Brooklyn

Chris was about to continue talking to Faith when both his brother and Clarissa approached them. He looked for any signs that something had happened and couldn't quite find anything. The bluntness of his words made it seem as if he had just gotten rejected. He put his hand on Oliver's shoulder and shook his head. "You'll be okay, my good man." He took off his hat and put it to his chest looking at Clarissa and Faith. "Night ladies, Clar thanks for letting me stay." He put his hat back on and then an arm around Oliver to help steady him as they walked out of the club and made their way home. He was very curious about what happened between them and decided to ask until another time. For now, he'd have to think about his plan to get his brothers in trouble with Esme.

She opened her mouth to respond to Faith when Chris started speaking. She nodded her head and smiled at him as he said goodbye. "Goodnight Christopher." she replied to him as she gave him a hug. "And you too, Oliver." She said before giving him a kiss on the cheek. "Make sure you both get home safe, kid." The last sentence was for Chris as they both headed out of the door. She then turned to face Faith and nodded her head. "I'm sure woman go, go. Get out of here." Giving the woman a quick hug she made sure she left as well as everyone else before she began to straighten things up. She was perfectly fine with cleaning things up herself. Most people would have other people clean but Clarissa didn't mind the work. It took her a while before she was able to leave and go home. It was nice to finally be in her bed.
​

After leaving the club, Faith caught a taxi back to her apartment. It was too cold and too late to walk back on her own. It was at that point she thought back to the few friends she'd left behind when Victor dumped her and she moved away from Queens. She made a note to herself to pay them, and Beulah, a visit sometime, when she was feeling bold enough to step foot in the Lees' territory on her own. As soon as she arrived home, she had a glass of wine before eventually getting into bed. She thought about the day she'd had; quitting the racetrack job and starting to work at Lape. She wondered if working for Clarissa alone would be enough to help her find her place again without having to betray anyone she cared for or lose her own identity.

The next morning, Faith woke feeling refreshed and climbed out of bed without any reluctance. It suddenly dawned on her that she didn't have to go work at the racetrack and she had the daytime all to herself. At first that felt great - especially not having to deal with the less savoury gamblers. Then, she realised she needed to haul herself out of the apartment to do something more productive or at least get some fresh air. The single life was not for Faith!​

Chris didn't think he would have to be babying his older brother when they got home. All the stumbling in the house made it difficult not to get caught by Esme. But being the little sneak that he is, he managed to get it done. His plan to wake Esme up and get Oliver didn't happen, only because he had completely forgot about it. He was too busy taking care of his brother that it went all the way over his head. He left a glass of water and some aspirin on the nightstand before leaving the room to his own. As immature as some say he is, he really isn't for his age. The problem was the little urges he had to just do and say whatever he wanted. ​

The next morning, he went to check on Oliver and saw that he was still sleeping. He then went back to his own to get ready for his day. What would be on the schedule today? Maybe he and his friends would go out and cause a little more trouble as they often did when they were bored. When he was done, he made his way downstairs where he saw his aunt getting coffee. And thus, his mischievous ways had begun as he kissed her on the cheek knowing she hated it. "Ahh. Auntie. You're up pretty late in the afternoon. What were you doing, with a man?"


Esme was up late throughout the night. With her husband absent, she was able to focus more on her book. This book had become something she was serious about, considering sometimes she never really stuck to what she started. It was becoming a fantastic little project, but she needed to take a break. Where she would go and what she would do was something she hadn't thought of quite yet. For now, her main goal was coffee. She was slightly surprised that the boys had been back before the sun was up, or so she thought. But she was really impressed at the fact that if they were home, no one made a sound. A smile crept over her face thinking about her nephews and how happy she was. She wouldn't admit it to anyone, but those four were the best things that ever happened to her. Her thoughts were broken when one of them kissed her cheek and at first she didn't mind, considering her current thoughts. It wasn't until she realized that one had kissed her cheek when she disliked it that she turned and hit Chris. "You little shit." She watched as he laughed and crossed her arms at his comment. "No. Now, where's the stuff I asked for last night?"
​

Oliver made it home safely and to his own bed, thanks to the help of Chris. It took barely any time for him to fall into a deep sleep which lasted for a few hours. He woke the next morning with a splitting headache. He turned over to see the glass of water and aspirin his brother had left by the bed. He sat up to swallow the pills and water. He closed his eyes as he pieced together all of the previous night's events. He remembered everything, even if it took some fitting together. He recalled he'd agreed to head into Queens with his brothers to screw with the Lees - not his wisest decision, but one he would firmly stand by. He remembered Lucas giving him some petty threat and still didn't care about that now he was sober. Then, he remembered telling Clarissa he was in love with her. "Oh, you fucking idiot, Ollie," he groaned at himself. What an embarrassment. But then, it also hit him that she didn't knock him back and they kissed. They kissed and he was too drunk to make the most of the situation he'd been longing for for some time. He hoped she hadn't been so drunk that she now regretted it. "Real idiot," he mumbled. He climbed out of bed in just a pair of boxer shorts, his feet getting caught in the pile of clothes on the floor, causing him to stumble and knock the wooden clock onto the floor from the nightstand. He didn't have any motivation to pick it up or even put more clothes on, he just headed to the bathroom for a wash. Once freshened up, he returned to his room to make an attempt at getting dressed for the day. He wasn't looking forward to joining the others downstairs in case they started asking questions or commenting on how drunk he'd been. Maybe if he wastes enough time everyone will have gone out.​

Thomas Murphy
Tommy had woken up with a light headache, quickly absolved by giving into his alcoholism. He stumbled about his small apartment, changing, shaving, and relieving himself not in that order. After downing a shot of brandy for the road and a quick breakfast, he drove the Royce to pick up Dom and then Oliver at their aunt's house.

As the two eldest Murphy sons pulled up to the house, Tom leaned on the horn, despite Esme's urging him to do otherwise. "Olly! Hurry up you drunk bastard!", the thirty five year old yelled. Dominic grinned and stood up in the passenger seat, balancing himself by holding onto the windshield. In the back seat, there was a wooden crate, painted black. It had serial numbers painted white, but no other obvious markings.




Anne Chébaté
The woman awoke and immediately regretted it. The pounding in her head was enough to make her regret drinking. She had definitely overdone it that night. The woman slowly sat up, groaning quietly. She dialed the number she had memorized when she started working for the Murphy's a few weeks ago on her phone and waited for the man on the other end to pick up.​

Oliver rushed to the window when he head a car horn sound. He looked out to see his brothers as Tom shouted out for him. Those two crazy fools, he thought to himself, grinning. He concealed on himself a few of his personal weapons before putting on a jacket. When he made his way downstairs, he decided to stop in on Esme and Chris. Tom and Dom would have to wait a few minutes longer. "Good morning," he greeted his aunt and youngest brother as he grabbed an apple for the road. He didn't look as bright as usual, but he seemed happy enough. "Chris. Thank you for helping out your favourite brother, last night," he said, playfully ruffling his hair. His eyes gave away that he was troubled, despite his warm smile, but they wouldn't have time to get any details out of him. He put his arm around Esme's shoulder and gave her cheek its second kiss of the morning. "I'd love to stay and chat, but those two noisy idiots are waiting for me outside."

Oliver walked out of the house at a normal pace, rather than rushing. He looked to his brothers and shook his head whilst laughing. "Calm down, you're spoiling the neighbourhood," he joked, getting into the car. "Did you two even sleep?!" he remarked.​

Chris put his hands up in defense when asked about her stuff. "I was not the one to get them. I do believe it was Thomas." He said with a devious smirk on his face. Secretly he wished Tom had forgotten so he feel Esme's wrath. It was quite funny seeing her go off on people especially when it wasn't him. When Oliver finally came downstairs and thanked him, he nodded his head. "Of course." He watched him disappear out of the house and turned to Esme, who was watching and listening to the conversation. "I mean, I only did it so I could possibly hear about what happened between him and Clar last night." He raised his eyebrows at his aunt as she leaned in, wanting to hear more. When she told him, she nodded her hand in understanding and went back to her tea, without saying a word. "Alrighty Auntie. I'm off to see some friends." He told her before walking out the house.



Her nephews were truly going to be the death of her if they kept kissing her cheek. She groaned as she sipped her tea and gave them both a death glare. Her annoyance became even more apparent when she heard the honking outside. She was glad when Oliver left to tell them to shut up but was even more intrigued by what Chris had to say. So something had happened between them at the club last night? She had a clue about what it was but would only keep it to herself. When she heard the last honk she stormed outside towards the car with a devilish grin on her face. "Can someone please explain to me why I keep hearing a car horn?" She asked before pulling on Thomas' ear. "Just because you're in your thirties doesn't mean I won't box your ears." She said before letting his ear go. "Now where's the stuff on my list?"​

For the briefest of moments, Faith was suddenly reminded of her family and the part of her that missed them. But the memory of the bitter terms they'd parted on reminded her that she could never go back, and even if they could forgive her, pride would not allow her to return.

Before she could let her thoughts take over any longer, she grabbed her bag and left the apartment. She planned to go for a walk through Brooklyn and maybe grab some lunch there. She knew a few people in Brooklyn by now who she hoped to extend smalltalk with to friendship with. She remembered she had to be at Lape later too. She'd enjoyed her first evening working with Clarissa, but she was quite nervous about the dancing after seeing how good everyone there was. Faith sure did attract complications.​

From his position in the car, Oliver watched as Chris left the house and made his way off out somewhere. He wondered where the kid was always going off to and had he not been busy with his brothers today, he would have sought out the answers to his question. It would have to wait for another day. Chris might have outshone himself in Oliver's eyes last night (with the exception of trying to get Oliver to embarrass himself with Clarissa) but he was still immature at times. It was that immaturity that could get the kid into trouble and that worried Oliver.

Despite still feeling a little worse for wear, he couldn't help but laugh as Esme pulled Thomas' ear an demanded the items from her list. Oliver figured that request had been forgotten, but he hoped it hadn't - for everyone's sake. Perhaps he shouldn't have been so stubborn yesterday and had just offered to get the list himself. He still would if needed.​