53
Can't breathe.
Can't f*****g breathe.
The cold. The current. I wasn't ready.
They drag me up. The wind hits me and stings my skin.
I cough and splutter, filthy water running off me onto the deck.
They ask me again. I shake my head. Shiver on aching knees. Rough wooden boards digging in.
They dunk me back under. I fight to get out but there's two of 'em manhandling me, my hands tied behind my back.
Waves smash into my upper body as my head hangs beneath the surface. They hold me under for longer as the boat drags me sideways through the Thames.
The boat is cruising, but under the water, it feels like a hundred miles an hour. They haul me out one more time. I take a punch in a kidney. Another in the side of the neck. My feet are blocks of ice. I can't feel my toes.
We're out in
