𝐞𝐠𝐨 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤 · 𝐚𝐥𝐟𝐢𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐬

𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐲

WHEN SHE WAS little, Evelyn was scared of the dark. She hated how it would encase the area around her, that she couldn't see far into the distance without a candle lighting up only so far.

She hated that the smallest amount of light would form shadows upon the ground, making a distorted figure of the object that cast it. She always thought that the shadows would move by themselves, that there were monsters lurking in the darkness that she could not see. Her aunt Polly used to tell her to quit being silly, but as she grew older – Evelyn understood that there really was evil lurking in the shadows that she had to be aware of.

It was late by the time that Evelyn had begun to lock up the speakeasy, shutting the double doors behind her as she began to walk towards Alfie's distillery at the end of the street. Her velvet purple heels clicked against the cobblestone as she skipped to avoid potholes full of rainwater and mud.

It wasn't until she heard the footsteps behind her that Evelyn began to speed up her own steps. Her hand rested on the handle of her handgun that was tucked into the waistband of her skirt, pushing herself through the doors to the distillery before shutting them with a bang behind her.

She watched from the small window panel in the door as a man dressed in all black stood in a few feet away from the distillery doors for a minute before he hastily walked away. Evelyn let out a shaky breath she was holding in, trying to catch anything identifiable about the man – only to come up empty. It was as if he was a shadow.

"Eve? What's fuckin' goin' on?" Jumping in shock, Evelyn turned around with her hand hovering over her heart – catching sight of a very confused Alfie.

"Just-" Evelyn stopped herself, looking back out the window in-case the man came back before she rushed over to Alfie; flinging her arms around him.

Alfie let out a soft grunt at the sudden contact before wrapping his arms tightly around her, pressing his lips to the crown of her head before he grabbed her cheeks and gently tilted her head up to look at him.

"Yer' alright, love?"

"Yeah, I just thought someone was following me. I think it was just a drunk lingering around from the night he had," she laughed off, although she knew that she definitely wasn't imagining the mysterious man.

Alfie hummed and Evelyn knew that he didn't quite believe her as his eyes darted to the door, before he took her hand in his and pulled the pair of them into his office – locking the door behind him.

"Not goin' to lie, yeah, but you slammin' that fuckin' door scared me out of me fuckin' wits," Alfie laughed, taking a seat in his chair before tugging Evelyn down onto his lap. "Sorry I didn't make it in time, Ollie dumped a load of fuckin' paperwork for yer' brothers new bookies and I had to get them filled before Tommy stormed in 'ere."

Evelyn shook her head before she began to mindlessly play with the buttons of Alfie's shirt as she took him in. She softly smiled when she noticed that the scaring on his cheek wasn't as bright and angry anymore.

"I think the cream's working," she chuffed referring to the prescription he hadn't used since his first doctors appointment – until Evelyn basically forced him to. Alfie gave her hips a squeeze in response before he spoke.

"Doesn't feel like I got kicked in the face by a fuckin' kangaroo anymore," he shrugged with a light chuckle, tugging Evelyn impossibly closer. "How are yer' feelin' now? What did Polly say?"

She knew that he was referring to the way she threw up early that morning – telling her to speak to her aunt about it. Evelyn only let out a soft sigh.

"Pol said to come down to Small Heath tomorrow, said that she thinks the bug I had the week that Changretta was killed has come back," Evelyn explained the phone call she had with her aunt before she left to open the club. "Matya said she'll do all the work tomorrow while I'm gone."