She waves a hand vaguely around his face, which is sporting an impressive black eye that he still manages to glare with. Clinton slaps her hand away while the people around the table laugh. It’s a mix of men and women, most of them related to the boys. A few send me glares and others nod. I never can remember who I am or am not supposed to talk to in any given week, the arguments and make ups move so damn fast. Instead I just wait and see how people treat me and then go with it. Unless they’re a Miller; that is the only relationship set in stone as far as the Thomsons are concerned. So I nod to the right ones and ignore the others. Any adult that’ll glare at a sixteen-year-old registers as too pathetic for my contempt.

‘Fuck you!’ Clinton comes back.

Rhi looks at me and we roll our eyes.

‘Ty!’ Rhi squeals, diving into the only empty seat at the table while I stand back with my hands in my pockets. She wraps him in a big hug and he flinches. Rhi pulls back and makes tutting noises over his busted lip and bruises. ‘Ya poor thing! When didja get out?’

‘This arvie, cops finally got us all charged and whatever.’

‘How come yous are drinkin in the park? Is the publican in a mood again?’

‘Clinton’s barred until next month so Eddie got us the grog.’ Tyrone nods to one of the men.

‘That sucks. I heard Troy dumped you out at the Potters’ and he’s the reason you got caught.’

Subtle, thy name is not Rhi.

‘Him and that slut you call a cousin,’ Clinton snarls, still trying to make up for his earlier humiliation.

‘The fuck you say?’ Rhi shoots to her feet, but Tyrone grabs her arm and pulls her back down, holding his hand out to stop me before I move another step.

‘That’s bullshit, Clinton, and you fuckin know it. He probably dumped her out there just like he did us.’ Tyrone turns to me. ‘Sorry about your sister.’

I nod, clenching my jaw to fight back tears. ‘Thanks.’

Patting Tyrone’s hand, Rhi asks, ‘When did you last see Laney?’

‘After we raided the main house we had to split up because somebody knocked over the fuckin woodpile on the way out.’ He throws a glare at Clinton, who squirms, dropping his vicious stare at Rhi. ‘The whole house came awake and it was on. The last I saw Laney, she was runnin like the rest of us.’

‘Troy’s sayin she met up with some whitefulla out there and took off,’ Rhi says with disgust.