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fourteen.

Shyro's, Croydon
23:54 pm
Denarr's POV

Qamari had neither agreed or disagreed to us locating Franco once more. But Ramone and I was here anyway. And South is just as it had been when I was last here. Destitute.

"G if we've missed him—wait hold on." Ramone sits up for a split second to watch a guy cross the road and tread in to the Tesco Express opposite where we was parked. He kisses his teeth and drops back in to his seat. "Fucking hell." He breathes out. Franco, to me at least, with the odd bounce of his step and two outrageously protruding ears would be hard to miss anyway.

We been waiting on this guy to step out of Shyro's a good three hours now, hidden parked in plain view. Ramone looks ready to get out this car, buss through that door and up them steps to drag the nigga out.

"I think he's seen the car uno."

"You think so?"

Ramone cranes his neck to get a view of the shisha spot through the window as much as he could.

"Fucking pussy." He looks at me. "Let's pull him out man I'm losing my mind."

"Is that not him coming out now?" Chuckling, I immediately go to flick the headlights off. Ramone and I are now watching in the darkness as Franco buzzes down the steps, rather quickly  and talking to someone behind him. That someone was a girl, bringing us to glance at each other. We hold off a bit more and watch as they giggle and stagger down the pavement.

I just don't know why Franco was this easy to catch lacking, considering all the times he's been caught in the past. In fact he's been caught so much that when I swerve the car to abruptly intercede their path, he knows exactly who we are. Because he's already taken off back the opposite way so suddenly that his girl was practically left stood in a cloud of dust.

"Oi!" Ramone barks through the window.

With no time to turn the car around, I just about reverse enough for us jump out the car and hit the burners on him. I haven't ran this fast in ages. Ramone is very much ahead sprinting just as hard. But the distance between us isn't necessarily closing at all. In fact, the prick is kind of getting away, and my lungs are beginning to scrunch up in to itself.

We almost lose the guy when he snaps a corner on us however Ramone catches him on his tail and snaps it right after him.

A dead end.

In a whirlwind of pants and hysterical breath Ramone still finds it in his lungs to laugh at Franco who's now flat on his arse.

"You're a fast prick...you're fast man." Ramone takes some time to catch his breath, swiftly turn his head to spit briefly on the concrete.

"I ain't touch no one  I already told him!" Franco heaves in alarming confusion. "On a g I'm not your guy—."

"Shush I know you got secrets man." I flip the brim of his Trapstar cap up and It falls of his head. Ramone reaches for his waist. At first I think it's a knife, but it's just his stupid BBgun that looked so stunningly real even I was surprised at first. Franco even sees it before I do..I give Ramone a look as this was anything but part of what I thought we came here to do. But way too out of breath to object, I just bop along with it.

"Lowe it bro I didn't do it." His voice cracks, eyeing the gun in Ramone's hand.

"Then what the fuck do you know? Franco, respectfully, it's about to get very long for you." I bend to his level. "How you the number one patty of the south and know nuttin?"

Franco says nothing. Consequently the raging wisp of Ramone's gun cuts the quiet short. Franco suddenly shrieks a thread of fucks and shits.

Before I can even object and ask him what the fuck he's just did, he already turns to me and goes "Rubber bullets. You think you can just talk to this one?" Ramone says to me before turning back to Franco.

"Im no Sherlock fucking Holmes. I'll dun your dance yu' understand?" Ramone says nudging Franco's temple with the barrel.

I look between the gun and Franco who's on his back crying out. Judging by the way he's hugging his knee, slowly bleeding through his Amiri's, them rubber bullets are far more serious than I thought.

"Jesus." I huff. "Alright just...hold it for a sec."

Reluctantly, Ramone lets the BB pistol fall to his side and steps backwards.

"Look man..." Franco cries helplessly. "I don't need more strays than mans already caught."

Ramone and I cut eyes briefly.

"There we go."

"Go on." I murmur.

He swallows back spit, before letting go of his pelleted knee and hoisting himself up against the brick wall. "All I know is, couple man I smoke with, got drops on the inside...said your boys got eyes on him from the wing."

I squint my eyes. "You mean this came from inside?"

"Who the fucks got eyes on him from the inside?"

"I don't know I'm telling you's how I heard it...said whoever it is sent couple man after his stash. That's it."

Ramone turns to face me and he looks like he can't believe it. Then he suddenly turns back to Franco, eyes squinted and raging.

"Who do you smoke with?" I ask him.

"Come on man." Franco pleads.

"Buss another one in his right."
I signal at Ramone and he immediately aims the gun again

"Okay okay! I just smoke with them man they're at Shyro's sometimes—."

"I've heard enough." Ramone said.

"What the fucks going on?" We both 180 at the shrill voice and see that the same girl he was walking with has finally caught up.

"What the fuck have you done to him?" She shrieks, cutting straight through us to get to him. Ramone raises his hands as if to surrender. "We was just leaving."

Franco grits his teeth as the girl tries to pull him to his feet. I even feel a little bad. Regardless I turn on my heel walk up out of there.

"Nothing personal Franco. Just business yeah?" I hear Ramone snicker and follow after me.

-

can you believe it's taken me fourteen chapters to fully take off the plot? geez louiseeee, separately I can't help but think Ramone would be one hell of a big brother.