Before Dad left for the Falklands, he and Mum had parties almost every Friday or Saturday night. The only time they didn't have a full house on a weekend was when they went to someone else's house for a party. With Dad away, Mum continues to have her girlfriends over frequently, but now it's not just the weekends; it seems that every night, there are grownups talking and drinking lots of wine in the living room while John tries to get to sleep.
He flops over in his bed. He had an incredibly long day. He dozed off in class because Mum and her friends had kept him up till all hours last night and everyone laughed at him. Then Chris stole his lunch money and didn't get in trouble! (Mrs. Spencer said she didn't see anything, but she just likes him better than me.) After school, he and Harry played football with the neighbour kids and she didn't even pick him to be on her team! Now Mum and her friends are at it again and it looks like tomorrow is going to be a repeat of today.
John knows that his dad will fix this, all of it, when he comes home from the war. His greatest fear is that the war will never end.