The Sweetest of Hearts.1| T.S

•Digbeth Kid.

XXV. Digbeth Kid.

The morning the Shelby brothers were interviewing men in the Garrison snug, for potential odd jobs within the Peaky Blinders, Maude was dragged along. She was sat in the snug with the brothers, busy with her own work and only making a few notes here and there while the brothers held the interviews.

She heard Finn call for the next man to step in, and when the door to the snug creaked open she glanced up. Her eyebrows furrowed as she eyed the lean and frail-looking man that nervously stood before them. Arthur cleared his throat, most of his attention on his newspaper. "Alright, then. Name?" He asked.

"The Digbeth Kid." The man replied as he fiddled with his hat in his hands, looking between the four of them.

Arthur sniffed as he looked up at the man. "The Dig..." He began to mutter as he glanced at John who silently smoked a cigar in the corner. His gaze returned to the man in front of him and his eyebrows furrowed. "What are you? A boxer?" He asked.

"Digbeth Kid like Billy the Kid." The man explained to them softly and Arthur let out a soft huff before his gaze returned to his newspaper.

"Spend a lot of time at the pictures?" Maude asked him as she raised her eyebrows, putting down her pen before sitting back in her chair, clasping her hands together in front of her. "Cowboy pictures? Tom Mix?" She asked him and he slowly nodded his head, feeling a lot more at ease with her in the room than with the three brothers. "Yeah?"

He nodded again, looking between the men before pushing back his green jacket, hand reaching down for the holster on his hips. "What are you..." Arthur called out as both he and John pulled out their revolvers and pointed them at the man.

"Wait, wait." the man called out as he held a hand up to stop the two brothers. "It's not a real gun," he informed them as he only rested his hand on his holster, hesitant to move any further.

"Let's have a look then?" Tommy spoke around the cigarette between his lips as he stood up and approached the man.

"It's made of wood." The Digbeth kid explained to them as Tommy reached out and pulled the wooden gun from the holster, showing it to Arthur and John who put lowered their guns in response.

Tommy inspected the wooden gun, chuckling before he pointed it at Arthur. "Bang." He pretended to shoot his older brother, who in return lifted his own, very real, gun by his side and pretended to shoot Tommy back. Tommy then turned the gun to John. " Bang." He repeated and John blew out a puff of smoke as he threw his head back, pretending to be dead. Tommy glanced at Maude and she quirked an eyebrow at him, he responded with a smirk before turning to the Digbeth kid. "Very nice." He commented as he handed the gun back before taking his seat again. "Where did you get the gun belt?" he asked.

"My sister made it out of an old blacksmith's apron." He explained softly. "My mum did most of the stitching. She's not my real mum, but..." He spoke as he slowly shrugged his shoulders.

"She does what mothers do," Maude said as she smiled softly up at the man and he nodded in agreement. "So she made you a gun belt." She finished and he nodded again.

"Alright then, mother's boy," Arthur spoke up as he picked up his newspaper again, nodding his head at the door behind the Digbeth's kid. "There's the door. On you go. We're looking for..." He began to explain but Tommy held a hand out to stop him.

"Have you ever been arrested?" Tommy asked the man as he raised his eyebrows at him.

"Yeah." He replied as he nodded his head at Tommy.

"Yeah?" Tommy repeated as he quirked an eyebrow at the man.

The man glanced around the rest of them before slowly shaking his head. "No." He admitted.