Florence threw her cigarette to the floor, looking at Polly who leaned against the car. Her eyes shifted to Micheal who walked out, hat on his head.
Polly looked over her shoulder.
"Brother" Florence sighed, opening her arms. He nervously accepted her hug, holding the back of her coat tightly. "Missed you" she said. "Yeah" he whispered.
She pulled away from him, stepping aside.
"Hello mum" he said, smiling. "This is Gina" he said, pointing a the blonde girl who walked to them. Florence observed her, admiring her coat. "Gina Gray"
Florence sent her a soft smile. "Captain married us on board" he said as Gina held his arm. "She's my wife, mum, at least look at her"
"Tommy said to ask you to tell me the truth" Polly took her sunglasses off.
"We've been travelling for 15 days, Mrs Gray" Gina spoke. "Maybe we could talk about this another time?" she asked. "Yes, let's go home and we can talk" Micheal agreed.
"You have no home until you tell me the truth" Polly stepped forward.
Florence's eyes widened. "Mum" she sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose:
"Here?" he asked. "Yeah"
They watched as Arthur walked out of the telephone box. "Micheal" he shouted. "Hello, love" he looked at Gina. "Welcome to Birmingham, eh"
Micheal stared at him coldly.
"Micheal," Polly said. "Okay" he nodded, "our ship docked at Belfast, i was then taken off the ship by two men"
"At gun point" Gina added. "I'm speaking to my son" Polly hissed. "Oh my god" Florence whispered. "Fuck you" Micheal said. "Fuck out too, Arthur, this is my fucking wife" he shouted. "I bring her home to this," he scoffed.
"Come on Gina"
"Well where are you going now, eh?" Arthur stopped him. "Introduce me at least"
"Arthur leave him" Florence warned. "Excuse me" Gina scoffed, stepping away from Arthur.
"Look at this" Micheal whispered. "Look at this, this is it, Gina. This is my fucking people. Do you want to know the truth Arthur? Do you want to know the truth mum?" he asked.
Florence watched carefully.
"I did not betray my fucking family!" he shouted. "Now, mum, I want to go home o
"I've booked you a suite at the Midland hotel"
"Was that Tommys orders then, was it? See the Midland Hotel is Tommys little kingdom, where all the porters keep an eye, where all the telephone exchange girls are reporting on my calls"
"Yeah, well, why don't you think of it like, er, quarantine" Arthur suggested. "We treat you like a fucking dog, hm, a smelly one, stinking one. Until we know you're clean, hm?"
"Fuck you Arthur"
"Stand aside, Arthur"
"No, Pol"
Micheal walked back to Gina. "Come on, baby, forget about it" she held his arms. Florence stepped to them as Arthur spoke to Polly.
"I've got spare rooms, you can both stay at my house for the time being, i'm not having you staying in the Midland fucking hotel" she whispered, offering them a cigarette.
"Go and phone Tommy" Polly said. Micheal looked over. "Tell him, Polly says Michaels telling the truth"
"It's all right, forget about it" Gina repeated. "Nice coat"Arthur hummed, walking to the telephone box.
"What are you, like a camel, right?"
"Oh, welcome to the family, Gina Gray" Polly mocked.
-
"Isiah" Florence shouted as she walked into the house, the maid taking both hers and Gina's coat. "In the office, Miss Gray" she told her.
"Welcome home, brother" Florence nodded, pushing her hair behind her ears.
"Why is Isiah her?" He asked as they walked through the hall.
"Haven't you heard?" she asked. "We're getting married" Florence told him, holding up her hand and showing the ring. Gina gently held the girls hand, admiring the ring.
"Isiah" She shouted again.
He soon appeared at the door closest. "Micheal?" he asked. "Hello, Isiah" Micheal greeted.
"Isiah, this is Gina, Micheal's wife, they'll be staying with us for a while, that's alright isn't it?" she asked, holding his arm. He nodded. "Nice to meet you, Gina" he said.
"Drinks?" he offered.
Florence nodded and continued walking with the pair. "You can have the bedroom on the right of the guest bathroom, you remember where that is, don't you brother?" she raised an eyebrow.
"I do"
"Good. I'll have the staff in the kitchen to prepare some food , i'm gathering you'll be hungry from travelling" she sighed.
Gina smiled at Micheal, liking his sister.
"I apologise about our mother, Gina. She's a bit of a cow" Florence laughed, sitting down in the front room.
Gina smirked, crossing her legs. "Oh, you can agree, we don't care" Florence shrugged, looking up at Isiah who had returned with a bottle of Champagne.
"So, Ada's pregnant" Florence leaned forward, pouring them a glass. "Again?" Micheal asked. She hummed.
"I'm surprised you've not had one yet" Micheal joked. "Well," she sighed. "Been busy" Isiah said.
-
Arthur and Tommy walked into the Garrison. "Are you armed?" Polly asked. "Yeah"
"Will you please consider putting your weapons behind the bar, in case feelings behind to run high" she suggested. "Behind me own bar, yeah?" Arthur asked, pulling his gun and emptying the bullets onto the floor.
"I prefer it there"
"Thomas"
He signed, placing his gun onto the bar. "I had a dream about a black cat last night, Pol" he said. "A black cat dream means that there is a traitor close by. It was you who taught me that" he raised his brows.
"Black cat can mean lots of things. It can mean you're hurting yourself, betraying yourself" she told him. "Are you seeing things, Thomas?"
"Yes i am, yes i am very clearly" he lit a cigarette. "Coming from every fucking direction"
A car approached outside. "I think it's your Micheal, Pol" he muttered. "What about Florence, hm?"
"Florence, not Florence" he defended. "I've had Florence under my wing since the day she got her, she'd never" He shook his head. Polly sighed, going to the door and unlocking it.
Micheal and Gina walked in along side Florence.
"Speak of the devils" Arthur whispered.
"Tommy" Micheal said. "I'd like to introduce you to my wife" he said. Gina stood tall. "I'd also like to, er, say something."
"Sit down Micheal"
"I betrayed you" he said. "Micheal" Polly scolded. "But only in my heart. There was a time in America, when there was a lot of money on that bank, and i wondered i could leave, move to California, someone said. i should invest in picture" he said. "Hollywood"
Arthur scoffed.
"But Gina stopped me" he looked back at her. "Gina said that-"
"I told you to sit down, Micheal" Tommy hissed.
He looked around, pulling a chair. "Now tell me, what happened on that ship in Belfast harbour" Tommy said.
"On the journey back from New York, we got married. But we needed to find a witness, a purser, he was from Belfast. We got friendly."
"What happened when the ship docked?"
"This purser had friends who ran a whiskey distillery in County Tyrone. They wanted a way of getting there stuff into America so i said 'okay invite them aboard' when they came in, i realised they didn't make whiskey. They were scottish, from Glasgow, couldn't understand a fucking word they were saying"
"They started swearing, so i asked Gina to leave. That was when they started talking about you, Tom. They said that Tommy Shelby was a spent force, that politics had got to him, that he was spent int the head"
Florence watched Tommy carefully.
"That now was a good time to move in and did i want to be a part of it. I knew about the money we lost in america, they said that you were going to blame me, that you had a bullet with my name on it"
"What did you say, Micheal?"
"I didn't have time to say anything. Coppers came on board. Well i thought they were coppers, they were-"
"They were IRA" Tommy finished his sentence. "Exactly" Micheal agreed.
Silence.
"And the first men from Glasgow?" Tom asked. "The IRA commander said the men from Glasgow, were called Billy Boys"
"Fucking Billy boys" Arthur whispered.
"I don't know who the fuck Billy boys are" Micheal spoke. "They run every man in every coal mine, every shipyard east of Glasgow, ties with Belfast, UVF, Protestant Razor gang" Arthur said. "They also dabble in Politics. You know, muscle for fascist rallies"
Florence sighed, putting out her cigarette. "But you did no deal, Micheal. You didn't even know who they were" Polly said.
"I was too busy looking forward to giving you the good news" he said. Gina pushed herself off the wall. "The reason Gina and I got married on the ship was because Gina is pregnant"
Florence lips parted, turning into a smile. "You're going to be a grandmother"
Polly looked at him coldly, then at Tommy.
"Okay, Micheal, i believe you, welcome home" Tommy said. "Congratulations, just remember your unborn child has witnessed what you said"
"Thomas" Polly said. "Tommy" Florence warned.
"And it will be born accordingly" he continued. Micheal pushed the table forward, standing. "You fuck"
"Where the fuck are you going" Arthur grabbed him. "Tommy that's enough" Florence said.
"Are you fucking mad?" Arthur asked Micheal. "You are free to fucking leave, Micheal"
"You fucking bastard" he hissed at Tommy.
"But you're not free, Micheal, are you?" Tommy asked. "You lost this company a lot of money"
"Yeah, he knows that" Florence defended.
"I told you to sell, but you held on and now i want you to pay me back what you owe me. There is work you can do there are risks you can take. We were close before, now i want you closer still"
Micheal bit his lip. "Micheal, honey" Gina said, holding his shoulder. "Look at your cousin, he's in trouble, hm, he needs you. Come on, let's go" she said.
Florence eyes stayed on Tommy as she followed them outside.