In The Bleak Midwinter | T Shelby

THREE - A BROKEN WRIST

It was half past eleven on a Friday evening when Thomas heard a scream from the street behind his house. On his way home from the pub, he stopped, changing direction to see what was going on.

It was a cold evening, his skin still feeling shivers even underneath a thick overcoat and three piece suit, though the fire inside of him from the whiskey he'd drank had helped warm him slightly.

Hearing not much over the sound of his own footsteps on the cobbles, Tommy narrowed his eyes as he neared where he thought the sound came from, trying to hold his breath to listen out for anything else.

Another scream came, a high-pitched, blood-curdling scream that made his eyes widen and his stomach turn.

Tommy sprinted round the corner, worried that someone was hurt, or perhaps worse.

"I said no you fuckin' bastard!"

Startled, he stopped in his tracks when his eyes fell upon the sight before him, chest rising and falling and his arms by his side, no longer reaching for the gun inside his coat.

He watched as Kaia Gold grabbed the man's arm and twisted it round his back before kicking his legs from under him and pinning him to the floor with the heel of her boot digging into his throat.

Tommy knew if she pressed hard enough, her heel would end up on the floor beneath the man's neck, covered in blood. After seeing her in The Garrison a few weeks ago, he also knew that there was a possibility she might do exactly that.

"Touch me or any one else without their consent and I'll rip your fuckin' balls off and feed them to you, you hear me?"

The man grunted beneath the force of her heel, trying to nod his head. She spat on his face, deservedly, before fixing her hair and walking in the direction of Tommy, her eyebrow raised when she noticed him stood there.

"Miss Gold, are you alright?"

She said nothing, just walked past him as if he wasn't there. She'd had enough of men trying to talk to her that evening and she certainly didn't need Tommy self-righteous Shelby to ask her if she was alright.

"Oi!" He shouted, jogging to catch up with her, leaving behind the man who was rolling around in the dirt holding his wrist.

"Fuck off."

"What would your father say if he heard you speaking to people like that, ey?"

Kaia looked up at him, still waking at a brisk speed with her arms folded at her chest, her dark hair flowing in waves behind her, catching in the wind.

"He'd probably tell me to say it again but louder because you clearly didn't hear me."

Tommy chuckled, stuffing his hands into his pockets. He hadn't ever met Aberama Gold's wife, but he knew she must've been an incredibly wilful, independent woman to have given birth to a daughter like Kaia. There was no way that her personality had come from Aberama. Bonnie's, maybe, but certainly not Kaia's.

"Where are you going?" He asked, keeping up pace alongside her.

"Why are you asking so many questions? Did you not hear me to tell you to fuck off?"

"Kaia."

She stopped as he said her name, turning to face him underneath the glow from the lamps inside windows of houses, though most people were asleep by that point.

"It's not safe, let me walk you home."

"I can walk myself home, I'm a grown woman."