For The One Who Stayed - Peaky Blinders

XIII. fuck you, arthur

☾

Water splashed against the window as drops, and yet it felt like the cut was emerging around their house, ready to collapse and become the same substance as the canal was. Oh, how Effy would've loved that.

As soon as I saw you, I wondered how no one else had seen it. Not one bit of your dad in you. Not one bit of Shelby.

The words of a man who shall not be named, echoed through the corridors of her mind, not giving her rest the past night.

I didn't say anything then. I thought he'd have gotten rid of you eventually. Then everyone started to become fond of you, and I knew they wouldn't believe me anyway.

The words that would haunt Effy for the rest of her life, the words she would not share with anyone no matter the heavy burden suffocating her, and the words she would take to the grave with her.

What do you have if not this family? The reason you're still alive is because people think you're a Shelby. Otherwise, with an attitude like yours, someone would put a bullet in your head.

It couldn't be true. He was a selfish, stupid man with an empty heart and no family. He had no right to get into her mind like that.

You're no one. You're just a bastard of a fucking whore.

Focused on the rain hitting the window relentlessly, Effy's mind went into utter overdrive as she tried to refute her grandfather's claims. She felt as if the ground had been ripped from beneath her feet, leaving her suspended in a void of confusion and heartache. Effy traced the delicate pattern of the wallpaper with her fingers, trying to make sense of it all.

The door of the kitchen was torn open by none other but John, his breaths heavy and shallow. Effy snapped her head towards the entrance, eyes wide open and brows furrowed yearning for answers.

"Have you seen Arthur?" John asked, easing on her frown.

"No. Why?"

"I need him at ring tonight and Tommy's off." But seeing her hold that glare still, went on, "For the match, Eff. Joey Clarke's match."

Her simple frown turned to look daggers at her uncle. The whole family knew of the slap Tommy almighty earned from his daughter for hiring her best friend, and tried to eschew the topic near the girl with the radical fickles.

Effy turned away from her uncle, jaw flexing and John swore he saw Tommy for a moment there, by the light of the fire. He sniffled, and with a hesitant step, pulled out a chair and sat down next to her. They didn't say anything for a while, only listened to the flames crackling in the fireplace, both lost in its dance.

"John? " Effy whispered, cutting through the silence of their stillness, her gaze now lifted off the fire. Her uncle turned to look at her, but it seemed like he had been watching her the whole time, really. Effy waited a little, her thoughts lost in the tiny spots of freckles covering his face, the same freckles that garnished her nose and cheeks as well. And in John, and in his freckles, she saw the name Shelby, and the face of Arthur Sr started to fade from before her.