‘Nice to meet you, Phoebe. I’ve heard a lot about you, and geez, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree,’ he said with sleaze level that was off the charts.

‘I’m going to bed. Keep it down,’ I said, marching to my room.

I could hear them whispering and giggling, and I felt like slapping them. The man was so gross.

Within minutes the volume was up again and I was tossing and turning in a rage.

Mum must have cranked up the air con before she went to bed because I woke up freezing, way too early for a Sunday morning.

I suddenly remembered what’s his name – Simon.

Right, that’s it. Now’s the time to go off at her. I don’t care that it’s seven o’clock.

I pulled on my dressing-gown, not wanting the sleazebag to ogle me, and I tore into her room.

Mum was on her back, snoring. There was no sign of Simon and her room stunk of stale alcohol.

‘Wake up,’ I said.

She kept snoring.

‘Wake up!’

Still nothing.

‘Wake up, wake up, wake up!’ I said as I nudged her.

Finally, Mum stirred.

‘What?’ she mumbled.

‘Wake up; I need to talk to you.’

‘I’m sleeping,’ she moaned, her voice all hoarse.

‘And I’m talking. Wake up!’

‘Go away,’ she groaned as if in agony.

‘No! Wake up!’

She sat up and opened her eyes. They started rolling back in her head as she tried to spit something out, and then she crashed back to the mattress and started snoring again.

I whacked the mattress, but knew it was pointless trying to speak with her. I went into the lounge room and searched for alcohol. Both bottles were empty.

Next up was the fridge. I pulled out a cask of wine and poured it down the drain. It felt good, really good, knowing that at least Mum wouldn’t be drinking those drops rushing down the sink.

But I wanted more. I wanted to prove my point. I started thinking about what would really piss her off. And then I remembered her blaring music when I was trying to sleep, playing it through her phone.

I went to the living room; her phone was still on the mantelpiece next to the stereo. I snatched up the phone. I saw her handbag on the floor, next to the lounge chair, and went through it, searching for her car keys. I grabbed them too and headed straight to my room to hide everything underneath my mattress.

I lay on the couch to watch a Women’s NBL game and wait for Mum to wake up. A message popped up from Katie.

I was still determined to give Mum a piece of my mind when she woke up.