‘I don’t take offence if you don’t constantly update me on every detail of your love life. I know we’re both in different places.’ She pries Yvonne’s hands from her face and squeezes them and Yvonne has the sensation of something slipping through her fingers. Emma has misunderstood.

‘I’m happy for you. Be happy, enjoy it. I’ll meet him when you’re settled. Invite me and Kiama over for lunch or something.’ Emma hugs her before breaking away. ‘Oh here, let me give you this back now.’ She goes to undo the necklace but it’s caught in her hair.

‘Leave it. I’ll get it the next time I see you.’

‘Sure? Okay.’

They hug and it’s long, too long. Yvonne squeezes her eyes shut and feels the rain on her face.

‘Thanks for dinner.’ But as Emma pulls away her eyes are pink, from the alcohol, from the weight of things unsaid. ‘Text me when you get home, alright.’

Yvonne nods and watches as Emma jogs towards the bus stop to shelter from the rain. She feels like she just lost her best friend.

Chapter Seventeen

Chicken…

October 2020

Yvonne

They don’t speak on the way back. But it’s comfortable, like one of the barriers between them has finally broken down. They get off the bus in the centre of Kikuyu and Kiama gets excited when he spots Chick Burger, the place the girls had told them about yesterday, the place he ‘had to experience to believe’.

‘We haven’t really eaten much today, have we?’ he asks.

And as much as she’s repelled by the look of it, she also knows there’s no way they’re leaving the town without him trying it.

Inside he spends ages perusing the menu above the counter, pointing out each misspelling and the blatant rip-off of KFC brand names.

‘I’m going for the Zingey meal,’ he says finally. ‘Also, let’s get normal fries and chilli fries.’

‘I’m not hungry. Go ahead and order.’ Yvonne takes a seat, faced away from the television mounted on the wall.

‘Can you hear that?’ he says as he joins her at the table, phone in his hand. ‘This place not only has reception but also Wi-Fi. Thank God.’ For a few minutes he reads through everything he’s missed. On the next table over a pair of school girls share a portion of fries, they squirt a line of ketchup onto each one before eating.

‘Why does everyone want to eat this kind of food all the time?’ Yvonne asks.

Kiama puts his phone away. ‘I’m so happy right now.’

‘Yes, because you’ve caught up on what all your friends have been doing, eating and watching. You’re a complete slave to your phone.’

‘It’s about so much more than that.’ He scratches the back of his neck.

‘I bet it’s not.’