Yellow Roses // Thomas Shelby

Chapter Four

I sat at my vanity in my night dress, perfecting my lashes for the day. It was still dark outside. I gave myself plenty of time to get ready for the fixed races. It's not a surprise that people drug the horses so they'll lose. It's Birmingham's special.

My father thinks I'm going to the races with an Irish boy. I didn't exactly lie. A 17 year old boy named James Lacy will be there, I just didn't want to meet up with him as we promised. He didn't interest me.

My brother Frankie came into my room, dressed like he usually is. Dress pants, a button up, and a blazer. I could name a hundred people who dressed better than him, but I wouldn't ever tell him that.

"Are you sure you want to go to the races?" He asked me. I rolled my eyes.

"Get out of my room." I ignored his question completely.

"They're full of crooks and criminals, Nat. I don't want you to get hurt." He told me. I rolled my eyes.

"As if dad doesn't occasionally slap the shit outta me." I started putting oil in my curly hair. It helped since it was still wet.

"You know what I mean." I pressed on, as my father didn't do that shit when he was drunk.

"Get out, Frank. You have work in twenty minutes." I didn't look him in the eyes once. He groaned and left my room, slightly slamming the door behind him. I had an hour and a half left to get ready.

I had a couple options for what to wear. I always leaned towards the more vibrant colors. White was always a good option for me, even if I wore it nearly everyday. It was also fairly warm, meaning I should go with a lighter color.

I buttoned the light blue dress down the back and laced it up. I don't know why women are supposed to wear dresses. I've never understood it. Pants are comfortable. Why is it frowned upon?

Nonetheless, I grabbed my wallet and walked down the stairs. Doc was already down there, eating breakfast.

"New boy?" Doc asked, his posh accent thick as ever. Doc and I aren't as close as we used to be. He didn't do anything, we just fell apart.

"Yep!" I said unenthusiastically. It was an act. I was actually excited to go to the races.

"I hope you have a great time." He smiled at me. I nodded in response, then saw Polly's car outside the window.

"Have a nice day, Doc." I told him as I walked out the door, going to the back door of the car and seeing the two oldest brothers in there.

"Hi Arthur," I said as we drove away from my place. "Thomas."

"You look gorgeous as usual, Miss Natalia." Thomas looked back at me with a smile. I rolled my eyes.

"You don't look bad yourself, Mr. Shelby." I told him, leaning towards the middle more so I could talk to both of them.

Arthur and I knew each other well, but not as well as Thomas did. Arthur was like a better brother to me than Frankie was. He understood me better than my real brother could.

It wasn't much of a drive there, it was just extremely crowded.

Arthur groaned as he got out of the driver seat, admiring the view as he stretched out his back. Thomas put his arm over my shoulder as we started walking to the grounds, Arthur strutting in front of us.

"What is Arthur doing?" I asked as I saw the man look girls up and down, lean on the fence to talk to them. Thomas laughed a bit, pulling me away from them and leading us somewhere else.

He led me into a building, keeping his hand on my waist as we walked down the halls. I saw wealthy men come in and out of the doors, looking at the pair of us and nodding their oval hats.