Mary exited the office of the headmistress of the Grace Institute. She held her belly and was not steady on her two legs. She had issues breathing for stress was slowly but surely strangling her windpipe. Henrietta delivered such bad news she wasn't fully sure she could process everything. She should have known, though, that the situation would take a turn for the worst as soon as Oswald Mosley created his new party. This man's hateful drivel poisoned the ears of a lot of people and was the direct cause of the rise of violence against people of color and people who treated them well. Not so long ago, it was Ada who was the target of a brick attack and an intimidation campaign because she had a child with a black man. These days, it was the Grace Institute that became the target of random attacks. the nurses found every morning racist messages painted on the walls, either a headless chicken laid on the front door or children of color were heckled by men on the street whenever they were outside. Tommy had been informed, before Mary, about the situation and he doubled the security of the institute to ensure that the children were not physically attacked and to deter people from painting on the walls again. he also made sure that Mary's Peaky boys would be more experienced so she would have a better protection. Mary herself had been informed last to not worry her more than she already was. There was already so much to deal with: her mother's return in her life and attempt at killing her, Archer's recent demise but the revelation that Michael was the one who tipped him off about Mary and Tommy's Gin business... How could she focus?
"Finally Ms Colson, You're quite rare to catch!" -A voice came out of nowhere. It startled Mary so much that she yelped and covered her mouth before looking in the direction of the man who spoke to her-
"I'm sorry... You have nothing to do here unless you have an appointment with the headmistress." -She managed to say but the name didn't seem phased by her reaction. A quick glance around her and Mary noticed that her peaky boys were nowhere to be seen.- "Who... Who are you?"
"I do have an appointment with the headmistress, Ms Colson. I'm having it right now!" -He said, offering his arm for her to take- "Let's go for a walk shall we? I heard you had wonderful gardens."
He was unnerving, to say the least. Mary didn't know who this man was for it was the very first time she ever met him. She couldn't help but notice the various scars on his face and knuckles. His left cheek was disfigured as if he had suffered a gunshot to the face. She noticed he was blind in the left eye and noticed that his hands had fought, maimed, and maybe even killed someone. His hands were like Tommy's, except he was adorned with rings. at the top of his head was a black hat and upon careful observation, Mary noticed he was sharply dressed. He had money. Her green eyes then averted from his face to the path before her. He knew where to go since he was the one leading the way. Had he been there before? She couldn't tell. He knew she wasn't the headmistress, everyone knew she was not yet, the headmistress yet he addressed her as if she was. Could it be that he wanted to see her? Uneased by the situation but careful, Mary decided to play along but stayed prepared in case this was a trap and that man wanted to hurt her.
"I heard you were the targets of attacks?" -She blinked and nodded, assuming that he might have seen the painted words a couple weeks before- "Do you know who is responsible?"
"We're looking into it... My priority is to keep the children safe." -She didn't want to risk angering the man so she didn't tell him her full thoughts on the situation.-
"Keeping them safe, eh? With what? Are you going to scold the perps with a stern look, Ms Colson? i"m not sure this is a safe tactic."
"Who spoke about scolding people? Do you think I am unaware of what the grief against the institute is?"
"No no.. I would not claim such a thing. You're clever, Ms Colson. You know damn well what's going on. These people won't stop unless they have a bullet right to the face, you know?"
"Are you suggesting you would be firing those bullets?" -He laughed and pointed his forefinger at her as if to say something or make a point go harder but instead he kept laughing which made Mary furrow her brows.- "You know who I am but I have not been introduced to you, sir. State your name and state your purpose otherwise, I am afraid I cannot keep walking with you like that."
He looked at her and as they were still walking through the hallway, he couldn't release her arm. If he did, she would just run away given how stiff she became since he took her away. The man stroked his chin, considering his options before he casually said his name. Given Tommy's reputation and the rumors around this romance of his with Mary Colson, she knew nothing about the business. She wouldn't know who he was which would make her retelling of the events to Tommy all the more grandiose. They met a short while ago and he had claimed to Tommy that he would remain a dead man for it gave him a more comfortable life, away from the crime, away from troubles but Tommy never believed him. He could never truly be far away from business.
"Alfie Solomons, ma'am." -He said, a little grin crept on his lips. She didn't know the name so she was not phased at all by his answer -"I wanted to become a donor to your institute and see what my money could contribute." -Her face softened as she realized that it was a man who wanted to help invest in the institute and given the situation with Oswald Mosley and the likely decision for many to stop financing the Institute, money was more than welcome. Mary relaxed and offered him a soft smile as they took a turn to the right, getting closer to the garden.
"Mister Solomons. I am pleased to see that you want to become a donor. It's... uh... It's been rarer since the rise of a very negative sentiment across the country. We believe in the education of our children. We want to ensure them a good education so they can have good jobs and succeed in life. We want to ensure their good health, so we work with doctors who visit regularly the children and care for them. We work with--"
"I'm not interested in this shit. We want the best for the children, here and there, look at us parading our top-notch education and our top-notch doctors and whatever shit you want to give the children these days. I don't care about it. I'm wondering how you're going to protect them if some savages decide to storm the place with machine guns and pull the trigger."
"Are you... threatening me Mister Solomons?" -She asked, swallowing a hard lump as she could feel her heartbeat go faster. What type of donor wanted to know how she was going to defend the institute in case of an attack? Where were her bodyguards? She realized that there was no one in the hallways since she crossed it with Alfie Solomons as if the institute had been emptied by someone. She could feel shivers go down her spine and her eyes grew wide open.
"Threatening you? Nonsense! I'm asking you the real questions here, Ma'am. You have children under your fucking care and you're unable to tell me how you're going to protect them? What? Do you think that Oswald Mosley and the mob who think like him would not try and burn this place to the ground? Do you think they aren't dreaming about roasting your corpse after they hanged it? They started with paint and insults and the next step is going to try and do you some harm. Your defenses are weak. your protection almost inexistent. What are you going to do about it? Fucking answer me!"
"I am not afraid of fucking racists who try to intimidate or hurt the children of the institute. Don't you come to my place and lecture me about protection Mister Solomons. I am not naive and definitely not helpless. If they try to kill me, they better pray to their gods I don't get to kill them first." She squeezed his hand and sunk her nails into his hardened skin.
It made Alfie curb a brow, surprised to see so much spunk from that woman who seemed easily impressionable. Could it be that he was wrong about her? He looked at her face, which was hard to read. He could tell she was scared given the slight tremble of her bottom lip but nothing else betrayed her emotions. Nothing else betrayed her, which showed how strong her nerves were.
"Good! That was what I wanted to hear. You have some spunk, I can give you that ma'am. You have a little "je ne sais quoi" that makes me understand the rumors I keep hearing about you."
"What rumors?"
"OH, that you're Tommy Shelby's lover. That he is head over heels for you. That you are his liability. Anyone who hates him would find it very appealing to go after you." He released her arm, now that they were in the garden, and started to walk a little bit with his cane. She was too stunned to leave the place now that he had said something that caught her attention. her heartbeats went harder, so loud that she could hear them, so fast that it was making her feel dizzy.
"And what if that was true? What then?"
"Then I say you could have been killed a thousand times already during our walk. I say he's not looking enough after his wife and might end up a widow once more."
"I'm not his wife." -She said, in a desperate attempt to deflect and make him reconsider the connexion. She realized that she had to do her best to protect Tommy from anything that could happen to her and if she played it well, then maybe she could convince that man that she wasn't Tommy's lover. "So these rumors you're talking about are bullshit!" She continued and wrapped her arms above her chest, to protect herself and seem taller, and stronger instead of close to collapsing.
"Oh, I say that you're a very good liar, Ms Colson, but I am a master in the game of deception. I call your bluff right now. Don't fret, don't fret... I'm not going to kill you. that's not why I came here. I could have but I don't want to. You're too pretty for that and heck, even I am surprised by my own words! who would have thought that a negro could be so beautiful?"
"Watch your tongue Mister Solomons!" -She said coldly, which had him lift both hands and chuckle- "I see you don't take me very seriously."
"Oh, I take you very seriously Ms Colson. you could kill a man with your knowledge. you already killed despite your hands being made for saving lives. I know what you can do. I don't want to get you in a bad mood."
"Are you considering becoming a donor or not?" -She lifted a brow and he bowed before her, mockingly so-
"I'm not. I'm not gonna waste my money on it. What I truly wanted to do was to make you an offer. I wanted to ask you to do some business with me. I ensure the protection of your institute and yourself..... and in exchange, I would like to use your institute for some business of mine. OH don't worry, the children would never know what's going on. I am just looking for a place to store some of my stuff."
"Are you out of your mind? Do you truly believe I would accept to make a deal with you? A deal??? Fucking unbelievable! You come here, you try to intimidate me and now you say you want to use the institute to hide your bullshit inside and sell it???"
"You don't want to answer right now. I am but a humble jeweler you know? I just needed a place to keep my jewels safe since my people are targeted by the same fucking moron in power! So don't get heated. Don't tear a vein like that. Take your time, think about it and I will come back here in a week."
She was furious, her eyes were so bright that Alfie couldn't help but look at her. His old habit took control of him for a minute and he was left thinking about what type of emerald her eyes reminded him of. He didn't feel threatened by her, she didn't have any weapon on her and they were in the open, in the garden where she couldn't grab any hidden weapon to hurt him with. He knew she would be wise and wouldn't try to escalate the situation by attacking him physically so he stood there, looking at her fierce green eyes and complimenting Tommy on his taste in women, even those he wouldn't have looked twice at if Alfie was walking on the street.
"I think we are done here, Mister Solomons. I suggest you leave and don't try to come back in a week."
"We'll see about it." -He said, chuckling to himself while quietly leaving the garden; he didn't oppose her decision to see him gone. He didn't have to. he knew she would be shaken by their meeting and knew that he would get Tommy's attention for another meeting. He did use Mary for his own gain, but part of what he said was true. He didn't want her to die, and he didn't want the children to be hurt in this pathetic rise of extremist violence. He still thought that she was far more badass than he thought she would be. She stood her ground to him and he intended to give his compliment about her to Tommy. As soon as he left, Mary covered her mouth and screamed into her palm. She sat on the bench near her and wrapped her arms around her legs to cry into her thighs. It was unbelievable! the whole day was unbelievable! Yet it was the truth.
-TBC-
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