Trap Queen of Tottenham

16 - Beauty is pain

Friday 8th July, 12:02
Chardonnay POV

"Let's run to our train platform!" hissed Eva.

"Hear my man, are you buzzing?" laughed Katana. "Bare feds are there, we need to take a bus."

Eva shrugged. "We can get the 97 to Walthamstow and get ready at mine."

Eva grabbed my shoulder to support my leg. They all nodded at each other but before I could ask what they were nodding about, I was dragged along. As we ran towards the feds, my memories jolted back to my days in primary school where we used to play bulldog. It was a rough game where you had to run to the other side of the field without being touched by the few people in the middle because they were the 'bulldogs'. Except this version didn't mean I lost the game. Instead, I'd lose my freedom.

Beads of sweat trickled down my forehead as we got closer to three feds. They didn't even look at us. My eyebrows furrowed. Then they dashed past us towards the barriers. Stopping in our tracks, we all spun around to see who the feds were after. We watched as all three of them tackled a young boy to the ground, who had just jumped over the barriers, because he didn't pay for his train journey.

Eva crossed her arms. "So they weren't after us?"

"I suppose not," I laughed.

Katana screwed me as she stomped away towards the bus stop. Trailing behind her, we waited for bus 97.

"You know I kinda feel bad about the dress," I sighed.

"You didn't steal it though," shrugged Yasmin.

"It's still not right."

"I'll give it to my cousin tomorrow afternoon, her man is the security guard for TKMaxx on the weekends."

Kehlani narrowed her eyes. "So I could be swiping all the expensive shit in there... how come you've never mentioned that to me?"

"I'm not going to ask him to let you walk out of the store with free clothes, that's stealing," explained Yasmin.

"And switching labels from £500 to £20 isn't?"

"Of course not, it's called paying what's best for the customer's interest."

Katana dragged her hand down her face. "Aired, don't fucking kill me."

"This isn't Twitter, Katana."

"I'm done with you lot honestly," chuckled Katana.

Fortunately, the bus arrived and we entered, sitting down at the back on the top deck. We all sat in awkward silence for most of the journey. Looking out of the window, I watched buildings zoom past. I wondered where prom was going to be held.

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Thirty minutes later, we all got off at a bus stop near Walthamstow Central.

"Do you guys want to get your nails done as well?" asked Eva, looking at her natural nails.

"Might as well," shrugged Yasmin.

"I've never had acrylic nails before," I mumbled.

"Well there's a first time for everything," grinned Kehlani. "Come on, let's go to the nail salon."

Linking her arm through mine, Kehlani strolled towards the nearest nail salon. I was greeted by a spacious, white room, the sound of nail drills and the envious stares of waiting clients. We skipped the queue and sat in front of the nail technicians, courtesy of Eva being their regular client. Gazing around, I took in the wall that was lined with numerous nail polish bottles. It was a rainbow of vibrant colours.