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[There's another pause as Alfie slowly sits down on the living room couch, stifling a groan of pain.]

Of home?

Yeah. Sure.

[He had said anything.]

All right.

[Home feels so far away that for a moment, it's a little hard to think of anything.]

All right. Yeah.

I've told you I've got two brothers and a sister, yeah? Henry's a year and a half younger than I am. Leah's six years younger. Adam's seven years younger. Now, growing up, Henry and I would go off and do things together. It made sense to us, right - were the big boys, and the two little ones would rightly stay home and play with each other. I'm sure you can imagine what Adam thought of that.

So, he chased after you one day?

Oh, not just the one day, mate; no, he chased after us every chance he got. But there was one day when he was, oh, seven or so, which would have put Henry and me at thirteen and fourteen. We went out onto the streets and told him to stay put, but he followed - staying a bit behind, in hopes we wouldn't see him. That worked out well enough for him, until we found ourselves on a more crowded street.

[This is a decent distraction from the slowly-cooling corpse of his best friend. John tries to focus on the story, picturing a bustling Victorian street in London in his minds eye, along with a couple of young boys.]

Did he get lost?

He kept us in his sights, for a time. But then he spotted a boy of my height on a stopped tram, wearing a coat that looked like mine. Quick as could be, he hopped onto that tram just before it started moving. But then, what did he see? Henry and me still on the pavement, making our way through the crowds in the opposite direction, as he was driven away from us.

[John raises a brow.]

Bit more of an adventure than he bargained for, I reckon.

He shouted to us - "Alfie, Henry, Alfie!" And we turned round and saw him, and started chasing after the tram, cursing him. But we were too far off and it was moving too fast; we weren't gonna catch up with it. So one or the other of us yelled at him to stay on until he saw the Bevis Marks Synagogue, and then hop off as close to it as he could. And we took off on foot.

Was there a stop for the tram there?

A block away. Not far. But it was a long run for us. He was gonna reach it before we did, and we didn't know if he was gonna sit tight like we'd told him. He was only seven, yeah?

This is where mobile phones would come in handy in the past.

[And why, while it might be fun to visit, John would be thoroughly disinclined to stay in the past anywhere.]

Yeah. Yeah, we didn't have any sort of telephone at all at that time, much less a mobile one.

So, was he there waiting for you two when you made to the synagogue?

Not that we could find, no. We thought he'd stand out front by the doors, waiting for us. It seemed to be common sense, yeah? He would have known it would take us longer to get to him. But the entryway was empty, and he was nowhere to be seen.

Now, we were a bit panicked despite ourselves, at this point - yeah. What if he'd run off and gotten lost? London is a big fucking city; we'd never have found him by chance, and he didn't know how to get home on his own. We circled the building once, twice, three times, hoping he'd found another door to wait by.

Just how many doors are on the Synagogue?

Ah, I don't remember. There might have been a back door or two. I sent Henry inside, but he came back out empty-handed. We could not find Adam, and we were starting to think that we'd have to return home alone, brotherless. Neither of us liked that. Not in the least. So, we decided to stay. We waited and waited, bored out of our fucking heads, wasting hours. Whatever adventures we had planned for that day - I can't remember what they were - they were out of the question; we knew they were never gonna happen.

And then, as it was getting dark, the tram came round again. And who did we see?

Did he ride the tram all 'round the city for a lark?

[It sounds like something a little brother would do.]

He rode the tram all 'round the city four times for a lark. He'd started off scared, right, but it didn't take him long to decide he liked seeing the sights. Every time he saw the synagogue coming up, with us waiting outside, he ducked so we wouldn't spot him and make him get off.

[John's brows rise. But he's mildly amused, even if his voice doesn't carry that too much. There's a quiet chattering of teeth now and again when John can't hold back. He's starting to feel tired.]

Little bastard. Did you knock him over the head?

I grabbed his ear and gave him a smack, yeah. Told him he'd get spanked if our mother found out. But we didn't tell her, because we're brothers, yeah?

[Solomons brothers didn't tattle.]

We threatened him all the way home, but we never told. Well - not until we were all adults, and it came out as a story to tell at gatherings.

Alfie Solomons, twisting ears like a schoolmarm. That's a sight to picture.

[He's quiet a moment apart from quiet breathing and the chatter of teeth.]

You don't actually need to stay on the line, Alfie. I... I still need to let Bucky know. Thanks, though. For the story. I liked it. [He has to swallow, and his voice is a little thicker once more.] I liked it a lot.

Someone should stay with you. If he doesn't, you'll call back?

[The morbid part of him wants to point out he has Sherlock, but he doubts Alfie would really appreciate the humor in that right now. And it might set him off into hysterical giggles, which are nothing John wants to deal with.]

Yeah. Sorry about this.

[About everything, really. He's well aware of how difficult this is for Alfie, too.]

Yeah.

[There's a very light thunking sound from Alfie's end, his head hitting the wall as he leans back against it.]

Find some peace tonight, Watson. John.

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jumpthegun - 2017-02-01 05:31 (UTC) - Expand