I had recognised Tyrone’s voice immediately. His deep South London accent boomed over the others. I’d rushed to the door after hearing the commotion; but with my hand on the door handle I hesitated. I knew I had to help him out, Tyrone was a mate of mine, not a close friend but a mate none-the-less. I hesitated because I knew Tyrone and I knew the dodgy shit he was into, I knew he carried a knife, what if they had guns? Should I be getting involved in this shit? Fuck, but I gotta help him. So I took a deep breathe… and looked through the peep hole.
“What-the-fuck!!” I muttered to myself.
I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. It couldn’t be? Could it? I thought to myself. So I leaned forward and took another look, “This is some fucked up shit.”
My mind was racing, what were they doing here? Why were they fucking with Tyrone. As I stood there frozen, my mind trying desperately to rationalize the situation, I heard a key slide into the door. I stepped back behind the door as it opened.
Tyrone sauntered into the hallway and instantly dominated the space. He was a little under six feet tall, with his big black cap sitting atop a thick mat of dreads, he seemed to block out the light and cast a long shadow through the room. He slammed the door behind him… then paused, I knew he’d sensed me,
“Tyrone what the fuck was that about?” I blurted out.
His head snapped around, his eyes were wide, bloodshot and pulsing. His teeth were bared and he was breathing hard. I looked into his face, trying to find any trace of recognition, my heart rate began to rise. The air was thick with tension, I filled my lungs and then felt myself holding my breathe.
“What da fuck are you doin’ be’ind my fuckin door?” Tyrone calmly asked.
“Shit dude, I was; fuck, I heard you shouting, I didn’t know… I was comin’ to help, you!” I choked.
“You. Help me? Thanks dude but I can sort my own shit out, you’re lucky I didn’t fuckin’ rip you a new asshole hiding behind the door.” Tyrone said.
“I wasn’t hiding ya shit’ed. I was watchin’ your back” I countered.
“Oh yeah, from behind the door huh, yeah well thanks for that.”
Said Tyrone as he turned to make his way down the corridor.
By the time we got into the lounge room Pinks and Milly were wide eyed with intrigue at what had been going on.
Tyrone stood in front of them, arms crossing a broad chest, wrapped in his uniform of black jacket over black singlet. I often gave him shit for his painfully stereotypical attire. He looked like a carbon copy gangster from Saturday morning video hits. He never responded well to my chiding, but i’d gradually worn him down to realise it was just friendly banter.
As he explained it, his line of business called for a menacing appearance. He wore an oversize leather jacket over a black singlet, which emphasized his jacked up frame, his right arm was emblazoned with a full sleeve tat. It was an impressive mess of Japanese influenced cuy and waves mixed with Thundercats and Voltron cartoon characters, plus some requisite cursive scrawl. A huge, gold Tag Huer watch hung on his wrist, it was bulky and looked terribly uncomfortable, he was obsessed with it and happily talked about how much it was worth whenever anyone paid it attention.
His perpetual scowl was another requirement of business on the streets. If you weren’t a friend you weren’t likely to get a smile out of Tyrone no matter how much gear you were buying. In fact you’d wanna be worried if he smiled at you, the last time I’d seen him grin at a stranger he’d been standing over a bloodied seven foot bouncer who’d tried to kick him out of Porkies. This wasn’t a guy I wanted to make enemies of.
“Hows it’ Mill” chimed Tyrone in a tone he reserved for the privacy of his home.
“Areyouok?Weheardyouatthedoor?” squealed Milly
“Yeah its all good, just some fuckin’pigs tryin’ to shake me down, its getting’ real fuckin’ bad these days, can’t even walk out my own front door without some stooge getting’ into my face.” said Tyrone
“Pigs?” Pinks chimed in. “The pigs were HERE?”
“Pinks, bro, you ‘aint gonna believe who they were.” I interjected, in the most relaxed voice I could muster.
“You don’t mean…” Pinks said with a questioning look.
Tyrone swung around and thrust his face towards mine, “Wha’ the fuck are you on about J, you knew those fuckers?”
“JohnnyandPinksgotdroppedoffbythecopsTy,theynealryhadacrash!” rattled Milly
“Is this fuckin’true Johnny?” rasped Tyrone, he shoved me backwards and lent close as I was pushed up against the wall.
I could feel Tyrone’s smokey breathe on my face, his breathing was hard but steady, his flared nostrils and red eyes were all I could see. My mind was still racing trying to figure out why the same two cops Pinks and I had dealt with had come back and roughed-up Tyrone. Had we led them here, shit.
To be continued…
