Episode: 5
As a young girl, Evelyn White sits alone under a bare bulb after Evelyn's mother drops cash on a table and leaves. Next door, eight-year-old Samuel Black suffers abuse from his father. Samuel shivers by a trash can and drops unconscious outside Evelyn's doorway. Evelyn hauls him indoors. Samuel warms up, gets the wood stove burning, and makes soup. From then on, both kids face the neighborhood together as family.
Evelyn's mother wears a red dress and tosses paper money onto a rough wooden table. She walks out the door immediately. Young Evelyn White remains alone in the run-down room, sitting quietly under a single bare lightbulb without speaking.
Young Samuel Black sits by a trash can in the winter cold with visible cuts and scars across his bare arms. He weeps and shivers violently in the alley. He stumbles to Evelyn's doorway and collapses onto the floor.
Young Evelyn White pulls the injured Samuel across her floor into safety. Samuel regains his strength, gets wood into the heater, and strikes a flame. He stands over the kitchen stove, stirring a hot pot of soup for them.
The two children step outside into the alleyway as the sun goes down. Samuel places his arm over Evelyn's shoulder, holding her close. They walk side by side down the lane together instead of walking in the dark alone.
“My mother was always busy chasing men for money. To her I was just a burden.”
“Samuel Black next door had it worse. His mother for a rich man and his father was a violent drunk gambler.”
“That early winter when we were 8, he collapsed at my door, cold cold whimpering for his mother. I dragged him home.”
“I let him stay. We became family. I never walked those dark streets alone after school again.”
The episode concludes with young Samuel Black and young Evelyn White walking down the alleyway toward the sunset, his arm resting over her shoulder. They now have each other for comfort and shelter. How will their mutual promise to support one another hold up as they face bigger hardships growing up in this harsh neighborhood?