Chapter 7
"Polly, you got any bacon going?" Arthur shouted, bursting in to the kitchen from the betting shop, "Who are you?" he demanded when his eyes fell on Rosie – who had shrugged off Polly's help and was applying the cream to her welts herself.
Tommy laughed internally when he saw the look she gave him from over his brother's shoulder but figured he should intervene before Arthur decided to wipe it off her face himself.
He came up behind his brother and clapped his shoulder, "You've met her before Arthur, that's Rosie Jackson."
"Rosie Jackson that Finn went tagging around after yesterday?" his brother asked.
"The one and only," Tommy replied, catching her eye and smirking at her.
"Why's she in our kitchen at ten o'clock in the morning?"
"Tommy arrived home with her and her sister last night and announced they're moving in – as your brother is wont to do, obviously," Polly told him, rolling her eyes from behind the paper she wasn't really reading.
"Right," Arthur said, looking the girl up and down and nodding, processing the information.
"John!" Tommy shouted over his shoulder at his other brother, who was chalking things up on the board at the end, motioning him to come down the other end of the shop.
"I forgot to tell you," he told his younger brother, "I've given away your room so try not to fall behind with your rent, eh?"
"Right Tommy," John said, taking in the scene, then, jerking his head at Rosie, "You finally got a girl then, eh? You know you're supposed to share a room, yeah?"
Polly snorted.
"That's Rosie Jackson apparently, in the flesh," Arthur said to John.
"Not quite, I just had a touch of the bleedin' heart yesterday and decided to adopt this one and her sister into the family," Tommy said, ignoring Arthur, rocking on his feet and sliding his hands into his pockets.
"Always good when two new sisters arrive with no warning," Arthur quipped.
"This is Rosie," Polly said, glaring at Tommy for what she obviously considered to be his lack of proper introductions, "This is John."
"So how come I never heard of you until yesterday and then today you're in my old room?" John asked her.
She regarded him for a minute then said, "Well I never heard of you until yesterday when I found out the spare room I was taking was only spare because you'd moved."
John grinned, "That's not quite true, is it love? We're Peaky Blinders, everyone knows us."
She raised an eyebrow at him and returned to her hands, not replying.
"She's one of us now, so no infighting," Tommy announced.
"Polly, bacon?" Arthur repeated.
Tommy resisted the urge to roll his eyes, clearly the moment's interest of the new addition wasn't enough to overcome his brother's stomach. He got the feeling that would suit her fine though, for all she seemed to have been happy to give the whole senior school a show on Monday she didn't seem to enjoy attention.
"Arthur, do you smell any bacon?" Polly snapped, "Away and do some work."
"Actually boys, get in the kitchen a minute before the new bandages go on," Tommy said, nodding at what Rosie was busy doing, "We've got some work to organise."
She seemed somewhat fed up of presenting her hands to people and gave him an irked look, but she allowed John and Arthur to examine her marks. As usual she didn't give voice to what had happened herself, his two brothers were treated to Polly's rendition of what she half-approvingly and half-disapprovingly termed Rosie's 'School Yard Heroics'.
He could tell that, like him, his brothers were quite impressed by her, but before they could blow up her head anymore – he had meant what he said to her about learning to give up her pride before she hanged for it – he started to make his point, "Those marks are why she's off school today – she can barely hold anything never mind write-"
"I think I'd be able to write fine now," she cut across him.
He gave her an icy stare, which she met – but she shut her mouth. Whether that was because she'd said everything she had to say or whether it was because his eyes had told her to, he didn't know.
"You'll slow them down from healing if you put pressure on them," he told her in a firm voice, after a few moments silent exchange between them, then, back to his brothers, "So when I took the lot of them who are in school there this morning, I went in to the office. This Dalton chap has agreed to take a meeting with us in his office tomorrow afternoon. Let's make it a nice end to his working week. His working life at that school if he knows what's good for him. If he doesn't know what's good for him, we'll arrange a meeting of our own."
"The lot of them?" John asked.
Tommy couldn't really blame him, that was the more unusual bit of what he had said than his ending comments.
"Ada, Finn and Lily," he said in reply, as though that was something that was blatantly obvious.
"You wait till you see the new baby Arthur, you were always sweet with babies," Polly said, "Though you'll have to join the queue for this one – and Tommy's at the front."
"Baby?" John asked.
"Lily - the other sister - she's six," Polly answered.
"A new little 'un and a new big 'un then," Arthur said, and Tommy gave a nod.
"Well, welcome to the family love," Arthur said, suddenly deciding to address Rosie directly again, "I don't suppose you'd be any good at doing us a bit of bacon?"
"There's no bacon Arthur, and I didn't keep her off school so she could busy her hands doing jobs for you," Tommy snapped.
"How do you know there's no bacon?" Polly asked him, clearly surprised.
"You didn't leave me any dinner last night Pol, I had to poke about the kitchen to see what I could drum up."
John snorted, "Aye, could tell you were in her bad books when you left here yesterday."
"I don't know if I'm more shocked at you having an inclination to eat in the first place or you poking about this kitchen to find something rather than going and – and finding somebody to make you something," Polly said, eyeing Rosie and obviously deciding against saying that he would usually have found a whore who could cook if he took a notion for food.
"Wasn't my mouth I was trying to feed," he said, nodding at the girl.
"If he'd have told me you were coming I'd have left you some dinner love," Polly said to Rosie, reaching out and patting her arm, "It was him I had a mind to starve. Not that I had much faith it would even be noted."
"Oh, it's always noted Pol," Tommy said, his voice quiet.
He felt Rosie's eyes flick between him and his aunt and they both obviously saw Polly purse her lips and get ready to reply because the girl chimed out, "Polly, can you help me with these bandages please?" and distracted his aunt's attention.
His eyes met hers over Polly's shoulder and he nodded. He knew she didn't really need, or even, he suspected, want any help with the bandages. She didn't respond but looked back at her hands, watching Polly lock in the cream she'd smeared on with fresh strips of cloth.
"Right, back to work lads. These women have got things to do – stuff to go and buy – they don't need us in their way," Tommy instructed, turning to head back into the shop.
"Can you buy us a bit of bacon Pol?" Arthur shouted over his shoulder as he followed Tommy back into the shop.
"So, what's the real deal Tommy?" John asked, his eyes flicking between the doors that opened to the kitchen and his brother.
"You treat her like a sister John," he warned him, recognising the glint in John's eyes.
"So, she is for you then brother," Arthur replied with a grin, "About time."
He didn't smile back.
"She's for business, Arthur," Tommy replied, giving the answer he'd already decided on, an answer that was the truth, even if not in its entirety, "Girl took 8 strokes with a cane without flinching – and you've seen the marks, three days later. She knows what we do, she keeps her mouth shut, she's got no family other than the sister. We look after the sister, we get her loyalty. And she's clever."
"Another one like you then, that's all we need – more cleverness," Arthur said, rolling his eyes while John laughed.
"Seems to me my cleverness has suited you sitting in that office and being the boss without having to do much thinking of your own," Tommy remarked, lighting up a cigarette and raising an eyebrow at his brother.
"Tom, we agreed-" Arthur grumbled.
"Yeah, we did Arthur," Tommy cut across him, blowing a cloud of smoke.
"Ah it's alright Arthur," John said, clearly trying to break the tension that had suddenly arisen, "Polly said Tommy's lost his heart to a six-year-old, he's clearly going soft and losing his own brains, so hers'll just replace them."
Tommy tried to let the tension break, "Ah, you wait till you see that six-year-old. She'll be running the family soon, not sure it's in me to take her smile away by refusing her anything."
"Well when do we get to see her?" John asked.
"We'll have a family meeting tonight, five o'clock," Arthur said, "Mind them family meetings Tom? We used to have them before making big decisions like adopting two kids."
Tommy didn't say anything, he just turned and walked out of the front door of the shop, his hands in his pockets as he cut down Watery Lane.
It was early afternoon, when Tommy had returned from his walk and Arthur's pride had subsided back to his usual agreeability, that Polly appeared at Tommy's desk.
"How did it go?" he asked, though he had a fairly good idea from her face.
"We got a bed – eventually. Rackham's are delivering it Saturday."
He nodded and kept his eyes on her. She didn't say anything.
"And the rest Polly?" he prompted, irritably.
"What rest?" she snapped, "She doesn't think she needs a coat, or shoes, or clothes of any kind."
"I didn't ask you to let her think about it, Pol - she's fifteen."
"Maybe in human years but I'd bet that girl's not been a child since the day and hour she were born," Polly retorted.
He nodded, "I'll give you that."
"Truth be told Thomas, if she was any other fifteen-year-old I'd have bought a hairbrush while we were in the shop and dragged her to the fitting room to apply it to her rear end, but she gets that same disconcerting look in her eye that you do yours – and god only knows how because her eyes have got as much fire in them as yours do ice so how they can look the same I don't rightly understand!"
He processed that, then looked back at his aunt, frustration etched into her face. There weren't many who could get the better of Polly.
"Leave it with me. If she needs brought in line, I'll bring her in line," he eventually said.
"You'll be the only bloody one Thomas."
He had figured that anyway.
"If I get her a coat that fits her can you get her size off of it to get everything else?" he asked, not looking at Polly as he formulated a plan.
"I suppose so, though how you'll get her into a coat I don't know."
"I won't give her a choice Polly," he told his aunt, reaching for his cigarette case.
She snorted, making her feelings on that quite clear, and he heard her light a cigarette of her own. But even the smell of the two cigarettes didn't cover the new smell wafting from the kitchen.
"Bacon," Arthur said, appearing out of his office and following his nose.
"Yeah – fucking bacon," Polly said, rolling her eyes, "That was the only bloody thing she showed any enthusiasm for buying."
Tommy rolled his own eyes and stubbed out the cigarette he had just lit before getting up, passing by where Arthur had come to a stop at the kitchen doors and going to where she stood at the range, grabbing the tongs off of her and resisting the urge to smack her with them.
"I told you I was keeping you off so you could rest your hands – not so you could faff about with this," he snapped at her, waving the tongs to indicate the pan of bacon.
"Give me them back," she snapped back at him, grasping for the tongs, which he promptly held above his own head, out of her reach.
She folded her arms and glared at him, so he flicked her cheek with his free hand and turned to the pan, deciding to ignore her.
"Oh, so are you going to do it?" she asked sarcastically, trying to push him aside, reaching for the handle of the frying pan.
"Do you think I don't know how to fry bacon?" he asked her in return, rolling his eyes and pushing her back, swinging the handle around out of her reach.
"Well you don't know how to spread jam on bread and given this involves flames it seems a step up in the cookery levels," came the smart retort.
He let the ghost of a smile touch his lips as he looked sideways at her, "Well we can start the bloody lessons when your hands are back to normal," he told her.
She returned a slight upturn of the corners of her own mouth.
"Are you – Tommy - are you going to let her talk to you like that?" Arthur asked from behind them, a mix of both amusement and incredulity in his tone.
She whipped her head round, clearly not having realised that Arthur, John and Polly had gathered in the doorway, all three of them watching the exchange. Tommy saw a slight panic in her eye – she clearly wasn't at ease enough yet that she didn't mind people hearing her.
"She's in recovery at the minute Arthur," Tommy answered his brother, flipping the bacon over, "I'm just saving it all up for when she's healed."
She narrowed her eyes at him as he grinned at her and her gaze flicked between the brothers, before settling, to his surprise, on Arthur.
"Given this bacon was bought for you, it'd be the decent thing for you to be on my side Arthur Shelby," she said, and Tommy turned to catch his brother's eye.
"Christ – is he laughing? Actually laughing?" Arthur said to John, pulling a face, "Or am I going right fuckin' barmy? 'Ere, pinch me so I know I'm awake."
"You're awake Arthur," Tommy replied, turning back to the pan.
"Right, well you," Arthur said to Rosie, sitting at the table, pulling out the chair next to him and smacking his hand down on it, "Can come sit next to me. I want to know what witchcraft it is you have up your sleeve that draws blood from the stone that is my little fuckin' brother."
"They like you," Tommy said, lighting his cigarette as he and Rosie walked along to the junior school to make their first pick up.
"They're not too bad," she replied, her hands stuffed in her pocket as she scuffed along behind him.
"Pick up your fucking feet," he said, glancing down, taking in the boots she had on, "Or do they not fit you right either?"
She sighed, clearly expecting it, "My things fit me fine Tommy."
He snorted but she didn't respond, so they walked the rest of the way in silence.
Lily was delighted to see them waiting for her and she ran across to her sister, throwing her arms around her waist.
Rosie looked slightly perturbed for a minute, then patted her sisters head, saying, "God, if I'd known you'd be this happy to see me I'd have come for you more often."
"How does she normally get home?" Tommy asked.
"Walks to the senior school and waits for me if I'm not working, walks home if I am," Rosie answered, a challenge in her eyes over the top of her sister's head.
Tommy nodded, not saying anything. He could hardly judge. And she seemed to have been doing a good job with the raising of the child as far as he could see.
"Good day Lily?" Tommy asked, reaching out a hand to her when she removed her head from Rosie's waist.
She smiled and took the hand he had offered and they set off, him walking slowly so she could keep step beside him. He was tempted to pick her up and carry her, but that didn't really work with his plan.
"We're going to go collect Finn and Ada, eh?" he said, and she nodded up at him, still smiling. "They'll be so excited to see you."
"Finn and Ada? I'm sure she'll be delighted at a walk home with her brother instead of…" Rosie began sarcastically, then trailed off, glancing down at her sister.
"Instead of what?" Tommy asked, narrowing his eyes at her over her sister's head.
"Instead of going with her friends," she replied.
"Right," he nodded, his eyes still on her, but he filed the information away to be returned to at a later point, "Lily why don't you take your sister's hand on that side, eh? Just be careful and mind that her hands are sore. But not too loose, don't want to lose either of you."
The redhead's eyes went sharply to him but, looking at her sister's outstretched hand, she slowly withdrew her hand from her pocket and allowed Lily to latch on.
"Big walk ahead of us Lily, we've got lots to do today - make sure you hold you sister tight as you can without hurting her," he continued, looking ahead and avoiding the brown eyes he could feel drilling into the side of his face, "Y'see Lily, your sister is all wrong to doubt me, Ada will want to come with her family after school today. She'll want to come because we're all going to town for new winter coats. Yup. All of us. And we all get one or none of us get one, because that's how it works in this family Lily."
"Tommy!" Rosie snapped.
"And hell mend anyone who tries to stand in the way of Ada getting something new to wear, I wouldn't fancy that person's chances at all," he said, his eyes still focussed ahead of him.
"Bloody hell Tommy!"
"Lily love, do you fancy giving your sister a good smack for me for her bad language?" Tommy said, ignoring Rosie and looking down with a smile at the little one.
She giggled and shook her head in response.
"Ah, now, she's lucky it's you that's walking in the middle and not me then, eh?"
He saw a pull on Lily's arm and realised Rosie had dug her heels in and stopped walking. But he knew she wouldn't have a full-blown argument in front of her sister.
"C'mon you, stop dragging your feet – we need to get the other two and get into town and back out," he called over his shoulder, still refusing to look properly at her, though he was sure the look on her face would be a picture; then, down to Lily, "Arthur, that's my oldest brother Lily, he wants a family meeting at five o'clock, so we don't have a lot of time y'see. Him and John, my younger brother, they are so excited to meet you and to see your new coat. You got a favourite colour Lily?"
"Yellow."
"Yellow hmm? Well will we try and get you a yellow coat? A yellow coat for the girl with the yellow hair?"
And then he walked the rest of the way to the senior school with a satisfied smirk on his face.