I don’t always get dinner, I wanted to say, but I knew that one sentence would spill more than a river of secrets from me. Secrets the bus driver didn’t need to know. The cupboards are sometimes empty and I’ve seen silverfish in the jars of rice we keep on our shelves. The food is running out. It’s running out fast. There isn’t much of the stray left at all. ‘Mama is tired a lot,’ I said. ‘But she makes sure my belly is full.’ The bus driver nodded. I didn’t know if he believed me but my words were enough to satisfy him. Mama was right. Men always believe lies.
