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twenty one.

Qamaris POV
Pepper and Spice Jerk Centre, E12
3:03 PM

(Okayy so context for my readers who don't understand patois; Qamari and Ramone are basically setting up a proposition with Teddy to buy more weapons.)

"A wah kinda style mek unu dash weh di ratchet just like dat bredda? Bloodclaat."

"Why would you throw away the gun?"

Teddy squints an eye to draw from his zoot, expectant for an answer out one of us. Ramone and I sit opposite, simultaneously congregated, teetering counter and clockwise in the beat up swivel seats.

"Well would you rather us get caught with it? It only had 1 shell left anyway." I answer.

"That's one fat guard ring una." Ramone chirps and appears majorly impressed at the ring on Teddy's finger.

"You like it?" Teddy exhales a cloud of smoke. "A real ting dis." The gold ring sits snug and heavy on Teddy's pinky finger. He sits forward and hovers the spliff over the mini saucer to ash it. "Mi av a shipment, wuleep a ting, soon reach."

"Okay." Ramone and I glance at each other. And then I nod slowly. "Well in that case, we have a proposition."

"We hold on to a few new tings. Two or three?" I turn to Ramone, who frowns and thinks about it.

"Three. Cash upfront. Only if theres already shells in them." He sits back and snugs his fist in to his other hand.

"A war yuh wan war bredrin? Three fi wah? Mi av reputation fi uphold una man." He points his long slender finger at us.

"Teddy, we ain't never come here to play about. I was knifed for 7 grams of loud." I sit up slightly and prop my elbows on the both arms of the swivel seat. "It's open season right now as we speak."

Teddy observes between us deeply as he draws inquisitively from the spliff. Then finally, he cuts his glare to sip down the little left of his Cherry B. "A suh yuh move?" Surprised, chuckles in to himself. "Alright. Mi a link back when shipment touch dung zeen? Come check back a shop next week."

"Safe for that."

"Alright mi chargie, respect." Teddy says.

Slowly, Ramone and I get up to sling him a dap each.

"You shipping those in from yard?" Ramone asks curiously referring to Teddy's guard ring.

(A guard ring is believed to bring good fortune and protection from evil, sort of similar to evil eye and is worn by people in Jamaica.)

"Yah man. Fully loaded."

"Defo be back to cop, in a bit yeah."

With that, we cut round all the foldable chairs and boxes to amble out his little office room.

3 days later

Delilah's POV
Asda
12:37 PM

There is a faulty panel light running down the end of the poultry section today. Every odd minute, It flickers down on us to dim the entire aisle and it throws me off each time. Qamari on the other hand is busy on his mobile phone and pays not a smidgen of mind unless to mind my trolley or to randomly ogle around. Having bumped in to him just round the corner off Westbury News for an Asda run, he kindly offered me a lift the rest of the way. After coming back down from Mums, I sort of insisted he tag along. It feels like ages since we've spoke.

"So, this Drizz guy...." He finally drops his phone back in to his pocket.

I reach for a pack of turkey mince and glance at him. "Yeah?"