smoke storm. peaky blinders

𝗢𝗻𝗲

𝙘 𝙝 𝙖 𝙥 𝙩 𝙚 𝙧   𝙤 𝙣 𝙚

Silence gripped the air like a graveyard. It was oddly warm for February, and the mist rolled in against the mud-slick ground in hot, suffocating heaps. For a Saturday morning too, the quietness was unusual. It was almost as if their arrival was expected, an unseen force clearing the platforms of any nuisance or problem.

The two Davis siblings had arrived from Newcastle, carrying a single padlocked luggage bag between them. As they stepped from the huffing train, Harry took the suitcase from his sister's hands and hurried in front, eyes skimming along the road the station emerged into, of which was also somewhat empty. A sleek, black car was waiting on the very steps of the entrance way, driven there by one of the gang's most trusted members, Robert Murphy, a man old enough to remember Queen Victoria's period of mourning, but a brilliant man nonetheless. It was Robert who acted as a messenger as such, but to call him such a title was to down play his expertise. It was Robert who'd paved their way south.

Though the fact was surprising, it hadn't taken long to set up their arrangements for the journey to Birmingham. Connections had helped, of course, but with their sister and father staying at home, things were made significantly easier. With their goal in mind, Adelaide and her brother had set out as soon as possible, filled with pride and arrogance, a dangerous but effective mixture.

The plan was simple. Make them known.

Dense fog curled around her ankles as Adelaide stepped from the shelter of the station and out into the street. Robert met her with open arms, the deep, withered lines of his face creasing as he grinned. She allowed herself to return the expression, wrapping her own arms around his torso.

"You've grown since I last saw you," he said, his voice cheerful and loud.

"Maybe you've just shrunk," she said, earning a laugh from the old man.

"And you, lad, filled out a bit, have you?"

Harry looked down at his arms, flattered, though they all knew he was only being polite with the compliment.

"You've not changed, have you, Rob?"

The siblings climbed into the back of the car, a luxury they hadn't seen in a while. The drive to their unknown destination was spent in a peaceful silence- a welcome lack of sound in which they glanced from the windows, watching as the never ending sameness ensued. Equally, the rows of houses were dull and saddening, and Adelaide looked upon them and the people that killed around them with a sense of familiarity. It looked like her home. Despite the poverty, there was a sense of liveliness in place of the despair.

As they moved along, driving purposefully slow, Robert pointed out different areas of the streets, switching from places he liked to drink to the places that the Peaky Blinders frequented.

"The Garrison," Rob shouted out, his finger pointing to a rather grim looking pub at the end of the road. "That's where the Peaky boys meet. The Shelbys, the leaders are called."

Adelaide knew their names, but she wished she could place them to faces. Blurs filled the spaces where eyes and lips should have been, in her thoughts. A faceless enemy was a dangerous one- she knew that better than anyone, given that her business depended on it.

She sat once again with her head placed against the cold window, dark eyes never leaving the run-down building until they'd turned the corner into yet another similar street. When she turned to Harry, he was already looking at her, ready to return the small, fleeting smile that upturned her reddened lips. Adelaide attempted a look of encouragement. Whether it worked or not, she couldn't know- Harry always had a look of despair on his face, as if he could sense that something was going wrong at each second of the day. Their father called it balance: Harry was the cautiousness to Adelaide's recklessness, but she'd never taken notice.

The car finally pulled up to a small flat near the outskirts. It was modest, as they'd requested, with two boxy bedrooms and a kitchen that doubled as a sitting room. It was an old build, as most of the properties in the area were, but it had clearly been neglected for a long while, if the damp spots that seeped through dated beige and floral wallpapers, were anything to go from. It was comfortable enough to live in, however, and Adelaide thanked Robert readily. 

From the moment they stepped into their rooms, they began to unpack their limited possessions. Neither of the two siblings complained or sighed, nor did they speak another word until the cigarettes were lit and the whiskey was poured.

"What do you think?" Adelaide said finally, her head resting against the wall that her chair leaned against.

"God's honest truth?"

"God's honest truth," she repeated the say as the two always did.

"I still don't quite understand why we're here."

Adelaide smiled gently. Her brother had always been her soft spot, not matter how naive and young he could be.

The cigarette was brought to her lips, before she spoke, the smoke trailing across her lips up to her nose.

"Because, Harry, having just Newcastle isn't enough," she said, watching his face for any minute reaction, but he gave nothing away, as he was taught. "I won't stop until we're the best of the best. And we need to take Birmingham, to do that."

❦

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