Something in the way he spoke seemed to calm her down. The irritated glint vanished from her gaze, and she smiled at him. “Child, you don’t know what a breath of fresh air you are.”
Colin replied, “I like you very much.”
“Well, that’s something we have in common, then.” She pointed to the entrance. “I know there’s a dozen different reasons in there for you to get scared. But you can’t be frightened, you hear what I’m telling you? Don’t you go quiet on me either.”
“I won’t,” Colin said. “I promise.”
But she wasn’t done. “It’s all going to seem very confusing. These people, they might not even seem nice to you. But none of that matters. You have to show them the very best that you are. How smart you are, how perceptive, how aware.”
He felt that final word echo through his brain.Aware.He liked the power she gave it. The intensity of her gaze, the fierce protective nature that he could almost taste.
“Will you do that for me, child?”
“Yes.” He wanted to say he would do anything to make her pleased with him. But she was already up and exiting the car.
The lettering over the entrance read, “UNC-Greenville Child Care and Development Center.” The lobby was very big and the walls were covered with photographs of happychildren and paintings of rainbows and animals and trees and lakes and sunlight. Even so, Colin felt a vague unease, as if a secret whispered in the cold air-conditioning, something dark and hidden behind a hall of closed doors.
Celeste must have noticed his unease because she took a firmer hold of his hand and said, “Remember what I told you.”
They took the elevator to the fourth floor. A man in a white doctor’s coat stood in the hallway, his arms crossed around a bulky file. He looked askance at Colin, as if he could not bring him into focus. “Really, Celeste? Really?”
The woman released Colin’s hand, but only so she could move in close to the doctor. She kept moving forward until she would have collided with him had he not stepped back. Whatever he saw in Celeste’s gaze brought him to a state of rigid uncertainty. She remained there, glaring at him, as she said, “Colin, say hello to Dr. Arnold.”
“Hello.”
“Hi … Colin, right?” He cleared his throat and stepped around the big woman. “Why don’t we get started?”
But she wasn’t done. She slapped his chest with the file she had brought, a sharp sound like hands clapping. “The only reason I put up with your attitude is because you’re working part-time at the academy.”
“Celeste …”
“Yes, I know your focus is adolescents. Yes, I know he issix years old. And I’m telling you, look closely and tell me whether hisagematters evenone little bit.”
Celeste locked him with her gaze. When she finally turned around, she knelt in front of Colin. “You won’t see me. But I’ll be right there.”
Colin wished he could hug her. “Okay.”
She must have found what she sought in his gaze. Because she rose and turned back to the doctor. “This is as serious as serious can be.”
“Sure, Celeste. Okay.”
“If you don’t think you canhandlethis, if you can’t take thisseriously, you just let me know. I’ll inform the director, see if we can’t—”
“Celeste, I’m telling you I’ve got this.”
“All right, then.”
He watched the big woman walk down the hall, knock on a door, and enter. Then he turned to Colin. “Come with me.”
The room was almost completely featureless. The walls and table and chairs were all a vague off-white. The ceiling was tiled in white blocks that were perforated with little holes. The lighting came from long white fluorescent bulbs with metal strips forming a checkerboard pattern. The wall to Colin’s right held a long mirror, tall and framed in wood painted the same color as the walls. Each corner of the room held a small black bulb. Colin thought they were probably cameras.
Dr. Arnold seated himself across the table from Colin and set the two files unopened on the surface between them. “Do you have any questions before we begin?”
He could hear a tight undercurrent to the man’s voice. Colin had learned early and well to detect such elements. At home, this hidden rage could be very dangerous. It usually marked the time when he did his best to melt away. Even if it meant missing a meal. But Colin remembered everything Celeste had said, and did his best to erase the fear.
Colin asked, “Is Arnold your first name or your last?”
The man in his white coat was younger than Celeste and had tanned skin. He looked very fit. Not strong like Colin’s father. But athletic just the same. “Arnold is my first name. My last name is Weinbrandt. Can you spell that, Colin?”
