As I ushered my brother and sister into their coats, I kept my voice low. ‘Come on, you don’t want to be late,’ I told my sister Catherine, 4, and 3-year-old brother.
It was almost time for school - but, as usual, Mum was asleep in bed.
With no dad around, at just 14, I’d become like a second parent to both my siblings.
I’d cook, clean and do the laundry, while our mum, 31, would go out drinking.
There was a large bloodstain on the cream carpet Although she was a hospital care assistant, we had no money. The house was filthy.
My little brother would scurry out early in the morning and steal milk from doorsteps. I’d take soap from the school toilets to wash our clothes.
I…
