It had been just the two of them since he was five years old and Eileen knew just how to play him. She had no guilt over that. She had given the boy a good life. He hadn’t spent his childhood stuck in the foster system like she had, picked on by the older kids in the home, always overlooked for the youngsters when potential families came to visit. Eileen had learnt her place and it was at the back of the queue. How she despised the kids who stood in front of her. She thought she was lucky when a foster family did eventually take her in, but how wrong she had been.

Even, all these years later, she could remember the creaking of the bedroom door as it opened late at night, the stale breath of her foster dad, Mr Griffiths, as he crawled on top of her.

That was her life. A product of a broken home, having witnessed her father murder her mother when she was eight. No one cared about her, so she had closed her eyes and learnt to survive.

She had been twenty-two when she met Dennis Wickham. She was working in the bar of a village pub and he was a regular. Much older than her and nothing to look at, but he was always nice to her and he quickly made it known he found her attractive.

Eileen wasn’t stupid. There had been boys her own age, but none of them had prospects. Dennis was her escape. They were married a year later.

She didn’t want kids, but Dennis was desperate for a family of his own. When Bill was conceived five years later, they had all but given up on it happening. Dennis was elated, while Eileen was distraught, hating the idea of having to nurture and raise a snivelling little brat. But as her son grew and she understood how vulnerable he was, how he relied on her for everything, it gave her a sense of power. All of those years being bottom of the pile and finally she was top dog. She could give Bill everything, but she also had the power to take it away. He was hers and he understood his place. He was a good lad and she knew she could count on him.

He had visited her regularly in prison, had put plans in place for her release, and he had been waiting for her at the prison gates. His world still revolved around her and Eileen knew he would likely do just about anything she asked.

She had been goading him about the Hixton girls ever since her release, expressing disappointment that he had never thought to seek revenge on her behalf.

Don’t forget they were responsible for you losing your mother.

Those women have never paid for what they did.

They think they are better than us.