Tina hadn’t finished yet. ‘And you, Nevaya, are you getting in or am I going without you? You’re either in or out.’ Wendy was doing her best to come back with some verbals of her own, but Tina wasn’t giving her any airtime. ‘Last chance, I’m going,’ she yelled.

Nevaya slouched into the car, clearly fuming. ‘How dare you talk to my mam like that? Who the hell do you think you are? You just wait until my dad hears about this, he’ll pull you down a peg or two, just you wait and see.’

Tina turned the radio up full blast and pulled out. Wendy was still stood on the pavement shouting abuse, but she rammed two fingers up at her and drove off.

What was happening to Tina? She never used to be like this. She was always so mild-mannered and good-natured. Maybe it was a case of if you can’t beat them, join them. Months of abuse from her husband’s kids had finally taken its toll.

Nevaya sat with her arms folded tightly across her chest, leaning against the passenger window, keeping as far away from Tina as she could, as if she was diseased. She was furious. The journey continued in complete silence. Not a peep out of her, nothing until Tina pulled over outside the school.

‘Money. I need some dinner money,’ she mumbled.

Tina huffed and dragged her handbag from the back seat. ‘I thought your mother would have given you your dinner money?’

‘I didn’t ask her for any, otherwise she would have. Listen, just give me the cash and I’ll be out of your face.’

Tina opened her purse and pulled out a fiver. Nevaya went to snatch it from her hand but Tina held on to it as she stared her stepdaughter out. ‘I can carry on like this for as long as you want, young lady, so be my guest. I’m prepared.’

Nevaya swallowed hard as she looked at Tina. Locked eyes, no words. Tina reached over and dropped the note into her lap. ‘Have a nice day at school, look forward to seeing you later,’ she said in a sarcastic tone.

Nevaya picked up the money – she couldn’t wait to get out of the car. She slammed the door shut, nearly taking it off its hinges. Tina wished she’d had that nip of brandy now.

‘Kids,’ she mumbled under her breath as she drove away.

Donny sat at his desk staring out of the window. His mind seemed to be all over the place this morning, he wasn’t on the ball like usual. He looked rough too, stressed. Tina came into the office holding two cups of coffee and passed him one.

‘There you go, you look like you need a caffeine fix. What’s up with you this morning?’