AN: I wrote most of this chapter in 2014 and ive made some changes but not entirely happy with it. Feedback welcome :)

'You can stop bangin' on bout it now, Mark,' I says. 'I get it. You was interviewed.' Interviewed bout his favourite topic. Anarchism and revolution. Proud of him but he been on bout it for a week.

'Oh, give it a rest will you, sis? You an' Mum, you like a pair of bloody -'

'Shock troops of capital, eh?' I says.

'It's what the bourgeoisie uses for their dirty work, Lou,' Mark says. "You know who the bourgeoisie is yeah?"

"Yeah course I knows." Roll me eyes at him. He bare underestimates me sometimes cos I ain't up with all his theories. Sometimes I reckon it's cos I'm a woman.

"I went uni, Mark. I done a history degree."

I weren't expecting to get nothing but turned out mine were one of the top marks in the country. Could have gone Oxford but can't afford to move out and you ain't allowed to work if you go Oxford. And it's bad enough in Paxfield. Most of em might well be on a different planet. Half of em went posh school, Eton whatever. They ain't got a fucking clue. Say this for us and say that and ain't her accent funny, look at her clothes, what a chav. They'll let anyone into university these days won't they Tarquin?

I kept me accent, wanted to show em I weren't thick, I can make summink of meself. And I have.

I don't reckon nothing our Mark bangs on about's gonna work. If we was an anarchist country someone would stop em. Always bastards wanting power.

Mark writes bout it and everything, he done talks, he done pamphlets, lived in the EU Sweden and that, that's why his accent's weird. All coppers are bastards, no gods no masters. That's spot on mind. They never come here. They never done fuck all for us. Picks up the odd lad smoking weed, that's it.

Fuck em. We looks after ourselves, always have. Gotta take responsibility, innit? Who's gonna do it, we don't do it? God?

His dream's a revolution but tell you what yeah I ain't gonna be the one doing it. He been arrested four times. Twice for weed twice for politics, four nil to me cos I never been arrested. I stays outta trouble, I'm a good girl. A studious girl my Talisha says. Been with her dunno bout 4 years now. She been living with us 3 of em. She's got a place this year but ain't spent much time there. Long as our neighbours don't shop us to the landlord. Mum gets bare para bout it sometimes.

'You and Tal fancy drinks with us later then?' Mark says.

'Maybe,' I says. 'Gotta revise.'

"What's become of you, Lou?" Mark says. "Used to be party all night, sleep all day..."

"Uni 'appened. Me exams. All that." He gets bare bitter cos he didn't go uni. Gives me a look. 'Might go for a walk with Tal then come join ya.'

Swing me feet on the chair, squidge up to Tal, she got her arm round me. We all saved up, got us all new last year, replaced the carpets and all, the last one been there 40 years or summink. Hit the TV remote again, start watching some bollocks. Only person voting gonna be me mum. 'You belongs in a museum,' Mark always goes to her.

'See you later gals, I'm off to film night.'

'You watchin' that Italian film, the borin' one bout the train strike an' the weird geezer with his tomatoes?'

'Oi, Railway to Naples, that's one of the greats Lou. You should come. Might learn summink.' Half giggling, but I touched a nerve big time.

"Right down our road an' all," I says as Mark goes out the house. Fuck sake it's British Patriotic Front ad for the elections, and they been filming it in Wattleton. They shows me road, the park, me house, me school. Gives me creeps down the back of me neck. One of em fuckers beat Mark's mate unconscious couple weeks ago.

Coulda walked past em not knowing.

"Look around you. Our once powerful nation is on its knees. Millions are living in poverty."

He ain't talking bout himself. He ain't poor. Wearing nice clothes. Posh accent. He's on Wattleton high street when they doing the market, veg stalls and that. Everything around him's proper dirty, except him. Summink's bare creepy bout his eyes. Looking dead.

Like a light's went out.

"He's the only white person on the street. They've manipulated the cameras so it's darkly lit, and now we're stepping into the light of a glorious future. Typical." Tal says.

"Yeah, typical BPF shite," I says. Tal strokes me sock. "That's the point with em, innit?"

Just as well Mum's asleep, Mark gone out. Wouldn't have a working telly if them two was there. Wouldn't hear meself for swearing. Before Mum had her accident, when she were a dinner lady, she were a union rep, Labour Party member and all. Gone on strike 2 weeks once. Ain't got nothing out of it mind.

'Our great nation has been humiliated by powerful forces and foreign interests. We are faced with mass immigration, the threat of Sharia law and the non stop promotion of filthy, deviant lifestyles. Only one Party has the answer. It's time for order to be restored. It's time to remember who we are.'

'Do you remember who you are, Lou?' Tal says. Smells so much like the chocolate biscuits she's just ate bless her.

'Nah, got any ideas girl?' He's banging on bout degeneracy and decay and traditions being violated. Now he's in Scandalous. Only gay club in town, only been once, dunno if I wanna go again, which fucker let him in? Hope they disinfected all the floors after.

'Come on now, 'dark powers and vested interest' while walking past a synagogue. They've lost the art of subtlety.' Tal squeezes me hand.

'BPF don't do subtle innit. Right. We best get dinner on before Auntie Celia brings Mum back,' I says. Stand up, pull Tal up off of the sofa by the hand. Stretch.

'Yeah, let's turn this shit off.'

That lot on TV, they gets in, they'll stop Mum's money and send her somewhere to work like a jail. Stop us getting married, dunno if I wanna but still. Bang my brother up for life for protesting. And whatever plans for Tal it don't bear thinking of. You name it they wanna do it.

Some girl on my politics course went to me, oh, Lou, you're white, you're cisgender, you're not Jewish, you're this you're that what you got to worry bout, I'm not worried, they're no worse than what we got now and you got even less to care bout, but I ain't their sort of white person is it. Like life ain't hard enough.

Wish I didn't get so fucking scared.