Hidden Secrets - Thomas Shelby//Peaky Blinders

Tipping the Scales

Hopping over a puddle, Lis pulled the collar of her coat up higher around her neck. The night wasn't very cold, but this part of Small Heath wasn't necessarily the safest for a young single woman-- or any woman she guessed-- to find herself alone in at this time of night. Men loitered about, laughing, drinking, and smoking. Some laughing loudly, some drunkenly screeching at shadows that moved in the night.

In one of the letters Danny had written during the war, he had told Lis of his wife and little ones, suggesting they might become good friends. Danny was right. A few days after reading Danny's suggestion, Lis had visited their small flat a few minutes' walk from hers and introduced herself to Rosie. Already knowing who Lis was and about the loss of her brother from one of Danny's letters, Rosie had welcomed her into their home with open arms. 

Tonight, Rosie had sent word to her that Danny had had another attack of the mind from the war and begged for her assistance. Immediately after reading the urgent note, Lis had quickly grabbed the small box of smuggled brown opium cakes she kept hidden in her room and rushed out the door. She knew Danny would need help calming down and she knew what she carried in her bag, as she quickly walked down the street, would potentially help to keep his family safe from another crack in the poor man's reality.

Lis' own mother had completely and irrevocably snapped after the loss of her son. Leaving Lis with a split cheek and swollen face, Mrs. Connor had violently and promptly left one night, finding and throwing herself at the first man she could find that had enough money she could drown herself in. Six months later, her mother was married and Lis found herself with two new step-brothers. Eventually, she had learned that Roger, the step-brother closest in age to her, had formed an opium addiction in an attempt to manage the nightmares he suffered from war.

She knew from watching Roger that the opium was a temporary fix for Danny, but she had witnessed and experienced first hand what a wounded and fractured mind could do to themselves and anyone around them the moment an episode hit. 

After witnessing one of Danny's episodes and seeing Rosie's tear filled eyes, Lis had asked Roger for his assistance in obtaining some of the illicit substance for her own keeping with the hope that she might be able to offer some sort of temporary peace to ease her friend's troubled mind.

With a small amount now in her possession, she would bring it to Danny whenever things got bad enough for Rosie to send to her for help. The more time that passed however, the more hesitant she was offer it to Danny. Over time, Roger had begun to show the side effects of long term use, becoming angry and violent in his actions towards those around him. Lis didn't want to see her friend turn out the same, but sometimes Danny's episodes were too much for her heart to not give in and allow him some measure of peace if she were able to give it.

Turning down a street, now on her way home, she barely missed being run over by a passing motorcar. Lis immediately backed herself up against the nearest wall to avoid being crushed. Looking at the window of the passing vehicle, Lis saw the mustached face of an older man in a bowler's hat peer out towards her. 

Feeling an uneasy feeling in her chest as his eyes briefly met hers, she drew her coat collar as far up over her face as she could and turned her back to the motorcar as it continued on down the darkened street.

*

Lis closed the front door to her small home and stamped away the cold chill. Tossing her hat and gloves onto the entry table and her coat onto the same tattered chair as always, she headed towards the kitchen to make herself a cup of tea.

As she turned the corner, however, she jumped in reflex at the sudden sight of a woman sitting in the chair that sat next to the now-lit fireplace.

"Fucking hell, Ada!" Lis exclaimed as she clutched her chest. "You scared the shit out of me. What are you doing here?" She asked the woman who now stood to greet her friend.

"Sorry about that, Lis. I didn't mean to. I just needed to ask you for a small favor," Ada apologized with a sheepish grin. Donning her fur edged coat, Ada quickly walked over to the taller woman.

"Well, you're clearly in a hurry." Lis lifted an eyebrow in question as she smiled at her friend. "Do I even want to know what you're up to?" Lis continued on into the kitchen, calling over her shoulder, "Or who?"

Ada quickly followed after Lis, gently grabbing her arm and giving her a pleading look. "Please, Lis! You know how my brothers are. 'Specially Tommy since the war. If he found out where I've been and what I've been up to, he'd kill my poor Freddie in a minute."

"You know how I feel about this whole thing, Ada. If Tommy disapproves of Freddie so much, I'm sure he's a good reason for it. He just wants whats best for you." Lis filled the kettle with water and placed it onto the now warming stove.

"We both know how fucked up Tommy came back from the war. Just because he doesn't share the same political views as Freddie doesn't make Freddie a bad man," Ada complained, starting to get irritated.

Lis sighed, holding up a cup to Ada in question. Lis didn't want Ada telling her anything related to the Shelby's, personal or otherwise. She did her best to steer conversations with those topics to something less dangerous or ignored them completely. Ada, unfortunately, had decided to confide more than once in Lis, something she wished desperately she could convince her not to do.

With a shake of her head, Ada continued her pleading. "I'm not asking for much, Lis. Just, if anyone asks, I was here. You won't be lying, I'm here now aren't I? You'd be tellin' the truth."

"So tell the truth, just not all of it, hmm?"

"Oh come on, Lis," Ada responded, her face taking on a devious look. "It'd not be much different than me not telling the whole truth to my brothers about you, now would it?"

Lis quickly glanced over her shoulder towards Ada, her heart rate picking up speed. "And what would this whole truth you're keeping be exactly?" Turning her back to Ada, she continued to prepare her cup of tea, ignoring the slight sense of panic starting to invade her chest.

"Don't think I haven't noticed the way your eyes trail after a certain brother of mine whenever he happens to be around." Ada smiled at her kept secret as she leaned back against the counter, leaning back to try and see the reaction on Lis' face.

"I haven't the faintest idea of what you're talking about, Ada," Lis countered, giving a small shake of her head. The panic that had been rising in her chest quickly disappeared only to be replaced with a blush on her cheeks.

"I'm glad we understand each other," Ada said with a broad cheeky smile and a wink. "So what do you say? Be a pal?"

"Very well," Lis said with a resigned sigh, "Yes, you were here tonight." Pointing a finger at Ada she quickly added, "But don't tell me anything more. I reserve my right to claim ignorance if anyone should ask."

"Thank you, Lis!" The younger woman sang, grabbing Lis' arm affectionately with both hands, before wishing her a good night and rushing out the door.

Lis finished pouring the water for her tea then turned to lean against the counter, placing her head in hands. She was thankful for the friend she had in Ada. The girl was younger by a few years and still sometimes acted like a school girl, but she had come to love and care for Ada like a little sister. 

That's why it tore her up inside every time the girl confided in her about something.

Each time she did, Lis felt the scales tip against her that much more.