DISCLAIMER: all rights to Peaky Blinders go to Steven Knight. I own nothing but my character and her family.
querencia
" a place from which one's strength is drawn, where
one feels at home. the place where you are your most
authentic self... "
CHAPTER ONE:
'let us break bread together'.
She was told that was all the telegram read. That godforsaken telegram that put them in the middle of a war between Jews and Italians. It was two heritages of which neither she came from, and one problem she didn't want to be a part of. Then again . . it would be quite difficult to avoid being a part of it, given where she stood. What was she supposed to expect? Being associated and living with people who wanted to make it their business? It was a matter of time before she would be dragged along. Evie was less of a Shelby than Esme Lee was, being neither a blood relation or married in, and yet she was almost always addressed as if she was one of the two. Her father always told her that word traveled fast in Edinburgh, however over time, Evie came to believe that that was the truth practically everywhere. It wasn't unknown that the eldest of the Cardone children left Scotland after a brutal attack on their family, mere weeks before the approach of the new year, 1918. She was sent away suddenly, with little warning and an even smaller amount of information. All her father told her was that she would be living with an old friend of her mother's for a while. In a town called Small Heath. All the way down to Birmingham. She remembered thinking this constantly for hours, repeating those words in her head. It had been such a short moment of time, and yet she could recall every detail, especially the shouting match she had with her father when her departure was suddenly decided. She lost, of course, but not just because she was the child. No. Anthony needed her to go. He needed his daughter to be in a safer place, with someone he trusted.
Evie had no choice in the end. She was left with tearstained cheeks as she packed her bags, and a very difficult decision to let go of her little brother the night she departed. She dreaded it . . even loathed it, maybe. But she knew, despite the anger and heartache she felt from being sent away, that Polly Gray would look after her. Her father knew that too, even amongst his fit of paranoia. Granted, Polly was someone she barely knew, and the family she came from was a group Evie knew of even less, but she knew of her mother's history with her. Evie couldn't help but feel comforted by that small truth, which somehow made leaving her home in the middle of the night all the more easy to do.
The Shelby's were a group she had little to no recollection of, aside from the unusually prominent fact that they were of Romani blood. Gypsies. Her grandmother would always hiss out the word, sometimes cast the name down in a short prayer whenever it was mentioned. Evie was never one to judge based on differences, she was well aware that they were a family of not only a very different background but ancestry as well. Unlike his mother, her father was never bothered by it either. But even so, Evie was prepared to hear others voice their opinions when she was seen with them. Others that were bothered. She doubted her grandmother was the only one with opinions. Bystanders got a kick out of the daughter of one of Scotland's most successful crime bosses coming to live with a family of gypsies who— while did not mind it —were at the time, a weaker gang.
When she finally came to Birmingham, she never heard it as often as she expected, but she would be lying if she said those who did joke about the situation were never reprimanded. Their insults never came to public ears, and sometimes not one word at all if their words weren't chosen carefully. Much to her surprise. Evie expected none aside from Polly in the Shelby clan to care about her reputation, only that she was looked after as her father wanted. All they knew was her name when she first arrived, yet here they were now, cutting out tongues for her. She expected the good relationships she formed were partially because they knew just what kind of hell her father could raise, even with their past business being positive. The Cardone's were well respected— that much was true —but in the end, they did exactly what the Shelby's did. Only . . cleaner, and in a quieter manner that kept most people from putting two and two together. Her mother always said that the richer you are, the easier it is to keep things quiet. In a way, she was right. Very rarely did she ever hear anyone openly talk about the Watch in Edinburgh. People knew who they were, they respected them. They kept their mouths shut. Yet, there in Small Heath, the Peaky Blinders seemed to be a hot topic. They were openly talked about as if there was no consequence.
"Evie! Can you help me with these boxes?" She could hear Ada as clear as day despite being a floor above her.
The house they now owned was a place neither of them expected to live. Originally Ada had found a flat on her own, quicker than she thought, but on her own nonetheless. Both of them wanted to get out of Birmingham as soon as they could whether or not the rest of the Shelby clan was aware. Ironically, the place Evie's father sent her to for her safety was no longer safe, or at least what she deemed to be no longer safe. She didn't want to step away from the part she played in the Shelby family business, considering it was growing by the minute, but she didn't want to live in the middle of it either. The thought of suffering the same fate as Freddie Thorne scared her, and rightfully so. Not only that, but living and breathing the business day in and day out? Being around it every waking moment? She didn't want that. She enjoyed what she did to help, but not enough to be around it all the time. For her, there was a fine line between business life and personal life. It was a view the Shelby brothers didn't share.
Considering the way they departed, and Ada's reasons for separating from her family, she thought that going to London would remove her involvement completely, but it wasn't long before one of the brothers found them. When Ada came home one evening with a folded note in hand, Evie expected she had caught the attention of one of her co-workers— perhaps made a friend —but it was quite the opposite. There were keys folded in and an address written in the middle.
Tommy's motives always had something to do with business, but nevertheless, she discovered that he managed to buy them a house. After everything that happened, and almost happened, Evie was admittedly glad Ada chose to give him a chance. Go see what exactly he picked for them. It was in a better area of town, had more than enough room now that family members were probably going to visit, and most of all . . safe. Before her brother showed up out of the blue, Ada was beaten, nearly violated until a couple of Blinders found her. It left Evie worried senseless, so much to the point that she considered dragging her back to Birmingham. Although Ada— claiming to be more stubborn than she was —tried convincing her otherwise. She told her the reason behind why what happened to her happened, although it did nothing but make Evie question their motives for leaving. So, when Ada decided that yes, they would take the house Tommy gave them, she felt an overwhelming sense of relief.
"How many do you have left?"
"Just the ones with Karl's clothes and then two with all our books." Ada paused, looking up as she came into the drawing room. "All of your books, actually."
Evie began to nod her head in realization, dragging herself over to the small table. This small structure was one of the few proper furniture pieces that sat in the room at the moment. The walls were still stark white, the fireplace was barren (aside from the mirror on top), and two chairs were present for seating— along with another that was cushioned. Ada decided to deem herself the decorator the minute they moved in, although her job was beginning to take up a lot of her time. So, Evie figured she would have to take over sooner or later. She shook her head at the sight of all the books she owned. They were practically falling out, stuffed into two cardboard boxes. "I had a lot of time on my hands when I first came to Birmingham."
"Well, now you do again." Ada began to lift one of the boxes. "So take these up to your room, yeah?"
Evie giggled, moving to take the load from her friend's arms. Before she could, the front door opened with a creak. Both women jerked their gazes over to the door, smiles now replaced with cautious stares. No one else had a key to the house that they knew of. Ada glanced over to her as footsteps came closer, reaching for the gun in her clutch conveniently placed on the table.
When a silhouette came from behind the door, Ada was ready to let a shot ring clear through the room, but stopped herself from even pulling the weapon out once they saw it was Tommy. Evie crossed her arms at the sight. "You have a key."
"Good to see you too." He furrowed his brow, taking mock offense.
Ada let out a dramatic sigh, taking her hand out from the clutch to throw it— and the gun —onto the chair next to her. "Why do you have a key, Tom?" She pressed, placing her hands on her hips.
"I kept a spare."
"Give it."
He complied, handing the piece of metal over with one of those rare smiles reserved only for his sister. However, Ada's cross expression never faded. "Now what are you doing here?"
Tommy bobbed his head in Evie's direction, ignoring the crossed arms and hard stares he was receiving. "Can I speak to your lodger for a moment?"
Evie raised her brow. "Lodger?" Despite poking at a nerve with the nickname, he waved her reaction off.
Ada adhered to his request, trailing out of the room, most likely to check on Karl. Although if Evie knew her at all, she knew she wouldn't travel further than hearing distance. Once she was gone, Evie turned to see Tommy sitting down into the only cushioned chair in the room. "Please, make yourself comfortable." Her tone was sarcastic, but Tommy paid no mind to it as she moved one of the smaller chairs away from the table, recrossing her arms as she sat. "Not to be repetitive of Ada, but why are you here Tommy?"
"Well," He muttered, grabbing one of the books stacked in front of him. "I've gotten the chance to see Ada since the two of you decided to disappear from Birmingham, but I haven't seen you. I wanted to say hello."
Evie snickered. "That was terrible." All he gave her was a look of confusion, so she continued. "Tommy Shelby never goes anywhere just to say hello."
Tommy tore his gaze away from her with a sigh. "Fine. I need to ask a favor of you."
"You have something for me to do finally?" She questioned in mock excitement. Silence. "Tommy I'm not doing your dirty work for you."
"All I'm asking is a favor." He defended. "You wouldn't be getting your 'ands bloody if that's what you're so tense about."
Evie unfolded her arms with a scoff, leaning her forearms on the table. "You do realize your sister was nearly raped because you decided to start a war with Sabini? I don't want to make things worse for her by going back into the one thing she wanted to get away from."
"How'd you know about Sabini?"
"You can yell at Polly later." Evie began to move her books off of the small table to the boxes at her feet, ignoring the frustrated groan she heard. Tommy gave back the book he held, watching her do so until the rest were off the table. "Look, I'm not askin' ya to kill anyone. I'm not askin' ya to go out in some alley at night or make deals with people that may try harming you, an' Ada, an' Karl. I know that's what you wanted to get away from." He paused, letting her take everything in. "I just want you to keep an eye on someone for me."
She huffed through her nose, reclining back into her chair. "Who?"
"My new business partner. Alfie Solomons."
"The Jew in Camden Town?" Evie narrowed her eyes, suddenly remembering her conversation with Polly over the phone. "Polly told me he was the one who sent you that telegram."
Tommy nodded. "He was."
"So instead of trying to fizzle out the fire you started with Sabini, you're doing business with his enemy?" He turned away from her stare, knowing she was already aware of the answer to that. Evie all but rolled her eyes, feeling her curiosity twitch despite knowing she shouldn't ask any further. "Is he bad news?" Tommy only looked back over to her curiously. "Are you're here asking me to do it because you have no other option? Because if so, you can just leave now. 'Keeping an eye on him' as you say, could still do harm."
"Evie, you know as well as I do that I wouldn't ask you to go into something that could leave you and Ada in danger. I just told you that isn't what you would be doing." He stated. "I don't know how he is around women though, if that's somethin' that came to your mind."
Evie hummed. "That's a shocker."
Her sarcasm was evident. "How about this." Tommy began, pulling out a cigarette from the tray in his pocket. "I'll find a hotel room. You come with me tomorrow to Camden Town, meet the man, and we'll discuss the arrangments. If you get a bad feelin', you tell me and I'll take you back 'ere. I'll try to find someone else."
Evie watched as he lit the cigarette, thinking over what he offered long enough for him to smoke half of it. Even with the aparent irony of the situation on Ada's end, she knew she hadn't wanted to put an end to her 'Blinder tasks'. Not really. The fact that she was so close to rejecting Tommy's request felt odd, but it wasn't entirely odd. Her reasons for questioning him and sounding as if she wanted nothing to do with it were purely because she cared for Ada and Karl's safety. Then again, Tommy did too.
Sighing for what was probably the hundredth time since he came through the door, Evie uncrossed her arms, grabbing the set of keys Ada left on the table. "You bought this house. You're stayin' here." Her arm stretched out across the table with the keys resting in her hand.
Tommy stared at the metal for a moment before smirking, taking them gladly. "Ada, show Tommy where he's staying." Her soft tone left him confused, but only for a moment as Ada soon appeared from the other side of the door. The brunette had a scowl on her face, directed over to her brother. "If anythin' happens to her because of you, I'll cut you."
Tommy only chuckled. "I'm serious, Tom." Ada pressed.
"Just go on." He ignored his sister, motioning to the hall. Ada huffed, sending a pointed glare towards her friend before trudging up the stairs. Tommy rubbed his temple, following behind her to see where he'd be sleeping for the night. If he'd get any sleep at all.