Dorothy » Alfie Solomons

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Tommy and Aunt Polly stood in Tommy's office arguing as Dorothy marched past the room pulling her black gloves over her hands. Noticing the noise Tommy walked away from his Aunt and towards his sister.

"Dorothy?!" Tommy snapped as he walked away from Polly."Yes, brother." Dorothy asked turning around. "Where are you off too?" Tommy asked glancing at her outfit. "Wearing that...." Tommy added glancing curiously at his sister. "I thought we ran a modern enterprise that believes in equal rights for women," Dorothy replied glaring harshly at her brother. "Those were your words." Dorothy snapped pushing past Tommy.

Dorothy stood by the Birmingham docks waiting for her horse to arrive. Turning around she noticed a couple of Tommy's prawns watching her from a distance. "Fuck you," Dorothy muttered under her breath, annoyed her how brother controlled every aspect of her life.

"Dorothy Shelby?" A voice asked. Turning around she saw a man holding the reigns of a beautiful beast. "Thank you so much." Dorothy grinned taking the money out of her pocket and handed it to the man.

Smiling kindly at the man she senesced how nervous the horse was. Softly placing her hand on the horse's neck she whispered a few calming words into the horse's ear and gently stroked the dark brown coat. Gripping the reigns she pulled herself up onto the horse and rode him out of the docks.

Dorothy sat proud and tall atop her horse as she steered the horse towards the stables. "Good morning Curly." Dorothy smiled kindly and at the stable hand. Getting off of the horse Dorothy handed the reigns to Charlie."He's a beauty." Curly replied grinning at the horse.

"He's a little bit nervous but I wouldn't trust anyone but you with him," Dorothy explained as Curly led the horse into the stable. "Does Tommy know anything about him?" Curly asked. "No this is just between you and me." Dorothy smiled as Curly let out a little chuckle.

"Aunt Polly said you needed to talk to me," Dorothy stated walking into Tommy's office. "I want you to come with John, Arthur and I on a trip to London," Tommy explained pouring himself and Dorothy a glass of whiskey. "Sure" Dorothy replied with a shrug before downing the contents of the glass.

Dorothy walked down the stairs with her hands in her suit trousers as she tucked her hair into her cap, carefully dodging the razor at the back of the cap. Looking over at his sister Tommy groaned at Dorothy's new obsession with wearing trousers.

"Seven o'clock, twelve o'clock and ten if I'm still sober. It's to calm me down." Arthur explained as Tommy took the bottle and stared curiously at the label. "Polly took me to the doctor." Arthur continued as Tommy handed the bottle to Dorothy. Unscrewing the top, Dorothy sniffs the contents of the bottle and handed it back to Tommy.

"Same stuff they used to give us in the trenches to stop us wanking," Tommy explained and passed it to Dorothy, who stood next to him. "Polly said I need it for my temper. It slows me down. " Arthur explained looking down shamefully. Tommy nods gently and snatches the bottle from Dorothy and poured the contents into the gutter. The liquid is thick and syrupy and takes time. "I need you fast not slow," Tommy explained.

The door flies open and John joins the group, buttoning his shirt up. "She wouldn't let go of my fucking leg," John explained. "You're sure it was your leg." Dorothy snickered laughing quietly to herself. "She's against this Tom. She's got opinions." John explained glaring at Dorothy slightly. "Some things Polly doesn't understand," Tommy stated tossing the medicine bottle away into a trash can.

Dorothy moved towards the passenger seat and climbed and closed the door behind her as she smiled at Tommy, who sat next to her in the driver's seat.