Gangster's Paradise (Peaky Blinders)

Friday

The Scarlet Lady was bustling with people, despite it only being half 7. Young men, older men, young ladies and middle-class citizens, Nancy's singing drew them all in. Alex escorted her around the back like she was some sort of celebrity. For a moment she forgot that her husband was dead, she almost expected to see him sitting down at his favourite table. Alas, he never came. Instead, someone else was sitting in his seat, a young man unfamiliar to her. She could see him from the side of the stage, his gaze drifting all around the room.

A girl suddenly appeared next to her, pointing towards the man in her husband's chair. "Frank said to keep an eye on him, just in case he tries to cause trouble." Her curly red hair was styled in an up-do, her green eyes glistening with excitement. Her name was Penny, a carefree 24-year-old who loved to perform.

"Who is that?" she asked.

"Thomas Shelby. That one at the bar there is his brother John and that one-" She pointed towards a man standing by the fire in the corner, he was talking to someone that Nancy couldn't see properly. "That's his other brother Arthur."

"Family outing..."

"Isn't it just. Frank didn't want to bar them, in case they got mad, but he warned us to keep watch. God knows why they're here."

"Maybe they fancied a drink."

"Then they should drink in their own pub!"

Nancy and Penny returned to the shared dressing room where she touched up her makeup. The other girls expressed their sympathies to her. She smiled and thanked each of them in turn. Tonight there were 5 of them performing. Nancy was the eldest at 25 and the most experienced. She'd been singing at the Scarlet Lady since she was 16. The role of mother fell to her now, preparing for each show and looking out for the younger girls.

She looked around at all the made-up faces, each girl radiating innocence and youth. An 18-year-old brunette named Gigi helped another called Poppy into her outfit, while Delilah, a 20-year-old blonde bombshell touched up her red lips, pouting at the mirror as she did so. Her perfectly curled platinum hair shaping her slim face.

Nancy's eyebrows knitting together when she noticed someone was missing. "Where's Lucy?"

"Sacked," Gigi replied.

"She wasn't sacked," Poppy interrupted. "She left."

"Why?"

"Pregnant. Says she can't dance no more, and her costumes don't fit." Delilah finished applying her lipstick, still pouting. She was the prettiest of the three other girls, and she knew it. However, despite her obvious beauty, Delilah couldn't compete with Nancy. The young widow was in an entirely different league.

"I didn't know she was married," Penny replied, fixing her copper coloured hair when she noticed a strand had come loose.

"She's not." Delilah leaned back in her chair, her amber eyes lingering on each of the girls, bursting with excitement at telling them the gossip. "It's quite the scandal. Apparently, he's a married man."

"No!" Gigi shrieked.

"Ahuh, he wants her to get rid but she's adamant about raising it on her own."

"I bet her parents aren't best pleased, ain't they incredibly religious?"

"They kicked her out, told her to go it alone. She's living in some woman's shelter or something." Delilah stopped pouting, her attention turning to her hair.

"How awful for her." Penny shook her head sadly, exchanging eye contact with Nancy. They shared a knowing look. Lucy was not the first girl to leave the Scarlet Lady because of these circumstances, and she certainly wouldn't be the last.