Romani Paradise

𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙚𝙣

"If there's a threat to anyone in this house, then we deal with it as quickly as possible." Tommy said, is usual whiskey in his hand.
"It might not be that simple." Polly said.
They were seated in the front room, quietly discussing the previous days events.
"You should have met her off the train, Thomas."
"I had business."
"Ah, the usual excuses." There was a hint of disdain in Polly's voice which made Tommy her off his chair.
The room was large and white. The curtains were closed to block what was going on inside the house.
Martha was somewhere inside playing the piano with Charlie in her lap.
"I'll get Aberama to sort this out." Tommy said, placing his glass back on the table.
Polly raised an eyebrow.
"No Tommy. This is Martha's fight. If it gets too much then we'll step in."

"I didn't kiss her." Bonnie said. His voice sounded more aggressive than he had intended.
He and his father had ran into Hannah in town which led to their current predicament. The girl was backed against a wall while the Gold's spoke.
"She doesn't need to know about this." Aberama said.
Hannah opened her mouth before thinking better of it.
"Please, she's my friend. I need to talk to her." She said at last.
"If you open your fucking mouth, you'll be joining that Charlotte in the cut."
They stopped talking as Isiah walked by, tapping their hats.
"On the way to the Shelby's?" He called out.
"We are." Aberama said through gritted teeth.

It was Tommy that called the family meeting later. He said it was urgent.
"It's Michael." He said as soon as he walked into the meeting room.
The stock markets had crashed and he was costing the business a fortune.
"I told him to come home." Tommy said. This earned a nod from everyone in the room.
"He'll arrive here later today." Polly seemed content, even though she wouldn't let on.

Martha and Polly went out to meet him when he got back.
Michael seemed on edge as he walked out of the administration building.
"Mum, Martha. I'd like to introduce to Gina. Gina Gray."
He pointed towards the building where a tall blonde woman walked out. Her hair was nearly pinned and her lips were bright red.
Polly didn't give her a moments notice.
"Tommy asked me, to tell you. He wants the truth."
"Can't this wait for another time. We've just travelled for fifteen days."
"The truth." Polly cut in.
"Here?"
"Here."
"Alright. The shipped docked at Belfast. We were taken off the ship."
"At gunpoint." Gina added.
"We're speaking to Michael." Martha said coldly.
"Fuck you." Michael growled.
Arthur had started making his towards them.
"And fuck you too Arthur."
"I want to go home." He continued.
"You have no home until we get the truth. I've booked you a suite at the midland hotel."
Michael looked like he was about to explode at that.
"See Gina. These are my fucking people. And if you want the truth so ducking badly mum, here it is. I did not betray my family."
He caught Martha's eye before looking back to his mother.
"I would never."
Polly shuffled closer to Martha at that.
"Find Tommy. Tell him that Michael's telling the truth."

As much as she hated to admit it, Martha liked having Michael back. He was different now, more withdrawn, but she understood that it was just the distance. She scribbled a letter to Ollie, telling him that she couldn't come back to London. She said that there was trouble up in Small Heath.
When his reply came she took it upstairs to read. They had gone to Margate. It was quieter there and the business was on a low. She smiled at that.
Later that night she took Karl out for a walk. He had plagued her to go to the cinema which she finally agreed to. It finished late, about 10 at night. As they made their way across town, Martha noticed the small band of women around them.
She held Karl's hand closer to her side, offering him a small smile.
As they made their way up one of the small streets, Martha felt an overwhelmingly bad feeling.
"Karl, I want you to run home."
"Why?" He asked, he sounded almost frightened.
"I don't like the look of these people." She pecked his cheek before pushing him gently towards the exit of the street.
A moment later she felt a throb of pain in her shoulder. She spun around to see Charlotte.
"Well, well! You've finally come out of hiding." Charlotte smiled. She let go of the pen knife in Martha's shoulder as the other girl slumped back.
For every step Martha took back, Charlotte took one forward.
"Stop it." Martha shouted, the pain becoming overwhelming. She tried to reach for the knife in her shoulder.
"I thought you were a gypsy. Don't you carry a gun?"
Charlotte fished in her bag for her scissors.
"Don't you remember these?" She asked.
Martha wanted to throw up. It was too much. The image of her mutilated stomach came back to her mind. It was in that instant what she grabbed the knife from her shoulder and ran at Charlotte.
The attack was lousy, Charlotte stepped out of the way as she crashed into the wall.
"You're not very quick for a Gypsy."
The pain in her shoulder throbbed as she blinked back tears.
"What will you do, kill me?" Martha barked.
"I'm not sure yet."
As Charlotte spoke, Martha collected herself. She ran at her again, this time she put her strength into her knife hand, catching the other girl across the cheek.
Charlotte let out a scream as her hand came away bloodied.
The scissors collided with Martha's cheek, before falling onto the wet ground.
Charlotte went down with them, desperately trying to pick them up. The other women stood by, unsure of how to act.
Martha stepped on Charlotte's wrist, the crack was sickening. She wanted to run, her head knew better. She needed to finish this.
She got down on her knees beside her.
"Please, Martha."
Martha stayed silent.
"Don't do it, I'm sorry."
She drove the knife into her stomach.
Charlotte coughed aggressively, a stream of blood leaked from her mouth, gathering on the street. Her body convulsed before going still.
Martha stood quickly. She looked at Charlotte, who's eyes were still open. They were hollow.
She wiped her hands on her pale pink dress before running. The other women have no pursuit, they disbanded, each one running home.
Martha scrambled into the house. Her tears felt like acid on her cheeks.
Aberama and Bonnie were seated by the door as the Blinder's were having a meeting.
The meeting stopped abruptly as all eyes went to Martha.
"Where's Karl?" She said, her voice was anxious.
The others got up, making their way towards her to make her sit down.
"Call a medic." Tommy shouted towards Polly.
"Where the fuck is Karl." Martha screamed.
"He's here." Ada said.
"Tommy..." Martha began.
She clung to her brothers coat. He placed his arm around her instinctively.
"There's a body in the street. You need to tell the police."
The doctor arrived and brought Martha upstairs where he stitched her cheek and shoulder while the others went to find the body.
"Fuck." Arthur shouted as they saw her. Charlotte's body was crumpled in the middle of a gutter.
"What the fuck could have happened here." Aberama asked, examining the body closer.
"I know exactly what happened." Polly said, she was solemn.
"Tommy, pay off the police. Get them off the scene."

The house went deathly quiet, quieter than it had been for the first few weeks that Tommy had moved out with Grace. The halls were devoid of Martha's small frame, always playing with the children.
She seldom left her room and very few were allowed entry.
She found herself seeking the company of Lizzie Stark, despite getting off on the wrong foot.
"You'll catch your death in here." Lizzie said, getting up to close the window by Martha's bed. After carefully tucking the curtain behind the holder she sat back down.
Martha stayed quiet. Her face was still pale, her hands trembled slightly.
"I want this nightmare to be over, Lizzie. I thought it was over years ago."
She took Lizzie's extended cigarette, holding it to her lips with a shaky hand.
"Well, this chapter is over now." Lizzie smiled.
There the sudden sound of bare feet on the timber floor. Ruby and Charlie ran in, bickering over a toy car.
"Let Charlie have it, Ruby, it belongs to him." Lizzie said.
A pang of envy hit Martha. She felt it in the core of her being. Lizzie had a good family who supported her, she had done back things and she had somehow been rewarded.
Martha still felt the blood dripping from her hands, even weeks later.

The gym was almost empty as Bonnie pounded a bag. His mind was miles away. Tommy had told him to stay away from Martha, something in the older mans voice told him that it wasn't a joke. He wanted to see her, to hold her. But an order was an order, and he was a Peaky Blinder.
There was a noise by the door and he lifted his head to see two new people, talking quietly with King Maine.
"Oi, Bonnie Boy, come over here." King said, his arm outstretched.
The new man engulfed Bonnie's hand in a handshake.
"I'm Patrick. Patrick Dane." He said, flashing his white teeth. His style screamed that the man was American.
"And this is my daughter, Evie." The girl smiled warmly, holding out a perfectly manicured hand.
"I'll be here with my dad a lot, we're helping Mr. Maine out." She said.
"Not bad." Bonnie said, he didn't want to admit he was staring at her. She was strikingly pretty, her skin was olive and flawless, without so much as a scar in sight.
King Maine must have noticed, because he slapped him playfully on the shoulder.
"There'll be plenty of time for eyeballing each other later, back on the bags." He laughed.
Bonnie went back to where he previously had been with a lightness in his step. He'd never felt like this before.