'Dad, will you tell her?' Ed spits, pointing accusingly.
'Tell her what?' I ask, distracted by the pile of bills I've just found on the table.
'Tell her to stop following me around,' he yells. 'She's winding me up.'
'Why don't you both just leave each other alone? Go and play in your own rooms.'
'I want to watch telly,' Ed protests.
'I was watching it first,' Ellis complains.
'She'll be going to bed soon,' I sigh, trying to reason with Edward. 'Just let her watch it for a while then you can change the channel when she's gone to bed.'
'But my programme's on now,' he whines, not having any of it. 'It's not fair, you always take her side. Why do you always take her side?'
I've had enough.
'Let's just leave the television off then,' I tell them. Both of them start screaming at me but even their god-awful noise is drowned out by Lizzie who shrieks at the pair of them to get out of her sight at a deafening volume. Ed pushes his sister as he barges out of the room. Ellis slaps him on the back as he passes.
'Well handled,' Liz mumbles sarcastically.
'Little sods,' I mumble back.
'That's why I've had enough,' she snaps. 'I've had to put up with their rubbish constantly since we came out of school and I can't stand it anymore. Okay?'
She storms out of the room. I don't bother following, there's no point. There's nothing I can do or say to make things any easier so I take the easy option and do and say nothing.
FRIDAY
ii
'He was looking at me.'
'Get lost! He was looking at me. He's not interested in you!'
Josie Stone and her best friend Shona Robertson walked down Sparrow Hill and across the park together arm in arm, laughing as they discussed Darren Francis, a boy two years ahead of them at school who they'd just passed outside Shona's house.
'Anyway,' Josie teased, 'everyone knows that Kevin Braithwaite fancies you. You stick with Kevin and leave me and Darren alone.'
'Kevin Braithwaite?!' Shona protested. 'I wouldn't be seen dead with him. He's more your type.'
'Shut up!'
The two friends tripped and slid down the greasy grassy bank, still giggling and holding onto each other's arms as they struggled to keep their footing. Their speed increased as they stumbled further down the hill and onto level ground. Josie slipped as they ran across the middle of a muddy football pitch. Shona instinctively reached out and yanked her back up before she hit the ground.
'Careful!' she laughed as she struggled to stay standing like a bad ice skater.
Josie and Shona were as close as sisters. They'd met at school three years ago and, both being only children, had quickly become inseparable. They spent almost all of their free time together and often slept over at each other's house. Last summer Josie had even spent a fortnight in Spain with Shona and her family. Nothing was allowed to come between them, not even boys.
'I heard that Dayne was round Phillipa's house last night,' Shona said, suddenly remembering a vital piece of gossip she'd heard on the way home from school. 'She's a dirty tramp that Phillipa.'
Josie stopped walking.
Shona carried on for a few seconds, oblivious.
'Danni said she saw her with her hands down...'
When she realised she was on her own she stopped, turned round and looked at her friend.
'What's the matter with you?' she asked. Josie didn't answer. 'Come on you silly cow, the others will have gone if we don't get a move on.'
Still Josie didn't move. She simply stood and stared at Shona who, not understanding her friend's behaviour, turned round again and continued walking towards the shops and the group of girls from school they'd arranged to meet there.
Josie broke into a sudden sprint. She ran directly at Shona and shoved her in the back between her shoulder blades, knocking her off her feet and down into the long wet grass. She tried to stand but before she could get up Josie kicked her in the stomach. She rolled her over onto her back and whined in pain.
'What the hell are you doing, you silly bitch?'
Josie didn't answer. Instead she simply dropped her knees onto Shona's exposed chest, forcing every scrap of air from her lungs. Shona gagged with surprise and shock as she struggled to breathe in. Stunned and wide-eyed she stared into Josie's face.
'Why did you…?' she began to say. Josie wasn't listening. She'd found a stone half-buried in the mud and grass nearby and was desperately digging her fingers around its edge, trying to pull it out of the ground. Panting with effort she picked up the heavy, brick-sized rock and held it high above her head.
'Josie, don't…' Shona whimpered.
Holding it with both hands, Josie brought the stone crashing down on her friend's chest. She felt her ribs crack and splinter under the force of the undefended impact. In too much sudden pain to scream, Shona groaned in agony and watched helplessly as Josie lifted the stone again and brought it down on her for a second time. She hit her with such savage force that a broken rib punctured one of her lungs. Her breathing became erratic and rasping, then desperately shallow and forced. Her shattered rib cage began to move with sudden, juddering movements as her damaged body struggled to continue to function.
Josie leant down over her dying friend and looked deep into her face. Her skin was ghostly white, smeared with splashes of mud and dribbles of blood which now gurgled and bubbled from the corners of her mouth. Her dark, panic-filled eyes began to glaze over and lose their focus. She was aware of Josie lifting the stone again, but nothing more.
She knew that her friend was dead but Josie had to be certain. She smashed the rock into her face, breaking her left cheekbone and almost dislocating her jaw. Exhausted with effort she rolled away from the corpse and sat panting on the wet grass nearby.
Josie stared at the sprawling dark shadows of the town below her. She couldn't go down there now. She couldn't go home either. She didn't know where she was going to go or what she was going to do. Maybe she could just stay in the park and hope no-one comes looking, she thought. Either that or she'd have to take her chances and just run.
She hadn't had any choice. She'd had to kill Shona. She felt no guilt or remorse for what she'd done, just relief.
4
We're out. We've escaped. For the first time in months Lizzie and I have managed to get away from the house together without any of the children in tow. I can't remember the last time we were out together like this. The fact that we're crammed into a small, dark and sweaty concert hall with six or seven hundred other people doesn't seem to matter. The gig hasn't even started yet but the background music is already deafening and the lighting is virtually non-existent. The chances of us actually managing to speak to each other are slim.
'Doesn't feel right, does it?' Liz shouts at me. She has to lift herself up onto tiptoes to yell into my ear.
'What doesn't?' I shout back.
'Not having the kids here. I'm not used to it. I keep looking round expecting to see at least one of them.'
'Make the most of it,' I tell her. 'How long's it been since we went out together on our own?'
'Months,' she screams, struggling to make herself heard over the noise.
The conversation is over quickly. The effort of having to yell at each other is already making my throat sore and the gig hasn't even started yet. I watch the stage as roadies and other crew members check the lights, the sound and the instruments. How long does it take them to get ready? They seem to have been setting things up for ages, there can't be long left to wait now. Someone's going round putting towels and drinks down and gaffer-taping set lists to the floor.