Synopsis

Erik, Karla, Mäks, Robi and Ralf — the girls as well — they’re all my friends. The best people I know. It’s brilliant being with them at the skatepark we call the Bowl, skating, doing graffiti, or simply hanging about.

And yet I never tell them about my dad or my mum — not about money, not about how I live. Of course they know my place is a complete dump, that my dad’s a hopeless drunk, and that my mum only turns up once a month at best. What they don’t know is that I hide my things and my earnings from him, or that for the past four years our neighbour Alfred has been the one looking after me.

Most of all, I never tell them about the paralysing fear that creeps in whenever I think about what comes next. Alfred is gone, and new people are moving into his house — the place where I’ve managed to stay out of my parents’ way until now. And my tutor is contacting social services to take a closer look at my situation at home.

I wish they’d just leave me alone. I’m fine. Never better...