Jacq and Sophie didn’t really have a choice.
Jacq said, Why can’t we come in though?
Sophie said, You’re being well bitchy.
Jacq said, We got an Uber, Al. Cost us seven quid.
Sophie said, I don’t think she cares what we did.
I said, I’m a bit busy. Can I call you later?
Jacq said, What are you doing?
Sophie said, A bloke probably.
Jacq said, It’s not Peter, is it?
Sophie said, I bet it is. She totally fancies him.
I said, Please go away.
Jacq said, What?
Sophie said, You what?
I said, Just fuck off, all right,
and slammed the door.
Inside Dad was asleep.
I went to the bathroom
and found spirits to clean the cigarette burn.
It was such a small thing
on the back of my hand.
A tiny blistering circle.
Nothing awful
compared to what he’d done before.
But with Kelly-Anne gone he was crueller.
This was the beginning of something new.
The beginning of burns.