A small body presses against his legs as he sags against the piano. She’s between him and the Maestro. ‘Don’t, Mummy,’ she says. The Maestro backhands her. It tosses Joey’s little body halfway across the room and she cracks into the wall with a sickening thud. She lies still. She can’t be still. Is Beck screaming? He has to get to her, but the world is upside down and dripping blood. He tries to get up but the Maestro hits him again and this time, when his head hits the piano, a sharp ringing splits his ears.
