A Gangster With Roses • Tommy Shelby

thomas shelby with roses

There was a heavy feeling in Rose's heart that she just couldn't carry anymore and her aunt's words deepened her misery.

"Well, I think he's lovely." Rose fires back as Renie rolls her eyes.

"Lovely just doesn't go with Tommy Shelby." She holds her cigarette up to her mouth. "This is how it'll be like, you'll always be waiting for him. And when you do see him, you can't help but wonder when you won't be able to again."

Before Rose could even forge a decent counterpoint, her brother comes through the door with his new wife, Lucy O'Donnell.

"Oh, hello you two! Come, come, sit." Renie ushers them into the living room, warmly. "I'll make some tea."

Rose sighs as she hears them laugh from the living room. Hesitantly, she trudges upstairs, locking her bedroom door behind her. The sky had gradually turned into mystic orange, the sun had set on the horizon as the evening air cooled Small Heath.

Rose hadn't even noticed she had been sat on her bed for hours for she had only just came to the sudden realisation she hadn't eaten anything.

The voices. All she could hear was the voices. It was a whisper. A familiar voice, like her mother's. Rose couldn't get rid of the flashbacks, the words in her head that wouldn't stop.

It was driving her mad, it was taking her to a place she didn't want to go.

Rose gets up, marching to her dressing table and taking the pills out the drawer. There wasn't a pause or contemplation before taking them, she just did.

She drinks the glass of water in front of her, knowing she probably shouldn't have done that. But, they calmed her. It was what kept her sane when her brother was away, when things were falling apart.

Like now.

Then out of nowhere, a gentle tapping sound comes from the direction of her window.

Rose tried to ignore it, yet she just couldn't shake off the growing sound. Without caution, she pushes her white curtains to the side, looking down at the street.

Her hand immediately covers her mouth as she tries to hold back a loud gasp.

"You're a free man now?" Rose couldn't hide the huge smile and disbelief on her face as she saw Tommy standing on the street.

He had a couple bruises, a cut over his eye and wounded knuckles.

"Charges got dropped." Tommy responds.

He was holding something.

He was holding roses. A bouquet of them. Tommy Shelby with roses. It was something Rosella couldn't quite believe, the sight of it wasn't enough.

"What are you throwing at my window?" Rose laughs for what seemed like the first time in forever.

Tommy shrugs with a weak smile. "Rose seeds. Didn't think you'd hear."

He throws one up and Rose just about catches it. Grinning, she looks down at the palm of her hand. "It's not everyday you see a gangster with roses, outside a house."

Tommy adjusts his navy blue suit. "Might be the last time you see it if you keep talking."

Laughing, Rose leans forward out the window more, putting her arms on the outside sill. "Come through the front door then."

"Well, your aunt." Tommy starts uneasily. "Rosella, I'm not scared of anything but you're aunt...Wow."

Rose bursts into laughter, covering her mouth. "She's not that bad Tommy."