Stella has cooked the dinner, though Deb’s name was down. No one sticks to the rota except Lizzie. The person cooking is supposed to make a list of what they’ve used and what needs replacing, which also rarely happens. The person who cooks doesn’t do the washing-up. Stella never makes dessert. When Sandra cooks, she makes sure all the items are separated by an inch: the peas don’t touch the carrots and the potato shrinks back from the chicken, the way she used to for her husband. Tess always makes a big deal about mashing her meal together.

Lenny wolfs down his dinner, even though tonight it’s veggie curry. Full of vegetables, mostly peas, and the odd chunk of pineapple. It’s overcooked and sloppy, but he doesn’t seem to mind. The second he’s through, he shouts, ‘FINISHED!’, which he has done ever since he could talk, and she used to do too, once, a long time ago.

Lenny wipes his orange-stained mouth and pulls back his chair from the table with a screech that scares Maud, who had been lurking around for scraps but would never admit she ate things from the floor. ‘Delicious. What were the yellow bits? Please can I go and kick the ball outside, Mum?’

Worry about his day has exhausted Lizzie. All she wants to do is wash him clean, tuck him into bed, read to him until he falls asleep, then lose herself in her word searches. ‘Oh, Len, haven’t you played enough today? You’ll be back at school tomorrow. You can have a kickabout then.’

‘Mum, that’s not fair!’ He brushes his fringe out of his eyes angrily, swiping away a fat tear.

He’s tired, Lizzie thinks, but he’ll never admit it. No one denies exhaustion like a boy needing his bed. Lizzie feels tears of her own prickle in a Pavlovian response to his, and starts to backtrack, but Tess puts a hand on her shoulder and says, ‘Stay there and finish your supper, Lizzie. I’ll take Lenny out with the ball for half an hour. I’m no Daniel Beckham but I’ll give it a go.’

Lenny is too excited to remember that he doesn’t like Tess because she smells funny. ‘David Beckham,’ he corrects, then says, ‘He’s, like, ancient. It’s all about Dele Alli now.’

‘After you’re done, go on up and have a nice bath, Lizzie. You’ve been cleaning all day! There are some posh bubbles on the side. Frankie went shopping earlier. Add a dollop of them – and take up a cup of tea. I’ll play with this rascal outside for a bit and he can jump in after you.’