𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 ❨ michael gray ❩

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐰𝐨

𝐀𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭-𝐆𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞

Outside was an unexpected gift of rain. The wet season didn't generally start for another fortnight but the skies didn't lie. It wasn't a mean rain either, the type that got everyone wet without filling the rain barrels. It was the type that got the streams running with pristine water from the mountains. Evelyn stood on the doorstep of Pollys House gazing onto the street, her arms folded around herself in the best hug she could have.

"For goodness sake Evelyn, close the door, would you? Your letting all the heat out." Polly muttered as she carried a tray of tea in front of the fire.

The fire crackled as Evelyn gazed at it numbly. She watched as thick clouds of grey smoke billowed up the chimney, while the sparks of red and orange remained flickering. She felt empty. Not the sad kind of empty, but rather the lack of any emotion kind of empty.

"How's the little one doing?" Polly wondered, as she grabbed a dainty cup and saucer of egg-shell China that was placed upon the tray, along with a sugar-dish and a cream-pot and a half-dozen gold-lined souvenir spoons.

Slouching her small frame in the chair Evelyn smiled to herself, "Which one?"

"Both."

All Evelyn wanted was for the baby to be born and into her arms. She hated the state of silent lethargy, this waiting. She felt trapped. All she wanted was to hold her little girl or boy.

"This one's fine. Still going to be a couple of months yet." She gently rubbed her hand over the very small bump that had formed over the past months.

Polly placed her cup and saucer on the glass table before speaking, "And Rosie?"

As the older woman scanned Evies face for a reaction the silence hung in the air like the suspended moment before Evelyn replied, "She keeps asking. Always waiting at the door everyday just...wishing that he would walk in."

"You should tell her."

"I couldn't do that to her. Not when she's so young. I've realised that I care very deeply about very few things in Life, but one is and forever will be Rosie. So I'm going to keep her shielded from all of this because shes too young to suffer her first heartbreak." She realised a laugh that held no humour. "It wasn't even by a boy, it was her own bloody father."

Pollys face fell faster than a loaf removed from the oven too soon. "You can't give up on him yet, love."

"It was a once in a lifetime thing, Pol. I hate to think it but I bet it's true. It's too bad for us that our once in a lifetime happened when were too young to handle it."

"Everything will work out, I guarantee it."

Polly could see Evelyn's gravity-drawn shoulders painting a picture of her heart, as if neither it nor her soul would welcome a beat. She could see in her eyes that her brain had built some new walls with Evie so lonely on the other side. Michael may be her son, but Evelyn was her daughter too.

"Do you tell me lies because they sound better?" She laughed, as she looked up at Polly, but it was easy to decipher its fakeness. Her eyes didn't light up the way they used too. Her smile wasn't large enough to show the intricate dimples of her cheeks.

"Look, there will be times when you just need a break. From everything. From everyone."

It was a tempting offer to leave Small Heath. Evelyn had considered it many times, but she couldn't do that to Ada, Polly or Isaiah.

"Are you telling me to run away, Pol?" Evie hid her smirk behind her teacup.

"I'm telling you to enjoy yourself, for one night."

Giggling at the absurd order, Evelyn gazed at the woman who was like her second mother. "I'm a mother of soon to be two. I'm pregnant, I don't have fun anymore."

Pollys laughter was like ripples in a still pond after a stone has been thrown in. It radiated outwards through the small room, bringing some sort a smile upon Evies features. "Noncense. You'll put on a nice dress, do your hair and head out to the pub down the street."

"Look I appreciate the advice Pol, but I'm fine. They're just feelings. They'll go away." The words tumbled from her lips, barley a whisper.

"Real feelings don't just go away, sweetheart."

...

Evelyn rest her hand on the rough paintwork that coated the door and pushed. The hinges squealed as though they are a warning, but their plea is silenced by a wall of noise. Laughter almost overpowered the noise of the jazz band as they played on the stage. Conversations swirled in a dirty cloud of smoke, the stagnant stench of cigarettes hides within the collaboration of mephitic odours. A sharp smell of drink wafted towards her, like black plumes bellowing from the windows of a burning house.

Most did not pay attention to Evies beauty at first. Not until the door of the pub closed behind her, echoing amongst the guests. Her emotions were not easily hidden on her innocent face as she took a seat at the bar, hoping no one would ask her to remove herself. Her pain was evident in the crease of her lovely brow and the down-curve of her full lips.

If she was happy she would soak in the laughter and the smiles, dance upon each octave in her kitten heals. However, she couldn't. Not when she was feeling like this.

Feeling someone take a seat beside her she turned to them, smiling lightly. "Shouldn't you be with Thomas at the office?"

"I'm on a work break, looking for a cute girl to distract me."

"Better get searching then."

"Already found one." There it was. It was the blush of roses, that peek of champagne pink. The colour infused cheeks dimpled with the blossoming smile and her eyes shone in a way that only deep happiness can bring. "Anyway how you doin'?"

"I have to be okay. I have to act okay, at least for Rosies sake. I just feel like sometimes the world could just cave in on me and fall inside." She released a heavy sigh before continuing. "I just hope I can do it on my own for my children."

Grabbing her hands with his gentle touch, he removed them from her face showing her delicate features. "Listen, you..." He paused, as if trying to select the correct words from his mind. "Your incredible. Your an incredible mum. Your an incredible friend. You're amazing, alright? If everyone was as good and wholesome as you, the world would be a hell of a lot better."

"Thank you." Her eyes shifted to the side again and became glazed with a glassy layer of tears before she looked back at him.

"Thank you for being here, Isaiah."