Tommy walked into his office, looking at Polly who sat alone. "Arthur asked whose side i was on," she said. Tommy sat. "There will be a war, and one of you will die, but which one i cannot tell" she said.
He hummed. "He's gonna do it anyway"
"Yeah."
"You should know if Aberama takes his side, i will kill him." Tommy said. "And what about me" she asked. "I'll do what i have to do Pol,"
"Kill, and kill.." she said. "The only way to make people listen" he whispered. She grabbed an envelope, placing it down. "Soon you will have a stage to stand on, millions of people will listen to you and you will run the country like you run this family"
"It appears to be what people want."
"But not me, not anymore, my resignation" she said. "You've destroyed my daughter, Thomas" she said before walking out.
-
"Look i have to go, yeah, i have to go" Finn said, patting Billy on the back. "Go where?" he asked. "They're shooting the fascist tonight" he said.
"They're gonna do what?"
Finn shushed him.
"Mosleys in town" Billy said. "Really?" Finn said sarcastically. "Look, go into town, get some drinks and some girl." he placed a roll of cash in front of him. "Listen to the radio"
Finn left and Billy glanced at the phone, hesitating before grabbing it.
-
"Okay, i'm off," Lottie said, holding her purse and walking to where Isiah sat with the two children.
He leaned forward, kissing her cheek and sending her a slightly smile. "I'll be home later tonight and we can watch a movie or something, yeah? The new projector that Tom got us should be good."
Aurora smiled widely, hugging Lottie's side.
"Right, you two. Be good for your dad, i'll see you later tonight." She planted a kiss on the two kids forehead and walked away from the house.
-
"Here, look, a little" Arthur whispered, giving Barney some cocaine. "Here i'll join ya"
"You know what you're doing don't ya?" He asked. "Yeah, Tommy checks his pocket watch, i count to ten, then i blow the other blokes head off"
"Yeah" he nodded. "That's for after" he placed a vile in his pocket. "Thank you Arthur"
"Oh and Soldier, you're meant to..you run like fuck, don't stop."
"Run like fuck" Barney repeated.
-
Music began playing and lights were bright. Barney stood, his eye on the stage, gun in hand.
Aberama, Lottie and Arthur stood in different part of the wings, watching.
"Ladies and gentlemen, Mr Oswald Mosley"
The crowd chanted as he walked to the stage. A weird feeling filled Lottie as she watched the speech begin. Something felt wrong, she just couldn't figure out what.
Tommy joined him on the stage.
"Come on Barney" she whispered.
"Welcome, men and woman of Birmingham. Thank you for coming here on this cold, dark night, in spite of the obstruction and provocation of our enemies. Our enemies deal in bricks and stones and bottles. We deal in reasoned principles, argument and fact. Among those enemies, we can number Mr Winston Churchill.." he began. "Who last night, condemned me in the house as a threat to democracy."
"Them who've gone are the lucky ones. Them who've gone are the lucky ones" Barney whispered.
The cheering stopped. "But then Mr Churchill has never been a friend of the common people, faced with the alternative of saying goodbye to gold standard, and therefore to his own employment, he characteristically selected the latter. But of course, not all attending tonight will be convinced of out cause. Some will have come here tonight to find out for themselves what we stand for."
"So here are our guiding principles. Every citizen shall serve the state, Not the banks, not factions. Not the jews" he shouted.
The chant began again.
"The barriers of class will be abolished and a greater Britain will be born"
"Whenever your ready Tom" she whispered.
Tommy checked his pocket watch and Barney began counting.
Lottie kept her eyes fixed on Mosley, waiting for him to be sent to the floor. She counted down from ten, confused when the shot didn't fire.
Suddenly, a hand covered her mouth. Lottie tried to scream but no noise came out, she fought as hard as she could but it was no use. Her eyes widened and a breath left her mouth as whoever was holding her sent a knife though her chest, stabbing her four times.
He let go of her, dropping her to the floor and she lay, staring at the bright light above her head.
Her head went foggy and her mouth went dry.
All she could think about was her children and Isiah. Lottie reached for the chair that sat beside her and attempted to pull herself up but struggled. Tears rolled down her face as pain flooded throughout her. "Tommy," she croaked.
And just like that, the thing she feared most had came to visit her. Death.
Lottie pressed her hand against the biggest wound, fighting with all her strength to stand. But once again, it was no use. Nothing was helping.
-
Tommy frowned, walking through the wings quickly, realising his plan hasn't gone the way he wanted to. He froze, looking at the blood that covered the floor and he panicked.
"Fuck," he whispered.
-
Isiah paced the drawing room, curious as to where Lottie was. He picked up the phone. "Arthur," he said. "Isiah,"
"Where's Lottie? She should be home by now-"
"Isiah, we don't know where she is." Arthur mumbled, biting his lip. "What do you mean..what do you mean you don't know where she is" he shouted.
He slammed the phone down.
"Dad," Theo said. "When's mum coming home?"
"I don't know," he said quietly, returning to the couch and deciding to put the movie on. "I don't know" he repeated again, pinching the bridge of his nose.
-
Tommy looked at the ringing phone, picking it up. "Hello"
"Mr Shelby i imagine you're curious as to who it was who prevented the assassination last night." Laura spoke, sitting in Tommys main office. "If you look out your window you'll see a flag of truce. It's a unit of volunteers bringing the bodies of your dead to you to send to heaven in your own way. Last night's operation was carried out by soldiers from three Dublin brigades of the Irish Republican Army. We need to keep Mr Mosley alive. That's all you need to know. Also you should know that saving his life wasn't our only intervention last night. We've made some changes to the structure of your organisation."
Tommy put the phone down, walking out to the three bodies wrapped in cloth. Lizzie stood at the window, watching.
Barney Thomason, Aberama Gold. A hand moved to his mouth when he revealed Polly's dead body. Tears welled at his eyes and he shook his head, moving to the last one. He cut the rope and his heart practically stopped as he saw his pale, lifeless sister laying before him.
Lizzie's mouth parted and she ran outside.
Tears fell from his eyes as he collapsed onto his knees, grabbing Lottie's cold hand. He looked up at Lizzie who was on the verge of crying.
"She's dead," he whispered.
-
"Isiah" Ada pushed the door to the office in his home open. "Hello, Ada," he sighed.
"Isiah i need to talk to you. You might want to sit down"
"Is everything okay?"
"It's Lottie." Ada said, holding back her tears. Isiah carefully sat down. "Isiah, i'm so sorry.." she croaked, "last night, she was murdered."
Isiah's breath hitches and he placed two hands on the desk, leaning forward. His eyes grew glossy and Ada walked round, wrapping her arms around the younger boy and pulling him into a hug as tears fell from her own eyes.
-
They all stood before the wagon that held Polly's body, the one beside it holding Lottie's. Micheal began throwing fuel at the wood and Aurora tan froward.
Isiah attempted to grab the girl by her coat but failed.
"Stop" she screamed, pushing him away. "You're not burning my mum" she argued, hitting Michael's chest. Micheal froze.
Ada watched sadly.
"Dad i want to see her," Rory begged. Isiah took a deep breath. "Yeah..yeah we can see her together" he whispered, placing a hand on her shoulder and taking Theo with him.
The three walked up the steps of the wagon, stepping inside.
Aurora sobbed, placing a hand on the black casket. Theo watched, not fully understanding. "Is she really gone, dad?" Rory asked, looking at him with hopeful eyes.
Isiah pulled his cap down slightly, struggling to look at her.
Minutes past and they returned to the rest of the family, Isaiah held the two children tightly as both wagons went up in flames.
Tommy stared blankly at the fire.
"It was the ambitions and strategies of one man that caused this, i swear in the name of almighty god, no matter what it takes, how many lies i have to tell. I will take revenge on Tommy Shelby" Micheal whispered.
Isiah looked over at Arthur who stood teary eyes.
-
"Rory," Isiah sniffed, kneeling beside the girl. "You're going to stay with your Aunt Ada for a while, just for a few weeks" he whispered.
"Why?"
"Just while i sort things out, yeah?"
She shook her head. "i want to stay with you. I want to stay with you and Theo"
Isiah bit his lip, blinking away the tears. "I know, my girl. But it's better for you if you go stay in London. I promise. It's only a few weeks."
The girl wrapped her arms around her father tightly. "Will you be okay?" she asked. "I don't want to leave you by yourself."
"I'll be fine"
-
And whilst everyone thought the curse was what made Theo Jesus sick, it wasn't, his sickness was only the beginning. It was a warning.
If Isiah Jesus knew that them moments he shared with his wife before she left would've been the last they ever had, he would've held her tighter.
Lottie Shelby never got her happy ending.