Gray Gangster- 𝓟𝓮𝓪𝓴𝔂 𝓑𝓵𝓲𝓷𝓭𝓮𝓻𝓼

Black Cat

"Are you armed?" Polly asked as Arthur and Tommy walked into the pub, whilst Lola and Isiah were sitting at a table

Arthur and Tommy both nodded, "Yeah."

"Would you please consider putting your weapon behind the bar in case feelings begin to run high?" Polly asked

Arthur scoffed, "Behind the bar, Poll, eh? Behind my own bar, yeah?"

Lola nodded, "Yeah because knowing you, you'll get mad pull your gun and shoot something or someone."

Arthur took out his gun and tipped all of the bullets out, "I prefer it there."

Polly looked at Tommy, "Thomas?" Tommy put his gun down on the bar

"I had a dream...about a black cat last night, Poll. A black cat dream means there is a traitor close by. It was you who taught me that." Tommy said

Lola put her cigarette out and said, "Black cats can mean lots of things. Can mean you're hurting yourself. Betraying yourself. Are you seeing things, Thomas?"

Tommy nodded, "Yes, I am. Yes, I am. Very clearly. Coming from every fucking direction."

Gina and Michael then walked into the pub, "Tommy. I'd like to introduce you to my wife. I would also like to, er, say something."

"Sit down, Michael" Tommy said

Lola sighed as Michael said, "I betrayed you-"

Lola cut Michael off, "Michael..."

"But only in my heart. There was a time, in America, when there was a lot of money in that bank. And I wondered if I could...I could leave, and move to California. Someone said I should invest in pictures. Hollywood. But Gina stopped me. Gina said..."

"I told you to sit down, Michael." Tommy said and Michael sat down, "Now, tell me...what happened on that ship in Belfast harbour."

"On the journey back from New York, we got married. But we needed to find a witness. A purser. He was from Belfast. We got friendly." Michael said

Tommy nodded, "What happened when the ship docked?"

"This purser had friends who ran a whiskey distillery in County Tyrone. They wanted a way of getting their stuff into America. So I said, OK, invite them aboard. When they came in, I realised that they didn't make whiskey. They were Scottish. From Glasgow. Couldn't understand a fucking word they were saying. They started swearing, so I asked Gina to leave. That was when they started talking about you, Tom. They said that Tommy Shelby was a spent force, that politics had got to him...that he was spent in the head, that now was a good time to move in and did I want to be part of it. They knew about the money we lost in America. They said that you were going to blame me. That you had a bullet with my name on it." Michael explained

Tommy paused before he asked, "What did you say, Michael?"

Michael shook his head, "I didn't have time to say anything. Coppers came on board. Well, I thought they were coppers. They, er..."

"They were IRA?" Lola asked

Michael nodded, "Exactly."

"And the first men from Glasgow?" Tommy asked

"The IRA commander said the men from Glasgow were called Billy Boys," Michael said

Arthur scoffed, "Fucking Billy Boys."

"I don't know who the fuck Billy Boys are," Michael said

Isiah looked at him, "They run every man in every coalmine, on every shipyard east of Glasgow. Ties with Belfast, UVF. Protestant razor gang. They also dabble in politics. You know, muscle for fascist rallies."

"But you did no deal, Michael? You didn't even know who they were?" Lola asked

Michael nodded, "I was too busy looking forward to giving you the good news. The reason Gina and I got married on the ship was because..." Michael took Gina's hand, "Gina is pregnant." Michael looked at Polly, "You're going to be a grandmother."

Polly looked at Tommy as he nodded and said, "Ok, Michael. I believe you. Welcome home. Congratulations. Just remember...your unborn child has witnessed what you said."

"Tommy," Lola said

Tommy ignored her, "And it will be born accordingly-"

Michael cut Tommy off standing up, "You fuck!"

Isiah stood up and got in front of Michael holding him back, " Are you fucking mad."

"You are free to fucking leave, Michael," Arthur said

Michael looked at Tommy, "You fucking bastard."

"But you're not free, Michael, are you? You lost this company a lot of money. I told you to sell...but you held on, and now I want you to pay me back what you owe me. There is work you can do, there are risks you can take. We were close before. Now I want you closer still."

Gina walked towards Michael and put her hand on his shoulder, "Michael, honey. Look at your cousin. He's in trouble, huh? He needs you. Come on, baby, let's go. Let's go home." Gina and Michael then walked out

Lola stood up as Tommy said, "Black cat dream is never wrong, Lola. You know that."

"I do. But it's not Michael." Lola said as she and Isiah walked out

. . . . . . . .

Later at the house Lola and Isiah were sitting on the couch, Lola was leaning on Isiah's chest, "We did the right thing, right? He didn't do it. They say they believe him but they don't. I've known them all long enough to read their faces." Lola asked

Isiah nodded, "Yeah...In our eyes, we did the right thing, but in Tommy's or Arthur's eyes we might not have."

"He's going too far, and he's gonna get us all killed. We're not a political family, we never were. We...we're a street gang gypsy family. I think he made a mistake going into politics." Lola said, "And I think it's going to come back and bite us all."

Isiah looked down and kissed Lola on the head, "Maybe, but we have each other. Politics can't ruin that."

Thank you for reading

I think they should have listened to Lola...

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