My Name Is Talise Knowels, This Is My Story.

Chapter 6: The Planning Shack

Chapter 6

The Planning Shack

The planning shack was chaos. The boys were running in and out, reporting who had died and who were injured. Maps of the alleys and London littered the floors as they frantically searched for some sheets of paper, marking who had died and where. Dodge was sat at the oak table looking as pale as the moon. His mouth was set into a hard thin line; a hard thin line on Dodges face means he is either furious, distraught or worried as hell. I think he was all of these today because when Zeph put me down, Dodge barely noticed me. I was glad, I didn’t need him stressing over me as well as sorting everything out. I made my way to the back room and closed the door behind me, giving Zeph a small nod to say I was ok as I did. I locked the door and turned around only to find that the world turned black and it felt like gravity was increasing in on my chest. I breathed in that old familiar smell. Beer and Spanish herbs.

“Talise! Your ok! Where the hell were you! You had me worried to death!” I heard a muffled voice cry.

“Charlie...can’t...Breathe...” I wheezed.

“Oh, sorry!” he apologised and released me from his bear hug. I suddenly wished I had not said anything; fore he pushed me at arm’s length and looked at my clothes.

“Flaming hell Tal! What the heck happened to you? Are you hurt?” he said checking my arms and head for wounds.

“Charlie I’m fine! Its someone else’s not mine!” I shook him off my arm.

“Did they try to get you too?” he asked, ignoring my comment.

“Who are they?” I asked. Where these people he was talking about to blame for all this suffering?

Charlie sighed and sat down on the straw bed, head in his hands. He did something then that I had never seen a boy do before in my life. He cried, no...He did not cry; He sobbed.  I ran to his side.

“Charlie? Charlie what’s the matter? What’s happened?”  I asked worriedly.

“It’s...its mi Madre...they....they killed mi Madre...” he managed to say through his sobs. My heart sank; Mrs. Ramirez was so jolly and kind and always smelt of pastries and Spanish cooking. If I had ever had a mother figure, it would have been her. She taught me Spanish; how to tie my hair up in an old rag; how to tie up my corset on my own and most of all, how to work boys around your little finger. I wrapped my arms around Charlie, as far as they could go around him, and rocked him gently.

“What am I going to do Talise? Mi Madre has always been there and....now... she’s gone.” He groaned painfully at the hole in his heart where his mother should be.  “What’s happening Talise? Why are they doing this to us?”

“I don’t know Charlie.” I admitted, silently crying myself. “I honestly don’t know”

Hours seemed to pass as I sat there holding Charlie. He soaked my shoulder with his tears, but I did not care. I was too busy trying to absorb what had happened over the last 6 hours since my awakening to Mrs. Basset’s horrifying scream. I wanted all of this to stop. I wanted the wailing outside to stop, and most of all I wanted Charlie to stop crying. It didn’t seem right really, he was normally the one holding me close, telling me everything was going to be all right but now the tables had turned, and I did not like it one bit.

Slowly but surely, Charlie’s cries turned into sniffs as he leaned his led weight head on my shoulder. The sun set over the tall boarded up houses of the alleys, casting shadows all around the room. I stared at mine, it didn’t look like a girl, it looked like a giant blob for Charlie’s body cast a shadow too merging our shadows together as one. I sat there looking at it, swearing to myself that I had forgotten something very important. Suddenly it hit me, my shadow: Remy. I sprang up from the bed.