‘And while we’re talking, I have some more advice for you,’ said Idris. ‘Buy some warmer clothes now that you’re sticking around. You look like you’re fucking freezing in that southerner get-up!’ Jia laughed at his outburst and he joined her. Idris so rarely said anything unmeasured it eased the tension. Things were about to get harder, and without a sense of humour they’d lose themselves to the darkness they were stepping into. Idris had her back and she had his. Jia was glad he was here, especially now that they were going to war.

‘You would have made your mother proud, you know,’ she told him, when they stopped laughing.

‘Let’s go home,’ he said.

They crossed the road to their car, where a group of young men were deep in laughter and conversation.

The man in the grey suit, who had been waiting in reception earlier, was with them. He asked for a light. ‘You should quit,’ Idris said, handing over his silver Zippo. ‘And so should I. But not today. Today we smoke.’

‘I know, you’re right,’ said the man in the suit. ‘But there’s not much else to do round here. Unless you want to deal drugs.’ He lit his cigarette and took a long drag, then handed the lighter back to Idris, who lit his own. Jia took a step back from the smoke.

‘What kind of work are you looking for?’ Idris asked.

‘Anything. Most of us are trained developers,’ the man replied, nodding towards his friends. ‘UX, apps, software, you name it and one of us can do it. But there’s no jobs around here and some of us have got family – we’ve tried applying everywhere. It’s all a bit shit. I probably shouldn’t complain. I’m sure something will come up.’

The men weren’t much older than Zan was when he died. They weren’t much older than Ahad. They were eager, intelligent, streetwise and smart, but living in a city that was dying had placed them on the bottom rung of life. Even those who’d moved away found themselves judged when they told people where they had grown up and gone to school. No matter where they went, others stepped on their knuckles to rise to the top. So in the end they came home. They were somebody’s brothers and somebody’s sons, but the rest of the world didn’t see it that way. Jia did. She understood. She understood that they lived in a restricted world, and that it was the world, not their abilities, which held them back.