Ron Lyons was a wolf in sheep’s clothing, and she had no doubt in her head that his policeman’s uniform was the perfect disguise for hiding an explosive temper.

Mo had finished cleaning her room and was looking around for something else to fill her time when she glanced out of the window to see Sarah walking home. She went down to the front door to greet her friend, and as Sarah drew closer, she could see the woman looked pale.

‘Hello, love, what’s happened?’ she asked. ‘You look as white as a ghost.’

‘I can’t tell you.’

‘All right, but come on, I’ll make you a cup of tea. You look like you could do with one.’

Sarah followed Mo upstairs, and once inside she flopped onto a chair. ‘Oh, Mo, I wish I could tell you what happened, but for your sake it’s better if you don’t know.’

‘Look, if you can’t tell me, that’s fine, but I ain’t one to gossip and anything you say won’t pass these walls.’

As though her words had released a dam in Sarah, it all spilled out, until at last she slumped, seemingly exhausted.

‘I hate to say I told you so,’ Mo said as she gave her friend a cup of tea, ‘but I did warn you. I’m sorry for you ’cos I’m sure you had this romantic vision in your head, and now that illusion has just been shattered, but trust me, there’s some men you’re better off without.’

‘Yes, that’s exactly what I think now. I know my mum’s life was pretty dismal, but at least she wasn’t knocked about too much by her punters. I reckon it would have been a different story if Ron had stayed with her.’

‘What about your dad’s other kids? They’d be your half-brothers and -sisters. Are you gonna try to get in contact with them?’

‘No, good riddance to the lot of them. I don’t need anyone else in my life, I’m fine with just me and Tommy. And by the way, my dad is no longer called my dad … we’ll call him Ron from now on.’

Mo was pleased to see that Sarah didn’t seem to be upset, though she had obviously been shaken by the experience.

‘I’m off to have tea with George and his mum, Lena, tomorrow. Hopefully, by this time next week, I’ll be working. Onwards and upwards.’

Mo felt a twinge of envy, and selfishly hoped that Lena didn’t like Sarah. She enjoyed having her friend around during the day and found her a welcome distraction from her usual boredom. ‘Yeah, onwards and upwards,’ she repeated through a forced smile. ‘What about that other bloke you like, Roger? You ain’t mentioned him lately.’