sabrina. peaky blinders

before

before

july 1914

The wind swept through the streets of Birmingham, curling around the corners of buildings and tugging at the loose hems of coats. It was mid-summer, but the air still carried a bite, the promise of warmth just out of reach. The city felt like it was holding its breath, expectant, uneasy, as if the ground was about to shift. There were whispers everywhere, though no one dared speak them too loudly.

War was coming. It hadn't yet arrived, but the tension, like the wind, was undeniable.

John Shelby stood by the canal, hands jammed into his coat pockets, staring at the sluggish water below.  It wasn't the kind of day that made you want to stand still, but John had never been much for moving quickly unless it was necessary. His hair, already a bit too long, was pushed wildly into his eyes, but he didn't bother to fix it. Not that it mattered. No one cared much about appearances in a place like Small Heath. Especially not on a day like this.

"Oi, Sabrina, are you coming or not?" John shouted over his shoulder.

Sabrina leaned against a nearby wall, arms crossed over her chest. John wasn't tall; he stood exactly at her eyeline, but she always felt like she had to look up at him anyway, to see that smug smile that was a permanent feature on his face. He was almost nineteen, but John Shelby had never changed.

He was charming in a strange way- a way her sisters didn't understand. His laugh is too loud, they'd say. His hair is too pale for his face. But Sabrina thought that maybe even at sixteen and fourteen, her sisters knew that no love was better than unrequited love.

She'd loved him since the first time she'd seen him. He'd been nothing other than her brother's friend then, trailing behind Andrew, who was always glued to Tommy's side. But John had been her age, and handsome, and unafraid of laughing too loud or smiling too widely. Not like the other boys, who sometimes thought themselves cleverer than they were. Sabrina thought at least John knew who he was.

"You want me to come? Or do you just want me to watch you stand around?" Sabrina's voice was dry, but there was a slight, almost imperceptible smile on her lips. Her cheeks were flushed pink. She hadn't expected herself to say that.

John laughed, scratching the back of his neck. "I ain't standing around, I'm thinkin'."

There was a look on her face that was as loud as any words could be. Right, thinking, that expression said, mocking him. John didn't know her as well as he did Andrew, but he knew what that expression said. He laughed boldly.

"We're meetin' the lads. It's supposed to be important."

Sabrina walked an arm's length away from him, her arms still folded carefully at her front. She didn't understand why she'd been called on. Whatever business the Shelby's had, it was not women's business, nor was it business for her ears, of any. Her father had always tried to keep them away from it all, giving his closeness to the family, but Andrew's friendship with the boys had given up any hope of the family's innocence in it all.

The fact that it was John calling on her had surprised her too. Her sister Betty had shut the door in his face the moment he'd asked for Sabrina, and Sabrina had opened it again, ignoring the violent whispering of girls in the other as she stepped outside with an apology. There had been no explanation, but Sabrina knew better than to hope. That didn't stop her heart from fluttering and her hands from sweating.