Crown of a Prince (Finn Shelby)

37.

The black star marked in Tommy’s diary crept closer and closer to them as they continued with their lives. Finn had been busy for days, seeing Ailbhe when he could drop by the office or when she stopped by the betting shop on her way home. Other people were always around though therefore, they had to absolutely keep their hands to themselves and just be friends. They had spent a whole day cleaning out and getting rid of all the junk in Finn’s new place in Artillery Square. Curly had helped, carrying anything Charlie might want to the yard to sell or make new. They had to behave, keeping their hands to themselves but Finn never liked rules. When Curly was gone back to the yard with a rotting stool and an old broken bed frame, Finn had grabbed Ailbhe. He had Ailbhe sitting up on the kitchen counter, his hands inside her shirt when Curly came running in. Thankfully, they were quick to jump back to their positions, paint brushes in hand.
 
On the day in question, Ailbhe went to work as usual. She was walked to the offices with Lizzie by Niall and left there to do her day’s work. But she had an unsteady feeling, a feeling that something bad was going to happen and she didn’t know how to explain it. She kept making mistakes, miscounting figures and having to start again therefore the morning dragged by, slow and tedious.
 
Lizzie was quiet too, having gone to the doctors and finding out that she was in fact pregnant. Polly’s leaves were never wrong. She didn’t know how to telly Tommy, how to word it or how to process the fact she was going to be a mother. Ailbhe hadn’t even asked her about the possibility of getting rid of it. She knew Lizzie well enough to know that she would never.
 
The phone in Tommy’s office rang and Lizzie went to answer it. Ailbhe worked on, under the impression it was someone looking to schedule a meeting. Lizzie spoke quietly on the phone, only responding and slamming the phone down. She strode back into the main area where her and Ailbhe worked and grabbed her coat, calling Ailbhe’s attention.
 
“We have to go, family meeting at the old house. Tommy got attacked by the fucking wops”
 
Ailbhe threw down her pen and paper. She knew her bad feeling wasn’t nothing.
 
“Is he okay?” She asked, rushing to her feet and pulling on her coat.
 
Lizzie fumbled with the buttons, trying to hurry herself as best she could. Ailbhe could see the panic and worry on her face.
 
“I don’t know” She responded, grabbing the keys to lock up and ushering Ailbhe out the door with her.
 
When they arrived in through the front door of the house, they found Charlie playing on the floor by the fireplace and Tommy sat in a chair. He looked in shock, a cigarette hanging limply from his mouth unlit.
 
Ailbhe heard Lizzie sigh in relief, knowing he was alright. But he still looked far from fine. He was pale as a ghost and his eyes were almost glassed over. Polly stood watching over Charlie as she poured a drink for him. She gave Ailbhe a look as if to say ‘don’t ask’ because she knew there were a dozen questions racing through her mind.
 
Polly took the lighter from Tommy’s hand, lighting his cigarette for him.
 
“You know I remember the very first time you headbutted a policeman” Polly spoke softly, not to alert Charlie that anything might be wrong.
 
Lizzie had told Ailbhe what she had been told on the phone. The Italians had cornered Tommy, he somehow survived and the police interrupted it all before Tommy began to lose. Tommy had gotten into a fight with the policemen who arrived, something Tommy used to do a lot back when he came home from France.

Ailbhe remembered it well, Liam, John and Tommy getting brought home by Moss and told to get a grip or they’d end up behind bars. Arthur and Niall were usually too drunk to fight by that time of night but they did it all again the next weekend. Ailbhe had been just a kid, knowing that mornings were for quiet voices and icing black eyes and sore hands. She knew that you didn't ask questions about why Niall's eye was purple or why Liam and John had slept on the floor of the kitchen with red knuckles. Ailbhe didn't remember when it stopped, she supposed it never really did, it just changed.
 
“But after you got your OBE from the King, I didn’t think there would be a next time” Polly reminded him before she went to the window.
 
Ailbhe and Lizzie took their leave, moving towards the kitchen to wait for the others. Arthur, Niall, Finn and Linda should be arriving soon. She heard Polly and Tommy speaking quietly as Lizzie and her made tea in the kitchen.
 
“Have you told him yet?” Ailbhe asked, making sure the door was shut and keeping her voice low.
 
Lizzie shot Ailbhe a look as if to say ‘drop it’ and grabbed a cigarette from her purse. She turned her head and gave Ailbhe a knowing look asking
 
“Have you told them about Finn yet?”
 
She knew that Ailbhe had her own secret and it would probably cause more waves than Lizzie’s news.  Lizzie made her point well, making Ailbhe stop talking and go to pour a cup of tea. Charlie, Liam and Johnny Dogs joined them through the back door having been fetched by Isiah and his father who stood outside the house on guard. Ailbhe offered tea but only Johnny Dogs asked for one, he could always be guaranteed to take what was on offer so long as it was free.
 
Ailbhe took a seat beside Lizzie, watching the door as Arthur arrived with Niall, Linda and Finn. Linda had a face like sour milk on her, wanting to be done with Small Heath and go back to the country but she would be a danger to them all out there in the open. The Italians would use her against them, take her hostage or even the baby. So, there she was, wishing she was anywhere else.
 
Linda stood back from them, leaning against the dresser while Charlie stood opposite her. Johnny Dogs, Lizzie, Arthur, Ailbhe and Niall took seats at the table whereas Polly and Tommy stood by the door. Liam and Finn stood behind Ailbhe and Lizzie, their arms folded and leaning against the window sill. Ailbhe noticed Charlie pass a little flask to Liam and Finn who took sips each.
 
Arthur pulled a little blue bottle that Ailbhe knew well out of his pocket. He tapped out some snow and didn’t bother cut it or put it in lines like Ailbhe knew they usually did.
 
“What the fuck happened today Tom?” Arthur asked, cutting the silence “We all heard. Shooting in Artillery Square”
 
Ailbhe tensed slightly. She knew that was where Finn’s flat was. But she relaxed, knowing that he had been in the betting shop all morning.
 
“Yeah, there was” Tommy spoke, his voice a little hoarse and his eyes looking anywhere but into his family’s.
 
“Today I killed three men” He told them.
 
Everyone stayed silent and watched him.
 
“Now our enemies will have to wait.”
 
Ailbhe knew this was all a part of Tommy’s plan, of their plan with Polly and Michael, how to double cross the Italians. But only Polly, Tommy, Ailbhe and Finn knew this. They had been told to keep their mouths shut and they had done that, even if it meant keeping her friends and family in the dark. Ailbhe hadn’t known the specifics of the plan but she had guessed. And she had guessed right.
 
 “I suppose they took you by surprise did they?” Arthur asked, his voice almost mocking and sarcastic.
 
Tommy didn’t miss a beat, shaking his head.
 
“No. I knew they were coming”
 
Ailbhe could feel the tension pulsing in the air between Tommy and Arthur.
 
Polly interrupted it, standing by the doorway beside Tom with a mug clutched in her hands.
 
“Just after Christmas, I received a letter from Luca Changretta offering to spare my son if I gave up Tommy. Similar to Ailbhe, he offered us a chance to live if I gave up Tommy. And I gave him up”
 
Polly explained. Her family just listened, all watching carefully. Nobody moved except Charlie who lit his cigarette, not surprised by anything anymore.
 
“Because that is the plan that Polly and I agreed on” Tommy expanded, ignoring Arthur as he leant down and sniffed the cocaine up his nose.
 
“I knew that Luca would want to pull the trigger himself” He continued “So I used the set up as bait to bring him here”.
 
Arthur sniffed, trying to clear his nose as he snapped
 
“You’re a fucking idiot Tom”.
 
Ailbhe didn’t agree, not in the slightest. It was genius. It was incredibly dangerous but genius.
 
“Look, I didn’t get Luca but I got three alright? That’s it, that’s what happened” Tommy snapped, his patience with Arthur running thin.
 
Ailbhe noticed Charlie coming through the doorway, his eyes wide and looking for his dad. Tommy spotted him, turning and pulling him up into his arms.
 
“Ah but he’s right, I mean I thought you’d gone soft” Johnny Dogs exclaimed, missing the sport and the action.
 
“So, you got three?” Niall asked, a dry laugh included.
 
Tommy nodded, not being too specific since his son was up in his arms. Ailbhe didn’t miss the way Lizzie watched him, how she hadn’t taken her eyes off him since she arrived and how she had been so worried when she thought something terrible had happened.
 
“Well I’ll drink to you Tom, you mad bastard” Charlie piped up, raising his hip flask in Tommy’s direction.
 
They all started laughing then, excluding Linda of course. Ailbhe didn’t think Linda knew how to laugh anymore.
 
“You’ll drink to anything” Ailbhe retorted, rolling her eyes and getting another round of laughter.
 
Charlie leaned across and poured a long drop of alcohol into Ailbhe’s tea. It was his own brew, a lethal alcoholic beverage that had sent Niall and Liam home in a drunken stupor one too many times.
 
“It’s good for you Ailbhe” He promised her, throwing another drop in for luck.
 
“It’ll fucking blind you drinking that stuff” Ailbhe retorted, pushing her tea cup away laughing.
 
Charlie took another swig for himself, raising his eyebrows at her.
 
“Oh fuck, that would be the end of ya wouldn’t it? Not being able to make doe eyes at Finn all day” He joked as always about Finn and Ailbhe being joint at the hip.
 
Ailbhe could hear Finn laughing behind her with her brother.
 
Arthur stood, not having laughed at all. He knew what Tommy’s quietness was about, it was like the calm after a storm. He went face to face with Tommy, clapping a hand on his arm.
 
“Pretty soon you’re gonna get the shakes, when your blood cools down”
 
Arthur knew this feeling all too well.
 
“Let’s go get a real drink” Niall exclaimed, standing from his seat at the table and pushing Charlie’s hip flask back into his hand.
 
“Oh you’re too good for my stuff now? Is that it?” Charlie joked, his cigarette hanging out of his mouth as always.
 
“Yeah, we all are” Liam chided, elbowing Uncle Charlie and rolling his eyes as he pulled back on his cap.
 
Ailbhe had even forgotten Charlie was there until he piped up in Tommy’s arms
 
“Dad! You got three what?”
 
Tommy didn’t miss a beat, tapping Charlie in the chest and smiling
 
“I got three shilling for a two shiling horse.”
 
Ailbhe saw how Lizzie watched him, how he was with Charlie and how she prayed he would be like that with their baby.
 
“We have one more bit of business” Tommy piped up, letting Charlie climb down and resume playing “Alfie Solomons has a nephew, a fighter and he is going to fight Bonnie Gold in a boxing match we are organising”
 
Tommy stepped forward, putting down his glass and looking to Ailbhe and then Finn as he spoke.
 
“I had Finn and Isiah keep an eye on Bonnie in the boxing club and Ailbhe did some digging around Bonnie too, to see if we could trust him”
 
He reminded them.
 
“We knew Bonnie would trust Ailbhe since he took a shine to her early on” He explained.
 
But the men already knew this. They had been there when Aberama and Bonnie asked that Ailbhe be included in the terms of their agreement.
 
Ailbhe fidgeted in her seat, running her fingers nervously through her hair. She didn’t like talking about it, especially not with Finn in the room and he being the jealous type.
 
“I still don’t think that was right Thomas” Niall tutted. He had hated the idea from day one.
 
“It’s alright Niall-” Ailbhe started to defend them but Polly interrupted her.
 
“No it isn’t Ailbhe” She snapped, her anger and ice cold tone not directed towards Ailbhe but at Tommy “She is not a brood mare, or a piece of Shelby Company Ltd property”
 
Ailbhe could feel Finn getting more and more irritated behind her. She didn’t need to look at him to know when he was getting worked up. The conversation being about Ailbhe being given to Bonnie Gold as if she was a prize to be won was enough to throw fuel on the fire. Ada and Niall had been the most opposed to it from day one, Polly and Liam agreeing that it wasn’t right to use Ailbhe like a bargaining chip because she was a woman.
 
“Ailbhe agreed to it, didn’t you Ailbhe?” Tommy snapped, throwing his hand out to her.
 
She nodded. She had agreed to it, because it was what was best for her family. Ailbhe knew Tommy wouldn't have done it if she had said no but she wasn't sure why the others weren't so sure.
 
“I did” She agreed “I did it to get to know Bonnie, to see what his motives were and what he really wanted. His intentions were nothing but honourable Pol.”
 
Polly doubted it. She knew what men were like, especially young men who liked pretty things they had never had much chance or opportunity with before.
 
“So, he never laid a hand on you?” She asked, raising her eyebrows at Ailbhe.
 
Ailbhe knew she was defending her, standing up for her. But if any man who laid a hand on her was going to be punished, she really didn’t want them to make that a rule since they all were so fond of Finn. She also knew she didn’t want to lie to them.
 
“He did” she admitted, crossing her arms across her chest and trying to ignore Niall’s face grow furious “He kissed me, but I stopped him. He apologised and he won’t ever do it again. Alright?”
 
Ailbhe tried to gauge the reaction in the room but it was difficult. It was the answer both Lizzie and Polly had expected and knew was coming. Arthur, Liam and Niall looked furious that they had been kept out of the loop and that any man in Birmingham had laid a hand on her. Tommy just looked exhausted.
 
“What makes you think he won’t do it again?” Liam asked, his hands reaching for a cigarette and his tone full of irritation.
 
“Because I told him not to” She responded with venom, wanting the conversation to be dropped before someone said something stupid.
 
She was sick of them doubting them, doubting the women because they were women. It vexed her how they thought women had less conviction, less authority just for being women. Just because Ailbhe hadn't pushed a blade up against Bonnie Gold's throat and told him she'd cut his eyes from his head didn't mean Bonnie's promise was any less sincere. Ailbhe was sick of her brothers thinking loyalty or trusting someone was only deserving to family and to those who feared you.
 
“Sweetheart, men don’t do what they’re told” Polly sighed, shaking her head and putting down her tea cup.
 
Ailbhe felt herself starting to lose her temper with them. Bonnie was a good person, a good man. She trusted him and believed he had happily bowed out of the ring once he knew her heart belonged to Finn.
 
Suddenly, she felt hands on the back of her chair and knew they were Finn’s.
 
“Because if he ever tries it again, I’ll take his fucking eyes” Finn explained, in a tone so casual it was almost humorous.
 
He paused, not sure to say the next sentence that was on the tip of his tongue. But he did it.
 
“Because she’s my girl now”
 
 There was silence for a moment. Uncle Charlie’s voice cut through the silence, raising his lethal cocktail up to the ceiling.
 
“Well Jesus Christ it only took ye a decade” he sighed, raising his hip flask in a toast to the happy couple.
 
Ailbhe sat there, frozen and looking around trying to gauge everyone’s reactions. Lizzie, Ada and Polly were just smirking, having known for years. Everyone else had guessed all along but they didn’t think they would ever admit it. Tommy almost even smiled. Ailbhe wasn’t sure how to read her brothers’ faces. They seemed both relieved and wary. They had to admit, if their sister had to be with someone, they would want it to be Finn.
 
“Good man Finn” Johnny Dogs roared, slamming his hands on the table triumphantly “Finally stepped up!”
 
Ailbhe put her face in her hands for a second. That wasn’t how she had planned on telling them but she was glad it was out there now.
 
“Dad, what’s a decade?” Charlie asked, tugging on Tommy’s coat beside him.
 
Ailbhe smiled at the little boy who was staring at her as usual. Tommy leaned down and picked Charlie back up into his arms, explaining to him.
 
“It’s how long your Uncle Finn took to open his bloody eyes” He explained, looking at Finn and Ailbhe with a look that told them he knew all along.

Telling Finn to keep his hands to himself, watching Ailbhe like a hawk, none of it was going to stop them. He knew that Ailbhe and Finn was perhaps something he could not control.
 
“Alright, enough chatting shit. Let’s go get that drink” Liam sighed, throwing his arm around Finn’s neck in a tackle that Finn had to fight off.
 
“Break my sister’s heart and I’ll break your fucking legs Finn boy” he roared laughing, letting Ailbhe know that Liam wasn’t so against Uncle Charlie’s lethal concoction and he had been sipping at it all day.  
 
Ailbhe turned to watch them go, smiling when Finn leaned down and planted a kiss on her cheek before leaving, throwing her a wink over his shoulder. His smile as infectious as ever couldn’t be wiped off, not even today. It was a good day. Everyone knew Ailbhe was his girl and they were going to beat the Italians, he just had a feeling. But it wasn’t Finn’s feelings that were always right. It was Ailbhe’s and she had a knot in her stomach every time she thought about Bonnie Gold’s fight with Goliath.