Today was the day. The day that Charlotte would participate in the dangerous side of family business. As much as she was excited to be able to see Peaky Blinder business, there was still a pang of fear that rested inside her heart. She knew her brothers would die before they let anything bad happen to her, but Billy Kimber, who she met the night before made her very uncomfortable.
Charlotte walked down the stairs into the kitchen where Arthur sat, still in his pyjamas. "Lazy day for you?" she teased.
"Polly's makin' me rest this morning. No work," Arthur grumbled, clearly upset that Polly had put her foot down on this issue.
"So you're not going to see Billy Kimber?"
Arthur raised an eyebrow at his little sister. "How do you know about business with Billy Kimber?"
"Um-"
"Charlotte," Arthur spoke sternly. "You're not coming." He could somehow read her mind.
"But I am, Arthur, I need to!" Charlotte protested. She needed to be included on this business. She had personal interactions with Kimber and she wanted to see the business with him taken care of. But now, both John and Arthur were against her going which would definitely make convincing Tommy more difficult.
"Lottie, you're not going. Kimberis way too dangerous." Arthur sipped some tea before standing up from the kitchen table. "You're staying here with Polly."
"I know he's dangerous, Arthur, I've met him," Charlotte retorted. Right as she spoke, she realized that that comeback might not have been the best idea.
"You've what?" Arthur growled, slamming his hands down on the table.
"The other day at the hospital, I-"
"Did he fucking hurt you? I swear to God-"
"I'm fine, Arthur! He just was threatening me to get to Tommy and said he wants me brought to the meeting today, so you see, I absolutely have to go!"
"That doesn't mean you're coming, Charlotte. In fact, that probably means you have less of a chance of coming now." Arthur dumped the rest of the tea in the sink.
"She's coming," a voice said from the front door. Tommy closed the door behind him, removing his peaky hat. "I want her there."
Charlotte didn't bother asking questions, she just hugged Tommy around his waist and whispered a soft "thank you" before running up the stairs back into her room before he could change his mind.
---
Later that day, Tommy walked down the alley with his brothers, some of the Blinders, and his little sister behind him.
Charlotte was more scared than she'd like to admit. This was her first part of Blinders business and it was a fight with guns? John carried a huge rifle and nudged Charlotte as they walked.
"I'll protect ya, eh? No one will touch you with this baby," he spoke, gesturing to the huge gun he was carrying. Charlotte barely cracked a smile. John lifted her chin so that she was looking at him. "Hey, go to the back with Johnny Dogs. I don't want you in the front."
Even though she was terrified, she began to protest but was interrupted by Tommy who must have been listening to their conversation.
"John's right. Go to the farthest back, Charlotte."
Charlotte groaned as she trudged to the back of the pack. She should've felt safer there, but the truth is that she felt safest next to her brothers, who she knew would do absolutely anything to protect her.
The group made it's way to the alley, Tommy leading the way. Charlotte drew in a sharp breath when she saw Billy Kimber standing a ways away in front of them.
"So ya listened to me, eh?" Kimber yelled across the way. Tommy just raised his eyebrows. "You brought your lovely sister." Everyone turned to look at me except for Tommy, whose eyes stayed focused on the speaking man with a gun.
"She's here to watch," Tommy responded.
"Well how about you give her to me, let me take her home, and we can end this right now," Kimber said, taunting Tommy and raising his eyebrows suggestively.
"Don't speak about my sister like that," Tommy spoke in an eerily calm voice.
"Give her to me, Thomas Shelby," Kimber requested. "I need a fresh face in my bed. And even better, a never-before-touched, tight, little -"
His words were interrupted by Arthur firing a shot into the sky. Charlotte didn't even notice but she had goosebumps all over her body simply because of thought about sharing a bed with Billy Kimber. She looked at his shiny hair and shuddered.
"Don't fucking talk about my little sister like that," Arthur warned, his face starting to turn red. Charlotte could tell that he was trying his very best to not rage and attack Billy Kimber that very second.
"Then why'd you bring here her today, Tommy?" Kimber raised his eyebrows. "You know what I'd want and it looks like you brought it right to me."
"You know why, Billy."
"Well if you aren't going to give me what I want, then I'll just have to use this," he spoke. He moved aside and revealed a huge gun that looked as big as a cannon. The man controlling it lined it up with Tommy's heart. Tommy remained calm, but Charlotte just about lost it.
"No!" she screamed, pushing her way up to the front of the group, dodging hands that tried to hold her back. When she got to the front next to Tommy, she spoke softly. "Please don't hurt him."
"Then come here."
Charlotte slowly started walking towards Kimber, just wanting to give in to keep her brothers safe. Tommy didn't even try to stop her; he just raised his gun, ready to shoot at Kimber when he was distracted by looking at Charlotte.
"Don't even try, Tommy Shelby," Kimber spoke, his eyes flickering to Tommy's hand which was reaching for his pistol. In mere seconds, he cocked his gun and shot at Tommy. Charlotte turned back just in time to the bullet strike his right shoulder. More than anything, she wanted to go over to him and see if he was okay. But before she could, someone ran over to her, pulled her back to the mass of Blinders, and pushed her harshly to the ground.
"Stay down," Arthur spoke gruffly, moving back next to Tommy to be in the front line. Tommy was now leaned to the side, blood trailing from his shoulder down his arm and falling off his fingertips.
Another gun shot was heard and Charlotte saw Danny Whizz Bang's body hit the gravel road. She shuddered as she thought about how he was a father, a brother, and a son - and how that could have been her very own brother laying dead in the road. Charlotte heard a third shot and saw Kimber fall to the ground, blood streaming from the new hole in his forehead.
After moments of silence, Tommy spoke, his voice threatening to crack. "This was one-on-one between me and Billy. Go home to your families." Kimber's men slowly and hesitantly lowered their guns and turned away, leaving the alleyway road and going home to their families. Charlotte quickly stood up and ran towards Tommy. His shoulder was bleeding badly and pain was obvious on his face. As she approached, he raised his right hand, signaling her to leave him alone.
"Nothing that hasn't happened before, Charlotte. I'm fine," Tommy said before Charlotte had a chance to say anything. Tommy turned to Danny's lifeless body and crouched down next to it, saying Romani words softly to himself.
"Right, let's get Danny to the Garrison!" Arthur yelled out, commanding the other Peaky Blinders to help him with moving the body. Though Danny's body moved, Tommy remained crouched in the middle of the road, head still down and facing the gravel ground.
"Tommy?" Charlotte mumbled. Everyone else had started to clear away, moving with Danny to the Garrison where they would contact his wife and the rest of his family.
"We were in France together. I told him I'd keep him safe and that nothing would happen to him here." Tommy's words were so quiet, Charlotte had to strain her ears to hear what he was saying.
"I know," she replied simply. "But Tommy, we really need to get that bullet out of your chest before it infects."
Tommy chuckled and looked up at Charlotte. "You a fuckin' nurse now?"
Charlotte just rolled her eyes and grabbed her brother's good arm to pull him up from the ground and towards the Garrison.
---
"On the table, and take your shirt off," Jeremiah commanded Tommy as he and Charlotte walked into the Blinders' private room at the Garrison. Tommy winced as he tried to pull his white undershirt over his head. Charlotte reached up and helped him get it off of his left side, where the bullet was lodged.
"Outside, Charlotte," Tommy spoke, and Charlotte instantly regretted helping him take off his shirt. Maybe if she had just stayed silent, he would have forgotten that she was in the room.
"Tommy..." Charlotte whined.
He sighed and decided he didn't have enough energy to fight against his persistent little sister. "Stay against that wall and don't move any closer, do you understand?"
She nodded silently and glanced around the room. Her eyes met Arthur's and he raised his eyebrows at her before winking.
"Let's go," Jeremiah spoke. Tommy leaned back and Arthur, John, and Scudboat braced Tommy's arms so that he couldn't move. Jeremiah started to use tweezers to take the bullet out that was lodged in Tommy's chest.
Tommy started screaming in pain, trying to fight it. "Take it, Tommy. Take it!" Arthur encouraged Tommy to push through the pain.
"Hold him still!" Jeremiah yelled at Arthur, John, and Scudboat. He was struggling to get the bullet to come out of the skin, and Tommy moving around just made it much worse. Charlotte leaned against the wall and bile rose in her throat as she watched her older brother so clearly in immense pain. First, Arthur and now Tommy; she was praying John or Finn wouldn't be next to be injured. "Got it! I've still got the touch," Jeremiah spoke again after finally removing the bullet. He laughed as he dropped the small piece of metal in a glass cup with water in it.
"Have a drink, eh?" Arthur gave Tommy a bottle of alcohol which Tommy chugged from. When he gave the bottle back to Arthur, Arthur threw some of the alcohol on Tommy's chest to sterilize the wound and make sure it wouldn't get infected from the bullet. Tommy screamed again and the sound of it made Charlotte shudder. "That it. It's done." Arthur ruffled Tommy's hair as he took deep breaths, trying to catch his breath and calm himself down.
"Was that fun for you to watch, Charlotte?" Tommy asked the girl who was still standing on the perimeter of the room.
Her eyebrows furled in confusion. "What?" How could he think that seeing her brother in pain would be enjoyable for her? John, Arthur, and Tommy just laughed with each other and Tommy took another swig from the clear bottle. "I can help bandage it up," she offered.
Arthur raised his eyebrows at Charlotte. "Yeah? The past five minutes you've looked white as a ghost, Lottie. You're not going to tend to the bullet hole."
"Oh really?" she retorted, ready to look at the wound simply because her brother said she couldn't. "I'll bandage it up and I don't need any fucking help."
"Language," Tommy chided, staring into Charlotte's eyes.
"I'm eighteen."
"You still live with me, eh? You're in my house so it's my rules." Tommy shook his head, taking another sip from the bottle. "Don't just stand there, bandage it up if you're gonna."
Feeling slightly flustered for some reason, Charlotte grabbed the gauze that was on the table and used some water to make it damp before rubbing it around the wound, wiping off the excess alcohol and blood that stained Tommy's skin. He took a sharp inhale because she got close to touching the wound itself, although she never did. John nudged her and passed her the roll of gauze. She started unrolling it and wrapping it around Tommy's shoulder and around his side to make sure it didn't move.
"You'd be a good nurse," he said, motioning to his newly wrapped up shoulder. Charlotte cracked a smile in reply.
"She's too pretty," Arthur commented. "None of the patients would be able to focus on gettin' better, they'd just be lookin' at our Lottie." He chuckled and grabbed Charlotte by the shoulders, ruffling up her styled hair.
"Hey!" she protested, trying to swat Arthur away, which only made his grip tighter.
"Not if I have anything to do with it, they won't be lookin' at her," John replied from across the room, sipping some whiskey.
"Right, let's bring Danny in here and bring his family in," Tommy stated, ignoring his siblings' arguments.
——
After celebrating Danny's life and the victory for the Blinders for a few hours, everyone except the Shelby family left the Garrison. Charlotte sat with Finn, John, and Arthur in a booth. She and Finn were giggling at how drunk Arthur and John were, trying to provoke them.
"And all of my family is here to celebrate," Tommy spoke, raising the champagne bottle towards his siblings sitting in the booth.
"Here, here," John and Arthur slurred, taking more sips from their glasses.
"Can I have some?" Charlotte asked, knowing she was shooting into the dark.
Tommy responded unexpectedly. "Sure. Not you, Finn." He gestured towards Finn who was wearing a face of annoyance.
Charlotte skipped over to where Tommy stood at the bar. He poured her, him, and Polly a small glass of champagne and raised his glass once again. "To my favourite women." He cracked a small grin after he took a sip.
"You'll be fine, Thomas," Polly spoke as she tipped the rest of the bubbly liquid into her mouth. She slid her glass across the table and grabbed a glass of water, walking over to where Arthur and John sat mumbling nothings and swatting at Finn's face.
"What's wrong?" Charlotte asked, raising an eyebrow.
Tommy ignored her and decided not to answer. Instead, he pulled her into a tight hug with his right arm. "You and Polly are the only girls I can trust, Charlotte. I'll never trust another woman again. Only Polly and my little sister."
---
A/N: please vote/comment if you guys are enjoying reading :)
i also just published a new book about a girl who has four older and overprotective brothers. it's called "the spade brothers' little sister" so please give that a read too if you're interested! xoxo annie