The pub her mum went to was over by the China Walk. You could sit out on the steps or go in the cubicle where they sold you crisps through the hatch. You could see people inside there when the side doors opened into the bars. And Emily’s family sat in the rough part, which meant I could go in and look and they couldn’t send me away, and dogs weren’t allowed.

‘I’m coming to talk to her,’ I said.

‘She’ll only tell what I’m telling you,’ Emily said. ‘You can’t come with me.’

I put my foot in the side door as it was closing and looked into the pub. Her mum was sitting there, smiling and laughing with her head back on the wall, surrounded by people with drinks on the table. Some of the men had their caps on, they were all dressed in clothes that were different from other people’s. Their clothes looked dusty like they came from a long time ago and got worn out with working. The women had big earrings, Emily’s mum didn’t, like her smile was all she had on. She was looking at me over people’s shoulders and they all began to turn round and notice me. ‘Shut the door, I’ll be out,’ she said, like she knew who I was. I’d seen her before when she came into school after the fight, and I saw her through the pub window when I was standing on the ledge and holding on to the sill to see who was in there. But then Emily came out the pub carrying her little brother and looked at me. I got down and looked at her sandals on her feet where the straps were broken and couldn’t say anything, or even lift my head up.

‘What you doing?’ she said.

I couldn’t say, so I said, ‘Can you play with me?’

She lifted her brother higher up on to her side because he was wriggling to go, and shook her head, ‘I’m going a different way from you.’

She was sending me away but looking over her shoulder at the boys who were playing football in the road in between the cars, and shouting for them to be careful, ‘Car coming!’

‘Just stay with me,’ I said.

She turned back and shook her head with her hair going everywhere so I couldn’t see her eyes and said, ‘I’ve got my family.’

‘What’s your mum say?’

She pulled the hair back off her face and shrugged, ‘She says there’s no one for you to fight.’

Some of the boys were watching from their game in the road, her brother struggled free and ran over to them, so she didn’t stay with me and I went in on my own.