Between Stripes

T H I R T Y O N E

"Obviously I do have a small savings account, my dear son always advised to have one. So the government don't come looking. It was always a good idea. I use it to buy my lunches out, a few groceries. Enough so that nobody's suspicious." Maureen rambled as she knitted a jumper for me. I listened and flicked through her vast vinyl collection. It varied widely which shocked me.

"Pretty clever if you ask me." I mumbled.

"Yes. My dear Marco was a clever one." She sighed, her voice full of nostalgia.

"Tell me about your daughter."

"Oh my dear Sofia, she was lovely. Always a happy girl. Too bad she was too curious for her own good." Maureen paused. "You see my Marco, well he was involved in the crime family. Not very high up but he was involved. Anyway, Sofia wasn't aware of this. Neither Marco or I wanted her knowing too much, why I didn't know everything till after my boy was sent down! So back to Sofia, she became aware of it all when she was a teenager. And once she'd turned sixteen her curiosity got the better of her. For a year Sofia would follow Marco's boys around or try to sneak into his room at every opportunity. Baring in mind it didn't work most of the time. A-and one time she followed one of his boys, and he was coming as backup on one of the fights. Sofia found them all, fighting on one of the streets downtown. Marco saw her, and so did his- his enemy and his enemy saw the look in Marco's eyes when he saw her and he... he shot her."

Her voice was full of pain and I could see the tears in her eyes. Maureen's hands stopped the cycle of knitting and dropped to her lap. Furrowing my brows I leant towards her and grabbed one palm.

"It's okay Maureen." I smiled warmly and she gripped my hand, smiling too.

"Thankyou Georgia dear."

It may have seen as though I had emotions in that moment but admittedly, I didn't. I thought of the revenge plans Maureen could've done. She had a great opportunity and lost it due to her being kind and emotional.

"As crazy as it sounds Maureen, you could avenge your daughters death." I spelt said, not looking at her.

"Yes but it's been many years since Sofia's death. And I've aged since then-"

"I could do it for you."

"And the crime families don't exactly exist anymore, Gothams in a bit of a state to be honest." Maureen was trying to hide her grimace but it was still there, I didn't mind. She wasn't up for killing and not everyone was so I had to respect that... But if the crime families still existed I'd be out there getting revenge for dear Maureen. She didn't deserve to lose her both her kids to the crime family.

"Okay Maureen. Don't get upset!" I said as I noticed her grimace take a sad turn. Tears welled up in her eyes again.

"No- no I'm not getting upset dear." She sniffed and wipe her eyes, then smiled at me.

"Good, now tell me about your life." I smiled as she smiled and looked up at the walls.

"I have lived a long life, dear. All sorts has happened, many events which I've not told even my children."

"C'mon Maureen, tell me." I pushed.

"You know by now, deary, my husband was Italian and named our children. Which I'm greatly glad about since his... passing," I nodded slowly, "I shall tell you how I came to know my dear Lon because it's my favourite memory.

"It was roughly 70 years ago, I was 16 years old and Lon was 17. And my best friend, Sandra, had gotten herself a date and a blind date for myself. We were going into a drive-in movie, that's what the kids did in those times.

"The guys picked us up at Sandra's house, her guy was perfectly fine whereas mine wasn't so nice. But, I put up with it. We went to the movie and just before it, while queuing for food he simply pushed me too far. If I remember correctly, he tried to grab my rear end. And if I remember correctly, again, I sure did let out a helluva scream and jumped to the side. That grabbed some attention, in particular the guy in front of me. He was around a year older, drop dead gorgeous and he looked furious," Maureen paused to let out a little laugh, "and if you can't tell, that mista was Lon himself. Anyway, he had turned round, fists clenched, eyes set on my date. Then, he turned to me, his eyes much softer, and asked 'did this jerk just lay his hand on you?'. I nodded and then Lon grabbed my date's collar, he was being held up in the air by his goddamn collar. Lon pulled the meanest look and said 'how dare you be such a pig towards such a lovely lady, you'd better back off buddy or you'll get something mightier worse than a stupid threat next time' and then let go of him. My date scrambled away while I stood there and smiled at Lon. His expression softened and he smiled back, slowly he held out his hand to which I shook and didn't let go of. We watched the movie in his car with a box of extra large popcorn shared between us... and that's how I met my first serious boyfriend who then became my husband and the love of my life."

"Awh Maureen that's adorable!" I grinned, looking up to see a similar expression on her face. However her eyes were much different; they were full of love and nostalgia.

"I wish for you, my dear, to find someone who you can love as much as I loved Lon. It's truly special."

"I wish that too, Maureen, I really do." I murmured, looking down at my hands which still had remnants of purple and green nail polish. The sight of the colours instantly brought him back into my mind, that cheeto-haired maniac...