Candy [THOMAS SHELBY]

Chapter Ten

Josephine had been knocking at the door to Ada's basement for the past thirty minutes hoping that the younger girl would let her in but she had been stubborn, determined not to open the door to any of her family members, Josephine included.

"Ada, you don't have to let me in but at least take in the food Polly has left ya. You've got a baby to care for now, you can't let yourself waste away." Josephine waited outside the door for another minute, waiting to see if Ada would open it but left after she didn't, making her way back to Polly's.

"No luck?" The older woman asked as Josephine stepped into the house, discarding her soaking umbrella by the door,

"No, I tried talking to her but she didn't reply. I left the basket outside her door though, hopefully she takes it." She sighed, taking a seat at the table. Polly opened her mouth to speak but before she could John and Arthur came stomping in, along with an older man that Josephine hadn't seen since she was a little girl but without a doubt recognise, it was Arthur Shelby Sr. The man had left his family over ten years ago, not long after Finn was born and their mother had passed away but even before that the man was hardly around, he was never faithful and since the Shelby's mother was constantly sick, it was often left to Polly and the eldest brothers to help with the younger children. Josephine remembered that when her mother was still alive, that she was good friends with the Shelby mother and helped out as much as she could, it was one of the main reasons why Josephine was such good friends with the family growing up.

"Pollyanna!" The man hollered, walking to his sister, trying to kiss her on the cheek before the woman stepped back out of his grasp and shot him a harsh glare.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" Polly walked away from her elder brother to the other side of the room as the man took a seat at the head of the table and despite how much she wanted to move, Josephine didn't want the mans attention on her.

"Can't I see my family?"

"No." John grumbled, annoyed at the sight of his father.

Finn ran in at that moment, pausing when he saw the unfamiliar man who grinned at him,

"How you doing son? Remember your old-man ey?" He asked Finn, moving as to hug him but Josephine jumped out of her chair and pulled him away from the man before he could and went to stand next to John, her arms tightly wrapped around Finn as to prevent him from going to his father.

"Ah! Little Josephine Lindholm isn't so little anymore ey" Arthur Sr leered at her, running his eyes up and down her body, making her uncomfortable.

"Why are you here?" John repeated Polly's question, noticing that his friend was uncomfortable and brought the attention away from her.

"Like I said, I wanted to see my family, is that so hard to believe?" Arthur Sr didn't appreciate the attitude he was getting from his son, "Now, I'm starving, mind getting me something to eat son?" He directed his question at Arthur Jr who ran off to the kitchen as soon as the question was asked, making Polly loudly scoff.

The room was silent as Arthur was making something for his father to eat, no one wanting to interact with the man and hoping that Tommy got back soon. The tension didn't let up when Arthur came back into the room, handing his father a sandwich,

"Thank you. You are a good boy." He told his eldest, smiling up at him before placing his hands in the praying motion and closing his eyes, "Bless thee, Father, for these bounties we are about to receive--"

Polly loudly scoffed, "Jesus Christ."

"Please, woman, not in vain." The man said to the woman, giving her the side eye.