That’s how I thought she was a ghost and she wasn’t really seeing us, because why would she talk to us about our mum and dad like that and not think we’d run home and tell?

‘Well, she’s not a ghost,’ my mum said. ‘She’s old. We have to look after the old. And she’s very old. Go down now and keep an eye open and see is she all right.’

‘Mind out!’ I was stood behind Busola, balancing one foot on the kerb, listening but keeping out the way. ‘They bite.’ Busola was feeding a crisp to one of the cats trying to claw it off her. ‘Where’s your mum been? I was gonna get flowers. Tell people he’d done away with her.’ My mum had been lying in the hospital, and Busola had been saying you could catch things off people there. But she was home now getting some rest. ‘Men, they wear you out. Don’t worry, I been watching him. Looks after you, though? All clean clothes.’

‘She’s been in hospital,’ Busola said, and pulled her hand back because the cat’s claw caught on her finger. It drew blood and she had to put it in her mouth to stop it bleeding.

‘Told ya. End up eating me, they will. Always hungry.’ And she gave the cat a kick with her slipper, ‘Get off, yer!’ It spun round and hissed at her with its teeth and slunk off. I didn’t like it and wanted to go, pulling Busola by the sleeve. ‘Wanna plaster? I can go in and get you one?’

Busola shook her head and shook me off her arm. ‘I don’t wanna catch what you got. You got too many cats,’ she said to the lady, ‘and you’re not nice.’

The lady shrugged like she didn’t care what Busola said, ‘I don’t know what’s gonna happen to ’em when I’m gone. They’ll be the last ones living here when they’ve cleared us all out. Outlive me. No one’ll feed ’em.’

‘Let’s go,’ I said.

‘Is he your brother?’

Busola shook her head. I didn’t know what was going on with them pretending they didn’t know who I was. She knew who Busola was. Maybe she couldn’t tell me apart from Manus and Connor. But then I felt she could hear me because she lifted up her hair over her ear and said, ‘Yeah he is, I can see it in his face. Bet you can’t tell my cats apart, can ya?’ And she laughed, ‘Wanna feed ’em a crisp?’

I stepped back off the kerb on to the road and shook my head. They were teasing me. ‘She is my sister,’ I said.