“Are you back?” Kane asks, hopeful he’ll be allowed out of the box.
“No, I came to see you. You said you were going to write to me, so I was checking the mail every day like a wife whose husband went to war.”
There’s a low laugh in the room, one Kane doesn’t recognize. As he looks around searching for the source of it, he catches his reflection on the mirrored glass, seeing he’s the cause.
When was the last time he laughed?
He can’t remember as he stares at himself, Asher standing beside him in the reflection. Asher is clean, his arms at his sides, but Kane? He has his hands cupped at his chin and his eyes are sunken in.
There’s a soft tap on the table before Niko gently asks, “Has someone hurt you, Kane?”
He shakes his head while he stares at his reflection. Then laughs because that’s what Asher called him. Asher laughs too as he points at the mirror.“We’re both reflections.”
“Kid?” Niko says, “Has someone hurt you?”
Kid,Kane thinks.A nice thing to be called. Kids aren’t dirty or broken; they have opportunity.
Instead, he says, “I thought I was seeing my parents.”
“You know you can tell me?”
He nods.
“I’m going to try to get you out.”
He nods, again.
Niko watches him without laughing or mocking him, like he’s afraid. It’s a new expression Kane isn’t used to being directed at him. He can’t recall a moment in his life when someone was afraid of him.
“There’s a four letter word every person has been conditioned to think is the hardest to say,” Niko says as he continues watching his friend.
Love,Kane thinks. But it was the easiest, most freeing thing he ever experienced. It was never difficult for him to love Delilah; it was as natural as his lungs drawing in air. He can’t form the words to express it fully, only managing to weakly mumble, “Love?” as he avoids the stare across the metal table.
“Nah, kid.” Niko gently lowers his head, trying to catch his eyes. “Help.”
The guard returns, bringing an end to their conversation as he places a plastic cup of water on the table. “Mr. Kadare, time’s up.”
“Fuck off outside, I paid you enough to speak to him alone.”
Niko waits for them to be alone to take something from his pocket, and he speaks softly as he stretches across the metal table. “I remember you telling me you collected marbles.”
Kane fondly recalls how he used to dig through bins of the glass orbs for the most obscure ones as Niko opens his hand, revealing a small glass bead that looks like a frozen fire ball with bright reds and oranges trapped inside the glass.
“To start your collection,” he says, gently pulling Kane’s hand away from his face to place the marble in his palm. “I’ll bring you more. We’ll count them when you get out. Remember you’ve got someone outside this place, okay? I’ll always be here for you.”
Some of his personality is returned now that he’s being treated like a human being, his arms slowly relaxing as he asks his friend, “Did you get married?”
“Yeah, kid, I did. The wife wants to meet you. Don’t eat anything she cooks. She’s shit at it.”
“Francesca?” Kane nods.
“Frannie. The name pisses her off. I’ll even pay you to call her that.” There’s a knock on the door, but Niko dips his head to catch Kane’s eyes. “Remember you have people waiting for you. Don’t forget it or let this place fuck with your head.”
“Yeah, we’ll see each other when I get out.”
“And you’ll write me letters, yeah?”
“Yeah.” Kane smiles. It’s small, painful, but he keeps it in place as Niko walks around the table to leave. When they have their backs to each other, Kane says, “Niko?”
