‘Top to bottom,’ my dad said as he went out to get new curtains. It wasn’t until Manus got the windows open we started to feel we were getting the house clean. The dust was really thick in the air and I could see we were all getting coated in it. Busola’s wig was starting to go grey because she wouldn’t take it off.

‘You look ridiculous,’ Manus told her. She whacked him hard on the back of the leg with her brush and I had to hold his leg to stop him kicking back down the stairs at her. Connor got hold of his arm from the top because Manus was gonna throw his brush at her, and we all slipped down the stairs together.

That’s when Connor said she should go with our dad, ‘It was all right till he came, you fuck off back with him!’

But Manus wasn’t having that, ‘You shut up!’ he told Connor. They were gonna fight – Connor let go and stood up on the stairs, ‘Make me!’ But they didn’t because the door knocked and Busola ran down to get it. It was Mr Adebisi and he’d come to help. He told us all to go and have a bath and put on clean clothes to get ready, he’d finish off the cleaning but we’d already done a good job.

Busola wouldn’t have one with us because she said we were dirty and Mr Adebisi had to come and help her clean off the dark rings round the bath before she’d run a new one and get in it. He told her she shouldn’t take the wig in because it would get wet and she’d get a cold and to leave it on the side. We left her to it and ran with our towels through the backyard up to the bedroom with Mr Adebisi helping us choose new clothes because our mum was coming.

‘How is Busola missing her mummy?’ He was putting his finger on my crossed laces so I could tie up the bows by myself. I looked up at Connor, and Connor looked at Manus. We didn’t know how he knew what was up, but Mr Adebisi knew things just by feeling them.

‘He started it,’ Manus said looking at Connor. ‘He told Daddy to go back to Liverpool.’

I didn’t know that. Connor didn’t say anything. He pulled his socks on like he was getting ready to kick someone and he wasn’t gonna take it back.

Mr Adebisi looked at him. ‘Yinka?’ But Connor shook his head. ‘Come on, let bygones be bygones. Your mother is coming. You don’t want her to come?’

‘Why does he have to shout?’ Connor said.