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Marianne sniffs a yes. Dirty Alice feels left out and moves in to comfort Marianne but is pushed off by Lanky Fiona. I’m glad about that, Dirty Alice is always hogging Marianne like she owns her or something.
    Next thing Tracey is singing ‘Making Your Mind Up’ and at first Marianne pretends she doesn’t want to because she’s so upset about Bardo but it’s obvious she’s dying to get up there with Fiona and Tracey and so she wipes her face and starts dancing, even Dirty Alice is in there, and you should have seen them waving their skirts about and doing what girls do with songs. They don’t care, girls, even when there’s no music, it’s just them singing and jumping about. They move in circles and wrap themselves around one another. They spin about and lift their skirts until we nearly see their knickers. I see Dirty Alice’s knickers. They’re white. I hate her knickers. Then they grab at each other’s hands and run about all over the place doing high kicks and all kinds of things. I like Adam and the Ants. Adam is like a soldier although my da isn’t keen on the glossy lips he has. My ma thinks Adam’s beautiful and Granny doesn’t care for him at all. I think Adam Ant is amazing and when I’m alone in my room I put on the record Da got for me and I jump up and down and pretend I have a guitar. I kick my legs and fling my arms over my head like Adam does and I think I’m the best singer in the world. It’s good to listen to your records when no one is looking.
    Watching the girls dancing is all right but we still act like we think they’re eejits and make faces at them. Paul actually falls over making sick noises, but then he laughs to show he was just kidding around, the girls love that. He’s such a suck-up, that Paul, and he still likes Marianne even though I’ve thumped him for it. I would never have sucked up like that. I would have kept the vomit noise real and made the girls feel like they were stupid. You can’t be too mad for girls. I mean it’s OK to show up places you think they’ll be but you don’t go to their doors and ask if they want to come out for a while. The talent show is different because I’m doing keepy-uppies and we’re all getting some money from it. It’s five pence a ticket. My granny says this is a scandalous amount of money and will only pay one pence.
    When I get home Da is all angry like Dirty Alice was and saying the Eurovision Song Contest was fixed because of the war and it was Margaret Thatcher’s fault we lost and if Ma wants to blame anyone then it should be the prime minister.
    ‘They were wonderful dancers,’ cries Ma.
    ‘And very good-looking,’ says Granny.
    Da says Ma’s silly for crying and it’s only a song. Also he liked the German girl and her little guitar, but not as much as Jan Leeming who reads the news and was at the Eurovision Song Contest in a beautiful dress telling everyone about the points each country was winning.
    ‘She’s a fine woman all right,’ says Da.
    Ma pulls a face at him, but that’s how it is with Ma right now. She makes faces and leaves rooms all the time, usually for a bath or a nap.
    ‘If she just went to the police,’ whispers Da. ‘If she just told the truth she’d feel better.’
    ‘You mean you would,’ says Granny.
    ‘We all would,’ says Da.
    ‘You should have told the police from the start, didn’t I tell you to? Then all the neighbours wouldn’t be thinking you smack your wife around. It’s too late to go back now.’
    ‘Why is that?’ quizzes Da.
    ‘No one would believe her is why. It’s been left too long. They might think she made it up or she’s mad or something. They might think we’re all mad. We should have said something as soon as she walked through that door, but we didn’t. It’s done, Brian. Leave it be. They’ll be no more talking about this family. I won’t have it.’
    Da looks angry.
    ‘This too shall pass,’ says Granny and crosses herself.
    ‘When will it