‘Sure thing,’ Dad said.

‘Come sit with us if you like, Pheebs,’ Caroline offered.

‘I will after I’ve had something to eat,’ I said. She waved as they walked off.

Caitlin came back with three compostable, organic plates made out of bamboo or something, full of paella. ‘Who was that?’ she asked.

‘My friend Caroline,’ I said.

‘Her father said we should stop by for a drink when we drop Phoebe off tomorrow,’ Dad explained to Caitlin, passing me the paella. It was actually to die for. The mussels tasted like the depths of the cleanest ocean, almost as good as blue swimmer crabs from our Nukunu Country.

‘Why not? It’d be good to make some new friends,’ Caitlin said, scooping some rice into her mouth.

Urgh! Why did Dad and Caitlin always have to hijack everything?

The next morning, Dad came into my room. ‘Let’s go get the grocery shopping out of the way and then shoot some hoops.’

‘Where?’ I threw a pillow over my face. ‘The courts here suck.’

‘I’ve found somewhere,’ he said, mysteriously.

Tempted by this, I jumped on my bike and rode to the market with Dad to get a few things. I actually liked the markets; seeing all of the fresh fruit and veg, smelling breakfast cooking and coffee brewing, and all of the people going about doing their own thing. Even from about thirty metres away, I could see Matilda towering over everyone, wearing her apron, handing out freshly squeezed juice samples. I couldn’t face her.

‘Dad, do you want me to get you a coffee?’ I offered. ‘You could get a spot to sit.’

Dad smiled. ‘That would be nice.’ He pulled out his wallet to hand me some money.

‘It’s my shout.’

He tapped me on the shoulder and said ‘Thanks’ before walking towards all of the fruit and veg stalls.

I don’t really get the opportunity to do nice things for Dad. I was offered a job in a cafe by one of Katie’s mum’s friends last year. Dad had said, ‘I want you to focus on being a teenager, Pheebs. Doing your best at school and enjoying your basketball and friends. When I was a kid, I had to work and scrimp and save to get myself the things I wanted, basic things I needed. I don’t want you to have to do that, Phoebe. Plus, after school you’ll be working for the rest of your life, so try to relax now.’

Caitlin didn’t see eye to eye with Dad on the issue of me and work; she thought it would be good for me to have a part-time job. As some kind of compromise, she put me to task at home a lot more than I’d ever known. She made sure I was doing loads of clothes washing and helping with cooking and cleaning up and things.

I found Dad waiting at a table beneath the shade of the oak tree and passed him his coffee. ‘So where are we going to shoot hoops?’ I asked.