It's the roaring twenties in Birmingham, the Peaky Blinders exist alongside God but they were much, much closer at hand than Him. Mercedes de Silva, thornless withered rose, petals filled with sorrow. Thomas Shelby, ruthlessly ambitious, conflicted...
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WAKING UP NEXT TO SOMEONE YOU LOVE is a different kind of happiness a person could possibly have. Soledad snuck into Mercy's room last night and crawled under her blankets, the girl couldn't sleep in her new environment due to her brain's natural instincts of keeping herself safe from harm, and she felt rather safe in the arms of her older sister.
It had only been a day since their arrival, and it was already Monday—she had planned to visit the distillery and hand in her resignation letter to Alfie. The only problem is that she knew Soledad wouldn't like the idea of being left alone inside the flat. Sure, the girl would be turning thirteen in a few months but she still liked being around Mercedes—somehow scared that her older sister would leave her alone again.
"You need to behave to where we're going, Sol," Mercy said, staring at her reflection in the mirror as she buttoned up her pale white blouse. "Are you sure that you won't get bored there?" she added and turned to face her little sister, who's now lying flat on her back in bed. Soledad gave a slight nod, her eyes still closed.
"Well, I suppose you could play with Alfie's dog," the de Silva woman muttered and sat on the vanity bench before blow-drying her long black hair, Soledad's eyes flew open and sat bolt upright in bed, "A dog? Alfie has a dog?" she beamed, her black eyes almost twinkling in glee.
"Uh—huh," Mercy replied quickly, she knew that her dear little sister is fond of animals. That's why it was a real shame when most of their ponies and horses are sold off after their father's passing—after all, his gambling debts were never paid and the workers need to find a way to settle up the score.
The girl jumped off of the bed and flashed a toothy grin at her sister, "I think I like Alfie now," Soledad's been wanting to pet a dog in a while, the only animals she saw inside the ship were cockroaches and rats, and if she wasn't in her right mind, she'd definitely pet them too.
"So... 'tis young lass is yer sister?" Alfie asked, eyeing the girl up and down. Soledad batted her eyelashes at the Jewish gangster as if asking permission to pet the bullmastiff that was sleeping under his desk, completely clueless of Mercy's presence, "What's wrong wid 'er?" he asked again, noticing Soledad's strange behavior.
Mercy let out an embarrassed chuckle and before she could even reply, her little sister cut in, "Can I... pet your dog?" she asked Alfie in the sweetest and cutest voice she could muster, almost fooling Mercy's ears.
"Ya can take 'im home if ya want," Alfie snorted and returned to his seat, earning a squeal from Sol, her dimple appeared on her left cheek. She dashed towards Cyril, crouching down on the cold floor.
Soledad looked up to the man, "You're a baker, Mr. Solomons?" she questioned, her right hand still stroking the bullmastiff's body. Soledad, like many other girls her age, has interests in animals and sweets.
