Blinders & Bloody Crows - A Peaky Blinders Tale

Handkerchiefs & Buckets

Marta walked with Tommy with her head bowed down. She was certain that Tommy would tell her off. But she thought that that was not fair! The Lee girl was walking all over her! Finn would tell Tommy. He was there. Marta looked at the hay bales and then hopped a little bit to be able to sit on one of those. She didn't say a word. She was just waiting for the hammer to fall.
Tommy took a few deep breaths and once Marta had sat down on the hay bale he crouched down in front of her and held out a handkerchief that he'd taken from his jacket. "You're bleeding." He stated, his voice a little softer than perhaps she would expect. Tommy wasn't really one for giving first aid, he was often the one refusing to accept it.

Marta looked at the handkerchief and then gently took it from Tommy. She didn't notice before, but even her knuckles were a little bruised and cut. "I noticed that," she said. The blood from her nose was pouring out across her lip. She used the handkerchief to wipe that off. Thankfully the cuts on her lip and brow had already dried up. She thought that cleaning the wounds afterwards would be good. She didn't want them to get infected. "I am sorry," she said. "I didn't plan to pick up a fight during John's wedding celebration."
Tommy lit himself a cigarette as he watched Marta clean up her nose with his handkerchief. He inhaled deeply and slowly exhaled the smoke. Some more whisky wouldn't go amiss right now. He let out a sigh and rubbed his neck before inhaling some more of his cigarette. "What happened?" He asked.

This was bad. Marta thought. Tommy seemed to be really mad. He was just too quiet for her liking. He was usually a bit more talkative with her. Well, except last time and except now. Was it exactly the thing the Lee girl said? Did Marta want more and was she going to pay for it now by losing everything? Marta sighed. "I was just there," she said. "The Lee girls wanted to know whether I was from the Mirga family. So, I said yes. And then I went to have a beer with Finn, and the fucking bitch just started telling me that the Mirga women are bad," Marta shrugged. "What was I supposed to do?" She sighed. "She told me that I was greedy, she told me I was tragic and... naive." Marta sighed again and looked at her shoes.
"Hmm." Tommy hummed, and remained silent after what must have felt like an age. He tossed his spent cigarette butt onto the ground and crouched down again, gently taking the handkerchief from her hand and wiping some blood from her lip. He didn't really know what to say. He couldn't berate her for her reaction, because he reacted far worse when people spoke badly of his family. They often ended up dead or missing an eye. "I don't think you are tragic." He spoke simply.

Marta felt bad. She was looking at the mud. The silence was killing her the same way it had killed her yesterday. She played with the handkerchief until Tommy took it from her and helped with wiping the blood a little bit. Marta looked into his eyes. It was all still too quiet for her liking. She thought she had seriously messed up. Suddenly, she blinked her eyes. "So..." she said. "So I am greedy and naive?"
"Well the first time I met you you did try to steal from me." Tommy stated, a hint of a smile edging its way on to his lips. He lowered the hand holding the handkerchief and placed a hand on her knee, rubbing it gently.

Marta was not smiling. She grabbed Tommy's hand and took it off her knee. "And I was doing all of that for myself, right?" Marta asked Tommy. "I wanted a new pretty dress, that's why I was stealing. Or because I wanted a better tent, or a new horse. I surely didn't have a mother I wanted to rebury. That's how greedy I am!"
Tommy sighed to himself as Marta pushed his hand from her knee. He hadn't meant to upset her further, he'd hoped his joke would have lightened her mood. "You are not tragic. You are not naive." Tommy spoke, still crouching in front of her. "And you are certainly not greedy Marta." He spoke truthfully. "But you do definitely need some ice for your nose." Tommy then added.

Marta sighed. Everything had been awful since the day before. It was like the world wanted to make her feel miserable. "Do you think they have ice here?" She asked Tommy and looked up at him. Her eyes were glazed over. Not only because she was a little bit upset, but because her nose hurt. It was not the greatest pain, but it was sure as hell uncomfortable.
Tommy hadn't seen this look in her eyes before, and it was giving him a rather uncomfortable feeling in the pit of his stomach. Like something bad was coming. "I highly doubt it." He then said, standing up straight and offering her his hand. "But I'm sure Johnny Dogs will have a slab of venison you can use." The gypsies often used raw meat to reduce swelling.