‘Interfering bastards!’

‘What else do you expect when you behave like a total prat?’

‘They can all go fuck themselves.’

‘You won’t be saying that when you’re dragged off in handcuffs.’

Dale returned the sweets to his pocket, succeeding on the second attempt. ‘Oh, come on, open the door. This was my home too, not so very long ago. I paid for half of it. Open the door. It’s not too much to ask, is it?’

‘Go away. Go while you’ve still got the chance. Do you want to be locked up? God knows you deserve it.’

He gagged once, then again, spitting vomit before looking up and smiling, a thin line of drool running down his chin. ‘Oh, come on, Meg. I want to see my girl, that’s all. She’s my daughter as well as yours. We made her together.’ He began thrusting his hips back and forth in slow rhythmic motion, his open hands positioned as if holding a lover’s hips, penetrating her from behind. ‘Surely, you must remember?’ He started moaning loudly, as if in the realms of sexual ecstasy. ‘I’m coming. I’m coming. I can’t recall you complaining at the time.’

Megan sucked the still-warm summer air deep into her lungs, swallowing her fury, forcing it back down her throat. She steadied herself, telling herself insistently that a more conciliatory tone may help calm him down if she chose her words with care. ‘Oh, come on now, Dale, it’s the middle of the night. You know the score. You can see Lottie once a week by prior arrangement, and that’s if, and only if, you’re sober. You can’t be here now. And especially not in that state. Sort yourself out. You’re breaking the conditions of the injunction.’

‘Fuck the injunction! I can’t understand why you took me to court in the first place.’

‘Come on now. Someone will have dialled 999 by now. Go before the police arrive. Turning up here in that state in the middle of the night doesn’t achieve anything at all.’

He threw his arms out. ‘I just want to see my girl.’

This time Megan’s words spewed from her mouth in a torrent, rising in pitch and volume as she glared down at him, eyes popping. ‘No, no, no! It’s two in the damned morning. Lottie needs her sleep. How many times do I have to say it? It’s time to grow up. I’ve had enough. Just shut your stupid mouth and go away.’

‘I’m not going anywhere until I’ve seen Lottie.’

Megan shook her head. ‘Do you want to upset her? Do you want to break her heart? Because that’s what you’re doing.’

‘You’re full of shit, woman.’

‘Lottie needs a daddy she can rely on. A daddy to be proud of. Just give up the booze, and you can be that person again.’

‘What harm do a few bevvies do?’

‘If you’re trying to ruin your daughter’s life, you’re succeeding. Is alcohol really more important than her happiness? That’s what you need to ask yourself. Because it seems that way to me.’