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worry drops into my tummy and wobbles around, and a sharp lump sticks in my throat. I start tap, tap, tapping and humming the white cliffs of Dover song too because now I really know that my mum’s in trouble. Big trouble. And what about me?
    All the doors are pulled open. There are policemen everywhere and handcuffs are snapped on to Mikey and Mum.
    “Mum!” I call from the back seat, “Mum, what’s happening?”
    “It’s all right, babe, Mama’s here, no worries,” her voice trembles as someone guides her towards a police car. “You and me,Tiff,” she calls through the rain.
    “You and me, Mum.” I call back, panicking. “You and me.”
    I watch my mum pulling and struggling against the policemen. She starts screaming at them and fighting, and I wish they knew how to soothe her tantrums.
    A lady police officer climbs into the car and sits next to me. “I’m Benita,” she says. “What’s your name, love?”
    “Tiffany,” I sniff. “What’s happening to my mum?”
    “I’m really sorry, Tiffany,” she says, handing me a tissue, “we have to take your mum and dad into custody for a bit. There’s some stuff that’s happened and we just need to check it all out.” She’s trying to sound cheerful and reassuring. “We’ll have you all back together as soon as we can.”
    “He’s not my dad,” I say, “he’s my mum’s business partner.”
    Then, before I know it, I’m in a police car, and my little wheelie suitcase is in the back. My mum’s in another car being driven away from me, with blue lights flashing. I don’t even know where Dover is and I need the toilet and Chardonnay is wriggling in the bag. The large ballkeeps rolling around in my tummy, making me feel like I’m going to be sick. I can’t stop my hand tap, tap, tapping on the car window and the white cliffs of Dover song is spinning through my mind, like it’s got stuck in my brain.
    “Where are you from, Tiffany?” Benita asks.
    “London,” I say.
    “Is there anyone we can call for you, love? Your dad, maybe, or grandparents, aunts or uncles, friends?”
    “There’s my school friend, Chelsea,” I sniff, “but her dad’s really angry with my mum.”
    “Anyone else?”
    I shake my head. “No one,” I say. “Just me and Mum.”

Chapter 6
    a whole lake of tears is welling…
    W e drive to the police station. Benita shows me to the toilets and then sits me in a room with a brown plastic table and orange chairs. Chardonnay’s still wriggling but she hasn’t made a sound yet. She’s such a good dog.
    “Can I get you a cup of tea, or some water?”
    “No thanks,” I say. “When can I see my mum and go home?”
    “Tiffany,” she says, kneeling down beside me and taking my hand, “I’m really sorry, but we have to keep Mum here for a bit; until things are sorted out.”
    “What about me?” I croak.
    “Well,” she says, in a trying-to-be-kind voice, “as it’s so late and there’s no one for us to call at this stage, we’ve had to ask social services to send a social worker who will find somewhere for you to stay tonight. Then tomorrow we’ll be able to take a fresh look at things. Mum knows what’s happening to you and she knows that you’ll be safe.”
    A whole lake of tears wells and quivers up through my body and tries to escape from my eyes. But I won’t let it. I blink a lot and sniff into the tissue. Then I hear my mum’s voice screaming away in another room, saying lots of swear words, calling out for me. Chardonnay hears her too because she starts scrabbling about in the bag. I pat her down to try and keep her quiet.
    “What have you got in there, love?” asks Benita.
    “Nothing.”
    “Sure?” she asks, not believing me. And then Chardonnay takes a leap and starts yelping and my bag tumbles to the ground.
    Benita picks up the bag and takes a peep inside.
    “Look what we’ve got in here,” she says, holding Chardonnay in the air. Then Chardonnay decides thatshe can’t hold on to her