Broke Read Free Page B

kids up.’
    ‘Tell ’em we’re playing doctors and nurses,’ said Mark, clamping his mouth over hers to keep her from saying anything else.
    They hadn’t had sex for a while, mainly because they had been arguing so much lately. And when they argued, Mark always stormed off to the pub and came back late, if he came back at all, by which time Amy wouldn’t have let him touch her even if she’d still been awake. So it was short and sweet now, and all over within a couple of minutes.
    When they had finished, Mark jumped out of bed and had a quick wash before leaving for work. After he’d gone, Amy woke the kids and went downstairs to make breakfast, singing softly along to the radio as she toasted the bread and made herself a cup of tea.
    She’d only been fourteen when she’d started going out with Mark, fifteen when she’d got pregnant, and sixteen when they’d got married. A pair of kids propelled into adulthood, they’d had more than their share of fights over the last five years, and she’d lost count of how many times one or other of them had demanded a divorce. But Mark had been her first love, and she felt as strongly about him today as she always had, so it was good to be back on track.
    Now all she had to do was make sue she didn’t let the kids get to her today and sour things by being moody when Mark got home this evening.
    Thinking about the kids, she walked out into the hall and shouted, ‘Cassie, hurry up. Your toast’s going cold.’
    ‘It’s Bobby,’ her daughter’s complaining voice floated back. ‘He won’t let me put his jumper on. He keeps pulling his arms out and kicking me. And now he’s locked ’isself in the bathroom.’
    ‘Bobby, get out of there right now!’ Amy yelled. ‘And do as your sister says, or I’ll be coming up to sort you out.’
    Amused when she heard the bathroom bolt slide out of its hasp, followed by the sound of Bobby’s pudgy little feet slapping on the floorboards above as he ran back to the bedroom he shared with his sister, Amy went back into the kitchen and finished her tea. She was rinsing her cup at the sink when she heard a tap on the window.
    ‘Bit early for you, isn’t it?’ she teased when she opened the door. ‘I thought you’d be hibernating for a week after the racket you and Neil made last night.’
    ‘Don’t mention that man’s name to me,’ Marnie grunted, pulling a face as she walked in. ‘I told him from the off that I didn’t want to get into anything serious, and he said he felt the same. But then he goes and gets all heavy on me last night, prattling on about leaving his wife and moving in with me.’
    ‘You’re joking!’ Amy raised an eyebrow. ‘What did you say?’
    ‘Oh, believe me, I soon set him straight. I said, listen here, mate, I don’t mind the occasional shag, but you can fuck right off if you think I’m giving up my freedom to wash your stinking boxers!’
    ‘Bet he loved that. So, have you told him it’s over, or are you just going to freeze him out?’
    ‘The ice queen cometh.’ Marnie grinned. ‘And if that don’t work, I’ll get our Lee to kick his head in. Anyhow, I don’t wanna talk about him.’ She flapped her hand to indicate that the subject matter was as finished as the relationship. ‘Fancy coming to town after you’ve dropped Cass off?’
    ‘Yeah, why not?’ Amy kicked off her slippers and sat down to pull her trainers on. ‘Oi!’ she protested when Marnie picked up a piece of toast. ‘That’s Cassie’s.’
    Marnie took a bite and grinned through the crumbs. ‘Sorry, but I’m starving, and it was just sitting there asking to be scoffed. Fussy knickers probably won’t want it anyhow, knowing her.’
    ‘Bobby’s the fussy one, not Cassie,’ Amy corrected her. Then, noticing the time, she pushed past her and went back out into the hall, yelling, ‘Will you two get a move on, I won’t tell you again!’
    Cassie came stomping down the stairs, tugging her little brother along