AVA AND HER SISTERS WERE jolted awake by a commotion. Something was ricocheting off the walls of the flat. Ava sat up.
‘What is it?’ Veronica whispered. Rita whimpered.
Ava waited until the source of the noise was at the far end of the landing then opened the door.
‘Mom?’
‘It’s just a dog!’ Trev bellowed. ‘Go back to fuckin’ bed!’
‘A dog?’ Ava must have misheard.
Colleen stepped out. ‘Yes, bab,’ she said. ‘Trevor got us a dog.’
Ava couldn’t see the animal in the darkness. ‘What’s his name?’
‘Fizzog.’
Her mother shut the door.
Ava could sense her sisters’ excitement but also their trepidation: how big was this dog? Would it bite?
‘Fizzog!’ Ava whispered. ‘Fizz!’
She smelled it: warm fur, meat breath. It approached, close enough that she could see its eye-shine. It was a squat block of a terrier, and he was as scared as she was. Ava reached down, felt its warm tongue lick her hand. Trevor had been to see a man about a dog, and had brought the dog home at last.