What About Us | John Shelby

CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO

1919, Small Heath, Birmingham

A Week Later

Tessa made her way down the stairs of her home, pulling her hat onto her head eager to get out the door.

"Thanks, da for looking after them for me. I gotta get to The Garrison" Tessa and Arthur were trying to get things sorted down at the pub. Tessa of course was going to be in charge of all the paperwork, and Arthur would be doing what Arthur always does. Just drink what you own.

Before Tessa could step her feet out onto the cobble street of Watery Lane, Johnny Dog's shouted for her from in the kitchen.

Tracing her steps back into her house, to her father. Johnny was sitting at the kitchen table with a cigarette in his hands "Tommy came by while you were getting ready, said there's a meeting at the betting shop tonight" Tessa simply just nodded her head, that was nothing new.

Making her way into the Garrison Tessa was met by Grace walking into the main part of the building with a crate in her hands.

"Tessa, look. These cigarettes have a strange smell" Grace had caught her attention, she wasn't even in the door for two minutes and something was wrong already.

She walked towards the crate of cigarettes, Tessa didn't need to take any further steps the vile smell made its way towards her nostrils.

She placed her hand slightly over her nose, making a disgusted face "It smells like ... they smell like rotting water" What an odd smell for cigarettes. Arthur must know something about this, this is going to be his pub after all "Where's Arthur?"

"Ere" Arthur shouted from one of the rooms off to the pub.

"There he is, the man himself" Tessa said, looking down at Arthur as he sat at a desk in the room.

"Look" Grace followed in, after opening up a box of cigarettes passing them to Arthur "Rats have got at some of them"

Great, all that crate of cigarettes had to be thrown away. They could not be used.

"They're stolen, aren't they not?" Grace asked, but it seemed more of an answer "Don't ask" Arthur simply replied.

Tessa slightly smiled, leaning against the desk "It's better to not know, Grace"

"They smell because you keep them on a boat" She was becoming quite nosy, for someone who was just a barmaid at a pub.

"What do you care? ... now, can you go back to work ... and close that door when you're leaving"

The click of the door being shut could be heard in the small room, Arthur looked up at Tessa "Hear about yesterday?"

Of course she did, she knew exactly what Arthur was talking about. She smiled looking down at him still in the chair "John told me last night ... the Shelby family with a legal betting license" She clapped her hands together.

"We're going up in the world" He threw the pack of cigarettes down on the desk in front of him. Tessa patted his shoulder, for congratulations.

"Right" He looked down at the books in front of him "Can you check my adding up, please?"