Frankie looked surprised. ‘Shite that, mate. So, you’re in all night by yourself?’

‘Yep, on my Jack all the time if I’m being honest.’

Frankie seized his chance, draped his arm around Ged’s shoulders. ‘Come on then, let’s chill at yours for a bit. I’m freezing my nuts off standing out here all night. You’ve got FIFA, right?’

Ged could barely speak. A real life mate, coming to his house, someone to hang with. Maybe actual friends were more of a laugh than online ones…

‘Yes, sure. I’m top at it too, I should warn you, if you fancy a game?’

‘Game on, mate, come on let’s do one.’

The two of them set off along the main road, just another two kids out too late, traffic speeding past, police sirens blaring in the distance.

Chapter Nine

Tina sat in front of the TV with her husband. She’d finished all her chores, and this was her chill time. Finally. She was watching the end of Coronation Street. Like every night it was on, she’d got her stall set up before her favourite soap started. She loved the northern humour. There were always dramas on the street and for the thirty minutes it was on, it took her away from her own problems. Chris wasn’t keen on the soaps – if he had his way, he’d be watching a nature programme, not what he called ‘this bag of shite’. But she knew if he had his programmes on, claiming it was something educational, he’d still be ignoring the telly and mucking about on his phone. Not so bloody educational, really.

Tina raised her eyes to the ceiling, it was like a herd of elephants was running about upstairs. Nevaya, her stepdaughter, was a noisy cow at the best of times. No doubt she was getting ready to go out, so it would be the works – a full face of makeup, hair straightened, the lot. Chris’s kids had lived with them since they were small. Their mother just turned up one day, left them on the doorstep like an unwanted parcel. ‘You’ve taken my husband, now take his kids, you slut,’ she’d yelled as she’d dumped them in the doorway.