you want it darker { tommy shelby }

nine: revolution blues

"you never see us cos we don't come around,
we got twenty five rifles just to keep the population down."
——

The flames of the bonfire danced off the wild faces of Small Heath's residents brilliantly. Not everyone knew the reason for the burning of the King's likeness, but they all knew it was to do with the recent trashing of their homes. All of the residents were angry. None more than the Peaky Blinders. The police had struck while the Peaky boy's were at the fair, when they knew there was no real protection. Every local pub was decimated, all but The Garrison.

It was clever, Iris had to give them that. Do it while the men are away and leave their pub to make it seem like they were in on it. But it wasn't clever enough. It only gave Thomas a platform to embarrass the police even more. He had devised a plan to burn the picture's of the King in order to lure in the press, who could then inform the country of the brutality of the police against innocent women and children. It had worked a treat. Almost every household had showed up, and the ones that didn't would surely be questioned tomorrow by one of the Peaky men.

Iris was stood with John and Arthur, the three of them sharing a bottle of whiskey as they staring in to the flames. Thomas was stood opposite them with a reporter for a local newspaper. Iris could almost read Thomas' lips. She had been the one to give him the speech about the loyalty of the locals to the king and the brutality they faced. Every few seconds, his blue eyes would meet her own through the dancing fire. It was a silent confirmation; it was his way of saying 'I'm doing the right thing. I'm doing as you say'.

After a few minutes, Tommy sent the reporter away. Iris instantly hurried over to him. "So? What happened?"

"I told him what to write, just like you said." He said simply.

"You mentioned your medals?"

Thomas almost winced at the mention of his awards - they weren't something he liked to talk about. "Yes, I mentioned the medals."

"Good." She linked her arm with his own. "We'll get those bobbys for doing this to us."

He didn't reply, instead he let his eyes get lost in the roaring bonfire.

"Shall we go home? You can tell me about what happened at the fair." She reached up to his cap and turned it inside out. "I can see the blood on the razors."

Tommy nodded. "I saw Johnny today." He said casually as they made their way through the crowd. The people parted within seconds for the couple as they walked. No one wanted to get in the way of these two.

"You did? Is it him who you bloodied your knuckles on?"

"No. That was the Lee boys."

Iris rolled her eyes. "Why were you fighting with the Lee boys, Thomas? You shouldn't fight with other gypsy families, your mother always told you that."

"It was my mother we were fighting over." Tommy said through gritted teeth. "They disrespected her. So we cut them."

"Oh."

Tommy opened the door to their house and let his wife in. "No doubt there'll be a war after that."

"No doubt. You sure we can handle a war with the Lee's? Especially considering all the race fixing we've been doing." She sighed. "We'll be hearing from Kimber soon, I expect."

"I'm sure."

The couple walked into their bedroom and simultaneously flopped onto their bed. Iris winced as she felt something prick into her arm and leant forward to see it was an envelope with her name written on it.