‘Then when they let you go, you can’t see your friends, you can’t work. Somehow life goes on and you end up in a place you used to love, hating yourself for it, with people you used to love, hating them for it, but you’re stuck there because it’s all you have left.’

Nick instinctively put his hand on the old man’s shoulder, but he shrugged it off. ‘Don’t worry about me, son. There’s nothing wrong with me that the occasional drink can’t fix. You just keep your nose clean and do your parents proud. That’s all they would’ve wanted.’