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( I'm leaving Grace out of the story, never really liked her )
Being the second oldest was never easy. Arthur acted like the leader of the family but really wasn't. Esther has been taking care of her siblings way before their father had left. Him being a gambling drunk wasn't helping anyone.
"Polly! Esther!" She heard Finn scream. Her eyes widened and in seconds she was downstairs. Finn threw himself at Esthers legs and didn't let go. "Finny, what's the matter?" She asked. Finn was crying. "Arthur-" he cried again.
Esther picked the mess of a kid up and walked through the big doors right into the empty betting shop. There she saw it, Arther slumped into a chair, bloody and beaten black and blue.
She sat the kid down and just stared at her brother. "What in the name of god happened to you?" Polly had just arrived in the room as she threw herself at the injured man "Some copper" he breathed.
"I'm calling a family meeting in fifteen minutes" Esther answered, making her way to the phone.
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Tommy arrived ten minutes after Esther had called. He was too intimidated to not come. "Now that everyone is here, Arthur what happened to ya?" Esther began. Arthur held some ice to his bruised eye and snickered "Some copper, name's Campbell, beat me up. Said Winston Churchill sent him because of national interest. Some robbery happened, I didn't know nothin' about it"
Esther knew, the guns. She eyed her younger brother. "Talked about how the IRA was involved" he finished. John threw a fist on the table "Yeah but we ain't IRA. We bloody fought for the King" he yelled. Esther raised her hand "Yeah, alright" she tried to calm him.
"Does anyone know about the robbery?" Polly asked, sipping her tea. "Esther?" She tried again, eyeing her. Ester threw Thomas an angry look, she couldn't rat him out. "No, I don't" she answered.
"This family does everything open. You have nothing more to say to this meeting, Thomas?" Tommy shook his head. "No, nothing that's woman's business" Esther rolled her eyes. "This whole bloody business was woman's business when you boys were away at war. What changed?" She spat. Tommy sighed "We came back"
⌞ •°•❀•°• ⌟
"Come on let me help ya" Esther offered as Arthur tried to. "I'm going to kill'em" she cursed as she wiped the blood off of her brothers face. "Calm down, Es. M' fine" he chuckled.
Esther didn't feel like laughing. She stood, almost pushing the chair she had just set on over.
She wasn't going to let this asshole of a man come into their territory and beat her brother because of some guns that went missing.
"Esther" he tried again, grabbing her arm. "No Arthur, no one treats my siblings like this" she growled. She grabbed his gun, tucking it in her dress pants and started to walk away. Arthur held her, pulling her back "You don't have to do this. I'm your big brother" he pleaded, feeling embarrassed.
"And I'm your little sister who's going to bloody show this prick what hurting a Shelby means" she mumbled. Esther lowered herself to give Arthur a kiss on the cheek before she ran out of the house in fury.
She walked fast, very fast. Men and women on the streets knew her, knew what she was capable of. They either turned away or didn't look her in the eyes. The people here in Small Heath couldn't really decide who was more dangerous, Esther or Thomas?
Esther almost kicked the door to the Police station open. The door whipped against the wall behind it with a loud thud, making every police officer look at her. Their demeanors changed as they saw who just almost kicked the door off its hinges.
"Miss Shelby, what takes you here?" A young man walked towards her. They were friendly, of course they were. Tommy had them on their payroll.
"I want to Campbell" she grumbled. The man in front of her nodded and sighed slightly "He asked to not be disturbed..-"if you don't want your cold dead corpse to lay in front of your mothers doorstep, you'll show me the way to Campbells office"
The boys eyes widened as he turned around. He took her to the wanted mans office. "I'll just tell him-"No need, I'll handle it from here" he shook his head "He'll want to kn-"I said I'll handle it from here, get the fuck away" she snapped. Gone he was.
She didn't knock, the door was unlocked.
"Goodness, why can't anyone-Who might you be?" A disturbed voice filled her ears. "Esther Shelby."her hands fumbled with a pack of cigarettes just to slide one between her lips. "Sit down." she commanded with a uninterested look in her eyes "Wha-this is still my office" Esther chuckled as she raised an eyebrow. She lit the cigarette and sighed. "Sit" she grumbled again. He complied and sat with a displeased look on his face.
"There's something I'm really really unhappy about" she started. The man didn't speak, good. "You see, there was an incident with my brother." Realization settled in his face, he didn't falter though. "I only asked him some questions, Esther" he started.
A angry look reached her face. "Well, I won't call that asking questions but alright, and it's still fucking Miss Shelby you twat" he huffed in surprise. "Now, a woman shouldn't talk like this." she chuckled "I don't care what you think a woman should be like, if you ever hurt one of my brothers again, I'll personally cut your dick off and shove it down your throat, do we understand each other?"
Campbell blinked and composed himself again. "Es-Miss Shelby, the problem lays between your brothers and me. I don't believe a woman should be sucked into this kind of business" he stated. Esther grew inpatient and walked over to his desk. "I guess we'll see each other again then" she sighed.
A grunt escaped the older man as she pressed the burning cigarette butt out on his hand.
With her head held high she walked out.
⌞ •°•❀•°• ⌟
"What happened" Irene asked as she poured Esther a cup of tea "Too much" she complained. "There's a new detective in town, beat Arthur to a pulp" she whispered. Irene gasped and ate a biscuit "No way, is he fine?" Esther shrugged her shoulders. Irene has had a crush on her older brother since they were girls. When they were both around fourteen she told her how handsome her brother was.
"He's fine, I spoke to the asshole of a bloody detective myself" Esther sighed. This whole situation was shitty. She didn't like that Tommy kept secrets which hurt everyone and she didn't like the turn it took for Arthur. He was, absolutely theoretically, the leader of the peaky blinders because he was the oldest but Tommy held the reins tight in his hands.
"Really? What you tell him?" She ate another biscuit as Esther started to explained everything. "Told him to be careful or I'll take matters into my own two hands" she nodded, everyone knew what Esther Shelby was capable of.
"God, Es. I admire you so much. I could never be this brave" Irene smiled and offered Esther a biscuit. She took it and shoved it in her mouth. "These are actually really good" Esther smiled. Irene giggled and poured her more tea. "I made them myself" she smiled, Esther couldn't help but smile as well. Irene was always so happy, so free of all the dark things Esther had to see. It should stay like this. "You don't have to be, I'm brave for us two" she smiled.
⌞ •°•❀•°• ⌟
Esther walked back home, her hands tucked in the pockets of her dress pants. Suddenly she heard noises, screaming. Her eyebrows narrowed as she walked around the corner. There she saw it, the police rampaging the homes of many many people.
Tommy, Arthur and Johnny were at the race today, a good plan but not well calculated. She grew angry. Esther checked the gun tucked in her pants as she took off down the street.
"What in the bloody hell are you doing?" She shouted. There he stood, the asshole of a man she threatened not long ago.
"Ah, Miss Shelby. What a nice day, isn't it?" He almost smiled. Esther stared at him in disbelief. "What are you doing?" She asked again. He smiled and turned towards the rampaging police officers. "Oh that, well, we need hints on who might've stolen a very important carriage. It belongs to the king, you see" he stepped closer.
She rolled her eyes and in a split second she punched the older man square in the face. A grunt escapes him as he falls to the floor with blood running down her nose.
"She-she-"Watch yourself Chester, next time I'll break your neck" Esther shouted as two police officers grabbed her hands.
In that very moment a car made its way down the street. She heard her brothers shout her name. The officers cuffed her hands and dragged her away in a very ungentle manner. "Tommy!" Esther shouted as she saw her brothers run towards the messy scene"Arthur, get me out" she shouted. They knew exactly what she meant.
Jail.
"Don't worry, Es! No Shelby rots in prison" John yelled as she got carried away.
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Chester is Campbell's first name :)