Yusuf is at the sink. His son has been asked three times to bring the plate through.

Afterwards, what he remembers is the third asking and then shouting. Nothing in between. He tells his wife he does not know what happened, and he means it.

When he slows it down later, there is more in there than he thought. The third asking. A heat that came up the back of his neck. His hand tightening on the tap. Then the shout.

The heat and the hand were both there before he said a word. They were there for perhaps two seconds. He had been treating the whole thing as one instant, and it never was.