ɬῳıʂɬɛɖ - ɬ.ʂɧɛƖცყ

22

Iduna gets dressed up in the morning, using some of her fancy clothes before she applies her makeup. Tommy walks into her room, fully dressed holding a cup of tea.

"Here," He says, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

"I can't believe that out of all of you, John was the one who made Polly cave," Iduna says and Tommy nods.

"John has his moments," Tommy says and presses a kiss to her neck.

"I'm almost finished," Iduna says, painting her lips red and shrugging on her cream coat.

"You look beautiful," Tommy says, his lips still lingering on her neck.

"Thank you," Iduna says with a smile.

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They pull up outside Polly's house and Iduna begins pressing the horn, as they all laugh.

"This is a respectable fucking neighbourhood" Polly yells and Iduna just holds the horn down, laughing.

"Don't you look dapper?" Iduna asks as Michael walks out in one of John's old suits. They climb into the back of the van.

"Iduna," Michael says and the woman looks up. "Where are you from? You don't have a Birmingham accent."

"I was born in London," Iduna says. "Left when I was seventeen"

"What's London like?" Michael asks.

"The daytime is pretty average, just like people going about their daily lives," Iduna says. "But at night, London comes alive. You can hear every club, playing their own music as people dance in the clubs or in the streets. It's beautiful"

"Do you miss it?" Michael asks.

"Sometimes," Iduna says. "But then if I never left London, I never would have met your mother or any of the Shelby family"

"What about your family?" Michael asks.

"They're small-minded people, Michael," Iduna says, with a shrug. "I don't associate myself with them for that reason. What was the countryside like?"

"Beautiful," Michael says. "The day was beautiful because you could see all the wildflowers in the fields and the horses grazing but at night, we had fireflies in our garden. They would light up and fly around. Why does my mum love Seb so much?"

"I was a nurse in the war," Iduna says. "I left Seb with Polly so Polly raised him for almost three years. They both are really attached to one another. I think Seb filled the void that you and your sister being taken from her created"

The van stops and Tommy opens the door.

"She's heating up, Curly" Tommy says. "Take a look"

"Yeah," Curly says, climbing out of the van clumsily.

"What is wrong with him?" Michael asks politely.

"The war," Iduna says. "Curly's brain couldn't deal with the trauma so he reverted to a kind of childlike innocence. He's a sweet man and a great friend. Great with horses"

"But not all there upstairs," Arthur says and Iduna kicks his shin hard, not allowing Arthur to disrespect Curly. "Oh, fucking hell woman"

Michael pulls sandwiches out of a bag.

"She made loads," He says, holding one out to Arthur. "Do you want one?"

"What the bloody hell is that?" Arthur asks.

"Sandwiches," Michael says. "Ham, I think. We've got shrimp paste too. There's tea but we'll have to take turns 'cause there's only one cup"

Michael spots Arthur staring.