Lena was drunk and nauseous and teetering on the verge of another bout of hysterical laughing, but under all that she felt a pocket of air opening in her lungs. Clear, clean air which swelled her chest, helped her sit up straighter, made her feel like she could take a deep breath without hyperventilating. Without choking.

Kylie and Ty went to bed. Lena crawled under a blanket on their lounge which smelt like pot and chicken noodle soup. She didn’t think she’d sleep, for the usual reasons plus sambucca wooziness, but next minute it was daytime and a shower was running, a kettle boiling. Ty was singing one of those shithouse glam rock songs that Nic loved so much. Kylie yelled, ‘Just going to pick up bubba,’ and the front door slammed.

The shower stopped and then Ty was on the armchair across from Lena, dressed in a pale pink towelling robe that stopped at his knees. He raised his steaming mug. ‘Help yourself to coffee or whatever else in the kitchen.’

‘Thanks.’ If she moved she’d spew. She closed her eyes, hand over her nose to block the coffee smell. Listened to him sipping, flicking his lighter.

‘Listen,’ he said, after a bit. ‘Serious, hey. We’ve all done stupid shit. I walked over hot coals once and burnt the fuck out of my feet. Dickhead mates filmed the whole thing. That’s out there on the YouTube. Maybe worse. Used to get blackout drunk and that before Kyles and bubba, you know. Coulda done anything.’ He took a sip, smacked his lips together. ‘Point is, but, everyone’s a fucking idiot.’

‘True, yeah,’ Lena said.

‘Everyone’s a fucking idiot,’ he repeated. ‘Remember that and you’ll be right.’

WILL

WILL

A scuttling in the corner woke him. Took a few seconds for him to make out Aunty Nic crouched by the bar fridge, pulling out bottles of drink and dropping them on the carpet in front of her.

‘Aunty Nic, let me … What do you need?’