American Angel

The mark

Scarlett quietly laughed at Polly's comment and then walked over to Tommy and Grace. Tommy had on an all black suit with a red pocket square and Grace had on an ugly gold dress. She lead them over to her father as she had a drink in one hand.
          "Father, this is Thomas Shelby."
Him and Tommy shook hands.
          "It is nice to finally meet you, Mr. Capone."
          "Call me Al please."
Scarlett then began talking in Italian to her father. Tommy looked up in amazement and Grace hit his side with her hand and he looked away from Scarlett.
          "Brave of you to come here, Ms. Burgess." Al said.
She smiled.
          "Thank you, Al." She said.
          "I said brave, not smart. And you, you call me Mr. Capone." He said in a serious tone.
A maid came up and whispered in Scarlett's ear.
          "It's time for dinner." Scarlett announced.
Everyone made their way into the dining room. Al sat down at the head of the table and Scarlett sat in the seat closest to him. Polly sat beside her and Tommy and Grace sat across from them. Just then two other tall men walked in.
           "You weren't going to start dinner without us?" One said.
Scarlett stood up and hugged both of them.
           "Our lovely Scarlett is home." The other one said.
           "This is my uncle Carmine and my uncle Tony." She said as she introduced them to everyone.
They sat down at the table and then dinner was served. Everyone ate, drank, and carried on conversations.
            "This one here was so difficult. When she was little I would tell her not to get into the ocean and she would walk down the sand and put one foot in and look up at me." Tony joked as he pointed at Scarlett.
            "She would only listen to that bastard." Tony laughed as he pointed at Al.
            "She learned at a young age not to listen to idiots." Al joke back.
            "She would never get out of the water either. It's like she's drawn to it. That's why she has freckles. She was kissed by the sun as a child." Carmine said.
Scarlett slightly blushed and Tommy couldn't take his eyes off of her. Hearing about her childhood and family.
            "Alright alright do I need to tell the story about how you shot off your big toe." She said as she pointed to Tony.
Carmine busted out laughing.
           "Or how you are scared of horses." She said as she pointed at Carmine.
He stopped laughing and crossed his arms. Everyone else laughed and continued to talk. Al was talking to Tommy about business and Scarlett just sat and watched the two.
           "Staring isn't polite." Grace snapped.
           "Neither is showing up uninvited." Scarlett responded.
           "Fottuta puttana (fucking bitch)." Scarlett said.
Her two uncles looked at her.
           "Dalle il segno (give her the mark)." Carmine  responded as he discretely tapped his cheek.
Tommy noticed Scarlett speaking in Italian with her uncles and glanced over at her.
           "A tempo debito zio (in due time uncle.)"
After everyone ate, they stood up and mingled amongst themselves. Tommy was looking at the pictures on the wall as Grace stood next to him. He heard Scarlett talking to her father and two uncles about the Changretta's. Tommy walked over and Scarlett brought him up to speed.
           "I just don't think killing their family is the right thing to do." Grace said.
           "So I should let the family who killed my father, son and my daughters fiancé walk free?" Al said to her.
           "I never said tha—"
           "Yes, technically you did. What message would I send if I let them walk free after killing members of my family?" He cut her off.
"So you will kill their whole family?" She hissed.
"And you if you keep talking." He said.
The rest of the group walked over after they heard that.
"I see why your wife left. It's a shame the wrong kid was killed though." Grace said back.
Scarlett cleared her throat and looked at Grace.
"Grace that's enough." Tommy said.
"No. You are all scared of this fat man and his mob princess of a daughter. And for what reason?" She yelled.
Scarlett gripped Grace's throat and pushed her against the wall. Grace's head hit and shattered a picture frame.
"Oh sweetheart I'm not a princess, I'm the fucking queen and you're in my kingdom now." She hissed.
"You walk into my city and my house and disrespect my family. I don't think so." She said as she got her knife out and held it to her cheek.
"You won't do it. Tommy would never forgive you."
Scarlett smirked and then carved her knife into Grace's cheek without hesitation. Grace screamed. The group from England was completely silent from shock. Scarlett stuck her high heel into Grace's foot and Grace screamed. She leaned in to whisper in Grace's ear.
            "Do you know why I wear heels?" She asked.
            "So they can hear me when I come. So when you're sitting alone in your room, and you hear me coming down the hallway it will give you time to repent." She said.
Scarlett stepped back to reveal the letter c carved into Grace's face. Just then the maids walked in and set dessert down on the tables. Scarlett and her family walked over to the table like nothing happened. The group stared at her. She raised her glass for a toast and her family followed.
"There's God and there's the New York mafia. One signs and seals your fate...and the other, delivers." She said.
They clicked their drinks together and then drank.
"Saluti. (Cheers)" The Capone family said.
Al Capone looked at Grace and then the maid Mary.
"Take her, I don't want blood on my new carpet." He said as he motioned his hand.
She took Grace out of the room and the group was still standing and looking at each other. Polly was the first to move.
"Well this dessert looks amazing." She said as she sat down beside Scarlett.
Everyone slowly followed Polly's lead, but Tommy.
Tommy ran his hand through his hair and looked at them.
"Seriously Poll?" He yelled.
"Look, the girl doesn't know how to keep her mouth shut. She is disrespectful. This has been coming for a long time and you're the one who brought her, Thomas." She said and then took a bite.
Tommy pleadingly looked at his siblings sitting at the table.
"She betrayed our family, Tom. Remember that?" Arthur added.
"What is it that you say about that, brother?" Tony asked Al.
"Don't ever take sides with anyone against the family." He said.
Scarlett stood up.
"Would anyone like to go with me to the basement to pick out more liquor." She said.
John, Arthur, and Polly stood up and followed her down. The walked down concrete stairs to a dimly lit room with shelves full of alcohol as far as the eye could see. Polly walked over to a wall that was covered in letters that had black hands on them.
"What is this?" She asked.
"Every single black hand the Changretta family has sent us."
"How many?" John asked.
"Between my family.....over 200."
"So it's not really that serious of a threat?" John added.
"To us it isn't, but to anyone else......you get one of these with your name on it in the mail, make sure you have your funeral arrangements set up."
Arthur walked over and held this huge book up.
"And this?"
"Pictures of everyone we've killed."
"There's gotta be at least 100 pages in here." Arthur added.
"It's not the only book."
He turned to see at least three more books stacked.
"How many have you killed?" John asked.
Scarlett picked a bottle of whiskey and then looked up at them.
"I lost count." She said as she started her way up stairs.
Polly grabbed a bottle of wine and stared at the boys.
"We are out of our league here." She whispered.
They came up the stairs shortly after Scarlett. They all drank for another hour and then everyone went to their rooms. Scarlett just took her hoops out as Tommy walked into her room and slammed the door behind him.
"In America, we knock."
He shook his head as he bolted out the balcony doors. He was standing outside with a cigarette in his mouth. Scarlett walked out with two drinks. She handed one to him and then took the cigarette out of his mouth and started smoking it herself. He put his hand to his face and then threw it down.
"God you drive me fucking crazy." He yelled.
"Thank you." She smiled as she blew smoke into the air.
He turned around and put his hands on his head.
"You fucking marked her." He said with a small laugh.
"She didn't deserve that." He said as he turned around.
"She betrayed you and your whole family, but you're right she didn't deserve that." She said sarcastically.
"And who really betrayed you, Scarlett? Why did you actually do it?" He said as he got closer.
She looked at him and shook her head.
"Can't be betrayed anymore. They have no one left to kill to hurt me."
"What about your father?" He asked.
She shook her head and laughed.
"No one would ever dare to kill him. No one is that stupid." She said as she looked at him.
"It's always the violent way with you." He scoffed.
  "Don't come in here acting all high and mighty. Look at what you're wearing. All black suit with a touch of red. You knew exactly what you were doing."
He clenched his jaw and just looked at her. She blew out more smoke.
"You're out of your league here, Tom." She said as she threw the cigarette off the balcony.
"Nothing is out of my league." He said as he shook his head.
She leaned in like she was going to kiss him.
" I am."
She kissed him on the cheek and walked into her room.