The Golden Girl ↠ Finn Shelby

CHAPTER 8 ↠ too purehearted

"Well, you said 'mostly' you make up lies. What about the other times?"

"I read people. It's easier if I already know the person from before, which didn't happen much when I was younger. It were just random people want some stranger to read their fortunes. Anyway, when I know facts about the person, when I see them around, where they go and who they go with it's easier to tell at least a small truth."

They get to the Shelby Home and Isaiah leaves as she enters.

Inside the Betting Shop was Polly, and as she heard the door open she stopped what she doing and looked at it, waiting to see who got in.

"You are in trouble!"

Bea jumps at the unexpected voice and sees Polly through the open doors between the home and the shop.

"You're working already? Wait, am I really in trouble?"

"No, I'm only scaring you," Polly says with a playful smile before looking down at some papers. "Where did you stay tonight?"

"With Finn and Isaiah. It was too late to go anywhere alone and those two were pretty drunk."

"I won't lie to Aberama Gold if he asks me, so you tell him where you slept last night."

"Aberama doesn't even know I went out. I was supposed to stay with Bonnie, and Bonnie will not tell Aberama that he just let me go with Finn Shelby to God-knows-where."

"Did you have fun?"

"Sure. There are nice pubs around. But I want to go dancing some day," Bea says as she gets closer to Polly. "Maybe when your son Michael is better he'll take me dancing," she says with a dreamy smile and a shrug.

Polly chuckles. "Still with Michael on your mind?"

"When is he coming back?" Bea wonders without answering Polly's question.

"When we've taken care of the Luca Changretta business," Polly states. "But you better just get him out of your mind. I've told you before and I'll say it again, you're too good for my son."

Bea's lips downturned, wondering why Polly would insist that Michael didn't deserve her.

"Michael seemed very classy..."

Polly scoffs. "He's classy, all right..."

Bea tills her head, knowing there was something on Polly's mind that she wasn't telling Bea, but that made her think Michael wasn't good enough for her.

"Has he done something?"

Polly looks up at Bea and finally sees the compassion that she had in her eyes as she asked Polly about Michael.

"You're just too pure at heart for him. He'll corrupt you. Like most men, will. You need to find a better one."

"Like who?"

"Maybe that man, Jack Bradley, that you were engaged to."

"I wasn't engaged," Bea quickly corrects, not wanting people to think that.

"Or going to be engaged to," Polly then says. "Nonetheless, Bradley seems to be more of a good fit for you. And he doesn't have a target on his back, he isn't like the men here in Birmingham."

"I think it would be wonderful if I could be part of the family, you know?"

"No, I don't. You find a family that doesn't have a target on their backs," Polly insists.

Bea shows her a small smile. "I like this family."

Polly steps forward and puts a hand on Bea's cheek. "Too purehearted," she repeats.

Bea just stared at Polly, feeling out of place when Polly said words that should be like a compliment, but didn't feel like it when she should be the opposite to stay alive in the midst of everything that was happening. 

Polly stepped away.

A few minutes later, Bea went back to the Betting Shop with washed clothes that Polly let her borrow from her room at the Shelby Home. At that time more people were around.

Tommy walked in just as she got down the stairs and she jogged to him.

"Good morning."

Tommy looks at Bea sideways, inquisitive on why she was there and so early in the morning.

"Morning. You didn't go to sketchy places last night?"

"Absolutely not."

"Good. And good you're here, I was actually wondering something."

Tommy tells her to follow him and they go into his office.

"So tell me about this thing that I heard... about a young lady point a gun at my brother's face."

Bea's face dropped and she swallowed hard.

"Well, that... it was just..." she stutters.

"You went to Charlie's Yard, so Charlie saw you, pointing a gun at Finn after shooting something on the yard, Bea," Tommy affirms.

"I wasn't going to shoot him, swear to God."

"No need swearing on someone that can't help you right now."

Bea was now more scared than she was when she had to do the journey to Birmingham on her own. She knew what the Peaky Blinders did. She had yet to see it, but the stories told around were enough for her to get a clear picture.

"Why did you point a gun at Finn?"

"It was just... He was doubting that I could shoot a gun and then..." Bea says knowing that she might as well speak. "I just wanted to remind him that I'm a Gold. But I wasn't going to shoot it. Swear it on my mum's soul."

Tommy nods and sits down.

"It's good that you can stand up for and defend yourself," he admits. "And you're good with a gun, which we can all benefit from... if you keep it away from our heads."

"I don't even have a gun of my own, so you have nothing to worry about."

Tommy nods and then breaths in and exhales loudly.

"You should have a gun."

Bea bit her lower lip to keep a smile from appearing on her face as she knew smiling now wouldn't help her and would probably turn the situation negatively again.

"You can go now. And stay out of trouble."

"Out of trouble. Got it," Bea says with a nod before speeding to the door and leaving the office before Tommy could decide to just kill her instead of trusting her.