‘Son, if you want me to sort this out you have to be straight with me. I’m your old man and I love you more than all the world. But please don’t insult my intelligence by telling me you got jumped. I don’t want any lies, just the truth.’ Kevin sounded like a man on a mission.

Ged couldn’t look his father in the eye. ‘Dad, turn it in, eh. I don’t want you getting involved with anything. I can handle my own shit. You’ve just got out the nick and you need to keep your head down.’

Kevin wasn’t interested in that argument. ‘You’re my boy and your troubles are my troubles. You can either tell me the score yourself or I’ll investigate things my way. Trust me, I’ll get to the bottom of it and when I do, heads will roll.’

Ged could see his dad was getting angry. ‘Dad, just chill, will ya? We can have a talk later but for now, button it before my mam comes back in. That’s all I need is her getting on my back.’ Kevin nodded slowly. Bingo – he’d known all was not what it seemed.

Clare returned and plonked Kevin’s coffee down on the small wooden table next to him. She’d put extra milk in it to cool it down so he could drink it as soon as possible and get gone out of her life. Every time she looked at him, she wanted to scratch his eyeballs out, tosser. He had led her a dog’s life and she never ever wanted to go back to how he made her feel before he got sent down. The man had fucked with her mental health when he was in her life, she’d been on antidepressants, Valium, the lot. He had messed with her head and it had taken all her strength to get back on the level. Clare sat down on the chair opposite the two of them. All of a sudden, she felt cold, she was shivering. She reached behind her and grabbed her blue cardigan. Kevin stretched his arms above his head and yawned. ‘It’s good to be home, I’ve dreamt of being here with you two for years. I never thought it was going to end. I can tell you now that this sentence has broken my back. Doing time is a young man’s game. I don’t want to be one of those old geezers that have spent more time inside than out. That was the last stretch I’ll be doing, let me tell you.’