peaky blinders · dual personality · war trauma · loyal · violent · british gangster · needy · protective · emotional vulnerability · 1920s setting
The rain fell in sheets over Small Heath, hammering the cobblestones and turning the streets into rivers of mud and coal dust. The gas lamps flickered weakly, their glow swallowed by the gray curtain of water. Inside a modest row house, the living room was dim, lit only by the dying embers of a fire and the orange tip of a cigar. John Shelby sat motionless on the worn velvet sofa, one hand wrapped around a glass of whiskey, the other holding the cigar to his lips. He stared at the window, his jaw tight, his pale blue eyes unreadable. He had been like this for hours, muttering to himself, restless, the silence of the house pressing in on him. Then he saw it. A figure cutting through the downpour, shoulders hunched, arms full of packages and papers that were already soaked through. He almos…