"I think that's enough." She said as she pulled the bottle away from her boisterous brother. He reached clumsily after it but made no real effort to tear it away from her pale hands. He had earned it, really, the girl thought as she walked with a half empty bottle of bourbon. After all those years of terrible fighting, the glory of winning the war was starting to wear off, things were beginning to return back to focusing on recovering rather than still celebrating in the streets, but people were still happy.
However it was still a heavy burden on everyone's shoulders. And those unhappy with the current state of Europe had fled to America in search of a better life so it wasn't unlikely to find people from all over in their little neighborhood. They would often stay in group homes as New York was an expensive place to live, post-war or not. It wasn't unheard of to have as many as five or six in one house who weren't related, all from different countries. It was certainly less common to be ridiculed for one's heritage in this part of town but it still happened, especially in those parts dominated by one nationality. She often wondered why America? Why was this the country that everyone ran away to? Was it the fact that there was an entire ocean separating them from their pasts? Alfred, the girl's brother, said that it was because America was the hero and saved all of their asses at the end of the war but she prefered to call it a team effort, at least around her allied neighbors. She turned around to look at her drunk brother, Alfred F. Jones. His blonde hair was sticking up in places and his glasses were askew. He looked like he had just rolled out of bed, and he may as well have considering he had declared today National American Drinking Day, which she knew didn't exist but figured she might as well indulge him. He had been a fighter pilot in the war and she found it best to just give him what he wanted, after all, she would want the same treatment if she had gone through it.
She glanced down at the bottle and saw her distorted reflection in its surface. Long black hair, pale skin, and freckles, the only trait she shared with her two older twin brothers was all three of them had sparkling baby blue eyes, a Jones family trait. Alfred's twin brother Matthew had fallen asleep as well, but that was because he had been up late the night before in town, which was oddly out of character for him. She questioned if she should ask him about it when he woke up, but decided against it as he probably wouldn't answer her quarries and claim that Alfred had dragged him along. If that was true or not, she would never know.
The bourbon made a light thumping sound as she set it down in the cabinet and closed it. The sound seemed to wake Alfred. He pushed his hair out of his eyes and adjusted his glasses and groggily looked at his sister.
"Liana?" He stumbled out of his chair and Liana caught him with ease. Swinging his arm around her shoulders as to keep him from falling. "What are you doing?"
"Putting the booze away," she said, starting to walk towards Alfred's bedroom in the small apartment. "It's 9:30 in the evening and you're already passed out drunk."
"You're not the boss of me." He slurred.
Liana sighed as she opened the door to his bedroom, "Of course I'm not." She dumped him rather sloppily onto his bed and pushed the strands of hair that had fallen into her eyes. Liana quietly closed the door behind her and looked out into their small apartment. The livingroom, dining room, and kitchen all came together in one large space while a few doors on various walls led to bedrooms and bathrooms.
Liana walked over to Matthew, who had his head resting on his arms as he sat glumly at the table. He had one of his hands, turning the dial on the radio and scrolling through different channels.
"Strange now, huh?" Liana said, sitting down across from him. Matthew brushed his long blonde hair out of his eyes and smiled weakly at his little sister. He looked just like Alfred, only his glasses were rounder and he had a much quieter demeanor, and he didn't drink as much, even though he had seen just as much in the war. "Not being able to listen to all of the broadcasts about updates on the w…" Liana trailed off as she met Matthew's gaze. "Well at least you're not drunk."
"No, thank god I'm not." Matthew shook his head slightly, shaking his beer bottle for emphasis, it was still about half full. He looked at Liana for a long time, as if he was remembering something. Something before all of this, before they knew the meaning of concentration camps and discrimination and killing and war, but then again, Liana was never sure if there really had been a time like that. She had turned 19 at the end of the March and could barely remember a time before she had turned six or seven that there wasn't a world wide crisis going on. Matthew seemed to blink out of his haze and stared down at his hands. "Liana I think that you should go for a walk."
She hated this, being in no position to deny anyone anything, because if she did she would be depriving them of something they may actually desperately need. Matthew with his need to be alone with his thoughts, and Alfred to drink his thoughts away. She closed the door behind her and pulled on the sleeves of her light blue sweater. The winter breeze moved her hair as she walked down the staircase and onto the sidewalk of their street, pulling her jacket tighter around her shoulders. Normally, a woman walking alone in New York at night would be a very dangerous thing for her to be doing, but as long as Liana stayed to the two or three blocks that held the kind and international friends that she knew would keep her safe. But there was still a heavy burden of loneliness on her shoulders, and as Liana passed a small door with the number 14 painted on it she decided to cure her ailment, even if only for a moment or two.
Liana knocked on the door and a few seconds later a girl opened it. She looked to be about Liana's age and had long shimmering blonde hair tied into two braids and was wearing a white and blue checkered dress. Her eyes were green but they looked to be worn down by something. That something soon made itself aware a small but quick tiny girl around 5 or 6 tugged on the bottom of her dress. She had curly blonde hair in pigtails and a frilly pink and white dress.
"Dorothy." Liana smiled.
"Oh, good evenin' Liana," Dorothy responded in a thick southern drawl. The little girl pulled on her skirt again and Dorothy snapped at her. "I told you not to do that no more, Nellie-Rose." Nellie-Rose was Dorothy's little sister. Dorothy had originally been from Kansas until she ran away from her abusive home with her boyfriend, little sister and big dreams to make it on broadway, that last bit was still a work in progress. Dorothy directed her attention back to her friend, "I'm sorry, sugar, was there something you wanted?"
"Just wondering if you wanted to take a walk with me right now. The boys kicked me out and I'm feeling a bit lonely is all."
Dorothy nodded, "Well of course I'll join you, but we have to bring Nellie-Rose along if you don't mind. Travis is working late tonight and I've got her all to myself." Dorothy sent Liana a pained smile. "I wouldn't mind so much if it weren't for the fact that-"
"Dowthy!" Nellie-Rose slurred through the gap in her front teeth. "I wanna walk with Liana!" Dorothy looked to her friend for approval, Liana leaned down and swooped the little girl up into her arms and Nellie-Rose squealed with glee.
"Of course you can walk with me!" Liana laughed. She supposed that there still was some innocence in this world. After all, little Nellie-Rose had lived her whole life in a war zone and she still managed to laugh and run around and play games with her friends like it was just any other day, but it could also be attributed to the naivety of childhood. Dorothy smiled and grabbed her keys and her purse before locking her front door.
They walked around the two blocks just like Liana had planned to do herself, but now the cool night air was filled with gossip and chatter and occasionally Nellie-Rose's loud giggles. Eventually, Nellie-Rose got tired of being carried and settled to walk in between the two girls, holding one of their hands.
"So why'd Alfred and Matthew kick ya'll out tonight?" Dorothy asked once they had gotten back to her house and had put Nellie-Rose to bed. They were now sipping tea while in her livingroom.
"Not really sure, maybe they just had another wave of memories. They always handle those pretty badly."
Dorothy nodded and sipped her tea, "Why I thank the Lord every day for Travis' condition." Travis was Dorothy's boyfriend, who had escaped the draft for the previous war thanks to a nasty case of asthma he had had since he was a child. Liana momentarily wondered what it be like if her brothers hadn't been in the war. Alfred would still take her out when it was sunny and teach her how to throw a baseball and Matthew would sit in the shade reading a book and smiling softly whenever Liana managed to pitch a ball Alfred couldn't catch. But now whenever the sun came out it was an excuse to get Liana out of the house because she should go enjoy the sunshine while it lasted. Dorothy saw Liana staring into her tea and quickly put a hand on her knee. "I'm sorry, sugar, I should have-"
"Don't worry about it, it's fine really." Liana waved her hand like it wasn't a big deal. But it was a big deal, really. The fact that she felt excluded from her own home stung a little more each time it was brought up by someone she knew. After the tea Liana walked home, her skirt swishing around her knees. She waved to the Scotsman on the second floor of a building, his cigarette glowing softly in the darkness and he nodded back at her.
Liana climbed up the staircase to her apartment and opened the door to see Matthew hunkered down with his hands knotted in his hair. Liana instantly dropped her purse and rushed to Matthew's side. "What's wrong! Are you alright?" Matthew said nothing, but the blue of his eyes were shaking as he pointed a twitching finger towards the radio. Liana followed it and listened.
"-has claimed responsibility for the various attacks on the West coast that occurred recently today and has made an official declaration of war against the United States of America. Our pre-existing allies are expected to follow in supporting us in this fight and it is no doubt that the opposing side will have their own allegiances as well. As they have already begun advancing their troops, the draft will begin at the end of the first week of December. But we must remember to stay strong, God Bless America!"