You’re allowed to have a quiet weekend. You opened the calendar to see when you could rest. Saw Saturday was empty. Immediately offered it to someone else. Leave the space there for once. They see an available day. You need an unavailable one.

My mum used to call me every night at 10:15, right after her soap finished. We'd talk for ten minutes. She'd ask if I'd eaten, tell me about the woman downstairs, then say goodnight before my dad started snoring. It had been like that since I moved out. Last Tuesday, she called at 10:15 like always. Mum: Your dad's gone to bed. Me: You sound strange. Mum: I'm fine. Did you eat? We talked about my cousin's wedding. Then she said, “Don't come round tomorrow.” Me: Why? Mum: Your dad's having people over. Me: What people? Mum: Just people from the mosque. Don't worry. She hung up before I could ask anything else. The next day, I went anyway. There were three cars outside. Two men I didn't know were sitting in the front room with my dad. Tea cups everywhere. My mum was in the kitchen washing up even though nobody had eaten yet. Me: Mum. She didn't turn around. Me: What's going on? Dad: Why are you here? Me: You told me not to come. Dad: So why did you? One of the men stood up and introduced himself as Brother Yusuf. He said he was helping with “a family matter.” Me: What family matter? Dad: Sit down. I didn't sit. Mum: Go home, love. I'll call you later. I looked at her hands. She was holding the same tea towel she always held when she was nervous. Me: Mum, look at me. She looked at me for one second, then went back to the sink. Brother Yusuf: Your father has made some arrangements. Me: What arrangements? Dad: About the house. Me: You're selling the house? Dad: No. Brother Yusuf: It's more of a transfer. I asked my mum if she knew about it. She said, “I signed what I had to sign.” Then she left the kitchen and went upstairs. I followed her. The door was locked. I stood there listening to her move around the room. Drawers opening. Something being folded. When I came back down, the men were gone. Dad was sitting alone with his tea. Me: What did you make her sign? Dad: Nothing that concerns you. Me: She's my mum. Dad: And she's my wife. That night, she called at 10:15. Mum: Did you eat? Me: Mum, what did you sign? There was a long pause. Mum: I can't talk about that. Me: Why? Mum: Because your dad's in the room. I heard him say something in the background. Then she whispered, “Don't use the front door if you come again.”

My husband started putting £40 in an envelope every Friday and leaving it in the glovebox of my car. Husband: For whatever you need. Don't tell me what you spend it on. At first I thought it was sweet. We weren't struggling, but we weren't careless either. Me: Why not just put it in the joint account? Husband: Because then I'd see it. I used it for coffee, birthday cards, a haircut. Once I bought a pair of boots I'd been looking at for months. I never asked where the money came from. Then his work friend started ringing our house phone at 9 pm every Thursday. Me: Why does he keep calling the landline? Husband: He's old school. Hates mobiles. Me: You have a mobile. Husband: I know. One Thursday I picked up before my husband got to it. Man: Is he there? Tell him it's about the Wednesday collection. I handed over the phone. Me: What collection? Husband: Nothing. Work thing. That Friday, the envelope had £120 in it. Me: Why more? Husband: You've been good to me. I didn't like how he said it. The following week, a woman knocked on our door while he was in the shower. She had a clipboard and a lanyard. Woman: Is Mr. Adeyemi in? I'm from the council. We're doing a check on the property. Me: What property? Woman: This one. There's a report of someone living here who isn't on the tenancy. I told her only me and my husband lived here. She looked at her clipboard. Woman: And the man who comes Thursdays? My husband came downstairs with a towel around his neck. Husband: She's from work. She's just leaving. The woman left without giving me anything in writing. That night I asked him who came on Thursdays. Husband: Nobody. Me: She said a man comes Thursdays. He turned off the kitchen light. Husband: You're tired. Go to bed. The next Friday there was no envelope. I checked the glovebox twice. On Sunday, I found a second set of house keys in his work jacket. They had a purple fob on them, the same colour as the lanyard the woman had been wearing. I asked him about it at breakfast. He put his spoon down and looked at the keys for a long time. Husband: Where did you get those? Me: Your jacket. Husband: Put them back. I asked whose they were. He picked up his phone, saw who was calling, and went into the hallway to answer it. I could hear him saying, “Not today. She's asking questions.”