My family worried that moving in with Tim was me punishing myself for failing to get my grades. But right now I can’t think of a place I’d rather be than this scrappy patio, with my belly full of fried food, my arms tingling in the sun, knowing I have saved another life.

‘Kerry! KERRY! Wake up. You have to come.’

Before I can open my eyes, Tim is in my room, and I’m instantly on high alert because he always respects my privacy, so it must be something bad—

Elaine. A fall, a stroke, a heart attack, like Mr Purcell?

‘Your mum?’

I push the duvet off and remember belatedly that I took off my vest top off in the middle of the night.

Tim stares for a split second before turning away embarrassed, and I pull the duvet back over while I quickly grope for the vest under the covers. ‘Have you called an ambulance?’

Still he doesn’t seem to hear me. I’m about to slap him to get a response when he says, ‘No. Why would I do that?’

My hand closes around the cotton of my vest and I pull it over my head and jump out of bed, towards Elaine’s bedroom. But the lounge door is open and she’s there, sitting upright on the sofa looking no worse than usual.

The TV is on, some disaster movie. I can’t even tell how long I’ve been asleep, but I do know I’m pissed off that he’s woken me for this.

He puts his hand on my arm and nods at the TV. ‘It’s really happening. It’s an accident or – or something worse. It’s New York.’

I stare at the screen and realize the same scene – a plane hitting a skyscraper – keeps playing on a loop, while a smaller live stream of the building on fire is broadcasted in the bottom corner. ‘Where Laura is?’

He nods. I’m fully awake now but I have no idea what to say or do, and as the three of us watch the same unreal footage as a news presenter vocalizes our own bewilderment, the only thing I know for sure is that I want to be with the people I love.

It takes two hours to get news of Laura: two hours during which both towers fall and my parents and Marilyn come home from work to join us in the bungalow, glued to the TV. Even though there is nothing we can do, I almost feel culpable. We’re not responsible for the act – who knows who is behind this? – but witnessing hundreds, maybe thousands, losing their lives as the buildings collapse makes me wish I could be doing something. Anything.