Treat You Better ➳ PEAKY BLINDERS (on hiatus)

ii.

 A NEW FRIEND 

~~~

Shock, amazement, wonder. All three emotions raged through Ivy's mind. She was speaking to the leader of the Peaky Blinders and in Birmingham! Her father had spoken about them a lot. He always complained that they were getting too big for his liking. He told her that they were a group of gangsters, cut-throats, that doubled as book-makers. He said that they were called the 'Peaky Blinders' because they blinded people with the razor blades stitched into their peaked caps. Ivy had always held a type of curiosity about them and now, she was finally meeting them. It was obvious when the girl thought about it. She knew that she was in Birmingham because of the accents and the smell, a man called Tommy saved her, and it was probably a razor blade that was in the hat. The pieces all slipped into place. But she was also confused for what felt like the hundredth time that day. 'Why would a gang of cut-throats and thieves save me?' She just didn't understand. Maybe her father was lying just because they were his competition? Either way, the girl was grateful that they took her far away from London, even if they were a bunch of strangers. After all, if they couldn't be trusted and were going to kill her, wouldn't they have done it already like Tommy said back in the bedroom?

Her thoughts came to a fast halt when she heard a knock at the door. "Come in." Thomas Shelby ordered. The first glimpse of ginger hair was all Ivy needed to know that it was Finn who had just been beckoned in. He had his eyes on the floor, was he always like this? "You can come closer, Finn. She doesn't bite." Thomas ordered the boy. Finn came closer to the pair but still remained at the bottom of the steps. "Aunt P-Polly is here to see you." He stuttered. "Take Ivy and introduce her to everyone. Make her feel at home, Finn." Thomas instructed and gestured to the small girl before him. Finn nodded, agreeing to his orders and Ivy followed him out of the door. Up close, Finn towered over the girl. He held maybe a foot over her in height but despite his height, Ivy didn't find him intimidating in any way. Thomas stopped the teenagers before they could get all the way out, "Ivy. If you have any questions, I'm sure Finn will be happy to answer them."

"Okay. Thank you, Thomas." She responded before walking out of the door. They walked back into what was definitely their betting shop. Now, only four people remained: three men and one woman. "Um, I've been asked to introduce you all." Everybody's heads snapped towards Finn and Ivy. They all waited for Finn to speak. "This is Arthur, my oldest brother." A slim man with a moustache nodded to say 'Hi' and the girl returned his gesture with a smile. He then pointed to the man with the wonky hat and pout "That there is John, my other brother." He winked at Ivy and a red tint appeared on her face."This is Isaiah, he's the son of the preacher." A tall boy with dark skin walked up to the pair. He raised Ivy's hand up to his lips, bowed and kissed it. She snorted at the action and whispered a small, "Hi." Finn finally pointed to the woman in the room. She was fairly short with curly brown hair. She was standing next to John. "This is Esme. She's John's wife," Ivy gave her the same smile that she had given to Arthur earlier. "And everyone, this is Ivy." The people in the room gave her a nod or a smile and she returned the favour. "I'm Finn, as you can probably tell," He laughed when he spoke. "I'm the youngest out of the four brothers." Ivy's eyebrows furrowed, "Four?" she questioned as he had only said that John and Arthur were his brothers. "Yeah, four. Me, John, Arthur and Tommy."