The whirlpool was starting to form over the plughole. I tried to put my finger in without it touching the sides. There was one book with a picture of the Three Musketeers looking like a fairy story with hats and curly feathers and buckled shoes, but I couldn’t turn over the page to see what was next because Marie was in there looking at it and closed its cover on the bed. My mum was marking the rent in a book and Marie’s mum was counting money out of a small bag and saying she’d get the rest back off Marie’s dad as soon as she could, and they set off talking again. Marie wasn’t letting me see what was in the book, she was twisting a strand of her hair in both hands with her long feet poking off the edge of the bed and frowning. ‘Can I look?’ I said, and she shook her head looking angry. It wasn’t even at me, it was at her mum saying it wasn’t her dad, it was those other fellas, he’d got in with a bad crowd, an Indian fella and a black fella, they were leading him astray, and there wasn’t room for drink and a family, he’d have to stay out, but he’ll lose that job, then where would they be if she hadn’t her own little trickle of money coming in, out of time and out on the street for the price of her own self-respect and stupidity. ‘Soonest mended,’ my mum said, because when she looked up from the rent book she saw us. Marie was scowling and her eyes were wet to the brim, angry and lit up. The look changed suddenly and she kicked my hand off the bed where I was leaning like she was blaming me.

The door banged on the latch and made me jump. The bath water had run out and it was Mr Babalola trying to get in, ‘Ah! Everybody’s at home? How long now?’ He knew it was me and I could hear Florence in the background talking up to someone in the top kitchen from the backyard, so I said, ‘Out in a minute! Just rinsing!’ There wasn’t time for a bath so I got undressed and cleaned the tub from the inside, crouching down and splashing some water over me and using one of the damp towels to dry off. There was lots of water on the floor, so I put another towel down to wipe it up and got dressed again in my old clothes. ‘Coming!’ I said, and undid the latch and swung the door open. There was no one there, so I let it bang shut and quickly cleared the towels up in case they complained and I got in trouble.