82. Now

The screen is murky grey and deep black.

‘Is it on?' asks Miss Smith.

‘It's on,' says Tristan as he steps away from the camera and comes into view. He's so young. But he's already so tall and strong. He towers over Miss Smith as he drags his chair towards her and sits down, too close.

‘Hey! Some space, please,' says Miss Smith, beaming that smile like sunshine.

My skin prickles all over.

But then Tristan pushes past me and I grab at his arm, but he knocks the TV off its table and it crashes face-first onto the floor.

Lydia laughs, high and hysterical.

‘Why are you laughing?' asks Tristan.

She turns the TV so we can all see the cracked screen and she points the remote at it, pressing and pressing the power button to no avail. ‘Well, I guess we all know what happens next. And lucky for the police, now you can't get your hands on the tape.'

We look at the TV, the tape stuck inside, and Tristan sighs, then he picks it up and smashes it on the floor again, and again, and again, the shock of it running through the floorboards.

‘Dad, what are you doing?' Ava goes to hold her mother's hand in the doorway while Ash just stands, watching his father. I'm hypnotised. I have never seen my brother lose control like this.

Mina pulls Ava by the hand and snags Ash on the way past, heading for the corridor.

‘Where do you think you're going?' Tristan shouts as he hurls the TV one more time. The bottom splits off and the tape jumps out, and he seizes it. He talks quietly again. ‘No one leaves until we're clear about a few things.'

I edge past him, following Mina, but when I reach the corridor she's coming back, pulling her children behind her, shaking her head. She looks at me and mouths locked, and my heart lurches.

‘You did it, didn't you, Tristan?' says Lydia.