TROUBLE - peaky blinders

23. horseshows and childlike woes

"No...but I'm letting you both have the chance to say whatever else you want to say before I FUCKING kill him!" Clara burst, lunging forward, her sadness morphing into sudden anger. As a pair of firm hands pulled her back, she knew why Arthur had joined them. Not out of sympathy, no...Thomas Shelby had to have his sister controlled and who better to control her than the eldest brother.

"LET GO OF ME!" She shouted, kicking and fighting to break free with a maniacal laugh. "I TOLD YOU! I BLOODY TOLD YOU!"

An angry sob crawled up her throat and she couldn't stop the sound from escaping. Arthur loosened his grip ever so slightly at the noise, and the girl sharply elbowed him under the ribs. He stumbled back and the girl lunged forward. She swiped everything from John's desk onto the floor, throwing a half-empty bottle of whiskey at the wall behind Tommy as he stepped back and watched.

"What did I say, eh?" She spat spitefully, "YOU'RE STANDING THERE AND YOU DON'T BLOODY CARE AT ALL! And I told you! I told you I would not be responsible for what I do!"

Clara took a deep breath in, brushing away stowaway tears with a harsh laugh. Arthur had grabbed her shoulders once more, yet she angrily shrugged them off.

"You don't feel sympathy at all, do you?" She questioned, inching closer to the man. Her rage ignited. "I'm looking at you right now, and I don't see one ounce of guilt...if Will dies,—and take what I say next as a promise, if he dies, I will not stop until you're rotting in bloody hell."

Clara pushed Arthur away from her and stormed out of the office, and through the den. It was only then that she noticed the men beginning to gather and it was only then that she realised that there was a meeting to be held. She waltzed past the group who was staring at her as she fled into the kitchen of number six.

With another failed attempt to stifle a whimper, the girl clutched the back of a chair, leaning against it as soft sobs wracked through her chest. So soft, they were easy to miss. She couldn't breathe, her chest constricting with every stuttered attempt to suck in air. She squeezed her eyes shut, her hands turning white as they clenched around the chair. She couldn't lose Will. She owed him a drink. She owed him countless fond memories from their childhood, she owed him so bloody much, so much. She couldn't lose her brother. The girl allowed her lip to tremble as she admitted it for the first time. Will was her brother. Hell, she was as close to him as she was to Finn or John or Arthur.

Clara suddenly flinched as the door to number six was thrown open, revealing John walking in alongside Michael, Polly trailing close behind them anxiously. She could hear their talking, yet she turned her trembling back towards them, wiping her red face, refusing to look at the three.

"Alrigh' weasel?" John smirked, not picking up the girls unusual behaviour, "Ya coming in?" The girl ignored him, furiously wiping the tears that refused to stop falling. "Oi, you listening?"

"Can I go say hello?" Clara heard Michael speaking to his mother.

"Not today, Michael," Polly stayed, "Stay here and I'll be back out in a few minutes."

John placed a hand on the girl's shoulder causing her to still. He turned her around, his eyes falling on her blotchy face and red eyes.

"Are you..are you crying?!" He asked, his disbelief seeping through his words.

"Leave it, John." Clara's voice was hoarse as she looked down. Polly's eyes flickered towards Clara, worry sparking in her irises as she scanned the girls rundown behaviour. John on the other hand hadn't moved his hand, his fingers squeezing her shoulder lightly as he pulled her into his side.