They were what you would call a good family. She had everything she could have wanted, except their approval. I guess I was richer in that respect. Everyone knew what I was and I couldn’t care less. I was going by ‘Franky’ by then, Bloody Freida never felt right anyway.

She would stay over at ours, telling her family she was with her other friends having sleepovers. Gary was six by then. He loved having her there. We would spend the night, pretending we were a family. We would eat together and after he’d gone to bed, we would make plans to get away. In my small bed we learned how to touch each other but we also spent nights just holding each other and falling in love. Gary in the room next door. We were inexperienced but found our way together and I was so happy for the first in ages.

Then one weekend, when her folks were away, she asked me to come to stay at hers. I took Gary along with me and we ate dinner at the table in her dining room rather on the floor in front of the TV. Garys face was a picture when he saw how big her house was. You could have fitted three of our place in hers.

The others, her friends arrived soon after dinner. They were drunk. That fella was there and was really steaming, I think it scared Gary as he was a bit like dad. Out of control and shouting. Gary went upstirs and that’s when this fella started on me, asking what I was. Pulling at my clothes to see what I had underneath. When he realised, I wasn’t any easy target he started on Lee, grabbing and touching her and saying she that we were disgusting. I lashed out and broke his bloody nose. We fought and things got broken. He ran out and me, Gazza and Lee all went back to ours.

All night long we waited, knowing that something was gonna happen. In the morning her parents came to get her, dragging her out to the car. We were both crying and holding onto each other. We told them that we loved each other but they wouldn’t listen. Gary and I sat together looking out of the window. As we expected, the cops came soon after that.