Chapter 36

Tommy went through to the kitchen, leaving Rosie to her own thoughts – whatever the hell they were. She seemed to accept she had been in the wrong. Though she'd been determined to explain what had happened – and offered him the explanation and her reasoning in full – there was a shift in her demeanour that let him know she knew she'd crossed the line. She hadn't argued with him, had accepted that she was to wait for him. The only sign of slight opposition to him had been when she had asked if they could deal with it in the morning – and he suspected it was because she thought he might be calmer by then and had asked more for Ada's sake than her own.

She was such an intriguing little thing – so quiet, so disinterested in being the centre of attention and yet there was a spark and a steel core in her, a fierceness that her outer reticence camouflaged. He might have expected to meet that spark tonight – heaven knew when Ada, or even John or Arthur, were confronted with anything they tended to get defensive and angry. Not her though. She had just wanted him to listen and to understand why she had done it. And she'd apologised, multiple times, as she told him why. And then she'd lowered her eyes and bowed her head and accepted it when he'd said she wouldn't sit comfortably for a while.

But her worry for Ada had been unfounded - he was calm enough – in control enough – to trust himself to deal with it then and there. He put the brush on the table and picked up a mug from by the sink – heading out the back and filling it a few times over before wiping the back of his mouth on his suit jacket and heading back in, taking the jacket off and slinging it over the back of one of the kitchen chairs, rolling up his sleeves and picking up the brush.

He had been angry earlier, angry enough he might not have trusted himself. But that anger had given way to a need to get Ada back in line, a firm belief that he had to get through to her for her own bloody good. He wasn't going to fail her. He'd chosen her. He'd chosen this job. He'd chosen to keep her safe and by god he would do it. He would make sure she didn't go near any communists ever again.

He opened the door that connected the kitchen to the shop. His sister had put her coat on the bannister of the stairs and he could see she was in his office, leaning against one of the makeshift walls and facing into a corner. It wasn't exactly standing in the corner like he'd told her, but it was close enough and he wasn't going to go to battle with her on that.

He crossed over and opened the door of his office. She looked over her shoulder, chewing the inside of her mouth as she glanced down at the brush in his hand, then looking back up to meet his eyes. He pulled the door shut behind him and came into the little room slowly, letting her watch him as he put the brush on the desk and pulled the chair out from under it, bringing it round and setting it down in the centre of the small room, making sure there was enough space she wouldn't risk smacking herself off the desk if she wriggled. And he knew she'd wriggle. Then he changed his mind and spun it, so it faced the desk.

"Sit, Ada," he ordered, eying the chair.

She clearly wasn't expecting that, and she eyed him warily as she complied.

He stood against the desk.

"I don't want to drag this out, but can you tell me why? Why the lying, why the sneaking out?"

"Because – because I know you and Freddie aren't friends anymore. I knew you'd try and stop me if you found out, Tommy," she said nervously.

He nodded.

"Why did you think I'd stop you?"

"Because you don't like Freddie."

"Why don't I like Freddie?"

"I don't know Tommy – even Freddie doesn't know what happened. He says you came back and got involved with the business and then you just stopped talking to him," she pleaded, her eyes wet.

He nodded again, turning it over. He didn't actually dislike Freddie, that wasn't the case. Or it hadn't been. It was just that Freddie had gotten too involved with the communist cause, and he could see the danger there was in that – he wouldn't bring it down on his family, so he'd cut ties.

Now he'd seen Freddie try and take advantage of Ada, it was a different story. Now he wanted to kill the fucker.

"You were mistaken Ada," he told her, "I didn't dislike Freddie. I do now, now that he's tried to take advantage of you. But I didn't dislike him before – I just didn't want his politics anywhere near us, anywhere near you or Finn or the family, because they're dangerous, do you understand?"

"Yes Tommy. But Freddie didn't take advantage of me Tommy – I love him," she protested, though weakly.

"You might think you love him Ada, but you don't. I promise you one day you will love someone, properly, who will love you back and it'll all be for the right reasons – but Freddie isn't that person."

"How would you know Tommy?" she asked, her voice barely audible and unable to look in his eyes, but jutting her chin out – just slightly - nonetheless.

He shook his head, "Ada – you're young. Just trust me."

"Freddie's the same age as you and he says he loves me! He believes it's love."

"Freddie will say anything to get what he wants!" Tommy snapped, hardening his face as he looked down at her, "I know Freddie Thorne pretty fucking well Ada. He's bad news for you. You stay away from him; do you hear me?"

She bit her lip and nodded.

"Words, Ada."

"Yes, Tommy," she muttered, her eyes on the floor.

"Look at me."

She took a breath and met his eyes.

"I'm going to give you a damn good reason to stay away from him, Ada," he said, aware that he sounded a bit too much like Polly for his own comfort, "And I need it to work. Do you understand? I need you safe – and being with a man like Freddie is not safe."

She looked like she wanted to say something, but she didn't.

"Right," he said, when he realised she was going to hold her tongue – and he simultaneously wanted to know what was going on in her head and yet was glad she could school herself to when it counted – "On your feet."

He turned the chair back around, moving it another foot or so away from the desk and sat down.

"Over my lap."

"Tommy – Tommy please – I'll be good – I swear, I don't need this," she whined, stepping back and away from him.

"Seriously Ada? You want to try and argue with me right now?" he frowned.

He stood and grabbed her arm, pulling her back the few steps she had taken, sat down and yanked her across.

"Tommy! Tommy I'm sorry, please, I'm sorry," she garbled as he shifted her further over from where she'd tumbled at his pull.

"I hope you are Ada – but if you're not, you will be by the end of this," he assured both himself and her, "No more lying, no more sneaking about, no more going anywhere without asking permission – and you will never try and manipulate your aunt or I again."

And then he raised his hand and brought it down, hard, on his sister's upturned rear end.

He usually tried to start a proper spanking with some lighter smacks to settle the miscreant down, but not this time – he went hard from the outset. He'd never needed to teach a lesson as serious as this one and so he'd never spanked as seriously as he did now, bringing his hand down over and over, a constant onslaught to Ada's backside, not pausing for a second, not easing up.

She wriggled and kicked, as he knew she would – Ada always did, always had done. And he'd thought, from a young age, that she did it to try and gain sympathy, laying her reaction on thick – but he was fairly sure this was genuine.

"Tommy," she choked out not long after he had started, "Tommy no! No more, please – I'm sorry, I'm really sorry!"

"Good," he replied, halting for a minute to clench and flex his hand, "If you're sorry you'll know you've done wrong and need to be punished. To put your mind at rest, we've only just started Ada, you'll get what you've earned - and you won't ever think about trying to lie to me or go behind my back again."

"Tommy – Tommy I promise I won't, please," she said, squirming.

He reached down to lift the hem of her dress, pulling it up and she ground herself down and forward, trying to prevent him from turning it up to her waist, where she knew it was headed.

He tightened his left hand's hold on her to ensure she wouldn't wriggle to a point of hurting herself and let go of the hem, letting it lie where he had gotten the dress to, at her mid-thigh, bringing his hand down on her exposed legs instead.

"Ada, you just told me you were sorry - are you sorry for lying to me? For putting yourself in danger by sneaking around and concealing your whereabouts from me? Are you sorry for trying to manipulate your Aunt Polly and I?"

"Yes, yes – Tommy I'm really sorry, I'm sorry for everything, I promise, I learned my lesson, I won't do it again."

"Good, so like I just said, if you're sorry you'll know you've earned this, and you'll comply with getting what you deserve – so lift up."

"Tommy, Tommy no!"

He smacked her exposed legs again and she shrieked, "Tommy – I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

She didn't lift up exactly, but she stopped pushing down and he was able to get the dress – and the pink slip she was wearing underneath it – out of his way and get on with making his point. He could see how red she was across the tops of her legs already, but he had no intentions of letting up for a minute on her. He needed her to learn – and to remember learning, to keep it etched in her mind every time she even considered lying to him or making plans without consulting him.

She kicked more violently now, and her hand flew behind her across her bottom, in an attempt to stop him, so he smacked her thighs then took her hand and folded it up into her lower back, tucking the fabric of her dress under her own hand and pinning it in under his left arm, keeping it out his way.

He was gratified to hear a chorus of the phrases "Tommy, I'm sorry," "I promise I'm sorry, I'll never lie again," "I won't do any of it again Tommy, please," "I'm so sorry, please," sound on rotation from the upturned teenager and she seemed so consumed in her own misery that he didn't think she even noticed when he unbuttoned her underwear and pushed it to her knees – though she kicked it off quickly enough.

He was breathing heavily with exertion and his hand was bright red and itchy with its own sting by the time he stopped – and Ada lay sobbing for a while before she seemed to realise he had stopped.

"Why are we going through this Ada?" he asked, when he had rested enough and she had calmed enough to talk.

"Because I lied to you and I went behind your back and I tried to manipulate you and Aunt Polly and because Freddie's a communist," she answered, her words tumbling out.

"Right on all but one – this spanking is not because Freddie's a communist – we'll be dealing with that issue separately," he told her, "But the first three were right. Now, do you remember the last spanking I gave you Ada? In the kitchen the day Rosie and Lily came here?"

"Yes Tommy."

"I told you then that I never wanted to go through this with you again, didn't I?"

"Yes Tommy."

"That spanking was about your attitude – but obviously it wasn't enough because it's that attitude that's made you bold enough to think you can treat me and your aunt like shit Ada."

"I didn't mean to Tommy, I don't think I can treat you like shit," she said, shaking her head.

"Then what do you call lying to me, going behind my back to sneak out, thinking you can make plans without asking me and thinking me and Aunt Pol can be used as you, as a little girl, sees fit?"

"Tommy, I'm sorry," she said, starting to cry again, "I didn't – I didn't mean to – I just wanted to see Freddie."

"You didn't mean to continually lie to me for months and to make a plan for your aunt to be in the house tonight to watch Finn and Lily rather than just ask me?"

"I'm sorry Tommy, I wasn't thinking about it like that," she said.

He was fairly sure he believed her, that she wasn't thinking, but that really didn't make it any better.

"Ada – there is too much going on in this world for you to be wandering through it not thinking about what you're doing and whether it's sensible or safe. Especially now because of the new inspector, but regardless of him Ada – this world is not a kind one. I am trying to keep you safe in it, but I can't do that when you disobey me and conceal things from me."

"I know, I'm sorry Tommy, I'm really sorry."

"Good," he said, releasing his left hand's hold on her and freeing her own hand, squeezing it before he straightened out her elbow and let it fall down to be in front of her again, "Up you get Ada."

She stood slowly, her hands immediately going to her backside as soon as she was on her feet, rubbing at it like her life depended on it.

"Fetch me the brush from the desk," he said, resigned.

"Tommy! Tommy no – please – I've learned my lesson – I'll never lie to you again!"

"No, you won't," he said, raising an eyebrow, knowing it wasn't strictly the truth, but hoping the promise would hold true at least for the big things in life, "And you'll fetch that brush and bring it to me, then get back over my lap so we can finish this."

"Tommy!"

"Ada – if you want me to believe you've learned your lesson, don't give me any defiance right now," he snapped.

She twisted on the spot, though what she was looking for he didn't quite know – maybe a hole in the ground to appear that she could jump into, as if he wouldn't just drag her back out of it - then she let out a moan and went to the desk, picking up the brush and returning with it, holding it out to him.

He took it from her and motioned her back over with it.

"Tommy – Tommy please," she said, both her hands holding her backside as though she thought it would fall off.

Clearly some part of her hoped if she obeyed him he wouldn't go through with it.

"Ada, back over," he said, keeping his voice calm.

She draped herself clumsily and shakily over him, sniffing, and he pulled her dress back up and shifted her further over, lifting her sit spots higher – then he began to light up her rear end with the black wood.

He had gone side to side the last time he'd used the brush – the only time he'd used it – and he had seen Polly wielding her brush enough to know that was her method too. But there was one spanking his mother had given him that stood out in his memory as being a thorough roasting, and it was the time she had used her hairbrush on him but picked a spot and hammered into it with no rest, then moved to another spot and repeated. And that was what he did now, laying the brush down five times on her right sit spot, then moving below to the top of her right thigh, then back to the spot.

Just as he moved to the undercurve of her right cheek and began, she shrieked out, "Tommy – Tommy that was fifteen! That was fifteen with the brush! Tommy – no more – please no more!"

"Did I say you were only getting fifteen with this?" he asked.

"No but…" she trailed off.

"But what?"

"The last time I got fourteen with it," she cried out.

"And the last time clearly wasn't thorough enough," he replied, then returned to the undercurve and started drumming the back of the brush down on her again.

She kicked hard now, squealing at the top of her lungs, so he shifted her forward over his left knee, pinning her legs down with his right, before repeating the pattern on her left sit spot and thigh.

Once he was done he laid some final swats down in his usual side to side pattern - but moving much more quickly than normal so that there was no breathing room. She had stopped kicking or fighting by this point, merely lying still and crying.

"Right Ada, that was for the lying, for the sneaking out, for the manipulation."

She didn't answer, but he saw her nod her head.

"Up you get," he said, helping her, but grabbing the back of the neck of her dress so she wouldn't think they were done.

"Now," he said to her ear, "You and Rosie want to tell me this absurd story about how you thought it was only her that wasn't go near communists – and you expect me to believe that?"

"But Tommy," Ada cried softly now, as though her body was so done it didn't have the energy for the emphatic sobs of earlier , "You did only say it to her, you - you got all close to her face and spoke to her."

"Why would you think if I'm saying it to her it didn't apply to you?"

"Tommy – because - because you love her," Ada said, moving her hand to cover her backside as though she feared a further onslaught at this, "We thought you were jealous of the idea of her with anyone. We didn't realise it was about communists – we just thought you got mad when she mentioned Freddie. You – you asked her how she knew him and she said from around and you were doing that thing were you were gripping her face and speaking all low and angry and I – I tried to say to you she knew him through me but you gave me one of those looks that means you want me to shut up, so I did. But Tommy – we – we thought you were just jealous that she knew Freddie, because of what Aunt Polly said in the tea leaves about red right hands before she'd get a wedding dress."

He couldn't remember his sister saying anything, he could only remember hearing Rosie mention Freddie's name and bursting in on her to tell her to stay away from him.

"You thought I was jealous because you think I love her?" he said.

"You do Tommy – everyone says so – Aunt Polly, and Arthur and John – even Finn has figured out that there's something between you. Lily's the only one who doesn't think so because she doesn't know what you were like before. Even George and Isiah, they think she lives here because she's your girl, John had to tell them not to say that."

"Right," he said, nodding and processing her words.

Whatever he'd expected, it wasn't this. Not from Ada. Although – he knew Arthur and John knew, and he knew Polly knew too. But they weren't going to say it to him, not after the way he'd reacted before, when he'd left over a joke John had made.

"Right Ada," he said, gathering himself, "I'll accept that that's true – or that you think that's true, about why the communist rule wasn't for you, though it's a bloody far-fetched thing to ask me to believe. But you were in that meeting last Saturday when I said that new copper was here to clean up the city, that he was here for communists – why didn't you use your brain then to figure it out?"

"Tommy – I'm sorry," she replied, shaking her head, "I liked him, I didn't want to stop."

Well, at least that was probably the truth, as basic and ugly and stupid as it was.

"But you're going to stop – it's stopped from tonight Ada," he said, shaking her.

"Yes, Tommy I promise!" she said, almost falling from the shaking.

Her body was limp and weak, he had wrung her out exactly as he had planned to. And still, still his mind whispered to him that it wouldn't be enough, that he hadn't done enough yet. Still his mind flashed images of her and Freddie running. And kissing. And...

"Right – that's good, but I'm going to give you a damn good reason to make sure it's stopped, Ada," he told her, then put his arm around her waist and manoeuvred her out of his office and back into the kitchen.

"Tommy no, no more, please not that," she pleaded, twisting in his hold when she realised what he was doing.

"Communists treat men and woman as equal Ada," he said, keeping his arm on her waist and taking the razor strop down with the other hand, "So you can go out the back and think about this any time you feel tempted to go near a communist."

She didn't seem to have any energy left to fight him, she just sagged in his hold and let him half carry her out.

"Same as me and Arthur and John got, same as Finn gets, Ada. Cause that's what communisms all about – everyone equal, no distinctions," he told her, releasing her and pushing her towards the wall, "Hands on the wall Ada, I know you've seen Finn – and even John - get it enough times to know what to do."

"Tommy, Tommy please," she said, her knees knocking as she looked at the strap in his hand.

"Ada – this can go one of two ways – you can put your hands on that wall, or I can knock you to the ground and put a knee in your back to hold you there, our Dad did that to me plenty when I fought him on being out here, and I can tell you it's a bit more dignified to just bend over and get your hands on the wall."

It was more dignified, but half the time he'd ended up wrestled down and pinned by their father because it was just the sheer principal of the thing that wouldn't let him submit to their father's judgements of him. She didn't need to know that though.

She gave a sniff and wiped her nose on the back of her hand, tears streaming down her face as she gave him one last baleful look then turned and slowly stretched out her hands, doing what he'd told her to do, looking as though her legs might give way at any point.

He forced himself to wait till she was in position, though he could tell there was no way she'd have held it for very long, before grabbing the neck of her dress again and pulling her up, wrapping an arm back around her waist.

"Into the house Ada," he said, taking most of her weight again as she slumped against him, walking her slowly back in and stopping at the door to hang the bloody strap back up.

He wrapped an arm over her chest, pinning her arms to her sides, keeping her body pressed against his and moved the hand that had been on her waist to grab the back of her head and tilt it up, forcing it to look at the razor strop on the nail.

"You take a good look at that Ada, you've never had that in your life – because I have never been able to bring myself to use that on you," he said, fighting to keep his voice steady, "Every time I look at you Ada, no matter how much fucking lipstick you're wearing or what you've done with your hair, I see my baby sister. Do you realise that? I meant what I said earlier - I chose you and Finn. You could have gone to the parish, or to Aunt Polly. But I wanted you here with me. From the fucking moment you were born – I was sitting in this kitchen when you arrived Ada, and our Dad wasn't fucking here – it was just me and Mum and Aunt Polly in the house; Arthur and John were away out somewhere and I was sitting in here alone waiting on you."

He released her head and wrapped her arm over her so he held her completely, "And I heard you crying and Aunt Pol appeared and said that was you here and she reckoned by sticking around I had volunteered myself as being the man in your life – she probably meant it as barb against our Dad more than anything else, you know Polly, but I took it seriously - and I have taken that seriously every minute since then, Ada. I want to protect you from everything, but I can't do that if you don't work with me. And I want you to be happy – and I know you think I'm breaking your heart by telling you to get rid of Freddie – but you will never be happy with the life he can offer you Ada."

"I love him though Tom, I do," she croaked, barely audible.

He squeezed her against him and kissed her hair, "I know you think you do Ada. I took you out there to give you a fright – and I saw you trembling, and you have no idea how much that hurt my heart. You'll probably never have any idea until you have kids of your own and even then I pray to god you have a husband who'll take the worst of it off your hands – because no matter how fucking well deserved a hiding is Ada, and you've had some pretty well deserved ones in your time, it's fucking hard to deliver. But I was never going to whip you with that thing - all I wanted was to give you a fright and hope it would wake you up. I need you to remember how you felt out there, Ada.

"Because if you go down the route of the communists there is more to fear than a fucking strap. They've got surveillance on communists, Ada – lists of names. The government wants them stamped out. They want to find communists guilty of crimes they can hang them for. They want them out of the game before they can contribute to this revolution – and if they can prove anyone's linked to anything, they'll charge them with treason. And if they can't hang you but they can get you in jail, they'll put you in with officers who hate communists, they'll put you in places that aren't fit for rats Ada, they'll let you die and it'll just be a slower and longer process that way.

"I looked at death every day in that fucking war Ada, to a point I almost got immune to it. But the idea of you mounting the steps of a gibbet? I can't fucking consider that. I love you Ada, I would move heaven and hell for you - believe me I would. If it came to it I'd offer to take your fucking place if I thought it would work, but there are things I can't protect you from. There are places the Peaky fucking Blinders can't reach. If you get caught up in something and your name ends up on a list just because you think you loved someone who believed in their ideals - if they can connect you somehow to anything – and they're looking to connect the people whose names come up… If that happens Ada, that's not something I can buy Moss off over. Do you realise that? If I can't give you a big enough fucking fright here and now to get you back in line Ada, I don't know what I'll do. Because I can't see that become your life, I just can't."

He was crying a bit too by now, his tears falling into her hair as he pressed his face down against the back of her head. He felt her twisting against his arms and loosened his grip slightly, so she could face into his chest, holding her as she cried into him and wound her hands around him.

He didn't know how long they stayed like that for, but eventually she seemed to take a little of her own weight back to her own feet.

"I'm really sorry Tommy," she croaked, "I didn't know – I didn't know about the communist thing."

"I know," he said, not letting her go, "I know you didn't, Ada. I didn't tell you, because I don't want to tell you things like that. I don't want to scare you. But that is why I need you to obey me and to trust my judgement on these things. I will always want to shield you when I can, so you can go on with your dresses and your lipstick and your picture shows. I don't want your life to become ugly, Ada. I want your life to be – to be beautiful and wonderful and all the things you want it to be, eh? But I need the truth from you Ada, even if – especially if – you don't think I'll like it. I need to know where you are and who you're with, do you understand?"

"Yes Tommy – I understand, I promise."

"Alright, go to bed," he said, stroking her hair.

"Tommy, Rosie told me to talk to you – please don't – not because of me."

"You let me and Rosie worry about what's going to happen between us, it's none of your concern."

"Tommy, she told me you said you'd spank her if you thought she was keeping things from you."

"Ada," he warned with a growl, "I'm not discussing what goes on between me and Rosie with you – don't ask me again. It's between us."

"Sorry," she muttered.

"Do you want me to walk you up to bed?"

She shook her head, but her hand fidgeted nervously, telling him the opposite might be closer to the truth.

"Alright, you head up, I'm going to get you some water so you can have a drink and wash your face and I'll bring it up and make sure your fire is alright."

He figured she could loiter if she wanted, which she did as he filled up a mug and a bowl for her, then he sat on her bed until she fell asleep, like he had done when she was younger – before sticking his head in to check that neither Lily nor Finn had been disturbed. Neither of them seemed to have been, but he took a minute to sit on each of their beds and run his hands over their sleeping heads, adjusting the covers and stoking their fires.

He got a sense of surreal peace - even with what he had just watched happen in his head as he spoke to Ada, even having just imagined what she would face if he failed to get her in line - he still felt it, watching them sleep. They were so small and peaceful in themselves – and Lily in particular… All he could think about was the fact she said she loved him. With her blonde hair free of its usual plaits and bands, spread across the pillow, she truly looked like an angel. It was ironic that something that looked so directly sent from heaven had come to him. But she had done, and she loved him. It gave him a sense that he must have, at some point in his life so far, done something good, to have been given the chance to love her and to have her love him in return.

Finn was asleep on his stomach, unsurprisingly, and Tommy half thought about trying to take a look at what damage Polly's hairbrush had inflicted on him, but he figured he'd be likely to wake the boy up if he tried to undress him. He'd speak to Finn in the morning. He didn't know what to do with the kid, but he needed to do something. He could just see it if he didn't – in ten years' time Finn would hate him, he'd be running wild and when Tommy would question him he would glare at him and demand to know, "What am I Tom, huh? I'm the brother you never got round to," because he'd feel like Tommy had abandoned him. Too scared of doing the wrong thing that he hadn't done anything.

He'd speak to Rosie. Once this was done and behind them. She would know what to do. Alright, maybe not so much with Ada – but he supposed she saw a lot of herself and her own desires in Ada. And that probably clouded her judgement. But she was good with the kids. She'd be able to tell him what to do. And by the time Lily was fifteen, Rosie wouldn't be so close to it anymore, and she'd know how to handle Lily just fine by then – he was sure of it. She was capable, more than capable. He trusted her. He was still angry with her, and he was fairly sure she was angry with herself too. But he still trusted her.

He wasn't the most forgiving of men. He knew if someone else had betrayed him he'd had held it against them – but she had softened him slightly. Softened him enough that he would forgive her. And that he still trusted her - and valued her input.

He went back outside, filling more mugs with water before, with one mug in each hand, heading through to the front room where Rosie was still obediently waiting on him.

Thank you so much for your messages and reviews on the last one. I know we were all very eager to see what happened between Tommy and Rosie as a result of the last chapter, but this specific interaction with him and Ada was too, in my humble opinion, important to gloss over in relation to the way Ada and Freddie's relationship progresses and the role Tommy will or won't play within that so I hope you don't mind that we had this first! Next chapter is all Tommy and Rosie 3