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I had to try.

There was a big red phone box on our street, so I dashed in there and rang Granny. As soon as she heard the pips, she knew why I was phoning.

‘Are those men back?’

‘Yes. There are loads of them.’

‘I’m coming over.’

I ran back to the flat and headed straight for the kitchen. If anyone had noticed my disappearance, they didn’t mention it. Then I waited, heart in mouth, for the cavalry to arrive.

Looking back, I don’t know what Mum had told Granny about these men. I can only imagine it was a watered-down version of the truth. She’d probably confessed that they had something to do with drugs. But I bet she’d kept quiet about the levels of physical abuse they were happy to mete out, not only to her, but to me as well, if she couldn’t stop them. How else do you explain why a little old lady would walk into that snake pit alone and think she could possibly do anything to stop them?

I remember Granny bursting in. She wasn’t a retiring sort of person and she tore straight into the lounge and shouted at everyone to get out. Nobody moved.

She started screaming, ‘Get out or I’ll call the police!’

Still no one budged an inch.

Gingerly, I peeped round the edge of the door. The men were just staring at Granny like she was some TV documentary they didn’t really understand. Then one of them – it had to be Mark – spoke. He didn’t raise his voice, but then he didn’t need to.

‘Let me tell you how it is, old lady,’ he said slowly, puffing on his cigarette between words. ‘We’re all just having a nice little party with Jenny here, so unless you want to join us I suggest you make yourself scarce.’

Granny shouted some more, but she’d lost the fight and she knew it. I couldn’t believe her plan was just to come round on her own. Why hadn’t she brought the police? (Later she admitted to being worried that Mum would have been in trouble as well.) She hadn’t even brought Grandpa (she hadn’t even told him, I learnt).

She has no idea what these men are capable of.

So, tail between her legs, she left. On the way out she gave me a hug and said I should come with her. I refused.

‘I’m not leaving Mum.’

The second she closed the door everyone seemed to move at once. Whatever calmness Mark had shown when he was intimidating Granny, he was livid now. He came flying into the kitchen and grabbed my neck.

‘You called her, you bitch, didn’t you?’

I denied it, but it was obvious I was lying.

‘Right, in the bedroom. Now!’

I thought I was just going to be given tablets and told to shut up. I was wrong. That wouldn’t do, not this time. I needed to be punished.

‘Don’t hurt me.’ I was surprised to hear my voice, small and weak. ‘I won’t do it again. I promise.’

Mark just stood there. In my imagination he was weighing up how to hurt me most. I felt my entire body tense.

What’s he going to do to me?

I heard screaming and suddenly Mum was shoved into the room as well. Then it dawned on me. Mark probably wouldn’t lay a finger on me. Why would he, when he could hurt me in a different way instead?

I could have kicked myself for going along with Granny’s plan. This was all her fault. She didn’t know about the threats, the hanging from the spire, the knife in my face. She didn’t know that the way these men operated was to not hurt the ones they were angry with but their loved ones instead.

I’m sorry, Mum.

I was forced to look on as two men ripped the clothes from her body. Then she was bent over the dressing table and one of the men forced himself inside her. I know now he was having sex with her – raping her, actually. Back then, I just knew that he was hurting her and she hated it. She was screaming and screaming and I was crying my heart out, begging them to stop, but the men were just laughing. This was fun for them. They took it in turns to do things to her.

And I was made to watch it all. That was my punishment for phoning Granny. My poor, poor Mum. She didn’t deserve this. No one did. They were animals. They treated her like meat