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‘So can I get you anything, then?’
    ‘No thanks,’ I replied.
    She picked up my empty water glass and turned away. I unplugged my phone, stashed the cord in my backpack and left the café.

    I found a quiet corner in the arcade, near the bathrooms and a loading dock, and pulled my phone out. I really wanted to call home. I was longing to hear Mum’s voice, just to tell her I was still OK … but I wasn’t even sure what home was anymore. I considered calling Rafe’s place but I hesitated, worried more than ever about being tracked by the police.
    Instead, I called Boges, grateful again for him and his untraceable phone.
    ‘Boges, it’s me!’ I said when he answered.
    ‘Hey man, where have you been? I’ve been trying to contact you for days! It’s not good to leave me with nothing but my imagination—I thought maybe you’d been captured by one of the gangs and murdered or something. Then I overheard someone at school saying something about you being attacked by a lion at the zoo! It was all over the news and the radio. Dude, what are you doing?!’
    ‘My mobile’s been dead. Boges, listen. I’m really worried about Gabbi. I just saw an article in the paper and a picture of her where she’s surrounded by all this … medical junk.’
    ‘Things aren’t going so great with Gabs, Cal. Your mum said the doctors have been trying different ways to stimulate her recovery, but nothing’s working. There’s been no reaction. Your mum also said something about finding you so that you can talk to her.’
    ‘What? That doesn’t make any sense. I’m the one who’s supposed to have tried to harm her and they want me to talk to her?!’
    ‘I know your mum’s said some crazy stuff about you, Cal, but I don’t know if she really believes that you harmed Gabbi … or maybe just not intentionally … I don’t know, she’s very up and down.’
    I wasn’t convinced. Nothing at all hadsuggested to me that Mum believed any part of my story.
    ‘They just want me to come in so they can grab me and lock me away,’ I said. ‘I reckon the police are using Mum and Rafe, and even Gabbi, to get at me. They’re probably trying to make it look like I can just stroll on home, apologise, hug the family, then hold out my hands while they carefully place the handcuffs on my wrists and then help me up into the paddy wagon. The reality is that they’ll do whatever they can to get me behind bars, and they sure as hell aren’t going to be gentle about it.’
    Neither of us said anything for a long moment. I sat down on an upturned milk crate near a skip bin.
    ‘Boges,’ I continued finally, ‘I hate to ask you again, but I really need some money. You don’t know what it’s like trying to survive on the streets without it. Other people can get some sort of social security payment. But I can’t.’
    ‘Dude, I know. I’ll do what I can. But I’ve gotta tell you, I’m being watched like a prime time movie, and the cops have been here again, questioning me and my mum.’
    ‘What did they want?’
    ‘The same old crap. They keep asking me questions like when did I last see you, have Iheard from you at all, where do I think you could be hiding—that sort of thing. They also asked me if I wanted to help you, being your best friend and all. I’ve had no choice but to act cool, and pretend like I don’t want to help out a criminal. It’s hard. I’m trying to be convincing, but they’re very suspicious of me.’
    He paused before speaking again. ‘There’s definitely someone watching our place. Lately there’s always this dude in a silver sedan parked in the street. He just sits there, pretending to do stuff—read a newspaper, talk on his phone, and write up reports.’
    Boges was so good. The best person I could imagine to have on my side through this. But if they were watching him, I’d have to be even more careful. So would he.
    ‘You know what to do,’ I said, ‘must be a pro by now. Just keep on changing your