Usually the responsibility fell on Trina to look out for her three younger brothers – Ellis, aged seven, six-year-old Jarell, and Tyler – when her mother was busy cooking, shopping or washing. But today was cleaning day and Daisy often asked Trina for help. It seemed to Trina that her mother was overwhelmed with the amount of work involved in looking after a three-bedroomed house and four children. Nevertheless, she undertook her tasks every Saturday without failure, not happy till every surface was dusted, hoovered and cleaned.
Daisy was a respectable woman who took pride in having a clean home. Despite her status as a single parent on benefits, she did her best to maintain her high standards and set a good example to her children. She was an attractive woman in her thirties, of average height and with a womanly figure. Trina took after her mother in looks, but not in height for she was very tall for her age, something she had gained from her absent father.
Trina looked up from her dusting as the boys dashed excitedly to the front door. She was envious of them. It didn’t seem fair that she should have to stay and help her mother while the boys got to play outside. But that’s the way it was and she had long ago come to accept her status as the oldest child. Not only was she the oldest but she was also a girl, which made a difference as far as her mother was concerned. Girls helped with the housework; boys did not.
‘And keep a tight hold on him!’ Daisy shouted to her two eldest boys as they fled out through the front door.
They were no sooner outside than there was a knock on the door. Daisy clicked her tongue again.
‘What on earth’s the matter!’ she called, trying to ignore it.
There was a second knock. Trina said, ‘I’ll get it, Mam,’ happy to put down her duster again.
But before she got the chance, they heard a man’s voice outside. ‘Daisy! I know you’re in there so answer the door,’ he shouted.
Trina continued making her way towards the front door till she felt her mother’s sharp pull on her shoulder.
‘No,’ she whispered. ‘Get behind the curtain. Don’t let him see you or there’ll be hell to pay.’
Alarmed, Trina quickly took her place with her mother, standing to one side of the open curtains so they couldn’t be seen through the window. Daisy was busy peering through a gap at the edge of the curtains. A shadow fell across the window and the man’s voice came closer.
‘Open the door, Daisy! I know you’re in there. I’ve just seen the children leave,’ shouted the man.
A look of concern flashed across Trina’s face as she picked up on the grave tone of the man’s voice.
‘I think it’s Mr Dodds. Shouldn’t we let him in, Mam?’ she whispered.
‘Shush,’ said Daisy, adding a stern, ‘No! The man can wait.’
Something about Mr Dodds’ tone and her mother’s gruff manner set Trina on edge. As they waited for him to go away, Trina could feel her heart beating so rapidly that she thought it would burst through her chest.
‘He’s gone,’ Daisy finally announced, releasing her grip on the curtain and striding away from the window. ‘Thank the Lord for that,’ she added, stopping to touch herself in the sign of the cross.
For a few moments the sound of the hoover drowned out all other noise so it wasn’t until Mr Dodds stepped into their living room and sidled up to Daisy that she saw him. Trina noticed her mother’s startled reaction when she caught sight of his tall, lean frame hovering over her.
‘What on earth are you doing in here?’ she demanded, switching off the hoover.
‘You forgot to lock your back door,’ he said, a self-satisfied smirk playing across his thin lips. ‘So now I’ll have the rent I’ve come for.’
Trina continued with the dusting, her body half turned towards her mother and Mr Dodds as she watched what was happening. She hated Mr Dodds. He was creepy with his lopsided features and the dirty, unwashed smell that came off him. She often saw him calling at other houses in the area, wearing one of the two creased and greasy suits that he rotated each week.
Trina noticed the way her mother nervously patted down her already tidy hair and shuffled uncomfortably from one foot to the other. ‘I haven’t got it,’ she mumbled.
‘I beg your pardon?’ Mr Dodds shouted so loud that Trina turned fully round, dropping the can of bargain-brand spray polish that she had been holding. As she bent to retrieve it, she heard her mother repeat herself.
‘I said I haven’t got it. Not this month. The kids needed new clothes.’
‘Well I’m afraid that’s not good enough,’ said Mr Dodds, adopting a frown and pursed lips, full of self-righteous indignation. ‘You shouldn’t be spending the rent money on clothes or anything else.’
‘I couldn’t let them go without,’ said Daisy.
Mr Dodds sidled even closer to Daisy and Trina saw her mother recoil as she caught a whiff of his malodorous breath. Then he hissed into her ear, but Trina couldn’t quite catch all the words. Something about, ‘other ways to pay’.
‘Not over my dead body!’ yelled Daisy, backing away from him. ‘How dare you suggest such a thing! And in front of the child as well. Now, get out of me house before I do some damage.’
She lifted the metal piping of the hoover and held it menacingly towards Mr Dodds who squirmed.
‘Very well,’ he said. ‘But don’t think this is the end of it. You owe me two months now and I’ll see to it that I get it, whatever it takes. By the time I’ve finished with you, you’ll be begging me to take you in payment.’
‘I’ll rot in hell first!’ shouted Daisy, waving the hoover at him till he dashed from the house.
Trina knew what was coming next. It was time
