Home Again

Brothers

"Have you found him?" Tommy inquired of the two men who had just entered the family compound.

"Sorry Mr. Shelby," one said, afraid to make eye contact.

"He just...got away," said the other.

"He got away," Tommy repeated blankly, his emotions imperceptible. He looked from one man to the other as they shied from his gaze. "You can leave now," he said. They did as they were told.

Once he was alone, Tommy sighed. He shook his head and walked back to his room. It took him a while. He ignored all of the family portraits, specifically the ones that had included his son. Tommy could not remember how it had all happened. One day, he had just looked up and his baby boy was estranged. Who's to say whose fault it was but, as he was accustomed to doing, Tommy took the blame. There seemed to be an impenetrable wall that separated him from the whole world. And there had only been one to ever climb past it.

He went to his washroom and removed his suit jacket then his vest then his tie. He unbuttoned his collared shirt and took it off, revealing his bare chest. He was thankful that after all these years and all this money, he still had the same body, the same skin. His black tattoo still sat on his left pectoral, shooting out in all directions. His ran his fingers across it. A sound came from the bedroom and he turned his head. Tommy withdrew from the bathroom to see Toni, dressing herself. Her slip exposed everything above her collarbone, her arms, everything below her thighs, and the silky silhouette of her small body. Tommy leaned against the door and watched her.

"Where are you headed?" He asked.

She turned her head unsurprised, somehow already attuned to his presence. "Polly asked me to take tea with her," she faced him.

"Oh," he said, reaching into his pocket for a cigarette.

"Is everything else okay?" He asked.

She warmed him with her brown eyes then came closer. "No," she said, gently clasping his neck, "but it will be."

He nodded at her before closing his eyes and resting his forehead against hers. She soothed the back of his neck and smiled. He looked at her again and kissed her deeply, fully on the mouth. Tommy then buried himself in the crease of her neck. She held him together as their bodies hummed in unison.

"What are you going to do?" She asked.

"I'm going to ask some old friends for help," Tommy said.

Toni tilted an eyebrow in his direction. "What are you planning, Thomas Shelby?" She asked.

He looked at her, a smile in his eyes for the first time in a long while. "I figure I'll do what you're always ask me to...reconnect with family."

~

"Mr. Shelby, you need stitches," was the first thing Junior heard as he opened his eyes.

"What? No I-ahh" He was interrupted by a sharp pain in his back.

"Please don't move, you'll just make it worse," Clover said, coaxing him to lie back onto the couch.

"You gotta tell me what happened," he struggled to sit upright.

"I thought I already told you."

"Just give me more detail."

"Well," she started, "you went to wager day, which is when all the workers gather and beat the living essence out of each other for the sake of a few pence. Somehow your stroke of madness landed you in the middle of all of them. You chose an unlucky day to fight, though. My uncle, the man from the restaurant, was in town and he fights there all the time...undefeated. You were his only challenger in a long while. When I heard the news, I came running, thinking one of the two of you was bound to get hurt. I found you shirtless, on the ground, bleeding. No one cared and the games moved on. Well, one person cared. Joe helped to carry you back here. Told me to warn you never to cross his way again...He has brothers, you know.

By now, Junior had a cigarette in his mouth and was reaching for matches. He pulled out his wallet, where he usually kept them.

"What the fuck?" He searched his wallet, the matches falling out. "Where's all my money?"

"I don't know-"

"Where the fuck is my money?" He grabbed her arm.

She pulled away, "I don't know!"

He calmed his breathing. Then after a moment, "Yes, you do know. Loser's gotta pay right?"

She stayed quiet.

"Take me to your uncles. Now."

"You're reacting this way over a few pounds?" She became indignant. "I didn't have to do this or anything for you so you can just fuck off." She jumped up to leave when she heard a familiar click. Over her shoulder she saw his weapon aimed right at her. 

~

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