When The Boys Are Away

Part 67

"Get out!" Jay demanded in a unwavering tone, walking threateningly towards the man who remained unwilling to leave. This only infuriated him more. His hatred for his father was unrivalled by many. 

With the Shelby brothers rising to their feet, and the Wentworths and Alfie as clueless as they possibly could be, Lizzie stood beside Harlow and Ada sympathetically. "What the fuck are they doing here?" Ada whispered in disbelief, glancing over at Freddie and Mark in disgust. 

Harlow felt her chest tighten at the sight of her father, quite frankly she would have been happy to never see him ever again. Even that would have been too soon. 

"What the bloody hell is going on right now?" Alfie voiced his confusion to the agitated women whilst Nick and Dale also listened in, wanting to have some inclining on the trouble they were currently facing. 

Jay had absorbed himself in a heat discussion with his dad, with Tommy, John and Arthur only feet away to back him up and even Polly wanted to share a few tasteful words of her own.

"That's my father, it's complicated. And Freddie was our friend, that's also complicated." Harlow explained awkwardly, keeping an eye on her brother to make sure things didn't get violent.

 Catching on to the last slither of the sentence, Freddie's ears pricked up, and due to the disruption Mark Winters had caused amongst the Shelby boys, he was able to breeze right into the room towards where the girls were congregated with members of the other gangs. 

"Harsh, I'd still class us as friends." Freddie added unnecessarily, leaning against the window frame and Ada's face scrunched up, as she responded in a laughable way, "Under what pretences? You spoke absolute shit about us for months, you crashed Lizzie and Jay's wedding, broke up a relationship and then we haven't heard from you in years. No part of that screams friendship to me."

Harlow tilted her head in agreement, watching as Freddie's smirk remained bizarrely plastered across his annoying face. She'd love to punch it straight off. 

"Why are you even here?" Harlow queried, her patience wearing thin as the argument between her father and Jay grew louder in the background. Glancing over out of the corner of her eye, she grew more worried and infuriated by the second. "Why are you with him?" 

Freddie twisted the cuff of his sleeve, purposely withholding his speech to further wind up the group and it was definitely working, "Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news..."

"No you fucking don't, you bloody love it." Ada scoffed, crossing her arms across her chest, leaning against Nick as she felt his presence close behind her. Freddie laughed blankly, looking the pair up and down. 

"Well, I'm sorry to ruin your fun Ada, but your dad is fucking dead." He revealed cruelly, a hint of satisfaction in his voice that he had the power to send such a hit against the Shelbys. 

Ada's eyes widened in shock, not at all expecting news of that kind to fall from Freddie's mouth. Although she despised her father and his actions, it was still hard to digest that he was actually dead. Unexpectedly, she slumped into the chair behind her, processing the information in her mind as Nick placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

Harlow dropped down beside her, kneeling so that she could offer some words of sympathy, completely forgetting about everything else in the room. Her priority was her best friend. 

"Someone shot him in a bar, hardly surprising given that he made enemies out of everyone he ever met. Fucking awful man he was..." Freddie continued ignorantly, receiving a harsh glare from some of the Wentworths who had overheard the news. The other Shelbys and Polly still remained unaware. 

"Shut up Freddie." Harlow warned in a quiet tone, allowing Lizzie to comfort Ada whilst she rose back up to her feet, "That's hardly helpful right now." 

Freddie nodded boldly as he took an arrogant stance, unbothered by his disrespect, "Maybe not, but-"

"But nothing, I firmly suggest you leave if that is all you have to say." Nick warned him, taking a step towards the lanky man, who widened his eyes eagerly at the confrontation. However, before it could get any more serious, they were disrupted from across the room. 

"I only came to tell you that your father has been murdered!" Harlow's father shouted loudly, his words echoing around the room for everyone to finally hear. Anxiously, Harlow glanced between the Shelby brothers, analysing the variety of expressions on their faces as they heard the news, but fortunately none of them seemed too devastated. He had barely been around anyway, whether he was dead or alive didn't matter to them. 

"Serves him bloody right." Polly exclaimed, raising a glass of water with a fierce gleam in her eye as she stared back at Mark. Unbelievably, he could be deemed shocked by their lack of care for their father, but he couldn't understand the betrayal and heartbreak that Arthur Shelby Senior had caused them. 

"Let's not pretend that's the only reason you're here." Polly pushed further, already knowing the factors behind his return, "You need money, don't you?" 

His act of grief dropped momentarily, proving that Polly was correct. That was the only reason Mark Winters ever came back, for money. "Jay, my son," He attempted to place a persuasive hand on his shoulder, but Jay quickly swatted it away, "You have a wife, and you're having a child, surely you can show some compassion for your father. I admit I've done wrong, but I do want to make amends."

Pushing herself up from besides Ada, Lizzie couldn't help but scoff at his pleas, knowing that it was all a lie. Jay knew so too, shaking his head in his father's face as he slowly backed away to join his wife, "You aren't getting a single penny from me, not after the things you've done. This isn't my house, so it's not my place to kick you out..." 

Jay turned to Tommy who nodded his head, knowing that Mark had overstayed his welcome long enough, "I want you out of my house." 

Mark stared desperately at his son, realising that his aim had failed, and instead he needed to turn to another tac tic. Slyly, he locked eyes with Harlow who rolled her eyes in annoyance, fully aware that the same performance was going to be presented to her next. "Harlow, my beautiful daughter-" 

"Just get out." Harlow spat, pointing to the open door seriously, "And you too, go." She turned to Freddie, gesturing for him to leave, but to no avail. If they weren't going to get their own way, they were not willing to leave so easily. 

"You know Harlow, I've heard a lot of fucking things about you recently." Freddie began as he started to follow Mark out of the room, narrowly skimming Tommy's shoulder to further annoy the Shelby. 

"I'm sure you have," Harlow mumbled, shaking her head, "Piss off." She turned back around to comfort Ada, assuming that he had finally left, but when he spoke again, she felt her blood run cold. 

"I bet everyone would love to know some truths about one other. Let's start with how Harlow slept with Inspector Campbell to get Michael out of prison..." 

***

I'm so sorry it has taken me ages to update. This chapter isn't as good as I would have liked, but I have been stuck on it for weeks and wanted to move on to the next part of the story, so I apologise in advance. 

Also, I would like to express my sadness following the news that Helen McCrory has passed away today. She was a wonderfully talented actress who poured so much charisma and passion into every character she played. I will truly miss seeing her on screen, such a beautiful soul, rest in peace x