small heath was home to many people, the most infamous was the shelby family. opal, although not a shelby by blood was apart of that dysfunctional family. when tommy looks to expand his ever growing business, he meets camden town's alfie solomons. a...
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A WEEK INTO HER MOVE TO LONDON OPAL was already missing her home of small heath even if it was dirt and crime ridden. london was loud and full of people whereas small heath was quieter and full of familiar faces. ada had came to visit a few times during the week bringing karl with her, filling up her large london flat. it was nice for the pair to catch up without the interference of a shelby brother especially since ada was alone in london as well. she had visited alfie once during the week to deliver a message from tommy which she had huffed about on the phone to him asking why she had to physically go to the bakery for it, but alfie was more than happy to spend time with the birmingham girl even if it was on business.
it was a quiet day for opal that she spent sitting in her living room reading drinking copious amounts of tea. three loud knocks disturbed her peace and with a small huff she threw her book onto the table after dogearing the page she was before making her way over to the front door. when she swung the door open she was met with tommy's usual unamused expression as he took a draw of his cigarette. "what are you doing here?" she asked stepping aside letting him enter. "business," he said quickly, taking off his coat and hanging it up.
"of course, don't know why i expected anything else," she huffed walking through the hallway, tommy close on her heels. "how are you settling then? enjoying london?" he asked taking a seat. "its loud, busy but its a change, don't know if it's a nice one of that though," she shrugged grabbing a cigarette of her own. tommy nodded, his blue eyes scanning the sparsely decorated room. "i heard you bumped into solomons when you arrived," opal rolled her eyes almost immediately, "jesus tom, is someone following me?" she threw her arms up in defeat.
"come on, we've got a bakery to visit," he announced ignoring her question and made his way out of the house. swearing under her breath she threw on her coat and locked the door before meeting tommy at the bottom of the stairs. "i'm serious tom, if you have someone following me every time i leave the house i'm going to kill you," she said quickening her pace.
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opal leaned against the wood next to alfie while tommy stood in the centre of the room, her arms crossed against her chest as she looked around the dark room distractedly, what she failed to notice was the lingering gaze from alfie. "all right boys, you've now all been enrolled as bakers in the aerated bread company of camden town. if anyone asks, that's what you do. you're bakers," tommy began pacing back and forth . "the coppers in camden town are on our side but north or south, you show them that piece of paper,"
opal watched tommy intently, looking at the men standing in front of her when she noticed the stares from a few of them in the back. unconsciously she took a step closer to the jewish gang leader, a scowl now on her face feeling uncomfortable in the room. alfie looked down to the brunette following her gaze to the men that were sending her looks, he shifted on his feet sighing loudly "we're finding lodging for you but for now you'll sleep here in the bakery. don't touch any of the bread, it'll most likely explode. any questions?" tommy finished and a single man in the front raised his hand.
opal eyed the man suspiciously waiting to hear the question - "i haven't seen any bread," the man exclaimed getting a few laughs from the crowd of men. opal pinched the bridge of her nose bracing the reaction from one of the men in charge, when she seen alfie's feet move she looked up to see him stalk over the man that had just spoken. he lifted his fist and the man next to him dropped after a hard blow to the head from alfie, she flinched from the sound of the man hitting the ground roughly. "he'll wake up. he won't have any teeth left, but he will be a wiser man for it," alfie's deep voicequietly rang out as the atmosphere grew more tense. "and the last thing he will remember is your funny little joke, won't he?"
"right! there are fucking rules here, yeah?" alfie exclaimed suddenly, opal jumping slightly at the volume of his voice. she stepped over to tommy who watched silently as alfie began to lay out the rules he had. tommy and opal shared a glance, opal raising her dark eyebrows while tommy went back to watching alfie. "rule number one, the distinction between bread and rum.. yeah is not discussed! rule number two, anything right that your superior officer says to you or any of your other superior officers say to you yeah? not discussed!" it was clear to opal that alfie had experienced war, the way he was commanding the crowd of men in front of him.
he continued on with his list, opal ears suddenly picking up as alfie's voice grew quieter "jewish woman, you do not go anywhere near them because for you jewish woman for you are off the fucking menu," he began, before turning round giving opal a quick glance. "and don't even think about her, don't look at her, don't talk to her," he finished, opal's eyes widening and face flushed at the sudden attention. tommy shifted uncomfortably on his feet but nodded agreeing with alife when he noticed a few of them waiting for conformation.
"i think that's fair," he hummed, taking a look around the quiet room opal wanting nothing more to leave the room. "forgive me, i interrupted you," alfie mumbled walking back to the his original spot. tommy moved back to his spot and opal felt that it was her time to leave the dingy room, her heels clicking loudly.
she ran a hand through her hair as she stood in the hallway near the large set of windows at the back that looked over camden town. taking out a cigarette and lighting it she heard someone clear their throat, turning round quickly she was meet with alfie's strong gaze. "that was a good speech," she muttered letting her head lean against the cold window. "you alright there love?" he asked noticing the strained expression on her face. "i've not been involved in business like this for a while, i tend to stay away from it all," she explained rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand before giving him a tired smile.
"seems unfair that tommy's dragged you into this," he replied watching her take another long drag of her cigarette. "uhm, thank you by the way for that," she mumbled wanting to move on from the subject quickly shuffling her feet. "anytime love," his gruff voice rang out before they heard the sound of the men move quickly through the hallways, interrupting the conversation.
