margate, he left a considerable sum of money to his former assistant. In all the years of knowing Ollie, the man had opened his home to Alfie, giving him a sense of family again. They often spent holidays together and Alfie had seen each of Ollie's kids grow up.

In fact, he could remember when Ollie arrived for work. His eyes were wide as he told Alfie that Miriam was pregnant with their first child. The two had only been married for less than a year and Ollie was worried he didn't know how to be a father.

Alfie knew it was a silly fear for the young man to have. Five kids later, Ollie was a natural.

The family sat down for lunch, enjoying the Sunday together. The kids were especially interested in what Alfie had been up to since he left London. But he only told them stories about how he'd fought dragons and discovered a cursed spell book.

The children were delighted with the stories. But Ben, the oldest out of the five, just scoffed. "C'mon, Uncle Alfie, where have you really been?"