Jackie tried to suss out if it was some kind of test or if he really meant it. ‘Nah, it’s all right. I’ll leave it ’cos I don’t take shit.’

‘Bye-bye!’ He waved his hand, leaving Jackie flummoxed.

‘Hang on. Are ya serious? Ya really want me to try it?’

Leon shook his head. ‘For fuck’s sake, listen, will ya? I never joke, and I don’t have time for this bullshit, so go on, girl, fuck off!’

‘All right!’ she said, as she snatched the small packet. Carefully, she unwrapped it and stared at the white powder, and then, with wide eyes, she looked at him, hoping he would say he was joking.

Leon took a ten-pound note from a pen drawer, rolled it up, and passed it to her. His eyes were still firmly fixed on hers. ‘Snort it!’

She had smoked skunk before but had never touched powder. Her legs were like mushy peas, and her heart raced. Her mind went back to Tatum when he snorted cocaine. It didn’t turn him into a zombie. He just became more alert and a real chatterbox and, oh yes, very horny.

She shoved the rolled-up note up her nose and reluctantly sniffed some of the powder.

‘All of it, ya silly tart!’

She did as he said and immediately felt a burning in her nostrils followed by a heavenly feeling that slowly eased its way around her body. The anxious state left her, and she was on a high. The sensation was a thousand times better than any amount of Grey Goose could offer. Within a few minutes, her legs felt heavy, and she had the need to sit down, the room becoming blurred as a warm fuzziness engulfed her. As her head touched the arm of the sofa, she was floating on clouds in a world far away from her current miserable existence.

Leon got up from his chair and strolled over to Jackie. He stared at her gaping mouth, and then, slowly, his eyes descended to her breasts. He grinned to himself, thinking they must be fake; no one her age had tits that pert. He could easily help himself, but then he wondered if he could even be bothered.

The bang as the door pushed open pulled him out of his thoughts. Standing there, at six foot five, with a face like thunder and eyes like saucers, stood the Governor.

‘Are you some kind of cunt?’ he bellowed, gripping a heavy-looking metal bar.