1962

Charlie?

'When we finally left the bar, we were a complete mess. The usually over flowing streets of East London were scarce. Small puddles littered the pavement and droplets of rain fell from the lampposts.  It was dark, the clouds had covered the stars and had left a grey mass of swirls in the sky instead. The lights from one of the old bars flickered in the distance and a stray cat or two howled from their spot on a graffiti covered wall.

Maggie staggered next to me, her arm slung over my shoulder and a bottle of cider swinging in her hands. She also seemed to have found a cigarette somewhere as I noticed one hanging from her mouth. I had always hated them things; wouldn't go near them. But Maggie seemed completely content in her own little bubble. Absentmindedly, I snatched the cider bottle from her hands and poured the liquor down my throat.

Even in my state, I couldn't get those blue eyes out of my mind. The way he smelt, the way he was dressed, that sultry smirk that always seemed to occupy his lips. The way he looked at me was something I'd never experienced before and sent shivers to my soul. Maggie had teased me the entire time we'd made our way out of the club, giggling that I was 'terrible at hiding that blush' and that I 'looked like a complete idiot sitting there with my mouth open like a fish'.

"Oh my, that was fantastic!" Maggie shouts, stumbling on a stone in the road. I just nodded along, turning around to face the moon that was shining on us. It looked so lonely up in the sky. Maggie continued to laugh and shout utter nonsense before stopping in her tracks. Her eyes were fixed straight ahead, her laughter completely gone. Noticing this, I stopped and span around to look in the same direction as her.

A man was walking towards us, a large coat shielding his face from us and the cold summer night. He had a stern look about him, as if he was angry. It didn't take long for him to reach us; our street was only small. As he neared, I felt my stomach lurch. I knew who he was. It was my older brother Charlie, and he didn't look happy.

"El, what in gods name do you think you're playing at." He spat, snatching the cider bottle from my loose grasp.

"Hello to you too. Its a bit late for you Charlie, what you doing up?" I grinned clutching onto Maggie for support.

"You're drunk. Both of you are" He stated, completely ignoring what I had just said. He eyed both of us, his usually bright eyes narrowed and dark.

"Am not"

"You are, Eleanor. In Gods name, what are you playing at? Its not very ladylike to be wandering the streets, smoking and drinking like common whores. What were you thinking, huh?" He muttered, pulling the cigarette from Maggy's lips and tossing it to the ground. Briskly, he pulled us either side of him, throwing his arms around our shoulders.

"Let's get you home Maggie, you must be freezing. Your Granny Faye must be worried sick and rightly so, poor woman. As for you El, you better hope that fathers out for the count otherwise I dread to think what he'll do." He sighed, squeezing each of our shoulders. He was right, even I knew that. I'd experienced the wrath of father plenty a time.

"How did you know where we were, anyway?" I asked after a few minutes. It'd never occurred to me that I hadn't told Charlie where I was. I mean, I'd walked out during dinner when father was in the midst of comparing me to his darling daughter Mary.

I hated Mary. Charlie hated Mary. She was our half sister; the product of fathers long term affair with the town bicycle, Dawn. As soon as mother passed away, he took no time moving his whore and their devil child into our house.

Mary was thin, tall and had the highest forehead and the ugliest pinched mouth one could ever imagine. She was evil, to put it nicely. She would pull my hair when no one was looking, call me names and would steal my things. Despite this, father always liked her the best and put her on a pedestal. She's his little princess, his pride and joy. She could do no wrong to him.

"Um..." Charlie breathed,  stopping me from thinking of all of the things I'd like to hit Mary with. "A friend of mine called me." I furrowed my brow. I hadn't seen any of Charlie's friends down there. I wonder who had called Charlie? Strange.

When we arrived at Maggie's block of flats, I gave her a tight hug and lazily planted a kiss on her nose. Maggie grimaced and stumbled up the stairs. It was times like this I was thankful for living with my father. We lived in a house so sneaking in drunk was much easier. 

"El, you're such a soppy cow" She giggled waving. I waved back and turned to Charlie who was glancing at his watch in agitation.

"Say hello to Granny Faye for me." I shouted up to her.

"Wait here. I'll be down in two minutes" Charlie warned, turning his attention to Maggie who was now leaning over the balcony of the second floor. I just nodded and sat myself on the first step. Why did he have to be so over protective? I mean I was seventeen, I was fully capable of taking care of myself.

All I wanted to do now was go home and sleep but that was going to be impossible. No doubt father would be awake and waiting patiently for my return. He didn't scare me. Not anymore. At first I was terrified of him; his fierce glare, his large build, his evil, distorted smile. Understandably, he got worse when mother died. But something had changed within me; I wasn't scared anymore, and for the first time ever I could look him in the eye without showing any fear.

"El." I scrambled up off of the steps at my name and turned to Charlie who had an unmistakable smile on his face. He jumped down the last few steps and linked his arm with mine.

"What's got you so happy?"

"Nothing in particular..." He shrugged. He was lying; he was the worst liar ever. It wouldn't take me long to get it out of him, Charlie being the pushover he is.

We strolled down the street hand in hand, absorbing the peaceful night time atmosphere. I tried to keep the mood light by making jokes, but Charlie was worried and no longer smiling the way he was back at Maggie's. He knew what father would do and he was scared for me. He smiled half heartedly at my attempts to cheer him up and stopped as we approached our house.

"You'll need this" From his coat pocket, Charlie pulled out the bottle of cider he'd taken from Maggie earlier and thrust it out to me. Gingerely, I took it from him, taking one last gulp before handing it back.

"Good luck to me..." I muttered.

With one last encouraging look from Charlie, I took a deep breath, straightened my back, and walked into my house.