The man on the door had given us a look, a look that said ‘are you crazy?’. He was over six-foot, wider than the door he blocked with dark black skin taught over fearsome muscles.

Vero sweet-talked him round. ‘He’s with me, ain’t no bad thing going to happen, you’ll see.’ She batted her eyelids, stroked his muscular arm, seduced him the same way she had me. It was impossible not to fall for her.

Eventually he shrugged. ‘It’s your life.’ He opened the door and let us pass. I thought I heard him mutter ‘cracker’ as the door closed, but I wasn’t going to pick a fight with him.

Vero took my arm and we walked down a dim, tight corridor. The air was damp and the smell musty. At the far end there was an opening that glowed like some portal to another world.

The sound of Vero’s…