Adopted By Polly Gray

Chapter 16: Birmingham

A week. It had been a week since Polly Gray had her heart ripped out of her chest once again. Once the family found out Starlene was missing everyone began to search for her. Tommy had his men question every officer that worked at the police force under Campbell to find out any information on Jones and where he may have taken his cousin. Ada isolated herself from the family. Polly blamed her for everything that happened and refused to even look at her niece if they were in the same room. Ada had been at the receiving end of her aunt's anger before but this, this wasn't Polly's normal temper. This was Polly being fueled by the flames of heartbreak, regret, disappointment, and sorrow. The more leads that lead to dead ends the more the monarch of the Shelby family began to mourn the loss of her daughter.

"He's most likely to have killed her by now, Tommy. There's been no signs of Starlene or Jones." Polly said with a strained voice. This is where her mind was going more and more each day. Deep down she knew her daughter was a fighter and is most likely still alive, but every now and then she would say this after getting dealt with more bad news of not knowing anything.

She had barely slept the entire week. The Gray woman would often disappear for hours on end looking for her missing daughter. At first, it seemed like the boys would find Starlene in a matter of hours perhaps maybe a day or two. Within that time, Polly cleaned up Starlene's room so it would be ready for her return. She went out and bought new clothes, books, and even made a new bag for her daughter while waiting at home. The worried mother would stay up praying, drinking, crying, and hoping her nephews would come in with her baby girl, but each night Tommy and his brothers would stop by with somber looks on their faces. Arthur let anger lead him as well, but unlike his aunt, he turned to violence. He would drink his sadness away morning, noon, and night then in between times go with John to interrogated Campbell's men. He had thrown countless punches and caused more bloodshed within that week than he would against the Lees when they would fight. John tried to keep a more level head but would also get frustrated when none of the men would offer up anything useful.

"We need to go after Campbell, Tom. He's got the answers fucking around with his men ain't getting us anywhere." Arthur finally snapped at Tommy during a family meeting.

"Arthur, I told you I have a plan. We go after each of Campbell's men until we've questioned every last one of thems, got it?" Tommy took a drag off of his cigarette.

"And what does that accomplish, aye Tommy? What does that fucking accomplish!?" Stars in the custody of a mad man right now and instead of going straight to the man with all the answers we keep messing around with his coppers? How's this going to do anything?" John chimed in.

"Trust me brothers, if we keep playing our cards right, Campbell will have no choice but to come to us." Tommy calmly spoke.

"Pol, you can't seriously be agreeing with this?! Don't you have any ideas of what to do to help Starlene?" Arthur looked at his aunt who was sitting at the other end of the table her chair sideways to where she sat facing the wall in the betting den.

Polly turned her head to face her nephews and the other men at the table while stubbing out her black cigarette, "No." She spoke before looking up at everyone.

The exhaustion that her body showed was immense. Her eyes were sunken in with deep bags under them. They almost always had a tint of red and puffiness to them from her crying alone at night as her mind took her on trips to very dark scenarios of what happened to Starlene. Her hair was a tamed as she could get it to be with the little effort, she put into it. She began to rely on alcohol to numb the pain. It didn't help the poor woman that when she did fall asleep, she was greeted with dreams of her best friend's ghost shaming her for losing her daughter. The one promise she made to Clementina; she had broken. The guilt ate her up to no end. The fact that this happened at all was a nightmare but to have someone who you loved like a sister telling you in your dreams how much she hates you and wishes she never left her child to you, that is hell.