15
I spend the whole journey home mortified. Hurt. Broken. I’ve never seen Dad behave like that before. It was like a switch had flipped. I know he’s been upset over the situation with Nan, and Christmas can often be like a tinderbox at the best of time, but none of that excuses what he did. Not by a long stretch.
‘Are you going to tell me what the hell happened?’ I ask Tom once we’re back in the car.
‘It’s nothing,’ he says. ‘I probably deserved it.’
‘What did you say to him? Why did he hit you?’
‘I don’t know. We were talking about your mum and her funny turn. I was worried about her. I mentioned that she was taking too much on and probably needed to see a doctor. Your dad said not to be so ridiculous and that it was Christmas. I was just concerned about her, that’s all. She wasn’t
