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Jao She clearly didn’t want to talk about it He was surprised she had told hiot as much out of her He felt annoyed with hi Aiesha better Was that why his mother had resumed contact? She had understood there wasbehaviour His mother had seen the potential inside Aiesha to become a beautiful swan if only she had a chance to shine She was not used to letting people in Hisin contact with Aiesha, letting her know there was a safe haven for her if ever she needed it

‘You don’t have to feel ashamed of where you’ve come from, Aiesha,’ he said ‘None of that was your choice’

She pushed her lips out in a ould-you-know round always makes me feel dirty’

Aiesha was still agitated after her shower She stood staring out of theat the whitened fields and forest, wondering why she had told Ja about her past She never talked about it Not to anyone She’d didn’t want people to think any less of her for being the daughter of a criminal and a heroin addict She had spentto hide it

It was hardly soht up as small talk at a cocktail party: What does my father do, you ask? He’s a career cris Breaking and entering You name it He’s either done it or has a mate who has

Aiesha had always been the outsider at school The one everyone pointed at, whispered about, gossiped about She had learned early on to s, to armour up so no one kne much those snarky comments hurt But it had hurt to be the only one not invited to another child’s birthday party It had hurt to be the last one picked for a teaate and see all the other athered to collect their children while there was no one waiting for her

Her high-school parent–teacher intervieere the worst Herherself there but Aiesha wished she hadn’t bothered The pitying looks that came her way fros of being an outcast

But then one day a couple of weeks before her fifteenth birthday she found Archie

It was still the best day of her life She had found him near the tube station close to where she and her mother and the Beast Man lived They weren’t supposed to have pets in the flat but Aiesha sled him in and out under her coat He was terrier-s with a face only a mother could love She didn’t kno old Archie was or where he had come from, but from the moment he’d co brown eyes and wagged his tail she was smitten

Archie would trot along to school with her each day and wait patiently in the alley behind the dry-cleaner’s shop until she returned each afternoon It was the highlight of her day to see hi for her there His head would cohten and that stu so hard Aiesha was sure one day it would fall off She would give him the scraps she’d saved from her school dinner and then they would walk to the park, where she would pretend she was like all the other dog-owners Going hoarden, war of flowers in summer To food, not just on the table but also in the pantry and in the fridge To a mother asn’t stoned or drunk or beaten within an inch of her life To a father—or stepfather—asn’t sending her leering looks through piggy eyes and s his thick wet lips at her