‘It’s not like you and me,’ he said. ‘They’re grown-ups. My uncle’s scared they’re gonna come back and get him. He blames my dad for not giving them the money and my dad says he hasn’t got it. My mum doesn’t know what to do.’

‘Is your dad going away?’ I said.

Brian looked up at me like I wasn’t on his side. I felt caught out and couldn’t look at him because I wanted his dad to go and leave us alone even though my mum said to wait.

He shook his head, ‘I don’t want him to.’

‘What’s gonna happen?’

He shrugged. ‘I’ve got to look after my mum.’ We looked at each other. We were losing everything. And we couldn’t stop it. ‘I can’t stay with you,’ he said.

I nodded.

‘I’ve got to go back.’ His eyes were like grey submarines going down black into water and there wasn’t any room there for me. He jumped off the wall on to his feet and gave my legs a hug. I didn’t get down – I hung my head and watched him walk off down the road and round the corner.

‘Your friend Brian’s gone,’ my mum said, taking her coat off and putting her bag down. She was coming in from her early cleaning job and putting her arm round me. She smelt wrong, like she’d been sweating and it was stale. I had my spoon in my mouth from a bowl of cereal. It tasted like cardboard and metal. I took it out and didn’t say anything. I didn’t think I was going to be able to eat again. My throat felt like it was closing up. I felt my bottom lip go over my top one to keep it warm, and just nodded.

Busola looked across in a scowl. ‘You can cry if you want,’ she said. ‘But don’t think you’re special just cos your cornflakes go soggy.’

‘Shut up,’ my mum said.

‘No,’ she said.

My mum picked up a cornflake and threw it at her.

‘See?’ Busola said. ‘He doesn’t even care about me and you don’t, either.’

‘I saw them on the way to work,’ my mum said. ‘It was still dark and his mother’s sorry they couldn’t say goodbye. They had to load up this morning and go. She’s not sure if they’ll be coming back.’

‘Where have they gone?’ Busola said.

‘Will you eat your cornflakes?’ my mum said to her.

She put a spoonful in her mouth and chewed, looking at me. I sneezed over my bowl, which brought the tears to the back of my eyes, but I didn’t want to cry in case I flooded everything. I started shaking and my mum held me tighter, saying, ‘It’s for the best.’