Chapter 3 - Chapter 2

# Chapter 2
VUSI, AGE 4

"All you ever fucking do is work. So where's the money, Fezile? Look around you. Why do we still live in this fucking dump of a caravan? The grant doesn't stretch past the second week, and there's not even any food in the fridge. Why?"

I stared through the small gap in the cupboard door, where I was hiding, where I was always hiding when Ma and Daddy fought.

Ma, with her thin, matted hair and smudged mascara, had that scary look in her cold, dark eyes. The one she only had when she was about to hurt me. But she wouldn't hurt Daddy. He was too big.

She poked him in the chest, a crazed look on her face. "Because you spend the money on alcohol and whores. That's why!"

"Then why don't you get a fucking job? Leave your bedroom for once instead of numbing yourself with prescription pills. What about Vusi?" My daddy looked around. "Where is he? I bet you don't know."

"Don't!" Ma hissed. "Don't make me out to be the bad parent when you're never home. When was the last time you spent any time with him? When was the last time you had dinner with us?"

The look on my daddy's face turned incredulous. "Hawu, you don't cook family meals, so don't give me that shit!"

My knees ached. I fell over outside yesterday, and now I couldn't stop myself from picking at the dried scabs until they bled.

"Maybe I would bother if you were ever home."

"Shut. Up. If it weren't for me working every goddamn hour God sends, you'd be out on the street."