Page 6 of Bare
‘Right. Incidental.’ The half-smile. ‘Well, incidentally, he mixed the green himself. Didn't ask for help. Didn't look at what the others were doing. Just went straight for the blue and yellow and made his own shade.’
‘He's five. Five-year-olds don't second-guess.’
‘Most of them do. Most of them look sideways at the next kid's painting every thirty seconds to check they're doing it right. Freddie didn't look sideways once.’
Neil glanced down at the green blob. The top hat. The six arms. The confidence of it, colour applied without hesitation, the paper covered edge to edge, no white space left as safety margin. His son's painting. His son's nerve.
‘Thank you, Cavanaugh.’
Surname. Distance. The drawbridge. As he took Freddie's hand and steered him towards the gate, a touch too fast.
‘Bye, Mr Cavanaugh!’ Freddie shouted over his shoulder. ‘See you TOMORROW!’
‘See you tomorrow, mate.’
Neil didn't turn around. He quickened his pace.
‘Dad,’ Freddie said, trotting to keep up. ‘How come we're going so fast?’
‘We're not going fast.’
‘We are. We're practically running.’
‘We're walking briskly.’
‘What's briskly?’
‘Ask me later.’
‘You always say that.’
‘And you always ask.’
‘Because you never ANSWER.’
‘That's not true. I answer most things.’
‘Not the good ones.’ Freddie squinted up at him. ‘Are you weird because of school? Mum says school makes you weird.’
‘Your mother has a talent for understatement.’
‘What's understatement?’
‘Ask me later. At home.’
‘DAD.’
At the car, Neil buckled Freddie in, closed the door, and stood for a moment with braced against the roof, head bowed,breathing through his nose. The metal was warm from the sun. Inside, Freddie sang something tuneless about monsters and pirates and burnt sienna.
Eight hours. The new term had lasted eight hours. He had a cross-curricular project with a man he couldn't be in the same room with and lose the ability to think. His five-year-old thought this man was brilliant. And his hands were still in fists.
2
CORRIDORS AND DOORWAYS
Neil's avoidancestrategy lasted four days.
On the fifth, it failed.
