‘Your parents obviously have a thing about boys’ names ending in -el,’ I observe. ‘Uriel is a new one on me though. Is that a common name in Jamaica?’
‘Not especially.’ He smiles. ‘I told you that my mother is a deeply religious woman, and so she named us after the four Archangels from the Bible. I don’t think Uriel thanks her for it. He was teased horribly at school. People used to call him “Urinal”. He shortens it to Uri now.’
‘Poor him. What would have happened if you’d been girls?’
‘I think she would just have kept going until she had the four boys.’
‘I quite like the girls’ names she chose. Grace and Blessing. What’s your mum’s name?’
‘Constance.’
‘Nice, and your dad?’
‘Desmond.’
‘Hm. He doesn’t fit the mould so well, does he. Does he feel left out?’
‘Not any more. He died some years ago.’
‘Oh, Gabriel, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be insensitive.’
‘It’s fine. Anyway, so I was born here, and this was my primary school.’ He points to a white-painted building on the other side of the road. ‘It’s also where I first started to learn the piano. Mrs Brown was my teacher.’
‘You loved her, didn’t you?’
‘How can you tell?’
‘Because of the way you sounded when you said her name.’
He nods. ‘I did. I remember her talking to Mum and Dad at one of those parent–teacher things, after I’d been learning for just under a year. She wasted no time in telling them that she thought I was a talent to watch.’
‘Is she still alive?’
‘She is. She’s ninety-three and sharp as a tack. I always make a point of visiting her every time I come back.’
‘OK. So you’re going to school and learning the piano. Then what?’
‘Are you sure this isn’t boring?’
‘I’m fascinated. Continue, please.’
‘My father worked in the government. He was quite high up and, when I was ten, he was appointed High Commissioner to London.’
‘So you all moved to the UK.’
‘We did, to the Jamaican High Commission, oddly enough.’
‘Whereabouts in London is that?’
‘Round the back of the Science Museum, basically.’
‘Nice.’
‘It was. I loved it. There’s a much bigger music scene there too, so I was able to get into the Purcell School for Young Musicians, and then the Royal College of Music.’
‘Here’s a question. I think I know the answer where Raphael is concerned, but do your other siblings have the ability to switch between accents like you do?’
He looks a little uncomfortable. ‘No, it’s just me.’
