𝐒𝐎𝐌𝐄𝐃𝐀𝐘 peaky blinders

iii. CHERRY REDS

ACT: ONE
CHAPTER iii: ' cherry reds. '

The small Montgomery household had never been as quiet as it was when Eli came home from work the weekend after Ada's party. Normally, she was greeted by both her sisters screaming at each other as soon as she got through the doorstep.

But it was silent, making her wonder what the little devils had done. She wondered if their parents had murdered the two yet before quickly dismissing the idea. Her parents would be too lazy to dump the bodies and they would be more likely keep the twins alive simply to avoid stirring up too much attention towards them. God knows they got enough as it was.

"Eli," her father's voice found her first as she walked towards the kitchen with a small bag of groceries her mother had asked her to pick up on the way home. "You jus' in?"

"Aye," the blonde nodded as she walked into the room and saw him sitting at the kitchen table with a cigarette in one hand and a glass of whiskey in the other. "Where's ma and the wee devils?"

"Shopping," Eamonn answered after snorting in amusement at the nickname she'd given the twins. "Your ma said she had to get the twins' new shoes because they wrecked their last pair jumping in feckin' puddles on the way home from school."

Eli chuckled lightly. She may or may not have taught them which ones had the biggest splash, back when she had to walk them to their primary school before she had to go to her own school. She missed those days, mostly the freedom she had as a kid. Being an adult wasn't all they hyped it up to be. It was filled with stress, depression and drinking until you couldn't walk.

"Did you get me the cigarettes I asked for?" He asked as she pulled one out and lit it before moving to unpack the fruit and vegetables from her bag.

Eli paused, cigarette between her cherry coloured lips and her arm suspended in mid-air with a tin of peas in her hand as she turned her head over her shoulder to face him. "Ma didn't tell me you wanted any."

Eamonn sighed before he pushed himself to his feet, sticking his own cigarette between his lips as he grabbed the ashtray and lighter from the table. God knows if he left it there for Marie to find out he was smoking in the kitchen again, his head would be hanging from his shoulders. With both him and Eli being the other smokers in the family, Marie only permitted smoking in the parlour or outside — certainly not in the kitchen where she prepared their family meals. But her efforts to contain the stench of smoke and ash failed every time she left the house because Eamonn and Eli never took to listening to her moaning,

"Fecks sake, now I'm gonna have to go to the shop. Do me a favour and watch the chicken in the oven while I'm out."

Nodding in response, the blonde continued unpacking the food as she listened to her father shuffle on his coat by the front of the house before the sound of the door opening and slamming shut behind him graced her ears.