"Sanna more" Carlo sighed as he struggled to turn the key inside a UPVC front door.

"What the hell have I told you? Speak English!" an older woman snapped as she harshly poked him in his bicep "And we're outside and all!".

"Sorry" he replied.

"It needs to sink in love, if you hope to stand a chance here, forget about the Olive Islands" she offered.

*

The door, with some force from Carlo, burst open.

*

"See, It will do OK" Carlo said as he looked at the older ladies upturned mouth and scrunched nose as they walked side by side out a kitchen area.

"Smells a bit" she said as she looked towards a green stain on the wall.

"I'll clean up mum, don't worry" he said as he faced the mould before them.

"We'll need a de-humidifier" she claimed.

"No, we'll scrub with bleach and get this heating on, once I ring..." he trailed off as he looked in another direction; towards the window.

Carlo left his mother's side and approached the window, he struggled to pull it open at first as the entire window frame wobbled along with the handle, though he took a more gentle approach and prised it open with his fingers; with a crackling sound, the window opened, shedding some of it's off white paint that sprinkled onto the windowsill and outdoor street.

"Fresh air" he said as he breathed in noisily through his nose in exaggeration, only to start coughing.

"We'll need an air purifier too" his mother yelled over his distress coughs "We can't bring the kids in here".

"It'll... Be.. Fine" he managed between subsiding coughs and wheezes.

"If you're suffering this much, than this place'll be toxic to them" she claimed.

"I'll sort before they come" he sighed.

*

Carlo was busy sweeping a dusty and paint stained wooden floor, he kicked back a bundled up mass of carpet to reveal more distressed floor underneath.

He heard voices. Very similar sounding voices...

"Nah, Lisa!" one shouted.

"Yeah, Lisa" the other replied loud and cheerily.

"It's Chez, remember me? From..."

"Barry Comp'" the other cut in.

"Yeah! Oh my goodness, I heard you were back but I can't believe it, ya look great girl"

"I know, the sun does ya wonders" she replied.

"Why'd ya come back to this dive than?" the other asked with a flat chuckle.

"Money girl, me fella vanished and business dried up, had to move in with me boy and his twins cos' he was strugglin', then we got made homeless when the land was bough from under us" the woman relayed.

"Aw, that's' horrible" the other commented.

"I know, so,yeah, that's how we end up back here" she replied.

"Hang on! That foreign bloke who's been comin' here's your kid?" the other asked.

"Our Carlo, yeah" she replied.

"Nah, ya'd never think" the other said.

"Oh I know, ya wouldn't think he was born here"

"Was he?" the other asked.

"Yeah, I was only livin' down the road, we left when he was two when his dad got work"

Carlo listened with a slight smile as he placed the broom against the nearby wall and sat beside the window.

*

Looking exhausted with red eyes and a streaming nose, Carlo flopped down on to the brighter looking wooden floor, landing on his front.

"Done" his mother asked.

"Done" he replied.

"Ya done good love" she replied as she slowly sat beside her laying son "we'll tear this carpet up tomorrow".

"No mother, this place will be cold" he replied.

"And that thing's gone mould and dust this place back up again, we're choppin' it up outside tomorrow" she ordered.

"No, we leave" he replied.

"No, we get a new carpet, or cheap laminate" she snapped before softening "We'll manage on our joint claims, we've always been frugal haven't we?".

"We need money and warm home for the children and Andra" he said.

"We've got nearly four months without the kids; that's plenty of time to do this place up. Hang on! WHAT" she exculpated into a shout.

"Andra, Lua and Chari coming here by next week" Carlo claimed.

"What!" his mother snapped.

"Andra..."

"She aint stayin'" his mother yelled.

He went to open his mouth but his mother then continued.

"So she should be helpin' us out, but that's about it, she's a scrub and a user and she's only got a holiday visa" the woman ranted.

"She my wife" he said in an exasperated huff.

"She's a trollop and a lazy one at that, we're paying for her to babysit her own kids and now she wants to mooch" his mother yelled.

"We family" he sighed.

"In-laws are the family you choose" his mother said sternly "I don't accept her anymore and I won't look after her".

"I look after her, you and the children, it no problem" he drew out.

"No, WE are a team, and WE are struggling. The last of my savings is going into putting her up and she's with my sister, which is where I should be, nobody can afford a freeloader"

"I'll manage" he said.

His mother struggled to get up, rolling on her side as she groaned and rose on wobbling legs. She replied "You won't love".

*

Carlo got out of the back seat of a private taxi - a dated pale blue car with the company phone number on the sides under a bubble font logo stating 'Top Taxi's'.

He moved towards a cluster of terrace houses across the road.

His mother followed from the front passenger side of the cab.

"24" she said.

"No numbers" he said as he looked between the houses directly before him.

"This one" she said as she pointed towards a house, just as the door opened.

"Daddy!" his daughter shouted as she charged towards him with open arms and was soon embraced at her level.

The boy strode towards his dad and sister and joined in; creating a group hug.

A tall, slim young lady with long brown hair, dark eyes and a tanned skin tone approached.

Carlo gently broke away from his children and when on to embraces the woman tightly. She was visibly tense. She turned her head to the side and looked towards the ground with glazed eyes.

*

Carlo and the young woman spoke in quietly, in a foreign and very fast speaking language, the subject of their conversation was a mystery.

"You ought to tell him to speak English" an older woman with crossed arms yelled towards Carlo's mother who sat beside him, loud enough for Carlo and the young woman to hear from across the open plan kitchen living room- though this seemed to be the intention.

Carlo's mother gave her a raised eyebrow "I don't know how many times I've told him today".

"And you're just, not, catching a word?" the older woman asked his mother.

"I never got the hang of it, only the odd few phrases" she answered.

"Well they're being rude then" the other older woman said loudly whilst looking towards them before turning back to Carlo's mother "I swear, I bet that one's telling tales about me"

"Why? What now?" Carlo's mother asked.

"She's a lazy little madam, I asked her to help me with the cooking; she chopped one onion then legged it upstairs, then, I asked her to wash the dishes; she started then sat on the floor, I just left her" the other woman answered.

"Typical ya know" Carlo's mother said as she shook her head and looked towards Carlo and the woman.

*

Carlo turned towards his mother - their gazes instantly met.

He then looked towards the woman he sat beside at the kitchen island.

He took her hand and they both moved towards the women on the sofa.

"Mother" he said as he took a breath "Andra is pregnant".

There was a drawn out silence, before it broke...

"You are joking!?" the other woman snapped.

"What are we meant to do now" his mother yelled "are you two stupid!?".

"We family again" Carlo said sternly as he held up their joined hands.

"So how long 'ave yers known" the other woman asked with a snarl on her face.

"Andra said before we arrive here that she thinks so" Carlo answered.

"She only showed her face again last month! How do ya even know it's yours?" his mother shouted.

Carlo simply responded "We family".

"How are we suppose to cope?" his mother asked as she looked towards the lady beside her.

"I manage" Carlo said.

"You won't" the two older ladies said in union.

*

A bright streetlight filtered through a curtain less window.

Carlo lay on the distressed wooden floor, using the rolled up carpet as a pillow.

His mother entered the room and slowly moved downwards to sit beside him.

"This is a mess you know" she sighed.

"No, it's not" he replied flatly.

She grew visibly frustrated in an instant and yelled "Ya know what, you're soft, and ya stress me out".

"Don't worry mother, I manage" he replied as he covered his eyes with his arm.

"Maybe if rob a bank" his mother casually uttered under her breath as she moved onto all fours to get up.

She left the room as Carlo lay still.