Regga Nights Part 2

Tap. Tap. Tap. ‘Miss! You can’t stay in there. A cab has been rung.’ I pull the chain and open the door Unfamiliar surroundings I wobble Thankful for the narrow corridors Hands slap against the walls Walking with arms and legs Outside was pitch black Freezing cold The streets empty Apocalyptic Crossing the road was a marathon Hallucinating Going around on a tarmac hamster wheel I wait in the phone box The stench of pee Time stretched Minutes spun into hours The orange light Atop the cab A blessed sight Growing closer I sat in the back and gave the address Then threw up The cabby was not a happy camper I lay on the back seat Hearing petrol sloshing around And threw up More discreetly this time Or so I thought ‘You’ll have to pay to clean that’ And After what seemed like years Tracey’s place ‘Give me a minute, I’ll get the money’ In the house Up one flight To Tracey’s bedsit F#%k! Not home ‘I’ll look after you my ****!’ F#%k! A man on the top floor came down ‘What’s all the noise? You can stay in my room. We are friends, practically dating.’ Beggars can’t be choosers I lay on his single bed Shivering He mothers me Wrapping me up in a sliver hyperthermia blanket And I lay Crackling like a bag of crisps There’s a knock at the door A couple of Britain’s finest…pigs ‘Miss, you need to pay the cab’ ‘I have money, in my sister’s room, but it’s locked. You can smash the door down. It’s in the birdcage, under the sandpaper’ I wanted to die In peace ‘We can’t do that, Miss. If you don’t pay the cab we will be forced to take you down the station’ ‘You'll have to carry me’ ‘I’ll pay, Officer, she can get me back later. I’m her sister’s good friend, boyfriend actually. I look after them both’