A Birmingham Story (ft. Thomas Shelby)

Prologue

I hear the constant tap of the rain on my windowsill and I already know what's going to happen. I lie awake staring at the ceiling just like always, too distracted to notice the men gathering outside. Maybe if I had alerted anyone we would have gotten out and maybe we would have run away and maybe...

No maybes. It was too late for that. They barge in and our house is quickly filled with shouts and my mother's cries of anger. I am still lying in bed. But my body is so stiff now that I couldn't move even if I wanted to. I can hear my heart beating against my chest and the roar of my thoughts almost drowns the sounds from downstairs.

Suddenly, my door bangs against the wall and my brother is already lifting me off the bed. I grip him firmly and he carries me to the window.
"Okay Eve, it's now or never. We have to jump"
And I don't think I got to process the thought, but my mind decided what's best for me so I jumped.

The rest is a blur of rain soaking through my thin nightgown, mud sliding under my bare feet and the utter horror that I was going to run and run until I couldn't do it anymore.

I always wake up right when the house is just a spot of light against the night, our little lighthouse. Oh, that's when the shooting starts too.