"Yeah, it's been long enough that it doesn't bother me anymore," she replied, and meant it. It had hurt at first, it had made her a very angry kid, but anger took a lot of energy. She'd needed that energy to survive. The anger had to go. It left her with a whole lot of distrust in its place, but she wasn't angry. She could recognize that her mum had a problem with booze, that she'd had a kid she didn't really want, that her life in general had been pretty unfortunate.

"Dunno what I'd even do if she arrived here. Don't think we'd be best friends, though."