A Gangster With Roses • Tommy Shelby

she's the past

"And what happened to bribing and selling the drugs, to rig the races?" John questions, confused on Tommy's sudden change of plans.

The only reason they had stolen the drugs was to sell it before the races. You see, one way to rig the races was to drug the other horses, so their horse had a chance of winning. Winning meant more bets. And more bets meant more money.

"Well, I've come to realise that it has it's other uses. Doesn't mean we can't do both." Tommy informs.

"And what about the guns, Thomas?" Aunt Polly wasn't convinced or having it. "It's meant to get to America two weeks from now. With that new mayor and police force around it won't be a matter of time before they're on the case."

The gang was meant to steal a crate of handguns coming in from Cuba at the export docks, but instead the Peaky Blinders ended up mixing it up with a crate full of crucial guns that belonged to the British Army being sent out to American troops in the worlds biggest army base.

"Don't you worry Aunt Pol, when they come looking, they won't find it with us."

"Well, who will they find it with?" Ada asks the question everyone had on their mind with curiosity.

"Billy Kimber."

John laughs sarcastically. "Billy fucking Kimber, Tom? Really? You don't think he'll catch on?"

"Wait, I thought you agreed on working with him? You're not meant to set him up." Ada was beyond puzzled what was going on now.

The plan was to betray him from the start.

Tommy knew that from the second he sat down in the pub yesterday. He was going to knock Billy out the horse betting game, drug game and crime all together. Not all at once, but gradually. In disguise as an alliance.

It was easy, all Tommy had to do was give him the crate of guns like he wanted, send an anonymous tip off and have the police arrest him. He could get hung for stealing those.

Then he could take over at the races.

But before that, he needed to look like he was working with him, but actually, slowly stealing his businesses.

Billy had to be at his weakest before he could strike.

"It's all a tactic, there's no friends in this game, only enemies that work together. He's just another obstacle we need to overcome to get to the top." Tommy puts on his peaky cap on and starts to leave.

"I didn't say the meeting was over!" Arthur calls out to Tommy who was already heading to the front door.

The industrial air of Small Heath fills his nostrils and Tommy takes a deep breath.
He steps out, walking down the path of the concrete street.

Then, something catches his eye.

A 1919 Rolls Royce pulled up at the opposite side of the street. It wasn't very often you saw luxury cars in a not so luxurious area. Undoubtedly, this struck Tommy's curiosity.

A woman gets out, in a beautiful light blue dress with gold embroidered into it and white gloves. Her dirty blonde hair was slicked back into a low loosely braided bun with a white ribbon to hold it up.

Inquisitively, she looks around.

It was Rose Kimber.

A man closes the door behind her and watches her cross the street.

Immediately, Tommy throws his cigarette on the ground and paces up to her from behind.

"Did you get lost on the way to a fancy tea party in London?"