The Blood War, Peaky Blinders

𝟎𝟓𝟓 You know it's not the same as it was

The blood war
chapter fifty five, You know it's not the same as it was
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-1929
Birmingham, England

Jimmy Mcgavern has been arranged to meet Tommy in the back of Charlie's yard. After the attack, Aberama has successfully escaped the Billy Boy's bombing attempt. Tommy stands at the dock, awaiting McGavern's appearance. "Mr Shelby..." Jimmy greets as he comes floating in on his boat, "My bullets are aching to get inside your tinker head." McGavern then begins to sing an anti-fenian song, shooting his gun up into the air, then bringing it down to be pointed at Tommy. When Tommy doesn't give McGavern the reaction he was looking for, he scoffed and put his gun back in its pouch. McGavern then holds a white flag, steps off his boat and makes his way over to Tommy. 

"You know, it's a pity. I was looking forward to killing you." McGavern said, coming to a stop when he approached Tommy. "You're at the back of a long que" Tommy said. "My white flag is a flag of truce. Yours is more a flag of surrender." McGavern said. "Whatever you say, Mr McGavern, the colour is the same, the outcome is the same." Tommy said, "I believe we have friends in common. We should postpone our war." Tommy said, Milly was pregnant, she'd been pregnant for seven months. "Your brother left me a hand grenade" McGavern said. "He sends his apologies, he's... going through a rough path. You left me land mines." Tommy said. "For which, I too apologise." McGavern said.

"Peace it is" Tommy said. "Your message said it wanted to 'seal our truce with some business'." McGavern said. "Since we're men of similar interests and distribution networks, I thought we might use our temporary settlement for our mutual benefit." Tommy said. "You stand in a junkyard full of scrap metal and stolen goods..." McGavern said with a scoff, "And you talk like a politician." "No" Tommy said, shaking his head, "Nothing here is stolen. Charlie simply finds things before they are lost." Tommy then pulls out a sheet of paper, "The nature of the deal is explained in my proposal. I've booked you a suite in the Midland Hotel. If you need anything in this city, just mention my name." "So you want to impress me, Mr Shelby?" McGavern scoffs.

"Isiah!" Tommy calls out, summoning Isiah as he steps into view with a shotgun over his shoulder in an attempt to intimidate Jimmy McGavern. "Also in that envelope" Tommy said, ""Is a cheque for five hundred pound, for your wife... she can use it to buy a black dress, rent a black horse with black feathers to pull a black carriage with your body in it... should you break the terms of the black flag... Now please, enjoy the city it's my honour to represent" Tommy said. ˏ

ˋ°•*⁀➷

Arthur made his way into the private diner in the Garrison, Tommy already in there with Mrs Connors. "It's alright, Mrs Connors, you can carry on, it's just me brother" Tommy said. Arthur sat down in the chair in the corner of the room, setting in as he read the newspaper but still listened to Tommy and Mrs Connors's conversation. "So tell me how it happened?" Tommy asked. "They were sleeping downstairs and then my husband came home... Drunk from the Marquis, even though he just lost his job. We don't have any money." Mrs Connors said, "Anyway, he came to bed but downstairs they must've heard a noise, they woke up. They started uh... they started calling out. They woke my husband up and... when he's drunk, you don't wake him up."

Arthur remembered that all too well, he hadn't been drinking as much because when he did Paige would normally keep the kids away from him because he'd get violent. Before Mrs Connors continued, Arthur could practically already tell how this story would end. Violently.