Dead Prayer - Peaky Blinders

Summary

Elizabeth Gray was ten years old when she was ripped from her mother and taken by the Parish. It didn't matter that she was young, she had a very good idea of what her real family looked like and had wished to find them once she turned 18 and got enough money. 

Though she did get a bit sidetracked along the way.

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Lily's first adoptive family could not afford to care for Lily along with the other expenses in their life. Though when they gave her up three years later when she was 13 - she did not go back to the same orphanage but a different one in London. A new family shortly adopted Lily, this family happened to be Jewish, and once adopted Lily converted to Judaism.  

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This is how Lily met Alfie.

Lily began to model at the age of 18 and met Alfie a few months later, at an event in which she was wearing one of the designer's dresses. Lily actually approached Alfie first, whilst he was staring at a painting which contained many circles. They stood side by side staring at the painting until Lily asked Alfie if he knew the meaning behind the painting. Resulting in a long conversation about art and how it changed. Alfie's strong accent and crude language surprised her but she found it funny and slightly relieving. Her job involved men lying to impress her and trying to win her over - it never worked. Alfies brutal honesty and sarcasm impressed her though, it was that he was different and didn't care. 

It was weeks after this encounter that they met again and again and again. They seemed to always bump into each other. Soon Alfie was asking whether or not she'd like to go out for a drink and then it was dinner. It was only a few months later that they began seeing each other regularly. 

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Her adoptive parents Mr and Mrs Goldmann decided it was time for Lily to get married just after she turned 20, seeing as Mrs Goldmann got married to her now husband at that age. Alfie just happened to be on their list of possible suitors, her adoptive parents saw that he was the obvious choice when they saw her light up as he entered the room. 

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They got married in 1920 - the wedding was huge and it was very obvious that the couple adored each other. 

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Lily continued her modelling on the side and helped Alfie down in the office when she was not at work. Lily modelled under the name Elizabeth Gray - she had a vague idea where the name come from, having heard it often in her early years of life. 

It was only two years later that she met Tommy Shelby. He had sent a telegram to her husband - Alfie - about what she didn't know, she tried not to get too involved in what Alfie did and it was to make sure she was protected. Tommy Shelby seemed to recognise her at first sight and gave her the address of her mother - Polly Gray - after talking business with her husband. Alfie was happy that she had finally found her real family but slightly concerned about how this would affect business going forward. 

This ended up resulting in many letters and even phone calls being exchanged. Ada Shelby who was her cousin and lived in London, Lily managed to visit her a few times to gain more knowledge about her family. 

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Lily visited her family in 1924 when Alfie went to Birmingham to help Tommy out. It was very emotional and Polly could easily see how much Lily loved Alfie, Lily's description of him to them being "honest and blunt but secretly he's a big teddy bear". 

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When Alfie and Tommy fell out Lily sided with Alfie once again losing her family. It wasn't until she met Tommy again on the beach after he shot her husband and Lily tried to take her own life to be with Alfie that the family reconciled. Luckily both Alfie and she survived. Even though she was officially dead to the world as was her husband she kept in brief touch with Polly.   

It was a few months later that she found out that she was pregnant and eventually met her mother again.  

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I'm going to write about part of her life and not all of it. Manly key moments.