He opened the door with difficulty, switched on the light as the small avalanche he’d started settled. Right. Was there even a bed in there anymore? It’d take a day’s clearing before he could say one way or the other. God, he used to daydream about this shitty little room. After Mum told him she was moving to Brisbane with Rick the Dick and tried to get him to commit to coming up when he was released, he said to her, You know, I think I’ll stay in Sydney. Aunty Nic has always said the house was ours, too, and Mum had said something cynical and mean, but he thought that was just her way when it came to her sister. He spent a lot of time thinking about how he’d fix up this front bedroom, paint the whole house while he was at it. After that he could clear the backyard and plant some vegies. Get a Weber and a little outdoor table. It helped, thinking it through; like designing a simple, comforting path he could take to reach the rest of his life.

He returned to the living room. Lena didn’t look up from her phone. ‘Can we swap? You sleep in Aunty Nic’s room.’

She sighed. ‘Why?’

‘I don’t like it in there.’

‘Are you joking?’

‘I find it creepy, okay? And you obviously don’t, so stop being a bitch and go sleep there.’

‘Wow. I was about to, but now you’ve called me a bitch you can sleep on the footpath for all I care.’

‘Why are you like this?’

‘Born this way, I guess.’

‘Seriously. I came all this way to help you and you can’t do one little thing so I can get some rest.’

‘Fine.’ She stood so fast, it was like she’d never been on the sofa at all. ‘Thank you so much, mighty saviour. Of course you should sleep wherever you like, whereas I who have been dealing with this shit alone all week should immediately move to make way.’

‘Leen, come on. I don’t get why you …’

It was pointless; she was gone, stomping herself and her sleeping bag down the hall and slamming the door. Cunt, he said under his breath. Let Dad rise up and kick his teeth in. He’d bloody welcome it.