Polly's Boys

The warning

The Warning

Polly sat at her dining room table shifting on her seat and occasionally flicking her unused cigarette in the ashtray. She watched him with the persistence of a hawk ready for the mouse to move. He just sat gathering his thoughts which she guessed kept dropping out of his hands clumsily rolling everywhere. He was thinking too hard. He was scared, upset and unable to voice it.

"Right, well I took off work which means I'm not being paid to sit here in silence while we waste time." Her abruptness and honesty surprised her son David. He'd sat in a chair several feet away from her and the table. He'd been hunched over his arms reclined on his knees deep in his own worries. She'd seen this before in his father. It yielded nothing of use, unless he grabbed the thought and started untangling it.

"It's okay luv, your father had a hard time voicing his thoughts when they were heavily entwined with emotion. Tell me the problem then we'll sort it out around everything else, yeah?" She took a long deep drag seeing if he could talk. This was getting tedious. She knew the men would be home soon and she'd heard about the run in at the club from Devlin.

David had called her and asked for a meeting. She barely heard from him and she had gathered from her conversation with Dev and Winter, well the way they dogged answering questions about David's commitment to knowing his mother, rather, that he was angry with her about her illegal dealings, his years in the orphanage and so on.

She wished he would bring it up so she could set the record straight. She didn't care if he believed her, but damn him if he was going to live in a fantasy that she did any of it with the intention of losing the four people she loved most in the entire world. He'll, she was still trying to find Michael and Anna.

Tommy had suggested asking David to use his influence to send out inquiries about her other two children. She squinted and really looked at him.

She had a feeling his problems at the moment had to do with the three ambitious men in her life that she was forever trying to keep up with, she'd given up keeping them in line. She was stubborn but not stupid. She knew when she was facing a losing battle.

She still wasn't sure if her desire to know David was one of those battles yet. She'd try to be patient but even she knew she wouldn't live forever.

"David, either you say one word...or I'm getting up to go to the betting shop and working so that I can get paid and eat this week. Looking at your suits and fancy shoes, I know money isn't something you have to think about right now." She had intentionally added the last part to piss him off. She knew he had pride in being his own man and using his education to his advantage. He sat up straight as she had predicted.

"What are Tommy's plans and why do they involve us? Why London?" David's tone was no nonsense and so was his stiff demeanor. Polly smirked at her son, so he did have a little of his mother in him after all.

"I can't tell you what Tom thinks anymore. Since France he just makes up his own plans and thinks when he barks orders we all listen." She sat forward leaning towards him. She had an idea.

"His woman, at the Garrison, would be your best bet but you'll have to be careful with her. I don't trust her and she's cautious with her words." Polly meant it for the warning to be taken seriously. She really was concerned about Grace constantly. She was never wrong about her sense of people. EVER.

"You may actually know her." She added hastily but it had been intentional. David seemed intrigued, his brow furrowed and he leaned toward her unintentionally.

God, he was a carbon copy of his father. Dev had more chiseled features like Tommy but David, David was a spitting image of his dad.

"How?" She smiled knowing that by getting him to ask her questions, she and him engaged in conversation now. It would be easier for him to talk to her. Truly it was already easier since Peggy wasn't around.