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a tangled mess. She wore a short cotton nightshirt that only just covered the cheeks of her bum. Michael, now fully awake, couldn’t help but stare at her naked shapely legs as she walked by.
    “I’m ’ceiving one person,” said Otis to Jennifer as she approached. “Agreed?”
    She nodded. “One person.”
    “Okay.”
    Otis opened the door and the knocking abruptly stopped.
    Standing outside was a short black woman in a knee-length coat, a silk scarf and a determined expression. “Where’s Nathaniel?”
    She pushed past Otis.
    “Excuse me!” Caught by surprise, he didn’t have a chance to stop her. He followed her into the lounge. “Who the hell are you?”
    “I know Nathaniel comes here. I followed him once.” She walked around the room, looking everywhere. She went into the kitchen and came out again. She looked behind the sofa and the television.
    Michael covered his body by struggling into one of the coats he’d been using as a blanket and got off the sofa. “Who’s Nathaniel?” he said. But no one answered. They were absorbed watching the woman rampage through the flat.
    She pulled the crumpled duvet off the makeshift bed on the floor. Michael expected her to uncover Jack’s sleeping body, but all there was underneath were two armchair cushions.
    “What have you done with him?” she demanded.
    “We ain’t done nothing,” said Otis.
    The sound of a toilet flushing made everyone turn their heads to the bathroom. The flushing subsided and there was the click of a sliding bolt as it was unlocked. The door opened to reveal Jack standing in the doorway in his underpants.
    “What the ferret’s scrotum’s going on?” he said blinking into the light, looking around at the four of them standing before him. His eyes settled on the woman. They widened in surprise. “Mum?”
    “Nathaniel Jackson, where have you been? I’ve been ringing and ringing!”
    “Mum, what are you doing here?”
    “I came to find you – to tell you, you got an appointment.”
    “Appointment?” Jack shook his head in confusion. “When did this happen?”
    “Yesterday. Isn’t it wonderful?”
    Jack steadied himself with a hand on the bathroom doorframe. The colour drained from his face.
    Michael shot a glance at Jennifer and Otis to see if they understood what was going on. They looked as shocked as Jack did.
    “Mum, why didn’t you tell me?”
    “I didn’t want to get your hopes up.”
    “My hopes?” He laughed. An ironic laugh. A frightened laugh. “At least a month, you said. We’d talk about it, you said.”
    “I thought we’d decided it was for the best.”
    “You decided!” said Jack.
    She gave him a reassuring smile. “You’ll feel different about it tomorrow. Tomorrow, you’ll be normal.”
    “You don’t get it!” He brushed by his mother and dropped himself onto the armchair cushions. He curled his knees up to his chest and looked back at her. “I don’t want to be normal.”
    “Well,” said Mrs Jackson. “It’s all booked now. Why don’t you get dressed, eh? We can talk about it on the walk home.”
    Jack was like a lost little urchin boy sitting near-naked on his ragamuffin bed, staring up at his mother. He shifted his gaze to Jennifer and then to Otis, as if asking for help.
    “You don’t have to do this,” said Otis.
    Mrs Jackson stepped forward, blocking her son’s view of his friend. “I’m sorry, but it’s already booked.”
    Otis turned on her, his face angry. “Hey! This is none of your business.”
    “I’m his mother!”
    “It’s his decision,” said Otis.
    “Shut up!” screamed Jack. His words cut through their argument as sharply as turning off a radio. He scrambled through the bedclothes and pulled out his borrowed T-shirt and trousers. “I’ll go for the damn appointment.”
    He got dressed in silence. The disagreement hung in the room, but Jack seemed to have made his decision. He put on his trainers with stoic determination and tied the laces like a person