They fought last night, right after we had dinner. I could hear it from the other room. I’m not sure what they were fighting about, but I know that it involved him, the lady who answers his phone at work, and something about a bed. But if you ask me, there isn’t much problem with sleeping in the same bed as someone; I think she was over-exaggerating. Or maybe she would rather he slept next to her more often.

When I asked her today, my mum told me that she got the bruise on her face from falling down the stairs. I nodded apologetically, and reminded her of the time I fell from right from the top of the staircase and broke my arm. I told her I understood how she felt. She had tears in her eyes, but I think it was because she was cooking onions for his dinner. He likes onions, she reminded me as she wiped her face.

This afternoon they fought for a second time, and it was about the woman who answers the phone again. She seems to be very popular, so I wonder why mum doesn’t like her. This time I watched from underneath the stairs; there is a small space which I can fit into if I try really hard. I wanted to see what all the fuss was about.

Last Monday, Derek from down the road and my friend Simon got into a fight, and Derek punched Simon in the face. Miss Adams sat us all down and talked to us about violence, and Derek and Simon patched up their differences. They were even playing football together by Wednesday.

When I watched from my space under the stairs he hit my mum in the face. Right where she had a bruise from falling down the stairs, it wasn’t very considerate of him. It must still hurt. Maybe I should get Miss Adams to talk to him. She told us that violence never solves anything, but I think he must have missed that lesson.