𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐄 ᵖᵉᵃᵏʸ ᵇˡⁱⁿᵈᵉʳˢ

𝟎𝟏, the beginning of her end

I. 1919

    "Jesus Christ, Vivian, eight in the bloody morning and already this shit." Her aunt grabbed her shoulder, turning her around to face her as Vivian held her head in pain. It wasn't like she wanted to run into a fucking wall. Polly inspected her head, "you've grazed your head a bit, your hair will cover the scratch." She spoke, applying pressure of her head as Vivian winced at the pain, "fucking clumsy girl." Polly muttered.

Polly Gray was a women Vivian trusted with her whole being and looked up to her in life. She was a strong and confident woman and one of very few people that wasn't scared of Thomas Shelby. She was helpful, smart and caring to the Shelby kids she raised by herself for over a decade, but she wasn't appreciated enough as she should be.

"I'm not clumsy, I'm tired. Maybe because you woke me up at seven in the morning." She ranted as they began to walk again. "And it's Sunday and I think God would like me to have a nice sleep in." Polly didn't even bother to listen to her ranting.

It was like this every time. About once, every two or three months, on a Sunday, Polly would wake Vivian up and drag her to church, for a reason Vivian was still unsure of. They'd talk, light a few candles and then Polly would pray while Vivian analysed the murals on the ceiling. She remembered going to church almost everyday when the boys were away at war. Ada used to be dragged along, and Finn as well. But now it was Vivian, and she had decided it was a form of punishment.

"Walk faster." Polly spoke to her niece. Vivian looked at the back off Pol's head as she was only four feet behind the woman, "might as well put you on a fucking leash like a dog."

"And make me bark like one too?" She muttered her her breath but she knew her aunt heard her but she was still too exhausted to care. Why was it always the mornings she goes to sleep in the late hours of the night, that Pol comes knocking?

She watched as the women of Small Heath started their usual Sunday routines, going to the markets, doing the washing, getting their kids ready and so on. And the men at work or the ones that were late for it. Or the ones that spend their days at the pubs. She heard a dog barking down an alleyway, straining his throat. The thick air filled her lungs as she walked on beside her aunt.

They quickly approached the church. Vivian looked down, counting every step she took up. She already knew but it reminded her of the times she would jump down each step while her mother and aunt would talk to other locals after Sunday mass, while her and her siblings impatiently waited to go home.

As they entered the church, her aunt placed her fingers into the holy water, blessing herself. Vivian stood behind her looking at her laces that were untied. She felt Pol hit her shoulder, causing her to look up to Pol, gesturing to the blessed water. She sighed, doing the same actions as the woman had done moments before.

The two walked down the aisle, Vivian walking behind the Gray woman. She saw a woman at the top, whispering her prayers, hoping God was listening to her. Polly pulled her down, making the girl bow, before yanking her into the row. Polly proceeded to kneel down while Vivian sat back, laying her head back. Instead of Polly going on with her silent prayers, she spoke,

"Vivian you are a smart girl, and Thomas is aware of that, and the help you offered through the war," Vivian listened to her intensively, sitting up, now looking at the back of her aunt's head, not knowing where this could go.

She guessed there'd be a 'but' coming up soon, "and him and I are also aware that you have been doing other people's jobs, either doing it before them or telling them they get the day off. You were told that you were banned from the shop, which is stupid and will stop."