As You Lay Dying - Alfie Solomons

18

            Argos seemed to appreciate the salty air. Lily thought it must have reminded the dog of home in Margate.

But Alfie didn't appear as pleased. As he reached for Lily's hand, she felt it trembling.

Less than a week later, they found themselves in Southampton, making the journey across the ocean to America. Alfie hadn't said much since he booked their trip. He seemed both apprehensive and disgruntled.

For a moment, Lily thought he was upset with her. But found he was only upset at the world. The night before they were due to leave, Alfie held her close in bed. He buried his face in the crook of her neck and whispered that he loved her.

Lily knew that if he had the chance, Alfie would sweep her away into a utopia. Far from any hurt or danger. But no place on Earth existed like that for Alfie. And Lily refused to go anywhere without him. Thus, they were caught in a difficult situation all because they loved each other.

"Hip hurts," Alfie grumbled. It was one of the few things he had said since they left London early that morning.

"We'll get to the cabin so you can sit down," Lily promised gently.

"It's the fucking stress." His teal-colored eyes darted around at the crowd waiting to board the ship.

Lily couldn't predict what they'd find in Boston. The way Alfie made it seem it was as if they were wandering blindly into a minefield. But Lily hoped he was just being a little dramatic. Although, she had seen what happened in Camden Town. The smell of the fire and the sound of Alfie's gun still haunted her. They were bad men, she knew that, but seeing anyone die was a shock to the system.

Eventually, they made their way on board and entered the cabin. Alfie grunted as he sat down on the edge of the bed. He rested his cane next to him and patted his thigh for Argos.

Lily let the sheepdog off his lead so he could bound over to Alfie. Argos put his head in Alfie's lap, his tail wagging languidly. "He loves you more than anyone I've ever known," she remarked and set down her things.

"He's a good lad, makes me miss Cyril."

Lily got a nasty taste in her mouth because she knew who had Cyril at the moment. And she didn't think Tommy Shelby deserved such a dog. But she didn't want to rehash the issue. "Will you please try to take it easy?" She implored Alfie quietly. "We have nearly a week until we arrive. We'll be out in the middle of the ocean, so there isn't any business to be done."

Alfie groaned and slumped back onto the bed. She had caught him in a technicality. "Yeah, well could fret and worry 'bout the business I can't do while I'm stuck out in the middle of the ocean," he replied.

"You could." Lily slipped out of her coat and placed it over a chair against the wall. "But you'd miss out on all the fun we could have." She shrugged nonchalantly.

With his interest piqued Alfie lifted himself onto his elbows to look up at her. "Fun? You're planning on having fun in the middle of fucking nowhere?"

A faint smile played on her face but she merely gave him another shrug. "There's a million fun things we could do, just the two of us in a room."

Alfie's eyebrow raised. "Well, what on Earth are you still doing over there, aye? We've only got a week to have as much fucking fun as we can."

~~~~

For a moment, it didn't feel like they were on the ocean. The ship was so massive that Lily hardly felt the movement of waves as they powered through the Atlantic. All she could sense was Alfie's heartbeat next to hers.