A car approached, Arthur inside. As it came to a stop, he began speaking. "I've called the house. The office, but if i tell you, you won't believe it" he paused. "So i'll show you" Arthur handed him a newspaper.
Tommys eyes scanned the words.
"I told Micheal on Friday this was going to happen" Tommy said. "Yeah" Arthur grunted.
"Fucking Micheal said he was advised by the broker that the prices would rebound, everybody was told the same thing. He held on," Arthur looked down.
"Micheal held on.."
"Yeah"
Tommy turned away. "Micheal held on" he whispered. "Yeah" Arthur said. "Micheal held on" he repeated, "and carried on dancing and playing and fucking in the snow"
"Charlie" he shouted. "Charlie come out here now. The kid never fucking listens. He never listens, Lizzie."
Lizzie looked down.
"What do i have to do to make people fucking listen to me?" he shouted. "Holy fuck" Lizzie whispered.
"What do we do now, Tommy, eh?"
Ruby looked at Tommy. "What do we do?" Arthur asked. "Lizzie, you go with Arthur to Birmingham, you stay in the midland hotel. Arthur you call a full meeting for the board of directors tomorrow at noon" he walked to the car. "A full fucking meeting"
"What about today, eh? What's wrong with today, Tom?" Arthur shouted.
"I need to do some thinking" he said, returning to the horse.
"Oh, oh you do that best in your own, don't you, eh?" Arthur said. "I won't be in my own. I'm never on my own."
"Lizzie you have the driver come back tomorrow. And Arthur, tell my boy that sometimes, death is a kindness."
-
"Hello mum," Florence sighed, giving her a slight smile as they sat around the table in Tommys house. "Hello, love" she sighed, looking at Ada.
The door closed and Arthur groaned. "Okay, now. Let's begin. Yesterday as you all know there was a fucking terrible..a terrible disaster. Hm? It wasn't just for us but for the whole world. It happened in New York. That's where it happened. And it slowly spread to London, and then go er, fucking Hong Kong, hm?"
"The whole thing, went up. Well actually the whole thing went fucking down," he cleared his throat. "We wasn't the only ones hurt by this. Whole world was hurt, a lot of people. In the papers, it's all over the news everyone's talking about it"
"Arthur" Polly spoke. "Shouldn't we just wait for Thomas?"
"Polly, Arthur's now the chairmen of the board" Linda laughed. "Linda" Florence sighed, leaning forward. "Shut up, yeah?" she requested.
"Er, Mr Chairmen, perhaps while we wait for Thomas, i might lighten the gloom and express as a relatively new member of this company, what a pleasure it is to be in a boardroom that has so many females in it" Mr Greene spoke. "And all the females who are both..sharp-witted and decorative"
"Yeah well, we're a very modern company, Mr Greene." Arthur nodded.
"Although there are still some amongst us who cling to their old fashioned values" Polly remarked, looking at Linda.
Tommy walked in. "How far have we got?" he asked.
"Thomas " Florence smiled genuinely, standing up, "Lovely to see you," he said, giving her a quick hug and sitting down.
"We've established that ladies are decorative." Polly said.
"We've only just sat down, Tom" Arthur told him. "Actually erm, Arthur has some documents that he'd like to hand out" Linda interrupted.
"Yeah?" Tommy asked. "What documents?"
Arthur placed them on the table. "I was just explaining to everyone, Tom, that, erm.. well we're fucked, ain't that right?"
"Yes and no" Tommy cleared his throat. "It is true that large proportion of the company's funds were invested in American stocks and shares"
"Invested or hidden?" Linda asked.
"All investments are approved by the board, Linda" Tommy said.
"Only the ones that went through the books, Thomas"
"Linda, after this meeting, there will be another meeting, for just family" he told her. "Did we vote on this?" she asked.
Everyone stared at her. "Arthur-"
"Arthur can't you control your fucking wife?" she mocked. Florence let out a breath, licking her lips. "We are a very modern company, Mr Greene"
Mr Greene nodded awkwardly.
"To be precise, everything we channeled through the New York Stock exchange is now offering a return of ten cents to the dollar"
Polly scoffed.
"And the Nolan Bank of America where we invested out fluidity, is offering five cents to the dollar on all deposits. Yeah"
Polly sighed.
"There is hope" he assured her, going into his bag. "Why, what have you got in there, a magic wand?"
"As none executive director of the company, i need permission from the chairman to present my strategy to the board" he pointed to Arthur. "Permission granted Tom"
Linda scoffed, standing up and walking out.
"Peace at last" she whispered.
-
The Shelby's walked through Small Heath for the first time in years, heading toward the Garrison.
A boy rushed into the pub. "The Peaky Blinders are coming, The Peaky Blinders are coming," he told everyone. "Mickey, the peaky blinders are coming"
The man behind the bar rushed to the window of the snug. "Ladies and gents, Peaky Blinders are on the way, please vacate, thank you"
They pushed open the door and people began cheering and clapping. Tommy shook multiple people's hands. "Than you for what you did" one of them said. "What did i do?" he asked. "He was gonna evict us, that bastard, Fellows. Now he's cut our rent in half" he chucked.
"Good, glad to hear it, glad to hear it"
People continued greeting him, thanking him and telling him issues.
"Gentlemen and Ladies, if you could all move into the Saloon bar, where you will all be served a free pint of Stingo," he shouted. "Any man who served in France gets a brandy chaser. Despite what you're hearing in the newspapers, i want to hear singing and laughing"
"Fuck the stock market, they backed the wrong horses, so fucking what"
Ada and Florence shared a look, sitting down. "Right" Polly sighed. "Can i begin this family meeting with a proposal, from now on we find somewhere else to meet" Lizzie spoke.
"Your husband believe that being seen mixing with common people, is good politics" Ada sighed.
"Well if this is our campaign for socialism, perhaps next time Polly you won't wear earrings worth more than the pub. And Florence you won't wear a coat worth more than the pub" Lizzie said.
"Right family meeting, first item, this" Ada placed the bullet on the table. "Dug out of our Finns arm yesterday, by Aberama Gold using your gin and a razor blade" Ada spoke. "Finn?" Lizzie asked with raised eyebrows.
"He says they were sent to Limehouse, Chinatown. Him, Isiah and Aberama" Florence leaned back.
"Sent by fucking who?"
"Sent by me" Tommy said, "I told Finn to stay out of it. He obviously didn't listen"
Lizzie shook her head. "Tommy, sweetheart, i listen to you. I listen to you when you tell me no more sport for anyone named Shelby. I listen to you when you make me promises. What's in ChinaTown Tommy? What the fuck is going on?"
"Fifty thousand pound, in cash"
Ada tilted her head. "He said they were sent there to Chinatown to kill somebody"
Arthur held his head. "That kid needs educating Tommy, he really does"
Florence sat and watched whilst everyone threw anger Tommys way. He'd told her everything. Nobody else knew that she knew so she had to sit back and watch.