Mal had been in frequent contact with Rona the whole time the band had been away up north: the excitement of being on a genuine interstate tour was so great that he hadn't been able to contain himself, he just had to tell someone what they were up to - even if it wasn't so much a tour as just playing a few places on the Gold Coast and in Brisbane.

He hadn't dared call Rona, because he didn't know if calls were more expensive from state to state or not. Now he was back in Melbourne, though, he had no hesitation in dialling her number. He called her before he even called his family: as soon as he'd had a shower to wash off a day's worth of sweat and dust from the inside of Eric's van.

"Mal!" Rona said. "Are you back in town?"

"I just got back! Mal confirmed gleefully.

"You must be wiped out."

"No, I haven't anything since last week."

"I meant you must be tired."

"Oh. No, it's okay, I slept in the back of the van." Experimenting in the back of the van, Mal had found that the easiest way to stop Eric's snare-drum case from moving around was to lean on it; that had naturally graduated to resting his head on it, and he'd found it surprisingly comfortable. It didn't take long for him to fall asleep. It wasn't like Eric and Steve, sitting in the front of the van, had been going out of their way to keep him awake while they argued about bands and girls and girls in bands.

"You must've had the best time!" Rona said down the 'phone. "It sounds like you did."

"It was awesome" Mal said. "Except I played like shit the whole time."

"Oh, I don't believe that!" Rona teased him gently.

"Eric says I didn't, but I reckon I did."

"I'm sure you were fine."

"Hey, what are you doing tonight?" Mal asked her.

"Umm . . . Going to bed?"

"Not already!"

"Soon. I've got work tomorrow."

"Oh, shit, I bet I do too!" Mal suddenly realised.

"Shouldn't you ring them and find out?"

"Nah, they'll ring me and tell me I'm on if I don't turn up tomorrow."

"Did you even tell them you were going away?" Rona asked. There was silence. "Mal?"

"So what're you really doing tonight?" Mal asked her.