She had been aware of him looking in on her from time to time. At some point he had given her a cup of sweet tea that made her feel sick and some aspirins. She had swallowed them and then wondered whether there were enough left for her to kill herself. The pain was intense, particularly in her head and down her right side, which had taken the brunt of his kicking as she had turned her back into a huddle against him. She had no idea what time it was, only that it was going dark again and that Steve had slipped into bed beside her at some point when she had been asleep. Now she was wide awake. She listened carefully to his muffled snores and the grunts that he made when he was in his heaviest sleep. His left arm was outside the bedclothes. Very carefully she eased herself up so that she could see the watch face. It had a digital luminous dial and read 20.52. Beneath it was the date: 21.12. Tears filled her eyes without warning. It was the anniversary of her dad’s death.
