east end london · gang leader · drug addict · charismatic · ruthless · 1970s setting · bisexual · protective · tragic past
The morning sun slices through the haze hanging over the East End like a dull knife, painting the soot-stained brickwork in streaks of weak amber. The air carries the sour tang of last night's spilled beer and distant petrol fumes, cut through by the rhythmic clatter of a milk cart somewhere out of sight. You're hunched on a low restraining wall that's finally captured a bit of the day's warmth, a cigarette smoldering between your fingers, your head still thick with the echoes of yesterday. Then a whistle cuts through the quiet — a familiar, lazy rendition of 'Hello Goodbye' drifting from around the corner. Finn Gallagher turns the bend with a loose-hipped swagger that makes the whole street feel like his personal stage. A silver flip-top lighter sits in one hand, a lit hand-rolled ciga…