‘With what? With us? Once or twice. We don’t shout about it. There’s not many people that know, if we can help it. The school does, obviously, but they’re surprisingly good about it. Only one of us ever goes to assemblies and parents’ evenings, mind.’ He looked knackered. He’d gone to the bathroom earlier, and there’d been the sound of him coughing violently, spitting. ‘Has it been hard for you? I mean, before what happened here?’

‘Yeah.’

‘And your mamma?’

‘What do you think?’

It began to get dark.

‘How did you do in school?’

‘Not great. Got an A in PE.’

‘Well, that’s the one that matters.’

‘I want to know more. About anything, really. I don’t feel very clever.’

‘There’s plenty of time for all that.’

A swelling silence, knowing that it was only true for one of them.

‘And you are. Clever.’

They watched Good Morning, Vietnam, late into the night.

No cars came.

***

‘What’s that one again?’ Joe said to Sheanna the next day, pointing to a page in her book of the seas and oceans.

‘Don’t be horrible.’

‘I’m not. I just want you to tell Matty what it is.’

‘You’re being mean.’

‘I’m not. Go on.’

Sheanna gave a frustrated sigh. ‘Aneno – am – amenomone.’

Joe gave a quiet snigger.

‘You are mean. I hate you.’

‘No, you don’t.’

She put her hands on his shoulders. ‘No, I don’t.’

He looked over. Matty didn’t say anything.

‘Please can I show Matty what I got for Christmas?’

‘You’re asking the wrong person,’ Joe said.

Sheanna walked over with a little reluctance to the side of the chair. She knew that Matty had withdrawn, grown detached. She put her hands behind her back. ‘Please can I show you my Christmas presents?’

Impossible to say no. Not while she was looking like that, her mouth and nose screwed up, as if she was trying to answer a hard maths question. And not while Joe was there. ‘Yeah.’

She was back in no time, kneeling down and displaying her presents as if selling them at a market. ‘This is a book on whales, because I’ve already got one on dolphins, and it’s the next one. It’s got quite a lot on humpback whales, I think. It’s got lots of illustrations. Look.’

There was the prickling awareness of Joe watching them, pretending he wasn’t. The weight of careful expectation, wanting a connection. Matty refused to make it that simple. The kid was eight – nine in a couple of days. She was a sparkling, brainy, mad little girl and she had taken Matty’s place.

She was continuing to showcase the finest features of everything in front of her. A massive-eyed, beaked furry thing. Two animated films on video, both starring insects. Pony riding lessons. ‘And socks.’ She shrugged.