Tommy who?

Polly

Rolling over in the single bed provided in the room, Keely checked her watch to see that it was 8 o'clock. Sitting up, Keely stretched as her bones cracked, letting out a satisfied sigh she made her way to the washroom so she could get ready as she wished to find a job today.

Making her way downstairs, Keely smiled warmly at Mary " good morning Mary" Mary turned and gave Keely a big smile " good morning to you too, did you sleep well dear?" "I did, thank you" she kindly said as Mary poured her some tea "So what can I get for you this morning?" Mary smiled, "could I please have egg with some toast?" She said looking up at Mary "of course you can dear, I'll be right back" Keely smiled as she watched the men working in the street wondering what her brothers would be doing at this time, she laughed to herself as she thought they'd probably still be in bed. "Here we go dear" Mary said as she made her way to Keely's table, "thank you" she says warmly, "no problem at all dear, now tell me what is that beautiful accent you have" Mary said as she pulled a seat up to join Keely. She laughed "Irish, I'm from Kerry but lived in Dublin for as long as I can remember" Keely smiled, fondly remembering her home. "Well I'm sure your gonna break plenty of hearts around here young lady" she laughed, Keely joined her in their laughter.
Keely finished up her breakfast and told Mary she was going for a walk, "okay dear, just you be careful out there"she smiled, "I will, see you later Mary" Keely smiled as she realised how much Mary reminded her of her dear Aunt Karla.

Making her way through the town, Keely had been into every shop she could see but got the same response from all the owners, she made her way into a small dress shop. There was an elderly woman stood behind the counter, "hello miss" she spoke in a pleasant way. "Oh hello, I was just wondering if you had any places available? I'm new to town and I need a job" Keely smiled. "Oh why yes dear, I am in need of a helping hand. Have you got your reference" she smiled holding her hand out, "oh no, I didn't realise I needed a reference." Keely replied just like she had with all the previous shop owners, "oh dear, you must get one from Tommy" she smiled, confused Keely spoke " Tommy who?" The elderly woman laughed "you can tell you aren't from around here dear. You must see Thomas Shelby about getting a reference" Keely smiled "okay, thank you" she turned to leave the shop, the elderly woman spoke up "when you get it come to back to me dear, you have the job" she smiled kindly at Keely "oh thank you so much, I'll get the reference as soon as I can" Keely said as she left the shop.

As she made her way back to Mary's, she decided to stop at the church and say a few prayers. Keely entered the church quietly so not to disturb anyone inside, she was pleased to see there were no people inside. Making her way to the alter Keely paused to light four candles, one for each of her brothers and one for Aunt Karla. As she lit the last candle she heard someone entering the church, she didn't bother to look she just simply kneeled down to say a few prayers for herself and her brothers. She felt a hand tap her shoulder, furrowing her eyebrows together in confusion Keely turned to see an older woman smiling at her. "Sorry to interrupt, but who are you" the lady spoke with much power. "Oh it's fine, my name is Keely." "Keely? That's an unusual name" the lady spoke again letting her eyes look Keely up and down, Keely shifted uncomfortably. "It's Irish" she spoke, "ah so that's what the accent is" the lady smiled, she extended her hand " the names Polly" Keely kindly shook Pollys hand, "it's nice to meet you" she smiled. Polly questioned her further "so what brings a young Irish girl to Birmingham?" She watched Keely carefully, "oh my Aunt Karla sent me out here, she reckons I need to start living" Keely chuckled, polly smiled, "so where are you staying then?" "Marys b&b, down the road" Keely smiled, "oh yes, she's a lovely woman" Polly smiled warmly, "have you found a job yet?" Polly asked as she got up to light a candle, Keely watched her "yes I have, but I can't start until I get a reference from a man named Tommy I think she said" "ah you need a reference from my nephew" Polly smiled, "I could go with you to the lady now and tell her you don't need a reference from Tommy if you'd like" "yes please, that would be great" Keely beamed. Polly started towards the door, "come on then what are you waiting for" she called back to Keely.

Keely was glad she had met Polly that day, she now had a job and a place to stay. Things were turning out okay here in Birmingham. Keely heads back to Marys as its getting dark and she still isn't fully comfortable with her surroundings.