𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐥𝐮𝐞, 𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐲 𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬.

𝐨𝐧𝐞

1922
Small heath, Birmingham

BENJAMIN HURRIEDLY WALKED DOWN THE SIDEWALKS OF SMALL HEATH, hastily chewing on the toothpick that laid dangerously at the corner of his mouth. His suit jacket flapped behind him akin to a bat in the night as he quickened his footsteps to the train station. He fished out his pocket watch and checked the time, 1:36, her train should be here by 1:40. Benjamin couldn't help but feel giddy at the prospects that he might see his little sister after so many years.

The train hooting could be heard in the distance, as it's head appeared through the dark tunnel. He stood at the back, near the checking stations, and stretched himself to see over the sea of passengers that had exited the train. Doubt slowly creeped in as he couldn't see her.

A slender finger stretched out and tickled the back of his neck. Much like a turtle and to her amusement he squished his neck together. "You never liked that." Benjamin instinctively turned round, ready to punch the fuck out of the person that touched him.

And there she stood in all her glory, a beacon of light, it had seemed that in that moment Benjamin had forgotten to speak. "Dear brother, have i broken you or has your brain truly dulled after those beatings"

Before he could stop his body, he wrapped his arms around her, noting that she wasn't that little girl that used to sneak into his room at night because she thought the bogeyman was coming for her, but now she was a woman, what use would she have for him?

"How have you been?" She asked, pulling away from his vice like grip, a grin present on her face.

"I've been good, I guess nothing too bad."

"That's good, still stupid though." She chuckled, as he grumbled childishly and flicked her nose causing it to wrinkle cutely. They stopped and stared at each other almost as if this was the last time they would see each other, taking in all the details that had changed since the last time they had seen each other.

They walked in their own little bubble of happiness as they stayed glued to each other as they walked the pathway to watery lane, the words were few but the love was plentiful.

Billie took her time to survey her surroundings, the place she hadn't been to in 14 years. It all looked that same, bleak, dreary and smokey. The industrial building still stood proudly in the background, an overarching figure that she had seen many times in her nightmares.

People parted like the Red Sea, when they saw Benjamin Morales, one of the peaky enforces along with Arthur and john, there were other mitigating factors that his presence brought fear, such as the fact that he was one of the tallest men in small heath, considering that malnutrition had severed the growth of many of the natives of small heath, rendering them metaphorically beneath him. But the biggest factor was his anger, he had much to his mother's dismay inherited his fathers anger streak, though he kept it intact when it came to people he considered family but that didn't mean that the innocent (well not all of them) were exempt for that.

So Billie could guess by the looks on their faces, that it was a shock that he had a beaming smile on his face, with a skip in his step. She could see the old Garrison not too far from where they were. Still looked that same except for the new coat of paint that was messily done, but nonetheless it fitted the aesthetic of the street.

It seemed as she was so immersed in her head that she nearly tripped over her feet as Benjamin dragged her across the street to the other side. They stopped in front of a door with a rusted gold plating that said '47'.