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justalonelyslytherin · 3 years ago

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A Heartfelt Talk

Pair: Ada and Tommy being an iconic sibling-duo

This was my entry for the peaky blinder fic exchange the lovely @comebackjessica hosted on ao3. I had the big honor to write something for her about our favourite bickering shelbys.

I thought I might just crosspost this, so that it may make some other people smile while reading it.

warnings: some mild swearing, alcohol drinking mentioned

A Shelby meant chaos.

It was as if the name was synonymous with chaos itself. Wherever one was mayhem, madness and disruption weren’t far away either. Everyone knew that.

Having more than one Shelby at one place at the same time increases the entropy of their being, the pure and raw chaotic energy that their blood brings with it, exponentially. And while everyone who has had the pleasure to work with them, to live near them or, to be associated with them in any other way, knew this, it wasn’t news to the people being born with the name itself either.

A certain young Shelby girl, the only one out of what would become five siblings and the second youngest at that, learned it at an early age. At the wise age of five and three quarters, she had known this already. Her brothers - her older ones at that, for Finn, wouldn’t be born until some short years later - were always trouble. Her beautiful mother would say this, she would scowl and mutter under her breath. Her aunt Polly would raise the newspaper threateningly at John or at Arthur time and time again and Thomas always got a scolding for the way he talked back, convinced he knew the world better than his aunt and mother combined. But in the naive mind of a girl who didn’t know other than what she saw day after day in her home, she thought nothing wrong of it.

Some might have thought that with age the chaos would subside, but the person who thought that couldn’t possibly have known the Shelbys very well. Sometimes even Ada thought so. That she didn’t know her family well enough, then even after living on this earth and in this crazy family of her own, she managed to get surprised just at how chaotic the family could be.

Now was a perfect example for this. Her mind whirled around as she tried to follow the two children that played a giddy game of tag around the furniture and between the legs of the adults that were scattered around the salon. One of the many in her brother's house. They weren’t the only children dwelling around the adults the younglings made up half of the entire crowd. If John would continue to do as he pleased, bringing child after child into this world, soon there would be more Shelbys under the legal age, than there were adult ones. Ada loved all of her nieces and nephews of course, but a bunch of children never helped the chaos become less.

Here too people were wrong. Thinking that with having children on their own, the older ones would calm down and become more serious. But like so many other things, this was a false assumption as well. John, while the father of five and counting, could be a serious adult sometimes, most of the time he resembled his six-year-old in his behaviour. Arthur wasn’t better, as the oldest, he still regularly got himself into trouble with their aunt as if he had still been fifteen.

As chaotic and loud as her family could be, Ada loved them very dearly. They were everything she had and no matter how much she cursed at them from time to time and how much they argued, they would always be hers. And now the family would gain one more member.

Freddie Thorne. Her fiancé.

She still could barely believe it but, every time she questioned her mind - if this wasn’t all just a dream - all she had to do was look down onto her hand and see the shining ring on her ring finger. Her heart fluttered every time she saw the gem catch the light and reflect it so prettily.

“Oi, alright! Listen up.”, boomed John's loud and amused voice through the room. He and Arthur had been preparing something to say.

“We are here to celebrate today, yeah? So I don’t want to see anyone not enjoying themselves.” Arthur's voice carried through the entire room.

“And no empty glasses.”

“To our Ada. Never would have thought the day would come when my sister got engaged!”

The family raised their glasses high up in the air and cheered. More and more voices mixed into the quiet as conversations got picked up again. It wasn’t like they had just announced it in fact, the engagement wasn’t new anymore, but getting the family together wasn’t easy. They all were so busy, it could be infuriating. The busiest out of all of them had to be Tommy. He had a talent to rally them up, especially if it was for an important business meeting, anything other than that couldn’t hold his attention longer than a couple of minutes. He was irredeemable. Most didn’t even bother anymore to try to get him to come to parties or meetups, not Ada. No, she was a special one at that. Maybe it was her role of being the little annoying sister or it was just the way their relationship had worked ever since she had been born.

Which was also the reason why she couldn’t let it slide today either. No one else seemed to realize that the second oldest had scurried off to his peace and quiet, except for Ada. For her, however, it had been a bit harder to sneak off, but it wasn’t an impossible task. Being in a secret relationship with Freddie for a long time had taught her everything she had to know.

Just as she had thought she found her older brother tucked away in his barely lit office. There he sat behind his obscenely big and luxurious desk, nursing a glass of whiskey, looking gloomy and moody as if it was his job to do so.

“There you are. What are you doing in here all alone in the dark?”

He didn’t answer, just grumbled and took a sip of the golden liquid. Ada came closer.

“Are you sulking?”

At that, he rolled his eyes and sent a nasty look in her direction, the way only a sibling could. But Ada wasn’t scared of her brother. She hadn’t been for a long time. At least not when he acted like he always did.

“Bloody hell, you are!” She was surprised. Tommy didn’t sulk. And if he did, he didn’t do it in front of other people. With her drink in hand she rounded his desk and nudging his elbow away - which produced another grumble but nothing more from him - she made herself comfortable on the edge of his desk.

“What’s bugging you?”, she asked. She always asked, even if she didn’t get an answer. Tommy had never liked to answer questions, not in school, not to their mother, not to anyone. But Ada had never cared. She had been a curious child and her relationship with her second biggest brother had always been a special one. Asking questions had been reserved for Tommy. When she was little he had actually told her things, what kind of horse the grey mouldy looking one was, or how many more nights she had to sleep when her birthday was close. So the habit just never died, no matter how quiet and withdrawn he became.

There was silence now too, for what seemed to be an eternity for the soon to be Thorne.

“Can’t believe me sister is getting married.”, muttered Tommy finally in a low voice.

“Oh Tommy, are you getting sentimental now? You out of all, I would have expected it from Arthur.”

“Do you need a tissue?” she quipped.

“Shut up.”

She nudged him with her arm, which he expertly avoided and caught her arm in his hand instead. That was when he looked at her, properly, for the first time since she had stepped foot into the room. His eyes always had this coldness in them, this distance that didn’t seem to melt anymore, but now there was a vulnerability in them. There didn’t seem to be a kilometre thick layer of ice. Now they shimmered with a softness that reminded her of the time she broke her arm at seven when Tommy had comforted her. She had cried ceaselessly, her arm throbbing with sharp strikes of white-hot pain, too much for a young girl in her age to handle. Tommy had come out of nowhere and crouched beside her, a soft look on his face spiked with the littlest amounts of worry, as his hand had found her back over which he soon had rubbed comforting circles and cooed warm words at her. It hadn’t been his gestures or his words that had calmed Ada down at last, but his warm eyes, the colour of the sky on a warm summer day that had shown none of the coldness they would harbour years later.

“Never thought the day would come.” Sighing he leaned back in his chair, raising the glass and swirling its contents for a moment. He looked to be deeply in thought, his eyebrows suddenly creased down and he grumbled again.

“Not to Freddie Thorne either.”

That made her splutter. Yes, no one had seen it coming, except for maybe Polly because Polly always knew and if she didn’t she acted as if she had known all along. The relationship had been a well-kept secret until it wasn’t. They had become tired of sneaking behind closed doors and on one particular evening, they had become reckless. Freddie had drunkenly told her that he wasn’t scared of Tommy or any of her brothers for that matter and then he had seduced her, for her equally drunken state had made her even more susceptible to his charm. The alcohol had made them sleep deeply until late into the morning. The same morning Tommy had decided to urgently want something from his sister, maybe even if she knew where Freddie was - they had been close before, second closest of all the Shelbys - and thus he had caught them red-handed. The lovebirds had been still sleeping, legs and arms entangled, their bare shoulders peaking over Adas faintly pink and flowery blanket. The next thing anyone had heard and seen was Tommy chasing a still half nacked Freddie out into the driveway, his other clothes clutched in his hands while the Shelby had his famous razored cap threateningly in his hand. It had taken both Arthur and John to hold Tommy down and at last Polly to calm the situation entirely. While none of the brothers had been happy to hear about Freddie Thorne shagging their sister, they all had taken it far better than Tommy in the first place. Breakfast had been chilly that morning.

“I love him. I truly do. Have for a long time.”

“Is that so?” Now it was Ada's turn to roll her eyes. Her brother could be so unemotional sometimes.

“Yes, you scumbag. I’ve loved him ever since I was thirteen! And Freddie loves me too, he loves me like no other.”

“He also used to treat girls like no other.”, muttered the older one, shortly followed by an exclamation of pain.

“I am not just some random hookup. I know fair well what you and he had been up to. He told me many stories. You don’t have to play the good Samaritan.” There was the scowl back on his face together with the glare.

“He’ll treat me right, you’ll see. And if he doesn’t I will teach him how to treat me properly.”

“Our fierce Ada, eh? Fiercer than a lioness.” Tommy raised his glass in a kind of toast, which she followed. Both of them drank in silence.

They stayed silent for some time, nursing their glasses and slowly emptying their contents. It was Ada that broke the silence once more after Tommy had focused his gaze on a paper on his desk, he could never stay still and do nothing for too long, always having to do something and work.

“I reckon Freddie will ask you to be his best man. Which means I will ask Arthur to lead me down the altar.”

“You make it sound like you are disappointed.” At that, she shrugged her shoulders and let out a sigh.

“A bit?”

She sounded unsure. It wasn’t that she didn’t want Arthur to do this, but in her mind, it had always been Tommy to walk her down the aisle. There was no denying it that she was the closest to him, even if Tommy turned out to be the most withdrawn out of all of them. Hell, sometimes he seemed to be the most withdrawn and distanced person on the planet. Ada couldn’t explain it, there simply was a connection between them that no one else had with her.

Arthur had always been a bit awkward around her, never too sure how to act, how to handle her as she was little. He had had lots of experience with little brothers but when Ada had come around he had been stranded. While he had gotten more comfortable and at ease with her the older she had become there still were moments when it felt weird. John and she had hated each other when they were little. At first, the older one had seemingly resigned her for stealing his spot as the youngest in the family.

John just couldn’t have been bothered with her and his disdain for her had made her repulsive against him as well. There hadn’t been a day in which these two hadn’t fought and screamed and pulled each other's hairs nearly out. Now once again with the passing years, this too had grown less and less and now Ada considered herself close with the brother closest in age to herself. She and John were at ease now, the only arguing that was still a constant between them was one of a joking nature.

Finn had never been in the picture, he was even younger than Ada herself so it would have never been him for this role.

“It should be you. You and I, we always were much closer than I ever will be with Arthur.” Tommy hummed lowly and eyed her up.

“I could turn down Freddie.”

“No, he has no one else to ask. You should be his best man. Besides, it would break Arthur’s heart if I didn’t ask him.” The oldest one looked and acted rough on the outside but secretly he was a big softie on the inside. While he still denied it, Ada insisted that his eyes had gleaming with unshed tears after he had found out about her engagement. Tommy nodded and hummed again. But then he started looking uncomfortable. It was almost awkward how he picked up his glass again and avoided looking her into the eyes.

“I appreciate it.”, he muttered softly. So softly that Ada barely heard it. When it clicked what Tommy had said, she just stared at him. That’s why he was so uncomfortable. He was horrible with feelings, even worse with admitting he had them and god forbid he had to show them in front of others. Ada slid down from the desk to stand behind her brother and hug him. Tommy wasn’t keen on hugs but he didn’t resist, just rolled his eyes like he always did when Ada chose to do things like this.

The affectionate moment was cut short when a knock on the door sounded. Thus the siblings separated from each other again.

“Tommy, you in here? I can’t find Ada.”, it was Polly who asked. Promptly after her question, the door opened and the matriarch poked her head into the room.

“What are you two doing in here alone? Out, both of you.” And thus both of the Shelby siblings gathered their glass. Polly had already returned out into the hall, as they both shared one last glance, Ada smiled at her older brother, she even believed him to have returned with his own little smile, before they too went out to get back to the rest of the chaos that was their family.

#tommy shelby #thomas shelby x reader #peaky blinders #ada thorne #peaky blinders fanfic #my first fic

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psycheswritings · 5 years ago

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Nothing’s Fair in Love and War - Eleven

Title: Nothing’s Fair in Love and War

Fandom: Peaky Blinders

Pairing: Thomas Shelby x Daphne Scott (OFC)

Warnings: Swearing, angst and mentions of death and war.

Word Count: 6018 (I know and I am sorry)

Author’s Note: Here we go again with another update. Hope you are all well and safe with this whole pandemic thing. Take care of yourselves and the people around you.

Not much to say about this chapter, so I am just going to show my gratitude towards @internalmess3 for being so kind and sweet and supporting me through the process of writing this chapter - you're incredible and I am so grateful to you! Thanks for everyone, EVERY SINGLE SOUL, who has been reading this fic and commenting/leaving likes. Seriously, that's what makes me keep writing and I LOVE to read your thougths about the plot and the characthers. Don't feel shy in coming talk to me.

You know the drill, if you find any mistakes feel free to report it back to me. Tags are at the end of the post and if you want to be added, let me know. Your feedback is highly appreciated. Happy reading.

WARNING: this fic (as most part of my works) is also been posted on FF and AO3.

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author of this story. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any previously copyrighted material. No copyright infringement is intended.

Masterlist

Chapter Summary: Tommy meets Campbell to talk about the plans to kill the Field Marshall while Daphne is trying to adpat herself to living alone. She and William take a walk down memory lane, rememoring how they met and Tommy pays her a visit. The Brummie gangster negotiates with Alfie and they both end up discussing their feelings for Daphne.

Eleven

Tommy had told Lizzie to let Campbell into his office at the pretense that he was parking his car. It was the first time they would meet after his plan to make the Field Marshall leave his house got into work and he wanted to take the Irishman out of guard - and so he did.

“I keep everything locked up, Mr. Campbell. Everything of value.” Campbell looked up at him as he closed the door, a little more forcibly than necessary, on purpose. The man was rummaging through his desk and by the look on his face he certainly wasn’t expecting being caught. Tommy hang his coat, clearing his throat before walking towards the desk. “Take a seat.”

“How is your company treasurer, Polly?” The Irishman asked as he bypasses the desk to stand in the opposite side from Tommy.

“Why do you ask?”

“Oh. Just give her my regards.” Tommy finds the questioning odd but decides to brush it off as he searches for his cigar case, taking one and lightening it. “Ah! You like to play with fire, don't you, Mr. Shelby? Yesterday, in Belgravia, Field Marshall Russell's house was burnt out. An incendiary device was put through his letter box. Which means that he will have to find somewhere else to live for at least the next three months.”

“Which also means that your plan for me to break in and shoot him in his bed is no longer an operational possibility.” Tommy states what they both already know, calmly, a hint of a smirk on his face.

“Indeed, but if you think a wee burn frees you from your obligations, think again…”

“I will keep my side of the bargain.”

“Oh, by God, you will.”

“I will shoot your Field Marshal. But I will do it in a way that serves my purpose.” Campbell is still standing in front of him, both hands holding the cane, clearly riled up by the change of plans.

“The only purpose is my purpose.”

“I will carry out the assassination at a place of my choosing.” The Irishman takes a step towards the desk as he speaks.

“Listen to me. All operational detail must be mutually agreed…”

“I am a soldier of experience and I will determine where and when…”

“Now, that man has twenty-four-hour armed police protection…”

“Your plan was full of holes, Mr. Campbell.”

“My plan was mutually agreed!”

“And now your plan is up in smoke! And I have formulated the only viable alternative.”

“For God's sake. What do you mean? How would you get to him?” Tommy takes a drag from his cigarette, taking his time to answer.

“I won't. He'll come to me.”

“Now listen to me, Mr. Shelby. When this meeting is concluded I must report directly to Mr. Winston Churchill.”

“Your relationship with Mr. Churchill is not my concern.” The Brummie answers nonchalantly.

“And Mr. Winston Churchill will need to hear details.”

“Well, you tell him he'll have to trust me.” They glare at each other for a second, then Tommy speaks again. “Look, Mr. Campbell, I will carry out my mission.”

“Good.”

“Good. But I will do it in a place where it will be impossible for you or your men to have me shot afterwards.” Campbell shifts in his place. “Because that was your plan, eh? Coopers front and back. No way out. Me shot dead, dumped in the Thames. I will do the killing, but in a place where that will not be an option.”

“Where and when?”

“Epsom. Derby day.”

#* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #

After one week of living in the hotel Daphne decides to rent a flat. It’s the logical thing to do, she thinks to herself, so she can have more privacy and start doing things her way. Her relationship with Alfie was still strained and they were sticking to talk just about business because every time the topic changed they ended up fighting and it seemed that the both of them were tired of it. William and Harriet helped her accommodate in the new place.

She had been avoiding to talk about certain topics with Harriet because she knew how the woman was caught in the crossfire and a part of her, the one who still cared for Alfie, wanted him to have some sort of support system because if she knew him well enough, he was most certainly trying to pretend that everything was fine. Ada was out of town - they have talked over the phone and the Shelby sister assured Daphne that everything was alright between them - so she was relaying on the last person she had left - William.

Since their conversation at the hotel, their first one after she had left Alfie’s house, Daphne had been thinking about the things he said to her. She had been able to avoid the specific topic of her relationship with Tommy on the occasion but she was sure that it was just a matter of time until it come up again. Truth be told, she wasn’t even sure if they had a relationship of any sort because they never really talked about it. Actually, the last time they had seen each other the last thing they did was talk about anything.

“How’s Jane?” She was facing away from him, making tea for the both of them as he adjusted himself on the spare armchair by the fireplace. The flat was not big, everything was in the same room basically - her bed near the window, a little bedside table, a modest wardrobe and a dresser near the fireplace, two armchairs and a center table. There was a nice bathroom and a small kitchen just beside.

“Fine. They are getting used to things there but are happy together. She send you lots of love.” Daphne gave him the teacup and goes back to take her own before getting comfortable on her own armchair.

“Send my love to her when you write to her again.” They fell into a comfortable silence until he asked her.

“Have you talked to Thomas?” She averted his gaze, sinking into the chair.

“Will…”

“You've been avoiding the topic since the night we talked in the hotel.” Daphne was really hoping that her acting had been on point for him not to notice, but she was just so tired that it wasn’t all that surprising that she slipped onto her act. “He likes you.” Her hazel eyes searched for his blue ones and he laughed at her expression. “What? Did you really think I wouldn't notice?”

“I really hoped I wouldn’t have to talk to you about it.” She exhaled loudly, taking a sip of her tea and William takes a moment to observe her: she is looking to the fire, he knows it is because she doesn't want to look at him, her cheeks are still rosy from the cold, her fingers playing mindlessly with the hem of her dress, her legs tucked under her. It was easy to fall in love with her, he knew that more than anyone.

“Well, unfortunately for you, I am your better option right now.” Daphne looks at him again, sees his playful smile and sighs.

“We could always not talk about it.” William raises an eyebrow at her.

“Not an option.” He waits, patiently, as he always does, for her to get comfortable enough to talk. Sometimes, William wonders why she always seemed more willing to share things with him than with Harriet, for example, or even with his sister. Most women didn’t like to confide in a man like that. He should know better though, because Daphne was nothing but unusual in a lot of things.

“Do you remember the first time we met?”

“You're redirecting.” He scolded her and she laughed, sitting up straighter to face him better.

“I am not, I promise.” Daphne had already accepted her defeat because she knew he wasn’t going to give up, but she wanted to make him understand somethings that had been on her mind lately. Somethings that were very important for their relationship. William drank the rest of his tea, putting the teacup into the table and getting comfortable on his chair as he took a deep breath.

“I remember that you gave me quite a scold.” He smiled looking at her to see that she was doing the same. “We fought over what was the best way to treat a patient and you were so damn stubborn, standing there, hands on your hips, holding your ground and defending your opinion so fiercely.”

“I was right.” There was a smug look on her face and he just shook his head in annoyance.

“You were and even so Dr. Lewis choose to believe in me.” Daphne rolled her eyes and William smiled. He knew that she never really liked the old doctor.

“Of course he did. The man worshiped the ground you walked on just because you are a man.” She rolled her eyes before continuing. “And you were a prick just alright.”

“I was. Smug little thing, fresh out of college, I thought I knew better about everything and I certainly wasn’t looking for being proven wrong by a young nurse on my first day.” She remembered that, he was the talk of the hospital that morning and for the following days - the young hot doctor who had just arrived to help Dr. Lewis. Daphne had been there for almost a month, things had been going as smoothly as they could be but her mood was sour due to being away from her brother for so long.

At first, she had been excited about the new addition to the personnel, after all, all help was welcome - that is until she actually met William. She was treating a soldier with a severe injury and Dr. Lewis brought him to give his opinion on it. The first thing she noticed was how handsome he was and how young he looked but the niceties stopped there, because next thing they were arguing about the right treatment to apply and things just went down after that.

“You actually searched for me to try and convince me that your plan was better than mine.”

“And you snapped at me right away. I don’t think I had ever fought with a nurse before but you were having none of my shit.”

“You were used to just bat those eyelashes at them and have your way out of the discussion, weren’t you?” She smirked at him and William put his hand in front of his face, sighing. “Oh, sweetheart, you don’t have to tell me that. I am pretty sure that all the nurses thought I was crazy for fighting you that day. I certainly received lots of death glares on the corridors for weeks.”

“Matron certainly didn’t agreed with that because she gave me a hard time until we made amends.” William still remembers how much the older woman made his life difficult on the weeks right after his arrival.

“Harriet wouldn’t shut up about you and how I should give you a chance because you were ‘oh, so nice and gentle’.” She feigned an affected voice, then paused for a second looking directly at him. “And how I was going to fall for you if I did open up. I think I did, for a while.”

“Daph…”

“No, I have to say it for both our sakes.” They looked at each other for a long moment before she continued. “We never really talked about why I couldn’t stay with you and sometimes I feel selfish for keeping you around.”

“Then we both are being selfish because I didn’t wanted to lose you either.” She takes a deep breath, gets up from her seat collecting the teacups and walks to the kitchen, gets the bottle of whiskey from the counter along with two glasses and goes back to where he is, pouring them both a dose, offering one of the glasses to him and then getting comfortable on the armchair again. Daphne took a sip of the amber liquid, relishing on the way it burned her throat as she observed the fire crackling.

“I really fell for you at the time, you know.” Her voice was firm, as if she was trying to reassure herself and him at the same time.

“I know. You are good at pretending but not that much.” They smiled at each other and stayed in silence for a moment.

“And I really wish that things could have been different, that we could have gotten a better chance but you were right when you said that I didn’t wanted to live after Benjamin died. I just never let myself acknowledge that.”

“Nobody can blame you for that. I don’t blame you for that. After we came back, every time I saw Jane I thanked God for her being safe and remembered how you must feel everyday because of him.”

“I’m sorry for shutting you out and not giving us a chance. Most part of the time I am sorry for not letting you go.”

“It wasn’t your choice. Not entirely at least. I stayed because I love you and between being in your life as a friend or nothing at all I would always choose to stay. We already talked about that.” They did, in fact, when Daphne told him they couldn’t be together anymore, not as a couple, he had asked her if she wanted him to leave her life completely even if it would’ve been impossible at the time because they were serving at the same place. But she haven’t wanted him gone back then and she still didn’t want him gone now.

“I just don’t understand how I couldn’t love you the way you loved me back then but I can fall in love with another person now. It just doesn’t make sense and…”

“Hey, hey, hey. Stop that!” He kneeled in front of her, taking the glass of whiskey half drank from her hands and resting it on the table, holding both her hands in his, forcing her to look at him. “Love is not rational, Daph. I know we try to find some explanation, a reason for it but it doesn’t exist. We don’t choose who we love or in what moment we love them.”

“We could have been good together.”

“We are good together.” He smiled at her and squeezed her hand. “Just because we are not together as a couple it doesn't mean we don’t have a good relationship. We’ve been supporting each other all these years, you can’t say to me that this is not a good thing.”

“It is. You’re one of my best friends, always will be.” She smiled at him, remembering all the times he had been there for her. There was no denying how important he was in her life. William would always be a huge part of her history.

“Then talk to me. Don’t push me out because you think you’ll hurt me. I will say to you if something is too much but let me help you.”

“I don’t know what to say. Really.” Daphne sighed as she sank into the chair and William adjusted himself on the ground right in front of her. “The way I feel about Tommy is… different. He makes me feel things that I had never felt before. Things I didn’t wanted to know about.”

“Well, you’ve been avoiding it for years now, I really wouldn’t expect nothing less.”

“He’s everything I didn’t wanted for my life.” Problem, that’s what he was. A big, huge problem. William laughed and Daphne gave him a not so playful slap on the arm.

“Maybe he is exactly what you need him to be even if you haven’t realized it yet.” She looked at him, half closed eyes, a smirk on her lips.

“When did you got this wise?”

“You’ve been rubbing off on me.” William smiled at her and Daphne felt the urge to hug him, so she did, sliping from the armchair to sit on the ground with him.

“Why couldn’t I have stayed in love with you? Life would be a lot simpler.”

“That’s the thing, life is never simple.” The moment is interrupted by a knock on the door, so Daphne gets up to answer it and she has a hard time coming into terms with the person standing in front of her.

“Thomas?” William looks at the door after hearing the name, his eyes meting Tommy’s for a moment before he got up from the ground.

“Hope I am not interrupting anything.” His voice was devoid of emotion but Daphne notices the hint of displeasure on his face. William was faster than her to answer.

“No. I was heading out, already.” He was putting his coat on and heading to the door. “Mr. Shelby.” They shook hands briefly and the doctor turned to face her. “You’ll gonna be alright?”

“Yeah.” She nodded and he got closer, giving her a kiss on the check before heading out.

“See you tomorrow then.” Tommy takes a step to the side, giving space for him to get out of the flat. “Mr. Shelby.” The two men nod at each other and the gangster observes as William walks down the stairs before looking up at Daphne, who was observing him. After a moment of silence he asked.

“May I come in?” She stepped out of his way, opening the door more for him to enter. Tommy looked around, analysing the small space, noticing how it looked cozy, much like her. Daphne closed the door and walked towards the little table near the fireplace, taking both glasses laying there and walking to the small kitchen.

“Do you want tea? Or whiskey?” She turned to look at him and he just shook his head, denying her offer, stuffing his cap on one of his pockets.

“No, I am fine.” Neither of them said nothing for a long while. “Did you knew?” They both knew the answer to that and Tommy didn’t fail to notice the offended look on her face.

“Of course not.”

“Then that night, at Charles’s wedding, it wasn't just a way to distract me.” The look she gave him hit him harder than any slap he ever received and, for a moment, he almost regrets asking it, but after Grace he just had to be sure that what he was feeling for her wasn’t just one more thing that Solomons’s could use against him and his family.

“If you thought even for a moment that I would sell myself for something as simple as a decoy you’re clearly underestimating me.” Tommy isn’t accustomed to being held accountable by the things he says and when he does, he usually doesn’t care about what people feel about it. So it actually gets him by surprise how he always seems to find enticing the way Daphne always gets back at him for the things he says.

“You can’t really blame me, can you?” He walks to her, slow and deliberate, leaving her time to back off, which she doesn’t. When they are a breath apart, his cold fingers trace the skin below her neck and then lower, getting hold of the ever present pendant hanging on her neck. He pulls the locket out of the chancel of her dress, feeling the metal against his fingers and this time, different from the night of her birthday, he opens it. As he expected, there are two photographs there - a girl and a boy. “You’ve been hiding a lot of secrets, Senior Sister Scott.”

“Am not the only one, Sergeant Major Shelby.” All he wants to do is to close the distance between them and kiss her, like he had done at the library of the Weston’s house. Give in to desire and press her against the wall, have her right there, but there is something that holds him back. “My past is none of your concern.”

“Your past, your present, your future… I want them all to be of my concern.” The way she looks at him with half closed eyelids should be illegal and Tommy has to take a moment to put his thoughts on check again. “He is the reason why you said I couldn’t make you want things you can’t have?”

“Thomas…” Daphne closes her eyes, feeling trapped in his presence, she doesn’t think that she can talk about Benjamim with him, not yet.

“Because you don’t want to live without him.”

“Tom…”

“You think you don’t deserve to have a life without your twin.” Her hazel eyes focus on his blue ones, hands searching for support on his chest as Tommy holds her to him with his free hand.

“You know nothing about that.”

“I know enough.” She tries to walk away from him, but he is faster than her, releasing the open locket and holding her by the arms, keeping her close, forcing her to face him. “‘Can’t imagine the pain you feel.” Daphne’s resolution falters for a moment, her breath coming fast as if she had runned a mile, she feels her chest tightens as she tries to remembers the last time that she had let herself really feel the grieve.

“He was more than my brother, he was everything.” Her eyes close for a moment and the memories cloud her mind and she relieves all the times they skipped the music classes so they could run through the gardens, searching for a good spot to hide between the trees. How they always sneaked into each others rooms at night so they didn’t had to sleep alone. The way he always seemed to know what she was thinking before herself. Daphne searches for the locket, closing it and holding it between her fingers as she rests her forehead into Tommy’s shoulder, his hands travelling to her waist as they sway from side to side for a long moment.

“Why did you stayed with Alfie?” Daphne thinks for a moment but she already knows the answer, she has knew it for a long time.

“Because it was comfortable.”

“And I am not, so that’s why you’re fighting this.” She doesn’t answer, it’s not needed, they both know it’s the truth. The woman raises her head, looking at him again.

“Why are you fighting this?” There is a long pause where the only thing they hear is the crackling of the fire and the noises of the city outside.

“Because you deserve better than me.” Daphne sees nothing but truth in his ice cold blues.

“I think that is for me to decide.” And decide she does, standing on her tiptoes and closing the gap between them in a gentle kiss. As their lips move together all that Tommy can think about is how much he doesn’t deserve the woman in his arms. In that moment he too makes a decision, a decision that could change everything.

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“Did you one anyway, you ignorant git.” He doesn’t notice that Ada had entered the room until she places the cup of tea almost in front of him, turning to leave. That is the moment that Tommy raises his eyes from the paper in front of him.

“Ada, sit down here for a minute.” She does as he asks while he folds the letter and puts it on the envelope, linking it to seal. “Ada, if anything happens to me today, I need you to post this letter. The stamps already on. Don't ask any questions. It's…” He pauses for a moment as he takes the cigarette from the ashtray. “...to do with insurance.” Ada looks at him, a little disturbed by the information, picking the envelope from the table.

“Look, Tommy? Whatever it is you're involved in, just tell us. God, you never let anybody in. We love you, Tom.” His eyes search for hers in the moment and Ada seems to be in an internal battle to choose her next words so he picks the other envelope and holds it between them.

“This one you can hand over yourself.” Tommy sees the curiosity in her eyes turn into worry when she sees the name outside the envelope.

“What are you going to do, Tommy?” James enters the room and Tommy gets up, walking to the couch to pick his coat. “What are you doing up at six o'clock in the morning?”

“Ready?” He asks the young writer that nods at him.

“What the bloody hell's going on?” Ada asks, voice an octave higher.

“Little errand.” James answers her.

“What errand?”

“He just has to stand there, Ada.” Tommy adds as he picks his things..

“Stand where?”

“Let's go. Come on.” The older Shelby calls and James follows him out of the room, Ada a little behind them, talking exasperatedly.

“James, what's going on? Don't listen to him, James, he'll get you killed! What errand?”

“For the cause, Ada. The good old cause.” The young writer tells her as he and Tommy walk out the door. The two men walk the streets towards Camden Town and when they are approaching Alfie’s bakery Tommy says.

“For the next ten minutes, you don't do or say anything I haven't told you. All right?” Met with silence he asks again. “All right?” James confirms it just before they reach the doors.

“Hello, Ollie.” Tommy greets the young man as he heads to the door.

“Hang on. Just you, yeah? He stays out here.” Ollie admonishes and Tommy turns to James, pointing at him with his index finger and then at the ground, throwing his cigarette away as he does.

“You stay here.” The young writer stands there, looking around a little apprehensive, as Tommy follows Ollie inside. He stops, pretending to tie his shoe much to the annoyance of the young man, before they continue to Alfie’s office. The Jew barely acknowledges him as they enter the room - feet propped up on the desk, leaning back on his chair reading the paper - and Tommy takes a seat in front of him. He just talks when the phone starts ringing.

“That'll probably be for you, won't it?” Tommy gets up to answer the call.

“Hello? Arthur. You're out?” When the call is finished and Tommy sits back on the chair, Alfie straightens himself to look at the Brummie.

“Right, so that'll be your side of the street swept up, won't it? Where's mine? What you got for me?” Tommy takes the license from his suitcase and hands

“Signed by the Minister of the Empire himself.”

“Yeah?”

“Which means that you can put your rum in our shipments and no-one at Poplar Docks will lift a canvas.”

“You know what? I'm not even going to have my lawyer look at that.”

“No, no, it is all legal.”

“You know what, mate? I trust you. That is that. Done.” He straightens his hat and then turns to pick a bottle of whiskey. “So, whisky. There is one thing, though, however, that we do need to discuss.”

“What would that be?” Tommy asks, taking a drag of his cigarette as Alfie places the bottle on the desk, holding his glasses to his eyes and analysing the contract.

“It says here twenty percent paid to me of your export business.”

“As we agreed on the telephone.”

“No, no, no, no. See, I had my lawyer draw this up for us, just in case.” He places the new contract, that he just got from the drawer, right in front of Tommy, leaning on the desk to show it to the other man. “It says that here, that a hundred percent of your business goes to me.”

“I see.”

“Just there Don't worry about it, right. Cos it is totally legal, binding. All you have to do is sign the document and transfer the whole lot over to me.” Alfie reclines himself back on his chair, waiting for Tommy to sign the contract.

“Sign just here, is it?” The Brummie asks, calmly.

“Yeah.”

“I see. That's funny, that is.” Tommy says, taking a drag from his cigarette and pointing at the paper in front of him.

“What?” The Jew asks, confused.

“No, that's funny. I'll give you a hundred percent of my business?”

“Yeah!”

“Why?” Ollie, who had been standing there, fidgeting more than usual, points a gun towards Tommy, who looks at him unamused.

“Ollie, no. No. No. Ollie, no. Put that down.” Alfie takes the gun from Ollie’s hands and places it on the desk, as the younger man retreats to the background. “He understands. He understands. He's a big boy, he knows the road. Now, look, it's just non-fucking-negotiable. That is all you need to know, so all you have to do is sign the fucking contract. Right there.” The Jewish gangster taps with his finger where Tommy is supposed to sign.

“Just sign here.” Tommy says, before stubbing the cigarette on the ashtray.

“With your pen.”

“I understand.”

“Good. Get on with it.” Alfie encourages when the other gangster does nothing.

“I have an associate waiting for me at the door. I know, he looks like a choirboy but he is actually an anarchist from Kentish Town.”

“Tommy, I am going to fucking shoot you.”

“Right? Now, when I came in here, Mr. Solomons, I stopped to tie my shoelace Isn't that a fact, Ollie?” He looks at the younger man and then at Alfie again. “I stopped to tie my shoelace. And while I was doing it, I laid a hand grenade under one of your barrels. A mark fifteen with wire trip. My friend upstairs is like one of those anarchists that blew up Wall Street, you know? He's a professional. And he's in charge of the wire. If I don't walk out of that door by the stroke of seven, he's going to trigger the grenade and your very combustible rum will blow us all to hell. And I don't care ‘cos I am already dead.” Alfie scratches his beard, holding his glasses and analysing Tommy for a moment.

“He tied his lace, Alfie. And there is a kid at the door.” Ollie confirms.

“From a good family, too. Ollie, it is shocking what they become.” The Brummie remarks.

“What were you doing when this happened?” Alfie turns to face Ollie.

“He tied his lace. Nothing else.”

“Yeah. But what were you doing?”

“Marking the runners in the paper.” The young man seems embarrassed. There is a little noise of metal and Alfie turns to see Tommy with his pocket watch in hand.

“What are you doing?”

“Just checking the time. Carry on.” The Brummie show a hint of a smirk on his face. The Jew gangster takes the gun from the desk and hands it to his associate.

“Ollie, I want you to go outside and shoot that boy in the face from the good family.”

“Anyone walks through that door except me, he blows the grenade.” Tommy explains.

“He tied his fucking lace, Alfie.” Ollie becomes nervous by the second.

“I did tie my lace.”

“I bet hundred to one that you're fucking lying, mate. That's my money.” Alfie plays with the gun that he took away from Ollie’s hand.

“Well, you see, you have failed to consider the form. I did blow up my own pub for the insurance.”

“OK, right, well, considering the form, I would say, sixty five to one. Very good odds. And I would be more than happy and agree for you to sign over sixty five percent of your business to me. Thank you.”

“Sixty five? No deal.” Tommy looks at the younger man. “Ollie, what do you say?”

“Jesus Christ, Alfie. He tied his fucking lace. I saw him. Look, he planted a grenade. I know he did. Alfie, it is Tommy fucking Shelby.” Alfie gets up and hits Ollie in the face, holding him by the collar of his shirt.

“You are behaving like a fucking child. This is a man's world. Now, get that apron off and sit in the corner like a little boy. Fuck off. Now!” As Ollie does what he is told, Alfie checks his pocket watch and sits again.

“Four minutes.” Tommy says

“Right, four minutes. Talk to me about hand grenades.”

“The chalk mark on the barrel at knee height said, "Hamilton Christmas". I took out the pin and put it on the wire.” Tommy spins the pin between his fingers before putting it on the empty glass sitting on the desk. Alfie takes it to inspect.

“Based on this…” The Jew shows the pin to Tommy. “...forty five percent.”

“Thirty.”

“Aw, fuck off, Tommy. That's far too little.” He throws the pin at Tommy, who picks it up and starts to play with it.

“In France, Mr Solomons, when I was a tunneller. A clay kicker. A 1-7-9. I blew up Schwaben Hohe. Same kit I'm using today.”

“Funny that. I do know the 1-7-9 and I heard they all got buried.”

“Three of us dug ourselves out.”

“Like you're digging yourself out now.”

“Like I'm digging now.”

“Fuck me!” Alfie whispers, leaning into his chair. “Listen, I'll give you thirty five. That's your lot.” Tommy thinks for a moment.

“Thirty five.” Alfie spits on his hand, gettin up and offering it to Tommy, who does the same.

“Now you go out there, send the good boy from the good family home, and come back here, because we have other business to discuss.” Tommy nods, goes outside and sends James back home, when he comes back Alfie is alone in the office. He closes the door behind him, sitting down on the same chair he was some minutes ago. The both men contemplate the silence for a few minutes, the Jew is looking out to the window. “You probably already know about Benjamin, don’t you? ‘Know you’ve been doing your research on us for a while.”

“I do.”

“Do you know what he meant to her?” Alfie turns to face Tommy, elbows resting on the desk as he intertwined his fingers in front of him.

“I know he was her twin, yes.”

“He was more than that. They were everything for each other. I knew him. The boy served under my command til the day he died. Wouldn’t fucking shut up about her any chance he got. When I finally met Daphne it was as if I already knew her.” He remembers, clear as day, her hazel eyes looking back at him, fighting to hold back the tears, blood all over her nurse uniform. “I fucking promised him I would protect her. Now, we both know that neither of us are men of keeping their promises but this one, this one I intend to keep, because everytime I look into her eyes I believe, even for just a moment, that there is something good in this world. She suffered enough, deserves some happiness and I am not letting you ruin her chances at it. I am not letting you ruin her, Thomas.”

“I don’t plan on it.” Alfie scoffs at him.

“As you didn’t planned to fuck the beautiful blonde who came all the way from New York with her posh husband.” Tommy doesn’t show any signs of emotion but the Jew knows better. “Yeah, I know about her. The woman who betrayed you and then fucked off to America. Beautiful thing she is.”

“She is in the past.”

“Is she? Really?” Alfie restes his arms on the desk, leaning closer to the other man. “Because you’re sitting there telling me that you don’t plan on ruining Daphne but you are lying to her, ‘cause you were with the posh blonde some weeks ago.”

“It’s done. What I had with her is done now.” He pauses for a moment and Alfie just observes him without saying anything. “I know how much you care about Daphne and you have my word that I don’t intend to hurt her.”

“That’s the thing, mate, sometimes the things we don’t intend to find a way of happening.”

Tags: @stressedandbandobessed7771

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blackkudos · 5 years ago

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Benjamin Hooks

Benjamin Lawson Hooks (January 31, 1925 – April 15, 2010) was an American civil rights leader. A Baptist minister and practicing attorney, he served as executive director of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) from 1977 to 1992, and throughout his career was a vocal campaigner for civil rights in the United States.

Early life

Benjamin Hooks was born in Memphis, Tennessee. Growing up on South Lauderdale and Vance, he was the fifth son of Robert B & Bessie White Hooks. He had 6 other siblings. His father was a photographer and owned a photography studio with his brother Henry, known at the time as Hooks Brothers, and the family was fairly comfortable by the standards of black people for the day. Still, he recalls that he had to wear hand-me-down clothes and that his mother had to be careful to make the dollars stretch to feed and care for the family.

Young Benjamin's paternal grandmother, Julia Britton Hooks (1852–1942), graduated from Berea College in Kentucky in 1874 and was only the second American black woman to graduate from college. She was a musical prodigy. She began playing piano publicly at age five and at age 18, joined Berea's faculty, teaching instrumental music 1870–72. Her sister, Dr. Mary E. Britton, also attended Berea, and became a physician in Lexington, Kentucky.

With such a family legacy, young Benjamin was inspired to work hard on his academic career, with hopes of being able to make it to college. In his youth, he felt a calling to the Christian ministry. His father, however, did not approve and discouraged Benjamin from such a calling.

Benjamin was a member of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity.

In 1952 he married in Memphis Frances Darby, a 24-year-old science teacher.

Education

Hooks enrolled in LeMoyne-Owen College, in Memphis, Tennessee. There he undertook a pre-law course of study 1941–43. In his college years he became more acutely aware that he was one of a large number of Americans who were required to use segregated lunch counters, water fountains, and restrooms. "I wish I could tell you every time I was on the highway and couldn’t use a restroom," he would later recall. "My bladder is messed up because of that. Stomach is messed up from eating cold sandwiches."

After graduating in 1944 from Howard University, he joined the Army and had the job of guarding Italian prisoners of war. He found it humiliating that the prisoners were allowed to eat in restaurants from which he was barred. He was discharged from the Army after the end of the war with the rank of staff sergeant.

After the war he enrolled at the DePaul University College of Law in Chicago to study law. No law school in his native Tennessee would admit him. He graduated from DePaul in 1948 with his Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree.

Legal career

Upon graduation Hooks immediately returned to his native Memphis. By this time he was thoroughly committed to breaking down the practices of racial segregation that existed in the United States. Fighting prejudice at every turn, he passed the Tennessee bar exam and set up his own law practice. "At that time you were insulted by law clerks, excluded from white bar associations and when I was in court, I was lucky to be called Ben," he recalled in an interview with Jet magazine. "Usually it was just ‘boy.’ [But] the judges were always fair. The discrimination of those days has changed and, today, the South is ahead of the North in many respects in civil rights progress." In 1949 Hooks was one of only a few black lawyers in Memphis.

Hooks was a friend and associate of Dr. T.R.M. Howard, the head of the Regional Council of Negro Leadership (RCNL), a leading civil rights organization in Mississippi. Hooks attended the RCNL's annual conferences in the all-black town of Mound Bayou, Mississippi which often drew crowds of ten thousand or more. In 1954, only days before the U.S. Supreme Court handed down Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, he appeared on an RCNL-sponsored roundtable, along with Thurgood Marshall, and other black Southern attorneys to formulate possible litigation strategies.

Other endeavors

Hooks always felt drawn to the christian church, and in 1956 he was ordained as a Baptist minister and began to preach regularly at the Greater Middle Baptist Church in Memphis, while continuing his busy law practice. He joined the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (then known as Southern Negro Leaders Conference on Transportation and Nonviolent Integration) along with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. where he became an active participant in the NAACP-sponsored restaurant sit-ins and other boycotts of consumer items and services.

In addition to his other roles, he decided to enter Tennessee state politics and ran unsuccessfully for the state legislature in 1954 and for juvenile court judge in 1959 and 1963.Though he did not win, he attracted the support of many black voters and liberal whites as well. In 1965 Tennessee Governor Frank G. Clement appointed him to fill a vacancy in the Shelby County criminal court. With this he became the first black criminal court judge in Tennessee history. His temporary appointment to the bench expired in 1966 but he campaigned for, and won election to a full term in the same judicial office.

By the late 1960s Hooks was a judge, a businessman, a lawyer, and a minister, but he continued to do more. Twice a month he flew to Detroit to preach at the Greater New Mount Moriah Baptist Church. He also continued to work with the NAACP in civil rights protests and marches. Fortunately for Hooks, his wife Frances matched him in energy and stamina. She became her husband's assistant, secretary, advisor, and traveling companion, even though it meant sacrificing her own career. "He said he needed me to help him", she told Ebony. "Few husbands tell their wives that they need them after 30 years of marriage, so I gave it up and here I am, right by his side."

Hooks had been a producer and host of several local television shows in Memphis in addition to his other duties and was a strong supporter of Republican political candidates. In 1972, President Richard Nixon appointed Hooks to be one of the five commissioners of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The Senate confirmed the nomination, and Benjamin and Frances Hooks moved to Washington, D.C. in 1973. As a member of the FCC, Hooks addressed the lack of minority ownership of television and radio stations, the minority employment statistics for the broadcasting industry, and the image of blacks in the mass media. Hooks completed his five-year term on the board of commissioners in 1978, but he continued to work for black involvement in the entertainment industry.

The NAACP

On November 6, 1976, the 64-member board of directors of the NAACP elected Hooks executive director of the organization. In the late 1970s the membership had declined from a high of about 500,000 to only about 200,000. Hooks was determined to add to the enrollment and to raise money for the organization's severely depleted treasury, without changing the NAACP's goals or mandates. "Black Americans are not defeated," he told Ebony soon after his formal induction in 1977. "The civil rights movement is not dead. If anyone thinks that we are going to stop agitating, they had better think again. If anyone thinks that we are going to stop litigating, they had better close the courts. If anyone thinks that we are not going to demonstrate and protest, they had better roll up the sidewalks."

In his early years at the NAACP, Hooks had some bitter arguments with Margaret Bush Wilson, chairwoman of the NAACP's board of directors. At one point in 1983, Wilson summarily suspended Hooks after a quarrel over the organization's policy. Wilson accused Hooks of mismanagement but the charges were never proven. A majority of the board backed Hooks and he never officially left his post In 1980, Hooks explained why the NAACP was against using violence to obtain civil rights:

There are a lot of ways an oppressed people can rise. One way to rise is to study, to be smarter than your oppressor. The concept of rising against oppression through physical contact is stupid and self-defeating. It exalts brawn over brain. And the most enduring contributions made to civilization have not been made by brawn, they have been made by brain.

Views on equality

Early in 1990 Hooks and his family were among the targets in a wave of bombings against civil rights leaders. Hooks visited President George H. W. Bush in the White House to discuss the escalating tensions between races. He emerged from that meeting with the government's full support against racially motivated bomb attacks, but he was very critical of the administration's apparent lack of action concerning inner city poverty and lack of support for public education.

On the other hand, Hooks would not lay all the blame for America's ills at the feet of its elected officials. He has been a staunch advocate of self-help among the black community, urging wealthy and middle-class blacks to give time and resources to those less fortunate. "It’s time today... to bring it out of the closet: No longer can we proffer polite, explicable, reasons why Black America cannot do more for itself," he told the 1990 NAACP convention delegates. "I’m calling for a moratorium on excuses. I challenge black America today—all of us—to set aside our alibis."

By 1991 some younger members of the NAACP thought that Hooks had lost touch with black America and ought to resign. One newspaper wrote: "Critics say the organization is a dinosaur whose national leadership is still living in the glory days of the civil rights movement." Dr. Frederick Zak, a young local NAACP president, was quoted as saying, "There is a tendency by some of the older people to romanticize the struggle—especially the marching and the picketing and the boycotting and the going to jail."

Hooks feels that the perilous times of the civil rights movement should never be taken for granted, especially by those who were born in the aftermath of the movement's gains. "A young black man can’t understand what it means to have something he’s never been denied,’ Hooks told U.S. News & World Report. "I can’t make them understand the mental relief I feel at the rights we have. It almost infuriates me that people don’t understand what integration has done for this country."

Retirement

Hooks and his wife handled the NAACP's business and helped to plan for its future for more than 15 years. He told the New York Times that a "sense of duty and responsibility" to the NAACP compelled him to stay in office through the 1990s, but eventually the demands of the executive director position proved too great for a man of his age. In February 1992, at the age of 67, he announced his resignation from the post, calling it "a killing job," according to the Detroit Free Press. Hooks stated that he would serve out the 1992 year and predicted that a change in leadership would not jeopardize the NAACP's stability: "We’ve been through some little stormy periods before. I think we’ll overcome it."

Hooks served as a distinguished adjunct professor for the Political Science department of the University of Memphis. In 1996, the Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social Change was established at the University of Memphis. The Hooks Institute is a public policy research center supporting the urban research mission of the University of Memphis, and honoring Hooks’ many years of leadership in the American Civil Rights Movement. The Institute works to advance understanding of the legacy of the American Civil Rights Movement – and of other movements for social justice – through teaching, research and community programs that emphasize social movements, race relations, strong communities, public education, effective public participation, and social and economic justice.

Hooks also resumed preaching at the Greater Middle Baptist Church in Memphis where he had begun preaching in 1956.

On March 24, 2001, Benjamin Hooks and Frances Hooks renewed their wedding vows for the third time, after nearly 50 years of marriage. The ceremony was held in the Greater Middle Baptist Church in Memphis . Hooks died on April 15, 2010 at 85 years old. His funeral was held at Temple of Deliverance Church of God in Christ on April 21, 2010.

Professional memberships

American Bar Association

National Bar Association

Tennessee Bar Association

Southern Christian Leadership Conference

Tennessee Council on Human Relations

Honors and awards

Hooks was awarded the Spingarn Medal from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, 1986.

In 1988, Hooks received an honorary doctorate at Central Connecticut State University.

NAACP created the Benjamin L. Hooks Distinguished Service Award, which is awarded to persons for efforts in implementing policies and programs which promote equal opportunity.

University of Memphis created the Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social Change. The Hooks Institute is committed to bringing scholars together to advance the goals of the civil rights movement, to promote human rights and democratic government worldwide, and to honor the lifetime of work of Hooks.

Hooks received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George W. Bush in November 2007.

Was inducted in the International Civil Rights Walk of Fame at the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site on January 12, 2008

The Memphis Public Library's main branch is named in his honor.

The University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law Alumni Chapter honored Hooks as a 2007 Pillar of Excellence.

#01/31 #04/15

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dckotajohnson · 6 years ago

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special delivery for: @lindseymorgan1x1

Shelby Grayson could’ve been anything she wanted - a doctor, lawyer, a CEO of a company and more. As long as anything she did lived up to her father’s expectation. But no, she wanted to be a singer. She knew from the moment she decided to roll around in the mud with her older brothers after a rainy day when she was just a child, that it wasn’t going to be an easy feat to control her. At a young age, she always lived wildly everyday, like there would be no tomorrow. In her mind, that was the best way to live her life. That way, she wouldn’t have live a life with any regrets, even if that meant she broke every rule that her parents set for her. She was always branded as the wild child and the black sheep of her family; she wasn’t clever like her older brothers, but she had a voice. One that she could sing with. That idea alone never sat well with her father, because there was such a slim chance in his mind for her to succeed. But she loved singing, along with songwriting and playing instruments. So much so that she dropped out of college halfway through her freshman year to pursue a career in music. That was the last straw for her father though; ever since that day, he had cut off her funds, kicked her out of their family home and it led to her being a bartender at Seb’s right now. She needed money for a roof over her head, and Seb’s was the perfect place for this. She found solace in the jazz club; the owner even allowed her to play around and sing before opening and when they were closing up the club. Plus, she got free alcohol whenever she was serving behind the bar, so she couldn’t complain. Not when her music career was going nowhere and she had no money to her name. “Shelby!” The familiar voice the owner came approaching, making her wonder if she was in trouble for taking advantage of the alcohol or turning up to a few of her shifts high on whatever substance she got from her neighbour. “You’re on tonight, Benji got sick and we need a second act. So, you’re going to go up there and sing. I’ll even give you extra money for it.” The brunette stared at him, wide eyed at his suggestion. “W-what the fuck, I can’t do that — I never sang in front of people.” She shook her head, before Seb gave her a look that she could tell so well during the three years she worked here, one that she’d seen when she asked for a pay rise — that he wasn’t going to change his mind. “You have, in front of me and the band, and you will sing. Now go up there before people start to leave.” He began to push her towards the direction of the stage, but not without gulping down another shot of tequila. “Ugh, fine. But double whatever you’re planning to give me,” She uttered before the owner could even say a word, then she was introduced and shoved onto the stage. For a moment, she just stared at the sea of faces. Hell, she could even throw up on stage right now because of her nerves. But instead, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, before plucking up the courage to sing as the melody began. “Don’t, don’t, that’s what you say...” As she sang, the sea of people disappeared. Instantly she relaxed, the lyrics flowing right out of her mouth like they did every time she stood on the stage in front of an empty audience. It wasn’t until the applause before she realised the song was over. Astonished by what just happened, it wasn’t until Seb dragged her off the stage before her legs wasn’t feeling like jello anymore and they made their way back to the bar. “I told you, you can sing. You did well, kid.” He sat her down on a stool before patting her on the back and left her to her own device again. Her brain was hardly processing what just happened, but she knew she needed another shot of liquid courage. Waving her co-worker for a refill, she brought the glass to her lips and empty its content. Her eyes scanned across the room, before they stopped at the figure sitting a few stools away from her. She did a double take, before her eyes widened. It couldn’t be. She didn’t know what came over her, but before she knew it, she moved to the empty seat next to the man. “Either you’re a doppelgänger, or you must be lost. Like, really lost. Or my brain is playing funny tricks with me, because if you really are him, then the one and only Theodore Hardy shouldn’t be associated with a small jazz club in Atlanta — at all. That’s just fucking crazy.” God, she prayed that he didn’t hear her sing. That might just push her to the brink of throwing up in front of everyone right now.

#ch: shelby grayson #opp: theodore hardy #YOU BET I PULLED A SONG FROM THE BLL SOUNDTRACK #and yes seb's a la land ref DON'T MIND ME #also she's not as smiley as the gif lmao

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wildlyhardphilosopher-blog · 6 years ago

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Dog Training 46237 | Best Methods Here

New Post has been published on https://dogtraining.dknol.com/english/dog-training-46237-best-methods-here/?utm_source=Tumblr&utm_medium=Tumblr+%230+Freda+K+Pless&utm_campaign=SNAP%2Bfrom%2BBest+Dog+Training

Dog Training 46237 | Best Methods Here

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Keep it civil! Marlo, Shelby (1999). New Art of Dog Training, Chicago: Contemporary Books, ISBN 0-8092-3170-0 Air Pump Accessories Webdesign Dog School and Puppy Classes Comments (46) PH: 0435 855 367 Decimal Numbers We recommend Puppy Promenade, Puppy Playgroups and Puppy Un-Chase!® for building an unflappable adult dog – one who can meet any situation with calm grace. Sit next to you at a busy outdoor café? Got it. Visit a friend’s farm? No problem. Find a Veterinarian with ANZCVSc Membership in Veterinary Behavioural Medicine DELTA Society DELTA Institute Nature and nurture 28 Aug 2017 9:33:03am Our Awards Then open the palm of your hand in front of you, and say “Stay.” We currently offer dog training classes at Carina State School on Creek Road, Carindale. We have access to multiple undercover areas, three ovals, media rooms for seminars and a fully fenced basketball court for the FREE Urban Play Groups. 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In fact, it is not the puppy who has erred, it is the owner who has erred by not properly supervising. personalised training Generally you will want your dog to have been error free around the house for about a month before you can begin to decrease your confinement and supervision. The first time you leave the puppy unsupervised should be just after taking the dog outdoors for elimination. Gradually increase the length of time that your dog is allowed to roam through the home without supervision. If the dog has been able to go unsupervised for a couple of hours without an “accident”, it might then be possible to begin going out for short periods of time. Of course, if the dog still investigates and chews, then confinement and supervision may still be necessary. © 2018 PETstock, All rights reserved Barbara : 0424 740 234 Scott, John P.; and John L. Fuller (1965). Genetics and the Social Behavior of the Dog, Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Christmas operating hours Posted 12 December 2017 Give up items NaMaKuKi/Shutterstock.com Voted South East Queensland’s Top Dog Trainer, we have the expertise to help you! Show him one enclosed fist with the treat inside, and say, “Leave it.” Welfare inspectors Campaign & Promotions Blue Mountains Shelter Dog Training 101 Reviews | Effective Solutions Dog Training 101 Reviews | Unique Solutions Dog Training 101 Reviews | Best Methods Legal | Sitemap

#Dog Training Vest #Dog Training Zoom Room

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anndylrcn-blog1 · 7 years ago

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Use More Brain While Purchasing An Utilized Muscle Car

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blackkudos · 7 years ago

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Benjamin Hooks

Early life

Young Benjamin’s paternal grandmother, Julia Britton Hooks (1852–1942), graduated from Berea College in Kentucky in 1874 and was only the second American black woman to graduate from college. She was a musical prodigy. She began playing piano publicly at age five and at age 18, joined Berea’s faculty, teaching instrumental music 1870–72. Her sister, Dr. Mary E. Britton, also attended Berea, and became a physician in Lexington, Kentucky.

Benjamin was a member of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity. And quite a man, he was.

Education

Legal career

By 1949 Hooks had earned a local reputation as one of the few black lawyers in Memphis. At the Shelby County fair, he met a 24-year-old science teacher by the name of Frances Dancy. They began to date, and soon became inseparable. They were married in Memphis in 1952. Mrs. Hooks recalled in Ebony magazine that her husband was "good looking, very quiet, very intelligent." She added: "He loved to go around to churches and that type of thing, so I started going with him. He was really a good catch."

Other endeavors

Hooks still felt the calling to the Christian ministry that he had felt in his youth. He was ordained as a Baptist minister in 1956 and began to preach regularly at the Greater Middle Baptist Church in Memphis, while continuing his busy law practice. He joined the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (then known as Southern Negro Leaders Conference on Transportation and Nonviolent Integration) along with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He also became a pioneer in the NAACP-sponsored restaurant sit-ins and other boycotts of consumer items and services.

In addition to his other roles, he decided to enter Tennessee state politics and ran unsuccessfully for the state legislature in 1954 and for juvenile court judge in 1959 and 1963. Despite his losses, the personable young lawyer and preacher attracted not only black voters but liberal whites as well. By 1965 he was well enough known that Tennessee Governor Frank G. Clement appointed him to fill a vacancy in the Shelby County criminal court. With this he became the first black criminal court judge in Tennessee history. His temporary appointment to the bench expired in 1966 but he campaigned for, and won election to a full term in the same judicial office.

By the late 1960s Hooks was a judge, a businessman, a lawyer, and a minister, but he continued to do more. Twice a month he flew to Detroit to preach at the Greater New Mount Moriah Baptist Church. He also continued to work with the NAACP in civil rights protests and marches. Fortunately for Hooks, his wife Frances matched him in energy and stamina. She became her husband’s assistant, secretary, advisor, and traveling companion, even though it meant sacrificing her own career. "He said he needed me to help him", she told Ebony. "Few husbands tell their wives that they need them after 30 years of marriage, so I gave it up and here I am, right by his side."

The NAACP

On November 6, 1976, the 64-member board of directors of the NAACP elected Hooks executive director of the organization. In the late 1970s the membership had declined from a high of about 500,000 to only about 200,000. Hooks was determined to add to the enrollment and to raise money for the organization’s severely depleted treasury, without changing the NAACP’s goals or mandates. "Black Americans are not defeated," he told Ebony soon after his formal induction in 1977. "The civil rights movement is not dead. If anyone thinks that we are going to stop agitating, they had better think again. If anyone thinks that we are going to stop litigating, they had better close the courts. If anyone thinks that we are not going to demonstrate and protest, they had better roll up the sidewalks."

In his early years at the NAACP, Hooks had some bitter arguments with Margaret Bush Wilson, chairwoman of the NAACP’s board of directors. At one point in 1983, Wilson summarily suspended Hooks after a quarrel over the organization’s policy. Wilson accused Hooks of mismanagement but the charges were never proven. A majority of the board backed Hooks and he never officially left his post In 1980, Hooks explained why the NAACP was against using violence to obtain civil rights:

Views on equality

Early in 1990 Hooks and his family were among the targets in a wave of bombings against civil rights leaders. Hooks visited President George H. W. Bush in the White House to discuss the escalating tensions between races. He emerged from that meeting with the government’s full support against racially motivated bomb attacks, but he was very critical of the administration’s apparent lack of action concerning inner city poverty and lack of support for public education.

On the other hand, Hooks would not lay all the blame for America’s ills at the feet of its elected officials. He has been a staunch advocate of self-help among the black community, urging wealthy and middle-class blacks to give time and resources to those less fortunate. "It’s time today... to bring it out of the closet: No longer can we proffer polite, explicable, reasons why Black America cannot do more for itself," he told the 1990 NAACP convention delegates. "I’m calling for a moratorium on excuses. I challenge black America today—all of us—to set aside our alibis."

Hooks feels that the perilous times of the civil rights movement should never be taken for granted, especially by those who were born in the aftermath of the movement’s gains. "A young black man can’t understand what it means to have something he’s never been denied,’ Hooks told U.S. News & World Report. "I can’t make them understand the mental relief I feel at the rights we have. It almost infuriates me that people don’t understand what integration has done for this country."

Retirement

Hooks and his wife handled the NAACP’s business and helped to plan for its future for more than 15 years. He told the New York Times that a "sense of duty and responsibility" to the NAACP compelled him to stay in office through the 1990s, but eventually the demands of the executive director position proved too great for a man of his age. In February 1992, at the age of 67, he announced his resignation from the post, calling it "a killing job," according to the Detroit Free Press. Hooks stated that he would serve out the 1992 year and predicted that a change in leadership would not jeopardize the NAACP’s stability: "We’ve been through some little stormy periods before. I think we’ll overcome it."

Hooks also resumed preaching at the Greater Middle Baptist Church in Memphis where he had begun preaching in 1956.

Professional memberships

American Bar Association

National Bar Association

Tennessee Bar Association

Southern Christian Leadership Conference

Tennessee Council on Human Relations

Honors and awards

Hooks was awarded the Spingarn Medal from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, 1986.

In 1988, Hooks received an honorary doctorate at Central Connecticut State University.

NAACP created the Benjamin L. Hooks Distinguished Service Award, which is awarded to persons for efforts in implementing policies and programs which promote equal opportunity.

Hooks received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George W. Bush in November 2007.

Was inducted in the International Civil Rights Walk of Fame at the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site on January 12, 2008

The Memphis Public Library's main branch is named in his honor.

The University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law Alumni Chapter honored Hooks as a 2007 Pillar of Excellence.

Wikipedia

#Benjamin Hooks

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blackkudos · 8 years ago

Text

Benjamin Hooks

Early life

Benjamin was a member of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity. And quite a man, he was.

Education

Legal career

Other endeavors

In addition to his other roles, he decided to enter Tennessee state politics and ran unsuccessfully for the state legislature in 1954 and for juvenile court judge in 1959 and 1963. Despite his losses, the personable young lawyer and preacher attracted not only black voters but liberal whites as well. By 1965 he was well enough known that Tennessee Governor Frank G. Clement appointed him to fill a vacancy in the Shelby County criminal court. With this he became the first black criminal court judge in Tennessee history. His temporary appointment to the bench expired in 1966 but he campaigned for, and won election to a full term in the same judicial office.

By the late 1960s Hooks was a judge, a businessman, a lawyer, and a minister, but he continued to do more. Twice a month he flew to Detroit to preach at the Greater New Mount Moriah Baptist Church. He also continued to work with the NAACP in civil rights protests and marches. Fortunately for Hooks, his wife Frances matched him in energy and stamina. She became her husband’s assistant, secretary, advisor, and traveling companion, even though it meant sacrificing her own career. "He said he needed me to help him", she told Ebony. "Few husbands tell their wives that they need them after 30 years of marriage, so I gave it up and here I am, right by his side."

The NAACP

On November 6, 1976, the 64-member board of directors of the NAACP elected Hooks executive director of the organization. In the late 1970s the membership had declined from a high of about 500,000 to only about 200,000. Hooks was determined to add to the enrollment and to raise money for the organization’s severely depleted treasury, without changing the NAACP’s goals or mandates. "Black Americans are not defeated," he told Ebony soon after his formal induction in 1977. "The civil rights movement is not dead. If anyone thinks that we are going to stop agitating, they had better think again. If anyone thinks that we are going to stop litigating, they had better close the courts. If anyone thinks that we are not going to demonstrate and protest, they had better roll up the sidewalks."

Views on equality

Early in 1990 Hooks and his family were among the targets in a wave of bombings against civil rights leaders. Hooks visited President George H. W. Bush in the White House to discuss the escalating tensions between races. He emerged from that meeting with the government’s full support against racially motivated bomb attacks, but he was very critical of the administration’s apparent lack of action concerning inner city poverty and lack of support for public education.

Retirement

Hooks also resumed preaching at the Greater Middle Baptist Church in Memphis where he had begun preaching in 1956.

Professional memberships

American Bar Association

National Bar Association

Tennessee Bar Association

Southern Christian Leadership Conference

Tennessee Council on Human Relations

Honors and awards

Hooks was awarded the Spingarn Medal from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, 1986.

In 1988, Hooks received an honorary doctorate at Central Connecticut State University.

NAACP created the Benjamin L. Hooks Distinguished Service Award, which is awarded to persons for efforts in implementing policies and programs which promote equal opportunity.

Hooks received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George W. Bush in November 2007.

Was inducted in the International Civil Rights Walk of Fame at the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site on January 12, 2008

The Memphis Public Library's main branch is named in his honor.

The University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law Alumni Chapter honored Hooks as a 2007 Pillar of Excellence.

Wikipedia

#Benjamin Hooks #01-31 #04-15

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