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.

Then, with another puff of her cigarette, silence.

It wasn't very often Eli had the chance to be alone in her own house. Although, that was what she got for not having moved out yet. Her mother was always chirping in one ear while her little sisters talked the other one off. Perhaps, that was why her father and her were the 'quiet' ones of the family — in the house that was. It was a common occurrence for the two to share annoyed glances with one another as the other three females filled the silence with their constant screeching.

However, most of the noise came from her mother, Marie Montgomery, whom was very angsty about the fact her eldest daughter had yet to find a legible suitor. Eamonn, on the other hand, was fairly pleased with what his daughter had managed to make of her life. Running full time business left little spare time for her to go out and find a husband, only for him to stick his greedy hands into her pockets — Eamonn understood perfectly why she had little interest in marriage.

A loud knock came from the front door as Eli finished putting all the groceries away in their respective places. She frowned as she moved to answer it, wondering if her mother had forgotten to bring her key shopping with her. But that was not the case as she answered the door, only to find a young, handsome Shelby staring back at her.

"John?"

"Eli," John smirked as he stood on her doorstep with his hands in his pockets, casually running his eyes over her figure once she'd opened the door. "Nice seeing you again."

An exasperated sound left Eli's tinted red lips before she crossed her arms over her chest, taking another draw of her cigarette while being careful not to burn her arm as she brought it back down. "Why are you here, Shelby?"

"To ask what you're doing tomorrow, of course." John's smirk widened as he took in her reaction. "We're going to the races tomorrow and going out for dinner in the evening down by a nice restaurant Tommy managed to book for us."

After how many years of not speaking to one another and he thought it was acceptable to show up at her house out of the blue and ask her out on a date. Eli had already formulated an excuse as to why she couldn't go before he had even finished speaking. "I actually have plans—"

John sent her a flat look, knowing just how good of a liar she was. "Pol sent me over here to invite you. I'm not tryna get in your pants, love. And we both know your shop's closed tomorrow so you definitely aren't working."

Eli's eyes widened in realisation. She didn't comment on her lie or bother to hide the fact she had been about to lie straight to his face. "What time did you say?"

"Be ready for one." John chuckled, wondering why on earth they hadn't been friends in school before he realised it was probably due to him not being able to stick a friendship with a member of the female population without wanting something else out of it. "First race is at two. Dinners on us, Tommy says it's to thank you for all the hats you've supplied the Blinders with."

Eli rolled her eyes as he walked away from her after relaying everything he'd been told to say. "You better not be telling people that!"

"Shop at Eli's!" John yelled loudly as he strolled through the streets, turning back to smirk at her shell shocked expression. He spread his arms out wide as he continued to walk backwards, enjoying every minute of seeing the anger flicker across her face — her cheeks were nearly as red as her lips. "Everyone shop at Eli's! Best in the business! 100% Peaky Blinders approved!"

"John!" She scolded, tempted to run after him and smack him over the head for announcing to the entire neighbourhood that she was in business with criminals. "Shut the fuck up, dickhead!"

"Eli's! Eli's!" He cupped his hands around his mouth as he turned back to face the way he was going. "Best dress shop in the country! Willing to work with Blinders!"

"Shut up!" A voice came from one of the houses across the street, hanging out of the upstairs windows was an elderly man who looked like he had been just about to go to bed when John started yelling.

"Who the fuck do you think you're talking to, you ole wanker?!" John yelled back, stopping on the middle of the road to lift his middle finger at the man. "I'm John fucking Shelby, mate!"

The man paled considerable as his anger fell upon realising who he had told off. He quickly ducked back into the safety of his house and closed the window after him, no doubt locking it as well — not that it would do him much help if John did decide to inflict vengeance upon him for daring to speak to him in such a manner.

Eli felt the ghost of a smile on her lips, shaking her head in amusement at the scene before her. All the Shelby's ran Small Heath and she still couldn't help but to gawk at the sheer amount of influence each member of their family held over the people. Although, it didn't stop her from commenting on it. "You're a twat, John Shelby!"

John quickly turned his gaze back towards her and raised an eyebrow. Normally, he wouldn't let anyone speak to him like that and the only reason she got off with it was because of what Polly would do to him if he harmed Eli in any way. Pol had every one of her nephews on leashes when it came to messing with her precious Eli, who she looked after like she was her own daughter.

The blonde was, perhaps, her closest thing to a friend — despite the age gap and Pol would be damned if she let one of her wild nephews get near Eli. She'd seen enough of it at Ada's birthday, between both Arthur and John treating her like another common tart. Polly hadn't held back the next day when she nearly twisted both their ears off for their ungentlemanly behaviour.

However, John didn't care for how much of a scolding Polly would give him for flirting with the blonde. Plus, he quite liked her attitude. "I'd gladly show you my dick to prove you wrong, Eli Montgomery!"

Her face twisted in disgust as she gave him the finger this time. "Oh, fuck off!"