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coming
here?
What is this bullshit?
    We’d better call for assistance
. His voice sounds urgent.
Quickly, Isaac. They must be intercepted
.
    Suddenly as if my eyes are wide open, I can see Dr Mac leaning over me with two metal plates attached to coils inhis hands. He yells, ‘Stand back, everyone. On my count. Three … two …’
    Ohhh,
man
! Don’t tell me …
    My chest lurches violently.
    Damn, it’s true. I knew my life sucked, but still, I wasn’t expecting this.

11

Ebony
    It’s midnight by the time Mr Lang turns into my driveway, and just as I knew they would be, my parents are waiting up with lights on upstairs and down.
    My mother is making a point.
    I thank Mr Lang and tell Amber I’ll catch up with her tomorrow. They drive off and I walk to the veranda. Here I pause, glance up at the stars and drag in a deep settling breath of crisp air. Only then do I open the front door.
    Mum and Dad are sitting in their favourite couches watching late-night television. Before they start drilling me, I switch off the television and sit on the low table facing them. ‘We need to talk,’ I say. I apologise for my childish behaviour, and I really mean it. It was wrong to worry them like that, especially knowing how concerned Mum is whenever I leave the house.
    Through tight lips Mum says, ‘Firstly, since you appear to be home safely, I will accept your apology.’
    It’s more than I expect and I’m both relieved and grateful. ‘Dad –’ I turn to my father – ‘do you forgive me too?’
    ‘Of course, Ebony; you’re my baby girl.’
    I jump across the small space between us and give him a hug. On the way back I catch the look he exchanges with Mum. Hmm, no wonder that was easy; something’s going on.
    As I sit on the sofa opposite them, Mum crosses her legs. ‘Now, darling, your father and I had a talk tonight and, well, we decided we will forgo punishment
this
time.’
    Now I
know
something has happened. ‘What’s going on, Mum? Dad?’
    ‘Nothing!’ she snaps. She scans my clothes, notices the red smudges at my middle and her eyes almost pop out. ‘Is that … Ebony, is that
blood
on your shirt?’
    I groan inside, and reluctantly explain, talking it down as much as I can. ‘There was a stabbing in the alley at the back of the club. A boy from school was taken to hospital.’
    ‘You didn’t have anything to do with it, did you?
Did
you?’ She examines my face.
    ‘Mum, it was all over by the time I got out there.’
    ‘How did you get blood on your shirt?’ Dad asks.
    Breathe
, I remind myself. ‘I must have rubbed against the gurney as the paramedics slid him into the ambulance.’
    Mum gasps, covering her open mouth with her hand. ‘You were
that
close?’
    ‘I wasn’t involved in the stabbing. OK?’
    ‘Don’t use that tone with me, young lady.’
    ‘Ebony, what happened?’
    ‘A lot happened tonight, Dad. We have to talk. I want you tell me everything you know.’
    ‘About what?’ Mum snaps.
    ‘About me. Let’s start with the day I was born.’
    They glance at each other, and when they return their attention to me, though they’re trying to conceal their nervousness, their eyes are still wider than usual, their pupils dilated. They look scared.
    Scared?
But I’m their daughter! It shouldn’t be hard to explain how I came into the world. Should it?
    They have to know how important this is to me.
    What don’t I know?
    Mum returns to her couch, so I move to the coffee table, where I can see both their faces. ‘You told me Ben was my twin who died soon after we were born. But I need to know – was Ben really my brother?’
    Dad gulps hard while Mum laughs, the sound too high-pitched. She’s nervous, and … well, I keep picking up guilty impressions. ‘What’s got into you tonight, darling? It’s the stabbing, isn’t it? It’s shaken you up.’
    ‘It’s not the stabbing, Mum.’ She’s trying to sidetrack me again, push me into losing my temper so our discussion will fall