Fatal Facade
Chapter 2 - The Pocket Watch
I wore a simple navy dress and black coat today. The coat had 2 deep inner pockets and the dress had hidden sections around the bust area and thigh areas. It was important if I ever got searched no one would find any stolen items in my bag. On my right leg over my stockings I also had a 4-inch knife strapped to my leg. Big enough to scare people and do damage if needed but small enough to keep concealed and not do any serious harm. Unless necessary of course. I brushed my long ginger hair and powdered my face before finishing off with eyeliner the colour of soot, I brushed it over my lids and slightly under my eyes.
Despite the drizzle yesterday evening, today had turned out to be fairly pleasant. The sun would poke through the grey clouds every now and again, and the small breeze that would blow was calm and cool. I struggled with my door again, locking it before walking downstairs and out of the house. It was 8.30am and the front door was unlocked. Heading outside I decided to take a walk to the market, it would be busy enough by now that people would be walking in close proximity to each other. The place I had settled in was called Small Heath and the main market was held in Birmingham city center. It was a good 45 minute walk so I begun to set off on my journey.
When I arrived I was enthralled at how busy it was. The crowds were larger than I imagined. I begun browsing the stalls and winding between people. I only liked to target those who looked like they could afford it.
My eyes set upon a man with a bowler’s hat and cigar. He was chortling with his friend and looking at stone sculptures of horses and naked women. The trader looked nervous, as if someone with their obvious wealth had never paid him any mind before. I was certain they weren’t even there to buy anything, and their intention was just to make the poor trader scare himself half to death while they browsed and others gazed over at their prosperity.
I wound my way through the crowd like a snake, trying not to lose the man in the hustle and bustle of the market. As I got closer I undid the top 3 buttons of my coat ready to slip inside whatever I managed to lift of the gentleman. I was about two feet away from him when I tripped, and purposely landed half sprawled on the stall itself, as I fell I grabbed hold of the bowler hat mans arm and pulled him down with me and positioned it so he landed on top of me. I felt the stall groan at our combined weights. I fluttered my eyes and held them wide like a doe, acting bashful, I put on my toff accent.
“Oh dear sir I’m terribly sorry, I’m ever so clumsy, you must forgive me” While talking I had lifted what felt like his wallet and slipped it into the inner pocket of my coat.
The gentleman’s face grew red as he noticed the top of my breasts poking out, yet another useful weapon. He climbed off me and offered me his hand which I took.
“Ever so sorry ma’am, us men need to more aware of clumsy women, so you don’t injure yourself eh?” He said with a rather rough voice. I tried to smile, although it felt more like a grimace.
“Not a problem sir, I am just on my way to meet my husband, so I shall big you farewell and good day.” I tipped my head slightly and got lost in the crowd once more, I wouldn’t see him again and he would certainly not see me.
I continued this pattern for the next 3 hours. Bumping into rotten gentleman, acting bashful and ladylike, smiling gratefully to posh women as I moved past them in the crowd and lifted purses out of their handbags. I wouldn’t always get purses mind, I usually held onto the first thing my hand found whether it be cigarette boxes, pocket watches, wallets, a matchbox ect. It was best not to rummage for too long before they felt your hand there. In my time at Birmingham market today I had got myself 2 silver pocket watches, 2 wallets, 1 ladies purse, a necklace, and a couple of match boxes and cigarettes. I never totaled my gains for the day until I got home, you never know who could be watching.
The walk back only took me 35 minutes. My adrenaline was at an all time high and I intended to go home, count my gains and then go for lunch. As I rounded the corner I saw The Garrison pub again, I was nearly home as Watery Lane was only 3 minutes from the pub. It was exactly as it was before, coal being pushed into furnaces and fires blazing, with the pub at the end. Unlike before I did not enter the pub and continued on over to the BnB.
My shoes were clipping on the cobble and I turned another corner onto Watery Lane, the BnB was just at the corner on the end. My adrenaline was still pumping, and I felt rather pleased with myself after today. It was not the best day I had ever had, but after leaving my home town and all family behind it was reassuring to know I could do this, all doubts in my mind about my survivability on my own were cast aside, I felt a new confidence surge in me.
I looked up and saw the man from the pub last night, the one that had told me to go home as it wasn’t safe for me. I felt the corners of my mouth lift as I looked at his suit, it looked expensive and like it cost a lot of money, money that could be in his pocket right now. He was with two other gentlemen, but that didn’t bother me. I had lifted today in front of wife’s, husbands and other family members. I normally vowed to never pickpocket near my house, but I wasn’t thinking straight, and the adrenaline got the better of me. I saw a silver pocket watch dangling from his suit just calling my name. I told myself it would be a good finish to the day, a nice trophy for my winnings.
As I approached the man he looked up at me and nodded his cap. So he must’ve remembered me from The Garrison, one of the other men paid me no mind, he appeared to have ginger hair and a mustache. The other had his hair hidden by a flat cap and donned the same suit as the other two, he glanced over to me and considered me for a second before looking forward again. The toothpick man was on the right walking closest to the houses. I would trip and fall into him with my back on the wall and him over me. It was a trick my mother taught me. Allow them to be in a dominate position so they have the assumption of control, their guard will be down, and I can lift what I like while I flutter my eyes.
My coat was already unbuttoned so I had no need to unbutton it. They were about three feet away from me when I made the first move. I fell in the direction of toothpick man, I span while falling and landed with my back to the house exactly as planned. I gave him a small smile and went doe eyed again, allowing my cheeks to go slightly red. During the fall he had gripped one of my upper arms. His touch didn’t hurt but was strong. My fingers grasped the pocket watch and i used my thumb to unclip it from the chain that connected it to his suit.
“Guy from the pub?” I smiled at him as I raised my eyebrows indicating my question. I slipped the pocket watch into my inside coat pocket and he pulled me up. I noticed the two men he had been walking with had stopped close by to observe. The ginger one was laughing loudly.
“Jonny boy has pulled!” He shouted as he continued to laugh. Ignoring his comment, I looked over to the other man. He looked at me unblinking, with an astute stare. I saw he had blue eyes. I turned back to toothpick man.
“Jonny, so that’s your name.” I smiled again and stuck out my hand for him to shake. He took my hand and shook it quickly before letting it go.
“Its John actually, and yours is Iris Bradley.” He retorted, indicating me to me he still knew my full name.
“Watch where you’re going next time” He snapped. He then walked off to join his friends.
I watched John and the ginger fellow begin to walk off, the ginger man still chuckling to himself and taking the mickey out of John. I noticed the blue-eyed chap hadn’t moved, and so did his friends.
“You coming Tommy?” John shouted.
“Ill meet you there” He said, not taking his eyes off me. I begun to grow nervous and looked behind me to see how far away the BnB was, would I outrun this man? Probably not in these shoes. Why didn’t I follow my own rules. Not near home.
“Won’t be long” He said again as he began walking towards me. I decided the air of confidence might see me through this. I didn’t even know if he saw me lift the watch, he could want something else entirely.
“Tommy was it?” I said as I held my hand out with a welcoming grin. If he picked up on my nerves he could use it against me. Little did I know Tommy was not one to beat around the bush.
“You have something of my brothers, I want it back.” He held out his hand, the words he had spoken came out softly enough, but behind them was an air of brutality and command. I mulled it over quickly in my head, feign innocence or just give it back. My adrenaline was still pumping but I knew I couldn’t get out of this, it was right on my doorstep. With an air of cockiness about me I opened my coat and grabbed all three pocket watches to show this man.
“You’ll have to get it, I don’t know which one it is.” I did a smug half smile at him. I noticed him looking at the inside of my coat. From the outside it looked normal but on the inside the pockets were obviously sewn in, very deep, and very full. He looked at me and raised his eyebrows, a silent indication that he knew what I did. He took the center pocket watch and put it away in his jacket. I put away the other two pocket watches and was about to do up the buttons on my black coat when he suddenly flew towards me. I was pinned against the wall of a house, he had carefully grabbed my forearms and pinned them above my head, just incase I took advantage of this position. I expected him to shout at rage at me. But what came next shocked me and thinking about it, scared me even more.
He put his lips so close to my ear I felt his chapped lips skim over my skin. With a soft voice, almost a whisper he said.
“My name is Tommy Shelby and the person you stole from is John Shelby. You see anyone wearing flat caps you leave them alone.” He then pulled away from my ear and looked me closely in the eyes. Continuing to talk in a powerful whisper he murmured.
“You’re brave being a female pickpocket, and we all have to make a living, I get that. But next time you stop to have a chat to someone, ask them about the Shelby’s. Ask them about the Peaky Blinders.”
After finishing his talk, he kept me in his grasp. His hands became a little tighter around my arms and he continued to stare at me for what felt like an eternity. In reality it was about 5 seconds before he let go and continued walking to wherever his brother and friend had gone. I remained on that grimy wall for a few more minutes, trying to calm my heart rate down and get to grips with what just happened. I hadn’t been caught in a while so confrontation was a thing of the past for me, I was quite visibly shaken as I made my way back to the BnB.
I struggled even more to get my key into the lock on my door. My hands were sweating and shaking. After I finally made it inside I turned and locked my door straight away. Despite it only being about 1pm in the afternoon, and regardless of the fact I had not yet had dinner, I decided to go to bed. I had had enough of being outside for the day. Tomorrow I would go shopping. I would do as he said and stay away from the people in flat caps. But he said nothing about staying away from the races.
Despite the drizzle yesterday evening, today had turned out to be fairly pleasant. The sun would poke through the grey clouds every now and again, and the small breeze that would blow was calm and cool. I struggled with my door again, locking it before walking downstairs and out of the house. It was 8.30am and the front door was unlocked. Heading outside I decided to take a walk to the market, it would be busy enough by now that people would be walking in close proximity to each other. The place I had settled in was called Small Heath and the main market was held in Birmingham city center. It was a good 45 minute walk so I begun to set off on my journey.
When I arrived I was enthralled at how busy it was. The crowds were larger than I imagined. I begun browsing the stalls and winding between people. I only liked to target those who looked like they could afford it.
My eyes set upon a man with a bowler’s hat and cigar. He was chortling with his friend and looking at stone sculptures of horses and naked women. The trader looked nervous, as if someone with their obvious wealth had never paid him any mind before. I was certain they weren’t even there to buy anything, and their intention was just to make the poor trader scare himself half to death while they browsed and others gazed over at their prosperity.
I wound my way through the crowd like a snake, trying not to lose the man in the hustle and bustle of the market. As I got closer I undid the top 3 buttons of my coat ready to slip inside whatever I managed to lift of the gentleman. I was about two feet away from him when I tripped, and purposely landed half sprawled on the stall itself, as I fell I grabbed hold of the bowler hat mans arm and pulled him down with me and positioned it so he landed on top of me. I felt the stall groan at our combined weights. I fluttered my eyes and held them wide like a doe, acting bashful, I put on my toff accent.
“Oh dear sir I’m terribly sorry, I’m ever so clumsy, you must forgive me” While talking I had lifted what felt like his wallet and slipped it into the inner pocket of my coat.
The gentleman’s face grew red as he noticed the top of my breasts poking out, yet another useful weapon. He climbed off me and offered me his hand which I took.
“Ever so sorry ma’am, us men need to more aware of clumsy women, so you don’t injure yourself eh?” He said with a rather rough voice. I tried to smile, although it felt more like a grimace.
“Not a problem sir, I am just on my way to meet my husband, so I shall big you farewell and good day.” I tipped my head slightly and got lost in the crowd once more, I wouldn’t see him again and he would certainly not see me.
I continued this pattern for the next 3 hours. Bumping into rotten gentleman, acting bashful and ladylike, smiling gratefully to posh women as I moved past them in the crowd and lifted purses out of their handbags. I wouldn’t always get purses mind, I usually held onto the first thing my hand found whether it be cigarette boxes, pocket watches, wallets, a matchbox ect. It was best not to rummage for too long before they felt your hand there. In my time at Birmingham market today I had got myself 2 silver pocket watches, 2 wallets, 1 ladies purse, a necklace, and a couple of match boxes and cigarettes. I never totaled my gains for the day until I got home, you never know who could be watching.
The walk back only took me 35 minutes. My adrenaline was at an all time high and I intended to go home, count my gains and then go for lunch. As I rounded the corner I saw The Garrison pub again, I was nearly home as Watery Lane was only 3 minutes from the pub. It was exactly as it was before, coal being pushed into furnaces and fires blazing, with the pub at the end. Unlike before I did not enter the pub and continued on over to the BnB.
My shoes were clipping on the cobble and I turned another corner onto Watery Lane, the BnB was just at the corner on the end. My adrenaline was still pumping, and I felt rather pleased with myself after today. It was not the best day I had ever had, but after leaving my home town and all family behind it was reassuring to know I could do this, all doubts in my mind about my survivability on my own were cast aside, I felt a new confidence surge in me.
I looked up and saw the man from the pub last night, the one that had told me to go home as it wasn’t safe for me. I felt the corners of my mouth lift as I looked at his suit, it looked expensive and like it cost a lot of money, money that could be in his pocket right now. He was with two other gentlemen, but that didn’t bother me. I had lifted today in front of wife’s, husbands and other family members. I normally vowed to never pickpocket near my house, but I wasn’t thinking straight, and the adrenaline got the better of me. I saw a silver pocket watch dangling from his suit just calling my name. I told myself it would be a good finish to the day, a nice trophy for my winnings.
As I approached the man he looked up at me and nodded his cap. So he must’ve remembered me from The Garrison, one of the other men paid me no mind, he appeared to have ginger hair and a mustache. The other had his hair hidden by a flat cap and donned the same suit as the other two, he glanced over to me and considered me for a second before looking forward again. The toothpick man was on the right walking closest to the houses. I would trip and fall into him with my back on the wall and him over me. It was a trick my mother taught me. Allow them to be in a dominate position so they have the assumption of control, their guard will be down, and I can lift what I like while I flutter my eyes.
My coat was already unbuttoned so I had no need to unbutton it. They were about three feet away from me when I made the first move. I fell in the direction of toothpick man, I span while falling and landed with my back to the house exactly as planned. I gave him a small smile and went doe eyed again, allowing my cheeks to go slightly red. During the fall he had gripped one of my upper arms. His touch didn’t hurt but was strong. My fingers grasped the pocket watch and i used my thumb to unclip it from the chain that connected it to his suit.
“Guy from the pub?” I smiled at him as I raised my eyebrows indicating my question. I slipped the pocket watch into my inside coat pocket and he pulled me up. I noticed the two men he had been walking with had stopped close by to observe. The ginger one was laughing loudly.
“Jonny boy has pulled!” He shouted as he continued to laugh. Ignoring his comment, I looked over to the other man. He looked at me unblinking, with an astute stare. I saw he had blue eyes. I turned back to toothpick man.
“Jonny, so that’s your name.” I smiled again and stuck out my hand for him to shake. He took my hand and shook it quickly before letting it go.
“Its John actually, and yours is Iris Bradley.” He retorted, indicating me to me he still knew my full name.
“Watch where you’re going next time” He snapped. He then walked off to join his friends.
I watched John and the ginger fellow begin to walk off, the ginger man still chuckling to himself and taking the mickey out of John. I noticed the blue-eyed chap hadn’t moved, and so did his friends.
“You coming Tommy?” John shouted.
“Ill meet you there” He said, not taking his eyes off me. I begun to grow nervous and looked behind me to see how far away the BnB was, would I outrun this man? Probably not in these shoes. Why didn’t I follow my own rules. Not near home.
“Won’t be long” He said again as he began walking towards me. I decided the air of confidence might see me through this. I didn’t even know if he saw me lift the watch, he could want something else entirely.
“Tommy was it?” I said as I held my hand out with a welcoming grin. If he picked up on my nerves he could use it against me. Little did I know Tommy was not one to beat around the bush.
“You have something of my brothers, I want it back.” He held out his hand, the words he had spoken came out softly enough, but behind them was an air of brutality and command. I mulled it over quickly in my head, feign innocence or just give it back. My adrenaline was still pumping but I knew I couldn’t get out of this, it was right on my doorstep. With an air of cockiness about me I opened my coat and grabbed all three pocket watches to show this man.
“You’ll have to get it, I don’t know which one it is.” I did a smug half smile at him. I noticed him looking at the inside of my coat. From the outside it looked normal but on the inside the pockets were obviously sewn in, very deep, and very full. He looked at me and raised his eyebrows, a silent indication that he knew what I did. He took the center pocket watch and put it away in his jacket. I put away the other two pocket watches and was about to do up the buttons on my black coat when he suddenly flew towards me. I was pinned against the wall of a house, he had carefully grabbed my forearms and pinned them above my head, just incase I took advantage of this position. I expected him to shout at rage at me. But what came next shocked me and thinking about it, scared me even more.
He put his lips so close to my ear I felt his chapped lips skim over my skin. With a soft voice, almost a whisper he said.
“My name is Tommy Shelby and the person you stole from is John Shelby. You see anyone wearing flat caps you leave them alone.” He then pulled away from my ear and looked me closely in the eyes. Continuing to talk in a powerful whisper he murmured.
“You’re brave being a female pickpocket, and we all have to make a living, I get that. But next time you stop to have a chat to someone, ask them about the Shelby’s. Ask them about the Peaky Blinders.”
After finishing his talk, he kept me in his grasp. His hands became a little tighter around my arms and he continued to stare at me for what felt like an eternity. In reality it was about 5 seconds before he let go and continued walking to wherever his brother and friend had gone. I remained on that grimy wall for a few more minutes, trying to calm my heart rate down and get to grips with what just happened. I hadn’t been caught in a while so confrontation was a thing of the past for me, I was quite visibly shaken as I made my way back to the BnB.
I struggled even more to get my key into the lock on my door. My hands were sweating and shaking. After I finally made it inside I turned and locked my door straight away. Despite it only being about 1pm in the afternoon, and regardless of the fact I had not yet had dinner, I decided to go to bed. I had had enough of being outside for the day. Tomorrow I would go shopping. I would do as he said and stay away from the people in flat caps. But he said nothing about staying away from the races.