Angel

5

            "So I'm a fucking pawn now, am I?" I asked angrily, following Tommy out of the bakery. "It had to be done, Lena. There was no other way I could get him to agree," Tommy sighed in response. "Are you fucking kidding me Thomas?" I yelled. He stopped down a block, taking a drag outside a building. "Look, all you have to do is take care of any injuries his men sustain. You can stay in London on weekends, and you'll have a car for transportation between here and Small Heath," Tommy sighed. He may have used me as a pawn, but it really didn't seem like I'd be in any danger. I huffed at him, taking the cigarette from his hands and taking a long drag. His eyes moved from me as he chuckled, focusing on a figure approaching. "Ada!" he yelled, and I whirled around to see my sister reaching us. "How the fuck did you find me? What, are you reading Polly and Lena's letters?" Ada asked angrily, glaring at Tommy. "Polly showed me the letter. Look, you think you're safe because you've moved flats, but you're not. Polly and Lena think the same," Tommy told her.

            Ada looked to me, and I opened my mouth to speak, "Ada, I know what happened to you out here alone, the same happened to me when I was walking alone that night. Please, come home." She looked back to Tommy, sighing in frustration. "Look, when will you understand? I just want you all out of my life," she said. "Ada, look at us, eh? Look at Lena. And it'll happen again," Tommy insisted. "Yeah, well, next time I'll be ready. In fact, I want them to try again. Cause I'll shoot their balls off," Ada said, pulling a pistol out of her handbag. "Ada, put the fucking gun away," Tommy pleaded. "Get away from me. I'm late for work," Ada spat. "Alright, fine. Fine. Just take this. Take it," Tommy said, handing her a folded envelope that had two keys inside, "Where you're living now is right on the edge of Sabini's territory. And all the coppers round here work for him. I've got a lot of money coming in that I can't put through the banks. My accountant says the best thing is to buy property for cash and put it in the name of a family member." "A house? A whole house?" Ada asked skeptically. "It's all yours. Four stories, eight bedrooms, kitchen, scullery, and rooms for a maid if your political conscience will allow. Oh, and Lena will be staying with you Friday through Sunday of every week. At least go and have a look, eh?" Tommy said, the corners of his lips turning up.

            Silence fell, and Ada looked to me. "Let's go and have a look then, eh?" she said, linking her elbow with mine. I gave Tommy a curt nod as a goodbye and dragged Ada to my car. "Where's Karl?" I asked, and she gave me an address. "Why does he want you to stay with me every weekend?" she asked as I drove. "It's part of a business deal. I'm a certified nurse...and he promised Alfie Solomons my services for him and his men on the weekends," I told her quietly. "He's using you?!" she roared in anger. "Ada, calm down. I won't be in any danger I'm just the fucking nurse alright?" I rolled my eyes, "It's nothing I haven't done before. Always having to patch our brothers up." That earned me a laugh from her. We made small talk, mostly on the subject of Karl as we drove, finally arriving to pick him up.

             I sat in the car as Ada rang the bell and a woman handed Karl off to her. She took him in her arms and joined me in the car. "Auntie Lena!" Karl yelled, reaching his pudgy arms out to me for a hug. "Hello my little love," I chuckled, hugging him tightly before handing him back to Ada. "Now, let's have a look at our new home, shall we?" I said, and started the drive out to the address Tommy had given Ada. "Holy fuck," I whispered in awe as I parked outside the address. "Holy fuck," Ada echoed as she stood. We walked up to the door together, holding each of Karl's hands, and Ada unlocked the door. A grin spread across her face as Karl ran inside laughing, "Go have a look what you think," Ada said to him softly. "Ada," I breathed, "Ada this is incredible." She nodded, unable to speak. "Can you hear that?" she asked finally as Karl babbled. "Silence at last," I answered her. "And it belongs to us," she breathed, and we clasped our hands together, grinning as we started to explore the house. There were two parlours, one the second floor already set up with a ton of medical supplies, and I rolled my eyes at my brother's actions, knowing he'd done that.

            "Ada, which one will be my room?" I asked her as I reached the third floor, which was where most of the bedrooms were. She pointed to one adjacent to the one she'd picked for herself. "There's already clothes in both closets, and those two rooms have already been done up, there's even things set up for Karl," she said. I entered the room to find dressing gowns and robes already hanging in the closet. A large plush bed was in the middle of the room, big enough for two people to fit comfortably in. "Wow," I breathed. I could definitely get used to this. The silence was a most welcome change to the betting shop in Small Heath. I walked to the window, pushing the drapes open and letting the light into the room. Tommy may have used me to win over a Jewish gang, but my brother knew how to pick a damn house.

            "So who do you think decorated this place? There's no way Tommy did it all himself," Ada commented, striding into the room. "I-I honestly have no idea. Ada, this place is beautiful," I told her, and we smiled together. "So where are the Jewish gangsters going to be cared for?" she asked me as the smile faded from her lips. "One of the parlours is already filled with medical supplies and a couch and a cot," I told her, and she nodded. "I don't want them around Karl," she said coldly. "Ada, if you think I would let any of them near my darling nephew you are sorely mistaken. Besides, you don't think Tommy stocked the desk in that room full of guns and ammunition?" I asked, my eyebrows raised. Ada visibly relaxed, nodding, "Alright, alright. You have a point, but I still don't like the idea of Karl being so close to this, and you being upright involved in it," she said. "I don't like being involved in it either. But Tommy did mention that Alfie Solomons would never hurt a woman," I told her. "And you actually believe that?" she scoffed at me, sitting down on the bed in the middle of the room.

            "I met him Ada, I was there. There was something...different about his demeanor when he'd talk to me or look at me than when he'd talk to or look at Tommy. There's other sides to that man, Ada," I said, looking past her out the window and remembering our meeting. Ada groaned and my gaze turned to her as she shook her head and looked to me. "Lena, please tell me you don't feel anything for the Jewish mobster," she scolded, knowing how easily I tended to fall in love. "Ada, are you insane? I've only just met the man. I can't tell you that he's not handsome because he is, but all I'm saying is that I agree with Tommy, and I don't think he'd ever lay a hand on a woman, or a child for that matter," I told her. "Fine, you can think he's handsome, but if anything were to happen between you and that man, Tommy would kill him, and then you," Ada replied, rising to her feet. "You don't think I know that already?" I chuckled and she laughed as we exited the room and descended the stairs to the kitchen back down on the first floor.