John stood over his brother, the knuckles on his right hand split and stinging after delivering the blow that had knocked Tommy to the floor. He was too angry to care.
"How could you!" he cried as Tommy shook his head back and forth and staggered to his feet. "How could you do that to Lizzie!"
Tommy looked at him with dazed eyes, which widened slightly as they cleared up.
"Yeah, I know what you made Lizzie do at the races. She's been crying and moping. I finally got her to tell me what you did."
His brother's silence was admission enough, but John wasn't through. The thought of what Lizzie had been through at his brother's hands made him sick.
"I don't see the same thing in your eyes I see in in Tommy's. You should get out.
At the time, those words had sent a chill running up John's spine. They were ominous words. Then he shrugged them off, blaming it all on her work at the races, but he couldn't ignore them now, couldn't ignore that his brother had knowingly set Lizzie up to sell herself out again.
'"You made a big show about giving her that job, helping her out, stopping the work, and then you sell her out…"
"John…"
"So, what… you didn't sell Lizzie out at the races?" he asked, searching his brother's face. Tommy rubbed his jaw, breaking eye contact, flicking his eyes away to a corner of the room in a rare admission of guilt.
John remembered how pale Lizzie was, remembered the tears in her eyes and the bruises on her face as he cupped her chin in his hand and hugged her, trying to comfort her. John thought she'd been working again of her own doing, had rubbed salt in the wound by saying how Tommy had told her to stop.
And she tried to smile and cover it up.
"It was an accident," Tommy said, rubbing his jaw and shaking his head to reorient himself. "What happened at Epsom was an accident."
"An accident. An accident?" John walked up to him, grabbed him by the front of his coat.
"I was going to marry her," he said, regret in his voice and then everything, everything he had pent up inside him and shut away came tumbling out along with his anger.
"I was going to marry her and love her, but instead you told me…"
"I told you she accepted my offer to…"
"Because no one can resist Tommy Shelby's money! You buy people. You get them to do what you want and she's always needed the money.
And she's always wanted you. He knew and had always hated the fact that Tommy had her first. Tommy always had everything first, his pick of the women, his pick of alcohol, his pick of the horses. Tommy Shelby got whatever he wanted and lorded it all over everyone.
"Nothing ever happens by accident with you. You plan everything. You planned my wedding, you forced me into marrying…"
Esme Lee, lying in bed with Johnny Dogs after the races.
John had not told anyone that he had thrown Esme out of the house right then and there, thrown her suitcase and all her clothes into the streets. He'd seen her flirting with that man, but he hadn't thought she would break her wedding vows. Call him old fashioned.
Call me a fool.
That had happened first, then he'd run into Lizzie this morning and pried a confession out of her. It was all Tommy's fault.
You know what I think Tommy? I think you liked controlling her. I think you liked telling her what to do, getting her to sleep with other men when you snapped your fingers."
"Don't be ridiculous, John."
" You like controlling everyone and everything. Well you know what? I'm through."
"What?"
"That's right, you heard me. I'm through. I'm packing up and I'm leaving."
You should get out.
"Where the hell are you going to run off to? Tommy asked. You don't have any money. You don't have a job outside of the company. Are you and Esme going to go to the countryside and raise pygmy goats?"
John clenched his jaw, his hands curling into fists.
" John, I'm sorry about Lizzie. It wasn't personal…"
"What was it, business? Why the hell would Lizzie need to work again for the business?"
"Think this through John. You will be making a mistake."
You should get out.
"No, I've already made a mistake by putting up with you and turning a blind eye to everything you're doing, for letting you tell me who to marry. I'm not putting up with it anymore."
He let go of the front of Tommy's coat and pushed him backwards. He knew exactly what he was going to do. He was going to work for Uncle Peter on the waterfront. He was going to raise some money on his own before buying a house somewhere in the country.
And I'm going to take Lizzie with me.
He'd take Lizzie, he'd take the children. They would start over.
"You're not taking your children out of school and shipping them out to the country, John."
"They're my kids. I can do what I want. They'll be a lot better off for it being away from you. While I'm at it, I'll take Finn with me. God knows he needs a change."
"You've spoken to Esme about this?"
"My wife was naked in my bed with Johnny Doggs and I threw her out of my house, so no I didn't talk to her about this!" Not to mention, he had thrown Doggs bodily down the steps then took those steps two at a time to shove him out the front door.
Should have thrown him out the bloody window.
The truth was out now, and what was worse was that Tommy did not look shocked by that piece of news.
"Now I know why Ada is always upset with you. You ruin everything!"
Maybe he sounded like a child then, little John whining at older, holier than thou Thomas Shelby who could do no wrong. There was a pause in the conversation before Tommy said:
"If that's how you feel, then get out."
John stared at him, shocked by how easy it was for his brother to let him go.
"You've made your point. Get out. Take the kids and Finn with you. Take Lizzy. Leave."
Tommy's voice was cold as he walked over to his desk and poured himself a glass of whiskey.
"Go on then," Tommy said, bringing the glass to his lips and cringing slightly at the pain in his jaw. He waved his hand towards the door.
John felt his face begin to tremble. He was beyond angry, he was hurt that after everything, Tommy was just going to brush him off, like a speck of dirt on his coat, as if he were meaningless.
I helped him make this company.
"It's so easy for you to turn your back on family, wash your hands of us…."
Tommy slammed the glass hard down on the desk. John saw the cracks form in the glass, but it didn't shatter.
"Let me make something very clear to you. Not once, have I ever turned my back on this family. If there's anyone here doing that, it's you. Now get out."
John stared at him, his lips trembling, nostrils flaring, then with a conscious effort, he unclenched his fists. Tommy continued to drink his whiskey. A chill had descended over the room.
"Well then," John said, clearing his throat, trying to fill that silence.
"Well then," Tommy repeated, not looking at him as he put the bottle of whiskey back in the desk. There was more silence before Michael came into the room, saying something about the books, the books John had pored over, had slaved over. He had done everything for Tommy, done everything for the family.
What was the bloody point?
John turned his back on Tommy, walked past Michael without a word, without even looking at him, and made his way down the stairs. He ran into Arthur at the front door who was grinning from ear to ear, his face a deep tomato red indicating he had been drinking during the day.
Again.
"John!" Arthur yelled, his voice booming. "Good old John, loyal John, have a drink with me will you Johnny boy? Us Peaky Blinders deserve a celebration! C'mon, grab Finn, grab Michael.. Hell, get Pol and that grouch Tommy and let's all go down to the Garrison. Drinks on me, how's that? First Epson, then the world, am I right?!"
"Not now Arthur," John said, pushing past his brother who reeked of alcohol, and walking out the door into the street. He'd left the car by the house since it was a nice day and he wanted to walk to clear his head. He wanted to keep it clear of Esme, who had made his blood boil all day. Now he needed to cool off from Tommy.
"Where the hell're you going?" Arthur called. John ignored him and made his way down the sidewalk, already planning on what to pack and how to get the kids all set. He'd have to sit them down and explain why they had to leave and somehow tell them Esme was gone. He hated to do that to them, especially to Katie who had grown very close to his wife, but he couldn't even bear to look at the woman after what he'd seen. How could he take her back?
Martha never would've done that to me.
Martha was his first love, his wife, the mother of his children. She never would have been with another man and John would never have dreamed of betraying her in any way.
She couldn't stand Tommy either. She hadn't said a word, but I always knew how she felt.
John remembered all those times she had excused herself from the room whenever Tommy dropped by, saying she had to tend to the kids, how her body would tense when she looked at him. John couldn't understand at the time why she was cold towards his brother, when she was friendly to everyone else. He had ignored it because he loved her and she was a good woman who took care of him and their children. Tommy wasn't exactly the easiest person to warm up to, what with The War and all.
She knew he was rotten inside.
Martha knew it. Lizzie knew it and had warned him. Ada knew it, which was why she was always running away. Hell, maybe even Pol knew it deep down which was why she desperately wanted to keep Michael away from them all. Arthur didn't know up from down and was a lost cause. Finn…
Where has Finn been?
Ever since the races, he hadn't seen head nor tail of his youngest brother. Pol would make comments that he was running around with other kids getting into mischief most- likely, but now that John thought about it, he hadn't actually had a conversation with the kid in a long time. He'd been too caught up in his suspicions about Esme sleeping around town and then furious when he discovered the truth and the truth about Lizzie. The thought of Lizzie being a pawn in Tommy's game made John feel guilty. He had been completely clueless about what she was going through, this woman that he had almost married and still had feelings for, always siding with Tommy without asking questions. He was as bad as Arthur.
I'll find Finn. I'll find Lizzie.
It wouldn't be too difficult to track the two of them down. Then they'd all go to Uncle Peter and get themselves set up for the future.
He was snapped out of his thoughts by the sound of sirens, and fire-trucks careening down the street behind him. Cars pulled sharply to the corners to carve a path for the trucks, which were speeding towards the flames. John's stomach lurched as he realized the location of the fire was near his house, in his neighborhood. He broke into a run, following the wailing sirens. He ran without stopping.
His blood ran cold when he saw that the front door was blown off its hinges, glass littered the ground and that the flames were jutting from his house as well as several houses nearby. He saw the swarms of people crowding around, being warded off by police and panic set in.
The kids.
The kids and the nanny were in the house when he left. The fire had reached the second floor and the building was turning black. John could see the roof sinking. Without thinking, he rushed towards the collapsing house, shouting his children's names and trying to get close to the house. A police officer stopped him, saying that he had to stay back, that the whole area was off limits. The fire was spreading quickly due to all the buildings being jammed close together and the police were trying to get people a safe distance away.
"My kids! Where are my kids?!" John shouted, fear rising inside him as the roof caved and fire- fighters started pumping water onto the house from their hose. They were too slow. They had trouble attaching the hose to the spout, had trouble lifting the hose, and by the time they raised it to the building, everyone inside was going to be dead, but before that happened he was going to charge up through that doorway with smoke pouring out of it,even if it killed him, to save his children.
"John!"
John turned and saw Esme who had called to him, holding Katie in her arms. Charlie, Max, and John Junior clung to her dress. They were standing at a distance, on the opposite side of the street. He rushed towards them, pushing against the increasingly growing crowd to get to them. He grabbed Katie out of Esme's arms and hugging his daughter tightly as he simultaneously reached for his boys who were pale- faced and shaking. He turned to Esme. None of them were covered in ash or looked injured in any way. He saw police hauling people covered in ash and burns out of adjacent buildings.
"We weren't in the house," Esme explained, her voice shaking as she looked at their collapsing home. "I.. I came back for some things this morning. The kids were back early from school and they wanted to go out for ice-cream and shopping. They begged me so I took them all and Tilda…."Esme put a hand over her mouth.
John turned to look at their home and anger filled him, anger and disbelief. His entire life had gone up in smoke. His house, his possessions, his sense of security. Then there was Tilda, who was most likely dead. He was going to get to the bottom of this. He scanned the crowds of people, drawn to the flames and the chaos. He called a policeman over who he recognized as a friend of the Peaky Blinders and asked him for information.
Tilda, the nanny Tommy had hired to tend to his family, had been inside when four large burning bottles filled with petrol had been thrown at the house from the side of a car, which stopped abruptly by his house. This car had been packed with masked men who had thrown the four bottles one after another in short succession at John's front door, the first floor, the roof, and his car. The fire had spread quickly to the adjoining houses and was at risk of spreading even further. All of this had occurred in a matter of minutes.
The authorities found Tilda's scorched body and the remains of shattered flasks, which were still burning. John quickly put two and two together. His house, his family had been targeted.
My car was by the house. They thought I was home. They did it when the kids would be out of school.
You should get out. Lizzie's words rang in his head, a dire warning of what was to come. This life was dangerous, but no one had ever dared to blatantly threaten a Peaky Blinder and in broad daylight. No, that wasn't true. The Lees had pulled a similar stunt at the Garrison before their feud had been settled with his marriage to Esme. No one had threatened them recently. No one had been serious about threatening them because they knew the unspoken rule that when you messed with The Peaky Blinders, you ended up dead. All anyone had to do was look at what happened to Billy Kimber.
Was it Sabini's men? The Irish? Alfie Solomons? Obviously, they had enemies. John was at a loss as to who in particular was after them now. Whoever it was though, meant business.
"John?" Esme was calling his name and the kids were looking at him with fear in their eyes.
John looked at them, coming back to himself and hating what he was about to say aloud after so vehemently denouncing a certain brother of his.
"I've got to talk to Tommy."
If there was anyone who would know how to protect his family, it would be Tommy. Call him a hypocrite, but John was now in a position where he was in need of his older brother's protection. His children needed protection. Tommy would put a stop to whatever rival gang was targeting them.
They killed Tilda.
The woman was old, slightly lame in her right leg, and going blind in her right eye, but John viewed her as one of the family. The kids loved her. They hadn't experienced death since they lost their mother and John had hoped they wouldn't have to experience it again so soon. That was why he always kept them as far away from the business as possible.
The fire had spread quickly. People had heard screaming from the house before it was engulfed in flames. Whatever was in those bottles had to be more than oil, probably a mixture of some other chemicals that made everything catch fire at once.
He looked at Esme, at her pale face and windswept brown hair and thought about how this woman, this woman he had been so angry with in the morning, had unwittingly saved his children's lives. If she hadn't come back, hadn't taken the boys and Katie for ice-cream and a day out on the town, they would be as dead as Tilda. He couldn't forgive her for what she did in his own home with Doggs, but he was now in a position where he needed to thank her for saving what was most precious to him. Needless to say, he was in a difficult position with his wife, as well as his brother, positions John couldn't dwell too much on because the more pressing problem was the unknown enemy targeting them all.
"Esme," he began, trying to thank her and wondering at the same time why she had destroyed their marriage.
Esme cut him off with a brisk nod then averted her gaze to Katie who was tugging at her dress, wanting to be picked up again after John had set her down.
Alright then. Now, they all needed to see Tommy because they had no home now, nothing but the clothes on their backs. However, John wasn't going to let his pride get in the way of the fact that they were safer with Tommy and his men, than being out on the streets without a clue as to who was after them.
"Come on," he said, motioning his children away from the sirens, the firetrucks and back down the street. "We're going to see uncle Tommy," Esme added, taking Katie's hand. "He'll be glad to see all of you."
You should get out.
Lizzie's warning echoed faintly in his head. There was no getting out of this, now. This was personal. He silently apologized to her and made a promise that once this was over, once they were all in the clear, he would buy that house in the country and take her with him. Until then, he needed to protect his children and stay away from Lizzie so she didn't become a target. He needed to show those bastards that they had made the greatest mistake of their lives when they threatened John Shelby and the people he loved.
