Six
Fright shut my brain down and my body took over. It threw my weight back onto my assailant and at the last moment, just before I collapsed against him, I kicked back onto his knee. He yelped, swore and released me. I spun round.
It was Kit. Bent over and clutching his knee.
‘What the hell did you do that for?’ he said.
‘What did you expect me to do? Next time try approaching from the front and saying “Hi Jen”,’ I snapped back, anger and surprise unravelling all my determination to stay calm when we met.
I made my breathing slow down. Kit straightened himself. My brother. Tall and stringy. It annoyed me he had Pa’s inches and I had Ma’s lack of them. He had Pa’s authority too. Mainly because of his hawkish nose and a certain confidence in his physicality that when you knew him well
