For the Good of the Family

Stopping By

By the middle of the afternoon my stew was finished. I'd broken it down into eight containers to be sent out. Smaller containers for smaller groups like Karl and Ada and larger ones for groups like Uncle Charlie, Curly and Johnny Dogs who was currently staying at the yard. Henry had already loaded into the car, the containers for Aunt Pol and the Yard to drive where they needed to go. There are enough Blinders on Watery Lane to make sure it's safe for me to travel between the houses here.

Making the first trip across the street to Tommy's I repeatedly kicked the door until he was forced to come open it. "About Bloody time, Tom. This shits heavy ya know!" I shoved the still warm dish into his arms before moving past him. Tommy's son sat by the fire playing with toy horses. "Hello Charlie, Auntie Olive has missed you!"

The young boy ran to hug me. "Ntie Live!! Will you pway horses with me?" His sweet little face looked so much like his mother's. "Pwease?"

"Only for a little darling. I still have to feed your uncles too." He cheered and ran for the toys. I was given the white one and he kept the black for himself. Tommy leaned against the doorway watching us play with cold eyes and a soft smile. I know it's hard for him at times to look at his son, who looked exactly like his dead wife.

After a while I said my goodbyes to Charlie, stopping next to my brother. "You know Karl's only a couple years older than him. When you are busy, the boys should be kept together, either with Ada or their nannies. You are both so lonely Tom, I can see it. Charlie doesn't have to be, you don't have to be." I gave him a brief hug, our cheeks pressed together. "Just try it eh?"

He sighed heavily before responding. "Alright, alright. Tomorrow he'll go to Ada's."

My second trip was to our childhood home where my only younger siblings lived. Finn was already running out the door, reaching for food before I could get close enough to knock. "Oh you're the best Livy! Isiah ate everything I had, I'm fucking starving!" The eighteen year old rushed the food to the table and grabbed a spoon eating straight from the dish.

"Ya know that's meant to last you a couple days Finn?" I laughed at him. "You'll need to fend yourself this weekend, I'm not cooking."

Finn nodded his acknowledgment before shoving another spoonful in his mouth and standing to hug me goodbye. I squeezed my little brother tight my cheek pressed to the side of his neck before taking my leave.

Next was Ada's place. This trip only took a moment since she and Karl were at the cinema. I used the spare key to let myself in. Quickly I stored the stew in the icebox before returning to my house for the last trip.

Grabbing the final container from my kitchen table, I made the short walk to Arthur and Linda's house. My oldest brother had always been my favorite, but his wife Linda made me keep my distance. The woman used religion as a weapon against all those she saw as sinners. The Shelby family is entirely made of such sinners. She was constantly trying to manipulate Arthur into changing, into abandoning our family. He never would. She's too blind to see that, though he loves her, he loves being a brother more.

Linda answered the door already snapping. "What it is you want?"

"Just bringing by some stew sister. It'll be the last batch before my wedding." I lifted the dish in my hands to prove it was just stew and not drugs or prostitutes or whatever else the woman could accuse me of bringing to corrupt Arthur.

She heaved a sigh before stepping aside to let me in. Her judgmental blue eyes followed my every move. Linda had made Arthur a better man during peaceful times, now she struggled to understand the dynamics of being a gangster's wife during a war. Stuck at home with a new baby worrying if her husband would return, angry that he was leaving at all. "You'll be a married woman soon, is Finn finally stepping up to take over the distilleries? It'll be your godly duty to obey your husband and stay home, ya know?"

Placing the food on the table I turned to face her. "Linda you'll do well to remember that no matter the situation, the Shelby's hold the power. In a few days my name will be Gold, but I was born a Shelby, so I will never sit and obey any man." She smiled bitterly at my words. "If you embraced your place in the family instead of shunning us you might actually be happy, eh."