Running with the Firm

chapter four~

When Sarah was 18 and I was 16, we became official members and started to be able to tell our dad what we were doing. At first he didn't want us in that criminal world (which we had been for years but never told him), it is very understandable. In his eyes we were still his baby girls and he saw the things the Firm had to deal with. He didn't want that for us, didn't want that trauma for us. But we pushed for it heavily and a lot of the members vouched for us. We were very loved in the gang already since we made all the food. 

There were some members that didn’t really respect us because we were little girls in those people’s eyes. It is honest bullshit because truly we had more guts than half of those blokes in that room. We soon proved them wrong by kicking ass and running a very tight information base for the brothers.

The way we did it was very similar to how the brothers ran the Firm. But we had it a bit easier since we had all the resources at our fingertips already. We would divide up jobs in the beginning. Sarah often talked to Leslie Payne, the lawyer of the Firm and learned about all the laws and loopholes. She used to have so many notebooks filled with laws. Then I would talk to Charlie Kray, their older brother, about business and learn a bit about handling a business. Then the two of us (Sarah and I) would often talk to the coppers we had in our pockets to get three steps ahead of Nipper. We were running a smooth ship and the brothers saw our hard work and rewarded us.

They allowed us to start running a few small clubs for them and doing some deals of black market cigarettes on the side. We were in charge of Club 22. We also helped their friend, Freddy Foreman, run the 211 Club from time to time. He really didn't need our help but he liked having us around for laughs. It was a very good experience for the both of us. We learned how to be friendly to people and earn their respect quickly. We hardly ever got messed with as well. Mostly because everyone knew that our dad was a professional boxer, it also helped that the brotherss thought of us as their nieces. So for the most part everything was kept at bay.

However once we did have one accident. Some rebel rousers came in and try to trash the place when Sarah and I were the only ones there. They were apart of the Richardson's gang, known as the Torture gang South of the river. Luckily it was only a few members that came in and we were able to handle it on our own. Those blokes mistaken us as just two barmaids that couldn't protect ourselves. We showed them alright. By the end the lot of them were limping out for their lives. It proves them right for trying to mess with us. We ended up going on about the night as if nothing happened.

After we had closed up the bar we went to Esmeralda's barn were our father and the brothers were. We told them what happened and Ron sent over to clean up the place while Reg went and talked to the Richardsons' gang bosses, Charlie and Eddie. What not a lot people know is that Charlie and the brothers used to be friends when they were in jail. They weren't really rivals for the longest time but they had some members that tried to start a war between them. The three of them were trying to nip it in the bud but some of those men were truly awful. 

When Reg got back from the meeting, he told our dad that we were safe and that Charlie (Richardson) was gonna sort it out. After that we always had someone around us, for our dad's sake. We weren't too fond of it but again this was for our dad. 

Usually Teddy would hang around us, if Ron didn't need him or anything. More people who stayed with us a lot were Tony Lamberouis, Mad Frankie Fraser,  Ronnie Bender, Leslie Holt and occasionally Ian Barrie (it really depended on if Ron needed him as well. Since Ian Barrie was Ron's right hand man). 

We also received a lot of visits from Violet. She would bring us food, change of clothes, or anything she had got for us and often stayed for a while to keep us company on slow days. She always told us tales from when the brothers were younger and how we are just as stubborn as they were. She thought of us as her own little girls, which we loved. It gave us that mother figure we really needed. We always felt loved by her and I'll forever hold her high up in my eyes.

On every finale Thursday of the month Reg or Ron would come by the pub to check in on us and to keep everything sorted. Most of the time we ended up having proper ragers with them because we had everything secure there. Those days were my favorite. It felt like a huge family gathering to me and I loved it dearly.

I think that's what I loved most about the entire gang. For a very very long time I considered most of the gang as my relatives because of how much we knew about each other. There were so many people I thought I could trust and I thought had my best interest in heart. That love meant so much to me that later when they turned I felt like my entire family left.