The Casual Vacancy

when he was returned to you last year.’
    ‘I ain’ fuckin’—’ Terri began.
    ‘No, shurrup, righ’?’ Krystal said loudly to her mother. She addressed Kay. ‘He were ill, righ’, his tonsils were all up, I got ’im antibiotics off the doctor.’
    ‘And when was that?’
    ‘Tha’ was ’bout free weeks – anyway, righ’—’
    ‘When I was here yesterday,’ Kay said, addressing Robbie’s mother again (Krystal was chewing vigorously, her arms making a double barrier around her ribs), ‘you seemed to be finding it very difficult to respond to Robbie’s needs, Terri.’
    Krystal glanced down at her mother. Her spreading thigh was twice as thick as Terri’s.
    ‘I di’n’ – I never …’ Terri changed her mind. ‘’E’s fine.’
    A suspicion darkened Krystal’s mind like the shadow of some circling vulture.
    ‘Terri, you’d used when I arrived yesterday, hadn’t you?’
    ‘No, I fuckin’ hadn’! Tha’s a fuckin’ – you’re fuckin’ – I ain’ used, all righ’?’
    A weight was pressing on Krystal’s lungs and her ears were ringing. Obbo must have given her mother, not a single bag, but a bundle. The social worker had seen her blasted. Terri would test positive at Bellchapel next time, and they would chuck her out again …
    ( … and without methadone, they would return again to that nightmare place where Terri became feral, when she would again start opening her broken-toothed mouth for strangers’ dicks, so she could feed her veins. And Robbie would be taken away again, and this time he might not come back. In a little red plastic heart hanging from the key-ring in Krystal’s pocket was a picture of Robbie, aged one. Krystal’s real heart had started pounding the way it did when she rowed full stretch, pulling, pulling through the water, her muscles singing, watching the other crew slide backwards … )
    ‘You fuckin’,’ she shouted, but nobody heard her, because Terri was still bawling at Kay, who sat with her mug held in her hands, looking unmoved.
    ‘I ain’ fuckin’ used, you ain’ go’ no proof—’
    ‘You fuckin’ stupid,’ said Krystal, louder.
    ‘I ain’ fuckin’ used, tha’s a fuckin’ lie,’ screamed Terri; an animal snared in a net, thrashing around, tangling herself tighter. ‘I never fuckin’ did, righ’, I never—’
    ‘They’ll kick you out the fuckin’ clinic again, you stupid fuckin’ bitch!’
    ‘Don’ you dare fuckin’ talk ter me like tha’!’
    ‘All right,’ said Kay loudly over the din, putting her mug back on the floor and standing up, scared at what she had unleashed; then she shouted ‘Terri!’ in real alarm, as Terri hoisted herself up in the chair to half crouch on its other arm, facing her daughter; like two gargoyles they were almost nose to nose, screaming.
    ‘
Krystal!
’ cried Kay, as Krystal raised her fist.
    Krystal flung herself violently off the chair, away from her mother. She was surprised to feel warm liquid flowing down her cheeks, and thought confusedly of blood, but it was tears, only tears, clear and shining on her fingertips when she wiped them away.
    ‘All right,’ said Kay, unnerved. ‘Let’s calm down, please.’
    ‘
You
fuckin’ calm down,’ Krystal said. Shaking, she wiped her face with her forearm, then marched back over to her mother’s chair. Terri flinched, but Krystal merely snatched up the cigarette packet, slid out the last cigarette and a lighter, and lit up. Puffing on the cigarette, she walked away from her mother to the window and turned her back, trying to press away more tears before they fell.
    ‘OK,’ said Kay, still standing, ‘if we can talk about this calmly—’
    ‘Oh, fuck off,’ said Terri dully.
    ‘This is about Robbie,’ Kay said. She was still on her feet, scared to relax. ‘That’s what I’m here for. To make sure that Robbie is all right.’
    ‘So ’e missed fuckin’ nursery,’ said Krystal, from the window. ‘Tha’s norra fuckin’ crime.’
    ‘… norra fuckin’ crime,’ agreed Terri, in a dim echo.
    ‘This isn’t only about nursery,’ said Kay. ‘Robbie was uncomfortable and sore when I saw him yesterday. He’s much too old to be wearing a nappy.’
    ‘I took ’im outta the fuckin’ nappy, ’e’s in pants now, I toldja!’ said Krystal furiously.
    ‘I’m sorry, Terri,’ said Kay, ‘but you weren’t in any fit condition to have sole charge of a small child.’
    ‘I never—’
    ‘You can keep telling me you