angel | the peaky blinders

2. hustlers ambition

     WHEN THE MEN RETURNED from the war everyone thought everything would go back to normal but just as Malaeya predicted, everything didn't go back to normal knowing everyone would be naive to that idea.

It had been a few weeks since the men were welcomed home and the city had fallen into a depressive state again but this time, the men were the ones in a constant state of trauma and fear.

Malaeya could look in one males eyes and see the horror that they experienced in France for 5 years non-stop. The trenches, the guns, the mud, the blood, the brains, the bodies, the clothing, the smoke and the constant shouts and screams of their comrades or enemies.

The Original gazed into her teacup as she sat in the Shelby household. Her slim legs sitting on top of one another and her slender fingers wrapped around the teacup. Polly stared at her, watching her go back and forth from a daydream to reality.

Their friendship was quite peculiar from the outside looking in. Although Malaeya saw Polly as a mother figure, they acted like the best of friends. Age difference be damned.

     Malaeya and Polly have a good understanding of one another and a bond that can never be broken. A bond that was similar to Polly's and her nephews, Thomas.

     Thomas Shelby, the second born son of the family was also quite a peculiar man with bold interests and ambitions. Malaeya's learned quite a lot from just observing him the past couple weeks. No need for dialogue, only her eyes.

     When Malaeya met the Shelby brothers the day they came back it went rather well just like she hoped. Arthur Shelby Jr took a liking towards her, saying you're the prettiest girl I've ever met in my life.

     John Shelby had the same reaction to Arthur but he was also very grateful to Malaeya for the help with his kids. She could tell his kids meant the world to him just by how he switched emotion from lust to gratitude in seconds when he thought of his four kids.

     Malaeya let him know she was always here to help look after them if he needed it. She was devastated to find out John's wife and the children's mother, Martha, passed away from consumption not too long before John went to war. Knowing the kids had just lost their mother and their father... she knew she had to help in any way she could and she will continue to do so.

     Thomas Shelby, however, was the opposite to his brothers. After hugging and greeting his family he then acknowledged Malaeya, nodding at her as he stated his name, her doing the same. Polly went further and explained to the three men who she was and what she's done for the city and their family. The three boys looked impressed but it shattered when they took in their surroundings.

     Thomas looked around the train station with a distant look in his eye. Malaeya could get lost in his eyes they were that blue. They were so blue, like a light blue. Like her brothers ocean eyes.

     "Malaeya?"

     Malaeya let her eyes flutter as she returned to the land of the living and out of her own head. She looked at Polly who held a curious expression on her face, wondering what the Original was thinking to cause her to go deep into thought.

     "Apologies Pol," Malaeya sipped her cold tea, grimacing at the taste. "Were you saying something?"

     Polly tsk'd with a smirk on her face. She knew. "You were thinking of our Tommy eh?"