The day of the rally, Nora paced her office.
"Everyone knows where they are supposed to be?" She asked.
"Yes." Anna and Ishmael answered together.
"And what they're supposed to do?"
"Yes."
"Right." Nora took a deep breath to calm herself and sat down.
"It's not like you to be nervous." Ishmael pointed out.
"I just wish I could be there. At least to watch in case something goes wrong." Nora said throwing up her hands in frustration.
Nora watched from a distance and people walked into the building for the rally. The sight made her sick. Did this many people support his cause? Or did they simply want to see what he would say about the two pictures she had spread around the country? She watched her ten men and women walk in, scattered throughout the crowd and turned to walk back to her office.
Tommy stood in his dressing room with Arthur.
"Why are we not doing anything, Tommy?" Arthur asked. "This is our second chance."
"After last time, we aren't going to risk it again."
"Why don't we have a new plan? We've not done anything."
"We haven't needed to. With that picture in the paper and the drawing that was spread around, his witness is damaged."
"Until he gives his speech and denies it all."
Tommy looked at his brother and a knock came at his door before it opened.
"Let's go." Mosely said and Tommy gave his brother one last glance before walking out the door.
They marched down an aisle, through the people to the stage. As they stood in front of the large crowd, Mosely began to make his speech. Tommy scanned the crowd as Mosely spoke. There were more people here than had been in Birmingham. He looked, trying to identify Nora's group. He wished he had asked her for descriptions to ensure they got out safe but, there was no way to pick them from the crowd. She was right, they blend in well. He thought. Moments later a voice rang out from the crowd.
"Liar!" A man with brown hair yelled.
"Brothers. I can assure you-" Mosely continued as he tried to proceed with his speech but the man yelled again. "Liar!" and he held up the drawing Nora had spread.
"Yeah…" A woman said from across the room as she looked at him and nodded. "Liar!"
"Now, don't give into the-" Mosely tried.
"Kike fucker!" Another man yelled.
Mosely looked at Tommy who looked back as the crowd began to murmur.
"He's a liar! Look at this?" The man with the drawing yelled to the crowd as he held up the photograph from the paper.
"Yeah. How do we know he's even for us when he is fucking their women? He doesn't care! He has plenty of money!" Another man yelled.
"He just wants the votes! He'll turn everything to them when he gets in power!" a woman, seemingly the man's wife, yelled.
The crowd's murmurs grew until the room was loud with discussion and anger. Oswald attempted to gain the crowds attention, but the crowd yelled at him, booing. Mosely began to panic as he saw the outrage, fearing a riot.
"Him! We want to hear from him!" a woman yelled above the crowd and pointed at Tommy. "He didn't lie to us!"
"Look at the picture!" The first man yelled as he held up the drawing. "He didn't know you was a liar! He's like us! Let him speak!"
The crowd jumped to agreement. The unease grew until Mosely stepped from the pedestal and looked at Tommy. Tommy walked to the stand, looking at Mosely until he turned to address the upset crowd.
"Alright, alright." He yelled as he held up his hands to signal calm. "Let's all just calm down."
"Did you know the club was owned by a Jew?" A woman yelled and the crowd grew quiet to hear his response.
"No. I didn't know." Tommy answered "My-"
"What do you want to do about the crash? What about our money?" A man yelled.
Tommy looked at Oswald who stood with his jaw clenched as he looked at the crowd then at Tommy. Tommy then gave the speech Nora had advised him to prepare. By the end, the crowd was happy and cheering again at Tommy's words.
"What just happened?" Tommy asked Mosely feigning bewilderment as they entered the back.
"The cameraman got what he wanted." Mosely said in anger. "I've lost my support."
Mosely bit his lip and looked unfocused at the wall, lost in thought.
"But you." Mosely said as if an idea has struck him.
Tommy looked at him. He prepared for Mosely to be upset that he'd stepped up and took control.
"You are our ticket." Mosely said. "We aren't out of the race yet. You take over and I will be your second. We can still spread our message. Then when the time is right, you can pass everything to me saying your trust in me is renewed and I can complete our mission."
Tommy agreed to Mosely's proposal and they gathered their belongings and left. Tommy drove to Ada's house for the night. When he exited his car, he could sense eyes on him. He looked around and saw the glint of Nora's brown eyes staring at him in the distance. He could see the anxiety on her face as she looked at him with worry lines creasing her delicate forehead. Attempting not to be obvious in case he was be watched by more eyes, he looked ahead at the door and nodded slightly. He glanced back and saw her white teeth lined in a smile before she turned and walked off.
He opened the door and found Ada, Karl, and Charlie in the sitting room; the boys playing a game of chess. He immediately went to the drinking cart, filled a glass, took a drink and exhaled a large breath. He closed his eyes and the edges of his lips curled slightly.
"is that a smile I see on your face?" Ada asked and Tommy chuckled, allowing his smile to grow wider. "Boys! You better run have a look before the pigs stop flying." Tommy shook his head, his smile never leaving.
"I haven't seen you smile in years." She said.
"it was a good day." He said as he looked at his sister.
"Was it?"
"Mm." Tommy answered as he nodded.
"Does this good day have anything to do with a certain brown haired, brown eyed woman?"
He looked at her.
"Polly told me."
Tommy rolled his eyes and sighed as he shook his head.
"Who is she?" Ada asked.
"She's just a woman." Tommy answered, knowing in his the pit of his stomach this was a lie.
Nora entered the rum house to excited chattering, which stopped as she entered.
"Well? Tell me everything!" She said unable to control herself and the women all began to speak at once.
"Wait, wait. I can't understand any of you!" Nora laughed.
"It went exactly as planned!" one of the women said. "David started the upset and once we all jumped in, the entire crowd joined."
"I asked Shelby to speak and he did." Another woman said.
"And his speech? Was it-" Nora tried.
"Perfect!" The third woman said.
Nora looked at the men who nodded with smiles of their own.
"Mosely is out!" said the first woman.
"Not out." Nora corrected with a serious expression. "This is not the time to go soft on him."
Nora didn't go to Tommy's to discuss the rally. After the last time she was there she decided she would only travel back to Birmingham if there was a dire need. Tommy, however, gave many speeches in the House of Commons in the following days; slightly changing small parts of his speeches to discount what Mosely had previously said. Mosely always corrected him afterwards and Tommy pretended he had forgotten. When Mosley questioned him on why he was forgetting things so often, Tommy blamed it on marital problems. Mosely was sympathetic to his 'friend's' paid, offering to find him a nice woman to spend the night with, but Tommy declined.
Ten days after the rally Nora sat in her office drinking peppermint tea when Ishmael and Anna walked in.
"That will never work." Ishmael said dismissively to Anna.
"What won't work?" Nora asked.
"She want's you to give a speech." He said motioning his head to Anna.
"No. I don't give speeches." Nora answered before looking at the morning paper again.
"Nora?" Anna said and Nora looked up. "Are you feeling well? You're looking a bit pale."
"Yes, I'm fine. I'm focused on planning my next move."
Suddenly there was a commotion and the three of them looked up to see two of the workers swinging punches at each other.
"Fucking hell." Nora said and she put her teacup down.
"I'll take care of it." Ishmael offered as he took a step toward the door.
"No, no. I will do it." Nora responded as she moved her chair back.
As she stood, the blood drained from her head and the room went black. The last thing she heard was Anna screaming her name as she fell unconscious to the floor.