Peaky Blinders. One shot and imagines

Right hand man - Part 1 - Alfie x Reader

This is a kind of gender bender story, the reader character is female, but she pretends she's male to get on in life. This is only the first part, so things will play out more in the parts still to come. After this chapter it will be John x Reader, but for this first one, I begin with my favourite baker. Hope you enjoy.

"Richie!" Alfie called out from his office; a young man popping his head out from around the corner at the sound of the baker's voice.

"Yeah, boss?" The man asked, as he walked over to where Alfie now stood in the doorway.

"Don't ya forget that we av that meetin tomorrow, I want ya in early. I want ya ready for the Shelby's." Alfie told the him, as the man took a cigarette from its holder, lighting it and taking a deep drag as he followed the gangster into his office.

"No worries boss, I'm more than ready for any Shelby." The young man replied. Alfie shaking his head at the comment, doing his best to hold back the smile that always wanted to spring to his lips when he saw Richie.

Unknown to the young man, Alfie was well aware of what the boy he had taken to calling the face of the business really was. After all, he wasn't stupid, and as soon as he had laid eyes on the young man, he knew there was something different about him. Richie was well spoken, intelligent and always wore well-tailored suits with a shirt and tie, a cap perched on his head and a long black overcoat that swept behind him as he walked; yet under all that lay the truth.

Before Alfie had hired him, he had made it his business to ask around about the man who was as handy with his fists as he was with a knife and gun. Admittedly he had had to go to the other side of London to find out the truth, but when he did, Alfie couldn't help but be more intrigued.

According to his sources, Richie was in truth a young woman called (Y/n), an orphan that had grown up alone on the streets of London since her parents had died. Life had always been hard for her, as it was for many in the capital, but despite being a girl, she had gone out of her way to learn to fight, and she had fought for everything, for food, honour, pride, money, and especially her life. She had taken to dressing like a boy, cutting her hair like the other around her and strapping her breasts down when they became noticeable as she grew. By the time she was in her late teens (Y/n) had gained quite a reputation for herself, everyone but everyone knowing not to mess with the young woman.

But as the time passed, she wanted more. When the war ended, she had decided to move to another part of the city, trying to fit in with the men returning home. It was hard building up her reputation again and she had taken to telling everyone that her name was Richie, always referring to herself as a man, so that no one would know what she really was; well aware that being a man would allow her to do things that as a woman she could only hope to achieve.

Richie had been introduced to Alfie by one of the men that worked for him, and when he had found out the secret of the young man, he had to hire him, finding himself curious about what the outcome would be of her being one of his boys. He hadn't been sure how long Richie would last, but a year later Richie was still by his side, more faithful to him than any of the others that worked for him, and to Alfie, such loyalty was important. Such loyalty deserved loyalty in return, the baker never telling anyone else about Richie's secret, and as far as the other boys were concerned, the young man was just one of them.

Over time, the others had taken to calling Richie 'The Dandy', as when he made his way through the streets, he cut that much of a fine figure of a man that he had become one of the most eligible bachelors in that part of London; and wherever he went, the girls seemed to levitate to him. The whole thing making Alfie chuckle to himself whenever he was alone in his office.

"I'm sure ya are Richie, but I just want ya ta be careful. Never drop ya fuckin guard, yeah.........." Alfie told him, as he patted him on the shoulder.