Mary's house was everything a home should be in Saoirse's opinion. It was clean and tidy with just a small spattering of toys that showed three young children lived there. Her kitchen had a warm and homely feel to it and the smell of freshly baked soda bread brought Saoirse back to the early years of her childhood.
"Sit your bum down there and I'll make us a cuppa," Mary said, pointing to the kitchen table before peeping her head around the living room door to check on the kids who were all sitting with her elderly mother- in- law playing trains. With a satisfied nod, she reached into the tall cupboard above the stove and pulled out a tin labelled lard. "This is where I keep the cake, but I have to hide it cos my mother- in- law would eat it all. My Pete won't have it but I'm certain there's something wrong with her. She's dead forgetful and does all kinds of strange things. Just this morning I caught her polishing her shoes with toothpaste. Absolute fruitcake she is. Anyway, do you want sugar in your tea? I've only got a bit in like, but enough for a cuppa I reckon."
"Oh no, I'm alright without thank you," Saoirse smiled, taking the tea gratefully when it was ready and waiting for Mary to sit down before she took a bite of the Victoria Sponge in front of her.
"Good isn't it?" Mary grinned, taking a huge chunk of her own and closing her eyes in delight. " I ' m a shit cook; you can ask me Mum, but I do know how to make a good cake."
"It is delicious," Saoirse agreed.
"The secret ingredient is breast milk," Mary commented.
Saoirse stilled in her chewing and eyed Mary with barely concealed disgust, frowning when the other woman burst out laughing.
"I'm only kidding, you melt," Mary was howling. " Your face is a right picture. "
Saoirse burst out laughing and continued chewing with renewed gusto. Mary sipped at her tea, hissing when it burned her tongue but still going back for a little bit more.
"Rare these days I'm able to enjoy it while it's hot," she explained. " Right then, shall we get down to the reason you're here? "
Saoirse frowned before suddenly remembering the man she had banged into not much earlier in the day. Arthur Shelby. While the name had meant nothing to Saoirse, to Mary it meant a lot and she was very eager to make sure Saoirse knew why.
"So, the Shelbys basically own everything in this area," Mary began. " And when I say they own everything, I mean they own everything. They control pretty much everything that comes in and out of the Small Heath, and everyone knows they use the docks in London to smuggle illicit wares in and out of the country. They also own pretty much every building in the area and make most of their legal money from rent and from their bookmakers and racing tracks. Anyway, nobody knows exactly what the seedy side of their business involves– although we have a good idea– but what I do know is that I once watched Arthur Shelby literally put some fella's face on the curb and stamp on his head because he owed the family a great deal of money."
"Did nobody phone the police?" Saoirse was horrified.
"Don't be silly," Mary chuckled. " Tommy Shelby owns the police. He pays them off to turn a blind eye to everything he does."
"Who's Tommy Shelby?"
"He," Mary glanced around the kitchen and lowered her voice to a hush as though the man might be hiding somewhere in her small kitchen. "Is the second eldest of the Shelby siblings and he's even scarier than his brother. He swans around in the most expensive, crisp suits and is the most handsome man I've ever laid eyes on, but he's also the devil incarnate. He's the mastermind behind the Shelby empire, although I'd wager his aunt Polly gives him a run for his money. Now she's a woman I wouldn't like to mess with. Heart of gold but get on the wrong side of her and that hat pin of hers'll end up in your eye, and she's not above giving her nephews a what for as well."
"And there's just Arthur and Tommy?" Saoirse was trying to wrap her head around all of the information she was being given.
"Oh no, there's five siblings all together. John is the third eldest and he's married to another gypsy called Esme who looks like she hates the world, but she soon brought his four kids into line so she can't be all bad. Did I mention the Shelbys are gypsies, by the way? Well, half gypsies. Anyway, John used to be married to Martha, the sweetest girl you'd ever have met, but she died when he was away fighting in the war. Awfully heartbroken he was, and I think that's why his kids were allowed to do as they pleased, but he seems happy enough now, and he and Esme have just had their first together.
The next one in the clan is Ada, the only girl. Communist she is," Mary pulled a face. "But she's a nice enough girl to be fair. She's got that famous Shelby temper but usually reserves it for her family and no one else, and I've never had a problem with her. Then finally there's Finn. He's only a wee thing really but he runs around like he's one of the Blinders, which I suppose he is, and-"
"Blinders?" Saoirse interrupted with a frown.
"Yeah, the Peaky Blinders. That's what the Shelby's gang is known as on account of the razor blades hidden in the peaks of their caps," Mary continued, completely oblivious of the tumultuous thoughts whirring around Saoirse's brain. "As I was saying, Finn's the youngest and he runs around passing on messages for his brothers and ignoring the fact that his aunt is always trying to force him to go to school."
"What about his mum? Does she not care what he does?"
"Oh she's dead," Mary answered curtly. "She died when Finn was about three but she hadn't been well long before that; always off traveling with their gypsy kin and what not while Polly looked after the kids. She had a still born and that tipped her over the edge. As for their father, he buggered off not long after his wife died and hasn't been seen since really. Good riddance anyway because he was a vile bastard. Tommy took over as head of the family as soon as their father left and it's stayed that way ever since."
"So Arthur isn't the head of the family even though he's the eldest?"
"You'd think he would be but everyone knows Tommy's the one with the brains and the ambition while Arthur is the muscle. It's odd but it works."
"So Tommy doesn't do any of the dirty work?"
"Not really nowadays no," Mary shook her head. "But I wouldn't put it past him to use his fists to put someone back in their place if he needed to."
"And they still live near here? The Shelbys?"
"They live literally around the corner that way," Mary pointed out of the kitchen window.
" But with all the money they've got would they not want to live somewhere better?" Saoirse asked, before realising she sounded incredibly rude. " Sorry, I just meant that would they not choose to live in perhaps a big house or something. "
"Oh Saoirse, don't be worrying about offending me," Mary chortled. " It's a shit hole here but it's our shit hole so we're used to it. As for the Shelbys, they live in two houses all joined together. John and his wife and kids have one and the rest live in the other house which has the gambling den attached to the back of it. My Mum says the reason they stay here is because they wanna remind people that they can see everything that's going on and they can stay right in the middle of the community this way."
Saoirse's head was spinning with all of the information by the time Mary had finished telling her all of the ins and outs of the Shelbys. However, it turned out that hurting people in the streets wasn't all that the Shelbys were good for. Apparently, they also offered a lot of discreet help to those who needed it the most. They were not completely terrible it seemed, and people looked up to and almost revered Tommy Shelby as much as they were afraid of him.
"Anyway, that's enough talk of the Shelbys," Mary declared with a clap of her hands. " I demand to hear more about this fiancé of yours, and I want all of the dirty details. "
Saoirse grinned because she had a feeling that even if she wanted to refrain from telling Mary any of the 'dirty details', the woman would have a way of getting them out of her regardless.
The day with her new friend, Mary, had flown by and before Saoirse knew it, she was rushing home to prepare dinner for when Joe arrived back from work. Setting about making a quick stew, not the fancy meal she had envisaged, she thought about the man she had bumped into on the street earlier in the day. She didn't know why but she found it so hard to believe that the friendly looking man who had helped her politely to her feet was capable of the terrible things Mary had told her about. She found it hard to believe anyone was capable of such despicable acts, and she realised that despite living alone since the age of sixteen, she was still somewhat sheltered from the world around her it seemed.
Saoirse was so lost in her thoughts that when Joe finally arrived home from work later than she expected, she had not even noticed until his lips had brushed against her cheek, startling her into almost burning her hand on the stove. Joe had kissed her palm proclaiming that it would protect her from any mishaps she might have while he was getting washed and changed out of work clothes.
Over dinner they took the opportunity to talk about their day and what each had discovered about their new city. According to Joe his day had been pleasant enough. The factory wasn't much different to his previous job in Bootle and the lads working underneath him were amiable and hard working. There were a couple of bad eggs but not enough to poison the whole lot and he was certain he could whip them into shape with a little time and effort.
"How was your day? Once you woke up, that is," he said with a grin. " I didn't wanna wake you to tell you because I'm guessin ' you fell asleep late, but the place looks great. I didnae think it was possible for it to look so good, but it turns out that you're not just a pretty face."
" Charmer," Saoirse grinned back. " I was up at eight; the sun woke me up, not that I minded because I was able to get down to the shops. I actually made a friend today in the greengrocer's and went back to hers for tea. She was very enlightening about the area and it was nice to meet someone my own age."
"That's nice then. Oh, I almost forgot, I found something for you," Joe jumped up from the table suddenly and hurried over to his coat which was hanging up in the hallway. When he returned, he handed Saoirse two things; a small bar of chocolate and a piece of paper. " The chocolate is because I love you and the paper is a job advertisement I saw earlier."
Smiling, Saoirse leaned across the table to kiss him soundly on the lips, wondering how she deserved someone so lovely in her life. She moved the chocolate aside for after they had eaten and unfolded the crumpled up sheet of paper. Her face fell quickly when she saw what the job advertisement was for.
"I can't work for the Shelbys," she swallowed, re-folding the paper and sliding across the table towards Joe.
"Why the hell not?" he frowned at her as though she had lost her mind. " It's the perfect job for you; almost identical to your last job and have you seen what they're payin'? You're not gonnae find anythin' else like that around here, you mark my words."
"I know that and trust me I wouldn't be turning down a wage like that without good reason, but I've heard the most terrible things about that family today from Mary," Saoirse explained. " They're gangsters , Joe."
"Aye, I know," he shrugged. " The lads at the factory told me all about the Shelby family today in great detail. Given that they run the factory on the sly I'm sure they know all about me, and by extension, you as well."
"You know? If you know then why the hell would you want me to work for them then?"
"Cos it's a good wage and secretary jobs are hard to come by, Saoirse," he rolled his eyes. " And it's not like they're gonnae have you cuttin' people up for unpaid bills. You'll be dealin' with the strictly legal side I'm sure of it. And, on the plus side, bein' new here means that if you work for the Shelbys, everyone'll like us."
"They'll be scared of us more like," she muttered petulantly, pushing her food around her plate with a sigh. "Do you know what Mary told me about the older brother, Arthur, today? "
Joe rolled his eyes and muttered something under his breath about bloody Mary and waited for Saoirse to continue.
"She told me that she saw Arthur Shelby put a man's mouth on the curb and then stamped on the back of his head," Saoirse grimaced. " It ' s called teething someone, and I'm fairly certain I don't want to be working for people who do things like that, Joe."
"Well, they're hardly gonnae teeth you, love," Joe chuckled. " And they're not gonna be sendin' you out to partake in any teethin' so I wouldn't be worryin' yourself. "
"I just can't believe you're being so casual about this."
"And I can't believe you're creatin' such a fuss about this," Joe smirked. " Listen, if you wanna enquire about the job do it, if you don't then I'm not arsed, ok? "
The truth was that it was a good job opportunity and she would be an absolute fool to pass it up. She could feel her resolve waning already as she looked at Joe who had gone back to eating his dinner and she knew that if the roles were reversed, he wouldn't turn down a possible job opportunity just because of rumours that may or may not even be true. Perhaps she could at least go down to the office and take a copy of her references on the off chance that she was what they were looking for. And if not, then she might at least catch a glimpse of the infamous Tommy Shelby.