Heaven On Hold | Peaky Blinders

Up All Night

"Actually, I have not. I haven't found the right man in my life and won't fuck around with anybody I see on the streets." 

"Good." Both smiling to each other, I noticed it felt good to share a story with someone and that my mother didn't judge me or hate me for what I do for a living. "Because if you had a man in your life as well... well, then I would have lost my mind for real."

~~~

With high focus I walked through the abandoned streets of Birmingham with a serious expression painted on my face. It felt like someone was following me the whole way to the company, but I kept my pace steady until I finally arrived at the Shelby's building. The reason why I was hastily walking was because of my mom. She had left her new house early without any reason and it got me worried. Right when I wanted to gently pull the front door open, a loud gunshot echoed through the air and without hesitation I sprinted through the opening, trying to find out where it took place. The only big thing that caught my eye was my mother angrily slamming the door of the office of Tommy shut behind her as she stormed through the hallway.

"Mom?" I wanted to stop her. Although, she simply shoulder bumped me and kept on moving, not caring about me in the moment. She was truly seeing red.

"POLLY NEEDS SOME TIME ALONE." I heard Tommy shout after me while I tried to catch up with her and I decided to listen, letting her cool off outside of the company. Turning around to face the door that led to Tommy's office, I made my way there and my hand closed around the door handle to open it after he gave me permission to come in. Tommy lit up a cigarette as he stared out of the window to the left of him, clearly frustrated and I pushed the chair back with my foot to sit on it. The chair gliding over the floor made a horrible sound.

"Tommy? Reason for the situation?" I asked, resting my hands on his paperwork.

"I'm keeping the neighborhood where your brother is staying to myself and your mother didn't seem to agree with that."

"You brought me home.... why not him too?"

"He isn't eighteen yet. He can't make that decision for himself until he is an adult." Tommy dumped his cigarette in the fancy glass ashtray and handed me some papers about my brother.

~~~

'Michael Gray.'
'Origin Sheffield, England.'
'Renamed Henry.'
'Born in 1903.'
'Eighteen soon.'
'Foster father is Mr. Johnson and foster mother is Rosemary Johnson.'

~~~

"Bloody hell."

"I have already laid contact with him."

"When?"

"An hour ago." My hands grabbed the chair leanings and I lifted myself out of the big comfortable chair to pace through the room. I couldn't help myself and had to think about some things for a moment. "Rioney, buy a ticket and go home after your brother's birthday."

"I would love to, howev-...."

"It wasn't a request." I narrowed my eyes and couldn't hold back my confusion towards Tommy.

"Excuse me."

"You and I will go back to London. We have to deal with a war between the Jews and the Italians." Tommy stated and glared up at me as I slowly lowered myself into the nice chair again.

"Look... now we are talking. What's it about?"

"I'll explain everything to you when we are on our way back to London. For now... go enjoy yourself at the party in our pub and please keep your mouth shut about all this." Tommy spoke, a new cigarette balancing on his lower lip. A small smile painted onto my face and I nodded at him before standing up and opening the door. I was actually very enthusiastic about a party because I couldn't wait to meet new people. For a moment I stopped in the doorway, my back facing Tommy and my head slightly turned his way.

"Are you coming to the party as well?"

"Yes, I'll be there." I lifted my hand to wave at him and walked into the hall, closing the door softly behind me. I was planning to stop at my mother's house to change clothing for the party that was being giving and perhaps calmly talk with her. "Wait!" I jumped up from the hard voice coming from the room behind me and out of an automatic reaction I stopped with my left hand on my right wrist, ready to slide my knives out even though I that wasn't needed at all. Man, I really had to get used to my surroundings quickly. "I'll bring you home... I'm going to drive that road anyways and I don't think you like walking all the way through the rain."

"I appreciate that, thank you." Together walking outside, I hopped into the car and relaxed a bit into the seat as I stared out of the small window. I didn't understand why my mom was so upset. She would get to know him, she just had to be patient with him. He wasn't eighteen yet and he had to make that decision himself and that sounded very reasonable to me. We drove through a few dark streets before entering the silent, green-looking neighborhood. It was surprising to see such a big border between a dark, deserted street and a neat, quiet neighborhood. We drove a little bit further only to stop by the fourth house that belonged to my mother and Tommy pointed out to the house I had to be.

"Thank you for driving me here."

"You're my little niece, you don't have to thank me." I said goodbye to him while he drove off into the abandoned streets again and I gently knocked on the door. Nobody seemed home and I didn't have the keys of the building. I didn't think this through. Sighing I looked around to see if someone was looking and grabbed a bobby pin from my hair with the intention of lock picking the door. It took a few seconds until I heard a small click and I pushed open the heavy door. Proud of myself, I closed the door behind me again and ran upstairs, first checking if my mother was home. When finding out she really wasn't home, I went into my guest room and searched between my clothing to look if I could find anything I could wear tonight.

"Not my normal clothing. Nope...."

I pushed all my trouser and shirts away, trying to find a dress that suited me. I couldn't look like a famous person here, but I didn't have normal dresses. I hated to figure out what to wear, normally I would be home and could immediately find the clothing I wanted. However, now, I only had a small suitcase with me.

"Nope, nope..... mayb-.. nope. WAIT! Yes."