My parents, Brendan, and I sat around the coffee table watching the whole performance in high definition on the wall screen, the gate cameras catching every word with perfect clarity.

My mother rose, furious at the word cheated, ready to go out and answer it.

My father lifted a hand and took a slow sip of his tea.

“If you go argue with them, you climb into the gutter with them,” he said.

“Let them scream.

Every minute they do, the defamation and the disturbance build themselves.”