Tommy Winston

* Blinders
* Army Days

## Introduction

**Tommy Winston** is a large man with broad shoulders, has a Northern-English accent, likes to joke around a fair bit but knows when to get serious, commonly seen in dark clothing with a peaked worker's flat cap. He is currently a soldier for the Peaky Blinders of Saint Denis.

## Youth

Tommy had a scruffy life in Newcastle, he was the son of a miner, and from a young age got himself down the coal mines to earn a bit of money like his dad. At 18 he had decided the mines were no place to spend a lifetime, so enlisted in the British army for the thrills and excitement, his father did not take kindly to this, and tried to sway his decision through intimidation, which used to work as a child, along with the beatings.... But he would not stand for it anymore, he was a man now, free to make his own decisions. After heated exchanges, familiar threats of beatings would be blurted out, and when actions were put to words, the two were at each others throats. His mother tried to separate the two and things took a turn for the worse, his father shoved his mother out of the way and in a tumble she smashed her head into the corner of a table instantly fracturing her skull and killing her.

While his father was in a catastrophic state due to the event that had just occurred, Tommy went out to the coal shed and took his father's mining pick in hand. He returned into the house to see his father crying over his mother's body. He did not saying anything to his father, he didn't even yell... He simply walked up behind him and drove the pick down straight into the back of his father's head. He quickly left this life behind, and took the army as a chance to escape.

## Becoming a Man

After undergoing months of training, he spent two years stationed in India and returned for a 6 month break, he was different when he came back, he joked a lot more, about quite inappropriate things at times he shouldn't, perhaps a coping mechanism he developed after dealing with foreign affairs for the crown and his tragic past.... Regardless, he never went back with the army, in fact he quit entirely and found work in a gang with Mr Robert Redson, this was called 'The Redson Gang' and this is where he met 'The Boar', both would go on the join the Peaky Blinders based in Birmingham after the good word of Robert Redson. After several years of exploits with the Blinders in various parts of the UK, the top dog, Mr Gilbert requested that him and a couple others provide aid to his family and the Blinders setting up in Saint Denis, America. Thrilled to cross the pond and explore a new part of the world he had only read and heard about from his good friend Johnny 'The Boar', the two went together to embark on a new chapter in their life.

## Saint Denis

After living in Saint Denis for around a month, he aided Robert Redson in bringing the Wolfpack down, with the crucial assistance of the Frontier Security to rope them up and bring them in. Not long after, his Boss and essentially the reason he is even a part of the Blinders, Bobby was taken into jail, Tommy played a part in helping Bobby survive the night of fire at Fort Wallace, in doing so he ignored a direct order placing the safety of the man who built him up from nothing above the directives of the Blinders, this made a few people frown on him, but he is a man who puts family before duty. Tommy knew he would have to quiet down after this to win the respect of is friends and family again, so he subtly began to make his mark and get to know a few people around the towns and ventured outside of Saint Denis. In doing so he met an Ada Milton and was charmed almost immediately by her charismatic and loveable personality, he began to spend his time split between Blackwater and Saint Denis forming a few connections out in the west whilst still remaining fiercely loyal to the cause and the entire Blinder family.

In mid November, his efforts and loyalty were recognised within the ranks of the Peaky Blinders, and he was awarded his blades when promoted to the rank of soldier.

## Love

As time went on, he managed to balance his life fairly well between the Blinders and Ada, however she was quickly becoming more and more important to him. He could not get enough of her, just being around her was enough for the worst of his days to fully turn around.... He enjoyed seeing her thrive, he enjoyed seeing her happy and making something of herself. He would soon begin to help her in a new important job she dearly wanted, then after would help her out in auditioning for a play she began directing with his new friend 'Emile Bouillon'. The play was showcasing a few works of William Shakespeare, whilst Tommy had read a few lines of Shakespeare here and there, he played it up to know more than he actually did in an attempt to impress her, then ended up really trying to do a good job with the role, and apparently wasn't that bad.... He started to take a new look at himself and realised that he would have never done anything like this before, and he actually sort of enjoyed at least trying, she was consistently bringing the best out in him, and nothing seemed unreachable in her presence.

The only problem the two would encounter in life up until now was a man continuously harassing her via mail and leaving threats in and around her workplace, although they were never severe, it was enough to start Tommy on his path of prioritising her well-being and safety above absolutely everything. Tommy was already incredibly paranoid due to his life within the Blinders, and how things with rival gangs had been left, so this happened to push him a little further.

## An Unexpected Turn

Then out of nowhere, Ada's sister 'Beatrice' arrived in Odessa and with that their world would be turned upside down. He had heard small pieces about her family, but he didn't delve too deep as she didn't seem to want to talk about them all that much, all he knew is that she respected and loved her sisters, and that the older one was married and considered the golden child of the three.

His immediate worry was that she was there to take her home, for whatever reason, he had no idea, but again he began to worry, this worry turned into almost tears when the two finally spoke about the situation and how deep it really was.... Ada was in-fact called 'Clara Wallace' and although she had been real with her feelings, and reassured Tommy this, it was a huge amount to take in and comprehend. He had a very straight-forward decision to make, forgive her and continue, or leave her for playing him a fool. The trouble was, he knew why she did what she did, and didn't blame her for it, it was just a shame he had to be on the end... He realised that nothing had changed other than her name however, and at that point he was actually in love with her, as losing her would be far worse than anything she could have done.... He took this opportunity to propose, and she would accept.

Continuing forward, he tried to help Beatrice network and find interests that she could pursue being completely new to Odessa, but now knowing about Ada's fake identity, was beginning to massively worry again about the safety of Ada and the life she had made coupled with simply losing her, as she was his world.