weaponised - a peaky blinders story

Four

1917,

When Evangeline left, she expected her life to be turned upside down and inside out all at once, but had never expected that her life would pan out how it had.

Her mother had took off to France and for two years, Evangeline and Amber lived in a small rundown cottage in Belfort. It was a lovely place, but eve despised it. She had to grow up as soon as they left as amber had no interest in taking care of her. Eve learnt to survive off of her mother's pathetic monthly food shop. She had learnt to clean her own clothes and wash her own hair. She's learnt how to clean and keep everywhere as tidy as she could. But the one thing eve had never managed to adapt to is the emptiness that shot through her chest constantly. How much she craved to be loved and cared for, how she wished for some sort of comfort or support, but the world had other plans for the small girl.

It wasn't all bad. She wasnt allowed to go to school as her mother couldn't afford it, either that or she'd rather spend her money on the white powder that she was consistently intoxicated by, but she was allowed to work. Amber had gotten Evangeline a job down at the local bakery as she didn't want to work herself. They were long hours for such a young girl, but the owner of the bakery took sympathy on the girl.

Marie was the first person in France to show Evangeline any sort of hope, soon becoming an almost grandmother like figure. Marie taught eve how to bake and read and write, also helping the girl learn a slight bit of french, though Evangeline couldn't hack it.

But, in 1909, eves mother had began bringing home the same man every night. Eve had a bad feeling about him but didn't pay to much attention as she thought it was just her mothers new hobby. But, by June he was moved in and a ring was on her mother's finger. The man wasn't french, Evangeline believed he was from Scotland, but wasn't too sure as she had never been or heard the accent before. Marcus was a rather tall man, a large belly and an even larger beard. He had quite dark features, which intimidated Evangeline to no end. At first, it wasn't much of a change, Marcus would do as her mother and sat to fill their nostrils with cocaine.

This all changed in the march of 1910. Her mother and Marcus decided to move back to England in Newcastle, but made sure that both Evangeline and amber had taken Marcus's last name in an attempt to keep under the radar. They lived in a rather large house in comparison to their place in France, but it was never even home, far from it. It broke Evangeline to leave Marie, she was her only support but now she was also in the past and eve knew she had to move on, she couldn't dwell on it as she had things to do and responsibilities, even if she lost another portion of herself.

Marcus hadn't been drafted to war due to some kind of medical claim, which was bullshit. He soon showed his true colours, when he had struck eve around the cheek. That night eve had limped to bed with a black eye, broken nose, bruised thighs and an even more broken heart than before. This soon became a regular occurrence, her mother would sometimes join in or she would sit and laugh, but either way she encouraged Marcus's behaviour.

At midnight on the 4th of august 1917, Evangelines 16th birthday, she had decided to finally achieve her plan of vengeance, which she had been planning for almost two years . While she was never a violent person, eves heart had almost completely frozen over by now. She held no sympathy for the man who had abused her all of these years, and even less for the mother that was supposed to love her and protect her. Eve had convinced herself that she could do it, it had been planned for months now, and eve had decided that even if she did get caught, hanging would be pure bliss compared to the torture she endured here.

She had stolen Marcus's hunting gun, hiding it behind her as she crept towards the living room where the couple sat, music blaring despite the time. Eve walked in to the room, her quivering body stood directly in-front of them, but their delirious state forced the to be almost paralysed in their seats.

"What the fuck are you doing up? Your at work tomorrow go to bed before I smack your brains sideways!" Marcus seethed, attempting to get up from his seat but the drugs pulled his body down  and chained him to the sofa.

"I ain't going to work tomorrow" Eve stumbled over her words, she couldn't find what to say or how to say it. She was trying her hardest to pull her nerves together but Marcus's laugh caused anger to begin pumping through her veins.

"The fuck do you mean you ain't going to work? Evangeline do you enjoy being beaten half to death?" He asked her, darkness clouding his eyes.

"I mean I'm not going to be here tomorrow, and neither are you." She told her, lifting the gun from behind her back and aiming straight at the man sat in front of her.

Her mother let out a scream of terror, going to scrabble from her chair, the drugs keeping her firm in pace as she looked like a struggling bug.

"Do you know what you did wrong?" Eve asked the man who sat infront of her, staring straight into her eyes. His facade was strong and if it wasn't for the tears that lined his eyes, she would think he didn't care.

"Go on, then Evangeline. Tell me what it is I did wrong and then shot me between the eyes, eh?" Slightly tripping over his own words.

"You didn't kill me when I was too young to fight back." She pulled the trigger, Marcus's body slumping over as eves eyes welled up. The adrenaline that pumped through her veins almost blocking out everything else.

Her mother was screaming and sobbing, scratching to get to her now dead husband but it was as if she couldn't move, couldn't breathe, couldn't see. Eve saw this, it was almost as if she saw her six year old self in her mother, begging for air, begging that her mummy would go over to help her. But of course, she hadn't helped her so eve would return the favour.

"You know the pain you're feeling now?" Eve asked her mother as she walked towards the sofa, now face to face with the woman that single handedly ruined her life.

"Why? Why! Why would you do that Evangeline why!" Her mother screamed in her face, spit now coating Evangeline's skin, not that she was too bothered.

"Because now you know how I felt when I was six, Amber. Six fucking years old but the difference is, I'm giving you the relief of death whereas you tortured me for ten fucking years." Eve replied to her mother's manic state, staring at the women with all the hatred she felt in her heart.

"Please! Please Evangeline, I'm sorry! Please! I'll do anything, I swear it! Please." Amber plead to the girl, who simply rolled her eyes at the audacity.

"Fuck you." Was eves final words to her mother before her body laid sprawled next to her husbands, blood leaking from the hole in her forehead.

As the adrenaline wore off, eve burst into tears. She had planned out how she would do it, but now what? How was a sixteen year old going to survive on her own with nobody?

Eves blood coated body slid down the wall opposite the deceased body's, tears fell at a rapid state as her body shuck at a high speed. Eves plan didn't include killing her mother, but her thirst for closure and revenge had overtaken her rational thoughts. She had just killed somebody, and not just one person but two. How could she do such a thing? How could she steal someone's life away from them? But the more she sat against that wall, starring at the two people she had just killed, the overwhelming feeling of dread wore off and she slowly realised that she didn't care that much, if anything she was relieved.

Why or how she didn't care was beyond her, but for some reason, she didn't. Maybe she was broken past repair, maybe she was just a shell of who she used to be, or maybe, she needed the release that it gave her, the weight that lifted off of her shoulders.

That night, eve cleaned up the blood, threw their body's in a local factories smoker and packed up all of her essential belongings. She had made a plan, how she was going to survive, she was going back to small heath and to her dad, he would take her in and love her. She knew it.