‘She should be ’ere.’ Dean spoke like all the other hood-rats in his area, and his distinct lack of manners, which was something he shared with his mother, did not endear him to Shirley, especially at that time of the morning. ‘It’s me birthday.’

‘Oh.’ Shirley sat up in bed, rubbing her eyes. ‘Sorry, Dean, but what has that got to do with anything?’

‘She’s always awake first when it’s me birthday. She sets me presents out and then we go to Macca’s for brekkie. Been like that every year, but I don’t know where she is and she ain’t answerin’ her phone neither.’

Shirley let out a sigh. ‘Maybe she thought a takeaway breakfast would make a change, or something?’

‘Nah. And she ain’t slept in her bed.’ Dean, who normally sounded so sure of himself, suddenly sounded like a frightened little boy.

‘Well, I’m sorry you can’t get hold of her, but I can’t help.’ Shirley did not want to have been woken up by this.

‘Alright.’ Dean sounded huffy. ‘Just thought maybe you could ’elp.’

‘If I could, I would,’ Shirley replied gruffly. ‘Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to go back to sleep.’

‘See ya, then.’

‘Happy birthday,’ Shirley managed to say brightly before he’d hung up the phone. That boy is a little shit, she thought to herself as she thumped her pillow into shape and tried to get back to sleep.

Outside, the birds were singing and the sound of the bin lorry was growing ever closer. Shirley tossed and turned, burying her face in the pillow, which was slightly damp from the sweat she’d secreted during her sleep. She didn’t sleep so well these days, and hadn’t for some months.

Shirley was grateful that she had a late shift at work that day, as she’d planned on having a lie in. These days, Kayla insisted on walking herself to school, and had made it clear that she wouldn’t be seen dead with her mother. For a while Shirley had persisted in waking up her daughter, making her breakfast, and helping her get ready for school, but ever since puberty had struck, Kayla had become even more difficult than before. Rather than fight it, Shirley had decided to let her get on with it, and tried to keep out of her way, avoiding confrontation wherever possible.

When the music came blaring from Kayla’s room, Shirley gave up trying to sleep, and sat up in bed to take a sip from the tepid water in the glass next to her bed. Always part of her routine, she turned on the radio to catch the news and find some happy music to encourage her to get up. After listening to Taylor Swift strangle a cat, she turned up the volume ready to catch the headlines.