Wear Iron//Thomas Shelby

fifteen

We stand round Freddie's grave. I would have thought he'd go out in a grander way than the Spanish Flu.

"...and give him peace. Amen."

"Amen," everyone repeats.

Tommy clears his throat as he steps forward. "I promised my friend Freddie Thorne that I'd say a few words over his grave if he should pass before me. I made this promise before he became me brother-in-law when we were in France, fighting for the King."

"Amen," Arthur says.

"And in the end, it wasn't war that took Freddie," Tommy says. Esme and John's baby starts to cry. "Pestilence took him. But Freddie passed on his soul and his spirit to a new generation before he was cruelly taken."

I walk with Tommy and Ada.

"We thought, now Freddie's gone, you might come back to Birmingham," I tell Ada.

Ada scoffs. "God, Tommy, do you know how funny it is that you've got chauffeurs in uniform now?"

"It's just for the occasion, Ada," Tommy tells her.

"Do you know how unfair it is that you've got four Bugattis when half the country's starving?" Ada remarks.

"So now they've made you ashamed of us, eh?" Tommy counters.

"Sometimes when I think how I used to be, it makes me embarrassed," Ada admits.

Polly walks towards us. "Karl's with his cousins. I caught 'em trying to pinch flowers off a grave." Polly smiles. "Ada, are you coming home?"

"I'm going home," Ada tells her.

"It's all right, Poll. We make Ada embarrassed," Tommy states.

"That's not what I said," Ada argues.

"There's another reason we want you home," I tell her.

"We're planning an expansion," Tommy informs her. "I'm taking premises in London..."

"Tommy, it's a funeral, business can wait," Polly insists.

"Polly, if Ada was weeping then I'd stop. But she's not," Tommy tells her. "The expansion means it's going to be dangerous to be a Shelby in London for a while."

"Yeah, well, I'm not a Shelby anymore," Ada tells him. "And I'm not a Thorne now, either. I'm free. I've got to get Karl home."

Ada walks away as Polly, and I watch. Tommy sighs.

"I told you. Let me do it," Polly reminds us.

"It's all right," Tommy assures. "I'll have some men watch her house till the danger passes."

A man on a motorcycle pulls up beside Arthur. He says something and Arthur starts towards Tommy and me.

"'Till the danger passes'? That'll be the bloody day," Polly remarks.

Polly, Tommy, and I drive back into the city to the Garrison. While we were at Freddie's funeral the Garrison was blown to pieces. I step out of the car and stare at its charred remains. Inspector Moss is standing out front. He lets Tommy, Polly, and I under the ropes meant to keep people out.

"It happened at exactly 7am. Nobody saw anything. Our patrols were not in the area," Inspector Moss informs us. "Mr Shelby, have you got any idea who might've done it?"

"I'd say it was something to do with the gas," Tommy offers. I watch as he slips a bill into Inspector Moss's hand. "It's just been fitted."

Polly moves to step through what used to be the front doors.