Tommy's Rose

Chapter 40: Boy!

A/N- I am legit a walking disaster. I dislocated my shoulder the other day. I'm just going to wrap myself in bubble wrap and call it a year. On the other hand my dear readers were are getting to the good bits! THIS CHAPTER IS SHORT BUT IT IS IMPORTANT!

"AUNT POLLY I'LL BE BACK IN A BIT!" I shouted up the stairs. "I'M GOING TO SEE DANIEL!"

"BE CAREFUL!" Polly shouted from her room.

I looked at the mirror that hung up on the wall; What Polly didn't know was that I was now in my borrowed suit from Daniel. With a cocky smile playing on my lips and I walked out the front door letting it slam behind me, I walked through the back alleys of Birmingham heading to a certain office, I was getting worried about what Monte Romano had planned so I needed someone to help me, someone who knew how to play both sides of the board without getting caught in the process and I knew exactly who to go to but to get there arranged a meeting with a fake name.

I pulled my peaky cap down to cover my face as I quickened my pace. I bent down to scoop up some dirt and rub it on my face to make it look dirty then I rubbed some on my clothes. No one looks twice at a boy roaming the streets alone, yet if I was dressed as a girl all eyes would wonder to me 'what are you doing?' 'where are you going?' 'Why are you alone?' as a boy I blended in with the crowd, no questions asked.

I used my hand mirror to look around corners to make sure no peaky blinders were around or even my own Father. While watching the men in my family I had taken note of how they carried themselves; Shoulders back, hat low, steady yet confident strides and a cocky look on your face.

As I popped out of an alley I stood on the path looking up at a factory. Thick black smoke came out of the pipes that were out the roof and I could hear the workers and the machines inside. I walked through the small side door, inside smelt of burning ash, metal, petrol and sweat; I walked up the wooden steps where at the top sat an elderly women with a typewriter and a load of papers on her desk.

"Name?" The women asked me not looking up from her paperwork.

I cleared my throat. "Edward Banks," I said in a rough voice.

The women pointed to an office door. "Go sit and wait in there," She told me. "Do not touch anything boy!"

I held my hands up in surrender as I walked over to the office door, I turned the handle letting myself in then I gently shut the door behind me. I slowly walked around the large office, it wasn't anything special, it was ordinary, filled with books, knives and guns were on display, a large window showed the workers below making whatever it was they were making. I walked over to the desk and sat in the large leather chair, I turned the chair so I faced what was behind me which was a bookcase, it was fitted into the middle of the wall where a fireplace should be but it didn't look like a bookcase... I ran fingers down the wood that was next to the wall, the wood seemed to move backwards ever so slightly. Something was behind the bookcase.

"What are you doing in my chair boy?" a cockney man asked.

I sat back in the leather chair and smirked. "I came for help," I stated in my rough voice as I turned the chair around keeping my head down.

"Get the fuck out my chair boy," The man told me. "Who sent you, your Mother?"

I looked up at Alfie Solomons then removed my cap letting my brown locks fall down my shoulders.

"That was rather rude," I stated in my normal voice.

Alfie sat down in the chair that was next to him. "You Father is doing everything to keep you safe and you're fucking about dressed as a boy," He stated.