I'm on the top floor of a double-decker bus
with a friend of mine.
We're sitting on the front.
It's daytime on a weekend.
Now the bus is stuck in Camden.
We don't know why it's not moving.
The bus is completely full.
It's jam-packed.
There are hardly any seats vacant.
And
everyone is waiting.
Suddenly I hear footsteps.
Long footsteps.
It's a woman.
I look back and I see a woman marching ahead with a long stride,
determined.
She's got a long skull on her forehead and this
energy to her that grabs my attention.
So I look.
I follow her marching
to the front where we sat.
Before I know it,
she's standing next to us.
I'm by the window,
so she's standing next to my friend.
And she
slaps me in the face
so hard,
so hard I can
almost hear ringing.
And she says something along the lines of,
now you know how I feel.
And I don't even know how I feel.
I *** my cheek.
I hold my face
with my hands
and I duck down.
My friend holds my shoulder and my head with her other hand.
And
she tries to confront this mad woman.
What did you do that for?
Or something like that.
I
look up and around,
too scared to look at her.
I look at the other people who are all waiting,
staring,
stretching their necks.
Bored, bored,
bored.
They're all so bored
and amazed at this scenario.
I can hardly
believe it's happening.
It's like a dream.
And they tell us to give it a try.
And I'm
trying to get off the bus.
There was a helicopter
that's landed
in the middle of the road.
There was an accident in the middle of Camden Town somewhere.
So we move along.
We hop on another bus somewhere else.
And I have a red mark on my cheek
from this woman's hands.
You can see her fingers on my cheeks.
And
we head off to Notting Hill Carnival.
You