‘Mum’s never got over it. She has a day here and there when she’s OK. Mostly she isn’t, though. Still good to the kids and everything. But she ain’t gonna be getting a job any time soon.’

‘You must get some help, right?’

‘This is Patten’s Island, Parks. Single-parent family. Mental health problems. Not exactly unusual, is it? They give us enough pocket money to make sure we only starve slowly.’ Alfie laughs, lying down on the boat.

Will does so on the opposite side. His brain is beginning to feel somehow less solid than normal, as if its filing system is being messed up. It’s as though all his thoughts and memories are papers, and they are being removed from their indexed drawers and scattered randomly instead. It’s a strange but not unpleasant feeling. As Alfie talks more, Will can visualize the scenes he speaks of, feel them as if he was there.

‘Man of the house,’ Alfie says. ‘That’s what everyone told me I had to be. And that’s what I became. Last to sleep, first up, one eye open all night, and a baseball bat under my bed.’

‘He’s proud of you,’ Will says. He doesn’t know where the thought came from, just one of those random brain-files that’s lying about.

‘Sweet of you to say. But I ain’t gonna be like him.’

‘Go on?’

‘He worked like a dog. Killed him. Fuck all that shit.’

‘Grades like yours, you won’t have to worry.’

‘Not as easy as I like to pretend it is.’

‘Really?’

‘Trust me, Parks, I work. I really do work. My GCSE results weren’t a fluke, whatever everyone says.’

‘You always seem like you don’t give a shit about anything. All that stress you’re dealing with and you make out like everything’s a big joke. Dunno how you do it.’

Alfie burns his fingers on the spliff’s glowing tip as he sucks the last bit of life out. ‘If you make people feel good, then it makes you feel good, doesn’t it.’

‘So, what, it’s an act?’

‘Dunno, Parks. Is it an act? A disguise maybe?’

‘Is it a show?’ Will says, thinking again of Mick Touch’s words of wisdom, and the revelation that came to him when he watched the ridiculous posturing of Danny’s fight. ‘Isn’t that what we’re all supposed to do? Put on a show?’

Alfie nods slowly as he digests the concept.

‘Like we’re supposed to be action heroes,’ Will continues. ‘Gotta be seen to be brave. Be seen to not give a shit. Don’t show weakness, whatever you do.’

‘Fucking hell, Parks, ain’t that the truth.’ Alfie exhales noisily. ‘Just putting on a show. Nailed it there, cuz.’

‘Yup.’