The battle of Mornington Crescent

Tiny Tales of London (TToL) is a collection of real events observed by the author. TToL is a celebration of life, diversity and people, in London. This story was observed in Camden on 16 September 2020.

It’s a sunny afternoon in Camden. I stand in the middle of the plaza across from the Mornington Crescent station, soaking up the sun while I speak to my grandmother who is on the other side of the world. Noise starts to build up and my grandmother notices this on the other side of the Skype call.

“Just the noise of the city”, I say.

I looked around me, and the commotion was around these two women. They had been taunting each other and were engaged in a tango around the plaza. One woman had a white patch on her eye, presumably from a recent injury. The other had a baseball cap on and had earlier been the one to be walking away, but now they’re locked in confrontation.

Punches were swung. Most missing their target, some landing. Both remained upright and in battle stances, at the tip of their toes. A nearby group of young adults took it as their midweek entertainment and had started cheering. Across the other side, another man had a different reaction. By this time, more punches had connected. The man on the motorcycle had parked his vehicle at the traffic light where he was about to pass normally.