Oak.(Short story)

They're shouting again. I lie very still and concentrate on willing them to stop. Brittany says thoughts have power. Her chin jutted out when she said it and she looked fierce. I hope she's fight. Once Mum and Dave start, it's usually hours before they stop.

Jarrod begins to whimper. They've woken him up. I clench my hands under the blankets. Jarrod's crying will only make them worse. "Shut that bloody kid up," Dave'll shout. "What sort of mother are you when you can't even keep him from bawling?" It isn't fair. It's not all Mum's fault.

I get out of bed. I'm frightened of Dave. He doesn't like me. But Jarrod's crying so I've got to get him. I don't want Dave to hit him again. Or Mum. When they're angry, they forget he's just a baby.

I creep into his room. It's dark but I can see all right because of the street light outside. Jarrod's standing up, hanging onto the bars of his cot. It's something he's just learned to do. I haul him out. "Ssh," I whisper. "You're safe now." I feel better holding him. Strong. It's a good feeling. I'm not frightened any more. Jarrod loves me. Brittany says he loves me most. She doesn't say it spitefully though. She isn't like that. Anyway, she's got Megan. "A sister for me, a brother for you," she said when Jarrod was born last year. I laughed. She made it sound like a maths problem. "All the same," I whisper to Jarrod as I put him in bed next to me. "All the same, she's fight. You an' me, Jarrod, we're brothers and that means I have to look out for you." Jarrod puts his fingers in his mouth and starts to slurp on them. I cuddle up to him. After a while, I don't hear Mum and Dave any more, only Jarrod slurping.

Brittany wakes me up. It's still so early the light's all yellow round the edge of the blind and you can't see the furniture properly. I turn over but Brittany keeps poking me. "Jamie," she hisses. "Come on. Wake up. I've got something to tell you."

"What?" I sit up and push the hair out of my eyes. Jarrod's asleep next to me. His hair's all tousled into curls and he's got his arms flung up over his head. I tuck the blanket round him so he won't get cold and turn to Brittany. "What is it? What's wrong?"

Brittany makes herself comfortable on the end of my bed. She hunches her knees and rests her chin on them. "Dave's gone," she says. She tries to keep her face under control but she can't help herself. It breaks up into a smile.