‘Again?’ she said and turned round. She hesitated for a second, looked me up and down, her mouth going tight.

‘What?’ I said, all defensive, already anticipating the comments. ‘What are you staring at?’

‘Altogether too much,’ she said, ‘but I doubt it’s me you were trying to impress.’

She doesn’t even try to get me to go to the church hall disco anymore. She’d be ashamed for all her cronies to see what kind of daughter she’s raised.

‘The key,’ I said, holding out my hand.

‘In the top drawer.’

She turned around and went straight back to her pots and pans.

I close the compact and the whole place seems bigger and emptier. The big clocks hanging down and ticking the seconds off my life one by one. Buses have come and gone and it’s starting to go dark. I can hear a group of men coming up from the underpass. Shouting and messing about. They sound like football fans after a win. Drunk and hyped up, on the verge of doing something stupid. It’s the last time I trust Claire to do anything. I push myself back into the bench as far as I can and pretend to look for something in my bag. The voices get louder and then stop. I can see them out the corner of my eye. One moving mass.

‘Hey, hey, hey!’

‘Alright sweetheart?’

‘Budge up, Love, there’s room for everyone.’

I’ve got no choice. There’s four of them. Two on either side of me. They sit down and hem me in. Their legs brushing against mine even though the bench is still half empty.

‘Where you off to tonight then?’

I want to ignore them but it’ll make things worse. They can feel my fear. They’re feeding on it.

‘I’m meeting a friend.’

‘Been stood up, have yer?’

‘Eh? It’s a disgrace, that. A sexy bird like you without a date.’

‘Come out with us. We’re off to the docks. The Manxman. You know it?’

‘I’ve heard of it.’

‘You don’t get seasick do you? You don’t mind a bit of rocking on a Friday night?’ He bumps into my shoulder so I fall against the bloke on the other side.

‘Watch it, Tommy,’ he says, ‘stop being such a fucking knob.’

I hold my bag in front of me and stand up. ‘I’m off now,’ I say, ‘have a good night.’ I start walking but one of them grabs my wrist and pulls me back.

‘Hey!’