hope || michael gray

- THREE -

—

it was an early morning in the shelby betting den and the boys were still in london. matilda walked into the shelby home from hers a couple of doors down to find an exhausted polly sitting at a typewriter.

"what the fuck happened to you?" matilda questioned as she walked over to the desk. when she didn't even receive a look from polly in return, she decided to leave it. a few minutes later, esme appeared in the door. polly started typing on her typewriter as esme came over.

"morning esme." matilda greeted the girl with a smile.

"hello tilly." esme greeted back with a smile.

matilda excused herself to put the kettle on. she came back a couple of minutes later to find esme and polly in what seemed like a slightly tense discussion. matilda waited at the doorframe to see what was happening.

"you went to see mrs price in the patch last night." esme said as she stood next to polly's desk.

polly jumped up and lunged at esme, pinning her against the wall.
"so what'd you know?" she hissed at the woman.

"polly stop it!" matilda walked over to the pair.

"go back to the kitchen matilda, let me sort this out." polly hissed at the girl.

matilda being addressed by her full name instantly sent worry into her stomach. not much scared the girl, but an angry polly gray definitely did. she backed off slightly, but didn't leave the room.

"i know they push the glass, the man, it's her cousin, he pushes the glass, it's a trick. they tell you what you already believe. she set it up after the war because of all the widows." esme continued, polly stared at her with a shocked look on her face.
"polly, i just thought you should know."

"and in this fucking wash house, did they tell you why i went there?" polly questioned esme, still with her pinned against the wall. esme nodded slowly, and polly pulled a knife out from under her skirt, holding it against esme's chin.

"polly!" matilda raised her voice at the woman, very confused at the conversation they were having. she'd heard of mrs price, they said she was a gypsy but didn't understand why polly was seeing her.

"you tell a soul in this family, and i swear i'll cut you." polly hissed at esme.
"if you utter a word either," not moving her eyes from esme's face, but waving the knife in matilda's direction, although the girl still wasn't completely sure what was going on.

"i don't need a knife to stop me telling secrets given in confidence. it is a matter of honour." esme hissed back at polly. polly stared at the woman for a few seconds, before dropping the knife and walking off.

"that woman's lost it," matilda muttered as she walked over to esme, checking if she was ok. the door slammed from the other side of the room as polly left.

—

later that evening, matilda sat in her office smoking a cigarette, counting the last of the money from the day when tommy walked in.
"tills, where's polly?" he asked.

"your office i think, she's waiting for you. seemed pissed off - still." matilda replied.

"right ok. oh, i've hired a secretary by the way." tommy said as he walked in the direction of his office.

"thank fuck for that. i can get on with my own work then." matilda called after him.

shouting came from the direction of tommy's office, most likely meaning polly was indeed pissed off. she walked out of the office and through the building, a sour look on her face.

tommy followed a minute later, stopping at the open door of matilda's office. she looked at him with raised eyebrows, waiting for him to speak.

"we've had a message from london. got ourselves into a bit of trouble with sabini."

"sabini? are you mental? fuck sake tommy." matilda said, wide-eyed as she stood up. tommy didn't reply, instead just left the building.

"tommy!" she called after him as the door slammed.

"stupid man gets himself into shit and doesn't tell anyone." she muttered to herself as she picked up the counted money.

—