I met another of our neighbours, Mr McCurley, who lived in the flat opposite. He came out of his door very quietly and gave me a very tiny smile. He was a big giant of a man who wore a cardigan and always carried a shopping bag. Mum said he looked weird and I was to keep well clear of him. Ming, however, assured me he was one of the nicest men on the estate. He did the shopping for all the old pensioners who couldn’t get out and if he didn’t talk to us it was only because he was shy.I saw Ma Lafferty once and almost fainted. She was coming out of Ming’s house, probably up for payment, and she hardly glanced my way. Perhaps they’d forgotten, decided it was better to leave things be.‘Don’t you believe it!’ Ming said, when I said as much to him. ‘The Laffertys don’t forget anything. The dad’s in jail, for assault. He battered a man who had just come out of prison after three years. He waited all that time for him, and then he got him back. That’s the kind of people the Laffertys are.’‘You know, I sometimes think it’s not like real life on this estate.
