‘Yeah,’ Angie said. ‘When I have a baby I’ll have to turn over a lot of new leaves, just like an encyclopedia, won’t I? But who says I’m ever going to have a kid, anyway? That’s a very big decision to make, and if there’s one thing I absolutely loathe and detest, it’s having to make decisions. Besides, there’s a whole pile of things you can’t do if…oh, never mind. And I am eating properly, so you can leave off nagging.’

‘You only had coffee for breakfast.’

‘No I didn’t, smartypants. Before you showed up I had a big bowl of All-Bran, can’t get any healthier than that, can you? It must have been healthy, it tasted so yuk. Next week I’ll get really organised and stock up the fridge and not buy any junk food. And what’s more I took some Vitamin C and calcium tablets and stuff this doctor gave me.’

‘At the North Road place?’

‘No, not them. A different doctor, in town. I won’t be going back to North Road, we had a sort of row and little Angie got shown the door. It was a lie I told you this morning when you called in for me, that I’d already been out there today and got it over with. North Road’s finished and I’m not sorry, either. It wasn’t even working, that medicine they were giving me, it’s all a big joke. Besides, I don’t need any more medicine, I can get along without any. I feel terrific. Just to prove it, maybe tomorrow I’ll take you to the beach.’

‘I…can’t swim,’ Seymour said.

‘What do you mean, you can’t swim? Kids can swim, didn’t you get taught at school?’

‘I failed the test,’ he said and felt downcast all over again by that memory. It wasn’t fair, once you’d been through humiliation for a certain thing, that should be quite enough, all over and done with. It wasn’t fair how shame could rush back and engulf you again, come flooding back into your face…

‘What about your mum and dad, don’t they ever take you to the pool or the beach?’

Seymour shook his head. ‘They’re busy with their own things,’ he said stiffly.

‘Oh…I’m sorry, I forgot you don’t like talking about your folks, do you? Well, all the same, Seymour, there’s plenty of things you can learn by yourself without them around. What’s to stop you going along to the pool yourself and learning to swim? Not scared of water, are you?’

Scared of making a fool of myself, he thought miserably, of arms and legs that won’t coordinate and the other kids staring and sniggering, teachers getting narky…I never want to go through that again, ever.