I rest my head on Mum’s chest, and I tell her all about the game and the memories. Mum fills in the gaps with new information, and I piece her life together like all the different squares of a patchwork quilt. The stars wake up and watch over us as we talk.

‘I see a tiger,’ I tell her. ‘And a heart.’

She looks at me surprised, and I show her the certificate, and the rest of the objects in the memory box.

‘What does it mean, Mum?’ I ask when we’re finished. ‘To have a tigerheart?’

‘It means you’re passionate,’ Mum explains. ‘Sometimes it can go too far, and you can lose your way. But you will always find it again, because you are brave and strong and you’ll never give up. Even when things are difficult.’

That’s when I tell her about the competition. Mum’s face lights up as she listens. ‘That’s wonderful, Safiya, so wonderful.’ She pauses. ‘I’m so sorry I didn’t listen before. I was wrong to judge your interests . . . It’s what my mother did before she understood, and I made the same mistake.’

I shake my head. ‘No, I’m sorry,’ I say, sitting up and holding her hands in mine. ‘I shouldn’t have said what I did about Dad and not wanting to see you. It’s not true, I promise.’ Then I say the words I’ve been waiting to say for weeks. ‘I love you.’

Mum laughs, and she pulls me in for another hug. ‘I know, silly. No matter how much we argue I always know that you love me.’

Dad was right.

And in that moment it feels like something lifts from my chest, like a weight had been holding my heart down in the weeks since our argument.

‘I want you to come with me,’ I say truthfully, while Mum plays with my hair.

‘I will,’ Mum says. ‘From now on I’ll always be there, just like my mum was with me.’

I frown. ‘When did she pass away?’ I ask. I know Mum’s mother isn’t alive, but I never knew when she died.

‘When I was your age.’ Mum’s voice falters then. ‘She passed away soon after the play. She was sick, but she didn’t tell us for a while. Her final words to me were: “Aminah, you get on that plane and you grab the world with both hands”.’ Mum sighs. ‘I’m not sure I quite succeeded, but I tried my best.’

‘You did,’ I insist passionately, sitting up and facing her now. ‘You’re the best mum ever!’