Page 17 of Grit & Glamour

Chapter Nine

An annoying, standard-set ringtone blares out from the car’s speakers. I cast a glance at Theo in the review mirror and notice that he’s looking particularly glum about being shoved into the back of his own car. Thankfully, he’d been smart enough not to argue when One had slid into the front passenger seat, though.

“Your phone’s ringing,” I inform him when he doesn’t answer it, as if he could have missed it. The annoying tone is simply too loud and too irritating for anyone to overlook. It would make the perfect tone for an alarm clock.

“It’s BM,” Theo says, as if that alone explains everything.

“Shouldn’t you answer that if that’s where we’re going—what if it’s important?” One asks, though he doesn’t turn to look at either of us, just continues staring out of the window while I drive. Not that there’s much of a view, thanks to the rain and grey skies. This area of London doesn’t look so hot either.

“He’s a bit much to handle,” Theo defends, sounding disgruntled.

“Answer the phone, or I’ll have to assume you’re hiding something from me. And keep the Bluetooth connected, I want to hear both sides of the conversation,” One commands. The man seems happy to issue orders to absolutely anyone at any time.

“I warned you,” Theo mutters, and then he clicks and answers the call.

“Alright, mate?” a loud male voice greets through the phone.

“Hey, what’s up?” Theo returns, and I can’t help but notice an uncertainty in his voice.

“How far away are you? I’ve got bare heads coming tonight, and I need that shit,” BM answers, an urgency ringing in his tone as he mentions what he needs. I roll my eyes and try to turn my focus back to the road as we come up to a turn. I spare a look down at the satnav to check if we need to take it and then glance back up.

One turns as I do, catching my attention, so I glance at him. He sees me looking and mouths, ‘Bare heads?’ at me. I smother a laugh, not wanting to annoy Theo while he’s on the phone. Maybe the killer has a sense of humour at least.

“Nearly there, man. I got you,” Theo grinds out, I look in the mirror again. He seems pissed as hell. I lick my lips, trying to settle my nerves, and turn back to the road as I indicate and then take the left turn per the satnav’s instructions.

“Wicked, man. I’ll see you.” BM hangs up the call.

“Wicked?” I parrot, trying not to cringe.

“Shut up, Scar. Not everyone talks like the twats we went to school with. Correction, the twats you still go to school with.”

“Only two weeks left of sixth-form,” I remind Theo, ignoring his comment about shutting up. Not that I intend to show up for those last two weeks.

“This is cute and all, but any chance we could keep this professional until I decide whether to kill you or not?” One asks casually.

“Professional?!” Theo exclaims, incredulity ringing in his voice. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” he mutters under his breath a moment later, before releasing an annoyed huff.

I drive the rest of the way in silence, deciding that arguing with One is pointless, a waste of time and energy. Whatever he wants to do or say won’t matter once I leave this place for good. I just have to deal and make it through this for now.

Theo’s muteness, however, doesn’t last the rest of the journey. I tune Theo and One out as I drive, repeating times tables and street names in my head. It’s a handy trick I picked up a long time ago; it helps me ignore what people around me are doing or saying, while still focusing on a boring task like driving.

As we approach a tower block of flats, the satnav indicates we’ve reached our destination. I can’t help but think that maybe I took a wrong turn somewhere and confused the device somehow, but when Theo says nothing, I park the car on the road across from the ugly building.

“Wait in the car,” One barks, as he jumps out before either of us can argue. I look behind us and notice Three parking the old, silver Mercedes as One heads towards him.

“This isn’t what I was expecting,” I comment quietly to Theo, now that we’re alone and can be as unprofessional as we like.

“What were you expecting?” he asks.

“I don’t know, but not this,” I answer, gesturing towards the building.

“Why not this?” he questions, and I shrug.

“I guess just because of the fact he’s important enough for you to come out here yourself. I thought you didn’t do any of the actual dealing these days, thought you said you’d come a long way since school?” I turn to look back at him as I ask the questions, curious for his reaction as well as his answers.

“A few people, like BM, are all about respect,” he begins, pausing for a moment before fully explaining, “I lived in that building, Scarlett. After what happened with my dad, and before I was old enough to do anything about it, this shit hole is the place I called home.”

“How long did you live here?”

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