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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

‘Um,’ I object with an exaggerated frown as I watch her reach up to take her handbag from the coat hook and sling it over her shoulder. ‘I resent that, Mother. When have I ever set anything on fire?’

‘Let’s keep it that way,’ she murmurs, kicking off her slippers and putting on her Crocs.

‘It’s comforting to know that you have such faith in me.’

She strides over to where I’m standing and curls her hand around the back of my neck then kisses me quickly on the cheek. Her fingers are cold but her breath is warm. ‘Love you, Ashana. Be good, please.’

She does the same to my sister. ‘Love you, Roshaan. Make sure your sister’s good, please.’

Before I can object again, she’s by the front door, kissing the tips of her fingers and pressing them to the framed print of the Sacred Heart on the wall. ‘Bye, girls. See you in the morning.’

‘Love you, Mama,’ we call after her as she waves back at us then opens the door.

‘Watch out for Dorito,’ I add as she heads out into the early evening sun.

Four

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FOUR

I’d better take a shower before my father gets home from work otherwise I’ll get distracted and I need to wash the smell of boat off me because I don’t want my sheets to smell of it as well. Plus, showering when he isn’t home is the only chance I get to actually enjoy it without him knocking on the door, telling me to get out because I’m using up all the hot water. He used to time us – three minutes per shower and not a moment more – which my mother was on board with until she came home one night after a twelve-hour shift and he wouldn’t let her run a bath.

He doesn’t time us any more.

I stay in the shower until the water runs cold, then immediately regret it, hoping that it heats up again before Dad gets back from work. It’s worth it, though. My skin is tight and clean and my hair no longer smells like boat, rather the coconut oil shampoo I persuaded my mother to buy from ASDA last Saturday because it was on special offer. She was too busy sniffing pears to notice that the bottle was half the size of the one we usually get and I made no effort to point it out, so I’d better enjoy it because we won’t be getting it again.