❝ PICKET FENCE! ❞ → GRAY ✓

→ iii.xi

Act Three, Scene Eleven

→ ❝ you're one of us! ❞

             Tommy had made an appearance some time after Mrs Johnson had left, and found Michael and Carol asleep on the bed as the afternoon sun shone through the window. Carol had her arm draped across Michael's chest and one leg over his thigh, while Michael held her close with one arm as the other hung off the side of the bed. It was the second time that he had walked in on them asleep, and guilt hit him as he realised how drastic the change that had interrupted their young lives was. Tommy may have deserved to lose Grace, in repentance for all the death and deceit that he had handed out over the years, but Michael and Carol didn't deserve such torment as a direct result of his actions. Ever since the war, nothing seemed fair.

             He cleared his throat and waited a moment, watching them carefully. When they showed no signs of waking, he moved a few steps closer and cleared his throat again, crossing his hands together in front of him. Rolling his eyes when Carol's small snores continued to float through the room, he picked up the small metal bin beside the bed and threw a nearby, empty bottle of medicine into it. A large crash echoed through the air as the glass of the bottle cracked, waking the pair up immediately. A yelp escaped Carol's mouth as she fell off the side of the bed in fright, landing on the floor with a thump.

             "Oh, Thomas Shelby!" Carol shouted angrily as she stood up, brushing down her red dress. She and Michael met each other's eyes, and they simultaneously fell into a deep round of laughter, clutching at their sides.

             "Good morning," he tried to hide his smile, failing only slightly as the corners of his mouth cocked up, "Did you forget we have a meeting today, Michael?"

             Michael wiped a happy tear from the corner of his eye, his laughter slowly dying down as Carol helped him up and over to his cushioned chair by the table, "God, Tommy, I'm sorry. We didn't mean to fall asleep, it just happened, we-"

            Tommy shook his head, "No need to apologise, you're awake now, that's all we need."

             "I'll be off then," Carol kissed Michael on the head, grabbing her coat from the stand and folding it over her arm, "How long will you be? An hour? Two?"

             Shaking his head again, Tommy placed a gentle hand on Carol's arm. He looked kindly into her eyes and guided her back to the table, placing her in the chair beside Michael, "It's alright, you can stay,"

             Confusion splattered across her features, Carol cocked an eyebrow and crossed her hands in her lap, "You have a meeting, I assume it's business, Ada was talking about it last week and I'm not employed-"

             "Business meeting, family meeting, I don't give a fuck. You're one of us now, Carol," Tommy smiled, lighting a cigarette and nodding to her wedding ring, "There's no point in kicking you out now you know all the shit we're involved with."

             "One of you?" Carol smirked as Tommy exhaled smoke. It was unusual to think of herself as one of the family, and she still hadn't gotten used to the status that the Peaky Blinders and committee of the Shelby Company Limited held, "Somehow, Tommy, that doesn't fill me with confidence."

             The door cracked open and Polly entered with a power that only Polly Gray could possess. She apologised for being late with an icy tone, and something told Carol that she still hadn't forgiven Tommy for both Michael's shooting and the betrayal from John's funeral.

             "Hello, Carol," Ada was the only one to greet the girl as she came in, smiling brightly. As always, Carol was annoyed that she hadn't been able to spend more time with Ada, and she was sure the two would have got on wonderfully, given the chance, "Weren't you going to the shops today?"