Her father stood before her. His face didn’t change. His eyes still had that look of disapproval, the same look he had given her when he and her mother threw her out of the house, pregnant and homeless with only a thousand pounds to start a new life.

He had visibly aged in the two years she had been away. His beard was almost completely grey, and the wrinkles on his face seemed deeper. The shirt he wore was one he had owned for years, but the navy turban on his head was new. He stepped aside without a word and the smell of home hit her.

‘Come inside,’ he said.

Neena obeyed and stepped inside the hallway. He shut the door behind her.

‘Through there,’ he said.

Neena stepped towards the living room and opened the door.

They were waiting for her inside.

Her mother had grown older too. She wore an indigo Punjabi suit Neena hadn’t seen before, with her black hair tied up away from her face. She had gained weight around her midsection, which made her dress tight over her belly and breasts, but she was still a good-looking woman. Neena could see by the swollen skin around her eyes that she had been crying.

Her little sister had grown up so much since she last saw her. Kirin wasn’t a lanky teenager any more, but had bloomed into a young woman. Her hair had grown down to her tailbone, something that she had always wanted so she could look like her older sister. Neena noticed the weight gain above her uterus. Kirin was carrying the family’s first legitimate grandchild at twenty-one years old.

Her uncle sat in one of the armchairs, and was still the spitting image of her father, but with less hair and a messier beard. He glanced at her with yellowing eyes and looked away, grumbling something around his tobacco pipe.

The room hadn’t changed a bit. It was the same room she had sat in watching television on a Saturday night, the same carpet she had lain on as she did her homework by the fire. Even the tension was the same.

Before she had a chance to say a word, her mother strode towards her and slapped her across the face. Neena held her cheek as it stung beneath her palm. She stared down at the carpet, too terrified to look up and meet her mother’s eyes.

‘How could you be so stupid?’ she yelled. ‘How can you continue to do this to your family?’

‘I don’t understand…’ she said and looked up. ‘I don’t know what—’

‘Be quiet,’ her uncle snapped.

Her father closed the door to the living room and stood behind her. She felt his breath ruffle her hair. She didn’t stand a chance of getting away. They had her now.