VICES AND VIRTUES | Thomas Shelby

TWENTY TWO

"Ada," Freddie pleaded, with his gun pointed at Kimber's men.

"Shut up and listen," Ada warned.

"Have you lost your mind?" Freddie asked.

"I said shut up!" Ada shouted as Florence stood in front of Tommy, not daring to look at him as she kept her eyes on Ada.

"Now, most of you were in France," Ada continued, addressing the whole group, "So you all know what happens next, I've got brothers and a husband here but you've all got somebody waiting for you."

As Ada spoke Florence's nightmare proceeded to get worse, as over the shoulders of Kimber's men she saw her mother, who quickly recognised her, "Florence?"

Imelda dropped her bags of shopping and hurried towards the sight of the stand off as she rushed to be at her daughter's side, "Florence, what the fuck are you doing? Have you lost your mind?"

"Probably," Florence replied as she glanced at Kimber and then over her shoulder at Tommy, before whispering to her mother, "He has to be okay, for Daisy."

"My God, Florence," Imelda muttered in disbelief, slowly realising the depth of her daughter's statement, "I could kill him myself for putting you in the middle of this."

"I did that myself, Mum," Florence whispered as Ada's words caught her attention.

"We are both wearing black in preparation," Ada explained, gesturing at Florence before looking at Freddie, "I want you to look at me, I want you all to look at me, who'll be wearing black for you? Think about them, think about them right now."

"Florence," Tommy muttered through gritted teeth, "What the fuck are you doing?"

"I don't have a fucking clue," Florence whispered, keeping her eyes on Ada.

"Imelda, please get her out of here," Tommy muttered to the girl's mother.

"Come on, Floss, it's not safe," Imelda pleaded with her daughter as she held onto her arm.

"Fight if you want to, but us two and those babies ain't moving anywhere," Ada warned the men.

"She's right, you know," Kimber spoke up, catching Florence and Imelda's attention as they turned to face him, "Why should all you men die? It should just be them who's caused it."

Kimber pointed his gun at Tommy, but in front of Tommy stood Florence, and before Kimber could even pull the trigger, Florence had been pushed to the side. Florence hit the ground as the sound of a bullet being fired rang through her ears, followed by two more in close succession.

Slowly, Florence looked to her right, to see Danny Whizz Bang lying in a puddle, blood soaking his shirt as the sound around her remained muffled, as though her heartbeat was amplified inside her head.

She looked back to her left, in search of her mother, but what followed sickened her as she watched her mother fall to her knees, her hand pressed against her stomach, blood running down her skin.

"Tommy," Florence looked up at the man who had promised to protect her to see blood dripping from his hand too before she crawled across the ground to be by her mother's side.

Tommy glanced at Florence, and then at Imelda, realising what Billy Kimber had done. Fuelled by adrenaline and anger as Kimber began to laugh at his handiwork, Tommy pulled his gun, pointing it at Kimber and firing, hitting him point blank in the forehead before Kimber's lifeless body fell to the ground.

"Ma, it'll be alright," Florence insisted, praying to whatever god would listen as she pressed her hand to her mother's wound, remembering what to do from what Polly had taught her once, "We'll get a doctor to help you, okay?"