Unfortunately, things did not proceed as I’d imagined. It would be better for him, I suppose, if I could say his rejection was swift and definitive. But there was a returned pressure, almost an involuntary response, from his lips. His hand covered one breast and gave a quick, experimental squeeze, as if he were testing a peach or an avocado. Then he pulled away, thoughtfully, without haste, and seemed to reconsider.

He turned the key in the ignition.

‘Maybe you should get the bus,’ he said, staring straight ahead.

I said nothing. I got out of the car and went to retrieve my gym bag, feeling a sudden and intense heat in my cheeks. I didn’t hurry. If he could take his time, so could I.

I thought about what had happened all the way home on the bus. I’d only managed to touch him briefly, but I comforted myself by thinking that his body was even less suited for diving than I’d realised. I’d run my fingers up his spine; it curved to the left.

A few days later, Lou came home and told me the tentacle trial was over. She cracked open a bottle of Midori and kicked off her shoes and was soon on the couch drinking, her tongue a bright witch-green.

‘What happened?’

‘Six months suspended. Five years probation. He’ll be on the sex offenders register.’

‘Too bad you didn’t win.’

She furrowed her brow. ‘Joanie, that is a win.’

Then we heard our gate swing shut. We looked at each other. No-one ever came to our house.

‘Go and hide,’ Lou said.

This is the deal we have. If a stranger approaches the house I have to hide. It’s one of the consequences of Lou’s dealings with perverts. Occasionally her clients have appeared at the front door, but Lou is much more worried about the family members of victims. They’ve graffitied the house before, left threatening notes about how they’ll kill her and what they’ll do to her body.

I went to Lou’s room at the front of the house and peeked out from behind the curtains.

It was Julie Korsak. She had a smile plastered onto her face. She was carrying a plastic bag, clutching it with both hands.

Had she had a facelift? I couldn’t tell.

The bell rang. Lou padded down the hallway and opened the door. I stayed where I was.

‘Mrs Korsak?’

‘That’s right. And you’re Joan’s mother, aren’t you?’

‘More or less.’

‘In any case – I wanted to return something of yours,’ she said.

Lou reached for the bag but Julie, though she kept smiling, held onto it.

‘This was in my car,’ she said, showing Lou what the bag contained.

‘In your car?’

Julie nodded, and kept nodding like she couldn’t stop.