DESSI, Melbourne Back in Melbourne, I fire up the bathroom’s ancient hot water system. Jeremy bangs on the door and hands me the phone. Abdul! He’s found time to see me after all. Heart racing, I wrap a towel around myself, and take the call. ‘Hi! It’s me. Where were you last night? Didn’t Hannah tell you I phoned?’ ‘Emma!’ In a heart-dropping burst of disappointment, I try to calm my racing pulse. ‘Oh, they always forget.’ ‘Yeah, well.’ Emma sounds exasperated. ‘How you are?’ ‘Fine.’ I wrap my towel more firmly around myself and sink to the floor. ‘Doing your exercises?’ ‘Course. Don’t nag.’ Emma gives her abrupt laugh. My pulse starts to slow down. I ask, ‘How come you’re not on your cell phone?’ ‘It’s dead. Anyway, I’m sleeping over at Dad’s so I can use his landline.’ ‘How is it up there?’ I ask cautiously. ‘Total luxury. Wait till you see it.’ ‘Can hardly. What’s Surfers like?’ ‘Hot. Lots of kids getting stoned and throwing up.
