Clio was desperate for more of a peek into Leah’s life and so instead of filling the conversational gap with chatter she just waited to see what Leah would say next.

‘I’m not proud of that part of my life,’ Leah continued without making eye contact. ‘What is it they say? I was in a dark place? Well, I really was. Mum was dead and Dad was gone and I didn’t know which way was up. I already knew who Craig was before we started going out. Everyone did. He was one of those lads that people look up to, you know what I mean?’

Clio thought at first that Leah meant like the head girl at school, but it quickly became obvious that this was not what she was saying.

‘Everyone wanted to be part of his crew and they used to all try and outdo each other to get his attention. It was like he was some big-time gangland boss rather than a jumped-up little wannabe in a tiny town. He loved playing the big “I am”, though. He had little ’uns running errands for him. You know, weed and that. A few pills. Nothing major but it felt big at the time. My dad would have told him to sling his hook if he’d shown up at our house, but Dad wasn’t there, was he? Sometimes I think I went out with Craig just to piss Dad off, not that he ever knew. But it felt like I was punishing him for leaving us by hooking up with the most unsuitable bloke I could find. And I was in bits then, because of Mum dying. I just needed someone to look after me, to take care of me, you know, and I thought Craig could do that. And he did, in his own way, for a bit. Most of what he did was on the wrong side of dodgy, but I think he was actually quite fond of me.’

In the distance they could hear Noah whooping and then Marlon’s deeper voice encouraging him to run faster. Marlon should probably have been working outside somewhere, Clio thought, but who was he hurting by skiving for a couple of hours? She wasn’t going to tell him to get back to his garden and she certainly wasn’t going to interrupt Leah.