The Balls in Our Courts [F.SxO.CxT.S]

Chapter Eleven

When the high of winning started to drop, leaving the girl sleepy and calm, that is when she asked Tommy, "Mr. Shelby?" He responded with nothing short of a mmhm while his fingers tapped along the polished cherry wood table in the wobbly train. Lazily, he watched the world go by. Nothing but grazing cows and sheep in between Manchester and Birmingham except for a few homes and caravans. "Mr. Shelby?" she repeated, and sighing, he turned to her, nodding for her to continue. "Timothee, well, he is-um...."

"Continue," he urged, tired of the teenage frenzy that he hadn't signed up for. Steps ahead, what she wanted to ask was apparent to him. It was quite obvious, really. The Fitzroys were boasting about going to his grungy, dusty city in hopes of the two getting together. But Tommy Shelby made up his mind, and the answer was no. He knew what charming seventeen year old boys wanted, and Tommy didn't want to care for the repercussions of that.

"Well," she continued, smiling with a little glint in her eyes. Finn scoffed at the tinge of red spotting her cheeks. Was she that naive? Fitzroy was a putz, really. Or at least to one Finn Shelby who was insecure and questioned, what is wrong with me? It was Finn Shelby that took a beating for the girl. "What was that, Finn?" she paused, looking at the boy. He'd been slumped and grooting, and must have mumbled a few choice words under his breath. "Sorry, I didn't hear you?" Her face knitted when he just rolled his eyes and turned his body in a way where he didn't have to look at her. "Okay? Well, anyway, Mr. Shelby," she chuckled. "Timothee will be in Birmingham tomorrow, and well, if you'd allow it, I'd like to meet him after Church."

Everyone in the cabin was now interested, what would the man say to such a request? Ada paused her reading, side eyeing her brother while Arthur found it humorous. The girl was fifteen! Tommy let her question stew, though his mind had been made up. Coolly, he rubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray, a smirk playing at his lips. "You want to go out with the boy, eh?"

"I'd like to, yes, after church? Just a walk-"

"Just a walk?" he laughed, his smirk turning to a mocking quizzical look. "Oh? A walk. If that's the case, just a walk, eh?"

"So," she responded, her lips clinging to the word, dragging it out. "That's a yes!"

"No." Finn's ears perked, a little gleam shimmered in his eyes. Aha! Fitzroy for the L, he cheered in his head, sitting up and straightening his jacket. Arthur noticed the boy's smug grin, and matched it with a look of mockery. On the other hand, Amelia was too preoccupied with Tommy's inability to have an inch of empathy or compassion. How could he so easily say no? Before she could object, he simply said, "Sunday is for church-"

"Well, if you listened, I said-"

"Amelia, if you are going to speak to me," he interjected, pointing his fingers at her face, a new cigarette gagging her. The ash sprinkling her tennis jumper. "I suggest you think real hard on your tone. I know what you said, I know what I said. No." After church! "I don't care if you asked for before church, during church, or after church. I said no. So, please, if you want to see my temper peak, ask again."