Crown of a Prince (Finn Shelby)

75.

 
McCavern and his men arrived late, clearly not knowing that tardiness wasn’t acceptable when you met with the Peaky Blinders. But Tommy didn’t object. He stayed silent and still as McCavern and his men approached, eyeing up the yard and the crates as if it was something he could buy if he really wanted to. As always, Charlie’s yard was not for sale and he sat uninterested against the crates. He had winked at Ailbhe when she arrived, finding it almost funny how Tommy had come to depend on her more and more. She wasn’t just their outspoken and daring sister anymore, she was a real Peaky Blinder, even without the hat.
 
Ailbhe stood beside Tommy, trying to get some sort of an impression of Jimmy McCavern. She didn’t like him; she already knew that. He was married but Ailbhe knew that the kind of man he was had no time for romance or sentiment. He was arrogant and racist, rude and loud. He liked to taunt them, try to make them bite or snap. He was a typical bully. It was no surprise that Mosley used him.
 
“Now we’re in business together I should ask” McCavern asked in his loud and harsh voice, looking around and his eyes catching on Ailbhe “Which foot do you kick the ball with, Mr Shelby?”
 
His question was directed at Thomas and yet he kept his dark, cold eyes on Ailbhe. He looked her up and down, noticing how she glowered at him, but it didn’t seem to bother him.
 
“I have no religion” Tommy answered easily, putting the cigarette between his lips for a moment
 
“Some nights I wish I had” He added, nodding his head slightly. Ailbhe knew he wasn’t lying. Tommy did wonder, perhaps it would be nice to believe in higher powers and a life after death.
 
McCavern stepped forward, leaning in towards Ailbhe so close that she could smell the cologne from his skin and the smell of smoke that clung to his clothes.
 
“And what about the little lady?” He asked, knowing he could get under her skin if he tried hard enough.
 
Everybody knew the Kennedy’s had a temper, it was just finding what string to pluck to bring it to the surface.
 
 Ailbhe stayed quiet, biting her tongue as she looked back at him. She made sure to keep her eyes and face steady, never letting that mask slip.
 
“Born and raised in Ireland for the most part, Mr McCavern. What do you think?” she replied, arching an eyebrow at him sarcastically.
 
Ailbhe’s parents had raised their children in the Catholic faith and while her brothers had seemingly abandoned the idea of religion Ailbhe wasn’t so certain. She didn’t believe everything the bible told her, nor did she attend mass every Sunday. But there were parts of it she believed, parts she wanted to believe and hoped were true. She liked the idea that her parents and her brother were together now, that they weren’t suffering anywhere nor that they were alone anymore.
 
She didn’t think the rest of them were destined for heaven, not after everything they had done but she didn’t mind. The idea of an eternity in Hell with her brothers and Finn didn’t seem too daunting after everything they had been through on Earth. And if so, she didn’t think it would take Tommy long to dethrone the devil and take up the crown himself.
 
The disgust on McCavern’s face was enough to show Ailbhe he had no respect for Catholics, nor for anyone other than themselves. He seemed disappointed in her, finding it a shame she was so pretty and yet was such a disgust, Irish and Catholic, a Peaky Blinder and a Republican.
 
“And she’s kin?” He asked sneeringly, not fully understanding the dynamic.
 
He didn’t get it. Why did Thomas Shelby OBE have a young woman of no blood relation nor status on his board of directors and at his side? It didn’t make sense to McCavern but then again, Tommy didn’t explain himself often and he wasn’t going to start now.
 
“She is” was all he replied.
 
Tommy wouldn’t know where to begin with explaining who Ailbhe was. He thought about making Finn marry her soon just so he would be able to call her his sister and not be looked at strangely. But he knew Ailbhe would say no. She liked being a Kennedy, for now she wanted to stay one and Tommy didn’t want Ailbhe to settle down and marry, to start having children and leave her seat on the board and her job on the company. He didn’t want her going anywhere.
 
“And him?” McCavern asked, tearing his glare away from Ailbhe and pointing at Charlie who sat behind them smoking.
 
Charlie had no interest in the Billy Boys nor the Chinese. But they had killed Bonnie Gold, one of theirs and a good lad. So, he didn’t like them, fascist paramilitaries or not.
 
“Yep” Tommy nodded, not turning to face them but still looking out at the cold and dark water of the Cut.
 
Charlie didn’t seem all too worried as McCavern approached him, looking him up and down as if sizing him up for a fight.
 
“And the simple fellow?” He asked, referring to Curly who he had met in the yard.
 
Ailbhe bit her tongue. She hated when people talked about Curly as if he was a child, as if he was useless and stupid. Curly was much smarter than anyone ever gave him credit for.
 
“He’s a lot less simple than you might at first think” Tommy replied, feeling the same as Ailbhe.
 
Ailbhe felt herself almost smile.
 
“Do you trust them?” McCavern asked perhaps the most redundant question ever to be uttered in Charlie’s Yard.
 
Tommy didn’t answer, didn’t even turn his head to look at McCavern. If he couldn’t trust Ailbhe, Curly and Charlie then he really would have hit an all time low.
 
McCavern got the feeling Tommy wasn’t going to answer, throwing his hands up and looking out at the cut too.
 
“Right, so I take a boatload” He announced, nodding towards the cargo.
 
“Nope” Ailbhe felt the words leave her lips before she had thought she was going to speak. But she was right, that wasn’t how it was going to happen.
 
“Who the fuck do you think you’re talking to?” He growled back, almost like a dog and Ailbhe understood why he used to be called ‘Mad Dog Jimmy’.
 
Tommy turned, holding his hand out.
 
“What Ailbhe means is you will take ten sacks to start with to test the market” Tommy explained the agreement he had made with Polly and Ailbhe previously.
 
“Then we can discuss dealing in boatloads” He further explained “Cash payment on loading, ten thousand pound”
 
Ailbhe waited for it. The disagreement that was bound to rear its head and play straight into Tommy’s hands.
 
“Well for that amount it’ll have to be a cheque”
 
Bingo, Ailbhe thought to herself. She had to resist the urge to smirk.
 
“Don’t take cheques” Tommy replied, making sure his tone clarified that it wasn’t up for discussion.
 
McCavern looked back at one of his men, a silent conversation passing between them. Ailbhe watched, observing them and unnerving them at the same time. They didn’t like her, she knew that. McCavern didn’t like how she watched them and felt like she was picking through their brains with a comb, reading and watching. It was clear why Thomas Shelby now kept her around.
 
“It’ll be a cheque” He repeated himself in a tone that let them all know, Jimmy McCavern doesn’t like having to repeat himself.
 
Tommy looked back at Ailbhe before nodding at McCavern.
 
“I will take a cheque. If it is guaranteed by our mutual friend in London, Mr Mosley” Tommy bargained, waiting for McCavern’s answer.
 
He spat into the palm of his hand and held it out to Tommy. Ailbhe watched as Tommy tugged off his glove and held out his, making another deal with the devil. Ailbhe was beginning to lose count.
 
 
McCavern pulled back from the handshake, taking a step towards Ailbhe and spitting into his palm again. He held it out towards her, raising his eyebrows at her daringly.
 
She kept her arms folded firmly across her chest and simply shook her head. Not happening.
 
“DIdn’t think so” McCavern laughed, slapping his hands together loudly and shouting.
 
“Who’d have ever thought it, eh? Doing business with Gypsies, with Irish and with Catholic scum?” He laughed maniacally, grinning at them all as if it was the best thing he’d ever heard.
 
Ailbhe bit her tongue, worried if she was going to do any more meetings with McCavern then she was going to seriously bite it off soon.
 
“Yeah who’d have thought, eh Charlie?” Tommy piped up, standing over the table where Charlie sat and pouring out whiskey.
 
“Who would have thought it?” Charlie grumbled looking up at Ailbhe.
 
She resisted the urge to roll her eyes.
 
“Ah you two are okay” McCavern commented, winking at Ailbhe as she was passed a glass by Tommy.
 
Ailbhe swallowed it all, glad of the warm burn that washed down through her. She was freezing cold, but she couldn’t complain or admit it.
 
“I’m only okay until I’m not okay. Then I’m really not” Tommy replied, catching McCavern’s eye for just a second as he poured again.
 
“And the little lady isn’t much better” Charlie grumbled sarcastically, looking up at Ailbhe with those small, dark eyes. He also didn’t like the way McCavern spoke to Ailbhe nor how he looked at her. Another reason not to like him.
 
 
“Delivery in seven days. Cheque guaranteed” Tommy clarified the terms of their agreement, making sure there was no room for misinterpretation.
 
“Won’t your Chinese friends expect the seven tonnes that leaves London to still be seven tonnes when it reaches Liverpool?” McCavern questioned, still only holding his glass in his hand.
 
“Don’t you worry your little head about that Mr McCavern” Ailbhe told him, a smile sweet as honey on her face and yet her eyes had a warning that dared them not to push her.
 
She could practically see his blood boiling but the laugh he left out was enough to unnerve her.
 
“So the little lady is brave enough to skim the Chinese?” He laughed, turning back around to Tommy who wasn’t laughing at all, they weren’t joking.
 
McCavern’s dark eyes narrowed at them.
 
“Do you have some kind of death wish, Mr Shelby?” He asked, a sort of humour in his tone.
 
McCavern nodded his head at the men with him, leaving Tommy, Charlie and Ailbhe alone again as they left the yard. Tommy waited until they were out of earshot, drinking back what was left of his whiskey and slamming the glass down.
 
Charlie just looked at them, the two he had watched grown up and who had always bitten off more than they could chew. He shook his head formidably at them, knowing that this time was no exception.
 
“What, Uncle Charlie?” She asked, finally unable to stick the dark stare of him.
 
“Too smart for your own fucking good, as always” he muttered, throwing his cigarette into his unfinished whiskey and leaving it on the table in front of them. He got up and walked away from them, melting into the darkness of the yard.
 
It was what they had always been told when they were little. And they had never grown out of it.
 
Ailbhe looked across at Tommy who seemed to be staring into nothing again.
 
“Are we smart enough or stupid enough to be doing this Tom?” She asked, starting to lose her nerve.
 
Getting caught skimming the Chinese meant you would be buried face down without your hands. And Ailbhe didn’t particularly want that for either of them.
 
Tommy just stared into the dark waters, as if he could see something she couldn’t. Until finally, he looked back up at her.
 
He reached out, grabbing her elbow and gently pulling her along with him, not letting go of her the whole while.
 
“Come on, I’ve to bring you back or Finn will come looking” He told her, making sure she kept up with him as he pulled her away from the Cut and the visions of Grace he was seeing beneath the water’s surface.