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quite enough of that,’ Dad admonished.
    After glaring at Dad and scowling at Nova, Rainbow turned her attention to Mum. ‘I’m not going to forget this in a hurry,’ she snapped. ‘Thanks a lot for showing me up in
front of everyone.’
    ‘Now wait just a minute . . .’ Mum said, once she’d scraped her jaw off the floor.
    But she was talking to the closing kitchen door.
    Rainbow was long gone! The kitchen was stony silent as Mum turned to see Dad and Nova watching her. Nova drank her orange juice, looking away so she wouldn’t be blamed for what had just
happened. Dad moved in to stand behind Mum.
    ‘What you need is a stress-relieving massage,’ he said, his fingers already digging into Mum’s shoulders.
    Mum winced and tried to pull away, but nothing doing. Nova felt sorry for her. She had already experienced Dad’s massages at a time when she used to suffer from leg cramps. The cramps were
less painful! Mum tried again to shrug out of his grasp, but Dad just held on tighter.
    ‘Ah!’ There was no mistaking the satisfaction in Dad’s voice. ‘Isn’t that much better? Let’s just work out those kinks.’
    ‘The kinks are all gone,’ Mum said hastily, trying to pull herself away. ‘Let go, dear. I’m getting pins and needles up and down my arms.’
    ‘Nonsense. Five minutes of one of my massages and you’ll be smiling for the rest of the week.’
    By which time, Mum had had enough. She raised her hands to prise Dad’s fingers off her protesting muscles, starting with his little fingers first. ‘Tyler, back off! I’m not
being funny but your massages are hellish!’
    Dad’s hands dropped to his sides. ‘Pardon?’
    ‘Every time you give me a massage, it feels like a golden eagle has landed on me and is trying to tear off bits of my body.’ Mum rubbed at each of her sore shoulders in turn.
‘I see,’ Dad said with icy politeness.
    Nova raised her eyebrows. Today obviously wasn’t Mum’s day for tact, but Nova could see she was still trying to work through the pain in her shoulders as she spoke!
    ‘If that’s how you feel, I’ll take my eagle’s talons somewhere else.’ Dad stormed out of the kitchen without another word.
    Nova fought down a grin. ‘Shall I break out the bread dough, Mum?’ she asked.
    Rubbing her throbbing temples, Mum replied, ‘Please!’
     
4. Liam
    I marched down the hallway, grabbing my jacket off the banister on my way to the front door.
    ‘Liam, get back here.’
    I kept striding, pulling open the front door. Dad rushed up behind me and pushed it shut, painfully jerking my fingers in the process.
    ‘Liam, you’ll do as I say. This is still my house.’
    ‘Your house?’ I scoffed. ‘Mum left it to me. Or are you too drunk to remember that?’
    Dad’s face went seven shades of red. He looked like one of those DIY paint charts. ‘Don’t talk to me like that, boy. I’m still your father.’ Spittle flew out of
his mouth to land on my cheek.
    ‘I wish to God I could forget.’ I took a great deal of pleasure in scrubbing at my face with the back of my hand. I let my eyes blaze, making no attempt to hide what I was
feeling. ‘Look at you. You’d be a joke if you weren’t so pathetic!’
    I glared down at Dad, silently daring him to try something. At sixteen, I was several centimetres taller than him and I was glad for every single one of them. Burning spots of pink appeared on
Dad’s cheeks as his glance slid away He obviously couldn’t take the way I was looking at him. Good!
    ‘I do my best for you, Liam,’ he sighed. ‘I know you don’t believe that, but I do.’
    ‘You save your best for the local pub. You’ve no interest in anything or anyone except yourself
    ‘That’s not fair — ‘
    ‘Fair!’ I exploded. I pointed to my brother, who couldn’t stop sniffing as he sat on the top stair, taking it all in. ‘Every stitch of clothing on Josh’s back
was bought by me. If it wasn’t for my Saturday job, we’d be walking