The Falling Man

Chapter 23

Ethel POV

It's the next day and I was sitting in my apartment eating lunch when I heard a knock on my door. I opened it to see Frances in tears. She said the man she was seeing told her I had shot him. She asked me why, angry at me. Frances had never been angry at me before so this scared me as I didn't want to lose her as a friend.

I sat her down and explained the whole situation. From the shoe store to the terrifying walk home. After I am finished, she does something that surprises me. She just starts laughing hysterically. I slightly giggle at her confused as to why she found the situation so funny. She pushes me slightly, "You shot him in the dick!" She manages to get out through her cackles. "It went through his willy into his leg!" I wince at this. Sounds mighty painful.

Frances ended up fully forgiving me and even expressed her praise for shooting the cheating man's dick apart. She apologized for him putting a knife to my throat, to which I told her she couldn't have known he was like that or that the situation was going to happen. I ended up making her some lunch and we sat and ate together like everything was normal. I still slightly feared the man was going to go to the coppers but I assumed maybe he wouldn't because he did threaten my life with a knife before I shot him so it would be labeled as self-defense.

The rest of the day went on rather normally for a change. I went to work with Frances at the pub and it was surprisingly an easy shift. The next day I awake to a pounding on my door. I open it slowly to see my sister standing in front of me. "Get dressed. We're going to Birmingham."

I quickly change and try to make myself look decent. I was not expecting to see Tommy until the end of this week but I wasn't complaining in the slightest. I apply some slight makeup as my heart slightly pounds in anticipation of the day ahead. After around 20 minutes me and Gertrude pile into her car that Alfie had bought her. Her driving, me in the passenger. We end up making it to Birmingham after a long harrowing four hour journey filled with talk of nothing really of importance and arguments of which way to go trying to follow the paper map the best we could.

As we enter Birmingham we now need to locate Small Heath, to which she also has no idea how to get to as she's never been. I tell her I know the way and to trust me as I fold the map up and put it away. She argues with me to pull it back out; to which I tell her I do indeed know the way and don't need it. She lets out a big sigh, "You cannot know this. No one can hold a map in their head." Her I imagine exasperated by the long journey from London and of many wrong turns we already took. "I can! It's three turnings away." I yell to her holding my head in my hands. "Your so going to get this wrong." She says as she shakes her head. We sit in silence for a moment as I purse my lips. "Stop it." She states to me. "What?" I ask her. "I can feel you judging my driving again." She states. I chuckle at this, "I'm not judging your driving." I say through a laugh. "Let go of the window then." She states. I look to where my hand is sat on the rolled down window. I move my hand after a roll of my eyes before noticing we passed the turn we were supposed to take. "Oh, we were supposed to go down that turning." I say looking quickly behind me. "What?!?" Gertrude yells. "Yes, that one we just passed." I say still looking back. "You said three turnings!" She yells back to me. "I missed one." I respond. "Just use the map! There is a map right there!" She yells back waving her hand around. "Oh, my god! There!" I say pointing ahead to a sign. "Small—oh, God—Heath. There it is. We're going the right way." I say feeling slightly nervous now that we are near arriving and I am closer to seeing Tommy.

"I was right." I say smugly to her. She lets out a big breath as I look at her. After a moment of silence I decide to break it. "Do you know what the difference between a chickpea and a lentil is?" I ask her. She ignores me focusing on the road. "I've never had a lentil on my face." I say to her. She bites back a smile and shakes her head, I can tell suppressing her laughter at my joke. Before she starts to cry. I look at her confused as she lets out a sob, "Don't make this fun." She continues sobbing as I make her pull over so as not to crash the car.