‘Yemi!’ It was my dad calling Manus from the front room. ‘Yes, Daddy!’ He started grabbing his top and pulling it over his head and trying to step into his trousers but tripping up on them. ‘Yemi, come here!’ Manus did a hop to get his legs in and move towards the door, and tucked his top into his waistband by stretching up on tiptoes in his bare feet and pushing it down inside, ‘Coming!’ Connor moved out the way for him and looked at me and put his finger to his lips. Just then, Tunde squeezed past Connor and stood inside the bedroom. He looked like he was trying to find my mum, his eyes didn’t even see me. ‘Ah, there you are!’ my dad said, and switched back to Yoruba to speak to Mr Lawal. I gave Tunde a nod by lifting my head up and his eyes focused on me. He was smaller than I remembered, and more frightened. Connor turned and went back into the front room leaving the doors open, so I could hear my dad say, ‘Eh-heh, they are all getting big. As you can see, there’s no much room.’ He wasn’t going to let Tunde stay. ‘Ni ile Baba mi, now,’ and I could hear Mr Lawal was still pleading. Tunde blinked and his eyes flicked round the bedroom like he was trapped into listening. His hands had disappeared under his sleeves and he looked wrapped up like he was already back in Nigeria and there was no one to take him in. ‘Wotcha,’ I said, and he looked at me once more with almost black eyes like I wasn’t there and darted back into the front room.

I slipped on my other sock and got in my sandals and crept out and down the stairs to get away. At the bottom, Marie’s door was shut but I could hear them moving about and the bed creaking. I didn’t feel I could knock, so I coughed by the keyhole and said, ‘I’m going out the backyard,’ loud enough for her to hear but not so it would go upstairs.