‘Cavanaugh.’
Neil drank. Excellent. He'd stopped pretending it was adequate.
‘Mural update,’ Rory said. ‘Year 7 roots are taking shape. I've given Toby Marsh his own section. The kid's got something.’
‘I know. His essay last week was the best in the class. Four paragraphs about his grandfather's allotment. Emotional. No grammar mistakes. No spelling errors. First time since September.’
‘The mural did that?’
‘The mural gave him something to concentrate on that wasn't sitting at a desk being told he was concentrating wrong. You gave him a wall and a spray can. I gave him a question and a pencil. Different tools.’
‘Same principle.’
‘Stop telling them their energy is a problem. Give it somewhere to go.’
When Rory looked at him, the staff room was empty. Rain on the windows.
‘You're a good teacher, Neil.’
First name. In school hours.
Sue Dhillon entered the staff room and stood by the biscuit tin with studied nonchalance. She was absolutely listening.
‘Friday. For the mural,’ Neil said. Low.
‘Friday.’
He didn't ask what that meant.
He knew.
He left. Sue watched him go. Bit a hobnob. Said nothing.
Friday. Eight o'clock.
Same route. Same traffic lights. Radio off. Hands steady. The tremor was gone.
Same buzzer. Same stairs. Rory opened the door. Barefoot. Freshly showered. Hair tied up.
‘No speech this time?’ Ghost of a smile.
‘No.’
‘Good.’
He took Neil's hand.
‘Come. I want to show you something.’
Past the living room. Past the kitchen. To the door at the end of the hallway.
Neil stepped inside and the door closed behind him and the world outside, the stairwell, the cooking smells, the other lives, disappeared.
Linseed and turpentine hit first, warm-nutty over mineral-sharp, the chemical signature of a room where work happened. Galleries didn't carry this air. He hadn't breathed air like this since he was fifteen, sitting in his art classroom, drawing a boy's shoulders from memory.
His throat caught.
The home studio was smaller than he'd expected. Ten feet by twelve. A converted bedroom, two adjustable lamps throwing hard white light that flattened everything and hid nothing. Forensic light.
