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Chapters (86)
  1. Title Page
  2. CONTENTS
  3. Love
  4. Before
  5. One
  6. ONE
  7. Two
  8. TWO
  9. Three
  10. THREE
  11. Four
  12. FOUR
  13. Five
  14. FIVE
  15. Six
  16. SIX
  17. Seven
  18. SEVEN
  19. Eight
  20. EIGHT
  21. Nine
  22. NINE
  23. Ten
  24. TEN
  25. Eleven
  26. ELEVEN
  27. After
  28. One
  29. ONE
  30. Two
  31. TWO
  32. Three
  33. THREE
  34. Four
  35. FOUR
  36. Five
  37. FIVE
  38. Six
  39. SIX
  40. Seven
  41. SEVEN
  42. Eight
  43. EIGHT
  44. Nine
  45. NINE
  46. Ten
  47. TEN
  48. Eleven
  49. ELEVEN
  50. Twelve
  51. TWELVE
  52. Thirteen
  53. THIRTEEN
  54. Fourteen
  55. FOURTEEN
  56. Fifteen
  57. FIFTEEN
  58. Sixteen
  59. SIXTEEN
  60. Seventeen
  61. SEVENTEEN
  62. Eighteen
  63. EIGHTEEN
  64. Nineteen
  65. NINETEEN
  66. Twenty
  67. TWENTY
  68. Twenty-One
  69. TWENTY-ONE
  70. Twenty-Two
  71. TWENTY-TWO
  72. Twenty-Three
  73. TWENTY-THREE
  74. Twenty-Four
  75. TWENTY-FOUR
  76. Twenty-Five
  77. TWENTY-FIVE
  78. Twenty-Six
  79. TWENTY-SIX
  80. Twenty-Seven
  81. TWENTY-SEVEN
  82. Twenty-Eight
  83. TWENTY-EIGHT
  84. Eleven Months Later
  85. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  86. Copyright

‘Ages ago. Remember in the new year when it snowed?’ I remind her and she nods to herself as she puts the rolled roti dough on the tawa, pressing it down with a spatula when it starts to puff up. ‘Miss Larson knocked for Dad to see if he could help, but he was at work, so I had a look at it.’

‘So you’re a plumber now, are you?’

‘’Course not.’ I shrug, tearing off another chunk of roti. ‘But it was doing that thing ours did last year. You know, when it was losing pressure?’ She nods, flipping the roti and brushing it with oil. ‘So I turned the lever thing and it came back on. Dorito was very pleased. Cats get cold, you know?’

‘Do they now?’

‘That’s why he only sits on the doormat when it’s sunny,’ I tell her, popping the piece of roti into my mouth. ‘You’ll see. As soon as the weather turns you won’t see him again.’

‘When the weather turns do you think I won’t hear that dog again?’ she says, then softens. ‘It’s not the dog’s fault,’ she admits, shaking her head. ‘It’s not fair to keep it cooped up in a flat all day.’

‘I know, but Mr Cameron can’t walk that far since his hip operation. And even if he could, where’s he going to go? It’s been three weeks and the lift’s still broken. How is he supposed to go up and down six flights of stairs?’ I point out and my mother nods. ‘I don’t know. He needs help, doesn’t he? It’s just him since his wife died. Maybe Rosh and me should go around there after dinner and offer to walk the dog for him.’

My mother turns to look at me, her eyebrows raised. ‘Yeah right,’ she scoffs, turning the roti and brushing the other side with oil as well. ‘I’d like to see you picking up dog poo!’

‘Rosh can do that part.’

That makes her laugh and she comes over to kiss me on the cheek. ‘You’re a good girl, really.’

I beam at the compliment, choosing to ignore the really.

‘What time is it, by the way?’ she asks.

I take my phone out of the back pocket of my jeans and check. ‘Four forty-one.’

‘Already? I need to leave soon for work soon.’

‘How come?’

‘I have to go in early for a meeting about diversity in the NHS, or something.’

‘The patients need that more than you guys.’

‘True,’ she agrees with a snort, as I pop another piece of roti in my mouth. ‘But if they don’t want me to treat them because I’m brown, then it’s less work for me to do, isn’t it?’