"Is it him?" Tommy entered the large room where Arthur sat. "Yeah" he whispered.
Tommy swallowed hard, "on his own doorstep."
Tommys breath hitched and he walked toward the metal bed that John lay on.
"Right get out and you out" he pointed at the men either side of the table. They looked at the lifeless body of their brother.
Arthur knocked over a tray.
"Poor John..fucking gone" Arthur cried. "In the bleak midwinter" Tommy said. "We promised, Arthur"
"I can't"
"In Hull we promised,"
"I can't look at him, Tom"
"Come here brother" Tommy said. "Come here, come on, come here"
Arthur slowly walked over, looking down at John. "Now say it, Arthur" he said. "Say it brother"
"In the bleak midwinter"
Their heads turned to the door which swung open, Esme running through. "It's your fault" she shouted. "Your fucking fault" she sobbed. "Johns dead because of you" she pointed a finger at him.
Arthur frowned at the state she was in.
She punched Tommy's chest in anger and he grabbed her wrists, stopping her. "Look what you've done" she screamed, her voice cracking. "Come here, come here" he said, holding her tightly.
Loud sobs left her mouth as she collapsed into her older man. She looked over at Johns body and covered her mouth.
"Get out," she said.
-
Delilah sat in the betting den, her knees hugged to her chest, scowling as Tommy walked in.
"John is dead" he stated."Esme's gone on the road with the Lee's, she's taken the kids. Micheal is badly wounded, they say it's 60/40 in his favour"
"There's no number, there's no percentage" Polly said, "so the hand, the hand beneath him stops him falling. I spoke to someone. My son will live"
"Micheal and John were shot because we killed someone's, Vincente Changretta, his son Luca has come to take revenge. Men from New York and Sicily have come to Birmingham and these men will not leave our city until our whole family is dead"
Tears dropped from Delilah's eyes, Ada held her hand. Her chest stung. John had died, on Christmas day.
"That's how it works, an eye for an eye. It's called vendetta"
"Yeah well-" Arthur began.
"The bullets been written, it says Luca, when the time comes, and it will come, he as the oldest brother will put this bullet into his fucking head" Arthur whispered, placing the bullet down.
"There's been some bad blood between us" Tommy said, Polly laughed. "Until this business is settled, we stay together"
Isaiah and Jeremiah stayed quiet, looking as Tommy spoke.
"I sent a message, to Aberama Gold" Tommy nodded. "No, no Tom" Johnny dogs said. "I can get you 50 Lee boys, Good men Tom"
"I don't need good men, Johnny. For this, i need bad men"
"Tommy his people are fucking savages." Johnny said. "You know, heathens, Tom. They don't even let them in the fair. So they come and steal our horses. You know, stealing from their own, Tom"
"So this is the plan, Thomas?" Polly raised her voice. "Bullet with a name on it, help from a bunch of savages"
"We're gonna go on the offensive, i've spoken to Moss."
Polly scoffed at his words. "Moss?"
"I've spoken to Moss." He repeated. "Moss is putting out word, eyes, and ears so we can find them. Yeah the truth is the police are busy with revolution. Moss says they're expecting strikes and riots. When the weather gets warm and the Bolsheviks are planning to-"
"The Bolsheviks couldn't plan a fucking picnic, he's reading the wrong paper" Ada spoke.
"Ada" he stopped her. "Real or not real, the coppers don't give a fuck about us all right"
"Which means that here today in this room, we have to agree to end this war between us"
Polly glared at him.
"Take a vote"
"Peace" Arthur said. "I was never a part of this, but..peace" Ada nodded. "Peace" Lizzie agreed.
"Peace" Charlie said. "Peace" Finn said. "Shut up Finn" Arthur whispered. "Why can't i say peace?" he asked.
"Arthur, let him have his say, Finn sit at the table"
"My sons not here to speak, so i'll speak on the behalf of us both. Truce" Polly nodded. Linda grinned. "Lilah?" Tommy asked.
"Peace" she whispered.
"Five for peace, two for truce, on abstention. Let's get on with the war"
Tommy walked away and Delilah leaned forward, Isiah placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Christmas fucking day," she whispered.
-
Lizzie and Linda walked up to where Johns body lay, placing roses beside it. "We're like sitting ducks here if the wops come" Finn told Charlie.
Delilah stared out at the field, her breath hitching.
"Yeah well Tommy said we should do it out in the open."
She shakily paced a rose down onto the wagon, blinking hard.
"This is how John wanted to go. On the smoke, and the truth is, we died together once before. Arthur, me, Danny Whiz-Bang, Freddie Thorne, Jeremiah. And John" he spoke.
Delilah kept her hand on Isaiah's arm, holding him.
"We were cut off from the retreat, no billets left, waiting for the Prussian cavalry to come finish us off. And while we waited, Jeremiah said we should sing in the bleak midwinter" he nodded. "But we were spared, the enemy never came. And we all agreed, that everything after that was extra. And when our time came we would all remember"
"You'd remember that God spared you" Polly's lip trembled. "But what did you do with that extra time that he gave you, eh, Thomas?"
He ignored her and helped Arthur light the wood on fire. Lilah held back a sob, watching as it went up in flames.
Isiah rubbed her back.
Through the smoke, she saw a man in the trees, staring at them. She squinted, trying to see if she recognised him. Suddenly a shot fired, everyone dropped to the floor.
"At ease, at ease" Tommy shouted. "Do not return fire" he said. "I repeat, do not return fire. Stand down"
Polly looked around.
"The men doing the firing, are on our side. I took the trouble of getting an invitation to Aberama Gold"
"Ah fuck, now it's begun" Johnny whispered.
"You put us out in the open on purpose" Polly said. "You bastard, you used Johns funeral as a fucking beacon" She raised her voice.
"We were never in any danger, Pol" Arthur said. "You set a trap" Polly shouted.
"Finn. Go to the yard and light the fires" Tommy said.
"You set a trap with us as fucking bait" Polly shouted. "Who is dead?" she asked. "Our enemies, Pol"
"Who's dead?" she asked again. "You wanna know Pol? Two fucking Italians who heard about the vendetta, trying to make a fucking name for themselves, that's who"
"We got word to them, about the funeral" Arthur nodded. "the where, the when..told em where to stand for the best shot"
"And Aberama Gold will do the rest" Tommy nodded toward the two people on horses, approaching. "That's the language of Vendetta"
"They take one of ours, we take two of theirs"
"You used your own brothers funeral" she spat. "When did we vote on this, Tommy?" she asked.
"Curly get the boat ready to take the bodies to the city. And another for anyone who wants no more part of this" he shouted. "Cause this is how it's gonna be"