Tina twisted the blue plastic lid from her water bottle and took a large mouthful, wiping her mouth with the side of her hand. Where the hell was Nevaya? She checked her watch again and sighed. Her patience was running out. She banged the flat of her palm against the horn. So what if the neighbours were pissed off, looking at her through their windows, she was going to be late. ‘For crying out loud…’

Nevaya finally appeared at the gate looking as cocky and full of attitude as ever. Tina sat up straight in her seat, her hands gripping the steering wheel tighter as Wendy was walking behind her. She gritted her teeth. If the witch wanted beef, she’d give it her, the mood she was in. What the hell did she have to say for herself?

Nevaya opened the car door but made no move to get in, just stood talking to her mother; chit-chat, nothing of any importance. Tina was sure they were doing it just to wind her up. She sighed loudly, not one bit arsed if they heard her. She didn’t have all day.

Nevaya finally looked round, bending slightly to meet Tina’s eyes. ‘What’s up with you? I’ll be with you in a minute. I’m just saying goodbye to my mother.’ She stressed the word mother too. Like she was rubbing salt in the wound. Enough was enough, fuck that.

‘I’m going to be late, some of us have to get to work. If you’re not ready now, then you can make your own way to school. I’m not a bleeding taxi service. Or better still get your mother to take you.’

And suddenly there she was, mouth almighty – it was never going to be long before she made her presence felt. Wendy moved her daughter out of the way and stuck her head inside the open car door. ‘Don’t you be speaking to my daughter like that. No wonder she can’t stand the sight of you, acting like you’re her mother when the truth is, you haven’t got a maternal bone in your body.’

That was enough for Tina. She unclipped her seatbelt and leant over into the passenger side so they were face to face. The long months of frustration came rushing to the surface. Wendy was trouble, always had been.

‘Listen here, fucking Mother of the Year. Nobody asked you to poke your nose in, so take your sweaty arse back into the house and leave me to be the mother you could never be. You’ve been back on the scene for five minutes and already you’re causing grief, so stop filling her head with shit and crawl back under the rock you came from. Don’t mess with me, Wendy, because I’ll take you to the bleeding cleaners. Trust me, I’ll ruin you if you mess with me.’