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energies? Or maybe the universe operates to different rules depending on which part of the world you live in?’
    Mum looks annoyed.
    ‘That’s not at all what I meant.’ Her usual way out of trouble.
    Vanessa bends down and tickles Melvin’s soft baby-belly until he gurgles with laughter.
    ‘Bye,’ she says and leaves.
    ‘All my best to Wille!’ Nicke shouts after her.
    At the number 5 bus stop, Wille’s car is waiting with the engine turning over. Vanessa jumps in at the passenger side and slams the door.
    ‘Hi, hun,’ Wille says and kisses her cheek before starting.
    ‘Such a weird night, last night,’ Michelle comments from the back.
    ‘I remember … like, nothing,’ Evelina says and giggles.
    ‘You do, it’s just that you won’t admit it.’ Vanessa catches Evelina’s eye in the mirror and licks her lips suggestively.
    They laugh and Vanessa leans against the backrest. She puts her hand out of the car window and feels the rushing air push against the palm of her hand.
    ‘Please drive past the Sun Grill. I haven’t eaten a thing. No time,’ she says to Wille.
    ‘Sure. But we’ll have to pick up Jonte and Lucky first.’
    ‘How are you going to pack them in? Lucky alone is at least three ordinary people.’
    ‘The girls will have to sit on the guys’ laps.’
    Michelle and Evelina protest loudly.
    ‘Hey, look in the glove compartment,’ Wille tells her.
    Vanessa spots a hint of a smile at the corner of his mouth. She opens the glove compartment and finds a small whiteteddy bear inside. The bear is clinging to a large silk-covered heart with the text ‘ To the Best Girlfriend in the World ’.
    ‘Thank you,’ Vanessa says.
    She is really touched. The teddy is so silly and so sweet at the same time.
    ‘Oh, my God! It’s soooo cute,’ Evelina shrieks.
    ‘I never get any sort of present from Mehmet,’ Michelle says.
    Out on the main road, Wille ups the speed.
    ‘I love you,’ he says and looks at Vanessa.
    ‘And I love you,’ she replies.
    She twists her engagement ring and feels that what she’s said is really the truth.
    This is such non-stop exercise, Ida thinks as she opens the tube of sunscreen and squeezes out a large dollop into her hand.
    It feels like you have acres and acres of skin when you rub it in. If you go in for a swim you’ve got to repeat the whole process from the beginning. Besides, this repulsive heat will make you sweat it all off in five minutes even if you don’t go near the water.
    Ida is longing for rain, a cloudy sky, the slightest little breath of wind. Sounds hang suspended in the still air. The children’s shouting and splashing at the water’s edge. Julia and Felicia’s chatter. Robin and Erik’s rubbish hip hop from a cracked loudspeaker.
    Ida finds a sunblock lip salve and smears it across her lips. The whitish, elastic substance reminds her of ectoplasm, the stuff she apparently dribbles when she gets possessed. The thought is irritating, so she rejects it and lies down on the beach towel. She tries to relax but her body is slippery and messy from all the cream. And now Erik is moving in, pushing his sweaty thigh against hers.
    ‘Christ, can’t you stop sticking to me like some kind of wart?’ she says.
    Julia and Felicia stop talking and Ida doesn’t need to see them to know that they are exchanging nervous glances.
    ‘Is it your period, or what?’ Erik mutters but at least he moves away a little.
    Julia and Felicia start talking to each other again. Saying things like how today is the last day of the summer holidays and how inhuman it is to have to go to school when it’s this hot. Julia starts on a story about meeting the principal, Adriana Lopez, in that hocus-pocus shop in the City Mall.
    Ida tries not to hear. She doesn’t want to think about the principal and that horrid scar on her chest. Sitting up, she reaches for her water bottle and unscrews the top with sticky hands. The water is tepid and tastes of plastic. It’s