As the youngest Shelby child and twin to Finn Shelby, Kezia has spent the last 4 of her 10 years locked away for her mental defectiveness.
She returns to Small Heath under the legal guardianship of her brother, Thomas Shelby. Despite knowing she's s...
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This was a tricky chapter for me to write. So I'm sorry if it's lacking at all.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
"Kruva."
"Close," Ozzy told Kizzie. "Kurwa."
She felt a stammer coming on and bit her tongue. "Ku...rva."
"Faster now."
"Kurwa."
"You got it!"
Kizzie jumped in her seat. "Sorry it took so long."
Ozzy shook his head and leaned back against the door. They sat on the stoop in front of Tommy's house, waiting. "Sorry for what? It's a language you've never known before. A fucking difficult one, too."
"It means 'fuck', right?"
"Basically. Depends on who's using it. My family used it to mean 'fuck', though."
"Thank you for teaching me it."
Ozzy smiled. "Course. I'll have you speaking Polish in no time."
"I'd like that, I think. We can talk to each other in secret, like how my family sometimes does in Shelta."
Did he now ask her if he could learn Shelta? It felt like overstepping. An unmarked rule he'd be crossing. Ozzy heard Tommy and his siblings speak Shelta. Spoke so fast he couldn't understand how those sounds came out of their mouths... But people had said the same thing about speaking Polish.
"Well, I also know—"
The front door opened and Ozzy fell back onto a pair of feet. He quickly stood and straightened his suit. "Sorry, sir."
Tommy didn't look his way once, almost as if he never saw him. The cigarette in his mouth was halfway finished. "Remember what I told you, Kizzie."
"I know." Her voice was soft, sad. The moment the door opened, her entire mood changed, really.
Kezia mentioned before that Tommy wasn't around as often. Ozzy thought she maybe slipped up in telling him. She knew why Ozzy was with her: anything she said could be reported back to Tommy if he wished it. But she didn't seem to care. She used Ozzy to vent.
Tommy stood in front of her and crouched low on the step. "Look at me," he ordered in Shelta. "I love you... I will call you later from our hotel. We can talk for as long as you like." He held her face and tried smoothing out the frown that sagged her cheeks. "You won't be alone."
"But you won't be here. Again!"
"I made you a promise, didn't I? We will make it through this. Alright?" He kissed her head. "I love you, lambkin. I'll be back tomorrow night." Tommy stood to his full height and walked down the remaining steps. Opened the door to his car and was off.
