"So youre tellin' me that Tommy wants to meet outside the Garrison for a little match-up tomorrow?" Kimber asked me. I was tied to a chair once again, only this time there were knives involved. I wouldn't be getting out of this one.
"Yes. Best man wins, the worst man dies." I told him. He chuckled and walked over to me, cutting the ropes.
"I thought you had completely taken their side, Dundee." he said with a smile. I had to lie to stay alive right now. "You wouldn't mind if I used you for ransom, would you?"
"I had to make it believable I worked for the Shelby's. Sorry i fucked with your trust," i lied straight through my teeth. It hurts to say such a thing with confidence.
"That's alright. Now that I know what they know, I can demolish them." He gave me a pat on the back. Just as he was about to leave, we heard an explosion outside. It was the barn. He didn't know we were in it, so he obviously thought it was the Shelby's doing.
"Grubs, take her to her room." Kimber said. The buff man led me to my room where the door was shut and locked. It was a small room with a single window and a bed. I couldn't realy get much from it.
Grubs was a stupid man. I pickpocketed him of his knife and his gun. He didn't even notice. The door was locked, so it would take anyone of any authority about a minute to open the door. That minute would give me time to hide whatever i was doing.
I pulled the bullet out of the gun to see if they were hollow tip or point tip, they were hollow. Kimber's men were using hollow tip bullets. That meant that they would stay in the body, not go through it.
Grubs blade on the other hand was rather cool looking. It was an automatic, double sided blade. That was good. That was really good.
I banged on the door, hoping to have someone's attention. Grubs came about five minutes later, looking me up and down.
"I'd like to have something to eat. Fruit preferably." I told him with a smile. He huffed in response.
"Boss says that youre dangerous." he said plainly. I smiled and lightly grabbed his shoulder, in a fake romantic way. I was flirting with him.
"Oh come on, I just want something to eat. All I've had is carbs in the last week, I need some energy." I told him. Even though none of what i said made sense, he fell for like the stupid schmuck he is.
"Ok. ill get you fruit." he closed the door in my face and strolled away to get me food. I then took the gun out from under the pillow and took two of the bullets out of it. The knife would be handy for getting the gunpowder out of the bullets.
About ten minutes later, Grubs opened my door and set an apple and orange in front of me. I thanked him and he left. Now i could get started on the real good stuff.
See, sulfur is found in gunpowder and oranges contain acetic acid. If you mix the two into a paste and let it dry, its highly painful to the eyes. Its what Dr. Treaty died from; burning eyes.
--
The vile was in the back pocket of the pants I was wearing, so was the knife and gun. I had two bullets in the gun that were going to be used on Kimber's men when I get free of them.
I restrained against Kimber as he dragged me through the mud behind the Garrison. There were about fifty of his men behind me, All of them carrying shotguns and pistols. It was going to be a shootout.
Kimber held a revolver to the temple of my head as he met the Peaky Blinders. I could see the brothers and some of the Lee boys with him. But once John saw the sight of me in Kimber's hold, he attempted to bolt towards him.
"Get your weapons out boys and load them up!" Kimber said as he stood his ground with me struggling against him. God his hands smelled fucking horrible. "Take your time... hold them up in the air so they can see what we've got..." he taunted the Blinders.
"All guns and no balls, right Billy Boy?" John taunted from twenty feet away. I let out a stifled laugh, only to be jerked around by Kimber.
"nici bile." I yelled over to John, making him laugh some more. He remembered the story I told him in his bed, relating it to this very moment.
Thomas was getting fed up with the jokes between us too, se he started talking. While he was talking, I undid my cuffs quietly and took the vile out of my pocket and crushed it up in my hands. It make my hands bleed like a rushing racehorse, but it was worth it.
There was a breeze coming through, so I opened my hand and let the powder go through the wind.
"It doesn't have to be this way, Kimber." Thomas told him. I struggled against his grip to be more real.
"Too late for that now, innit? You bit off more than you could chew, you little toe rag." Now what in the hell is that kind of insult? "And now I'm going to take over this shithole." Kimber finished.
Just as I predicted, half of his men started crying and groaning in agony. Once Kimber loosened his grip for half a second, I stuck the automatic knife right in his cock. He let go of me, looking down. That gave me the perfect opportunity to pull the knife out and stab him in the neck.
John laughed as I ran over to his side, clinging onto his shoulder with my non-bloody hand. Half of the Birmingham boys were dead on the ground with no eyes and bloody skin. The rest were scared.
"Kimber and Me fought this one on one." Thomas said. He looked around, but mostly at Ada and Freddie. Then to John and I. "Go home to your families," he said.
The Birmingham Boys hesitated. They knew they were in the wrong from the start, they just wanted to keep their face up. They wanted to seem powerful in a city that wasn't theirs.
One by one they all got into their cars and drove away. Thomas was holding his right chest where he'd been shot.
"Holy shit," John picked up my hand and I inspected it. My whole left hand was burned through the skin, including my palms. Blood was attempting to stay on my hand. You could practically see the bone.
"Your brother's shot, John, my hand's fine." I tore it away from him. As we followed the middle Shelby brother into the Garrison to get the bullet out. He was moaning and groaning, which actually got quite annoying.
John pulled me into the Garrison and to a separate table from Thomas and his gang of people. Polly brought a bandage and a bottle of whiskey to the table and left.
Tommy was screaming like a little girl at the other end. Jeremiah was digging the bullet out of his chest while John carefully wrapped my hand in the bandage. It wasn't really any use, the blood seeped right through it.
"Oh for god sakes Tom! Shut the fuck up!" I yelled to the other table. Everybody looked at me, but at least his whimpering went down.
"I'm getting a bloody bullet out of me, Toni." He yelled back. I rolled my eyes.
"And I have no fuckign skin on my hand. I don't see your point!" I yelled back over to him. "Stop being a little girl."
"You're the fucking little girl. You're like 6." He retorted.
"Six inches in your fucking mom."
Arthur took their silence to pour alcohol on the wound, making Thomas gasp out in pain. John let out his laughter when it was loud enough for him not to be heard. We were both laughing. I should be a fucking comedian.
"Oi! Polly! Could you get something to soak up the blood?" John asked his aunt. She took a look at me and breathed in sharply. She hadn't seen anything like it.
"Just wrap it in that thin bandage I handed you, I'll get gauze and another one." She backed away, still staring at the bloody mess on my left hand. All that's visible is my fingernails. Everything else is covered in blood.
John held onto my wrist as he walked me over to the sink to rinse my hand off. It cooled my nerves in my hand. I could see small patches of skin, making it easier to place a bandage on.
"What was that shit even made out of?" He mumbled as he put a layer of cloth on each individual finger.
"Acidic acid, sulfur," I sharply gasped as he touched a raw part of my hand. My pain tolerance was slowly going down. "Uhm, and a little bit of match powder." I told him. He laughed in response.
"You knew it was going to do this?" He asked, running my hand under the water again, making sure my fingers didn't get wet. I clenched my teeth and nodded.
"It was half his men for some scars on my hand. I think I made the right decision," I told him as he wrapped the rest of my hand in the cloth. He double layered the bandage.
"I think you're going to hurt yourself because of how smart you are." He smiled up at me. I rolled my eyes. "Let's go have a drink with Tom." He pulled me up and walked me over to the private room where everybody was having a drink.
Tommy and I made eye contact with each other. He was scowling, and I was judging him. Why the fuck does he look like that? That fucking 'I'm better than you' look was plastered all over his face. Maybe if he fucking thanked me, we'd be in a better mood.
John came up behind me and threw his arm lazily over my shoulder, holding me close to him. "To fucking Birmingham!" John made a toast, everybody cheered and drank. I didn't want anything to drink. I wanted something to eat.
"And to Miss Antonia Dundee, for saving our asses." Arthur raised a glass to me, then drank. I smiled. It was a toothy smile that was genuine. It made me feel like I was actually worth something to this family.