Mum tiptoed in with a tray on which she’d carefully arranged her best cups and saucers and teapot: the special Wedgwood set with the floral design and gold trim. ‘How are my two favourite boys getting on?’ she asked. Her smile had a tentative edge to it.

‘Like a house on fire,’ Dad said. ‘Just as you’d expect.’

She poured tea through the gumleaf-shaped strainer Leon had given her for Christmas one year. She was funny like that, the way she trotted out the gifts he’d given to prove she remembered. She got stuck on objects as if it was things that mattered, not the way people behaved. The tea set and strainer were evidence of how much she wanted Leon to get along with his dad. I’m trying, he tried to tell her with his eyes.

They all made a reasonable attempt at pretence—up until Leon introduced the pup. Then things went pear-shaped.

Before letting Bonnie loose in the hallway, Leon had shut the cat safely in the kitchen. But Minnie had learned a new trick since Leon had left home—she had worked out how to open the door. Now she hunched in the corridor, hissing and spitting as the pup skittered up to her, yipping excitedly. She reacted by racing down to Dad’s room and leaping onto the bed, knocking his teacup, which went flying onto the carpet. It would have survived if Bonnie hadn’t bounded into the room and accidentally bounced on top of the cup, splitting it into pieces as she leaped at the bed, scrabbling with her paws and trying to reach Minnie. Leon wasn’t sure who yowled louder: the cat or his mum. He grabbed at Bonnie, spilling his own cup onto the floor and shattering it. Then it was Dad’s turn to yell as Minnie dug her claws into his belly and launched for the curtains. The pup barked shrilly. Leon cursed. And Mum was in tears, counting the fragments of her special crockery on the floor.

‘Where the fuck did that dog come from?’ Dad wheezed, grasping at his scratched abdomen.

By then, Leon had the pup in his arms and was trying to contain her frantically paddling legs. ‘I thought she could be a get-well gift,’ Leon said, grasping for a way to appease his dad. ‘A nice surprise for you.’

‘She’s a fucking surprise, all right,’ Dad spat. ‘Just look what she’s done to your mum.’

Leon clutched Bonnie to his chest and tried to calm his weeping mother. ‘Mum. Sorry. It’s okay. I can replace those cups.’

But his mum just picked up the tray and rushed from the room.

‘Get rid of that dog,’ Dad yelled. ‘Get it out of here.’

Leon felt himself imploding. ‘Back off, Dad. I’m taking her out.’

‘No, you back off. You come in here and mess up our lives—’

‘It’s you who’s been wrecking lives, Dad.’