When I Leave

The Cost of Two Shelves

Chapter Sixteen

The Cost of Two Shelves

 Alfie’s ‘office’ did not look like I thought it would. It was in the basement. I followed Fergus to the steps where he knocked on the door.

One of Alfie’s personal bodyguards opened the door.

“What.”

“I’m here to see Alfie.”

“Do you have an appointment?”

I snorted and Fergus shot me a look.

“No, tell him it’s Fergus.”

I realized that only the light at the stair was on, down in the basement it was pitch black. The guard was staring intently at us, not planning on budging. I peered around him, and a figure walked into the dim light at the bottom of the stairs.

“Take a break, will you, Hotch?” It said. The boy clenched his jaw and stomped past us.

“Come on down then, Lackie.” He said, and walked into the darkness. Fergus glanced at me, then started walking down. I followed.

When we got to the bottom of the steps, he turned another light on to the right of us, and sat in his plastic chair, one leg folded up so his left ankle was on his right knee. Fergus stopped a foot in front of him and I stood beside him, not sure how to act.

Alfie raised an eyebrow at me. A cigarette hung limply in between his fingers.

“Alfie, do you-”

Alfie stood up, dropped the cigarette, and walked closer.

“Aren’t you going to introduce me to your friend?” Alfie asked. Fergus was biting his tongue, I could tell. “I’m Alice Clarke.” He shook my hand, smiled. I stayed strong.

“Nice to meet you Clarke, now what can I do for you two?” He pulled a piece of gum out of his pocket and started chewing as he shifted his focus from me to Fergus.

“We need shelves.” Fergus said in a monotone.

“How many?”

“Two.”

“Colour?”

Fergus looked at me. I shrugged, “Black?”

Alfie stopped chewing, looked me up and down, smiled, and resumed chewing.

“Follow me.”

We followed him through rows of seemingly random items and to the back of the basement, where there was a stack of shelves.

“I got two nice ones last shipment.” He said to Fergus as they walked. I walked silently behind them, looking at all of the things on the shelves.

Fergus held one of the two black shelves in front of me. They were nice. “I like them.” I said. He smiled and said, “We’ll take ‘em.”

Alfie stuck out a hand, “5o quid.”

“50 pounds?”

“Those are some nice shelves, Lackie.”

Nothing was said for a long minute.

“It’s 50 quid or Mitch Darmon’s iPod.”

“Blimey…”

WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?

“Fergus, just forget it.” I said.

“You give me 50 pounds and the shelves, I’ll ge’ you the iPod.”

Alfie laughed.

“I am risking being possibly murdered here.”

“Tone it down, Lackie.”

“If you asked any other guy, he’d make you pay a leas’ a hundred.”

I looked between them. Alfie licked his lips and scratched his head. “Alright.”

Fergus grinned.

“But I want the charger and the headphones, Lackie.” He reached in his pocket and forked over 50 quid. I picked up a shelf and Fergus got the other one.

“You’ve got a week, Lackie. Or you know what happens.”

“Later Alfie.” Fergus replied. We left, went up the stairs and as Fergus closed the door, I saw a shadow of a figure and the end of his lit up cigarette.

 “That was weird.” I said on our way up the stairs. Fergus glanced at me. “I’m sor’ of used to it.” I smiled and said, “What are you going to use the 50 for?”

He shrugged, then winked at me, which still didn’t answer my question. I didn’t say anything else. We went to my room and Fergus ripped open the little bag that came with the shelves that had screws and a small screwdriver.

After we had put the shelves up, I looked at my new wall. It was much more me. I couldn’t help smiling. A sudden surge of love pumped through me. I turned to Fergus and hugged him tight, because that’s as much as I could do. He hugged tight too, not bothering to ask questions.

We lined my shelves with all of my books.

At dinner, I still hadn’t seen Isis. When we got our shepherd’s pie we ate at a table for once. We ate mainly silently, I hadn’t realized just how hungry I was.

Then Patty literally slid to our table. She almost fell over the table. “Fergus, Alice, come quick!” She said and hurried off. We shared a look of mild curiosity, because Patty going wild wasn’t uncommon. We walked to where she was situated, at a window facing the village.

We looked through it. “Isis was out with Kev today.” Patty whispered. We all looked through the window as they talked at the bottom of the hill.

“What do you think they’re saying?” Patty asked.

“Looks like they’re arguing again.” Fergus said. He was right. They were fighting.

“I feel like a bloody stalker.” I whispered.

Patty shushed me.

Suddenly, Kev took Isis by the waist and kissed her. I gaped, Patty gasped. Fergus laughed. It felt like we were watching a sitcom. “We should stop watching.” I decided.

No one listened, I didn’t even listen.

WEIRD, THIS IS WEIRD.

Isis pulled away and slapped him so hard that I thought he might fall over. Kev held his cheek and was left in the two inches of snow as Isis stormed up the hill.

“Ouch.” Fergus said. Kev looked at the window and we all dodged away, and back to the table. Isis walked in, trying to look angry, but obviously concealing a smile. She got a plate of food and sat down at the table. I shared a look with Patty, and Fergus was smiling so hard at his plate that I couldn’t even look at him too long without wanting to laugh.

“You’re all being weird.” Isis said.

“Are we?” Patty asked, super suspiciously.

Fergus started cracking up, his elbows on the table and his hands on his face. “Excuse me.” He managed, almost running out of the cafeteria. “What was that about?” Isis asked.

“Who knows?” I said, doing my best not to smile.