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laughing and said seriously, ‘Cynthia will, Mum, you know what she’s like.’
    ‘That’s true. Like anything else where the kids are concerned, we can only do what she wants.’
    The laughter stopped completely then, even the pretence of it. They had often laughed about Cynthia and her ways, mocked her even – behind her back, of course – but suddenly it was as if they had decided to stop playing the game, as if they had all realised that, in reality, none of it was actually very funny. In order for Mary to see her grandchildren she had to go along with Cynthia’s rules – they all did. She used the children like a weapon. And they let her, they
allowed
her to do it, because they knew that without them in the background the children would have nothing.
    ‘Do you think she’ll ever be all right, Mum? Because she seems to me as if she’s getting unhappier by the day.’
    Mary flapped her hand in annoyance. ‘She’ll never be happy, Celeste, it’s not in her nature.’
    ‘Well, that’s as may be, Mum, but at least she has a husband, and a family who care about her.’
    Mary smiled sadly. ‘Well, for the time being anyway, eh, love?’
    Jack Callahan, who had been listening to this exchange with half an ear, looked at his wife and daughter and shook his head in disbelief. Gesturing at Gabby, whose eyes were still glued to the TV, he said loudly, ‘Look at this little one here, would you two rather she went home with that hard bitch?’
    Celeste sighed heavily at her father’s words. ‘I think you should think a little about what you say in front of the child, Dad, you know.’
    Jack Callahan laughed uproariously, amazed at his daughter’s stupidity where her elder sister was concerned, and he said as much. ‘Oh, fuck off, this little one here knows the score. For fuck’s sake, she spends half her life here with us! As small as she is, she knows the score with that mad fucking whore.’
    Mary Callahan shook her head in exasperation and, looking at her husband, she said seriously, ‘Will you ever stop calling your daughter a
whore
?’
    Jack Callahan took a deep breath and, after exhaling loudly, he said in a very quiet voice, ‘And would you two ever fuck off? This child knows that she’s safe here with me. Because her father, God forgive him, is as frightened of her mother as everyone else is. Well, I ain’t, and I told him, poor fucker that he is, that if he was any kind of man he would batter her on a daily basis. Women like Cynthia need that. They are like poison, and you have to sort them out from the off. She looks down on us, and she looks down on
everyone
around her. If he had any fucking gumption he’d leave her, and do you know what? I’d be the first one to shake his hand if he did.’
    Celeste looked at her mother and shrugged in resignation. Then Jack Callahan dropped his bombshell.
    ‘And you, Celeste, had better watch your back because, markmy words, she doesn’t like what’s going on between you and Jonny Parker. As long as she leaves this little one here with us, I’ll swallow me knob, but I’m telling you now, I wouldn’t trust her as far as I could kick her.’
    Gabby looked up at her granddad and smiled happily. She knew that he would always stand up for her. As young as she was, she knew, deep inside, that her mummy didn’t love her properly. She only felt truly loved and cared about when she was with her father, or her grandparents. Her daddy, she knew already, was too nervous of her mother to be trusted completely. Her granddad, though, would fight for her with everything he possessed. It was a good feeling, cuddled up with him, because she knew that he was the only person in her little world who wasn’t scared of her mummy.

As Jimmy watched Cynthia kneel down at the altar, ready to receive Holy Communion, he wondered at how they had ended up like this. They were like strangers. She avoided him at every opportunity, slept in their spare room, and tried to convince him